As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 12, 2024
Registration No. 333-[ ]
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM F-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Ryde Group Ltd
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Not Applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)
Cayman Islands | 7372 | Not Applicable | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
Duo Tower, 3 Fraser Street, #08-21
Singapore 189352
+65-9665-3216
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)
Puglisi & Associates
850 Library Avenue, Suite 204
Newark, Delaware 19711
(302) 738-6680
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
copies to:
Meng Ding, Esq. Sidley Austin c/o 39/F, Two Int’l Finance Centre 8 Finance St, Central, Hong Kong +852 2509-7888
|
Barry I. Grossman, Esq. Matthew Bernstein, Esq. Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP 1345 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10105 Telephone: (212) 370-1300 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: as soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☒
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933. Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, 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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to such Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. The securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy the securities in any jurisdiction where such offer or sale is not permitted.
Preliminary Prospectus (Subject to Completion)
Dated September 12, 2024
Up to 5,000,000 Units, Each Unit Consisting of One Class A Ordinary Shares and One Warrant Exercisable for One Class A Ordinary Share
Ryde Group Ltd
We are offering on a best efforts basis up to 5,000,000 units (the “Units”), each consisting of one Class A Ordinary Share, par value US$0.0002 per share (each an “Class A Ordinary Share” and collectively the “Class A Ordinary Shares”) of Ryde Group Ltd (“RYDE”, the “Company”, “we”, “our”, “us”), and one warrant (“Common Warrant”), each to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share, at an assumed offering price of US$5.00 per Unit. The Units have no stand-alone rights and will not be certified or issued as stand-alone securities. Each Common Warrant is exercisable immediately on the date of issuance at an exercise price of US$5.00 per share (equal to 100% of the public offering price of each Unit sold in this offering), and will expire five years from the date of issuance.
The Class A Ordinary Shares and the accompanying Common Warrants can only be purchased together in this offering but will be issued separately and will be immediately separable upon issuance. We are also registering the Class A Ordinary Shares issuable from time to time upon exercise of the Common Warrants included in the Units offered hereby.
Our Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on the NYSE American under the symbol “RYDE”. On September 11, 2024, the last reported sales price of our Class A Ordinary Shares on the NYSE American was US$13.11 per share.
There is no established trading market for the Common Warrants, and we do not expect an active trading market to develop. We do not intend to list the Common Warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of these securities will be limited.
The public offering price for the securities in this offering will be determined at the time of pricing, and may be at a discount to the current market price at the time. Therefore, the assumed public offering price used throughout this prospectus may not be indicative of the final offering price. The final public offering price will be determined through negotiation between us, the placement agent and the investors based upon a number of factors, including our history and our prospects, the industry in which we operate, our past and present operating results, the previous experience of our executive officers and the general condition of the securities markets at the time of this offering.
The securities will be offered at a fixed price and are expected to be issued in a single closing. We expect this offering to be completed not later than one business day following the commencement of sales in this offering (the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part) and we will deliver all securities to be issued in connection with this offering delivery versus payment/receipt versus payment upon receipt of investor funds received by us. Accordingly, neither we nor the placement agent have made any arrangements to place investor funds in an escrow account or trust account since the placement agent will not receive investor funds in connection with the sale of the securities offered hereunder.
We have engaged Maxim Group LLC as our exclusive placement agent (“Maxim” or the “placement agent”) to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase our securities in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to purchase any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to closing in this offering, the actual public offering amount, placement agent’s fee and proceeds to us, if any, are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the total maximum offering amounts set forth above and throughout this prospectus. We have agreed to pay the placement agent the placement agent fees set forth in the table below. See “Plan of Distribution” in this prospectus for more information.
Any proceeds from the sale of Units offered by us will be available for our immediate use, despite uncertainty about whether we would be able to use such funds to effectively implement our business plan. See “Risk Factors” on page 8 for more information.
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 8.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
We are a holding company that is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. As a holding company with no operations, we conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries in Singapore. The securities offered in this offering are securities of the holding company that is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Investors of our securities should be aware that they may never directly hold equity interests in our subsidiaries.
We are an “emerging growth company” and a “foreign private issuer” as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws and, as such, we have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this prospectus and future filings. Please see “Prospectus Summary — Implications of Our Being an Emerging Growth Company” and “Prospectus Summary — Implications of Our Being a Foreign Private Issuer” beginning on pages 5 and 6, respectively, of this prospectus.
Price to Public | Placement
|
Proceeds, before Expenses(2) | ||||||||||
Per Share | US$ | US$ | US$ | |||||||||
Total | US$ | US$ | US$ |
(1) | Represents a cash fee equals to 7% of the aggregate purchase price paid by investors in this offering. See “Plan of Distribution” for a description of compensation payable to the placement agent. |
(2) | The amount of offering proceeds to us presented in this table does not give effect to any exercise of the Common Warrants. |
We expect to deliver the Units against payment in U.S. dollars in New York, NY to investors on or about , 2024.
Maxim Group LLC
Prospectus dated , 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Neither we nor the placement agent has authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than as contained in this prospectus or any related free writing prospectus. Neither we nor the placement agent takes responsibility for, and provide no assurance about the reliability of, any information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the securities offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of the securities. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.
For investors outside the United States: Neither we nor the placement agent has done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction, other than the United States, where action for that purpose is required. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the Units and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.
Our financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our historical results do not necessarily indicate our expected results for any future periods.
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This summary provides an overview of selected information contained elsewhere or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information you should consider before investing in our securities. You should carefully read the prospectus, the information incorporated by reference and the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part in their entirety before investing in our securities, including the information discussed under “Risk Factors” in this prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference and our financial statements and related notes that are incorporated by reference in this prospectus.
Overview
Our vision is to become a “Super mobility app” where multiple mobility tools can be accessed and function seamlessly out of a single app, offering ultimate convenience and reliability for our customers. We currently operate in Singapore, with our core businesses in the following segments: (i) mobility, where we provide on-demand and scheduled carpooling and ride-hailing services, matching riders to our driver partners; and (ii) quick commerce, where we provide on-demand, scheduled, and multi-stop parcel delivery services.
Mobility
Our mobility business segment includes carpooling and ride-hailing.
Carpooling refers to services that connect riders with driver partners who provide rides in a variety of vehicles, such as cars of different seating capacities. Carpooling is about sharing rides and is provided via our RydePOOL service in our mobile app. We launched carpooling through our RydePOOL service in Singapore. RydePOOL allows real-time, on-demand bookings as well as advance bookings via our Schedule Pickup function, and only allows seating capacity for one rider per request, while riders may have to share their ride with other riders.
Ride-hailing refers to services that connect riders with private-hire or taxi drivers, with the rider having the option to choose the type of ride from a variety of vehicles, such as cars of different seating capacities and make. We started off with only carpooling services, but ride-hailing services was a natural adjacency for us as we have the technology and the platform to enable it. Our ride-hailing services allow riders to determine the number of seats they require for the trip, and offers real-time, on-demand bookings as well as advance bookings and multi-stop options. We started to grow our offerings in this space and currently have the following different service offerings: RydeX, RydeXL, RydeLUXE, RydeFLASH, RydePET, RydeHIRE, and RydeTAXI services.
Quick Commerce
Quick Commerce is a package delivery booking service, which enables driver partners to accept bookings for package delivery services through our driver partner app. Our partners that fulfill deliveries range from driver partners to motorcyclists and walkers as well. Consumers can arrange for instant deliveries and cater for different package sizes. E-commerce businesses, Food and Beverage businesses and social sellers can utilize our last mile delivery services to their customers as an option as well. We provide our quick commerce service through our RydeSEND offering, which comprises of real-time on-demand, scheduled, and multi-stop parcel delivery services.
Recent Development
In February 2023, Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd. completed the purchase of Meili Technologies Pte. Ltd. (“Meili”), and the purchase consideration was satisfied by the issuance of exchangeable notes to the shareholders of Meili (“Meili Noteholders”) each exchangeable into shares in the Company. In connection with the IPO, the Meili Noteholders were issued Class A Ordinary Shares pursuant to an exchange of their exchangeable notes under the exchangeable note subscription agreement dated April 12, 2023 entered into between them and Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd.
On March 6, 2024, Ryde Group Ltd (the “Company”) entered into an underwriting agreement with Maxim Group LLC, as underwriter named thereof, in connection with its initial public offering (“IPO”) of 3,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares, par value US$0.0002 per share at a price of US$4.00 per share. The Company’s Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-274283) for the IPO, originally filed with the SEC on August 31, 2023 was declared effective by the SEC on February 28, 2024. On March 8, 2024, the Company consummated its IPO. The Company received gross proceeds in the amount of US$12 million before deducting any underwriting discounts or expenses.
On March 14, 2024, Maxim Group LLC, the underwriter of the IPO of the Company (“Maxim”), notified the Company of their decision to exercise the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 200,350 Class A Ordinary Shares of the Company, par value US$0.0002 per share, at a price of US$4.00 per share. The closing for the sale of the over-allotment Class A Ordinary Shares took place on March 15, 2024. Gross proceeds from the sale of the over-allotment Class A Ordinary Shares totaled approximately US$0.8 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and other related expenses.
On April 23, 2024, the Company filed Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register 1,557,104 Class A Ordinary Shares of a par value of US$0.0002 each, reserved for issuance under the 2023 Share Incentive Plan.
On May 14, 2024, the Company incorporated two new subsidiaries in the British Virgin Islands, namely RGT (BVI) Ltd and RCS (BVI) Ltd.
On May 17, 2024, the Company filed a registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-279483), which was declared effective on June 11, 2024 and related to the resale by certain selling shareholders of up to 1,132,242 Class A Ordinary Shares.
On May 29, 2024, Ryde Group (BVI) Ltd transferred 1 ordinary share in Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd. to RGT (BVI) Ltd.
On June 7, 2024, the Company completed the secondary listings of its Class A Ordinary Shares on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart Stock Exchanges under the symbol “D0S”.
On August 2, 2024, the Company incorporated a new subsidiary in Singapore, namely RGTC Pte Ltd.
On September 12, 2024, the Company issued 107,555 Class A Ordinary Shares to Maxim Partners LLC upon its cashless exercise of representative’s warrants that were issued to Maxim in connection with the Company’s IPO.
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Our Competitive Strengths
We believe that we are well-positioned to achieve our strategic goals through several key business strengths, including the following:
● | Robust service offerings consisting of mobility and quick commerce; | ||
● | Unique commission structure enhances customer and driver retention; | ||
● | ability to scale as a platform; | ||
● | competitive technology; and | ||
● | experienced management and technical team. |
Our Strategies
We intend to develop our business and strengthen brand loyalty by implementing the following strategies:
● | actively expand service offering portfolio; | ||
● | expand our business to other countries through the continued replication of our successful business model; and | ||
● | expansion of our business through acquisitions, joint ventures or strategic alliances. |
Risks and Challenges
Investing in our securities involves risks. The risks summarized below are qualified by reference to “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus, which you should carefully consider before making a decision to purchase the securities. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares would likely decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
We believe some of the major risks and uncertainties that may materially and adversely affect us include the following:
Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry
● | Our business is still in an early stage of growth. If our business does not continue to grow, or our aspirations to become a super mobility app do not materialize, grows slower than expected, fails to grow as large as expected, or fails to turn profitable, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. | |
● | We face intense competition across the segments and in the market we serve. | |
● | We may not be able to continue to raise sufficient capital or achieve or sustain profitability. | |
● | Our ability to achieve profitability is dependent on our ability to reduce the amount of driver partner and consumer incentives we pay relative to the commissions and fees we receive for our services. | |
● | Our business is subject to numerous legal and regulatory risks that could have an adverse impact on our business and prospects. | |
● | Our brand and reputation are amongst our most important assets and are critical to the success of our business and our failure to maintain either or both could have an adverse impact on our business and prospects. | |
● | If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. | |
● | If we are required to reclassify driver partners as employees or otherwise, or if driver partners and/or employees unionize, there may be adverse business, financial, tax, legal and other consequences. |
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● | Security, privacy, or data breaches involving sensitive, personal or confidential information could expose us to liability under various laws and regulations, decrease trust in our platform, and increase the risk of litigation and governmental investigation. | |
● | Improper, dangerous, illegal or otherwise inappropriate activity by consumers or driver partners or other third parties could harm our business and reputation and expose us to liability. | |
● | We are subject to risks associated with strategic alliances and partnerships. | |
● | We rely significantly on third-party cloud infrastructure services providers and any disruption of or interference with the use of our services could adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. | |
● | The proper uninterrupted functioning of our highly complex technology platform is essential to our business. | |
● | Our business depends upon the interoperability of our mobile app and platform with different devices, operating systems and third-party software that we do not control. | |
● | If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property rights, or if third parties claim that we are misappropriating the intellectual property of others, we may incur significant costs and our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected. | |
● | We may not be able to make acquisitions or investments, or successfully integrate them into our business. | |
● | Any failure by us or our third-party service providers to comply with applicable anti-money laundering or other related laws and regulations could damage our business operations, reputation, financial performance, financial condition, and results of operation, or subject us to other risks. | |
● | We rely on our partnerships with financial institutions and other third parties for payment processing infrastructure and for the provision of services through our platform. | |
● | Unfavorable media coverage could harm our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. | |
● | We rely on the Land Transport Authority of Singapore for the validity of certain licences. | |
● | We depend on talented, experienced and committed personnel, including engineers, to grow and operate our business, and if we are unable to recruit, train, motivate and retain qualified personnel, particularly in the technology sector, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected. | |
● | Adverse litigation judgments or settlements resulting from legal proceedings in which we may be involved could expose us to monetary damages or limit the ability to operate our business. | |
● | We track certain operating metrics with internal systems and tools and do not independently verify such metrics. Certain of our operating metrics are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and any real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may adversely affect our business and reputation. | |
● | Our use of open-source software (OSS) under restrictive licenses could: (i) adversely affect our ability to license and commercialize certain elements of our proprietary code based on the commercial terms of our choosing; (ii) result in a loss of our trade secrets or other intellectual property rights with respect to certain portions of our proprietary code; and (iii) subject us to litigation and other disputes. | |
● | Increases in fuel, energy, and other costs could adversely affect us. | |
● | We allow consumers to pay for rides through our platform using cash, which raises numerous operational and safety concerns. | |
● | We have insurance coverage provided by third parties, and we are subject to the risk that this may be insufficient or that insurance providers may be unable to meet their obligations. | |
● | We have plans to expand to other countries and are therefore subject to potential risks associated with operating and investing in these countries. | |
● | Negative publicity, including those relating to any of our Directors, executive officers and principal shareholders, may adversely affect our share price. | |
● | Natural events, wars, terrorist attacks and other acts of violence involving any of the countries in which we have plans to expand into in the future could adversely affect our operations. |
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Risks Relating to Our Securities
● | An active trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares may not be established or, if established, may not continue and the trading price for our Class A Ordinary Shares may fluctuate significantly. | |
● | We may not maintain the listing of our Class A Ordinary Shares on the NYSE American which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our Class A Ordinary Shares and subject us to additional trading restrictions. | |
● | The trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to investors. | |
● | If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our Class A Ordinary Shares, the market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares and trading volume could decline. | |
● | Short selling may drive down the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. | |
● | There can be no assurance that we will not be a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences for U.S. investors who own our securities. | |
● | We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act and may take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements. | |
● | We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to United States domestic public companies. | |
● | As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from NYSE American corporate governance listing standards. | |
● | We have incurred and will continue to incur significantly increased costs and devote substantial management time as a result of the listing of our Class A Ordinary Shares on the NYSE American. | |
● | You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through U.S. courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law. | |
● | We are exposed to risks arising from fluctuations of foreign currency exchange rates. | |
● | Future issuance of Shares by us and sale of Shares by our and/or by our existing shareholders may adversely affect the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. | |
● | Our dual-class voting structure will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of our Class A Ordinary Shares may view as beneficial. | |
● | If securities or industry analysts do not publish or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our Class A Ordinary Shares, the market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares and trading volume could decline. | |
● | The conversion of by the holders of Class B Ordinary Shares into Class A Ordinary Shares will result in a dilution of the percentage ownership of the existing holders of Class A Ordinary Shares within their class of ordinary shares. | |
● | We may not be able to declare dividends in the future. | |
● | The Common Warrants are speculative in nature. | |
● | Holders of Common Warrants will have no rights as a common shareholder until such holders exercise their Common Warrants and acquire our Class A Ordinary Shares. | |
● | There is no public market for the Common Warrants in this offering. | |
● | Absence of a public trading market for the Common Warrants may limit your ability to resell the Common Warrants. | |
● | The market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may never exceed the exercise price of the Common Warrants issued in connection with this offering. | |
● | This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans. |
In addition, we face risks and uncertainties related to our compliance with applicable regulations and policies in our principal markets and operations. See “Risk Factors” and other information included in this prospectus for a detailed discussion of the above and other challenges and risks.
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Corporate History and Structure
The chart below sets out our corporate structure as of the date hereof.
* RGT (BVI) Ltd owns 1 ordinary share in the capital of Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd.
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at Duo Tower, 3 Fraser Street, #08-21, Singapore 189352. Our telephone number at this address is +65-9665-3216. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at Harneys Fiduciary (Cayman) Limited, 4th Floor, Harbour Place, 103 South Church Street, P.O. Box 10240, Grand Cayman KY1-1002, Cayman Islands. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Puglisi & Associates, 850 Library Avenue, Suite 204, Newark, Delaware 19711.
We are a foreign private issuer under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry—We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning under the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to United States domestic public companies.”
Investors should contact us for any inquiries through the address and telephone number of our principal executive offices. Our corporate website is www.rydesharing.com. The information contained on our website is not a part of this prospectus.
Implications of Our Being an Emerging Growth Company
As a company with less than US$1.235 billion in revenue for our last fiscal year, we qualify as an “emerging growth company” pursuant to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. An emerging growth company may take advantage of specified reduced reporting and other requirements compared to those that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include exemption from the auditor attestation requirement under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in the assessment of the emerging growth company’s internal control over financial reporting. The JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company does not need to comply with any new or revised financial accounting standards until such date that a private company is otherwise required to comply with such new or revised accounting standards.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (a) the last day of the fiscal year during which we have total annual gross revenue of at least US$1.235 billion; (b) the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering; (c) the date on which we have, during the preceding three-year period, issued more than US$1.0 billion in non-convertible debt; or (d) the date on which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of the Class A Ordinary Shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds US$700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter. Once we cease to be an emerging growth company, we will not be entitled to the exemptions provided in the JOBS Act discussed above.
Implications of Our Being a Foreign Private Issuer
We are incorporated under Cayman Islands law. Under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, we are currently eligible for treatment as a “foreign private issuer.” As a foreign private issuer, we are not required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as domestic registrants whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. We are exempt from certain rules under the Exchange Act that impose certain disclosure obligations and procedural requirements for proxy solicitations under Section 14 of the Exchange Act. In addition, our officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions under Section 16 of the Exchange Act.
