Attached files

file filename
EX-32.2 - STATEMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - Elys Game Technology, Corp.exhibit_32-2.htm
EX-32.1 - STATEMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER - Elys Game Technology, Corp.exhibit_32-1.htm
EX-31.2 - CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF ELYS GAME TECHNOLOGY, CORP. - Elys Game Technology, Corp.exhibit_31-2.htm
EX-31.1 - CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF ELYS GAME TECHNOLOGY, CORP. - Elys Game Technology, Corp.exhibit_31-1.htm
EX-23.1 - CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM - Elys Game Technology, Corp.exhibit_23-1.htm
EX-21.1 - LIST OF SUBSIDIARIES - Elys Game Technology, Corp.exhibit_21-1.htm
10-K - ANNUAL REPORT - Elys Game Technology, Corp.elys_2020dec31-10k.htm

Exhibit 4.15

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED

Elys Game Technology, Corp. (“we,” “us,” and “our”) has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which is our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”).

General

The following description of the Common Stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and Bylaws, each of which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, for additional information.

 

Description of Common Stock

 

Authorized Shares of Common Stock. We currently have authorized 80,000,000 shares of Common Stock.

 

Voting Rights. The holders of Common Stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders.

 

Dividend Rights. Holders of Common Stock are entitled, subject to the rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions attaching to any other class of shares ranking in priority to the Common Stock, to receive any dividend declared by the Board of Directors.

 

Liquidation Rights. In the event of our voluntary or involuntary liquidation, the holders of Common Stock will be entitled to receive, after distribution in full of preferential amounts, if any, all the remaining assets available for distribution ratably in proportion to the number of shares of Common Stock held by them.

 

Other Rights and Preferences. The holders of our Common Stock have no redemption or conversion rights. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of shares 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.

 

Fully Paid and Nonassessable. All of our issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock are fully paid and nonassessable.

 

Reverse Stock Split

 

As described in more detail below, on December 12, 2019, we effected a one-for-eight reverse stock split of our authorized, issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”).

 

On November 22, 2019, our Board of Directors approved the Reverse Stock Split of our authorized, issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock at a ratio of one (1) share of Common Stock for every eight (8) shares of Common Stock. On December 9, 2019, we filed a Certificate of Amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to effectuate the Reverse Stock Split at the Effective Time (as defined below). The Reverse Stock Split was effective as of 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time) on December 12, 2019 (the “Effective Time”) and our Common Stock began trading on a post-split basis when the market opened for trading on December 12, 2019.

 

As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, each eight (8) pre-split shares of Common Stock outstanding were automatically combined into one (1) new share of Common Stock without any action on the part of the holders, and the number of outstanding shares Common Stock was reduced from 86,178,070 shares to 10,772,259 shares (subject to rounding of fractional shares).

 

 

 
 

 

Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law, our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws

 

We are incorporated in the State of Delaware. As a result, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless:

 

·the transaction was approved by the Board of Directors prior to the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder;

 

·upon consummation of the transaction which 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 shares owned by directors who are also officers of the corporation and 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 time the stockholder became an interested stockholder, the business combination was approved by the Board of Directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include mergers, asset sales and other transactions resulting in financial benefit to a stockholder and an “interested stockholder” as a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or within three years did own, 15% or more of the corporation's outstanding voting stock. These provisions may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing changes in control of our company.

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws include a number of provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of our Board of Directors or management team, including the following:

 

(1) Potential Effects of Authorized but Unissued Stock

 

We have shares of Common Stock and preferred stock available for future issuance without stockholder approval. We may utilize these additional shares for a variety of corporate purposes, including securities public offerings and other financings to raise additional capital, to facilitate corporate acquisitions or payment as a dividend on the capital stock.

 

The existence of unissued and unreserved Common Stock and preferred stock may enable our Board of Directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management or to issue preferred stock with terms that could render more difficult or discourage a third-party attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, thereby protecting the continuity of our management. In addition, the Board of Directors has the discretion to determine designations, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences of each series of preferred stock, all to the fullest extent permissible under the Delaware General Corporation Law and subject to any limitations set forth in our Certificate of Incorporation. The purpose of authorizing the Board of Directors to issue preferred stock and to determine the rights and preferences applicable to such preferred stock is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing desirable flexibility in connection with possible financings, acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or could discourage a third party from acquiring, a majority of our outstanding voting stock.

 

 
 

(2) Limitations of Director Liability and Indemnification of Directors, Officers and Employees

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation limits the liability of directors to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware General Corporation Law. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors, except for liability for any:

 

·breach of their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders;
·act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
·unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the
·Delaware General Corporation Law; or
·transaction from which the directors derived an improper personal benefit.

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation also provides that we will indemnify our directors and officers to the extent permitted by law, and may indemnify employees and other agents. Our Certificate of Incorporation also provides that we may advance expenses incurred by a director or officer in advance of the final disposition of any action or proceeding.

 

We have also entered into separate indemnification agreements with certain of our directors and officers. These agreements, among other things, require us to indemnify the directors and officers for any and all expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees, retainers, court costs, transcript costs, fees of experts, witness fees, travel expenses, duplicating costs, printing and binding costs, telephone charges, postage, delivery service fees) judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such directors or officers or on his or her behalf in connection with any action or proceeding arising out of their services as one of our directors or officers, or any of our subsidiaries or any other company or enterprise to which the person provides services at our request provided that such person follows the procedures for determining entitlement to indemnification and advancement of expenses set forth in the indemnification agreement. We believe that these provisions and indemnification agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified persons as directors and officers.

 

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though an action, if successful, might provide a benefit to us and our stockholders. Our results of operations and financial condition may be harmed to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

Board of Directors Vacancies

 

Our Bylaws authorize only our Board of Directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats.

 

No Cumulative Voting. The Delaware General Corporation Law provides that stockholders are not entitled to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our Certificate of Incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting.

 

 
 

Choice of Forum

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all Internal Corporate Claims (as defined therein) shall be brought solely and exclusively in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have jurisdiction, the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, or, if such other court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware).

 

A Delaware corporation is allowed to mandate in its corporate governance documents a chosen forum for the resolution of state law based shareholder class actions, derivative suits and other intra-corporate disputes.

 

This exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal or concurrent federal and state jurisdiction.

 

The Company’s management believes limiting state law based claims to Delaware will provide the most appropriate outcomes as the risk of another forum misapplying Delaware law is avoided. Delaware courts have a well-developed body of case law and limiting the forum will preclude costly and duplicative litigation and avoids the risk of inconsistent outcomes. Additionally, Delaware Chancery Courts can typically resolve disputes on an accelerated schedule when compared to other forums.

 

While management believes limiting the forum for state law based claims is a benefit, shareholders could be inconvenienced by not being able to bring a state law based action in another forum they find favorable.

 

Transfer Agent

 

The transfer agent and registrar for our Common Stock is Signature Stock Transfer, Inc. Its address is 14673 Midway Road, Suite #220, Addison, Texas 75001 and its telephone number is (972) 612-4120.

 

Listing

 

Our shares of common stock trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “ELYS.”