Attached files
| file | filename |
|---|---|
| 10-K - 10-K - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | xeniadecember31201910-.htm |
| EX-32.1 - EXHIBIT 32.1 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | xenia201910kexhibit321.htm |
| EX-31.2 - EXHIBIT 31.2 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | xenia201910kexhibit312.htm |
| EX-31.1 - EXHIBIT 31.1 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | xenia201910kexhibit311.htm |
| EX-23.1 - EXHIBIT 23.1 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | xenia201910kexhibit231.htm |
| EX-21.1 - EXHIBIT 21.1 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | xenia201910kexhibit211.htm |
| EX-10.15 - EXHIBIT 10.15 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | ex1015xenia-retirement.htm |
| EX-10.1 - EXHIBIT 10.1 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | ex1011directorscomppro.htm |
| EX-3.6 - EXHIBIT 3.6 - Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | ex36firstamendmenttoth.htm |
Exhibit 4.1
DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following is a brief description of the securities of Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (“our company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The following description of our capital stock does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, our charter and our second amended and restated bylaws (our “bylaws”), and the applicable provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, or “MGCL”. As of December 31, 2019 and the date hereof, our Common Stock is the only class of our securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act.
General
Our charter provides that we may issue up to 500,000,000 shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share, and up to 50,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share. Our board of directors (the “Board of Directors” or the “Board”) has the power, without stockholder approval, to amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series we are authorized to issue. As of December 31, 2019, we had 112,670,757 shares of our Common Stock issued and outstanding.
Under Maryland law, stockholders generally are not personally liable for our debts or obligations solely as a result of their status as stockholders.
Common Stock
All of the outstanding shares of our Common Stock are duly authorized, fully paid and nonassessable. Our common stockholders are entitled to receive dividends when authorized by our Board and declared by us out of assets legally available for the payment of dividends. Our common stockholders are also entitled to share ratably in our assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders in the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, after payment of, or adequate provision for, all of our known debts and liabilities. These rights are subject to the preferential rights of any other class or series of our stock and to the provisions of our charter regarding restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock.
Subject to our charter restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock and except as may otherwise be provided in our charter, each outstanding share of our Common Stock entitles the holder thereof to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors. Except as provided with respect to any other class or series of stock, our common stockholders will possess exclusive voting power. Cumulative voting in the election of directors is not permitted.
Our common stockholders have no preference, conversion, exchange, sinking fund or redemption rights and have no preemptive rights to subscribe for any of our capital stock. Subject to our charter restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock, holders of shares of our Common Stock will initially have equal dividend, liquidation and other rights. Our common stockholders generally have no appraisal rights unless our Board of Directors determines that appraisal rights apply, with respect to all or any classes or series of stock, to one or more transactions occurring after the date of such determination in connection with which stockholders would otherwise be entitled to exercise appraisal rights.
Under Maryland law, a Maryland corporation generally cannot dissolve, amend its charter, merge, convert into another entity, sell all or substantially all of its assets, engage in a statutory share exchange or engage in similar transactions unless declared advisable by the board of directors and approved by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast at least two-thirds of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter unless a lesser percentage (but not less than a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter) is set forth in the corporation’s charter.
Our charter provides for approval of these matters by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on such matters, except that the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors is required to amend provisions of our charter relating to director removal or the vote required for certain amendments. Maryland law also permits a corporation to transfer all or substantially all of its assets without the approval of its stockholders to an entity all of the equity interests of which are owned, directly or indirectly, by the corporation. Our operating assets may be held by our operating partnership or its wholly-owned subsidiaries and these subsidiaries may be able to merge or transfer all or substantially all of their assets without the approval of our stockholders.
Our charter authorizes our Board of Directors to reclassify any unissued shares of our Common Stock into other classes or series of stock, to establish the designation and number of shares of each such class or series and to set, subject to the
Exhibit 4.1
provisions of our charter regarding the restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock, the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption of each such class or series.