Conventions Which Apply to This Prospectus
Unless otherwise stated or unless the context otherwise requires, in this prospectus:
● | “Ryde,” “we,” “us,” “our company” and “our” refer to Ryde Group Ltd, a Cayman Islands exempted company, and its subsidiaries; | ||
● | “Singapore” refers to the Republic of Singapore; | ||
● | “Class A Ordinary Shares” refer to our Class A ordinary shares, of nominal or par value US$0.0002 per share; | ||
● | “Class B Ordinary Shares” refer to our Class B ordinary shares, of nominal or par value US$0.0002 per share; | ||
● | “consumer” refer to an end-user who uses services offered by or through us; | ||
● | “driver-partner” refer to an independent third-party contractor who provides mobility and/or quick commerce services on our platform; | ||
● | “ride-hailing” refer to prearranged and on-demand transport service for compensation in which drivers and passenger connect via digital applications or platform; | ||
● | “ordinary shares” refer to our Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares, of nominal or par value US$0.0002 per share; | ||
● | “quick commerce” refer to prearranged and on-demand delivery service for goods or products in exchange for compensation, facilitated through digital applications or platforms, connecting consumers with delivery providers; | ||
● | “S$” or “SGD” refer to Singapore dollar(s), the legal currency of Singapore; and | ||
● | “US$,” “U.S. dollars,” “$” and “dollars” refer to United States dollar(s), the legal currency of the United States. |
Non-US GAAP Financial Measures
Unless otherwise stated or unless the context otherwise requires, in this prospectus:
● | “Adjusted EBITDA” is a non-US GAAP financial measure calculated as net loss adjusted to exclude: (a) finance cost, (b) income tax expenses, (c) depreciation and amortization, (d) share-based compensation expenses, (e) impairment loss on goodwill, and (f) share listing and associated expenses. |
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Units Offered by Us | Up to 5,000,000 Units on a best-effort basis at an assumed public offering price of US$5.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one Class A Ordinary Shares, par value US$0.0002 per share, and one Common Warrant to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share. | |
Class A Ordinary Shares Issued and Outstanding Prior to This Offering | 17,447,426 Class A Ordinary Shares | |
Class A Ordinary Shares to be Outstanding Immediately After This Offering(1) | 22,447,426 Class A Ordinary Shares | |
Ordinary Shares to be Outstanding Immediately After This Offering(1) | 25,989,826 Ordinary Shares | |
Description of Common Warrants |
The Common Warrants will be immediately exercisable on the date of issuance and expire on the five-year anniversary of the date of issuance at an initial exercise price of US$5.00 (equal to 100% of the public offering price of each Unit sold in this offering) per share, subject to appropriate adjustment in the vent of recapitalization events, share dividends, share splits, share combinations, reclassifications, reorganizations or similar events affecting our Class A Ordinary Share. The terms of the Common Warrants will be governed by a Warrant Agency Agreement, dated as of the closing date of this offering, that we expect to be entered into with VStock Transfer LLC or its affiliate (the “Warrant Agent”). This prospectus also relates to the offering of the Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Common Warrants. For more information regarding the Common Warrants, you should carefully read the section titled “Description of Share Capital” in this prospectus. | |
Voting Right | Each holder of Class A Ordinary Share is entitled to one vote per share. Each holder of Class B Ordinary Share is entitled to 10 votes per share. Each Class B Ordinary Share is convertible into one Class A Ordinary Share at any time by the holder thereof. Class A Ordinary Shares are not convertible into Class B Ordinary Shares under any circumstances. | |
Use of Proceeds | If the maximum offering amount is sold, we estimate that we will receive net proceeds of approximately US$22.95 from this offering, after deducting the placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses of approximately US$2.05 payable by us. We currently intend to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes. However, because this is a best-efforts offering and there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, the placement agent’s fees and net proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. | |
Lock-up | We, each of our directors, officers and certain holders of 5% or more of our outstanding ordinary shares as of the effective date of the registration statement related to this offering, have agreed, for a period of six months after the closing of this offering, not to, except in connection with this offering, offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for ordinary shares, or enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of ordinary shares. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” and “Plan of distribution—Lock-Up Agreements”. | |
NYSE American Symbol | Our Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on NYSE American under the symbol “RYDE”. We do not intend to list the Common Warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market. | |
Risk Factors | See “Risk Factors” and other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of risks you should carefully consider before investing in our securities. | |
Reasonable best efforts | We have agreed to offer and sell the securities offered hereby to the purchasers through the placement agent. The placement agent is not required to buy or sell any specific number or dollar amount of the securities offered hereby, but it will use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities offered by this prospectus. See “Plan of Distribution” on page 41 of this prospectus. |
(1) | Unless otherwise indicated, this prospectus reflects and assumes no exercise of the Common Warrants included in the Units offered hereby. |
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Investing in our securities entails a significant level of risk. Before investing in our securities, you should carefully consider all of the risks and uncertainties mentioned in this section, in addition to all of the other information in this prospectus, including the financial statements and related notes. We may face additional risks and uncertainties aside from the ones mentioned below. There may be risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently do not consider material, that may become important factors that could adversely affect our business in the future. Any of the following risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In such case, the market prices of the Class A Ordinary Shares could decline, and you may lose part or all of your investment.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
Our business is still in an early stage of growth. If our business does not continue to grow, or our aspirations to become a super mobility app do not materialize, grows slower than expected, fails to grow as large as expected, or fails to turn profitable, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Although our business has grown since our inception in 2014, our business is still in a relatively early stage of growth. Therefore, there is no assurance that we will achieve and maintain growth and profitability across all our business segments. There is also no assurance that market acceptance of our offerings will continue to grow, or that new offerings will be accepted. In addition, our business could be impacted by macro-economic conditions and their effect on discretionary consumer spending, which in turn could impact consumer demand for offerings made available through our platform.
Our management believes that our growth is dependent on several factors, including our ability to:
● | expand and diversify our mobility and quick commerce offerings, which include innovating in new areas and these often require us to make investments and absorb losses while we build scale; | ||
● | increase the scale of the driver partner base and increase consumer usage of our platform and the synergies within our ecosystem; | ||
● | optimize our cost efficiency; | ||
● | develop our super mobility app, the tools we provide our driver partners, along with our other technology and infrastructure; | ||
● | recruit and retain high quality talent; | ||
● | enhance our reputation and brand; | ||
● | ensure adequate safety and hygiene standards are established and maintained across our offerings; | ||
● | seek to form strategic partnerships, including with leading multinationals and global brands; | ||
● | manage our relationships with stakeholders and regulators in Singapore or other jurisdictions in the future, as well as the impact of existing and evolving regulations; | ||
● | obtain and maintain licences and regulatory approvals that may be required for our offerings; and | ||
● | compete effectively with our competitors. |
We may not successfully accomplish any of these objectives.
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In addition, achieving profitability will require us, for example, to continue to grow and scale our business, manage promotion and incentive spending, improve monetization, reduce marketing and other spending and increase consumer spending.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to grow and manage each of our segments or our super mobility app platform or achieve or maintain profitability. Our success will depend substantially on our ability to develop appropriate strategies and plans, including our sales and marketing efforts, and the ability to implement such plans effectively. If driver partners and consumers accessing offerings on our platform do not perceive us as beneficial, or choose not to utilize us, the market for our business may not further develop, may develop slower than expected, or may not achieve the growth potential or profitability we expect, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We face intense competition across the segments and in the market we serve.
We face competition in each of our segments and in the Singapore market. The segments and market in which we operate are intensely competitive and characterized by shifting user preferences and introductions of new services and offerings. We compete for both driver partners and consumers accessing offerings through our platform.
Our competitors may operate in single or multiple segments and in a single market or regionally across multiple markets. These competitors may be well-established or new entrants and focused on providing low-cost alternatives or higher quality offerings, or any combination thereof, which may adversely affect our market share. New competitors may include established players with existing businesses in other segments or markets that expand to compete in our segments or market. Our competitors in Singapore may enjoy competitive advantages such as reputational advantages, better brand recognition, longer operating histories, larger marketing budgets, and more supportive regulatory regimes and may also offer discounted services, driver partners incentives, consumer incentives, discounts or promotions, innovative services and offerings, or alternative pricing models. From time-to-time, competitive factors have caused, and may continue to cause, us to adjust prices or fees and commissions and increase driver partner or consumer incentives and marketing expenses, which has impacted and could continue to impact our revenues and costs. In addition, some of our competitors may consolidate to expand their market position and capabilities, establish cooperative or strategic relationships amongst themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources and offerings. For example, in 2018 Grab acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, with Grab integrating Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery business in the region into Grab’s existing multi-modal transportation and fintech platform.
In our segments and market, the barriers to entry are low and driver partners and consumers may choose alternative platforms or services. Our competitors may adopt certain of our services and/or features or may adopt innovations that consumers or driver partners value more highly than ours, which could render the offerings on our platform less attractive or reduce our ability to differentiate our offerings. The driver partners may shift to the platform with the highest earning potential or highest volume of work and lowest commissions. Driver partners and consumers may shift to the platform that otherwise provides them with the best opportunities. Consumers may access driver services through the lowest-cost or highest-quality provider or platform or a provider or platform that provides better choices or a more convenient technology. With respect to our platform, driver partners and consumers may shift to other platforms based on overall user experience and convenience, tools to enhance profitability, integration with mobile and networking applications, quality of mobile applications, and convenience of payment settlement services.
In our quick commerce segment, we face competition from on-demand, last-mile package delivery players such as Lalamove, GrabExpress and Pickupp. In addition, many merchants may own and operate their own delivery fleets, bypassing the need for our on-demand delivery service. For example, supermarkets, grocery, and convenience stores are able to utilize their in-house delivery services which are owned by them.
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In our mobility segment, we face competition from ride-hailing and carpooling service providers such as ComfortDelGro, TADA, Gojek and Grab, as well as licensed taxi operators such as Comfort Taxi, CityCab, SMRT Taxis, Trans-cab, Premier Taxis and Prime Taxi. In addition, consumers have other options including public transportation and personal vehicle ownership. Furthermore, there are many companies currently involved in the research and development of autonomous vehicles. Though we do not believe that such technology will become commercially available soon, it may disrupt the ride-hailing industry in the future.
Any failure to successfully compete or adapt quickly to the changing market conditions and trends could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be able to continue to raise sufficient capital or achieve or sustain profitability.
We invest in our business, including, among others, (i) expanding the quick commerce and mobility offerings on our platform; (ii) increasing the scale of the driver partner base and consumer base accessing offerings on our platform; (iii) developing and enhancing our mobile app, (iv) enhancing the tools that we provide for the driver partners, our payments network and other technology and infrastructure and (v) recruiting quality talent. We also have plans to develop our business across countries, where each country has different infrastructure, regulations, systems, and user expectations, with a strategy that involves a hyperlocal approach to our operations, all of which require more investment than if we only operated in one country. Our offerings require us to make investments and develop scale in order to achieve profitability. To be competitive, generate scale and increase liquidity, from time to time we will adjust commissions and offer driver partners and consumers incentives, which also reduces our revenue. We will continue to require significant capital investment to support and grow our business. Issuances of equity or convertible debt securities could cause existing shareholders to suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities issued may have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of existing shareholders. Debt financing could contain restrictive covenants relating to financial and operational matters including restrictions on the ability to incur additional secured or unsecured indebtedness that may make it more difficult to obtain additional capital with which to pursue business opportunities. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, if at all.
Any failure to increase our revenue, manage the increase in our operating expenses, continue to raise capital or manage our liquidity could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability, and could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our ability to achieve profitability is dependent on our ability to reduce the amount of driver partner and consumer incentives we pay relative to the commissions and fees we receive for our services.
Our business model includes payment of incentives to our driver partners (which are typically awarded to our driver partners when they complete a certain number of trips within a certain period) and consumers (‘cashback’ or bonuses by way of RydeCoins are awarded to consumers as part of the promotions or marketing campaigns, typically when they complete a trip or multiple trips). Our ability to increase our revenues and achieve profitability is therefore dependent on our ability to effectively use incentives to encourage the use of our platform and over time to reduce the amount of incentives we pay to both our driver partners and consumers of our services relative to the amount of commissions and fees we receive for our services. If we are unable to reduce the amount of incentives, we pay overtime relative to the commissions and fees we receive, it will likely impact our ability to increase our revenues, raise capital and achieve profitability, any or all of which could prevent us from continuing as a going concern or maintaining or increasing profitability. In addition, given our use of incentives to encourage use of our platform, future decreases in the use of incentives could also result in decreased growth in the number of users and driver partners or an overall decrease in users and driver partners and decreases in our revenues, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Our business is subject to numerous legal and regulatory risks that could have an adverse impact on our business and prospects.
We operate across the mobility and quick commerce segments in Singapore, in which we are subject to various regulations.
The focus areas of regulatory risk that we are exposed to include, among others: (i) evolution of laws and regulations applicable to mobility and quick commerce offerings, (ii) various forms of data regulation such as data privacy, data portability, cybersecurity and advertising or marketing, (iii) gig economy regulations, (iv) anti-trust regulations, (v) economic regulations such as price, supply regulation, safety, health and environment regulations, (vi) foreign ownership restrictions, and (vii) regulations regarding the provision of online services, including with respect to the internet and mobile devices.
In addition, we may not be able to obtain all the licences, permits and approvals that may be necessary to provide our offerings and those we plan to offer. As the segments we operate in are relatively new and disruptive in our market, the relevant laws and regulations are often evolving. For this reason, we cannot be certain that we will be able to maintain the licences and approvals that we have previously obtained, or that once they expire, we will be able to renew them. We cannot assure you that our interpretations of the rules and our exemptions have always been or will be consistent with that of local regulators. As we expand our businesses, we may be required to obtain new licences and will be subject to additional laws and regulations in the markets we plan to operate in.
Our business is subject to regulations from various regulators within the jurisdiction we operate in, and such regulators may not always act in concert. As a result, we may be subject to requirements which separately may not be materially adverse to us but when taken together could have a material impact on us.
Segments of our businesses that are currently unregulated could become regulated, or segments of our businesses that are already regulated could be subject to new and changing regulatory requirements. Various proposals which may impact our business are currently before national regulatory entities regarding issues related to our business and business model. For example, in Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) convened the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers to look into strengthening protections for platform workers, possibly in the form of legislative changes, specifically for delivery persons, private-hire drivers and taxi drivers. The Singapore government has accepted the recommendations given by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers and are looking to implement the recommendations in a progressive manner from the later part of 2024 at the earliest. It is contemplated for there to be changes to the applicable legislation. As such, we may be required to make operational adjustments to comply with the necessary regulatory requirements, in order to avoid incurring penalties or disruptions in operations, which could involve significant costs or may not be practicable.
Compliance with existing or new laws and regulations could expose us to liabilities or cause us to incur significant expenses or otherwise impact our offerings or prospects, such as providing minimum base fare guarantee, contribution of driver partners’ Central Provident Fund (CPF) and paying for driver partners’ insurance. Additionally, as we expand our offerings in new areas, we may become subject to additional laws and regulations, which may require licences to be obtained for us to provide new offerings or continue to provide existing offerings in Singapore. Further, developments in environmental regulations, such as those applicable to vehicles that run on fossil fuels, may adversely impact our mobility and quick commerce businesses.
Our actual or perceived failure to comply with applicable regulations could expose us to regulatory actions, including, but not limited to, potential fines, orders to temporarily or permanently cease all or some of our business activities, a prohibition on taking on new consumers and driver partners, and the implementation of mandated remedial measures. Any such actions could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
For more information on the permits, licences, laws and regulations applicable to our business, please refer to the section titled “Regulations”.
Our brand and reputation are amongst our most important assets and are critical to the success of our business.
Our brand and reputation are amongst our most important assets. We believe “Ryde” is a household name in Singapore that is synonymous with our offerings. Successfully maintaining, protecting, and enhancing our brand and reputation are critical to the success of our business, including the ability to attract and maintain employees, driver partners and consumers accessing offerings available on our platform, and otherwise expand our mobility and quick commerce offerings. Our brand and reputation are also important to maintain or grow our standing in Singapore, including with regulators and community leaders. Any harm to our brand could lead to regulatory action, litigation and government investigations and weaken our ability to effect legislative changes and obtain licences. In addition, because of our future plans to expand in other countries, an adverse impact on our brand or reputation in Singapore can adversely affect other parts of our business.
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A variety of factors and/or incidents, including those that are actual and within our control, as well as those that are perceived, rumored, or outside of our control or responsibility, can adversely impact our brand and reputation, such as:
● | complaints or negative publicity, including those related to personal injury or sexual assault cases involving consumers using our mobility offerings; | ||
● | issues with the choices and quality of our services and offerings or trust in our offerings; | ||
● | illegal or inappropriate behavior by employees, consumers or driver partners or other third parties we work with, including relating to the safety of consumers and driver partners; | ||
● | improper, unauthorized, or illegal actions by third parties who conduct fraudulent or other activities, such as phishing-attacks; | ||
● | the convenience and reliability of our mobile app and technology platform, as well as any cybersecurity incidents affecting, disruptions to the availability of, or defects in our platform or mobile app; | ||
● | issues with the pricing of our offerings or the terms on which we do business with platform users including consumers and driver partners; | ||
● | service delays or failures, such as missing, incorrect or cancelled rides, or issues with cleanliness, inappropriate handling during quick commerce deliveries; | ||
● | failing to act responsibly or in compliance with regulatory requirements, some of which may be evolving, in areas including labor, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, safety and security, data security, privacy, provision of information about consumers and activities on our platform, or environmental requirements in areas including emissions, sustainability, human rights, diversity, non-discrimination and support for employees, driver partners and the local community; and | ||
● | media or legislative scrutiny or litigation or investigations by regulators or other third parties. |
Any harm to our brand or reputation, including as a result of or related to any of the foregoing, could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Since our inception in 2014, we have experienced growth in our employee headcount, the number of consumers and driver partners using our platform, our offerings and scale of our operations. We have also expanded through strategic partnerships. This expansion increases the complexity of our business and has placed, and will continue to place significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems, technical performance, financial resources, and internal financial control and reporting functions. Our risk management function, particularly relating to enterprise-wide risk management are in relatively early stages of development and therefore we may be unable to identify, mitigate and remediate risks as they develop. We may not be able to manage our growth effectively, which could damage our reputation and negatively affect our operating results. Properly managing our growth will require us to establish consistent policies across functions as well as additional localized policies where necessary. A failure to effectively develop and implement any such policies could harm our business. In addition, as we expand, if we are unsuccessful in hiring, training, managing, and integrating new employees and staff to help manage and operate our businesses, or if we are not successful in retaining our existing employees and staff, our business may be harmed.
To manage the growth of our operations and personnel and improve the technology that supports our business operations, our financial and management systems, disclosure controls and procedures, and our internal controls over financial reporting, we will be required to commit substantial financial, operational, and technical resources. In particular, upgrades to our technology or network infrastructure are critical in supporting our growth, and without effective upgrades, we could experience unanticipated system disruptions, slow response times, or poor experiences for consumers and driver partners. As our operations continue to expand, our technology infrastructure systems will need to be scaled to support our operations. In addition, our organizational structure will continue to grow as our platform is used by additional consumers and driver partners, and as we add employees, services and offerings, and technologies. As we continue to expand, including potentially through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, which may include expansion into business activities where we have limited experience, such as financial services, car leasing etc, or no experience at all, we are also expecting the organizational structure to grow and change. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our platform and the efficiency of our operations could suffer, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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If we are required to reclassify driver partners as employees or otherwise, or if driver partners and/or employees unionize, there may be adverse business, financial, tax, legal and other consequences.
The independent contractor status of driver partners is currently being challenged in courts, by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, groups of drivers, labor unions and trade associations all around the world. The tests governing whether a driver partner is an independent contractor, or an employee vary by governing law and are typically highly sensitive to certain factors including, among others, changes in public opinion and political conditions. We believe that the driver partners are independent contractors based on existing employment classification frameworks, because, among other things, they: (i) can choose whether, when, where, and the manner and means to provide services on our platform; (ii) are able to provide services on our competitors’ platforms; (iii) have each acknowledged and agreed when signing up to our terms and conditions that their relationship with us does not constitute an employment relationship; (iv) may provide their own vehicles to perform services and are also able to rent cars (as lessees) from any rental company, if needed; and (v) pay a commission for using our platform. Changes to laws or regulations governing the definition or classification of independent contractors, or judicial decisions regarding independent contractor classification, could require reclassification of driver partners as employees, and if so, we would be required to incur significant additional expenses for compensating driver partners, potentially including expenses associated with the application of wage and hour laws, which may include requirements to pay wages for periods when a driver partner is offline or not driving through our platform, overtime, meal and rest period requirements, employee benefits (including requirements with respect to Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution and compulsory insurance fees), taxes, and penalties. In addition, a determination that driver partners are employees or ostensible agents could lead to claims, charges or other proceedings under laws and regulations applicable to employers and employees, such as claims of joint employer liability or agency liability, harassment and discrimination, and unionization. New employment classifications could be created and applied to the driver partners, with additional requirements imposed on us beyond current requirements. Any such reclassification or new classifications could have a significant impact on our labor costs, business operations and employee relations, and an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
Although our position with respect to the independent contractor status of driver partners has generally been upheld in Singapore, we may face challenges from potential changes pertaining to the employee status of driver partners.
