EX-4.5 2 evr12312022ex45.htm EX-4.5
Exhibit 4.5
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following description of our capital stock is a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, the forms or copies of which have been filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and are incorporated by reference herein, and by applicable law.
Our authorized capital stock consists of 1,000,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $.01 per share, 1,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $.01 per share and 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, we will issue all shares of our capital stock in uncertificated form.
Common Stock
Class A common stock
Holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders.
Holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to receive dividends when and if declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor, subject to any statutory or contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends and to any restrictions on the payment of dividends imposed by the terms of any outstanding preferred stock.
Upon our dissolution or liquidation or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, after payment in full of all amounts required to be paid to creditors and to the holders of preferred stock having liquidation preferences, if any, the holders of our Class A common stock will be entitled to receive pro rata our remaining assets available for distribution.
Holders of our Class A common stock do not have preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights.
Subject to the transfer restrictions set forth in the Evercore LP partnership agreement, holders of fully vested partnership units in Evercore LP (other than Evercore Inc.) may exchange these partnership units for shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassifications.
Class B common stock
Each holder of Class B common Stock shall be entitled, without regard to the number of shares of Class B common stock held by such holder, to one vote for each partnership unit in Evercore LP held by such holder. Accordingly, the limited partners of Evercore LP collectively have a number of votes in Evercore Inc. that is equal to the aggregate number of vested and unvested partnership units that they hold.
Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class on all matters presented to our stockholders for their vote or approval, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
Holders of our Class B common stock do not have any right to receive dividends or to receive a distribution upon a liquidation or winding up of Evercore Inc.
Preferred Stock
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors to establish one or more series of preferred stock (including convertible preferred stock). Unless required by law or by any stock exchange, the authorized shares of preferred stock will be available for issuance without further action by you. Our board of directors is able to determine, with respect to any series of preferred stock, the terms and rights of that series, including:

| • |  | the designation of the series;

| • |  | the number of shares of the series, which our board may, except where otherwise provided in the preferred stock designation, increase or decrease, but not below the number of shares then outstanding;

| • |  | whether dividends, if any, will be cumulative or non-cumulative and the dividend rate of the series;

| • |  | the dates at which dividends, if any, will be payable;

| • |  | the redemption rights and price or prices, if any, for shares of the series;

| • |  | the terms and amounts of any sinking fund provided for the purchase or redemption of shares of the series;

| • |  | the amounts payable on shares of the series in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the affairs of our company;

| • |  | whether the shares of the series will be convertible into shares of any other class or series, or any other security, of our company or any other entity, and, if so, the specification of the other class or series or other security, the conversion price or prices or rate or rates, any rate adjustments, the date or dates as of which the shares will be convertible and all other terms and conditions upon which the conversion may be made;

| • |  | restrictions on the issuance of shares of the same series or of any other class or series; and

| • |  | the voting rights, if any, of the holders of the series.

We could issue a series of preferred stock that could, depending on the terms of the series, impede or discourage an acquisition attempt or other transaction that some, or a majority, of you might believe to be in your best interests or in which you might receive a premium for your Class A common stock over the market price of the Class A common stock.
Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock
Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, which would apply so long as the Class A common stock remains listed on the New York Stock Exchange, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of Class A common stock (assuming, in this latter case, the exchange of outstanding Evercore LP partnership units not held by Evercore Inc.). These additional shares may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.
One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock or preferred stock may be to enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of our company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, and thereby protect the continuity of our management and possibly deprive the stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares at prices higher than prevailing market prices.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Provisions of Delaware Law
We are a Delaware corporation subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Section 203 provides that, subject to certain exceptions specified in the law, a Delaware corporation shall not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder unless:

| • |  | prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

| • |  | upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or

| • |  | at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized by the affirmative vote of holders 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. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years did own, 15% or more of our voting stock.

Under certain circumstances, Section 203 makes it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. The provisions of Section 203 may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction that results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our Class A common stock is Computershare Shareowner Services LLC.
Listing
Our Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EVR.”