UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): September 29, 2020

 

U.S. ENERGY CORP.

(Exact Name of Company as Specified in its Charter)

 

Wyoming   000-06814   83-0205516

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation or organization)

 

(Commission

File No.)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

675 Bering Drive, Suite 100, Houston, Texas   77057
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (303) 993-3200

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2):

 

[  ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act
   
[  ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act
   
[  ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act
   
[  ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class   Trading Symbol(s)   Name of exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par value   USEG  

The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

(Nasdaq Capital Market)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2).

 

Emerging growth company [  ]

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. [  ]

 

 

 

 
 

 

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

 

On September 30, 2020, U.S. Energy Corp. (the “Company”, “we”, and “us”), entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with certain institutional investors (the “Purchasers”) for the sale by the Company in a registered direct offering (the “Offering”) of an aggregate of 315,810 shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), at $5.25 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,658,002.50, before deducting the placement agent fees and related offering expenses. The Offering closed on October 2, 2020.

 

The Purchase Agreement contains customary representations and warranties and agreements of the Company and the Purchasers, and customary indemnification rights and obligations of the parties. Under the Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed not to issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any shares of the Company’s common stock or common stock equivalents for a period of 180 days from the closing of the Offering, other than certain exempt issuances including, but not limited to, securities issued pursuant to the Company’s equity compensation plans. Additionally, each of the officers and directors of the Company pursuant to lock-up agreements (the “Lock-Up Agreements”) agreed not to sell or transfer any of the Company securities which they hold, subject to certain exceptions, during the 180-day period following the closing of the Offering.

 

Until the sixth month anniversary of the closing of the Offering, the Company is required to offer each of the Purchasers the right to participate in an amount up to 50% of any subsequent financing transaction undertaken by the Company.

 

Kingswood Capital Markets, a division of Benchmark Investments, Inc., acted as the sole placement agent for the Company (the “Placement Agent”) on a “reasonable best efforts” basis, in connection with the Offering. The Company entered into a Placement Agency Agreement, dated as of September 29, 2020, by and between the Company and the Placement Agent (the “Placement Agency Agreement”). Pursuant to the Placement Agency Agreement, the Placement Agent received a cash fee of 6% of the gross proceeds in the Offering.

 

The Shares sold in the offering were offered and sold by the Company pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on September 18, 2020 and declared effective on September 25, 2020 (File No. 333- 248906) (the “Registration Statement”), and the base prospectus contained therein. The Company filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC on October 2, 2020, in connection with the sale of the Shares.

 

The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Purchase Agreement and Placement Agency Agreement were made solely for the benefit of the parties to the Purchase Agreement and Placement Agency Agreement, respectively. In addition, such representations, warranties and covenants (i) are intended as a way of allocating the risk between the parties to the Purchase Agreement and Placement Agency Agreement and not as statements of fact, and (ii) may apply standards of materiality in a way that is different from what may be viewed as material by shareholders of, or other investors in, the Company. Accordingly, the Purchase Agreement and Placement Agency Agreement are included with this filing only to provide investors with information regarding the terms of the transaction, and not to provide investors with any other factual information regarding the Company. Shareholders should not rely on the representations, warranties and covenants or any descriptions thereof as characterizations of the actual state of facts or condition of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of the representations and warranties may change after the date of the Purchase Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in public disclosures.

 

 
 

 

The foregoing descriptions of the Purchase Agreement and the Placement Agency Agreement are not complete and are qualified in their entireties by reference to the full text of the form of Purchase Agreement, Placement Agency Agreement, and the form of Lock Up Agreements, copies of which are filed herewith as Exhibit 10.1, Exhibit 1.1, and Exhibit 10.2, respectively, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated by reference herein.

 

This Current Report on Form 8-K does not constitute an offer to sell any securities or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

 

A copy of the opinion of The Loev Law Firm, PC, relating to the validity of the issuance of the shares of Common Stock, is attached as Exhibit 5.1 hereto.

 

Item 8.01. Other Events.

 

On September 30, 2020, the Company issued a press release announcing the pricing of the Offering. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Forward- Looking Statements 

 

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, include the ability of the Company to satisfy certain conditions to closing the Offering on a timely basis or at all, as well as other risks described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on September 16, 2020 and in our other filings with the SEC, including, without limitation, our reports on Forms 8-K and 10-Q, all of which can be obtained on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made and reflect management’s current estimates, projections, expectations and beliefs. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.

 

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d)

Exhibit

No.

  Description.
  1.1   Placement Agency Agreement, dated September 29, 2020 between the Company and Kingswood Capital Markets, a division of Benchmark Investments, Inc.
  5.1   Opinion of The Loev Law Firm, PC
  10.1#   Form of Securities Purchase Agreement, dated September 30, 2020, by and between the Company and the Purchasers thereunder
 

10.2

 

Form of Lock-Up Agreements

  23.1   Consent of The Loev Law Firm, PC (included in Exhibit 5.1)
  99.1   Press release of the Company, dated September 30, 2020

 

# Certain schedules, annexes, and similar attachments have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. A copy of any omitted schedule or exhibit will be furnished supplementally to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon request; provided, however, that U.S. Energy Corp. may request confidential treatment pursuant to Rule 24b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for any schedule or exhibit so furnished.

 
 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

  U.S. ENERGY CORP.
     
  By: /s/ Ryan Smith
    Ryan Smith
    Chief Executive Officer
     
  Dated: October 2, 2020

 

 
 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

 

Exhibit

No.

  Description.
  1.1   Placement Agency Agreement, dated September 29, 2020 between the Company and Kingswood Capital Markets, a division of Benchmark Investments, Inc.
  5.1   Opinion of The Loev Law Firm, PC
  10.1#   Form of Securities Purchase Agreement, dated September 30, 2020, by and between the Company and the Purchaser thereunder
  10.2   Form of Lock-Up Agreements
  23.1   Consent of The Loev Law Firm, PC (included in Exhibit 5.1)
  99.1   Press release of the Company, dated September 30, 2020

 

  # Certain schedules, annexes, and similar attachments have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. A copy of any omitted schedule or exhibit will be furnished supplementally to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon request; provided, however, that U.S. Energy Corp. may request confidential treatment pursuant to Rule 24b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for any schedule or exhibit so furnished.

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 1.1

 

 

 

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

 

September 29, 2020

 

Ryan L. Smith

Chief Executive Officer

U.S. Energy Corp.

675 Bering Drive
Suite 100

Houston, TX 77057

 

Dear Mr. Smith:

 

This letter (the “Agreement”) constitutes the agreement between, Kingswood Capital Markets, division of Benchmark Investments, Inc. (“Kingswood”, the “Placement Agent”) and U.S. Energy Corp., (the “Company”), pursuant to which the Placement Agent shall serve as the exclusive placement agent for the Company, on a “reasonable best efforts” basis, in connection with the proposed placement (the “Placement”) of equity and/or equity derivatives (the “Shares” or the “Securities”) of the Company, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”). The terms of the Placement and the Securities shall be mutually agreed upon by the Company and the purchasers (each, a “Purchaser” and collectively, the “Purchasers”) and nothing herein constitutes that the Placement Agent would have the power or authority to bind the Company or any Purchaser or an obligation for the Company to issue any Securities or complete the Placement. This Agreement and the documents executed and delivered by the Company and the Purchasers in connection with the Placement, including but not limited to the Purchase Agreement (as defined below), shall be collectively referred to herein as the “Transaction Documents.” The date of the closing of the Placement shall be referred to herein as the “Closing Date.” The Company expressly acknowledges and agrees that the obligations of the Placement Agent hereunder are on a reasonable best efforts basis only and that the execution of this Agreement does not constitute a commitment by the Placement Agent to purchase the Securities and does not ensure the successful placement of the Securities or any portion thereof or the success of the Placement Agent with respect to securing any other financing on behalf of the Company. Following the prior written consent of the Company, the Placement Agent may retain other brokers or dealers to act as sub-Agent or selected-dealers on its behalf in connection with the Placement. The sale of the Securities to any Purchaser will be evidenced by a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) between the Company and such Purchaser in a form mutually agreed upon by the Company and the Placement Agent. Capitalized terms that are not otherwise defined herein have the meanings given to such terms in the Purchase Agreement. Prior to the signing of any Purchase Agreement, executive officers of the Company will be available upon reasonable notice and during normal business hours to answer inquiries from prospective Purchasers.

 

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  SECTION 1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY; COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY.

 

A. Representations of the Company. Each of the representations and warranties (together with any related disclosure schedules thereto) and covenants made by the Company to the Purchasers in the Purchase Agreement in connection with the Placement is hereby incorporated herein by reference into this Agreement (as though fully restated herein) and is, as of the date of this Agreement and as of the Closing Date, hereby made to, and in favor of, the Placement Agent. In addition to the foregoing, the Company represents and warrants that:

 

1. The Company has prepared and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-248906), and amendments thereto, and related preliminary prospectuses, for the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), of the Shares, which registration statement, as so amended (including post-effective amendments, if any) became effective on September 25th, 2020. At the time of such filing, the Company met the requirements of Form S-3 under the Securities Act. Such registration statement meets the requirements set forth in Rule 415(a)(1)(x) under the Securities Act and complies with said Rule. The Company will file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, and the rules and regulations (the “Rules and Regulations”) of the Commission promulgated thereunder, a supplement to the form of prospectus included in such registration statement relating to the placement of the Shares and the plan of distribution thereof and has advised the Placement Agent of all further information (financial and other) with respect to the Company required to be set forth therein. Such registration statement, including the exhibits thereto, as amended at the date of this Agreement, is hereinafter called the “Registration Statement”; such prospectus in the form in which it appears in the Registration Statement is hereinafter called the “Base Prospectus”; and the supplemented form of prospectus, in the form in which it will be filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) (including the Base Prospectus as so supplemented) is hereinafter called the “Prospectus Supplement.” Any reference in this Agreement to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein (the “Incorporated Documents”) pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 which were filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), on or before the date of this Agreement, or the issue date of the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement, as the case may be; and any reference in this Agreement to the terms “amend,” “amendment” or “supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing of any document under the Exchange Act after the date of this Agreement, or the issue date of the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement, as the case may be, deemed to be incorporated therein by reference. All references in this Agreement to financial statements and schedules and other information which is “contained,” “included,” “described,” “referenced,” “set forth” or “stated” in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement (and all other references of like import) shall be deemed to mean and include all such financial statements and schedules and other information which is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement, as the case may be. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the use of the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement has been issued, and no proceeding for any such purpose is pending or has been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, is threatened by the Commission. For purposes of this Agreement, “Free Writing Prospectus” has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act and the “Time of Sale Prospectus” means the preliminary prospectus, if any, together with the Free Writing Prospectuses, if any, used in connection with the Placement, including any documents incorporated by reference therein.

 

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2. The Registration Statement (and any further documents to be filed with the Commission) contains all exhibits and schedules as required by the Securities Act. Each of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time it became effective, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations and did not and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Base Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, each as of its respective date, comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations. Each of the Base Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, as amended or supplemented, did not and will not contain as of the date thereof any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Incorporated Documents, when they were filed with the Commission, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations, and none of such documents, when they were filed with the Commission, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein (with respect to Incorporated Documents incorporated by reference in the Base Prospectus or Prospectus Supplement), in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading; and any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Base Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus or Prospectus Supplement, when such documents are filed with the Commission, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations, as applicable, and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. No post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement reflecting any facts or events arising after the date thereof which represent, individually or in the aggregate, a fundamental change in the information set forth therein is required to be filed with the Commission. There are no documents required to be filed with the Commission in connection with the transaction contemplated hereby that (x) have not been filed as required pursuant to the Securities Act or (y) will not be filed within the requisite time period. There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Base Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus or Prospectus Supplement, or to be filed as exhibits or schedules to the Registration Statement, which (x) have not been described or filed as required or (y) will not be filed within the requisite time period.
     
3. The Company is eligible to use Free Writing Prospectuses in connection with the Placement pursuant to Rules 164 and 433 under the Securities Act. Any Free Writing Prospectus that the Company is required to file pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act has been, or will be, filed with the Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. Each Free Writing Prospectus that the Company has filed, or is required to file, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act or that was prepared by or behalf of or used by the Company complies or will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. The Company will not, without the prior consent of the Placement Agent, prepare, use or refer to, any Free Writing Prospectus.
     
4. There are no affiliations with any FINRA member firm among the Company’s officers, directors or, to the  knowledge of the Company, any five percent (5.0%) or greater stockholder of the Company, except as set forth in the Registration Statement and SEC Reports.

 

B. Covenants of the Company. The Company has delivered or made available, or will as promptly as practicable deliver or make available, to the Placement Agent complete conformed copies of the Registration Statement and of each consent and certificate of experts, as applicable, filed as a part thereof, and conformed copies of the Registration Statement (without exhibits), the Base Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, as amended or supplemented, in such quantities and at such places as the Placement Agent reasonably requests. Neither the Company nor any of its directors and officers has distributed and none of them will distribute, prior to the Closing Date, any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities pursuant to the Placement other than the Base Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement, the Registration Statement, copies of the documents incorporated by reference therein and any other materials permitted by the Securities Act.

 

SECTION 2. REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PLACEMENT AGENT. The Placement Agent represents and warrants that it (i) is a member in good standing of FINRA, (ii) is registered as a broker/dealer under the Exchange Act, (iii) is licensed as a broker/dealer under the laws of the States applicable to the offers and sales of the Securities by such Placement Agent, (iv) is and will be a corporate entity validly existing under the laws of its place of incorporation, and (v) has full power and authority to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Placement Agent will immediately notify the Company in writing of any change in its status as such. The Placement Agent covenants that it will use its reasonable best efforts to conduct the Placement hereunder in compliance with the provisions of this Agreement and the requirements of applicable law.

 

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SECTION 3. COMPENSATION. In consideration of the services to be provided for hereunder, the Company shall pay to the Placement Agent the following compensation with respect to the Securities which they are placing:

 

A. A cash fee (the “Cash Fee”) equal to an aggregate of six percent (6%) of the aggregate gross proceeds raised in the Placement. The Cash Fee shall be paid at the Closing of the Placement.

