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): January 24, 2022
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 000-55903 | 82-4270040 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) |
(Commission File Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
3000 NW 109th Avenue Miami, Florida (Address of principal executive offices) |
33172
(Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (860) 633-5565
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
N/A
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. below):
☐ | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) | |
☐ | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) | |
☐ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) | |
☐ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value | BSFC |
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 of this chapter).
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. ☐
Section 1 - Registrant’s Business and Operations
Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
On January 24, 2022, Blue Star Foods Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Investor”), pursuant to which the Company issued to the Investor a secured, two-year, interest free convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $5,750,000 (the “Note”) and a common stock purchase warrant (the “Warrant”) to acquire 1,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company. In connection with the issuance of the Note and the Warrant, the Company paid a $150,000 commitment fee to the Investor. The proceeds from the sale of the Note and Warrant are for general working capital.
Commencing July 24, 2022, the Company shall pay the outstanding principal amount of the Note in 18 consecutive monthly payments of $333,333 each. At the option of the Company, the monthly payment can be made in cash, shares of the common stock of the Company at a price (the “Repayment Share Price”) based on 90% of the 5 lowest VWAPs during the 20 days prior to the payment date with a floor price of $1.50 per share (the “Floor Price”), or a combination of cash and stock, provided that if at any time the Repayment Share Price is deemed to be the Floor Price, then in addition to shares, the Company will pay the Investor an additional amount in cash as determined pursuant to a formula contained in the Note. The shares issued as monthly payments must either be eligible for immediate resale under Rule 144 or be registered.
In connection with the issuance of the Note, the Company granted the Investor a first priority security interest and lien upon all of its assets, including a pledge on its shares in John Keeler & Co. Inc., pursuant to the Security Agreement dated as of January 24, 2022 by and between the Company and the Investor (the “Security Agreement”) and the Stock Pledge Agreement dated as of January 24, 2022, by and between the Company and the Investor (the “Pledge Agreement”). Each subsidiary of the Company will also grant to the Investor a second priority security interest in all of its respective assets.
The Note is mandatorily payable prior to maturity on January 24, 2024 if the Company issues any preferred stock (with certain exceptions such as pursuant to an equity plan approved by the Board of Directors) or if the Company or any of its subsidiaries issues any indebtedness other than certain amounts under the current line of credit facility with Lighthouse Financial Corp. The Company also agreed not to issue or sell any securities with a conversion, exercise or other price based on a discount to the trading prices of the Company’s stock. In addition, the Company also agreed not to grant any investor the right to receive additional securities based upon future transactions of the Company on terms more favorable than those granted to the Investor, with certain exceptions.
Commencing on the earlier of July 24, 2022 and the effectiveness of the registration statement covering the Investor’s shares, if the Company fails to maintain the listing and trading of its common stock, the Note will become due and payable and the Investor may convert all or a portion of the outstanding principal at the lower of the then current conversion price and 80% of the average of the 3-day VWAP during the 20 days prior to delivery of the conversion notice.
The Company agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering the resale of all of the shares of common stock issuable to the Investor pursuant to the Note and Warrant. If the registration statement is not declared effective after 180 days following January 24, 2022, the Note shall be in default. The Investor was also granted piggyback registration rights.
If the Company engages in capital raising transactions, the Investor has the right to purchase up to 10% of the new securities.
The Note is convertible into common stock of the Company at any time after the earlier of 6 months from issuance or the date the registration statement is effective, provided that no such conversion may be made that would result in beneficial ownership by the Investor and its affiliates of more than 4.99% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock. The conversion price of the Note is equal to $5.00, subject to customary adjustments. If shares are issued by the Company at less than the conversion price, the conversion price shall be reduced to such price.
If there is a change of control of the Company, the Investor has the right to require the Company to prepay the outstanding principal amount of the Note. A change of control includes a change in the composition of the Board of Directors of the Company, a shareholder having beneficial ownership of more than 40% or the sale or other disposition of the Company of all or substantially all of the assets.
The Company can prepay the Investor all the outstanding principal amount of the Note, provided that the Investor shall have the option to convert up to 25% of the principal amount of the Note at a price per share equal to the lesser of the Repayment Share Price or the conversion price.
The Note contains certain negative covenants, including restricting the Company from certain distributions, stock repurchases, borrowing, sale of assets, loans and exchange offers.
Upon the occurrence of an event of default as described in the Note, the Note will become immediately due and payable at a default interest rate of 125% of the then outstanding principal amount of the Note. Events of default include a change of control, a default in any indebtedness in excess of $250,000, the failure of the Company to instruct its transfer agent to issue unlegended certificates, the shares no longer publicly being traded, if after July 24, 2022 the shares are not available for immediate resale under Rule 144 and the Company’s market capitalization is below $10 million for 10 days. Upon an event of default, the Investor can demand that all or a portion of the outstanding principal amount be converted into shares of common stock at the lower of the conversion price and 80% of the average of the 3 lowest daily VWAPs.
The Warrant entitles the Investor to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company until January 24, 2027 at an exercise price of $4.50 per share, subject to customary adjustments. The Warrant provides for cashless exercise and provides for full ratchet anti-dilution if the Company issues securities at less than $4.50 per share.
The foregoing descriptions of the Purchase Agreement, the Note, the Warrant, the Security Agreement and the Pledge Agreement are not complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the forms of the Purchase Agreement, the Note, the Warrant, the Security Agreement and the Pledge Agreement, copies of which were attached as Exhibits 4.2, 10.57, 10.58, 10.59 and 10.60, respectively, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference.
Section 2 – Financial Information
Item 2.03 Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant.
The disclosure set forth above under Item 1.01 (Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement) above with respect to the Note is incorporated by reference into this Item 2.03.
Section 3 Securities and Trading Markets
Item 3.02 Unregistered Sale of Equity Securities.
Reference is made to the disclosure set forth under Item 1.01 above, which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.
The issuances of the Note and Warrant were, and, upon conversion of the Note and exercise of the Warrant to shares of common stock, will be, exempt from registration under Section 4(a)(2) and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), as transactions by an issuer not involving any public offering. At the time of their issuance, the Note and the Warrant were deemed to be restricted securities for purposes of the Act and will bear restrictive legends to that effect.
Section 9 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
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.
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | ||
Date: January 28 2022 | By: | /s/ John Keeler |
Name: | John Keeler | |
Title: | Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
Exhibit 4.2
THIS NOTE HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS AS EVIDENCED BY A LEGAL OPINION OF COUNSEL TO THE TRANSFEROR TO SUCH EFFECT, THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH SHALL BE REASONABLY ACCEPTABLE TO THE COMPANY. THIS NOTE AND THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON CONVERSION OF THIS NOTE MAY BE PLEDGED IN CONNECTION WITH A BONA FIDE MARGIN ACCOUNT SECURED BY SUCH SECURITIES.
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP.
Form of Senior Secured
Convertible Promissory
Note due January 24, 2024
Note No. 2022-001 | $5,750,000 |
Dated: January 24, 2022 (the “Issuance Date”) |
For value received, BLUE STAR FOODS CORP., a Delaware corporation (the “Maker” or the “Company”), hereby promises to pay to the order of Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (together with its successors and representatives, the “Holder”), in accordance with the terms hereinafter provided, the principal amount of FIVE MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($5,750,000.00) (the “Principal Amount”).
All payments under or pursuant to this Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note (this “Note”) shall be made in United States Dollars in immediately available funds to the Holder at the address of the Holder set forth in the Purchase Agreement (as hereinafter defined) or at such other place as the Holder may designate from time to time in writing to the Maker or by wire transfer of funds to the Holder’s account, instructions for which are attached hereto as Exhibit A. The outstanding principal balance of this Note shall be due and payable on January 24, 2024 (the “Maturity Date”) or at such earlier time as provided herein; provided, that the Holder, in its sole discretion, may extend the Maturity Date to any date after the original Maturity Date. In the event that the Maturity Date shall fall on Saturday or Sunday, such Maturity Date shall be the next succeeding Business Day. All calculations made pursuant to this Note shall be rounded down to three decimal places.
ARTICLE 1
1.1 Purchase Agreement. This Note has been executed and delivered pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 24, 2022 (as the same may be amended from time to time, the “Purchase Agreement”), by and between the Maker and the Holder. Capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings set forth for such terms in the Purchase Agreement.
1.2 Interest. Other than as set forth in Section 2.2 herein, this Note shall not bear interest.
1.3 Principal Installment Payments. Commencing on the date that is 180 days from the Issuance Date, the Maker shall pay to the Holder the Outstanding Principal Amount hereunder in eighteen (18) consecutive monthly installments, on such date and each one (1) month anniversary thereof (each, a “Payment Date” and collectively the “Monthly Payments”), an amount equal to Three Hundred Thirty Three Thousand Three Hundred Thirty Three Dollars ($333,333), until the Outstanding Principal Amount has been paid in full prior to or on the Maturity Date or, if earlier, upon acceleration, conversion or redemption of this Note in accordance with the terms herein. The Monthly Payments shall, at the Maker’s option, be made in (i) cash, (ii) Repayment Shares, or (iii) a combination of cash and Repayment Shares; provided that the number of Repayment Shares shall be determined by dividing the Principal Amount being paid in shares of Common Stock by the Repayment Share Price; provided, however, that no portion of the Principal Amount may be paid in Repayment Shares unless (1) such Repayment Shares (A) may be immediately resold under Rule 144 without restriction on the number of shares to be sold or manner of sale, or (B) are registered for resale under the 1933 Act and the registration statement is in effect and lawfully usable to effect immediate sales of such Repayment Shares. The Company must provide advance written notice to the Holder of whether it will elect to pay a Monthly Payment in cash, Repayment Shares or a combination thereof as follows: (i) with respect to the first Monthly Payment, at least thirty (30) days before the Payment Date, and (ii) with respect to each Monthly Payment thereafter, within three (3) Business Days of the prior Payment Date; provided, however, that if no such notice is provided within the timeframes set forth above, such Monthly Payments shall be made in Repayment Shares. If the Maker elects to make such Monthly Payment in Repayment Shares or a combination of cash and Repayment Shares, and at the time of such Payment Date, the Repayment Share Price is deemed to be the Floor Price, then in addition to issuing the Repayment Shares at the Repayment Share Price, the Maker will also pay to the Holder a cash amount equal to the following formula:
(A – B) x C
Where:
A: Number of shares of Common Stock that would be issued to the Holder on such Payment Date determined by dividing the Principal Amount being paid in shares of Common Stock by ninety percent (90%) of the average of the five (5) lowest daily VWAPs during the twenty (20) Trading Days prior to such Payment Date (notwithstanding the Floor Price);
B: Number of Repayment Shares issued to the Holder in connection with such Payment Date; and
C: the VWAP on the Payment Date.
1.4 Prepayment. The Maker may repay all, but not less than all, of the then Outstanding Principal Amount upon delivering a Prepayment Notice. If the Maker elects to prepay this Note pursuant to this Section 1.4, the Holder shall have the right, upon written notice to the Maker (a “Prepayment Conversion Notice”) within five (5) Business Days of the Holder’s receipt of a Prepayment Notice, to convert up to twenty five percent (25%) of the Principal Amount (the “Maximum Amount”) at the lesser of the Repayment Share Price or the Conversion Price (each as defined below), in accordance with the provisions of Article 3, specifying the Principal Amount (up to the Maximum Amount) that the Holder will convert. Upon delivery of a Prepayment Notice, the Maker irrevocably and unconditionally agrees to, within five (5) Business Days of receiving a Prepayment Conversion Notice, and if no Prepayment Conversion Notice is received, within ten (10) Business Days of delivery of a Prepayment Notice: (i) repay the amount of the Outstanding Principal Amount minus the Principal Amount set forth in the Prepayment Conversion Notice and (ii) issue the applicable Conversion Shares to the Holder in accordance with Article 3, as applicable. The foregoing notwithstanding, the Maker may not deliver a Prepayment Notice with respect to any Outstanding Principal Amount that is subject to a Conversion Notice delivered by the Holder in accordance with Article 3.
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1.5 Delisting from a Trading Market. If at any time the Common Stock ceases to be listed on a Trading Market, (i) the Holder may deliver a demand for payment to the Company and, if such a demand is delivered, the Company shall, within ten (10) Business Days following receipt of the demand for payment from the Holder, pay all of the Outstanding Principal Amount or (ii) the Holder may, at its election, after the six-month anniversary of the Issuance Date or earlier if a Registration Statement covering the Conversion Shares has been declared effective, upon notice to the Company in accordance with Section 5.1, convert all or a portion of the Outstanding Principal Amount and the Conversion Price shall be adjusted to the lower of (A) the then-current Conversion Price and (A) eighty percent (80%) of the average of the three (3) lowest daily VWAPs during the twenty (20) Trading Days prior to delivery by the Holder of its notice of conversion pursuant to this Section 1.5.
1.6 Payment on Non-Business Days. Whenever any payment to be made shall be due on a day which is not a Business Day, such payment may be due on the next succeeding Business Day.
1.7 Transfer. This Note may be transferred or sold, subject to the provisions of Section 5.8 of this Note, or pledged, hypothecated or otherwise granted as security by the Holder.
1.8 Replacement. Upon receipt of a duly executed and notarized written statement from the Holder with respect to the loss, theft or destruction of this Note (or any replacement hereof), or, in the case of a mutilation of this Note, upon surrender and cancellation of such Note, the Maker shall issue a new Note, of like tenor and amount, in lieu of such lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated Note.
1.9 Use of Proceeds. The Maker shall use the proceeds of this Note as set forth in the Purchase Agreement.
1.10 Status of Note and Security Interest. The obligations of the Maker under this Note shall be senior to all other existing Indebtedness and equity of the Company. Upon any Liquidation Event (as hereinafter defined), the Holder will be entitled to receive, before any distribution or payment is made upon, or set apart with respect to, any Indebtedness of the Maker or any class of capital stock of the Maker, an amount equal to the Outstanding Principal Amount. For purposes of this Note, “Liquidation Event” means a liquidation pursuant to a filing of a petition for bankruptcy under applicable law or any other insolvency or debtor’s relief, an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or a voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the Maker.
1.11 Secured Note; Guarantee. The full amount of this Note is secured by the Collateral (as defined in the respective Security Agreements) identified and described as security therefor in the Security Agreements. In additional, upon the execution and delivery of a Guaranty as contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, then from and after such date all of the obligations of the Maker under this Note will be guaranteed by its Subsidiaries, and the obligations under the guarantee will be secured by the Collateral of such Subsidiary.
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1.12 Tax Treatment. The Maker and the Holder agree that for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and applicable state, local and non-U.S. income tax purposes, this Note is not intended to be, and shall not be, treated as indebtedness. Neither the Maker nor the Holder shall take any contrary position on any tax return, or in any audit, claim, investigation, inquiry or proceeding in respect of Taxes, unless otherwise required pursuant to a final determination within the meaning of Section 1313 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or any analogous provision of applicable state, local or non-U.S. law.
ARTICLE 2
2.1 Events of Default. An “Event of Default” under this Note shall mean the occurrence of any of the events defined in the Purchase Agreement, and any of the additional events described below:
(a) any default in the payment of (i) the Principal Amount or any accrued and unpaid interest hereunder when due, or any principal or interest owing under any other Note; or (ii) liquidated damages in respect of this Note or any other Note as and when the same shall become due and payable (whether on the Maturity Date or by acceleration or otherwise);
(b) the Maker or any Subsidiary shall fail to observe or perform any other covenant, condition or agreement contained in this Note or any Transaction Document;
(c) the Maker’s notice to the Holder, including by way of public announcement, at any time, of its inability to comply (including for any of the reasons described in Section 3.6(a) hereof) or its intention not to comply with proper requests for conversion of this Note into shares of Common Stock;
(d) the Maker shall fail to (i) timely deliver the shares of Common Stock as and when required in Section 3.2; or (ii) make the payment of any fees and/or liquidated damages under this Note, the Purchase Agreement or the other Transaction Documents;
(e) default shall be made in the performance or observance of any material covenant, condition or agreement contained in the Purchase Agreement or any other Transaction Document that is not covered by any other provisions of this Section 2.1;
(f) at any time the Maker shall fail to have a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock authorized, reserved and available for issuance to satisfy the potential conversion in full (disregarding for this purpose any and all limitations of any kind on such conversion) of this Note or upon exercise of the Warrant;
(g) any representation or warranty made by the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries herein or in the Purchase Agreement, this Note, the Warrant or any other Transaction Document shall prove to have been false or incorrect or breached in a material respect on the date as of which made;
(h) unless otherwise approved in writing in advance by the Holder, the Maker shall, or shall announce an intention to pursue or consummate a Change of Control, or a Change of Control shall be consummated, or the Maker shall negotiate, propose or enter into any agreement, understanding or arrangement with respect to any Change of Control;
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(i) the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries shall (A) default in any payment of any amount or amounts of principal of or interest (if any) on any Indebtedness (other than the Indebtedness hereunder and the Permitted Senior Debt), the aggregate principal amount of which Indebtedness is in excess of $250,000 or (B) default in the observance or performance of any other agreement or condition relating to any such Indebtedness or contained in any instrument or agreement evidencing, securing or relating thereto, or any other event shall occur or condition exist, the effect of which default or other event or condition is to cause, or to permit the holder or holders or beneficiary or beneficiaries of such Indebtedness to cause with the giving of notice if required, such Indebtedness to become due prior to its stated maturity, or any Subsidiary shall (A) default in any payment of any amount or amounts of principal of or interest (if any) on any Permitted Senior Debt or (B) default in the observance or performance of any other agreement or condition relating to any such Permitted Senior Debt or contained in any instrument or agreement evidencing, securing or relating thereto, or any other event shall occur or condition exist, the effect of which default or other event or condition is to cause, or to permit the holder or holders or beneficiary or beneficiaries of such Permitted Senior Debt to cause with the giving of notice if required, such Permitted Senior Debt to become due prior to its stated maturity;
(j) the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries shall: (i) apply for or consent to the appointment of, or the taking of possession by, a receiver, custodian, trustee or liquidator of itself or of all or a substantial part of its property or assets; (ii) make a general assignment for the benefit of its creditors; (iii) commence a voluntary case under the United States Bankruptcy Code (as now or hereafter in effect) or under the comparable laws of any jurisdiction (foreign or domestic); (iv) file a petition seeking to take advantage of any bankruptcy, insolvency, moratorium, reorganization or other similar law affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally; (v) acquiesce in writing to any petition filed against it in an involuntary case under United States Bankruptcy Code (as now or hereafter in effect) or under the comparable laws of any jurisdiction (foreign or domestic); (vi) issue a notice of bankruptcy or winding down of its operations or issue a press release regarding same; or (vii) take any action under the laws of any jurisdiction (foreign or domestic) analogous to any of the foregoing;
(k) a proceeding or case shall be commenced in respect of the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries, without its application or consent, in any court of competent jurisdiction, seeking: (i) the liquidation, reorganization, moratorium, dissolution, winding up, or composition or readjustment of its debts; (ii) the appointment of a trustee, receiver, custodian, liquidator or the like of it or of all or any substantial part of its assets in connection with the liquidation or dissolution of the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries; or (iii) similar relief in respect of it under any law providing for the relief of debtors, and such proceeding or case described in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) shall continue undismissed, or unstayed and in effect, for a period of forty-five (45) days or any order for relief shall be entered in an involuntary case under United States Bankruptcy Code (as now or hereafter in effect) or under the comparable laws of any jurisdiction (foreign or domestic) against the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries or action under the laws of any jurisdiction (foreign or domestic) analogous to any of the foregoing shall be taken with respect to the Maker or any of its Subsidiaries and shall continue undismissed, or unstayed and in effect for a period of forty-five (45) days;
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(l) one or more final judgments or orders for the payment of money aggregating in excess of $250,000 (or its equivalent in the relevant currency of payment) are rendered against one or more of the Company and its Subsidiaries;
(m) the failure of the Maker to instruct its transfer agent to remove any legends from shares of Common Stock and issue such unlegended certificates to the Holder within three (3) Trading Days of the Holder’s request so long as the Holder has provided reasonable assurances to the Maker that such shares of Common Stock can be sold pursuant to Rule 144 or any other applicable exemption;
(n) the Maker’s shares of Common Stock are no longer publicly traded or cease to be listed on the Trading Market or, after the six month anniversary of the Issuance Date, any Investor Shares may not be immediately resold under Rule 144 without restriction on the number of shares to be sold or manner of sale, unless such Investor Shares have been registered for resale under the 1933 Act and may be sold without restriction;
(o) the Maker proposes to or does consummate a “going private” transaction as a result of which the Common Stock will no longer be registered under Sections 12(b) or 12(g) of the 1934 Act;
(p) there shall be any SEC or judicial stop trade order or trading suspension stop-order or any restriction in place with the transfer agent for the Common Stock restricting the trading of such Common Stock;
(q) the Depository Trust Company places any restrictions on transactions in the Common Stock or the Common Stock is no longer tradeable through the Depository Trust Company Fast Automated Securities Transfer program;
(r) the Company’s Market Capitalization is below $10 million for ten (10) consecutive days; or
(s) the occurrence of a Material Adverse Effect in respect of the Maker, or the Maker and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole.
For the avoidance of doubt, any default pursuant to clause (i) above shall not be subject to any cure periods pursuant to the instrument governing such Indebtedness or this Note.
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2.2 Remedies Upon an Event of Default.
(a) Upon the occurrence of any Event of Default, the Maker shall be obligated to pay to the Holder the Mandatory Default Amount, which Mandatory Default Amount shall be earned by the Holder on the date the Event of Default giving rise thereto occurs and shall be due and payable on the earlier to occur of the Maturity Date, upon conversion, redemption or prepayment of this Note or the date on which all amounts owing hereunder have been accelerated in accordance with the terms hereof.
(b) Upon the occurrence of any Event of Default, the Maker shall, as promptly as possible but in any event within one (1) Business Day of such Event of Default, notify the Holder of the occurrence of such Event of Default, describing the event or factual situation giving rise to the Event of Default and specifying the relevant subsection or subsections of Section 2.1 hereof under which such Event of Default has occurred.
(c) Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, the Holder may at any time at its option (1) declare the Mandatory Default Amount due and payable, and thereupon, the same shall be accelerated and so due and payable, without presentment, demand, protest or notice, all of which are hereby expressly unconditionally and irrevocably waived by the Maker and (2) exercise all other rights and remedies available to it under the Transaction Documents; provided, however, that (x) upon the occurrence of an Event of Default described above, the Holder, in its sole and absolute discretion, may: (a) from time-to-time demand that all or a portion of the Outstanding Principal Amount be converted into shares of Common Stock at the lower of (i) the then-current Conversion Price and (ii) eighty-percent (80%) of the average of the three (3) lowest daily VWAPs during the twenty (20) Trading Days prior to the delivery by the Holder of the applicable notice of conversion or (b) exercise or otherwise enforce any one or more of the Holder’s rights, powers, privileges, remedies and interests under this Note, the Purchase Agreement, the other Transaction Documents or applicable law and (y) upon the occurrence of an Event of Default described in Section 2.1(j) above, the Mandatory Default Amount shall become immediately due and payable without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Maker. No course of delay on the part of the Holder shall operate as a waiver thereof or otherwise prejudice the rights of the Holder. No remedy conferred hereby shall be exclusive of any other remedy referred to herein or now or hereafter available at law, in equity, by statute or otherwise.
ARTICLE 3
3.1 Conversion.
(a) Conversion. At any time following the date that is the earlier of (i) the date that is the six (6) month anniversary of the Issuance Date or (ii) the date of effectiveness of a Registration Statement covering the applicable Conversion Shares (as set forth in the Purchase Agreement), this Note shall be convertible (in whole or in part), at the option of the Holder, into such number of fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock as is determined by dividing (x) that portion of the Outstanding Principal Amount that the Holder elects to convert (the “Conversion Amount”) by (y) the Conversion Price then in effect on the date on which the Holder delivers a notice of conversion, in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit B (the “Conversion Notice”), in accordance with Section 5.1 to the Maker. Any such conversion pursuant to this Section 3.1(a) shall be applied to reduce subsequent Monthly Payments in reverse chronological order, i.e., those to be made on the latest date or dates following the date of conversion. The Holder shall deliver this Note to the Maker at the address designated in the Purchase Agreement at such time that this Note is fully converted. With respect to partial conversions of this Note, the Maker shall keep written records of the amount of this Note converted as of the date of such conversion (each, a “Conversion Date”).
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(b) Conversion Price. The “Conversion Price” means $5.00 and shall be subject to adjustment as provided herein.
3.2 Delivery of Conversion Shares. As soon as practicable after the occurrence of any event requiring the issuance of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of this Note (“Conversion Shares”), including with respect to repayment of principal in Repayment Shares as permitted under this Note, and in any event within one (1) Business Day thereafter (such date, the “Share Delivery Date”), the Maker shall, at its expense, cause to be issued in the name of and delivered to the Holder, or as the Holder may direct, a certificate or certificates evidencing the number of fully paid and nonassessable shares of Common Stock to which the Holder shall be entitled, in such denominations as may be requested by the Holder, which certificate or certificates shall be free of restrictive and trading legends, except for any such legends as may be required under the Securities Act. In lieu of delivering physical certificates for the shares of Common Stock issuable upon the occurrence of any event requiring the issuance of Conversion Shares in accordance with this Note, provided the Company’s transfer agent is participating in the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) Fast Automated Securities Transfer program or a similar program, upon request of the Holder, the Company shall cause its transfer agent to electronically transmit such shares of Common Stock issuable to the Holder (or its designee), by crediting the account of the Holder’s (or such designee’s) broker with DTC through its Deposit and Withdrawal At Custodian (“DWAC”) system (provided that the same time periods herein as for stock certificates shall apply) as instructed by the Holder (or its designee); provided, that such issuance shall only be made through DTC’s DWAC system if such Conversion Shares will be issued free of restrictive legends.
3.3 Ownership Cap. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Holder shall not be entitled to receive shares representing Equity Interests upon conversion of this Note, including with respect to repayment of principal in Repayment Shares as permitted under this Note, to the extent (but only to the extent) that such exercise or receipt would cause the Holder Group (as defined below) to become, directly or indirectly, a “beneficial owner” (within the meaning of Section 13(d) of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder) of a number of Equity Interests of a class that is registered under the 1934 Act which exceeds the Maximum Percentage (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) of the Equity Interests of such class that are outstanding at such time. Any purported delivery of Equity Interests in connection with the conversion of this Note prior to the termination of this restriction in accordance herewith shall be void and have no effect to the extent (but only to the extent) that such delivery would result in the Holder Group becoming the beneficial owner of more than the Maximum Percentage of the Equity Interests of a class that is registered under the 1934 Act that is outstanding at such time. If any delivery of Equity Interests owed to the Holder following conversion of this Note is not made, in whole or in part, as a result of this limitation, the Company’s obligation to make such delivery shall not be extinguished and the Company shall deliver such Equity Interests as promptly as practicable after the Holder gives notice to the Company that such delivery would not result in such limitation being triggered or upon termination of the restriction in accordance with the terms hereof. To the extent limitations contained in this Section 3.3 apply, the determination of whether this Note is convertible and of which portion of this Note is convertible shall be the sole responsibility and in the sole determination of the Holder, and the submission of a notice of conversion shall be deemed to constitute the Holder’s determination that the issuance of the full number of Conversion Shares requested in the notice of conversion is permitted hereunder, and the Company shall not have any obligation to verify or confirm the accuracy of such determination. For purposes of this Section 3.3, (i) the term “Maximum Percentage” shall mean 4.99%; provided, that if at any time after the date hereof the Holder Group beneficially owns in excess of 4.99% of any class of Equity Interests in the Company that is registered under the 1934 Act, then the Maximum Percentage shall automatically increase to 9.99% so long as the Holder Group owns in excess of 4.99% of such class of Equity Interests (and shall, for the avoidance of doubt, automatically decrease to 4.99% upon the Holder Group ceasing to own in excess of 4.99% of such class of Equity Interests); and (ii) the term “Holder Group” shall mean the Holder plus any other Person with which the Holder is considered to be part of a group under Section 13 of the 1934 Act or with which the Holder otherwise files reports under Sections 13 and/or 16 of the 1934 Act. In determining the number of Equity Interests of a particular class outstanding at any point in time, the Holder may rely on the number of outstanding Equity Interests of such class as reflected in (x) the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the case may be, (y) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (z) a more recent notice by the Company or its transfer agent to the Holder setting forth the number of Equity Interests of such class then outstanding. For any reason at any time, upon written or oral request of the Holder, the Company shall, within one (1) Business Day of such request, confirm orally and in writing to the Holder the number of Equity Interests of any class then outstanding. The provisions of this Section 3.3 shall be construed, corrected and implemented in a manner so as to effectuate the intended beneficial ownership limitation herein contained.