Furthermore, we have historically strived to provide driver partner benefits and schemes including offering support to driver partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such benefits may in certain cases go beyond any statutory requirements and are used to both acquire and encourage the frequent use of our platform by driver partners as well as to demonstrate to stakeholders and regulators that we are a responsible and good partner to our platform users. However, despite such efforts, regulators may deem our benefits and welfare schemes insufficient and impose additional requirements on companies like us or change relevant laws or regulations. Policies could change due to, among others, driver welfare concerns with respect to matters such as income protection and certainty, long-term financial condition, professional development, the need for health or other insurance, retirement benefits, the need for fair working conditions and the desire to provide a forum to voice opinions and complaints, and we may not be successful in defending the independent contractor status of driver partners in Singapore or other jurisdictions we may expand into in the future. The costs associated with complying with future regulations or defending, settling, or resolving pending and future lawsuits relating to the independent contractor status of the driver partners could be material to our business.
In addition, even if we are successful in defending such independent contractor status, governments may nevertheless impose additional requirements on us with respect to our independent contractors. Although we do work with certain regulators to address these concerns, including discussing new categories of employment to cater to the needs of gig economy workers in a financially sustainable manner for platform companies such as us, we may not be successful in these efforts or be able to do so without impacting consumer experience. We may need to incur substantial additional expenses to provide additional benefits to our independent contractors if required or requested by regulators.
The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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If we are unable to continue to grow our base of platform users, including driver partners and consumers accessing our offerings, our value proposition for each constituent group could diminish, impacting our results of operations and prospects.
Our success depends on our ability to increase the scale of the driver partner base and the number of consumers transacting through our platform. A key focus of our growth strategy has been to develop a super mobility app to create an ecosystem with synergies driving more users on both the supply and demand sides to our platform. This ecosystem, and the synergies within our ecosystem, take time to develop and grow, because doing so requires us to replicate our efforts in Singapore, to other cities in the future, where each country has different infrastructure, regulations, systems and user expectations and preferences, as well as a different approach to localizing our operations. Although we believe there are strong synergies among our business segments that help increase the breadth, depth and interconnectedness of our overall ecosystem, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that may impact the attractiveness of our ecosystem, including the following:
● | If consumers are not attracted to our platform or choose quick commerce or mobility services providers outside of our platform, we may be unable to attract or retain driver partners to our platform, which in turn means consumers using our platform may have fewer choices and may not be able to obtain better value options thereby making our platform less attractive to consumers. Consumers choose our platform based on many factors, including the convenience of our mobile app, trust in the services offered through our platform as well as our technology platform and the choices and quality of our services and offerings. A deterioration in any of these factors could result in a decline in the number of consumers using the offerings on our platform, or the frequency with which they use such offerings. | ||
● | If driver partners are not attracted to our platform or choose not to offer their services through our platform, or elect to offer them through a competitor’s platform, we may lack a sufficient supply of driver partners to attract and retain consumers to our platform. Driver partners choose us based on many factors, including the opportunity to earn money, the flexibility and autonomy to choose where, when and how often to work, the tools and opportunities we provide to seek to maximize productivity and other benefits that we provide to them. It is also important that we maintain a balance between demand and supply for mobility and quick commerce services in any given area at any given time. We have experienced and expect to continue to experience driver partner supply constraints from time to time in certain areas or locations within Singapore. To the extent that we experience driver partner supply constraints, we may need to increase, or may not be able to reduce, the driver partners incentives that we offer. |
The number of consumers using our platform may decline or fluctuate as a result of many factors, including dissatisfaction with the operation and security of our mobile app or consumer support, pricing levels, dissatisfaction with the quick commerce or mobility offerings or quality of services provided by the driver partners and negative publicity related to our brand or reputation, including as a result of safety incidents, driver partner or community protests or public perception of our business.
The number of driver partners on our platform may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including ceasing to provide services through our platform, passage or enforcement of local laws regulating, restricting, prohibiting or taxing the services and offerings of the driver partners, the low costs of switching to alternative platforms, dissatisfaction with our brand or reputation, our pricing model (including potential reductions in incentives) or other aspects of our business. Additionally, driver partner or community protests could also negatively impact driver partners’ perception of us or our industry and impact our ability to recruit and maintain our base of driver partners.
In addition, the synergies we seek to realize from having a super mobility app-led ecosystem may not materialize as we expect them to or in a cost-effective manner. For example, we expect our super mobility app strategy to benefit from maximizing driver partners’ utilization, which we believe will be linked to lower driver partner and consumer acquisition costs due to potentially lower incentives that we need to offer, and increased consumer engagement, retention and spending.
Any inability to maintain or increase the number of consumers or driver partners that use our platform or a failure to effectively develop our super mobility app could have an adverse effect on our ability to maintain and enhance our ecosystem, as well as the synergies within our ecosystem, and otherwise materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Security, privacy, or data breaches involving sensitive, personal or confidential information could also expose us to liability under various laws and regulations, decrease trust in our platform, and increase the risk of litigation and governmental investigation.
Our business involves the collection, storage, processing, and transmission of a significant amount of personal and sensitive data, such as that of driver partners, consumers, employees, job candidates and other third parties. We are subject to numerous laws and regulations designed to protect such data. Laws and regulations that impact our business, and particularly laws, regulations and other measures the Singapore government may take based on privacy and data protection concerns, are increasingly strict and complex, and change frequently. We may also be required to disclose personal data about an individual to a government agency, where the disclosure is necessary in the public interest, or for the purposes of policy formulation or review. Some of these disclosures may put us in a disadvantaged position, especially if the provided data is repurposed for another intent, or adequate protection is not accorded to such data. As such laws increase in their complexity and impose new requirements, we may be required to incur increased costs to comply with data privacy laws and could incur penalties for any non-compliance or breaches. These laws may also limit how we are able to use data. For more information regarding relevant laws and regulations we are subject to.
From time to time, we implement measures in order to protect sensitive and personal data in accordance with our contracts, data protection laws and consumer laws. However, we may be subject to data breach incidents, including where data breach incidents are suffered by third parties that we contract or interact with, that often involve factors beyond our control. We also rely on third-party service providers to host or otherwise process some of our platform users’ data in Singapore and we may have limited control or influence over the security policies or measures adopted by such third-party service providers. Any failure by a third party to prevent or mitigate security breaches or improper access to, or disclosure of, such information could have adverse consequences for us.
Although we maintain, and are in the process of improving, internal access control mechanisms and other security measures to ensure secure and appropriate access to and storage and use of our sensitive, business, personal, financial or confidential information by anyone including our employees, contractors and consultants, these mechanisms may not be entirely effective, or fully complied with internally. As part of periodic reviews carried out by us, we have not identified, but in the future may identify, data protection issues requiring remediation with respect to such measures that require us to further update our compliance functions. Any misappropriation of personal information, including credit card information, could harm our relationship with consumers and driver partners and cause us to incur financial liability and reputational harm. If any person, including any of our employees, improperly breaches our network security or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates driver partners’ or consumers’ personal or sensitive data, we could be subject to regulatory actions and significant fines for violating privacy or data protection and consumer laws or lawsuits for breaching contractual confidentiality or data protection provisions which could result in negative publicity, legal liability, loss of consumers or driver partners and damage to our reputation. We are potentially an attractive target of data security attacks by third parties that may attempt to fraudulently induce employees to disclose information to gain access to our data or the data of platform users. A successful attempt could lead to the compromise of sensitive, business, personal, financial, credit card or other confidential information, which could result in significant liability and a material loss of revenue resulting from the adverse impact on our reputation and brand, a diminished ability to retain or attract new platform users and disruption to our business.
As the techniques used by an individual or a group to obtain unauthorized access could result in unwarranted alteration to our data and source codes, or disable and/or degrade services, and sabotage systems are often complex, not easily recognizable and evasive, we may not be able to anticipate these techniques and implement adequate preventative measures. Such individuals or groups may be able to circumvent our security measures (including, but not limited to, via phishing attacks, malware infection, system intrusion, misuse of systems, website defacement, and denial-of-service attacks) and may improperly access or misappropriate confidential, proprietary, or personal information held by or on behalf of us, disrupt our operations, damage our computers, or otherwise damage our business. Although we have developed, and continue to develop, systems and processes that are designed to protect our servers, platform and data, including personal and sensitive data of the driver partners, consumers, employees, job candidates and other third parties, we cannot guarantee that such measures will be effective at all times. Our efforts may be hindered due to, for example, government surveillance, regulatory requirements or other external events; software bugs or other technical errors or issues; or errors or misconduct of employees, contractors or others; a rapidly evolving threat landscape; and inadequate or failed internal processes or business practice. While we endeavor to protect against or remediate cybersecurity threats or breaches, or to mitigate the impact of any breaches or threats, we may still be subject to potential liability.
Any of the foregoing could subject us to regulatory fines, scrutiny and actions, including, but not limited to, orders to temporarily or permanently cease all or some of our business activities, a prohibition on taking on new consumers or driver partners and the implementation of mandated remedial measures, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Improper, dangerous, illegal or otherwise inappropriate activity by consumers or driver partners or other third parties could harm our business and reputation and expose us to liability.
Due to the breadth of our operations that span across a wide variety of consumers, driver partners and other third parties in Singapore, we are exposed to potential risks and liabilities arising from improper, dangerous, illegal or otherwise inappropriate actions by a wide variety of persons that we have no control over. Although we have implemented certain measures to ensure both driver partner and consumer safety, such measures may not be effective or adequate and any such actions may result in adverse consequences, such as nuisance, property damage, injuries, fatalities, business interruption, brand and reputational damage or significant liabilities for us.
Although there are generally certain qualification processes in place for the driver partners, including profile verification on driver partners, these qualification processes may not bring to light all potentially relevant information and would not bring to light events occurring after the qualification process is complete. In Singapore, certain information may be limited by applicable laws or limited generally, and we also may fail to conduct qualification processes adequately. Furthermore, we do not independently test the driving skills of the driver partners.
In both our mobility and quick commerce businesses, if the driver partners or consumers engage in improper, dangerous, illegal or otherwise inappropriate activities, driver partners and/or consumers may no longer consider offerings on our platform to be safe and we may otherwise suffer adverse consequences, such as liability arising from bodily harm to other users of our platform, and other brand and reputational damage. If consumers or third parties providing other services in partnership with us engage in improper, illegal or otherwise inappropriate activities while using our platform, other consumers and driver partners may also be unwilling to continue using our platform. Despite measures that we have taken to detect and reduce the occurrence of fraudulent or other malicious activity on our platform, we cannot guarantee that our measures will be effective.
Any of the foregoing activities, whether or not caused by or known to us, could harm our brand and reputation, result in litigation or regulatory actions, and may otherwise materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We are subject to risks associated with strategic alliances and partnerships.
We have entered into strategic alliances and partnerships with third parties and may continue to do so in the future. For example, we entered into a partnership with an insurance company to provide insurance for riders who make trips using our Ryde platform. These alliances and partnerships subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with the sharing of proprietary information between parties, non-performance by us or our partners of obligations under relevant agreements, disputes with strategic partners over strategic or operational decisions or other matters, increased expenses in establishing new strategic alliances and non-compete provisions under some of such arrangements which limit our ability to operate in certain market segments, and reputational risks from association with strategic partners, as well as litigation risks associated therewith.
Furthermore, some of our strategic alliances and partnership agreements may contain exclusivity provisions restricting us from providing a particular service outside of the strategic alliance or partnership in Singapore. Although we agree to such restrictions because we believe that the overall strategic alliance or partnership is to our benefit, such restrictions could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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We rely significantly on third-party cloud infrastructure services providers and any disruption of or interference with the use of our services could adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our platform is currently hosted within data centers provided by third-party cloud infrastructure services providers. As the continuing and uninterrupted performance of our platform is critical to our success, any system failures of such third-party providers’ services could reduce the attractiveness of our platform and may adversely affect our ability to meet the requirements of consumers and driver partners when they are using our platform. Third-party cloud infrastructure services providers are vulnerable to damage or interruptions from factors beyond our or their control, including but not limited to computer viruses and other malicious code, denial-of-service attacks, cyber and ransomware attacks, phishing attacks, break-ins, sabotage, vandalism, power loss or other telecommunications failure, fire, flood, hurricane, tornado or other natural disasters, software or hardware errors, failures or crashes and other similar disruptive problems. We expect that if/when we expand to certain jurisdictions outside of Singapore in the future, it may become increasingly difficult to ensure reliability of our platform as we expand, and the usage of our platform increases. Any future disruptions could adversely impact user experience, create negative publicity harming our reputation, impact the quality, availability and speed of the services we provide as well as potentially violate regulatory requirements in relation to technology risk and business continuity risk management. Any of the foregoing could result in interruptions, delays, loss of data, cessations to our operations or in the provision of offerings through our platform and compensation payments to our partners and end consumers, and could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Furthermore, under our agreements with our third-party cloud infrastructure services providers, there are no minimum spending commitments, but there are however, standard rates based on the amount of storage required, and if we exceed the storage provided, we will have to incur additional expenses.
The proper uninterrupted functioning of our highly complex technology platform is essential to our business.
Our business depends on the performance and reliability of our system as well as the efficient and uninterrupted operation of mobile communications systems that are not under our control. Our mobile app platform is a complex system composed of many interoperating components and incorporates software that is highly complex, and therefore, many events that are beyond our control may cause service interruptions or degradations or other performance problems across the whole platform, including but not limited to computer viruses and other malicious code, denial-of-service attacks, cyber and ransomware attacks, phishing attacks, break-ins, sabotage, vandalism, power loss or other telecommunications failure, fire, flood, hurricane, tornado or other natural disasters, software or hardware errors, failures or crashes, and other similar disruptive problems. We may experience system failures and other events or conditions from time to time that interrupt the availability or reduce or affect the speed or functionality of our platform. We have certain disaster response procedures, and we or our third-party service providers currently have a business continuity framework in place in all instances. However, there can be no assurance that such framework will be implemented in a cost-effective manner or at all, or that it will prove effective or meet all the expectations of our stakeholders, including our consumers, driver partners and regulators, both current and in the future, in relation to cybersecurity risk, technology risk and business continuity management.
Our software, including third-party or open-source software that is incorporated into our software code, may now or in the future contain undetected errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities. Some errors in our software code may only be discovered after the code has been released. Bugs in our software, third-party software including open source software that is incorporated into our code, misconfigurations of our systems and unintended interactions between systems could result in our failure to comply with certain regulatory reporting obligations or compliance requirements or the introduction of vulnerabilities into our platform that may be exploited by cyber-attackers or third-parties engaging in fraudulent activities, or could cause downtime that would impact the availability of our platform, which could reduce the attractiveness of our platform to users, increase the likelihood of a successful cyber-attack or result in violations of regulators’ expectations of prescribed technology risk management practices. Further, we may need our third-party service providers to comply with certain regulatory requirements and we cannot assure you that such third-party service providers are able to comply with such requirements. To mitigate this risk, we endeavor to have a diverse pool of third-party service providers. Cyber-attackers and third-parties engaged in fraudulent activities have not exploited vulnerabilities in our platform but may in the future attempt to do so. If the measures we take to prevent these incidents from occurring are unsuccessful, we may incur losses from these fraudulent activities.
Disruptions in internet infrastructure, the absence of available mobile data or global positioning system signals or the failure of telecommunications network operators to provide us with the necessary bandwidth for our services and offerings could also interfere with the speed and availability of our platform. Furthermore, we have no control over the costs of the services provided by Singapore’s telecommunications operators. If mobile internet access fees or other charges to internet users increase, consumer traffic may decrease, which may in turn cause our revenue to significantly decrease. Our operations also rely on various other third-party software and applications, and disruptions with respect to our usage of any such software could cause business interruption.
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Furthermore, although we seek to maintain and improve the availability of our platform and to enable rapid releases of new features and services, it may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve the availability of our platform, especially during peak usage times and as our platform becomes more complex and more services are offered through our mobile app and user traffic increases. If our platform is unavailable when driver partners and consumers and/or platform users attempt to access it or it does not load as quickly as they expect or it experiences capacity constraints, users may seek other offerings including our competitors’ services or offerings and may not return to our platform as often in the future, or at all. This could adversely affect our ability to maintain our ecosystem of driver partners and consumers and decrease the frequency with which they use our platform. We may not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade systems as needed, or develop technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology.
Any of these events could significantly disrupt our operations, impact user satisfaction and in turn our reputation and subject us to liability, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our business depends upon the interoperability of our mobile app and platform with different devices, operating systems and third-party software that we do not control.
One of the most important features of our mobile app and platform is their broad interoperability with a range of devices, operating systems, and third-party applications. Our mobile app and platform are accessible from devices running various operating systems such as iOS and Android. We depend on the accessibility of our mobile app and platform across these third-party operating systems and applications that we do not control. Moreover, third-party services are constantly evolving, and we may not be able to modify our platform to assure our compatibility with that of other third parties following development changes. The loss of interoperability, whether due to actions of third parties or otherwise, could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
As new mobile devices and mobile platforms are released, there is no guarantee that certain mobile devices will continue to support our platform or effectively roll out updates to our applications. Additionally, in order to deliver high-quality applications, we need to ensure that our platform is designed to work effectively with a range of mobile technologies, systems, networks, and standards. We may not be successful in developing or maintaining relationships with key participants in the mobile industry that enhance users’ experience. If consumers or driver partners that utilize our platform encounter any difficulty accessing or using our applications on their mobile devices or if we are unable to adapt to changes in popular mobile operating systems, platform growth and user engagement would be adversely affected.
We also depend on third parties maintaining open marketplaces, including the Apple App Store, Google Play and Huawei App Gallery, which make our mobile app available for download. We cannot assure you that the marketplaces, through which we distribute our mobile app, will maintain their current structures or that such marketplaces will not charge us fees to list our applications for download. If any such marketplaces cease to make our mobile app available for download, this would have a material adverse effect on our business.
In addition, we rely upon certain third parties to provide software or application programming interfaces (“APIs”) for our services and offerings, which are currently important to the functionality of our platform. If such third parties cease to provide access to such third-party software or APIs on terms that we believe to be attractive or reasonable, or do not provide us with the most current version of such software, we may be required to seek comparable solutions from other sources, which may be more expensive or inferior and/or adversely impact user experience. In some cases, such third-party commercial software may be difficult to replace, or become unavailable to us on commercially reasonable terms. Any such changes to or unavailability of third-party software or APIs could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property rights, or if third parties claim that we are misappropriating the intellectual property of others, we may incur significant costs and our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected.
