EX-4.9 2 ea020842801ex4-9_collective.htm DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Exhibit 4.9

 

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

The following is a summary of the material terms and provisions of the securities of Collective Audience, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”) that are registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation, as amended and restated, and bylaws, as amended and restated, that are currently in effect. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (“Charter”) and amended and restated bylaws (“Bylaws”), each previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.9 is a part, as well as to the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). We encourage you to read our Charter, Bylaws and the applicable portions of the DGCL carefully.

 

General

 

Our authorized capital stock consists of 300,000,000 shares, all with a $0.0001 par value of per share, of which:

 

200,000,000 shares are designated as common stock; and

 

100,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock.

 

Common Stock

 

Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “CAUD.”

 

Voting Rights

 

Except as otherwise provided herein or expressly required by law, each holder of Common Stock, as such, shall be entitled to vote on each matter submitted to a vote of stockholders and shall be entitled to one (1) vote for each share of Common Stock held of record by such holder as of the record date for determining stockholders entitled to vote on such matter. Except as otherwise required by law, holders of Common Stock, as such, shall not be entitled to vote on any amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (including any Certificate of Designation (as defined below)) that relates solely to the rights, powers, preferences (or the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof) or other terms of one or more outstanding series of Preferred Stock if the holders of such affected series are entitled, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (including any Certificate of Designation) or pursuant to the DGCL.

 

Subject to the rights of any holders of any outstanding series of Preferred Stock, the number of authorized shares of Common Stock may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the stock of the Corporation entitled to vote, irrespective of the provisions of Section 242(b)(2) of the DGCL.

 

Dividends

 

Subject to any rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock, the holders of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of the assets of the Company that are by law available therefor and shall share such dividends and distributions equally on a per share basis. 

 

Liquidation Rights

 

Subject to the rights and preferences of any holders of any shares of any outstanding series of Preferred Stock, in the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, whether voluntary or involuntary, the funds and assets of the Company that may be legally distributed to the Company’s stockholders shall be distributed among the holders of the then outstanding Common Stock pro rata in accordance with the number of shares of Common Stock held by each such holder. 

 

 

 

 

Transfer Rights

 

Subject to applicable law and the transfer restrictions set forth in the Bylaws, shares of Common Stock and the rights and obligations associated therewith shall be fully transferable to any transferee. 

 

Preferred Stock

 

Shares of Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series, each of such series to have such terms as stated or expressed herein and in the resolution or resolutions providing for the creation and issuance of such series adopted by our board of directors as hereinafter provided.

 

Authority is hereby expressly granted to our board of directors from time to time to issue the Preferred Stock in one or more series, and in connection with the creation of any such series, by adopting a resolution or resolutions providing for the issuance of the shares thereof and by filing a certificate of designation relating thereto in accordance with the DGCL (a “Certificate of Designation”), to determine and fix the number of shares of such series and such voting powers, full or limited, or no voting powers, and such designations, preferences and relative participating, optional or other special rights, and qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including without limitation thereof, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences, and to increase or decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding) the number of shares of any series as shall be stated and expressed in such resolutions, all to the fullest extent now or hereafter permitted by the DGCL. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the resolution or resolutions providing for the creation and issuance of any series of Preferred Stock may provide that such series shall be superior or rank equally or be junior to any other series of Preferred Stock to the extent permitted by law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (including any Certificate of Designation). Except as otherwise required by law, holders of any series of Preferred Stock shall be entitled only to such voting rights, if any, as shall expressly be granted thereto by our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (including any Certificate of Designation).

 

The number of authorized shares of Preferred Stock may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the stock of the Corporation entitled to vote, irrespective of the provisions of Section 242(b)(2) of the DGCL. 

 

Public Warrants

 

As of July 10, 2024, there were 6,028,518 Public Warrants outstanding. Each Public Warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of the completion of our initial business combination and one year from the consummation of the Company’s offering. Except as set forth below, no warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective within 90 days from the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act provided that such exemption is available. If an exemption from registration is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The Warrants will expire five years after the completion of an initial business combination at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

 

In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.50 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our shares of common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Price”) is below $9.50 per share, the exercise price of the Warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the Market Price, and the $16.50 per share redemption trigger price described below will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 165% of the Market Price.