Preferred Stock
Under the terms of our charter, our Board of Directors is authorized to classify any unissued shares of our Preferred Stock and to reclassify any previously classified but unissued shares of Preferred Stock into other classes or series of stock. Before the issuance of shares of each class or series, our Board of Directors is required by Maryland law and by our charter to set, subject to our charter restrictions on ownership and transfer of stock, the terms, preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption for each class or series.As of the date of this filing, we have no outstanding shares of Preferred Stock, and we presently have no plans to issue any other shares or classes of Preferred Stock.
Power to Issue Additional Shares of Common Stock and Preferred Stock
We believe that the power to issue additional shares of our Common Stock or Preferred Stock and to classify or reclassify unissued shares of our Common Stock or Preferred Stock and to issue the classified or reclassified shares provides us with increased flexibility in structuring possible future financings and acquisitions and in meeting other needs which might arise. These actions can be taken without action by our stockholders, unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which our stock may be listed or traded. Although we have no present intention of doing so, we could issue a class or series of stock that (i) has priority over shares of our Common Stock with respect to dividends or other distributions or rights upon liquidation, exclusive or class voting rights or with other terms and conditions, or (ii) could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium price for our Common Stock or that our common stockholders otherwise believe to be in their best interest. In addition, our issuance of additional shares of stock in the future could dilute the voting and other rights of your shares. See “Certain Provisions of Maryland Law and of Our Charter and Bylaws.”
Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer
In order to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, (the “Code”), our shares of stock must be beneficially owned by 100 or more persons during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months (other than the first year for which an election to be a REIT has been made) or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year. Also, not more than 50% of the value of our outstanding shares of capital stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) during the last half of a taxable year (other than the first year for which an election to be a REIT has been made).
In order to qualify as a REIT and for other purposes, our charter, subject to certain exceptions, contains restrictions on the number of shares of our stock that a person may own. Our charter provides that no person may beneficially or constructively own more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of any class or series of our capital stock. We refer to the foregoing restrictions as the “Ownership Limit.”
Our charter also prohibits any person from:
• | beneficially owning shares of our capital stock to the extent that such beneficial ownership would result in our being “closely held” within the meaning of Section 856(h) of the Code (without regard to whether the ownership interest is held during the last half of the taxable year); |
• | transferring shares of our capital stock to the extent that such transfer would result in our shares of capital stock being beneficially owned by fewer than 100 persons (determined under the principles of Section 856(a)(5) of the Code); |
• | beneficially or constructively owning shares of our capital stock to the extent such beneficial or constructive ownership would cause us to constructively own ten percent or more of the ownership interests in a tenant (other than a TRS) of our real property within the meaning of Section 856(d)(2)(B) of the Code; or |
• | beneficially or constructively owning shares of our capital stock if such beneficial or constructive ownership would otherwise cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT under the Code, including, but not limited to, as a result of any hotel management companies failing to qualify as an “eligible independent contractor” under the REIT rules. |
Exhibit 4.1
Our Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, may prospectively or retroactively exempt a person from certain of the limits described in the paragraph above and may establish or increase an excepted holder percentage limit for that person. The person seeking an exemption must provide to our Board of Directors any representations, covenants and undertakings that our Board of Directors may deem appropriate in order to conclude that granting the exemption will not cause us to lose our status as a REIT. Our Board of Directors may not grant an exemption to any person if that exemption would result in our failing to qualify as a REIT. Our Board of Directors may require a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or an opinion of counsel, in either case in form and substance satisfactory to our Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, in order to determine or ensure our status as a REIT.
