Preferred Stock
Under the terms of our certificate of incorporation, our Board has the authority to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, without action by the stockholders, to designate and issue shares of preferred stock in one or more classes or series, and the number of shares constituting any such class or series, including increasing or decreasing the number of shares of any series, and to fix the voting powers, designations, preferences, qualifications, limitations, restrictions and relative rights of each class or series of preferred stock, including, without limitation, dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion rights, exchange rights, voting rights, rights and terms of redemption, liquidation preferences, dissolution preferences, and treatment in the case of a merger, business combination transaction, or sale of our assets, which rights may be greater than the rights of the holders of common stock.
The purpose of authorizing our Board to issue preferred stock and determine the rights and preferences of any classes or series of preferred stock is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. The simplified issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions, future financings and other corporate purposes, could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or could delay or discourage a third party from seeking to acquire, a majority of our outstanding voting stock. Additionally, the issuance of preferred stock may adversely affect the holders of our shares of common stock by restricting dividends on the common stock, diluting the voting power of the common stock or subordinating or impairing the dividend or liquidation rights of the common stock. As a result of these or other factors, the issuance of preferred stock could have an adverse impact on the market price of the common stock.
Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws, and laws of the State of Delaware, where we are incorporated, may delay, discourage or make more difficult a takeover attempt that a stockholder might consider in his, her or its best interest. These provisions may also adversely affect prevailing market prices for the common stock. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids. We believe that the benefits of increased protection give us the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure Boxed and outweigh the disadvantage of discouraging those proposals because negotiation of the proposals could result in an improvement of their terms. However, they also give the Board the power to discourage mergers that some stockholders may favor.
Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock
Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of the NYSE, which would apply if and so long as our common stock remains listed on the NYSE, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of common stock and certain other issuances specified in the rules of the NYSE. Additional shares that may be issued in the future may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital, or to facilitate acquisitions.
One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock may be to enable the Board to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise and thereby protect the continuity of management and possibly deprive stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of common stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.
The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could make more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us.
Classified Board of Directors; Election and Removal of Directors; Filling Vacancies
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Board will be divided into three classes of directors, with each class of directors being elected by our stockholders every three years. Under our bylaws, at all