EX-4.1 2 cprt07312019-ex41.htm EXHIBIT 4.1
Exhibit 4.1
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following description of the capital stock of Copart, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”) is a summary of the rights of our common stock and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws currently in effect. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of our certificate of incorporation filed as Exhibit 3.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 25, 2016, the certificate of amendment to certificate of incorporation filed as Exhibit 2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 22, 2016, our bylaws filed as filed as Exhibit 3 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 22, 2016 and Delaware General Corporation Law. We encourage you to read our certificate of incorporation, certificate of amendment, bylaws and the applicable portion of the Delaware General Corporation Law carefully.
General
Our authorized capital stock consists of 405 million shares of capital stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of which:
•400 million shares are designated as common stock; and
•Five million shares are designated as preferred stock.
Our board of directors is authorized, without stockholder approval, except as required by the listing standards of Nasdaq, to issue additional shares of our capital stock.
Common Stock
The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders and do not have cumulative voting rights. Accordingly, holders of a majority of the shares of common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors may elect all of the directors standing for election. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of outstanding shares of common stock are entitled to receive ratably any dividends declared by our board of directors out of assets legally available. See the section titled “Dividend Policies” in our Form 10-K filed concurrently for additional information. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of our common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and the liquidation preference of any then outstanding shares of preferred stock. Holders of common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock.
Preferred Stock
No shares of preferred stock are outstanding. Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation, our board of directors has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue from time to time up to five million shares of preferred stock in one or more series. Our board of directors may designate the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, redemption rights, liquidation preference, sinking fund terms and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of any series. The issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of restricting dividends on the common stock, diluting the voting power of the common stock, impairing the liquidation rights of the common stock or delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control. Such issuance could have the effect of decreasing the market price of the common stock. We currently have no plans to issue any shares of preferred stock.
Description of Certain Terms in Our Charter Documents and Delaware Law
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions and certain provisions of Delaware law, which are summarized below, could discourage takeovers, coercive or otherwise. These provisions are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us.
Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock. As discussed above under “Preferred Stock,” our board of directors has the ability to designate and issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could deter hostile takeovers or delay changes in our control or management.
Limits on Ability of Stockholders to Call a Special Meeting. Our bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the chairperson of the board, the chief executive officer, or stockholders holding at least ten percent (10%) of the total voting power of all issued and outstanding shares of capital stock. This may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals. Our bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors. These advance notice procedures may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed and may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempt to obtain control of our company.
Election of Directors. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that establish specific procedures for appointing and removing members of our board of directors. Under our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, vacancies and newly created directorships on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of the directors then serving on the board of directors.
No Cumulative Voting. The Delaware General Corporation Law provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless our certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws do not expressly provide for cumulative voting. Without cumulative voting, a minority stockholder may not be able to gain as many seats on our board of directors as the stockholder would be able to gain if cumulative voting were permitted. The absence of cumulative voting makes it more difficult for a minority stockholder to gain a seat on our board of directors to influence our board of directors’ decision regarding a takeover.
Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute. We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law 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, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction that 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 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 our board of directors 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 that 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.
The provisions of Delaware law and the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could have the effect of discouraging others from attempting hostile takeovers and as a consequence, they might also inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of our common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. These provisions might also have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is also possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
Choice of Forum. Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for: (A) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the corporation, (B) any action or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the corporation to the corporation or the corporation’s stockholders, (C) any action or proceeding asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (D) any action or proceeding asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A. The transfer agent’s address is P.O. Box 505000, Louisville, Kentucky 40233-5000, and its telephone number is (877) 282-1168.
Exchange Listing
Our common stock is listed on Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “CPRT”.