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浅谈同股不同权及其对中国有限责任公司的可行性(二)

发布者:孙仁杰律师|时间:2019年10月15日|分类:公司法 |1083人看过

在实务操作层面,以美国风险投资协会(National Venture CapitalAssociation)就美国公司优先股融资的示范合同文本(Term Sheet for Series Preferred Stock Financing)为例,其中就股息条款,提供了三种不同的安排:

1)方案一,优先股股息在支付普通股股息时视作可转换的普通股进行支付。[native 1: Dividends will be paid on the Series APreferred on an as converted basis when, as, and if paid on the Common Stock]

2)方案二,优先股股息按百分之X的年利率复利计息,于清算或赎回时支付;就其他股息或分配,优先股按可转换的普通股与普通股享有同等参与权。[native 2: The Series APreferred will carry an annual [__]% cumulative dividend [payable upon a liquidation or redemption].  For any other dividends or distributions, participation with Common Stock on an anas-converted basis.][1]

3)方案三,优先股经董事会宣布,可支付相当于每股X美元的非累积股息。[native 3: Non-cumulative dividends will be paid on the Series A Preferred in an amount equal to $[_____]per share of Series A Preferred when and if declared by the Board.]

同样地,在公司清算、解散时,就优先股也提供了三种不同的安排:

1)方案一,不参与后续分配的优先股:优先股按照原始购买价的X倍加上应计股息和已宣布但未分配股息进行支付(或者优先股股东按转换为普通股的股东获得支付更佳),余额再按比例由普通股股东分配。[native 1 (non-participating preferred Stock): First pay [one] times the Original Purchase Price [plusaccrued dividends] [plus declared and unpaid dividends] on each share of SeriesA Preferred (or, if greater, the amount that the Series A Preferred would receive on an as-converted basis).  The balance of any proceeds shall be distributed pro rata to holders of common stock.];

2)方案二,全部参与分配的优先股:优先股先按照原始购买价的X倍加上应计股息和已宣布但未分配股息进行支付,此后再作为可转换普通股与普通股股东按比例分配。[native 2 (full participating Preferred Stock): First pay [one] times the Original purchase price [plus accrued dividends] [plus declared and unpaid dividends] on each share of Series A Preferred. Thereafter, the Series A Preferred participates with the Common Stock pro rata on an as-converted basis.];

3)方案三,封顶参与权的优先股:优先股先按照原始购买价的X倍加上应计股息和已宣布但未分配股息进行支付,此后再作为可转换普通股与普通股股东按比例分配,直至优先股股东获得总额为原始购买价X倍的分配金额(包括根据前述规定所得的金额)。[native 3 (cap on Preferred Stock participation rights): First pay[one] times the Original Purchase Price [plus accrued dividends] [plus declared and unpaid dividends] on each share of Series A Preferred. Thereafter, Series APreferred participates with Common Stock pro rata on an as-converted basis until the holders of Series A Preferred  receive an aggregate of [_____] times the Original Purchase Price (including the amount paid pursuant to the preceding sentence).]

该条款最后还强调,公司合并、收购(公司原股东持有存续公司或收购后公司的已发行股票过半数表决权的情形除外)以及出售、租赁、转让、独占许可或其它方式处分公司全部或大部分资产的行为视为公司清算(“视同清算事件”),由此触发按上述条款向优先股股东进行分配(除非持有X%的优先股股东反对)(即使视同清算事件部分由第三方托管,投资者的清算优先权不因此而被废除或削弱)。A merger or consolidation(other than one in which stockholders of the Company own a majority by voting power of the outstanding shares of the surviving or acquiring corporation) and a sale, lease, transfer, exclusive license or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company will be treated as a liquidation event (a “Deemed Liquidation Event”), thereby triggering payment of the liquidation preferences described above [unless the holders of [___]% of the Series A Preferred elect otherwise]. [The Investors' entitlement to their liquidation preference shall not be abrogated or diminished in the event part of the consideration is subject to escrow in connection with a Deemed Liquidation Event.]

综上可见,优先股被美国法律赋予明确的法律地位并给予美国公司较为灵活的优先股设置自由,其最核心的优先体现在分红和清算两方面。

美国公司股东的表决权大小一定是由持股比例决定的吗?

