DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
We were formed under the laws of the state of Maryland. The rights of our stockholders are governed by Maryland law as well as our charter and bylaws. The following summary of our capital stock does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to Maryland law and to our charter (including the applicable articles supplementary designating the terms of a class or series of preferred stock) and bylaws, copies of which are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. See “Where You Can Find More Information.”
General
Our charter provides that we may issue up to 750,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, and 250,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share. Of our 750,000,000 authorized shares of common stock, 747,509,582 shares have been classified as Class A common stock, $0.01 par value per share, 804,605 shares have been classified as Class B-1 Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share, 804,605 shares have been classified as Class B-2 Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share, 804,605 shares have been classified as Class B-3 Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share, and 76,603 shares have been classified as Class C common stock, $0.01 par value per share. Of our 250,000,000 authorized shares of preferred stock, 10,875,000 shares have been classified as 8.250% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, or the Series A Preferred Stock, 725,000 shares have been classified as Series B Redeemable Preferred Stock, or the Series B Preferred Stock, 4,000,000 shares have been classified as 7.625% Series C Cumulative Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share, or the Series C Preferred Stock, and 4,000,000 shares have been classified as 7.125% Series D Cumulative Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share, or the Series D Preferred Stock. Subject to the preferential rights of any holders of preferred stock, our charter authorizes our board of directors, with the approval of a majority of the directors and without any action by stockholders, to amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue. As of the date of this prospectus, we have 23,756,432 shares of Class A common stock, 76,603 shares of Class C common stock, 5,721,460 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 215,972 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, 2,323,750 shares of Series C Preferred Stock and 2,850,602 shares of Series D Preferred Stock issued and outstanding. In addition, we may issue warrants in connection with our Series B Preferred Stock offering that are exercisable for up to an aggregate of 14,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock. Under Maryland law, stockholders are not generally liable for our debts or obligations.
As of the date of this prospectus, there were outstanding: (a) 6,230,757 units of limited partnership interest in our Operating Partnership, or OP Units, which may, subject to certain limitations, be redeemed for cash or, at our option, exchanged for shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis; and (b) 1,790,084 units of a special class of partnership interest in our Operating Partnership, or LTIP Units, of which (i) 733,873 have vested, (ii) 160,192 will vest ratably on an annual basis over the applicable three-year period that commenced upon issuance, (iii) 125,165 will vest at the end of the applicable three-year period that commenced upon issuance, subject to certain performance-based vesting formulas, and (iv) 770,854 will vest ratably on an annual basis over the applicable five-year period that commenced upon issuance. Upon vesting and reaching capital account equivalency with the OP Units held by us, LTIP Units may convert to OP Units, and may then be settled in shares of our Class A common stock. In addition, the 76,603 shares of our Class C common stock issued as Internalization consideration pursuant to the Contribution Agreement may be converted, or automatically convert, in certain circumstances to shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. Other than those described above, there are no outstanding rights of any other kind in respect of our Class A common stock.
Our charter also contains a provision permitting our board of directors, by resolution, to classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock into one or more classes or series of stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications, or terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock, subject to certain restrictions, including the express terms of any class or series of stock outstanding at the time, such as the Preferred Stock Restrictions (as defined herein). We believe that the power to classify or reclassify unissued shares of stock and thereafter issue the classified or reclassified shares provides us with increased flexibility in structuring possible future financings and acquisitions and in meeting other needs that might arise.