Exhibit 4.2
DESCRIPTION OF CONTINEUM THERAPEUTICS, INC.’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following description of the Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of Contineum Therapeutics, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we,” or the “Company”), which is the only security of the Company registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), summarizes certain information regarding the common stock in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws and applicable provisions of Delaware general corporate law (the “DGCL”), and is qualified by reference to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, which are incorporated by reference as Exhibit 3.1 and 3.2, respectively, to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.
General
Our authorized capital stock consists of:
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200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value of $0.001 per share; |
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20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value of $0.001 per share; and |
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10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. |
The following is a summary of the material provisions of the Class A common stock, Class B common stock and preferred stock provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws. For additional detail about our capital stock, please refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws.
Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock
The holders of our Class A common stock and non-voting Class B common stock have identical rights, provided that, (i) except as otherwise expressly provided in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as required by applicable law, on any matter that is submitted to a vote by our stockholders, holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share of common stock, and holders of our non-voting common stock are not entitled to any votes per share of non-voting common stock, including for the election of directors, and (ii) holders of our Class A common stock have no conversion rights, while holders of our Class B common stock have the right to convert each share of our Class B common stock into one share of Class A common stock at such holder’s election, provided that as a result of such conversion, such holder, together with its affiliates and any members of a Schedule 13(d) group with such holder, would not beneficially own in excess of 4.99% of our Class A common stock immediately prior to and following such conversion, unless otherwise as expressly provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, this ownership limitation may be increased or decreased to any other percentage designated by such holder of Class B common stock upon 61 days’ notice to us.
Dividend Rights
Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and then only at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine.
Voting Rights
Except as otherwise expressly provided in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as required by applicable law, on any matter that is submitted to a vote by our stockholders, holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share of Class A common stock, and holders of our Class B common stock are not entitled to vote, including for the election of directors. We have not provided for cumulative voting for the election of directors in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which means that holders of a majority of the shares of our Class A common stock will be able to elect all of our directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation establishes a classified board of directors, divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.
No Preemptive or Similar Rights
Neither our Class A common stock nor our Class B common stock is entitled to preemptive rights, and neither is subject to redemption or sinking fund provisions.
Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions
Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our Class A common stock and our non-voting Class B common stock and any participating preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Preferred Stock
Under the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is authorized, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law, to issue preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and any associated qualifications, limitations or restrictions. Our board of directors also can increase or decrease the number of shares of any series, but not below the number of shares of that series then outstanding, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of the Class A common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company and may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of Class A common stock or Class B common stock. We have no current plan to issue any shares of preferred stock nor are any shares of our preferred stock presently outstanding.
Effect of Certain Provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws
Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of amended and restated incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions, which are summarized below, may have the effect of discouraging takeover bids. These provisions are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
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Board of Directors Vacancies. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will authorize our board of directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly-created seats. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors will be set only by resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions will prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. |
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Classified Board. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors, each of which will hold office for a three-year term. In addition, directors may only be removed from the board of directors for cause and only by the approval of 662/3 percent of our then-outstanding shares of our common stock. A third party may be discouraged from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us as it is more difficult and time consuming for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors on a classified board of directors. |
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Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that stockholders will not be able to take action by written consent, and will only be able to take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. Stockholders will not be permitted to cumulate their votes for the election of directors. Our amended and restated bylaws further provides that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our entire board of directors, the chairman of our board of directors or our chief executive officer. |
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Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations. Our amended and restated bylaws provides advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at any meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our meetings of stockholders. |
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Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock. Our board of directors have the authority, without further action by the holders of common stock, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by the board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock will enable our board of directors to render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. |
Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute
We are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. This section prevents some Delaware corporations from engaging, under some circumstances, in a business combination, which includes a merger or sale of at least 10 percent of the corporation’s assets with any interested stockholder, meaning a stockholder who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, did own 15 percent or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock, unless:
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the transaction is approved by the board of directors prior to the time that the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder; |
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upon closing of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85 percent of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding those shares owned (i) by persons who are directors and also officers and (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 |
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subsequent to such time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders by at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
While a Delaware corporation may “opt out” of these provisions with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws resulting from a stockholders’ amendment approved by at least a majority of the outstanding voting shares, we have not opted out of these provisions. As a result, mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts of us may be discouraged or prevented.
Choice of Forum
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that the U.S. federal district courts is the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Some companies that adopted a similar federal district court forum selection provision were subject to a suit in the Chancery Court of Delaware by stockholders who asserted that the provision is not enforceable. While the Delaware Supreme Court held that such federal district court forum selection provision was in fact valid, there can be no assurance that federal courts or other state courts will follow the holding of the Delaware Supreme Court or determine that the our federal district court forum selection provision should be enforced in a particular case.
These choice of forum provisions do not apply to actions brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. We intend for the choice of forum provision regarding claims arising under the Securities Act to apply despite the fact that Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all actions brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision with respect to claims under the Securities Act, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
These exclusive forum provisions may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find such provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Exchange Listing
Our Class A common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “CTNM.”
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our Class A common stock and Class B common stock is Equiniti Trust Company, LLC.