Exhibit 4.1
Description of Registrant’s Securities Registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The following description of the capital stock of AIRO Group Holdings, Inc., or the Company, and certain provisions of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or the amended and restated certificate, and amended and restated bylaws, or restated bylaws, are summaries. These summaries are qualified in their entirety by reference to the provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law and the complete text of the restated certificate and restated bylaws, which are incorporated by reference as Exhibits 3.1 and 3.2, respectively, of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this description is also an exhibit.
General
The Company’s authorized capital stock consists of 1,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.000001 per share, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.000001 per share. All of the Company’s authorized preferred stock is undesignated.
Common Stock
Voting
Holders of the Company’s common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, including the election of directors, and do not have cumulative voting rights. Accordingly, the holders of a majority of the shares of the Company’s common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors can elect all of the directors standing for election.
Dividends
Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any then-outstanding preferred stock, the common stockholders are entitled to receive dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the Company’s board of directors out of legally available funds.
Liquidation
In the event of the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, holders of the Company’s common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of the Company’s debts and other liabilities, subject to the satisfaction of any liquidation preference granted to the holders of any outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Rights and Preferences
Holders of the Company’s common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights, and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the Company’s common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of the Company’s common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of any preferred stock that the Company may designate and issue in the future.
Fully Paid and Nonassessable
All of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock are fully paid and nonassessable.
Preferred Stock
Under the amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the Company’s board of directors has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series, to fix the rights, preferences and privileges of the shares of each wholly unissued series and any qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereon and to increase or decrease the number of shares of any such series, but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding.
The Company’s board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of the common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control that may otherwise benefit holders of the Company’s common stock and may adversely affect the market price of the common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of the Company’s common stock. The Company has no current plans to issue any shares of preferred stock.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Provisions of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws and Delaware Law
Delaware Anti-Takeover Law
The Company is subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“Section 203”). Section 203 generally prohibits a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the time that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
| ● | prior to such time the board of directors of the corporation 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 (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned (1) by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) 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 | |
| ● | at or subsequent to such time, the business combination is approved by the board of directors 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 which is not owned by the interested stockholder. | |
| ● | any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; | |
| ● | any sale, transfer, 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 or 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. |
In general, Section 203 defines an “interested stockholder” as any entity or person who beneficially owns, or within the three years prior to the time of determination of interested stockholder status did own, 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by such entity or person.
A Delaware corporation may “opt out” of these provisions with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws resulting from a stockholders’ amendment approved by at least a majority of the outstanding voting shares. The Company has not opted out of these provisions. As a result, mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts of the Company may be discouraged or prevented.
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws
Provisions of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may delay or discourage transactions involving an actual or potential change in control or change in management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares or transactions that the Company’s stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. Therefore, these provisions could adversely affect the price of the Company’s common stock. Among other things, the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws:
| ● | permit the Company’s board of directors to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, with any rights, preferences and privileges as they may designate (including the right to approve an acquisition or other change in our control); | |
| ● | provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors; | |
| ● | provide that the board of directors or any individual director may only be removed with cause and the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66-2/3% of the voting power of all of the then outstanding common stock; | |
| ● | provide that all vacancies, including newly created directorships, may, except as otherwise required by law, be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum; | |
| ● | divide the Company’s board of directors into three classes; | |
| ● | require that any action to be taken by the Company’s stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders and not be taken by written consent; | |
| ● | provide that stockholders seeking to present proposals before a meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at a meeting of stockholders must provide notice in writing in a timely manner and also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice; | |
| ● | do not provide for cumulative voting rights (therefore allowing the holders of a majority of the shares of the Company’s common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors to elect all of the directors standing for election, if they should so choose); | |
| ● | provide that special meetings of the Company’s stockholders may be called only by the Chairperson of the board, the Chief Executive Officer or by the board of directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized directors; | |
| ● | provide 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: (i) any derivative claim or cause of action brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any claim or cause of action that is based upon a violation of a duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employees or stockholder, to the Company or its stockholders; (iii) any claim or cause of action against the Company or any of its current or former directors, officers or other employees, arising out of or pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the certificate of incorporation or bylaws; (iv) any claim or cause of action seeking to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the certificate of incorporation or bylaws; (v) any claim or cause of action as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware; and (vi) any claim or cause of action or proceeding asserting a claim against the Company or any of its current or former directors, officers or other employees governed by the internal-affairs doctrine or otherwise related to our internal affairs, in all cases to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law and subject to the court’s having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants; provided, however, that if the designation of such court as the sole and exclusive forum for a claim or action referred to in foregoing clauses (i) through (vi) would violate applicable law, then the United States District Court for the District of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for such claim or cause of action; and | |
| ● | provide that unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or Exchange Act, including all causes of action asserted against any defendant named in such complaint. For the avoidance of doubt, this provision is intended to benefit and may be enforced by the Company, its officers and directors, the underwriters for any offering giving rise to such complaint, and any other professional entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying the offering. |
The amendment of any of these provisions, with the exception of the ability of the Company’s board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock and designate any rights, preferences and privileges thereto, would require approval by the holders of at least 66-2/3% of the Company’s then-outstanding common stock.
Exchange Listing
The common stock is listed and traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “AIRO.”.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for the Company’s common stock is Equiniti Trust Company, LLC. The transfer agent and registrar’s address is 48 Wall Street, Floor 23, New York, New York 10005.