Our brand value and technology, including our intellectual property, are some of our core assets. We protect our proprietary rights through a combination of intellectual property and contractual rights. These may include patents, registered designs, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, license agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with third parties, employee and contractor disclosure and invention assignment agreements, and other similar contractual rights. The efforts we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not be sufficient or effective. In addition, it may be possible for other parties to copy or reverse-engineer our services and offerings or obtain and use the content of our website without authorization. Further, we may be unable to prevent competitors from acquiring domain names or trademarks that are similar to, infringe upon, or diminish the value of our domain names, trademarks, service marks and other proprietary rights. In the event of any unauthorized use of our intellectual property or other proprietary rights by third parties, legal and contractual remedies available to us may not adequately compensate us. We primarily rely on copyrights and confidential information (including source code, trade secrets, know-how and data) protections, for the purposes of protecting our core technologies and proprietary databases, rather than registered rights such as patents. Further, the registration of intellectual property can be costly, subject to complex laws, rules and regulations, and can be challenged by third parties, and we may choose to limit or not to pursue intellectual property registrations in the future. Our reliance on copyrights and confidential information protections, rather than registered intellectual property rights, may make it more difficult for us to protect some of our core technologies against third-party infringement and could increase the risk of third-party infringement actions against us.
We may also be unable to detect infringement of our intellectual property rights, and even if such violations are found, we may not be successful, and may incur significant expenses in protecting our rights. In addition, our competitors may independently develop technology or services that are equivalent or superior to our technology services. Any enforcement efforts may be time-consuming, costly and may divert management’s attention. Any failure to protect or any loss or dissolution of our intellectual property rights may have an adverse effect on our ability to compete and may adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Furthermore, as we face increasing competition and as our business grows, we may in the future receive notices that claim we have misappropriated, misused, or infringed upon other parties’ intellectual property rights. In addition, as our strategic alliances and partnerships at times involve sharing of intellectual property, we are subject to the risk of our partners alleging we have misappropriated or misused such partner’s intellectual property or our partners infringing our intellectual property.
Any intellectual property claims against us, regardless of merit, could be time consuming and expensive to settle or litigate, could divert our management’s attention and other resources, and could hurt goodwill associated with our brand. These claims may also subject us to significant liability for damages and may result in us having to stop using technology, content, branding, or business methods found to be in violation of another party’s rights. Certain adverse outcomes of such proceedings could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively in existing or future businesses.
We may also be required or may opt to seek a licence for the right to use intellectual property held by others, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Even if a licence is available, we may be required to pay significant royalties, which may increase our operating expenses. If alternative technology, content, branding, or business methods for any allegedly infringing aspect of our business are not available, we may be unable to compete effectively or we may be prevented from operating our business in Singapore and other potential jurisdictions in the future.
The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be able to make acquisitions or investments, or successfully integrate them into our business.
As part of our business strategy, we may enter into or regularly pursue a wide array of potential strategic transactions, including strategic investments, alliances, partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions, in each case relating to businesses, technologies, services and other assets that we expect to complement our business or that we believe will help to grow our business.
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These types of transactions involve numerous risks, including, among others:
● | intense competition for suitable targets and partners, which could increase prices and adversely affect our ability to consummate deals on favorable or acceptable terms; | ||
● | complex technologies, terms and arrangements, which may be difficult to implement and manage; | ||
● | failures or delays in closing transactions; | ||
● | difficulties integrating brand identity, technologies, operations, existing contracts, and personnel; | ||
● | failure to realize the anticipated return on investment, benefits or synergies; | ||
● | exclusivity provisions which prevent us from providing a particular service outside of the strategic alliance or partnership in Singapore or other jurisdictions in the future which could serve to limit access to business opportunities; | ||
● | failure to identify the problems, liabilities, or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired company, partner or technology, including but not limited to issues related to intellectual property, cybersecurity risks, regulatory compliance practices, litigation, security interests over assets, contractual issues, revenue recognition or other accounting practices, or employee or user issues; | ||
● | expanding into business activities where we have limited experience, such as financial services or car leasing, or no experience at all; | ||
● | failure to retain key employees, to ensure that we can preserve value in the existing platform and avoid loss of institutional knowledge; | ||
● | risks that regulatory bodies do not approve our acquisitions or business combinations or delay such approvals or other adverse reactions from regulators; | ||
● | regulatory changes that require adjustments to our business or shareholding or rights in relation to subsidiaries or joint ventures; and | ||
● | adverse reactions to acquisitions by investors and other stakeholders. |
Each acquisition will require management bandwidth to integrate, commensurate to the size and scale of the acquisition, which may distract our management from executing our existing roadmap. If we fail to address the risks or other problems encountered in connection with future transactions such as the foregoing, or if we fail to successfully integrate or manage such transactions, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Any failure by us or our third-party service providers to comply with applicable anti-money laundering or other related laws and regulations could damage our business operations, reputation, financial performance, financial condition, and results of operation, or subject us to other risks.
Our payment and financial services related systems may, in Singapore and other potential markets, be governed by laws and regulations related to payment and financial services activities, including, among other things, laws and regulations relating to privacy, anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, electronic funds transfers, systemic integrity risk assessments, cybersecurity of payment processes, and consumer protection. Our payment and financial services related activities may be susceptible to illegal and improper uses, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and payments to sanctioned parties. These laws and regulations to which we are now or in the future may be subject to are highly complex, may be vague, and could change and may be interpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply with them. Moreover, activities in Singapore where we allow payments in cash may raise additional legal, regulatory, and operational concerns. Operating a business that uses cash may increase our compliance risks with respect to a variety of laws and regulations, including those referred to above. In addition, we may in the future offer new payment options that may be subject to additional regulations and risks. For example, a digital wallet links with a payment service provider. If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties, fines, and higher transaction fees, and we may lose our ability to accept or process online payment, payment card or other related transactions, which could make offerings on our platform less convenient and attractive. In the event of any failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
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As our business expands, we will need to continue to invest in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and to conduct appropriate risk assessments and implement appropriate controls. Government authorities may scrutinize or seek to bring actions against us if our systems are used for improper or illegal purposes or if our risk management or controls are not adequately assessed, updated, or implemented, and the foregoing could result in financial or reputational harm to our business.
In addition, laws and regulations related to payments and financial services are evolving, and changes in such laws and regulations could affect our ability to provide services on our platform in the manner that we have done, expect to do, or at all. In addition, as we evolve our business or make changes to our operations, we may be subject to additional laws and regulations. Historical or future non-compliance with these laws and regulations could result in significant criminal and civil lawsuits, penalties, forfeiture of significant assets, or other enforcement actions. Costs associated with fines and enforcement actions, as well as reputational harm, changes in compliance requirements, or limits on our ability to expand our service offerings, could harm our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We rely on our partnerships with financial institutions and other third parties for payment processing infrastructure and for the provision of services through our platform.
The convenient payment mechanisms provided by our mobile app and platform are key factors contributing to the development of our business. We rely on strategic partnerships with financial institutions and third parties such as Stripe for elements of our payment-processing infrastructure to process and remit payments to and from consumers and driver partners using our platform. If these companies become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us on acceptable terms or at all, our business may be disrupted. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we generally pay processing and gateway fees, and such fees result in costs.
In addition, online payment providers are under continued pressure to pay increased fees to banks to process funds, and there is no assurance that such online payment providers will not pass on any increased costs. If these fees increase over time, our operating costs will increase, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Failures of the payment processing infrastructure underlying our platform could cause consumers and driver partners to lose trust in our payment systems and could cause them to instead use our competitors’ platforms. If the quality or convenience of our payment processing infrastructure declines as a result of these limitations or for any other reason, the attractiveness of our business to driver partners could be adversely affected. If we are forced to migrate to other third-party payment service providers for any reason, the transition would require significant time and management resources, and may not be as effective, efficient, or well-received by platform users.
Additionally, online payment providers require us to comply with payment card network operating rules, which are set and interpreted by the payment card networks. The payment card networks could adopt new operating rules or interpret or reinterpret existing rules in ways that might prohibit us from providing certain services to some users, be costly to implement, or be difficult to follow. If we fail to comply with these rules or regulations, we may be subject to fines and higher transaction fees and/or lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from consumers or facilitate other types of online payments. Any of the foregoing risks could adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, as a platform business, our business model generally provides a platform enabling driver partners and other third parties, such as insurance companies and financial institutions to reach a broader base of consumers. We believe that our platform holds potential in expanding the size and increasing the diversity of the customer base for insurance companies’ and financial institutions by serving as an outreach marketing tool which assist in increasing the exposure and awareness of the insurance companies and financial institutions to end riders who use our application. We achieve this by offering complimentary insurance coverage to our customers and facilitating payments through a variety of credit cards via Stripe, thereby promoting awareness of and familiarity of these insurance companies and financial institutions.
To the extent such third parties use other means to reach consumers instead of our platform, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely impacted as we do not provide the services offered through our platform ourselves.
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Unfavorable media coverage could harm our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
From time to time, we are the subject of media coverage. Unfavorable publicity regarding, among other things, our business model or offerings, user support, technology, platform changes, platform quality, privacy or security practices, regulatory compliance, financial or operating performance, accounting judgments or management team could adversely affect our reputation. Such negative publicity could also harm the size of our network and the engagement and loyalty of consumers and driver partners that utilize our platform, which could adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Negative publicity could also draw regulator attention and lead to regulatory action or new laws or regulations impacting our business. In addition, the foregoing risks are increased by the widespread use of social media and the increasing incidence of fake or unsubstantiated news, particularly on social media and other online platforms.
As our platform continues to scale and public awareness of our brand increases, any future issues that draw media coverage could have an amplified negative effect on our reputation and brand. In addition, negative publicity related to key brands or influencers that we have partnered with may damage our reputation, even if the publicity is not directly related to us. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We rely on the Land Transport Authority of Singapore for the validity of certain licences.
All potential driver partners are required to go through our security and safety screening checks before being qualified as a driver partner on our platform. Part of this profile verification involves ensuring that driver partners have valid licences issued by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, in particular, the Taxi Driver’s Vocational Licence (TDVL) and/or the Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL).] These licences are a requirement for potential driver partners in Singapore that use our platform, pursuant to applicable law, and our business may be adversely affected to the extent that we depend on the Land Transport Authority of Singapore for the accuracy for such licences still subsisting, or whether it has been revoked.
If the Land Transport Authority of Singapore’s information to us on the validity of such licences is inaccurate, unqualified drivers may be permitted to conduct passenger trips or make quick commerce deliveries on our platform, and as a result, we may be unable to adequately protect or provide a safe environment for consumers. Qualified drivers may also be inadvertently excluded from our platform, which could adversely affect our reputation and brand.
Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We depend on talented, experienced and committed personnel, including engineers, to grow and operate our business, and if we are unable to recruit, train, motivate and retain qualified personnel, particularly in the technology sector, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
Due to the nature of our industry, our business needs to constantly upgrade our technical systems which in turn depends on the skills and capability of our employees. In the event we are not able to attract or retain talent, our business may be adversely affected. Therefore, a fundamental driver of our ability to succeed is our ability to recruit, train and retain high-quality management, operations, engineering, and other personnel who are in high demand, are often subject to competing employment offers and are attractive recruiting targets for our competitors. Our senior management, mid-level managers and technology sector employees, including software engineers, DevOps engineers, data analysts, senior product manager, graphic designer are instrumental in implementing our business strategies, executing our business plans and supporting our business operations and growth. There is particularly acute competition for technology sector and technology development employees in Singapore. In addition, we depend on the continued services and performance of our key personnel. Our chairman and CEO, Mr. Terence Zou, and CFO, Mr. Lang Chen Fei and their involvement in our business are important to our success. These key executives play a central role in the development and implementation of our business strategies and initiatives. Any decrease in the involvement of any of these key executives in our business or loss of key personnel, particularly to competitors, could have an adverse effect on our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The unexpected or abrupt departure of one or more of our key personnel and the failure to effectively transfer knowledge and effect smooth key personnel transitions may in the future have an adverse effect on our business resulting from the loss of such person’s skills, knowledge of our business, and years of industry experience. Although our employment contracts contain non-compete clauses, there is the risk that such non-compete clauses may be deemed unenforceable under applicable law.
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To attract and retain key personnel, we use equity incentives, among other measures, which may not be sufficient to attract and retain the personnel we require to operate our business effectively. As demand in the technology sector intensifies, we may be required to offer more in terms of cash or equity in order to attract and retain talent, which would increase our expenses. The equity incentives we use to attract, retain, and motivate employees may not be effective, particularly if the value of the underlying stock does not increase commensurate with expectations or consistent with our historical growth. We may need to invest significant amounts of cash and equity to attract and retain new employees and expend significant time and resources to identify, recruit, train and integrate such employees, and we may never realize returns on these investments. If we are unable to attract and retain high-quality management and operating personnel as and when required, our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
Our ability to recruit and retain talent at desired compensation levels could also be limited by government policies, which at times may favor Singapore nationals rather than hiring talent from abroad, which could impact our talent pool and the costs associated with it. Our ability to recruit and retain talent and maintain good relations with our employees could also be impacted by employee activism over social, political or other matters. There is no assurance that there will be no loss of any of our talented, experienced and committed personnel or that our management succession plans will be successful in grooming successors.
Adverse litigation judgments or settlements resulting from legal proceedings in which we may be involved could expose us to monetary damages or limit the ability to operate our business.
In the course of our business, we may be involved in private actions, collective actions, class actions, investigations, and various other legal proceedings by driver partners, consumers, employees, commercial partners, competitors, or government agencies, among others, relating to, for example, personal injury or property damage cases, wrongful act, subrogation, employment or labor-related disputes such as wrongful termination of employment, consumer complaints, disputes with driver partners, contractual disputes with consumers or suppliers, disputes with third parties and regulatory inquiries or proceedings relating to compliance with competition and data privacy regulations. The results of any such litigation, investigations, and legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable and may be expensive. Any claims against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time consuming, costly, and harmful to our reputation, and could require significant amounts of management time and corporate resources. Furthermore, we may be held jointly responsible for claims against third parties offering their services through our platform, including driver partners. If any of these legal proceedings were to be determined adversely to us, or we were to enter into any settlement arrangement, we could be exposed to monetary damages or be forced to change the way in which we operate our business, which could have an adverse effect on our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Any such disputes or future disputes could subject us to negative publicity, have an adverse impact on our brand and reputation, divert management’s time and attention, involve significant costs and otherwise materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We track certain operating metrics with internal systems and tools and do not independently verify such metrics. Certain of our operating metrics are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and any real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may adversely affect our business and reputation.
We track certain key operating metrics, including, among others, our Gross Merchandise Value (“GMV”), driver partners incentives, and consumer incentives, with internal systems and tools that are not independently verified by any third party and which may differ from estimates or similar metrics published by third parties due to differences in sources, methodologies, or the assumptions on which we rely. Our internal systems and tools have a number of limitations, and our methodologies for tracking these metrics may change over time, which could result in unexpected changes to our metrics, including the metrics we publicly disclose. If the internal systems and tools we use to track these metrics undercount or overcount performance or contain algorithmic or other technical errors, the data we report may not be accurate. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates of our metrics for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring how our platform is used. For example, the accuracy of our operating metrics could be impacted by fraudulent users of our platform, and further, we believe that there are consumers who have multiple accounts, even though this is prohibited in our Terms of Service and we implement measures to detect and prevent this behavior. Consumer usage of multiple accounts may cause us to overstate the number of consumers on our platform. In addition, limitations or errors with respect to how we measure data or with respect to the data that we measure may affect our understanding of certain details of our business, which could affect our long-term strategies. If our operating metrics are not accurate representations of our business, if investors do not perceive our operating metrics to be accurate, or if we discover material inaccuracies with respect to these figures, we expect that our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
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Our use of open-source software (OSS) under restrictive licences could: (i) adversely affect our ability to license and commercialize certain elements of our proprietary code based on the commercial terms of our choosing; (ii) result in a loss of our trade secrets or other intellectual property rights with respect to certain portions of our proprietary code; and (iii) subject us to litigation and other disputes.
In general, the incorporation of OSS would be a potential cause of concern where the OSS is licensed under restrictive OSS licences. Under restrictive OSS licences, a licensee could be required to release to the public the source code of certain elements of its proprietary software which incorporate OSS or modified OSS in a certain manner; and have been conveyed or distributed to the public, or which the public interacts with. In some cases, restrictive OSS licences may require a licensee to ensure that elements of its proprietary software are licensed to the public on the terms set out in the relevant OSS licence or at no cost. This could allow competitors to use certain elements of the licensee’s proprietary software on a relatively unrestricted basis or develop similar software at a lower cost.
OSS licensors generally do not provide warranties for their OSS, and the OSS may contain security vulnerabilities that we must actively manage or patch. It may be necessary for us to commit substantial resources to remediate our use of OSS under restrictive OSS licences, for example by engineering alternative or work-around code.
There is an increasing number of OSS licence types, and the terms under many of these licences are unclear or ambiguous, and have not been interpreted by Singapore or foreign courts, and therefore, the potential impact of such licences on our business is not fully known or predictable. As a result, these licences could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our own proprietary code (and in particular the elements of our proprietary code which incorporates OSS or modified OSS). Furthermore, we could become subject to lawsuits or claims challenging our use of OSS or compliance with OSS licence terms. If unsuccessful in these lawsuits or claims, we may face IP infringement or other liabilities, be required to seek costly licences from third parties for the continued use of third-party IP, be required to re-engineer elements of our proprietary code base (e.g. for the sake of avoiding third-party IP infringement), discontinue or delay the use of infringing aspects of our proprietary code base (such as if re-engineering is not feasible), or disclose and make generally available, in source code form, certain elements of our proprietary code.
More broadly, the use of OSS can give rise to greater risks than the use of commercially acquired software, since open-source licensors usually limit their liability in respect of the use of the OSS, and do not provide support, warranties, indemnifications or other contractual protections regarding the use of the OSS which would ordinarily be provided in the context of commercially acquired software.
Any of the foregoing could adversely impact the value of certain elements of our proprietary code base, and our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights in such code base against third parties. In turn, this could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Increases in fuel, energy, and other costs could adversely affect us.
Factors such as inflation, increased fuel prices, and increased vehicle purchase, rental, or maintenance costs may increase the costs incurred by the driver partners when providing services on our platform. Many of the factors affecting driver partner costs are beyond their control. In many cases, these increased costs may cause driver partners to spend less time providing services on our platform or to seek alternative sources of income. A decreased supply of consumers and driver partners on our platform could harm our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Additionally, as with other businesses in Singapore, we expect to face inflationary pressures and a general trend of increase in the costs of overheads such as utilities. Singapore has raised its Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) from 8% to 9% in 2024, which could further contribute to cost increases as well. These factors may materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We allow consumers to pay for rides through our platform using cash, which raises numerous operational and safety concerns.
We allow consumers to use cash to pay the driver partners the entire fare of rides (including the service fee payable to us by driver partners from such rides). The use of cash raises numerous operational and safety concerns. The use of cash can increase safety and security risks for the driver partners, including potential robbery, assault, violent or fatal attacks, and other criminal acts. We have undertaken steps to minimize the use of cash by encouraging the use of credit and debit card payments, and providing consumer incentives to encourage the use of RydeCoins. Additionally, in the event that individual accounts breach or are suspected to have breached the terms of use policies, the use of cash will be suspended to reduce fare evasion and phantom bookings. As of the date of this prospectus, the use of cash for certain consumer accounts has been temporarily disabled based on our security algorithms.
In addition, establishing the proper infrastructure to ensure that we receive the correct fee on cash trips is complex, and has in the past meant and may continue to mean that we cannot collect the entire fee for certain cash-based transactions. We have created a system for us to collect and properly account for cash received, though it may not always be effective or convenient. Our system allows us to collect service fee and commissions on cash-based trips by offsetting the amount of cash we would have collected, from the digital wallets of our driver partners. Should the amount in the driver partners’ digital wallet fall below a certain threshold, we will disable the cash payment option for such accounts for consequent trips in order to mitigate the risk of not being able to collect our commissions from driver partners for such cash-based trips. Creating, maintaining, and improving these systems requires significant effort and resources, and we cannot guarantee these systems will be effective in collecting amounts due to us. Further, operating a business that uses cash raises compliance risks with respect to a variety of rules and regulations, including anti-money laundering laws. If driver partners fail to pay us under the terms of our agreements or if our collection systems fail, we may be adversely affected by both the inability to collect amounts due and the cost of enforcing the terms of our contracts, including litigation. Such collection failure and enforcement costs, along with any costs associated with a failure to comply with applicable rules and regulations, could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We have insurance coverage provided by third parties, and we are subject to the risk that this may be insufficient or that insurance providers may be unable to meet their obligations.
