EX-2.2 2 ea020488301ex2-2_harden.htm DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT'S SECURITIES

Exhibit 2.2

 

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

We were incorporated as a BVI business company under the Business Companies Act, (as revised) in the British Virgin Islands on April 8, 2021 under the name “Harden Technologies Inc.,” company no. 2059501. As of the date of this prospectus, we are authorized to issue a maximum of 100,000,000 ordinary shares, $0.001 par value per share.

 

The following are summaries of the material provisions of our Memorandum and Articles of Association that will be in force at the time of the closing of this offering and the BVI Act, insofar as they relate to the material terms of our ordinary shares. The forms of our Memorandum and Articles of Association are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

 

Ordinary shares

 

General

 

All of our issued ordinary shares are fully paid and non-assessable. Certificates representing the ordinary shares are issued in registered form. Our shareholders who are non-residents of the British Virgin Islands may freely hold and vote their ordinary shares. At the completion of this offering, there will be 11,000,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding.

 

Listing

 

We have received approval to list our ordinary shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange under the symbol “HAHA” provided that we pay the balance of our entry fee and show that we will have 300 round-lot shareholders prior to our first day of trading. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in listing the ordinary shares; however, we will not complete this offering unless we are so listed.

 

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

The transfer agent and registrar for the ordinary shares is Vstock Transfer, LLC, 18 Lafayette Place, Woodmere, New York 11598.

 

Distributions

 

The holders of our ordinary shares are entitled to such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors subject to the BVI Act.

 

Voting rights

 

Any action required or permitted to be taken by the shareholders must be effected at a duly called meeting of the shareholders entitled to vote on such action and may be effected by a resolution in writing. At each meeting of shareholders, each shareholder who is present in person or by proxy (or, in the case of a shareholder being a corporation, by its duly authorized representative) will have one vote for each ordinary share which such shareholder holds. Cumulative voting is not a concept that is accepted as a common practice in the British Virgin Islands, and we have made no provisions in our Memorandum and Articles of Association to allow cumulative voting for elections of directors.

 

Directors

 

Our directors are not required to hold a share as a qualification for office. With regard to conflicts of interest, our directors are entitled to vote a matter relating to an interested transaction.

 

 

 

 

Meetings

 

We must provide written notice of all meetings of shareholders, stating the time, place and, in the case of a meeting of shareholders, the purpose or purposes thereof, at least seven days before the date of the proposed meeting to those persons whose names appear as shareholders in the register of members on the date of the notice and are entitled to vote at the meeting. Our board of directors shall call a special meeting upon the written request of shareholders holding at least 30% of our outstanding voting shares. In addition, our board of directors may call a special meeting of shareholders on its own motion. A meeting of shareholders held in contravention of the requirement to give notice is valid if shareholders holding at least 90 percent of the total voting rights on all the matters to be considered at the meeting have waived notice of the meeting and, for this purpose, the presence of a shareholder at the meeting shall constitute waiver in relation to all the shares which that shareholder holds.

 

At any meeting of shareholders, a quorum will be present if there are shareholders present in person or by proxy representing not less than 50% of the issued ordinary shares entitled to vote on the resolutions to be considered at the meeting. Such quorum may be represented by only a single shareholder or proxy. If no quorum is present within two hours of the start time of the meeting, the meeting shall be dissolved if it was requested by shareholders. In any other case, the meeting shall be adjourned to the next business day, and if shareholders representing not less than one-third of the votes of the ordinary shares or each class of shares entitled to vote on the matters to be considered at the meeting are present within one hour of the start time of the adjourned meeting, a quorum will be present. No business may be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum is present at the commencement of business. If present, the chair of our board of directors shall be the chair presiding at any meeting of the shareholders. If the chair of our board is not present then the shareholders present shall choose a shareholder to chair the meeting of shareholders. If there shareholders are unable to choose a chairman for any reason, then the person representing the greatest number of voting shares present in person or by proxy at the meeting shall preside as chairman.

 

A corporation that is a shareholder shall be deemed for the purpose of our Memorandum and Articles of Association to be present in person if represented by its duly authorized representative. This duly authorized representative shall be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the corporation which he represents as that corporation could exercise if it were our individual shareholder.

