Exhibit 4.4
DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following description of the capital stock of Targa Resources Corp. (the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the provisions of applicable law and to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws.
Common Stock
The authorized common stock of the Company consists of 450,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share (“common stock”).
Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “TRGP.”
Except as provided by law or in a preferred stock designation, holders of common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors and do not have cumulative voting rights. Except as otherwise required by law, holders of common stock, as such, are not entitled to vote on any amendment to the certificate of incorporation (including any certificate of designations relating to any series of preferred stock) that relates solely to the terms of any outstanding series of preferred stock if the holders of such affected series are entitled, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to the certificate of incorporation (including any certificate of designations relating to any series of preferred stock) or pursuant to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”). Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding shares or series of preferred stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends (payable in cash, stock or otherwise), if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available for dividend payments. All outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and non-assessable. The holders of common stock have no preferences or rights of conversion, exchange, preemption or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our affairs, holders of common stock will be entitled to share ratably in our assets that are remaining after payment or provision for payment of all of our debts and obligations and after liquidation payments to holders of outstanding shares of preferred stock, if any.
Preferred Stock
The authorized preferred stock of the Company consists of 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share (“preferred stock”) of which no shares are outstanding.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors, subject to any limitations prescribed by law, without further stockholder approval, to establish and to issue from time to time one or more classes or series of preferred stock. Each class or series of preferred stock will cover the number of shares and will have the powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions determined by the board of directors, which may include, among others, dividend rights, liquidation preferences, voting rights, conversion rights, preemptive rights and redemption rights. Except as provided by law or in a preferred stock designation, the holders of preferred stock will not be entitled to vote at or receive notice of any meeting of stockholders.
In March 2016, we issued 965,100 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, which rank senior to our common stock with respect to distribution rights and rights upon liquidation. Subject to certain exceptions, so long as any Series A Preferred Stock remains outstanding, we may not declare any dividend or distribution on our common stock unless all accumulated and unpaid dividends have been declared and paid on the Series A Preferred Stock. In the event of our liquidation, winding-up or dissolution, the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock would have the right to receive proceeds from any such transaction before the holders of the common stock. Distributions on shares of Series A Preferred Stock are paid quarterly out of funds legally available for payment, in an amount equal to an annual rate of 9.5% ($95.00 per share annualized) of $1,000 per share of Series A Preferred Stock, subject to certain adjustments.
The certificate of designations governing the Series A Preferred Stock provides the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock with the right to vote, under certain conditions, on an as-converted basis with our common stockholders on matters submitted to a stockholder vote. So long as any Series A Preferred Stock is outstanding, subject to certain exceptions, the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding Series A Preferred Stock, voting together as a separate class, will be necessary for effecting or validating, among other things: (i) any issuance of stock senior to the Series A Preferred Stock, (ii) any issuance, authorization or creation of, or any increase by any of our consolidated subsidiaries of any issued or authorized amount of, any
specific class or series of securities, (iii) any issuance by us of parity stock, subject to certain exceptions and (iv) any incurrence of indebtedness by us and our consolidated subsidiaries for borrowed monies, other than under our existing credit agreement and Targa Resources Partners LP’s existing credit agreement (or replacement commercial bank credit facilities) in an aggregate amount up to $2.75 billion, or indebtedness that complies with a specified fixed charge coverage ratio.
Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Our Amended and Restated Bylaws and Delaware Law
Some provisions of Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws described below, contain provisions that could make the following transactions more difficult: acquisitions of us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise and removal of our incumbent officers and directors. These provisions may also have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish or could deter transactions that stockholders may otherwise consider to be in their best interest or in our best interests, including transactions that might result in a premium over the market price for our shares.
These provisions, summarized below, are expected to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with us. We believe that the benefits of increased protection and our potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging these proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
Delaware Law
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL. In general, those provisions prohibit a Delaware corporation, including those whose securities are listed for trading on the NYSE, from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
Section 203 defines “business combination” to include the following:
In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by any of these entities or persons.
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws: