Description of Securities

EX-4.6 2 f10k2020ex4-6_ventoux.htm DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Exhibit 4.6

 

DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

As of December 31, 2020, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company has four classes of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): the Company’s common stock, $0.0001 par value (“common stock”), rights to receive common stock (“rights”), warrants to purchase common stock (“warrants”), and units comprised of one share of common stock, one right entitling the holder to receive one-twentieth (1/20) of a share of common stock, and one warrant to purchase one-half (1/2) of one share of common stock.

 

The following description of the Company’s capital stock and provisions of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the Delaware General Corporation Law are summaries and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws and the text of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Copies of these documents have been filed with the SEC as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this description has been filed as an exhibit.

 

The Company’s authorized capital stock consists of 50,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. The authorized and unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock are available for issuance without further action by the Company’s stockholders, unless such action is required by applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange on which the Company’s securities may be listed. Unless approval of stockholders is so required, the Company’s board of directors will not seek stockholder approval for the issuance and sale of common stock. No preferred shares are issued or outstanding.

 

Units

 

Each unit consists of one share of common stock, one right and one warrant. Each right entitles the holder to receive one-twentieth (1/20) of a share of common stock. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one-half (1/2) of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustment. Each warrant will become exercisable on the later of one year after the closing of the IPO or the consummation of an initial business combination, and will expire five years after the completion of an initial business combination, or earlier upon redemption. The private warrants purchased by Chardan International Investments, LLC (“Chardan Investments”) will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the Company’s registration statement, in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8), as long as Chardan Capital Markets, LLC or any of its related persons beneficially own these private warrants.

 

The Company will not issue fractional shares upon conversion of the rights, and no cash will be payable in lieu thereof. As a result, a holder must have 20 rights to receive one share of common stock at the closing of the initial business combination.

 

Common Stock

 

The holders of record of the Company’s common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. In connection with any vote held to approve the Company’s initial business combination, the Company’s insiders, officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective shares of common stock owned by them immediately prior to this offering, including both the insider shares and any shares acquired in this offering or following this offering in the open market, in favor of the proposed business combination.

 

The Company will consummate its initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination.

 

 

 

Pursuant to the Company’s certificate of incorporation, if the Company does not consummate its initial business combination within 15 months (or up to 18 months, as applicable) from the closing of the IPO, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and the board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. The Company’s insiders have agreed to waive their rights to share in any distribution with respect to their insider shares. However, if the Company anticipates that it may not be able to consummate its initial business combination within 15 months, the initial stockholders or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, extend the period of time to consummate an initial business combination one time by up to an additional three months (for a total of up to 18 months to complete an initial business combination) without the need for a separate stockholder vote. Pursuant to the terms of the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the only way to extend the time available for the Company to consummate its initial business combination without the need for a separate stockholder vote is for the initial stockholders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days’ advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, to deposit into the trust account $1,725,000 (due to the exercise in full of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) ($0.10 per share), if extended for the full 3 months, on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Pursuant to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement, if such funds are not deposited, the time to complete an initial business combination cannot be extended unless the Company’s stockholders otherwise approve an extension on different terms. In the event that they elected to extend the time to complete an initial business combination and deposited the applicable amount of money into trust, the initial stockholders would receive a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that the Company is unable to close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. Such notes would be paid upon consummation of the initial business combination. In the event that the Company receives notice from the insiders five days prior to the applicable deadline of their intent to effect an extension, the Company intends to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline.

 

The Company’s stockholders have no conversion, preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the shares of common stock, except that public stockholders have the right to sell their shares to the Company in any tender offer or have their shares of common stock converted to cash equal to their pro rata share of the trust account if they vote on the proposed business combination and the business combination is completed. In order for a public stockholder to have his, her or its shares redeemed for cash in connection with any proposed business combination, the Company may require that the public stockholders vote either in favor of or against a proposed business combination. If required to vote pursuant to the procedures specified in the proxy statement to stockholders relating to the business combination, and a public stockholder fails to vote in favor of or against the proposed business combination, whether that stockholder abstains from the vote or simply does not vote, that stockholder would not be able to have his, her or its shares of common stock redeemed to cash in connection with such business combination.

 

If the Company holds a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of the certificate of incorporation relating to stockholder’s rights or pre-business combination activity (including the substance or timing within which the Company to complete a business combination), the Company will provide the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, in connection with any such vote. In either of such events, converting stockholders would be paid their pro rata portion of the trust account promptly following consummation of the business combination or the approval of the amendment to the certificate of incorporation. If the business combination is not consummated or the amendment is not approved, stockholders will not be paid such amounts.