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3.4 Adjustment of Conversion Price.
(a) Until the Note has been paid in full or converted in full, the Conversion Price shall be subject to adjustment from time to time as follows (but shall not be increased, other than pursuant to Section 3.4(a)(i) hereof):
(i) Adjustments for Stock Splits and Combinations. If the Maker shall at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date) effect a split or other subdivision of the outstanding Common Stock, the applicable Conversion Price in effect immediately prior to the stock or share split shall be proportionately decreased. If the Maker shall at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date), combine the outstanding shares of Common Stock, the applicable Conversion Price in effect immediately prior to the combination shall be proportionately increased. Any adjustments under this Section 3.4(a)(i) shall be effective at the close of business on the date the stock split or combination occurs.
(ii) Adjustments for Certain Dividends and Distributions. If the Maker shall at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date) make or issue or set a record date for the determination of holders of Common Stock entitled to receive a dividend or other distribution payable in shares of Common Stock, then, and in each event, the applicable Conversion Price in effect immediately prior to such event shall be decreased as of the time of such issuance or, in the event such record date shall have been fixed, as of the close of business on such record date, by multiplying the applicable Conversion Price then in effect by a fraction:
(1) the numerator of which shall be the total number of shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the time of such issuance or the close of business on such record date; and
(2) the denominator of which shall be the total number of shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the time of such issuance or the close of business on such record date plus the number of shares of Common Stock issuable in payment of such dividend or distribution.
(iii) Adjustment for Other Dividends and Distributions. If the Maker shall at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date) make or issue or set a record date for the determination of holders of Common Stock entitled to receive a dividend or other distribution payable in other than shares of Common Stock, then, and in each event, an appropriate revision to the applicable Conversion Price shall be made and provision shall be made (by adjustments of the Conversion Price or otherwise) so that the Holder of this Note shall receive upon conversions thereof, in addition to the number of shares of Common Stock receivable thereon, the number of securities of the Maker or other issuer (as applicable) or cash or other property that it would have received had this Note been converted into Common Stock in full (without regard to any conversion limitations herein) on the date of such event and had thereafter, during the period from the date of such event to and including the Conversion Date, retained such securities (together with any distributions payable thereon during such period) or assets, giving application to all adjustments called for during such period under this Section 3.4(a)(iii) with respect to the rights of the holders of this Note; provided, however, that if such record date shall have been fixed and such dividend is not fully paid or if such distribution is not fully made on the date fixed therefor, the Conversion Price shall be adjusted pursuant to this paragraph as of the time of actual payment of such dividends or distributions.
(iv) Adjustments for Reclassification, Exchange or Substitution. If the Common Stock at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date) shall be changed to the same or different number of shares or other securities of any class or classes of stock or other property, whether by reclassification, exchange, substitution or otherwise (other than by way of a stock split or combination of shares or stock dividends provided for in Sections 3.4(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) hereof, or a reorganization, merger, consolidation, or sale of assets provided for in Section 3.4(a)(vii) hereof), then, and in each event, an appropriate revision to the Conversion Price shall be made and provisions shall be made (by adjustments of the Conversion Price or otherwise) so that the Holder shall have the right thereafter to convert this Note into the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or other property receivable upon reclassification, exchange, substitution or other change, by holders of the number of shares of Common Stock into which such Note might have been converted immediately prior to such reclassification, exchange, substitution or other change, all subject to further adjustment as provided herein.
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(v) Adjustments for Issuance of Additional Shares of Common Stock. In the event the Maker shall at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date) issue or sell any additional shares of Common Stock (“Additional Shares of Common Stock”), other than (A) as provided in this Note (including the foregoing subsections (i) through (iv) of this Section 3.4(a)), pursuant to any Equity Plan (including pursuant to Common Stock Equivalents (as defined below) granted or issued under any Equity Plan), (B) pursuant to Common Stock Equivalents granted or issued prior to the Closing Date, (C) Exempted Securities, or (D) pursuant to the terms of this Note, in any case, at an effective price per share that is less than the Conversion Price then in effect or without consideration, then the Conversion Price upon each such issuance shall be reduced to a price equal to the consideration per share paid for such Additional Shares of Common Stock. For purposes of clarification, the amount of consideration received for such Additional Shares of Common Stock shall not include the value of any additional securities or other rights received in connection with such issuance of Additional Shares of Common Stock (i.e. warrants, rights of first refusal or other similar rights).
(vi) Issuance, Amendment or Adjustment of Common Stock Equivalents. Except for Exempted Securities, if (x) the Maker, at any time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issuance Date), shall issue any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, directly or indirectly, Common Stock (“Convertible Securities”), or any rights or warrants or options to purchase any such Common Stock or Convertible Securities, other than Common Stock Equivalents granted or issued under any Equity Plan (collectively with the Convertible Securities, the “Common Stock Equivalents”) and the price per share for which shares of Common Stock may be issuable pursuant to any such Common Stock Equivalent shall be less than the applicable Conversion Price then in effect, or (y) the price per share for which shares of Common Stock may be issuable under any Common Stock Equivalents is amended or adjusted, pursuant to the terms of such Common Stock Equivalents or otherwise, and such price as so amended or adjusted shall be less than the applicable Conversion Price in effect at the time of such amendment or adjustment, then, in each such case (x) or (y), the applicable Conversion Price upon each such issuance or amendment or adjustment shall be adjusted as provided in subsection (vi) of this Section 3.4(a) as if the maximum number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion, exercise or exchange of such Common Stock Equivalents had been issued on the date of such issuance or amendment or adjustment.
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(vii) Consideration for Stock. In case any shares of Common Stock or any Common Stock Equivalents shall be issued or sold:
(1) [Reserved].
(2) in the event of any consolidation or merger of the Maker in which the Maker is not the surviving corporation or in which the previously outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Maker shall be changed into or exchanged for the stock or other securities of another corporation or other property, or in the event of any sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Maker for stock, shares or other securities or other property of any corporation, the Maker shall be deemed to have issued shares of its Common Stock, at a price per share equal to the valuation of the Maker’s Common Stock based on the actual exchange ratio on which the transaction was predicated, as applicable, and the fair market value on the date of such transaction of all such stock or securities or other property of the other corporation. If any such calculation results in adjustment of the applicable Conversion Price, or the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Note, the determination of the applicable Conversion Price or the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Note immediately prior to such merger, consolidation or sale, shall be made after giving effect to such adjustment of the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Note. In the event Common Stock is issued with other shares or securities or other assets of the Maker for consideration which covers both, the consideration computed as provided in this Section 3.4(a)(vii) shall be allocated among such securities and assets as determined in good faith by the Board of Directors of the Maker, and approved by the Holder.
(viii) Record Date. In case the Maker shall take record of the holders of its Common Stock for the purpose of entitling them to subscribe for or purchase Common Stock or Convertible Securities, then the date of the issue or sale of the shares of Common Stock shall be deemed to be such record date.
(b) No Impairment. The Maker shall not, by amendment of its Certificate of Incorporation or through any reorganization, transfer of assets, consolidation, merger, dissolution, issue or sale of securities or any other voluntary action, avoid or seek to avoid the observance or performance of any of the terms to be observed or performed hereunder by the Maker, but will at all times in good faith assist in the carrying out of all the provisions of this Section 3.4 and in the taking of all such action as may be necessary or appropriate in order to protect the conversion rights of the Holder against impairment. In the event the Holder shall elect to convert this Note as provided herein, the Maker cannot refuse conversion based on any claim that the Holder or anyone associated or affiliated with the Holder has been engaged in any violation of law, violation of an agreement to which the Holder is a party or for any reason whatsoever, unless, an injunction from a court, or notice, restraining and or adjoining conversion of this Note shall have issued and the Maker posts a surety bond for the benefit of the Holder in an amount equal to one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the Principal Amount of the Note the Holder has elected to convert, which bond shall remain in effect until the completion of arbitration/litigation of the dispute and the proceeds of which shall be payable to the Holder (as liquidated damages) in the event it obtains judgment.
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(c) Certificates as to Adjustments. Upon occurrence of each adjustment or readjustment of the Conversion Price or number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of this Note pursuant to this Section 3.4, the Maker at its expense shall promptly compute such adjustment or readjustment in accordance with the terms hereof and furnish to the Holder a certificate setting forth such adjustment and readjustment, showing in detail the facts upon which such adjustment or readjustment is based. The Maker shall, upon written request of the Holder, at any time, furnish or cause to be furnished to the Holder a like certificate setting forth such adjustments and readjustments, the applicable Conversion Price in effect at the time, and the number of shares of Common Stock and the amount, if any, of other securities or property which at the time would be received upon the conversion of this Note. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Maker shall not be obligated to deliver a certificate unless such certificate would reflect an increase or decrease of at least one percent (1%) of such adjusted amount.
(d) Issue Taxes. The Maker shall pay any and all issue and other taxes, excluding federal, state or local income taxes, that may be payable in respect of any issue or delivery of shares of Common Stock on conversion of this Note pursuant thereto; provided, however, that the Maker shall not be obligated to pay any transfer taxes resulting from any transfer requested by the Holder in connection with any such conversion.
(e) Fractional Shares. No fractional shares of Common Stock shall be issued upon conversion of this Note. In lieu of any fractional shares to which the Holder would otherwise be entitled, the Maker shall pay cash equal such fractional shares multiplied by the Conversion Price then in effect.
(f) Reservation of Common Stock. The Maker shall at all times while this Note shall be outstanding, reserve and keep available out of its authorized but unissued Common Stock, such number of shares of Common Stock as shall from time to time be sufficient to effect the conversion of this Note (disregarding for this purpose any and all limitations of any kind on such conversion). The Maker shall, from time to time, use all commercially reasonable efforts to increase the authorized number of shares of Common Stock or take other effective action if at any time the unissued number of authorized shares shall not be sufficient to satisfy the Maker’s obligations under this Section 3.4(f).
(g) Regulatory Compliance. If any shares of Common Stock to be reserved for the purpose of conversion of this Note require registration or listing with or approval of any governmental authority, stock exchange or other regulatory body under any federal or state law or regulation or otherwise before such shares may be validly issued or delivered upon conversion, the Maker shall, at its sole cost and expense, in good faith and as expeditiously as possible, secure such registration, listing or approval, as the case may be.
(h) Effect of Events Prior to the Issuance Date. If the Issuance Date of this Note is after the Closing Date, then, if the Conversion Price or any other right of the Holder of this Note would have been adjusted or modified by operation of any provision of this Note had this Note been issued on the Closing Date, such adjustment or modification shall be deemed to apply to this Note as of the Issuance Date as if this Note had been issued on the Closing Date.
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3.5 Prepayment Following a Change of Control.
(a) Mechanics of Prepayment at Option of Holder in Connection with a Change of Control. No sooner than fifteen (15) days prior to entry into an agreement for a Change of Control nor later than ten (10) days prior to the consummation of a Change of Control, but not prior to the public announcement of such Change of Control, the Maker shall deliver written notice (“Notice of Change of Control”) to the Holder. At any time after receipt of a Notice of Change of Control (or, in the event a Notice of Change of Control is not delivered at least ten (10) days prior to a Change of Control, at any time within ten (10) days prior to a Change of Control), the Holder may require the Maker to prepay, effective immediately prior to the consummation of such Change of Control, an amount equal to 105% of the Outstanding Principal Amount(the “COC Repayment Price”), by delivering written notice thereof (“Notice of Prepayment at Option of Holder Upon Change of Control”) to the Maker.
(b) Payment of COC Repayment Price. Upon the Maker’s receipt of a Notice(s) of Prepayment at Option of Holder Upon Change of Control from the Holder, the Maker shall deliver the COC Repayment Price to the Holder immediately prior to the consummation of the Change of Control; provided that the Holder’s original Note shall have been so delivered to the Maker.
3.6 Inability to Fully Convert.
(a) Holder’s Option if Maker Cannot Fully Convert. If, upon the Maker’s receipt of a Conversion Notice or as otherwise required under this Note, including with respect to repayment of principal in Repayment Shares as permitted under this Note, the Maker cannot issue shares of Common Stock for any reason, including, without limitation, because the Maker (x) does not have a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock authorized and available or (y) is otherwise prohibited by applicable law or by the rules or regulations of any stock exchange, interdealer quotation system or other self-regulatory organization with jurisdiction over the Maker or any of its securities from issuing all of the Common Stock which is to be issued to the Holder pursuant to this Note, then the Maker shall issue as many shares of Common Stock as it is able to issue and, with respect to the unconverted portion of this Note or with respect to any shares of Common Stock not timely issued in accordance with this Note, the Holder, solely at Holder’s option, can elect to:
(i) require the Maker to prepay that portion of this Note for which the Maker is unable to issue Common Stock or for which shares of Common Stock were not timely issued (the “Mandatory Prepayment”) at a price equal to the number of shares of Common Stock that the Maker is unable to issue multiplied by the VWAP on the date of the Conversion Notice (the “Mandatory Prepayment Price”);
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(ii) void its Conversion Notice and retain or have returned, as the case may be, this Note that was to be converted pursuant to the Conversion Notice (provided that the Holder’s voiding its Conversion Notice shall not affect the Maker’s obligations to make any payments which have accrued prior to the date of such notice); or
(iii) defer issuance of the applicable Conversion Shares until such time as the Maker can legally issue such shares; provided, that the Principal Amount underlying such Conversion Shares shall remain outstanding until the delivery of such Conversion Shares; provided, further, that if the Holder elects to defer the issuance of the Conversion Shares, it may exercise its rights under either clause (i) or (ii) above at any time prior to the issuance of the Conversion Shares upon two (2) Business Days’ notice to the Maker.
(b) Mechanics of Fulfilling Holder’s Election. The Maker shall immediately send to the Holder, upon receipt of a Conversion Notice from the Holder, which cannot be fully satisfied as described in Section 3.6(a) above, a notice of the Maker’s inability to fully satisfy the Conversion Notice (the “Inability to Fully Convert Notice”). Such Inability to Fully Convert Notice shall indicate (i) the reason why the Maker is unable to fully satisfy the Holder’s Conversion Notice; and (ii) the amount of this Note which cannot be converted. The Holder shall notify the Maker of its election pursuant to Section 3.6(a) above by delivering written notice to the Maker (“Notice in Response to Inability to Convert”).
(c) Payment of Mandatory Prepayment Price. If the Holder shall elect to have its Note prepaid pursuant to Section 3.6(a)(i) above, the Maker shall pay the Mandatory Prepayment Price to the Holder within five (5) Business Days of the Maker’s receipt of the Holder’s Notice in Response to Inability to Convert; provided that prior to the Maker’s receipt of the Holder’s Notice in Response to Inability to Convert the Maker has not delivered a notice to the Holder stating, to the satisfaction of the Holder, that the event or condition resulting in the Mandatory Prepayment has been cured and all Conversion Shares issuable to the Holder can and will be delivered to the Holder in accordance with the terms of this Note. If the Maker shall fail to pay the applicable Mandatory Prepayment Price to the Holder on the date that is one (1) Business Day following the Maker’s receipt of the Holder’s Notice in Response to Inability to Convert, in addition to any remedy the Holder may have under this Note and the Purchase Agreement, such unpaid amount shall bear interest at the rate of two percent (2%) per month (prorated for partial months) until paid in full. Until the full Mandatory Prepayment Price is paid in full to the Holder, the Holder may (i) void the Mandatory Prepayment with respect to that portion of the Note for which the full Mandatory Prepayment Price has not been paid and (ii) receive back such Note.
(d) No Rights as Stockholder. Nothing contained in this Note shall be construed as conferring upon the Holder, prior to the conversion of this Note, the right to vote or to receive dividends or to consent or to receive notice as a stockholder in respect of any meeting of stockholders for the election of directors of the Maker or of any other matter, or any other rights as a stockholder of the Maker.
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3.7 Compensation for Buy-In on Failure to Timely Deliver Conversion Shares. In addition to any other rights available to the Holder, if the Company fails to cause its transfer agent to transmit to the Holder Conversion Shares or any other shares pursuant to a conversion, including with respect to repayment of principal in Repayment Shares as permitted under this Note, on or before the Share Delivery Date, and if after such date the Holder is required by its broker to purchase (in an open market transaction or otherwise) or the Holder’s brokerage firm otherwise purchases, Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of the Conversion Shares which the Holder anticipated receiving upon such conversion (a “Buy-In”), then the Company shall (a) pay in cash to the Holder the amount, if any, by which (x) the Holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions, if any) for the Common Stock so purchased exceeds (y) the amount obtained by multiplying (1) the number of Conversion Shares that the Company was required to deliver to the Holder in connection with the conversion at issue times (2) the price at which the sell order giving rise to such purchase obligation was executed, and (b) at the option of the Holder, either reinstate the portion of the Note and equivalent number of Conversion Shares for which such conversion was not honored (in which case such conversion shall be deemed rescinded) or deliver to the Holder the number of shares of Common Stock that would have been issued had the Company timely complied with its conversion and delivery obligations hereunder. For example, if the Holder purchases shares of Common Stock having a total purchase price of $11,000 to cover a Buy-In with respect to an attempted conversion of shares of Common Stock with an aggregate sale price giving rise to such purchase obligation of $10,000, under clause (a) of the immediately preceding sentence the Company shall be required to pay the Holder $1,000. The Holder shall provide the Company written notice indicating the amounts payable to the Holder in respect of the Buy-In and evidence of the amount of such loss. Nothing herein shall limit a Holder’s right to pursue a decree of specific performance and/or injunctive relief with respect to the Company’s failure to timely deliver shares of Common Stock s upon conversion of the Note as required pursuant to the terms hereof.
ARTICLE 4
4.1 Covenants. For so long as any Note is outstanding, without the prior written consent of the Holder:
(a) Compliance with Transaction Documents. The Maker shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, comply with its obligations under this Note and the other Transaction Documents.
(b) Payment of Taxes, Etc. The Maker shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, promptly pay and discharge, or cause to be paid and discharged, when due and payable, all lawful taxes, assessments and governmental charges or levies imposed upon the income, profits, property or business of the Maker and the Subsidiaries, except for such failures to pay that, individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; provided, however, that any such tax, assessment, charge or levy need not be paid if the validity thereof shall currently be contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and if the Maker or such Subsidiaries shall have set aside on its books reserves with respect thereto in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and provided, further, that the Maker and such Subsidiaries will pay all such taxes, assessments, charges or levies forthwith upon the commencement of proceedings to foreclose any lien which may have attached as security therefor.
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(c) Corporate Existence. The Maker shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, maintain in full force and effect its corporate existence, rights and franchises (other than the existence, rights and franchises of the Subsidiaries of the Maker that the board of directors of the Maker determine are no longer necessary or useful to the operation of the Maker’s business) and all licenses and other rights to use property owned or possessed by it and reasonably deemed to be necessary to the conduct of its business.
(d) Investment Company Act. The Maker shall conduct its businesses in a manner so that it will not become subject to, or required to be registered under, the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
(e) Sale of Collateral; Liens. From the date hereof until the full release of the security interest in the Collateral, (i) the Maker and its Subsidiaries shall not sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of the Collateral or any of their other assets, or attempt or contract to do so, other than sales of inventory in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices; and (ii) the Maker and its Subsidiaries shall not, directly or indirectly, create, permit or suffer to exist, and shall defend the Collateral and any of their other assets against and take such other action as is necessary to remove, any lien, security interest or other encumbrance on the Collateral or such other assets (except for the pledge, assignment and security interest created under the Security Agreements and Permitted Liens).
(f) Prohibited Transactions. The Company hereby covenants and agrees not to enter into any Prohibited Transactions until thirty (30) days after such time as this Note has been converted into Conversion Shares or repaid in full.
(g) Repayment of This Note. If (i) the Company or any Subsidiary issues any Indebtedness (other than this Note and the Permitted Senior Debt), or issues any Preferred Stock, other than Exempted Securities, or (ii) the outstanding principal balance under all Line of Credit Facilities exceeds the Permitted Senior Debt Cap at any time, then in either case, unless otherwise waived in writing by and at the discretion of the Holder, the Company will (1) immediately utilize the proceeds of such issuance to repay this Note; provided, however, notwithstanding the foregoing, (X) the Company shall not provide any additional credit support for the Lighthouse Facility; and (Y) until such time as the Lighthouse Post Closing Event has occurred, (a) the Company shall not permit any Subsidiary to issue any additional Indebtedness (or amend or otherwise modify the Lighthouse Documents as in effect on the date hereof to increase the size of the Lighthouse Facility or to otherwise permit any Subsidiary or other Person to borrow any additional amounts thereunder than what exists on the date hereof), and the only Indebtedness of the Subsidiaries shall be the Indebtedness arising under the Lighthouse Facility; and (b) the aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Lighthouse Facility shall not exceed $2,750,000 at any time, and (2) if the Company issues any Equity Interests other than Exempted Securities for aggregate proceeds of more than ten million dollars ($10,000,000), unless otherwise waived in writing by and at the discretion of the Holder, the Company will direct twenty percent (20%) of the proceeds from such issuance to repay this Note. Any such repayment of the Note shall be made with a 5% premium.
(h) Stockholder Approval. If ninety percent (90%) of the average of the five (5) lowest daily VWAPs during the twenty (20) Trading Days prior to any Payment Date is less than the Floor Price, then the Company shall, pursuant to Section 5.13 of the Purchase Agreement, hold a special meeting of stockholders to obtain Stockholder Approval.
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4.2 Set-Off. This Note shall be subject to the set-off provisions set forth in the Purchase Agreement.
ARTICLE 5
5.1 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 delivered via email at the email address specified in this Section prior to 5:00 p.m. (New York time) on a Business Day, (b) the next Business Day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via email at the email address specified in this Section on a day that is not a Business Day or later than 5:00 p.m. (New York time) on any date and earlier than 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on such date, (c) the Business 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 addresses for such notices and communications shall be as set forth in the Purchase Agreement.
5.2 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Laws of the State of New York, without reference to principles of conflict of laws or choice of laws.
5.3 Headings. The headings herein are for convenience only, do not constitute a part of this Note and shall not be deemed to limit or affect any of the provisions hereof. The language used in this Note will be deemed to be the language chosen by the parties to express their mutual intent, and no rules of strict construction will be applied against any party. This Note shall be construed as if drafted jointly by the parties, and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any party by virtue of the authorship of any provisions of this Note.
5.4 Remedies, Characterizations, Other Obligations, Breaches and Injunctive Relief. The remedies provided in this Note shall be cumulative and in addition to all other remedies available under this Note, at law or in equity (including, without limitation, a decree of specific performance and/or other injunctive relief), no remedy contained herein shall be deemed a waiver of compliance with the provisions giving rise to such remedy and nothing herein shall limit the Holder’s right to pursue actual damages for any failure by the Maker to comply with the terms of this Note. Amounts set forth or provided for herein with respect to payments, conversion and the like (and the computation thereof) shall be the amounts to be received by the holder thereof and shall not, except as expressly provided herein, be subject to any other obligation of the Maker (or the performance thereof). The Maker acknowledges that a breach by it of its obligations hereunder will cause irreparable and material harm to the Holder and that the remedy at law for any such breach would be inadequate. Therefore, the Maker agrees that, in the event of any such breach or threatened breach, the Holder shall be entitled, in addition to all other available rights and remedies, at law or in equity, to equitable relief, including but not limited to an injunction restraining any such breach or threatened breach, without the necessity of showing economic loss and without any bond or other security being required.
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5.5 Enforcement Expenses. The Maker agrees to pay all costs and expenses of enforcement of this Note, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses.
5.6 Binding Effect. The obligations of the Maker and the Holder set forth herein shall be binding upon the successors and assigns of each such party, whether or not such successors or assigns are permitted by the terms herein.
5.7 Amendments; Waivers. No provision of this Note may be waived or amended except in a written instrument signed by the Company and the Holder. No waiver of any default with respect to any provision, condition or requirement of this Note 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 either party to exercise any right hereunder in any manner impair the exercise of any such right.
5.8 Compliance with Securities Laws. The Holder of this Note acknowledges that this Note is being acquired solely for the Holder’s own account and not as a nominee for any other party, and for investment, and that the Holder shall not offer, sell or otherwise dispose of this Note in violation of securities laws. This Note and any Note issued in substitution or replacement therefor shall be stamped or imprinted with a legend in substantially the following form:
“THIS NOTE HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS AS EVIDENCED BY A LEGAL OPINION OF COUNSEL TO THE TRANSFEROR TO SUCH EFFECT, THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH SHALL BE REASONABLY ACCEPTABLE TO THE COMPANY.”
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5.9 Jurisdiction; Venue. Any action, proceeding or claim arising out of, or relating in any way to this Note shall be brought and enforced in the New York Supreme Court, County of New York, or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Company and the Holder irrevocably submit to the jurisdiction of such courts, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive, and hereby waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction or that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. The prevailing party in any such action shall be entitled to recover its reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and out-of-pocket expenses relating to such action or proceeding.
5.10 Parties in Interest. This Note shall be binding upon, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the Maker, the Holder and their respective successors and permitted assigns.
5.11 Failure or Indulgence Not Waiver. No failure or delay on the part of the Holder in the exercise of any power, right or privilege hereunder shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such power, right or privilege preclude other or further exercise thereof or of any other right, power or privilege.
5.12 Maker Waivers. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, the Maker and all others that may become liable for all or any part of the obligations evidenced by this Note, hereby waive presentment, demand, notice of nonpayment, protest and all other demands and notices in connection with the delivery, acceptance, performance and enforcement of this Note, and do hereby consent to any number of renewals of extensions of the time or payment hereof and agree that any such renewals or extensions may be made without notice to any such persons and without affecting their liability herein and do further consent to the release of any person liable hereon, all without affecting the liability of the other persons, firms or Maker liable for the payment of this Note, AND DO HEREBY WAIVE TRIAL BY JURY.
(a) No delay or omission on the part of the Holder in exercising its rights under this Note, or course of conduct relating hereto, shall operate as a waiver of such rights or any other right of the Holder, nor shall any waiver by the Holder of any such right or rights on any one occasion be deemed a waiver of the same right or rights on any future occasion.
(b) THE MAKER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE TRANSACTION OF WHICH THIS NOTE IS A PART IS A COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION, AND TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HEREBY WAIVES ITS RIGHT TO NOTICE AND HEARING WITH RESPECT TO ANY PREJUDGMENT REMEDY WHICH THE HOLDER OR ITS SUCCESSORS OR ASSIGNS MAY DESIRE TO USE.
5.13 Definitions. Capitalized terms used herein and not defined shall have the meanings set forth in the Purchase Agreement. For the purposes hereof, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) “Convertible Securities” means any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, directly or indirectly, shares of Common Stock.
(b) “Common Stock Equivalents” means any rights or warrants or options to purchase any shares of Common Stock or Convertible Securities, other than rights or warrants or options to purchase any shares of Common Stock or Convertible Securities granted or issued under any Equity Plan.
(c) “Floor Price” means $1.50 per share.
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(d) “Indebtedness” means, with respect to the Maker or any Subsidiary: (a) all obligations for borrowed money; (b) all obligations evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes, or other similar instruments and all reimbursement or other obligations in respect of letters of credit, bankers acceptances, current swap agreements, interest rate hedging agreements, interest rate swaps, or other financial products; (c) all capital lease obligations that exceed $150,000 in the aggregate in any fiscal year; (d) all obligations or liabilities secured by a lien or encumbrance on any asset of the Maker or any Subsidiary, irrespective of whether such obligation or liability is assumed; (e) all obligations for the deferred purchase price of assets, together with trade debt and other accounts payable that exceed $150,000 in the aggregate in any fiscal year; (f) all synthetic leases; (g) any obligation guaranteeing or intended to guarantee (whether directly or indirectly guaranteed, endorsed, co-made, discounted or sold with recourse) any of the foregoing obligations of any other person; (h) trade debt; and (i) endorsements for collection or deposit.
(e) “Mandatory Default Amount” means an amount equal to one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the Outstanding Principal Amount of this Note on the date on which the first Event of Default has occurred hereunder.
(f) “Market Capitalization” means, as of any date of determination, the product of (a) the number of issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock as of such date (exclusive of any shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of options or warrants or conversion of any convertible securities), multiplied by (b) the closing price of the Common Stock on the Trading Market on the date of determination.
