UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No.     )

 

 

Filed by the Registrant  ☒                             Filed by a Party other than the Registrant  ☐

Check the appropriate box:

 

CASA SYSTEMS, INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):

 

 

 

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April 1, 2022

Dear Stockholder:

I am pleased to invite you to attend the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of Casa Systems, Inc. (“Casa Systems”) to be held via the Internet at a virtual live webcast on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.  You can register to attend the Annual Meeting at www.proxydocs.com/CASA.

We are pleased to take advantage of Securities and Exchange Commission rules that allow companies to furnish their proxy materials over the Internet. We are mailing to many of our stockholders a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) instead of a paper copy of our proxy materials and our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Notice contains instructions on how to access those documents and to cast your vote via the Internet. The Notice also contains instructions on how to request paper copies of those documents. All stockholders who do not receive a Notice will receive paper copies of the proxy materials and the 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K by mail. This process allows us to provide our stockholders with the information they need on a more timely basis, while reducing the environmental impact and lowering the costs of printing and distributing our proxy materials.

To support your health and well-being in light of the continuing concerns resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our Annual Meeting will be a “virtual meeting” of stockholders, which will be conducted exclusively via the Internet at a virtual web conference. There will not be a physical meeting location, and stockholders will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person. This means that you can attend the Annual Meeting online, as well as vote your shares electronically and submit questions during the Annual Meeting, by visiting the above-mentioned Internet site. In light of the public health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, we believe that hosting a “virtual meeting” will enable greater stockholder attendance and participation from any location around the world.

Your vote is important. Whether or not you plan to virtually attend the Annual Meeting, I hope you will vote as soon as possible. You may vote over the Internet at the Annual Meeting or by mailing a proxy card or voting by telephone. Please review the instructions on the Notice or on the proxy card regarding your voting options.

Thank you for being a Casa Systems stockholder. We look forward to seeing you at our Annual Meeting.

 

 

 

 

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CASA SYSTEMS, INC.

100 Old River Road

Andover, Massachusetts 01810

NOTICE OF 2022 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

Notice is hereby given that Casa Systems, Inc. will hold its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) via the Internet at a virtual live webcast on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, for the following purposes:

To support your health and well-being in light of the continuing concerns resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our Annual Meeting will be a “virtual meeting” of stockholders, which will be conducted exclusively via the Internet at a virtual web conference. There will not be a physical meeting location, and stockholders will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person. This means that you can attend the Annual Meeting online, as well as vote your shares electronically and submit questions during the Annual Meeting. In light of the public health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, we believe that hosting a “virtual meeting” will enable greater stockholder attendance and participation from any location around the world.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on March 21, 2022 (the “Record Date”) are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting as set forth in the proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”). You are entitled to virtually attend the Annual Meeting only if you were a stockholder as of the close of business on the Record Date or hold a valid proxy for the Annual Meeting. If you are a stockholder of record, your ownership as of the Record Date will be verified prior to admittance into the Annual Meeting. In order to attend, you must register in advance at www.proxydocs.com/CASA prior to the deadline of May 10, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Upon completing your registration, you will receive further instructions via email, including your unique links that will allow you access to the Annual Meeting and will permit you to submit questions. You will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person. If you are not a stockholder of record but hold shares through a broker, trustee or nominee, you must also register in advance at www.proxydocs.com/CASA. For instructions on how to vote your shares, please refer to the section titled “Voting” beginning on page 1 of the Proxy Statement or the proxy card.

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual

Meeting of Stockholders to be Held on Thursday, May 12, 2022, for Casa Systems, Inc.

The Proxy Statement, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, instructions to access the Annual Meeting and voting instructions are available at www.proxydocs.com/CASA.

 

Andover, Massachusetts

April 1, 2022

 

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

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PROXY STATEMENT

FOR THE 2022 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TO BE HELD THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022

GENERAL INFORMATION

Our board of directors solicits your proxy on our behalf for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, or the Annual Meeting, and at any postponement or adjournment of the Annual Meeting for the purposes set forth in this Proxy Statement and the accompanying proxy card. The Annual Meeting will be held virtually at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 12, 2022, via the Internet at a virtual live webcast.  You can register to attend the Annual Meeting at www.proxydocs.com/CASA. Information on how to vote, including over the Internet at the Annual Meeting, is discussed below.

Pursuant to rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, we are providing access to our proxy materials over the Internet. Accordingly, we are sending a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or the Notice, to our stockholders of record and beneficial owners as of the record date identified below. The mailing of the Notice to our stockholders is scheduled to begin by no later than April 1, 2022.

In this Proxy Statement the terms “Casa Systems,” “the company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Casa Systems, Inc. The mailing address of our principal executive offices is Casa Systems, Inc., 100 Old River Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01810. All website addresses set forth in this Proxy Statement are for information purposes only and are not intended to be active links or to incorporate any website information into this document.

 

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PROPOSAL ONE

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Number of Directors; Board Structure

Our board of directors is divided into three staggered classes of directors as nearly equal in number as possible. Our Restated Certificate of Incorporation states that one class is to be elected each year at the annual meeting of stockholders for a term of three years.  Directors are elected to hold office for a three-year term or until the election and qualification of their successors in office.

Nominees

Our board of directors has nominated Bruce R. Evans and Susana D’Emic for election as Class II directors to serve three-year terms ending at the 2025 annual meeting or until their successors are elected and qualified. Each of the nominees is a current member of our board of directors and has consented to serve if elected.

Unless you direct otherwise through your proxy voting instructions, the persons named as proxies will vote all proxies received “FOR” the election of each nominee. If any nominee is unable or unwilling to serve at the time of the Annual Meeting, the persons named as proxies may vote for a substitute nominee chosen by the members of our board of directors. In the alternative, the proxies may vote only for the remaining nominee, leaving a vacancy on our board of directors. Our board of directors may fill such vacancy at a later date or reduce the size of our board of directors. We have no reason to believe that any of the nominees will be unwilling or unable to serve if elected as a director.

Recommendation of our Board of Directors

 

 

The biographies of each of the director nominees and continuing directors below contain information regarding each such person’s service as a director on our board of directors, business experience, director positions at other companies held currently or at any time during the last five years, and other experiences, qualifications, attributes or skills that caused our board of directors to determine that the person should serve as a director of the company. In addition to the information presented below that led our board of directors to the conclusion that each person should serve as a director, we also believe that each of our directors has a reputation for integrity, honesty and adherence to high ethical standards. Each of our directors has demonstrated business acumen and an ability to exercise sound judgment, as well as a commitment of service to our company and our board of directors, including a commitment to understanding our business and industry. We also value our directors’ experience in relevant areas of business management and on other boards of directors and committees of boards of directors.

Our corporate governance guidelines also dictate that, except as may otherwise be permitted by the listing rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market, or Nasdaq, a majority of our board be composed of independent directors whom our board of directors has determined have no material relationship with the company and are otherwise “independent” directors under Nasdaq listing rules.

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The names of the nominees for election as Class II directors at the Annual Meeting and of the incumbent Class I and III directors, and certain information about them, including their ages, are set forth below.

 

 

Jerry Guo and Lucy Xie are married to one another. There are no other family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

Class II Director Nominees for Terms Expiring at the 2025 Annual Meeting

Bruce R. Evans has been a director of our company since 2010 and Lead Director since February 2022. Mr. Evans has served as president of Evans Capital LLC, a private investment fund, since March 2019.  Mr. Evans has also served in various positions with Summit Partners, a growth equity and venture capital focused alternative investments firm, since 1986, including most recently as senior advisor to the firm, a role he has held since January 2018.  From 2018 to March 2019, he served as chairman of Summit Partners’ board and as a senior advisor to the firm.  From 2011 to December 2017, he served as managing director and as chairman of Summit Partners’ board. From 1999 to 2011, he was one of Summit Partners’ co-managing partners.  During his 34 years with Summit Partners, Mr. Evans has served as a member of the boards of directors of over 35 technology and other growth industry companies in the United States and Europe, including 14 public companies. Since 2015, he has also served as a director of Analog Devices, a public company which designs and manufactures high-performance semiconductor products.  In addition, Mr. Evans is chairman of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust and the former chairman of Vanderbilt’s Investment Committee. Mr. Evans holds a B.E. in mechanical engineering and economics from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. We believe that Mr. Evans is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his wide-ranging experience in growth equity and venture capital investing in the technology sector and his experience on other private and public company boards.

