Exhibit

EXHIBIT 4.2

DESCRIPTION OF COMMON SHARES

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (the “Company”) has authority to issue 300,000,000 common shares, $0.01 par value per share.

General

The following description of our common shares sets forth certain general terms and provisions of our common shares. The statements below describing our common shares are in all respects subject to and qualified in their entirety by reference to the applicable provisions of our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended (“charter”), and bylaws.

Terms

Each of our outstanding common shares is be entitled to one vote on all matters presented to shareholders for a vote. Holders of our common shares do not have, nor are subject to, any pre-emptive or similar rights.

Except for the election of a director to fill a vacancy on the board of directors, the election of directors by holders of one or more class or series of our preferred shares, or in the event of a contested election, directors are elected by the holders of our common shares at each annual meeting of shareholders by a majority of the votes cast. In the event of a contested election, directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the shares entitled to vote in the election. Holders of our common shares do not have cumulative voting rights for the election of directors. A director may be removed by a majority of votes cast. If a director is elected by a voting group of shareholders, only the shareholders of that voting group may participate in a vote to remove him.

Dividends and other distributions may be paid to the holders of our common shares if and when declared by the board of directors of the Company out of funds legally available therefor.

Under North Carolina law, shareholders are generally not liable for our debts or obligations. Payment and declaration of dividends on our common shares and purchases of our shares are subject to certain limitations under North Carolina law and will be subject to certain restrictions if we fail to pay dividends on one or more series of our preferred shares. If we were to experience a liquidation, dissolution or winding up, each of our common shares would, subject to the rights of any holders of our preferred shares to receive preferential distributions, be entitled to participate equally in the assets available for distribution to them after payment of, or adequate provision for, all our known debts and liabilities.

Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer

For us to qualify as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), not more than 50% in value of our outstanding capital stock may be owned, actually or constructively, by five or fewer individuals during the last half of our taxable year. This requirement is referred to as the “five or fewer” requirement. For purposes of this five or fewer requirement, individuals include the entities that are set forth in Section 542(a)(2) of the Code. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity constructively owns our stock under the “five or fewer” requirement. Our capital stock also must be beneficially owned by 100 or more persons during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months, or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year. In addition, rent from a related party tenant is not qualifying income for purposes of the gross income tests under the Code. A related party tenant is generally a tenant in which the REIT or an owner of 10% or more of the REIT owns, actually or constructively, 10% or more of the equity interests, by vote or value. To assist us in meeting these requirements, we may take certain actions to limit the actual, beneficial or constructive ownership by a single person or entity of our outstanding equity securities.

Subject to certain exceptions specified in our charter, no shareholder (other than Stanley K. Tanger, our founder and the deceased father of Steven B. Tanger, Steven B. Tanger, members of their families, affiliated entities and their transferees) may own, or be deemed to own by virtue of the constructive ownership provisions of the Code, more than 4% of our outstanding common shares. Our charter provides that Stanley K. Tanger, Steven B. Tanger, members of their families, affiliated entities and their transferees may acquire additional common shares, but may not acquire additional shares, such that the five largest beneficial owners of our common shares, taking into account the 4% limit and certain exemptions from such limit that the board of directors has granted to other shareholders, could hold more than 49% of our outstanding common shares. The constructive ownership rules are complex and may cause common shares owned actually or constructively by a group of related individuals and/or entities to be constructively owned by one individual or entity. As a result, the acquisition of less than 4% of our outstanding common shares (or the acquisition of an interest in an entity which owns our common shares) by an individual or entity could cause that individual

or entity (or another individual or entity) to constructively own in excess of 4% of our outstanding common shares, and thus subject those common shares to the ownership limit in our charter.

If the board of directors shall at any time determine in good faith that a person intends to acquire or own, has attempted to acquire or own or may acquire or own common shares in the Company in violation of the above limit, the board of directors shall take such action as it deems advisable to refuse to give effect to, or to prevent such ownership or acquisition, including, but not limited to, the redemption of our common shares, refusal to give effect to the ownership or acquisition on our books or instituting proceedings to enjoin such ownership or acquisition.

The board of directors may waive the limit with respect to a particular shareholder if evidence satisfactory to the board of directors and our tax counsel is presented that such ownership will not then or in the future jeopardize our status as a REIT. As a condition of such waiver, the board of directors may require opinions of counsel satisfactory to it and/or an undertaking from the applicant with respect to preserving our REIT status. If our common shares are issued in excess of the ownership limit in our charter, or if our shares are transferred in a way that would cause our shares to be beneficially owned by fewer than 100 persons, then the issuance or transfer shall be void, and the intended transferee will acquire no rights to our shares.

The ownership limits described above will be automatically removed if our board of directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to attempt to qualify, or to continue to qualify, as a REIT. Except as otherwise described above, any change in our ownership limits would require an amendment to our charter. Except for an amendment that would create dissenters’ rights, an amendment to our charter requiring shareholder approval will be adopted if the number of votes cast for it exceeds the number of votes cast against it at a shareholder meeting at which a quorum exists. In addition to preserving our status as a REIT, the ownership limit may have the effect of precluding an acquisition of control of the REIT without the approval of the board of directors.

All certificates representing our common shares will bear a legend referring to the restrictions described above.

All persons who own a specified percentage (or more) of our outstanding capital shares must annually file an affidavit with us containing information regarding their ownership of our capital shares, as set forth in the applicable Treasury Regulations promulgated under the Code. Under current Treasury Regulations, the percentage is set between 0.5% and 5%, depending on the number of record holders of our capital shares. In addition, each shareholder shall upon demand be required to disclose to us in writing the information with respect to the direct, indirect and constructive ownership of our capital shares as the board of directors deems necessary to comply with the provisions of the Code applicable to a REIT or to comply with the requirements of any taxing authority or governmental agency.

Anti-Takeover Considerations

In addition to the above, our charter and bylaws contain provisions that could delay, defer, or prevent a change in control of the Company or management. These provisions could also discourage a proxy contest and make it more difficult for shareholders to elect directors and take other corporate actions. As a result, these provisions could limit the price that investors are willing to pay in the future for our common shares. Such provisions include, but are not limited to, the following:


•	Authorizing the board of directors to issue preferred shares;


•	Prohibiting cumulative voting in the election of directors;


•	Limiting the persons who may call special meetings of shareholders; and


•	Establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors for proposing matters that can be acted on by shareholders at shareholder meetings.