 

Preferred Stock

 

There are no shares of preferred stock outstanding. The board of directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of common stock. However, the underwriting agreement between the Company and the underwriters in the IPO prohibits the Company, prior to a business combination, from issuing preferred stock which participates in any manner in the proceeds of the trust account, or which votes as a class with the common stock on the initial business combination. The Company may issue some or all of the preferred stock to effect the initial business combination. In addition, the preferred stock could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company.

 

Warrants

 

Each public warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one-half (1/2) of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustment as described below, at any time commencing on the later of one year after the closing of the IPO or the consummation of an initial business combination. However, no public warrants will be exercisable for cash unless the Company has an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is not effective within 120 days from the closing of the initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act. The warrants will expire five years from the closing of the initial business combination at 5:00 p.m., New York City time.

 

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The private warrants are identical to the public warrants except that (i) each private warrant is exercisable for one share of common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, and (ii) such private warrants will be exercisable for cash (even if a registration statement covering 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 the Company, in each case so long as they are still held by the initial purchasers or their affiliates. The private warrants purchased by Chardan Investments will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the registration statement, in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8), as long as Chardan Capital Markets, LLC or any of its related persons beneficially own these private warrants.

 

The Company may call the outstanding warrants for redemption (excluding the private warrants but including any warrants already issued upon exercise of the unit purchase option), in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant:

 

  at any time while the 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 shares of common stock equals or exceeds $16.50 per share, for any 20 trading days within a 30-day trading period ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders, and
     
  if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying such 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 warrants are exercised prior to the date specified in the notice of redemption. On and after the redemption date, a record holder of a 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 warrants have been established at a price which is intended to provide warrant holders 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 the redemption call, the redemption will not cause the share price to drop below the exercise price of the warrants.

 

If the Company calls the warrants for redemption as described above, the Company’s management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the 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 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 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 warrants. Whether the Company will exercise the option to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” will depend on a variety of factors including the price of the shares of common stock at the time the warrants are called for redemption, the Company’s cash needs at such time and concerns regarding dilutive share issuances.

 

The warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and the Company. 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 recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. In addition, if the Company issues additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial business combination at a newly issued price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares or private warrants held by them, as applicable, prior to such issuance), the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the newly issued price and the $16.50 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 165% of the market value (the volume weighted average trading price of the common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the consummation of an initial business combination).

 

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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, by certified or official bank check payable to the Company, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of shares 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 stockholders.

 

Except as described above, no public warrants will be exercisable for cash, and the Company will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless at the time a holder seeks to exercise such warrant, a prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the 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 warrants. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, the Company has 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 warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, the Company cannot assure you that it will be able to do so and, if the Company does not maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their warrants, and the Company 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 warrants is not current or if the common stock is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, the Company will not be required to net cash settle or cash settle the warrant exercise, the warrants may have no value, the market for the warrants may be limited, and the warrants may expire worthless.

 

A holder of a warrant may notify the Company in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.99% or 9.99% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) 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, the Company will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.

 

The Company has agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against the Company arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Company irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

 

Contractual Arrangements with respect to the Certain Warrants

 

The Company has agreed that so long as the private warrants are still held by the initial purchasers or their affiliates, the Company will not redeem such warrants, and it will allow the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis (even if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants is not effective). However, once any of the foregoing warrants are transferred from the initial purchasers or their affiliates, these arrangements will no longer apply. Furthermore, because the private warrants will be issued in a private transaction, the holders and their transferees will be allowed to exercise the private warrants for cash even if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants is not effective and receive unregistered shares of common stock.

 

Rights

 

Each right represents the right to receive one-twentieth (1/20) of one share of common stock upon the consummation of the Company’s initial business combination, so each holder of 20 rights will receive one share of common stock upon consummation of the initial business combination, whether or not the Company will be the surviving entity and even if the holder of such right redeemed all common stock held by him, her or it in connection with the initial business combination or an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation with respect to the Company’s pre-business combination activities. No fractional shares will be issued upon conversion of any rights, so holders must hold rights in denominations of 20 in order to receive a share of common stock at the closing of the initial business combination. No additional consideration will be required to be paid by a holder of rights in order to receive his, her or its additional common stock upon consummation of an initial business combination as the consideration related thereto has been included in the unit purchase price previously paid for by investors. The shares issuable upon exchange of the rights will be freely tradable (except to the extent held by affiliates of the Company).

