Our certificate of incorporation provides that each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be
made a party to or is involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that such person, or a person of whom such person is the legal representative, is or was a director or
officer of us, or has or had agreed to become a director of us, or, while a director or officer of us, is or was serving at our request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, limited liability company,
joint venture, trust, enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, will be indemnified and held harmless by us to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL against all expense, liability and loss
reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that we will pay the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition, subject to the
provisions of the DGCL. These rights are not exclusive of any other right that any person may have or acquire under any statute, provision of our certificate of incorporation, bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or
otherwise. No repeal or modification of these provisions will in any way diminish or adversely affect the rights of any director, officer, employee or agent of us under our certificate of incorporation in respect of any occurrence or matter arising
prior to any such repeal or modification. The DGCL also specifically permits corporations to maintain insurance and to grant similar indemnification rights to employees or agents.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that none of our directors will be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of
fiduciary duty as a director, except, to the extent required by the DGCL, for liability:
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for any breach of the directors duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders; |
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for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
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for payments of unlawful dividends or unlawful stock purchases or redemptions under Section 174 of the DGCL;
or |
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for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. |
Neither the amendment nor repeal of this provision will eliminate or reduce the effect of the provision in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to
the amendment or repeal.
Delaware Business Combination Statute
We are currently subject to Section 203 of the DGCL.
Section
203 of the DGCL provides that, subject to exceptions set forth therein, an interested stockholder of a Delaware corporation shall not engage in any business combination, including mergers or consolidations or acquisitions of additional shares of the
corporation, with the corporation for a three-year period following the time that such stockholder became an interested stockholder unless:
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prior to such time, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the
transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; |
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upon consummation of the transaction which 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, other than statutorily excluded shares; or |
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at or subsequent to such time, the business combination is approved by the board of directors of the corporation
and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
Except as otherwise set forth in Section 203, an interested stockholder is defined to include:
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any person that is the owner of 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation, or is an
affiliate or associate of the corporation and was the owner of 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation at any time within three years immediately prior to the date of determination; and |
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the affiliates and associates of any such person. |
Insurance Regulations Concerning Change of Control
The
insurance holding company laws of many states regulate changes of control of insurance holding companies, such as our company. Generally, these laws provide that control over an insurer is presumed to exist if any person, directly or indirectly,
owns, controls, holds with the power to vote, or holds proxies representing, 10% or more of the voting securities of the insurer. Control also may be found to exist through contractual or other arrangements notwithstanding stock ownership. The
Delaware, New York, North Carolina and Virginia insurance holding company laws and other jurisdictions in which we operate, require filings in connection with proposed acquisitions of control of domestic insurance companies. These laws may
discourage potential acquisition proposals and may delay, deter or prevent a change of control involving us, including through transactions, and in particular unsolicited transactions, that some or all of our stockholders might consider to be
desirable.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The
transfer agent and registrar for our Common Stock is Computershare Trust N.A. The transfer agent and registrar for any series of preferred stock that we may offer will be identified in the prospectus supplement relating to the offering of such
preferred stock.