Common use of Special Rights Clause in Contracts

Special Rights. (a) Holders shall be entitled to vote on all matters on which the holders of shares of Common Stock are entitled to vote and, except as otherwise provided herein, in the Articles of Incorporation (including, in any other certificate of designations), or by law, the Holders shall vote together with the holders of shares of Common Stock as a single class. As of any record date or other determination date, each Holder shall be entitled to a number of votes equal to the number of votes such Holder would have had if all shares of Series A Preferred Stock held by such Holder on such date had been converted into shares of Common Stock immediately prior thereto; provided, however, that shares of Series A Preferred Stock that are held by any Affiliates of the Company shall not be considered outstanding or be entitled to vote on any matter on which the shares of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to vote (whether voting as a separate class or on an as converted basis with the shares of Common Stock). (b) Except as provided in Section 4(c) and Section 4(d), so long as any shares of Series A Preferred Stock are outstanding, in addition to any other vote or consent of shareholders required by the Pennsylvania BCL or the Articles of Incorporation, the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock, voting together as a separate class, given in person or by proxy, either in writing without a meeting or by vote at any meeting called for the purpose, shall be necessary for effecting or validating an amendment to this Certificate of Designations or to the Articles of Incorporation (including by merger or otherwise), that is adverse (other than in a de minimis manner) to any of the rights, preferences and privileges of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock. Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, any amendment shall be deemed to have such an adverse impact that is not de minimis if such amendment would: (i) reduce the Dividend Rate, change the form of payment of dividends on the shares of Series A Preferred Stock, defer the date from which distributions on the shares of Series A Preferred Stock will accrue, cancel any accrued and unpaid distributions on the shares of Series A Preferred Stock or any interest accrued thereon (including any Accrued Dividends), or change the seniority rights of the Holders as to the payment of distributions in relation to the holders of any other class or series of capital stock; (ii) reduce the amount payable or change the form of payment to the Holders upon the voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or sale of all or substantially all of the assets, of the Company, or change the seniority of the liquidation preferences of the Holders in relation to the rights of the holders of any other class or series of capital stock of the Company upon the liquidation, dissolution and winding up of the Company; or (iii) make the shares of Series A Preferred Stock redeemable or convertible at the option of the Company other than as set forth herein. Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither a Change of Control of the Company undertaken in compliance with Section 8 nor a Company Restructuring Event shall be restricted or limited by or require any approval of the Holders pursuant to Section 4(b) solely by reason of such transaction (provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing shall not entitle the Company to take any action described in clauses (i)-(iii) above in connection with such transaction). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, with respect to effecting or validating an amendment to this Certificate of Designations or the Articles of Incorporation (including by merger or otherwise) that adversely affects (other than in a de minimis manner) any of the rights, preferences, and privileges of a holder of Series A Preferred Stock in a disproportionate manner relative to any other holder of Series A Preferred Stock, the affirmative vote or consent of such affected holder, given in person or by proxy, either in writing without a meeting or by vote at any meeting called for the purpose, shall be necessary therefor. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any determination of an Alternative Rate and any Adjustments related to Three-Month LIBOR that are (i) agreed to by the holders of a majority of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock and the Board of Directors, or (ii) made by the IFA, each pursuant to the terms of this Certificate of Designations, shall not require any approval of Holders pursuant to Section 4(b). Additionally, the Holders agree that any such determinations of an Alternative Rate and any Adjustments do not represent an adverse change under Section 1914(b) of the Pennsylvania BCL. (c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, without the consent of the Holders, the Company, acting in good faith, may amend, alter, supplement or repeal any terms of the Series A Preferred Stock by amending or supplementing the Articles of Incorporation, this Certificate of Designations or any stock certificate representing shares of the