(g) “Outstanding Principal Amount” means, at the time of determination, the Principal Amount outstanding after giving effect to any adjustments, conversions or prepayments pursuant to the terms hereof.
(h) “Repayment Shares” means shares of Common Stock issued to the Holder by the Maker as payment for interest and/or the Principal Amount, pursuant to Section 1.3 of this Note.
(i) “Repayment Share Price” means ninety percent (90%) of the average of the five (5) lowest daily VWAPs during the twenty (20) Trading Days prior to the Payment Date; provided however, that, if the Company has not yet obtained Stockholder Approval, the Repayment Share Price shall not be less than the Floor Price.
(j) “Trading Day” means a day on which the Common Stock is traded on a Trading Market.
(k) “VWAP” means, as of any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of one share of Common Stock trading in the ordinary course of business on the applicable Trading Price for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on such Trading Market as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; (b) if the Common Stock is not then listed on a Trading Market and if the Common Stock is traded in the over-the-counter market, as reported by the OTCQX or OTCQB markets, the volume weighted average price of one share of Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the OTCQX or OTCQB markets, as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; (c) if the Common Stock is not then listed or quoted on a Trading Market or on the OTCQX or OTCBQ markets and if prices for the Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by the OTC Markets Group (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price of one share of Common Stock so reported, as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of one share of Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holder and reasonably acceptable to the Company.
[Signature Pages Follow]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Maker has caused this Note to be duly executed by its duly authorized officer as of the date first above indicated.
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | ||
By: | /s/ John Keeler | |
Name: | John Keeler | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
EXHIBIT A
WIRE INSTRUCTIONS
Name of Bank: | City National Bank |
400 Park Avenue | |
New York, NY 10022 | |
Routing #: | 026-013-958 |
For credit to: | Lind Global Fund II LP |
Account #: | 072760182 |
EXHIBIT B
FORM OF CONVERSION NOTICE
(To be Executed by the Registered Holder in order to Convert the Note)
The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to convert $ ________________ of the principal amount of the above Note No. ___ into shares of Common Stock of Blue Star Foods Corp. (the “Maker”) according to the conditions hereof, as of the date written below.
Date of Conversion:
Conversion Price:
Number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned or deemed beneficially owned by the Holder on the Conversion Date:
[HOLDER] | ||
By: | ||
Name: | ||
Title: |
Address: |
Exhibit 10.57
SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT
This Securities Purchase Agreement (as amended, supplemented, restated and/or modified from time to time, this “Agreement”) is entered into as of January 24, 2022, by and between Blue Star Foods Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Investor”).
BACKGROUND
A. The board of directors (the “Board of Directors”) of the Company has authorized the issuance to Investor of the Note (as defined below) and the Warrant (as defined below).
B The Investor desires to purchase the Note and the Warrant on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.
C. Concurrently with (or, in the case of the Company’s Subsidiaries, and in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, after) the execution of this Agreement, the Company, its Subsidiares and the Investor will enter into certain security agreements and guarantees, as listed on Exhibit A (the “Security Documents”), pursuant to which (a) the Company will grant a first priority security interest in substantially all of its assets to secure its obligations hereunder and under the other Transaction Documents; (b) to the extent applicable, the Company’s Subsidiaries will guarantee all of the Company’s obligations under the Transaction Documents; and (c) to the extent applicable, such Subsidiaries will grant a second priority security interest (junior in priority only to the Permitted Senior Debt as defined herein) in substantially all of their respective assets to secure the Subsidiaries’ obligations under any such guarantee.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing recitals and the covenants and agreements set forth herein, and intending hereby to be legally bound, the Company and the Investor hereby agree as follows:
1. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following meanings specified or indicated below, and such meanings shall be equally applicable to the singular and plural forms of such defined terms:
“1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
“1934 Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
“Acquisition” means the acquisition by the Company or any direct or indirect Subsidiary of the Company of a majority of the Equity Interests or substantially all of the assets and business of any Person, whether by direct purchase of Equity Interests, asset purchase, merger, consolidation or like combination.
“Affiliate” means a Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the Person specified.
“Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the preamble.
“Blue Sky Application” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.3(a).
“Board of Directors” has the meaning set forth in the recitals.
“Business Day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or any other day on which banks are permitted or required to be closed in New York City.
“Capital Stock” means the Common Stock, the Preferred Stock and any other classes of shares in the capital stock of the Company.
“Change of Control” means, with respect to the Company, on or after the date of this Agreement:
(a) | a change in the composition of the Board of Directors of the Company at a single shareholder meeting where a majority of the individuals that were directors of the Company immediately prior to the start of such shareholder meeting are no longer directors at the conclusion of such meeting, without prior written consent of the Investor; | |
(b) | a change, without prior written consent of the Investor, in the composition of the Board of Directors of the Company prior to the termination of this Agreement where a majority of the individuals that were directors as of the date of this Agreement cease to be directors of the Company prior to the termination of this Agreement; | |
(c) | other than a shareholder that holds such a position at the date of this Agreement, if a Person comes to have beneficial ownership, control or direction over more than forty percent (40%) of the voting rights attached to any class of voting securities of the Company; or | |
(d) | the sale or other disposition by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries in a single transaction, or in a series of transactions, of all or substantially all of their respective assets. |
“Closing” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.2.
“Closing Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.2.
“Code” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1.
“Commitment Fee” means an amount equal to One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000).
“Common Stock” means the common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Company” has the meaning set forth in the preamble.
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“Company Security Agreement” means that certain Security Agreement dated as of the date hereof by and between the Company and the Investor, as the same may be amended, restated, modified and or supplemented from time to time in accordance with the terms thereof.
“Conversion Shares” means the shares of Common Stock issuable upon the full or any partial conversion of the Note.
“Disclosure Letter” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.
“Effectiveness Period” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.2(a).
“Equity Interests” means and includes capital stock, membership interests and other similar equity securities, and shall also include warrants or options to purchase capital stock, membership interests or other equity interests.
“Event” means any event, change, development, effect, condition, circumstance, matter, occurrence or state of facts.
“Event of Default” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.1.
“Exempted Securities” means (a) equity securities issued by reason of a dividend, stock split, split-up or other distribution on shares of Common Stock, (b) shares of Common Stock or rights, warrants or options to purchase Common Stock issued to employees or directors of, or consultants or advisors to, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries pursuant to a plan, agreement or arrangement approved by the Board of Directors (“Equity Plans”), or (c) shares of Common Stock actually issued upon the exercise of options, warrants or shares of Common Stock actually issued upon the conversion or exchange of any securities convertible into Common Stock, in each case issued to employees or directors of, or consultants or advisors to, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries pursuant to an Equity Plan and provided that such issuance is pursuant to the terms of the applicable option, warrant or convertible security.
“Form 8-K” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.10.
“Funding Amount” means an amount equal to Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000).
“Guarantor Security Agreement” means that certain Security Agreement dated after the date hereof by and among the Company’s Subsidiaries and the Investor, as the same may be amended, restated, modified and or supplemented from time to time in accordance with the terms thereof.
“Guaranty” means that certain Guaranty dated after the date hereof from the Company’s Subsidiaries in favor of the Investor, as the same may be amended, restated, modified and or supplemented from time to time in accordance with the terms thereof.
“HSR Act” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.15.
“Indebtedness” has the meaning set forth in the Note.
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“Investor” has the meaning set forth in the preamble.
“Investor Group” shall mean the Investor plus any other Person with which the Investor is considered to be part of a group under Section 13 of the 1934 Act or with which the Investor otherwise files reports under Sections 13 and/or 16 of the 1934 Act.
“Investor Party” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.11(a).
“Investor Shares” means the Conversion Shares, the Warrant Shares, the Repayment Shares and any other shares issued or issuable to the Investor pursuant to this Agreement, the Note or the Warrant.
“IP Rights” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.10.
“Law” means any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment or decree, including, without limitation, any federal and state securities Laws.
“Legend Removal Date” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 5.1(c).
“Lighthouse Documents” shall mean, collectively, (a) that Loan and Security Agreement dated as of March 31, 2021 by and among John Keeler & Co. Inc., a Florida corporation, Coastal Pride Seafood, LLC, a Florida limited liability company and Lighthouse Financial Corp. (as amended and in effect from time to time, the “Lighthouse Credit Agreement”); and (b) all other agreements executed in connection therewith and which constitute a “Loan Document” under, and as defined in, the Lighthouse Credit Agreement.
“Lighthouse Facility” shall mean the credit facility evidenced by the Lighthouse Documents as in effect on the date hereof.
“Lighthouse Post Closing Event” shall mean the Investor having been satisfied that the following has occurred: (a) each of John Keeler & Co. Inc., a Florida corporation, Coastal Pride Seafood, LLC, a Florida limited liability company and any other Subsidiary of the Company party to a Lighthouse Document shall have executed and delivered to the Investor the Guaranty, the Guarantor Security Agreement and any other document or agreement required thereby; and (b) Lighthouse Financial Corp. and the Investor shall have entered into an intercreditor agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Investor (which, for the avoidance of double, will not contain any payment subordination provisions) which, among other things, permits the Company’s Subsidiaries to enter into the Guaranty and the Guarantor Security Agreement.
“Line of Credit Facility” means one or more credit facilities, whether existing on the date hereof or entered into after the date hereof, between a Subsidiary of the Company and the applicable lender thereunder (the “Line of Credit Lender”), the proceeds of which are used for such Subsidiary’s working capital purposes. “Line of Credit Facilities” is the collective terms used for the Line of Credit Facility of all of the Subsidiaries. The parties acknowledge and agree that the Lighthouse Facility is, as of the date hereof, a Line of Credit Facilitiy.
“Losses” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.11(a).
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“Material Adverse Effect” means any material adverse effect on (i) the businesses, properties, assets, prospects, operations, results of operations or financial condition of the Company, or the Company and the Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (ii) the ability of the Company to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or to perform its obligations hereunder or under the Security Documents to which it is a party, the Note or the Warrants or the ability of any Subsidiary to consummate the transactions contemplated by any Security Document to which it is a party or to perform its obligations thereunder; provided, however, that none of the following shall be deemed either alone or in combination to constitute, and none of the following shall be taken into account in determining whether there has been or would be, a Material Adverse Effect: (a) any adverse effect resulting from or arising out of general economic conditions; (b) any adverse effect resulting from or arising out of general conditions in the industries in which the Company and the Subsidiaries operate; (c) any adverse effect resulting from any changes to applicable Law; or (d) any adverse effect resulting from or arising out of any natural disaster or any acts of terrorism, sabotage, military action or war or any escalation or worsening thereof; provided, further, that any event, occurrence, fact, condition or change referred to in clauses (a) through (d) immediately above shall be taken into account in determining whether a Material Adverse Effect has occurred or could reasonably be expected to occur to the extent that such event, occurrence, fact, condition or change has a disproportionate effect on the Company and/or the Subsidiaries compared to other participants in the industries in which the Company and the Subsidiaries operate.
“Maximum Percentage” means 4.99%; provided, that if at any time after the date hereof the Investor Group beneficially owns in excess of 4.99% of any class of Equity Interests in the Company that is registered under the 1934 Act, then the Maximum Percentage shall automatically increase to 9.99% so long as the Investor Group owns in excess of 4.99% of such class of Equity Interests (and shall, for the avoidance of doubt, automatically decrease to 4.99% upon the Investor Group ceasing to own in excess of 4.99% of such class of Equity Interests).
“Money Laundering Laws” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.25.
“New Securities” means, collectively, equity securities of the Company, whether or not currently authorized, as well as rights, options, or warrants to purchase such equity securities, or securities of any type whatsoever that are, or may become convertible or exchangeable into or exercisable for such equity securities.
“Note” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1.
“Notice Termination Time” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.2.
“Obligor” means the Company and each of its Subsidiaries.
“OFAC” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.23.
“Offer Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.1.
“Organizational Documents” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.3.
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“Permitted Liens” means, with respect to the Company or any Subsidiary, any of the following: (a) mechanics and materialman Liens (as such term is defined in the Security Agreement) and other statutory Liens (including Liens for taxes, fees, assessments and other governmental charges or levies) in respect of any amount (i) which is not at the time overdue or (ii) which may be overdue but the validity of which is being contested at the time in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which the Company or such Subsidiary has maintained adequate reserves, in each case so long as the holder of such Lien has not taken any action to foreclose or otherwise exercise any remedies with respect to such Lien; (b) in the case of a Subsidiary, Liens in favor of a Line of Credit Lender which secures Permitted Senior Debt; and (c) Liens which are permitted in writing by the Secured Party in its sole and absolute discretion.
“Permitted Senior Debt” means Indebtedness of a Subsidiary under a Line of Credit Facility, so long as (a) the Company has not provided a guarantee or other credit support with respect thereto (or, in the case of the Lighthouse Facility, to the extent the Company has provided a guarantee or other credit support with respect thereto, the Company has not pledged any of its assets to secure such Indebtedness); (b) the aggregate principal amount outstanding under all such Line of Credit Facilities does not exceed $5,000,000 at any time (the “Permitted Senior Debt Cap”), provided, notwithstanding the foregoing, until such time as the Lighthouse Post Closing Event has been satisfied, (i) the aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Lighthouse Facility shall not exceed $2,750,000 at any time; (ii) there shall be no other Line of Credit Facilities in existence; and (iii) no Subsidiary shall incur any other additional Indebtedness; (c) the Company has provided prior written notice to the Investor prior to any Subsidiary entering into any such Line of Credit Facility (or, with respect to any Line of Credit Facility existing on the date hereof, has described such Line of Credit Facility in the Company’s Disclosure Letter) and, to the extent requested by the Investor, copies of the loan documentation relating thereto; and (d) other than with respect to the Lighthouse Facility, immediately upon such Subsidiary entering into any such Line of Credit Facility, the applicable Line of Credit Lender and the Investor shall have entered into an intercreditor agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Investor (which, for the avoidance of double, will not contain any payment subordination provisions).
“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.
“Preferred Stock” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.4(a).
“Prepayment Right” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.4.
“Press Release” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.10.
“Principal Amount” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1.
“Proceedings” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.6.
“Prohibited Transaction” means a transaction with a third party or third parties in which the Company issues or sells (or arranges or agrees to issue or sell):
(a) any debt, equity or equity-linked securities (including options or warrants) that are convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for, or include the right to receive shares of the Company’s Capital Stock:
(i) at a conversion, repayment, exercise or exchange rate or other price that is based on, and/or varies with, a discount to the future trading prices of, or quotations for, shares of Common Stock; or
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(ii) at a conversion, repayment, exercise or exchange rate or other price that is subject to being reset at some future date after the initial issuance of such debt, equity or equity-linked security or upon the occurrence of specified or contingent events (other than warrants that may be repriced by the Company); or
(b) any securities in a capital or debt raising transaction or series of related transactions which grant to an investor the right to receive additional securities based upon future transactions of the Company on terms more favorable than those granted to such investor in such first transaction or series of related transactions;
and are deemed to include transactions generally referred to as at-the-market transactions (ATMs) or equity lines of credit and stand-by equity distribution agreements, and convertible securities and loans having a similar effect. Notwithstanding the foregoing, and for the avoidance of doubt, rights issuances, shareholder purchase plans, Equity Plans, convertible securities, or issuances of Equity Interests, based on (and not lower than) the trading price of the Common Stock on the Trading Market but each at a fixed price per share, shall not be deemed to be a Prohibited Transaction.
“Prospectus” means the prospectus included in any Registration Statement, as amended or supplemented by any prospectus supplement, with respect to the terms of the offering of any portion of the Investor Shares covered by such Registration Statement and by all other amendments and supplements to the prospectus, including post-effective amendments and all material incorporated by reference in such prospectus, and any “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the 1933 Act.
“register,” “registered” and “registration” refer to a registration made by preparing and filing a Registration Statement or similar document in compliance with the 1933 Act (as defined below), and the declaration or ordering of effectiveness of such Registration Statement or document.
“Registration Statement” means any registration statement of the Company filed under the 1933 Act that covers the resale of any of the Investor Shares pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, including the Prospectus and amendments and supplements to such Registration Statement, and including post-effective amendments, all exhibits and all material incorporated by reference in such Registration Statement.
“SEC” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
“SEC Documents” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.5(a).
“Securities” means the Note, the Warrant and the Investor Shares.
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“Securities Termination Event” means either of the following has occurred:
(a) trading in securities generally in the United States has been suspended or limited for a consecutive period of greater than three (3) Business Days; or
(b) a banking moratorium has been declared by the United States or the New York State authorities and is continuing for a consecutive period of greater than three (3) Business Days.
“Security Agreements” means, collectively, the Company Security Agreement and the Guarantor Security Agreement and each, individually, a “Security Agreement”.
“Security Documents” has the meaning set forth in the recitals.
“Stockholder Approval” shall mean the approval of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Company’s voting Common Stock: (a) if and to the extent legally required, to amend the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock by at least the number of shares of Common Stock equal to the number of shares of Common Stock issuable hereunder, or (b) to ratify and approve all of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents, including the issuance of all of the Investor Shares (as such term is defined in each of such documents) issued and potentially issuable to the Investor thereunder, all as may be required by the applicable rules and regulations of the Trading Market (or any successor entity).
“Subsequent Financing” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.
“Subsidiary” of a Person means a corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other business entity of which a majority of the shares of securities or other interests having ordinary voting power for the election of directors or other governing body (other than securities or interests having such power only by reason of the happening of a contingency) are at the time beneficially owned, or the management of which is otherwise controlled, directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, or both, by such Person. Unless otherwise specified, all references herein to a “Subsidiary” or to “Subsidiaries” shall refer to a Subsidiary or Subsidiaries of the Company.
“Trading Day” means a day on which the Common Stock is traded on a Trading Market.
“Trading Market” means whichever of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE American, or the Nasdaq Stock Market (including the Nasdaq Capital Market), on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question.
“Transaction Documents” means this Agreement, the Security Documents, the Note, the Warrant and any other documents or agreements executed or delivered in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder.
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“VWAP” means, as of any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of one share of Common Stock trading in the ordinary course of business at the applicable Trading Price for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on such Trading Market as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; (b) if the Common Stock is not then listed on a Trading Market and if the Common Stock is traded in the over-the-counter market, as reported by the OTCQX or OTCQB Markets, the volume weighted average price of one share of Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the OTCQX or OTCQB Markets, as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; (c) if the Common Stock is not then listed or quoted on a Trading Market or on the OTCQX or OTCQB Markets and if prices for the Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by the OTC Markets Group (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price of one share of Common Stock so reported, as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of one share of Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holder and reasonably acceptable to the Company.
“Warrant” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1.
“Warrant Shares” means the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant.
2. PURCHASE AND SALE OF THE NOTE AND THE WARRANT
2.1 Purchase and Sale of the Note and the Warrant. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, at the Closing, the Company shall issue and sell to the Investor, and the Investor shall purchase from the Company, for the Funding Amount (a) a convertible promissory note, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B (the “Note”), in the principal amount of Five Million Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($5,750,000) (the “Principal Amount”) and (b) a Common Stock purchase warrant, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C, registered in the name of the Investor, pursuant to which the Investor shall have the right to acquire 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock (the “Warrant”). The Investor and the Company agree that for U.S. federal income tax purposes and applicable state, local and non-U.S. tax purposes, the Funding Amount shall be allocable among the Note and the Warrant based on the relative fair market values thereof. Neither the Investor nor the Company shall take any contrary position on any tax return, or in any audit, claim, investigation, inquiry or proceeding in respect of taxes, unless otherwise required pursuant to a final determination within the meaning of Section 1313 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or any analogous provision of applicable state, local or non-U.S. law.
2.2 Closing. The closing hereunder, including payment for and delivery of the Note and the Warrant, shall take place remotely via the exchange of documents and signatures, no later than 10 Business Days following the execution and delivery of this Agreement, subject to satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in Section 6, or at such other time and place as the Company and the Investor agree upon, orally or in writing (the “Closing,” and the date of the Closing being the “Closing Date”).
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2.3 Commitment Fee. At the Closing, the Company shall pay to the Investor the Commitment Fee, in United States dollars and in immediately available funds. The Commitment Fee shall be paid by being offset against the Funding Amount payable by the Investor at Closing.
2.4 Prepayment Right. As set forth in the Note, in its sole discretion and upon giving the prior written notice set forth in the Note, the Company will have the right to pre-pay the entire then-outstanding principal amount of the Note at any time (the “Prepayment Right”); provided, that in the event that the Company elects to exercise its Prepayment Right, the Investor will have the option to convert up to twenty-five percent (25%) of the Principal Amount of the Note, at a price per share equal to the lesser of the Repayment Share Price or the Conversion Price (as each such term is defined in the Note).
2.5 Senior Obligation. As an inducement for the Investor to enter into this Agreement and to purchase the Note, all obligations of (a) the Company pursuant to the Transaction Documents shall be secured by a first priority security interest in and lien upon substantially all of the assets of the Company; and (b) each Subsidiary pursuant to the Transaction Documents to which it is a party shall be secured by (i) with respect to any Subsidiary which has Permitted Senior Debt, so long as the Permitted Senior Debt remains outstanding and is secured by the Permitted Liens, a second priority security interest in and lien upon substantially all of the assets of each Subsidiary and, (ii) if such Subsidiary has no Permitted Senior Debt or the Permitted Senior Debt is no longer outstanding, or is no longer secured by a Permitted Lien, then a first priority security interest in and lien upon substantially all of the assets of each Subsidiary. No Subsidiary shall grant any Liens (as such term is defined in the Security Agreement) on any of its assets other than the Permitted Liens.
3. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY. The Company represents and warrants to the Investor and covenants with the Investor that, except as is set forth in the Disclosure Letter being delivered to the Investor as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Date (the “Disclosure Letter”), the following representations and warranties are true and correct:
3.1 Organization and Qualification. The Company is a corporation duly organized and validly existing in good standing under the Laws of the State of Delaware and has the requisite corporate power and authority to own its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted. The Company is duly qualified to do business and is in good standing (if a good standing concept exists in such jurisdiction) in every jurisdiction in which the ownership of its property or the nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification necessary, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not have a Material Adverse Effect.
3.2 Authorization; Enforcement; Compliance with Other Instruments. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries (as applicable) has the requisite corporate or other organizational power and authority to execute the Transaction Documents to which it is a party, to issue and sell the Note and the Warrant pursuant hereto (in the case of the Company), and to perform its obligations under the Transaction Documents to which it is a party, including issuing the Investor Shares on the terms set forth in this Agreement. The execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents by the Company and, as applicable, its Subsidiaries and the issuance and sale of the Securities by the Company pursuant hereto, including without limitation the reservation of the Investor Shares for future insuance, have been duly and validly authorized by the Company’s Board of Directors and any similar governing body of a Subsidiary and no further consent or authorization is required by the Company, its Subsidiaries, their respective Board of Directors or other governing bodies, their respective stockholders or any other Person in connection therewith. The Transaction Documents have been duly and validly executed and delivered by the Obligors party thereto and constitute valid and binding obligations of each Obligor, enforceable against such Obligor in accordance with their respective terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation or similar Laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of creditors’ rights and remedies.
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3.3 No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance of the Transaction Documents by the Company and its Subsidiaries (as applicable) and the issuance and sale of the Note and the Warrant hereunder will not (a) conflict with or result in a violation of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Amended and Restated Bylaws, or any Subsidiary’s organizational and governing documents (collectively, the “Organizational Documents”), (b) conflict with, or constitute a material default (or an event which, with notice or lapse of time or both, would become a material default) under, or give to others any right of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any material agreement to which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries is a party, or (c) subject to the making of the filings referred to in Section 5, violate in any material respect any Law or any rule or regulation of the Trading Market applicable to the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or by which any of their properties or assets are bound or affected. Assuming the accuracy of the Investor’s representations in Section 4 and subject to the making of the filings referred to in Section 5, (i) no approval or authorization will be required from any governmental authority or agency, regulatory or self-regulatory agency or other third party (including the Trading Market) in connection with the issuance of the Note and the Warrant and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the issuance of the Investor Shares) and (ii) the issuance of the Note and the Warrant, and the issuance of the Investor Shares, as applicable, will be exempt from the registration and qualification requirements under the 1933 Act and all applicable state securities Laws.
3.4 Capitalization and Subsidiaries.
(a) The authorized Capital Stock of the Company consists of 100,000,000 shares of Common Stock and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock to be designated by the Board of Directors (the “Preferred Stock”). As of the close of business on September 30, 2021, 23,352,730 shares of Common Stock and no shares of Preferred Stock were issued and outstanding; and since September 30, 2021, and through the date of this Agreement, the Company has issued 1,333,777 additional shares of Common Stock and no additional shares of Preferred Stock. As of September 30, 2021, (i) no shares of Common Stock are issuable upon exercise of options granted under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, and (ii) 1,853,250 shares of Common Stock are reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants with exercise prices ranging from $2.00 to $2.40 per share. The Company has duly reserved up to 1,150,000 shares of Common Stock, subject to adjustment pursuant to the terms of the Note, for issuance upon conversion of the Note and has duly reserved up to 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock, subject to adjustment pursuant to the terms of the Warrant, for issuance upon exercise of the Warrant. The Conversion Shares, when issued upon conversion of the Note in accordance with its terms, the Warrant Shares, if and when issued upon exercise of the Warrants in accordance with its terms, and the Repayment Shares, when issued upon repayment of the Note in accordance with its terms, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free from all taxes, liens and charges with respect to the issuance thereof. No shares of the Company’s Capital Stock are subject to preemptive rights or any other similar rights or any liens or encumbrances suffered or permitted by the Company. The Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Amended and Restated Bylaws, on file on the SEC’s EDGAR website are true and correct copies of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Amended and Restated Bylaws as in effect as of the date of hereof. The Company is not in violation of any provision of its Organizational Documents.
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(b) Schedule 3.4(b) lists each direct and indirect Subsidiary of the Company existing on the date hereof and indicates for each Subsidiary (i) the authorized capital stock or other Equity Interests of such Subsidiary as of the date hereof, (ii) the number and kind of shares or other ownership interests of such Subsidiary that are issued and outstanding as of the date hereof, and (iii) the owner of such shares or other ownership interests. No Subsidiary has any outstanding stock options, warrants or other instruments pursuant to which such Subsidiary may at any time or under any circumstances be obligated to issue any shares of its capital stock or other Equity Interests. The Company owns, directly or indirectly, all of the capital stock or other equity interests of each Subsidiary. No Subsidiary has any outstanding stock options, warrants or other instruments pursuant to which such Subsidiary may at any time or under any circumstances be obligated to issue any shares of its capital stock or other Equity Interests. Each Subsidiary is duly organized and validly existing in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of formation (if a good standing concept exists in such jurisdiction) and has all requisite power and authority to own its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted.
(c) Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is bound by any agreement or arrangement pursuant to which it is obligated to register the sale of any securities under the 1933 Act. There are no outstanding securities of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries which 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 or purchase any security of the Company or any Subsidiary. There are no outstanding securities or instruments containing anti-dilution or similar provisions that will be triggered by the issuance of the Note, the Warrant or the Investor Shares. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has any stock appreciation rights or “phantom stock” plans or agreements or any similar plan or agreement.
(d) The issuance and sale of any of the Securities will not obligate the Company to issue shares of Common Stock or other securities, or to satisfy any related contractual obligations, to any other Person and will not result in the adjustment of the exercise, conversion, exchange, or reset price of any outstanding securities.
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(e) As of the date of this Agreement, the Company has capacity under the rules and regulations of the Trading Market to issue up to 75,328,682 shares of Common Stock (or securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock) without obtaining Stockholder Approval, subject to Nasdaq Rule 5635.
3.5 SEC Documents; Financial Statements.
(a) As of the date hereof, the Company has filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by it with the SEC pursuant to the reporting requirements of the 1934 Act (all of the foregoing filed prior to the date hereof and all exhibits included therein and financial statements and schedules thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein being hereinafter referred to as the “SEC Documents”). As of their respective filing dates, the SEC Documents complied in all material respects with the requirements of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder applicable to the SEC Documents, and none of the SEC Documents, at the time they were filed with the SEC, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(b) As of their respective dates, the financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Documents complied as to form in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the published rules and regulations of the SEC with respect thereto. Such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and audited by a firm that is a member a member of the Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board consistently applied, during the periods involved (except as may be otherwise indicated in such financial statements or the notes thereto, or, in the case of unaudited interim statements, to the extent they may exclude footnotes or may be condensed or summary statements) and fairly present in all material respects the consolidated financial position of the Company as of the dates thereof and the consolidated results of its operations and consolidated cash flows for the periods then ended (subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments). No other written information provided by or on behalf of the Company to the Investor in connection with the Investor’s purchase of the Note and the Warrant which is not included in the SEC Documents contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstance under which they are or were made, not misleading.
