Exhibit 2.1
Description of Securities
As of December 31, 2023, NANO-X IMAGING LTD had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): our ordinary shares. References herein to “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refer to NANO-X IMAGING LTX and not to any of its subsidiaries. The following description may not contain all of the information that is important to you, and we therefore refer you to our amended and restated articles of association (our “Articles”), a copy of which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as an exhibit to this annual report on Form 20-F.
Registration Number and Purposes of the Company
Our registration number with the Israeli Registrar of Companies is 515942076. Our purpose as set forth in our amended and restated articles of association is to engage in any lawful activity.
Share capital
Our authorized share capital consists of 100,000,000 ordinary shares, par value NIS 0.01 per share.
All of our outstanding ordinary shares are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. Our ordinary shares are not redeemable and do not have any preemptive rights.
Transfer of Shares
Our fully paid ordinary shares are issued in registered form and may be freely transferred under our Articles, unless the transfer is restricted or prohibited by another instrument, applicable law or the rules of a stock exchange on which the shares are listed for trade. The ownership or voting of our ordinary shares by non-residents of Israel is not restricted in any way by our Articles or the laws of the State of Israel, except for ownership by nationals of some countries that are, or have been, in a state of war with Israel.
Limitation of Liability
The liability of each shareholder for the Company’s obligations is limited to the unpaid sum, if any, owing to the Company in consideration for the issuance of the shares held by such shareholder. If at any time the Company shall issue shares with no nominal value, the liability of the Shareholders shall be limited to the payment of the amount which the Shareholders should have paid the Company in respect of each share in accordance with the conditions of such issuance and was not paid to the Company.
Election of Directors
Our ordinary shares do not have cumulative voting rights for the election of directors. As a result, the holders of a majority of the voting power represented at a shareholders meeting have the power to elect our directors (except the External Directors (as defined in the Israel Companies Law, 5759-1999 (the “Companies Law”)), to the extent elected).
Under our Articles, the number of directors on our board of directors must be no less than five and no more than ten (in each case including at least two External Directors, as defined in the Companies Law, to the extent appointed). Subject to the aforesaid, the number of directors shall be determined, from time to time, by a majority of the Directors then in office; provided that no determination in respect of a decrease in the number of directors shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.
The vote required to appoint a director is a simple majority vote (other than the External Directors, to the extent elected). In addition, under our Articles, our board of directors may elect new directors to fill vacancies (whether such vacancy is due to a director no longer serving or due to the number of directors serving being less than the maximum required in our Articles), provided that the total number of directors shall not, at any time, exceed ten. Our Articles provide that the term of a director appointed by our board of directors to fill any vacancy will be for the remaining term of office of the director(s) whose office(s) have been vacated, or in case of a vacancy due to the number of Directors serving being less than the maximum number stated in the Articles, the Board shall determine at the time of appointment the class pursuant to the Articles to which the additional director shall be assigned. Furthermore, under our Articles, our directors (other than the External Directors, to the extent elected), are divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms, in a way that at each Annual General Meeting the term of office of only one class of Directors will expire. Each class of directors consists, as nearly as possible, of 1/3 of the total number of directors constituting the entire board of directors (other than External Directors, to the extent elected).
Dividend and Liquidation Rights
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares and we anticipate that, for the foreseeable future, we will retain any future earnings to support operations and to finance the growth and development of our business. Therefore, we do not expect to pay cash dividends for at least the next several years.
