EX-3.3 2 exhibit33.htm EXHIBIT 3.3 Exhibit




Certificate of Incorporation
of
AEROJET ROCKETDYNE HOLDINGS, Inc.
(as amended April 27, 2015)
FIRST: The name of this corporation is Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (the “Corporation”).
SECOND: The registered office of the Corporation in the State of Delaware is to be located at Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware, 19801. The registered agent at such address in charge thereof shall be The Corporation Trust Company.
THIRD: The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”).
FOURTH: (A) The aggregate number of shares of stock that the Corporation is authorized to issue is One Hundred Sixty-Five Million (165,000,000), of which One Hundred Fifty Million (150,000,000) shares are common stock having a par value of Ten Cents ($0.10) per share (“Common Stock”), and Fifteen Million (15,000,000) shares are preferred stock having a par value of One Dollar ($1.00) per share (“Preferred Stock”).
(B)    Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. The board of directors of the Corporation (the “Board”) is hereby authorized to provide for the issuance of shares of Preferred Stock in one or more series and, by filing a certificate pursuant to the applicable law of the State of Delaware (any such certificate, a “Preferred Stock Designation”), to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences, and rights of the shares of each such series and the qualifications, limitations, and restrictions thereof. The authority of the Board with respect to each series shall include, but shall not be limited to and shall not require (unless otherwise required by applicable law), determination of the following:
(i)    The designation of the series, which may be by distinguishing number, letter, or title;
(ii)    The number of shares of the series, which number the Board may thereafter (except where otherwise provided in the applicable Preferred Stock Designation) increase or decrease (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding);
(iii)    The amounts payable on, and the preferences, if any, of, shares of the series in respect of dividends, and whether such dividends, if any, shall be cumulative or noncumulative;
(iv)    The dates on which dividends, if any, shall be payable;
(v)    The redemption rights and price or prices, if any, for shares of the series;
(vi)    The terms and amount of any sinking fund provided for the purchase or redemption of shares of the series;




(vii)    The amounts payable on, and the preferences, if any, of, shares of the series in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, or winding up of the affairs of the Corporation;
(viii)    Whether the shares of the series shall be convertible into or exchangeable for shares of any other class or series, or any other security, of the Corporation or any other corporation, and, if so, the specification of such other class or series or such other security, the conversion or exchange price or prices or rate or rates, any adjustments thereto, the date or dates at which such shares shall be convertible or exchangeable, and all other terms and conditions upon which such conversion or exchange may be made;
(ix)    Restrictions on the issuance of shares of the same series or of any other class or series;
(x)    The voting rights, if any, of the holders of shares of the series.
(C)    Common Stock shall be subject to the express terms of any series of Preferred Stock. Except as may otherwise be provided in this Certificate of Incorporation, in a Preferred Stock Designation, or by applicable law, (i) each holder of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to one vote for each share of Common Stock so held upon all questions presented to the stockholders of the Corporation, (ii) only shares of Common Stock shall be voted in elections of directors and for all other purposes, and (iii) shares of Preferred Stock shall not entitle the holder thereof to vote at or receive notice of any meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation.
(D)    No share of Common Stock or Preferred Stock shall give any holder thereof any preemptive right to subscribe for any shares of any class or series of stock of the Corporation whether now or hereafter authorized.
FIFTH: The name and mailing address of the incorporator is Christopher C. Cambria, 2001 Aerojet Road, Rancho Cordova, CA 95742.
SIXTH: Provisions for the management of the business and for the conduct of the affairs of the Corporation and provisions creating, defining, limiting, and regulating the powers of the Corporation, the Board, and the stockholders are as follows:
(A)    The Board shall have the power to make, adopt, alter, amend, and repeal the bylaws of the Corporation without the assent or vote of the stockholders, including without limitation the power to fix, from time to time, the number of directors that shall constitute the whole Board, subject to the right of the stockholders to alter, amend, and repeal the bylaws made by the Board.
(B)    Election of directors of the Corporation need not be by written ballot unless the bylaws so provide.
(C)    The Board in its discretion may submit any contract or act for approval or ratification at any annual meeting of the stockholders or at any meeting of the stockholders called for the purpose of considering any such contract or act, and any contract or act that shall be approved or be ratified by the vote of the holders of a majority of the stock of the Corporation that is represented in person or by proxy at such meeting and entitled to vote thereat (provided that a lawful quorum of stockholders be there represented in person or by proxy) shall be as valid and as binding upon the Corporation and upon all the stockholders as though it had been approved or ratified by every stockholder of the Corporation, whether




