EX-4.6 2 viavq4fy1910-kex46xdes.htm EXHIBIT 4.6
Exhibit 4.6
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
As of June 29, 2019, Viavi Solutions Inc. has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): its common stock. Unless the context otherwise indicates, references in this description to the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer, collectively, to Viavi Solutions Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Description of Capital Stock
General
The following is a summary of the terms of our capital stock and certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws as they are currently in effect, which we refer to in this section as our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, respectively. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, both of which are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our authorized capital stock consists of 1,001,000,000 shares, with a par value of $0.001 per share, of which:

• | 1,000,000,000 shares are designated as common stock; and

• | 1,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock.

Common Stock
All issued and outstanding shares of our common stock have been duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. All authorized but unissued shares of our common stock are available for issuance by our board of directors without any further stockholder action, except as required by the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders. Holders of common stock do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors. Subject to preferences that may be granted to any then outstanding preferred stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor as well as any distributions to the stockholders. In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and the liquidation preference of any then outstanding preferred stock. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive or other subscription or conversion rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock.
Preferred Stock
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 1,000,000 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.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
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.

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.
No cumulative voting. Our certificate of incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting.
Limits on ability of stockholders to act by written consent or call a special meeting. Our certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not act by written consent. This limit on the ability of stockholders to act by written consent may lengthen the amount of time required to take stockholder actions. As a result, the holders of a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend the bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of stockholders called in accordance with the bylaws.
In addition, our certificate of incorporation provides that, subject to the rights of the holders of any stock having a preference over the common stock as to dividends or liquidation, special meetings of the stockholders can be called only by our board of directors, our chairman of the board of directors or our chief executive officer. Stockholders are not permitted to call a special meeting or to require the board of directors to call a special meeting of stockholders, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for holders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.
Requirements for advance notification of stockholder nominations and proposals. Our bylaws contain 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 or a committee of the 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.
Choice of forum. Our bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for: any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
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. We also anticipate that Section 203 may discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.
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.
Listing
Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “VIAV.”
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Investor Services, 462 South 4th Street, Suite 1600, Louisville, KY 40202, telephone number 800-962-4284, Outside the US 781-575-3120.