We depend on (i) insurance coverage for driver partners and on other types of insurance for additional risks related to our business, and (ii) the driver partners’ ability to procure and maintain insurance required by law. We maintain a number of insurance policies, including, but not limited to, workers’ compensation, and director and officers’ liability. If our insurance providers change the terms of our policies in an adverse manner, our insurance costs could increase, and if the insurance coverage we maintain is not adequate to cover losses that occur, we could be liable for additional costs. Additionally, there are certain types of losses such as from wars, acts of terrorism or some acts of God that generally are not insured because they are either uninsurable or not economically insurable. In the event any of our insurance providers become insolvent, we would be unable to pay any claim that we make.
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For example, the relevant regulator requires driver partners to carry automobile insurance in Singapore. We rely on a limited number of insurance providers, and should such providers discontinue or increase the cost of coverage, we cannot guarantee that we, on behalf of driver partners, would be able to secure replacement coverage on reasonable terms or at all. If we are required to purchase additional insurance for other aspects of our business, or if we fail to comply with regulations governing insurance coverage, our business could be harmed.
We may also be subject to claims of significant liability based on traffic accidents, injuries, or other incidents that are claimed to have been caused by the driver partners. Even if these claims do not result in liability, we could incur significant costs in investigating and defending against them. If we are subject to claims of liability relating to the acts of driver partners or others using our platform, we may be subject to negative publicity and incur additional expenses, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We have plans to expand to other countries and are therefore subject to potential risks associated with operating and investing in these countries.
We currently derive all of our revenue from our operations in Singapore. However, we have plans to expand our business in other countries. Our potential operations and investments in these countries may be subject to various risks related to the economic, political and social conditions of the countries in which we may operate in, including risks related to the following:
● | inconsistent and evolving regulations, licensing and legal requirements may increase our operational risks and cost of operations among the countries in which we may operate in; | ||
● | currencies may be devalued or may depreciate or currency restrictions or other restraints on transfer of funds may be imposed; | ||
● | the effects of inflation within these countries generally and/or within any specific country in which we may operate may increase our cost of operations; | ||
● | governments or regulators may impose new or more burdensome regulations, taxes or tariffs; | ||
● | political changes may lead to changes in the business, legal and regulatory environments in which we may operate in; | ||
● | economic downturns, political instability, civil disturbances, war, military conflict, religious or ethnic strife, terrorism and general security concerns may negatively affect our operations; | ||
● | enactment or any increase in the enforcement of regulations, including, but not limited to, those related to personal data protection and localization and cybersecurity, may incur compliance costs; | ||
● | health epidemics, pandemics or disease outbreaks (including the COVID-19 outbreak) may affect our operations and demand for our offerings; and | ||
● | natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, floods, typhoons and earthquakes may impact our operations severely. |
For example, volatile political situations in certain Southeast Asian countries could impact our business. Any disruptions in our business activities or volatility or uncertainty in the economic, political or regulatory conditions in the markets we potentially may operate in could adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Additionally, the laws in the countries in which we potentially may operate may change and their interpretation and enforcement may involve significant uncertainties that could limit the reliability of the legal protections available to us. We cannot predict the effects of future developments in the legal regimes in the countries in which we may potentially operate.
Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Negative publicity, including those relating to any of our Directors, executive officers and principal shareholders, may adversely affect our share price.
Negative publicity or announcements, including those relating to any of our Directors, executive officers and principal shareholders, with or without merit, may adversely affect the market perception of our Group or the performance of the price of our shares, whether or not it is justified. For instance, such negative publicity may arise from unsuccessful attempts in joint ventures, acquisitions or take-overs, or involvement in litigation or insolvency proceedings.
Natural events, wars, terrorist attacks and other acts of violence involving any of the countries in which we have plans to expand into in the future could adversely affect our operations.
Natural disaster events (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, tropical weather conditions and landslides), terrorist attacks, civil unrest, protests and other acts of violence or war may adversely disrupt our operations in the countries we may expand into in the future, lead to economic weakness in such countries in which they occur and affect worldwide financial markets, and could potentially lead to economic recession, which could materially and adversely affect our business operations, financial performance, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. These events could precipitate sudden significant changes in regional and global economic conditions and cycles. These events may also potentially pose significant risks to our people and to our business operations.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR SECURITIES
An active trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares may not be established or, if established, may not continue and the trading price for our Class A Ordinary Shares may fluctuate significantly.
We cannot assure you that a liquid public market for our Class A Ordinary Shares will be established. If an active public market for our Class A Ordinary Shares does not occur, the market price and liquidity of our Class A Ordinary Shares may be materially and adversely affected.
We may not maintain the listing of our Class A Ordinary Shares on the NYSE American which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our Class A Ordinary Shares and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We listed our Class A Ordinary Shares on the NYSE American. In order to continue listing our shares on the NYSE American, we must maintain certain financial and share price levels and we may be unable to meet these requirements in the future. We cannot assure you that our shares will continue to be listed on the NYSE American in the future.
If the NYSE American delists our Class A Ordinary Shares and we are unable to list our shares on another national securities exchange, we expect our shares could be quoted on an over-the-counter market in the United States. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
(a) | a limited availability of market quotations for our Class A Ordinary Shares; | |
(b) | reduced liquidity for our Class A Ordinary Shares; | |
(c) | a determination that our Class A Ordinary Shares are “penny stock”, which will require brokers trading in our shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares; | |
(d) | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and | |
(e) | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
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As long as our Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on the NYSE American, U.S. federal law prevents or pre-empts the states from regulating their sale. However, the law does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar their sale. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE American, we would be subject to regulations in each state in which we offer our shares.
The trading price and trading volume of our Class A Ordinary Shares has been and may continue to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to investors.
The trading price and trading volume of our Class A Ordinary Shares has been and may continue to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. For instance, in September 2024, the trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares fluctuated between $0.84 and $20.40 per share, and the daily trading volume ranged from 0.7 million to 6.7 million shares. This may happen because of the broad market and industry factors, like the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other companies with business operations located mainly in Singapore that have listed their securities in the United States.
In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our shares may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations, including the following:
(a) | fluctuations in our revenue, earnings and cash flow; | |
(b) | changes in financial estimates by securities analysts; | |
(c) | additions or departures of key personnel; | |
(d) | release of lock-up or other transfer restrictions on our outstanding equity securities or sales of additional equity securities; and | |
(e) | potential litigation or regulatory investigations. |
Any of these factors may result in significant and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our shares will trade.
In the past, shareholders of public companies have often brought securities class action suits against those companies following periods of instability in the market price of their securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management’s attention and other resources from our business and operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit, which could harm our results of operations. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our Class A Ordinary Shares, the market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares will be influenced by research or reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more analysts downgrade their assessment on our Class A Ordinary Shares or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, or if these securities analysts are not widely respected within the general investment community, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the market price or trading volume for our Class A Ordinary Shares to decline.
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Short selling may drive down the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.
Short selling is the practice of selling shares that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical shares back at a later date to return to the lender. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the shares between the sale of the borrowed shares and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is in the short seller’s interest for the price of the shares to decline, many short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, negative opinions and allegations regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling the shares short. These short attacks have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market. If we were to become the subject of any unfavorable publicity, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we would have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. While we would strongly defend against any such short seller attacks, we may be constrained in the manner in which we can proceed against the relevant short seller by principles of freedom of speech, applicable state law or issues of commercial confidentiality.
There can be no assurance that we will not be a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences for U.S. investors who own our securities.
We are a non-U.S. corporation and, as such, we will be classified as a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) for any taxable year if, for such year, either:
(a) | at least 75% of our gross income for the year is passive income; or | |
(b) | the average percentage of our assets (determined at the end of each quarter) during the taxable year that produced passive income or that are held for the production of passive income is at least 50%. |
Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents, royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of passive assets.
Based on the current and projected composition of our income and assets, and the expected value of our assets, including goodwill, which is based on the expected price of our Class A Ordinary Shares in the offering, we do not expect to be a PFIC for the current taxable year. However, because PFIC status is determined on an annual basis, and therefore our PFIC status for the current taxable year and any future taxable year will depend upon the future composition of our income and assets, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for any taxable year. If we are a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. investor holds Class A Ordinary Shares, we generally would continue to be treated as a PFIC with respect to that U.S. investor for all succeeding years during which the U.S. investor holds such Class A Ordinary Shares, even if we ceased to meet the threshold requirements for PFIC status. In such case, such a U.S. investor generally will be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences, including (i) the treatment of all or a portion of any gain on disposition as ordinary income, (ii) the application of a deferred interest charge on such gain and the receipt of certain dividends and (iii) compliance with certain reporting requirements. We do not intend to provide the information that would enable investors to make a qualified electing fund election that could mitigate the adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences should we be a PFIC. You are urged to consult your tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of Class A Ordinary Shares and Common Warrants if we are to become classified as a PFIC.
We treat our affiliated entities as being owned by us for United States federal income tax purposes, not only because we exercise effective control over the operation of such entities but also because we are entitled to substantially all of their economic benefits, and, as a result, we consolidate their operating results in our consolidated financial statements. For purposes of the PFIC analysis, in general, a non-U.S. corporation is deemed to own its pro rata share of the gross income and assets of any entity in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the equity by value.
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For a more detailed discussion of the application of the PFIC rules to us and the consequences to U.S. taxpayers if we were determined to be a PFIC, see “Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations — Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations”.
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act and may take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements.
We are an “emerging growth company”, as defined in the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, most significantly, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for so long as we are an emerging growth company. As a result, if we elect not to comply with such auditor attestation requirements, our investors may not have access to certain information they may deem important.
In addition, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts an emerging growth company from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until such date that a private company is otherwise required to comply with such new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of the extended transition period, although we have already adopted certain new and revised accounting standards based on transition guidance permitted under such standards. As a result of this election, our future financial statements may not be comparable to other public companies that comply with the public company effective dates for these new or revised accounting standards, which may make our Class A Ordinary Shares less attractive to investors. In addition, if we cease to be an emerging growth company, we will no longer be able to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards.
We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to United States domestic public companies.
Because we are a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:
(a) | the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K with the SEC; | |
(b) | the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act; | |
(c) | the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their share ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and | |
(d) | the selective disclosure rules by issuers of material non-public information under Regulation FD. |
We will be required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four (4) months after the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our financial results on a semi-annual basis through press releases distributed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the NYSE American. Press releases relating to financial results and material events will also be furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K. However, the information we are required to file with or furnish to the SEC will be less extensive and less timely compared to that required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers. As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information that would be made available to you if you were investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.
The determination of foreign private issuer status is made annually on the last Business Day of an issuer’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and, accordingly, the next determination will be made with respect to us on December 31, 2024. In the future, we would lose our foreign private issuer status if more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities become directly or indirectly held of record by U.S. holders and any one of the following is true: (i) the majority of our directors or executive officers are U.S. citizens or residents; (ii) more than 50% of our assets are located in the United States; or (iii) our business is administered principally in the United States. If we lose our foreign private issuer status, we will be required to file with the SEC periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. We will also have to comply with U.S. federal proxy requirements, and our officers, Directors and 10% shareholders will become subject to the short-swing profit disclosure and recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we will lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements under the listing rules of the NYSE American. As a U.S. listed public company that is not a foreign private issuer, we will incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we will not incur as a foreign private issuer.
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As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from NYSE American corporate governance listing standards.
As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from the corporate governance listing requirements of the NYSE American. These practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with corporate governance listing requirements of the NYSE American. We will rely on home country practice to be exempted from certain of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE American, namely:
(i) | there will not be a necessity to hold meetings of board of directors on at least a quarterly basis, or the requirement for independent directors to have regularly scheduled executive sessions at least annually without the presence of non-independent directors and management; | |
(ii) | there will be no requirement for the Company to obtain shareholder approval with respect to (a) the establishment (or material amendment to) a stock option or purchase plan or other equity compensation arrangement as specified in Section 711 of the NYSE American LLC Company Guide; (b) the issuance of additional shares as sole or partial consideration for an acquisition of the stock or assets of another company in the circumstances specified in Section 712 of the NYSE American LLC Company Guide; and (c) the issuance of additional shares in connection with a transaction specified in Section 713 of the NYSE American LLC Company Guide, or that will result in a change of control of the Company; and | |
(iii) | there will be no requirement for the Company to hold annual meeting of shareholders as specified in Section 704 of the NYSE American LLC Company Guide. |
We have incurred and will continue to incur significantly increased costs and devote substantial management time as a result of the listing of our Class A Ordinary Shares on the NYSE American.
We are required to comply with the additional requirements of the rules and regulations of the SEC and the NYSE American rules, including applicable corporate governance practices. Compliance with these requirements may increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. In addition, our management and other personnel need to divert attention from operational and other business matters to devote substantial time to these public company requirements.
In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time-consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidelines are provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may also initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be adversely affected.
Some members of our management team have limited experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage the transition to being a public company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the federal securities laws and regulations and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. The need to establish the corporate infrastructure demanded of a public company may divert the management’s attention from implementing our growth strategy, which could prevent us from improving our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, we expect these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and consequently we may be required to incur substantial costs to maintain the same or similar coverage. These additional obligations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating committee, and qualified executive officers.
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As a result of disclosure of information in this prospectus and in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition is more visible than private companies, which we believe may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results could be adversely affected, and, even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could cause an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and reputation.
You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through U.S. courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with limited liability, and conduct all of our operations through our subsidiary, Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd., outside the United States. All of our assets are located, and our officers and directors reside, and the assets of such persons are located, outside the United States. As a result, it could be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals outside of the United States in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed upon under the applicable securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and Singapore could render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers.
In addition, our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against our Directors and us, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our Directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England and Wales, which are generally of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our Directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws than the United States, and provide significantly less protection to investors. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have the standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States. There is no statutory recognition in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although the courts of the Cayman Islands will generally recognize and enforce a non-penal judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits.
Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records (other than the memorandum and articles of association, a list of the current directors of the company, the register of mortgages and charges and any special resolutions passed by our shareholders) or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our Directors are not required under our memorandum and articles of association to make our corporate records available for inspection by our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder resolution or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.
The courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state securities laws; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state securities laws, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, differ significantly from requirements for companies incorporated in other jurisdictions such as the United States. To the extent we choose to follow home country practice with respect to corporate governance matters, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would under rules and regulations applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.
As a result of all of the above, our shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by our management or members of the board of Directors than they would as shareholders of a company incorporated in a U.S. state. For a discussion of significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Act and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in a U.S. state and their shareholders, see “Description of Share Capital — Differences in Corporate Law”.
We are exposed to risks arising from fluctuations of foreign currency exchange rates.
As our shares are quoted in US$ on the NYSE American, dividends, if any, in respect of our shares will be paid in US$. Fluctuations in the exchange rate between the US$ and other currencies will affect, amongst other things, the foreign currency value of the proceeds which a shareholder would receive upon sale of our shares and the foreign currency value of dividend distributions.
Future issuance of shares by us and sale of shares by our existing shareholders may adversely affect the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.
In the event we issue or our shareholders sell substantial amounts of our shares in the public market, the price of our shares may be adversely affected. The sale of a significant number of shares in the public market after the listing on the NYSE American, or the issue of further new securities by us, or the perception that such sales or issues may occur, could materially affect the market price of our shares. Such issues or sales may also make it difficult for us to issue new shares and raise the necessary funds in the future at a time and price we deem appropriate.
Our dual-class voting structure will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of our Class A Ordinary Shares may view as beneficial.
Our authorized and issued ordinary shares are divided into Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Holders of Class A Ordinary Shares are entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B Ordinary Shares are entitled to 10 votes per share. Each Class B Ordinary Share is convertible into one Class A Ordinary Share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A Ordinary Shares are not convertible into Class B Ordinary Shares under any circumstances. The holders of Class B Ordinary Shares will have the ability to control matters requiring shareholders’ approval, including any amendment of our memorandum and articles of association and approval over any change of control transactions. Any conversions of Class B Ordinary Shares into Class A Ordinary Shares may dilute the percentage ownership of the existing holders of Class A Ordinary Shares within their class of ordinary shares.
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Our founder, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, Mr. Terence Zou, and DLG Ventures Pte. Ltd. beneficially own all of our issued and outstanding Class B Ordinary Shares. These Class B Ordinary Shares constitute approximately 18.27% of our total issued and outstanding share capital and approximately 69.10% of the aggregate voting power of our total issued and outstanding share capital as of the date of this prospectus. As a result of the dual-class share structure and the concentration of ownership, holders of Class B Ordinary Shares have considerable influence over matters such as decisions regarding mergers and consolidations, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. Such holders may take actions that are not in the best interest of us or our other shareholders. This concentration of ownership may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could have the effect of depriving our other shareholders of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and may reduce the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions that holders of Class A Ordinary Shares may view as beneficial.
The conversion of by the holders of Class B Ordinary Shares into Class A Ordinary Shares will result in a dilution of the percentage ownership of the existing holders of Class A Ordinary Shares within their class of ordinary shares.
Holders of Class B Ordinary Shares may convert each Class B Ordinary Share into one fully paid Class A Ordinary Share at any time. The right to convert is exercisable by the holder of the Class B Ordinary Share by delivering a written notice to the Company that such holder elects to convert a specified number of Class B Ordinary Shares into Class A Ordinary Shares. In no event shall Class A Ordinary Shares be convertible into Class B Ordinary Shares.
In addition, upon the occurrence of any of the following events:
(i) any sale, transfer, assignment or disposition of Class B Ordinary Shares by a holder thereof to any person which is not an affiliate of such holder;
(ii) a change of beneficial ownership of any Class B Ordinary Shares as a result of which any person who is not an affiliate of the holders of such ordinary shares becomes a beneficial owner of such ordinary shares;
(iii) the death of Zou Junming Terence;
(iv) the incapacity of Zou Junming Terence (as determined by a certified medical professional); or
(v) the effective date of termination of Zou Junming Terence’s directorship or employment,
in relation to paragraphs (i) and (ii) only, the Class B Ordinary Shares held by the relevant holder and, in relation to paragraphs (iii), (iv) and (v) only, the Class B Ordinary Shares held by Zou Junming Terence and DLG Ventures Pte. Ltd., shall be automatically and immediately converted into an equal number of Class A Ordinary Shares.
Accordingly, the conversion by any holder of Class B Ordinary Shares held by it into Class A Ordinary Shares will result in a dilution of the percentage ownership of the existing holders of Class A Ordinary Shares within their class of ordinary shares.
We may not be able to declare dividends in the future.
We are not legally or contractually required to pay dividends and any determination to pay dividends in the future will be entirely at the discretion of our Board, taking into consideration a number of factors including our level of cash and retained earnings, our financial performance, capital expenditure and expansion plans, working capital requirements and general financial condition, the ability of our subsidiaries to declare and pay dividends to our Company and any applicable restrictions and any other factors that our Board may deem relevant. Please see the section “Dividend Policy” of this prospectus for details.
Pursuant to the Companies Act, no dividends may be paid except out of profits or share premium, and provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in our company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. Our ability to declare dividends to our shareholders in the future will be contingent on our future financial performance and distributable reserves of our Company. This is in turn dependent on our ability to implement our future plans, and on regulatory, competitive and technical factors and other factors such as general economic conditions, demand for our ride-hailing and quick commerce services and other factors exclusive to the mobility and quick commerce industry, many of which are beyond our control. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business operations, prospects, financial position and results of operations, and hence there is no assurance that we will be able to pay dividends to our shareholders after the completion of the offering.
