登记权条款中,登记权通常被分为“要求登记(Demand Registration)”和“附带登记(Piggyback Registration)”。此外,在要求登记条款下,按照适用情形及提交登记文件的不同,通常还会进一步划分为“S-3/F-3表格登记”和“其他表格登记(或S-1/F-1表格登记)”。
按照登记是由投资人发起还是被投企业发起,投资协议中登记权通常被分为:投资人主动发起登记的“要求登记”,和被投企业发起投资人附带参与的“附带登记”。“要求登记”是指投资人有权发出登记要求,且一旦发出要求,被投企业就有义务启动登记程序并完成登记。“附带登记”是指在被投企业公开发行募集资金时(含IPO),投资人收到被投企业通知后,可以选择跟随公司一起登记的权利。所以“附带登记”通常也称为“公司登记(Company Registration)”。
1.Demand Registration 要求登记
就要求登记而言,投资人在审核条款时一般需要重点关注的是:行权时间、行权门槛、登记次数限制和被投企业迟延登记权。如上文所述,“要求登记”通常进一步分为“S-3/F-3表格登记”和“其他表格登记”。
例句1
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration prior to its withdrawal under this subsection 2.1.5.
尽管本协议中有任何相反的规定,公司应承担在根据第2.1.5小节撤销要求登记之前,根据要求登记产生的与登记相关的登记费用。
例句2
For purposes of clarity, any Registration effected pursuant to Section 2.2 hereof shall not be counted as a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration effected under Section 2.1 hereof.
为清楚起见,根据本协议第2.2节生效的任何登记不应被视为基于根据本协议第2.1节生效的要求登记进行的登记
。
投资人需要注意的是,由承销商承销证券时,要求登记条款中可能会允许承销商在考量营销因素后削减投资人要求登记的证券数量。如果存在承销商削减约定的,投资人可以要求进一步约定,只有最终实际登记的证券数高于投资人要求数量的50%以上(该比例取决于具体协商结果,但一般不应低于50%),方可视作1次有效登记。
要求登记对应的就是“要求登记权”(Demand Registration Rights)。
其中,“要求登记权”是一种主动性权利;达到股东协议中约定的持股门槛(如有)的投资者有权主动发起,来要求公司进行股份登记。这其实就相当于变相督促公司上市,以使投资人可以无限制地在公开市场出售其股份。
Demand registration rights, where an investor can force a company to file a registration statement to register the holder’s securities so the investor can sell them in the public market without restriction. 具体例句如下:
例句1
Demand registration rights entitle an investor to force a company to register shares of common stock so that the investor can sell them to the public. This effectively causes the company to undertake an IPO if the company is not yet public. Registrations are time-consuming and expensive, particularly if they involve underwritten public offerings of securities.
要求登记权赋予投资者强制公司登记普通股股份的权利,以便投资者可以向公众出售这些股份。如果该公司尚未上市,这实际上会导致该公司进行IPO。登记既费时又费钱,尤其是当它们涉及证券的承销公开发行时。
例句2
As the name implies, demand registration rights are rights that warrant investors to force the company’s hand into registering shares of common stock, thus allowing them to sell them to the public. This means that the business in question must become a publicly traded entity if it isn’t one already.
顾名思义,要求登记权是授权投资者迫使公司登记普通股股份的权利,从而允许他们向公众出售这些股份。这意味着,如果企业还不是上市交易实体,那么它必须成为上市交易实体。
2.Piggyback Registration 附带登记
附带登记下,由于投资人是附随被投企业发行的股份登记进行登记,相当于“搭便车”,主动权和节奏掌握在被投企业手中。因此,投资条款中通常不会对投资人的行权时间、行权门槛等作出特别限制。但需要注意的是,由于附带登记是在被投企业发起的公开发行中,给予投资人“搭便车”的权利,所以被投企业通常会保留在登记被 SEC 宣告生效前终止或撤回登记的权利,此时投资人的登记会一并终止或撤回。
例句1
Piggyback registration refers to a method of selling shares through an initial public offering (IPO). It is typically used by early investors, founders, and other company insiders who negotiated the right to sell their shares as part of any future IPO.
附带登记是指通过首次公开发行(IPO)出售股票的一种方法。它通常由早期投资者、创始人和其他公司内部人士使用,他们通过谈判获得出售股票的权利,作为未来IPO的一部分。
例句2
From the company’s perspective, piggyback registrations are a convenient way to allow a variety of early founders and other insiders to exit their investments and make room for new investors who might be more interested in the long-term prospects of the company.
从公司的角度来看,附带登记是一种方便的方式,允许各早期创始人和其他内部人士退出他们的投资,并为可能对公司的长期前景更感兴趣的新投资者腾出空间。
附带登记对应的就是“附带登记权”(Piggyback Registration Rights)。
“附带登记权”是一种被动性权利。投资者无权主动要求公司向SEC申请登记其股份,而只能是被动跟随,即必须是在公司或其他投资者发起登记,投资者可以要求加入,与公司或发起人共同登记其所持有的股份。
Piggyback registration rights, where the investor is entitled to register its securities when either the company or another investor initiates the registration. Holders of piggyback rights are allowed to include their securities in a registration initiated by the company or another investor. This type of registration right is seen as inferior to demand registration rights, because holders of piggyback rights cannot initiate the registration process. 具体例句如下:
例句1
Piggyback registration rights are a form of registration rights that grants the investor the right to register their unregistered stock when either the company or another investor initiates a registration. This type of registration right is seen as inferior to demand registration rights because this class of right-holders cannot initiate the registration process.
附带登记权是一种登记权,当公司或其他投资者发起登记时,授予投资者登记其未登记股票的权利。这类登记权被视为次于要求登记权,因为这类权利持有人不能启动登记程序。
例句2
Since piggyback registration rights are considered inferior to demand registration rights, they are sometimes excluded from registrations in favor of investors with demand registration rights. This could happen if the underwriter of the registration determines that the market will not be able to handle all of the shares that are part of the registration.
由于附带登记权被认为次于要求登记权,它们有时被排除在登记之外,而有利于拥有要求登记权的投资者。如果登记的承销商确定市场将无法处理作为登记一部分的所有股份,就会发生这种情况。
相关知识拓展:
从上述定义来看,对于公司和创始人来说,“要求登记权”的要求明显要比“附带登记权”的要求苛刻很多,限制也很多;投资者往往会要求拿到“要求登记权”,从而换取其通过公司上市退出的主动性;但是对于公司来说,“要求登记权”可能会导致公司尚未发展平稳或者市场条件不佳时即“被上市”,这可能会导致公司发展节奏被打乱、公司发展成本增加、创始股东股份被过于稀释、因首次公开发行(IPO)被要求提前披露数据等情况出现,从而导致公司IPO之后股价低于预期。
但根据以往项目经验,在实际运用中,二者对公司与投资者权益的影响并没有非常大的差别。一般情况下,投资者会向公司表达要求公司IPO的态度,公司在评估情况后,多会选择由其主导,自行推进IPO进程,而非由投资者行使“要求登记权”,然后投资者通常会以“附带登记权”为由,“捎带”上他们实际上“要求”的登记。
除了对上述两类“登记权”介绍以外,在股东协议中,通常还会明确投资者行使“登记权”时,是选择在Form F-1还是Form F-3登记,或者选择二者兼得。