 

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We may call the Public Warrants for redemption, in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant:

 

  at any time while the Warrants are exercisable,

 

  upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder,

 

 

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the shares of common stock equals or exceeds $16.50 per share,

for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the notice of

redemption to warrant holders (the “Force-Call Provision”), and

 

 

if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock

underlying such warrants at the time of redemption and for the entire 30-day trading period referred to above

and continuing each day thereafter until the date of redemption.

 

The right to exercise will be forfeited unless the Warrants are exercised prior to the date specified in the notice of redemption. On and after the redemption date, a record holder of a warrant will have no further rights except to receive the redemption price for such holder’s warrant upon surrender of such warrant.

 

The redemption criteria for our Warrants have been established at a price which is intended to provide warrant holders a reasonable premium to the initial exercise price and provide a sufficient differential between the then-prevailing share price and the Warrant exercise price so that if the share price declines as a result of our redemption call, the redemption will not cause the share price to drop below the exercise price of the Warrants, however, such redemption may occur at a time when the Warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of Common Stock had your Warrants remained outstanding. Historical trading prices for our Common Stock have not exceeded the $16.50 per share threshold at which the Public Warrants would become redeemable. However, this could occur in connection with or after Closing.

 

In the event we determined to redeem our Public Warrants, holders of redeemable Public Warrants will be notified of such redemption as described in our warrant agreement with our transfer agent (the “Warrant Agreement”). Specifically, in the event that we elect to redeem all of the redeemable Warrants as described above, we will fix a date for the redemption (the “Redemption Date”). Notice of redemption will be mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by us not less than 30 days prior to the Redemption Date to the registered holders of the redeemable Warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they appear on the Warrant Register. Any notice mailed in the manner provided in the Warrant Agreement will be conclusively presumed to have been duly given whether or not the registered holder received such notice. In addition, beneficial owners of the redeemable Warrants will be notified of such redemption via posting of the redemption notice to DTC.

 

If we call the Warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the whole warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the Warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the volume weighted average price of the shares of common stock for the 20 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Whether we will exercise our option to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” will depend on a variety of factors including the price of our shares of common stock at the time the Warrants are called for redemption, our cash needs at such time and concerns regarding dilutive share issuances.

 

If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of Common Stock to be received upon exercise of the Warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of Common Stock to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the Warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our Warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, the holders of the Private Warrants and their permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their Private Warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis.

 

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The Warrants were issued in registered form under the Warrant Agreement which provides that the terms of the Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval, by written consent or vote, of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.

 

The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of the Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share capitalizations, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of shares of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices.

 

The Warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the Warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price, by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The Warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of shares of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of common stock. After the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the Warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

 

Except as described above, no warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless at the time a holder seeks to exercise such warrant, a prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants is current and the shares of common stock have been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the Warrants. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to meet these conditions and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants until the expiration of the Warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so and, if we do not maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their warrants and we will not be required to settle any such warrant exercise. If the prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Warrants is not current or if the shares of common stock is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the Warrants reside, we will not be required to net cash settle or cash settle the Warrant exercise, the Warrants may have no value, the market for the Warrants may be limited and the Warrants may expire worthless.

 

Warrant holders may elect to be subject to a restriction on the exercise of their warrants such that an electing warrant holder (and his, her or its affiliates) would not be able to exercise their warrants to the extent that, after giving effect to such exercise, such holder (and his, her or its affiliates) would beneficially own in excess of 9.99% of the shares of common stock issued and outstanding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any person who acquires a warrant with the purpose or effect of changing or influencing the control of our company, or in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having such purpose or effect, immediately upon such acquisition will be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the underlying shares of common stock and not be able to take advantage of this provision.

 

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Warrants. If, upon exercise of the Warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share (as a result of a subsequent share capitalizations payable in shares of common stock, or by a split up of the shares of common stock or other similar event), we will, upon exercise, round up or down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the Warrant holder.

 

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We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim.

 

Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

 

The Transfer Agent for our Common Stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Nevada Agency and Transfer Company. We have agreed to indemnify Nevada Agency and Transfer Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

 

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and Our Charter and Bylaws

 

Provisions of the DGCL and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation could make it more difficult to acquire the Company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise, or to remove incumbent officers and directors. These provisions, summarized below, are intended to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of the Company to first negotiate with the board of directors. We believe that the benefits of these provisions outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging certain takeover or acquisition proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms and enhance the ability of our board of directors to maximize stockholder value. However, these provisions may delay, deter or prevent a merger or acquisition of us that a stockholder might consider is in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the prevailing market price of the Common Stock.