The receipt of dividends from our subsidiaries may also be affected by the passage of new laws, adoption of new regulations and other events outside our control, and our subsidiaries may not continue to meet the applicable legal and regulatory requirements for the payment of dividends in the future. Source withholding tax and exchange rate fluctuations may also apply to dividends and distributions from our subsidiaries to us. If our subsidiaries stop paying dividends or reduce the amount of the dividends they pay to our Company, or dividends become subject to increased tax because of changes in ownership of our subsidiaries or changes in tax laws or treaties, it would have an adverse effect on our ability to pay dividends on our Shares.
Further, in the event that we are required to enter into any loan arrangements with any financial institutions, covenants in the loan agreements may also limit when and how much dividends we can declare and pay out.
The Common Warrants are speculative in nature.
Our Common Warrants do not confer any rights of Class A Ordinary Share ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire our Class A Ordinary Shares at a fixed price for a limited period of time. Specifically, holders of the Common Warrants may exercise their right to acquire the Class A Ordinary Shares and pay an exercise price (equal to 100% of the public offering price of each Unit sold in this offering), prior to 5 years from the date of issuance, after which date any unexercised Common Warrants will expire and have no further value.
Holders of Common Warrants will have no rights as a common shareholder until such holders exercise their Common Warrants and acquire our Class A Ordinary Shares.
Until holders of the Common Warrants acquire our Class A Ordinary Shares upon exercise of the Common Warrants, as the case may be, holders of Common Warrants will have no rights with respect to our Class A Ordinary Shares underlying such Common Warrants. Upon exercise of the Common Warrants, the holders thereof will be entitled to exercise the rights of Class A Ordinary Shares shareholder only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise date.
There is no public market for the Common Warrants in this offering.
There is no established public trading market for the Common Warrants, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply for listing of the Common Warrants on any securities exchange or recognized trading system.
Absence of a public trading market for the Common Warrants may limit your ability to resell the Common Warrants.
There is no established trading market for the Common Warrants to be issued pursuant to this offering, and they will not be listed for trading on NYSE American or any other securities exchange or market, and the Common Warrants may not be widely distributed. Purchasers of the Common Warrants may be unable to resell the Common Warrants or sell them only at an unfavorable price for an extended period of time, if at all.
The market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may never exceed the exercise price of the Common Warrants issued in connection with this offering.
The Common Warrants being issued in connection with this offering become exercisable upon issuance and will expire five years from the date of issuance. The market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may never exceed the exercise price of the Common Warrants prior to their date of expiration. Any Common Warrants not exercised by their date of expiration will expire worthless and we will be under no further obligation to the Common Warrant holder.
This is a best efforts offering, no minimum amount of securities is required to be sold, and we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our business plans.
The placement agent has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered in this offering. The placement agent has no obligation to buy any of the securities from us or to arrange for the purchase or sale of any specific number or dollar amount of the securities. There is no required minimum number of securities or amount of proceeds that must be sold as a condition to completion of this offering. Because there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, placement agent fees and proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth above. We may sell fewer than all of the securities offered hereby, which may significantly reduce the amount of proceeds received by us, and investors in this offering will not receive a refund in the event that we do not sell an amount of securities sufficient to fund for our operations as described in the “Use of Proceeds” section herein. Thus, we may not raise the amount of capital we believe is required for our operations in the short-term and may need to raise additional funds, which may not be available or available on terms acceptable to us.
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Special Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data
This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business.” Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Risk Factors,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
You can identify some of these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek” “will,” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to:
● | our ability to execute our strategies, manage growth and maintain our corporate culture; | |
● | our future business development, financial conditions and results of operations; | |
● | our expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of our products and services; | |
● | our ability to successfully compete in the highly competitive markets; | |
● | our expectations regarding our relationships with service partners; | |
● | The safety, affordability, and convenience of our platform and our offerings; | |
● | our anticipated investments in new products and offerings, and the effect of these investments on our results of operations and financial performance; | |
● | our ability to successfully enter into new geographies, expand our presence in countries in which we are limited by regulatory restrictions, and manage our international expansion; | |
● | our expected growth in the number of platform users, and our ability to promote our brand and attract and retain platform users; | |
● | anticipated technology trends and developments and our ability to address those trends and developments with our products and offerings; | |
● | our ability to identify, recruit, and retain skilled personnel, including key members of senior management; | |
● | our ability to maintain, protect, and enhance our intellectual property rights; | |
● | our ability to successfully acquire and integrate companies and assets; | |
● | changes in the need for capital and the availability of financing and capital to fund these needs; | |
● | our ability to prevent disturbance to our information technology systems; | |
● | our ability to successfully defend litigation brought against us and/or other conflict resolution proceedings; | |
● | relevant government policies and regulations relating to our industry; | |
● | man-made or natural disasters, including war, acts of international or domestic terrorism, civil disturbances, occurrences of catastrophic events and acts of God such as floods, earthquakes, wildfires, typhoons and other adverse weather and natural conditions that affect our business or assets; and | |
● | our ability to implement, maintain, and improve effective internal controls. |
You should read this prospectus and the documents that we refer to in this prospectus with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what we expect. Other sections of this prospectus include additional factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this prospectus. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we refer to in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to our registration statement on Form F-1, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.
This prospectus also contains statistical data and estimates that we obtained from industry publications and reports generated by government or third-party providers of market intelligence. Although we have not independently verified the data, we believe that the publications and reports are reliable.
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If we raise the maximum proceeds in this offering, we estimate that the net proceeds of this offering will be approximately US$22.95 million, assuming no exercise of the Common Warrants issued in connection with this offering, after deducting the placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and excluding any proceeds received upon exercise of any Common Warrants. However, because this is a best efforts offering and there is no minimum offering amount required as a condition to the closing of this offering, the actual offering amount, the placement agent’s fees and net proceeds to us are not presently determinable and may be substantially less than the maximum amounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. We currently intend to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include information technology expenses, research and development expenses, capital expenditures and working capital. We may also use the net proceeds from this offering to acquire, or invest in complementary businesses, technologies, products or assets. Pending use of the net proceeds, we intend to invest the proceeds in a variety of capital preservation instruments, including short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments.
Our expected use of net proceeds from this offering and our existing cash and cash equivalents represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions, which could change in the future as our plans and business conditions evolve. As a result, we cannot predict with any certainty our use of the net proceeds from this offering or the amounts that we will actually spend on each area of use set forth above. Our management will retain broad discretion over the allocation of the net proceeds from this offering. Accordingly, we will have discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and investors will be relying on our judgment regarding the application of the proceeds of this offering.
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Our board of directors (“Board”) has discretion on whether to distribute dividends, subject to certain requirements of Cayman Islands law. In addition, our shareholders may by ordinary resolution declare a dividend, but no dividend may exceed the amount recommended by the Board. In either case, all dividends are subject to certain restrictions under Cayman Islands law, namely that our company may only pay dividends out of profits or share premium, and provided always that, in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in our company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. Even if we decide to pay dividends, the form, frequency and amount will depend upon our future operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that the Board may deem relevant.
We have not previously declared or paid any cash dividends and we do not have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our Class A Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future after this offering. We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to operate and expand our business.
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The following table sets forth our capitalization as of December 31, 2023:
● | on an actual basis; and | ||
● | on a pro forma basis, to give effect to the issuance and sale of Units in this offering based on the assumed offering price of US$5.00 per Unit, after deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by us. |
You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the information under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” incorporated by reference herein.
As of December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||||
Actual | Actual | Pro Forma | ||||||||||
S$’000 | US$’000 | US$’000 | ||||||||||
Borrowings: | ||||||||||||
Convertible loan from third parties | 2,303 | 1,746 | 1,467 | |||||||||
Note from a shareholder | 2,850 | 2,160 | 2,160 | |||||||||
Total borrowings | 5,153 | 3,906 | 3,627 | |||||||||
Shareholders’ equity: | ||||||||||||
Ordinary shares | 4 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 18,663 | 14,146 | 47,821 | |||||||||
Accumulated deficit | (25,893 | ) | (19,626 | ) | (19,626 | ) | ||||||
Foreign currency translation reserve | (117 | ) | (89 | ) | (89 | ) | ||||||
Non-controlling interests | (79 | ) | (60 | ) | (60 | ) | ||||||
Total shareholders’ deficit | (7,422 | ) | (5,626 | ) | 28,051 | |||||||
Total capitalization | (2,269 | ) | (1,720 | ) | 31,678 |
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Investors purchasing our securities in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value of their Class A Ordinary Shares. Dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value represents the difference between the public offering price of our Units and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our Class A Ordinary Shares immediately after the offering.
As of December 31, 2023, we had a historical net tangible book value of US$(6.1) million, corresponding to a net tangible book value of US$(0.38) per share. Historical net tangible book value per share represents our total tangible assets (total assets excluding goodwill and other intangible assets, net) less total liabilities, divided by the number of outstanding ordinary shares as of December 31, 2023.
After giving effect to the completion of the initial public offering on March 6, 2024 and the underwriters exercised their over-allotment options on March 15, 2024, we had a pro forma net tangible book value as of December 31, 2023 of $1.05.
After giving effect to the sale of Units in this offering by the Company at an assumed public offering price of US$5.00 per Unit, after deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of December 31, 2023 would have been approximately US$27.26 million, or US$1.05 per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value of US$0.65 per share to our existing shareholders and an immediate dilution of US$4.73 per share to new investors purchasing securities in this offering. Dilution per share to new investors is determined by subtracting our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share from the assumed public offering price per share paid by new investors. The following table illustrates such dilution:
Per Class A Ordinary Share | ||||
Assumed public offering price per Unit | US$ | 5.00 | ||
Net tangible book value (deficit) as of December 31, 2023 | US$ | (0.38 | ) | |
Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after giving effect to the IPO and exercise of the over-allotment option | US$ | 0.22 | ||
Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after giving effect to this offering | US$ | 1.05 | ||
Amount of dilution in net tangible book value to new investors in this offering | US$ | 4.73 |
Each US$1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed public offering price of US$5.00 per Class A Ordinary Share would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after giving effect to this offering by US$4.65 million, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per Class A Ordinary Share after giving effect to this offering by US$0.87 per Class A Ordinary Share and the dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per Class A Ordinary Share to new investors in this offering by US$1.49 per Class A Ordinary Share, assuming no change to the number of Class A Ordinary Shares offered by us as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses.
The pro forma as adjusted information discussed above is illustrative only. Our net tangible book value following the completion of this offering is subject to adjustment based on the actual public offering price of our Class A Ordinary Shares and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.
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SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALES
RULE 144
In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, once we have been subject to the public company reporting requirements of Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act for at least 90 days, persons who are not our affiliates and have beneficially owned our Class A Ordinary Shares for more than six (6) months but not more than one year may sell such Class A Ordinary Shares without registration under the Securities Act subject to the availability of current public information about us. Persons who are not our affiliates and have beneficially owned our Class A Ordinary Shares for more than one year may freely sell our Class A Ordinary Shares without registration under the Securities Act. Persons who are our affiliates (including persons beneficially owning 10% or more of our outstanding shares), and have beneficially owned our Class A Ordinary Shares for at least six (6) months, may sell within any three (3)-month period a number of restricted securities that does not exceed the greater of the following:
● | 1.0% of the then outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares; or | ||
● | the average weekly trading volume of our Class A Ordinary Shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the date on which notice of the sale on Form 144 is filed with the SEC by such person. |
Such sales are also subject to manner-of-sale provisions, notice requirements and the availability of current public information about us. In addition, in each case, these shares would remain subject to any applicable lock-up arrangements and would only become eligible for sale when the lock-up period expires.
RESALE REGISTRAITON STATEMENT
We have filed a registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-279483) covering the resale by certain selling shareholders from time to time of up to 1,132,242 Class A Ordinary Shares. This resale registration statement was declared effective on June 11, 2024, though the resale process has not commenced as of the date of this prospectus. The selling shareholders named therein have sold up all their shares pursuant to the resale registration statement.
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We are offering up to 5,000,000 Units, each Unit consisting of one Class A Ordinary Share and one Common Warrant, each to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share, based on an assumed public offering price of US$5.00 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to US$25.0 million before deduction of placement agent fees and offering expenses, in a best-efforts offering. We are registering our Class A Ordinary Shares issuable from time to time upon exercise of the Common Warrants included in the Units offered hereby. Our Units have no stand-alone rights and will not be certificated or issued as stand-alone securities. The Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants comprising our Units are immediately separable and will be issued separately in this offering. There is no minimum amount of proceeds that is a condition to closing of this offering. The actual amount of gross proceeds, if any, in this offering could vary substantially from the gross proceeds from the sale of the maximum amount of securities being offered in this prospectus.
Because this is a best-efforts offering, the placement agent does not have an obligation to purchase any securities. We expect that the offering will end one trading day after we first enter into a securities purchase agreement relating to the offering and the offering will settle delivery versus payment (“DVP”)/receipt versus payment (“RVP”). Accordingly, we and the placement agent have not made any arrangements to place investor funds in an escrow account or trust account since the placement agent will not receive investor funds in connection with the sale of the securities offered hereunder.
Pursuant to a placement agency agreement, dated as of [ ], 2024, we have engaged Maxim to act as our exclusive placement agent to solicit offers to purchase the securities offered by this prospectus. The placement agent is not purchasing or selling any securities, nor is it required to arrange for the purchase and sale of any specific number or dollar amount of securities, other than to use its “reasonable best efforts” to arrange for the sale of the securities by us. Therefore, we may not sell the entire amount of securities being offered. There is no minimum amount of proceeds that is a condition to closing of this offering. We will enter into a securities purchase agreement directly with the investors, at the investor’s option, who purchase our securities in this offering. Investors who do not enter into a securities purchase agreement shall rely solely on this prospectus in connection with the purchase of our securities in this offering. The placement agent may engage one or more subagents or selected dealers in connection with this offering.
The placement agency agreement provides that the placement agent’s obligations are subject to conditions contained in the placement agency agreement.
We will deliver the securities being issued to the investors upon receipt of investor funds for the purchase of the securities offered pursuant to this prospectus. We expect to deliver the securities being offered pursuant to this prospectus on or about September 18, 2024.
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Placement Agent Fees, Commissions and Expenses
Upon the closing of this offering, we will pay the placement agent a cash fee equal to 7% of the aggregate gross cash proceeds to us from the sale of the securities in the offering. Pursuant to the placement agency agreement, we will agree to reimburse the placement agent for its legal fees, costs and expenses in connection with the offering, irrespective of whether the offering is consummated, (i) up to US$100,000 (inclusive of any advance paid by us to the placement agent) in the event the offering is completed and (ii) up to US$50,000 if an offering is not consummated.
The following table shows the public offering price, placement agent fees and proceeds, before expenses, to us.
Per Unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price | US$ | US$ | ||||||
Placement agent fees (7%) | US$ | US$ | ||||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us | US$ | US$ |
We estimate that the total expenses of the offering, including registration, filing and listing fees, printing fees, legal and accounting expenses, expenses for background ground checks, travel and lodging expenses associated with road show trips, but excluding the placement agent fees, will be approximately $210,380, all of which are payable by us.
Indemnification
We have agreed to indemnify the placement agent against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act and liabilities arising from breaches of representations and warranties contained in the placement agency agreement, or to contribute to payments that the placement agent may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.
Lock-Up Agreements
Each of our Directors, executive officers and holders of 5% or more of our outstanding ordinary shares as of the effective date of the registration statement related to this offering have agreed to a six-month “lock-up” period from the closing of this offering with respect to the Ordinary Shares that they beneficially own. This means that, for a period of six (6) months following the closing of the offering, such persons may not offer, issuer, sell, contract to sell, encumber, grant any option for the sale of or otherwise dispose of any of our securities without the prior written consent of the placement agent, including the issuance of shares upon the exercise of currently outstanding options approved by the placement agent. We have also agreed to similar restrictions on the issuance, sale, disposal and registration (subject to certain exceptions) of our securities for six (6) months following the closing of this offering, subject to certain customary exceptions, without the prior written consent of the placement agent.
The placement agent has no present intention to waive or shorten the lock-up period; however, the terms of the lock-up agreements may be waived at its discretion. In determining whether to waive the terms of the lock-up agreements, the placement agent may base its decision on its assessment of the relative strengths of the securities markets and companies similar to ours in general, and the trading pattern of, and demand for, our securities in general.
Other Compensation
Upon the closing of this offering, or if the engagement period as provided in the engagement letter between us and the placement agent ends prior to a closing of an offering (other than a termination for cause), then if within three (3) months following such time, we complete any financing of equity, equity-linked, convertible or debt or other capital-raising activity with, or receive any proceeds from, any investors that were contacted, introduced or participated in this offering (excluding any investors that either held ordinary shares of the Company prior to the closing or that were introduced by the Company to the placement agent), then the Company shall pay to the placement agent a commission as described in this section, in each case only with respect to the portion of such financing received from such investors.
Regulation M
The placement agent may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of Section 2(a)(11) of the Securities Act, and any commissions received by it and any profit realized on the resale of the securities sold by it while acting as principal might be deemed to be underwriting discounts or commissions under the Securities Act. As an underwriter, the placement agent would be required to comply with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, including, without limitation, Rule 10b-5 and Regulation M under the Exchange Act. These rules and regulations may limit the timing of purchases and sales of our securities by the placement agent acting as principal. Under these rules and regulations, the placement agent (i) may not engage in any stabilization activity in connection with our securities and (ii) may not bid for or purchase any of our securities or attempt to induce any person to purchase any of our securities, other than as permitted under the Exchange Act, until it has completed its participation in the distribution.
Certain Relationships
The placement agent and its affiliates have and may in the future provide, from time to time, investment banking and financial advisory services to us in the ordinary course of business, for which they may receive customary fees and commissions.
Listing
Our Class A Ordinary Shares are currently listed on the NYSE American under the symbol “RYDE”. We do not intend to list the Common Warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market.
Affiliations
The placement agent and its respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities. The placement agent and its affiliates may from time to time in the future engage with us and perform services for us or in the ordinary course of their business for which they will receive customary fees and expenses. In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the placement agent and its respective affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of us. The placement agent and its respective affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of these securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in these securities and instruments.
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Electronic Distribution
A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on websites or through other online services maintained by the placement agent of this offering, or by its affiliates. Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on the placement agent’s website and any information contained in any other website maintained by the placement agent is not part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or the placement agent in its capacity as the placement agent, and should not be relied upon by investors.
In connection with this offering, the placement agent or certain securities dealers may distribute prospectuses by electronic means, such as e-mail.
Selling Restrictions Outside the United States
No action may be taken in any jurisdiction other than the United States that would permit a public offering of our securities or the possession, circulation, or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Accordingly, our securities may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, and neither the prospectus nor any other offering material or advertisements in connection with our securities may be distributed or published in or from any country or jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with any applicable laws, rules and regulations of any such country or jurisdiction. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of our securities offered by this prospectus in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or a solicitation is unlawful.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Canada
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Pursuant to section 3A.3 (or, in the case of securities issued or guaranteed by the government of a non-Canadian jurisdiction, section 3A.4) of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering. Our securities may be sold only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of our securities must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom
This prospectus is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) to investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 within, and/or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling with Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”).
This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this prospectus or any of its contents.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of our securities may not be circulated or distributed, nor may our securities be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to any person in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 (the “SFA”)) pursuant to Section 274 of the SFA, (ii) to a relevant person (as defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA) pursuant to Section 275(1) of the SFA, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A) of the SFA (where applicable) and Regulation 3 of the Securities and Futures (Classes of Investors) Regulations 2018 of Singapore, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA, or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA.