We may declare a dividend to be paid to the holders of our ordinary shares in proportion to their respective shareholdings. The distribution of dividends may also be limited by the Companies Law, which permits the distribution of dividends only out of retained earnings or earnings derived over the two most recent fiscal years, whichever is higher, provided that there is no reasonable concern that payment of a dividend will prevent a company from satisfying its existing and foreseeable obligations as they become due. In the event that we do not have retained earnings or earnings generated over the two most recent years legally available for distribution, we must seek the approval of the court in order to distribute a dividend. The court may approve our request if it is convinced that there is no reasonable concern that the payment of a dividend will prevent us from satisfying our existing and foreseeable obligations as they become due; as a company listed on an exchange outside of Israel, however, court approval is not required if the proposed distribution is in the form of an equity repurchase, provided that we notify our creditors of the proposed equity repurchase and allow such creditors an opportunity to initiate a court proceeding to review the repurchase. If within 30 days such creditors do not file an objection, then we may proceed with the repurchase without obtaining court approval. Our Articles provide that dividends will be paid at the discretion of, and upon resolution by, our board of directors, subject to the provisions of the Companies Law.
In the event of our liquidation, after satisfaction of liabilities to creditors and other payments due as per applicable law, our assets will be distributed to the holders of our ordinary shares in proportion to their shareholdings. This right, as well as the right to receive dividends, may be affected by the grant of preferential dividend or distribution rights to the holders of a class of shares with preferential rights that may be authorized in the future.
Exchange Controls
There are currently no Israeli currency control restrictions on remittances of dividends on our ordinary shares, proceeds from the sale of the shares or interest or other payments to non-residents of Israel, except for shareholders who are subject of certain countries that have been, or are considered to be, in a state of war with Israel.
Shareholder Meetings
Under Israeli law, we are required to hold an annual general meeting of our shareholders once every calendar year that must be held no later than 15 months after the date of the previous annual general meeting. All general meetings other than the annual meeting of shareholders are referred to in our amended and restated articles of association as special general meetings. Our board of directors may call special general meetings whenever it sees fit, at such time and place, within or outside of Israel, as it may determine. In addition, the Companies Law provides that our board of directors is required to convene a special general meeting upon the written request of (i) any two or more of our directors or one-quarter or more of the members of our board of directors or (ii) one or more shareholders holding, in the aggregate, either (a) 5% or more of our outstanding issued shares and 1% or more of our outstanding voting power or (b) 5% or more of our outstanding voting power.
Under Israeli law, one or more shareholders holding at least 1% of the voting rights at the general meeting may request that the board of directors include a matter in the agenda of a general meeting to be convened in the future, provided that it is appropriate to discuss such a matter at the general meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as a company listed on an exchange outside of Israel, a matter relating to the appointment or removal of a director may only be requested by one or more shareholders holding at least 5% of the voting rights at the general meeting of the shareholders. Our Articles contain procedural guidelines and disclosure items with respect to the submission of shareholder proposals for shareholder meetings.
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Subject to the provisions of the Companies Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder, shareholders entitled to participate and vote at general meetings are the shareholders of record on a date to be decided by the board of directors, which may be between four and sixty days prior to the meeting.
Under the Companies Law, resolutions regarding the following matters must be passed at a general meeting of shareholders:
| ● | amendments to our amended and restated articles of association; |
| ● | appointment, fees or termination of the auditors, if the shareholders have not delegated their authority to set the fees for the auditors to the board of directors; |
| ● | appointment of external directors (if applicable); |
| ● | approval of related-party transactions requiring general meeting approval pursuant to the provisions of the Companies Law; |
| ● | increases or reductions of our authorized share capital; |
| ● | a merger (as such term is defined in the Companies Law); and |
| ● | the exercise of our board of directors’ powers by a general meeting, if our board of directors is unable to exercise its powers and the exercise of any of its powers is required for our proper management. |
Under our Articles, we are required to give notice to our registered shareholders not less than 21 days prior to the meeting. The Companies Law requires that a notice of any annual general meeting or special general meeting be provided to shareholders at least 21 days prior to the meeting and if the agenda of the meeting includes the appointment or removal of directors, the approval of transactions with office holders or interested or related parties, or an approval of a merger, or as otherwise required under applicable law, notice must be provided at least 35 days prior to the meeting. Under the Companies Law, shareholders of a public company are not permitted to take action by written consent in lieu of a meeting. Under Companies Law, whenever we cannot convene or conduct a general meeting in the manner prescribed under the law or our articles of association, the court may, upon our, shareholders’ or directors’ request, order that we convene and conduct a general meeting in the manner the court deems appropriate.