(c) The Company and each of the Subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient 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 generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain asset accountability, (iii) reasonable controls to safeguard assets are in place 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.
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3.6 Litigation and Regulatory Proceedings. There are no material actions, causes of action, suits, claims, proceedings, inquiries or investigations (collectively, “Proceedings”) before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of the executive officers of Company or any of the Subsidiaries, threatened against or affecting the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, the Common Stock or any other class of issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s Capital Stock, or any of the Company’s or the Subsidiaries’ officers or directors in their capacities as such and, to the knowledge of the executive officers of the Company, there is no reason to believe that there is any basis for any such Proceeding.
3.7 No Undisclosed Events, Liabilities or Developments. No event, development or circumstance has occurred or exists, or to the knowledge of the executive officers of the Company is reasonably anticipated to occur or exist that (a) would reasonably be anticipated to have a Material Adverse Effect or (b) would be required to be disclosed by the Company under applicable securities Laws on a registration statement filed with the SEC relating to an issuance and sale by the Company of its Common Stock and which has not been publicly announced.
3.8 Compliance with Law. The Company and each of the Subsidiaries have conducted and are conducting their respective businesses in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws and are in compliance in all material respects with the rules and regulations of the Trading Market. The Company is not aware of any facts which could reasonably be anticipated to lead to have the effect of delisting the Common Stock from the Trading Market, nor has the Company received any notification that the Trading Market is currently contemplating terminating such listing.
3.9 Employee Relations. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is involved in any union labor dispute nor, to the knowledge of the Company, is any such dispute threatened. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is a party to any collective bargaining agreement. No executive officer (as defined in Rule 501(f) of the 1933 Act) has notified the Company that such officer intends to leave the Company’s employ or otherwise terminate such officer’s employment with the Company.
3.10 Intellectual Property Rights. The Company and each Subsidiary owns or possesses adequate rights or licenses to use all trademarks, trade names, service marks, service mark registrations, service names, patents, patent rights, copyrights, inventions, licenses, approvals, governmental authorizations, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights (collectively, “IP Rights”) necessary to conduct their respective businesses as now conducted. None of the material IP Rights of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries are expected to expire or terminate within three (3) years from the date of this Agreement. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating any IP Rights of any other Person. No claim has been asserted, and no Proceeding is pending, against the Company or any Subsidiary alleging that the Company or any Subsidiary is infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the IP Rights of any other Person, and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such claim or Proceeding is threatened, and the Company is not aware of any facts or circumstances which might give rise to any such claim or Proceeding. The Company and the Subsidiaries have taken commercially reasonable security measures to protect the secrecy, confidentiality and value of all of their material IP Rights.
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3.11 Environmental Laws. Except, in each case, as would not be reasonably anticipated to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and the Subsidiaries (a) are in compliance with any and all applicable Laws relating to the protection of human health and safety, the environment or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, (b) have received and hold all permits, licenses or other approvals required of them under all such Laws to conduct their respective businesses and (c) are in compliance with all terms and conditions of any such permit, license or approval.
3.12 Title to Assets. The Company and the Subsidiaries have good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them which is material to their respective businesses, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects other than, with respect to any Subsidiary, the Permitted Liens. Any real property and facilities held under lease by the Company or any Subsidiary are held under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and the Subsidiaries.
3.13 Insurance. The Company and each of the Subsidiaries are insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as management of the Company reasonably believes to be prudent and customary in the businesses in which the Company and the Subsidiaries are engaged. Neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for, and the Company has no reason to believe that it will not be able to renew all existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers.
3.14 Regulatory Permits. The Company and the Subsidiaries have in full force and effect all certificates, approvals, authorizations and permits from all regulatory authorities and agencies necessary to own, lease or operate their respective properties and assets and conduct their respective businesses, and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received any notice of Proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such certificate, approval, authorization or permit, except for such certificates, approvals, authorizations or permits with respect to which the failure to hold would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect.
3.15 No Materially Adverse Contracts, Etc. Neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is (a) subject to any charter, corporate or other legal restriction, or any judgment, decree or order which in the judgment of the Company’s officers has or is expected in the future to have a Material Adverse Effect or (b) a party to any contract or agreement which in the judgment of the Company’s management has or would reasonably be anticipated to have a Material Adverse Effect.
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3.16 Taxes. The Company and the Subsidiaries each has made or filed, or caused to be made or filed, all United States federal and other material tax returns, reports and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject and has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, required to be paid by it, regardless of whether such amounts are shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations, except those being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which it has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate for the payment of all 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.
3.17 Solvency. After giving effect to the receipt by the Company of the proceeds from the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (a) the Company’s fair saleable value of its 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; and (b) 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 debt 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.
3.18 Investment Company. The Company is not, and is not an Affiliate of, an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
3.19 Certain Transactions. Other than as disclosed in the SEC Documents, there are no contracts, transactions, arrangements or understandings between the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and any director, officer or employee thereof on the other hand, that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC in the Company’s Form 10-K or proxy statement pertaining to an annual meeting of stockholders.
3.20 No General Solicitation. Neither the Company, nor any of its Affiliates, nor any person acting on its behalf, has engaged in any form of general solicitation or general advertising (within the meaning of Regulation D) in connection with the offer or sale of the Note or the Warrant pursuant to this Agreement.
3.21 Acknowledgment Regarding the Investor’s Purchase of the Note and the Warrant. The Company’s Board of Directors has approved the execution of the Transaction Documents and the issuance and sale of the Note and the Warrant, based on its own independent evaluation and determination that the terms of the Transaction Documents are reasonable and fair to the Company and in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries are entering into this Agreement and the Security Documents to which they are party, and the Company is issuing and selling the Note and the Warrant, voluntarily and without economic duress. The Company has had independent legal counsel of its own choosing review the Transaction Documents and advise the Company with respect thereto. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Investor is acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length purchaser with respect to the Note and the Warrant and the transactions contemplated hereby and that neither the Investor nor any person affiliated with the Investor is acting as a financial advisor to, or a fiduciary of, the Company (or in any similar capacity) with respect to execution of the Transaction Documents or the issuance of the Note and the Warrant or any other transaction contemplated hereby.
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3.22 No Brokers’, Finders’ or Other Advisory Fees or Commissions. No brokers, finders or other similar advisory fees or commissions will be payable by the Company or any Subsidiary or by any of their respective agents with respect to the issuance of the Note or any of the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
3.23 OFAC. None of the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or person acting on behalf of the Company and/or any Subsidiary has been or is currently subject to any United States sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use any proceeds received from the Investor, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to its Subsidiaries or to any affiliated entity, joint venture partner or other person or entity, to finance any investments in, or make any payments to, any country or person currently subject to any of the sanctions of the United States administered by OFAC.
3.24 No Foreign Corrupt Practices. None of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries has, directly or indirectly: (a) made or authorized any contribution, payment or gift of funds or property to any official, employee or agent of any governmental authority of any jurisdiction except as otherwise permitted under applicable Law; or (b) made any contribution to any candidate for public office, in either case, where either the payment or the purpose of such contribution, payment or gift was, is, or would be prohibited under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or under any other legislation of any relevant jurisdiction covering a similar subject matter applicable to the Company or its Subsidiaries and their respective operations and the Company has instituted and maintained policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance with such legislation.
3.25 Anti-Money Laundering. The operations of each of the Company and the Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with all applicable anti-money laundering laws, regulations, rules and guidelines in its jurisdiction of incorporation and in each other jurisdiction in which such entity, as the case may be, conducts business (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental authority involving the Company or its Subsidiaries with respect to any of the Money Laundering Laws is, to the knowledge of the Company, pending, threatened or contemplated.
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3.26 Disclosure. The Company confirms that neither it, nor to its knowledge, any other Person acting on its behalf has provided the Investor or its agents or counsel with any information that the Company believes constitutes material, non-public information. The Company understands and confirms that the Investor will rely on the foregoing representations and covenants in effecting transactions in securities of the Company. All disclosures provided to the Investor regarding the Company, its business and the transactions contemplated hereby, furnished by or on behalf of the Company (including the Company’s representations and warranties set forth in this Agreement) are true and correct in all material respects and do 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 light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
4. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE INVESTOR. The Investor represents and warrants to the Company as follows:
4.1 Organization and Qualification. The Investor is a limited partnership, duly organized and validly existing in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware.
4.2 Authorization; Enforcement; Compliance with Other Instruments. The Investor has the requisite power and authority to enter into this Agreement and the Security Agreement, to purchase the Note and the Warrant and to perform its obligations under the Transaction Documents. The execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents to which it is a party have been duly and validly authorized by the Investor’s governing body and no further consent or authorization is required. The Transaction Documents to which it is a party have been duly and validly executed and delivered by the Investor and constitute valid and binding obligations of the Investor, enforceable against the Investor in accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation or similar laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of creditors’ rights and remedies.
4.3 No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance of the Transaction Documents to which it is a party by the Investor and the purchase of the Note and the Warrant by the Investor will not (a) conflict with or result in a violation of the Investor’s organizational documents, (b) conflict with, or constitute a material default (or an event which, with notice or lapse of time or both, would become a material default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any material agreement, contract, indenture mortgage, indebtedness or instrument to which the Investor is a party, or (c) violate in any material respect any Law applicable to the Investor or by which any of the Investor’s properties or assets are bound or affected. No approval or authorization will be required from any governmental authority or agency, regulatory or self-regulatory agency or other third party in connection with the purchase of the Note and the Warrant and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
4.4 Investment Intent; Accredited Investor. The Investor is purchasing the Note and the Warrant for its own account, for investment purposes, and not with a view towards distribution. The Investor is an “accredited investor” as such term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D of the 1933 Act. The Investor has, by reason of its business and financial experience, such knowledge, sophistication and experience in financial and business matters and in making investment decisions of this type that it is capable of (a) evaluating the merits and risks of an investment in the Note, the Warrant and the Investor Shares and making an informed investment decision, (b) protecting its own interests and (c) bearing the economic risk of such investment for an indefinite period of time.
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4.5 No Other Representations. Except for the representations and warranties set forth in this Agreement and in other Transaction Documents, the Investor makes no other representations or warranties to the Company.
5. OTHER AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES.
5.1 Legends, etc.
(a) Securities may only be disposed of pursuant to an effective registration statement under the 1933 Act, to the Company or pursuant to an available exemption from or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the 1933 Act, and in compliance with any applicable state securities laws.
(b) Certificates evidencing the Securities will contain the following legend, so long as is required by this Section 5.1(b) or Section 5.1(c):
[NEITHER THESE SECURITIES NOR THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON EXERCISE OF THESE SECURITIES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED] [THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED] WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS AS EVIDENCED BY A LEGAL OPINION OF COUNSEL TO THE TRANSFEROR TO SUCH EFFECT, THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH SHALL BE REASONABLY ACCEPTABLE TO THE COMPANY. [THESE SECURITIES AND THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON EXERCISE OF THESE SECURITIES] [THESE SECURITIES] MAY BE PLEDGED IN CONNECTION WITH A BONA FIDE MARGIN ACCOUNT SECURED BY SUCH SECURITIES.
The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Investor may from time to time pledge, and/or grant a security interest in some or all of the Securities, in accordance with applicable securities laws, pursuant to a bona fide margin agreement in connection with a bona fide margin account and, if required under the terms of such agreement or account, the Investor may transfer pledged or secured Securities to the pledgees or secured parties. Such a pledge or transfer would not be subject to approval or consent of the Company and no legal opinion of legal counsel to the pledgee, secured party or pledgor shall be required in connection with the pledge, but such legal opinion may be required in connection with a subsequent transfer following default by the Investor transferee of the pledge. No notice shall be required of such pledge. At the Company’s expense, the Company will execute and deliver such reasonable documentation as a pledgee or secured party of Securities may reasonably request in connection with a pledge or transfer of the Securities including the preparation and filing of any required prospectus supplement under Rule 424(b)(3) of the 1933 Act or other applicable provision of the 1933 Act to appropriately amend the list of selling shareholders thereunder.
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(c) Certificates evidencing the Investor Shares shall not contain any legend (including the legend set forth in Section 5.1(b)): (i) while a Registration Statement is effective under the 1933 Act, (ii) following any sale of such Investor Shares pursuant to Rule 144, (iii) while such Investor Shares are eligible for sale without restriction under Rule 144(k), or (iv) if such legend is not required under applicable requirements of the 1933 Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the Staff of the SEC). The Company shall cause its counsel to issue any legal opinion or instruction required by the Company’s transfer agent to comply with the requirements set forth in this Section. At such time as a legend is no longer required for the Investor Shares under this Section 5.1(c), the Company will, no later than three (3) Business Days following the delivery by the Investor to the Company or the Company’s transfer agent of a certificate representing Investor Shares containing a restrictive legend (such third Business Day, the “Legend Removal Date”), deliver or cause to be delivered to the Investor a certificate representing such Investor Shares that is free from all restrictive and other legends. In addition to any other remedies available to the Investor, the Company shall pay to the Investor, in cash, as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of Investor Shares (based on the VWAP of the Common Stock on the date such Investor Shares are submitted to the Company or the Company’s transfer agent) delivered for removal of the restrictive or other legend, $5 per Trading Day for each Trading Day after the Legend Removal Date until such Investor Shares are delivered without a legend. The Company may not make any notation on its records or give instructions to any transfer agent of the Company that enlarge the restrictions on transfer set forth in this Section except as it may reasonably determine are necessary or appropriate to comply or to ensure compliance with those applicable laws that are enacted or modified after the Closing.
5.2 Furnishing of Information. As long as the Investor owns the Securities, 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 1934 Act. As long as the Investor owns the Securities, if the Company is not required to file reports pursuant to such laws, it will prepare and furnish to the Investor and make publicly available in accordance with Rule 144(c) such information as is required for the Investor to sell the Investor Shares under Rule 144. The Company further covenants that it will take such further action as any holder of the Securities may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time to enable such Person to sell such Investor Shares without registration under the 1933 Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 or other applicable exemptions.
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5.3 Integration. The Company shall not, and shall use its best efforts to ensure that no Affiliate of the Company shall, sell, offer for sale or solicit offers to buy or otherwise negotiate in respect of any security (as defined in Section 2 of the 1933 Act) that will be integrated with the offer or sale of the Securities in a manner that would require the registration under the 1933 Act of the sale of the Securities to the Investor, or that will be integrated with the offer or sale of the Securities for purposes of the rules and regulations of any Trading Market that would require, under the rules of the Trading Market, the Stockholder Approval.
5.4 Notification of Certain Events. The Company shall give prompt written notice to the Investor of (a) the occurrence or non-occurrence of any Event, the occurrence or non-occurrence of which would render any representation or warranty of the Company contained in this Agreement or any other Transaction Document, if made on or immediately following the date of such Event, untrue or inaccurate in any material respect, (b) the occurrence of any Event that, individually or in combination with any other Events, has had or could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (c) any failure of the Company to comply with or satisfy any covenant or agreement to be complied with or satisfied by it hereunder or any Event that would otherwise result in the nonfulfillment of any of the conditions to the Investor’s obligations hereunder, (d) any written notice or other written communication from any Person alleging that the consent of such Person is or may be required in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any other Transaction Document, (e) any Proceeding pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened against a party relating to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any other Transaction Document, (f) any Subsidiary entering into a Line of Credit Facility (provided, such notice shall be delivered not less than ten (10) days prior to such Subsidiary entering into such Line of Credit Facility), and (g) any default, alleged default, breach or alleged breach by any Subsidiary under any Line of Credit Facility, or any proposed amendment thereto (prior to the date such amendment will be entered into) or any action a Line of Credit Facility Lender has taken, or provided notice of its intention to take, with respect to any Subsidiary’s assets.
5.5 Available Stock. The Company shall at all times keep authorized and reserved and available for issuance, free of preemptive rights, such number of shares of Common Stock equal to the number of Investor Shares as are issuable upon repayment or conversion in full of the Note and exercise in full of the Warrant at any time. If the Company determines at any time that it does not have a sufficient number of authorized shares of Common Stock to reserve and keep available for issuance as described in this Section 5.5, the Company shall use all commercially reasonable efforts to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock by seeking Stockholder Approval for the authorization of such additional shares.
5.6 Use of Proceeds. The Company will use the proceeds from the sale of the Note and the Warrant for general working capital purposes.
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5.7 Repayment of Note. Other than as set forth on Schedule 5.7 hereto (which shall include all Indebtedness owing under all Line of Credit Facilities existing on the Closing Date), neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has any Indebtedness. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall make any voluntary cash prepayments on any Indebtedness at any time while any amounts are owing under the Note other than cash payments the Company or such Subsidiary, as applicable, is required to make pursuant to the express terms thereof existing on the date hereof. If (i) the Company or any Subsidiary issues any Indebtedness other than the Permitted Senior Debt, or issues any Preferred Stock, other than Exempted Securities, or (ii) the outstanding principal balance under all Line of Credit Facilities exceeds the Permitted Senior Debt Cap at any time, then in either case, unless otherwise waived in writing by and at the discretion of the Investor, the Company will immediately utilize the proceeds of such issuance (or cause such Subsidiary to immediately utilize the proceeds of such issuance) to repay the Note; provided, however, notwithstanding the foregoing, (1) the Company shall not provide any additional credit support for the Lighthouse Facility; and (2) until such time as the Lighthouse Post Closing Event has occurred, (x) the Company shall not permit any Subsidiary to issue any additional Indebtedness (or amend or otherwise modify the Lighthouse Documents as in effect on the date hereof to increase the size of the Lighthouse Facility or to otherwise permit any Subsidiary or other Person to borrow any additional amounts thereunder than what exists on the date hereof), and the only Indebtedness of the Subsidiaries shall be the Indebtedness arising under the Lighthouse Facility; and (y) the aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Lighthouse Facility shall not exceed $2,750,000 at any time. If the Company issues any Equity Interests, other than Exempted Securities, for aggregate proceeds to the Company of greater than $10,000,000, excluding offering costs or other expenses, unless otherwise waived in writing by and at the discretion of the Investor, the Company will direct 20% of such proceeds from such issuance to repay the Note.
5.8 Intercreditor Agreement. In the event that (a) the Company or any Subsidiary incurs Indebtedness or issues convertible debt securities to a seller as partial consideration paid to such seller in connection with an Acquisition, unless otherwise waived in writing by the Investor, as a condition to consummation of such Acquisition, the holder of such Indebtedness or convertible debt securities shall enter into an intercreditor agreement with the Company and the Investor on terms reasonably satisfactory to the Investor; and (b) any Subsidiary incurs any Permitted Senior Debt after the date hereof or otherwise amends or modifies the Lighthouse Documents in any respect, as a condition to the incurrence of such Permitted Senior Debt, the Line of Credit Lender, such Subsidiary and the Investor shall enter into an intercreditor agreement on terms reasonably satisfactory to the Investor.
5.9 Prohibited Transactions. The Company hereby covenants and agrees not to enter into any Prohibited Transactions without the Investor’s prior written consent, until the later of (a) thirty (30) days after such time as the Note has been repaid in full, as applicable, and/or has been converted into Conversion Shares and (b) the date on which the Investor ceases to hold any shares of Common Stock or have the right to acquire any shares of Common Stock.
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5.10 Securities Laws Disclosure; Publicity. The Company shall, by 9:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the Trading Day immediately following the date hereof, issue a press release disclosing the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby (the “Press Release”), and shall, within four (4) days following the date hereof, file a Current Report on Form 8-K (the “Form 8-K”) disclosing the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby and including this Agreement as an exhibit thereto; provided, that the Company may not issue the Press Release without the Investor’s prior written consent. The Company shall provide a copy of the draft Form 8-K to the Investor for review prior to release and the Company shall incorporate the Investor’s reasonable comments. The Company shall not issue any press release nor otherwise make any such public statement regarding the Investor or the Transaction Documents without the prior written consent of the Investor, except if such disclosure is made in a manner consistent with the Press Release or Form 8-K, or is required by law, in which case the Company shall (a) ensure that such disclosure is restricted and limited in content and scope to the maximum extent permitted by Law to meet the relevant disclosure requirement and (b) provide a copy of the proposed disclosure to the Investor for review prior to release and the Company shall incorporate the Investor’s reasonable comments. Following the execution of this Agreement, the Investor and its Affiliates and/or advisors may place announcements on their respective corporate websites and in financial and other newspapers and publications (including, without limitation, customary “tombstone” advertisements) describing the Investor’s relationship with the Company under this Agreement in a manner consistent with the Press Release or Form 8-K and including the name and corporate logo of the Company. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, to comply with United States Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4(b)(3)(i), each of the Company and the Investor, and each employee, representative or other agent of the Company or the Investor, may disclose to any and all persons, without limitation of any kind, the U.S. federal and state income tax treatment, and the U.S. federal and state income tax structure, of the transactions contemplated hereby and all materials of any kind (including opinions or other tax analyses) that are provided to such party relating to such tax treatment and tax structure insofar as such treatment and/or structure relates to a U.S. federal or state income tax strategy provided to such recipient.
5.11 Indemnification of the Investor.
(a) The Company will indemnify and hold the Investor, its Affiliates and their respective directors, officers, managers, shareholders, members, partners, employees and agents and permitted successors and assigns (each, an “Investor Party”) harmless from any and all damages, 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 and defense (collectively, “Losses”) that any such Investor Party may suffer or incur as a result of or relating to:
(i) any breach or inaccuracy of any representation, warranty, covenant or agreement made by the Company in any Transaction Document;
(ii) any misrepresentation made by the Company in any Transaction Document or in any SEC Document;
(iii) any omission to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made in any SEC Document, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;
(iv) any Proceeding before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body based upon, or resulting from the execution, delivery, performance or enforcement of any of the Transaction Documents or the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby, and whether or not the Investor is party thereto by claim, counterclaim, crossclaim, as a defendant or otherwise, or if such Proceeding is based upon, or results from, any of the items set forth in clauses (i) through (iii) above.
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(b) In addition to the indemnity contained herein, the Company will reimburse each Investor Party for its reasonable legal and other expenses (including the cost of any investigation, preparation and travel in connection therewith) incurred in connection therewith, as such expenses are incurred.
(c) The provisions of this Section 5.11 shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.
5.12 Non-Public Information. The Company covenants and agrees that neither it nor any other Person acting on its behalf will provide the Investor or its agents or counsel with any information that the Company believes constitutes material, non-public information. To the extent the Company provides the Investor with material, non-public information, the Company shall publicly disclose such information within forty eight (48) hours of providing the information to the Investor; provided, however, in the event that such material non-public information is provided to Investor pursuant to Section 10, the Company shall publicly disclose such information within twenty (20) Business Days of providing the information to the Investor. The Company understands and confirms that the Investor shall be relying on the foregoing representation in effecting transactions in securities of the Company.
5.13 Stockholder Approval. If required by the rules and regulations of the Trading Market or to otherwise fulfill any of its obligations under the Transaction Documents, the Company shall hold a special meeting of stockholders (which may also be at the annual meeting of stockholders) on or before the 60th calendar day following the date hereof for the purpose of obtaining the Stockholder Approval; provided, however, such sixty (60) calendar days shall be increased to ninety (90) calendar days in the event the Company receives comments to its proxy statement from the SEC, with the recommendation of the Board of Directors that such proposal be approved, and the Company shall solicit proxies from its stockholders in connection therewith in the same manner as all other management proposals in such proxy statement and all management-appointed proxyholders shall vote their proxies in favor of such proposal. If the Company does not obtain Stockholder Approval at the first meeting, the Company shall call a meeting every four months thereafter to seek Stockholder Approval until the date the Stockholder Approval is obtained.
5.14 Listing of Securities. The Company shall: (a) in the time and manner required by each Trading Market on which the Common Stock is listed, prepare and file with such Trading Market a Listing of Additional Shares form covering the Investor Shares, (b) take all steps necessary to cause such shares to be approved for listing on each Trading Market on which the Common Stock is listed as soon as possible thereafter, (c) provide to the Investor evidence of such Trading Market’s completion of review of the Listing of Additional Shares form, and (d) maintain the listing of such shares on each such Trading Market.
5.15 Antitrust Notification. If the Investor determines, in its sole judgment and upon the advice of counsel, that the issuance of the Note, the Warrant or the Investor Shares pursuant to the terms hereof would be subject to the provisions of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”), the Company shall file as soon as practicable after the date on which the Company receives notice from the Investor of the applicability of the HSR Act and a request to so file with the United States Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice the notification and report form required to be filed by it pursuant to the HSR Act in connection with such issuance.
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5.16 Change of Prime Broker, Custodian. The Investor has informed the Company of the names of its prime broker and its share custodian. The Investor shall notify the Company of any change in its prime broker or share custodian within three (3) Business Days of such change having taken effect.
5.17 Share Transfer Agent. The Company has informed the Investor of the name of its share transfer agent and represents and warrants that the transfer agent participates in the Depository Trust Company Fast Automated Securities Transfer program. The Company shall not change its share transfer agent without the prior written consent of the Investor.
5.18 Tax Treatment. The Investor and the Company agree that for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and applicable state, local and non-U.S. income tax purposes, the Note is not intended to be, and shall not be, treated as indebtedness. Neither the Investor nor the Company shall take any contrary position on any tax return, or in any audit, claim, investigation, inquiry or proceeding in respect of taxes, unless otherwise required pursuant to a final determination within the meaning of Section 1313 of the Code, or any analogous provision of applicable state, local or non-U.S. law.
5.19 Set-Off.
(a) The Investor may set off any of its obligations to the Company (whether or not due for payment), against any of the Company’s obligations to the Investor (whether or not due for payment) under this Agreement and/or any other Transaction Document.
(b) The Investor may do anything necessary to effect any set-off undertaken in accordance with this Section 5.19 (including varying the date for payment of any amount payable by the Investor to the Company).
5.20 Ongoing Compliance with Laws. The Company and each of the Subsidiaries shall (a) conduct their respective businesses in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws and (b) take all steps necessary to ensure that their continued performance of the Transaction Documents and their obligations thereunder do not violate in any material respect any Law or any rule or regulation of the Trading Market applicable to the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or by which any of their properties or assets are bound or affected.
5.21 Foreign Subsidiaries. To the extent so requested by the Investor, the Company shall, promptly upon such Investor’s request, cause any Subsidiary organized in any jurisdiction outside of the United States of America, to execute and deliver guarantees and security documents as the Investor reasonably determines is necessary to provide an enforceable guaranty and grant of security interest under all applicable local laws and to perfect the Investor’s security interest in all such Subsidiary’s assets.
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6. CLOSING CONDITIONS
6.1 Conditions Precedent to the Obligations of the Investor. The obligations of the Investor to fund the Note and acquire the Warrant are subject to the satisfaction or waiver by the Investor, at or before the Closing, of each of the following conditions:
(a) Required Documentation. The Company must have delivered to the Investor copies of all resolutions duly adopted by the Board of Directors of the Company, or any such other documentation of the Company approving the Agreement, the Transaction Documents and any of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby;
(b) Consents and Permits. The Company must have obtained and delivered to the Investor copies of all necessary permits, approvals, and registrations necessary to effect this Agreement, the Transaction Documents and any of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, including pursuant to Section 3.14 of this Agreement;
(c) Trading Market Approval. The Company shall have either (i) obtained and delivered to the Investor copies of all necessary Trading Market approvals for the issuance of the Note, the Warrant, and the Investor Shares, as applicable, or (ii) submitted a Listing of Additional Shares Notification Form with the Trading Market relating to the issuance of the Note, the Warrant, and the Investor Shares, as applicable;
(d) No Event(s) of Default. The Investor must be of the reasonable opinion that no Event of Default has occurred and no Event of Default would result from the execution of this Agreement or any of the Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby;
(e) Representations and Warranties. The representations and warranties of (a) the Company contained herein and (b) the Company and each Subsidiary contained in any of the Security Documents shall, in each case, be true and correct in all material respects as of the date when made and as of such Closing as though made on and as of such date;
(f) Performance. The Company and each Subsidiary shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all material respects with all covenants, agreements and conditions required by the Transaction Documents to be performed, satisfied or complied with by it at or prior to such Closing;
(g) No Injunction. No statute, rule, regulation, executive order, decree, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated or endorsed by any court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction that prohibits the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents;
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(h) No Suspensions of Trading in Common Stock; Listing. Trading in the Common Stock shall not have been suspended by the SEC or any Trading Market (except for any suspensions of trading of not more than one day on which the Trading Market is open solely to permit dissemination of material information regarding the Company) at any time since the date of execution of this Agreement, and the Common Stock shall have been at all times since such date listed for trading on a Trading Market;
(i) Limitation on Beneficial Ownership. The issuance of the Note and the Warrant shall not cause the Investor Group to become, directly or indirectly, a “beneficial owner” (within the meaning of Section 13(d) of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder) of a number of Equity Interests of a class that is registered under the 1934 Act which exceeds the Maximum Percentage of the Equity Interests of such class that are outstanding at such time;
(j) Perfection of Security Interest. The Investor shall have, to its satisfaction, perfected the security interest granted in the assets and collateral of the Company and, to the extent applicable, its Subsidiaries described in the applicable Security Agreements and, other than with respect to the Lighthouse Facility, entered into all intercreditor agreements with all Line of Credit Lenders with respect to all Permitted Senior Debt existing on the Closing Date as contemplated herein.