Susana D’Emic has been a director of our company since December 2018. Ms. D’Emic has served as the senior vice president, chief accounting officer and controller of Booking Holdings, a leader in online travel and related services, since May 2019. She has also served as interim chief financial officer of Booking.com since October 2020.  Ms. D’Emic served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Time Inc., a leading multi-platform media and content company, from November 2016 to April 2018. Ms. D’Emic was senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer of Time Inc. from October 2013 to November 2016. Prior to that, Ms. D’Emic served as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer of Frontier Communications, a provider of phone, internet and video services to rural towns and cities across the country, from April 2011 to October 2013. Ms. D’Emic served in a number of finance roles, including as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer at Trusted Media Brands, Inc. (then Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.) from January 1998 to April 2011. Before joining Reader’s Digest, she held various positions with Kraft Foods International and Colgate-Palmolive Company and was an audit manager with KPMG. Ms. D’Emic is a certified public accountant and has a B.S. in accounting from The State University of New York at Binghamton.  We believe that Ms. D’Emic is qualified to serve on our board of directors as a result of her strategic financial leadership experience as well as her experience in digital and organizational transformation.

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Directors Continuing in Office Until the 2023 Annual Meeting  

Lucy Xie has served as our senior vice president of operations since 2011 and as a member of our board of directors since 2003. From 2003 to 2011, Ms. Xie served as our chief financial officer and vice president of operations. Prior to joining Casa Systems, Ms. Xie held various accounting, finance and management positions at Raytheon, a U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation, and Lucent Technologies, a telecommunications equipment company. Ms. Xie has also served as the vice chairman and a board member of the Asia-America Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Xie holds an M.B.A. in accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University. We believe that Ms. Xie is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her experience as an executive in the telecommunications industry, her extensive knowledge of our company and her service as our senior vice president of operations.

Bill Styslinger has been a director of our company since 2012. Mr. Styslinger served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of SeaChange International, a provider of multiscreen video software and services, from its inception in July 1993 until his retirement in December 2011. Mr. Styslinger has served as a board member of Scotgold Resources, Ltd., a publicly traded mineral exploration company, since September 2018, and Metrosoft, Inc., a fintech company that develops multi-tier, service-oriented asset management software, since October 2017.  Mr. Styslinger was also previously a member of the board of directors of Omtool, a provider of enterprise client/server facsimile software solutions. Mr. Styslinger holds a B.S. in engineering science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. We believe that Mr. Styslinger is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his leadership expertise, including service as chief executive officer of a public company with international operations, as well as his knowledge of the telecommunications industry.

Michael T. Hayashi has been a director of our company since November 2018. Mr. Hayashi served as a partner at Jinsei 2.0 Consulting, a technology and business consulting services firm focusing on the cable industry, from April 2015 to December 2017. Prior to his work at Jinsei, Mr. Hayashi spent more than 20 years at Time Warner Cable, Inc., a cable television service provider, including as executive vice president of architecture, development and engineering from 2010 to March 2015, as senior vice president of advanced engineering and subscriber technologies from 2000 to 2010, and as vice president of advanced engineering from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as chairman of Petrichor Technologies, an early stage developer of video service provider infrastructure software, from December 2016 to April 2019.  He also previously served on the boards of directors of Espial Group Inc., a publicly traded supplier of television software and solutions, from April 2015 to April 2018, and Mindspeed Technologies, Inc., a semiconductor supplier, from 2005 until its acquisition by MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. in 2013. Mr. Hayashi has a B.S. in engineering from Harvey Mudd College and an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University. We believe that Mr. Hayashi is qualified to serve on our board of directors as a result of his significant leadership experience in the telecommunications industry.

Directors Continuing in Office Until the 2024 Annual Meeting  

Jerry Guo, the founder of our company, has served as our president, chief executive officer and as the chairman of our board of directors since our founding in 2003. Prior to founding our company, Mr. Guo served as the vice president of broadband at River Delta Networks, which was acquired by Motorola in 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Guo was a research scientist at Bell Laboratories’ research division. Mr. Guo holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.S. in optical instruments from the Department of Precision Instruments at Tsinghua University. We believe that Mr. Guo is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his leadership experience in the broadband and network industries, his extensive knowledge of our company and his service as our president and chief executive officer.

Daniel S. Mead has been a director of our company since March 2018. For over 35 years, Mr. Mead served in various leadership roles at Verizon Communications and its predecessor companies, including serving as the chief executive officer and president of Verizon Wireless from October 2010 to July 2016 and as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Verizon Wireless from October 2009 to October 2010. Mr. Mead served as the chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, or the CTIA, from July 2013 to December 2014.  Mr. Mead has served on the board of directors of Syniverse Holdings, Inc., a privately held (formerly publicly traded) business services company in the mobile communications industry, since October 2016, and Terrestar, a Canadian-based telecommunications provider, since November 2015.  He previously served as a member of the boards of directors of the CTIA from September 2010 to March 2015 and Vodafone Omnitel from September 2009 to October 2010. Mr. Mead also served on the Board of Trustees at Pennsylvania State University from July 2014 to July 2017, including as chairman of its Finance and Capital Planning Committee. Mr. Mead has a B.S. in quantitative business analysis and finance from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Pennsylvania State University. We believe that Mr. Mead is qualified to serve on our board of directors as a result of his significant leadership experience in the telecommunications industry.

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Executive Officers

In addition to Mr. Guo, our president and chief executive officer, and Ms. Xie, our senior vice president of operations, who also serve as directors, our executive officers are:

Weidong Chen, age 53, has served as our chief technology officer since 2004. Mr. Chen previously served as a member of our board of directors from 2010 to 2019. Prior to joining Casa Systems, Mr. Chen served as a software manager at Motorola, a multinational telecommunications company, from October 2001 to November 2003. Mr. Chen holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Scott Bruckner, age 63, has served as our chief financial officer since January 2020. Mr. Bruckner will be resigning as our chief financial officer, effective as of April 3, 2022, to attend to family matters. Mr. Bruckner previously served as our senior vice president of strategy and corporate development from November 2017 until January 2020. Prior to joining Casa Systems, Mr. Bruckner served as a senior managing director of Macquarie Group from June 2015 to November 2017 and as a partner at Perella Weinberg Partners from April 2007 to May 2015. Mr. Bruckner holds a B.A. in international relations and Slavic languages and literature from the University of Southern California and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political science and political economy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Board Experience, Skills and Diversity

We believe that our Board best serves the Company and our stockholders with a diversity of backgrounds, skillsets, industry experiences and expertise.  The following matrices highlight our directors’ primary qualifications, demographics, and tenure. These matrices are intended as high-level summaries and not exhaustive lists of each director's skills or contributions to the Board.

Board Experience and Skills Matrix

 

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Board Diversity Matrix

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Director Independence

Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq listing rules requires a majority of a listed company’s board of directors to be composed of independent directors within one year of listing. In addition, the Nasdaq listing rules require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation and nominations committees be independent, or if a listed company has no nominations committee, that director nominees be selected or recommended for the board’s selection by independent directors constituting a majority of the board’s independent directors. The audit committee members must also satisfy independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act, and compensation committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria set forth in Rule 10C-1 under the Exchange Act. Under Rule 5605(a)(2), a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of our board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. In order to be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10A-3, a member of an audit committee of a listed company may not, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the board of directors, or any other board committee, accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries or otherwise be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of its subsidiaries.