Any attempted transfer of shares of our capital stock which, if effective, would violate any of the restrictions described above will result in the number of shares of our capital stock causing the violation (rounded up to the nearest whole share) to be automatically transferred to a trust for the exclusive benefit of one or more charitable beneficiaries, except that any transfer that results in the violation of the restriction relating to shares of our capital stock being beneficially owned by fewer than 100 persons will be void ab initio. In either case, the proposed transferee will not acquire any rights in those shares. The automatic transfer will be deemed to be effective as of the close of business on the business day prior to the date of the purported transfer or other event that results in the transfer to the trust. Shares held in the trust will be issued and outstanding shares. The proposed transferee will not benefit economically from ownership of any shares held in the trust, will have no rights to dividends or other distributions and will have no rights to vote or other rights attributable to the shares held in the trust. The trustee of the trust will have all voting rights and rights to dividends or other distributions with respect to shares held in the trust. These rights will be exercised for the exclusive benefit of the charitable beneficiary. Any dividend or other distribution paid prior to our discovery that shares have been transferred to the trust will be paid by the recipient to the trustee upon demand. Any dividend or other distribution authorized but unpaid will be paid when due to the trustee. Any dividend or other distribution paid to the trustee will be held in trust for the charitable beneficiary. Subject to Maryland law, the trustee will have the authority (i) to rescind as void any vote cast by the proposed transferee prior to our discovery that the shares have been transferred to the trust and (ii) to recast the vote in accordance with the desires of the trustee acting for the benefit of the charitable beneficiary. However, if we have already taken irreversible corporate action, then the trustee will not have the authority to rescind and recast the vote.
Within 20 days of receiving notice from us that shares of our stock have been transferred to the trust, the trustee will sell the shares to a person, designated by the trustee, whose ownership of the shares will not violate the above ownership and transfer limitations. Upon the sale, the interest of the charitable beneficiary in the shares sold will terminate and the trustee will distribute the net proceeds of the sale to the proposed transferee and to the charitable beneficiary as follows. The proposed transferee will receive the lesser of (i) the price paid by the proposed transferee for the shares or, if the proposed transferee did not give value for the shares in connection with the event causing the shares to be held in the trust (e.g., a gift, devise or other similar transaction), the market price (as defined in our charter) of the shares on the day of the event causing the shares to be held in the trust and (ii) the price per share received by the trustee (net of any commission and other expenses of sale) from the sale or other disposition of the shares. The trustee will reduce the amount payable to the proposed transferee by the amount of dividends or other distributions paid to the proposed transferee and owed by the proposed transferee to the trustee. Any net sale proceeds in excess of the amount payable to the proposed transferee will be paid immediately to the charitable beneficiary. If, prior to our discovery that our shares of our stock have been transferred to the trust, the shares are sold by the proposed transferee, then (i) the shares shall be deemed to have been sold on behalf of the trust and (ii) to the extent that the proposed transferee received an amount for the shares that exceeds the amount he or she was entitled to receive, pursuant to the above, the excess shall be paid to the trustee upon demand.
In addition, shares of our stock held in the trust will be deemed to have been offered for sale to us, or our designee, at a price per share equal to the lesser of (i) the price per share in the transaction that resulted in the transfer to the trust (or, in the case of a devise, gift or other similar transaction, the market price at the time of the devise, gift or other similar transaction) and (ii) the market price on the date we, or our designee, accept the offer, which we will reduce by the amount of dividends and other distributions paid to the proposed transferee and owed by the proposed transferee to the trustee. We will have the right to accept the offer until the trustee has sold the shares. Upon a sale to us, the interest of the charitable beneficiary in the shares sold will terminate and the trustee will distribute the net proceeds of the sale to the proposed transferee.
If a transfer to a charitable trust, as described above, would be ineffective for any reason to prevent a violation of a restriction, the transfer that would have resulted in a violation will be void ab initio, and the proposed transferee shall acquire no rights in those shares.
Any certificate representing shares of our capital stock, and any notices delivered in lieu of certificates with respect to the issuance or transfer of uncertificated shares, will bear a legend referring to the restrictions described above.
Exhibit 4.1
Any person who acquires or attempts or intends to acquire beneficial or constructive ownership of shares of our capital stock that will or may violate any of the foregoing restrictions on transferability and ownership, or any person who would have owned shares of our capital stock that resulted in a transfer of shares to a charitable trust, is required to give written notice immediately to us, or in the case of a proposed or attempted transaction, to give at least 15 days’ prior written notice, and provide us with such other information as we may request in order to determine the effect of the transfer on our status as a REIT. The foregoing restrictions on transferability and ownership will not apply if our Board of Directors determines that it is no longer in our best interests to attempt to qualify, or to continue to qualify, as a REIT or that compliance is no longer required in order for us to qualify as a REIT.