or not the contract or act would otherwise be open to legal attack because of directors’ interest or for any other reason.
(D)    In addition to the powers and authority herein or by statute expressly conferred upon it, the Board is hereby expressly empowered to exercise all such powers and to do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Corporation; subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of the statutes of the State of Delaware and of this Certificate of Incorporation as they may be amended, altered, or changed from time to time, and to any bylaws from time to time made by the Board or stockholders; provided, however, that no bylaw so made shall invalidate any prior act of the Board that would have been valid if such bylaw had not been made.
(E)    The holders of shares of stock of the Corporation of any class that is not otherwise entitled to voting power shall not be entitled to vote upon the increase or decrease in the number of authorized shares of such class.
SEVENTH: To the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, including, without limitation, as provided in Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended, a director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director. If the DGCL is amended after the effective date hereof to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Corporation shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL as so amended. Any repeal or modification of this Article SEVENTH by the stockholders of the Corporation shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a director of the Corporation existing at the time of such repeal or modification or with respect to events occurring prior to such time.
EIGHTH: (A) Each person who was or is made a party to, or is threatened to be made a party to, or is involved in any action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as such director, officer, employee, or agent, or in any other capacity while serving as such director, officer, employee, or agent, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than the DGCL permitted the Corporation to provide prior to such amendment), against all expense, liability, and loss (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, other expenses and losses, amounts paid or to be paid in settlement, and excise taxes or penalties arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith, and such indemnification shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee, or agent, and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors, and administrators; provided, however, that, except as provided in paragraph (B) hereof, the Corporation shall indemnify any such person seeking indemnification in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board. The right to indemnification conferred in this Article EIGHTH shall be a contract right and shall include the right of a director or officer to be paid by the Corporation the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition; provided, however, that the payment of such expenses incurred by a director or officer in his or her capacity as a director or officer (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such person while a director or officer including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding




shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking, which undertaking shall itself be sufficient without the need for further evaluation of any credit aspects of the undertaking or with respect to such advancement, by or on behalf of such director or officer, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined by a final, non-appealable order of a court of competent jurisdiction that such director or officer is not entitled to be indemnified under this Article EIGHTH or otherwise.
(B)    If a claim under paragraph (A) of this Article EIGHTH is not paid in full by the Corporation within sixty (60) days after a written claim, together with reasonable evidence as to the amount of such claim, has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for advancement of expenses (including attorneys’ fees), in which case the applicable period shall be twenty (20) days, the claimant may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim, and, if successful in whole or in part, the claimant shall also be entitled to be paid the expense, including attorneys’ fees, of prosecuting such suit. It shall be a defense to any such suit, other than a suit brought to enforce a claim for expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred in defending any proceeding in advance of its final disposition where the required undertaking, if any is required, has been tendered to the Corporation, that the claimant has not met the standards of conduct that make it permissible under the DGCL for the Corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed, but the burden of proving such defense shall be on the Corporation. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including the Board or a committee thereof, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the DGCL, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including the Board or a committee thereof, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the suit or create a presumption that the claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct. In any suit brought by an indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses hereunder, or by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the burden of proving that the indemnitee is not entitled to such indemnification, or to such advancement of expenses, under this Article EIGHTH or otherwise shall be on the Corporation.
(C)    The right to indemnification and the payment of expenses incurred in defending a proceeding in advance of its final disposition conferred in this Article EIGHTH shall not be exclusive of any other right that any person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, provision of the certificate of incorporation, bylaw, agreement, or vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.
(D)    The Corporation may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and any director, officer, employee, or agent of the Corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise against any such expense, liability, or loss, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability, or loss under the DGCL.
(E)    In the case of a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses against the Corporation under this Article EIGHTH arising out of acts, events, or circumstances for which the claimant, who was at the relevant time serving as a director, officer, employee, or agent of any other entity at the request of the Corporation, may be entitled to indemnification or advancement of expenses pursuant to such other entity’s certificate of incorporation, bylaws, or other governing document, or a contractual agreement between the claimant and such entity, the claimant seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses hereunder shall first seek indemnification or advancement of expenses pursuant to any such governing document or agreement. To the extent that amounts to be paid in indemnification or advancement to a claimant hereunder are paid by such other entity, the claimant’s right to indemnification and advancement of expenses hereunder shall be reduced.




NINTH: Whenever a compromise or arrangement is proposed between this corporation and its creditors or any class of them and/or between this corporation and its stockholders or any class of them, any court of equitable jurisdiction within the State of Delaware may, on the application in a summary way of this corporation or of any creditor or stockholder thereof or on the application of any receiver or receivers appointed for this corporation under § 291 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code or on the application of trustees in dissolution or of any receiver or receivers appointed for this corporation under § 279 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code order a meeting of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of this corporation, as the case may be, to be summoned in such manner as the said court directs. If a majority in number representing three fourths in value of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of this corporation, as the case may be, agree to any compromise or arrangement and to any reorganization of this corporation as consequence of such compromise or arrangement, the said compromise or arrangement and the said reorganization shall, if sanctioned by the court to which the said application has been made, be binding on all the creditors or class of creditors, and/or on all the stockholders or class of stockholders, of this corporation, as the case may be, and also on this corporation.
TENTH: Unless the Corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for (A) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Corporation, (B) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, or other employee of the Corporation to the Corporation or the Corporation’s stockholders, (C) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, or (D) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine as such doctrine exists under the law of the State of Delaware.
Eleventh: The Corporation hereby expressly elects not to be governed by Section 203 of the DGCL.
Twelfth: The Corporation reserves the right to restate this Certificate of Incorporation and to amend, alter, change, or repeal any provision contained in this Certificate of Incorporation in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by law, and all rights and powers conferred herein on stockholders, directors, and officers are subject to this reserved power.