 

B. Subject to compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(D), the Company will be responsible for and will pay all expenses relating to the Offering, including, without limitation, (a) all filing fees and expenses relating to the registration of the securities with the Commission; (b) all fees and expenses relating to the listing of the Company’s common stock on a national exchange, if applicable; (c) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration or qualification of the securities under the “blue sky” securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions as Placement Agent may reasonably designate (including, without limitation, all filing and registration fees, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of the Company’s “blue sky” counsel, which will be the Placement Agent’s counsel) unless such filings are not required in connection with the Company’s proposed listing on a national exchange, if applicable; (d) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration, qualification or exemption of the securities under the securities laws of such foreign jurisdictions as the Placement Agent’s may reasonably designate; (e) the costs of all mailing and printing of the Offering documents; (f) transfer and/or stamp taxes, if any, payable upon the transfer of securities from the Company to the Placement Agent; and (g) the fees and expenses of the Company’s accountants; and (h) a maximum of $35,000 for fees and expenses including “road show”, diligence, and reasonable legal fees and disbursements for Kingswood’s counsel. The Representative may deduct from the net proceeds of the Offering payable to the Company on the Closing Date, if any, the expenses set forth herein to be paid by the Company to the Underwriters. The Representative may deduct from the net proceeds of the Offering payable to the Company on the Closing Date, the expenses set forth herein to be paid by the Company to the Underwriters.

 

C. The Placement Agent reserves the right to reduce any item of its compensation or adjust the terms thereof as specified herein in the event that a determination shall be made by FINRA to the effect that such Placement Agent’s aggregate compensation is in excess of FINRA Rules or that the terms thereof require adjustment.

 

SECTION 4. INDEMNIFICATION. The Company agrees to the indemnification and other agreements set forth in the Indemnification Provisions (the “Indemnification”) attached hereto as Addendum A, the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference and shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.

 

SECTION 5. ENGAGEMENT TERM. The Placement Agent’ engagement hereunder shall be until the earlier of (i) three (3) months and (ii) the final closing date of the Placement (such date, the “Termination Date” and the period of time during which this Agreement remains in effect is referred to herein as the “Term”)., Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the provisions concerning the Company’s obligation to pay any fees actually earned pursuant to Section 3 hereof, expense reimbursement pursuant to Section 3 hereof and the provisions concerning Tail Financings, confidentiality, indemnification and contribution contained herein and the Company’s obligations contained in the Indemnification Provisions will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement. If this Agreement is terminated prior to the completion of the Placement, all fees and expense reimbursement due to the Placement Agent shall be paid by the Company to the Placement Agent on or before the Termination Date (in the event such fees are earned or owed as of the Termination Date), subject to the limits set forth in Section 3.B. The Placement Agent agree not to use any confidential information concerning the Company provided to such Placement Agent by the Company for any purposes other than those contemplated under this Agreement.

 

SECTION 6. PLACEMENT AGENT INFORMATION. The Company agrees that any information or advice rendered by the Placement Agent in connection with this engagement is for the confidential use of the Company only in their evaluation of the Placement and, except as otherwise required by law, the Company will not disclose or otherwise refer to the advice or information in any manner without such Placement Agent’s prior written consent.

 

SECTION 7. NO FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP. This Agreement does not create, and shall not be construed as creating rights enforceable by any person or entity not a party hereto, except those entitled hereto by virtue of the Indemnification Provisions hereof. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Placement Agent is nor shall the Placement Agent be construed as a fiduciary of the Company and the Placement Agent shall have any duties or liabilities to the equity holders or the creditors of the Company or any other person by virtue of this Agreement or the retention of the Placement Agent hereunder, all of which are hereby expressly waived.

 

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SECTION 8. CLOSING. The obligations of the Placement Agent, and the closing of the sale of the Securities hereunder are subject to the accuracy, when made and on the Closing Date, of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein and in the Purchase Agreement, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of their obligations hereunder, and to each of the following additional terms and conditions, except as otherwise disclosed to and acknowledged and waived by the Placement Agent by the Company:

 

A. The Company’s directors and executive officers shall enter into customary “lock-up” agreements pursuant to which such persons and entities shall agree, for a period of one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date of the Prospectus, that they shall neither offer, issue, sell, contract to sell, encumber, grant any option for the sale of or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company, absent certain customary exceptions contained in such agreements, without Kingswood’s prior written consent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.

 

B. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission, and any request for additional information on the part of the Commission (to be included in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement or otherwise) shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Placement Agent. Any filings required to be made by the Company in connection with the Placement shall have been timely filed with the Commission.

 

C. The Placement Agent shall not have discovered and disclosed to the Company on or prior to the Closing Date that the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement or any amendment or supplement thereto contains an untrue statement of a fact which, in the opinion of counsel for the Placement Agent, is material or omits to state any fact which, in the opinion of such counsel, is material and is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

 

D. All corporate proceedings and other legal matters incident to the authorization, form, execution, delivery and validity of each of this Agreement, the Securities, the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement and all other legal matters relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be reasonably satisfactory in all material respects to counsel for the Placement Agent and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel all documents and information that they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.

 

E. The Placement Agent shall have received from outside counsels to the Company such counsels’ written opinions, addressed to the Placement Agent and the Purchasers and dated as of the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Placement Agent.

 

F. On the date of this Agreement and on the Closing Date, the Placement Agent shall have received a “comfort” letter from the Company’s auditor as of each such date, addressed to the Placement Agent and in form and substance satisfactory in all respects to the Placement Agent and Placement Agent’ counsel.

 

G. The Company (i) shall not have sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood, terrorist act or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth in or contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, and (ii) since such date there shall not have been any change in the capital stock or long-term debt of the Company or any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the business, general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity, results of operations or prospects of the Company, otherwise than as set forth in or contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is, in the judgment of the Placement Agent, so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the sale or delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated by the Base Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement.

 

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H. The Common Stock is registered under the Exchange Act and, as of the Closing Date, the Shares shall be listed for trading on the Trading Market or other applicable U.S. national exchange and reasonable evidence of such action, if available, shall have been provided to the Placement Agent upon its request. The Company shall have taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of terminating the registration of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act or delisting or suspending from trading the Common Stock from the Trading Market or other applicable U.S. national exchange, nor has the Company received any information suggesting that the Commission or the Trading Market or other U.S. applicable national exchange is contemplating terminating such registration or listing.

 

I. No action shall have been taken and no statute, rule, regulation or order shall have been enacted, adopted or issued by any governmental agency or body which would, as of the Closing Date, prevent the issuance or sale of the Securities or materially and adversely affect or potentially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company; and no injunction, restraining order or order of any other nature by any federal or state court of competent jurisdiction shall have been issued as of the Closing Date which would prevent the issuance or sale of the Securities or materially and adversely affect or potentially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company.

 

J. The Company shall have prepared and filed with the Commission a Current Report on Form 8-K with respect to the Placement, including as an exhibit thereto this Agreement.

 

K. The Company shall have entered into a Purchase Agreement with each of the Purchasers and such agreements shall be in full force and effect and shall contain representations, warranties and covenants of the Company as agreed between the Company and the Purchasers.

 

L. FINRA shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the terms and arrangements of this Agreement. In addition, the Company shall, if requested by the Placement Agent, make or authorize Placement Agent’s counsel to make on the Company’s behalf, any filing with the FINRA Corporate Financing Department pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110 with respect to the Placement and pay all filing fees required in connection therewith.

 

M. Prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Placement Agent such further information, certificates and documents as the Placement Agent may reasonably request.

 

If any of the conditions specified in this Section 8 shall not have been fulfilled when and as required by this Agreement, or if any of the certificates, opinions, written statements or letters furnished to the Placement Agent or to Placement Agent’s counsel pursuant to this Section 8 shall not be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Placement Agent and to Placement Agent’s counsel, all obligations of the Placement Agent hereunder may be cancelled by the Placement Agent at, or at any time prior to, the consummation of the Closing. Notice of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or orally. Any such oral notice shall be confirmed promptly thereafter in writing.

 

SECTION 9. COVENANTS AND OBLIGATIONS.

 

A. Tail Financing. In the event that Kingswood does not consummate the Offering as contemplated by this Agreement, Kingswood shall be entitled to a cash fee equal to six percent (6%) of the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the securities to any investor actually introduced by Kingswood to the Company during the Engagement Period (the “Tail Financing”), and such Tail Financing is consummated at any time during the Engagement Period or within the twelve (12) month period following the expiration or termination of the Engagement Period, provided that such financing is by a party actually introduced to the Company in an offering in which the Company has direct knowledge of such party’s participation.

 

B. Right of First Refusal. Intentionally Omitted.

 

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SECTION 10. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and to be performed entirely in such State. This Agreement may not be assigned by either party without the prior written consent of the other party. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto, and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Any right to trial by jury with respect to any dispute arising under this Agreement or any transaction or conduct in connection herewith is waived. Any dispute arising under this Agreement may be brought into the courts of the State of New York or into the Federal Court located in New York, New York and, by execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Company hereby accepts for itself and in respect of its property, generally and unconditionally, the jurisdiction of aforesaid courts. Each party hereto hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by delivering a copy thereof via overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any manner permitted by law. If either party shall commence an action or proceeding to enforce any provisions of a Transaction Document, then the prevailing party in such action or proceeding shall be reimbursed by the other party for its attorney’s fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such action or proceeding.

 

SECTION 11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT/MISC. This Agreement (including the attached Indemnification Provisions) embodies the entire agreement and understanding between the parties hereto, and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, relating to the subject matter hereof. If any provision of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable in any respect, such determination will not affect such provision in any other respect or any other provision of this Agreement, which will remain in full force and effect. This Agreement may not be amended or otherwise modified or waived except by an instrument in writing signed by both Placement Agent and the Company. The representations, warranties, agreements and covenants contained herein shall survive the closing of the Placement and delivery of the Securities. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to the other party, it being understood that both parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission or a .pdf format file, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such facsimile or .pdf signature page were an original thereof.

 

SECTION 12. CONFIDENTIALITY. The Placement Agent (i) will keep the Confidential Information (as such term is defined below) confidential and will not (except as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, regulation or legal process (“Legal Requirement”)), without the Company’s prior written consent, disclose to any person any Confidential Information, and (ii) will not use any Confidential Information other than in connection with the Placement. The Placement Agent further agrees to disclose the Confidential Information only to its Representatives (as such term is defined below) who need to know the Confidential Information for the purpose of the Placement, and who are informed by such Placement Agent of the confidential nature of the Confidential Information. The term “Confidential Information” shall mean, all confidential, proprietary and non-public information (whether written, oral or electronic communications) furnished by the Company to a Placement Agent or its Representatives in connection with such Placement Agent’s evaluation of the Placement. The term “Confidential Information” will not, however, include information which (i) is or becomes publicly available other than as a result of a disclosure by a Placement Agent or its Representatives in violation of this Agreement, (ii) is or becomes available to a Placement Agent or any of its Representatives on a non-confidential basis from a third-party, (iii) is known to a Placement Agent or any of its Representatives prior to disclosure by the Company or any of its Representatives, or (iv) is or has been independently developed by a Placement Agent and/or the Representatives without use of any Confidential Information furnished to it by the Company. The term “Representatives” shall mean with respect to the Placement Agent, such Placement Agent’s directors, board committees, officers, employees, financial advisors, attorneys and accountants. This provision shall be in full force until the earlier of (a) the date that the Confidential Information ceases to be confidential and (b) two years from the date hereof. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, in the event that the Placement Agent or any of its Representatives are required by Legal Requirement to disclose any of the Confidential Information, such Placement Agent and its Representatives will furnish only that portion of the Confidential Information which such Placement Agent or its Representative, as applicable, is required to disclose by Legal Requirement as advised by counsel, and will use reasonable efforts to obtain reliable assurance that confidential treatment will be accorded the Confidential Information so disclosed.

 

SECTION 13. NOTICES. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries required or permitted to be provided hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of (a) the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is sent to the email address specified on the signature pages attached hereto prior to 6:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a business day, (b) the next business day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is sent to the email address on the signature pages attached hereto on a day that is not a business day or later than 6:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any business day, (c) the third business day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. internationally recognized air courier service, or (d) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. The address for such notices and communications shall be as set forth on the signature pages hereto.

 

SECTION 14. PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Company agrees that the Placement Agent shall, from and after any Closing, have the right to reference the Placement and the Placement Agent’s role in connection therewith in the Placement Agent’s marketing materials and on its website and to place advertisements in financial and other newspapers and journals, in each case at its own expense.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the day and year first above written.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  KINGSWOOD CAPITAL MARKETS, division of
  Benchmark Investments, Inc.
   
  By: /s/ Samuel J Fleischman
  Name: Sam Fleischman
  Title: Supervisory Principal

 

  Address for notice:
 

17 Battery Place, Suite 625

New York, NY 10017

Attention: Sam Fleischman

 

Accepted and Agreed to as of
the date first written above:
 
   
U.S. Energy Corp.  
   
By: /s/ Ryan L. Smith  
Name: Ryan L. Smith  
Title: Chief Executive Officer  
     
 

Address for notice:

675 Bering Drive

 
  Suite 100  
 

Houston, TX 77057

Attn: Ryan L. Smith

 

 

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ADDENDUM A

 

INDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS

 

In connection with the engagement of Kingswood Capital Markets, division of Benchmark Investments, Inc. (“Kingswood”, the “Placement Agent”) by U.S. Energy Corp. (the “Company”) pursuant to a placement agency agreement dated as of the date hereof, by and among the Company and the Placement Agent, as it may be amended from time to time in writing (the “Agreement”), the Company hereby agrees as follows:

 

1. To the extent permitted by law, the Company will indemnify the Placement Agent and its respective affiliates, directors, officers, employees and controlling persons (within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or Section 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) against all losses, claims, damages, expenses and liabilities, as the same are incurred (including the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel), relating to or arising out of its activities hereunder or pursuant to the Agreement, except, with regard to the Placement Agent, to the extent that any losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) are found in a final judgment (not subject to appeal) by a court of law to have resulted primarily and directly from such Placement Agent’s willful misconduct or gross negligence in performing the services described herein, as the case may be.

