DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following description summarizes certain important terms of the capital stock of Aurora Innovation, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we, “Aurora” or the “Company”) as specified in our certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and amended and restated bylaws (the “Bylaws”). Because the following description is only a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a complete description of the matters set forth in this summary, you should refer to the Certificate of Incorporation, the Bylaws, the Warrant Agreement, dated as of dated as of March 15, 2021, by and between our legal predecessor Reinvent Technology Partners Y (“RTPY”) and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, as amended by the Amendment of Warrant Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2022, by and among Aurora Innovation, Inc., Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company (as amended, the “Warrant Agreement”), and the Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of November 3, 2021, by and among Aurora Innovation, Inc. and the other parties thereto (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), which are included as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part, and to the applicable provisions of Delaware law.
General
The authorized capital stock of Aurora consists of 52,000,000,000 shares of capital stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of which:
•50,000,000,000 shares are designated as Class A common stock (the “Class A Common Stock”);
•1,000,000,000 shares are designated as Class B common stock (the “Class B Common Stock”); and
•1,000,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock.
As of December 31, 2023, there were 1,162,627,346 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding, 366,869,709 shares of Class B Common Stock outstanding and no shares of preferred stock outstanding. Pursuant to the Certificate of Incorporation, our board of directors (the “Board”) has the authority, without stockholder approval except as required by the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”), to issue additional shares of the authorized Class A Common Stock. Until the final conversion of all outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock pursuant to the terms of the Certificate of Incorporation (the “Final Conversion Date”), any issuance of additional shares of Class B Common Stock requires the prior approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock voting as a separate class.
Common Stock
We have two series of authorized common stock, Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. The rights of the holders of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock are generally identical, except with respect to voting and conversion.
Dividend Rights
Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors (the “Board”), in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and then only at the times and in the amounts that the Board may determine.
Voting Rights
Holders of Class A Common Stock are entitled to one vote for each share held as of the applicable record date on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and holders of Class B Common Stock are entitled to 10 votes for each share held as of the applicable record date on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. The holders of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock will generally vote together as a single class, unless otherwise required by law. Under the Certificate of Incorporation, approval of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock voting as a separate class is required to increase or decrease the number of authorized shares of Class B Common Stock. In addition, Delaware law could require either holders of Class A Common Stock or Class B Common Stock to vote separately as a single class if we were to seek to amend our Certificate of Incorporation in a manner that alters or changes the powers, preferences or special rights of the Class A Common Stock or the Class B Common Stock in a manner that affected its holders adversely but does not so affect the shares of the other series of common stock.
Until the Final Conversion Date, approval of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock voting as a separate class is required to:
•directly or indirectly amend, repeal or adopt any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation inconsistent with, or otherwise alter, any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation to modify the voting, conversion or other rights, powers, preferences, privileges or restrictions of the Class B Common Stock;
•reclassify any outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock into shares having rights as to dividends or liquidation that are senior to the Class B Common Stock or the right to have more than one vote for each share thereof;
•issue any shares of Class B Common Stock, including by dividend, distribution or otherwise; or
•authorize, or issue any shares of, any class or series of our capital stock having the right to more than one vote for each share thereof.
Our Certificate of Incorporation provides for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of approximately equal size, each serving staggered three-year terms. Only the directors in one class will be subject to election by a plurality of the votes cast at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the directors in the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. Stockholders do not have the ability to cumulate votes for the election of directors.
No Preemptive or Similar Rights
Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights, and is not subject to conversion (other than the conversion of the Class B Common Stock into Class A Common Stock as provided in the Certificate of Incorporation), redemption or sinking fund provisions.
Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions
If we become subject to a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up in connection with which the Board has determined to effect a distribution of assets to any holders of common stock, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of common stock and any participating Aurora preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.