At least annually, our board of directors will evaluate all relationships between us and each director in light of relevant facts and circumstances for the purposes of determining whether a material relationship exists that might signal a potential conflict of interest or otherwise interfere with such director’s ability to satisfy his or her responsibilities as an independent director. Based on this evaluation, our board of directors will make an annual determination of whether each director is independent within the meaning of the independence standards of Nasdaq, the SEC and our applicable board committees.

Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Evans, Hayashi, Mead and Styslinger and Ms. D’Emic is an “independent director” as currently defined under Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq listing rules. With respect to our audit committee, our board of directors determined that each of Messrs. Hayashi and Mead and Ms. D'Emic satisfies the independence standards for audit committee membership established by the SEC and the Nasdaq listing rules. Our board of directors also determined that each of Messrs. Hayashi, Styslinger and Mead, who comprise our compensation committee, satisfy the independence standards for such committee established by the SEC and the Nasdaq listing rules. With respect to our nominating and corporate governance committee, our board of directors determined that each of Messrs. Evans and Styslinger and Ms. D’Emic satisfies the independence standards for such committee established by the SEC and the Nasdaq listing rules. In making such determinations, our board of directors considered the relationships that each such non-employee director has with our company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant, including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director and any institutional stockholder with which he or she is affiliated.

Board Leadership Structure

Our board of directors has considered the leadership structure of the board and determined that at this time Mr. Guo should serve both as our chief executive officer and as chairman of the board. Since 2003, Mr. Guo has served as our president and chief executive officer and has been an integral part of the leadership of our company and our board of directors, and his strategic vision has guided our growth and performance. Our board of directors believes that having Mr. Guo also serve as our chairman facilitates the board’s decision-making process and enables Mr. Guo to act as the key link between the board of directors and other members of management.

Our board of directors believes that it is beneficial for us and our stockholders to designate one of the directors as a lead director. The lead director serves a variety of roles including serving as principal liaison on board-wide issues between the independent directors and the chairman, presiding at the executive sessions of independent directors, assisting in the recruitment of board candidates, and having active involvement in establishing committee membership and committee chairs. Mr. Evans was elected by the independent directors to serve as our lead director.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We have adopted a written code of business conduct and ethics that applies to our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. A copy of the code is posted on the “Documents & Charters” page under the heading “Governance” on the Investor Relations section of our website, which is located at investors.casa-systems.com. In addition, we intend to continue to post on our website all disclosures that are required by law or the Nasdaq listing rules concerning any amendments to, or waivers from, any provision of the code.

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Corporate Governance Guidelines

Our board of directors has adopted corporate governance guidelines to assist in the exercise of its duties and responsibilities and to serve the best interests of our company and our stockholders. The guidelines provide that:

A copy of our corporate governance guidelines is posted on the “Documents & Charters” page under the heading “Governance” on the Investor Relations section of our website, which is located at investors.casa-systems.com.

Stock Ownership Guidelines

In February 2022, our board of directors adopted stock ownership guidelines establishing a minimum share ownership requirement for our non-employee directors, other than non-employee directors that elect not to receive compensation in connection with their service as non-employee directors. See the section titled “Executive Compensation—Other Compensation Policies—Stock Ownership Guidelines.”

Board Meetings

Our board of directors meets on a regularly scheduled basis during the year to review significant developments affecting us and to act on matters requiring its approval. It also holds special meetings when important matters require action between scheduled meetings. Members of senior management regularly attend meetings to report on and discuss their areas of responsibility. Our board of directors met four times and took action by unanimous written consent two times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Each of our directors attended at least 75% of the aggregate of all meetings of our board of directors and meetings of committees of our board of directors upon which they served during 2021. Our board of directors regularly holds executive sessions of the independent directors. Executive sessions do not include employee directors or directors who do not qualify as independent under Nasdaq and SEC rules.

Annual Meeting Attendance

It is our policy that members of our board of directors are encouraged to attend annual meetings of our stockholders. All of our directors attended our 2021 annual meeting of stockholders, which was a virtual meeting due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Committees

Our board of directors has established an audit committee, compensation committee, and nominating and corporate governance committee. Each of these committees operates under a charter that has been approved by our board of directors. Copies of the committee charters are posted on the “Documents & Charters” page under the heading “Governance” on the Investor Relations section of our website, which is located at investors.casa-systems.com.

Audit Committee

The members of our audit committee are Messrs. Hayashi and Mead and Ms. D’Emic. Ms. D’Emic is the chair of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Hayashi and Mead and Ms. D’Emic are independent within the meaning of Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. D’Emic is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by applicable SEC rules.

Our audit committee’s responsibilities include:

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All audit services and all non-audit services, other than de minimis non-audit services, to be provided to us by our independent registered public accounting firm are required to be approved in advance by our audit committee.

Our audit committee met five times and took action by unanimous written consent one time during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Our audit committee operates under a written charter adopted by our board of directors, a current copy of which is available on the “Documents & Charters” page under the heading “Governance” on the Investor Relations section of our website, which is located at investors.casa-systems.com.

 

Compensation Committee

The members of our compensation committee are Messrs. Hayashi, Mead and Styslinger. Mr. Styslinger is the chair of our compensation committee. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Hayashi, Mr. Mead and Mr. Styslinger are independent within the meaning of Rule 10C-1 under the Exchange Act.

The compensation committee’s responsibilities include:

Typically, our compensation committee meets quarterly and with greater frequency if necessary. The agenda for each meeting is usually developed by the chair of our compensation committee, in consultation with our senior vice president of operations, who is responsible for human resources. Our compensation committee meets regularly in executive session. Our president and chief executive officer does not participate in any deliberations or determinations of our compensation committee regarding his compensation or individual performance objectives. Our compensation committee has the authority to obtain, at our expense, advice and assistance from compensation consultants and internal and external legal, accounting or other advisors and other external resources that our compensation committee considers necessary or appropriate in the performance of its duties. Our compensation committee may select, or receive advice from, a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser to the compensation committee, other than in-house legal counsel, and certain other types of advisers, only after assessing the independence of such person in accordance with SEC and Nasdaq requirements that bear upon the adviser’s independence; however, there is no requirement that any adviser be independent.

Our compensation committee has engaged Pearl Meyer as an independent compensation consultant. Pearl Meyer assisted the compensation committee with monitoring an appropriate compensation peer group for annual compensation comparison purposes and reviewed the current incentive compensation programs and their performance alignment with the company’s short- and long-term

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business strategies. Our compensation committee evaluated our compensation consultants’ independence and concluded that the engagement of Pearl Meyer did not raise any conflict of interest after taking into consideration the applicable factors affecting consultant independence.

Our compensation committee met five times and took action by written consent eight times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Our compensation committee operates under a written charter adopted by our board of directors, a current copy of which is available on the “Documents & Charters” page under the heading “Governance” on the Investor Relations section of our website, which is located at investors.casa-systems.com.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

The members of our compensation committee in 2021 were Messrs. Hayashi, Mead and Styslinger.  None of our executive officers serves as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee, or other committee serving an equivalent function, of any entity that has one or more executive officers who serve as members of our board of directors or our compensation committee. None of the members of our compensation committee is an officer or employee of our company, nor have they ever been an officer or employee of our company.

 

Nominating and corporate governance committee

The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Messrs. Evans and Styslinger and Ms. D’Emic. Mr. Evans is the chair of our nominating and corporate governance committee. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Evans, Mr. Styslinger and Ms. D’Emic are independent under Nasdaq Rule 5605(a)(2).

The nominating and corporate governance committee’s responsibilities include:

Our nominating and corporate governance committee met two times and took action by written consent one time during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Our nominating and corporate governance committee operates under a written charter adopted by our board of directors, a current copy of which is available on the “Documents & Charters” page under the heading “Governance” on the Investor Relations section of our website, which is located at investors.casa-systems.com.