(k) Funds Flow Request. The Company shall have delivered to the Investor a flow of funds request, substantially in the form set out in Exhibit D.
6.2 Conditions Precedent to the Obligations of the Company. The obligations of the Company to issue the Note and the Warrant are subject to the satisfaction or waiver by the Company, at or before the Closing, of each of the following conditions:
(a) Representations and Warranties. The representations and warranties of the Investor contained herein shall be true and correct in all material respects as of the date when made and as of the Closing Date as though made on and as of such date;
(b) Performance. The Investor shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all material respects with all covenants, agreements and conditions required by the Transaction Documents to be performed, satisfied or complied with by the Investor at or prior to the Closing; and
(c) No Injunction. No statute, rule, regulation, executive order, decree, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated or endorsed by any court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction that prohibits the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents.
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7. EVENTS OF DEFAULT
7.1 Events of Default. The occurrence of any of the following events shall be an “Event of Default” under this Agreement:
(a) an Event of Default (as defined in the Note);
(b) any of the representations or warranties made by the Company, any Subsidiary or any of its agents, officers, directors, employees or representatives in any Transaction Document or public filing being inaccurate, false or misleading in any material respect, as of the date as of which it is made or deemed to be made, including as of any Closing Date, or any certificate or financial or other written statements furnished by or on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary to the Investor or any of its representatives, is inaccurate, false or misleading, in any material respect, as of the date as of which it is made or deemed to be made, including as of any Closing Date; or
(c) a failure by the Company to comply with any of its covenants or agreements set forth in this Agreement, including those set forth in Section 9.
7.2 Investor Right to Investigate an Event of Default. If in the Investor’s reasonable opinion, an Event of Default has occurred, or is or may be continuing:
(a) the Investor may notify the Company that is wishes to investigate such purported Event of Default;
(b) the Company shall cooperate with the Investor in such investigation;
(c) the Company shall comply with all reasonable requests made by the Investor to the Company in connection with any investigation by the Investor and shall (i) provide all information requested by the Investor in relation to the Event of Default to the Investor; provided that the Investor agrees that any materially price sensitive information and/or non-public information will be subject to confidentiality, and (ii) provide all such requested information within three (3) Business Days of such request; and
(d) the Company shall pay all reasonable costs incurred by the Investor in connection with any such investigation.
7.3 Remedies Upon an Event of Default
(a) If an Event of Default occurs pursuant to Section 7.1(a), the Investor shall have such remedies as are set forth in the Note.
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(b) If an Event of Default occurs pursuant to Section 7.1(b) or Section 7.1(c) and is not remedied within (i) two (2) Business Days for an Event of Default occurring by the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s failure to comply with Section 7.1(c), or (ii) five (5) Business Days for an Event of Default occurring pursuant to Section 7.1(b), the Investor may declare, by notice to the Company or the applicable Subsidiary, effective immediately, all outstanding obligations by the Company or the applicable Subsidiary under the Transaction Documents to be immediately due and payable in immediately available funds and the Investor shall have no obligation to consummate any Closing under this Agreement or to accept the conversion of any Note into Conversion Shares.
(c) If any Event of Default occurs and is not remedied within (i) two (2) Business Days for an Event of Default occurring by the Company’s failure to comply with Section 7.1(c), or (ii) five (5) Business Days for an Event of Default occurring pursuant to Section 7.1(b), the Investor may, by written notice to the Company, terminate this Agreement effective as of the date set forth in the Investor’s notice.
8. TERMINATION
8.1 Events of Termination. This Agreement:
(a) may be terminated:
(i) by the Investor on the occurrence or existence of a Securities Termination Event or a Change of Control;
(ii) by the mutual written consent of the Company and the Investor, at any time;
(iii) by either Party, by written notice to the other Party, effective immediately, if the Closing has not occurred within ten (10) Business Days of the date specified by this Agreement or such later date as the Company and the Investor agree in writing, provided that the right to terminate this Agreement under this Section 8.1(a)(iii) is not available to any party that is in material breach of or material default under this Agreement or whose failure to fulfill any obligation under this Agreement has been the principal cause of, or has resulted in the failure of the Closing to occur; or
(iv) by the Investor, in accordance with Section 7.3(c).
8.2 Automatic Termination. This Agreement will automatically terminate, without further action by the parties, at the time after the Closing Date that the Principal Amount outstanding under the Note and any accrued but unpaid interest is reduced to zero (0), whether as a result of Conversion or repayment by the Company in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the Note.
8.3 Effect of Termination.
(a) Subject to Section 8.3(b), each party’s right of termination under Section 8.1 is in addition to any other rights it may have under this Agreement or otherwise, and the exercise of a right of termination will not be an election of remedies.
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(b) If the Investor terminates this Agreement under Section 8.1(a)(i):
(i) the Investor may declare, by notice to the Company, all outstanding obligations by the Company under the Transaction Documents to be due and payable (including, without limitation, the immediate repayment of any Principal Amounts outstanding under the Notes plus accrued but unpaid interest) without presentment, demand, protest or any other notice of any kind all of which are expressly waived by the Company, anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement or in any other Transaction Document notwithstanding; and
(ii) the Company must within five (5) Business Days of such notice being received, pay to the Investor in immediately available funds the outstanding Principal Amount for the Note plus all accrued interest thereon (if any), unless the Investor terminates this Agreement as a result of an Event of Default and provided that (A) subsequent to the termination under Section 8.1(a)(i), the Investor is not prohibited by Law or otherwise from exercising its conversion rights pursuant to this Agreement or the Note, (B) the Investor actually exercises its conversion rights under this Agreement or the Note, and (C) the Company otherwise complies in all respects with its obligation to issue Investor Shares in accordance with the Note and the Warrant (which obligation will survive termination).
(c) Upon termination of this Agreement, the Investor will not be required to fund any further amount after the date of termination of the Agreement, provided that termination will not affect any undischarged obligation under this Agreement, and any obligation of the Company to pay or repay any amounts owing to the Investor hereunder and which have not been repaid at the time of termination.
(d) Nothing in this Agreement will be deemed to release any party from any liability for any breach by such party of the terms and provisions of this Agreement or to impair the right of any party to compel specific performance by any other Party of its obligations under this Agreement.
9. REGISTRATION RIGHTS
9.1 Registration.
(a) Registration Statement. Promptly, but in any event no later than ninety (90) days from the date of this Agreement, the Company shall prepare and file with the SEC a Registration Statement covering the resale of all of the Investor Shares. The foregoing Registration Statement shall be filed on Form S-1 or Form S-3 or any successor forms thereto. The Registration Statement (and each amendment or supplement thereto, and each request for acceleration of effectiveness thereof) shall be provided to the Investor and its counsel at least five (5) Business Days prior to its filing or other submission and the Company shall incorporate all reasonable comments provided by the Investor or its counsel.
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(b) Expenses. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, the Company will pay all fees and expenses incident to the performance of or compliance with this Section 9, including all fees and expenses associated with effecting the registration of the Investor Shares, including all filing and printing fees, the Company’s counsel and accounting fees and expenses, costs associated with clearing the Investor Shares for sale under applicable state securities laws, listing fees, fees and expenses of one counsel to the Investor and the Investor’s reasonable expenses in connection with the registration, but excluding discounts, commissions, fees of underwriters, selling brokers, dealer managers or similar securities industry professionals with respect to the Investor Shares being sold.
(c) Effectiveness. The Company shall use its best efforts to have the Registration Statement declared effective as soon as practicable after filing thereof but in no event later than the date that is one hundred eighty (180) days following the Closing Date. To the extent the Registration Statement is not declared effective within one hundred eighty (180) days following the Closing Date, it shall be an immediate Event of Default under this Agreement. The Company shall notify the Investor by e-mail as promptly as practicable, and in any event, within twenty-four (24) hours, after the Registration Statement is declared effective and shall simultaneously provide the Investor with copies of any related Prospectus to be used in connection with the sale or other disposition of the securities covered thereby.
(d) Piggyback Registration Rights. If the Company at any time determines to file a registration statement under the 1933 Act to register the offer and sale, by the Company, of Common Stock (other than (x) on Form S-4 or Form S-8 under the 1933 Act or any successor forms thereto, (y) an at-the-market offering, or (z) a registration of securities solely relating to an offering and sale to employees or directors of the Company pursuant to any employee stock plan or other employee benefit plan arrangement), the Company shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, give written notice to the Investor of its intention to so register the offer and sale of Common Stock and, upon the written request, given within five (5) Business Days after delivery of any such notice by the Company, of the Investor to include in such registration the Investor Shares (which request shall specify the number of Investor Shares proposed to be included in such registration), the Company shall cause all such Investor Shares to be included in such registration statement on the same terms and conditions as the Common Stock otherwise being sold pursuant to such registered offering.
9.2 Company Obligations. The Company will use its efforts to effect the registration of the Investor Shares in accordance with the terms hereof, and pursuant thereto the Company will, as expeditiously as possible:
(a) use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Registration Statement to become effective and to remain continuously effective for a period that will terminate upon the first date on which all Investor Shares are either covered by the Registration Statement or may be sold without restriction, including volume or manner-of-sale restrictions, pursuant to Rule 144 or have been sold by the Investor (the “Effectiveness Period”) and advise the Investor in writing when the Effectiveness Period has expired;
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(b) prepare and file with the SEC such amendments and post-effective amendments and supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as may be necessary to keep the Registration Statement effective for the Effectiveness Period and to comply with the provisions of the 1933 Act and the 1934 Act with respect to the distribution of all of the Investor Shares covered thereby;
(c) provide copies to and permit counsel designated by the Investor to review all amendments and supplements to the Registration Statement no fewer than three (3) Business Days prior to its filing with the SEC and not file any document to which such counsel reasonably objects;
(d) furnish to the Investor and its legal counsel, without charge, (i) promptly after the same is prepared and publicly distributed, filed with the SEC, or received by the Company (but not later than two (2) Business Days after the filing date, receipt date or sending date, as the case may be) one copy of the Registration Statement and any amendment thereto, each preliminary prospectus and Prospectus and each amendment or supplement thereto, and each letter written by or on behalf of the Company to the SEC or the staff of the SEC, and each item of correspondence from the SEC or the staff of the SEC, in each case relating to the Registration Statement (other than any portion of any thereof which contains information for which the Company has sought confidential treatment), and (ii) such number of copies of a Prospectus, including a preliminary prospectus, and all amendments and supplements thereto and such other documents as the Investor may reasonably request in order to facilitate the disposition of the Investor Shares that are covered by the related Registration Statement;
(e) immediately notify the Investor of any request by the SEC for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or Prospectus or for additional information;
(f) use its commercially reasonable efforts to (i) prevent the issuance of any stop order or other suspension of effectiveness and, (ii) if such order is issued, obtain the withdrawal of any such order at the earliest possible moment and notify the Company of the issuance of any such order and the resolution thereof, or its receipt of notice of the initiation or threat of any proceeding for such purpose;
(g) prior to any public offering of Investor Shares, use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify or cooperate with the Investor and its counsel in connection with the registration or qualification of such Investor Shares for offer and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdictions requested by the Investor and do any and all other commercially reasonable acts or things necessary or advisable to enable the distribution in such jurisdictions of the Investor covered by the Registration Statement and the Company shall promptly notify the Investor of any notification with respect to the suspension of the registration or qualification of any of such Investor Shares for sale under the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdictions or its receipt of notice of the initiation or threat of any proceeding for such purpose;
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(h) immediately notify the Investor, at any time prior to the end of the Effectiveness Period, upon discovery that, or upon the happening of any event as a result of which, the Registration Statement or Prospectus includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading (in the case of the Prospectus, in light of the circumstances in which they were made), and promptly prepare, file with the SEC and furnish to such holder a supplement to or an amendment of such Registration Statement or Prospectus as may be necessary so that such Registration Statement or Prospectus shall not include an 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 (in the case of such Prospectus, in light of the circumstances in which they were made);
(i) otherwise use its commercially reasonable efforts to comply with all applicable rules and regulations of the SEC under the 1933 Act and the 1934 Act;
(j) hold in confidence and not make any disclosure of information concerning the Investor provided to the Company unless (i) disclosure of such information is necessary to comply with federal or state securities laws, (ii) the disclosure of such information is necessary to complete the Registration Statement or to avoid or correct a misstatement or omission in the Registration Statement, (iii) the release of such information is ordered pursuant to a subpoena or other final, non-appealable order from a court or governmental body of competent jurisdiction, or (iv) such information has been made generally available to the public other than by disclosure in violation of this Agreement or any other agreement, and upon learning that disclosure of such information concerning the Investor is sought in or by a court or governmental body of competent jurisdiction or through other means, give prompt written notice to the Investor and allow the Investor, at the Investor’s expense, to undertake appropriate action to prevent disclosure of, or to obtain a protective order for, such information; and
(k) take all other reasonable actions necessary to expedite and facilitate disposition by the Investor of all Investor Shares pursuant to the Registration Statement.
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9.3 Indemnification.
(a) Indemnification by the Company. The Company will indemnify and hold harmless the Investor Parties, from and against any Losses to which they may become subject under the 1933 Act or otherwise, arising out of, relating to or based upon: (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any Registration Statement, any preliminary Prospectus, final Prospectus or other document, including any Blue Sky Application (as defined below), or any amendment or supplement thereof or any omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or, in the case of the Registration Statement, necessary to make the statements therein not misleading or, in the case of any preliminary Prospectus, final Prospectus or other document, necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading; (ii) any Blue Sky Application or other document executed by the Company specifically for that purpose or based upon written information furnished by the Company filed in any state or other jurisdiction in order to qualify any or all of the Investor Shares under the securities laws thereof (any such application, document or information herein called a “Blue Sky Application”); (iii) any violation or alleged violation by the Company or its agents of the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act or any similar federal or state law or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder applicable to the Company or its agents and relating to any action or inaction required of the Company in connection with the registration or the offer or sale of the Investor Shares pursuant to any Registration Statement; or (iv) any failure to register or qualify the Investor Shares included in any such Registration Statement in any state where the Company or its agents has affirmatively undertaken or agreed in writing that the Company will undertake such registration or qualification on the Investor’s behalf and will reimburse the Investor Indemnified Parties for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating, preparing or defending any such Losses; provided, however, that the Company will not be liable in any such case if and to the extent, but only to the extent, that any such Losses arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission so made in conformity with information furnished by the Investor or any such controlling Person in writing specifically for use in such Registration Statement or Prospectus.
(b) Conduct of Indemnification Proceedings. Any Person entitled to indemnification hereunder shall (i) give prompt notice to the indemnifying party of any claim, action, suit or proceeding with respect to which it seeks indemnification following such Person’s receipt of, or such Person otherwise becoming aware of, the commencement of such claim, action, suit or proceeding and (ii) permit such indemnifying party to assume the defense of such claim, action, suit or proceeding with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party; provided, however, that any Person entitled to indemnification hereunder shall have the right to employ separate counsel and to participate in the defense of such claim, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Person unless (A) the indemnifying party has agreed to pay such fees or expenses, (B) the indemnifying party shall have failed to assume the defense of such claim and employ counsel reasonably satisfactory to such Person or (C) in the reasonable judgment of any such Person, based upon written advice of its counsel, a conflict of interest exists between such Person and the indemnifying party with respect to such claims (in which case, if the Person notifies the indemnifying party in writing that such Person elects to employ separate counsel at the expense of the indemnifying party, the indemnifying party shall not have the right to assume the defense of such claim on behalf of such Person); and provided, further, that the failure or delay of any indemnified party to give notice as provided herein shall not relieve the indemnifying party of its obligations hereunder, except to the extent that such failure or delay to give notice shall materially adversely affect the indemnifying party in the defense of any such claim or litigation. It is understood that the indemnifying party shall not, in connection with any proceeding in the same jurisdiction, be liable for fees or expenses of more than one separate firm of attorneys at any time for all such indemnified parties. No indemnifying party will, except with the consent of the indemnified party, consent to entry of any judgment or enter into any settlement that does not include as an unconditional term thereof the giving by the claimant or plaintiff to such indemnified party of a release from all liability in respect of such claim or litigation.
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(c) Contribution. If for any reason the indemnification provided for in the preceding paragraph (a) is unavailable to an indemnified party or insufficient to hold it harmless, other than as expressly specified therein, the indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by the indemnified party as a result of such Losses in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative fault of the indemnified party and the indemnifying party, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. No Person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the 1933 Act shall be entitled to contribution from any Person not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in this Section are in addition to any other rights or remedies that any indemnified party may have under applicable law, by separate agreement or otherwise.
10. RIGHTS TO FUTURE STOCK ISSUANCES. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Section 10 and applicable securities laws, if at any time prior to the first anniversary of the Closing, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries proposes to offer or sell any New Securities (a “Subsequent Financing”), the Company shall first offer the Investor the opportunity to purchase up to ten percent (10%) of such New Securities. The Investor shall be entitled to apportion the right of first offer hereby granted to it in such proportions as it deems appropriate among itself and its Affiliates.
10.1 The Company shall give notice (the “Offer Notice”) to the Investor, stating (a) its (or a Subsidiary’s, as applicable) bona fide intention to offer such New Securities, (b) the number of such New Securities to be offered, and (c) the price and terms, if any, upon which it proposes to offer such New Securities.
10.2 By notification to the Company within one (1) day after the date the Offer Notice is given (the “Notice Termination Time”), the Investor may elect to purchase or otherwise acquire, at the price and on the terms specified in the Offer Notice, up to ten percent (10%) of such New Securities. If the Company receives no such notice from the Investor as of such Notice Termination Time, the Investor shall be deemed to have notified the Company that it does not elect to participate in such Subsequent Financing. The closing of any sale pursuant to this Section 10 shall occur within three (3) days of the date that the Offer Notice is given and the date of initial sale of New Securities pursuant to Section 10.3.
10.3 The Company or a Subsidiary, as applicable, may, during the three (3) day period following the expiration of the period provided in Section 10.2, offer and sell the remaining portion of such New Securities to any Person or Persons at a price not less than, and upon terms no more favorable to the offeree than, those specified in the Offer Notice. If the Company or a Subsidiary, as applicable, does not enter into an agreement for the sale of the New Securities within such period, or if such agreement is not consummated within thirty (30) days of the execution thereof, the right provided hereunder shall be deemed to be revived and such New Securities shall not be offered unless first reoffered to the Investors in accordance with this Section 10.
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10.4 The right of first offer in this Section 10 shall not be applicable to Exempted Securities and shall be in accordance with all applicable federal and state securities Laws.
11. GENERAL PROVISIONS
11.1 Fees and Expenses. Prior to the date of this Agreement, the Company has paid Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP $20,000. At the Closing, the Company shall reimburse the Investor up to an additional $50,000 in the aggregate of due diligence costs and reasonable fees and disbursements of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, in connection with the preparation of the Transaction Documents, it being understood that Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP has not rendered any legal advice to the Company in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby and that the Company has relied for such matters on the advice of its own counsel. Except as specified above, 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 the Transaction Documents. The Company shall pay all stamp and other taxes and duties levied in connection with the sale of the Note and the Warrant.
11.2 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 delivered via email at the email address specified in this Section prior to 5:00 p.m. (New York time) on a Business Day, (b) the next Business Day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via email at the email address specified in this Section on a day that is not a Business Day or later than 5:00 p.m. (New York time) on any date and earlier than 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on such date, (c) the Business 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 follows:
If to the Company:
Blue Star Foods Corp.
3000 NW 109th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33172
Telephone: (305) 836-6858
Email: jkeeler@bluestarfoods.com
Attention: John Keeler
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With a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:
The Crone Law Group P.C.
500 Fifth Avenue, Suite 938
New York, New York 10110
Telephone: 646-861-7891
Email: mcrone@cronelawgroup.com;
lshih@cronelawgroup.com
Attention: Mark E. Crone, Esq.; Liang Shih, Esq.
If to the Investor:
Lind Global Fund II LP
c/o The Lind Partners LLC
444 Madison Avenue, Floor 41
New York, NY 10022
Telephone: (646) 395-3931
Email: jeaston@thelindpartners.com and
notice@thelindpartners.com
Attention: Jeff Easton
With a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
One Federal Street
Boston, MA 02110
Telephone: (617) 341-7269
Email: bryan.keighery@morganlewis.com
Attention: Bryan S. Keighery
or such other address as may be designated in writing hereafter, in the same manner, by such Person.
11.3 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be excessive in scope or otherwise invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be adjusted rather than voided, if possible, so that it is enforceable to the maximum extent possible, and the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement will not in any way be affected or impaired thereby.
11.4 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Laws of the State of New York, without reference to principles of conflict of laws or choice of laws.
11.5 Jurisdiction and Venue. Any action, proceeding or claim arising out of, or relating in any way to this Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the New York Supreme Court, County of New York, or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Company and the Investor irrevocably submit to the jurisdiction of such courts, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive, and hereby waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction or that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. The prevailing party in any such action shall be entitled to recover its reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and out-of-pocket expenses relating to such action or proceeding.
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11.6 WAIVER OF RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL. THE COMPANY AND THE INVESTOR HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY AND ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE OTHER TRANSACTION DOCUMENTS.
11.7 Survival. The representations, warranties, agreements and covenants contained herein shall survive the Closing and the delivery of the Securities.
11.8 Entire Agreement. The Transaction Documents, together with the Exhibits and Schedules thereto, contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof 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.
11.9 Amendments; Waivers. No provision of this Agreement may be waived or amended except in a written instrument signed by the Company and the Investor. 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 either party to exercise any right hereunder in any manner impair the exercise of any such right.
11.10 Construction. 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. The language used in this Agreement will be deemed to be the language chosen by the parties to express their mutual intent, and no rules of strict construction will be applied against any party. This Agreement shall be construed as if drafted jointly by the parties, and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any party by virtue of the authorship of any provisions of this Agreement or any of the Transaction Documents.
11.11 Successors and Assigns. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by, the Company and the Investor and their respective successors and assigns. The Company may not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Investor. The Investor may assign any or all of its rights under this Agreement to any Person to whom the Investor assigns or transfers any Securities, provided such transferee agrees in writing to be bound, with respect to the transferred Securities, by the provisions hereof that apply to the “Investor” and such transferee is an accredited investor.
11.12 No Third-Party Beneficiaries. 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.
11.13 Further Assurances. Each party hereto shall do and perform, or cause to be done and performed, all such further acts and things, and shall execute and deliver all such other agreements, certificates, instruments and documents, as the other party may reasonably request in order to carry out the intent and accomplish the purposes of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.
11.14 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in two identical counterparts, both of which 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. Signature pages delivered by facsimile or e-mail shall have the same force and effect as an original signature.
11.15 Specific Performance. The Company acknowledges that monetary damages alone would not be adequate compensation to the Investor for a breach by the Company of this Agreement and the Investor may seek an injunction or an order for specific performance from a court of competent jurisdiction if (a) the Company fails to comply or threatens not to comply with this Agreement or (b) the Investor has reason to believe that the Company will not comply with this Agreement.
[Signature Page Follows]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed this Securities Purchase Agreement as of the date first set forth above.
COMPANY: | INVESTOR: | |||
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | Lind GLOBAL FUND II LP | |||
By: | /s/ John Keeler | By: | /s/ Jeff Easton | |
Name: | John Keeler | Name: | Jeff Easton | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer | Title: | Managing Member of Lind Global Partners II LLC, General Partner |
[Signature Page of Securities Purchase Agreement]
EXHIBIT A
SECURITY DOCUMENTS
EXHIBIT B
FORM OF NOTE
[See attached]
EXHIBIT C
FORM OF WARRANT
[See attached]
EXHIBIT D
FLOW OF FUNDS REQUEST
Blue Star Foods Corp. – Securities Purchase Agreement – Flow of Funds Request
In connection with the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated January 24, 2022 (the “Agreement”) between Blue Star Foods Corp. (the “Company”) and Lind Global Fund II LP (the “Investor”), the Company irrevocably authorizes the Investor to distribute such funds as set out below, in the manner set out below, at the Closing.
Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined in this letter will have the meaning given to such terms in the Agreement.
Item | Amount | |||
Closing | $ | 5,000,000 | ||
Commitment Fee | $ | 150,000 | ||
Total | $ | 4,850,000 |
Please transfer the net amount of US $4,850,000 due at the Closing, to the following bank account:
Routing #: | 067015397 |
Account # | 1902003874 |
FBO: | BLUE STAR FOODS CORP |
3000 NW 109 AVE | |
MIAMI FL 33172 | |
Bank: | US CENTURY BANK |
2301 NW 87 AVE | |
MIAMI FL 33172 |
Yours sincerely,
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP.
By: | |
Name | |
Title |
Exhibit 10.58
THIS WARRANT HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS AS EVIDENCED BY A LEGAL OPINION OF COUNSEL TO THE TRANSFEROR TO SUCH EFFECT, THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH SHALL BE REASONABLY ACCEPTABLE TO THE COMPANY.
The number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of this warrant may be less than the amounts set forth on the face hereoF.
This Warrant is issued pursuant to that certain Securities Purchase Agreement dated January 24, 2022 by and between the Company and the Holder (as defined below) (the “Purchase Agreement”). Capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings set forth for such terms in the Purchase Agreement. Receipt of this Warrant by the Holder shall constitute acceptance and agreement to all of the terms contained herein.
No. 2022-001
blue star foods corp.
COMMON STOCK PURCHASE WARRANT
Blue Star Foods Corp., a Delaware corporation (together with any corporation which shall succeed to or assume the obligations of Blue Star Foods Corp. hereunder, the “Company”), hereby certifies that, for value received, Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Holder”), is entitled, subject to the terms set forth below, to purchase from the Company at any time during the Exercise Period (as defined in Section 9) up to One Million (1,000,000) fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock (as defined in Section 9), at a purchase price per share equal to the Exercise Price (as defined in Section 9). The number of shares of Common Stock for which this Common Stock Purchase Warrant (this “Warrant”) is exercisable and the Exercise Price are subject to adjustment as provided herein.
1. DEFINITIONS. Certain terms are used in this Warrant as specifically defined in Section 9.
2. EXERCISE OF WARRANT.
2.1. Exercise. This Warrant may be exercised prior to its expiration pursuant to Section 2.5 hereof by the Holder at any time or from time to time during the Exercise Period, by submitting the form of subscription attached hereto (the “Exercise Notice”) duly executed by the Holder, to the Company at its principal office, indicating whether the Holder is electing to purchase a specified number of shares by paying the Aggregate Exercise Price as provided in Section 2.2 or is electing to exercise this Warrant as to a specified number of shares pursuant to the net exercise provisions of Section 2.3. On or before the first Trading Day following the date on which the Company has received the Exercise Notice, the Company shall transmit by electronic mail an acknowledgement of confirmation of receipt of the Exercise Notice. Subject to Section 2.4, this Warrant shall be deemed exercised for all purposes as of the close of business on the day on which the Holder has delivered the Exercise Notice to the Company. The Aggregate Exercise Price, if any, shall be paid by wire transfer to the Company within five (5) Business Days of the date of exercise and prior to the time the Company issues the certificates evidencing the shares issuable upon such exercise. In the event this Warrant is not exercised in full, the Company may, at its expense, require the Holder, after such partial exercise, to promptly return this Warrant to the Company and the Company will forthwith issue and deliver to or upon the order of the Holder a new Warrant or Warrants of like tenor, in the name of the Holder or as the Holder (upon payment by the Holder of any applicable transfer taxes) may request, calling in the aggregate on the face or faces thereof for the number of shares of Common Stock equal (without giving effect to any adjustment therein) to the number of such shares called for on the face of this Warrant minus the number of such shares (without giving effect to any adjustment therein) for which this Warrant shall have been exercised.