 

2. Promptly after receipt by the Placement Agent of notice of any claim or the commencement of any action or proceeding with respect to which such Placement Agent is entitled to indemnity hereunder, such Placement Agent will notify the Company in writing of such claim or of the commencement of such action or proceeding, and the Company will assume the defense of such action or proceeding and will employ counsel reasonably satisfactory to such Placement Agent and will pay the fees and expenses of such counsel. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the Placement Agent will be entitled to employ counsel separate from counsel for the Company and from any other party in such action if counsel for such Placement Agent reasonably determines that it would be inappropriate under the applicable rules of professional responsibility for the same counsel to represent both the Company and such Placement Agent. In such event, the reasonable fees and disbursements of no more than one such separate counsel will be paid by the Company. The Company will have the exclusive right to settle the claim or proceeding provided that the Company will not settle any such claim, action or proceeding without the prior written consent of the Placement Agent, which will not be unreasonably withheld.

 

3. The Company agrees to notify the Placement Agent promptly of the assertion against it or any other person of any claim or the commencement of any action or proceeding relating to a transaction contemplated by the Agreement.

 

4. If for any reason the foregoing indemnity is unavailable to the Placement Agent or insufficient to hold such Placement Agent harmless, then the Company shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Placement Agent, as the case may be, as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand, and such Placement Agent on the other, but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and such Placement Agent on the other that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any relevant equitable considerations. The amounts paid or payable by a party in respect of losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to above shall be deemed to include any legal or other fees and expenses incurred in defending any litigation, proceeding or other action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions hereof, no Placement Agent’s share of the liability hereunder shall be in excess of the amount of fees actually received, or to be received, by such Placement Agent under the Agreement (excluding any amounts received as reimbursement of expenses incurred by such Placement Agent).

 

5. These Indemnification Provisions shall remain in full force and effect whether or not the transaction contemplated by the Agreement is completed and shall survive the termination of the Agreement, and shall be in addition to any liability that the Company might otherwise have to any indemnified party under the Agreement or otherwise.

 

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Exhibit 5.1

 

 

October 2, 2020

 

U.S. Energy Corp.

675 Bering, Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77057

 

Re:    Sale of 315,810 Shares of Common Stock of U.S. Energy Corp.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as counsel for U.S. Energy Corp., a Wyoming corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the filing, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”), by the Company, of a prospectus supplement dated September 30, 2020 (the “Prospectus Supplement”), which supplements a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-248906), filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), on September 18, 2020, and including the final Rule 424(b)(3) prospectus which forms a part of the Registration Statement (the “Base Prospectus” and, together with the Prospectus Supplement, the “Prospectus”), relating to the offer and sale by the Company of 315,810 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Shares”), to be issued pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 30, 2020, by and among the Company and the investors party thereto (the “Purchase Agreement”). The Shares are to be issued pursuant to the Prospectus and the Purchase Agreement.

 

This opinion is being furnished to you at your request to enable you to fulfill the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act in connection with the Registration Statement, and no opinion is expressed or may be implied herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement, or the Prospectus.

 

We have examined originals or copies, certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of (a) the Articles of Incorporation of the Company, as amended to date (the “Articles of Incorporation”), (b) the Bylaws of the Company, as amended to date (the “Bylaws”), (c) the Registration Statement and all exhibits thereto, (d) the minutes and records of the corporate proceedings of the Company with respect to the filing of the Registration Statement and the sale of the Shares, including, but not limited to (i) the unanimous written consent of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) approving the filing of the Registration Statement and other related matters; (ii) the unanimous written consent of the Board appointing a pricing committee of the Board (the “Pricing Committee”) and other related matters, and (iii) the minutes of the Pricing Committee of the Board approving the final pricing and sale of the Shares and related matters; (d) the Purchase Agreement; and (e) the originals or copies certified to our satisfaction of such other documents, records, certificates, memoranda and other instruments as in our judgment are necessary or appropriate to enable us to render the opinion expressed below.

 

In rendering this opinion, we have assumed: (i) information contained in documents reviewed by us is true, complete and correct; (ii) the genuineness and authenticity of all signatures; (iii) the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals; (iv) the conformity to authentic originals of all documents submitted to us as copies; (v) the accuracy, completeness and authenticity of certificates of public officials; (vi) the obligations of parties other than the Company to the Purchase Agreement being valid, binding and enforceable; (vii) the legal capacity of all natural persons; and (viii) that all Shares will be issued and sold in the manner specified in the Registration Statement and Prospectus.

 

 
 

 

As to various questions of fact material to the opinions expressed below, we have, without independent third party verification of their accuracy, relied in part, and to the extent we deemed reasonably necessary or appropriate, upon the representations and warranties of the Company and the purchasers contained in such documents, records, certificates, instruments or representations furnished or made available to us by the Company or the purchasers, including the Registration Statement and Purchase Agreement.

 

The foregoing opinions are limited to the laws of the State of Wyoming. We express no opinion herein as to any other laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations (and in particular, we express no opinion as to any effect that such other laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations may have on the opinions expressed herein). No opinion is expressed herein with respect to the qualification of the Shares under the securities or blue sky laws of any state or any foreign jurisdiction. This opinion is limited to the matters set forth herein, and no other opinion should be inferred beyond the matters expressly stated. We have made such examination of Wyoming law as we have deemed relevant for purposes of this opinion. We express no opinion as to any county, municipal, city, town or village ordinance, rule, regulation or administrative decision. We express no opinion as to the enforceability of the Purchase Agreement.

 

Our opinion is based on these laws as in effect on the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to advise you of facts, circumstances, events or developments which hereafter may be brought to our attention and which may alter, affect or modify the opinion expressed herein. We are not rendering any opinion as to compliance with any federal or state antifraud law, rule or regulation relating to securities, or to the sale or issuance thereof.

 

On the basis of the foregoing, and in reliance thereon, we are of the opinion that the Shares have been authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company and, when issued and sold in accordance with the Purchase Agreement and in the manner contemplated by the Registration Statement and the Prospectus Supplement, against payment of the consideration therefor as provided therein, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

We consent to the reference to our firm under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus included in the Registration Statement and to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to a Current Report of the Company on Form 8-K. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.

 

  Sincerely,
   
  /s/ The Loev Law Firm, PC

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 10.1

 

SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT

 

This Securities Purchase Agreement (this “Agreement”) is dated as of September 30, 2020, between U.S. Energy Corp., a Wyoming corporation (the “Company”), and each purchaser identified on the signature pages hereto (each, including its successors and assigns, a “Purchaser” and collectively the “Purchasers”).

 

WHEREAS, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act (as defined below), the Company desires to issue and sell to each Purchaser, and each Purchaser, severally and not jointly, desires to purchase from the Company, securities of the Company as more fully described in this Agreement.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company and each Purchaser agree as follows:

 

ARTICLE I.
DEFINITIONS

 

1.1        Definitions. In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Agreement, for all purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings set forth in this Section 1.1:

 

Acquiring Person” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.4.

 

Action” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(j).

 

Affiliate” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

Board of Directors” means the board of directors of the Company.

 

Business Day” means any day other than Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in The City of New York are authorized or required by law to remain closed; provided, however, for clarification, commercial banks shall not be deemed to be authorized or required by law to remain closed due to “stay at home”, “shelter-in-place”, “non-essential employee” or any other similar orders or restrictions or the closure of any physical branch locations at the direction of any governmental authority so long as the electronic funds transfer systems (including for wire transfers) of commercial banks in The City of New York generally are open for use by customers on such day.

 

Closing” means the closing of the purchase and sale of the Shares pursuant to Section 2.1.

 

Closing Date” means the Trading Day on which all of the Transaction Documents have been executed and delivered by the applicable parties thereto, and all conditions precedent to (i) the Purchasers’ obligations to pay the Subscription Amount and (ii) the Company’s obligations to deliver the Shares, in each case, have been satisfied or waived, but in no event later than the second (2nd) Trading Day following the date hereof.

 

  1  
     

 

Commission” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Common Stock” means the common stock of the Company, par value $0.01 per share, and any other class of securities into which such securities may hereafter be reclassified or changed.

 

Common Stock Equivalents” means any securities of the Company or the Subsidiaries which would entitle the holder thereof to acquire at any time Common Stock, including, without limitation, any debt, preferred stock, right, option, warrant or other instrument that is at any time convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or otherwise entitles the holder thereof to receive, Common Stock.

 

Company Counsel” means The Loev Law Firm, PC, with offices located at 6300 West Loop South, Suite 280, Bellaire, TX 77401.

 

Disclosure Schedules” means the Disclosure Schedules of the Company delivered concurrently herewith.

 

Disclosure Time” means, (i) if this Agreement is signed on a day that is not a Trading Day or after 9:00 a.m. (New York City time) and before midnight (New York City time) on any Trading Day, 9:01 a.m. (New York City time) on the Trading Day immediately following the date hereof, unless otherwise instructed as to an earlier time by the Placement Agent, and (ii) if this Agreement is signed between midnight (New York City time) and 9:00 a.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, no later than 9:01 a.m. (New York City time) on the date hereof, unless otherwise instructed as to an earlier time by the Placement Agent.

 

EGS” means Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, with offices located at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105-0302.

 

Evaluation Date” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(s).

 

Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

Exempt Issuance” means the issuance of (a) shares of Common Stock or options to employees, officers or directors of the Company pursuant to any stock or option plan duly adopted for such purpose, by a majority of the non-employee members of the Board of Directors or a majority of the members of a committee of non-employee directors established for such purpose for services rendered to the Company, (b) securities upon the exercise or exchange of or conversion of securities exercisable or exchangeable for or convertible into shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding on the date of this Agreement, provided that such securities have not been amended since the date of this Agreement to increase the number of such securities or to decrease the exercise price, exchange price or conversion price of such securities (other than in connection with stock splits or combinations) or to extend the term of such securities, and (c) securities issued pursuant to acquisitions or strategic transactions approved by a majority of the disinterested directors of the Company, provided that such securities are issued as “restricted securities” (as defined in Rule 144) and carry no registration rights that require or permit the filing of any registration statement in connection therewith during the prohibition period in Section 4.10(a) herein, and provided that any such issuance shall only be to a Person (or to the equityholders of a Person) which is, itself or through its subsidiaries, an operating company or an owner of an asset in a business synergistic with the business of the Company and shall provide to the Company additional benefits in addition to the investment of funds, but shall not include a transaction in which the Company is issuing securities primarily for the purpose of raising capital or to an entity whose primary business is investing in securities.

 

  2  
     

 

FCPA” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended.

 

GAAP” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(h).

 

Indebtedness” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(aa).

 

Intellectual Property Rights” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(p).

 

Liens” means a lien, charge, pledge, security interest, encumbrance, right of first refusal, preemptive right or other restriction.

 

Lock-Up Agreements” means the written agreement, in the form acceptable to the Placement Agent, addressed to the Placement Agent by each of the Company’s directors and officers.

 

Material Adverse Effect” shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section 3.1(b).

 

Material Permits” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(n).

 

Participation Maximum” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.9(a).

 

Per Share Purchase Price” equals $5.25, subject to adjustment for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions of the Common Stock that occur after the date of this Agreement.

 

Person” means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind.

 

Placement Agency Agreement” means the Placement Agency Agreement, dated as of September 29, 2020 by and between the Company and the Placement Agent.

 

  3  
     

 

Placement Agent” means Kingswood Capital Markets, division of Benchmark Investments, Inc.

 

Pro Rata Portion” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.9(e).

 

Proceeding” means an action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding (including, without limitation, an informal investigation or partial proceeding, such as a deposition), whether commenced or threatened.

 

Prospectus Supplement” means the prospectus supplement to the base prospectus included in the Registration Statement with respect to the Shares filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act that is filed with the Commission and delivered by the Company to each Purchaser at the Closing.

 

Purchaser Party” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.7.

 

Registration Statement” means, collectively, the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-248906), including the base prospectus contained therein, with respect to the Shares, as amended as of the date hereof, including the Prospectus Supplement, and all exhibits filed with or incorporated by reference into such registration statement.

 

Required Approvals” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(e).

 

Rule 144” means Rule 144 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Rule may be amended or interpreted from time to time, or any similar rule or regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially the same purpose and effect as such Rule.

 

Rule 424” means Rule 424 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Rule may be amended or interpreted from time to time, or any similar rule or regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially the same purpose and effect as such Rule.

 

SEC Reports” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(h).

 

Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

Shares” means the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable to each Purchaser pursuant to this Agreement.

 

Short Sales” means all “short sales” as defined in Rule 200 of Regulation SHO under the Exchange Act (but shall not be deemed to include locating and/or borrowing shares of Common Stock).

 

  4  
     

 

Subscription Amount” means, as to each Purchaser, the aggregate amount to be paid for Shares purchased hereunder as specified below such Purchaser’s name on the signature page of this Agreement and next to the heading “Subscription Amount,” in United States dollars and in immediately available funds.

 

Subsequent Financing” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.9(a).

 

Subsequent Financing Notice” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.9(b).

 

Subsidiary” means any subsidiary of the Company as set forth on Schedule 3.1(a), and shall, where applicable, also include any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company formed or acquired after the date hereof.

 

Trading Day” means a day on which the principal Trading Market is open for trading.

 

Trading Market” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE American, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or the New York Stock Exchange (or any successors to any of the foregoing).

 

Transaction Documents” means this Agreement, all exhibits and schedules thereto and hereto and any other documents or agreements executed in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder.

 

Transfer Agent” means Computershare Trust Company, Inc., the current transfer agent of the Company, with a mailing address of 462 South 4th Street, Louisville, KY 40202, and any successor transfer agent of the Company.

 

Variable Rate Transaction” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.10(b).

