Authorized but Unissued Shares
The authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock will be made available for future issuance without stockholder approval, subject to any limitations imposed by the listing standards of the NYSE. 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 more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Special Meetings of Stockholders
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of the stockholders may only be called (i) by or at the direction of a majority of the Board of Directors, or, (ii) as long as the Sponsor and its affiliates beneficially own, in the aggregate, at least 40% of the voting power of our common stock, by our corporate secretary or any person performing the equivalent function at the request of the Sponsor and its affiliates. Once the Sponsor and its affiliates cease to beneficially own, in the aggregate, at least 40% of the voting power of our common stock, special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by or at the direction of a majority of the Board of Directors, not by our stockholders.
Our amended and restated bylaws will prohibit the conduct of any business at a special meeting other than as specified in the notice for such meeting.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Meetings, Nominations and Proposals
Any stockholder who wishes to bring business before, or nominate directors to be voted on at, an annual meeting of stockholders will be required to comply with the advance notice requirements set forth in our amended and restated bylaws. These provisions may have the effect of deferring, delaying or discouraging hostile takeovers or changes in control of us or our management. Pursuant to our amended and restated bylaws, the Sponsor and its affiliates will not be required to comply with these advance notice provisions, (i) with respect to business brought before an annual meeting, as long as they may take stockholder action by written consent, and (ii) with respect to director nominations, for any nominations that they make in accordance with the stockholders agreement.
Stockholder Action by Written Consent
Pursuant to Delaware law, unless our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides otherwise, any action required to be taken at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent/consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, is/are signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of our stock entitled to vote thereon were present and voted. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits stockholder action by written consent (and, thus, requires that all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders), if the Sponsor ceases to beneficially own at least 40% of the voting power of our common stock.
Amendment of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or Amended and Restated Bylaws
Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the affirmative vote of the holders of atleast two-thirds of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of voting stock, voting as a single class, will be required to amend certain provisions of the certificate of incorporation, including provisions relating to the size of the Board of Directors, removal of directors, special meetings of stockholders, stockholder actions by written consent and cumulative voting, once the Sponsor and its affiliates cease to beneficially own at least 40% of the voting power of our common stock. Additionally, to amend or repeal our amended and restated bylaws, the affirmative vote of holders of atleast two-thirds of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of voting stock, voting as a single class, will be required, once the Sponsor and its affiliates cease to beneficially own, in the aggregate, at least 40% of the voting power of our common stock.
As long as the Sponsor and its affiliates beneficially own, in the aggregate, at least 40% of the voting power of our common stock, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may be amended by the holders of a majority of the voting power of our outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote, in addition to any other vote otherwise required by law.
At any point, our amended and restated bylaws may also be amended by a simple majority of our Board of Directors.
Business Combinations
We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL. Subject to certain exceptions, Section 203 prevents a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with any “interested stockholder” for three years
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