Sovos Brands (SOVO) 10-K/A 2021 FY Annual report (amended)

Exhibit 4.3

DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

The following is a brief description of the common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “common stock”) of Sovos Brands, Inc. (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”).

The following description does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Company’s certificate of incorporation, the Company’s bylaws and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”).

General

Our authorized capital stock consists of 500,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. Shares of preferred stock have not been issued. Unless our board of directors (our “Board”) determines otherwise, we will issue all shares of our capital stock in uncertificated form.

Common Stock

Holders of our common stock are entitled to the rights set forth below.

Voting Rights

Directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes entitled to be cast except as set forth below with respect to directors to be elected by the holders of common stock. A director who fails to achieve a majority of votes cast in an uncontested election will be required to offer to resign from the Board, and the remaining directors will determine whether to accept the resignation. Vacancies created by resignations or otherwise may be filled by vote of the remaining directors. Our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights. Except as otherwise provided in our certificate of incorporation or as required by law, all matters to be voted on by our stockholders other than matters relating to the election and removal of directors must be approved by a majority of the shares present in person or by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the subject matter or to the extent permitted by a written resolution, the stockholders representing the number of affirmative votes required for such matter at a meeting.

Dividend Rights

Holders of common stock share equally in any dividend declared by our Board, subject to the rights of the holders of any outstanding preferred stock.

Liquidation Rights

In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, distribution of assets or winding up of our affairs, holders of our common stock would be entitled to share ratably in our assets that are legally available for distribution to stockholders after payment of liabilities. If we have any preferred stock outstanding at such time, holders of the preferred stock may be

Exhibit 4.3

entitled to distribution and/or liquidation preferences. In either such case, we must pay the applicable distribution to the holders of our preferred stock before we may pay distributions to the holders of our common stock. All holders of our common stock are entitled to share equally on a share-for-share basis in any assets available for distribution to common stockholders upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up.

Other Rights and Preferences

Our stockholders have no preemptive, conversion or exchange rights or other rights to subscribe for additional shares. Our common stock has no sinking fund or redemption provisions. All outstanding shares of our common stock are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

Preferred Stock

No shares of preferred stock have been issued. Our Board is authorized to provide for the issuance of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the preferences, powers and relative, participating, optional or other special rights and qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including the dividend rate, conversion rights, voting rights, redemption rights and liquidation preference and to fix the number of shares to be included in any such series without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Any preferred stock so issued may rank senior to our common stock with respect to the payment of dividends or amounts upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or both. In addition, any such shares of preferred stock may have class or series voting rights. The issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company without further action by the stockholders and may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock. Our Board has not authorized the issuance of any shares of preferred stock and we have no agreements or plans for the issuance of any shares of preferred stock.

Anti-takeover Provisions

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that delay, defer or discourage transactions involving an actual or potential change in control of us or change in our management. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our Board, which we believe may result in an improvement of the terms of any such acquisition in favor of our stockholders. However, they also give our Board the power to discourage transactions that some stockholders may favor, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. Accordingly, these provisions could adversely affect the price of our common stock.

Special Meetings of Stockholders

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only upon the request of a majority of our Board, our Chair or upon

Exhibit 4.3

the request of the Chief Executive Officer. Our bylaws prohibit the conduct of any business at a special meeting other than as specified in the notice for such meeting. These provisions may have the effect of deferring, delaying or discouraging hostile takeovers or changes in control or management of our company.

Advance Notice of Nominations and Other Business

Our bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our Board or a committee of our Board. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with the advance notice requirements of directors, which may be filled only by a vote of a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum, and not by the stockholders. Our bylaws allow the presiding officer at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings, which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquiror from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquiror’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

Classified Board of Directors and Related Provisions

Our certificate of incorporation provides that our Board be divided into three classes, with one class being elected at each annual meeting of stockholders with termination staggered according to class. Beginning at the first annual meeting of stockholders following the earlier of (i) the fifth anniversary of the Company’s registered underwritten initial public offering and (ii) a fiscal year end at which Advent International Corporation (our “Sponsor”) and its affiliates hold less than 50% of the voting power of our common stock necessary to elect our directors (the “Sunset”), the directors whose terms expire at such annual meeting and any subsequent annual meeting will be elected to hold office for a one-year term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders and until such director’s successor shall have been elected and qualified. The Board will be fully declassified following the third annual meeting after the Sunset with all directors standing for election for one-year terms. This initial classified board provision will prevent a third party who acquires control of a majority of our outstanding voting stock from obtaining control of our Board until at least the second annual stockholders meeting following the date the acquiror obtains the controlling interest.

The number of directors constituting our Board is determined from time to time by our Board. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that, subject to any rights of any preferred stock then outstanding, any director may be removed from office at any time but only for cause so long as the Board is classified and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote for the election of directors, considered for this purpose as one class. In addition, our certificate of incorporation provides that any vacancy on the Board, including a vacancy that results from an increase in the number of directors, may be filled only by a majority of the directors then in office or by an affirmative vote of the sole remaining director. This provision, in conjunction with the provisions of our certificate of

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incorporation authorizing our Board to fill vacancies on the board of directors, prevents stockholders from removing incumbent directors without cause and filling the resulting vacancies with their own nominees.

Stockholder Action by Written Consent

Our certificate of incorporation provides that, from and after the time that our Sponsor and its affiliates collectively own less than 50% of our then outstanding common stock, subject to the rights of any holders of preferred stock to act by written consent instead of a meeting, stockholder action may be taken only at an annual meeting or special meeting of stockholders and may not be taken by written consent instead of a meeting. Failure to satisfy any of the requirements for a stockholder meeting could delay, prevent or invalidate stockholder action.

Section 203 of the DGCL

Our certificate of incorporation provides that the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL, which relate to business combinations with interested stockholders, do not apply to us. Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination transaction with an interested stockholder (a stockholder who owns more than 15% of our common stock) for a period of three years after the interested stockholder became such unless the transaction fits within an applicable exemption, such as Board approval of the business combination or the transaction that resulted in such stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions will apply even if the business combination could be considered beneficial by some stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation contains provisions that have the same effect as Section 203 of the DGCL, but such provisions do not apply to our Sponsor and its affiliates. Although we have elected to opt out of the statute’s provisions, we could elect to be subject to Section 203 in the future.

Amendment to Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation

Any amendment to our certificate of incorporation must first be approved by a majority of our Board and if required by law, thereafter be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment. Our bylaws may be amended by (i) the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, subject to any limitations set forth in the bylaws, without further stockholder action or (ii) the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, without further action by our Board.

Exclusive Forum

Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty or other wrongdoing by any current or former director, officer, employee, agent or stockholder to us or our stockholders, (iii) action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (iv) action asserting a claim governed by the

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internal affairs doctrine of the law of the State of Delaware. For the avoidance of doubt, our certificate of incorporation also provides that the foregoing exclusive forum provision does not apply to actions brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or Exchange Act, or any other claim or cause of action for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any action asserting a claim arising under the Securities Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Pursuant to the Exchange Act, claims arising thereunder must be brought in federal district courts of the United States of America. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provision in our certificate of incorporation. In any case, stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and consented to this choice of forum provision. These exclusive forum provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Corporate Opportunities

Our certificate of incorporation provides that neither our Sponsor nor a director affiliated with a Sponsor has any obligation to offer us an opportunity to participate in business opportunities presented to such Sponsor even if the opportunity is one that we might reasonably have pursued (and therefore may be free to compete with us in the same business or similar businesses), and that, to the extent permitted by law, no Sponsor will be liable to us or our stockholders for breach of any duty by reason of any such activities.