Exhibit 4.1

Description of the Registrants Securities

Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

The following summary of the material terms of our securities is not intended to be a complete summary of the rights and preferences of such securities and is qualified in its entirety by our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and bylaws. The full text of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. For a complete description of the rights and preferences of our securities, we urge you to read our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the applicable provisions of Delaware law, in each case, as may be amended from time. As used in this description, “we”, “us”, “our”, and “Skillsoft” mean Skillsoft Corp.

 

Our Class A Common Stock is registered under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and listed on the NYSE under the symbol “SKIL.”

 

On September 29, 2023, we effected a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, previously approved by our board and our shareholders. Beginning with the opening of trading on October 2, 2023, our Class A Common Stock traded on the NYSE on a split-adjusted basis under new CUSIP number 83066P309 and continued to trade under the symbol “SKIL”. As a result of this reverse stock split, every twenty (20) shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding converted into one (1) share of Class A common stock. The reverse stock split proportionally reduced the number of authorized shares of Class A Common Stock, but did not change the par value of the Class A Common Stock. The numbers provided herein reflect the reverse stock split.

 

Authorized and Outstanding Stock

 

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of shares of our capital stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share, consisting of (a) 18,750,000 shares of Class A common stock (“Class A Common Stock”) and (b) 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock (“Preferred Stock”). The outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock are, and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants will be, duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

Voting Power

 

Except as otherwise required by law or as otherwise provided in any certificate of designation for any series of Preferred Stock, under our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the holders of common stock will possess all voting power for the election of directors and all other matters requiring stockholder action and will be entitled to one vote per share on matters to be voted on by stockholders. The holders of our Class A Common Stock will at all times vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote of the common stock under the second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Holders of any series of Preferred Stock shall be entitled to only such voting rights as are expressly granted by our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

 

Dividends

 

Subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding shares of Preferred Stock, under our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, holders of our Class A Common Stock will be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the Board in its discretion out of funds legally available therefor and shall share equally on a per share basis in such dividends and distributions.

 

Liquidation, Dissolution and Winding Up

 

In the event of the voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of the Company, the holders of our Class A Common Stock will be entitled to receive all the remaining assets of the Company available for distribution to stockholders, ratably in proportion to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock held by them, after the rights of creditors of the Company and the holders of any outstanding shares of preferred stock have been satisfied.

 

Preemptive or Other Rights

 

The holders of our Class A Common Stock do not have preemptive or other subscription rights and there is no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to our Class A Common Stock.

 

Issuance of additional shares

 

The number of authorized shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority in voting power of the stock of the Corporation entitled to vote thereon irrespective of the provisions of Section 242(b)(2) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) (or any successor provision thereto), and no vote of the holders of any of the Common Stock or the Preferred Stock voting separately as a class shall be required therefor, unless a vote of any such holder is required pursuant to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation (including any certificate of designation relating to any series of Preferred Stock).

 

Preferred Stock

 

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock and provides that shares of Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. The Board is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. The Board is able to, without stockholder approval, issue Preferred Stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of the Board to issue Preferred Stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management.

 

Warrants

 

On October 24, 2023, the NYSE provided notice to us that it would halt trading in our warrants, and the following day, the NYSE provided notice to us and publicly announced that it had determined to commence proceedings to delist our warrants from the NYSE noting that our warrants were no longer suitable for listing based on “abnormally low” price level. On October 26, 2023, our warrants commenced trading on the over-the-counter market under the symbol “SKILW”.

 

Public Warrants. Each whole public warrant, which were issued with shares of Class A Common Stock as a unit in connection with the initial public offering of Churchill Capital Corp. II (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market, a “Public Warrant”) entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Class A Common Stock at a price of $230.00 per share. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a holder may exercise its Public Warrants only for a whole number of shares of our Class A Common Stock. This means only a whole Public Warrant may be exercised at a given time by a holder. The Public Warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 11, 2026 or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

We are not obligated to deliver any shares of Class A Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of a Public Warrant and have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A Common Stock is available, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No Public Warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we are not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their Public Warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a Public Warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.

 

Redemption of Warrants for Cash. We may call the Public Warrants for redemption:

 

in whole and not in part;

 

 

at a price of $0.01 per Public Warrant;

 

 

upon a minimum of thirty (30) days’ prior written notice of redemption, or the thirty (30)-day redemption period, to each warrant holder; and

 

 

if, and only if, the closing price of our Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $360.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any twenty (20) trading days within a thirty (30)-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and

 

 

if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying the warrants.

 

If and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the Public Warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its Public Warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A Common Stock may fall below the $360.00 redemption trigger price as well as the $230.00 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

 

Redemption Procedures and Cashless Exercise. If we call the Public Warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of our Public Warrants.

 

A holder of a Public Warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of our Class A Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

 

Anti-Dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of our Class A Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of our Class A Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of our Class A Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of our Class A Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of our Class A Common Stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of our Class A Common Stock equal to the product of  (1) the number of shares of our Class A Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for our Class A common stock) multiplied by (2) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of our Class A Common Stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value.