 

Protection of minority shareholders

 

Under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, there is limited statutory law for the protection of minority shareholders other than the provisions of the BVI Act dealing with shareholder remedies. The principal protection under statutory law is that shareholders may bring an action to enforce the constituent documents of the company and are entitled to have the affairs of the company conducted in accordance with the BVI Act and the memorandum and articles of association of the company. As such, if those who control the company have disregarded the requirements of the BVI Act or the provisions of the company’s memorandum and articles of association, or oppose to do so, then the courts will likely grant relief. Generally, the areas in which the courts will intervene are the following: (i) an act complained of which is outside the scope of the authorized business or is illegal or not capable of ratification by the majority; (ii) acts that constitute fraud on the minority where the wrongdoers control the company; (iii) acts that infringe on the personal rights of the shareholders, such as the right to vote or breach of a duty owed to the shareholder by the Company; and (iv) acts where the company has not complied with provisions requiring approval of a special or extraordinary majority of shareholders, which are more limited than the rights afforded minority shareholders under the laws of many states in the United States.

 

Pre-emptive rights

 

There are no pre-emptive rights applicable to the issue by us of new ordinary shares under either British Virgin Islands law or our Memorandum and Articles of Association.

 

Transfer of ordinary shares

 

Subject to the restrictions in our Memorandum and Articles of Association, the lock-up agreements with the representative of the underwriters described in “Shares Eligible for Future Sale — Lock-Up Agreements” and applicable securities laws, any of our shareholders may transfer all or any of his or her ordinary shares by written instrument of transfer signed by the transferor and containing the name and address of the transferee. Our directors may not resolve or refuse or delay the transfer of an ordinary share unless the person transferring the shares has failed to pay any amount due in respect of any of those shares.

 

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Liquidation

 

As permitted by British Virgin Islands law and our Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Company may be voluntarily liquidated by a resolution of members or, if permitted under section 199(2) of the BVI Act, by a resolution of directors if we have no liabilities or we are able to pay our debts as they fall due and the value of our assets equals or exceeds our liabilities by resolution of directors and resolution of shareholders.

 

Calls on ordinary shares and forfeiture of ordinary shares

 

Our board of directors may from time to time make calls upon shareholders for any amounts unpaid on their ordinary shares in a notice served to such shareholders at least fourteen days prior to the specified time of payment. The ordinary shares that have been called upon and remain unpaid are subject to forfeiture. For the avoidance of doubt, if the issued shares have been fully paid in accordance with the terms of its issuance and subscription, the board of directors shall not have the right to make calls on such fully paid shares and such fully paid shares shall not be subject to forfeiture.

 

Redemption of ordinary shares

 

Subject to the provisions of the BVI Act, we may issue shares on terms that are subject to redemption, at our option or at the option of the holders, on such terms and in such manner as may be determined by our Memorandum and Articles of Association and subject to any applicable requirements imposed from time to time by, the BVI Act, the SEC, the Cboe BZX Exchange, or by any recognized stock exchange on which our securities are listed.

 

Modifications of rights

 

All or any of the special rights attached to any class of shares may, subject to the provisions of the BVI Act, be amended only pursuant to a resolution passed at a meeting by the holders of a majority of the issued shares in that class.

 

Changes in the number of shares we are authorized to issue and those in issue

 

We may from time to time by a resolution of shareholders or resolution of our board of directors:

 

amend our Memorandum and Articles of Association to increase or decrease the maximum number of shares we are authorized to issue;

 

subject to our Memorandum and Articles of Association, sub-divide our authorized and issued shares into a larger number of shares than our existing number of shares; and

 

subject to our Memorandum and Articles of Association, consolidate our authorized and issued shares into a smaller number of shares.

 

Untraceable shareholders

 

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association do not entitle us to sell the shares of a shareholder who is untraceable.

 

Inspection of books and records

 

Under British Virgin Islands Law, holders of our ordinary shares are entitled, upon giving written notice to us, to inspect (i) our Memorandum and Articles of Association (our charter), (ii) the register of members, (iii) the register of directors and (iv) minutes of meetings and resolutions of members (shareholders), and to make copies and take extracts from the documents and records. However, our directors can refuse access if they are satisfied that to allow such access would be contrary to our interests. See “Where You Can Find More Information.”

 

Rights of non-resident or foreign shareholders

 

There are no limitations imposed by our Memorandum and Articles of Association (our charter) on the rights of non-resident or foreign shareholders to hold or exercise voting rights on our shares. In addition, there are no provisions in our Memorandum and Articles of Association governing the ownership threshold above which shareholder ownership must be disclosed.

