EX-4.1 2 ex_798206.htm EXHIBIT 4.1

Exhibit 4.1

Description of Rights of Each Applicable Class of Securities Registered Under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Sono Group N.V.’s (“us, “we,” “our” or the “Company”) ordinary shares are registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our ordinary shares are quoted on the OTCQB under the symbol “SEVCF”. We are registered with the Dutch Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel) under number 80683568. Our business address is Waldmeisterstraße 93, 80935 Munich, Germany.

The following summary of the general terms and provisions of our ordinary shares does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our articles of association (as amended from time to time, our “Articles of Association”) and applicable Dutch law provisions.

Ordinary Shares

Our ordinary shares are issued in registered form. Our authorized share capital is €112,700, divided into 4,300,000 ordinary shares, each with a nominal value of €0.02, and 53,400 high voting shares, each with a nominal value of €0.50. The Company intends to lower the nominal value of each ordinary share to €0.01 and each high voting share to €0.25, without any distribution or payment to shareholders, in order to implement and perfect the resolutions adopted at the Company’s extraordinary general meeting held on January 31, 2024 (the “January 2024 EGM”).

On December 23, 2024, the Company amended its articles of association to implement a reverse share split (the “Reverse Share Split”) of the Company’s ordinary shares and high voting shares at a ratio of 1-for-75. The Reverse Share Split took market effect on January 6, 2025, following confirmation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that it had received and reviewed all necessary documentation to process the Reverse Share Split.

In addition, shareholders at the January 2024 EGM approved a proposal to increase (in one or a series of amendments) our authorized share capital in order to cover conversions under the convertible debentures held by YA II PN, Ltd. (“Yorkville”). At the Company’s extraordinary meeting of shareholders on November 7, 2024 (the “November 2024 EGM”), the shareholders approved a proposal to inter alia (i) increase (in one or a series of amendments) our authorised share capital in order to cover the increase of our authorised share capital under an authority of the management board to issue ordinary shares or grant rights to subscribe for ordinary shares, and (ii) introduce a new class of preferred shares, with a nominal value of €300.00 per preferred share, with each preferred share being convertible into 30,000 ordinary shares. On the date of this statement, such amendments to our articles of association have not yet been implemented.

Under Dutch law, our authorized share capital is the maximum capital that we may issue without amending our Articles of Association.

Issuance of shares

Under Dutch law and our Articles of Association, the issuance of shares and/or the granting of rights to subscribe for shares requires a resolution of the general meeting. Another corporate body, such as the management board, may be designated as the authorized body to do so by the general meeting. Such designation can be granted for a period not exceeding five years. A resolution of the general meeting to issue shares, grant rights to subscribe for shares or designate another corporate body of the Company to do the same requires the approval of the relevant class meeting whose rights are prejudiced. A designation of another corporate body is irrevocable unless stipulated differently. Our management board, with the approval of our supervisory board, has been authorized for a period of 18 months following the date of the November 2024 EGM to issue shares and/or grant rights to subscribe for shares to settle the convertible debentures issued by the Company to Yorkville and our supervisory board has further been authorized to issue shares and/or rights to subscribe for shares, for a period of maximum eighteen months after the 2024 AGM.

Preemptive Rights

Under Dutch law, in the event of an issuance of shares, each shareholder will have a pro rata preemptive right in proportion to the aggregate nominal value of the shares held by such holder (with the exception of shares to be issued to employees or shares issued against a contribution other than in cash or pursuant to the exercise of a previously acquired right to subscribe for shares). Under our Articles of Association, the preemptive rights in respect of newly issued shares may be restricted or excluded by a resolution of the general meeting. Another corporate body, such as the management board, may restrict or exclude the preemptive rights in respect of newly issued shares if it has been designated as the authorized body to do so by the general meeting. Such designation can be granted for a period not exceeding five years. A resolution of the general meeting to restrict or exclude the preemptive rights or to designate another corporate body as the authorized body to do so requires a majority of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast, if less than one-half of our issued share capital is represented at the meeting. Our management board, with the approval of our supervisory board, has been authorized for a period of 18 months following the date of the November 2024 EGM, to limit or exclude preemptive rights in relation to an issuance of shares or a grant of rights to subscribe for shares that the management board is authorized to resolve upon and our supervisory board has further been authorized to restrict or exclude preemptive rights, for a period of maximum eighteen months after the 2024 AGM.

Conversion of shares

Under our Articles of Association, and subject to certain requirements, each issued high voting share can be converted into twenty-five ordinary shares. Ordinary shares cannot be converted into high voting shares. Upon the issuance of the preferred shares, and subject to certain requirements, each issued preferred share can be converted into 30,000 ordinary shares. Ordinary shares cannot be converted into preferred shares.