 Board Processes

Oversight of Risk

Our board of directors oversees our risk management processes directly and through its committees. Our management is responsible for risk management on a day-to-day basis. The role of our board and its committees is to oversee the risk management activities of our management. They fulfill this duty by discussing with management the policies and practices utilized by management in assessing and managing risks and providing input on those policies and practices. In general, our board oversees risk management activities relating to business strategy, acquisitions, capital allocation, organizational structure and operations; our audit committee oversees risk management activities related to financial controls and legal and compliance risks; and our nominating and corporate governance committee oversees risk management activities related to the composition of our board. Each committee reports to the full board on a regular basis, including reports with respect to each committee’s risk oversight activities as appropriate. In addition, since risk issues often overlap, committees from time to time request that the full board discuss particular risks.

Director Nomination Process

Our nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for identifying individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by our board of directors, and recommending to the board the persons to be nominated for election as directors, except where we are legally required by contract, law or otherwise to provide third parties with the right to nominate.

Our full board of directors is responsible for selecting nominees for election as directors and our board of directors considers the recommendations of our nominating and corporate governance committee when selecting nominees.

The process followed by our nominating and corporate governance committee to identify and evaluate director candidates includes requests to other board members as well as other existing contacts for recommendations, meetings from time to time to evaluate biographical information and background material relating to potential candidates, and interviews of selected candidates. The

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qualifications, qualities and skills that our nominating and corporate governance committee believe must be met by a recommended nominee for a position on our board of directors are as follows:

Our nominating and corporate governance committee may use a third-party search firm in those situations where particular qualifications are required or where existing contacts are not sufficient to identify an appropriate candidate.

Stockholders may recommend individuals to our nominating and corporate governance committee for consideration as potential director candidates. Any such proposals should be submitted to our corporate secretary at our principal executive offices and should include appropriate biographical and background material to allow our independent directors to properly evaluate the potential director candidate and the number of shares of our stock beneficially owned by the stockholder proposing the candidate. The specific requirements for the information that is required to be provided for such recommendations to be considered are specified in our amended and restated by-laws and must be received by us no later than the date referenced below under the heading “Procedures for Submitting Stockholder Proposals.” Assuming that biographical and background material has been provided on a timely basis, any recommendations received from stockholders will be evaluated in the same manner as other potential nominees considered by our nominating and corporate governance committee. If our board of directors determines to nominate a stockholder-recommended candidate and recommends his or her election, then his or her name will be included on our proxy card for our next annual meeting of stockholders.

Stockholder Communications

Our board of directors provides to every stockholder of the company the ability to communicate with our board of directors, as a whole, and with individual directors through an established process for stockholder communication. For a stockholder communication directed to our board of directors as a whole, stockholders may send such communication to the attention of our company’s corporate secretary via U.S. mail or expedited delivery service to: Casa Systems, Inc., 100 Old River Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01810, Attn: Board of Directors, c/o Corporate Secretary.

For a stockholder communication directed to an individual director in his or her capacity as a member of our board of directors, stockholders may send such communication to the attention of the individual director via U.S. mail or expedited delivery service to: Casa Systems, Inc., 100 Old River Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01810, Attn: [Name of Individual Director], c/o Corporate Secretary.

We will forward by U.S. mail any such stockholder communication to each director, and to the chairman of our board of directors in his or her capacity as a representative of our board of directors, to whom such stockholder communication is addressed to the address specified by each such director and the chairman of our board of directors, unless there are safety or security concerns that mitigate against further transmission. 

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PROPOSAL TWO

RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF

OUR INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We have appointed Ernst & Young as our independent registered public accounting firm to perform the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 and to perform an audit of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, and we are asking you and other stockholders to ratify this appointment. Ernst & Young has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2020.

As a matter of good corporate governance, our board of directors determined to submit to stockholders for ratification the appointment of Ernst & Young. A majority of the votes properly cast is required in order to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young. In the event that a majority of the votes properly cast do not ratify this appointment of Ernst & Young, we will review our future appointment of Ernst & Young.

The audit committee of our board of directors has adopted policies and procedures for the pre-approval of audit and non-audit services for the purpose of maintaining the independence of our independent registered public accounting firm. We may not engage our independent registered public accounting firm to render any audit or non-audit service unless either the service is approved in advance by the audit committee, or the engagement to render the service is entered into pursuant to the audit committee’s pre-approval policies and procedures.

From time to time, our audit committee may pre-approve services that are expected to be provided to us by the independent registered public accounting firm during the following 12 months. At the time such pre-approval is granted, the audit committee must identify the particular pre-approved services in a sufficient level of detail so that our management will not be called upon to make a judgment as to whether a proposed service fits within the pre-approved services and, at each regularly scheduled meeting of the audit committee following such approval, management or the independent registered public accounting firm shall report to the audit committee regarding each service actually provided to us pursuant to such pre-approval.

The audit committee has delegated to its chairman the authority to grant pre-approvals of audit or non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm. Any approval of services by the chairman of the audit committee is reported to the committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

We expect that a representative of Ernst & Young will attend our Annual Meeting and the representative will have an opportunity to make a statement if he or she so chooses. The representative will also be available to respond to appropriate questions from stockholders.

The Report of the Audit Committee of our board of directors included in this Proxy Statement is submitted by our audit committee. Our audit committee consists of the three directors whose names appear in the Report. None of the members of our audit committee is an officer or employee of Casa Systems, and our board of directors has determined that each member of our audit committee is “independent” for audit committee purposes as that term is defined under Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act, and the applicable Nasdaq listing rules. See “Corporate Governance—Director Independence” above for additional discussion regarding our board’s independence determinations with respect to members of our audit committee. Each member of our audit committee meets the requirements for financial literacy under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. D’Emic is an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined under the applicable rules of the SEC. Our audit committee operates under a written charter adopted by our board of directors.

Change in Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

In July 2020, our audit committee began an evaluation of our then current independent registered public accounting firm. We conducted a competitive request for proposal process with several independent registered public accounting firms, including our previous incumbent auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, or PwC. Upon conclusion of this evaluation, our audit committee approved the dismissal of PwC on August 24, 2020 and retained Ernst & Young as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. There were no disagreements with PwC, and we have authorized them to respond fully to the inquiries of the successor auditors.

The reports of PwC on our consolidated financial statements for each of the two years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 did not contain an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor were such reports qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

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In connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements for each of the two fiscal years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, and the subsequent interim period through August 24, 2020, there were no disagreements (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions to Item 304 of Regulation S-K) between our company and PwC on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreement, if not resolved to the satisfaction of PwC, would have caused PwC to make reference to the subject matter of such disagreement in connection with its report. During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, and the subsequent interim period through August 24, 2020, there was no “reportable event,” as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K. In connection with the filing of our Current Report on Form 8-K on August 24, 2020, we provided PwC with a copy of the Form 8-K and requested that PwC furnish us with a letter addressed to the SEC stating whether PwC agreed with the statements made by our company in response to Item 304(a) of Regulation S-K, or if not, stating the respects in which it does not agree. We received the requested letter from PwC and we filed a copy of the letter, dated August 24, 2020, as Exhibit 16.1 to the Form 8-K.

Audit Fees

The following table presents fees for professional services and other services rendered by Ernst & Young and PwC, our independent registered public accounting firms, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

 

 

Recommendation of our Board of Directors

 

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Report of the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors

The information contained in this audit committee report shall not be deemed to be (1) “soliciting material,” (2) “filed” with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the Exchange Act, (3) subject to Regulations 14A or 14C of the Exchange Act, or (4) subject to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act. No portion of this audit committee report shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, through any general statement incorporating by reference in its entirety the proxy statement in which this report appears, except to the extent that Casa Systems specifically incorporates this report or a portion of it by reference.

Our audit committee’s general role is to assist our board of directors in monitoring our financial reporting process and related matters. Its specific responsibilities are set forth in its charter.

