EXHIBIT 4.5
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 capital stock of Cardio Diagnostics Holdings, Inc. (“Cardio,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) and certain provisions of our third amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “certificate of incorporation”), our bylaws (the “bylaws”) and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), as well as the terms of the warrants issued in our initial public offering (the “public warrants”). This description is summarized from, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, our certificate of incorporation, bylaws, the warrant agreement, dated as of November 22, 2021 (the “Warrant Agreement”), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, and the applicable provisions of the DGCL. Certain terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part. The following describes our registered securities as of December 31, 2023. We encourage you to read our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws and the applicable provisions of the DGCL for additional information.
General
The Company has two classes of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): (1) common stock; and (2) public warrants. The common stock and public warrants are registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “CDIO” and “CDIOW,” respectively.
Our certificate of incorporation currently authorizes the issuance of 300,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.00001 and 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.00001 per share. The following description summarizes the material terms of our registered securities.
Common Stock
Voting Rights
Each holder of our common stock is entitled to cast one vote per share. Holders of common stock are not entitled to cumulative voting rights. Except as otherwise required by law or The Nasdaq Stock Market rules (or such other national stock exchange on which are common stock may then by listed), matters to be voted on by stockholders must be approved by the vote of a majority of the votes cast with respect to the matter. Except as otherwise required by the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or the voting rights granted to the holders of any preferred stock we may subsequently issue, the holders of outstanding shares of common stock and preferred stock entitled to vote thereon, if any, will vote as one class with respect to all matters to be voted on by our stockholders.
Dividend Rights
Each holder of our common stock is entitled to the payment of dividends and other distributions (based on the number of shares of common stock held) as may be declared by our Board of Directors out of our assets or funds legally available for dividends and other distributions. These rights are subject to the preferential rights of the holders of our preferred stock, if any, and any contractual limitations on our ability to declare and pay dividends.
Liquidation, Dissolution and Winding Up
If we are involved in a voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs or a similar event, each holder of our common stock will participate pro rata in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of the holders of our preferred stock, if any, then outstanding.
Other Matters
Holders of shares of our common stock do not have subscription, redemption or conversion rights. All outstanding shares of our common stock are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and do not have cumulative voting rights. An election of directors by our stockholders shall be determined, in an uncontested election, by a majority of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election and, in a contested election, by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election. Holders of common stock are entitled to receive proportionately any dividends as may be declared by our board of directors, subject to any preferential dividend rights of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Our stockholders have no redemption, preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the shares of common stock.
In the event of our liquidation or dissolution, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive an amount of our net assets available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any outstanding preferred stock. Holders of common stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. Our outstanding shares of common stock are validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common stock are subject to and may be adversely affected by the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Public Warrants
Our public warrants are issued under that certain warrant agreement dated November 22, 2021, by and between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, each whole public warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one whole share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below. The public warrants will expire on October 25, 2027, which is five years after completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of common stock pursuant to the exercise of a public warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No public warrant will be exercisable, and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock upon exercise of a public warrant, unless common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the public warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a public warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any public warrant.
We filed a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, and such registration statement was declared effective on January 24, 2023. As specified in the warrant agreement, we are obligated to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed. During any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, warrantholders may exercise public warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis.
We may call the warrants for redemption:
| • | in whole and not in part; | |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; | |
| • | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrantholder; | |
| • | 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; and | |
| • | if, and only if, the reported last sale price of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders. |
We have established the last of the redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied, and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each warrantholder will be entitled to exercise its public warrants prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the public warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification.
If we call the public warrants for redemption, they may be exercised, for cash or on a “cashless basis” in accordance with the warrant agreement, at the option of a holder, at any time after notice of redemption. The notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of common stock to be received in the event the holder has elected to exercise on a cashless basis. If a record holder has not followed the procedures specified in the notice of redemption and has not surrendered his, her or its public warrant before the redemption date, then on and after the redemption date the holder will have no further rights except to receive, upon surrender of the public warrants, the cash redemption price specified of $0.01.
A holder of a public warrants may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such public warrants, 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 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
If the number of outstanding shares of common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of common stock, or by a split-up of shares of common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of common stock. In addition, if we, at any time while the public warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of common stock on account of such shares of common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the public warrants are convertible), other than in certain circumstances as described in the warrant agreement, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of common stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of our common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of common stock.
Whenever the number of shares of common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the public warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the public warrants and in lieu of the shares of our common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the public warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their public warrants immediately prior to such event.
The public warrants have been issued in registered form under the warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which is an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the public warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the public warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
The public warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the public 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 public warrants being exercised. The warrantholders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their public warrants and receive shares of common stock. After the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the public warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the public warrants. If, upon exercise of the public 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 warrantholder.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our shares of common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to a business combination will, subject to the laws of the State of Delaware, be within the discretion of our then board of directors. It is the present intention of our board of directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our board of directors does not anticipate declaring any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our public warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 1 State Street Plaza, New York, New York 10004.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws
We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:
| • | a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”); | |
| • | an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or | |
| • | an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder. |
A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:
| • | our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction; |
| • | after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or | |
| • | on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder. |
Our 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 and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Exclusive Forum for Certain Lawsuits
Our certificate of incorporation requires that, unless the company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any stockholder (including a beneficial owner) to bring (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the company to the company or the company’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the company, its directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or the bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the company, its directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine, except for, as to each of (i) through (iv) above, (a) any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, and (b) any action or claim arising under the Exchange Act or Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the company and its directors, officers, or other employees.
Special Meeting of Stockholders
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our chief executive officer or by our chairman.
Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations; Conduct of Meetings
Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our 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 our 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. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.
Our bylaws allow the chairman of the meeting at a meeting of the 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 the 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 us.