 

ARTICLE II.
PURCHASE AND SALE

 

2.1       Closing. On the Closing Date, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, substantially concurrent with the execution and delivery of this Agreement by the parties hereto, the Company agrees to sell, and the Purchasers, severally and not jointly, agree to purchase, up to an aggregate of $ 1,658,002.50 of Shares. Each Purchaser’s Subscription Amount as set forth on the signature page hereto executed by such Purchaser shall be made available for “Delivery Versus Payment” settlement with the Company or its designee. The Company shall deliver to each Purchaser its respective Shares, and the Company and each Purchaser shall deliver the other items set forth in Section 2.2 deliverable at the Closing. Upon satisfaction of the covenants and conditions set forth in Sections 2.2 and 2.3, the Closing shall occur at the offices of EGS or such other location as the parties shall mutually agree. Unless otherwise directed by the Placement Agent, settlement of the Shares shall occur via “Delivery Versus Payment” (“DVP”) (i.e., on the Closing Date, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the Purchasers’ names and addresses and released by the Transfer Agent directly to the account(s) at the Placement Agent identified by each Purchaser; upon receipt of such Shares, the Placement Agent shall promptly electronically deliver such Shares to the applicable Purchaser, and payment therefor shall be made by the Placement Agent (or its clearing firm) by wire transfer to the Company). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein and a Purchaser’s Subscription Amount set forth on the signature pages attached hereto, the number of Shares purchased by a Purchaser (and its Affiliates) hereunder shall not, when aggregated with all other shares of Common Stock owned by such Purchaser (and its Affiliates) at such time, result in such Purchaser beneficially owning (as determined in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act) in excess of 9.9% of the then issued and outstanding Common Stock outstanding at the Closing (the “Beneficial Ownership Maximum”), and such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount, to the extent it would otherwise exceed the Beneficial Ownership Maximum immediately prior to the Closing, shall be conditioned upon the issuance of Shares at the Closing to the other Purchasers signatory hereto. To the extent that a Purchaser’s beneficial ownership of the Shares would otherwise be deemed to exceed the Beneficial Ownership Maximum, such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount shall automatically be reduced as necessary in order to comply with this paragraph.

 

  5  
     

 

2.2       Deliveries.

 

(a)       On or prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to each Purchaser the following:

 

(i)       this Agreement duly executed by the Company;

 

(ii)       a legal opinion of Company Counsel, in the form acceptable to the Placement Agent, EGS and each of the Purchasers;

 

(iii)       the Lock-Up Agreements;

 

(iv)       all deliverables set forth in Section 8 of the Placement Agency Agreement;

 

(v)       subject to the last sentence of Section 2.1, the Company shall have provided each Purchaser with the Company’s wire instructions, on Company letterhead and executed by the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer;

 

(vi)       subject to the last sentence of Section 2.1, a copy of the irrevocable instructions to the Transfer Agent instructing the Transfer Agent to deliver on an expedited basis via The Depository Trust Company Deposit or Withdrawal at Custodian system (“DWAC”) Shares equal to such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount divided by the Per Share Purchase Price, registered in the name of such Purchaser; and

 

(vii)       the Prospectus Supplement (which may be delivered in accordance with Rule 172 under the Securities Act).

 

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(b)       On or prior to the Closing Date, each Purchaser shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Company, the following:

 

(i)       this Agreement duly executed by such Purchaser; and

 

(ii)       such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount, which shall be made available for “Delivery Versus Payment” settlement with the Company or its designee.

 

2.3       Closing Conditions.

 

(a)       The obligations of the Company hereunder in connection with the Closing are subject to the following conditions being met:

 

(i)       the accuracy in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality or Material Adverse Effect, in all respects) on the Closing Date of the representations and warranties of the Purchasers contained herein (unless as of a specific date therein in which case they shall be accurate as of such date);

 

(ii)       all obligations, covenants and agreements of each Purchaser required to be performed at or prior to the Closing Date shall have been performed; and

 

(iii)       the delivery by each Purchaser of the items set forth in Section 2.2(b) of this Agreement.

 

(b)       The respective obligations of the Purchasers hereunder in connection with the Closing are subject to the following conditions being met:

 

(i)       the accuracy in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality or Material Adverse Effect, in all respects) when made and on the Closing Date of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein (unless as of a specific date therein in which case they shall be accurate as of such date);

 

(ii)       all obligations, covenants and agreements of the Company required to be performed at or prior to the Closing Date shall have been performed;

 

(iii)       the delivery by the Company of the items set forth in Section 2.2(a) of this Agreement;

 

(iv)       there shall have been no Material Adverse Effect with respect to the Company since the date hereof; and

 

(v)       from the date hereof to the Closing Date, trading in the Common Stock shall not have been suspended by the Commission or the Company’s principal Trading Market, and, at any time prior to the Closing Date, trading in securities generally as reported by Bloomberg L.P. shall not have been suspended or limited, or minimum prices shall not have been established on securities whose trades are reported by such service, or on any Trading Market, nor shall a banking moratorium have been declared either by the United States or New York State authorities nor shall there have occurred any material outbreak or escalation of hostilities or other national or international calamity of such magnitude in its effect on, or any material adverse change in, any financial market which, in each case, in the reasonable judgment of such Purchaser, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to purchase the Shares at the Closing.

 

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ARTICLE III.
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

3.1       Representations and Warranties of the Company. Except as set forth in the Disclosure Schedules, which Disclosure Schedules shall be deemed a part hereof and shall qualify any representation or otherwise made herein to the extent of the disclosure contained in the corresponding section of the Disclosure Schedules, the Company hereby makes the following representations and warranties to each Purchaser:

 

(a)       Subsidiaries. All of the direct and indirect Subsidiaries of the Company are set forth on Schedule 3.1(a). The Company owns, directly or indirectly, all of the capital stock or other equity interests of each Subsidiary free and clear of any Liens, and all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of each Subsidiary are validly issued and are fully paid, non-assessable and free of preemptive and similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities. If the Company has no subsidiaries, all other references to the Subsidiaries or any of them in the Transaction Documents shall be disregarded.

 

(b)       Organization and Qualification. The Company and each of the Subsidiaries is an entity duly incorporated or otherwise organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization, with the requisite power and authority to own and use its properties and assets and to carry on its business as currently conducted. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation nor default of any of the provisions of its respective certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents. Each of the Company and the Subsidiaries is duly qualified to conduct business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation or other entity in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted or property owned by it makes such qualification necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, as the case may be, could not have or reasonably be expected to result in: (i) a material adverse effect on the legality, validity or enforceability of any Transaction Document, (ii) a material adverse effect on the results of operations, assets, business, prospects or condition (financial or otherwise) of the Company and the Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (iii) a material adverse effect on the Company’s ability to perform in any material respect on a timely basis its obligations under any Transaction Document (any of (i), (ii) or (iii), a “Material Adverse Effect”) and no Proceeding has been instituted in any such jurisdiction revoking, limiting or curtailing or seeking to revoke, limit or curtail such power and authority or qualification.

 

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(c)       Authorization; Enforcement. The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Company and no further action is required by the Company, the Board of Directors or the Company’s stockholders in connection herewith or therewith other than in connection with the Required Approvals. This Agreement and each other Transaction Document to which it is a party has been (or upon delivery will have been) duly executed by the Company and, when delivered in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof, will constitute the valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.

 

(d)       No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents to which it is a party, the issuance and sale of the Shares and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby do not and will not (i) conflict with or violate any provision of the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents, or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event that with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the properties or assets of the Company or any Subsidiary, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, anti-dilution or similar adjustments, acceleration or cancellation (with or without notice, lapse of time or both) of, any agreement, credit facility, debt or other instrument (evidencing a Company or Subsidiary debt or otherwise) or other understanding to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any property or asset of the Company or any Subsidiary is bound or affected, or (iii) subject to the Required Approvals, conflict with or result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment, injunction, decree or other restriction of any court or governmental authority to which the Company or a Subsidiary is subject (including federal and state securities laws and regulations), or by which any property or asset of the Company or a Subsidiary is bound or affected; except in the case of each of clauses (ii) and (iii), such as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(e)       Filings, Consents and Approvals. The Company is not required to obtain any consent, waiver, authorization or order of, give any notice to, or make any filing or registration with, any court or other federal, state, local or other governmental authority or other Person in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Transaction Documents, other than: (i) the filings required pursuant to Section 4.3 of this Agreement, (ii) the filing with the Commission of the Prospectus Supplement, (iii) application(s) to each applicable Trading Market for the listing of the Shares for trading thereon in the time and manner required thereby and (iv) such filings as are required to be made under applicable state securities laws (collectively, the “Required Approvals”).

 

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(f)       Issuance of the Shares; Registration. The Shares are duly authorized and, when issued and paid for in accordance with the applicable Transaction Documents, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, free and clear of all Liens imposed by the Company. The Company has reserved from its duly authorized capital stock the maximum number of shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to this Agreement. The Company has prepared and filed the Registration Statement in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act, which became effective on September 25, 2020 (the “Effective Date”), and such amendments and supplements thereto as may have been required to the date of this Agreement. The Registration Statement is effective under the Securities Act and no stop order preventing or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or suspending or preventing the use of the prospectus, included therein (the “Prospectus”) has been issued by the Commission and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the knowledge of the Company, are threatened by the Commission. The Company, if required by the rules and regulations of the Commission, shall file the Prospectus Supplement with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b). At the time the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto became effective, at the date of this Agreement and at the Closing Date, the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto conformed and will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, at the time the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto was issued and at the Closing Date, conformed and will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and did not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Company was at the time of the filing of the Registration Statement eligible to use Form S-3. The Company is eligible to use Form S-3 under the Securities Act and it meets the transaction requirements with respect to the aggregate market value of securities being sold pursuant to this offering and during the twelve (12) months prior to this offering, as set forth in General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3.

 

(g)       Capitalization. The capitalization of the Company as of the date hereof is as set forth on Schedule 3.1(g), which Schedule 3.1(g) shall also include the number of shares of Common Stock owned beneficially, and of record, by Affiliates of the Company as of the date hereof. The Company has not issued any capital stock since its most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act, other than pursuant to the exercise of employee stock options under the Company’s stock option plans, the issuance of shares of Common Stock to employees pursuant to the Company’s employee stock purchase plans and pursuant to the conversion and/or exercise of Common Stock Equivalents outstanding as of the date of the most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act. No Person has any right of first refusal, preemptive right, right of participation, or any similar right to participate in the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. Except as set for on Schedule 3.1(g), there are no outstanding options, warrants, scrip rights to subscribe to, calls or commitments of any character whatsoever relating to, or securities, rights or obligations convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or giving any Person any right to subscribe for or acquire, any shares of Common Stock or the capital stock of any Subsidiary, or contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any Subsidiary is or may become bound to issue additional shares of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents or capital stock of any Subsidiary. The issuance and sale of the Shares will not obligate the Company or any Subsidiary to issue shares of Common Stock or other securities to any Person (other than the Purchasers). There are no outstanding securities or instruments of the Company or any Subsidiary with any provision that adjusts the exercise, conversion, exchange or reset price of such security or instrument upon an issuance of securities by the Company or any Subsidiary. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(g), there are no outstanding securities or instruments of the Company or any Subsidiary that contain any redemption or similar provisions, and there are no contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any Subsidiary is or may become bound to redeem a security of the Company or such Subsidiary. The Company does not have any stock appreciation rights or “phantom stock” plans or agreements or any similar plan or agreement. All of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, have been issued in compliance with all federal and state securities laws, and none of such outstanding shares was issued in violation of any preemptive rights or similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities. No further approval or authorization of any stockholder, the Board of Directors or others is required for the issuance and sale of the Shares. There are no stockholders agreements, voting agreements or other similar agreements with respect to the Company’s capital stock to which the Company is a party or, to the knowledge of the Company, between or among any of the Company’s stockholders.

 

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(h)       SEC Reports; Financial Statements. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(h), the Company has filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by the Company under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, including pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) thereof, for the two years preceding the date hereof (or such shorter period as the Company was required by law or regulation to file such material) (the foregoing materials, including the exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein, together with the Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, being collectively referred to herein as the “SEC Reports”) on a timely basis or the Company has received a valid extension of such time of filing and has filed any such SEC Reports prior to the expiration of any such extension. As of their respective dates, the SEC Reports complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, and none of the SEC Reports, when filed, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Company has never been an issuer subject to Rule 144(i) under the Securities Act. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(h), the financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Reports comply in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the rules and regulations of the Commission with respect thereto as in effect at the time of filing. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(h), such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved (“GAAP”), except as may be otherwise specified in such financial statements or the notes thereto and except that unaudited financial statements may not contain all footnotes required by GAAP, and fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of and for the dates thereof and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended, subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal, immaterial, year-end audit adjustments.

 

(i)       Material Changes; Undisclosed Events, Liabilities or Developments. Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included within the SEC Reports, except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(i), (i) there has been no event, occurrence or development that has had or that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) the Company has not incurred any liabilities (contingent or otherwise) other than (A) trade payables and accrued expenses incurred in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (B) liabilities not required to be reflected in the Company’s financial statements pursuant to GAAP or disclosed in filings made with the Commission, (iii) the Company has not altered its method of accounting, (iv) the Company has not declared or made any dividend or distribution of cash or other property to its stockholders or purchased, redeemed or made any agreements to purchase or redeem any shares of its capital stock and (v) the Company has not issued any equity securities to any officer, director or Affiliate, except pursuant to existing Company stock option plans. The Company does not have pending before the Commission any request for confidential treatment of information. Except for the issuance of the Shares contemplated by this Agreement or as set forth on Schedule 3.1(i), no event, liability, fact, circumstance, occurrence or development has occurred or exists or is reasonably expected to occur or exist with respect to the Company or its Subsidiaries or their respective businesses, prospects, properties, operations, assets or financial condition that would be required to be disclosed by the Company under applicable securities laws at the time this representation is made or deemed made that has not been publicly disclosed at least 1 Trading Day prior to the date that this representation is made.