2.2. Payment of Exercise Price by Wire Transfer. If the Holder elects to purchase a specified number of shares by paying the Aggregate Exercise Price, the Holder shall pay such amount by wire transfer of immediately available funds to the account designated by the Company in its acknowledgement of receipt of such Exercise Notice pursuant to Section 2.1.
2.3. Net Exercise. If a registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock that are the subject of the Notice of Exercise (the “Unavailable Warrant Shares”) is not available for the resale of such Unavailable Warrant Shares to the public or upon exercise of this Warrant in connection with a Fundamental Transaction, the Holder may elect to exercise this Warrant by receiving shares of Common Stock equal to the number of shares determined pursuant to the following formula:
X = Y (A - B)
A
where,
X = | the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to Holder; | ||
Y = | the number of shares of Common Stock as to which this Warrant is to be exercised (as indicated on the Exercise Notice); | ||
A = | VWAP for the Trading Day immediately preceding the date of exercise; and | ||
B = | the Exercise Price. |
This Warrant will be exercised pursuant to this Section 2.3 automatically and without further action by any Person immediately prior to the time at which it expires in accordance with Section 2.5.
2.4. Antitrust Notification. If the Holder determines, in its sole judgment upon the advice of counsel, that the issuance of any Warrant Shares pursuant to the terms hereof would be subject to the provisions of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”), the Company shall file as soon as practicable after the date on which the Company receives notice from the Holder of the applicability of the HSR Act and a request to so file with the United States Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice the notification and report form required to be filed by it pursuant to the HSR Act in connection with such issuance.
2.5. Termination. This Warrant shall terminate upon the earlier to occur of (i) exercise in full or (ii) the expiration of the Exercise Period.
3. REGISTRATION RIGHTS. The Holder of this Warrant has certain rights to require the Company to register its resale of the Warrant Shares under the Securities Act and any blue sky or securities laws of any jurisdictions within the United States at the time and in the manner specified in the Purchase Agreement.
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4. DELIVERY OF STOCK CERTIFICATES ON EXERCISE.
4.1. Delivery of Exercise Shares. As soon as practicable after any exercise of this Warrant and in any event within one (1) Trading Day thereafter (such date, the “Exercise Share Delivery Date”), the Company shall, at its expense (including the payment by it of any applicable issue or stamp taxes), cause to be issued in the name of and delivered to the Holder, or as the Holder may direct, a certificate or certificates evidencing the number of fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock (which number shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share in the event any fractional share may otherwise be issuable upon such exercise and the Company shall pay a cash adjustment to the Holder in respect of such final fraction in an amount equal to such fraction multiplied by the Exercise Price) to which the Holder shall be entitled on such exercise, in such denominations as may be requested by the Holder, which certificate or certificates shall be free of restrictive and trading legends (except for any such legends as may be required under the Securities Act). In lieu of delivering physical certificates for the shares of Common Stock issuable upon any exercise of this Warrant, provided the Warrant Shares are not restricted securities and the Company’s transfer agent is participating in the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) Fast Automated Securities Transfer program or a similar program, upon request of the Holder, the Company shall cause its transfer agent to electronically transmit such shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Warrant to the Holder (or its designee), by crediting the account of the Holder’s (or such designee’s) broker with DTC through its Deposit Withdrawal Agent Commission system (provided that the same time periods herein as for stock certificates shall apply) as instructed by the Holder (or its designee).
4.2. Compensation for Buy-In on Failure to Timely Deliver Exercise Shares. In addition to any other rights available to the Holder, if the Company fails to cause its transfer agent to transmit to the Holder Exercise Shares pursuant to an exercise on or before the Exercise Share Delivery Date, and if after such date the Holder is required by its broker to purchase (in an open market transaction or otherwise) or the Holder’s brokerage firm otherwise purchases, shares of Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of the Exercise Shares which the Holder anticipated receiving upon such exercise (a “Buy-In”), then the Company shall (a) pay in cash to the Holder the amount, if any, by which (x) the Holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased exceeds (y) the amount obtained by multiplying (1) the number of Exercise Shares that the Company was required to deliver to the Holder in connection with the exercise at issue times (2) the price at which the sell order giving rise to such purchase obligation was executed, and (b) at the option of the Holder, either reinstate the portion of the Warrant and equivalent number of Exercise Shares for which such exercise was not honored (in which case such exercise shall be deemed rescinded) or deliver to the Holder the number of shares of Common Stock that would have been issued had the Company timely complied with its exercise and delivery obligations hereunder. For example, if the Holder purchases Common Stock having a total purchase price of $11,000 to cover a Buy-In with respect to an attempted exercise of shares of Common Stock with an aggregate sale price giving rise to such purchase obligation of $10,000, under clause (a) of the immediately preceding sentence the Company shall be required to pay the Holder $1,000. The Holder shall provide the Company written notice indicating the amounts payable to the Holder in respect of the Buy-In and evidence of the amount of such loss. Nothing herein shall limit a Holder’s right to pursue a decree of specific performance and/or injunctive relief with respect to the Company’s failure to timely deliver shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Warrant as required pursuant to the terms hereof.
4.3. Charges, Taxes and Expenses. Issuance of Exercise Shares shall be made without charge to the Holder for any issue or transfer tax or other incidental expense in respect of the issuance of such Exercise Shares, all of which taxes and expenses shall be paid by the Company, and such Exercise Shares shall be issued in the name of the Holder or in such name or names as may be directed by the Holder; provided, however, that in the event Exercise Shares are to be issued in a name other than the name of the Holder, this Warrant when surrendered for exercise shall be accompanied by the Assignment Form attached hereto (the “Assignment Form”) duly executed by the Holder and the Company may require, as a condition thereto, the payment of a sum sufficient to reimburse it for any transfer tax incidental thereto.
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5. CERTAIN ADJUSTMENT.
5.1. Stock Dividends and Splits. If the Company, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding: (a) pays a stock dividend or otherwise makes a distribution or distributions on shares of Common Stock or any other equity or equity equivalent securities payable in shares of Common Stock (which, for avoidance of doubt, shall not include any shares of Common Stock issued by the Company upon exercise of this Warrant), (b) subdivides (including by way of share split) outstanding shares of Common Stock into a larger number of shares, (c) combines (including by way of reverse stock split) outstanding shares of Common Stock into a smaller number of shares, or (d) issues by reclassification of shares of Common Stock any shares of capital stock of the Company, then in each case the Exercise Price shall be multiplied by a fraction of which the numerator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) outstanding immediately before such event and of which the denominator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after such event and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of this Warrant shall be proportionately adjusted such that the aggregate Exercise Price of this Warrant shall remain unchanged. Any adjustment made pursuant to this Section 5.1 shall become effective immediately after the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to receive such dividend or distribution and shall become effective immediately after the effective date in the case of a subdivision, combination or re-classification.
5.2 Pro Rata Distributions. During such time as this Warrant is outstanding, if the Company shall declare or make any dividend or other distribution of its assets (or rights to acquire its assets) to holders of shares of Common Stock, by way of return of capital or otherwise (including, without limitation, any distribution of cash, stock or other securities, property or options by way of a dividend, spin off, reclassification, corporate rearrangement, scheme of arrangement or other similar transaction) (a “Distribution”), at any time after the issuance of this Warrant, then, in each such case, the Holder shall be entitled to participate in such Distribution to the same extent that the Holder would have participated therein if the Holder had held the number of shares of Common Stock acquirable upon complete exercise of this Warrant (without regard to any limitations on exercise hereof, including without limitation, the Beneficial Ownership Limitation) immediately before the date of which a record is taken for such Distribution, or, if no such record is taken, the date as of which the record holders of shares of Common Stock are to be determined for the participation in such Distribution (provided, however, that, to the extent that the Holder’s right to participate in any such Distribution would result in the Holder exceeding the beneficial ownership limitation provided for in Section 10, then the Holder shall not be entitled to participate in such Distribution to such extent (or in the beneficial ownership of any shares of Common Stock as a result of such Distribution to such extent) and the portion of such Distribution shall be held in abeyance for the benefit of the Holder until such time, if ever, as its right thereto would not result in the Holder exceeding the beneficial ownership limitation).
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5.3 Fundamental Transaction. If, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding, (a) the Company effects any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another Person, (b) the Company effects any sale of all or substantially all of its assets in one or a series of related transactions, (c) any tender offer or exchange offer (whether by the Company or another Person) is completed pursuant to which holders of Common Stock are permitted to tender or exchange their shares for other securities, cash or property, or (d) the Company effects any reclassification of the Common Stock or any compulsory share exchange pursuant to which the Common Stock is effectively converted into or exchanged for other securities, cash or property (each, a “Fundamental Transaction”), then, upon the closing of a Fundamental Transaction and payment of the exercise price therefore (including at the election of the Holder by cashless exercise), the Holder shall receive, for each Warrant Share that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, the number of shares of Common Stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of the Company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration (the “Alternate Consideration”) receivable as a result of such merger, consolidation or disposition of assets by a holder of the number of shares of Common Stock for which this Warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such event. For purposes of any such exercise, the determination of the Exercise Price shall be appropriately adjusted to apply to such Alternate Consideration based on the amount of Alternate Consideration issuable in respect of one share of Common Stock in such Fundamental Transaction, and the Company shall apportion the Exercise Price among the Alternate Consideration in a reasonable manner reflecting the relative value of any different components of the Alternate Consideration. If holders of Common Stock are given any choice as to the securities, cash or property to be received in a Fundamental Transaction, then the Holder shall be given the same choice as to the Alternate Consideration it receives upon exercise of this Warrant upon the closing of such Fundamental Transaction. The foregoing notwithstanding, if the Company effects any reclassification of the Common Stock or any compulsory share exchange, in each case, into another security of the Company, this Warrant shall remain outstanding and the Holder shall be entitled to receive the Alternative Consideration upon any subsequent exercise of this Warrant and the payment of the exercise price therefor. The terms of any agreement pursuant to which a Fundamental Transaction is effected shall include terms requiring any such successor or surviving entity to comply with the provisions of this Section 5.3
5.4 Adjustment to Exercise Price Upon Issuance of Common Stock. In the event the Company shall at any time or from time to time after the Closing Date (but whether before or after the Issue Date) issue or sell any additional shares of Common Stock (“Additional Shares of Common Stock”), other than (A) as provided in the Note (including subsections (i) through (iv) of Section 3.4(a) of the Note), pursuant to any Equity Plan (including pursuant Ordinary Share Equivalents granted or issued under any Equity Plan), (B) pursuant to Common Stock Equivalents (as defined in the Note) granted or issued prior to the Closing Date, (C) Exempted Securities or (D) pursuant to the terms of this Warrant or the Note, in any case, at an effective price per share that is less than the Exercise Price then in effect or without consideration, then automatically and without further action by any Person the Exercise Price upon each such issuance shall be reduced to a price equal to the consideration per share paid for such Additional Shares of Common Stock. For purposes of clarification, the amount of consideration received for such Additional Shares of Common Stock shall not include the value of any additional securities or other rights received in connection with such issuance of Additional Shares of Common Stock (i.e., warrants, rights of first refusal or other similar rights).
5.5 Calculations. All calculations under this Section 5 shall be made to the nearest cent or the nearest 1/100th of a share, as the case may be. For purposes of this Section 5, the number of shares of Common Stock deemed to be issued and outstanding as of a given date shall be the sum of the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) issued and outstanding at the close of the Trading Day on or, if not applicable, most recently preceding, such given date.
5.6 Notice to Holder.
(a) Adjustment to Exercise Price. Whenever the Exercise Price is adjusted pursuant to any provision of this Section 5, the Company shall promptly mail to the Holder a notice setting forth the Exercise Price after such adjustment and setting forth a brief statement of the facts requiring such adjustment.
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(b) Notice to Allow Exercise by Holder. If (i) the Company shall declare a dividend (or any other distribution in whatever form) on the Common Stock; (ii) the Company shall declare a special nonrecurring cash dividend on or a redemption of the Common Stock; (iii) the Company shall authorize the granting to all holders of the Common Stock rights or warrants to subscribe for or purchase any shares of capital stock of any class or of any rights; (iv) the approval of any stockholders of the Company shall be required in connection with any reclassification of the Common Stock, any consolidation or merger to which the Company is a party, any sale or transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, of any compulsory share exchange whereby the Common Stock is converted into other securities, cash or property; or (v) the Company shall authorize the voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation or winding up of the affairs of the Company; then, in each case, the Company shall cause to be mailed to the Holder at its last address as it shall appear upon the Warrant Register of the Company, at least twenty (20) calendar days prior to the applicable record or effective date hereinafter specified, a notice stating (x) the date on which a record is to be taken for the purpose of such dividend, distribution, redemption, rights or warrants, or if a record is not to be taken, the date as of which the holders of the Common Stock of record to be entitled to such dividend, distributions, redemption, rights or warrants are to be determined or (y) the date on which such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange is expected to become effective or close, and the date as of which it is expected that holders of the Common Stock of record shall be entitled to exchange their shares of the Common Stock for securities, cash or other property deliverable upon such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange; provided that the failure to mail such notice or any defect therein or in the mailing thereof shall not affect the validity of the corporate action required to be specified in such notice. Subject to applicable law, the Holder is entitled to exercise this Warrant during the period commencing on the date of such notice to the effective date of the event triggering such notice. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the delivery of the notice described in this Section 5.6 is not intended to and shall not bestow upon the Holder any voting rights whatsoever with respect to outstanding unexercised Warrants.
6. NO IMPAIRMENT. The Company will not, by amendment of the Certificate of Incorporation or through any reorganization, transfer of assets, consolidation, merger, dissolution, issue or sale of securities or any other voluntary action, avoid or seek to avoid the observance or performance of any of the terms of this Warrant, but will at all times in good faith assist in the carrying out of all such terms and in taking all such action as may be necessary or appropriate in order to protect the rights of the Holder against impairment. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company (a) will not increase the par value of any shares of Common Stock receivable on the exercise of this Warrant above the amount payable therefor on such exercise and (b) will take all such action as may be necessary or appropriate in order that the Company may validly and legally issue fully paid and non-assessable shares of stock on the exercise of this Warrant from time to time outstanding.
7. NOTICES OF RECORD DATE. In the event of:
(a) any taking by the Company of a record of the holders of any class of securities for the purpose of determining the holders thereof who are entitled to receive any dividend or other distribution, or any right to subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire any shares of stock of any class or any other securities or property, or to receive any other right;
(b) any capital reorganization of the Company, any reclassification or recapitalization of the capital stock of the Company or any transfer of all or substantially all the assets of the Company to or any consolidation or merger of the Company with or into any other Person or any other Change of Control; or
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(c) any voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation or winding-up of the Company; then, and in each such event, the Company will mail or cause to be mailed to the Holder a notice specifying (i) the date on which any such record is to be taken for the purpose of such dividend, distribution or right, and stating the amount and character of such dividend, distribution or right, or (ii) the date on which any such reorganization, reclassification, recapitalization, transfer, consolidation, merger, dissolution, liquidation or winding-up is anticipated to take place, and the time, if any is to be fixed, as of which the holders of record of Common Stock shall be entitled to exchange their shares of Common Stock for securities or other property deliverable on such reorganization, reclassification, recapitalization, transfer, consolidation, merger, dissolution, liquidation or winding-up. Such notice shall be mailed at least fifteen (15) days prior to the date specified in such notice on which any such action is to be taken.
8. RESERVATION OF STOCK ISSUABLE ON EXERCISE OF WARRANT; REGULATORY COMPLIANCE.
8.1. Reservation of Stock Issuable on Exercise of Warrant. The Company shall at all times while this Warrant shall be outstanding, reserve and keep available out of its authorized but unissued Common Stock, such number of shares of Common Stock as shall from time to time be sufficient to effect the exercise of all or any portion of the Warrant Shares (disregarding for this purpose any and all limitations of any kind on such exercise). The Company shall, from time to time in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law, increase the authorized number of shares of Common Stock or take other effective action if at any time the unissued number of authorized shares shall not be sufficient to satisfy the Company’s obligations under this Section 8.
8.2. Regulatory Compliance. If any shares of Common Stock to be reserved for the purpose of exercise of the Warrant Shares require registration or listing with or approval of any Governmental Authority, stock exchange or other regulatory body under any federal or state law or regulation or otherwise before such shares may be validly issued or delivered upon exercise, the Company shall, at its sole cost and expense, in good faith and as expeditiously as possible, secure such registration, listing or approval, as the case may be.
9. DEFINITIONS. As used herein the following terms, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following respective meanings:
“Affiliate” means a Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the Person specified.
“Aggregate Exercise Price” means, in connection with the exercise of this Warrant at any time, an amount equal to the product obtained by multiplying (i) the Exercise Price times (ii) the number of shares of Common Stock for which this Warrant is being exercised at such time.
“Business Day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or any other day on which banks are permitted or required to be closed in New York City.
“Certificate of Incorporation” means the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended to date.
“Change of Control” has the meaning set forth in the Purchase Agreement.
“Common Stock” means (i) the Company’s Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and (ii) any other securities into which or for which any of the securities described in clause (i) above have been converted or exchanged pursuant to a plan of recapitalization, reorganization, merger, sale of assets or otherwise.
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“Convertible Securities” means any debt, equity or other securities that are, directly or indirectly, convertible into or exchangeable for Common Stock.
“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time in effect.
“Exercise Period” means the period commencing on the Issue Date and ending 11:59 P.M. (New York City time) on the date that is sixty (60) months from the Issue Date or earlier closing of a Fundamental Transaction (other than a Fundamental Transaction of the type described in clause (d) of the definition thereof resulting in the conversion into or exchange for another security of the Company).
“Exercise Price” means $4.50 per share, as may be adjusted pursuant to the terms hereof.
“Exercise Shares” means the shares of Common Stock for which this Warrant is then being exercised.
“Fair Market Value” means, with respect to any security or other property, the fair market value of such security or other property as determined by the Board of Directors, acting in good faith.
“Governmental Authority” means the government of the United States or any other nation, or of any political subdivision thereof, whether state or local, and any agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central bank or other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, taxing, regulatory or administrative powers or functions of or pertaining to government (including any supra-national bodies such as the European Union or the European Central Bank).
“Issue Date” means January 24, 2022.
“Note” means the senior secured convertible promissory note issued by the Company to the Holder pursuant to the Purchase 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.
“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time in effect.
“Subsidiary” means, as of any time of determination and with respect to any Person, any United States corporation, partnership, limited liability company or limited liability partnership, all of the stock (or other equity interest) of every class of which, except directors’ qualifying shares (or any equivalent), shall, at such time, be owned by such Person either directly or through Subsidiaries and of which such Person or a Subsidiary shall have 100% control thereof, except directors’ qualifying shares. Unless the context otherwise clearly requires, any reference to a “Subsidiary” is a reference to a Subsidiary of the Company.
“Trading Day” means a day on which the Common Stock is traded on a Trading Market.
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“Trading Market” means whichever of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE: Amex Exchange, or the Nasdaq Stock Market (including the Nasdaq Capital Market), on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question.
“VWAP” means, as of any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of one share of Common Stock trading in the ordinary course of business on the applicable Trading Price for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on such Trading Market as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; (b) if the Common Stock is not then listed on a Trading Market and if the Common Stock is traded in the over-the-counter market, as reported by the OTC Bulletin Board, the volume weighted average price of one share of Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the OTC Bulletin Board, as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; (c) if the Common Stock is not then listed or quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board and if prices for the Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by the Pink OTC Markets Inc. (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price of one share of Common Stock so reported, as reported by Bloomberg Financial L.P.; or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of one share of Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holder and reasonably acceptable to the Company (in each case rounded to four decimal places).
“Warrant Shares” means collectively the shares of Common Stock of the Company issuable upon exercise of the Warrant in accordance with its terms, as such number may be adjusted pursuant to the provisions thereof.
10. LIMITATION ON BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Holder shall not be entitled to receive shares of Common Stock or other securities (together with Common Stock, “Equity Interests”) upon exercise of this Warrant to the extent (but only to the extent) that such exercise or receipt would cause the Holder Group to become, directly or indirectly, a “beneficial owner” (within the meaning of Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder) of a number of Equity Interests of a class that is registered under the Exchange Act which exceeds the Maximum Percentage (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) of the Equity Interests of such class that are outstanding at such time. Any purported delivery of Equity Interests in connection with the exercise of the Warrant prior to the termination of this restriction in accordance herewith shall be void and have no effect to the extent (but only to the extent) that such delivery would result in the Holder Group becoming the beneficial owner of more than the Maximum Percentage of the Equity Interests of a class that is registered under the Exchange Act that is outstanding at such time. If any delivery of Equity Interests owed to the Holder following exercise of this Warrant is not made, in whole or in part, as a result of this limitation, the Company’s obligation to make such delivery shall not be extinguished and the Company shall deliver such Equity Interests as promptly as practicable after the Holder gives notice to the Company that such delivery would not result in such limitation being triggered or upon termination of the restriction in accordance with the terms hereof. To the extent limitations contained in this Section 10 apply, the determination of whether this Warrant is exercisable and of which portion of this Warrant is exercisable shall be the sole responsibility and in the sole determination of the Holder, and the submission of an Exercise Notice shall be deemed to constitute the Holder’s determination that the issuance of the full number of Warrant Shares requested in the Exercise Notice is permitted hereunder, and neither the Company nor any Warrant agent shall have any obligation to verify or confirm the accuracy of such determination. For purposes of this Section 10, (i) the term “Maximum Percentage” shall have the definition set forth in the Purchase Agreement; and (ii) the term “Holder Group” shall mean the Holder plus any other Person with which the Holder is considered to be part of a group under Section 13 of the Exchange Act or with which the Holder otherwise files reports under Sections 13 and/or 16 of the Exchange Act. In determining the number of Equity Interests of a particular class outstanding at any point in time, the Holder may rely on the number of outstanding Equity Interests of such class as reflected in (x) the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the case may be, (y) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (z) a more recent notice by the Company or its transfer agent to the Holder setting forth the number of Equity Interests of such class then outstanding. For any reason at any time, upon written or oral request of the Holder, the Company shall, within one (1) Trading Day of such request, confirm orally and in writing to the Holder the number of Equity Interests of any class then outstanding. The provisions of this Section 10 shall be construed, corrected and implemented in a manner so as to effectuate the intended beneficial ownership limitation herein contained.
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11. REGISTRATION AND TRANSFER OF WARRANT.
11.1. Registration of Warrant. The Company shall register and record transfers, exchanges, reissuances and cancellations of this Warrant, upon the records to be maintained by the Company for that purpose, in the name of the record holder hereof from time to time. The Company may deem and treat the registered holder of this Warrant as the absolute owner hereof for the purpose of any exercise hereof or any distribution to the Holder, and for all other purposes, absent actual notice to the contrary. The Company shall be entitled to rely, and held harmless in acting or refraining from acting in reliance upon, any notices, instructions or documents it believes in good faith to be from an authorized representative of the Holder.
11.2 Transferability. This Warrant and all rights hereunder (including, without limitation, any registration rights) are transferable, in whole or in part, upon surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the Company or its designated agent, together with a written assignment of this Warrant substantially in the form of assignment (the “Assignment Notice”) attached hereto duly executed by the Holder or its agent or attorney. The Company may require the transferor thereof to provide to the Company an opinion of counsel selected by the transferor, the form and substance of which opinion shall be reasonably satisfactory to the Company, to the effect that such transfer does not require registration of the transferred Warrant under the 1933 Act. Upon such surrender, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in the name of the assignee or assignees, as applicable, and in the denomination or denominations specified in such Assignment Notice, and shall issue to the assignor a new Warrant evidencing the portion of this Warrant not so assigned, and this Warrant shall promptly be cancelled. This Warrant, if properly assigned in accordance herewith, may be exercised by a new holder for the purchase of Exercise Shares without having a new Warrant issued.
11.3. New Warrants. This Warrant may be divided or combined with other Warrants upon presentation hereof at the aforesaid office of the Company, together with a written notice specifying the names and denominations in which new Warrants are to be issued, signed by the Holder or its agent or attorney. Subject to compliance with Section 11.2, as to any transfer which may be involved in such division or combination, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in exchange for this Warrant or Warrants to be divided or combined in accordance with such notice. All Warrants issued on transfers or exchanges shall be dated the original Issue Date and shall be identical with this Warrant except as to the number of Exercise Shares issuable pursuant thereto.
12. LOSS, THEFT, DESTRUCTION OR MUTILATION OF WARRANT. The Company covenants that upon receipt by the Company of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of this Warrant or any stock certificate relating to the Exercise Shares, and in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably satisfactory to it (which, in the case of this Warrant, shall not include the posting of any bond), and upon surrender and cancellation of such Warrant or stock certificate, if mutilated, the Company will make and deliver a new Warrant or stock certificate of like tenor and dated as of such cancellation, in lieu of such Warrant or share certificate.
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13. REMEDIES. The Company stipulates that the remedies at law of the Holder in the event of any default or threatened default by the Company in the performance of or compliance with any of the terms of this Warrant are not and will not be adequate, and that such terms may be specifically enforced by a decree for the specific performance of any agreement contained herein or by an injunction against a violation of any of the terms hereof or otherwise.
14. NO RIGHTS AS A STOCKHOLDER. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, the Holder, solely in such Person’s capacity as a holder of this Warrant, shall not be entitled to vote or receive dividends or be deemed the holder of share capital of the Company for any purpose, nor shall anything contained in this Warrant be construed to confer upon the Holder, solely in such Person’s capacity as the Holder of this Warrant, any of the rights of a stockholder of the Company or any right to vote, give or withhold consent to any corporate action (whether any reorganization, issue of stock, reclassification of stock, consolidation, merger, conveyance or otherwise), receive notice of meetings, receive dividends or subscription rights, or otherwise, prior to the issuance to the Holder of the Exercise Shares.
15. NOTICES. All notices, requests, demands and other communications that are required or may be given pursuant to the terms of this Warrant shall be in writing and shall be deemed delivered (i) on the date of delivery when delivered by hand on a Business Day during normal business hours or, if delivered on a day that is not a Business Day or after normal business hours, then on the next Business Day, (ii) on the date of transmission when sent by facsimile transmission or email during normal business hours on a Business Day with telephone confirmation of receipt or, if transmitted on a day that is not a Business Day or after normal business hours, then on the next Business Day, or (iii) on the second Business Day after the date of dispatch when sent by a reputable courier service that maintains records of receipt. The addresses for notice shall be as set forth in the Purchase Agreement.
16. CONSENT TO AMENDMENTS. Any term of this Warrant may be amended, and the Company may take any action herein prohibited, or compliance therewith may be waived, only if the Company shall have obtained the written consent (and not without such written consent) to such amendment, action or waiver from the Holder. No course of dealing between the Company and the Holder nor any delay in exercising any rights hereunder shall operate as a waiver of any rights of the Holder.
17. MISCELLANEOUS. In case any provision of this Warrant shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, or partially invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the provision shall be enforced to the extent, if any, that it may legally be enforced and the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. If any provision of this Warrant is found to conflict with the Purchase Agreement, the provisions of this Warrant shall prevail. If any provision of this Warrant is found to conflict with the Note, the provisions of the Note shall prevail. THIS WARRANT SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND ENFORCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, AND THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, THE INTERNAL LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK EXCLUDING CHOICE-OF-LAW PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF SUCH STATE THAT WOULD PERMIT THE APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF A JURISDICTION OTHER THAN SUCH STATE. The headings in this Warrant are for purposes of reference only, and shall not limit or otherwise affect any of the terms hereof.
[Remainder of Page Intentionally Left Blank]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Warrant to be executed by its duly authorized officer.
Dated as of January 24, 2022
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | ||
By: | /s/ John Keeler | |
Name: | John Keeler | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
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FORM OF SUBSCRIPTION
(To be signed only on exercise
of Common Stock Purchase Warrant)
TO: Blue Star Foods Corp.
1. The undersigned Holder of the attached Warrant hereby elects to exercise its purchase right under such Warrant to purchase shares of Common Stock of Blue Star Foods Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), as follows (check one or more, as applicable):
☐ | to exercise the Warrant to purchase __________ shares of Common Stock and to pay the Aggregate Exercise Price therefor by wire transfer of United States funds to the account of the Company, which transfer has been made prior to or as of the date of delivery of this Form of Subscription pursuant to the instructions of the Company; | |
and/or | ||
☐ | to exercise the Warrant with respect to ____________ shares of Common Stock pursuant to the net exercise provisions specified in Section 2.3 of the Warrant. |
2. In exercising this Warrant, the undersigned Holder hereby confirms and acknowledges that the shares of Common Stock are being acquired solely for the account of the undersigned and not as a nominee for any other party, and for investment, and that the undersigned shall not offer, sell or otherwise dispose of any such shares of Common Stock except under circumstances that will not result in a violation of the Securities Act or any state securities laws. The undersigned hereby further confirms and acknowledges that it is an “accredited investor”, as that term is defined under the Securities Act.