Where the shares are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:
(a) | a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or |
(b) | a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor, |
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securities or securities-based derivatives contracts (each term as defined in Section 2(1) of the SFA) of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:
(1) | to an institutional investor or to a relevant person, or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(i)(B) of the SFA; |
(2) | where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; |
(3) | where the transfer is by operation of law; |
(4) | as specified in Section 276(7) of the SFA; or |
(5) | as specified in Regulation 37A of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Securities and Securities-based Derivatives Contracts) Regulations 2018 of Singapore. |
In connection with Section 309B of the SFA and the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018 (the “CMP Regulations 2018”), unless otherwise specified before an offer of the shares, the Company has determined, and hereby notifies all relevant persons (as defined in Section 309A(1) of the SFA) (where applicable), that the shares are “prescribed capital markets products” (as defined in the CMP Regulations 2018) and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).
Notice to Prospective Investors in the People’s Republic of China
This prospectus may not be circulated or distributed in China and our securities may not be offered or sold, and will not offer or sell to any person for re-offering or resale directly or indirectly to any resident of China except pursuant to applicable laws, rules and regulations of China. For the purpose of this paragraph only, China does not include Taiwan and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong
Our securities may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to our securities be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Taiwan, the Republic of China
Our securities have not been and will not be registered with the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan, the Republic of China, pursuant to relevant securities laws and regulations and may not be offered or sold in Taiwan through a public offering or in any manner which would constitute an offer within the meaning of the Securities and Exchange Act of Taiwan or would otherwise require registration with or the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands
No invitation, whether directly or indirectly may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our securities. This prospectus does not constitute a public offer of our securities, whether by way of sale or subscription, in the Cayman Islands. Our securities have not been offered or sold, and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in the Cayman Islands.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area
In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area (each a “Member State”), none of our securities have been offered or will be offered pursuant to the offering to the public in that Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to our securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation, except that offers of our securities may be made to the public in that Member State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:
● | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation; |
● | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriter for any such offer; or |
● | in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation. |
provided that no such offer of our securities shall require us or any of our representatives to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation and each person who initially acquires any of our securities or to whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed to and with each of the representatives and us that it is a “qualified investor” as defined in the Prospectus Regulation.
In the case of any of our securities being offered to a financial intermediary as that term is used in Article 5 of the Prospectus Regulation, each such financial intermediary will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that our securities acquired by it in the offer have not been acquired on a nondiscretionary basis on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in circumstances which may give rise to an offer of any of our securities to the public other than their offer or resale in a Member State to qualified investors as so defined or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the representatives has been obtained to each such proposed offer or resale.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any of our securities in any Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any of our securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any of our securities, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended).
Stamp Taxes
If you purchase our securities offered by this prospectus, you may be required to pay stamp taxes and other charges under the laws and practices of the country of purchase, in addition to the public offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus.
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Enforceability of Civil Liabilities
We are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability. We are incorporated in the Cayman Islands to take advantage of certain benefits associated with being a Cayman Islands exempted company, such as:
● | political and economic stability; | |
● | an effective judicial system; | |
● | a favorable tax system; | |
● | the absence of exchange control or currency restrictions; and | |
● | the availability of professional and support services. |
However, certain disadvantages accompany incorporation in the Cayman Islands. These disadvantages include, but are not limited to:
● | the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States and these securities laws provide significantly less protection to investors as compared to the United States; and | |
● | Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the federal courts of the United States. |
Our constituent documents do not contain provisions requiring that disputes, including those arising under the securities laws of the United States, between us, our officers, directors and shareholders, be arbitrated.
All of our operations are conducted in Singapore, and substantially all of our assets are located in Singapore. A majority of our directors and officers are nationals or residents of jurisdictions other than the United States and most of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for a shareholder to effect service of process within the United States upon these individuals, or to bring an action against us or these individuals in the United States, or to enforce against us or them judgments obtained in United States courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States. See “Risk Factors – Risks Relating to our Securities and This Offering – You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through U.S. courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.”
We have appointed Puglisi & Associates as our agent upon whom process may be served in any action brought against us under the securities laws of the United States. The address of our agent is 850 Library Avenue, Suite 204, Newark, Delaware 19711.
Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP, our counsel as to Cayman Islands law, has advised us that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands will allow shareholders of our company to originate actions in the Cayman Islands based upon securities laws of the United States. In addition, there is uncertainty regarding Cayman Islands law related to whether a judgment obtained from the U.S. courts under civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws will be determined by the courts of the Cayman Islands as penal or punitive in nature. If such a determination is made, the courts of the Cayman Islands will not recognize or enforce the judgment against a Cayman Islands company, such as our company. As the courts of the Cayman Islands have yet to rule on making such a determination in relation to judgments obtained from U.S. courts under civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws, it is uncertain whether such judgments would be enforceable in the Cayman Islands. We have been further advised that although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, a final and conclusive monetary judgment for a definite sum obtained in such jurisdiction will be recognized and enforced in the courts of the Cayman Islands at common law, without any re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute, by an action commenced on the foreign judgment debt in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, provided that:
(a) the foreign court had jurisdiction in the matter and the Company either submitted to such jurisdiction or was resident or carrying on business within such jurisdiction and was duly served with process;
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(b) the judgment given by the foreign court was not in respect of penalties, fines, taxes or similar fiscal or revenue obligations;
(c) in obtaining judgment there was no fraud on the part of the person in whose favour judgment was given or on the part of the foreign court;
(d) recognition or enforcement in the Cayman Islands would not be contrary to public policy; and
(e) the proceedings pursuant to which judgment was obtained were not contrary to the principles of natural justice.
Singapore
There is no treaty between the United States and Singapore providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters and a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any federal or state court in the United States based on civil liability, whether or not predicated solely upon the federal securities laws, would, therefore, not be automatically enforceable in Singapore.
In making a determination as to enforceability of a foreign judgment, the Singapore courts need to be satisfied that the foreign judgment was final and conclusive and on the merits of the case, given by a court of law of competent jurisdiction, and was expressed to be for a fixed sum of money. In general, a foreign judgment would be enforceable in Singapore unless procured by fraud, or if the proceedings in which such judgments were obtained were not conducted in accordance with principles of natural justice, or if the enforcement thereof would be contrary to the public policy of Singapore, or if the judgment would conflict with earlier judgments from Singapore or earlier foreign judgments recognized in Singapore, or if the judgment would amount to the direct or indirect enforcement of foreign penal, revenue or other public laws. Civil liability provisions of the federal and state securities law of the United States permit the award of punitive damages against us, our Directors and officers. The Singapore courts do not allow the enforcement of foreign judgments which amount to the direct or indirect enforcement of foreign penal, revenue or other public laws. It is uncertain as to whether a judgment of the courts of the United States awarding such punitive damages would be regarded by the Singapore courts as being pursuant to foreign, penal, revenue or other public laws. Such determination has yet to be conclusively made by a Singapore court in a reported decision.
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Corporate History and Structure
Corporate History
Our vision is to become a “Super mobility app” where multiple mobility tools can be accessed and function seamlessly out of a single app, offering ultimate convenience and reliability for our customers. We currently operate in Singapore, with our core businesses in the following segments:
(i) | mobility, where we provide on-demand and scheduled carpooling and ride-hailing services, matching riders to our driver partners; and | ||
(ii) | quick commerce, where we provide on-demand, scheduled, and multi-stop parcel delivery services. |
We set out below our key milestones, which show the growth journey of our Group and development of our service offerings throughout the years.
Year | Milestone | |
2014 | Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd. was founded by Mr. Terence Zou, our chairman and CEO. At this point in time, well known players Uber and Grab had begun to provide ride hailing services for private hire drivers. We differentiated ourselves by intending to provide an on-demand carpooling offering via our mobile app, with the aim of providing a cleaner, greener, and more efficient way for point-to-point transport users in Singapore to get around. We had a vision to become a technology-focused “Super mobility app” where multiple mobility tools can be accessed and function seamlessly out of a single app, offering ultimate convenience and reliability for consumers. | |
2015 | We launched our on-demand carpooling app to market with the intention of growing our business within the carpooling vertical. | |
2016 | As a young company, we required resources in order to advance our technology capabilities. To this end, we raised S$1 million from a venture capital company. The funds were used to grow our in-house technology team, improving our technology offerings, as well as for initiatives to grow our driver partner supply. | |
2017 | Our in-house technology team identified that, though our carpooling app was able to leverage the technology to provide on-demand carpooling services, the traditional taxi industry in Singapore did not appear to be able to fully utilize the benefits of such technological advances, leading to what we believe was a less than ideal consumer experience, driven by issues such as long wait times for taxis, and acceptance of limited types of non-cash payments or cash-only payments. | |
To this end, we expanded our service offerings to include ride-hailing services for taxis. Our first taxi partnership was with a Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”) listed transport company, which had the largest taxi fleet1 in Singapore. We onboarded their taxis onto our platform, enabling their taxi drivers to accept taxi-bookings via services integration with our app, as well as allowing our mobile app to connect with their technology infrastructure where needed. Our expansion efforts were supported by the venture capital company that invested an additional S$2.5 million to aid us in further development of our technology infrastructure. |
1 | This information was extracted from Data.gov.sg, a data set titled “Monthly Taxi Population by Company”, which can be accessed at: https://data.gov.sg/dataset/monthly-taxi-population-by-company, with the data accessed on 20 April 2022. Data.gov.sg has not provided its consent to the inclusion of the information cited and attributed to it in this document. While we have taken reasonable actions to ensure that the information is reproduced in its proper form and context and that the information is extracted accurately and fairly, none of our Company, the placement agent or any other party has conducted an independent review of this information or verified the accuracy of the contents of the relevant information. |
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2018 | We addressed a gap in the market and launched our on-demand pet-friendly travel option, RydePET in February 2018. | |
In March 2018, Grab acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, which included Singapore. Uber’s exit from the Singapore market, coupled with our success in executing ride-hailing for taxis via our partnership with the SGX-ST listed transport company, prompted us to seize the opportunity to expand our ride-hailing services by entering the private hire driver space. | ||
In May 2018, we became a full-fledged ride-hailing provider as we launched our RydeX service, which comprised of private hire driver fleets. | ||
Our expansion to becoming a full-fledged ride-hailing provider, providing both carpooling and ride-hailing, led us to continue to focus on innovating mobility related lifestyle offerings. To this end, we piloted RydeSEND, our on-demand parcel delivery service, with a beta version launch in September. | ||
2019 | Facing stiffer competition following the launch of Gojek’s ride-hailing services in late 2018, we embarked on a strategy to keep our operations lean, charging a competitive commission and platform fee to driver partners and consumers respectively, which helped to entice drivers to join our platform, while keeping consumer demand stable. Bearing in mind the importance of growing our driver partner supply with the greater competition present, we partnered with another transport company to enable their taxi drivers to accept taxi-bookings via services integration with our app, increasing our ride-hailing supply of taxis. | |
2020 | We continued to focus on enhancing our technology platform in order to remain as a low cost, high quality, and convenient choice for consumers to access mobility or parcel delivery services. In January, DLG Ventures Pte. Ltd. (“DLG”) came onboard as an investor, providing S$2.3 million in capital to support us in building up our technology team and offerings. With DLG’s support, we have been able to expand our technology team, which will enable us to enhance our technology platform. This will not only help us offer a better user experience but also allow us to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving ride-hailing market. | |
In April, the COVID-19 pandemic led to Singapore entering a lockdown period that resulted in many temporary restrictions and on and off adjustments for the ride-hailing industry. Our team deployed innovative, non-monetary schemes to encourage our driver partners to take on and complete more trips. | ||
Maintaining and growing our driver partner supply is a constant priority for us and we therefore partnered with another transport company to enable their taxi drivers to accept taxi-bookings via services integration with our app, further increasing our available ride-hailing taxi fleet size. | ||
2021 | Following the Land Transport Authority’s introduction of a new regulatory framework for the Point-to-Point (P2P) sector in October 2020, we obtained our P2P licences which came into effect on 30 October 2020 to operate both carpooling and ride-hailing services. As at date of this prospectus, we are one of two players that holds both the Car-Pool Service Operator Licence and the Ride-Hail Service Operator Licence. | |
To further add value for consumers, we rolled out two new adjacent tools. In June, we piloted a deal with an insurance company to provide complimentary insurance for riders who make trips using our Ryde platform, and in December, we launched Ryde+, a value subscription plan for users that unlocks exclusive perks and additional savings on their rides. | ||
2022 | In February, we introduced an advance booking function for RydeSEND to allow consumers to schedule delivery, as well as an up-to six (6) stops option, to meet the growing demand of our quick commerce offering. | |
2023 | In February, we acquired Meili Technologies Pte. Ltd. for their software technology and to leverage on existing key contractual relationships they have with various clients to further enhance our competitive technology. We also launched support for motorcyclists and walkers to become RydeSEND delivery partners in order to increase our pool of delivery partners to improve our overall fulfillment rate. | |
2024 | In March, the Company completed its initial public offering. The Class A Ordinary Shares began trading on March 6 on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol “RYDE”. | |
In June, the Company completed the secondary listings of its Class A Ordinary Shares on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart Stock Exchanges under the symbol “D0S”. |
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Corporate Structure
Our Company was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on 21 February 2023 under the Companies Act as an exempted company with limited liability. Our authorized share capital is US$50,000 divided into 250,000,000 ordinary shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each, comprising (a) 175,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each, and (b) 75,000,000 Class B Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value of US$0.0002 each.
The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure as of the date of this prospectus:
* RGT (BVI) Ltd owns 1 ordinary share in the capital of Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd.
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated with limited liability and our affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (2023 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, which we refer to as the Companies Act below, and the common law of the Cayman Islands.
As of the date of this prospectus, our authorized share capital for Ryde Group Ltd is US$50,000 divided into 250,000,000 shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each, comprising of (i) 175,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value of US$0.0002 each; and (ii) 75,000,000 Class B Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each.
As of the date of this prospectus, we have 17,447,426 Class A Ordinary Shares and 3,542,400 Class B Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding. All of our shares issued and outstanding prior to the completion of the offering are and will be fully paid, and all of our shares to be issued in the offering will be issued as fully paid.
Our founder, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, Mr. Terence Zou, and DLG Ventures Pte. Ltd. (“DLG”) beneficially own all of our then issued and outstanding Class B Ordinary Shares. These Class B Ordinary Shares constitute approximately 13.63% of our total issued and outstanding share capital and approximately 61.21% of the aggregate voting power of our total issued and outstanding share capital as of the date of this prospectus. Holders of Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares have the same rights except for voting and conversion rights. Each holder of our Class A Ordinary Share is entitled to one vote per share. Each holder of our Class B Ordinary Share is entitled to 10 votes per share. Our Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, except as may otherwise be required by law. Our Class B Ordinary Shares are convertible into Class A Ordinary Shares on a one-for-one. Class A Ordinary Shares are not convertible into Class B Ordinary Shares under any circumstances.
Common Warrants
The following summary of certain terms and provisions of the Common Warrants offered hereby is not complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by the provisions of the form of Common Warrant, which are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Prospective investors should carefully review the terms and provisions set forth in the form of Common Warrant.
Exercisability. The Common Warrants are immediately exercisable at any time after their original issuance up to the date that is five years after their original issuance. Each of the Common Warrants will be exercisable, at the option of each holder, in whole or in part by delivering to us a duly executed exercise notice and, at any time a registration statement registering the issuance of our Class A Ordinary Shares underlying the Common Warrants under the Securities Act is effective and available for the issuance of such shares, or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act is available for the issuance of such shares, by payment in full in immediately available funds for the number of Class A Ordinary Shares purchased upon such exercise. If a registration statement registering the issuance of the shares of common stock underlying the Common Warrants under the Securities Act is not effective or available, the holder may, in its sole discretion, elect to exercise the Common Warrant through a cashless exercise, in which case the holder would receive upon such exercise the net number of Class A Ordinary Shares determined according to the formula set forth in the Common Warrant. No fractional Class A Ordinary Shares will be issued in connection with the exercise of a Common Warrant. In lieu of fractional shares, we will pay the holder an amount in cash equal to the fractional amount multiplied by the exercise price.
Exercise Limitation. A holder will not have the right to exercise any portion of the Common Warrants if the holder (together with its affiliates) would beneficially own in excess of 4.99% (or, upon election by a holder prior to the issuance of any Common Warrant, 9.99%) of the number of our Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to the exercise, as such percentage ownership is determined in accordance with the terms of the Common Warrant. However, any holder may increase or decrease such percentage to any other percentage not in excess of 9.99%, upon at least 61 days’ prior notice from the holder to us with respect to any increase in such percentage.
Exercise Price. The exercise price per whole share of Class A Ordinary Shares purchasable upon exercise of the Common Warrants is equal to 100% public offering price per share. The exercise price of Common Warrants may also be reduced to any amount and for any period of time at the sole discretion of our board of directors. The exercise price and number of Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise will adjust in the event of certain stock dividends and distributions, stock splits, stock combinations, reclassifications or similar events affecting our Class A Ordinary Shares.
Transferability. Subject to applicable laws, the Common Warrants may be offered for sale, sold, transferred or assigned without our consent.
Exchange Listing. We do not intend to apply for the listing of the Common Warrants offered in this offering on any stock exchange. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of the Common Warrants will be limited.
Warrant Agent. The Common Warrants are expected to be issued in registered form under a Warrant Agency Agreement between VStock Transfer, LLC, as Warrant Agent, and us. The Common Warrants shall initially be represented only by one or more global warrants deposited with the Warrant Agent, as custodian on behalf of The Depository Trust Company (DTC) and registered in the name of Cede & Co., a nominee of DTC, or as otherwise directed by DTC.
Rights as a Shareholder. Except as otherwise provided in the Common Warrants or by virtue of such holder’s ownership of our Class A Ordinary Shares, the holder of a Common Warrant does not have the rights or privileges of a holder of our Class A Ordinary Shares, including any voting rights, until the holder exercises the Common Warrant.
Fundamental Transactions. In the event of a fundamental transaction, as described in the Common Warrants generally including, with certain exceptions, any reorganization, recapitalization or reclassification of our ordinary shares, the sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of our properties or assets, our consolidation or merger with or into another person, the acquisition of more than 50% of our outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares, or any person or group becoming the beneficial owner of 50% of the voting power represented by our outstanding shares of Class A Ordinary Shares, the holders of the Common Warrants will be entitled to receive upon exercise of the Common Warrants the kind and amount of securities, cash or other property that the holders would have received had they exercised the Common Warrants immediately prior to such fundamental transaction. Additionally, as more fully described in the Common Warrant, in the event of certain fundamental transactions, the holders of the Common Warrants will be entitled to receive consideration in an amount equal to the Black Scholes value of the Common Warrants on the date of consummation of such transaction.
Governing Law. The Common Warrants and the Warrant Agency Agreement are governed by New York law.
Our Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our shareholders have adopted a third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (adopted by special resolution dated 14 September 2023), which we refer to below as our memorandum and articles of association. The following are summaries of material provisions of the memorandum and articles of association and of the Companies Act, insofar as they relate to the material terms of our ordinary shares.
Objects of Our Company. Under our memorandum and articles of association, the objects of our company are unrestricted and we have the full power and authority to carry out any object not prohibited by the laws of the Cayman Islands.
Ordinary Shares. Our ordinary shares are divided into Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Holders of our Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares will have the same rights except for voting and conversion rights. Each Class A Ordinary Share shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote on all matters subject to vote at our general meetings and each Class B Ordinary Share shall entitle the holder thereof to 10 votes on all matters subject to vote at our general meetings. Our ordinary shares are issued in registered form and are issued when registered in our register of members. We may not issue shares to bearer. Our shareholders who are non-residents of the Cayman Islands may freely hold and vote their shares.