Transfer of Ordinary Shares

Except as otherwise provided or allowed by Dutch law, the issue or transfer of a share shall require a deed to that effect and, in the case of a transfer and unless the Company itself is a party to the transaction, acknowledgement of the transfer by the Company. The acknowledgement shall be set out in the deed or shall be made in such other manner as prescribed by law. For as long as any ordinary shares are admitted to trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market or on any other regulated stock exchange operating in the United States of America, the laws of the State of New York shall apply to the property law aspects of the ordinary shares reflected in the register administered by the relevant transfer agent.

Repurchase of Shares

An acquisition of ordinary shares for a consideration must be authorized by our general meeting. Such authorization may be granted for a maximum period of 18 months and must specify the number of ordinary shares that may be acquired, the manner in which ordinary shares may be acquired and the price limits within which ordinary shares may be acquired. The actual acquisition may only be effected by a resolution of our management board, with the approval of our supervisory board. No authorization of the general meeting of shareholders is required if fully paid ordinary shares are acquired by us with the intention of transferring such ordinary shares to our employees under an applicable employee stock purchase plan or if shares are acquired for no consideration.

Requirements for Amendments to our Articles of Association

An amendment of our Articles of Association would require a resolution of the general meeting upon proposal by the management board with the approval of our supervisory board.

Limitations on the Right to Own Ordinary Shares

Our Articles of Association contain no limitation on the rights to own our shares. Pursuant to our Articles of Association, for as long as any of our ordinary shares are admitted to trading on any regulated stock exchange operating in the United States of America, the laws of the State of New York shall apply to the property law aspects of our ordinary shares reflected in the register administered by the relevant transfer agent. However, certain other aspects relating to our ordinary shares remain subject to Dutch law and Dutch law continues to determine, for example, how new shares are issued.

Shareholders’ Meetings

General meetings may be held in Amsterdam, Arnhem, Assen, The Hague, Haarlem, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Groningen, Leeuwarden, Lelystad, Maastricht, Middelburg, Rotterdam, Schiphol (Haarlemmermeer), Utrecht or Zwolle, all in the Netherlands. The annual general meeting shall be held within six months of the end of each financial year. Additional extraordinary general meetings may also be held, whenever considered appropriate by the management board or the supervisory board and shall be held within three months after our management board has considered it to be likely that our equity has decreased to an amount equal to or lower than half of its paid-in and called-up share capital, in order to discuss the measures to be taken if so required.

Pursuant to Dutch law, one or more shareholders or others with meeting rights under Dutch law that jointly represent at least one-tenth of the issued share capital may request us to convene a general meeting, setting out in detail the matters to be discussed. If we have not taken the steps necessary to ensure that such meeting can be held within six weeks after the request, the requesting party/parties may, on their application, be authorized by the competent Dutch court in preliminary relief proceedings to convene a general meeting. The court shall disallow the application if it does not appear that the applicants have previously requested our management board and our supervisory board to convene a general meeting and neither our management board nor our supervisory board has taken the necessary steps so that the general meeting could be held within six weeks after the request.

General meetings must be convened by an announcement published in a Dutch daily newspaper with national distribution. The notice must state the agenda, the time and place of the meeting, the record date (if any), the procedure for participating in the general meeting by proxy, as well as other information as required by Dutch law. The notice must be given at least 15 days prior to the day of the meeting. The agenda for the annual general meeting shall include – if possible and applicable – , among other things, the adoption of the annual accounts, appropriation of our profits and proposals relating to the composition of the management board and supervisory board, including the filling of any vacancies in such bodies. In addition, the agenda shall include such items as have been included therein by the management board or the supervisory board. The agenda shall also include such items requested by one or more shareholders, or others with meeting rights under Dutch law, representing at least 3% of the issued share capital. Requests must be made in writing or by electronic means and received by us at least 60 days before the day of the meeting. No resolutions shall be adopted on items other than those that have been included in the agenda.