3. Please issue a stock certificate or certificates representing the appropriate number of shares of Common Stock in the name of the undersigned or in such other name(s) as is specified below:
Name: | |||
Address: | |||
TIN: |
Dated: | |||
(Signature must conform exactly to name of Holder as specified on the face of the Warrant) |
FORM OF ASSIGNMENT
(To be signed only on transfer of Warrant)
For value received, the undersigned hereby sells, assigns, and transfers unto ________________ the right represented by the within Warrant to purchase shares of Common Stock of Blue Star Foods Corp. a Delaware corporation, to which the within Warrant relates, and appoints _________________ attorney to transfer such right on the books of Blue Star Foods Corp., with full power of substitution in the premises.
[insert name of Holder] | ||||
Dated: | By: | |||
Title: | ||||
[insert address of Holder] |
Signed in the presence of: | |
Exhibit 10.59
SECURITY AGREEMENT
SECURITY AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of January 24, 2022, by and between BLUE STAR FOODS CORP., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”) and LIND GLOBAL FUND II LP (the “Secured Party”).
WHEREAS, the Company (a) and the Secured Party have entered into that certain Securities Purchase Agreement dated as of the date hereof (as amended and in effect from time to time, the “SPA”); and (b) issued to the Secured Party that certain Convertible Promissory Note dated as of the date hereof (as amended and in effect from time to time, the “Note”);
WHEREAS, it is a condition precedent to the Secured Party agreeing to make loans or otherwise extend credit to the Company under the SPA and the Note that the Company execute and deliver to the Secured Party a security agreement in substantially the form hereof; and
WHEREAS, the Company wishes to grant security interests in favor of the Secured Party as herein provided;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Definitions. All capitalized terms used herein without definitions shall have the respective meanings provided therefor in the SPA. All terms defined in the Uniform Commercial Code of the State (as hereinafter defined) and used herein shall have the same definitions herein as specified therein, however, if a term is defined in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State differently than in another Article of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State, the term has the meaning specified in Article 9, and the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Event of Default” means the occurrence of any “Event of Default” under and as defined in each of the SPA and the Note.
“Lien” means any mortgage, charge, pledge, hypothecation, security interest, assignment by way of security, lien (statutory or otherwise), encumbrance, conditional sale agreement, capital lease, financing lease, deposit arrangement, title retention agreement, and any other agreement, trust or arrangement that in substance secures payment or performance of an obligation.
“Obligations” means, collectively, (a) all debts, liabilities and obligations, present or future, direct or indirect, absolute or contingent, matured or unmatured, at any time or from time to time due or accruing due and owing by or otherwise payable by the Company to the Secured Party in any currency, under, in connection with or pursuant to the SPA, the Note or any other Transaction Document (including, without limitation, this Agreement), and whether incurred by the Company alone or jointly with another or others and whether as principal, guarantor or surety and in whatever name or style and (b) all expenses, costs and charges incurred by or on behalf of the Secured Party in connection with the SPA, the Note and any other Transaction Document (including this Agreement) or the Collateral, including all legal fees, court costs, receiver’s or agent’s remuneration and other expenses of taking possession of, repairing, protecting, insuring, preparing for disposition, realizing, collecting, selling, transferring, delivering or obtaining payment for the Collateral, and of taking, defending or participating in any action or proceeding in connection with any of the foregoing matters or otherwise in connection with the Secured Party’s interest in any Collateral, whether or not directly relating to the enforcement of this Agreement or any other Transaction Document.
“Permitted Lien” means, with respect to the Company, any of the following: (a) mechanics and materialman Liens and other statutory Liens (including Liens for taxes, fees, assessments and other governmental charges or levies) in respect of any amount (i) which is not at the time overdue or (ii) which may be overdue but the validity of which is being contested at the time in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which the Company has maintained adequate reserves, in each case so long as the holder of such Lien has not taken any action to foreclose or otherwise exercise any remedies with respect to such Lien; and (b) Liens which are permitted in writing by the Secured Party in its sole and absolute discretion.
“State” means the State of New York.
2. Grant of Security Interest.
2.1. Grant; Collateral Description. The Company hereby grants to the Secured Party, to secure the payment and performance in full of all of the Obligations, a security interest in and pledges and assigns to the Secured Party the following properties, assets and rights of the Company, wherever located, whether now owned or hereafter acquired or arising, and all proceeds and products thereof (all of the same being hereinafter called the “Collateral”): all personal and fixture property of every kind and nature including all goods (including inventory, equipment and any accessions thereto), instruments (including promissory notes), documents (whether tangible or electronic), accounts (including health-care-insurance receivables), chattel paper (whether tangible or electronic), deposit accounts, letter-of-credit rights (whether or not the letter of credit is evidenced by a writing), commercial tort claims, securities and all other investment property, supporting obligations, any other contract rights or rights to the payment of money, insurance claims and proceeds, tort claims and all general intangibles (including all payment intangibles).
2.2. Commercial Tort Claims. The Secured Party acknowledges that the attachment of its security interest in any commercial tort claim as original collateral is subject to the Company’s compliance with §4.7.
3. Authorization to File Financing Statements. The Company hereby irrevocably authorizes the Secured Party at any time and from time to time to file in any filing office in any Uniform Commercial Code jurisdiction any initial financing statements and amendments thereto that (a) indicate the Collateral (i) as all assets of the Company or words of similar effect, regardless of whether any particular asset comprised in the Collateral falls within the scope of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or such jurisdiction, or (ii) as being of an equal or lesser scope or with greater detail, and (b) provide any other information required by part 5 of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or such other jurisdiction for the sufficiency or filing office acceptance of any financing statement or amendment, including whether the Company is an organization, the type of organization and any organizational identification number issued to the Company. The Company agrees to furnish any such information to the Secured Party promptly upon the Secured Party’s request.
4. Other Actions. Further to insure the attachment, perfection and first priority of, and the ability of the Secured Party to enforce, the Secured Party’s security interest in the Collateral, the Company agrees, at the Company’s own expense, to take the following actions with respect to the following Collateral and without limitation on the Company’s other obligations contained in this Agreement:
4.1. Promissory Notes and Tangible Chattel Paper. If the Company shall, now or at any time hereafter, hold or acquire any promissory notes or tangible chattel paper, the Company shall forthwith endorse, assign and deliver the same to the Secured Party, accompanied by such instruments of transfer or assignment duly executed in blank as the Secured Party may from time to time specify.
4.2. Deposit Accounts. For each deposit account that the Company, now or at any time hereafter, opens or maintains the Company shall, at the Secured Party’s request and option, pursuant to an agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party, cause the depositary bank to agree to comply without further consent of the Company, at any time with instructions from the Secured Party to such depositary bank directing the disposition of funds from time to time credited to such deposit account. The Secured Party agrees with the Company that the Secured Party shall not give any such instructions or withhold any withdrawal rights from the Company, unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, or, if effect were given to any withdrawal not otherwise permitted by the Transaction Documents, would occur. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any deposit accounts specially and exclusively used for payroll, payroll taxes and other employee wage and benefit payments to or for the benefit of the Company’s salaried employees.
4.3. Investment Property. If the Company shall, now or at any time hereafter, hold or acquire any certificated securities, the Company shall forthwith endorse, assign and deliver the same to the Secured Party, accompanied by such instruments of transfer or assignment duly executed in blank as the Secured Party may from time to time specify. If any securities now or hereafter acquired by the Company are uncertificated and are issued to the Company or its nominee directly by the issuer thereof, the Company shall immediately notify the Secured Party thereof and, at the Secured Party’s request and option, pursuant to an agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party, either (a) cause the issuer to agree to comply without further consent of the Company or such nominee, at any time with instructions from the Secured Party as to such securities, or (b) arrange for the Secured Party to become the registered owner of the securities. If any securities, whether certificated or uncertificated, or other investment property now or hereafter acquired by the Company are held by the Company or its nominee through a securities intermediary or commodity intermediary, the Company shall immediately notify the Secured Party thereof and, at the Secured Party’s request and option, pursuant to an agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party, either (i) cause such securities intermediary or (as the case may be) commodity intermediary to agree to comply, in each case without further consent of the Company or such nominee, at any time with entitlement orders or other instructions from the Secured Party to such securities intermediary as to such securities or other investment property, or (as the case may be) to apply any value distributed on account of any commodity contract as directed by the Secured Party to such commodity intermediary, or (ii) in the case of financial assets or other investment property held through a securities intermediary, arrange for the Secured Party to become the entitlement holder with respect to such investment property, with the Company being permitted, only with the consent of the Secured Party, to exercise rights to withdraw or otherwise deal with such investment property. The Secured Party agrees with the Company that the Secured Party shall not give any such entitlement orders or instructions or directions to any such issuer, securities intermediary or commodity intermediary, and shall not withhold its consent to the exercise of any withdrawal or dealing rights by the Company, unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, or, after giving effect to any such investment and withdrawal rights not otherwise permitted by the Loan Documents, would occur. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any financial assets credited to a securities account for which the Secured Party is the securities intermediary.
4.4. Collateral in the Possession of a Bailee. If any goods are at an time in the possession of a bailee, the Company shall promptly notify the Secured Party thereof and, if requested by the Secured Party, shall promptly obtain an acknowledgement from the bailee, in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party, that the bailee holds such Collateral for the benefit of the Secured Party and shall act upon the instructions of the Secured Party, without the further consent of the Company.
4.5. Electronic Chattel Paper, Electronic Documents and Transferable Records. If the Company, now or at any time hereafter, holds or acquires an interest in any Collateral that is electronic chattel paper, any electronic document or any “transferable record,” as that term is defined in Section 201 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, or in §16 of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act as in effect in any relevant jurisdiction, the Company shall promptly notify the Secured Party thereof and, at the request and option of the Secured Party, shall take such action as the Secured Party may reasonably request to vest in the Secured Party control, under §9-105 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or any other relevant jurisdiction, of such electronic chattel paper, control, under §7-106 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or any other relevant jurisdiction, of such electronic document or control, under Section 201 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act or, as the case may be, §16 of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, as so in effect in such jurisdiction, of such transferable record. The Secured Party agrees with the Company that the Secured Party will arrange, pursuant to procedures satisfactory to the Secured Party and so long as such procedures will not result in the Secured Party’s loss of control, for the Company to make alterations to the electronic chattel paper, electronic document or transferable record permitted under UCC §9-105, UCC §7-106, or, as the case may be, Section 201 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act or §16 of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act for a party in control to make without loss of control, unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing or would occur after taking into account any action by the Company with respect to such electronic chattel paper, electronic document or transferable record. The provisions of this §4.5 relating to electronic documents and “control” under UCC §7-106 apply in the event that the 2003 revisions to Article 7, with amendments to Article 9, of the Uniform Commercial Code, in substantially the form approved by the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, are now or hereafter adopted and become effective in the State or in any other relevant jurisdiction.
4.6. Letter-of-Credit Rights. If the Company is at any time a beneficiary under a letter of credit now or hereafter issued in favor of the Company, the Company shall promptly notify the Secured Party thereof and, at the request and option of the Secured Party, the Company shall, pursuant to an agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party, either (a) arrange for the issuer and any confirmer of such letter of credit to consent to an assignment to the Secured Party of the proceeds of the letter of credit or (b) arrange for the Secured Party to become the transferee beneficiary of the letter of credit.
4.7. Commercial Tort Claims. If the Company shall at any time hold or acquire a commercial tort claim, the Company shall immediately notify the Secured Party in a writing signed by the Company of the particulars thereof and grant to the Secured Party in such writing a security interest therein and in the proceeds thereof, all upon the terms of this Agreement, with such writing to be in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party.
4.8. Other Actions as to any and all Collateral. The Company further agrees to take any and all other actions reasonably requested in writing by the Secured Party to ensure the attachment, perfection and first priority of, and the ability of the Secured Party to enforce, the Secured Party’s security interest in any and all of the Collateral, including (a) executing, delivering and, where appropriate, filing financing statements and amendments relating thereto under the Uniform Commercial Code of any relevant jurisdiction, to the extent, if any, that the Company’s signature thereon is required therefor, (b) causing the Secured Party’s name to be noted as secured party on any certificate of title for a titled good if such notation is a condition to attachment, perfection or priority of, or ability of the Secured Party to enforce, the Secured Party’s security interest in such Collateral, (c) complying with any provision of any statute, regulation or treaty of the United States as to any Collateral if compliance with such provision is a condition to attachment, perfection or priority of, or ability of the Secured Party to enforce, the Secured Party’s security interest in such Collateral, (d) obtaining governmental and other third party waivers, consents and approvals, in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party, including any consent of any licensor, lessor or other person obligated on Collateral, (e) obtaining waivers from mortgagees and landlords in form and substance satisfactory to the Secured Party and (f) taking all actions under any earlier versions of the Uniform Commercial Code or under any other law, as reasonably determined by the Secured Party to be applicable in any relevant Uniform Commercial Code or other jurisdiction, including any foreign jurisdiction.
4.9. Patent and Trademark Assignments. Concurrently herewith (to the extent of any federally registered patents and/or trademarks owned by the Company on the date hereof) or, in the case of federally registered patents and/or trademarks acquired after the date hereof, promptly upon the Company becoming the owner thereof, the Company is executing and delivering to the Secured Party or will execute and deliver to the Secured Party, as the case may be, the Patent Assignment and the Trademark Assignment pursuant to which the Company is collaterally assigning to the Secured Party certain Collateral consisting of patents and patent rights and trademarks, service marks and trademark and service mark rights, together with the goodwill appurtenant thereto. The provisions of the Patent Assignment and the Trademark Assignment are supplemental to the provisions of this Agreement, and nothing contained in the Patent Assignment or the Trademark Assignment shall derogate from any of the rights or remedies of the Secured Party hereunder. Nor shall anything contained in the Patent Assignment or the Trademark Assignment be deemed to prevent or extend the time of attachment or perfection of any security interest in such Collateral created hereby.
5. Representations and Warranties Concerning the Company’s Legal Status. The Company has, on the date hereof, delivered to the Secured Party a certificate signed by the Company and entitled “Perfection Certificate” (the “Perfection Certificate”) which includes information as to the Company and its Subsidiaries. The Company represents and warrants to the Secured Party as follows: as of the date hereof (a) the Company’s exact legal name is that indicated on the Perfection Certificate and on the signature page hereof, (b) the Company is an organization of the type, and is organized in the jurisdiction, set forth in the Perfection Certificate, (c) the Perfection Certificate accurately sets forth the Company’s organizational identification number or accurately states that the Company has none, (d) the Perfection Certificate accurately sets forth the Company’s place of business or, if more than one, its chief executive office, as well as the Company’s mailing address, if different, (e) all other information set forth on the Perfection Certificate pertaining to the Company is accurate and complete, and (f) there has been no change in any of such information since the date on which the Perfection Certificate was signed by the Company.
6. Covenants Concerning Company’s Legal Status. The Company covenants with the Secured Party as follows: (a) without providing at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to the Secured Party, the Company will not change its name, its place of business or, if more than one, chief executive office, or its mailing address or organizational identification number if it has one, (b) if the Company does not have an organizational identification number and later obtains one, the Company will forthwith notify the Secured Party of such organizational identification number, and (c) the Company will not change its type of organization, jurisdiction of organization or other legal structure.
7. Representations and Warranties Concerning Collateral, Etc. The Company further represents and warrants to the Secured Party as follows: (a) the Company is the owner of or has other rights in or power to transfer the Collateral, free from any right or claim of any person or any adverse lien, except for the security interest created by this Agreement and the Permitted Liens, (b) none of the account debtors or other persons obligated on any of the Collateral is a governmental authority covered by the Federal Assignment of Claims Act or like federal, state or local statute or rule in respect of such Collateral, (c) the Company holds no commercial tort claim except as indicated on the Company’s Perfection Certificate, (d) all other information set forth on the Perfection Certificate pertaining to the Collateral is accurate and complete in all material respects, (e) the Company has at all times operated its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, and with all applicable provisions of federal, state and local statutes and ordinances dealing with the control, shipment, storage or disposal of hazardous materials or substances and (f) there has been no change in any of such information since the date on which the Perfection Certificate was signed by the Company.
8. Covenants Concerning Collateral, Etc. The Company further covenants with the Secured Party as follows: (a) other than inventory sold in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices, the Collateral, to the extent not delivered to the Secured Party pursuant to §4, will be kept at those locations listed on the Perfection Certificate and the Company will not remove the Collateral from such locations, without providing at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to the Secured Party, (b) except for the security interest herein granted, the Company shall be the owner of or have other rights in the Collateral free from any right or claim of any other person or any Lien (other than Permitted Liens), and the Company shall defend the same against all claims and demands of all persons at any time claiming the same or any interests therein adverse to the Secured Party, (c) other than in favor of the Secured Party, the Company shall not pledge, mortgage or create, or suffer to exist any right of any person in or claim by any person to the Collateral, or any Lien in the Collateral in favor of any person, or become bound (as provided in Section 9-203(d) of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or any other relevant jurisdiction or otherwise) by a security agreement in favor of any person as secured party, (d) the Company will permit the Secured Party, or its designee, to inspect the Collateral at any reasonable time, wherever located, (e) the Company will pay promptly when due all taxes, assessments, governmental charges and levies upon the Collateral or incurred in connection with the use or operation of the Collateral or incurred in connection with this Agreement, and (f) the Company will not sell or otherwise dispose, or offer to sell or otherwise dispose, of the Collateral, or any interest therein except for dispositions of obsolete or worn-out property, the granting of non-exclusive licenses in the ordinary course of business, and the sale of inventory in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices.
9. Collateral Protection Expenses; Preservation of Collateral.
9.1. Expenses Incurred by Secured Party. In the Secured Party’s discretion, the Secured Party may discharge taxes and other encumbrances at any time levied or placed on any of the Collateral, and pay any necessary filing fees or insurance premiums, in each case if the Company fails to do so. The Company agrees to reimburse the Secured Party on demand for all expenditures so made. The Secured Party shall have no obligation to the Company to make any such expenditures, nor shall the making thereof be construed as a waiver or cure of any default or Event of Default.
9.2. Secured Party’s Obligations and Duties. Anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding, the Company shall remain obligated and liable under each contract or agreement comprised in the Collateral to be observed or performed by the Company thereunder. The Secured Party shall not have any obligation or liability under any such contract or agreement by reason of or arising out of this Agreement or the receipt by the Secured Party of any payment relating to any of the Collateral, nor shall the Secured Party be obligated in any manner to perform any of the obligations of the Company under or pursuant to any such contract or agreement, to make inquiry as to the nature or sufficiency of any payment received by the Secured Party in respect of the Collateral or as to the sufficiency of any performance by any party under any such contract or agreement, to present or file any claim, to take any action to enforce any performance or to collect the payment of any amounts which may have been assigned to the Secured Party or to which the Secured Party may be entitled at any time or times. The Secured Party’s sole duty with respect to the custody, safe keeping and physical preservation of the Collateral in its possession, under §9-207 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or otherwise, shall be to deal with such Collateral in the same manner as the Secured Party deals with similar property for its own account, but with no duty to preserve rights against prior parties.
10. Securities and Deposits. The Secured Party may at any time following and during the continuance of a payment default or an Event of Default, at its option, transfer to itself or any nominee any securities constituting Collateral, receive any income thereon and hold such income as additional Collateral or apply it to the Obligations. Whether or not any Obligations are due, the Secured Party may, following and during the continuance of an Event of Default demand, sue for, collect, or make any settlement or compromise which it deems desirable with respect to the Collateral. Regardless of the adequacy of Collateral or any other security for the Obligations, any deposits or other sums at any time credited by or due from the Secured Party to the Company may at any time be applied to or set off against any of the Obligations then due and owing.
11. Notification to Account Debtors and Other Persons Obligated on Collateral. If an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing:
(a) the Company shall, at the request and option of the Secured Party, notify account debtors and other persons obligated on any of the Collateral of the security interest of the Secured Party in any account, chattel paper, general intangible, instrument or other Collateral and that payment thereof is to be made directly to the Secured Party or to any financial institution designated by the Secured Party as the Secured Party’s agent therefor;
(b) the Secured Party may itself, without notice to or demand upon the Company, so notify account debtors and other persons obligated on Collateral;
(c) after the making of such a request or the giving of any such notification, the Company shall hold any proceeds of collection of accounts, chattel paper, general intangibles, instruments and other Collateral received by the Company as trustee for the Secured Party, for the benefit of the Secured Party, without commingling the same with other funds of the Company and shall turn the same over to the Secured Party in the identical form received, together with any necessary endorsements or assignments; and
(d) the Secured Party shall apply the proceeds of collection of accounts, chattel paper, general intangibles, instruments and other Collateral and received by the Secured Party to the payment of the Obligations, such proceeds to be immediately credited after final payment in cash or other immediately available funds of the items giving rise to them.
12. Power of Attorney.
12.1. Appointment and Powers of Secured Party. The Company hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints the Secured Party and any officer or agent thereof, with full power of substitution, as its true and lawful attorneys-in-fact with full irrevocable power and authority in the place and stead of the Company or in the Secured Party’s own name, for the purpose of carrying out the terms of this Agreement, to take any and all appropriate action and to execute any and all documents and instruments that may be necessary or useful to accomplish the purposes of this Agreement and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, hereby gives said attorneys the power and right, on behalf of the Company, without notice to or assent by the Company, to do the following:
(a) upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, generally to sell, transfer, pledge, make any agreement with respect to or otherwise dispose of or deal with any of the Collateral in such manner as is consistent with the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or any other relevant jurisdiction and as fully and completely as though the Secured Party were the absolute owner thereof for all purposes, and to do, at the Company’s expense, at any time, or from time to time, all acts and things which the Secured Party deems necessary or useful to protect, preserve or realize upon the Collateral and the Secured Party’s security interest therein, in order to effect the intent of this Agreement, all no less fully and effectively as the Company might do, including (i) upon written notice to the Company, the exercise of voting rights with respect to voting securities, which rights may be exercised, if the Secured Party so elects, with a view to causing the liquidation of assets of the issuer of any such securities and (ii) the execution, delivery and recording, in connection with any sale or other disposition of any Collateral, of the endorsements, assignments or other instruments of conveyance or transfer with respect to such Collateral; and
(b) to the extent that the Company’s authorization given in §3 is not sufficient, to file such financing statements with respect hereto, with or without the Company’s signature, or a photocopy of this Agreement in substitution for a financing statement, as the Secured Party may deem appropriate and to execute in the Company’s name such financing statements and amendments thereto and continuation statements which may require the Company’s signature.
12.2. Ratification by Company. To the extent permitted by law, the Company hereby ratifies all that said attorneys shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof. This power of attorney is a power coupled with an interest and is irrevocable.
12.3. No Duty on Secured Party. The powers conferred on the Secured Party hereunder are solely to protect the interests of the Secured Party in the Collateral and shall not impose any duty upon the Secured Party to exercise any such powers. The Secured Party shall be accountable only for the amounts that it actually receives as a result of the exercise of such powers, and neither it nor any of its officers, directors, employees or agents shall be responsible to the Company for any act or failure to act, except for the Secured Party’s own gross negligence or willful misconduct.
13. Rights and Remedies. If an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, the Secured Party, without any other notice to or demand upon the Company, shall have in any jurisdiction in which enforcement hereof is sought, in addition to all other rights and remedies, the rights and remedies of a secured party under the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or any other relevant jurisdiction and any additional rights and remedies as may be provided to a secured party in any jurisdiction in which Collateral is located, including the right to take possession of the Collateral, and for that purpose the Secured Party may, so far as the Company can give authority therefor, enter upon any premises on which the Collateral may be situated and remove the same therefrom. The Secured Party may in its discretion require the Company to assemble all or any part of the Collateral at such location or locations within the jurisdiction(s) of the Company’s principal office(s) or at such other locations as the Secured Party may reasonably designate. Unless the Collateral is perishable or threatens to decline speedily in value or is of a type customarily sold on a recognized market, the Secured Party shall give to the Company at least ten (10) Business Days prior written notice of the time and place of any public sale of Collateral or of the time after which any private sale or any other intended disposition is to be made. The Company hereby acknowledges that ten (10) Business Days prior written notice of such sale or sales shall be reasonable notice. In addition, the Company waives any and all rights that it may have to a judicial hearing in advance of the enforcement of any of the Secured Party’s rights and remedies hereunder, including its right following an Event of Default to take immediate possession of the Collateral and to exercise its rights and remedies with respect thereto.
14. Standards for Exercising Rights and Remedies. To the extent that applicable law imposes duties on the Secured Party to exercise remedies in a commercially reasonable manner, the Company acknowledges and agrees that it is not commercially unreasonable for the Secured Party (a) to fail to incur expenses reasonably deemed significant by the Secured Party to prepare Collateral for disposition or otherwise to fail to complete raw material or work in process into finished goods or other finished products for disposition, (b) to fail to obtain third party consents for access to Collateral to be disposed of, or to obtain or, if not required by other law, to fail to obtain governmental or third party consents for the collection or disposition of Collateral to be collected or disposed of, (c) to fail to exercise collection remedies against account debtors or other persons obligated on Collateral or to fail to remove Liens on or any adverse claims against Collateral, (d) to exercise collection remedies against account debtors and other persons obligated on the Collateral directly or through the use of collection agencies and other collection specialists, (e) to advertise dispositions of the Collateral through publications or media of general circulation, whether or not the Collateral is of a specialized nature, (f) to contact other persons, whether or not in the same business as the Company, for expressions of interest in acquiring all or any portion of the Collateral, (g) to hire one or more professional auctioneers to assist in the disposition of the Collateral, whether or not the collateral is of a specialized nature, (h) to dispose of the Collateral by utilizing Internet sites that provide for the auction of assets of the types included in the Collateral or that have the reasonable capability of doing so, or that match buyers and sellers of assets, (i) to dispose of assets in wholesale rather than retail markets, (j) to disclaim disposition warranties, (k) to purchase insurance or credit enhancements to insure the Secured Party against risks of loss, collection or disposition of the Collateral or to provide to the Secured Party a guaranteed return from the collection or disposition of such Collateral, or (l) to the extent deemed appropriate by the Secured Party, to obtain the services of brokers, investment bankers, consultants and other professionals to assist the Secured Party in the collection or disposition of any of the Collateral. The Company acknowledges that the purpose of this §14 is to provide non-exhaustive indications of what actions or omissions by the Secured Party would fulfill the Secured Party’s duties under the Uniform Commercial Code of the State or any other relevant jurisdiction in the Secured Party’s exercise of remedies against the Collateral and that other actions or omissions by the Secured Party shall not be deemed to fail to fulfill such duties solely on account of not being indicated in this §14. Without limitation upon the foregoing, nothing contained in this §14 shall be construed to grant any rights to the Company or to impose any duties on the Secured Party that would not have been granted or imposed by this Agreement or by applicable law in the absence of this §14.
15. No Waiver by Secured Party, etc. The Secured Party shall not be deemed to have waived any of its rights and remedies in respect of the Obligations or the Collateral unless such waiver shall be in writing and signed by the Secured Party. No delay or omission on the part of the Secured Party in exercising any right or remedy shall operate as a waiver of such right or remedy or any other right or remedy. A waiver on any one occasion shall not be construed as a bar to or waiver of any right or remedy on any future occasion. All rights and remedies of the Secured Party with respect to the Obligations or the Collateral, whether evidenced hereby or by any other instrument or papers, shall be cumulative and may be exercised singularly, alternatively, successively or concurrently at such time or at such times as the Secured Party deems expedient.
16. Suretyship Waivers by Company. The Company waives demand, notice, protest, notice of acceptance of this Agreement, notice of loans made, credit extended, Collateral received or delivered or other action taken in reliance hereon and all other demands and notices of any description. With respect to both the Obligations and the Collateral, the Company assents to any extension or postponement of the time of payment or any other indulgence, to any substitution, exchange or release of or failure to perfect any security interest in any such Collateral, to the addition or release of any party or person primarily or secondarily liable, to the acceptance of partial payment thereon and the settlement, compromising or adjusting of any thereof, all in such manner and at such time or times as the Secured Party may deem advisable. The Secured Party shall have no duty as to the collection or protection of the Collateral or any income therefrom, the preservation of rights against prior parties, or the preservation of any rights pertaining thereto beyond the safe custody thereof as set forth in §9.2. The Company further waives any and all other suretyship defenses.