Series A Preferred Stock: (i) to cure any ambiguity, omission, inconsistency or mistake in any such instrument in a manner that is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Certificate of Designations and that does not adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series A Preferred Stock or any Holder; (ii) to make any provision with respect to matters or questions relating to the Series A Preferred Stock that is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Certificate of Designations and that does not adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series A Preferred Stock or any Holder; or (iii) to make any other change that does not adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series A Preferred Stock or any Holder (other than any Holder that consents to such change). (d) So long as any shares of Series A Preferred Stock are outstanding, in addition to any other vote or consent of shareholders required by the Pennsylvania BCL or the Articles of Incorporation, the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock, voting together as a separate class, given in person or by proxy, either in writing without a meeting or by vote at any meeting called for the purpose, shall be necessary for the Company to issue any (A) Senior Stock (or amend the provisions of any class of Equity Interests to make such class of Equity Interests a class of Senior Stock), (B) Parity Stock (or amend the provisions of any class of Equity Interests to make such class of Equity Interests a class of Parity Stock) or (C) Series A Preferred Stock; provided, however, that, without the consent of any holder of outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock (but without prejudice to their rights to vote on an as-converted basis to the extent that the shares of Common Stock are entitled to vote on any such matter), at any time on or following the Issue Date, the Company may issue a number of additional shares of Parity Stock (which may be in the form of additional shares of Series A Preferred Stock) with an aggregate purchase price of up to $100,000,000 across all such issuances; provided, further, that the Company may, without any vote of the Holders (but without prejudice to such Holders’ rights to vote on an as-converted basis to the extent the shares of Common Stock are entitled to vote on any such matter), create (by classification or otherwise) and issue shares of Junior Stock in an unlimited amount. (e) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock, voting together as a separate class, given in person or by proxy, either in writing without a meeting or by vote at any meeting called for the purpose, shall be necessary to approve any special or non-recurring dividend. (f) So long as a Holder or its Affiliates collectively own at least 50% or more of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock issued to such Holder or its Affiliates on the Issue Date (excluding shares of Common Stock into which such shares of Series A Preferred Stock have been converted) pursuant to the Restructuring Agreement (the “Preemptive Rights Holder”), prior to the issuance of Parity Stock, the Company shall, by written notice to the Preemptive Rights Holders (the “Notice of Issuance”), if any, offer to sell such Parity Stock to the Preemptive Rights Holders on terms and subject to conditions determined by the Board of Directors to be reasonable, which offer shall be made on a Pro Rata basis such that each Preemptive Rights Holder shall be entitled to purchase a portion of such Parity Stock equal to the quotient of (i) the number of shares of Series A Preferred Stock held by such Preemptive Rights Holder on the date of the Notice of Issuance divided by (ii) the aggregate number of shares of Series A Preferred Stock held by all Preemptive Rights Holders on the date of the Notice of Issuance; provided, that the offer of such Parity Stock shall not be on a basis less favorable to the Preemptive Rights Holders than is offered to any purchaser thereof who is not a Preemptive Rights Holder; provided, further that if any Preemptive Rights Holder fails to provide written notice of its intent to exercise its right to purchase Parity Stock within ten (10) Business Days of the Notice of Issuance, such Preemptive Rights Holder shall be deemed to have waived any and all rights to purchase such Parity Stock in such transaction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the Company be obligated to offer to sell Parity Stock to the Preemptive Rights Holders pursuant to this Section 4(f) in connection with any securities issued to the owners of another entity in connection with the acquisition of such entity by the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company by merger, consolidation, sale or exchange of securities, purchase of substantially all of the assets, or other reorganization whereby the Company directly or indirectly acquires more than 50% of the voting power or assets of such entity. (g) Prior to the close of business on the applicable Conversion Date, the shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock shall not be deemed to be outstanding and Holders shall have no voting rights with respect to such