 

For these purposes (1) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for our Class A Common Stock, in determining the price payable for our Class A Common Stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (2) fair market value means the volume weighted average price per share of our Class A Common Stock as reported during the ten trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of our Class A Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

 

In addition, if we, at any time while the Public Warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of our Class A Common Stock on account of such shares of Class A Common Stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above and (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, then the Public Warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of our Class A Common Stock in respect of such event.

 

If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of our Class A Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of our Class A Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Public Warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock.

 

Whenever the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the Public Warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of our Class A Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of our Class A Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

 

The Public Warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. If you hold warrants, you should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement, for a description of the terms and conditions applicable to the Public Warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the Public Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding Public Warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of Public Warrants.

 

Upon exercise of the Public Warrants, each holder is entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

 

Private Placement Warrants and Working Capital Warrants. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants are exercisable on a cashless basis and are non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

 

Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock

 

Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of the NYSE, which would apply if and so long as our Class A Common Stock remains listed on the NYSE, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of our Class A Common Stock. Additional shares that may be used in the future may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.

 

The Board may generally issue one or more series of preferred shares on terms calculated to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of the Company or the removal of our management. Moreover, our authorized but unissued shares of Preferred Stock will be available for future issuances in one or more series without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, to facilitate acquisitions and employee benefit plans.

 

One of the effects of the existence of authorized and unissued and unreserved common stock or Preferred Stock may be to enable the Board to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our management and possibly deprive our stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of Class A Common Stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.

 

Classified Board of Directors

 

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, subject to the right of holders of any series of Preferred Stock, the Board will be divided into three classes of directors, with the size of each class to be as nearly equal in number as possible, and with the directors serving staggered three-year terms, with only one class of directors being elected at each annual meeting of stockholders. As a result, approximately one-third of the Board will be elected each year. The classification of directors will have the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of the Board.

 

Business Combinations

 

In general, Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover law, prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group owning 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock, which person or group is considered an interested stockholder under the DGCL, for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner.

 

We shall not engage in any business combination (as defined below), at any point in time at which the Company’s common stock is registered under Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act, with any interested stockholder (as defined below) for a period of three years following the time that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

 

 

prior to such time, the Board of Directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

 

 

upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the voting stock (as defined below) of the Corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned by (i) persons who are directors and also officers of the Company or (ii) employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or

 

 

at or subsequent to such time, the business combination is approved by the Board of Directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least sixty six and two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the outstanding voting stock of the Company which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

Removal of Directors; Vacancies

 

Under the DGCL, unless otherwise provided in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, directors serving on a classified board may be removed by the stockholders only for cause. Without limiting the rights of any party to Stockholders Agreement or the rights of any party to the Subscription Agreement, any or all of the directors (other than the directors elected by the holders of any series of Preferred Stock of the Company, voting separately as a series or together with one or more other such series, as the case may be) may be removed at any time for cause by the affirmative vote of a majority in voting power of all outstanding shares of stock of the Company entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class.

 

In addition, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, without limiting the rights of any party to the Stockholders Agreement or the rights of any party to the Subscription Agreement, any newly created directorship on the Board that results from an increase in the number of directors and any vacancies on the Board will be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Board may increase or decrease the number of directors by the affirmative vote of 50% of the directors present at the meeting at which a quorum is present.

 

During any period when the holders of any series of Preferred Stock have the right to elect additional directors, then upon commencement and for the duration of the period during which such right continues: (i) the then otherwise total authorized number of directors of the Company shall automatically be increased by such specified number of directors, and the holders of such Preferred Stock shall be entitled to elect the additional directors so provided for or fixed pursuant to the provisions of such series of Preferred Stock, and (ii) each such additional director shall serve until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified, or until such director’s right to hold such office terminates pursuant to said provisions, whichever occurs earlier, subject to his or her earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal. Except as otherwise provided by the Board of Directors in the resolution or resolutions establishing such series, whenever the holders of any series of Preferred Stock having such right to elect additional directors are divested of such right, the terms of office of all such additional directors elected by the holders of such stock, or elected to fill any vacancies resulting from the death, resignation, disqualification or removal of such additional directors, shall terminate (in which case each such director thereupon shall cease to be qualified as, and shall cease to be, a director) and the total authorized number of directors of the Company shall automatically be reduced accordingly.

 

No Cumulative Voting

 

Under Delaware law, the right to vote cumulatively does not exist unless the certificate of incorporation specifically authorizes cumulative voting. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not authorize cumulative voting. Therefore, stockholders holding a majority in voting power of the shares of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors will be able to elect all of our directors.

 

Special Stockholders Meetings

 

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that special meetings of our stockholders may be called at any time only by or at the direction of the Board or the chairperson of the Board, either on his or her own initiative or at the request of stockholders that beneficially own at least twenty-five percent (25%) in voting power of all of our then-outstanding shares of stock. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, unless otherwise indicated in the notice thereof, any and all business may be transacted at a special meeting.