 

(j)       Litigation. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(j), there is no action, suit, inquiry, notice of violation, proceeding or investigation pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company, any Subsidiary or any of their respective properties before or by any court, arbitrator, governmental or administrative agency or regulatory authority (federal, state, county, local or foreign) (collectively, an “Action”). None of the Actions set forth on Schedule 3.1(j), (i) adversely affects or challenges the legality, validity or enforceability of any of the Transaction Documents or the Shares or (ii) could, if there were an unfavorable decision, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(j), neither the Company nor any Subsidiary, nor any director or officer of the Company who has served in such role over the past two (2) years, nor any current director or current officer thereof, is or has been the subject of any Action involving a claim of violation of or liability under federal or state securities laws or a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. There has not been, and to the knowledge of the Company, there is not pending or contemplated, any investigation by the Commission involving the Company or any current or former director or officer of the Company. The Commission has not issued any stop order or other order suspending the effectiveness of any registration statement filed by the Company or any Subsidiary under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act.

 

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(k)       Labor Relations. No labor dispute exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent with respect to any of the employees of the Company, which could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. None of the Company’s or its Subsidiaries’ employees is a member of a union that relates to such employee’s relationship with the Company or such Subsidiary, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to a collective bargaining agreement, and the Company and its Subsidiaries believe that their relationships with their employees are good. To the knowledge of the Company, no executive officer of the Company or any Subsidiary, is, or is now expected to be, in violation of any material term of any employment contract, confidentiality, disclosure or proprietary information agreement or non-competition agreement, or any other contract or agreement or any restrictive covenant in favor of any third party, and the continued employment of each such executive officer does not subject the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to any liability with respect to any of the foregoing matters. The Company and its Subsidiaries are in compliance with all U.S. federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to employment and employment practices, terms and conditions of employment and wages and hours, except where the failure to be in compliance could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(l)       Compliance. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(l), neither the Company nor any Subsidiary: (i) is in default under or in violation of (and no event has occurred that has not been waived that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would result in a default by the Company or any Subsidiary under), nor has the Company or any Subsidiary received notice of a claim that it is in default under or that it is in violation of, any indenture, loan or credit agreement or any other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties is bound (whether or not such default or violation has been waived), (ii) is in violation of any judgment, decree or order of any court, arbitrator or other governmental authority or (iii) is or has been in violation of any statute, rule, ordinance or regulation of any governmental authority, including without limitation all foreign, federal, state and local laws relating to taxes, environmental protection, occupational health and safety, product quality and safety and employment and labor matters, except in each case as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(m) Environmental Laws. The Company and its Subsidiaries (i) are in compliance with all federal, state, local and foreign laws relating to pollution or protection of human health or the environment (including ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata), including laws relating to emissions, discharges, releases or threatened releases of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, or toxic or hazardous substances or wastes (collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) into the environment, or otherwise relating to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials, as well as all authorizations, codes, decrees, demands, or demand letters, injunctions, judgments, licenses, notices or notice letters, orders, permits, plans or regulations, issued, entered, promulgated or approved thereunder (“Environmental Laws”); (ii) have received all permits licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses; and (iii) are in compliance with all terms and conditions of any such permit, license or approval where in each clause (i), (ii) and (iii), the failure to so comply could be reasonably expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect.

 

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(n)       Regulatory Permits. The Company and the Subsidiaries possess all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct their respective businesses as described in the SEC Reports, except where the failure to possess such permits could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect (“Material Permits”), and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Material Permit.

 

(o)       Title to Assets. The Company and the Subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property owned by them and good and marketable title in all personal property owned by them that is material to the business of the Company and the Subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all Liens, except for (i) Liens as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and the Subsidiaries and (ii) Liens for the payment of federal, state or other taxes, for which appropriate reserves have been made therefor in accordance with GAAP and, the payment of which is neither delinquent nor subject to penalties. Any real property and facilities held under lease by the Company and the Subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with which the Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance.

 

(p)       Intellectual Property. The Company and the Subsidiaries have, or have rights to use, all patents, patent applications, trademarks, trademark applications, service marks, trade names, trade secrets, inventions, copyrights, licenses and other intellectual property rights and similar rights necessary or required for use in connection with their respective businesses as described in the SEC Reports and which the failure to so have could have a Material Adverse Effect (collectively, the “Intellectual Property Rights”). None of, and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received a notice (written or otherwise) that any of, the Intellectual Property Rights has expired, terminated or been abandoned, or is expected to expire or terminate or be abandoned, within two (2) years from the date of this Agreement, except for expirations, terminations, or abandonments which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received, since the date of the latest audited financial statements included within the SEC Reports, a written notice of a claim or otherwise has any knowledge that the Intellectual Property Rights violate or infringe upon the rights of any Person, except as could not have or reasonably be expected to not have a Material Adverse Effect. To the knowledge of the Company, all such Intellectual Property Rights are enforceable and there is no existing infringement by another Person of any of the Intellectual Property Rights. The Company and its Subsidiaries have taken reasonable security measures to protect the secrecy, confidentiality and value of all of their intellectual properties, except where failure to do so could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

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(q)       Insurance. The Company and the Subsidiaries are insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as are prudent and customary in the businesses in which the Company and the Subsidiaries are engaged, including, but not limited to, directors and officers insurance coverage at least equal to the aggregate Subscription Amount. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business without a significant increase in cost.

 

(r)       Transactions with Affiliates and Employees. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(r), none of the officers or directors of the Company or any Subsidiary and, to the knowledge of the Company, none of the employees of the Company or any Subsidiary is presently a party to any transaction with the Company or any Subsidiary (other than for services as employees, officers and directors), including any contract, agreement or other arrangement providing for the furnishing of services to or by, providing for rental of real or personal property to or from, providing for the borrowing of money from or lending of money to or otherwise requiring payments to or from any officer, director or such employee or, to the knowledge of the Company, any entity in which any officer, director, or any such employee has a substantial interest or is an officer, director, trustee, stockholder, member or partner, in each case in excess of $120,000 other than for (i) payment of salary or consulting fees for services rendered, (ii) reimbursement for expenses incurred on behalf of the Company and (iii) other employee benefits, including stock option agreements under any stock option plan of the Company.

 

(s)       Sarbanes-Oxley; Internal Accounting Controls. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(s), the Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with any and all applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that are effective as of the date hereof, and any and all applicable rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission thereunder that are effective as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Date. The Company and the Subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that: (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain asset accountability, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. The Company and the Subsidiaries have established disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the Company and the Subsidiaries and designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms. The Company’s certifying officers have evaluated the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures of the Company and the Subsidiaries as of the end of the period covered by the most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act (such date, the “Evaluation Date”). The Company presented in its most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act the conclusions of the certifying officers about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on their evaluations as of the Evaluation Date. Since the Evaluation Date, there have been no changes in the internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in the Exchange Act) of the Company and its Subsidiaries that have materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the internal control over financial reporting of the Company and its Subsidiaries.

 

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(t)       Certain Fees. Except as set forth in the Prospectus Supplement and the compensation payable to the Placement Agent pursuant to the terms of the Placement Agency Agreement, no brokerage or finder’s fees or commissions are or will be payable by the Company or any Subsidiary to any broker, financial advisor or consultant, finder, placement agent, investment banker, bank or other Person with respect to the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. The Purchasers shall have no obligation with respect to any fees or with respect to any claims made by or on behalf of other Persons for fees of a type contemplated in this Section that may be due in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents.

 

(u)       Investment Company. The Company is not, and is not an Affiliate of, and immediately after receipt of payment for the Shares, will not be or be an Affiliate of, an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The Company shall conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become an “investment company” subject to registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

(v)       Registration Rights. No Person has any right to cause the Company or any Subsidiary to effect the registration under the Securities Act of any securities of the Company or any Subsidiary.

 

(w)       Listing and Maintenance Requirements. The Common Stock is registered pursuant to Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act, and the Company has taken no action designed to, or which to its knowledge is likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission is contemplating terminating such registration. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(w), the Company has not, in the 12 months preceding the date hereof, received notice from any Trading Market on which the Common Stock is or has been listed or quoted to the effect that the Company is not in compliance with the listing or maintenance requirements of such Trading Market. The Company is, and has no reason to believe that it will not in the foreseeable future continue to be, in compliance with all such listing and maintenance requirements. The Common Stock is currently eligible for electronic transfer through the Depository Trust Company or another established clearing corporation and the Company is current in payment of the fees to the Depository Trust Company (or such other established clearing corporation) in connection with such electronic transfer.

 

(x)       Application of Takeover Protections. The Company and the Board of Directors have taken all necessary action, if any, in order to render inapplicable any control share acquisition, business combination, poison pill (including any distribution under a rights agreement) or other similar anti-takeover provision under the Company’s certificate of incorporation (or similar charter documents) or the laws of its state of incorporation that is or could become applicable to the Purchasers as a result of the Purchasers and the Company fulfilling their obligations or exercising their rights under the Transaction Documents, including without limitation as a result of the Company’s issuance of the Shares and the Purchasers’ ownership of the Shares.

 

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(y)       Disclosure. Except with respect to the material terms and conditions of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents, the Company confirms that neither it nor any other Person acting on its behalf has provided any of the Purchasers or their agents or counsel with any information that it believes constitutes or might constitute material, non-public information which is not otherwise disclosed in the Prospectus Supplement. The Company understands and confirms that the Purchasers will rely on the foregoing representation in effecting transactions in securities of the Company. All of the disclosure furnished by or on behalf of the Company to the Purchasers regarding the Company and its Subsidiaries, their respective businesses and the transactions contemplated hereby, including the Disclosure Schedules to this Agreement, is true and correct and does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The press releases disseminated by the Company during the twelve months preceding the date of this Agreement taken as a whole do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made and when made, not misleading. The Company acknowledges and agrees that no Purchaser makes or has made any representations or warranties with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby other than those specifically set forth in Section 3.2 hereof.

 

(z)       No Integrated Offering. Assuming the accuracy of the Purchasers’ representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.2, neither the Company, nor any of its Affiliates, nor any Person acting on its or their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would cause this offering of the Shares to be integrated with prior offerings by the Company for purposes of any applicable shareholder approval provisions of any Trading Market on which any of the securities of the Company are listed or designated.

 

(aa)     Solvency. Based on the consolidated financial condition of the Company as of the Closing Date, after giving effect to the receipt by the Company of the proceeds from the sale of the Shares hereunder, (i) the fair saleable value of the Company’s assets exceeds the amount that will be required to be paid on or in respect of the Company’s existing debts and other liabilities (including known contingent liabilities) as they mature, (ii) the Company’s assets do not constitute unreasonably small capital to carry on its business as now conducted and as proposed to be conducted including its capital needs taking into account the particular capital requirements of the business conducted by the Company, consolidated and projected capital requirements and capital availability thereof, and (iii) the current cash flow of the Company, together with the proceeds the Company would receive, were it to liquidate all of its assets, after taking into account all anticipated uses of the cash, would be sufficient to pay all amounts on or in respect of its liabilities when such amounts are required to be paid. The Company does not intend to incur debts beyond its ability to pay such debts as they mature (taking into account the timing and amounts of cash to be payable on or in respect of its debt). The Company has no knowledge of any facts or circumstances which lead it to believe that it will file for reorganization or liquidation under the bankruptcy or reorganization laws of any jurisdiction within one year from the Closing Date. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(aa), all outstanding secured and unsecured Indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary, or for which the Company or any Subsidiary has commitments. For the purposes of this Agreement, “Indebtedness” means (x) any liabilities for borrowed money or amounts owed in excess of $50,000 (other than trade accounts payable incurred in the ordinary course of business), (y) all guaranties, endorsements and other contingent obligations in respect of indebtedness of others, whether or not the same are or should be reflected in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet (or the notes thereto), except guaranties by endorsement of negotiable instruments for deposit or collection or similar transactions in the ordinary course of business; and (z) the present value of any lease payments in excess of $50,000 due under leases required to be capitalized in accordance with GAAP. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in default with respect to any Indebtedness.

 

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(bb)    Tax Status. Except for matters that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its Subsidiaries each (i) has made or filed all United States federal, state and local income and all foreign income and franchise tax returns, reports and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject, (ii) has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations and (iii) has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate for the payment of all material taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to which such returns, reports or declarations apply. There are no unpaid taxes in any material amount claimed to be due by the taxing authority of any jurisdiction, and the officers of the Company or of any Subsidiary know of no basis for any such claim.

 

(cc)    Foreign Corrupt Practices. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary, nor to the knowledge of the Company or any Subsidiary, any agent or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary, has (i) directly or indirectly, used any funds for unlawful contributions, gifts, entertainment or other unlawful expenses related to foreign or domestic political activity, (ii) made any unlawful payment to foreign or domestic government officials or employees or to any foreign or domestic political parties or campaigns from corporate funds, (iii) failed to disclose fully any contribution made by the Company or any Subsidiary (or made by any person acting on its behalf of which the Company is aware) which is in violation of law, or (iv) violated in any material respect any provision of FCPA.

 

(dd)    Accountants. The Company’s accounting firm is Plante & Moran PLLC. To the knowledge and belief of the Company, such accounting firm (i) is a registered public accounting firm as required by the Exchange Act and (ii) shall express its opinion with respect to the financial statements to be included in the Company’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020.

 

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(ee)     Acknowledgment Regarding Purchasers’ Purchase of Shares. The Company acknowledges and agrees that each of the Purchasers is acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length purchaser with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby. The Company further acknowledges that no Purchaser is acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Company (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby and any advice given by any Purchaser or any of their respective representatives or agents in connection with the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby is merely incidental to the Purchasers’ purchase of the Shares. The Company further represents to each Purchaser that the Company’s decision to enter into this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation of the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company and its representatives.

