DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK
All holders of shares of our Common Stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters voted on by stockholders, including election of our directors, but excluding any matter that, pursuant to the terms of any class or series of our preferred stock, may be voted on only by the holders of preferred stock. Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast at a meeting in which directors are being elected and at which a quorum is present. Our Charter does not provide for cumulative voting in the election of our directors, which means that the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Common Stock can effectively elect all of the directors then standing for election, and the holders of the remaining shares will not be able to elect any directors. Subject to any preferential rights of any outstanding class or series of preferred stock (or other capital stock), the holders of shares of our Common Stock are entitled to such distributions as may be authorized from time to time by our board of directors and declared by us out of legally available funds and, in the event of our liquidation, dissolution, or winding up, are also entitled to share ratably in our assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders after payment of, or adequate provision for, all of our known debts and liabilities. All holders of our Common Stock share equally in any distributions authorized by our board of directors and declared by us and payable to holders of our Common Stock.
Our common stockholders have no preference, exchange, sinking fund, or redemption rights and have no preemptive rights to purchase or subscribe for any of our capital stock. As permitted by the MGCL, our Charter does not include a provision, providing that our stockholders are not entitled to exercise the rights of an objecting stockholder, sometimes referred to as “appraisal rights.” However, the MGCL further provides that these rights are not available to holders of stock of any class or series listed on a national securities exchange. Accordingly, the Common Stock is not entitled to these rights (applicable only under limited circumstances, including a merger, consolidation, share exchange, or transfer of assets). Subject to the restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock in our Charter, holders of shares of our Common Stock have equal dividend, liquidation, and other rights. Because our operating assets are held by the OP or its wholly-owned subsidiaries, these subsidiaries may be able to merge or transfer all or substantially all of their assets without the approval of our stockholders. Stockholders are not liable for our acts or obligations solely due to their status as stockholders.
Our board of directors has authorized the issuance of shares of our capital stock without certificates. Shares of our Common Stock are held in “uncertificated” form, which eliminates the physical handling and safekeeping responsibilities inherent in owning transferable share certificates and eliminates the need to return a duly executed share certificate to effect a transfer. Information regarding restrictions on the transferability of our shares of Common Stock that, under Maryland law, would otherwise have been required to appear on our share certificates are instead furnished to our stockholders upon request and without charge. We maintain a stock ledger that contains the name and address of each stockholder and the number of shares that the stockholder holds.
Pursuant to the OP Agreement, as a general rule, each non-managing member may exercise a redemption right to redeem his or her OP Units for either cash or, at our election, a number of shares of our Common Stock at any time beginning six months following the date of the issuance of the OP Units held by the non-managing member.
Power to Issue Additional Shares of Common Stock
We believe that the power to issue additional shares of our Common Stock and to classify or reclassify unissued shares of our Common Stock and to issue the classified or reclassified shares provides us with increased flexibility in structuring possible future financings and acquisitions and in meeting other needs which might arise. Pursuant to our Charter, our board of directors may take these actions without approval by our stockholders, unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law, the terms of any class or series of our stock, or the rules of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which our stock may be listed or traded. Although we have no present intention of doing so, we could issue a class or series of stock that could delay, defer, or prevent a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium price for our stock or that our stockholders otherwise believe to be in their best interest. In addition, our issuance of additional shares of stock in the future could dilute the voting and other rights of the holders of shares of Common Stock.
Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer of Shares of Capital Stock
For us to qualify as a REIT, no more than 50% in value of the outstanding shares of our stock may be owned, directly or indirectly through the application of certain attribution rules under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), by any five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code to include specified entities, during the last half of any taxable year, excluding our first taxable year for which we elected to be taxed as a REIT. In addition, the outstanding shares of our stock must be owned by 100 or more persons during at least 335 days of a 12-month taxable year or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year, excluding our first taxable year for which we elected to be taxed as a REIT. In addition, we must meet requirements regarding the nature of our gross income to qualify as a REIT. One of these requirements is that at least 75% of our gross income for each calendar year must consist of rents from real property and income from other real property investments. Subject to special rules for leases to our taxable REIT subsidiaries, the aggregate of the rents received by the OP from any tenant will not qualify as rents from real property, which could result in our loss of REIT status, if we own, actually or constructively within the meaning of certain provisions of the Code, 10% or more of the ownership interests in that tenant. To assist us in preserving our status as a REIT, among other consequences, our Charter contains limitations on the ownership and transfer of shares of our stock which are intended to prohibit: (1) any person or entity from owning or acquiring, directly or indirectly, more than 9.8% of the value of the aggregate of our then outstanding capital stock (of any class or series) or more than 9.8% of the value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the aggregate of our then outstanding Common Stock and (2) any transfer of or other event or transaction with respect to shares of capital stock that would result in the beneficial ownership of our outstanding shares of capital stock by fewer than 100 persons. In addition, our Charter includes provisions intended to prohibit any transfer of, or other event with respect to, shares of our capital stock that would result in us being “closely held” within the meaning of Section 856(h) of the Code or otherwise failing to qualify as a REIT (including, but not limited to, ownership that would result in us owning an interest in a tenant if the income derived by us from such tenant would cause us to fail to satisfy any of the gross income requirements of Section 856(c) of the Code).
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