 

Requirements for Advance Notification of Director Nominations and Stockholder Proposals

 

Our amended and restated 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 the Board or a committee of the Board. In order for any matter to be properly brought before a meeting of our stockholders, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received by our secretary not less than 90 calendar days nor more than 120 calendar days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. Our amended and restated bylaws allow the chairperson of the meeting 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 deter, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of the Company.

 

Stockholder Action by Written Consent

 

Pursuant to Section 228 of the DGCL, 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 or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, is 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, unless our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides otherwise.

 

Competition and Corporate Opportunities

 

Delaware law permits corporations to adopt provisions renouncing any interest or expectancy in certain opportunities that are presented to the corporation or its officers, directors or stockholders. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, none of the Sponsor, the Founder Holder or any director who is not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of our officers in both his director and officer capacities) or any of its or his or her affiliates will have any duty to refrain from (i) engaging in and possessing interests in other business ventures of every type and description, including corporate opportunities in the same or similar business activities or lines of business in which we or our subsidiaries now engage or propose to engage or (ii) competing with us or any of our subsidiaries, on their own account, or in partnership with, or as an employee, officer, director or shareholder of any other person. In addition, to the fullest extent permitted by law, in the event that the Sponsor, the Founder Holder, or any non-employee director or any of its or his or her affiliates acquires knowledge of a potential transaction or other matter which may be a corporate or other business opportunity for itself or himself, or herself, or its or his, or her, affiliates or for us or our affiliates, such person will have no duty (fiduciary, contractual or otherwise) to communicate or present such transaction or matter to us or any of our subsidiaries, as the case may be, and they may take any such opportunity for themselves or direct it to another person or entity. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not renounce our interest in any business opportunity that is expressly offered to a non-employee director solely and exclusively in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company and such opportunity is one the Company is legally and contractually permitted to undertake. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no business opportunity will be deemed to be a potential corporate opportunity for us unless we would be permitted to undertake the opportunity under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we have sufficient financial resources to undertake the opportunity and the opportunity would be in line with our business.

 

Limitation of Director and Officer Liability

 

To the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, a director or officer of the Company shall not be personally liable to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty owed to the Company or its stockholders.

 

Exclusive Forum

 

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director or officer or other employee of the Company or any of their affiliates to the Company or the Company’s stockholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer or other employee of the Company or any of their affiliates arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws (as either may be amended, restated, modified, supplemented or waived from time to time); (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer or other employee of the Company or any of their affiliates governed by the internal affairs doctrine; or (v) any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” as that term is defined in Section 115 of the DGCL, shall be a state court located within the State of Delaware (or, if no state court located within the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware). For the avoidance of doubt, this section shall not apply to any action or proceeding asserting a claim under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

 

If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of the section above is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (i) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware and (ii) having service of process made upon such stockholder.

 

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

 

Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL allows a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation will not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except where the director breached the duty of loyalty, failed to act in good faith, engaged in intentional misconduct or knowingly violated a law, authorized the payment of a dividend or approved a stock repurchase in violation of Delaware corporate law or obtained an improper personal benefit. The Company’s second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for this limitation of liability.

 

Section 145 of the DGCL, provides, among other things, that a Delaware corporation may indemnify any person who was, is or is threatened to be made, party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by reason of the fact that such person is or was an officer, director, employee or agent of such corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, provided such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful. A Delaware corporation may indemnify any persons who were or are a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit, provided such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests, provided further that no indemnification is permitted without judicial approval if the officer, director, employee or agent is adjudged to be liable to the corporation. Where an officer or director is successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him or her against the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) which such officer or director has actually and reasonably incurred.

 

Section 145 further authorizes a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise, against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of his or her status as such, whether or not the corporation would otherwise have the power to indemnify such person under Section 145.

 

The Company’s second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we must indemnify and advance expenses to our directors and officers to the full extent authorized by the DGCL. We have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers. Such agreements may require us, among other things, to advance expenses and otherwise indemnify our executive officers and directors against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as executive officers or directors, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We intend to enter into indemnification agreements with any new directors and executive officers in the future.

 

The indemnification rights set forth above shall not be exclusive of any other right which an indemnified person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, any provision of the Company’s second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the Company’s second amended and restated bylaws, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not be obligated to indemnify a director or officer in respect of a proceeding (or part thereof) instituted by such director or officer, unless such proceeding (or part thereof) has been authorized by the Board pursuant to the applicable procedure outlined in the Company’s second amended and restated bylaws.

 

Section 174 of the DGCL provides, among other things, that a director, who willfully or negligently approves of an unlawful payment of dividends or an unlawful stock purchase or redemption, may be held jointly and severally liable for such actions. A director who was either absent when the unlawful actions were approved or dissented at the time may avoid liability by causing his or her dissent to such actions to be entered in the books containing the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors at the time such action occurred or immediately after such absent director receives notice of the unlawful acts.

 

The Company maintains and expects to continue to maintain standard policies of insurance that provide coverage (1) to its directors and officers against loss rising from claims made by reason of breach of duty or other wrongful act and (2) to the Company with respect to indemnification payments that the Company may make to such directors and officers.

 

These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit the Company and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

The Company believes that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

 

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

 

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.