 

(ff)      Acknowledgment Regarding Purchaser’s Trading Activity. Anything in this Agreement or elsewhere herein to the contrary notwithstanding (except for Sections 3.2(f) and 4.12 hereof), it is understood and acknowledged by the Company that: (i) none of the Purchasers has been asked by the Company to agree, nor has any Purchaser agreed, to desist from purchasing or selling, long and/or short, securities of the Company, or “derivative” securities based on securities issued by the Company or to hold the Shares for any specified term; (ii) past or future open market or other transactions by any Purchaser, specifically including, without limitation, Short Sales or “derivative” transactions, before or after the closing of this or future private placement transactions, may negatively impact the market price of the Company’s publicly-traded securities; (iii) any Purchaser, and counter-parties in “derivative” transactions to which any such Purchaser is a party, directly or indirectly, presently may have a “short” position in the Common Stock, and (iv) each Purchaser shall not be deemed to have any affiliation with or control over any arm’s length counter-party in any “derivative” transaction. The Company further understands and acknowledges that (y) one or more Purchasers may engage in hedging activities at various times during the period that the Shares are outstanding, and (z) such hedging activities (if any) could reduce the value of the existing stockholders’ equity interests in the Company at and after the time that the hedging activities are being conducted. The Company acknowledges that such aforementioned hedging activities do not constitute a breach of any of the Transaction Documents.

 

(gg)    Regulation M Compliance. The Company has not, and to its knowledge no one acting on its behalf has, (i) taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or to result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Shares, (ii) sold, bid for, purchased, or, paid any compensation for soliciting purchases of, any of the Shares, or (iii) paid or agreed to pay to any Person any compensation for soliciting another to purchase any other securities of the Company, other than, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), compensation paid to the Company’s placement agent in connection with the placement of the Shares.

 

(hh)    Intentionally Omitted.

 

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(ii)       Stock Option Plans. Each stock option granted by the Company under the Company’s stock option plan was granted (i) in accordance with the terms of the Company’s stock option plan and (ii) with an exercise price at least equal to the fair market value of the Common Stock on the date such stock option would be considered granted under GAAP and applicable law. No stock option granted under the Company’s stock option plan has been backdated. The Company has not knowingly granted, and there is no and has been no Company policy or practice to knowingly grant, stock options prior to, or otherwise knowingly coordinate the grant of stock options with, the release or other public announcement of material information regarding the Company or its Subsidiaries or their financial results or prospects.

 

(jj)      Office of Foreign Assets Control. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any Subsidiary is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”).

 

(kk)     U.S. Real Property Holding Corporation. The Company is not and has never been a U.S. real property holding corporation within the meaning of Section 897 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the Company shall so certify upon Purchaser’s request.

 

(ll)       Bank Holding Company Act. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates is subject to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHCA”) and to regulation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”). Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates owns or controls, directly or indirectly, five percent (5%) or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities or twenty-five percent or more of the total equity of a bank or any entity that is subject to the BHCA and to regulation by the Federal Reserve. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates exercises a controlling influence over the management or policies of a bank or any entity that is subject to the BHCA and to regulation by the Federal Reserve.

 

(mm)   Money Laundering. The operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, applicable money laundering statutes and applicable rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), and no Action or Proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any Subsidiary with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company or any Subsidiary, threatened.

 

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3.2       Representations and Warranties of the Purchasers. Each Purchaser, for itself and for no other Purchaser, hereby represents and warrants as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Date to the Company as follows (unless as of a specific date therein, in which case they shall be accurate as of such date):

 

(a)       Organization; Authority. Such Purchaser is either an individual or an entity duly incorporated or formed, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or formation with full right, corporate, partnership limited liability company or similar power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents and performance by such Purchaser of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership, limited liability company or similar action, as applicable, on the part of such Purchaser. Each Transaction Document to which it is a party has been duly executed by such Purchaser, and when delivered by such Purchaser in accordance with the terms hereof, will constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of such Purchaser, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, except: (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.

 

(b)       Understandings or Arrangements. Such Purchaser is acquiring the Shares as principal for its own account and has no direct or indirect arrangement or understandings with any other persons to distribute or regarding the distribution of such Shares (this representation and warranty not limiting such Purchaser’s right to sell the Shares pursuant to the Registration Statement or otherwise in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws). Such Purchaser is acquiring the Shares hereunder in the ordinary course of its business.

 

(c)       Purchaser Status. At the time such Purchaser was offered the Shares, it was, and as of the date hereof it is either: (i) an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Securities Act or (ii) a “qualified institutional buyer” as defined in Rule 144A(a) under the Securities Act.

 

(d)       Experience of Such Purchaser. Such Purchaser, either alone or together with its representatives, has such knowledge, sophistication and experience in business and financial matters so as to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment in the Shares, and has so evaluated the merits and risks of such investment. Such Purchaser is able to bear the economic risk of an investment in the Shares and, at the present time, is able to afford a complete loss of such investment.

 

(e)       Access to Information. Such Purchaser acknowledges that it has had the opportunity to review the Transaction Documents (including all exhibits and schedules thereto) and the SEC Reports and has been afforded, (i) the opportunity to ask such questions as it has deemed necessary of, and to receive answers from, representatives of the Company concerning the terms and conditions of the offering of the Shares and the merits and risks of investing in the Shares; (ii) access to information about the Company and its financial condition, results of operations, business, properties, management and prospects sufficient to enable it to evaluate its investment; and (iii) the opportunity to obtain such additional information that the Company possesses or can acquire without unreasonable effort or expense that is necessary to make an informed investment decision with respect to the investment. Such Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that neither the Placement Agent nor any Affiliate of the Placement Agent has provided such Purchaser with any information or advice with respect to the Shares nor is such information or advice necessary or desired. Neither the Placement Agent nor any Affiliate has made or makes any representation as to the Company or the quality of the Shares and the Placement Agent and any Affiliate may have acquired non-public information with respect to the Company which such Purchaser agrees need not be provided to it. In connection with the issuance of the Shares to such Purchaser, neither the Placement Agent nor any of its Affiliates has acted as a financial advisor or fiduciary to such Purchaser.

 

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(f)       Certain Transactions and Confidentiality. Other than consummating the transactions contemplated hereunder, such Purchaser has not, nor has any Person acting on behalf of or pursuant to any understanding with such Purchaser, directly or indirectly executed any purchases or sales, including Short Sales, of the securities of the Company during the period commencing as of the time that such Purchaser first received a term sheet (written or oral) from the Company or any other Person representing the Company setting forth the material pricing terms of the transactions contemplated hereunder and ending immediately prior to the execution hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of a Purchaser that is a multi-managed investment vehicle whereby separate portfolio managers manage separate portions of such Purchaser’s assets and the portfolio managers have no direct knowledge of the investment decisions made by the portfolio managers managing other portions of such Purchaser’s assets, the representation set forth above shall only apply with respect to the portion of assets managed by the portfolio manager that made the investment decision to purchase the Shares covered by this Agreement. Other than to other Persons party to this Agreement or to such Purchaser’s representatives, including, without limitation, its officers, directors, partners, legal and other advisors, employees, agents and Affiliates, such Purchaser has maintained the confidentiality of all disclosures made to it in connection with this transaction (including the existence and terms of this transaction). Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the avoidance of doubt, nothing contained herein shall constitute a representation or warranty, or preclude any actions, with respect to locating or borrowing shares in order to effect Short Sales or similar transactions in the future.

 

The Company acknowledges and agrees that the representations contained in this Section 3.2 shall not modify, amend or affect such Purchaser’s right to rely on the Company’s representations and warranties contained in this Agreement or any representations and warranties contained in any other Transaction Document or any other document or instrument executed and/or delivered in connection with this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the avoidance of doubt, nothing contained herein shall constitute a representation or warranty, or preclude any actions, with respect to locating or borrowing shares in order to effect Short Sales or similar transactions in the future.

 

ARTICLE IV.
OTHER AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES

 

4.1       Furnishing of Information. For a period of two (2) years subsequent to the Closing Date, the Company covenants to timely file (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof pursuant to the Exchange Act even if the Company is not then subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act.

 

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4.2       Integration. The Company shall not sell, offer for sale or solicit offers to buy or otherwise negotiate in respect of any security (as defined in Section 2 of the Securities Act) that would be integrated with the offer or sale of the Shares for purposes of the rules and regulations of any Trading Market such that it would require shareholder approval prior to the closing of such other transaction unless shareholder approval is obtained before the closing of such subsequent transaction.

 

4.3       Securities Laws Disclosure; Publicity. The Company shall (a) by the Disclosure Time, issue a press release disclosing the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby, and (b) file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including the Transaction Documents as exhibits thereto, with the Commission within the time required by the Exchange Act. From and after the issuance of such press release, the Company represents to the Purchasers that it shall have publicly disclosed all material, non-public information delivered to any of the Purchasers by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, employees or agents in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. In addition, effective upon the issuance of such press release, the Company acknowledges and agrees that any and all confidentiality or similar obligations under any agreement, whether written or oral, between the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates on the one hand, and any of the Purchasers or any of their Affiliates on the other hand, shall terminate. The Company and each Purchaser shall consult with each other in issuing any other press releases with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby, and neither the Company nor any Purchaser shall issue any such press release nor otherwise make any such public statement without the prior consent of the Company, with respect to any press release of any Purchaser, or without the prior consent of each Purchaser, with respect to any press release of the Company, which consent shall not unreasonably be withheld or delayed, except if such disclosure is required by law, in which case the disclosing party shall promptly provide the other party with prior notice of such public statement or communication. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not publicly disclose the name of any Purchaser, or include the name of any Purchaser in any filing with the Commission or any regulatory agency or Trading Market, without the prior written consent of such Purchaser, except (a) as required by federal securities law in connection with the filing of final Transaction Documents with the Commission and (b) to the extent such disclosure is required by law or Trading Market regulations, in which case the Company shall provide the Purchasers with prior notice of such disclosure permitted under this clause (b).

 

4.4       Shareholder Rights Plan. No claim will be made or enforced by the Company or, with the consent of the Company, any other Person, that any Purchaser is an “Acquiring Person” under any control share acquisition, business combination, poison pill (including any distribution under a rights agreement) or similar anti-takeover plan or arrangement in effect or hereafter adopted by the Company, or that any Purchaser could be deemed to trigger the provisions of any such plan or arrangement, by virtue of receiving Shares under the Transaction Documents or under any other agreement between the Company and the Purchasers.

 

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4.5       Non-Public Information. Except with respect to the material terms and conditions of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents, which shall be disclosed pursuant to Section 4.3, the Company covenants and agrees that neither it, nor any other Person acting on its behalf will provide any Purchaser or its agents or counsel with any information that constitutes, or the Company reasonably believes constitutes, material non-public information, unless prior thereto such Purchaser shall have consented to the receipt of such information and agreed with the Company to keep such information confidential. The Company understands and confirms that each Purchaser shall be relying on the foregoing covenant in effecting transactions in securities of the Company. To the extent that the Company, any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates delivers any material, non-public information to a Purchaser without such Purchaser’s consent, the Company hereby covenants and agrees that such Purchaser shall not have any duty of confidentiality to the Company, any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates, or a duty to the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates not to trade on the basis of, such material, non-public information, provided that the Purchaser shall remain subject to applicable law. To the extent that any notice provided pursuant to any Transaction Document constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K. The Company understands and confirms that each Purchaser shall be relying on the foregoing covenant in effecting transactions in securities of the Company.

 

4.6       Use of Proceeds. Except as set forth on Schedule 4.6 attached hereto, the Company shall use the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares hereunder for working capital purposes and shall not use such proceeds: (a) for the satisfaction of any portion of the Company’s debt (other than payment of trade payables in the ordinary course of the Company’s business and prior practices), (b) for the redemption of any Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents, (c) for the settlement of any outstanding litigation or (d) in violation of FCPA or OFAC regulations.

 

4.7       Indemnification of Purchasers. Subject to the provisions of this Section 4.7, the Company will indemnify and hold each Purchaser and its directors, officers, shareholders, members, partners, employees and agents (and any other Persons with a functionally equivalent role of a Person holding such titles notwithstanding a lack of such title or any other title), each Person who controls such Purchaser (within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act and Section 20 of the Exchange Act), and the directors, officers, shareholders, agents, members, partners or employees (and any other Persons with a functionally equivalent role of a Person holding such titles notwithstanding a lack of such title or any other title) of such controlling persons (each, a “Purchaser Party”) harmless from any and all losses, liabilities, obligations, claims, contingencies, damages, costs and expenses, including all judgments, amounts paid in settlements, court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of investigation that any such Purchaser Party may suffer or incur as a result of or relating to (a) any breach of any of the representations, warranties, covenants or agreements made by the Company in this Agreement or in the other Transaction Documents or (b) any action instituted against the Purchaser Parties in any capacity, or any of them or their respective Affiliates, by any stockholder of the Company who is not an Affiliate of such Purchaser Party, with respect to any of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents (unless such action is solely based upon a material breach of such Purchaser Party’s representations, warranties or covenants under the Transaction Documents or any agreements or understandings such Purchaser Party may have with any such stockholder or any violations by such Purchaser Party of state or federal securities laws or any conduct by such Purchaser Party which is finally judicially determined to constitute fraud, gross negligence or willful misconduct). If any action shall be brought against any Purchaser Party in respect of which indemnity may be sought pursuant to this Agreement, such Purchaser Party shall promptly notify the Company in writing, and the Company shall have the right to assume the defense thereof with counsel of its own choosing reasonably acceptable to the Purchaser Party. Any Purchaser Party shall have the right to employ separate counsel in any such action and participate in the defense thereof, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Purchaser Party except to the extent that (i) the employment thereof has been specifically authorized by the Company in writing, (ii) the Company has failed after a reasonable period of time to assume such defense and to employ counsel or (iii) in such action there is, in the reasonable opinion of counsel, a material conflict on any material issue between the position of the Company and the position of such Purchaser Party, in which case the Company shall be responsible for the reasonable fees and expenses of no more than one such separate counsel. The Company will not be liable to any Purchaser Party under this Agreement (y) for any settlement by a Purchaser Party effected without the Company’s prior written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed; or (z) to the extent, but only to the extent that a loss, claim, damage or liability is attributable to any Purchaser Party’s breach of any of the representations, warranties, covenants or agreements made by such Purchaser Party in this Agreement or in the other Transaction Documents. The indemnification required by this Section 4.7 shall be made by periodic payments of the amount thereof during the course of the investigation or defense, as and when bills are received or are incurred. The indemnity agreements contained herein shall be in addition to any cause of action or similar right of any Purchaser Party against the Company or others and any liabilities the Company may be subject to pursuant to law.

