Description of Securities

EX-4.1 2 ex_643359.htm EXHIBIT 4.1

Exhibit 4.1

 

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANTS SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT
TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

As of the date of filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K, Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”), has two class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended: (i) our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”) and (ii) our listed warrants (the “Warrants”) to purchase Common Stock which are exercisable for one share of Common Stock for an exercise price of $11.50.

 

The following is a summary of information concerning our Common Stock and Warrants and certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (“Certificate of Incorporation”) and amended and restated bylaws (“Bylaws”) currently in effect. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, each previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as to the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and the applicable portions of the DGCL carefully.

 

Authorized and Outstanding Stock

 

Our authorized capital stock consists of:

 

 

115,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share; and

 

10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share.

 

As of March 25, 2024, there were 27,918,560 shares of our Common Stock outstanding, and no shares of preferred stock outstanding. Additionally, as of March 25, 2024, we also had outstanding (i) listed Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,325,000 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50, (ii) non-listed pre-funded warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,968,765 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.0001, (iii) other non-listed warrants to purchase an aggregate of 14,558,869 shares of Common Stock at a weighted average exercise price of $5.38 per share, and (iv) options awarded under our 2006 Equity Incentive Plan and 2020 Equity Incentive Plan to purchase an aggregate of 1,580,574 shares of Common Stock at a weighted average exercise price of $6.51 per share. As of March 25, 2024, there were 3,796,119 shares remaining available for issuance pursuant to future awards under our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan.

 

Common Stock

 

Voting. The holders of our Common Stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters on which the holders are entitled to vote (or consent pursuant to written consent). Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote.

 

Dividends. The holders of Common Stock are entitled to receive, ratably, dividends only if, when and as declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor and after provision is made for each class of capital stock having preference over the Common Stock.

 

Liquidation Rights. In the event of the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the holders of Common Stock will be entitled to share, ratably, in all assets remaining available for distribution after payment of all liabilities and after provision is made for each class of capital stock having preference over the Common Stock.

 

Conversion Right. The holders of Common Stock have no conversion rights.

 

Preemptive and Similar Rights. The holders of Common Stock have no preemptive or similar rights.

 

Redemption/Put Rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the Common Stock.

 

All of the outstanding shares of Common Stock will be fully-paid and nonassessable.

 

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Preferred Stock

 

Our board of directors has the authority to issue shares of preferred stock from time to time on terms it may determine, to divide shares of preferred stock into one or more series and to fix the designations, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of preferred stock, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preference, sinking fund terms, and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of any series to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL.

 

Warrants

 

We have outstanding Warrants consisting of: (i) warrants (the “Public Warrants”) issued in connection with Tenzing Acquisition Corp’s (“Tenzing”) initial public offering (the “IPO”) and (ii) warrants issued (a) in a private placement in connection the IPO and (b) in connection with the conversation of certain loans (together, the “Private Warrants”).

 

Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in the terms of the Warrants. No Public Warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of Common Stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the holders of the Public Warrants may, during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants, exercise the Public Warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. If an exemption from registration is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their Warrants on a cashless basis. The Warrants will expire on December 14, 2025 at 5:00 p.m., New York City time or earlier redemption.

 

The Private Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants except that such Private Warrants will be exercisable for cash (even if a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants is not effective) or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and will not be redeemable by us, in each case so long as they are still held by the initial purchasers or their affiliates. In addition, for as long as the Private Warrants are held by Maxim Group LLC (or its designees or affiliates), they may not be exercised after five years from the effective date of the registration statement relating to the IPO.

 

We may call the Public Warrants for redemption, in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant:

 

 

at any time while the Public Warrants are exercisable;

 

upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder;

 

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $21.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations), for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third trading business day prior to the notice of redemption to holders of the Public Warrants, and

 

if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the issuance of the shares of Common Stock underlying such Public Warrants at the time of redemption and for the entire 30-day trading period referred to above and continuing each day thereafter until the date of redemption.

The right to exercise will be forfeited unless the Public Warrants are exercised prior to the date specified in the notice of redemption. On and after the redemption date, a record holder of a Public Warrant will have no further rights except to receive the redemption price for such holder’s warrant upon surrender of such warrant.

 

The redemption criteria for the Public Warrants has been established at a price which is intended to provide the holders thereof a reasonable premium to the initial exercise price and provide a sufficient differential between the then-prevailing share price and the warrant exercise price so that if the share price declines as a result of our redemption call, the redemption will not cause the share price to drop below the exercise price of the warrants.

 

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If we call the Public Warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the Public Warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the Public Warrants and the fair market value by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the shares of Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the Public Warrants. For example, if a holder held 150 Public Warrants to purchase 150 shares of Common Stock and the fair market value on the trading date prior to exercise was $15.00, that holder would receive 35 shares without the payment of any additional cash consideration. Whether we will exercise its option to require all holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a “cashless basis” will depend on a variety of factors including the price of our Common Stock at the time the Public Warrants are called for redemption, our cash needs at such time and concerns regarding dilutive share issuances.

 

The Warrants are issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval, by written consent or vote, of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding Warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.

 

The exercise price and number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of the Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or a recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of Common Stock at a price below their respective exercise prices.

 

The Warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of Warrants being exercised. The holders of the Warrants do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Common Stock and any voting rights until they exercise their Warrants and receive shares of Common Stock. After the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by our shareholders.

