Exhibit 4.4
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT
TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
As of March 12, 2020, Provention Bio, Inc. had one class of common stock registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
The following description of our common stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and our amended and restated bylaws (the “Bylaws”), each of which is incorporated herein by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, of which this Exhibit 4.4 is a part. We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and the applicable provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) for additional information.
Authorized Capital Stock
Our authorized capital stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
Common Stock
Holders of our common stock are entitled to such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available for such purpose. The shares of common stock are neither redeemable nor convertible. Holders of common stock have no preemptive or subscription rights to purchase any of our securities.
Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each such share outstanding in the holder’s name. No holder of common stock is entitled to cumulate votes in voting for directors.
In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive pro rata our assets, which are legally available for distribution, after payments of all debts and other liabilities. All of the outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and non-assessable.
Listing
Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “PRVB.”
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
The provisions of the DGCL, our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another person from acquiring control of our company. These provisions, which are summarized below, may have the effect of discouraging takeover bids. They are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
Delaware Law
We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination (as defined below) with any interested stockholder (as defined below) for a period of three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
| | ● prior to that 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; |
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| | ● upon consummation 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 commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of shares of voting stock outstanding (but not the voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned by persons who are directors and officers and by excluding 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 |
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| | ● on or subsequent to that date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors of the corporation 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 that is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
In general, Section 203 defines “business combination” to include the following:
| | ● any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; |
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| | ● any sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder; |
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| | ●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; |
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| | ● subject to limited 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; or |
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| | ● 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. |
In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation, or who beneficially owns 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation at any time within a three-year period immediately prior to the date of determining whether such person is an interested stockholder, and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by any of these entities or persons.
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions
Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws include a number of provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of our Company. Certain of these provisions are summarized in the following paragraphs.
Effects of authorized but unissued common stock.One of the effects of the existence of authorized but unissued common stock may be to enable our board of directors to make more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of our Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby to protect the continuity of management. If, in the due exercise of its fiduciary obligations, the board of directors were to determine that a takeover proposal was not in our best interest, such shares could be issued by the board of directors without stockholder approval in one or more transactions that might prevent or render more difficult or costly the completion of the takeover transaction by diluting the voting or other rights of the proposed acquirer or insurgent stockholder group, by putting a substantial voting block in institutional or other hands that might undertake to support the position of the incumbent board of directors, by effecting an acquisition that might complicate or preclude the takeover, or otherwise.
Cumulative Voting. Our Certificate of Incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors, which would allow holders of less than a majority of the stock to elect some directors.
Director Vacancies.Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that all vacancies may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum.
Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders. Our Bylaws provide that stockholders may act by written consent. However, stockholders pursuing an action by written consent will be required to comply with certain notice and record date requirements that are set forth in the DGCL. A special meeting of stockholders may be called by the Chairman of the board of directors, the President, the Chief Executive Officer, or the board of directors at any time and for any purpose or purposes as shall be stated in the notice of the meeting, or by request of the holders of record of at least 20% of outstanding shares of common stock. This provision could prevent stockholders from calling a special meeting because, unless certain significant stockholders were to join with them, they might not obtain the percentage necessary to request the meeting. Therefore, stockholders holding less than 20% of issued and outstanding common stock, without the assistance of management, may be unable to propose a vote on any transaction which may delay, defer or prevent a change of control, even if the transaction were in the best interests of certain of our stockholders.
Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations. Our Bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as director. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with such advance notice procedures and provide us with certain information. Our Bylaws allow the presiding officer at a meeting of stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if such rules and regulations are not followed. 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 our Company.
Supermajority Voting for Amendments to Our Governing Documents. Any amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation related to the provisions governing, among other things, the general powers of the Board of Directors, the number and election of directors, the filling of director vacancies, the ability of the Board to adopt, amend or repeal the Bylaws, the ability to call special stockholder meetings, and director liability and indemnification, will require the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of all shares of our capital stock then outstanding. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that the board of directors is expressly authorized to adopt, amend or repeal our Bylaws and that our stockholders may amend our Bylaws only with the approval of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of all shares of our capital stock then outstanding.
Choice of Forum. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, subject to certain exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for any claim, including any derivative claim, (i) that is based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director or officer or stockholder in such capacity or (ii) as to which the DGCL, or any other provision of Title 8 of the Delaware Code, confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery.
Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or any other claim for which the federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction.
