DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT'S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following is a description of the common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of Varonis Systems, Inc. (the “Company,” “we” or “us”) registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). This description is a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, copies of which are filed as Exhibit 3.1 and 3.2, respectively, to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (the “Annual Report”). We refer in this exhibit to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as our certificate of incorporation, and we refer to our amended and restated bylaws as our bylaws.
General
Our authorized capital stock consists of 200 million shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, all of which shares of preferred stock are undesignated.
As of December 31, 2022, 107,673,052 shares of our common stock were outstanding, and no shares of preferred stock were outstanding.
Common Stock
Voting Rights. The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters properly submitted to a vote of the stockholders. The holders of our common stock do not have any cumulative voting rights. Directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. All other matters, unless otherwise provided by applicable law, the rules or regulations of any stock exchange applicable to the Company, the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws (as disclosed herein), shall be decided by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the shares of stock entitled to vote thereon, regardless of whether such holders actually vote their shares on such matter or abstain from doing so.
Dividend Rights and Liquidation Rights. Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably any dividends declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available for that purpose, subject to any preferential dividend rights of any outstanding preferred stock. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of our common stock will be entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of all debts and other liabilities and any liquidation preference of any outstanding preferred stock.
Other Rights and Preferences. Our common stock has no preemptive rights, conversion rights or other subscription rights or redemption or sinking fund provisions. The outstanding shares are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The rights and privileges of holders of our common stock are subject to any series of preferred stock that we may issue, as described below.
Preferred Stock
Our board of directors is authorized, subject to any limitations prescribed by law, without stockholder approval, to issue from time to time up to an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, in one or more series, each series to have such rights and preferences, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences as our board of directors
determines. The rights of the holders of common stock will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of any preferred stock that may be issued in the future. As of the date of the filing of the Annual Report, we had no shares of preferred stock outstanding.
Anti-Takeover Effects of our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and Delaware Law
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws include a number of provisions that may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing another party from acquiring control of us and encouraging persons considering unsolicited tender offers or other unilateral takeover proposals to negotiate with our board of directors rather than pursue non-negotiated takeover attempts. These provisions include the items described below.
Board Composition and Filling Vacancies. Our certificate of incorporation provides for the division of our board of directors into three classes serving staggered three-year terms, with one class being elected each year. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that directors may be removed only for cause and then only by the affirmative vote of the holders of 75% or more of the shares then entitled to vote at an election of directors. Furthermore, any vacancy on our board of directors, however occurring, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the size of our board, may only be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of our directors then in office even if less than a quorum, unless otherwise determined by our board to be filled by stockholders. The classification of directors, together with the limitations on removal of directors and treatment of vacancies, has the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of our board of directors.
No Written Consent of Stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation provides that all stockholder actions are required to be taken by a vote of the stockholders at an annual or special meeting, and that stockholders may not take any action by written consent in lieu of a meeting. This limit may lengthen the amount of time required to take stockholder actions and would prevent the amendment of our bylaws or removal of directors by our stockholders without holding a meeting of stockholders.
Meetings of Stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that only the chairperson of our board, the lead independent director, if any, the chief executive offer, the president or a majority of the total authorized number of directors may call special meetings of stockholders and only those matters set forth in the notice of the special meeting may be considered or acted upon at a special meeting of stockholders. Our bylaws limit the business that may be conducted at an annual meeting of stockholders to those matters properly brought before the meeting.
Advance Notice Requirements. Our bylaws establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or new business to be brought before meetings of our stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals must be timely given in writing to our corporate secretary prior to the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 75 days nor more than 105 days prior to the first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year. Our bylaws specify the requirements as to form and content of all stockholders’ notices. These requirements may preclude stockholders from bringing matters before the stockholders at an annual or special meeting.
Amendment to Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws. Any amendment of our certificate of incorporation must first be approved by a majority of our board of directors, and if required by law or our certificate of incorporation, must thereafter be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to
vote on the amendment and, if applicable, by a majority of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class, except that the amendment of the provisions relating to stockholder action, the requirements for the amendment of our bylaws, board composition (including size, classification, term, removal and vacancies), director liability and indemnification and the requirements for the amendment of our certificate of incorporation must be approved by not less than 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment voting together as a single class.
Our bylaws may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, subject to any limitations set forth in the bylaws; and may also be amended by the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, or, if our board of directors recommends that the stockholders approve the amendment, by the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, in each case voting together as a single class.
Undesignated Preferred Stock. Our certificate of incorporation provides for 5,000,000 authorized shares of preferred stock. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock may enable our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. For example, if in the due exercise of its fiduciary obligations, our board of directors were to determine that a takeover proposal is not in the best interests of our stockholders, our board of directors could cause shares of preferred stock to be issued without stockholder approval in one or more private offerings or other transactions that might dilute the voting or other rights of the proposed acquirer or insurgent stockholder or stockholder group. In this regard, our certificate of incorporation grants our board of directors broad power to establish the rights and preferences of authorized and unissued shares of preferred stock. The issuance of shares of preferred stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of shares of common stock. The issuance may also adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of these holders and may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control of us.
Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” (any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock) for a three-year period following the time that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination satisfies one of the following conditions:
•before the stockholder became interested, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
•upon consummation of the transaction which 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 commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans, in some instances, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder; or
•at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by our board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.
Section 203 defines a business combination to include:
•any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;
•any sale, transfer, lease, pledge or other disposition involving the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation;
•subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance of transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;
•subject to exceptions, any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; and
•the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the corporation.
Market Listing
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “VRNS.”
