EX-4.2 2 descriptionofcapitalstock.htm EX-4.2 Document


Exhibit 4.2
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

Arhaus, Inc. has one class of securities, its Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share, registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). References herein to “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refer to Arhaus, Inc.
General
The following is a summary of the rights of our common and preferred stock and some of the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and relevant provisions of Delaware General Corporation Law. The descriptions herein are qualified in their entirety by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and amended and restated bylaws, copies of are filed as exhibits to this report, as well as the relevant provisions of Delaware General Corporation Law.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes shares of undesignated preferred stock, the rights, preferences and privileges of which may be designated from time to time by our board of directors.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorize capital stock consisting of:
600,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share;
100,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.001 per share; and
50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share.

Class A and Class B Common Stock
We have two classes of duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable common stock: Class A common stock and Class B common stock. All authorized but unissued shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are available for issuance by us without any further stockholder action, except as required by the listing standards of Nasdaq. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the rights of the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical, except with respect to voting, conversion and transfer rights.
Voting Rights
Each holder of our Class A common stock is entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, and each holder of our Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes per share on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders. The holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock generally vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, unless otherwise required by Delaware law or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Delaware law would require holders of our Class A common stock to vote separately as a single class in the following circumstance:
If we were to seek to change the par value of the common stock or amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation in a manner that alters or changes the powers, preferences or special rights of the common stock as a whole in a way that would adversely affect the holders of Class A common stock.
As a result, in these limited instances, the holders of a majority of the Class A common stock could defeat any amendment to our certificate of incorporation. For example, if a proposed amendment of our certificate of incorporation provided for the Class A common stock to rank junior to the Class B common stock with respect to (i) any dividend or distribution, (ii) the distribution of proceeds were we to be acquired or (iii) any other right, Delaware law would require the vote of the Class A common stock. In this instance, the holders of a majority of Class A common stock could defeat that amendment to our certificate of incorporation.





Exhibit 4.2
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the number of authorized shares of preferred stock, Class A common stock or Class B common stock, may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares of preferred stock, Class A common stock and Class B common stock then outstanding) by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting power of all of our outstanding, voting together as a single class. As a result, the holders of a majority of the outstanding Class B common stock can approve an increase or decrease in the number of authorized shares of Class A common stock without a separate vote of the holders of Class A common stock. This could allow us to increase and issue additional shares of Class A common stock beyond what is currently authorized in our certificate of incorporation without the consent of the holders of our Class A common stock.
The holders of common stock do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors.
Dividends
Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any preferred stock then outstanding, holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are entitled to receive ratably dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors at its discretion out of legally available funds for that purpose, after payment of dividends required to be paid on outstanding preferred stock, if any. Under Delaware law, we can only pay dividends either out of “surplus” or out of the current or the immediately preceding year’s net profits. Surplus is defined as the excess, if any, at any given time, of the total assets of a corporation over its total liabilities and statutory capital. The value of a corporation’s assets can be measured in a number of ways and may not necessarily equal their book value. In addition, holders of our Class A common stock would be entitled to vote separately as a class on dividends and distributions if the holders of Class A common stock were treated adversely. As a result, if the holders of Class A common stock were treated adversely in any dividend or distribution, the holders of a majority of Class A common stock could defeat that dividend or distribution.
Liquidation, Dissolution and Winding Up
Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up or a deemed liquidation, the holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock will be entitled to share equally and ratably in the assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our outstanding debts and other liabilities and the preferential rights and payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock, unless a different treatment is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of each class of common stock, including the Class A common stock, voting separately as a class. As a result, the holders of a majority of each class of common stock, including the Class A common stock, could defeat a proposed distribution of any assets on our liquidation, dissolution, or winding up or deemed liquidation if that distribution were not to be shared equally, identically, and ratably. If a change-of-control transaction is not considered a deemed liquidation, such transaction shall require the approval of the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of each class of common stock, including the Class A common stock, voting separately as a class.
Subdivisions and Combinations
If we subdivide or combine in any manner outstanding shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock, the outstanding shares of the other class will be subdivided or combined in the same manner, unless different treatment of the shares of each such class is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock, each voting separately as a class.
No Preemptive or Similar Rights
Except for the conversion provisions for our Class B common stock described below, holders of our common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights, and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock.
Conversion Rights
Each share of Class B common stock is convertible at any time at the option of the holder into one share of Class A common stock. In addition, each share of our Class B common stock converts automatically into one share of our Class A common stock upon any transfer, whether or not for value, except certain transfers to entities, to the




