Exhibit 4.01

 

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

The following summary describes the common stock of Petrolia Energy Corp., a Texas corporation (“Petrolia” or the “Company”), which common stock is registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Only the Company’s common stock is registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

 

DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK

 

The following description of our common stock is a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our Certificate of Formation, as amended and our Bylaws, as amended, which are incorporated by reference as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and by applicable law. For purposes of this description, references to “Petrolia,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer only to Petrolia and not to its subsidiaries.

 

Authorized Capitalization

 

The total number of authorized shares of our common stock is 400,000,000 shares, $0.001 par value per share.

 

The total number of “blank check” authorized shares of our preferred stock is 1,000,000 shares, $0.001 par value per share. The total number of designated shares of our Series A Convertible Preferred Stock is 400,000; the total number of designated shares of Series B Preferred Stock is 3; the total number of designated shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock is 50,000. The terms of our preferred stock are not included herein as such preferred stock is not registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

 

Common Stock

 

Voting Rights. Each share of our common stock is entitled to one vote on all stockholder matters. Shares of our common stock do not possess any cumulative voting rights.

 

Except for the election of directors, if a quorum is present, an action on a matter is approved if it receives the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the shares of capital stock present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter, unless otherwise required by applicable law, Texas law, our Certificate of Formation, as amended or Bylaws, as amended. The election of directors will be determined by a plurality of the votes cast in respect of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote, meaning that the nominees with the greatest number of votes cast, even if less than a majority, will be elected. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common stock are subject to, and may be impacted by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we have designated, or may designate and issue in the future.

 

Dividend Rights. Each share of our common stock is entitled to equal dividends and distributions per share with respect to the common stock when, as and if declared by our Board of Directors, subject to any preferential or other rights of any outstanding preferred stock.

 

Liquidation and Dissolution Rights. Upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up, our common stock will be entitled to receive pro rata on a share-for-share basis, the assets available for distribution to the stockholders after payment of liabilities and payment of preferential and other amounts, if any, payable on any outstanding preferred stock.

 

Fully Paid Status. All outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

 
 

 

Other Matters. No holder of any shares of our common stock has a preemptive right to subscribe for any of our securities, nor are any shares of our common stock subject to redemption or convertible into other securities.

 

Business Combinations under Texas Law

 

A number of provisions of Texas law, our Certificate of Formation and Bylaws could make it more difficult for the acquisition of our company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise and the removal of incumbent officers and directors. These provisions are intended to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of our company to negotiate first with our board of directors.

 

We are subject to the provisions of Title 2, Chapter 21, Subchapter M of the Texas Business Organizations Code (the “Texas Business Combination Law”). That law provides that a Texas corporation may not engage in specified types of business combinations, including mergers, consolidations and asset sales, with a person, or an affiliate or associate of that person, who is an “affiliated shareholder”, for a period of three years from the date that person became an affiliated shareholder, subject to certain exceptions (described below). An “affiliated shareholder” is generally defined as the holder of 20% or more of the corporation’s voting shares. The law’s prohibitions do not apply if the business combination or the acquisition of shares by the affiliated shareholder was approved by the board of directors of the corporation before the affiliated shareholder became an affiliated shareholder; or the business combination was approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation not beneficially owned by the affiliated shareholder, at a meeting of shareholders called for that purpose, not less than six months after the affiliated shareholder became an affiliated shareholder.

 

Because we have more than 100 of record shareholders, we are considered an “issuing public corporation” for purposes of this law. The Texas Business Combination Law does not apply to the following:

 

the business combination of an issuing public corporation: where the corporation’s original charter or bylaws contain a provision expressly electing not to be governed by the Texas Business Combination Law; or that adopts an amendment to its charter or bylaws, by the affirmative vote of the holders, other than affiliated shareholders, of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation, expressly electing not to be governed by the Texas Business Combination Law and so long as the amendment does not take effect for 18 months following the date of the vote and does not apply to a business combination with an affiliated shareholder who became affiliated on or before the effective date of the amendment;
   
a business combination of an issuing public corporation with an affiliated shareholder that became an affiliated shareholder inadvertently, if the affiliated shareholder divests itself, as soon as possible, of enough shares to no longer be an affiliated shareholder and would not at any time within the three-year period preceding the announcement of the business combination have been an affiliated shareholder but for the inadvertent acquisition;
   
a business combination with an affiliated shareholder who became an affiliated shareholder through a transfer of shares by will or intestacy and continuously was an affiliated shareholder until the announcement date of the business combination; or
   
a business combination of a corporation with its wholly owned Texas subsidiary if the subsidiary is not an affiliate or associate of the affiliated shareholder other than by reason of the affiliated shareholder’s beneficial ownership of voting shares of the corporation.

 

Neither our Certificate of Formation, nor our Bylaws contain any provision expressly providing that we will not be subject to the Texas Business Combination Law. The Texas Business Combination Law may have the effect of inhibiting a non-negotiated merger or other business combination involving our company, even if that event would be beneficial to our shareholders.

 

 
 

 

Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Charter Documents

 

Our Certificate of Formation and Bylaws contain various provisions intended to promote the stability of our stockholder base and render more difficult certain unsolicited or hostile attempts to take us over, that could disrupt us, divert the attention of our directors, officers and employees and adversely affect the independence and integrity of our business. These provisions include:

 

Special Meetings of Stockholders — Our Bylaws provide that special meetings of the stockholders may only be called by our Board, the Chairman, our President, a majority of the Board or a committee if designated with such power to call a meeting, or upon written notice to our board of directors by our stockholders holding not less than 25% of our outstanding voting capital stock.
   
Amendment of Bylaws — Our Bylaws may be amended by our Board of Directors alone.
   
Advance Notice Procedures — Our Bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders. At an annual meeting, our stockholders elect a Board of Directors and transact such other business as may properly be brought before the meeting. By contrast, at a special meeting, our stockholders may transact only the business for the purposes specified in the notice of the meeting.
   
No cumulative voting — Our Certificate of Formation and Bylaws do not include a provision for cumulative voting in the election of directors.
   
Vacancies — Our Bylaws provide that vacancies on our Board may be filled by a majority of directors in office, although less than a quorum, and not by the stockholders.
   
Preferred Stock — Our Certificate of Formation allows us to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which 400,000 shares have been designated as Series A Convertible Preferred Stock; 3 shares have been designated as Series B Preferred Stock is; and 50,000 shares have been designated as Series C Convertible Preferred Stock. The undesignated preferred stock may have rights senior to those of the common stock and that otherwise could adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of the holders of common stock. In some circumstances, this issuance could have the effect of decreasing the market price of the common stock as well as having an anti-takeover effect.
   
Authorized but Unissued Shares — Our Board of Directors may cause us to issue our authorized but unissued shares of common stock in the future without stockholders’ approval. These additional shares may be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, corporate acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of common stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of a majority of our common stock by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.