 

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4.8       Listing of Common Stock. The Company hereby agrees to use best efforts to maintain the listing or quotation of the Common Stock on the Trading Market on which it is currently listed, and concurrently with the Closing, the Company shall apply to list or quote all of the Shares on such Trading Market and promptly secure the listing of all of the Shares on such Trading Market. The Company further agrees, if the Company applies to have the Common Stock traded on any other Trading Market, it will then include in such application all of the Shares, and will take such other action as is necessary to cause all of the Shares to be listed or quoted on such other Trading Market as promptly as possible. The Company will then take all action reasonably necessary to continue the listing and trading of its Common Stock on a Trading Market and will comply in all respects with the Company’s reporting, filing and other obligations under the bylaws or rules of the Trading Market. The Company agrees to maintain the eligibility of the Common Stock for electronic transfer through the Depository Trust Company or another established clearing corporation, including, without limitation, by timely payment of fees to the Depository Trust Company or such other established clearing corporation in connection with such electronic transfer.

 

4.9       Participation in Future Financing.

 

(a)       From the date hereof until the date that is the six (6) month anniversary of the Closing Date, upon any issuance by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents for cash consideration, Indebtedness or a combination of units thereof (a “Subsequent Financing”), each Purchaser shall have the right to participate in up to an amount of the Subsequent Financing equal to fifty percent (50%) of the Subsequent Financing (the “Participation Maximum”) on the same terms, conditions and price provided for in the Subsequent Financing.

 

(b)       Between the time period of 4:00 pm (New York City time) and 6:00 pm (New York City time) on the Trading Day immediately prior to the Trading Day of the expected announcement of the Subsequent Financing (or, if the Trading Day of the expected announcement of the Subsequent Financing is the first Trading Day following a holiday or a weekend (including a holiday weekend), between the time period of 4:00 pm (New York City time) on the Trading Day immediately prior to such holiday or weekend and 2:00 pm (New York City time) on the day immediately prior to the Trading Day of the expected announcement of the Subsequent Financing), the Company shall deliver to each Purchaser a written notice of the Company’s intention to effect a Subsequent Financing (a “Subsequent Financing Notice”), which notice shall describe in reasonable detail the proposed terms of such Subsequent Financing, the amount of proceeds intended to be raised thereunder and the Person or Persons through or with whom such Subsequent Financing is proposed to be effected and shall include a term sheet and transaction documents relating thereto as an attachment.

 

(c)       Any Purchaser desiring to participate in such Subsequent Financing must provide written notice to the Company by 6:30 am (New York City time) on the Trading Day following the date on which the Subsequent Financing Notice is delivered to such Purchaser (the “Notice Termination Time”) that such Purchaser is willing to participate in the Subsequent Financing, the amount of such Purchaser’s participation, and representing and warranting that such Purchaser has such funds ready, willing, and available for investment on the terms set forth in the Subsequent Financing Notice. If the Company receives no such notice from a Purchaser as of such Notice Termination Time, such Purchaser shall be deemed to have notified the Company that it does not elect to participate in such Subsequent Financing.

 

(d)       If, by the Notice Termination Time, notifications by the Purchasers of their willingness to participate in the Subsequent Financing (or to cause their designees to participate) is, in the aggregate, less than the total amount of the Subsequent Financing, then the Company may effect the remaining portion of such Subsequent Financing on the terms and with the Persons set forth in the Subsequent Financing Notice.

 

(e)       If, by the Notice Termination Time, the Company receives responses to a Subsequent Financing Notice from Purchasers seeking to purchase more than the aggregate amount of the Participation Maximum, each such Purchaser shall have the right to purchase its Pro Rata Portion (as defined below) of the Participation Maximum. “Pro Rata Portion” means the ratio of (x) the Subscription Amount of Shares purchased on the Closing Date by a Purchaser participating under this Section 4.9 and (y) the sum of the aggregate Subscription Amounts of Shares purchased on the Closing Date by all Purchasers participating under this Section 4.9.

 

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(f)       The Company must provide the Purchasers with a second Subsequent Financing Notice, and the Purchasers will again have the right of participation set forth above in this Section 4.9, if the definitive agreement related to the initial Subsequent Financing Notice is not entered into for any reason on the terms set forth in such Subsequent Financing Notice within two (2) Trading Days after the date of delivery of the initial Subsequent Financing Notice.

 

(g)       The Company and each Purchaser agree that, if any Purchaser elects to participate in the Subsequent Financing, the transaction documents related to the Subsequent Financing shall not include any term or provision that, directly or indirectly, will, or is intended to, exclude one or more of the Purchasers from participating in a Subsequent Financing, including, but not limited to, provisions whereby such Purchaser shall be required to agree to any restrictions on trading as to any of the Shares purchased hereunder or be required to consent to any amendment to or termination of, or grant any waiver, release or the like under or in connection with, this Agreement, without the prior written consent of such Purchaser. In addition, the Company and each Purchaser agree that, in connection with a Subsequent Financing, the transaction documents related to the Subsequent Financing shall include a requirement for the Company to issue a widely disseminated press release by 9:30 am (New York City time) on the Trading Day of execution of the transaction documents in such Subsequent Financing (or, if the date of execution is not a Trading Day, on the immediately following Trading Day) that discloses the material terms of the transactions contemplated by the transaction documents in such Subsequent Financing.

 

(h)       Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 4.9 and unless otherwise agreed to by such Purchaser, the Company shall either confirm in writing to such Purchaser that the transaction with respect to the Subsequent Financing has been abandoned or shall publicly disclose its intention to issue the securities in the Subsequent Financing, in either case in such a manner such that such Purchaser will not be in possession of any material, non-public information, by 9:30 am (New York City time) on the second (2nd) Trading Day following date of delivery of the Subsequent Financing Notice. If by 9:30 am (New York City time) on such second (2nd) Trading Day, no public disclosure regarding a transaction with respect to the Subsequent Financing has been made, and no notice regarding the abandonment of such transaction has been received by such Purchaser, such transaction shall be deemed to have been abandoned and such Purchaser shall not be deemed to be in possession of any material, non-public information with respect to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.

 

(i)       Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 4.9 shall not apply in respect of an Exempt Issuance.

 

4.10       Subsequent Equity Sales.

 

(a)       From the date hereof until 180 days after the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall (i) issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any shares of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents, or (ii) file any registration statement or any amendment or supplement thereto, other than the Prospectus Supplement.

 

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(b)       From the date hereof until 180 days after the Closing Date, the Company shall be prohibited from effecting or entering into an agreement to effect any issuance by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents (or a combination of units thereof) involving a Variable Rate Transaction. “Variable Rate Transaction” means a transaction in which the Company (i) issues or sells any debt or equity securities that are convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for, or include the right to receive additional shares of Common Stock either (A) at a conversion price, exercise price or exchange rate or other price that is based upon and/or varies with the trading prices of or quotations for the shares of Common Stock at any time after the initial issuance of such debt or equity securities, or (B) with a conversion, exercise or exchange price that is subject to being reset at some future date after the initial issuance of such debt or equity security or upon the occurrence of specified or contingent events directly or indirectly related to the business of the Company or the market for the Common Stock or (ii) enters into, or effects a transaction under, any agreement, including, but not limited to, an “at the market” offering or equity line of credit, whereby the Company may issue securities at a future determined price. Any Purchaser shall be entitled to obtain injunctive relief against the Company to preclude any such issuance, which remedy shall be in addition to any right to collect damages.

 

(c)       Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 4.10 shall not apply in respect of an Exempt Issuance, except that no Variable Rate Transaction shall be an Exempt Issuance.

 

4.11       Equal Treatment of Purchasers. No consideration (including any modification of any Transaction Document) shall be offered or paid to any Person to amend or consent to a waiver or modification of any provision of the Transaction Documents unless the same consideration is also offered to all of the parties to such Transaction Document. For clarification purposes, this provision constitutes a separate right granted to each Purchaser by the Company and negotiated separately by each Purchaser, and is intended for the Company to treat the Purchasers as a class and shall not in any way be construed as the Purchasers acting in concert or as a group with respect to the purchase, disposition or voting of Shares or otherwise.

 

4.12       Certain Transactions and Confidentiality. Each Purchaser, severally and not jointly with the other Purchasers, covenants that neither it nor any Affiliate acting on its behalf or pursuant to any understanding with it will execute any purchases or sales, including Short Sales of any of the Company’s securities during the period commencing with the execution of this Agreement and ending at such time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.3. Each Purchaser, severally and not jointly with the other Purchasers, covenants that until such time as the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are publicly disclosed by the Company pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.3, such Purchaser will maintain the confidentiality of the existence and terms of this transaction and the information included in the Disclosure Schedules. Notwithstanding the foregoing, and notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company expressly acknowledges and agrees that (i) no Purchaser makes any representation, warranty or covenant hereby that it will not engage in effecting transactions in any securities of the Company after the time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.3, (ii) no Purchaser shall be restricted or prohibited from effecting any transactions in any securities of the Company in accordance with applicable securities laws from and after the time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.3 and (iii) no Purchaser shall have any duty of confidentiality or duty not to trade in the securities of the Company to the Company or its Subsidiaries after the issuance of the initial press release as described in Section 4.3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of a Purchaser that is a multi-managed investment vehicle whereby separate portfolio managers manage separate portions of such Purchaser’s assets and the portfolio managers have no direct knowledge of the investment decisions made by the portfolio managers managing other portions of such Purchaser’s assets, the covenant set forth above shall only apply with respect to the portion of assets managed by the portfolio manager that made the investment decision to purchase the Shares covered by this Agreement.

 

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4.13       Capital Changes. Until the one (1) year anniversary of the Closing Date, the Company shall not undertake a reverse or forward stock split or reclassification of the Common Stock without the prior written consent of the Purchasers holding a majority in interest of the Shares.

 

ARTICLE V.
MISCELLANEOUS

 

5.1       Termination. This Agreement may be terminated by any Purchaser, as to such Purchaser’s obligations hereunder only and without any effect whatsoever on the obligations between the Company and the other Purchasers, by written notice to the other parties, if the Closing has not been consummated on or before the fifth (5th) Trading Day following the date hereof; provided, however, that no such termination will affect the right of any party to sue for any breach by any other party (or parties).

 

5.2       Fees and Expenses. At the Closing, the Company has agreed to reimburse the Placement Agent, the non-accountable sum of $35,000 for its legal fees and expenses. Except as expressly set forth in the Transaction Documents to the contrary, each party shall pay the fees and expenses of its advisers, counsel, accountants and other experts, if any, and all other expenses incurred by such party incident to the negotiation, preparation, execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement. The Company shall pay all Transfer Agent fees (including, without limitation, any fees required for same-day processing of any instruction letter delivered by the Company), stamp taxes and other taxes and duties levied in connection with the delivery of any Shares to the Purchasers.

 

5.3       Entire Agreement. The Transaction Documents, together with the exhibits and schedules thereto, the Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement, contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, oral or written, with respect to such matters, which the parties acknowledge have been merged into such documents, exhibits and schedules.

 

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5.4       Notices. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries required or permitted to be provided hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of: (a) the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via facsimile at the facsimile number or email attachment at the email address as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto at or prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a Trading Day, (b) the next Trading Day after the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via facsimile at the facsimile number or email attachment at the email address as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto on a day that is not a Trading Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, (c) the second (2nd) Trading Day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. nationally recognized overnight courier service or (d) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. The address for such notices and communications shall be as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto. To the extent that any notice provided pursuant to any Transaction Document constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

5.5       Amendments; Waivers. No provision of this Agreement may be waived, modified, supplemented or amended except in a written instrument signed, in the case of an amendment, by the Company and Purchasers which purchased at least 50.1% in interest of the Shares based on the initial Subscription Amounts hereunder or, in the case of a waiver, by the party against whom enforcement of any such waived provision is sought, provided that if any amendment, modification or waiver disproportionately and adversely impacts a Purchaser (or group of Purchasers), the consent of such disproportionately impacted Purchaser (or group of Purchasers) shall also be required. No waiver of any default with respect to any provision, condition or requirement of this Agreement shall be deemed to be a continuing waiver in the future or a waiver of any subsequent default or a waiver of any other provision, condition or requirement hereof, nor shall any delay or omission of any party to exercise any right hereunder in any manner impair the exercise of any such right. Any proposed amendment or waiver that disproportionately, materially and adversely affects the rights and obligations of any Purchaser relative to the comparable rights and obligations of the other Purchasers shall require the prior written consent of such adversely affected Purchaser. Any amendment effected in accordance with this Section 5.5 shall be binding upon each Purchaser and holder of Shares and the Company.

 

5.6       Headings. The headings herein are for convenience only, do not constitute a part of this Agreement and shall not be deemed to limit or affect any of the provisions hereof.

 

5.7       Successors and Assigns. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their successors and permitted assigns. The Company may not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of each Purchaser (other than by merger). Any Purchaser may assign any or all of its rights under this Agreement to any Person to whom such Purchaser assigns or transfers any Shares, provided that such transferee agrees in writing to be bound, with respect to the transferred Shares, by the provisions of the Transaction Documents that apply to the “Purchasers.”

 

5.8       No Third-Party Beneficiaries. The Placement Agent shall be the third party beneficiary of the representations and warranties of the Company in Section 3.1 and the representations and warranties of the Purchasers in Section 3.2. This Agreement is intended for the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns and is not for the benefit of, nor may any provision hereof be enforced by, any other Person, except as otherwise set forth in Section 4.7, this Section 5.8, and the Placement Agency Agreement.

