Attached files
| file | filename |
|---|---|
| 10-K - 10-K - TAPESTRY, INC. | tpr6272020-10k.htm |
| EX-32.1 - EXHIBIT 32.1 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit321-fy20.htm |
| EX-31.1 - EXHIBIT 31.1 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit311-fy20.htm |
| EX-23.1 - EXHIBIT 23.1 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit231-fy20.htm |
| EX-21.1 - EXHIBIT 21.1 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit211-fy20.htm |
| EX-10.40 - EXHIBIT 10.40 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit1040-fy20.htm |
| EX-10.39 - EXHIBIT 10.39 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit1039-fy20.htm |
| EX-10.38 - EXHIBIT 10.38 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit1038-fy20.htm |
| EX-10.37 - EXHIBIT 10.37 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit1037-fy20.htm |
| EX-10.20 - EXHIBIT 10.20 - TAPESTRY, INC. | exhibit1020-fy20.htm |
EXHIBIT 4.9
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following is a summary of the material terms of the securities of Tapestry, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and provisions of the Company’s charter and bylaws. The Company has one class of common stock registered under the Exchange Act, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TPR”. The summary is subject to and qualified in its entirely by reference to the charter and bylaws, each of which is filed as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, of which this Exhibit 4.9 is a part. The following also summarizes certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”) and is subject to and qualified in its entirely by reference to the MGCL.
General
Our charter provides that we may issue up to 1,000,000,000 shares of common stock, $.01 par value per share (our “common stock”), and up to 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $.01 par value per share (our “preferred stock”), and permits our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to amend the charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue. Under the MGCL, stockholders generally are not personally liable for our debts or obligations solely as a result of their status as stockholders.
Common Stock
Holders of our common stock generally have no preference, conversion, exchange, sinking fund, redemption or appraisal rights and have no preemptive rights to subscribe for any of our securities. Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends if, as and when authorized by our board of directors and declared by us out of assets legally available for the payment of dividends. They 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, if any, of any other class or series of our stock. All outstanding shares of our common stock are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.
Each outstanding share of common stock entitles the holder 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, the holders of our common stock will possess the exclusive voting power. In uncontested elections, directors are elected by a majority of all of the votes cast in the election of directors, and in contested elections, directors are elected by a plurality of all of the votes cast in the election of directors. There is no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which means that the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock can elect all of the directors then standing for election, and the holders of the remaining shares will not be able to elect any directors.
Power to Classify or Reclassify Unissued Shares of Our Stock and Increase or Decrease Authorized Shares of Stock
Our charter provides that we may issue up to 25,000,000 shares of our preferred stock without stockholder approval. Our charter (1) authorizes our board of directors to classify and reclassify any unissued shares of our common stock and preferred stock into other classes or series of stock and (2) permits our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to amend the charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue. Prior to issuance of shares of each class or series, the board of directors is required by the MGCL and by our charter to set the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms and conditions of redemption for each class or series. Thus, the board of directors could authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for holders of our common stock or otherwise be in their best interest. Our board of directors may take these actions without stockholder approval unless stockholder approval is required by the terms of any other class or series of our stock or the rules of any stock exchange or automatic quotation system on which our securities may be listed or traded. No shares of our preferred stock are presently outstanding, and we have no present plans to issue any preferred stock.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for the common stock is Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
Certain Provisions of Maryland Law and our Charter and Bylaws
Our Board of Directors
Our charter and bylaws provide that 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 by the MGCL, which is one.
We have elected to be subject to a provision of the MGCL requiring that, except as may be provided by our board of directors in setting the terms of any class or series of preferred stock, any vacancy on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors, even if the remaining directors do not constitute a quorum. Any director so elected will serve for the remainder of the full term of the directorship in which the vacancy occurred and until a successor is duly elected and qualifies.
Each of our directors is elected by our stockholders to serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies. Holders of shares of our common stock will have no right to cumulative voting in the election of directors. In uncontested elections, directors are elected by a majority of all of the votes cast in the election of directors, and in contested elections, directors are elected by a plurality of all of the votes cast in the election of directors.
Removal of Directors
We have elected to be subject to a provision of the MGCL that provides that a director may be removed only by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors. This provision, when coupled with the exclusive power of our board of directors to fill vacant directorships, may preclude stockholders from removing incumbent directors except by a substantial affirmative vote and filling the vacancies created by such removal with their own nominees.
Limitation of Liability and Indemnification
Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to include in its charter a provision eliminating the liability of its directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money damages except for liability resulting from (i) actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (ii) active or deliberate dishonesty established in a judgment or other final adjudication to be material to the cause of action. Our charter contains a provision that eliminates the liability of our directors and officers 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 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 threatened to be made a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that:
• | an act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and |
o | was committed in bad faith or |
o | 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 for an adverse judgment in a suit by or in the right of the corporation or for a judgment of liability on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received, unless in either case a court orders indemnification and then only for expenses. 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 by the director or officer or on the director’s or officer’s behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the corporation if it is ultimately determined that the director or officer did not meet the standard of conduct. |
Our bylaws obligate us, to the fullest extent permitted by the MGCL, to indemnify and hold harmless and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to:
• | any present or former director or officer who is made, or threatened to be made, a party to, or witness in, 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 Company’s request, serves or has served another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise as a director, officer, employee or agent and who is made, or threatened to be made, a party to, or witness in, the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity. |
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. The MGCL 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 voting stock of the corporation. | |
A person is not an interested stockholder under the statute 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,
however, a 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.
