PROPOSAL NO. 1
APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE COMPANY’S AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE
OF INCORPORATION TO EFFECT A REVERSE STOCK SPLIT OF THE COMPANY’S COMMON STOCK
Overview
The Amendment Proposal is a proposal to adopt an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate
of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split at a ratio between one-for-five and one-for-twenty-five, inclusive (the
“Split Ratio Range”), in the form set forth in Exhibit A to this Proxy Statement. The Amendment Proposal, if approved,
would not immediately cause a reverse stock split, but rather would grant authorization to the Company’s Board of
Directors to effect the Reverse Stock Split with a split ratio within the Split Ratio Range, if and when determined by the
Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has deemed it advisable, approved, and recommended that the Company’s
stockholders adopt, and is hereby soliciting stockholder approval of, the proposed amendment to the Company’s
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split at a ratio within the Split Ratio Range,
in the form set forth in Exhibit A to this Proxy Statement.
If the Company receives the required stockholder approval, the Board of Directors will have the sole authority to
elect whether or not to effect the Reverse Stock Split. Even with stockholder approval of the Amendment Proposal, the
Board of Directors will not be obligated to pursue the Reverse Stock Split. Rather, the Board of Directors will have the
flexibility to decide whether or not the Reverse Stock Split (and at what ratio within the Split Ratio Range) is in the best
interests of the Company and its stockholders.
If approved by the Company’s stockholders and, following such approval, the Board of Directors determines that
effecting the Reverse Stock Split is in the best interests of the Company and the Company’s stockholders, the Reverse
Stock Split would become effective upon filing the certificate of amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated
Certificate of Incorporation as set forth in Exhibit A with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware. As filed, the
certificate of amendment would state the number of outstanding shares to be combined into one share of the Company’s
common stock, at the ratio approved by the Board of Directors within the Split Ratio Range. The amendment would not
change the par value of the Company’s common stock and would not impact the total number of authorized shares of the
Company’s common stock or preferred stock. Therefore, upon effectiveness of the Reverse Stock Split, the number of
shares of the Company’s common stock that are authorized and unissued will increase relative to the number of issued
and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock.
Under Section 242(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Board of Directors has reserved the right,
notwithstanding the Company’s stockholders’ approval of the proposed amendment to the Amended and Restated
Certificate of Incorporation at the Special Meeting, to abandon the proposed amendment at any time (without further
action by the Company’s stockholders) before the certificate of amendment is filed with the Secretary of State of the
State of Delaware. Further, the Board of Directors may consider a variety of factors in determining the appropriate range
within the Split Ratio Range for any such amendment, including overall trends in the stock market, recent changes, and
anticipated trends in the per-share market price of the Company’s common stock, business developments and the
Company’s actual and projected financial performance. The Board of Directors may decide to abandon the proposed
amendment of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation in its entirety, particularly if the closing bid price
of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE has significantly increased over a period of time.
The Board of Directors is seeking stockholder approval of the Amendment Proposal in order to have the authority to
effectuate the Reverse Stock Split as a potential means of increasing the per-share price of the Company’s common
stock. The Company believes that the low per-share market price of the Company’s common stock impairs its
marketability to, and acceptance by, institutional investors and other members of the investing public and creates a
negative impression of the Company. Theoretically, decreasing the number of shares of the Company’s common stock
outstanding should not, by itself, affect the marketability of the shares, the type of investor who would be interested in
acquiring them, or the Company’s reputation in the financial community. In practice, however, many investors,
brokerage firms, and market makers consider low-priced stocks as unduly speculative in nature and, as a matter of policy,
avoid investment and trading in such stocks. Moreover, the analysts at many brokerage firms do not monitor the trading
activity or otherwise provide coverage of lower-priced stocks. The presence of these factors may be adversely affecting,
and may continue to adversely affect, not only the price of the Company’s common stock but also its trading liquidity. In
addition, these factors may affect the Company’s ability to raise additional capital through the sale of the Company’s
common stock.
Risks Associated with the Reverse Stock Split
In evaluating whether to seek stockholder approval of the Amendment Proposal, the Board of Directors considered
negative factors associated with reverse stock splits. These factors included, but were not limited to, the negative
perception of reverse stock splits that investors, analysts, and other stock market participants may hold; the fact that the
stock prices of some companies that have effected reverse stock splits have subsequently declined, sometimes