 

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Issuance of additional ordinary shares

 

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association (our charter) authorizes our board of directors to issue additional ordinary shares from authorized but unissued shares, to the extent available, from time to time as our board of directors shall determine.

 

In order to comply with legislation and regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering we are required to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering procedures and may require subscribers to provide evidence to verify their identity. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, we also may delegate the maintenance of our anti-money laundering procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) to a suitable person. We reserve the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a subscriber. In the event of delay or failure on the part of the subscriber in producing any information required for verification purposes, we may refuse to accept the application, in which case any funds received will be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.

 

If any person resident in the BVI knows or suspects that another person is engaged in money laundering or terrorist financing and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to his or her attention in the course of his or her business the person will be required to report his belief or suspicion to the Financial Investigation Agency of the BVI, pursuant to the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (as revised). Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.

 

Anti-Money Laundering Laws

 

In order to comply with legislation and regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering we are required to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering procedures, and may require subscribers to provide evidence to verify their identity. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, we also may delegate the maintenance of our anti-money laundering procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) to a suitable person. We reserve the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a subscriber. In the event of delay or failure on the part of the subscriber in producing any information required for verification purposes, we may refuse to accept the application, in which case any funds received will be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.

 

If any person resident in the BVI knows or suspects that another person is engaged in money laundering or terrorist financing and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to his or her attention in the course of his or her business the person will be required to report his belief or suspicion to the Financial Investigation Agency of the BVI, pursuant to the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (as revised). Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.

 

Differences in Corporate Law

 

The BVI Act and the laws of the British Virgin Islands affecting BVI business companies like us and our shareholders differ from laws applicable to U.S. corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the significant differences between the provisions of the laws of the British Virgin Islands applicable to us and, for illustrative purposes only, the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), which governs companies incorporated in the state of Delaware.

 

Mergers and similar arrangements

 

Under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, two or more companies may merge or consolidate in accordance with Part IX of the BVI Act. A merger means the merging of two or more constituent companies into one of the constituent companies and a consolidation means the uniting of two or more constituent companies into a new company. In order to merge or consolidate, the directors of each constituent company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation, which must be authorized by a resolution of shareholders.

 

While a director may vote on the plan of merger or consolidation even if he has a financial interest in the plan, the interested director must disclose the interest to all other directors of the company promptly upon becoming aware of the fact that he is interested in a transaction entered into or to be entered into by the company.

 

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A transaction entered into by our Company in respect of which a director is interested (including a merger or consolidation) is voidable by us unless the director’s interest was (a) disclosed to the board prior to the transaction or (b) the transaction is (i) between the director and the company and (ii) the transaction is in the ordinary course of the company’s business and on usual terms and conditions.

 

Notwithstanding the above, a transaction entered into by the company is not voidable if the material facts of the interest are known to the shareholders and they approve or ratify it or the company received fair value for the transaction.

 

Shareholders not otherwise entitled to vote on the merger or consolidation may still acquire the right to vote if the plan of merger or consolidation contains any provision that, if proposed as an amendment to the Memorandum or Articles of Association, would entitle them to vote as a class or series on the proposed amendment. In any event, all shareholders must be given a copy of the plan of merger or consolidation irrespective of whether they are entitled to vote at the meeting to approve the plan of merger or consolidation.

 

The shareholders of the constituent companies are not required to receive shares of the surviving or consolidated company but may receive debt obligations or other securities of the surviving or consolidated company, other assets, or a combination thereof. Further, some or all of the shares of a class or series may be converted into a kind of asset while the other shares of the same class or series may receive a different kind of asset. As such, not all the shares of a class or series must receive the same kind of consideration.

 

After the plan of merger or consolidation has been approved by the directors and authorized by a resolution of the shareholders, articles of merger or consolidation are executed by each company and filed with the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands.

 

A shareholder may dissent from a mandatory redemption of his shares pursuant to an arrangement (if permitted by the court), a merger (unless the shareholder was a shareholder of the surviving company prior to the merger and continues to hold the same or similar shares after the merger) or a consolidation. A shareholder properly exercising his dissent rights is entitled to a cash payment equal to the fair value of his shares.