接着再来看股东共益权层面的同股不同权,典型代表之一,双重股权架构

众所周知,中国许多企业都经历过跌宕起伏的控制权之争,甚至居于龙头如万科、国美、俏江南等知名企业也难以幸免。这又在某种程度上促使后来的企业家和创业者在初创公司时,就把注意力放到了控制权安排上。而美国所支持的双重股权架构随着在美上市中国公司的运用而受到广泛关注,其中京东就是一个被媒体高度渲染的典型案例。

京东于2014年5月在美国纳斯达克证券交易所正式挂牌上市,对于其所搭建的双重股权架构,我们直接可以在招股说明书中显见,如下:

关于本次发行后立即发行的普通股介绍,京东招股说明书中记载“We will adopt a dual class ordinary share structure immediately prior to the completion of this offering.2,734,171,730 ordinary shares, comprised of 2,177,875,831 Class A ordinary shares and 556,295,899 Class B ordinary shares … … will be issued and outstanding immediately upon the completion of this offering. Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately after the completion of this offering will represent 20.3% of our total issued and outstanding shares and 83.6% of the then total voting power (or 20.1% of our total issued and outstanding shares and 83.4% of the then total voting power if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full).”即我们将在本次发行完成前立即采用双重股权架构。2,734,171,730普通股包含了2,177,875,831 A类普通股和556,295,899 B类普通股,将在本次发行完成后被立即发行在外。已发行和已发行在外的B类普通股在本次发行完成后将占公司发行股票总额的20.3%,代表公司83.6%的表决权(或者在证券承销商充分行使其超额配售选择权的情形下,将占公司发行股票总额的20.1%,代表公司83.4%的表决权)。

关于普通股的介绍,京东招股说明书中记载“Our ordinary shares will be divided into Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the completion of this offering. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares will have the same rights except for voting and conversion rights. In respect of matters requiring a shareholder vote, eachClass A ordinary share will be entitled to one vote, and each Class B ordinary share will be entitled to twenty votes. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof.Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any transfer of Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity which is not an affiliate of such holder, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into the same number of Class A ordinary shares. " 即在本次发行完成前,我们的普通股将被划分为A类和B类。除了投票权和转换权,A类普通股股东和B类普通股股东享有同等权利。在股东行使投票权方面,A类普通股将有权行使一份投票权,而B类普通股将有权行使二十份投票权。B类普通股股东可以随时将B类普通股转换为A类普通股,而A类普通股在任何情况下都不能转换为B类普通股。如果B类普通股被转让给该B类普通股股东关联方以外的任何自然人或实体,则该B类普通股即立即自动转换为同等数量的A类普通股。

从上可见,不同于优先股,双重股权架构中的A类股和B类股同是普通股,除了投票权和转换权以外的权利和性质均相同。优先股制度是独立于普通股的另外一种安排,被各国立法和商务实践中所普遍接受,多被应用于创业型公司在上市前的生命周期内,作为公司原始股东或创始人和财务投资者、风险投资人之间利益协调的工具。而双重股权架构则是对同一性质股权设置不同权力的直接允许,并未得到广泛接受和认可,在美国、新加坡等少数认可的国家,被主要应用在上市公司管理层股东(B类普通股持有者)和公众投资者(A类普通股持有者)之间分配公司管理权。所以,双重股权架构明显是着眼于投票权的制度设计,但它似乎在很多中国企业家和创业者眼中却是正合心意的同股不同权。


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[1] In some cases, accrued and unpaid dividends are payable on conversion as well as upon a liquidation event. Most typically, however, dividends are not paid if the preferred is converted.  Another native is to give the Company the option to pay accrued and unpaid dividends in cash or in common shares valued at fair market value. The latter are referred to as “PIK” (payment-in-kind) dividends. (有时,应计而未付股息在转换普通股以及清算时是可支付的。但最典型的是,如果优先股被转换为普通股,就不支付股息。另一种选择是给予公司以现金或以按公允价值折算的普通股支付应计而未付股息的选择权,而后者被称为实物股息)。


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