 

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As soon as practicable upon the occurrence of an initial business combination, the Company will direct holders of the rights to return their rights certificates to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, in its capacity as rights agent. Upon receipt of the rights certificate, in a business combination in which the Company will be the surviving entity, the Company will issue to the registered holder of such rights the number of full shares of common stock to which the holder is entitled.

 

If the Company enters into a definitive agreement for a business combination in which the Company will not be the surviving entity, the definitive agreement will provide for the holders of rights to receive the same per share consideration the holders of the common stock will receive in the transaction on an as-converted into common stock basis, and each holder of a right will be required to affirmatively convert his, her or its rights in order to receive the one-twentieth (1/20) share underlying each right (without paying any additional consideration) upon consummation of the business combination. More specifically, the right holder will be required to indicate his, her or its election to convert the rights into underlying shares as well as to return the original rights certificates to the Company.

 

If the Company is unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the trust account, holders of rights will not receive any of such funds with respect to their rights, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the trust account with respect to such rights, and the rights will expire worthless.

 

Promptly upon the consummation of the initial business combination, the Company will direct registered holders of the rights to return their rights to the Company’s rights agent. Upon receipt of the rights, the rights agent will issue to the registered holder of such right(s) the number of full shares of common stock to which he, she or it is entitled. The Company will notify registered holders of the rights to deliver their rights to the rights agent promptly upon consummation of such business combination. The Company has been informed by the rights agent that the process of exchanging their rights for common stock should take no more than a matter of days. The foregoing exchange of rights is solely ministerial in nature and is not intended to provide the Company with any means of avoiding its obligation to issue the shares underlying the rights upon consummation of the initial business combination. Other than confirming that the rights delivered by a registered holder are valid, the Company will have no ability to avoid delivery of the shares underlying the rights. Nevertheless, there are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities to the holders of the rights upon consummation of an initial business combination. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the rights. Accordingly, the rights may expire worthless.

 

The Company will not issue any fractional shares upon conversions of the rights upon separation of the units, and no cash will be payable in lieu thereof. As a result, a holder must have 20 rights to receive one share of common stock. In the event that any holder would otherwise be entitled to any fractional share upon exchange of his, her or its rights, the Company will reserve the option, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to deal with any such fractional entitlement at the relevant time as the Company sees fit, which would include the rounding down of any entitlement to receive common stock to the nearest whole share (and in effect extinguishing any fractional entitlement), or the holder being entitled to hold any remaining fractional entitlement (without any share being issued) and to aggregate the same with any future fractional entitlement to receive shares in the company until the holder is entitled to receive a whole number. Any rounding down and extinguishment may be done with or without any in lieu cash payment or other compensation being made to the holder of the relevant rights, such that value received on exchange of the rights may be considered less than the value that the holder would otherwise expect to receive. All holders of rights shall be treated in the same manner with respect to the issuance of shares upon conversions of the rights.

 

The Company has agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against the Company arising out of or relating in any way to the rights agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Company irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

 

Special meeting of stockholders

 

The Company’s bylaws provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of the board of directors, by the president or by the chairman.

 

Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations

 

The Company’s bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before an annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at an annual meeting of stockholders must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be delivered to the Company’s principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day prior to the scheduled date of the annual meeting of stockholders. The Company’s bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude the Company’s stockholders from bringing matters before an annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at an annual meeting of stockholders.

 

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Authorized but unissued shares

 

The Company’s authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval, and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

 

Exclusive Forum For Certain Lawsuits

 

The Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if and only if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks subject matter jurisdiction, any state court located within the State of Delaware or, if and only if all such state courts lack subject matter jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) and any appellate court therefrom shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the following claims or causes of action under the Delaware statutory or common law: (A) any derivative claim or cause of action brought on behalf of the Company; (B) any claim or cause of action for breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, or any claim or cause of action for aiding and abetting any such breach; (C) any claim or cause of action against the Company or any current or former director, officer or other employee of the Company, arising out of or pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the amended and restated certificate of incorporation or the bylaws of the Company (as each may be amended from time to time); (D) any claim or cause of action seeking to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the amended and restated certificate of Incorporation or the bylaws of the Company (as each may be amended from time to time, including any right, obligation, or remedy thereunder); (E) any claim or cause of action as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware; and (F) any claim or cause of action against the Company or any current or former director, officer or other employee of the Company, governed by the internal-affairs doctrine, in all cases to the fullest extent permitted by law and subject to the court having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the inclusion of such provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not be deemed to be a waiver by the stockholders of the Company’s obligation to comply with federal securities laws, rules and regulations, and the provisions of this paragraph will not apply to claims or causes of action brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act, or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

 

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