Exhibit 4.2
Description of Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The following is a description of the common stock of Zosano Pharma Corporation (“we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company”), which is the only security of the Company registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). For a complete description of the matters set forth in this Description of Securities, you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and amended and restated bylaws, each of which are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as well as the relevant provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law.
General
Our authorized capital stock consists of 250,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share, all of which shares of preferred stock are undesignated.
Common Stock
Voting rights. Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share held of record on all matters to be voted upon by our stockholders. The election of directors by our stockholders is determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election. Other matters subject to a vote by our stockholders are decided by the affirmative vote of our stockholders having a majority in voting power of the votes cast by the stockholders present or represented and voting on such matter. Our common stock does not have cumulative voting rights.
Dividend rights. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to the holders of any outstanding shares of our preferred stock, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive such lawful dividends as may be declared by our Board of Directors.
Liquidation and dissolution. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, and subject to the rights of the holders of any outstanding shares of our preferred stock, the holders of shares of our common stock will be entitled to receive pro rata all of our remaining assets available for distribution to our stockholders.
Other rights and restrictions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not permit us to redeem shares of our common stock at our election, provide for a sinking fund with respect to our common stock or provide for the granting of preemptive rights to any stockholder. All outstanding shares are fully paid and nonassessable.
Preferred Stock
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our Board of Directors is authorized, without stockholder approval, from time to time to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, each of the series to have such rights and preferences, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences, as the Board of Directors may determine. The rights of the holders of common stock will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of any preferred stock that we may issue in the future. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing desirable flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes,
could have the effect of making it more difficult for others to acquire, or of discouraging others from attempting to acquire, a majority of our outstanding voting stock. We have no current plans to issue any shares of preferred stock.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Provisions of Delaware Law and Our Charter and Bylaws
Provisions of Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make it more difficult to acquire us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest, open market purchases, removal of incumbent directors and otherwise. These provisions, summarized below, are expected to discourage types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with us. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover or acquisition proposals because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
We must comply with Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, an anti-takeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to an interested stockholder. An “interested stockholder” includes a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or did own within three years before the determination of interested stockholder status, 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock. The existence of this provision generally will have an anti-takeover effect for transactions not approved in advance by the Board of Directors, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws require that any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of the stockholders and may not be effected by a consent in writing. In addition, special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by the Board of Directors and some of our officers. Our amended and restated bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of stockholders, including proposed nominations of candidates for election to our Board of Directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide for our Board of Directors to be divided into three classes, with each class serving staggered three-year terms. These provisions may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying changes in our control or management.
Listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market
Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “ZSAN.”
Authorized but Unissued Shares
The authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuance without stockholder approval, subject to any limitations imposed by the Nasdaq Listing Rules. These additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate finance transactions, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock
could make it more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.