Our audit committee has reviewed our consolidated financial statements for 2021 and met with management, as well as with representatives of Ernst & Young, our independent registered public accounting firm, to discuss the consolidated financial statements. Our audit committee also discussed with members of Ernst & Young the matters required to be discussed by the Auditing Standard No. 1301, as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

In addition, our audit committee received the written disclosures and the letter from Ernst & Young required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the independent registered public accounting firm’s communications with our audit committee concerning independence, and discussed with members of Ernst & Young its independence.

Based on the foregoing communications, its review of the financial statements and other matters it deemed relevant, our audit committee recommended to our board of directors that our audited consolidated financial statements for 2021 be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Audit Committee

Susana D’Emic (Chair)

Daniel S. Mead

Michael Hayashi

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SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF

CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock, as of March 11, 2022, by:

The percentages in the table below are based on a total of 84,689,756 shares of our common stock outstanding as of March 11, 2022, but not including any additional shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding options.

The number of shares beneficially owned by each stockholder is determined under rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to securities. Under these rules, beneficial ownership includes any shares as to which the individual or entity has sole or shared voting power or investment power. In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by an individual or entity and the percentage ownership of that person, shares of common stock subject to options or other rights held by such person that are currently exercisable or will become exercisable within 60 days after March 11, 2022, are considered outstanding, although these shares are not considered outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person. Unless otherwise indicated, the address of all listed stockholders is c/o Casa Systems, Inc., 100 Old River Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01810. Each of the stockholders listed has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares beneficially owned by the stockholder unless noted otherwise, subject to community property laws where applicable. Beneficial ownership representing less than 1% is denoted with an asterisk (*).

 

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Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors, executive officers and beneficial owners of more than 10% of our common stock to file reports of holdings and transactions in our common stock and other securities of ours with the SEC. Based solely on our review of copies of such forms that we have received, or written representations from reporting persons, we believe that during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, all executive officers, directors and greater than 10% stockholders complied with all applicable filing requirements under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.

 

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Overview and Philosophy

Our compensation program is designed to:

Our compensation committee is responsible for reviewing and ultimately approving the chief executive officer’s compensation and pay recommendations presented by the chief executive officer for our other executive officers.  Our management team determines the compensation of all other employees (subject to the compensation committee’s approval of the company-wide merit pool budget, short-term incentive and long-term incentive plan design, cost and share pool budgets).

Our compensation committee is authorized to retain the services of one or more executive compensation advisors, as it sees fit, in connection with the establishment of our executive compensation programs and related policies.  Our compensation committee engaged Pearl Meyer in 2021 to assist the compensation committee with monitoring an appropriate compensation peer group for annual compensation comparison purposes and review the current incentive compensation programs and their performance alignment with the company’s short- and long-term business strategies, as well as to evaluate and advise on a performance-based approach to our long-term compensation program for the coming fiscal year with the overall goal of designing the company’s executive compensation philosophy and strategy.  We do not believe the retention of, and the work performed by, Pearl Meyer creates any conflict of interest.

Principal Compensation Program

Our compensation program consists of three core elements: (1) base salary and benefits, (2) a short-term incentive plan, and (3) a long-term incentive plan.  The table below provides an overview of these elements, their respective purposes, how they are determined and adjusted, and the deliverables associated with each.

 

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Base Salary – Base salary reflects the fixed portion of an employee’s overall compensation package and is the base or reference amount from which other compensation elements are determined, such as target bonuses, equity awards, and retirement savings opportunities.  In determining whether to award base salary increases, the compensation committee and management consider, among other things, market conditions, our business outlook and the size of our current merit increase budget.

Short-Term Incentive Plan – The short-term incentive plan (annual cash incentive) is designed to reward short-term performance results. The payout under the annual cash incentive is based on achievement of corporate and/or individual financial and non-financial goals.  Weighting of goals may vary by employee.  The annual cash incentive program provides a direct link between the employee’s compensation and annual performance of our business and/or the individual.  The annual cash incentive program is designed to provide a competitive payout at appropriate levels of performance achievement.

Long-Term Incentive Plan – We currently utilize RSUs and stock options to provide annual long-term incentive awards to our employees. We also use RSUs and stock options for new hires, promotions, and special awards.  Both RSUs and stock options provide ownership and retention incentive value using multi-year vesting schedules.

Each of the preceding compensation elements is considered both individually and collectively when considering compensation adjustments. Compensation adjustments also consider the interrelation between each compensation element to ensure that the entire program is appropriately aligned. In addition, management may also apply discretion in determining specific compensation levels of individual employees. The compensation program is evaluated annually considering any evolving changes to our existing business strategy and plans.

Management also considers recommendations regarding the level of compensation to be paid to employees when compared to competitive market data. Management assesses each employee’s contributions to the business and his or her ability to execute on our long-term strategy when making any recommendations regarding compensation. The chief executive officer and other members of management do not participate in the determination of their own compensation.

Other Compensation Programs

Other Employee Benefits

Executives are eligible to participate in all of our then-current benefit plans, in each case on the same basis as other employees, including health and dental insurance, life and disability insurance, and our 401(k) plan.

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Executive Officers: Change in Control and Severance Coverage

We believe that offering severance and change-in-control provisions provides executives a degree of security in the event of a transaction, and we review these programs on an annual basis to ensure they remain appropriate going forward. The compensation committee does not consider specific amounts payable under these arrangements when establishing annual compensation.  However, we believe that these protections serve our retention objectives by helping our named executive officers and other key employees maintain continued focus and dedication to their responsibilities to maximize stockholder value, including in the event of a transaction that could result in a change in control of our company. For more information, see the section titled “Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control” below.

Other Compensation Policies

Stock Ownership Guidelines

In February 2022, our board of directors adopted stock ownership guidelines establishing a minimum stock ownership requirement for non-employee directors and executive officers. Our stock ownership guidelines provide that our non-employee directors must hold a number of shares of our common stock with a value equal to four times their annual base cash retainer.  Our stock ownership guidelines also provide that our executive officers must hold a number of shares of our common stock with a value equal to six times his base salary, in the case of our chief executive officer, and two times their base salary, in the case of each of our other executive officers. Our non-employee directors and executive officers generally will have until the later of February 22, 2027 or, if applicable, five years after the date a non-employee director or executive officer is appointed or elected to comply with the minimum stock ownership requirement.

Derivatives and Hedging

All employees, including our named executive officers, and members of our board of directors (or their designees) are prohibited from purchasing financial instruments, or otherwise engaging in transactions that are designed to hedge or offset any fluctuations in the market value of our equity securities they hold directly or indirectly, whether or not such securities were acquired from our equity compensation programs.

Pledging Company Securities

All employees, including our named executive officers, and members of our board of directors (or their designees) are prohibited from purchasing shares on margin, borrowing against any account in which our securities are held or pledging our securities as collateral for a loan, except in certain limited circumstances with approval of the chief financial officer or general counsel and the audit committee.

Compensation Tables

The “named executive officers” for purposes of the disclosure set forth below are:

The information set forth in the Summary Compensation Table below reflects compensation paid to or earned by our named executive officers for the years indicated.

Fiscal 2021 Compensation Program

Base Salary

Our named executive officers receive a base salary to provide a fixed amount of compensation. The base salary payable to each named executive officer is intended to reflect each executive’s skill set, experience, role and responsibilities. Our compensation committee establishes the base salary of our named executive officers in consultation with management and the compensation committee’s independent compensation consultant, and base salaries are reviewed annually to determine whether any adjustments are

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necessary or appropriate. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the annual base salaries for each of Mr. Guo, Ms. Xie and Mr. Chen were $733,048, $438,114 and $438,114, respectively.

Annual Bonuses

For 2021, each of our named executive officers was eligible to receive an annual bonus based upon achievement of certain performance goals.  Amounts awarded to each of our named executive officers related to this bonus are set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table” below.