 

A shareholder dissenting from a merger or consolidation must object in writing to the merger or consolidation before the vote by the shareholders on the merger or consolidation, unless notice of the meeting was not given to the shareholder. If the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the company must give notice of this fact to each shareholder who gave written objection within 20 days immediately following the date of the shareholders’ approval. These shareholders then have twenty days from the dates of such notice to give to the company their written election in the form specified by the BVI Act to dissent from the merger or consolidation, provided that in the case of a merger, the twenty days starts when the plan of merger is delivered to the shareholder.

 

Upon giving notice of his election to dissent, a shareholder ceases to have any shareholder rights except the right to be paid the fair value of his shares. As such, the merger or consolidation may proceed in the ordinary course notwithstanding his dissent.

 

Within seven days of the later of the delivery of the notice of election to dissent and the effective date of the merger or consolidation, the company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a specified price per share that the company determines to be the fair value of the shares. The company and the shareholder then have thirty days to agree upon the price. If the company and a shareholder fail to agree on the price within the thirty days, then the company and the shareholder shall, within twenty days immediately following the expiration of the thirty-day period, each designate an appraiser and these two appraisers shall designate a third appraiser. These three appraisers shall fix the fair value of the shares as of the close of business on the day prior to the shareholders’ approval of the transaction without taking into account any change in value as a result of the transaction.

 

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Under Delaware law each corporation’s board of directors must approve a merger agreement. The merger agreement must state, among other terms, the terms of the merger and method of carrying out the merger. This agreement must then be approved by the majority vote of the outstanding stock entitled to vote at an annual or special meeting of each corporation, and no class vote is required unless provided in the certificate of incorporation. Delaware permits an agreement of merger to contain a provision allowing the agreement to be terminated by the board of directors of either corporation, notwithstanding approval of the agreement by the shareholders of all or any of the corporations (1) at any time prior to the filing of the agreement with the Secretary of State or (2) after filing if the agreement contains a post-filing effective time and an appropriate filing is made with the Secretary of State to terminate the agreement before the effective time. In lieu of filing an agreement of merger, the surviving corporation may file a certificate of merger, executed in accordance with Section 103 of the DGCL. The surviving corporation is also permitted to amend and restate its certification of incorporation in its entirety. The agreement of merger may also provide that it may be amended by the board of directors of either corporation prior to the time that the agreement filed with the Secretary of State becomes effective, even after approval by shareholders, so long as any amendment made after such approval does not adversely affect the rights of the shareholders of either corporation and does not change any term in the certificate of incorporation of the surviving corporation. If the agreement is amended after filing but before becoming effective, an appropriate amendment must be filed with the Secretary of State. If the surviving corporation is not a Delaware corporation, it must consent to service of process for enforcement of any obligation of the corporation arising as a result of the merger; such obligations include any suit by a shareholder of the disappearing Delaware corporation to enforce appraisal rights under Delaware law.

 

If a proposed merger or consolidation for which appraisal rights are provided is to be submitted for approval at a shareholder meeting, the subject company must give notice of the availability of appraisal rights to its shareholders at least 20 days prior to the meeting.

 

A dissenting shareholder who desires to exercise appraisal rights must (a) not vote in favor of the merger or consolidation; and (b) continuously hold the shares of record from the date of making the demand through the effective date of the applicable merger or consolidation. Further, the dissenting shareholder must deliver a written demand for appraisal to the company before the vote is taken. The Delaware Court of Chancery will determine the fair value of the shares exclusive of any element of value arising from the accomplishment or expectation of the merger, together with interest, if any, to be paid upon the amount determined to be the fair value. In determining such fair value, the court will take into account “all relevant factors.” Unless the Delaware Court of Chancery in its discretion determines otherwise, interest from the effective date of the merger through the date of payment of the judgment will be compounded quarterly and accrue at 5% over the Federal Reserve discount rate.

 

Shareholders’ suits

 

There are both statutory and common law remedies available to our shareholders as a matter of British Virgin Islands law. These are summarized below.

 

Prejudiced members:    A shareholder who considers that the affairs of a company have been, are being, or are likely to be, conducted in a manner that is, or any act or acts of the company have been, or are, likely to be oppressive, unfairly discriminatory or unfairly prejudicial to him in that capacity, can apply to the court under Section 184I of the BVI Act, inter alia, for an order that his shares be acquired, that he be provided compensation, that the Court regulate the future conduct of the company, or that any decision of the company which contravenes the BVI Act or our Memorandum and Articles of Association be set aside. There is no similar provision under Delaware law.