Voting Rights
All of our ordinary shares have identical voting and other rights in all respects.
Quorum Requirements
Pursuant to our Articles, holders of our ordinary shares have one vote for each ordinary share held on all matters submitted to a vote before the shareholders at a general meeting. In any meeting of shareholders, we will follow the quorum requirements for general meetings as set forth in our Articles, instead of one-third of the issued share capital as required under the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules. Pursuant to our Articles, the quorum required for our general meetings of shareholders will consist of at least two shareholders present in person or by proxy (including by voting deed) and holding shares conferring in the aggregate at least 25% of the voting power of the Company. A meeting adjourned for lack of a quorum will generally be adjourned to the same day of the following week at the same time and place, or to such other day, time or place as indicated by our board of directors if so specified in the notice of the meeting. At the reconvened meeting, subject to a limited exception, any number of shareholders present in person or by proxy shall constitute a lawful quorum.
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Vote Requirements
Our Articles provide that all resolutions of our shareholders require a simple majority vote, unless otherwise required by the Companies Law or by our Articles. Pursuant to our Articles, an amendment to our Articles regarding any change of the composition or election procedures of our directors and the removal of a director from office will require a special shareholders majority of at least two-thirds of the voting power represented at the meeting in person or by proxy and voting thereon. Under the Companies Law, among others, each of (i) the approval of an extraordinary transaction with a controlling shareholder and (ii) the terms of employment or other engagement of the controlling shareholder of the company or such controlling shareholder’s relative (even if such terms are not extraordinary) requires special approval and certain transactions with respect to remuneration of our officers and directors, the approval and extension of a compensation policy and certain deviations therefrom require further approvals. Under our Articles, any change to the rights and privileges of the holders of any class of our shares requires a simple majority at a separate meeting of the class so affected (or such other percentage of the relevant class that may be set forth in the governing documents relevant to such class), in addition to the ordinary majority vote of all classes of shares voting together as a single class at a shareholder meeting. Another exception to the simple majority vote requirement is a resolution for an approval of a scheme of arrangement or reorganization, of the company pursuant to Section 350 of the Companies Law, that governs the settlement of debts and reorganization of a company, which requires the approval of holders of 75% of the voting rights represented at the meeting, in person, by proxy or by voting deed and voting on the resolution.
Access to Corporate Records
Under the Companies Law, shareholders generally have the right to review minutes of our general meetings, our shareholders register and material shareholders register, our amended and restated articles of association, our annual audited financial statements and any document that we are required by law to file publicly with the Israeli Registrar of Companies or the Israel Securities Authority. In addition, any shareholder who specifies the purpose of their request may request to review any document related to an action or transaction requiring shareholder approval under the related party transaction provisions of the Companies Law. We may deny this request if we believe it has not been made in good faith or if such denial is necessary to protect our interests or protect a trade secret or patent.
Modification of Class Rights
Under the Companies Law and our Articles, the rights attached to any class of share, such as voting, liquidation and dividend rights, may be amended by adoption of a resolution by the holders of a majority of the shares of that class present at a separate class meeting, or otherwise in accordance with the rights attached to such class of shares, as set forth in our Articles, in addition to the ordinary majority vote of all classes of voting shares voting together as a single class.