In accordance with the Dutch Corporate Governance Code (the “DCGC”) and our Articles of Association, shareholders having the right to put an item on the agenda under the rules described above shall exercise such right only after consulting the management board in that respect. If one or more shareholders intend to request that an item be put on the agenda that may result in a change in the company’s strategy (for example, the removal of management board member or supervisory board members), the management board must be given the opportunity to invoke a reasonable period to respond to such intention. Such period shall not exceed 180 days (or such other period as may be stipulated for such purpose by Dutch law and/or the DCGC from time to time). If invoked, the management board must use such response period for further deliberation and constructive consultation, in any event with the shareholders(s) concerned, and shall explore the alternatives. At the end of the response time, the management board shall report on this consultation and the exploration of alternatives to the general meeting. This shall be supervised by our supervisory board. The response period may be invoked only once for any given general meeting and shall not apply: (a) in respect of a matter for which a response period or a statutory cooling-off period (as discussed below) has been previously invoked; or (b) if a shareholder holds at least 75% of the company’s issued share capital as a consequence of a successful public bid. The response period may also be invoked in response to shareholders or others with meeting rights under Dutch law requesting that a general meeting be convened, as described above.

Moreover, our management board, with the approval of our supervisory board, can invoke a cooling-off period of up to 250 days when shareholders, using their right to have items added to the agenda for a general meeting or their right to request a general meeting, propose an agenda item for our general meeting to dismiss, suspend or appoint one or more management board members or supervisory board members (or to amend any provision in our Articles of Association dealing with those matters) or when a public offer for our company is made or announced without our support, provided, in each case, that our management board believes that such proposal or offer materially conflicts with the interests of our company and its business. During a cooling-off period, our general meeting cannot dismiss, suspend or appoint management board members and supervisory board members (or amend the provisions in our Articles of Association dealing with those matters) except at the proposal of our management board. During a cooling-off period, our management board must gather all relevant information necessary for a careful decision-making process and at least consult with shareholders representing 3% or more of our issued share capital at the time the cooling-off period was invoked, as well as with our Dutch works council (if we or, under certain circumstances, any of our subsidiaries would have one). Formal statements expressed by these stakeholders during such consultations must be published on our website to the extent these stakeholders have approved that publication. Ultimately one week following the last day of the cooling-off period, our management board must publish a report in respect of its policy and conduct of affairs during the cooling-off period on our website. This report must remain available for inspection by shareholders and others with meeting rights under Dutch law at our office and must be tabled for discussion at the next general meeting. Shareholders representing at least 3% of our issued share capital may request the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, or the Enterprise Chamber (Ondernemingskamer), for early termination of the cooling-off period. The Enterprise Chamber must rule in favor of the request if the shareholders can demonstrate that:

| ● | our management board, in light of the circumstances at hand when the cooling-off period was invoked, could not reasonably have concluded that the relevant proposal or hostile offer constituted a material conflict with the interests of our company and its business;

| ● | our management board cannot reasonably believe that a continuation of the cooling-off period would contribute to careful policy-making; or

| ● | other defensive measures, having the same purpose, nature and scope as the cooling-off period, have been activated during the cooling-off period and have not since been terminated or suspended within a reasonable period at the relevant shareholders’ request (i.e., no ‘stacking’ of defensive measures).

The general meeting is presided over by the chairperson of the supervisory board. If no chairperson has been elected or if he or she is not present at the meeting, the general meeting shall be presided over by another supervisory board member present at the meeting. If no supervisory board member is present, the meeting shall be presided over by our CEO. If the CEO is not present at the meeting, the general meeting shall be presided over by another management board member present at the meeting. If no management board member is present at the meeting, the general meeting shall be presided over by any other person appointed by the general meeting. In each case, the person who should chair the general meeting pursuant to the rules described above may appoint another person to chair the general meeting instead. Management board members and supervisory board members may always attend a general meeting. In these meetings, they have an advisory vote. The chairman of the meeting may decide, at his or her discretion, to admit other persons to the meeting.

All shareholders and others with meeting rights under Dutch law are authorized to attend the general meeting, to address the meeting and, insofar as they have such right, to vote pro rata to the total nominal value of his or her shareholding. Shareholders may exercise these rights, if they are the holders of shares on the record date, if any, as required by Dutch law, which is currently the 28th day before the day of the general meeting. Under our Articles of Association, shareholders and others with meeting rights under Dutch law must notify us in writing or by electronic means of their identity and intention to attend the general meeting. This notice must be received by us ultimately on the seventh day prior to the general meeting, unless indicated otherwise when such meeting is convened.