Equity Compensation

In 2021, we provided long-term incentive compensation to our named executive officers in the form of time-based RSUs and performance-based RSUs, or PSUs. These awards are designed to align the interests of our executive officers, including named executive officers, and shareholders and to provide each individual executive officer with a significant incentive to manage us with a vested interest in the business and remain employed by us.

Time-based RSUs vest in four equal annual installments following the date of grant, subject to continued service.  PSUs are eligible to vest over a 3-year performance period ending on February 23, 2024, subject to specified performance goals.

Summary Compensation Table

The following table sets forth the total compensation paid to our chief executive officer and each of our two other most highly compensated executive officers for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

 

Pay Ratio

As required by SEC rules, we are providing the following information about the relationship of the annual total compensation of our employees and the annual total compensation of Mr. Guo, our chief executive officer. For 2021, our last completed fiscal year:

Based on this information, for 2021, the ratio of the annual total compensation of our chief executive officer to the median of the annual total compensation of all employees was approximately 73 to 1. Below is a description of the methodology and the material assumptions, adjustments and estimates that we used to identify the median of the annual total compensation of all our employees, as well as to determine the annual total compensation of the median employee. We believe that this information is useful to put into

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context the ratio comparing the annual total compensation of the median employee in our Company with the annual total compensation of our chief executive officer.

We determined that, as of December 31, 2021, our employee population consisted of approximately 1,004 individuals working at the Company and our consolidated subsidiaries. Given our global business, our workforce is distributed among a number of countries and regions. Of those, approximately 33.3% of these employees are located in the United States.

We measured compensation using the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021. Our compensation programs vary from region to region and from country to country. Our employees are compensated on either a salaried basis or an hourly basis. In addition, some employees receive equity incentive awards, sales incentives and/or bonuses. We included salary or hourly wages, as applicable, as well as any equity incentive awards granted and bonuses and sales incentives earned for 2021 in our measurement to determine the median of the annual total compensation of all our employees.

In making our determination of the median employee, we annualized the salaries of employees who were hired in 2021 but did not work for us or our consolidated subsidiaries for the entire fiscal year. We did not make any cost-of-living adjustments in identifying the median employee. For purposes of this disclosure, we applied foreign currency to U.S. dollar exchange rates using the rate of exchange of each applicable currency as of December 31, 2021.

Using this methodology, we determined that the median employee was a full-time, salaried employee located in the United States. With respect to the annual total compensation of the median employee, we identified and calculated the elements of such employee’s compensation for 2021 in accordance with the requirements of Item 402(c)(2)(x) of Regulation S-K, resulting in annual total compensation of $84,168. With respect to the annual total compensation of our chief executive officer, we used the amount reported in the “Total” column for 2021 of the Summary Compensation Table appearing in the table above.

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Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

The following table sets forth information regarding outstanding option and stock awards held as of December 31, 2021, by our named executive officers.

 

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Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control

Stock Incentive Plans

Under each of our 2011 Stock Incentive Plan and our 2017 Stock Incentive Plan, our board of directors may provide that outstanding awards shall become exercisable, realizable, or deliverable, or restrictions applicable to an award shall lapse, in whole or in part, in connection with (a) any merger or consolidation of the company with or into another entity as a result of which all of the common stock of the company is converted into or exchanged for the right to receive cash, securities or other property or is cancelled, (b) any transfer or disposition of all of the common stock of the company for cash, securities or other property pursuant to a share exchange or other transaction or (c) any liquidation or dissolution of the company. Further, under our 2011 Stock Incentive Plan and our 2017 Stock Incentive Plan, our board of directors has complete discretion to cause any award to become immediately exercisable in whole or in part, free of some or all restrictions or conditions, or otherwise realizable in whole or in part, as the case may be.

Employment Agreements

Employment Agreement with Mr. Guo

We are a party to an employment agreement with Mr. Guo dated November 17, 2017. Under the employment agreement, Mr. Guo is an at-will employee, and his employment with us can be terminated by him or us at any time and for any reason. The employment agreement provides that Mr. Guo is entitled to a base salary of $677,806 during his employment with us and that he is eligible, at our sole discretion, to earn a target annual bonus equal to 150% of his base salary, subject to adjustment. Mr. Guo’s current base salary is $733,048 and his current target annual bonus amount is 200% of his base salary. The employment agreement also provides that Mr. Guo is eligible to participate in our annual long-term incentive program, with a target annual equity award equal to 550% of his then-current base salary, and with the form, terms and conditions of such long-term incentive awards to be determined in our sole discretion. Mr. Guo’s current target annual equity award is equal to 600% of his current base salary. Prior to 2020, annual equity awards granted under the long-term incentive program were subject solely to time-based vesting conditions. Beginning in 2020, our board of directors determined that a portion of such awards would be subject solely to time-based vesting conditions and a portion of such awards would be subject solely to market-based vesting conditions, determined by our company’s level of achievement of pre-established parameters relating to the performance of our company’s stock price.

Under the employment agreement, Mr. Guo is entitled, subject to his execution and nonrevocation of a release of claims in our favor, in the event of the termination of his employment by us without cause or by him for good reason, each as defined in his employment agreement with us, to (i) receive an amount equal to the sum of his then-current annual base salary plus his target annual bonus for the year of his termination of employment, with such amount payable in equal installments over a period of 12 months, (ii) continue to receive an amount equal to COBRA premiums for health benefit coverage on the same terms as were applicable to him prior to his termination for a period of 12 months following the date that his employment with us is terminated, or earlier, if he becomes eligible to enroll in a health benefit plan with a new employer and (iii) accelerated vesting of all outstanding and unvested stock options and other equity awards, with any stock options being exercisable following his termination of employment for the period of time set forth in the applicable option agreement.

In addition, the employment agreement provides that in the event Mr. Guo’s employment with us terminates by reason of his death or disability, Mr. Guo is entitled to accelerated vesting of all outstanding and unvested stock options and other equity awards, to the extent such awards are time-based vesting awards, with any stock options being exercisable following his termination of employment for the period of time set forth in the applicable option agreement. Any performance-based vesting awards are subject to the accelerated vesting terms, if any, set out in the applicable grant documents.

Employment Agreement with Ms. Xie

We are a party to an employment agreement with Ms. Xie dated November 17, 2017. Under the employment agreement, Ms. Xie is an at-will employee, and her employment with us can be terminated by her or us at any time and for any reason. The employment agreement provides that Ms. Xie is entitled to a base salary of $376,836 during her employment with us and that she is eligible, at our sole discretion, to earn a target annual bonus equal to 100% of her base salary, subject to adjustment. Ms. Xie’s current base salary is $463,500 and her current target annual bonus amount is 100% of her base salary. The employment agreement also provides that Ms. Xie is eligible to participate in our annual long-term incentive program, with a target annual equity award equal to 350% of her then-current base salary, and with the form, terms and conditions of such long-term incentive awards to be determined in our sole discretion. Prior to 2020, annual equity awards granted under the long-term incentive program were subject solely to time-based vesting conditions. Beginning in 2020, our board of directors determined that a portion of such awards would be subject solely to time-based vesting conditions and a portion of such awards would be subject solely to market-based vesting conditions, determined by our company’s level of achievement of pre-established parameters relating to the performance of our company’s stock price.

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Under the employment agreement, Ms. Xie is entitled, subject to her execution and nonrevocation of a release of claims in our favor, in the event of the termination of her employment by us without cause or by her for good reason, each as defined in her employment agreement with us, to (i) receive an amount equal to the sum of her then-current annual base salary plus her target annual bonus for the year of her termination of employment, with such amount payable in equal installments over a period of 12 months, (ii) continue to receive an amount equal to COBRA premiums for health benefit coverage on the same terms as were applicable to her prior to her termination for a period of 12 months following the date that her employment with us is terminated, or earlier, if she becomes eligible to enroll in a health benefit plan with a new employer and (iii) accelerated vesting of all outstanding and unvested stock options and other equity awards, with any stock options being exercisable following her termination of employment for the period of time set forth in the applicable option agreement.