Acquisitions under Israeli Law
Full Tender Offer. A person wishing to acquire shares of an Israeli public company and who would as a result hold over 90% of the target company’s voting rights or issued and outstanding share capital is required by the Companies Law to make a tender offer to all of the company’s shareholders for the purchase of all of the issued and outstanding shares of the company. A person wishing to acquire shares of a public Israeli company and who would as a result hold over 90% of the voting rights or issued and outstanding share capital of a certain class of shares is required to make a tender offer to all of the shareholders who hold shares of the relevant class for the purchase of all of the issued and outstanding shares of that class. If the shareholders who do not accept the offer hold less than 5% of the issued and outstanding share capital of the company or of the applicable class, and more than half of the shareholders who do not have a personal interest in the offer accept the offer, all of the shares that the acquirer offered to purchase will be transferred to the acquirer by operation of law. However, a tender offer will also be accepted if the shareholders who do not accept the offer hold less than 2% of the issued and outstanding share capital of the company or of the applicable class of shares. Upon a successful completion of such a full tender offer, any shareholder that was an offeree in such tender offer, whether such shareholder accepted the tender offer or not, may, within six months from the date of acceptance of the tender offer, petition an Israeli court to determine whether the tender offer was for less than fair value and that the fair value should be paid as determined by the court. However, under certain conditions, the offeror may include in the terms of the tender offer that an offeree who accepted the offer will not be entitled to petition the Israeli court as described above.
If the full tender offer was not accepted in accordance with the above alternatives, the acquirer may not acquire shares of the company that will increase its holdings to more than 90% of the company’s voting rights or issued and outstanding share capital or of the applicable class from shareholders who accepted the tender offer.
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Special Tender Offer. The Companies Law provides that an acquisition of shares of an Israeli public company must be made by means of a special tender offer if as a result of the acquisition the purchaser would become a holder of 25% or more of the voting rights in the company (subject to certain exceptions). This requirement does not apply if there is already another holder of at least 25% of the voting rights in the company. Similarly, the Companies Law provides that an acquisition of shares in a public company must be made by means of a special tender offer if as a result of the acquisition the purchaser would become a holder of more than 45% of the voting rights in the company, if there is no other shareholder of the company who holds more than 45% of the voting rights in the company, subject to certain exceptions. A special tender offer must be extended to all shareholders of a company but the offeror is not required to purchase shares representing more than 5% of the voting power attached to the company’s outstanding shares, regardless of how many shares are tendered by shareholders. A special tender offer may be consummated only if (i) at least 5% of the voting power attached to the company’s outstanding shares will be acquired by the offeror and (ii) the number of shares tendered by shareholders who accept the offer exceeds the number of shares whose holders objected to the offer (excluding the purchaser and its controlling shareholders, holders of 25% or more of the voting rights in the company or any person having a personal interest in the acceptance of the tender offer or any other person acting on their behalf, including relatives and entities under such person’s control). If a special tender offer is accepted, then (i) shareholders who did not respond to or that had objected to the offer may accept the offer within four days of the last date set for the acceptance of the offer and they will be considered to have accepted the offer from the first day it was made, and (ii) the purchaser or any person or entity controlling it or under common control with the purchaser or such controlling person or entity may not make a subsequent tender offer for the purchase of shares of the target company and may not enter into a merger with the target company for a period of one year from the date of the offer, unless the purchaser or such person or entity undertook to effect such an offer or merger in the initial special tender offer.
Shares purchased in contradiction to the tender offer rules under the Companies Law, as described above, will have no rights and will become dormant shares.
Merger. The Companies Law permits merger transactions if approved by each party’s board of directors and, unless certain requirements described under the Companies Law are met, by a majority vote of each party’s shares, and, in the case of the target company, a majority vote of each class of its shares voted on the proposed merger at a shareholders meeting. The board of directors of a merging company is required pursuant to the Companies Law to discuss and determine whether in its opinion there exists a reasonable concern that as a result of a proposed merger, the surviving company will not be able to satisfy its obligations towards its creditors, such determination taking into account the financial condition of the merging companies. If the board of directors determines that such a concern exists, it may not approve a proposed merger. Following the approval of the board of directors of each of the merging companies, the boards of directors must jointly prepare a merger proposal for submission to the Israeli Registrar of Companies. Under the Companies Law, each merging company must deliver the merger proposal to its secured creditors and inform its unsecured creditors of the merger proposal and its content.