Conversion of Class B Common Stock
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. Shares of Class B Common Stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A Common Stock upon sale or transfer except for certain transfers described in the Certificate of Incorporation, including estate planning or charitable transfers where sole dispositive power and exclusive voting control with respect to the shares of Class B Common Stock are retained by the transferring holder or such transferring holder’s spouse. In addition, each outstanding share of Class B Common Stock held by a stockholder who is a natural person, or held by the permitted entities and permitted transferees of such natural person (as described in the Certificate of Incorporation), will convert automatically into one share of Class A Common Stock upon the death of such natural person. In the event of the death or permanent and total disability of Chris Urmson, Sterling Anderson or James Andrew Bagnell (collectively, the “Aurora Founders”), shares of Class B Common Stock held by such Aurora Founder or his permitted entities or permitted transferees will convert to Class A Common Stock, provided that the conversion will be deferred for nine months, or up to 18 months if approved by a majority of our independent directors, following his death or permanent and total disability and provided further, that to the extent any other Aurora Founder has or shares voting control over such shares, the shares of Class B Common Stock will be treated as held of record by the Aurora Founder that has or shares voting control. Transfers among the Aurora Founders are permitted transfers and will not result in conversion of the shares of Class B Common Stock that are transferred, and such shares of Class B Common Stock will be treated as held of record by the transferee Aurora Founder. With respect to any shares of Class B Common Stock over which the spouse of an Aurora Founder has voting control, such shares of Class B Common Stock will convert to shares of Class A Common Stock upon divorce if the spouse retains voting control.
Each share of Class B Common Stock will convert automatically into one share of Class A Common Stock upon (i) the date, time or occurrence of an event specified by affirmative written election of the holders of two-thirds of the then-outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock voting as a separate class, (ii) the date fixed by the Board that is no less than 61 days and no more than 180 days following the date on which the shares of Class B Common Stock held by the Aurora Founders and their permitted entities and permitted transferees represent less than 20% of the Class B Common Stock held by the Aurora Founders and their permitted entities as of immediately following the consummation of our business combination with RTPY (the “Business Combination”) or (iii) nine months after the death or total disability of the last to die or become disabled of the Aurora Founders, or such later date not to exceed a total period of 18 months after such death or disability as may be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
Preferred stock
The Board has the authority, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law and the terms of the Certificate of Incorporation, to issue preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and any of its qualifications, limitations or restrictions, in each case without further vote or action by our stockholders. The Board can also 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. The Board may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company and might adversely affect the market price of common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of common stock. We have no current plan to issue any shares of preferred stock.
Registration Rights
Under the Registration Rights Agreement, certain holders of Aurora common stock or their permitted transferees have the right to require us to register the offer and sale of their shares, or to include their shares in any registration statement that we file, in each case as described below.
Shelf Registration Rights
The holders of at least $50.0 million of shares having registration rights then outstanding can request that we effect an underwritten public offering pursuant to such resale shelf registration statement. We are not obligated to effect more than eight (8) such registrations within any 12-month period. These shelf registration rights are subject to specified conditions and limitations, including the right of the managing underwriter or underwriters to limit the number of shares included in any such registration under certain circumstances.
Piggyback Registration Rights
If we propose to register the offer and sale of our common stock under the Securities Act, all holders of these shares then outstanding can request that we include their shares in such registration, subject to certain marketing and other limitations, including the right of the underwriters to limit the number of shares included in any such registration statement under certain circumstances. As a result, whenever we propose to file a registration statement under the Securities Act, other than with respect to a registration (i) relating to any employee stock option or other benefit plan, (ii) on Form S-4 (or similar form that relates to a transaction subject to Rule 145 under the Securities Act or any successor rule thereto), (iii) relating to an offering of debt that is convertible into equity securities of Aurora, (iv) for a dividend reinvestment plan, (v) a “block trade,” or an underwritten registered offering not involving a roadshow or (vi) an “at the market” or similar registered offering through a broker, sales agent or distribution agent, whether as agent or principal, the holders of these shares are entitled to notice of the registration and have the right, subject to certain limitations, to include their shares in the registration.
Warrants
Public Warrants
Each warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of the Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We are not obligated to deliver any shares of Class A Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available, including as a result of a notice of redemption described below under “Redemption of Warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00”. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption is available. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.
A registration statement covering the issuance, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrant has been declared effective on November 12, 2021, and we have agreed to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrant in accordance with the provisions of the Warrant Agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our shares of Class A Common Stock are, at the time of any exercise of a warrant, not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of warrants (the “Public Warrants”) issued in connection with RTPY’s initial public offering on March 18, 2021 (the “RTPY IPO”) who exercise their Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A Common Stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” shall mean the volume weighted average price of the shares of Class A Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00
We may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the warrants issued to Reinvent Sponsor Y LLC (the “Sponsor”) in a private placement (the “Private Placement Warrants”):
•in whole and not in part;
•at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
•upon not less than 30 days’ written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and
•if and only if, the last reported sale price of the shares of Class A Common Stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like).