In addition, the employment agreement provides that in the event Ms. Xie’s employment with us terminates by reason of her death or disability, Ms. Xie is entitled to accelerated vesting of all outstanding and unvested stock options and other equity awards, to the extent such awards are time-based vesting awards, with any stock options being exercisable following his termination of employment for the period of time set forth in the applicable option agreement. Any performance-based vesting awards are subject to the accelerated vesting terms, if any, set out in the applicable grant documents.

Employment Agreement with Mr. Chen

We are a party to an employment agreement with Mr. Chen dated November 17, 2017. Under the employment agreement, Mr. Chen is an at-will employee, and his employment with us can be terminated by him or us at any time and for any reason. The employment agreement provides that Mr. Chen is entitled to a base salary of $376,836 during his employment with us and that he is eligible, at our sole discretion, to earn a target annual bonus equal to 100% of his base salary. Mr. Chen’s current base salary is $438,114 and his current target annual bonus amount is 100% of his base salary. The employment agreement also provides that Mr. Chen is eligible to participate in our annual long-term incentive program, with a target annual equity award equal to 200% of his then-current base salary, and with the form, terms and conditions of such long-term incentive awards to be determined in our sole discretion. Mr. Chen’s current target annual equity award is equal to 250% of his current base salary. Prior to 2020, annual equity awards granted under the long-term incentive program were subject solely to time-based vesting conditions. In 2020 and 2021, our board of directors determined that a portion of such awards would be subject solely to time-based vesting conditions and a portion of such awards would be subject solely to market-based vesting conditions, determined by our company’s level of achievement of pre-established parameters relating to the performance of our company’s stock price.

Under the employment agreement, Mr. Chen is entitled, subject to his execution and nonrevocation of a release of claims in our favor, in the event of the termination of his employment by us without cause or by him for good reason, each as defined in his employment agreement with us, to (i) receive an amount equal to the sum of his then-current annual base salary plus his target annual bonus for the year of his termination of employment, with such amount payable in equal installments over a period of 12 months, (ii) continue to receive an amount equal to COBRA premiums for health benefit coverage on the same terms as were applicable to him prior to his termination for a period of 12 months following the date that his employment with us is terminated, or earlier, if he becomes eligible to enroll in a health benefit plan with a new employer and (iii) accelerated vesting of all outstanding and unvested stock options and other equity awards, with any stock options being exercisable following his termination of employment for the period of time set forth in the applicable option agreement.

In addition, the employment agreement provides that in the event Mr. Chen’s employment with us terminates by reason of his death or disability, Mr. Chen is entitled to accelerated vesting of all outstanding and unvested stock options and other equity awards, to the extent such awards are time-based vesting awards, with any stock options being exercisable following his termination of employment for the period of time set forth in the applicable option agreement. Any performance-based vesting awards are subject to the accelerated vesting terms, if any, set out in the applicable grant documents.

Director Compensation

In November 2017, our board of directors approved a non-employee director compensation program that became effective upon the closing of our initial public offering on December 19, 2017. In April 2018, our board of directors amended the program to provide that non-employee directors beneficially owning more than 10% of our outstanding common stock would not be entitled to compensation under the program. In February 2022, our compensation committee further amended the program to increase certain retainers and other compensation payments. Under the program, new non-employee directors that qualify under the program receive an initial award in the form of restricted stock units for the number of shares of our common stock equal to $300,000 divided by the closing price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the date of such director’s initial election to our board of directors. Any such restricted stock units will vest in equal increments at the end of each successive three-month period, over a period of three years after the date of grant. In addition, non-employee directors that qualify under the program receive the cash compensation set forth below, and an additional payment of $170,000 annually on the date of the first meeting of our board of directors held on or after the date of each annual meeting of stockholders, to be paid, at the discretion of our board of directors, in the form of cash or restricted stock units for the number of shares of our common stock equal to $170,000 divided by the closing price of

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our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the date of grant. Prior to 2022, the amount of this additional payment was $150,000 annually. Any such restricted stock units will vest one year after the date of grant. Restricted stock units granted under our non-employee director compensation policy are settleable upon vesting in the form of cash or shares of our common stock at the discretion of our board of directors. The vesting of any restricted stock units to our non-employee directors under our non-employee director compensation policy is subject to such non-employee director’s continued service as a director and will accelerate in full upon a change in control of our company.

We also have a policy of reimbursing our directors for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in attending board of directors and committee meetings.

Under our non-employee director compensation program, each non-employee director that qualifies under the program is eligible to receive compensation for his or her service on our board of directors or committees thereof consisting of annual cash retainers paid quarterly in arrears, as follows:

 

The following table sets forth information regarding compensation earned by our non-employee directors during the year ended December 31, 2021.

 

 

The following table sets forth, with respect to each of our non-employee directors, the aggregate number of RSUs outstanding as of December 31, 2021:

Limitation of Liability and Indemnification

Our restated certificate of incorporation limits the personal liability of directors for breach of fiduciary duty to the maximum extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law and provides that no director will have personal liability to us or to our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty or other duty as a director. However, these provisions do not eliminate or limit the liability of any of our directors:

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Any amendment to, or repeal of, these provisions will not eliminate or reduce the effect of these provisions in respect of any act, omission or claim that occurred or arose prior to such amendment or repeal. 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 restated certificate of incorporation provides that we must indemnify our directors and officers and we must advance expenses, including attorneys’ fees, to our directors and officers in connection with legal proceedings, subject to very limited exceptions.

We maintain a general liability insurance policy that covers certain liabilities of our directors and officers arising out of claims based on acts or omissions in their capacities as directors or officers. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers. These indemnification agreements may require us, among other things, to indemnify each such director and executive officer for some expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and settlement amounts, incurred by him or her in any action or proceeding arising out of his or her service as one of our directors or executive officers.

Certain of our non-employee directors may, through their relationships with their employers, be insured and/or indemnified against certain liabilities incurred in their capacity as members of our board of directors. We have agreed that we will be the indemnitor of “first resort,” however, with respect to any claims against these directors for indemnification claims that are indemnifiable by both us and their employers. Accordingly, to the extent that indemnification is permissible under applicable law, we will have full liability for such claims (including for the advancement of any expenses), and we have waived all related rights of contribution, subrogation or other recovery that we might otherwise have against these directors’ employers.

 

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SECURITIES AUTHORIZED FOR ISSUANCE UNDER EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS

Our equity compensation plans consist of our 2003 Stock Incentive Plan, our 2011 Stock Incentive Plan and our 2017 Stock Incentive Plan. Prior to our initial public offering, we granted awards under our 2003 Stock Incentive Plan and our 2011 Stock Incentive Plan. In connection with our initial public offering, we started granting awards under our 2017 Stock Incentive Plan and ceased granting awards under all prior plans. The following table contains information about our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2021:

 

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RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS

Other than compensation arrangements for our executive officers that are described elsewhere in this Proxy Statement or that are not required to be disclosed herein in accordance with the rules of the SEC, below we describe transactions since January 1, 2021, to which we were a party or will be a party, in which:

Employment of Rongke Xie

Rongke Xie, who serves as General Manager of Guangzhou Casa Communication Technology LTD, one of our subsidiaries, is the sister of Lucy Xie, our Senior Vice President of Operations and a member of our board of directors. We paid Rongke Xie $223,615 in total compensation in the year ended December 31, 2021, for her services as an employee.

In addition, during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we granted to Rongke Xie 13,228 and 89,686 RSUs, respectively, which vest in annual installments over a four-year period. The grant-date fair value of the awards totaled $100,000 and $200,000, respectively, which will be recorded as stock-based compensation expense over the vesting period of the awards. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recognized selling, general and administrative expenses of $109,948 and $90,194, respectively, related to these awards.