Control Share Acquisitions
The MGCL provides that holders of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights with respect to their control shares except to the extent approved by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast in the election of directors, generally, excluding shares of stock in a corporation in respect of which any of the following persons is entitled to exercise or direct the exercise of the voting power in the election of directors: (1) the person who made or proposes to make a control share acquisition, (2) an officer of the corporation or (3) an 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 cause the acquirer to be entitled to exercise voting power in electing directors within one of the following ranges of voting power:
• | 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. | |
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 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 to: (1) shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction or (2) 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.
Subtitle 8
Subtitle 8 of Title 3 of the MGCL permits a Maryland corporation with a class of equity securities registered under the Exchange Act and at least three independent directors to elect to be subject, by provision in
its charter or bylaws or a resolution of its board of directors and notwithstanding any contrary provision in the charter or bylaws, to any or all of the following five provisions:
• | a classified board; | |
• | a two-thirds vote requirement for removing a director; | |
• | a requirement that the number of directors be fixed only by the board of directors; | |
• | a requirement that a vacancy on the board be filled only by the remaining directors and for the remainder of the full term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred; or | |
• | a majority requirement for the calling by stockholders of a special meeting of stockholders. | |
We have elected to be subject to the provisions of Subtitle 8 relating to the removal of directors and the filling of vacancies on our board of directors. Through provisions in our charter and bylaws unrelated to Subtitle 8, we already vest in the board the exclusive power to fix the number of directorships, subject to limitations set forth in our charter and bylaws, and require, unless called by the chairman of our board of directors, our chief executive officer, our president or our board of directors, the request of stockholders entitled to cast not less than a majority of all votes entitled to be cast on a matter at such meeting to call a special meeting to consider and vote on any matter that may properly be considered at a meeting of stockholders.
Our charter contains a provision that prohibits us from classifying our board pursuant to Subtitle 8 without the approval of a majority of the votes cast on such matter by the holders of shares entitled to vote generally in the election of directors.
Meetings of Stockholders
Pursuant to our bylaws, a meeting of our stockholders for the election of directors and the transaction of any business will be held annually on a date and at the time and place set by our board of directors. The chairman of our board of directors, our chief executive officer, our president or our board of directors may call a special meeting of our stockholders. Subject to the provisions of our bylaws, a special meeting of our stockholders to act on any matter that may properly be brought before a meeting of our stockholders must also be called by our secretary upon the written request of the stockholders entitled to cast not less than a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast at the meeting on such matter and containing the information required by our bylaws. Our secretary will inform the requesting stockholders of the reasonably estimated cost of preparing and delivering the notice of meeting (including our proxy materials), and the requesting stockholder must pay such estimated cost before our secretary is required to prepare and deliver the notice of the special meeting. Only the matters set forth in the notice of special meeting may be considered and acted upon at such meeting.
Extraordinary Actions; Amendments to Our Charter and Bylaws
Under the MGCL, a Maryland corporation generally cannot dissolve, merge, consolidate, convert, sell all or substantially all of its assets or engage in a statutory share exchange, unless approved by the affirmative vote of stockholders holding at least two-thirds of the shares entitled to vote on the matter. However, a Maryland corporation may provide in its charter for approval of these matters by a lesser percentage but not less than a
majority of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Our charter provides for approval by a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast in these situations.
Our charter 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 all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Our board of directors has the power to amend, alter or repeal any provision of our bylaws and to make new bylaws. In addition, our stockholders may amend, alter or repeal any provision of our bylaws and adopt new bylaws, but only with the approval of a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter.
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.
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 the 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 as of the record date set by the our board of directors for the purposes of determining stockholders entitled to vote at the annual meeting, at the time of giving of the notice required by our bylaws and at the time of the annual meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting in the election of each individual so nominated or on such other business and who has provided the information and certifications required by the advance notice procedures set forth in our bylaws. | ||
• | with respect to special meetings of stockholders, only the business specified in our notice of meeting may be brought before the 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 for the purpose of electing directors, by a stockholder who is a stockholder of record as of the record date set by the our board of directors for the purposes of determining stockholders entitled to vote at the special meeting, 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 provided the information and certifications required by the advance notice procedures set forth in our bylaws. | ||
Proxy Access Procedures for Qualifying Stockholders.
Our bylaws permit a stockholder, or a group of up to 20 stockholders, that owns 3% or more of the our common stock continuously for at least three years and through the date of the annual meeting (and any postponement or adjournment thereof) to nominate and include in our proxy materials candidates for election as directors of the Company, subject to certain terms and conditions. Such stockholder(s) or group(s) of stockholders may nominate director candidates constituting up to the greater of two individuals or 20% of our board of directors, provided that the stockholder(s) and the director nominee(s) satisfy the eligibility, notice and other requirements specified in the Bylaws.
Anti-takeover Effect of Certain Provisions of Maryland law and of Our Charter and Bylaws
Our election to be subject to the provisions of Subtitle 8 regarding the removal of directors and the exclusive power of our board of directors to fill vacancies on the board and the advance notice provisions of our bylaws could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control of our company that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our common stockholders. Likewise, if our board of directors were to opt in to the business combination provisions of the MGCL or if the provision in our bylaws opting out of the control share acquisition provisions of the MGCL were amended or rescinded, these provisions of the MGCL could have similar anti-takeover effects.