 

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5.9       Governing Law. All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of the Transaction Documents shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law thereof. Each party agrees that all legal Proceedings concerning the interpretations, enforcement and defense of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and any other Transaction Documents (whether brought against a party hereto or its respective affiliates, directors, officers, shareholders, partners, members, employees or agents) shall be commenced exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection herewith or with any transaction contemplated hereby or discussed herein (including with respect to the enforcement of any of the Transaction Documents), and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any Action or Proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such Action or Proceeding is improper or is an inconvenient venue for such Proceeding. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such Action or Proceeding by mailing a copy thereof via registered or certified mail or overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. If any party shall commence an Action or Proceeding to enforce any provisions of the Transaction Documents, then, in addition to the obligations of the Company under Section 4.7, the prevailing party in such Action or Proceeding shall be reimbursed by the non-prevailing party for its reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such Action or Proceeding.

 

5.10       Survival. The representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the Closing and the delivery of the Shares.

 

5.11       Execution. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to each other party, it being understood that the parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission or by e-mail delivery of a “.pdf” format data file, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such facsimile or “.pdf” signature page were an original thereof.

 

5.12       Severability. If any term, provision, covenant or restriction of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable, the remainder of the terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions set forth herein shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated, and the parties hereto shall use their commercially reasonable efforts to find and employ an alternative means to achieve the same or substantially the same result as that contemplated by such term, provision, covenant or restriction. It is hereby stipulated and declared to be the intention of the parties that they would have executed the remaining terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions without including any of such that may be hereafter declared invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable.

 

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5.13       Rescission and Withdrawal Right. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in (and without limiting any similar provisions of) any of the other Transaction Documents, whenever any Purchaser exercises a right, election, demand or option under a Transaction Document and the Company does not timely perform its related obligations within the periods therein provided, then such Purchaser may rescind or withdraw, in its sole discretion from time to time upon written notice to the Company, any relevant notice, demand or election in whole or in part without prejudice to its future actions and rights.

 

5.14       Replacement of Shares. If any certificate or instrument evidencing any Shares is mutilated, lost, stolen or destroyed, the Company shall issue or cause to be issued in exchange and substitution for and upon cancellation thereof (in the case of mutilation), or in lieu of and substitution therefor, a new certificate or instrument, but only upon receipt of evidence reasonably satisfactory to the Company of such loss, theft or destruction. The applicant for a new certificate or instrument under such circumstances shall also pay any reasonable third-party costs (including customary indemnity) associated with the issuance of such replacement Shares.

 

5.15       Remedies. In addition to being entitled to exercise all rights provided herein or granted by law, including recovery of damages, each of the Purchasers and the Company will be entitled to specific performance under the Transaction Documents. The parties agree that monetary damages may not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of any breach of obligations contained in the Transaction Documents and hereby agree to waive and not to assert in any Action for specific performance of any such obligation the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

 

5.16       Payment Set Aside. To the extent that the Company makes a payment or payments to any Purchaser pursuant to any Transaction Document or a Purchaser enforces or exercises its rights thereunder, and such payment or payments or the proceeds of such enforcement or exercise or any part thereof are subsequently invalidated, declared to be fraudulent or preferential, set aside, recovered from, disgorged by or are required to be refunded, repaid or otherwise restored to the Company, a trustee, receiver or any other Person under any law (including, without limitation, any bankruptcy law, state or federal law, common law or equitable cause of action), then to the extent of any such restoration the obligation or part thereof originally intended to be satisfied shall be revived and continued in full force and effect as if such payment had not been made or such enforcement or setoff had not occurred.

 

5.17       Independent Nature of Purchasers’ Obligations and Rights. The obligations of each Purchaser under any Transaction Document are several and not joint with the obligations of any other Purchaser, and no Purchaser shall be responsible in any way for the performance or non-performance of the obligations of any other Purchaser under any Transaction Document. Nothing contained herein or in any other Transaction Document, and no action taken by any Purchaser pursuant hereto or thereto, shall be deemed to constitute the Purchasers as a partnership, an association, a joint venture or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Purchasers are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. Each Purchaser shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights including, without limitation, the rights arising out of this Agreement or out of the other Transaction Documents, and it shall not be necessary for any other Purchaser to be joined as an additional party in any Proceeding for such purpose. Each Purchaser has been represented by its own separate legal counsel in its review and negotiation of the Transaction Documents. For reasons of administrative convenience only, each Purchaser and its respective counsel have chosen to communicate with the Company through EGS. EGS does not represent any of the Purchasers and only represents the Placement Agent. The Company has elected to provide all Purchasers with the same terms and Transaction Documents for the convenience of the Company and not because it was required or requested to do so by any of the Purchasers. It is expressly understood and agreed that each provision contained in this Agreement and in each other Transaction Document is between the Company and a Purchaser, solely, and not between the Company and the Purchasers collectively and not between and among the Purchasers.

 

5.18       Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc. If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Trading Day, then such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Trading Day.

 

5.19       Construction. The parties agree that each of them and/or their respective counsel have reviewed and had an opportunity to revise the Transaction Documents and, therefore, the normal rule of construction to the effect that any ambiguities are to be resolved against the drafting party shall not be employed in the interpretation of the Transaction Documents or any amendments thereto. In addition, each and every reference to share prices and shares of Common Stock in any Transaction Document shall be subject to adjustment for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions of the Common Stock that occur after the date of this Agreement.

 

5.20       WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. IN ANY ACTION, SUIT, OR PROCEEDING IN ANY JURISDICTION BROUGHT BY ANY PARTY AGAINST ANY OTHER PARTY, THE PARTIES EACH KNOWINGLY AND INTENTIONALLY, TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HEREBY ABSOLUTELY, UNCONDITIONALLY, IRREVOCABLY AND EXPRESSLY WAIVES FOREVER TRIAL BY JURY.

 

(Signature Pages Follow)

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized signatories as of the date first indicated above.

 

U.S. Energy Corp.   Address for Notice:
     
By:     E-Mail:
Name: Ryan Smith   Fax:
Title: Chief Executive Officer    
With a copy to (which shall not constitute notice):    

 

[REMAINDER OF PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

SIGNATURE PAGE FOR PURCHASER FOLLOWS]

 

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[PURCHASER SIGNATURE PAGES TO SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT]

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have caused this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized signatories as of the date first indicated above.

 

Name of Purchaser: ________________________________________________________

 

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Purchaser: _________________________________

 

Name of Authorized Signatory: _______________________________________________

 

Title of Authorized Signatory: ________________________________________________

 

Email Address of Authorized Signatory: _________________________________________

 

Address for Notice to Purchaser:

 

Address for Delivery of Shares to Purchaser (if not same as address for notice):

 

Subscription Amount: $_________________

 

Shares: _________________

 

EIN Number: ____________________

 

[  ] Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, by checking this box (i) the obligations of the above-signed to purchase the securities set forth in this Agreement to be purchased from the Company by the above-signed, and the obligations of the Company to sell such securities to the above-signed, shall be unconditional and all conditions to Closing shall be disregarded, (ii) the Closing shall occur on the second (2nd) Trading Day following the date of this Agreement and (iii) any condition to Closing contemplated by this Agreement (but prior to being disregarded by clause (i) above) that required delivery by the Company or the above-signed of any agreement, instrument, certificate or the like or purchase price (as applicable) shall no longer be a condition and shall instead be an unconditional obligation of the Company or the above-signed (as applicable) to deliver such agreement, instrument, certificate or the like or purchase price (as applicable) to such other party on the Closing Date.

 

[SIGNATURE PAGES CONTINUE]

 

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Exhibit 10.2

 

LOCK-UP AGREEMENT

 

October [__], 2020

 

Kingswood Capital Markets,

division of Benchmark Investments, Inc.

17 Battery Place, Suite 625

New York, NY 10017

 

  Re: Placement Agency Agreement, dated September 29, 2020, (the “Placement Agency Agreement”) by and between U.S. Energy Corp. (the “Company”) and Kingswood Capital Markets, division of Benchmark Investments, Inc. (the “Placement Agent”)

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

The undersigned irrevocably agrees with the Company that, from the date hereof until 180 days following the date of the Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) entered into by and between the Company and the purchaser signatories thereto (such period, the “Restriction Period”), the undersigned will not offer, sell, contract to sell, hypothecate, pledge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction which is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the undersigned or any Affiliate (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) of the undersigned or any person in privity with the undersigned or any Affiliate of the undersigned), directly or indirectly, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), with respect to, any shares of common stock of the Company or securities convertible, exchangeable or exercisable into, shares of common stock of the Company beneficially owned, held or hereafter acquired by the undersigned (the “Securities”). Beneficial ownership shall be calculated in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act. In order to enforce this covenant, the Company shall impose irrevocable stop-transfer instructions preventing the transfer agent of the Company from effecting any actions in violation of this letter agreement. The Placement Agent may consent to an early release from the Restriction Period if, in its sole and absolute discretion, the market for the Securities would not be adversely impacted by sales and in cases of financial emergency. The restrictions contained in this letter agreement shall not apply to the Securities to be sold pursuant to the Placement Agency Agreement and the Purchase Agreement on behalf of the undersigned, if any. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (i) the Company issues an earnings release or material news, or a material event relating to the Company occurs, during the last 17 days of the Restriction Period, or (ii) prior to the expiration of the Restriction Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results during the 16-day period beginning on the last day of the Restriction Period, the restrictions imposed by this letter agreement shall continue to apply until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the issuance of the earnings release or the occurrence of the material news or material event, unless the Placement Agent waives such extension.

 

 

 

 

The undersigned acknowledges that the execution, delivery and performance of this letter agreement is a material inducement to the Placement Agent to perform under the Placement Agency Agreement and that the Placement Agent (which shall be a third party beneficiary of this letter agreement) and the Company shall be entitled to specific performance of the undersigned’s obligations hereunder. The undersigned hereby represents that the undersigned has the power and authority to execute, deliver and perform this letter agreement, that the undersigned has received adequate consideration therefor and that the undersigned will indirectly benefit from the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Placement Agency Agreement and the Purchase Agreement.

 

This letter agreement may not be amended or otherwise modified in any respect without the written consent of each of the Company, the Placement Agent and the undersigned. This letter agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to the principles of conflict of laws. The undersigned hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States District Court sitting in the Southern District of New York and the courts of the State of New York located in Manhattan, for the purposes of any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this letter agreement, and hereby waives, and agrees not to assert in any such suit, action or proceeding, any claim that (i) it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of such court, (ii) the suit, action or proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum, or (iii) the venue of the suit, action or proceeding is improper. The undersigned hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by receiving a copy thereof sent to the Company at the address in effect for notices to it under the Placement Agency Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. The undersigned hereby waives any right to a trial by jury. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any manner permitted by law. The undersigned agrees and understands that this letter agreement does not intend to create any relationship between the undersigned and the Placement Agent and that no issuance or sale of the Securities is created or intended by virtue of this letter agreement.

 

By its signature below, the transfer agent of the Company hereby acknowledges and agrees that, reflecting this letter agreement, it has placed an irrevocable stop transfer instruction on all Securities beneficially owned by the undersigned until the end of the Restriction Period. This letter agreement shall be binding on successors and assigns of the undersigned with respect to the Securities and any such successor or assign shall enter into a similar agreement for the benefit of the Placement Agent.

 

*** SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS***

 

2

 

 

This letter agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which when taken together may be considered one and the same agreement.

 

   
Signature  
   
   
Print Name  
   
   
Position in Company, if any  
   
Address for Notice:  
   
   
   
   
   
   
Number of shares of Common Stock  

 

 

 

Number of shares of Common Stock underlying subject to warrants, options, debentures or other convertible securities

 

By signing below, the Company agrees to enforce the restrictions on transfer set forth in this letter agreement.

 

U.S. Energy Corp.  
     
By:    
Name: Ryan Smith  
Title: Chief Executive Officer  
     
Acknowledged and agreed to  
as of the date set forth above:  
   
Computershare Trust Company, Inc.  
     
By:    
Name:    
Title:    

 

3

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

U.S. Energy Corp. Announces $1.65 Million Registered Direct Offering

 

HOUSTON, TEXAS, September 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)/ — U.S. Energy Corp. (Nasdaq: USEG) (the “Company”), today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with institutional and accredited investors for the purchase and sale of 315,810 shares of the Company’s common stock, at a purchase price of $5.25 per share, in a registered direct offering priced above the market under Nasdaq rules. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about October 2, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

 

Kingswood Capital Markets, division of Benchmark Investments, Inc. (“Kingswood Capital Markets”), is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

 

The gross proceeds to the Company from this offering are expected to be $1.65 million, before deducting the placement agent’s fees and other estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

 

The shares of common stock are being offered by the Company pursuant to a “shelf” registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-248906) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on September 18, 2020 and declared effective by the SEC on September 25, 2020. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the shares of common stock being offered will be filed with the SEC. The Company will also file a Form 8-K in connection with the securities purchase agreement and the closing of the offering. Electronic copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus may be obtained, when available, on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov or by Kingswood Capital Markets, Attention: Edward Tsuker, 17 Battery Place, Suite 625, New York, NY 10004, by telephone at (212) 404-7002, or by email at syndicate@kingswoodcm.com.

 

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

 

About U.S. Energy Corp.

 

U.S. Energy is an independent energy company focused on the acquisition and development of oil and gas producing properties in the United States. Our business is currently focused on targeting mature, low decline assets with existing infrastructure, which we believe allows us to maximize our return on capital in a cost effective and sustainable manner. More information about U.S. Energy Corp. can be found at www.usnrg.com.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of, and within the safe harbor provided by the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” “predict,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend” or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company’s filings with the SEC, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its business contained therein. Additional risks and uncertainties relate to completion of the registered direct offering on the anticipated terms, or at all, market conditions and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the registered direct offering. Thus, actual results could be materially different. Particular uncertainties and risks include: our ability to satisfy the closing conditions of the registered direct offering; the closing of the registered direct offering; the use of proceeds of the offering and market and other conditions. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

 

Contact:

 

U.S. Energy Corp.

Ryan Smith

Chief Executive Officer

(303) 993-3200

www.usnrg.com