 

Derivative actions:    Section 184C of the BVI Act provides that a shareholder of a company may, with the leave of the Court, bring an action in the name of the company to redress any wrong done to it. We would normally expect British Virgin Islands courts to follow English case law precedents, which permit a minority shareholder to commence a representative action, or derivative action in our name, to challenge (1) an act which is ultra vires or illegal, (2) an act which constitutes a fraud against the minority by parties in control of us, (3) the act complained of constitutes an infringement of individual rights of shareholders, such as the right to vote and pre-emptive rights and (4) an irregularity in the passing of a resolution which requires a special or extraordinary majority of the shareholders. Under Delaware law, a shareholder is eligible to bring a derivative action if the holder held stock at the time of the challenged wrongdoing and continues from that time to hold stock throughout the course of the litigation.

 

This is the “continuous ownership” rule, which is a requirement for a shareholder to bring and maintain a derivative action. The law also requires the shareholder first to demand the board of directors of the corporation to assert the claims or the shareholder must state in the derivative action particular reasons why making such a demand would be futile.

 

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Just and equitable winding up:    In addition to the statutory remedies outlined above, shareholders can also petition for the winding up of a company on the grounds that it is just and equitable for the court to so order. Save in exceptional circumstances, this remedy is only available where the company has been operated as a quasi-partnership and trust and confidence between the partners has broken down. Under Delaware law the court can use its equitable power of dissolution and appoint a receiver when fraud and gross mismanagement by corporate officers cause real imminent danger of great loss, and cannot be otherwise prevented.

 

Indemnification of directors and executive officers and limitation of liability

 

British Virgin Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any provision providing indemnification may be held by the British Virgin Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime.

 

Under our Memorandum and Articles of Association, we may indemnify against all expenses, including legal fees, and against all judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement and reasonably incurred in connection with legal, administrative or investigative proceedings for any person who:

 

is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that the person is or was our director; or

 

is or was, at our request, serving as a director or officer of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another body corporate or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise.

 

These indemnities only apply if the person acted honestly and in good faith with a view to our best interests and, in the case of criminal proceedings, the person had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.

 

This standard of conduct is generally the same as permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law for a Delaware corporation.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers or persons controlling us under the foregoing provisions, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

Anti-takeover provisions in our Memorandum and Articles of Association

 

Some provisions of our Memorandum and Articles of Association may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our Company or management that shareholders may consider favorable, including provisions that provide for a staggered board of directors and prevent shareholders from taking an action by written consent in lieu of a meeting. However, under British Virgin Islands law, our directors may only exercise the rights and powers granted to them under our Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended and restated from time to time, as they believe in good faith to be in the best interests of our Company.

 

Directors’ fiduciary duties

 

Under British Virgin Islands law, our directors owe the company certain statutory and fiduciary duties including, among others, a duty to act honestly, in good faith, for a proper purpose and with a view to what the directors believe to be in the best interests of the company. Our directors are also required, when exercising powers or performing duties as a director, to exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonable director would exercise in comparable circumstances, taking into account without limitation, the nature of the company, the nature of the decision and the position of the director and the nature of the responsibilities undertaken. In the exercise of their powers, our directors must ensure neither they nor the company acts in a manner that contravenes the BVI Act or our Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended and re-stated from time to time. A shareholder has the right to seek damages for breaches of duties owed to us by our directors.

 

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Under Delaware corporate law, a director of a Delaware corporation has a fiduciary duty to the corporation and its shareholders. This duty has two components: the duty of care and the duty of loyalty. The duty of care requires that a director act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise under similar circumstances. Under this duty, a director must inform himself of, and disclose to shareholders, all material information reasonably available regarding a significant transaction. The duty of loyalty requires that a director act in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation. He must not use his corporate position for personal gain or advantage. This duty prohibits self-dealing by a director and mandates that the best interest of the corporation and its shareholders take precedence over any interest possessed by a director, officer or controlling shareholder and not shared by the shareholders generally. In general, actions of a director are presumed to have been made on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the corporation. However, this presumption may be rebutted by evidence of a breach of one of the fiduciary duties. Should such evidence be presented concerning a transaction by a director, a director must prove the procedural fairness of the transaction and that the transaction was of fair value to the corporation.