17. Marshaling. The Secured Party shall not be required to marshal any present or future collateral security (including but not limited to the Collateral) for, or other assurances of payment of, the Obligations or any of them or to resort to such collateral security or other assurances of payment in any particular order, and all of the rights and remedies of the Secured Party hereunder and of the Secured Party in respect of such collateral security and other assurances of payment shall be cumulative and in addition to all other rights and remedies, however existing or arising. To the extent that it lawfully may, the Company hereby agrees that it will not invoke any law relating to the marshaling of collateral which might cause delay in or impede the enforcement of the Secured Party’s rights and remedies under this Agreement or under any other instrument creating or evidencing any of the Obligations or under which any of the Obligations is outstanding or by which any of the Obligations is secured or payment thereof is otherwise assured, and, to the extent that it lawfully may, the Company hereby irrevocably waives the benefits of all such laws.
18. Proceeds of Dispositions; Expenses. The Company shall pay to the Secured Party on demand any and all expenses, including attorneys’ fees and disbursements, incurred or paid by the Secured Party in protecting or preserving the Secured Party’s rights and remedies under or in respect of any of the Obligations or any of the Collateral and any such expenses incurred in releasing any security interest granted hereunder and, in addition, the Company shall pay to the Secured Party on demand any and all expenses, including attorneys’ fees and disbursements, incurred or paid by the Secured Party in enforcing the Secured Party’s rights and remedies under or in respect of any of the Obligations or any of the Collateral. After deducting all of said expenses, the residue of any proceeds of collection or sale or other disposition of Collateral shall, to the extent actually received in cash, be applied to the payment of the Obligations in such order or preference as is provided in the SPA, proper allowance and provision being made for any Obligations not then due. Upon the final payment and satisfaction in full of all of the Obligations and after making any payments required by Sections 9-608(a)(1)(C) or 9-615(a)(3) of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State, any excess shall be returned to the Company. In the absence of final payment and satisfaction in full of all of the Obligations, the Company shall remain liable for any deficiency.
19. Overdue Amounts. Until paid, all amounts due and payable by the Company hereunder shall be a debt secured by the Collateral.
20. Governing Law; Consent to Jurisdiction. This Agreement IS A contract UNDER the laws of the state of NEW YORK and shall for all purposes be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of SAID state of NEW YORK. The Company and THE SECURED PARTY EACH agree that any suit for the enforcement of this agreement or any other action brought by SUCH PERSON arising hereunder or in any way related to this agreement SHALL BE BROUGHT IN THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN OR ANY FEDERAL COURT SITTING THEREIN AND CONSENTS TO THE NONEXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF SUCH COURT AND SERVICE OF PROCESS IN ANY SUCH SUIT BEING MADE UPON SUCH PERSON BY MAIL AT THE ADDRESS SPECIFIED FOR SUCH PARTY IN THE SPA. The Company hereby waives any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the venue of any suit BROUGHT IN the state of new york or any court SITTING THEREIN or that A suit BROUGHT THEREIN is brought in an inconvenient court.
21. Waiver of Jury Trial. THE COMPANY AND THE SECURED PARTY WAIVES ITS RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL WITH RESPECT TO ANY ACTION OR CLAIM ARISING OUT OF ANY DISPUTE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, ANY RIGHTS OR OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER OR THE PERFORMANCE OR ENFORCEMENT OF ANY SUCH RIGHTS OR OBLIGATIONS. Except as prohibited by law, the Company waives any right which it may have to claim or recover in any litigation referred to in the preceding sentence any special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages or any damages other than, or in addition to, actual damages. The Company (a) certifies that neither the Secured Party nor any representative, agent or attorney of the Secured Party has represented, expressly or otherwise, that the Secured Party would not, in the event of litigation, seek to enforce the foregoing waivers or other waivers contained in this Agreement and (b) acknowledges that, in entering into this Agreement and any other Transaction Document to which the Secured Party is a party, the Secured Party is relying upon, among other things, the waivers and certifications contained in this §21.
22. Notices. All notices, requests and other communications hereunder shall be made in the manner set forth in the SPA.
23. Miscellaneous. The headings of each section of this Agreement are for convenience only and shall not define or limit the provisions thereof. This Agreement and all rights and obligations hereunder shall be binding upon the Company and its successors and assigns, and shall inure to the benefit of the Secured Party and its successors and assigns. If any term of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity of all other terms hereof shall in no way be affected thereby, and this Agreement shall be construed and be enforceable as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable term had not been included herein. The Company acknowledges receipt of a copy of this Agreement.
[Signature pages to follow]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, intending to be legally bound, the Company has caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first above written.
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | ||
By: | /s/ John Keeler | |
Name: | John Keeler | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
Accepted: | ||
LIND GLOBAL FUND II LP | ||
By: | Lind Global Partners II LLC, its general partner | |
By: | /s/ Jeff Easton | |
Name: | Jeff Easton | |
Title: | Managing Member |
Exhibit 10.60
STOCK PLEDGE AGREEMENT
This PLEDGE AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is made as of January 24, 2022, by and between BLUE STAR FOODS CORP., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”) and LIND GLOBAL FUND II LP (the “Secured Party”).
WHEREAS, the Company (a) and the Secured Party have entered into that certain Securities Purchase Agreement dated as of the date hereof (as amended and in effect from time to time, the “SPA”) and (b) has issued to the Secured Party that certain Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note dated as of the date hereof (as amended and in effect from time to time, the “Note”); and
WHEREAS, the Company is the direct legal and beneficial owner of all of the issued and outstanding shares of each class of the capital stock of JOHN KEELER & CO. INC., a Florida corporation (the “Subsidiary”); and
WHEREAS, the Company has granted to the Secured Party a security interest in and lien on substantially all of its assets in order to secure the payment and performance of the Obligations (as such term is defined in the Security Agreement) pursuant to the terms of a Security Agreement dated as of the date hereof between the Company and the Secured Party (as amended and in effect from time to time, the “Security Agreement”); and
WHEREAS, it is a condition precedent to the Secured Party agreeing to make loans or otherwise extend credit to the Company under the SPA and the Note that the Company execute and deliver to the Secured Party a pledge agreement in substantially the form hereof; and
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Pledge.
1.1. Pledge of Securities. (a) The Company hereby ratifies and affirms the grant of security interests made pursuant to the Security Agreement, and (b) in addition, the Company hereby pledges, assigns, grants a security interest in, and delivers to the Secured Party, all of the shares of capital stock or other units of equity ownership of every class of the Subsidiary now owned or hereafter acquired by the Company, as more fully described on Annex A hereto, hereto, including without limitation, (i) all payments or distributions, whether in cash, property or otherwise, at any time owing or payable to the Company on account of its interest as a shareholder in the Subsidiary, (ii) all of the Company’s rights and interest under the organizational documents of the Subsidiary, including all voting and management rights and rights to grant or withhold consents or approvals; (iii) all rights of access and inspection to and use of all books and records, including computer software and computer software programs, of the Subsidiary, (iv) all other rights, interests, property or claims to which the Company may be entitled in its capacity as a stockholder of the Subsidiary, and (v) all proceeds, income from, increases in and products of any of the foregoing. The certificates for such shares, accompanied by stock powers or other appropriate instruments of assignment thereof duly executed in blank by the Company, shall be delivered to the Secured Party by not later than the date which is ninety (90) days after the date hereof and the Company hereby covenants to deliver such certificates and powers by such date.
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1.2. Additional Securities. The Subsidiary agrees that it shall not authorize or issue any additional shares of capital stock or other interests of the Subsidiary after the date hereof without the prior written consent of the Secured Party, and the Company agrees it will not permit the Subsidiary to authorize or issue any additional shares of capital stock equity interests after the date hereof without the prior written consent of the Secured Party. In case the Company shall acquire any additional shares of capital stock or other equity interests of the Subsidiary or any corporation or other entity which is the successor of the Subsidiary, or any securities exchangeable for or convertible into shares of capital stock or such other equity interests of any class of the Subsidiary, whether by purchase, dividend, split or otherwise, or any other Person which becomes a subsidiary, then such shares or other securities shall be subject to the pledge, assignment and security interest granted to the Secured Party under this Agreement and the Company shall deliver to the Secured Party forthwith any certificates therefor, accompanied by stock powers or other appropriate instruments of assignment duly executed by the Company in blank. The Company agrees that the Secured Party may from time to time attach as Annex A hereto an updated list of the shares of capital stock or securities at the time pledged with the Secured Party hereunder.
1.3. Pledge of any account into which cash collateral is held. The Company also hereby pledges, assigns, grants a security interest in, and delivers to the Secured Party, any account into which any Cash Collateral is deposited and all of the Cash Collateral as such terms are hereinafter defined.
2. Definitions. The term “Obligations” and all other capitalized terms used herein without definition shall have the respective meanings provided therefor in the Security Agreement. Terms used herein and not defined in the Security Agreement or otherwise defined herein that are defined in the Uniform Commercial Code of the State of New York (the “NY UCC”) have such defined meanings herein (with terms used in Article 9 controlling over terms used in another Article), unless the context otherwise indicated or requires, and the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Cash Collateral. See §4.
Event of Default. Means the occurrence of any of the following: (a) an Event of Default as defined in the SPA, (b) an Event of Default as defined in the Note, (c) an Event of Default as defined in the Security Agreement, or (d) any other default under any other Transaction Document.
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Securities. Includes the shares of stock, membership interests and other equity interests described in Annex A attached hereto and any additional shares of stock, membership interests or other equity interests at the time pledged with the Lender hereunder and the interests described in clauses (b)(i) through (v) of §1.1 of this Agreement.
Securities Act. See §7.3.
Securities Collateral. The property at any time pledged to the Secured Party hereunder (whether described herein or not) and all income therefrom, increases therein and proceeds thereof, including without limitation that included in Cash Collateral. The term does not include any income, increases or proceeds received by the Company to the extent expressly permitted by §6.
Transaction Documents. The SPA, the Note, the Security Agreement, and the other “Transaction Documents” as defined in the SPA.
3. Security for Obligations. This Agreement and the security interest in and pledge of the Securities Collateral hereunder are made with and granted to the Secured Party as security for the payment and performance in full of all the Obligations.
4. Liquidation, Recapitalization, etc. Any sums or other property paid or distributed upon or with respect to any of the Securities, whether by dividend or redemption or upon the liquidation or dissolution of the issuer thereof or otherwise, shall, except to the limited extent provided in §6, be paid over and delivered to the Secured Party to be held by the Secured Party as security for the payment and performance in full of all of the Obligations. To the extent any such property paid or distributed pursuant to the immediately preceding sentence is in the form of money, the Secured Party shall have the right (but not the obligation) to deposit such money in a deposit account with a depository satisfactory to the Secured Party and any such funds may be invested in such items as the Secured Party may elect, and the Secured Party shall have a perfected security interest in all such sums or other property so paid or distributed and all proceeds thereof (and any interest earned shall continue to be held by the Secured Party as security for the payment and performance in full of all of the Obligations). Any money so received by the Secured Party pursuant to this §4, any account into which it shall be deposited and all proceeds thereof shall be referred to herein as the “Cash Collateral”. In case, pursuant to the recapitalization or reclassification of the capital of the issuer thereof or pursuant to the reorganization thereof, any distribution of capital shall be made on or in respect of any of the Securities or any property shall be distributed upon or with respect to any of the Securities, the property so distributed shall be delivered to the Secured Party, to be held by it as security for the Obligations. Except to the limited extent provided in §6, all sums of money and property paid or distributed in respect of the Securities, whether as a dividend or upon such a liquidation, dissolution, recapitalization or reclassification or otherwise, that are received by the Company shall, until paid or delivered to the Secured Party, be held in trust for the Secured Party as security for the payment and performance in full of all of the Obligations.
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5. Warranty of Title; Authority. The Company hereby represents and warrants that: (a) the Company has good and marketable title to, and is the sole record and beneficial owner of, the Securities described in §1, subject to no pledges, liens, security interests, charges, options, restrictions or other encumbrances except the pledge and security interest created by the Security Agreement and this Agreement and Permitted Liens, (b) all of the Securities described in §1 is validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, (c) the Company has full power, authority and legal right to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under this Agreement and to pledge and grant a security interest in all of the Securities Collateral pursuant to this Agreement, and the execution, delivery and performance hereof and the pledge of and granting of a security interest in the Securities Collateral hereunder have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate or other action and do not contravene any law, rule or regulation or any provision of the Company’s or the Subsidiary’s charter documents or by-laws or of any judgment, decree or order of any tribunal or of any agreement or instrument to which the Company or the Subsidiary is a party or by which it or any of its property is bound or affected or constitute a default thereunder, and (d) the information set forth in Annex A hereto relating to the Securities is true, correct and complete in all respects. The Company covenants that it will defend the rights of the Secured Party and security interest of the Secured Party in such Securities against the claims and demands of all other Persons whomsoever. The Company further covenants that it will have the like title to and right to pledge and grant a security interest in the Securities Collateral hereafter pledged or in which a security interest is granted to the Secured Party hereunder and will likewise defend the rights, pledge and security interest thereof and therein of the Secured Party.
6. Dividends, Voting, etc., Prior to Maturity. So long as no Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, the Company shall be entitled to receive and retain all cash dividends paid in respect of the Securities, to vote the Securities and to give consents, waivers and ratifications in respect of the Securities; provided, however, that no vote shall be cast or consent, waiver or ratification given by the Company if the effect thereof would in the judgment of the Secured Party impair any of the Securities Collateral or be inconsistent with or result in any violation of any of the provisions of the SPA, the Note, the Security Agreement or the other Transaction Documents. All such rights of the Company to receive cash dividends shall cease in case an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing. All such rights of the Company to vote and give consents, waivers and ratifications with respect to the Securities shall, at the Secured Party’s option, as evidenced by the Secured Party’s notifying the Company of such election, cease in case an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing.
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7. Remedies.
7.1. In General. If an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, the Secured Party shall thereafter have the following rights and remedies (to the extent permitted by applicable law) in addition to the rights and remedies of a secured party under the NY UCC, all such rights and remedies being cumulative, not exclusive, and enforceable alternatively, successively or concurrently, at such time or times as the Secured Party deems expedient:
(a) if the Secured Party so elects and gives written notice of such election to the Company, the Secured Party may vote any or all shares of the Securities (whether or not the same shall have been transferred into its name or the name of its nominee or nominees) for any lawful purpose, including, without limitation, if the Secured Party so elects, for the liquidation of the assets of the issuer thereof, and give all consents, waivers and ratifications in respect of the Securities and otherwise act with respect thereto as though it were the outright owner thereof (the Company hereby irrevocably constituting and appointing the Secured Party the proxy and attorney-in-fact of the Company, with full power of substitution, to do so);
(b) the Secured Party may demand, sue for, collect or make any compromise or settlement the Secured Party deems suitable in respect of any Securities Collateral;
(c) the Secured Party may sell, resell, assign and deliver, or otherwise dispose of any or all of the Securities Collateral, for cash or credit or both and upon such terms at such place or places, at such time or times and to such Persons as the Secured Party thinks expedient, all without demand for performance by the Company or any notice or advertisement whatsoever except as expressly provided herein or as may otherwise be required by law;
(d) the Secured Party may cause all or any part of the Securities held by it to be transferred into its name or the name of its nominee or nominees; and
(e) the Secured Party may set off or otherwise apply or credit against the Obligations any and all sums deposited with it or held by it.
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7.2. Sale of Securities Collateral. In the event of any sale or other disposition of the Securities Collateral as provided in clause (c) of §7.1 and to the extent that any notice thereof is required to be given by law, the Secured Party shall give to the Company at least ten (10) Business Days’ prior notice of the time and place of any public sale or other disposition of the Securities Collateral or of the time after which any private sale or any other intended disposition is to be made. The Company hereby acknowledges that ten (10) Business Days’ prior notice of such sale or other disposition or sales or other dispositions shall be reasonable notice. The Secured Party may enforce its rights hereunder without any other notice and without compliance with any other condition precedent now or hereunder imposed by statute, rule of law or otherwise (all of which are hereby expressly waived by the Company, to the fullest extent permitted by law). The Secured Party may buy or otherwise acquire any part or all of the Securities Collateral at any public sale or other disposition and if any part or all of the Securities Collateral is of a type customarily sold or otherwise disposed of in a recognized market or is of the type which is the subject of widely-distributed standard price quotations, the Secured Party may buy or otherwise acquire at private sale or other disposition and may make payments thereof by any means. The Secured Party may apply the cash proceeds actually received from any sale or other disposition to the reasonable expenses of retaking, holding, preparing for sale, selling and the like, to reasonable attorneys’ fees, travel and all other expenses which may be incurred by the Secured Party in attempting to collect the Obligations or to enforce this Agreement or in the prosecution or defense of any action or proceeding related to the subject matter of this Agreement, and then to the Obligations pursuant to the terms of the Transaction Documents. Only after such applications, and after payment by the Secured Party of any amount required by §9-608(a)(1)(C) or §9-615(a)(3) of the NY UCC, need the Secured Party account to the Company for any surplus.
7.3. Private Sales. The Company recognizes that the Secured Party may be unable to effect a public sale or other disposition of the Securities by reason of certain prohibitions contained in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), federal banking laws, and other applicable laws, but may be compelled to resort to one or more private sales thereof to a restricted group of purchasers. The Company agrees that any such private sales may be at prices and other terms less favorable to the seller than if sold at public sales and that such private sales shall not by reason thereof be deemed not to have been made in a commercially reasonable manner. The Secured Party shall be under no obligation to delay a sale of any of the Securities for the period of time necessary to permit the issuer of such securities to register such securities for public sale under the Securities Act, or such other federal banking or other applicable laws, even if the issuer would agree to do so. Subject to the foregoing, the Secured Party agrees that any sale of the Securities shall be made in a commercially reasonable manner, and the Company agrees to use its best efforts to cause the issuer or issuers of the Securities contemplated to be sold, to execute and deliver, and cause the directors and officers of such issuer to execute and deliver, all at the Company’s expense, all such instruments and documents, and to do or cause to be done all such other acts and things as may be necessary or, in the reasonable opinion of the Secured Party, advisable to exempt such Securities from registration under the provisions of the Securities Act, and to make all amendments to such instruments and documents which, in the opinion of the Secured Party, are necessary or advisable, all in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission applicable thereto. The Company further agrees to use its best efforts to cause such issuer or issuers to comply with the provisions of the securities or “Blue Sky” laws of any jurisdiction which the Secured Party shall designate and, if required, to cause such issuer or issuers to make available to its security holders, as soon as practicable, an earnings statement (which need not be audited) which will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act.
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7.4. Company’s Agreements, etc. The Company further agrees to do or cause to be done all such other acts and things as may be reasonably necessary to make any sales of any portion or all of the Securities pursuant to this §7 valid and binding and in compliance with any and all applicable laws (including, without limitation, the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission applicable thereto and all applicable state securities or “Blue Sky” laws), regulations, orders, writs, injunctions, decrees or awards of any and all courts, arbitrators or governmental instrumentalities, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over any such sale or sales, all at the Company’s expense. The Company further agrees that a breach of any of the covenants contained in this §7 will cause irreparable injury to the Secured Party, that the Secured Party has no adequate remedy at law in respect of such breach and, as a consequence, agrees that each and every covenant contained in this §7 shall be specifically enforceable against the Company by the Secured Party and the Company hereby waives and agrees not to assert any defenses against an action for specific performance of such covenants.
8. Marshalling. The Secured Party shall not be required to marshal any present or future collateral security for (including but not limited to this Agreement and the Securities Collateral), or other assurances of payment of, the Obligations or any of them, or to resort to such collateral security or other assurances of payment in any particular order. All of the Secured Party’s rights hereunder and in respect of such collateral security and other assurances of payment shall be cumulative and in addition to all other rights, however existing or arising. To the extent that it lawfully may, the Company hereby agrees that it will not invoke any law relating to the marshalling of collateral that might cause delay in or impede the enforcement of the Secured Party’s rights under this Agreement or under any other instrument evidencing any of the Obligations or under which any of the Obligations is outstanding or by which any of the Obligations is secured or payment thereof is otherwise assured, and to the extent that it lawfully may the Company hereby irrevocably waives the benefits of all such laws.
9. Company’s Obligations Not Affected. The obligations of the Company hereunder shall remain in full force and effect without regard to, and shall not be impaired by (a) any exercise or nonexercise, or any waiver, by the Secured Party of any right, remedy, power or privilege under or in respect of any of the Obligations or any security thereof (including this Agreement); (b) any amendment to or modification of the Transactions Documents or any of the Obligations; (c) any amendment to or modification of any instrument (other than this Agreement) securing any of the Obligations, including, without limitation, the Security Agreement and the other Transaction Documents; or (d) the taking of additional security for, or any other assurances of payment of, any of the Obligations or the release or discharge or termination of any security or other assurances of payment or performance for any of the Obligations; whether or not the Company shall have notice or knowledge of any of the foregoing, the Company hereby generally waiving all suretyship defenses to the extent applicable.
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10. Transfer, etc., by Company. Without the prior written consent of the Secured Party, the Company will not sell, assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of, grant any option with respect to, or pledge or grant any security interest in or otherwise encumber or restrict any of the Securities Collateral or any interest therein, except for the pledge thereof and security interest therein provided for in this Agreement and any Permitted Liens so long as the holder of such lien has not taken any action to foreclose or otherwise realize on the Securities Collateral.
11. Further Assurances. The Company will do all such acts, and will furnish to the Secured Party all such financing statements, certificates and other documents and will obtain all such governmental consents and corporate approvals and will do or cause to be done all such other things as the Secured Party may reasonably request from time to time in order to give full effect to this Agreement and to secure the rights of the Secured Party hereunder, all without any cost or expense to the Secured Party. The Company hereby irrevocably authorizes the Secured Party at any time and from time to time to file in any filing office which the Secured Party deems necessary in any Uniform Commercial Code jurisdiction any initial financing statements and amendments thereto that (a) indicate the Collateral as the Securities Collateral or words of similar effect, or as being of equal or lesser scope or in greater detail, and (b) contain any other information required by part 5 of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code of the jurisdiction of the filing office for the sufficiency or filing office acceptance of any financing statement or amendment, including whether the Company is an organization, the type of organization and any organization identification number issued to the Company. The Company agrees to furnish any such information to the Secured Party promptly upon request. The Company also ratifies its authorization for the Secured Party to have filed in any Uniform Commercial Code jurisdiction any like initial financing statements or amendments thereto if filed prior to the date hereof.
12. Secured Party’s Exoneration. Under no circumstances shall the Secured Party be deemed to assume any responsibility for or obligation or duty with respect to any part or all of the Securities Collateral of any nature or kind or any matter or proceedings arising out of or relating thereto, other than (a) to exercise reasonable care in the physical custody of the Securities Collateral and (b) after an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing to act in a commercially reasonable manner. The Secured Party shall not be required to take any action of any kind to collect, preserve or protect its or the Company’s rights in the Securities Collateral or against other parties thereto. The Secured Party’s prior recourse to any part or all of the Securities Collateral shall not constitute a condition of any demand, suit or proceeding for payment or collection of any of the Obligations.
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13. No Waiver, etc. Neither this Agreement nor any term hereof may be changed, waived, discharged or terminated except by a written instrument expressly referring to this Agreement and to the provisions so modified or limited, and executed by the Secured Party and the Company. No act, failure or delay by the Secured Party shall constitute a waiver of its rights and remedies hereunder or otherwise. No single or partial waiver by the Secured Party of any default or right or remedy that it may have shall operate as a waiver of any other default, right or remedy or of the same default, right or remedy on a future occasion. The Company hereby waives presentment, notice of dishonor and protest of all instruments, included in or evidencing any of the Obligations or the Securities Collateral, and any and all other notices and demands whatsoever (except as expressly provided herein or in the Transaction Documents).
14. Notice, etc. All notices, requests and other communications hereunder shall be made in the manner set forth in the SPA.
15. Overdue Amounts. Until paid, all amounts due and payable by the Company hereunder shall be a debt secured by the Securities Collateral and shall bear, whether before or after judgment, interest at the rate of interest for overdue principal set forth in the Note.
16. Governing Law; Consent to Jurisdiction. THIS AGREEMENT IS A CONTRACT UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AND SHALL FOR ALL PURPOSES BE CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH AND GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF SAID STATE OF NEW YORK. THE COMPANY AND THE SECURED PARTY EACH AGREE THAT ANY SUIT FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER ACTION BROUGHT BY SUCH PERSON ARISING HEREUNDER OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE BROUGHT IN THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN OR ANY FEDERAL COURT SITTING THEREIN AND CONSENTS TO THE NONEXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF SUCH COURT AND SERVICE OF PROCESS IN ANY SUCH SUIT BEING MADE UPON SUCH PERSON BY MAIL AT THE ADDRESS SPECIFIED ON THE SIGNATURE PAGE OF EACH PARTY HERETO. the Company and the secured party each hereby waives any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the venue of any suit BROUGHT IN the state of new york or any court SITTING THEREIN or that A suit BROUGHT THEREIN is brought in an inconvenient court
17. Waiver of Jury Trial. THE COMPANY AND THE SECURED PARTY WAIVES ITS RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL WITH RESPECT TO ANY ACTION OR CLAIM ARISING OUT OF ANY DISPUTE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, ANY RIGHTS OR OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER OR THE PERFORMANCE OR ENFORCEMENT OF ANY SUCH RIGHTS OR OBLIGATIONS. Except as prohibited by law, the Company waives any right which it may have to claim or recover in any litigation referred to in the preceding sentence any special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages or any damages other than, or in addition to, actual damages. The Company (a) certifies that neither the Secured Party nor any representative, agent or attorney of the Secured Party has represented, expressly or otherwise, that the Secured Party would not, in the event of litigation, seek to enforce the foregoing waivers or other waivers contained in this Agreement and (b) acknowledges that, in entering into this Agreement and any other Transaction Document to which the Secured Party is a party, the Secured Party is relying upon, among other things, the waivers and certifications contained in this §17.
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18. Satisfaction of Obligations. At such time as all of the Obligations have been finally paid and satisfied in full, this Agreement shall terminate and the Secured Party shall, upon the written request and at the expense of the Company, execute and deliver to the Company all documents or agreements necessary to evidence the release by the Secured Party of the security interest granted hereunder and shall return to the Company all original stock certificates of the Subsidiary (if any) previously delivered by the Company to the Secured Party pursuant to the terms hereof and in the possession of the Secured Party, subject to any disposition of all or any part thereof that may have been made by the Secured Party pursuant hereto or the Security Agreement. In the absence of final payment and satisfaction in full of all of the Obligations, the Company shall remain liable for any deficiency.
19. Miscellaneous. The headings of each section of this Agreement are for convenience only and shall not define or limit the provisions thereof. This Agreement and all rights and obligations hereunder shall be binding upon the Company and its respective successors and assigns, and shall inure to the benefit of the Secured Party and its respective successors and assigns. If any term of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity of all other terms hereof shall be in no way affected thereby, and this Agreement shall be construed and be enforceable as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable term had not been included herein. The Company acknowledges receipt of a copy of this Agreement.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, intending to be legally bound, the Company and the Secured Party have caused this Agreement to be executed as of the date first above written.
BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | ||
By: | /s/ John Keeler | |
Name: | John Keeler | |
Title: | CEO | |
LIND GLOBAL FUND II LP | ||
By: Lind Global Partners II LLC, its general partner | ||
By: | /s/ Jeff Easton | |
Title: | Jeff Easton, Managing Member |
The undersigned Subsidiary hereby joins in the above Agreement for the sole purpose of consenting to and being bound by the provisions of §§1.2, 4.1, 6 and 7 thereof, the undersigned hereby agreeing to cooperate fully and in good faith with the Secured Party and the Company in carrying out such provisions.
JOHN KEELER & CO. INC. | ||
By: | /s/ John Keeler | |
Name: | John Keeler | |
Title: | CEO |
ANNEX A TO PLEDGE AGREEMENT
None of the issuers has any authorized, issued or outstanding shares of its equity interests of any class or any commitments to issue any shares of its equity interests of any class or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any shares of its equity interests of any class except as otherwise stated in this Annex A.
Issuer | Record Owner | Class of Shares | Percentage Ownership | |||||
John Keeler & Co. Inc. | Blue Star Foods Corp. | Common | 100 | % |