Each ordinary share confers the right on the holder to cast one vote at the general meeting and each high voting share confers the right on the holder to cast twenty-five votes at the general meeting. Upon issuance of preferred shares, each preferred share confers the right to cast 30,000 votes. To protect the interests of holders of ordinary shares the general meeting resolved to amend our articles of association in such manner that Yorkville cannot hold more than 9.99% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares until the moment that our supervisory board resolves to lift such blocker. In addition, shareholders (in general), holding more than EUR 20,000 of nominal share capital will be maximised in the number of votes they can exercise in the general meeting of the Company. Such voting blocker effectively means that such shareholder is not allowed to exercise more than 9.99% of the votes in the general meeting of the Company until such blocker is waived in accordance with the articles of association. Shareholders may vote by proxy. No votes may be cast at a general meeting on shares held by us or our subsidiaries or on shares for which we or our subsidiaries hold depository receipts. Nonetheless, the holders of a right of usufruct (vruchtgebruik) and the holders of a right of pledge (pandrecht) in respect of shares held by us or our subsidiaries in our share capital are not excluded from the right to vote on such shares, if the right of usufruct (vruchtgebruik) or the right of pledge (pandrecht) was granted prior to the time such shares were acquired by us or any of our subsidiaries. Neither we nor any of our subsidiaries may cast votes in respect of a share on which we or such subsidiary holds a right of usufruct (vruchtgebruik) or a right of pledge (pandrecht). Shares which are not entitled to voting rights pursuant to the preceding sentences will not be taken into account for the purpose of determining the number of shareholders that vote and that are present or represented, or the amount of the share capital that is provided or that is represented at a general meeting.

Decisions of the general meeting are taken by a simple majority of votes cast, except where Dutch law or our Articles of Association provide for a qualified majority or unanimity.

Dividends and Other Distributions

Dividends

We may only make distributions, whether a distribution of profits or of freely distributable reserves, to our shareholders to the extent our shareholders’ equity (eigen vermogen) exceeds the sum of the paid-in and called-up share capital plus any reserves required by Dutch law or by our Articles of Association. Under our Articles of Association, our management board may decide that all or part of the profits are carried to reserves. After reservation by the management board of any profit, any remaining profit will be at the disposal of the general meeting for distribution, subject to restrictions of Dutch law and approval by our supervisory board.

We only make a distribution to our shareholders after the adoption of our annual accounts demonstrating that such distribution is legally permitted. The management board is permitted, subject to certain requirements, to declare interim distributions without the approval of the general meeting, but only with the approval of the supervisory board.

Dividends and other distributions shall be made payable not later than the date determined by the management board. Claims to dividends and other distributions not made within five years from the date that such dividends or distributions became payable will lapse and any such amounts will be considered to have been forfeited to us (verjaring).

Exchange Controls

Under Dutch law, there are no exchange controls applicable to the transfer to persons outside of the Netherlands of dividends or other distributions with respect to, or of the proceeds from the sale of, shares of a Dutch company, albeit those transfers being subject to applicable restrictions under trade and economic sanctions and measures, including those concerning export control, pursuant to European Union regulations, the Sanctions Act 1977 (Sanctiewet 1977) or other legislation, applicable anti-boycott regulations, applicable anti-money-laundering regulations and similar rules and provided that, under circumstances, such dividends or other distributions must be reported to the Dutch Central Bank for statistical purposes. There are no special restrictions in the Articles of Association or Dutch law that limit the right of shareholders who are not citizens or residents of the Netherlands to hold or vote shares.

Squeeze-Out Procedures

A shareholder who holds at least 95% of our issued share capital for his or her own account, alone or together with group companies, may initiate proceedings against the other shareholders jointly for the transfer of their shares to such shareholder. The proceedings are held before the Enterprise Chamber and can be instituted by means of a writ of summons served upon each of the other shareholders in accordance with the provisions of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering). The Enterprise Chamber may grant the claim for squeeze-out in relation to the other shareholders and will determine the price to be paid for the shares, if necessary, after appointment of one or three experts who will offer an opinion to the Enterprise Chamber on the value to be paid for the shares of the other shareholders. Once the order to transfer becomes final before the Enterprise Chamber, the person acquiring the shares shall give written notice of the date and place of payment and the price to the holders of the shares to be acquired whose addresses are known to him. Unless the addresses of all of them are known to the acquiring person, such person is required to publish the same in a daily newspaper with a national circulation.

Dissolution and Liquidation

Under our Articles of Association, we may be dissolved by a resolution of the general meeting, subject to a proposal of the management board approved by our supervisory board. In the event of a dissolution, the liquidation shall be effected by the management board, under supervision of our supervisory board, unless the general meeting decides otherwise. During liquidation, the provisions of our Articles of Association will remain in force as far as possible. To the extent that any assets remain after payment of all debts, those remaining assets shall be distributed to our shareholders in proportion to their number of shares.