Every owner of more than 5% (or any lower percentage as required by the Code or the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder) in number or value of the outstanding shares of our capital stock, within 30 days after the end of each taxable year, is required to give us written notice, stating his or her name and address, the number of shares of each class and series of shares of our capital stock that he or she beneficially owns and a description of the manner in which the shares are held. Each of these owners must promptly provide us with additional information that we may request in order to determine the effect, if any, of his or her beneficial ownership on our status as a REIT and to ensure compliance with the ownership limits. In addition, each stockholder will upon demand be required to provide us with information that we may request in order to determine our status as a REIT and to comply with the requirements of any taxing authority or governmental authority or to determine our compliance.
These ownership limitations could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our shares of Common Stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for shares of our Common Stock is ComputerShare, Inc., P.O. Box 505013 Louisville, KY 40233-5013 (844) 248-2205.
Certain Provisions of Maryland Law and Our Charter and Bylaws
The following summary of certain provisions of Maryland law and our charter and bylaws does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to Maryland law and to our charter and our bylaws.
Our Board of Directors
According to our charter and bylaws, the number of directors of our company may be established, increased or decreased only by a majority of our entire Board of Directors but may not be fewer than the minimum number required under the MGCL (which is currently one) nor, unless our bylaws are amended, more than fifteen.
Any vacancy on the Board of Directors for any cause other than an increase in the number of directors may be filled by a majority of the remaining directors, even if such majority is less than a quorum. Any vacancy in the number of directors created by an increase in the number of directors may be filled by a majority of the entire Board of Directors. Any individual so elected as a director shall serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies.
Each of our directors will be elected by our common stockholders to serve until the next annual meeting of our stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies under the MGCL. Holders of shares of our Common Stock will have no right to cumulative voting in the election of directors. Our Bylaws provide that each director shall be elected by a majority of the total votes cast for and against each director in an uncontested election. In contested elections, directors will be elected by a plurality of all of the votes cast in the election of directors.
Removal of Directors
Our charter provides that, subject to the rights of holders of one or more classes or series of Preferred Stock to elect or remove one or more directors, a director may be removed only for cause (as defined in our charter) and only by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors.
Exhibit 4.1
Business Combinations
Under the MGCL, certain “business combinations” (including a merger, consolidation, statutory share exchange or, in certain circumstances specified under the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities) between a Maryland corporation and any interested stockholder, or an affiliate of such an interested stockholder, are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Maryland law defines an interested stockholder as:
• | any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock; or |
• | an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the then-outstanding stock of the corporation. |
A person is not an interested stockholder under the MGCL if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which the person otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. In approving a transaction, the Board of Directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of the approval, with any terms and conditions determined by it.
After such five-year period, any such business combination must be recommended by the Board of Directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:
• | 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation; and |
• | two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom (or with whose affiliate) the business combination is to be effected or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder. |
These supermajority approval requirements do not apply if, among other conditions, the corporation’s common stockholders receive a minimum price (as defined in the MGCL) for their shares and the consideration is received in cash or in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares.
These provisions of the MGCL do not apply, however, to business combinations that are approved or exempted by a corporation’s board of directors prior to the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Our Board of Directors has, by board resolution, exempted business combinations between us and any other person, provided that such business combination is first approved by our Board, including a majority of our directors who are not affiliated with the interested stockholder. Consequently, the five-year prohibition and the supermajority vote requirements will not apply to business combinations between us and any such person.
We cannot assure you that our Board of Directors will not amend or repeal this resolution in the future. However, an alteration or repeal of this resolution will not have any effect on any business combinations that have been consummated prior to or upon any agreements existing at the time of such modification or repeal.
