Description of Capital Stock
Exhibit 4.5
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following description of our capital stock, certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, and certain provisions of Delaware law are summaries. You should also refer to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the amended and restated bylaws, which are filed as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.6 is part.
General
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue up to 500,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share, and 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share, all of which shares of preferred stock are undesignated.
Common Stock
Voting Rights
Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, including the election of directors. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights. Because of this, the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors are able to elect all of the directors standing for election, if they should so choose.
Dividends
Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any then-outstanding preferred stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably those dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors out of legally available funds.
Liquidation
In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our debts and other liabilities and the satisfaction of any liquidation preference granted to the holders of any then-outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Rights and Preferences
Holders of common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate in the future.
Preferred Stock
Our board of directors has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series, to fix the rights, preferences and privileges of the shares of each wholly unissued series and any qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereon, and to increase or decrease the number of shares of any such series, but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding.
Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of our common stock. The purpose of authorizing our board of directors to issue preferred stock and determine its rights and preferences is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us and may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock. It is not possible to state the actual effect of the issuance of any shares of preferred stock on the rights of holders of common stock until the board of directors determines the specific rights attached to that preferred stock.
We have no present plans to issue any shares of preferred stock.
Warrants
As of December 31, 2019, warrants to purchase an aggregate of 134,716 shares of our common stock at a weighted-average exercise price of $8.2306 per share were outstanding. The warrants contain a provision for the adjustment of the exercise price and the number of shares issuable upon the exercise of the applicable warrant in the event of certain stock dividends, stock splits, reorganizations, reclassifications and consolidations. For more information, see Note 15,“Convertible Preferred Stock Warrants and Common Stock Warrants" to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.
Registration Rights
Certain holders of shares of our common stock are entitled to certain rights with respect to registration of such shares under the Securities Act pursuant to the terms of an investors' rights agreement. These shares are collectively referred to herein as registrable securities.
The investors' rights agreement provides the holders of registrable securities with demand, piggyback and S-3 registration rights as described more fully below.
Demand Registration Rights
The holders of a majority of the registrable securities then outstanding have the right to make up to two demands that we file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the registration of the registrable securities then outstanding and with an anticipated aggregate offering price of at least $10.0 million, net of underwriting discounts and expenses, subject to specified exceptions.
Piggyback Registration Rights
If we register any securities for public sale, the holders of our registrable securities then outstanding will each be entitled to notice of the registration and will have the right to include their shares in the registration statement. The underwriters of any underwritten offering will have the right to limit the number of shares having registration rights to be included in the registration statement, provided that the registration does not include shares of any other selling stockholder. If the registration does not include shares of any other selling stockholder, any or all of the registrable securities may be excluded from such registration.
Registration on Form S-3
If we are eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-3, the holders have the right to demand that we file registration statements on Form S-3; provided, that at least 10% of the registrable securities then outstanding make the demand request and the aggregate amount of securities to be sold under the registration statement is at least $3.0 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions. We are not obligated to effect a demand for registration on Form S-3 by holders of our registrable securities more than twice during any 12-month period. The right to have such shares registered on Form S-3 is further subject to other specified conditions and limitations.
Expenses of Registration
We will pay all expenses relating to any demand, piggyback or Form S-3 registration, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, subject to specified conditions and limitations.
Termination of Registration Rights
The registration rights will terminate upon the earlier of the following to occur: (i) such time after this offering in which the holder of registrable securities holds one percent or less of our common stock and all registrable securities held by such holder (and together with any affiliate of the holder with whom such holder must aggregate its sales under Rule 144 of the Securities Act) can be sold in any three-month period without registration in compliance with Rule 144 of the Securities Act or (ii) after the consummation of a "deemed liquidation event", as described and defined in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended from time to time.
Anti-Takeover Provisions
Anti-Takeover Statute
We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, with the following exceptions:
| • | before such date, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; |
| • | upon completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder, those shares owned (1) by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or |
| • | on or after such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 662/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
In general, Section 203 defines a "business combination" to include the following:
| • | any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder; subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder; any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock or any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits by or through the corporation. |
In general, Section 203 defines an "interested stockholder" as an entity or person who, together with the person's affiliates and associates, beneficially owns, or within three years prior to the time of determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Certain Provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for our board of directors to be divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors is elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. Because our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, stockholders holding a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide that directors may be removed by the stockholders only for cause upon the vote of a majority of our outstanding common stock. Furthermore, the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors, and vacancies and newly created directorships on the board of directors may, except as otherwise required by law or determined by the board, only be filled by a majority vote of the directors then serving on the board, even though less than a quorum.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide that all stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws also provides that only our chairman of the board, chief executive officer or the board of directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized directors may call a special meeting of stockholders.
Our amended and restated bylaws also provides that stockholders seeking to present proposals before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at a meeting of stockholders must provide timely advance notice in writing, and, subject to applicable law, will specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder's notice.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide that the stockholders cannot amend many of the provisions described above except by a vote of a majority of our outstanding common stock.
The combination of these provisions make it more difficult for our existing stockholders to replace our board of directors as well as for another party to obtain control of us by replacing our board of directors. Since our board of directors has the power to retain and discharge our officers, these provisions could also make it more difficult for existing stockholders or another party to effect a change in management. In addition, the authorization of undesignated preferred stock makes it possible for our board of directors to issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to change our control.
These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continued stability in the composition of our board of directors and its policies and to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to reduce our vulnerability to hostile takeovers and to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. However, such provisions could have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our shares and may have the effect of delaying changes in our control or management. As a consequence, these provisions may also inhibit fluctuations in the market price of our stock that could result from actual or rumored takeover attempts. We believe that the benefits of these provisions, including increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure our company, outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover proposals, because negotiation of takeover proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
Choice of Forum
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (ii) any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising under the Delaware General Corporation Law; (iv) any action regarding our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or (v) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act; provided however, that in light of the Delaware Chancery Court’s opinion issued on December 19, 2018 in Sciabacucchi v. Salzberg, C.A. No. 2017-0931-JTL, which is currently being appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court, the Company does not intend to enforce this federal forum selection provision while the appeal is in process.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Limited.
Listing
Our common stock is currently listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the trading symbol "SSTI."