For purposes of the shareholder vote, unless a court rules otherwise, the merger will not be deemed approved if a majority of the votes of the shares represented at the shareholders meeting that are held by parties other than the other party to the merger, or by any person (or group of persons acting in concert) who holds (or hold, as the case may be) 25% or more of the voting rights or the right to appoint 25% or more of the directors of the other party, vote against the merger. If, however, the merger involves a merger with a company’s own controlling shareholder or if the controlling shareholder has a personal interest in the merger, then the merger is instead subject to the same special majority approval that governs all extraordinary transactions with controlling shareholders. If the transaction would have been approved by the shareholders of a merging company but for the separate approval of each class or the exclusion of the votes of certain shareholders as provided above, a court may still approve the merger upon the request of holders of at least 25% of the voting rights of a company, if the court holds that the merger is fair and reasonable, taking into account the value to the parties to the merger and the consideration offered to the shareholders of the target company. Upon the request of a creditor of either party to the proposed merger, the court may delay or prevent the merger if it concludes that there exists a reasonable concern that, as a result of the merger, the surviving company will be unable to satisfy the obligations of the merging entities, and may further give instructions to secure the rights of creditors. In addition, a merger may not be consummated unless at least 50 days have passed from the date on which a proposal for approval of the merger was filed by each party with the Israeli Registrar of Companies and at least 30 days have passed from the date on which the merger was approved by the shareholders of each party. Israeli tax law treats some acquisitions, such as share for share exchanges between an Israeli company and a foreign company, less favorably than U.S. tax laws. For example, Israeli tax law may, under certain circumstances, subject a shareholder who exchanges his ordinary shares for shares in another corporation to taxation prior to the sale of the shares received in such share-for-share swap.
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Anti-Takeover Measures under Israeli Law
The Companies Law allows us to create and issue shares having rights different from those attached to our ordinary shares, including shares providing certain preferred rights with respect to voting, distributions or other matters and shares having preemptive rights. No preferred shares are currently authorized under our Articles. In the future, if we do authorize, create and issue a specific class of preferred shares, such class of shares, depending on the specific rights that may be attached to it, may have the ability to frustrate or prevent a takeover or otherwise prevent our shareholders from realizing a potential premium over the market value of their ordinary shares. The authorization and designation of a class of preferred shares will require an amendment to our Articles, which requires the prior approval of the holders of a majority of the voting power attaching to our issued and outstanding shares represented at a general meeting. The convening of the meeting, the shareholders entitled to participate and the majority vote required to be obtained at such a meeting will be subject to the requirements set forth in the Companies Law and our Articles as described above under “—Voting Rights.” In addition, we have a classified board structure, which will effectively limit the ability of any investor or potential investor or group of investors or potential investors to gain control of our board of directors, as disclosed under “Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—C. Board Practices.”
Borrowing Powers
Pursuant to the Companies Law and our Articles, our board of directors may exercise all powers and take all actions that are not required under law or under our amended and restated articles of association to be exercised or taken by our shareholders, including the power to borrow money for company purposes.
Changes in Capital
Our Articles enable us to increase or reduce our share capital. Any such changes are subject to the provisions of the Companies Law and must be approved by a resolution duly adopted by our shareholders at a general meeting. In addition, transactions that have the effect of reducing capital, such as the declaration and payment of dividends in the absence of sufficient retained earnings or profits, require the approval of both our board of directors and an Israeli court.
Choice of Forum
Our Articles provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act (the “Federal Forum Provision”). While there can be no assurance that U.S. federal or state courts or Israeli courts will follow the holding of the Delaware Supreme Court which recently found that such provisions are facially valid under Delaware law or determine that the Federal Forum Provision should be enforced in a particular case, application of the Federal Forum Provision means that suits brought by our shareholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act must be brought in federal court and cannot be brought in state court. The Federal Forum Provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all claims brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, actions by our shareholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder also must be brought in federal court. Our shareholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the regulations promulgated thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the Federal Forum Provision. This provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of their choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees.
Establishment
We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel on December 20, 2018. We are registered with the Israeli Registrar of Companies in Jerusalem.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our ordinary shares is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Co.
Listing
Our ordinary shares are listed on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “NNOX.’’
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