Control Share Acquisitions
The MGCL provides that a holder of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” has no voting rights with respect to those shares except to the extent approved by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by stockholders entitled to exercise or direct the exercise of the voting power in the election of directors generally but excluding: (1) the person who has made or proposes to make the control share acquisition; (2) any officer of the corporation; or (3) any employee of the corporation who is also a director of the corporation. “Control shares” are voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other such shares of stock previously acquired by the acquirer or in respect of which the acquirer is able to exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquirer to exercise voting power in electing directors within one of the following ranges of:
• | one-tenth or more but less than one-third; |
• | one-third or more but less than a majority; or |
• | a majority or more of all voting power. |
Exhibit 4.1
Control shares do not include shares that the acquiring person is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval or shares acquired directly from the corporation. A “control share acquisition” means the acquisition, directly or indirectly, of ownership of, or the power to direct the exercise of voting power with respect to, issued and outstanding control shares, subject to certain exceptions.
A person who has made or proposes to make a control share acquisition, upon satisfaction of certain conditions (including an undertaking to pay expenses and making an “acquiring person statement” as described in the MGCL), may compel the board of directors of a company to call a special meeting of stockholders to be held within 50 days of demand to consider the voting rights of the control shares. If no request for a special meeting is made, the corporation may itself present the question at any stockholders meeting.
If voting rights of control shares are not approved at the meeting or if the acquiring person does not deliver an “acquiring person statement” as required by the statute, then, subject to certain conditions and limitations, the corporation may redeem any or all of the control shares (except those for which voting rights have previously been approved) for fair value determined, without regard to the absence of voting rights for the control shares as of the date of any meeting of stockholders at which the voting rights of such shares are considered and not approved or, if no such meeting is held, as of the date of the last control acquisition by the acquirer. If voting rights for control shares are approved at a stockholders meeting and the acquirer becomes entitled to vote a majority of the shares entitled to vote, all other stockholders may exercise appraisal rights. The fair value of the shares as determined for purposes of such appraisal rights may not be less than the highest price per share paid by the acquirer in the control share acquisition.
The control share acquisition statute does not apply (1) to shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or statutory share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction or (2) to acquisitions approved or exempted by the charter or bylaws of the corporation.
Our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the control share acquisition statute any and all acquisitions by any person of shares of our stock. Our Board of Directors may amend or eliminate this provision at any time in the future, whether before or after the acquisition of control shares.
Amendments to Our Charter and Bylaws
Our charter generally may be amended only if such amendment is declared advisable by our Board of Directors and approved by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. The affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast at least two thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on such matter is required to amend the provisions of our charter relating to the removal of directors or the vote required for certain amendments.
Our Board of Directors has the power to adopt, alter or repeal any provision of our bylaws and to make new bylaws. Our bylaws also provide stockholders with the concurrent right to amend our bylaws by the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Common Stock pursuant to a proposal submitted by a group of up to five stockholders owning at least 1% of our outstanding Common Stock continuously for at least one year, provided, that the stockholder (or group) and each proposed bylaw amendment satisfy the requirements specified in the bylaws. A stockholder proposal submitted under our bylaws may not, without the approval of our Board, alter or repeal the provisions of our bylaws relating to indemnification of our directors and officer and the procedures for the amendment of our bylaws.
Exclusive Forum
Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of any duty owed by us or by any director or officer or other employee to us or to our stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer or other employee arising pursuant to any provision of the MGCL or our charter or bylaws or (d) any action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer or other employee that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, or, if that Court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division.
Meetings of Stockholders
Under our bylaws, annual meetings of stockholders will be held each year at a date and time determined by our Board of Directors. Special meetings of stockholders may be called by our Board of Directors, the chairman of our Board of Directors,
Exhibit 4.1
our president or our chief executive officer. Additionally, subject to the provisions of our bylaws, special meetings of the stockholders must be called by our secretary to act on any matter that may properly be considered at a meeting of stockholders upon the written request of stockholders entitled to cast not less than a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on such matter at such meeting who have requested the special meeting in accordance with the procedures set forth in, and provided the information and certifications required by, our bylaws. Only matters set forth in the notice of the special meeting may be considered and acted upon at such a meeting.
