EX-4.4 4 notv-20240930xex044xdescri.htm EX-4.4
Exhibit 4.4
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The authorized capital stock of Inotiv, Inc. (“we,” “our,” “us,” or the “Company”) consists of 74,000,000 common shares and 1,000,000 preferred shares.
The following summary of the terms of our capital stock does not purport to be complete, may have changed since the date of filing and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our second amended and restated articles of incorporation, as amended (our “Articles of Incorporation”), and third amended and restated bylaws, as amended (our “Bylaws”), both of which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as exhibits to previous filings, and the applicable provisions of the Indiana Business Corporation Law (the “IBCL”), in all cases as may be amended from time to time.
Common Shares
Voting Rights
Each outstanding common share is entitled to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of shareholders. There is no cumulative voting. At any meeting of shareholders, a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter by the holders of the common shares at the meeting constitutes a quorum. If a quorum is present when a vote is taken, action on a matter is approved if the votes cast in favor of the action exceed the votes cast in opposition to the action, unless a greater number is required by law, our articles of incorporation, or our bylaws.
Dividend and Liquidation Rights
The holders of outstanding common shares are entitled to receive dividends out of assets legally available for the payment of dividends at the times and in the amounts as our board of directors may from time to time determine. The common shares are neither redeemable nor convertible. Holders of our common shares have no preemptive or subscription rights to purchase any of our securities. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of our common shares are entitled to receive, pro rata, our assets which are legally available for distribution, after payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any holders of preferred shares then outstanding. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common shares are subject to and may be adversely affected by the rights of the holders of our outstanding preferred shares and any series of preferred shares that we may designate and issue in the future.
Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common shares is Computershare Limited.
Listing
Our common shares are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "NOTV".
Preferred Shares
Under the terms of our Articles of Incorporation, our board of directors is authorized to issue up to 1,000,000 of our preferred shares in one or more series without shareholder approval. Our board of directors has the discretion to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences, of each series of preferred shares. It is not possible to otherwise state the actual effect of the issuance of any preferred shares upon the rights of the holders of common shares until the board of directors determines the specific rights of the holders of such preferred shares. However, effects of the issuance of preferred shares may include restricting dividends on common shares, diluting the voting power of common shares, impairing the liquidation rights of common shares, and making it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, which could have the effect of discouraging a third party from acquiring, or deterring a third party from paying a premium to acquire, a majority of our outstanding voting shares.
Certain Provisions of the Indiana Business Corporation Law
As an Indiana corporation, we are governed by the IBCL. Under specified circumstances, the following provisions of the IBCL may delay, prevent or make more difficult unsolicited acquisitions or changes of control of us. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions which shareholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interest.
Control Share Acquisition
Under Chapter 42 of the IBCL, an acquiring person or group who makes a “control share acquisition” in an “issuing public corporation” may not exercise voting rights on any “control shares” unless these voting rights are conferred by a majority vote of the disinterested shareholders of the issuing public corporation at a special meeting of those shareholders held upon the request and at the expense of the acquiring person. If control shares acquired in a control share acquisition are accorded full voting rights and the acquiring person has acquired control shares with a majority or more of all voting power, all shareholders of the issuing public corporation have dissenters’ rights to receive the fair value of their shares pursuant to Chapter 44 of the IBCL.
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Under the IBCL, “control shares” are shares acquired by a person that, when added to all other shares of the issuing public corporation owned by that person or in respect to which that person may exercise or direct the exercise of voting power, would otherwise entitle that person to exercise voting power of the issuing public corporation in the election of directors within any of the following ranges:

| ● | one-fifth or more but less than one-third;

| ● | one-third or more but less than the majority; or

| ● | a majority or more.

A “control share acquisition” means, subject to specified exceptions, the acquisition, directly or indirectly, by any person of ownership of, or the power to direct the exercise of voting power with respect to, issued and outstanding control shares. For the purposes of determining whether an acquisition constitutes a control share acquisition, shares acquired within 90 days or under a plan to make a control share acquisition are considered to have been acquired in the same acquisition.
An “issuing public corporation” means a corporation which has (i) 100 or more shareholders, (ii) its principal place of business or its principal office in Indiana, or that owns or controls assets within Indiana having a fair market value of greater than $1,000,000, and (iii) (A) more than 10% of its shareholders resident in Indiana, (B) more than 10% of its shares owned of record or owned beneficially by Indiana residents, or (C) 1,000 shareholders resident in Indiana.
The provisions described above do not apply if, before a control share acquisition is made, the corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws, including a bylaw adopted by the corporation’s board of directors, provide that they do not apply. Our Articles of Incorporation and our Bylaws do not exclude us from Chapter 42.
Certain Business Combinations
Chapter 43 of the IBCL restricts the ability of a “resident domestic corporation” to engage in any combinations with an “interested shareholder” for five years after the date the interested shareholder became such, unless the combination or the purchase of shares by the interested shareholder on the interested shareholder’s date of acquiring shares is approved by the board of directors of the resident domestic corporation before that date. If the combination was not previously approved, then the interested shareholder may effect a combination after the five-year period only if that shareholder receives approval from a majority of the disinterested shareholders or the offer meets specified “fair price” criteria.
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For purposes of the above provisions, “resident domestic corporation” means an Indiana corporation that has 100 or more shareholders. “Interested shareholder” means any person, other than the resident domestic corporation or its subsidiaries, who is (1) the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 10% or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting shares of the resident domestic corporation or (2) an affiliate or associate of the resident domestic corporation, which at any time within the five-year period immediately before the date in question, was the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding shares of the resident domestic corporation.
The definition of “beneficial owner” for purposes of Chapter 43 means a person who, directly or indirectly, owns the subject shares, has the right to acquire or vote the subject shares (excluding voting rights under revocable proxies made in accordance with federal law), has any agreement, arrangement or understanding for the purpose of acquiring, holding or voting or disposing of the subject shares, or holds any “derivative instrument” that includes the opportunity, directly or indirectly, to profit or share in any profit derived from any increase in the value of the subject shares.
The above provisions do not apply to corporations that elect not to be subject to Chapter 43 in an amendment to their articles of incorporation approved by a majority of the disinterested shareholders. That amendment, however, cannot become effective until 18 months after its passage and would apply only to share acquisitions occurring after its effective date. Our Articles of Incorporation do not exclude us from Chapter 43.
Directors’ Duties and Liability
Under Chapter 35 of the IBCL, directors are required to discharge their duties:

| ● | in good faith;

| ● | with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances; and

| ● | in a manner the directors reasonably believe to be in the best interests of the corporation.

Under the IBCL, a director is not liable for any action taken as a director, or any failure to act, regardless of the nature of the alleged breach of duty (including breaches of the duty of care, the duty of loyalty, and the duty of good faith) unless the director has breached or failed to perform the duties of the director’s office and the action or failure to act constitutes willful misconduct or recklessness. This exculpation from liability under the IBCL does not affect the liability of directors for violations of the federal securities laws.
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Consideration of Effects on Other Constituents
Chapter 35 of the IBCL also provides that a board of directors, in discharging its duties, may consider, in its discretion, both the long-term and short-term best interests of the corporation, taking into account, and weighing as the directors deem appropriate, the effects of an action on the corporation’s shareholders, employees, suppliers and customers and the communities in which offices or other facilities of the corporation are located and any other factors the directors consider pertinent. Directors are not required to consider the effects of a proposed corporate action on any particular corporate constituent group or interest as a dominant or controlling factor. If a determination is made with the approval of a majority of the disinterested directors of the board of directors, that determination is conclusively presumed to be valid unless it can be demonstrated that the determination was not made in good faith after reasonable investigation.
Chapter 35 specifically provides that specified judicial decisions in Delaware and other jurisdictions, which might be looked upon for guidance in interpreting Indiana law, including decisions that propose a higher or different degree of scrutiny in response to a proposed acquisition of the corporation, are inconsistent with the proper application of the business judgment rule under that section.
Classified Board of Directors
Under Section 23-1-33-6(c) of the IBCL, a corporation with a class of voting shares registered with the SEC under Section 12 of the Exchange Act must have a classified board of directors unless the corporation adopts a bylaw expressly electing not to be governed by this provision. While our Bylaws provide that Section 23-1-33-6(c) does not apply to us, our Bylaws also provide that our directors shall be divided into three classes as nearly equal in number as possible, with directors in each class elected for three-year terms. Our board of directors is divided into three classes: Class I, Class II and Class III, each class having a staggered term of three years. Each year the term of office of one class expires.
Indemnification
Chapter 37 of the IBCL authorizes every Indiana corporation to indemnify its officers and directors under certain circumstances against liability incurred in connection with proceedings to which the officers or directors are made a party by reason of their relationship to the corporation. Officers and directors may be indemnified where they have acted in good faith, and in the case of official action, they reasonably believed the conduct was in the corporation’s best interests, and in all other cases, they reasonably believed the action taken was not against the best interests of the corporation, and in the case of criminal proceedings they had reasonable cause to believe the action was lawful or there was no reasonable cause to believe the action was unlawful. Chapter 37 of the IBCL also requires every Indiana corporation to indemnify any of its officers or
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directors (unless limited by the articles of incorporation of the corporation) who were wholly successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any such proceeding against reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the proceeding. A corporation may also, under certain circumstances, pay for or reimburse the reasonable expenses incurred by an officer or director who is a party to a proceeding in advance of final disposition of the proceeding. Chapter 37 of the IBCL states that the indemnification provided for therein is not exclusive of any other rights to which a person may be entitled under the articles of incorporation, bylaws or resolutions of the board of directors or shareholders.
Our Articles of Incorporation provide for indemnification, to the fullest extent permitted by the IBCL, of our directors, officers, employees and agents against liability and reasonable expenses that may be incurred by them in connection with proceedings in which they are made a party by reason of their relationship to the company.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Our Articles of Incorporation and Our Bylaws
Our Articles of Incorporation and our Bylaws contain certain provisions that are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of the board of directors and which may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a future takeover or change in control of the company unless such takeover or change in control is approved by the board of directors.
These provisions include:
Classified Board
Our governing documents provide that our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors, with the classes as nearly equal in number as possible. As a result, approximately one-third of our board of directors will be elected each year. The classification of directors will have the effect of making it more difficult for shareholders to change the composition of our board. Our second amended and restated bylaws, as amended, also provide that the number of directors will be fixed exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by our board of directors.
Advance Notice Procedures
Our Bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for proposed shareholder nominations of persons for election to the board of directors. Shareholders at an annual meeting are only able to
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consider nominations specified in the notice of meeting or brought before the meeting by or at the direction of the board of directors or by a shareholder of record on the date of the giving of the notice and on the record date for the determination of shareholders entitled to notice of and to vote at such meeting and who has given our Secretary timely written notice, in proper form, of the shareholder’s nomination. Although our Bylaws do not give the board of directors the power to approve or disapprove shareholder nominations of candidates, they may have the effect of precluding a shareholder nomination if the proper procedures are not followed or may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the company.
Authorized but Unissued Shares
Our authorized but unissued common shares and preferred shares are available for future issuance without shareholder approval. These additional shares may be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, corporate acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued common shares and preferred shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of a majority of our common shares by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
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