 

In addition, our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides for certain other provisions that may have an anti-takeover effect:

 

There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors.

 

Our board of directors is empowered to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of our board of directors or the resignation, death, or removal of a director in certain circumstances.

 

Directors may only be removed from our board of directors for cause.

 

Our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board of directors by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.

 

A prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders.

 

A prohibition on stockholders calling a special meeting and the requirement that a meeting of stockholders may only be called by members of our board of directors, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors.

 

Our authorized but unissued Common Stock and Preferred Stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. Our board of directors is entitled, without further stockholder approval, to designate one or more series of Preferred Stock and the associated voting rights, preferences and privileges of such series of Preferred Stock. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved Common Stock and Preferred Stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

 

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Classified Board of Directors

 

We do not have a classified board of directors. Our directors are elected for one-year terms.

 

Removal of Directors

 

Whenever the holders of one or more series of the Preferred Stock shall have the right, voting separately by class or series, to elect one or more directors, the term of office, the filling of vacancies, the removal from office and other features of such directorships shall be governed by the terms of such series of the Preferred Stock as set forth in this Second Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation). Otherwise, any director may be removed from office without cause but only by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than a majority of the outstanding stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. 

 

Stockholders Not Entitled to Cumulative Voting

 

Our Charter does not permit stockholders to cumulate their votes in the election of directors. Accordingly, the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote in any election of directors can elect all of the directors standing for election, if they choose, other than any directors that holders of our preferred stock may be entitled to elect.

 

Board Vacancies

 

Our Bylaws generally provide that only our board of directors (and not the stockholders) may fill vacancies and newly created directorships.

 

While the foregoing provisions of our Charter, Bylaws and Delaware law may have an anti-takeover effect, these provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and in the policies formulated by our board of directors, and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened change of control. In that regard, these provisions are designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited acquisition proposal. The provisions also are intended to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. However, such provisions could have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our shares and, as a consequence, they also may inhibit fluctuations in the market price of our common stock that could result from actual or rumored takeover attempts. Such provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our management.

 

Proposals of Business and Nominations.

 

Our Bylaws generally regulate proposals of business and nominations for election of directors by stockholders. In general, Section 2.7 requires stockholders intending to submit proposals or nominations at a stockholders meeting to provide the Company with advance notice thereof, including information regarding the stockholder proposing the business or nomination as well as information regarding the proposed business or nominee. Section 2.7 provides a time period during which business or nominations must be provided to the Company that will create a predictable window for the submission of such notices, eliminating the risk that the Company finds a meeting will be contested after printing its proxy materials for an uncontested election and providing the Company with a reasonable opportunity to respond to nominations and proposals by stockholders.

 

Blank Check Preferred Stock

 

Our Board has the right to issue preferred stock in one or more series and to determine the designations, rights, preferences of such preferred stock without stockholder approval.

 

Stockholder Meetings

 

Our Bylaws provide that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by chairman of our board of directors or president, or by a resolution adopted by a majority of our board of directors, but such not by any other person or persons (including our stockholders).

 

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Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute

 

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“Section 203”) 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, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which 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, the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder, (i) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) 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 the board of directors of the corporation 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, 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 Section 203 to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions our Board does not approve in advance. We also anticipate that Section 203 may discourage business combinations or other attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by our stockholders.

 

Choice of Forum

 

Our Charter and Bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative form, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, in the event that the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by, or other wrongdoing by, any director, officer, employee or agent of the Company to the Company or our stockholders, creditors or other constituents; (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our Charter or our Bylaws; (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our Charter or Bylaws; or (v) or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine; provided that, the exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction; and provided further that, if and only if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware dismisses any such action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, or the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, such action may be brought in another state or federal court sitting in the State of Delaware. Our Charter and Bylaws also provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action against us or any of our directors, officers, employees or agents and arising under the Securities Act or Exchange Act. Nothing in Charter and Bylaws preclude stockholders that assert claims under the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in state or federal court, subject to applicable law. Our Charter also provides that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this choice of forum provision. It is possible that a court of law could rule that the choice of forum provision contained in our Charter is inapplicable or unenforceable if it is challenged in a proceeding or otherwise.

 

 

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