Advance Notice of Director Nominations and New Business
Our bylaws provide that:
• | with respect to an annual meeting of stockholders, nominations of individuals for election to our Board of Directors and the proposal of business to be considered by stockholders at the annual meeting may be made only |
• | pursuant to our notice of the meeting; |
• | by or at the direction of our Board of Directors; or |
• | by a stockholder who was a stockholder of record both at the time of giving of the notice of the meeting and at the time of the annual meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting in the election of each individual nominated or on such other business, and who has complied with the advance notice procedures set forth in, and provided the information and certifications required by, our bylaws; and |
• | with respect to special meetings of stockholders, only the business specified in our company’s notice of meeting may be brought before the special meeting of stockholders, and nominations of individuals for election to our Board of Directors may be made only |
• | by or at the direction of our Board of Directors; or |
• | provided that the meeting has been called in accordance with our bylaws for the purpose of electing directors, by a stockholder who is a stockholder of record both at the time of giving of the notice required by our bylaws and at the time of the meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting in the election of each individual so nominated and who has complied with the advance notice provisions set forth in, and provided the information and certifications required by, our bylaws. |
The purpose of requiring stockholders to give advance notice of nominations and other proposals is to afford our Board of Directors and our stockholders the opportunity to consider the qualifications of the proposed nominees or the advisability of the other proposals and, to the extent considered necessary by our Board of Directors, to inform stockholders and make recommendations regarding the nominations or other proposals.
Proxy Access Procedures for Eligible Stockholders.
Our bylaws permit an eligible stockholder (as defined in our bylaws), or a group of no more than 20 eligible stockholders, owning collectively 3% or more of the Common Stock continuously for at least three years, to nominate and include in our proxy materials for an annual meeting of stockholders, the greater of (i) two director nominees or (ii) director nominees constituting up to 20% of the total number of directors on the Board; provided that the stockholder (or group) and each nominee satisfy the requirements specified in the Bylaws.
Limitation of Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to include in its charter a provision limiting the liability of its directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money damages except for liability resulting from actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or active and deliberate dishonesty that is established by a final judgment and is material to the cause of action. Our charter contains such a provision that eliminates such liability to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law.
The MGCL requires a Maryland corporation (unless its charter provides otherwise, which our charter does not) to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made or threatened to be made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. The MGCL permits a Maryland
Exhibit 4.1
corporation to indemnify its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made or are threatened to be made a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that:
• | the act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and: |
• | was committed in bad faith; or |
• | was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty; |
• | the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services; or |
• | in the case of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful. |
However, under the MGCL, a Maryland corporation may not indemnify a director or officer for an adverse judgment in a suit by or in the right of the corporation or if the director or officer was adjudged liable on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received, unless in either case a court orders indemnification and then only for expenses. A court may order indemnification if it determines that the director or officer is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification, even though the director or officer did not meet the prescribed standard of conduct or was adjudged liable on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received.
In addition, the MGCL permits a Maryland corporation to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon the corporation’s receipt of:
• | a written affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good faith belief that he or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the corporation; and |
• | a written undertaking, which may be unsecured, by the director or officer or on the director’s or officer’s behalf to repay the amount paid if it shall ultimately be determined that the standard of conduct has not been met. |
Our charter authorizes us to obligate our company and our bylaws obligate us, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law in effect from time to time, to indemnify and to pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding without requiring a preliminary determination of the director’s or officer’s ultimate entitlement to indemnification to:
• | any present or former director or officer who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity; or |
• | any individual who, while a director or officer of our company and at our request, serves or has served as a director, officer, partner, member, manager or trustee of another corporation, real estate investment trust, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or any other enterprise and who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity. |
Our charter and bylaws also permit us, with the approval of our Board of Directors, to indemnify and advance expenses to any person who served a predecessor of ours in any of the capacities described above and to any employee or agent of our company or a predecessor of our company.
Indemnification Agreements
We have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers that provide for indemnification to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law.
REIT Qualification
Our charter provides that our Board of Directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to attempt to, or to continue to, be qualified as a REIT. Our charter also provides that our Board of Directors may determine that compliance with the restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock is no longer required for us to qualify as a REIT.