Exhibit 4.2
extent the transferor retains sole dispositive power and exclusive voting control with respect to the shares of Class B common stock, and certain other transfers described in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. All outstanding shares of our Class B common stock will convert into shares of our Class A common stock upon the earliest to occur of (i) twelve months after the death or incapacity of John P. Reed, our Founder, and (ii) the date upon which the then outstanding shares of Class B common stock first represent less than 10% of the voting power of the then outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock.
Preferred Stock
Subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law, our board of directors may fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of up to an aggregate of 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and authorize their issuance. These rights, preferences and privileges could include dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences, sinking fund terms and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of such series, any or all of which may be greater than the rights of our common stock. The issuance of our preferred stock could adversely affect the voting power of holders of our common stock and the likelihood that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation. In addition, the issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control or other corporate action. Our board of directors also can increase or decrease the number of shares of any series of preferred stock, but not below the number of shares of that series then outstanding, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. We have no shares of preferred stock outstanding, and we have no present plan to issue any shares of preferred stock. Our board of directors may issue preferred stock as an anti-takeover measure without any further action by the holders of common stock.
Forum Selection
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, 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 a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers, employees or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors or officers or other employees arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, (iv) any action or proceeding to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, (v) any action or proceeding as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (vi) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, subject to and contingent upon a final adjudication in the State of Delaware of the enforceability of such exclusive forum provision. In the event that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction over any such action or proceeding, the sole and exclusive forum for such action or proceeding will be another state or federal court located within the State of Delaware. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provision. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the types of actions and proceedings specified above, this choice of forum provision limits a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim subject to this provision in another judicial forum, including in a judicial forum that it may find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees.
Anti-Takeover Provisions
Certain provisions of Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us by means of a tender offer; an acquisition of us by means of a proxy contest or otherwise; or the removal of our incumbent officers and directors. These provisions also are designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors, which we believe may result in an improvement of the terms of any such acquisition in favor of our stockholders. They, however, also give our board of directors the power to discourage acquisitions that some stockholders may consider to be in their best




Exhibit 4.2
interest or in our best interests, including transactions that provide for payment of a premium over the market price for our shares.
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaw Provisions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws include several provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of our board of directors or management team.
Dual Class Stock. As described above in “—Class A and Class B Common Stock—Voting Rights,” our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for a dual class common stock structure, and our Founder and related trusts are the sole holders of shares of Class B common stock and hold the majority of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, our Founder and related trusts could be able to determine or significantly influence any action requiring the approval of our stockholders, including the election of our board of directors, the adoption of amendments to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and the approval of any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other major corporation transactions.
Board of Directors Vacancies. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws authorize only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors is permitted to be set only by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions would prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and then gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. Consequently, it would be more difficult to change the composition of our board of directors.
Classified Board of Directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors with staggered three-year terms. A third party may be discouraged from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us as it is more difficult and time consuming for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors on a classified board of directors.
Stockholder Action; Special Meeting Of Stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provide that our stockholders may not take action by written consent for any matter and may only take action at annual or special meetings. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our amended and restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our amended and restated bylaws. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors, our chief executive officer, or our president, thus limiting the ability of a stockholder to call a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.
Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations. Our amended and restated bylaws provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. These provisions might preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders if the proper procedures are not followed. We expect that these provisions also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.
No Cumulative Voting. The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise, and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting. 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.




Exhibit 4.2
Directors Removed Only for Cause. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that stockholders may remove directors only for cause and, in addition to any other vote required by law, upon the approval of not less than two thirds of the total voting power of all of our outstanding voting stock then entitled to vote in the election of directors.
Issuance of undesignated preferred stock. Our board of directors has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 50,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by our board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock would enable our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or other means.
Amendment of Charter and Bylaws Provisions. The amendment of any of the foregoing provisions, other than the provision making it possible for our board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock, would require the approval of two-thirds of the then-outstanding voting power of our capital stock. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that approval of stockholders holding two-thirds of the then-outstanding voting power of our capital stock is required for stockholders to amend or adopt any provision of our bylaws.
The provisions of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws could have the effect of discouraging others from attempting hostile takeovers, and as a consequence, they also may inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of our Class A common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in the composition of our board of directors and management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
Delaware Law
We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, which prohibits persons deemed to be “interested stockholders” from engaging in a “business combination” with a publicly held Delaware corporation for three years following the date these persons become interested stockholders unless the business combination is, or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder was, approved in a prescribed manner or another prescribed exception applies. Generally, 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 voting stock. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. The existence of this provision may have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by the board of directors.
Corporate Opportunity
Delaware law permits corporations to adopt provisions renouncing any interest or expectancy in certain opportunities that are presented to a corporation or its officers, directors, or stockholders. In our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we have renounced any interest or expectancy that we have in any business opportunity, transaction, or other matter in which FS Equity Partners VI, L.P. and FS Affiliates VI, L.P. (“Freeman Spogli”), any officer, director, partner, or employee of any entity comprising a Freeman Spogli entity, and any portfolio company in which such entities or persons have an equity interest (other than us), each, an Excluded Party, participates or desires or seeks to participate in, even if the opportunity is one that we might reasonably be deemed to have pursued or had the ability or desire to pursue if granted the opportunity to do so. Each such Excluded Party shall have no duty to communicate or offer such business opportunity to us and, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, shall not be liable to us or any of our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary or other duty, as a director or officer or controlling stockholder, or otherwise, by reason of the fact that such Excluded Party pursues or acquires such business opportunity, directs such business opportunity to another person, or fails to present such business opportunity, or information regarding such business opportunity, to us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not renounce any interest or expectancy we may have in any business opportunity, transaction or other matter that is (1) offered in writing solely to one of our directors or officers who is not also an Excluded Party, (2) offered to an Excluded Party who is one of our directors, officers or employees and who is offered such opportunity solely in his or her capacity as one of our directors, officers or employees, or (3) identified by an Excluded Party solely through the disclosure of information by or on our behalf.