Exhibit 4.4
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED
General
As of December 31, 2021, AerSale Corporation had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). References herein to “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refer to AerSale Corporation and not to any of its subsidiaries. The following description summarizes some of the terms of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (our “Charter”), and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, as amended (our “Bylaws”). Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a complete description, you should refer to our Charter and Bylaws, copies of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the relevant provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”).
Our authorized capital stock consists of 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
Common Stock
Dividend rights
Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time-to-time by our Board of Directors (the “Board”) out of legally available funds.
Voting rights
Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share on all matters properly submitted to a vote of the our stockholders, including the election of directors. Our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors. Accordingly, holders of a majority of the voting shares are able to elect all of our directors.
Liquidation
Subject to applicable law, the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the preferred stock, in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, after payment or provision for payment of our debts and other liabilities, the holders of shares of our common stock will be entitled to receive all our remaining assets available for distribution to our stockholders, ratably in proportion to the number of shares of our common stock held by them.
Rights and preferences
Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, conversion, subscription or other rights, and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The rights, preferences, and privileges of the holders of our common stock are subject to and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of our preferred stock that we may designate in the future.
Preferred Stock
Our Board has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions thereof. These rights, preferences, and privileges could include dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences, sinking fund terms, and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of such series, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock could adversely affect the voting power of holders of our common stock and the likelihood that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation. In addition, the issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change of control or other corporate action. No shares of preferred stock are outstanding.
Exclusive Venue
Our Charter provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative form, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for: (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty or other wrongdoing by any of our directors, officers or other employee to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our Charter or Bylaws; (4) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our Charter or Bylaws; or (5) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Under our Charter, this exclusive forum provision will not apply to any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. For instance, the provision would not apply to actions arising under federal securities laws, including suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, Exchange Act, or the rules and regulations thereunder. Our Charter further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Our Charter also provides that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to these choice of forum provisions. It is possible that a court of law could rule that either or both of the choice of forum provisions contained in our Charter is inapplicable or unenforceable if it is challenged in a proceeding or otherwise. stockholders
Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our Charter and Bylaws provide that that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our Charter provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.
Our Bylaws also permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director, employee or agent for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We purchased a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in certain circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act, and is, therefore, unenforceable.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law, Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute
We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL, which prohibits persons deemed to be “interested stockholders” from engaging in a “business combination” with a publicly held Delaware corporation for three years following the date these persons become interested stockholders unless the business combination is, or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder was, approved in a prescribed manner or another prescribed exception applies.
Vacancies
Our Board is empowered to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of our Board or the resignation, death, or removal of a director in certain circumstances.
Undesignated Preferred Stock
Our authorized common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals
Our Bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals to be brought before a stockholder meeting and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors.
Removal of Directors
Our Charter provides that no member of our board of directors may be removed from office by our stockholders except for cause and, in addition to any other vote required by law, upon the approval of the holders of at least a majority in voting power of the outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote in the election of directors.
Stock Exchange
Our common stock currently trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “ASLE”.