shares of Common Stock solely by virtue of holding the Series A Preferred Stock. (h) In exercising the voting rights set forth in Sections 4(a), 4(b), 4(d) and 4(e), each share of Series A Preferred Stock shall be entitled to one vote. (i) The rules and procedures for calling and conducting any meeting of the Holders (including the fixing of a record date in connection therewith), the solicitation and use of proxies at such a meeting, the obtaining of written consents and any other procedural aspect or matter with regard to such a meeting or such consents shall be governed by the Articles of Incorporation, the Amended and Restated Bylaws and the Pennsylvania BCL. (j) If a Dividend Trigger Event occurs, then for so long as any Dividend Trigger Event remains outstanding, the then-applicable Dividend Rate will increase by 2.00% per annum until such time as all the accrued but unpaid Cash Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock for the most recently completed fiscal quarter and all previously completed fiscal quarters are paid in full in cash. Upon the date that all unpaid Cash Dividends giving rise to all outstanding Dividend Trigger Events have been fully paid and are current (the “Cash Dividend Catch-Up”), the applicable Dividend Rate as set forth herein in the definition of “Dividend Rate” will once again apply from and after such date, unless and until a Dividend Trigger Event thereafter occurs and the Dividend Rate is once again increased in accordance with the terms of this Section 4(j). (k) Upon the occurrence of a Dividend Trigger Event that represents the fourth (4th) Dividend Trigger Event to occur while any Series A Preferred Stock remains outstanding (whether or not consecutive) and upon the occurrence of each Dividend Trigger Event thereafter, and lasting until such time as the Cash Dividend Catch-Up occurs with respect to all accrued and unpaid Cash Dividends or until the time there are no shares of Series A Preferred Stock outstanding, the Holders of a majority of the shares of outstanding Series A Preferred Stock (which shall include (i) Holders that are Affiliates of at least two of the Lead Investors if Affiliates of at least two of the Lead Investors are Holders as of such time and (ii) Holders that are Affiliates of the remaining Lead Investor if Affiliates of only one of the Lead Investors are Holders as of such time) shall be entitled to designate one natural person to attend all meetings of the Board of Directors or committees thereof (the “Board Observer”), in addition to the remedies set forth in Section 4(j). For as long as the Holders are entitled to designate a Board Observer, the Board Observer shall be entitled to attend all meetings (including telephonic meetings) of the Board of Directors and any committees thereof. The Company shall provide to the Board Observer any notices delivered to the members of the Board of Directors and a copy of all meeting materials concurrently with providing such notices and materials to the Board of Directors. The Board Observer shall not be a member of the Board of Directors and shall not have any voting rights with respect to any action brought before the Board of Directors or any committee thereof or count towards any quorum with respect to such actions. Notwithstanding any rights to be granted or provided to the Board Observer hereunder, the Board of Directors may exclude any Board Observer from access to any materials or meeting or portion thereof if the Board of Directors determines, in good faith, that (A) access would reasonably be expected to prevent the members of the Board of Directors or committee thereof from engaging in attorney-client privileged communication or result in a bona fide conflict of interest with the Company involving any arrangement or transaction (or potential arrangement or transaction) between the Company or its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and Holders or any of their Affiliates, on the other hand (other than any redemption of or other transaction pertaining to the Series A Preferred Stock); provided that no such conflict shall be deemed to exist merely by virtue of the Holders or their Affiliates holding Series A Preferred Stock (provided, however, that such exclusion shall be limited to the portion of the material and/or meeting that is the basis for such exclusion and shall not extend to any portion of the material and/or meeting that does not involve or pertain to such exclusion) or (B) such portion of a meeting is an executive session limited solely to independent director members of the Board of Directors, independent auditors and/or legal counsel, as the Board of Directors may designate, and the Board Observer (assuming such Board Observer were a member of the Board of Directors) would not meet the then-applicable standards for independence adopted by New York Stock Exchange, or such other exchange on which the Company’s securities are then traded.

Appears in 6 contracts

Samples: Preferred Restructuring Agreement (Equitrans Midstream Corp), Preferred Restructuring Agreement (EQM Midstream Partners, LP), Preferred Restructuring Agreement (Equitrans Midstream Corp)

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