In the event that any investor fails to maintain the minimum balance of $10,000 of shares of our common stock, the Company may repurchase all of the shares held by that Investor at the repurchase price in effect on the date the Company determines that such investor failed to meet the minimum balance. Minimum account repurchases will apply even in the event that the failure to meet the minimum balance is caused solely by a decline in our NAV.
Certain Provisions of Maryland Law and Our Charter and Bylaws
Business Combinations
Under the MGCL, certain “business combinations” (including a merger, consolidation, statutory share exchange or, in certain circumstances, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities) between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder (defined generally as any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock or an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time during the two-year period immediately prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 10% or more of the voting power of the then-outstanding stock of the corporation) or an affiliate of such an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder.
Thereafter, any such business combination must generally be recommended by the board of directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least (a) 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation and (b) two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation, other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom (or with whose affiliate) the business combination is to be effected or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder, unless, among other conditions, the corporation’s common stockholders receive a minimum price (as determined in accordance with the applicable provisions of the MGCL) for their shares and the consideration is received in cash or in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares. A person is not an interested stockholder under the statute if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which the person otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. A corporation’s board of directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of approval, with any terms and conditions determined by the board.
Pursuant to the statute, the Board has by resolution exempted business combinations (a) between us, our Adviser and our Manager and its respective affiliates and (b) between us and any other person, provided that in the latter case the business combination is first approved by the Board (including a majority of our directors who are not affiliates or associates of such person). Consequently, the five-year prohibition and the supermajority vote requirements will not apply to a business combination between us, our Adviser or our Manager and/or their affiliates or to a business combination between us and any other person if the Board has first approved the combination. As a result, any person described in the preceding sentence may be able to enter into business combinations with us that may not be in the best interest of our stockholders, without compliance with the supermajority vote requirements and other provisions of the statute. We cannot assure you that the Board will not amend or repeal this resolution in the future.
Control Share Acquisitions
The MGCL provides that holders of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights with respect to such shares except to the extent approved by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares owned by the acquirer, an officer of the corporation or an employee of the corporation who is also a director of the corporation are excluded from shares entitled to vote on the matter.
“Control shares” are voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other such shares of stock owned by the acquirer, or in respect of which the acquirer is able to exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquirer to exercise voting power in electing directors within one of the following ranges of voting power:
| • | | one-tenth or more but less than one-third; |
| • | | one-third or more but less than a majority; or |
| • | | a majority or more of all voting power. |
Control shares do not include shares that the acquiring person is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval or shares acquired directly from the corporation. A “control share acquisition” means the acquisition, directly or indirectly of issued and outstanding control shares, subject to certain exceptions.
A person who has made or proposes to make a control share acquisition, upon satisfaction of certain conditions (including an undertaking to pay expenses and making an “acquiring person statement” as described in the MGCL), may compel the board of the corporation to call a special meeting of stockholders to be held within 50 days of demand to consider the voting rights of the shares. If no request for a meeting is made, the corporation may itself present the question at any stockholders meeting.
If voting rights are not approved at the meeting or if the acquiring person does not deliver an “acquiring person statement” as required by the statute, then, subject to certain conditions and limitations, the corporation may redeem any or all of the control shares (except those for which voting rights have previously been approved) for fair value determined, without regard to the absence of voting rights for the control shares, as of the date of the last control share acquisition by the acquirer or, if a meeting of stockholders was held at which the voting rights of such shares are considered and not approved, as of the date of such meeting. If voting rights for control shares are approved at a stockholders’ meeting and the acquirer becomes entitled to vote a majority of the shares entitled to vote, all other stockholders may exercise appraisal rights. The fair value of the shares as determined for purposes of such appraisal rights may not be less than the highest price per share paid by the acquirer in the control share acquisition.
The control share acquisition statute does not apply to shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or statutory share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction or acquisitions approved or exempted by the Charter or bylaws of the corporation.
Our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the control share acquisition statute any and all acquisitions by any person of shares of our stock. This provision may be amended or eliminated at any time in the future by the Board.
Subtitle 8
Subtitle 8 of Title 3 of the MGCL permits a Maryland corporation with a class of equity securities registered under the Exchange Act and at least three independent directors to elect to be subject, by provision in its charter or bylaws or a resolution of its board of directors and notwithstanding any contrary provision in the charter or bylaws, to any or all of five provisions of the MGCL that provide, respectively, for:
| • | | a classified board of directors; |
| • | | a two-thirds vote requirement for removing a director; |
| • | | a requirement that the number of directors be fixed only by vote of the board of directors; |
| • | | a requirement that a vacancy on the board of directors be filled only by the remaining directors in office and (if the board of directors is classified) for the remainder of the full term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred; and |
| • | | a majority requirement for the calling of a stockholder-requested special meeting of stockholders. |
Through provisions in our charter and bylaws unrelated to Subtitle 8, we already, subject to the terms of any class or series of preferred stock, (a) require a two-thirds vote for removing a director in the event that none of our common stock is listed on a national securities exchange, (b) vest in the Board the exclusive power to fix the number of directorships, and (c) require, unless called by our chairman of the Board, our chief executive officer, our president or the Board, the written request of stockholders entitled to cast a majority of all of the votes entitled to be cast at such a meeting to call a special meeting. If we made an election to be subject to the provisions of Subtitle 8 relating to a classified Board, our Board would automatically be classified into three classes with staggered terms of office of three years each. In such instance, the classification and staggered terms of office of the directors would make it more difficult for a third party to gain control of the Board since at least two annual meetings of stockholders, instead of one, generally would be required to effect a change in the majority of the directors.
The Board
Our Charter provides that the number of directors on the Board is to be fixed exclusively by the Board pursuant to our bylaws, but may not be fewer than the minimum required by Maryland law, which is one. Our bylaws provide that the Board is to consist of not less than one and not more than 15 directors. The Board currently consists of seven directors.
Subject to the terms of any class or series of preferred stock, the Advisory Agreement and other contractual rights, our charter and bylaws provide that vacancies on the Board may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors, even if the remaining directors do not constitute a quorum, and any director elected to fill a vacancy will hold office for the remainder of the full term of the directorship in which the vacancy occurred and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified.
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