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A Common Stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the shares of Class A Common Stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00
We may redeem the outstanding warrants:
•in whole and not in part;
•at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” (as defined below) of our shares of Class A Common Stock except as otherwise described below;
•if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00”) equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and
•if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above.
The numbers in the table below represent the number of shares of Class A Common Stock that a warrant holder will receive upon exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our shares of Class A Common Stock on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined based on volume weighted average price of our shares of Class A Common Stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted as set forth in the first three paragraphs under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below. The adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. The number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted in the same manner and at the same time as the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant.
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| Redemption Date | | Fair Market Value of Class A Common Stock | |
| (period to expiration of warrants) | | ³10.00 | | 11.00 | | 12.00 | | 13.00 | | 14.00 | | 15.00 | | 16.00 | | 17.00 | | ³18.00 | |
60 months | | 0.261 | | 0.281 | | 0.297 | | 0.311 | | 0.324 | | 0.337 | | 0.348 | | 0.358 | | 0.361 | |
57 months | | 0.257 | | 0.277 | | 0.294 | | 0.310 | | 0.324 | | 0.337 | | 0.348 | | 0.358 | | 0.361 | |
54 months | | 0.252 | | 0.272 | | 0.291 | | 0.307 | | 0.322 | | 0.335 | | 0.347 | | 0.357 | | 0.361 | |
51 months | | 0.246 | | 0.268 | | 0.287 | | 0.304 | | 0.320 | | 0.333 | | 0.346 | | 0.357 | | 0.361 | |
48 months | | 0.241 | | 0.263 | | 0.283 | | 0.301 | | 0.317 | | 0.332 | | 0.344 | | 0.356 | | 0.361 | |
45 months | | 0.235 | | 0.258 | | 0.279 | | 0.298 | | 0.315 | | 0.330 | | 0.343 | | 0.356 | | 0.361 | |
42 months | | 0.228 | | 0.252 | | 0.274 | | 0.294 | | 0.312 | | 0.328 | | 0.342 | | 0.355 | | 0.361 | |
39 months | | 0.221 | | 0.246 | | 0.269 | | 0.290 | | 0.309 | | 0.325 | | 0.340 | | 0.354 | | 0.361 | |
36 months | | 0.213 | | 0.239 | | 0.263 | | 0.285 | | 0.305 | | 0.323 | | 0.339 | | 0.353 | | 0.361 | |
33 months | | 0.205 | | 0.232 | | 0.257 | | 0.280 | | 0.301 | | 0.320 | | 0.337 | | 0.352 | | 0.361 | |
30 months | | 0.196 | | 0.224 | | 0.250 | | 0.274 | | 0.297 | | 0.316 | | 0.335 | | 0.351 | | 0.361 | |
27 months | | 0.185 | | 0.214 | | 0.242 | | 0.268 | | 0.291 | | 0.313 | | 0.332 | | 0.350 | | 0.361 | |
24 months | | 0.173 | | 0.204 | | 0.233 | | 0.260 | | 0.285 | | 0.308 | | 0.329 | | 0.348 | | 0.361 | |
21 months | | 0.161 | | 0.193 | | 0.223 | | 0.252 | | 0.279 | | 0.304 | | 0.326 | | 0.347 | | 0.361 | |
18 months | | 0.146 | | 0.179 | | 0.211 | | 0.242 | | 0.271 | | 0.298 | | 0.322 | | 0.345 | | 0.361 | |
15 months | | 0.130 | | 0.164 | | 0.197 | | 0.230 | | 0.262 | | 0.291 | | 0.317 | | 0.342 | | 0.361 | |
12 months | | 0.111 | | 0.146 | | 0.181 | | 0.216 | | 0.250 | | 0.282 | | 0.312 | | 0.339 | | 0.361 | |
9 months | | 0.090 | | 0.125 | | 0.162 | | 0.199 | | 0.237 | | 0.272 | | 0.305 | | 0.336 | | 0.361 | |
6 months | | 0.065 | | 0.099 | | 0.137 | | 0.178 | | 0.219 | | 0.259 | | 0.296 | | 0.331 | | 0.361 | |
3 months | | 0.034 | | 0.065 | | 0.104 | | 0.150 | | 0.197 | | 0.243 | | 0.286 | | 0.326 | | 0.361 | |
0 months | | — | | — | | 0.042 | | 0.115 | | 0.179 | | 0.233 | | 0.281 | | 0.323 | | 0.361 | |
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume weighted average price of our shares of Class A Common Stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 shares of Class A Common Stock for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume weighted average price of our shares of Class A Common Stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.298 shares of Class A Common Stock for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of Class A Common Stock per warrant (subject to adjustment). Finally, as reflected in the table above, if the warrants are out of the money and about to expire, they cannot be exercised on a cashless basis in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, since they will not be exercisable for any shares of Class A Common Stock.
