this proposal is to provide the Company with the flexibility to meet its business and financial needs as described above. Any future issuance of shares will be subject to the Board’s fiduciary duties to act in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders, as well as applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Why Increasing Authorized Shares is Preferable to a Reverse Stock Split
While the Company has the ability to effect a reverse stock split (which was approved by stockholders at the 2025 Annual Meeting) as a means of increasing the number of authorized shares of common stock available for issuance, the Board believes that directly increasing the authorized shares of common stock through a charter amendment is the better approach for the following reasons:
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Avoids Market Perception Issues: Reverse stock splits are often viewed negatively by the market and can create downward pressure on stock prices, even though they do not change the fundamental value of the Company.
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Preserves Share Liquidity: A reverse stock split would reduce the number of shares outstanding, which could reduce trading liquidity and potentially impact the stock’s attractiveness to certain investors.
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Stockholder Preference: The Company has received feedback from stockholders expressing concern about the Company effecting a reverse stock split.
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Avoids Repeated Transactions: If the Company effects a reverse stock split now and later needs additional authorized shares of common stock, it would need to effect another reverse stock split or seek stockholder approval for another charter amendment. Increasing the authorized shares of common stock now provides longer-term flexibility.
For these reasons, the Board believes that approving Proposal 2 is the preferred path forward.
Text of Proposal 2
If Proposal 2 is approved by the requisite stockholder vote, the first paragraph of Article IV of our charter will be amended in its entirety as follows:
“The total number of shares of capital stock which the Corporation shall have the authority to issue is Three Billion Five Million (3,005,000,000) shares, of which (i) Three Billion (3,000,000,000) shares shall be common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), and (ii) Five Million (5,000,000) shares shall be preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Undesignated Preferred Stock).”
Timing and Effect of Proposal 2
If Proposal 2 is approved by our stockholders, the increase in authorized shares of common stock from 1,500,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 will become effective immediately upon the filing of a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, which the Company expects to file promptly after the Special Meeting.
If both Proposal 1 and Proposal 2 are approved by stockholders, the Company will file a single combined Certificate of Amendment that amends both the first paragraph and the fifth paragraph of Article IV of the charter, as set forth in Appendix A to this proxy statement. The combined Certificate of Amendment will become effective upon filing with the Delaware Secretary of State.
If only Proposal 1 is approved (and Proposal 2 is not approved), the Company will file a Certificate of Amendment that amends only the fifth paragraph of Article IV of the charter to implement the Voting Requirement Amendment. In this scenario, the Company will proceed with a reverse stock split as a means of effectively increasing its number of authorized shares of common stock available for issuance.
If only Proposal 2 is approved (and Proposal 1 is not approved), the Company will file a Certificate of Amendment that amends only the first paragraph of Article IV of the charter to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 1,500,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 shares.