Indemnification Agreements

Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers. See “Executive Compensation—Limitation of Liability and Indemnification.”

Arrangements with Executive Officers

For a description of the compensation arrangements that we have with our named executive officers and directors, see “Executive Compensation”.

Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions

We have adopted written policies and procedures for the review of any transaction, arrangement or relationship in which our company is a participant, the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and one of our executive officers, directors, director nominees or 5% stockholders (or their immediate family members), each of whom we refer to as a “related person,” has a direct or indirect material interest.

If a related person proposes to enter into such a transaction, arrangement or relationship, which we refer to as a “related person transaction,” the related person must report the proposed related person transaction. The policy calls for the proposed related person transaction to be reviewed and, if deemed appropriate, approved by the audit committee of our board of directors. Whenever practicable, the reporting, review and approval will occur prior to entry into the transaction. If advance review and approval is not practicable, the committee will review, and, in its discretion, may ratify the related person transaction. The policy also permits the chairman of the audit committee to review and, if deemed appropriate, approve proposed related person transactions that arise between audit committee meetings, subject to ratification by the audit committee at its next meeting. Any related person transactions that are ongoing in nature will be reviewed annually.

A related person transaction reviewed under the policy will be considered approved or ratified if it is authorized by the audit committee after full disclosure of the related person’s interest in the transaction. As appropriate for the circumstances, the audit committee will review and consider:

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The audit committee may approve or ratify the transaction only if it determines that, under all of the circumstances, the transaction is in or is not inconsistent with our company’s best interests. The audit committee may impose any conditions on the related person transaction that it deems appropriate.

In addition to the transactions that are excluded by the instructions to the SEC’s related person transaction disclosure rule, the policy provides that the following transactions do not create a material direct or indirect interest on behalf of related persons and, therefore, are not related person transactions for purposes of this policy:

The policy provides that transactions involving compensation of executive officers shall be reviewed and approved by the compensation committee in the manner specified in its charter.

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TRANSACTION OF OTHER BUSINESS

Our board of directors knows of no other matters that will be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting. If any other matters are properly brought before the Annual Meeting, the persons appointed in the accompanying proxy intend to vote the shares represented thereby in accordance with their best judgment on such matters, under applicable laws.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Procedures for Submitting Stockholder Proposals

Requirements for Stockholder Proposals to be Brought Before the Annual Meeting. Our amended and restated by-laws provide that, for nominations of persons for election to our board of directors or other proposals to be considered at an annual meeting of stockholders, a stockholder must give written notice to our corporate secretary at 100 Old River Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01810, not later than the close of business 90 days, nor earlier than the close of business 120 days, prior to the first anniversary of the date of the preceding year’s annual meeting. However, our amended and restated by-laws also provide that in the event the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, or if no annual meeting was held in the preceding year, notice must be delivered not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such annual meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made. Any nomination must include all information relating to the nominee that is required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for election of directors in election contests or is otherwise required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, the person’s written consent to be named in the proxy statement and to serve as a director if elected and such information as we might reasonably require to determine the eligibility of the person to serve as a director. As to other business, the notice must include a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting, the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting, and any material interest of such stockholder (and the beneficial owner) in the proposal. The proposal must be a proper subject for stockholder action. In addition, to make a nomination or proposal, the stockholder must be a stockholder of record who is entitled to vote on such business at the time the notice is made and must provide certain information regarding itself (and the beneficial owner), including the name and address, as they appear on our books, of the stockholder proposing such business, the number of shares of our capital stock which are, directly or indirectly, owned beneficially or of record by the stockholder or beneficial owner proposing such business and certain additional information.

The advance notice requirements for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders are as follows: a stockholder’s notice shall be timely if delivered to our corporate secretary at the address set forth above by February 11, 2023, but not before January 12, 2023, which is not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the one-year anniversary of the Annual Meeting, unless the date of the 2022 annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, in which case notice must be delivered not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such annual meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made.

Requirements for Stockholder Proposals to be Considered for Inclusion in Our Proxy Materials. In addition to the requirements stated above, any stockholder who wishes to submit a proposal for inclusion in our proxy materials must comply with Rule 14a-8 promulgated under the Exchange Act. For such proposals to be included in our proxy materials relating to our 2023 annual meeting of stockholders, all applicable requirements of Rule 14a-8 must be satisfied and we must receive such proposals no later than December 2, 2022, unless the date of the 2023 annual meeting has been changed by more than 30 days from the date of the previous year’s annual meeting, in which case the deadline is a reasonable time before the company begins to print and send its proxy material. Such proposals must be delivered to our corporate secretary, c/o Casa Systems, Inc., 100 Old River Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01810.

To comply with the universal proxy rules (once effective), stockholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than the Company’s nominees must provide notice that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act no later than March 13, 2023.

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APPENDIX A

Definitive Proxy Soliciting Materials

 

 

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT! PLEASE VOTE BY: Casa Systems, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders For Stockholders of record as of March 21, 2022 TIME: Thursday, May 12, 2022 10:00 AM, Eastern Time PLACE: Annual Meeting to be held live via the Internet - please visit www.proxydocs.com/CASA for more details This proxy is being solicited on behalf of the Board of Directors The undersigned hereby appoints Jerry Guo, Lucy Xie, and each or either of them (the "Named Proxies"), as the true and lawful attorneys of the undersigned, with full power of substitution and revocation, and authorizes them, and each of them, to vote all the shares of common stock of Casa Systems, Inc. which the undersigned is entitled to vote at said meeting and any adjournment thereof upon the matters specified and upon such other matters as may be properly brought before the meeting or any adjournment thereof, conferring authority upon such true and lawful attorneys to vote in their discretion on such other matters as may properly come before the meeting and revoking any proxy heretofore given. THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED OR, IF NO DIRECTION IS GIVEN, SHARES WILL BE VOTED IDENTICAL TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS' RECOMMENDATION. This proxy, when properly executed, will be voted in the manner directed herein. In their discretion, the Named Proxies are authorized to vote upon such other matters that may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. You are encouraged to specify your choice by marking the appropriate box (SEE REVERSE SIDE) but you need not mark any box if you wish to vote in accordance with the Board of Directors’ recommendation. The Named Proxies cannot vote your shares unless you sign (on the reverse side) and return this card. PLEASE BE SURE TO SIGN AND DATE THIS PROXY CARD AND MARK ON THE REVERSE SIDE P.O. BOX 8016, CARY, NC 27512-9903 INTERNET Go To: www.proxypush.com/CASA • Cast your vote online • Have your Proxy Card ready • Follow the simple instructions to record your vote PHONE Call 1-866-882-9119 • Use any touch-tone telephone • Have your Proxy Card ready • Follow the simple recorded instructions MAIL • Mark, sign and date your Proxy Card • Fold and return your Proxy Card in the postage-paid envelope provided You must pre-register to attend the meeting online and/or participate at www.proxydocs.com/CASA.

 

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Casa Systems, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE: FOR ON PROPOSALS 1 AND 2 PROPOSAL YOUR VOTE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS 1. Election of Directors FOR WITHHOLD 1.01 Susana D'Emic #P2# #P2# FOR 1.02 Bruce Evans #P3# #P3# FOR FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN 2. To ratify the appointment of Ernst and Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. #P4# #P4# #P4# FOR NOTE: To transact any other business that properly comes before the Annual Meeting (including adjournments and postponements thereof). You must pre-register to attend the meeting online and/or participate at www.proxydocs.com/CASA. Authorized Signatures - Must be completed for your instructions to be executed. Please sign exactly as your name(s) appears on your account. If held in joint tenancy, all persons should sign. Trustees, administrators, etc., should include title and authority. Corporations should provide full name of corporation and title of authorized officer signing the Proxy/Vote Form. Signature (and Title if applicable) Proposal_Page – VIFL Date Signature (if held jointly) Date Please make your marks like this: X

 

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