EXHIBIT 4.2
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
As of January 3, 2021, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (the “Company,” “us,” “we,” or “our”) had one class of securities, our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our common stock is listed on New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SITE.”
The following summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), our Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (“Charter”) and our Third Amended and Restated By-laws (“By-laws”), as each may be amended from time to time.
General
The Company has the authority to issue up to 1,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of February 26, 2021, there were 44,351,628 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding,
Common Stock
Holders of common stock are entitled:
•to cast one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders;
•to receive, on a pro rata basis, dividends and distributions, if any, that our board of directors may declare out of legally available funds, subject to preferences that may be applicable to preferred stock, if any, then outstanding; and
•upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, to share equally and ratably in any assets remaining after the payment of all debt and other liabilities, subject to the prior rights, if any, of holders of any outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is subject to our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends to us, which is in turn subject to the restrictions set forth in the agreements that govern our indebtedness.
The holders of our common stock do not have any preemptive, cumulative voting, subscription, conversion, redemption or sinking fund rights. The common stock is not subject to future calls or assessments by us. The rights and privileges of holders of our common stock are subject to any series of preferred stock that we may issue in the future.
Annual Stockholders Meeting
Our By-laws provide that annual stockholder meetings will be held at a date, time and place, if any, as exclusively selected by our board of directors. To the extent permitted under applicable law, we may conduct meetings by remote communications, including by webcast.
Voting
The affirmative vote of a plurality of the shares of our common stock present, in person or by proxy, at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors will decide the election of any directors, and the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our common stock present, in person or by proxy, at the meeting and entitled to vote at any annual or special meeting of stockholders will decide all other matters voted on by stockholders, unless the question is one upon which, by express provision of law, under our Charter, or under our By-laws, a different vote is required, in which case such provision will control.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws
The provisions of our Charter and By-laws summarized below may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a tender offer or takeover attempt that you might consider in your best interest, including an attempt that might result in your receipt of a premium over the market price for your shares. These provisions are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors, which could result in an improvement of their terms.
Authorized but Unissued Shares of Common Stock. Shares of our authorized and unissued common stock are available for future issuances without additional stockholder approval. While the additional shares are not designed to deter or prevent a change of control, under some circumstances we could use the additional shares to create voting impediments or to frustrate persons seeking to effect a takeover or otherwise gain control by, for example, issuing those shares in private placements to purchasers who might side with our board of directors in opposing a hostile takeover bid.
Authorized but Unissued Shares of Preferred Stock. Under our Charter, our board of directors has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the voting powers, designations, preferences and the relative participating, optional or other special rights and qualifications, limitations and restrictions of each series, including dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences and the number of shares constituting any series. The existence of authorized but unissued preferred stock could reduce our attractiveness as a target for an unsolicited takeover bid since we could, for example, issue shares of preferred stock to parties who might oppose such a takeover bid or shares that contain terms the potential acquiror may find unattractive. This may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control, may discourage bids for the common stock at a premium over the market price of the common stock, and may adversely affect the market price of, and the voting and other rights of the holders of, our common stock.
Classified Board of Directors. In accordance with the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with members of each class serving staggered three-year terms. Under our Charter, our board of directors consists of such number of directors as may be determined from time to time by resolution of the board of directors, but in no event may the number of directors be less than one. Any additional directorships resulting from an increase in the number of directors will be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each class will consist of one-third of the directors. Our Charter also provides that any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of our directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. Any director elected to fill a vacancy will hold office until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal. Our classified board of directors could have the effect of delaying or discouraging an acquisition of us or a change in our management.
Removal of Directors. Our Charter provides that directors may be removed only for cause upon the affirmative vote of holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock then entitled to vote at an election of directors.
Special Meetings of Stockholders. Our Charter provides that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of our board of directors or by a resolution adopted by a majority of our board of directors. Stockholders are not permitted to call a special meeting of stockholders.
Stockholder Advance Notice Procedure. Our By-laws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholders to make nominations of candidates for election as directors or to bring other business before an annual meeting of our stockholders. The By-laws provide that any stockholder wishing to nominate persons for election as directors at, or bring other business before, an annual meeting must deliver to our corporate secretary a written notice of the stockholder’s intention to do so. These provisions may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed. We expect that these provisions may also
discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company. To be timely, the stockholder’s notice must be delivered to our corporate secretary at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days before the first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is set for a date that is more than 30 days before or more than 70 days after the first anniversary date of the preceding year’s annual meeting, a stockholder’s notice must be delivered to our corporate secretary (x) not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the meeting or (y) no later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which a public announcement of the date of the meeting is first made by us.
No Stockholder Action by Written Consent. Our Charter provides that stockholder action may be taken only at an annual meeting or special meeting of stockholders.
Limitations on Liability and Indemnification
Our Charter contains provisions permitted under the DGCL relating to the liability of directors. These provisions eliminate a director’s personal liability for monetary damages resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty, except in circumstances involving:
•any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty;
•acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law;
•Section 174 of the DGCL (unlawful dividends); or
•any transaction from which the director derives an improper personal benefit.
The principal effect of the limitation on liability provision is that a stockholder will be unable to prosecute an action for monetary damages against a director unless the stockholder can demonstrate a basis for liability for which indemnification is not available under the DGCL. These provisions, however, should not limit or eliminate our rights or any stockholder’s rights to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s fiduciary duty. These provisions do not alter a director’s liability under federal securities laws. The inclusion of this provision in our Charter may discourage or deter stockholders or management from bringing a lawsuit against directors for a breach of their fiduciary duties, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise have benefited us and our stockholders. In addition, your investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Our Charter and our By-laws require us to indemnify and advance expenses to our directors and officers to the fullest extent not prohibited by the DGCL and other applicable law, except in the case of a proceeding instituted by the director without the approval of our board of directors. Our Charter and our By-laws provide that we are required to indemnify our directors and executive officers, to the fullest extent permitted by law, for all judgments, fines, settlements, legal fees and other expenses incurred in connection with pending or threatened legal proceedings because of the director’s or officer’s positions with us or another entity that the director or officer serves at our request, subject to various conditions, and to advance funds to our directors and officers to enable them to defend against such proceedings. To receive indemnification, the director or officer must have been successful in the legal proceeding or have acted in good faith and in what was reasonably believed to be a lawful manner in our best interest and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, have had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.
Section 203 of Delaware General Corporation Law
The Company is subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“Section 203”), an anti-takeover law. 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 following the date such person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination or the transaction in which such person became
an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Generally, an “interested stockholder” is a person that, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of a corporation’s voting stock. The existence of this provision may have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by the board, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock.
Choice of Forum
Our Charter provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed to us or our stockholders by any of our directors, officers, other employees, agents or stockholders,
(iii) any action asserting a claim arising out of or under the DGCL or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (including, without limitation, any action asserting a claim arising out of or pursuant to our Charter or our By-laws) or (iv) any action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. By becoming a stockholder in our company, you will be deemed to have notice of and have consented to the provisions of our Charter related to choice of forum.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company.