 

Except as described above, no Public Warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of Common Stock unless at the time a holder seeks to exercise such Public Warrant, a prospectus relating to the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is current and the shares of Common Stock have been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the Private Warrants. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use its best efforts to meet these conditions and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants until the expiration of the Public Warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so and, if we do not maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their Public Warrants and we will not be required to settle any such warrant exercise. If the prospectus relating to the shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the Public Warrants is not current or if the shares of Common Stock are not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the Public Warrants reside, we will not be required to net cash settle or cash settle the warrant exercise, the Public Warrants may have no value, the market for the Public Warrants may be limited and the warrants may expire worthless.

 

Warrant holders may elect to be subject to a restriction on the exercise of their Warrants such that an electing Warrant holder would not be able to exercise their Warrants to the extent that, after giving effect to such exercise, such holder would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% of the shares of Common Stock outstanding.

 

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Warrants. If, upon exercise of the Warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to the Warrant holder.

 

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Anti-Takeover Effects of our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and Certain Provisions of Delaware Law

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and the DGCL each contain provisions, which are summarized in the following paragraphs, which are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened acquisition of the Company. These provisions are intended to avoid costly takeover battles, reduce the Company’s vulnerability to a hostile change of control or other unsolicited acquisition proposal, and enhance the ability of our board of directors to maximize stockholder value in connection with any unsolicited offer to acquire the Company. However, these provisions may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a merger or acquisition of the Company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or other takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including attempts that might result in a premium over the prevailing market price for the shares of Common Stock. Our Certificate of Incorporation, provides that any action required or permitted to be taken by the Company’s stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by any consent in writing by such holders unless such action is recommended by all directors of our board of directors then in office, except that holders of one or more series of preferred stock, if such series are expressly permitted to do so by the certificate of designation relating to such series, may take any action by written consent if such action permitted to be taken by such holders and the written consent is signed by the holders of outstanding shares of the relevant class or series having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting.

 

Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock

 

Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of Nasdaq, which apply so long as the Common Stock remains listed on Nasdaq, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of Common Stock. Additional shares that may be issued in the future may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.

 

One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved Common Stock may be to enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise and thereby protect the continuity of management and possibly deprive stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of Common Stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.

 

Election of Directors and Vacancies

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that our board of directors will determine the number of directors who will serve on our board of directors, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock to elect additional directors. The exact number of directors will be fixed solely and exclusively by resolution duly adopted from time to time by our board of directors.

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy that results from an increase in the number of directors or a vacancy that results from the death, resignation, disqualification or removal of a director, may be filled only by a majority of the directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of preferred stock.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, each director will serve until his successor is duly elected and qualified or until his earlier death, resignation or removal. No decrease in the number of directors constituting our board of directors will shorten the term of any incumbent director.

 

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Business Combinations

 

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in the following prescribed manner:

 

 

prior to the time of the transaction, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

 

upon completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of shares outstanding (1) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) shares owned by 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; and

 

on or subsequent to the time of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

Generally, for purposes of Section 203, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, owned 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting securities.

 

Such provisions may encourage companies interested in acquiring us to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction that results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. However, such provisions also could discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by stockholders. These provisions also may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

 

Quorum

 

Our Bylaws provide that at any meeting of our board of directors, a majority of the directors then in office constitutes a quorum for all purposes.

 

No Cumulative Voting

 

Under Delaware law, the right to vote cumulatively does not exist unless the certificate of incorporation expressly authorizes cumulative voting. Our Certificate of Incorporation does not authorize cumulative voting.

 

General Stockholder Meetings

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by our board of directors acting pursuant to a resolution approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any series of preferred stock.

 

Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Meetings, Nominations and Proposals

 

Our Bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors. For any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received by the Secretary at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the one-year anniversary of the date of the preceding annual meeting of stockholders (for the purposes of the first annual meeting of our stockholders following the adoption of our Bylaws, a stockholder’s notice must be received by the Secretary at the Company’s principal executive offices not later than (i) 90 days prior to the date of the first annual meeting or (ii) less than 10 days following the date the first annual meeting is publicly announced). Our Bylaws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. Our Bylaws allow our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors to determine whether a nomination or any business proposed to be brought before a special meeting of the stockholders was made in accordance with our Bylaws. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of us.

 

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Amendment Provisions

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws provide that our board of directors, by the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, is expressly authorized to make, alter, amend, change, add to, rescind or repeal, in whole or in part, our Bylaws without a stockholder vote in any matter not inconsistent with the laws of the State of Delaware. Any amendment, alteration, rescission or repeal of our Bylaws by our stockholders requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority in voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class.

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that it may be amended, altered, changed or repealed in accordance with the DGCL.

 

Exclusive Forum

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, unless the we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Company to us or our stockholders, creditors or other constituents, (iii) action asserting a claim against the Company or any of our directors or officers arising pursuant to, or a claim against the Company or any director or officer of the Company with respect to the interpretation or application of any provision of, the DGCL, our Certificate of Incorporation or our Bylaws or (iv) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be solely and exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, any other court located in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of capital stock of the Company will be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation. However, it is possible that a court could find our forum selection provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. Although we believes this provision benefits it by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in believe types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; provided, however, that this provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

The transfer agent for our Common Stock and warrant agent for the Warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company.

 

Listing

 

Our Common Stock and listed Warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “RVPH” and RVPHW”, respectively.

 

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