This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in many other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the Private Placement Warrants) when the trading price for the shares of Class A Common Stock exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the shares of Class A Common Stock are trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our shares of Class A Common Stock is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Warrants—Public Warrants—Redemption of Warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the date of the RTPY IPO. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the shares of Class A Common Stock are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the shares of Class A Common Stock are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of Class A Common Stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of Class A Common Stock if and when such shares of Class A Common Stock were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional shares of Class A Common Stock will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the shares of Class A Common Stock pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than the shares of Class A Common Stock, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption procedures
A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution Adjustments
If the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock is increased by a capitalization or share dividend payable in shares of Class A Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of shares of Class A Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a share dividend of a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the product of (1) the number of shares of Class A Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for shares of Class A Common Stock) and (2) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A Common Stock paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, (1) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for shares of Class A Common Stock, in determining the price payable for shares of Class A Common Stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (2) “historical fair market value” means the volume weighted average price of shares of Class A Common Stock during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of shares of Class A Common Stock on account of such shares of Class A Common Stock (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the shares of Class A Common Stock during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A Common Stock in respect of such event.
If the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of shares of Class A Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Class A Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A Common Stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of our shares of Class A Common Stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the Company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the Company as provided for in our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a shareholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the shares of Class A Common Stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustment (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the Warrant Agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of shares of Class A Common Stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A Common Stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the Warrant Agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the Warrant Agreement) of the warrant.
The warrants have been issued in registered form under the Warrant Agreement. The Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then issued and outstanding Public Warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of Public Warrants.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A Common Stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A Common Stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
Private Placement Warrants
The Private Placement Warrants will not be redeemable by us (except as described under “—Warrants—Public Warrants—Redemption of Warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. The Sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the Private Placement Warrants on a cashless basis and have certain registration rights described herein. Otherwise, the Private Placement Warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the Public Warrants. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Except as described under “—Warrants—Public Warrants—Redemption of Warrants when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00,” if holders of the Private Placement Warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A Common Stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, the “historical fair market value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of the shares of Class A Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent.
Form S-8 Registration Statement
We have filed, and in the future may file, one or more registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register the shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”). Any such Form S-8 registration statement will become effective automatically upon filing. The shares registered on such Form S-8 registration statements can be sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to Rule 144 limitations applicable to affiliates and vesting restrictions.
Anti-Takeover Provisions
Certain provisions of Delaware law, and of the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws, which are summarized below, may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another person from acquiring control of us. They are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with the Board. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.
Delaware Law
We are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless:
•the business combination or transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder was approved by the Board prior to the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder;
•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, excluding shares owned by directors who are also officers of the corporation and shares owned by employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or
•at or subsequent to the time the stockholder became an interested stockholder, the business combination was approved by the Board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.
In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include mergers, asset sales and other transactions by or through the corporation or a direct or indirect majority owned subsidiary of the corporation resulting in financial benefit to a stockholder and an “interested stockholder” as a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or is an affiliate or associate of the corporation and within three years did own, 15% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock. These provisions may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing changes in control of our company.
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions
Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws include a number of provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of the Board or management team, including the following:
Dual Class Stock
As described above in “—General,” the Certificate of Incorporation provides for two series of common stock structure, which provides the Aurora Founders and certain other stockholders who hold Class B Common Stock, individually or together, with significant influence over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or its assets.
Classified Board
The Certificate of Incorporation provides that the Board is classified into three classes of directors, each of which will hold office for a three-year term after the initial classification. In addition, directors may only be removed from the Board for cause. The existence of a classified board could delay a potential acquirer from obtaining majority control of our board of directors, and the prospect of that delay might deter a potential acquirer.
Board of Directors Vacancies
Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws authorize only the board of directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats, subject to the rights of holders of any series of our preferred stock to elect a director or fill vacancies. In addition, the number of directors constituting the Board is permitted to be set only by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of the Board and then gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. This makes it more difficult to change the composition of the Board and promotes continuity of management.
Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders
The Certificate of Incorporation provides that our stockholders may not take action by written consent but may only take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our Bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with the Bylaws. The Bylaws further provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of the entire Board, the chairperson of the Board, our Chief Executive Officer or our President, thus prohibiting a stockholder from calling 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 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 or a special meeting of stockholders at which the election of directors is included as business to be brought before the special meeting. Our 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 or a special meeting of stockholders if the proper procedures are not followed. We expect that these provisions may also 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 Delaware General Corporation Law provides that stockholders are not entitled to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. The Certificate of Incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting.
Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws Provisions
Amendments to certain provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation will require the approval of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting power of our outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote on the election of directors, voting together as a single class. The Bylaws provide that approval of stockholders holding at least two-thirds of our outstanding voting power voting as a single class is required for stockholders to amend or adopt any provision of our Bylaws.
Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock
The Board generally has the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 1,000,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by the Board. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock would enable the Board 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.
Exclusive Forum
Our Bylaws provide that, unless we expressly consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, 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 directors, officers, stockholders or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws or (iv) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. Unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any claim asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act against any person in connection with any offering of Aurora securities. Any person or entity purchasing, holding or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of applicable law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers.
Limitations of Liability and Indemnification
Our Certificate of Incorporation contains provisions that limit the liability of our directors for monetary damages to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. Consequently, our directors are not personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duties as directors, except liability for the following:
•any breach of their duty of loyalty to our company or our stockholders;
•any act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
•unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or
•any transaction from which they derived an improper personal benefit.
Any amendment to, or repeal or elimination of, these provisions will not eliminate, reduce or otherwise adversely affect the effect of these provisions in respect of any act, omission or claim that occurred or arose prior to that amendment, repeal or elimination. If the Delaware General Corporation Law is amended to provide for further limitations on the personal liability of directors of corporations, then the personal liability of our directors will be further limited to the greatest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.
In addition, our Bylaws provide that we will indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, any person who is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that such person is or was one of our directors or officers or is or was a director or officer of ours serving at our request as a director or officer of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise. Our Bylaws provide that we may indemnify to the fullest extent permitted by law any person who is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that such person is or was one of our employees or agents or is or was serving at our request as an employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, or any other person, to the extent not prohibited by applicable law. Our Bylaws also provide that we must advance expenses incurred by or on behalf of a director or officer in advance of the final disposition of any action or proceeding, subject to limited exceptions.
Further, we have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers, which contain provisions broader than the specific indemnification provisions contained in the Delaware General Corporation Law. These indemnification agreements require us, among other things, to indemnify our directors and executive officers against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service. These indemnification agreements also generally require us to advance all expenses incurred by the directors and executive officers in investigating or defending any such action, suit or proceeding. We believe that these agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve as directors and executive officers.
The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions included in our Certificate of Incorporation, in our Bylaws and in indemnification agreements that we have entered into with our directors and executive officers may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors and executive officers for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against our directors and executive officers, even though an action, if successful, might benefit us and other stockholders. Further, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent that we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and executive officers as required by these indemnification provisions. At present, we are not aware of any pending litigation or proceeding involving any person who is, was, or is expected be, one of our directors, officers, employees or other agents or is or was serving at our request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, for which indemnification is sought, and we are not aware of any threatened litigation that may result in claims for indemnification.
We have obtained insurance policies under which, subject to the limitations of the policies, coverage is provided to our directors and executive officers against loss arising from claims made by reason of breach of fiduciary duty or other wrongful acts as a director or executive officer, including claims relating to public securities matters, and to us with respect to payments that may be made by us to these directors and executive officers pursuant to our indemnification obligations or otherwise as a matter of law.
Certain of our non-employee directors may, through their relationships with their employers, be insured or indemnified against certain liabilities incurred in their capacity as members of our board of directors.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling our company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Transfer Agent and Registrar and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent and registrar for our Class A Common Stock and our Class B Common Stock and the warrant agent for our warrants is Equiniti Trust Company, LLC. The transfer agent’s address is 48 Wall Street, Floor 23, New York, NY 10005, and its telephone number is (800) 937-5449.
Listing
Our Class A Common Stock and warrants are listed under the Nasdaq symbols “AUR” and “AUROW,” respectively.