Provisions Impacting any Change of Control

Under Dutch law, various protective measures are possible and permissible within the boundaries set by Dutch law and Dutch case law. In this respect, certain provisions of our Articles of Association may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us or effect a change in our management board and supervisory board. These provisions include:

| ● | a multi-class share structure, which consists of ordinary shares, high voting shares and, upon execution of the relevant notarial deed to amend our articles of association, preferred shares, with ordinary shares carrying one vote per share, high voting shares carrying 25 votes per share and preferred shares carrying 30,000 votes;

| ● | the high voting shares and the preferred shares, once issued, are not being listed on a stock exchange;

| ● | a provision that our management board members and the supervisory board members are appointed on the basis of a binding nomination prepared by our supervisory board which can only be overruled by a two-thirds majority of votes cast representing more than half of our issued share capital;

| ● | a provision that our management board members and the supervisory board members may only be dismissed by the general meeting by a two-thirds majority of votes cast representing more than half of our issued share capital (unless the dismissal is proposed by the supervisory board in which case a simple majority of the votes cast would be sufficient);

| ● | a provision allowing, among other matters, the former chairperson of our supervisory board to manage our affairs if all of our supervisory board members are removed from office and to appoint others to be charged with the supervision of our affairs, until new supervisory board members are appointed by the general meeting on the basis of the binding nominations discussed above; and

| ● | a requirement that certain matters, including an amendment of our Articles of Association, may only be brought to our general meeting for a vote upon a proposal by our management board with the approval of our supervisory board.

In addition, Dutch law allows for staggered multi-year terms of our management board members and supervisory board members, as a result of which only part of our management board members and supervisory board members may be subject to appointment or re-appointment in any one year.

In accordance with the DCGC and our Articles of Association, shareholders having the right to put an item on the agenda under the rules described above shall exercise such right only after consulting the management board in that respect. If one or more shareholders intend to request that an item be put on the agenda that may result in a change in the company’s strategy (for example, the removal of management board members or supervisory board members), the management board must be given the opportunity to invoke a reasonable period to respond to such intention. Such period shall not exceed 180 days (or such other period as may be stipulated for such purpose by Dutch law and/or the DCGC from time to time). If invoked, the management board must use such response period for further deliberation and constructive consultation, in any event with the shareholders(s) concerned, and shall explore the alternatives. At the end of the response time, the management board shall report on this consultation and the exploration of alternatives to the general meeting. This shall be supervised by our supervisory board. The response period may be invoked only once for any given general meeting and shall not apply: (a) in respect of a matter for which a response period or a statutory cooling-off period (as discussed below) has been previously invoked; or (b) if a shareholder holds at least 75% of the Company’s issued share capital as a consequence of a successful public bid. The response period may also be invoked in response to shareholders or others with meeting rights under Dutch law requesting that a general meeting be convened, as described above.

Moreover, our management board, with the approval of our supervisory board, can invoke a cooling-off period of up to 250 days when shareholders, using their right to have items added to the agenda for a general meeting or their right to request a general meeting, propose an agenda item for our general meeting to dismiss, suspend or appoint one or more management board members or supervisory board members (or to amend any provision in our Articles of Association dealing with those matters) or when a public offer for our company is made or announced without our support, provided, in each case, that our management board believes that such proposal or offer materially conflicts with the interests of our company and its business. During a cooling-off period, our general meeting cannot dismiss, suspend or appoint management board members and supervisory board members (or amend the provisions in our Articles of Association dealing with those matters) except at the proposal of our management board. During a cooling-off period, our management board must gather all relevant information necessary for a careful decision-making process and at least consult with shareholders representing 3% or more of our issued share capital at the time the cooling-off period was invoked, as well as with our Dutch works council (if we or, under certain circumstances, any of our subsidiaries would have one). Formal statements expressed by these stakeholders during such consultations must be published on our website to the extent these stakeholders have approved that publication. Ultimately one week following the last day of the cooling-off period, our management board must publish a report in respect of its policy and conduct of affairs during the cooling-off period on our website. This report must remain available for inspection by shareholders and others with meeting rights under Dutch law at our office and must be tabled for discussion at the next general meeting. Shareholders representing at least 3% of our issued share capital may request the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, or the Enterprise Chamber (Ondernemingskamer), for early termination of the cooling-off period. The Enterprise Chamber must rule in favor of the request if the shareholders can demonstrate that:

| ● | our management board, in light of the circumstances at hand when the cooling-off period was invoked, could not reasonably have concluded that the relevant proposal or hostile offer constituted a material conflict with the interests of our company and its business;

| ● | our management board cannot reasonably believe that a continuation of the cooling-off period would contribute to careful policy-making; or

| ● | other defensive measures, having the same purpose, nature and scope as the cooling-off period, have been activated during the cooling-off period and have not since been terminated or suspended within a reasonable period at the relevant shareholders’ request (i.e., no ‘stacking’ of defensive measures).