 

Shareholder action by written consent

 

British Virgin Islands law provides that shareholders may approve corporate matters by way of a written resolution without a meeting signed by or on behalf of shareholders sufficient to constitute the requisite majority of shareholders who would have been entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting; provided that if the consent is less than unanimous, notice must be given to all non-consenting shareholders. Our Memorandum and Articles of Association does permit shareholders to act by written consent. Under the DGCL, a corporation may eliminate the right of shareholders to act by written consent by amendment to its certificate of incorporation.

 

Shareholder proposals

 

British Virgin Islands law and our Memorandum and Articles of Association allow our shareholders holding not less than 30% of the votes of the outstanding voting shares to requisition a shareholders’ meeting. We are not obliged by law to call shareholders’ annual general meetings, but our Memorandum and Articles of Association do permit the directors to call such a meeting. The location of any shareholders’ meeting can be determined by the board of directors and can be held anywhere in the world. Under the DGCL, a shareholder has the right to put any proposal before the annual meeting of shareholders, provided it complies with the notice provisions in the governing documents. A special meeting may be called by the board of directors or any other person authorized to do so in the governing documents, but shareholders may be precluded from calling special meetings.

 

Cumulative voting

 

The British Virgin Islands law does not expressly permit cumulative voting for directors, our Memorandum and Articles of Association do not provide for cumulative voting as well. Cumulative voting potentially facilitates the representation of minority shareholders on a board of directors since it permits the minority shareholder to cast all the votes to which the shareholder is entitled on a single director, which increases the shareholder’s voting power with respect to electing such director. Under the DGCL, cumulative voting for elections of directors is not permitted unless the corporation’s certificate of incorporation specifically provides for it. As a result, our shareholders are not afforded any less protections or rights on this issue than shareholders of a Delaware corporation.

 

Removal of directors

 

Under our Memorandum and Articles of Association, directors can be removed from office, with or without cause, by a resolution of shareholders passed at a meeting of shareholders called for the purposes of removing the director of for purposes including the removal of the director or by written resolution passed by at least 75 percent of the vote of the shareholders entitled to vote or by a resolution of directors passed at a meeting of directors called for the purpose of removing the director or for purposes including the removal of the director. Under the DGCL, a director of a corporation with a classified board may be removed only for cause with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise.

 

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Transactions with interested shareholders

 

The Delaware General Corporation Law contains a business combination statute applicable to Delaware public corporations whereby, unless the corporation has specifically elected not to be governed by such statute by amendment to its certificate of incorporation, it is prohibited from engaging in certain business combinations with an “interested shareholder” for three years following the date that such person becomes an interested shareholder. An interested shareholder generally is a person or group who or which owns or owned 15% or more of the target’s outstanding voting shares within the past three years. This has the effect of limiting the ability of a potential acquirer to make a two-tiered bid for the target in which all shareholders would not be treated equally. The statute does not apply if, among other things, prior to the date on which such shareholder becomes an interested shareholder, the board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the person becoming an interested shareholder. This encourages any potential acquirer of a Delaware public corporation to negotiate the terms of any acquisition transaction with the target’s board of directors. British Virgin Islands law has no comparable statute and our Memorandum and Articles of Association do not expressly provide for the same protection afforded by Delaware business combinations statute.

 

Dissolution; Winding Up

 

Under the BVI Act and our Memorandum and Articles of Association, we may appoint a voluntary liquidator by a resolution of the shareholders or by resolution of directors. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, unless the board of directors approves the proposal to dissolve, dissolution must be approved by shareholders holding 100% of the total voting power of the corporation. Only if the dissolution is initiated by the board of directors may it be approved by a simple majority of the corporation’s outstanding shares. Delaware law allows a Delaware corporation to include in its certificate of incorporation a supermajority voting requirement in connection with dissolutions initiated by the board.

 

Variation of rights of shares

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation may vary the rights of a class of shares with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares of such class, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Under BVI law and our Memorandum and Articles of Association, if at any time our shares are divided into different classes of shares, the rights attached to any class may only be varied, whether or not our company is in liquidation, with the consent in writing of or by a resolution passed at a meeting by the holders of not less than a majority of the issued shares in that class.

 

Amendment of governing documents

 

As permitted by BVI law, our Memorandum and Articles of Association may be amended by a resolution of shareholders and, subject to certain exceptions, by a resolution of directors. Any amendment is effective from the date it is registered by the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation’s governing documents may be amended with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise.

 

 

 

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