Attached files

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EX-32.1 - EX-32.1 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-32d1.htm
EX-31.2 - EX-31.2 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-31d2.htm
EX-31.1 - EX-31.1 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-31d1.htm
EX-23.1 - EX-23.1 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-23d1.htm
EX-21.1 - EX-21.1 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-21d1.htm
EX-10.19 - EX-10.19 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-10d19.htm
EX-10.3 - EX-10.3 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-10d3.htm
EX-10.2 - EX-10.2 - Blueprint Medicines Corpex-10d2.htm
10-K - 10-K - Blueprint Medicines Corpbpmc-20191231x10k2c5dea.htm

 

Exhibit 4.3

Description of the Registrant’s Securities Registered Pursuant to
Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended

The summary of the general terms and provisions of the registered securities of Blueprint Medicines Corporation  (“Blueprint,” “we,” or “our”) set forth below does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our Fifth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (our “certificate of incorporation”) and our Amended and Restated By-laws (our “by-laws” and, together with our certificate of incorporation, our “Charter Documents”), each of which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We encourage you to read our Charter Documents and the applicable provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) for additional information.

General

Our authorized capital stock consists of 120,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share. 

Common Stock

Only our common stock is registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. 

Dividends

Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends ratably, if any, as may be declared by our board of directors out of legally available funds, subject to any preferential dividend rights of any convertible preferred stock then outstanding.

Voting

Under the provisions of our certificate of incorporation, holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held by such holder on any matter submitted to a vote at a meeting of stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation does not provide cumulative voting rights to holders of our common stock.  

Our by-laws provide that, except as required by law or our Charter Documents, all matters will be decided by the vote of the majority of the votes properly cast for such matter. 

Other Rights

In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in our net assets legally available after the payment of all our debts and other liabilities, subject to the preferential rights of any preferred stock then outstanding. Holders of common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock.

Preferred Stock

Our board of directors has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to designate and issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series. Our board of directors may also designate

 

the rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of each such series of preferred stock, any or all of which may be greater than or senior to those granted to the holders of common stock.  While, the issuance of preferred stock provides flexibility in connection with possible future financings and acquisitions and other corporate purposes, the rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future. Though the actual effect of any such issuance on the rights of the holders of common stock will not be known until such time as our board of directors determines the specific rights of the holders of preferred stock, the issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of restricting dividends on our common stock, diluting the voting power of our common stock, impairing the liquidation rights of our common stock, or delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company, which might harm the market price of our common stock.

 

No shares of preferred stock are outstanding as of the date of our Annual Report on Form 10-K with which this Exhibit 4.3 is filed as an exhibit.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and Provisions of our Charter Documents

Certain provisions of the DGCL and our Charter Documents contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions, which are summarized below, are expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed in part to encourage anyone seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the advantages gained by protecting our ability to negotiate with any unsolicited and potentially unfriendly acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging such proposals, including those priced above the then-current market value of our common stock, because, among other reasons, the negotiation of such proposals could improve their terms.

 

Charter Documents

 

Our Charter Documents include a number of provisions that may have the effect of encouraging persons considering unsolicited tender offers or other unilateral takeover proposals to negotiate with our board of directors rather than pursue non-negotiated takeover attempts. These provisions include the items described below.

 

Board Composition and Filling Vacancies.  In accordance with our certificate of incorporation, our board is divided into three classes serving three-year terms, with one class being elected each year. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that directors may be removed only for cause and then only by the affirmative vote of the holders of 75% or more of the shares then entitled to vote at an election of directors. Furthermore, any vacancy on our board of directors, however occurring, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the size of our board, may only be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of our directors then in office, even if less than a quorum.

 

No Written Consent of Stockholders.    Our certificate of incorporation provides that all stockholder actions are required to be taken by a vote of the stockholders at an annual or special meeting, and that stockholders may not take any action by written consent in lieu of a meeting.

 

Meetings of Stockholders.  Our by-laws provide that only a majority of the members of our board of directors then in office may call special meetings of stockholders and only those matters set forth in the notice of the special meeting may be considered or acted upon at a special meeting of stockholders. Our

 

by-laws limit the business that may be conducted at an annual meeting of stockholders to those matters properly brought before the meeting.

 

Advance Notice Requirements.  Our by-laws establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or new business to be brought before meetings of our stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals must be timely given in writing to our corporate secretary prior to the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days or more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year. The notice must contain certain information specified in the by-laws. These provisions may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed. These provisions may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer's own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

 

Amendment to By-laws and Certificate of Incorporation.  As required by the Delaware General Corporation Law, any amendment of our certificate of incorporation must first be approved by a majority of our board of directors and, if required by law or our certificate of incorporation, thereafter be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, and a majority of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class, except that the amendment of the provisions relating to stockholder action, directors, limitation of liability, exclusive jurisdiction of Delaware Courts and the amendment of our by-laws and certificate of incorporation must be approved by not less than 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, and not less than 75% of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class. Our by-laws may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, subject to any limitations set forth in the by-laws; and may also be amended by the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, or, if the board of directors recommends that the stockholders approve the amendment, by the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, in each case voting together as a single class.

 

Blank Check Preferred Stock.  Our certificate of incorporation provides for 5,000,000 authorized shares of preferred stock. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock may enable our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. For example, if in the due exercise of its fiduciary obligations, our board of directors were to determine that a takeover proposal is not in the best interests of us or our stockholders, our board of directors could cause shares of preferred stock to be issued without stockholder approval in one or more private offerings or other transactions that might dilute the voting or other rights of the proposed acquirer or insurgent stockholder or stockholder group. In this regard, our certificate of incorporation grants our board of directors broad power to establish the rights and preferences of authorized and unissued shares of preferred stock. The issuance of shares of preferred stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of shares of common stock. The issuance may also adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of these holders and may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control of us.

 

Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging, under certain circumstances, in

 

a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder unless:

·

prior to the date of the transaction, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

·

upon completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, but not for determining the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder, (1) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (2) shares owned by 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 the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board of directors of the corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Generally, a business combination includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An interested stockholder is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, did own 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock. We expect the existence of this provision to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions our board of directors does not approve in advance. We also anticipate that Section 203 of the DGCL may discourage business combinations or other attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by our stockholders.

The provisions of Delaware law and our Charter Documents could have the effect of discouraging others from attempting hostile takeovers and, as a consequence, may also inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of our common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. 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 transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.