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Conversion. Class B Ordinary Shares may be converted into the same number of Class A Ordinary Shares at the option of the holders thereof at any time, while Class A Ordinary Shares cannot be converted into Class B Ordinary Shares under any circumstances.
Dividends. The holders of our ordinary shares are entitled to such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors or declared by our shareholders by ordinary resolution (provided that no dividend may be declared by our shareholders which exceeds the amount recommended by our directors). Our memorandum and articles of association provide that dividends may be declared and paid out of our profits, realized or unrealized, or from any reserve set aside from profits which our board of directors determine is no longer needed. Under the laws of the Cayman Islands, our company may pay a dividend out of either profit or share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in our company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business.
Voting Rights. Holders of Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares shall, at all times, vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote by the members at any general meeting of the Company. Each Class A Ordinary Share shall be entitled to one vote and each Class B Ordinary Share shall be entitled to 10 votes on all matters subject to the vote at general meetings of our Company. Voting at any meeting of shareholders is by show of hands unless a poll (before or on the declaration of the result of the show of hands) is demanded. A poll may be demanded by the chairperson of such meeting or any one shareholder present in person or by proxy.
An ordinary resolution to be passed at a meeting by the shareholders requires the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the votes attaching to the ordinary shares cast at a meeting, while a special resolution requires the affirmative vote of no less than two-thirds of the votes cast attaching to the outstanding and issued ordinary shares cast at a meeting. A special resolution will be required for important matters such as a change of name or making changes to our memorandum and articles of association. Our shareholders may, among other things, divide or combine their shares by ordinary resolution.
General Meetings of Shareholders. As a Cayman Islands exempted company, we are not obliged by the Companies Act to call shareholders’ annual general meetings. Our memorandum and articles of association provide that we may (but are not obliged to) in each year hold a general meeting as our annual general meeting in which case we shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it, and the annual general meeting shall be held at such time and place as may be determined by our directors.
Shareholders’ general meetings may be convened by a majority of our board of directors. Advance notice of at least ten days is required for the convening of our annual general shareholders’ meeting (if any) and any other general meeting of our shareholders. A quorum required for any general meeting of shareholders consists of at least one shareholder present or by proxy, representing not less than one-third of all votes attaching to the issued and outstanding shares in our company entitled to vote at the general meeting.
The Companies Act provides shareholders with only limited rights to requisition a general meeting, and does not provide shareholders with any right to put any proposal before a general meeting. However, these rights may be provided in a company’s articles of association. Our memorandum and articles of association provide that upon the requisition of any one or more of our shareholders who together hold shares which carry in aggregate not less than one-third of all votes attaching to the issued and outstanding shares of our company entitled to vote at general meetings, our board will convene an extraordinary general meeting and put the resolutions so requisitioned to a vote at such meeting. However, our memorandum and articles of association do not provide our shareholders with any right to put any proposals before annual general meetings or extraordinary general meetings not called by such shareholders.
Transfer of Ordinary Shares. Subject to the restrictions set out in our memorandum and articles of association as set out below, any of our shareholders may transfer all or any of his or her ordinary shares by an instrument of transfer in the usual or common form or any other form approved by our board of directors.
Our board of directors may, in its absolute discretion, decline to register any transfer of any ordinary share which is not fully paid up or on which we have a lien. Our board of directors may also decline to register any transfer of any ordinary share unless:
● | the instrument of transfer is lodged with us, accompanied by the certificate for the ordinary shares to which it relates and such other evidence as our board of directors may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer; | |
● | the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of ordinary shares; | |
● | the instrument of transfer is properly stamped, if required; | |
● | in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the ordinary share is to be transferred does not exceed four; | |
● | the ordinary share transferred is free of any lien in favor of the Company; and | |
● | a fee of such maximum sum as the NYSE American may determine to be payable or such lesser sum as our directors may from time to time require is paid to us in respect thereof. |
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If our directors refuse to register a transfer they shall, within three months after the date on which the instrument of transfer was lodged, send to each of the transferor and the transferee notice of such refusal.
The registration of transfers may, after compliance with any notice required of NYSE American, be suspended and the register closed at such times and for such periods as our board of directors may from time to time determine, provided, however, that the registration of transfers shall not be suspended nor the register closed for more than 30 days in any year as our board may determine.
Liquidation. On the winding up of our company, if the assets available for distribution amongst our shareholders shall be more than sufficient to repay the whole of the share capital at the commencement of the winding up, the surplus shall be distributed amongst our shareholders in proportion to the par value of the shares held by them at the commencement of the winding up, subject to a deduction from those shares in respect of which there are monies due, of all monies payable to our company for unpaid calls or otherwise. If our assets available for distribution are insufficient to repay all of the paid-up capital, the assets will be distributed so that the losses are borne by our shareholders in proportion to the par value of the shares held by them.
Calls on Shares and Forfeiture of Shares. Our board of directors may from time to time make calls upon shareholders for any amounts unpaid on their shares in a notice served to such shareholders at least 14 days prior to the specified time and place of payment. The shares that have been called upon and remain unpaid are subject to forfeiture.
Redemption, Repurchase and Surrender of Shares. We may issue shares on terms that such shares are subject to redemption, at our option or at the option of the holders of these shares, on such terms and in such manner as may be determined by our board of directors or by special resolution of our shareholders. Our company may also repurchase any of our shares on such terms and in such manner as have been approved by our board of directors or by an ordinary resolution of our shareholders. Under the Companies Act, the redemption or repurchase of any share may be paid out of our Company’s profits or out of the proceeds of a new issue of shares made for the purpose of such redemption or repurchase, or out of capital (including share premium account and capital redemption reserve) if our company can, immediately following such payment, pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. In addition, under the Companies Act no such share may be redeemed or repurchased (a) unless it is fully paid up, (b) if such redemption or repurchase would result in there being no shares issued and outstanding or (c) if the Company has commenced liquidation. In addition, our company may accept the surrender of any fully paid share for no consideration.
Variations of Rights of Shares. If at any time, our share capital is divided into different classes of shares, the rights attached to any class may be materially adversely varied with the consent in writing of the holders of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the issued shares of that class or with the sanction of a resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of the votes cast at a separate meeting of the holders of the shares of that class. The rights conferred upon the holders of the shares of any class issued shall not, be deemed to be materially adversely varied by the creation, allotment or issue of further shares ranking pari passu with or subsequent to them or the redemption or purchase of any shares of any class by the Company. The rights of the holders of shares shall not be deemed to be materially adversely varied by the creation or issue of shares with preferred or other rights including, without limitation, the creation of shares with enhanced or weighted voting rights.
Issuance of Additional Shares. Our memorandum and articles of association authorize our board of directors to issue additional ordinary shares from time to time as our board of directors shall determine, to the extent out of available authorized but unissued ordinary shares.
Our memorandum and articles of association also authorize our board of directors to establish from time to time one or more series of preferred shares and to determine, with respect to any series of preferred shares, the terms and rights of that series, including:
● | the designation of the series; | |
● | the number of shares of the series; | |
● | the dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion rights, voting rights; and | |
● | the rights and terms of redemption and liquidation preferences. |
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Our board of directors may issue preferred shares without action by our shareholders to the extent out of authorized but unissued preferred shares. Issuance of these shares may dilute the voting power of holders of ordinary shares.
Inspection of Books and Records. Holders of our ordinary shares will have no general right under Cayman Islands law to inspect or obtain copies of our list of shareholders or our corporate records. However, we will provide our shareholders with annual audited financial statements. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”
Anti-Takeover Provisions. Some provisions of our memorandum and articles of association may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or management that shareholders may consider favorable, including provisions that:
● | authorize our board of directors to issue preferred shares in one or more series and to designate the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of such preferred shares without any further vote or action by our shareholders; and | |
● | limit the ability of shareholders to requisition and convene general meetings of shareholders. |
However, under Cayman Islands law, our directors may only exercise the rights and powers granted to them under our memorandum and articles of association for a proper purpose and for what they believe in good faith to be in the best interests of our company.
Exempted Company. We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except that an exempted company:
● | does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies of the Cayman Islands; | |
● | is not required to open its register of members for inspection; | |
● | does not have to hold an annual general meeting; | |
● | may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance); | |
● | may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; | |
● | may register as a limited duration company; and | |
● | may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
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Differences in Corporate Law
The Companies Act is derived, to a large extent, from the older Companies Acts of England but does not follow recent English statutory enactments and accordingly there are significant differences between the Companies Act and the current Companies Act of England. In addition, the Companies Act differs from laws applicable to U.S. corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of certain significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. The Companies Act permits mergers and consolidations between Cayman Islands companies and between Cayman Islands companies and non-Cayman Islands companies. For these purposes, (i) “merger” means the merging of two or more constituent companies and the vesting of their undertaking, property and liabilities in one of such companies as the surviving company, and (ii) a “consolidation” means the combination of two or more constituent companies into a consolidated company and the vesting of the undertaking, property and liabilities of such companies to the consolidated company. In order to effect such a merger or consolidation, the directors of each constituent company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation, which must then be authorized by (a) a special resolution of the shareholders of each constituent company, and (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. The written plan of merger or consolidation must be filed with the Registrar of Companies of the Cayman Islands together with a declaration as to the solvency of the consolidated or surviving company, a list of the assets and liabilities of each constituent company and an undertaking that a copy of the certificate of merger or consolidation will be given to the members and creditors of each constituent company and that notification of the merger or consolidation will be published in the Cayman Islands Gazette. Court approval is not required for a merger or consolidation which is effected in compliance with these statutory procedures.
A merger between a Cayman parent company and its Cayman subsidiary or subsidiaries does not require authorization by a resolution of shareholders of that Cayman subsidiary if a copy of the plan of merger is given to every member of that Cayman subsidiary to be merged unless that member agrees otherwise. For this purpose a company is a “parent” of a subsidiary if it holds issued shares that together represent at least ninety percent (90%) of the votes at a general meeting of the subsidiary.
The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest over a constituent company is required unless this requirement is waived by a court in the Cayman Islands.
Save in certain limited circumstances, a shareholder of a Cayman constituent company who dissents from the merger or consolidation is entitled to payment of the fair value of his shares (which, if not agreed between the parties, will be determined by the Cayman Islands court) upon dissenting to the merger or consolidation, provided that the dissenting shareholder complies strictly with the procedures set out in the Companies Act. The exercise of dissenter rights will preclude the exercise by the dissenting shareholder of any other rights to which he or she might otherwise be entitled by virtue of holding shares, save for the right to seek relief on the grounds that the merger or consolidation is void or unlawful.
Separate from the statutory provisions relating to mergers and consolidations, the Companies Act also contains statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction and amalgamation of companies by way of schemes of arrangement, provided that the arrangement is approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made, and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting, or meetings, convened for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder has the right to express to the court the view that the transaction ought not to be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it determines that:
● | the statutory provisions as to the required majority vote have been met; | |
● | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question and the statutory majority are acting bona fide without coercion of the minority to promote interests adverse to those of the class; | |
● | the arrangement is such that may be reasonably approved by an intelligent and honest man of that class acting in respect of his interest; and | |
● | the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act. |
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The Companies Act also contains a statutory power of compulsory acquisition which may facilitate the “squeeze out” of dissentient minority shareholders upon a tender offer. When a tender offer is made and accepted by holders of 90.0% of the shares affected within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period commencing on the expiration of such four-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares to the offeror on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands but this is unlikely to succeed in the case of an offer which has been so approved unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith or collusion.
If an arrangement and reconstruction by way of scheme of arrangement is thus approved and sanctioned, or if a tender offer is made and accepted in accordance with the foregoing statutory procedures, a dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights, which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of Delaware corporations, providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares.
Shareholders’ Suits. In principle, we will normally be the proper plaintiff to sue for a wrong done to us as a company, and as a general rule a derivative action may not be brought by a minority shareholder. However, based on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority in the Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands court can be expected to follow and apply the common law principles (namely the rule in Foss v. Harbottle and the exceptions thereto) so that a non-controlling shareholder may be permitted to commence a class action against or derivative actions in the name of the company to challenge actions where:
● | a company acts or proposes to act illegally or ultra vires (and is therefore incapable of ratification by the shareholder); | |
● | the act complained of, although not ultra vires, could only be effected duly if authorized by more than a simple majority vote that has not been obtained; | |
● | an act purports to abridge or abolish the individual rights of a shareholder; and | |
● | those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.” |
In the case of a company (not being a bank) having its share capital divided into shares, the Grand Court may, on the application of members holding not less than one fifth of the shares of the company in issue, appoint an inspector to examine the affairs of the company and to report thereon in such manner as the Grand Court shall direct.
Indemnification of Directors and Executive Officers and Limitation of Liability. Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our memorandum and articles of association provide that that we shall indemnify our officers and directors against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, expenses, losses, damages or liabilities incurred or sustained by such directors or officer, other than by reason of such person’s dishonesty, willful default or fraud, in or about the conduct of our company’s business or affairs (including as a result of any mistake of judgment) or in the execution or discharge of his duties, powers, authorities or discretions, including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any costs, expenses, losses or liabilities incurred by such director or officer in defending (whether successfully or otherwise) any civil proceedings concerning our company or its affairs in any court whether in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere. This standard of conduct is generally the same as permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law for a Delaware corporation.
In addition, we expect to enter into indemnification agreements with our directors and executive officers that provide such persons with additional indemnification beyond that provided in our memorandum and articles of association.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers or persons controlling us under the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
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Directors’ Fiduciary Duties. Under Delaware corporate law, a director of a Delaware corporation has a fiduciary duty to the corporation and its shareholders. This duty has two components: the duty of care and the duty of loyalty. The duty of care requires that a director act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise under similar circumstances. Under this duty, a director must inform himself of, and disclose to shareholders, all material information reasonably available regarding a significant transaction. The duty of loyalty requires that a director acts in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation. He must not use his corporate position for personal gain or advantage. This duty prohibits self-dealing by a director and mandates that the best interest of the corporation and its shareholders take precedence over any interest possessed by a director, officer or controlling shareholder and not shared by the shareholders generally. In general, actions of a director are presumed to have been made on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the corporation. However, this presumption may be rebutted by evidence of a breach of one of the fiduciary duties. Should such evidence be presented concerning a transaction by a director, the director must prove the procedural fairness of the transaction, and that the transaction was of fair value to the corporation.
As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a director of a Cayman Islands company is in the position of a fiduciary with respect to the company and therefore it is considered that he owes the following duties to the company — a duty to act bona fide in the best interests of the company, a duty not to make a profit based on his position as director (unless the company permits him to do so), a duty not to put himself in a position where the interests of the company conflict with his personal interest or his duty to a third party, and a duty to exercise powers for the purpose for which such powers were intended. A director of a Cayman Islands company owes to the company a duty to act with skill and care. It was previously considered that a director need not exhibit in the performance of his duties a greater degree of skill than may reasonably be expected from a person of his knowledge and experience. However, English and Commonwealth courts have moved towards an objective standard with regard to the required skill and care and these authorities are likely to be followed in the Cayman Islands.
Shareholder Action by Written Consent. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation may eliminate the right of shareholders to act by written consent by amendment to its certificate of incorporation. Cayman Islands law and our memorandum and articles of association provide that our shareholders may approve corporate matters by way of a unanimous written resolution signed by or on behalf of each shareholder who would have been entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting without a meeting being held.
Shareholder Proposals. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a shareholder has the right to put any proposal before the annual meeting of shareholders; provided it complies with the notice provisions in the governing documents. A special meeting may be called by the board of directors or any other person authorized to do so in the governing documents, but shareholders may be precluded from calling special meetings.
The Companies Act provides shareholders with only limited rights to requisition a general meeting, and does not provide shareholders with any right to put any proposal before a general meeting. However, these rights may be provided in a company’s articles of association. Our memorandum and articles of association allow any one or more of our shareholders holding shares which carry in aggregate not less than one-third of the total number of votes attaching to all issued and the outstanding shares of our company entitled to vote at general meetings to requisition an extraordinary general meeting of our shareholders, in which case our board is obliged to convene an extraordinary general meeting and to put the resolutions so requisitioned to a vote at such meeting. Other than this right to requisition a shareholders’ meeting, our memorandum and articles of association do not provide our shareholders with any other right to put proposals before annual general meetings or extraordinary general meetings. As a Cayman Islands exempted company, we are not obliged by law to call shareholders’ annual general meetings.
Cumulative Voting. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, cumulative voting for elections of directors is not permitted unless the corporation’s certificate of incorporation specifically provides for it. Cumulative voting potentially facilitates the representation of minority shareholders on a board of directors since it permits the minority shareholder to cast all the votes to which the shareholder is entitled on a single director, which increases the shareholder’s voting power with respect to electing such director. There are no prohibitions in relation to cumulative voting under the laws of the Cayman Islands but our memorandum and articles of association do not provide for cumulative voting. As a result, our shareholders are not afforded any less protections or rights on this issue than shareholders of a Delaware corporation.
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Removal of Directors. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a director of a corporation with a classified board may be removed only for cause with the approval of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Under our memorandum and articles of association, directors may be removed with or without cause, by an ordinary resolution of our shareholders. A director will also cease to be a director if he (i) becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his creditors; (ii) dies or is found to be or becomes of unsound mind; (iii) resigns his office by notice in writing; (iv) without special leave of absence from our board, is absent from meetings of our board for three consecutive meetings and our board resolves that his office be vacated; or (v) is removed from office pursuant to any other provision of our articles of association.
Transactions with Interested Shareholders. The Delaware General Corporation Law contains a business combination statute applicable to Delaware corporations whereby, unless the corporation has specifically elected not to be governed by such statute by amendment to its certificate of incorporation, it is prohibited from engaging in certain business combinations with an “interested shareholder” for three years following the date that such person becomes an interested shareholder. An interested shareholder generally is a person or a group who or which owns or owned 15% or more of the target’s outstanding voting share within the past three years. This has the effect of limiting the ability of a potential acquirer to make a two-tiered bid for the target in which all shareholders would not be treated equally. The statute does not apply if, among other things, prior to the date on which such shareholder becomes an interested shareholder, the board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the person becoming an interested shareholder. This encourages any potential acquirer of a Delaware corporation to negotiate the terms of any acquisition transaction with the target’s board of directors.
Cayman Islands law has no comparable statute. As a result, we cannot avail ourselves of the types of protections afforded by the Delaware business combination statute. However, although Cayman Islands law does not regulate transactions between a company and its significant shareholders, it does provide that such transactions must be entered into bona fide in the best interests of the company and not with the effect of constituting a fraud on the minority shareholders.
Dissolution; Winding up. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, unless the board of directors approves the proposal to dissolve, dissolution must be approved by shareholders holding 100% of the total voting power of the corporation. Only if the dissolution is initiated by the board of directors may it be approved by a simple majority of the corporation’s outstanding shares. Delaware law allows a Delaware corporation to include in its certificate of incorporation a supermajority voting requirement in connection with dissolutions initiated by either an order of the courts of the Cayman Islands or by the board of directors.
Under Cayman Islands law, a company may be wound up by either an order of the courts of the Cayman Islands or by a special resolution of its members or, if the company is unable to pay its debts as they fall due, by an ordinary resolution of its members. The court has authority to order winding up in a number of specified circumstances including where it is, in the opinion of the court, just and equitable to do so.
Variation of Rights of Shares. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation may vary the rights of a class of shares with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares of such class, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Under our memorandum and articles of association, if our share capital is divided into more than one class of shares, the rights attached to any such class may, subject to any rights or restrictions for the time being attached to any class, only be materially adversely varied with the consent in writing of the holders of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the issued shares of that class or with the sanction of a special resolution passed at a separate meeting of the holders of the shares of that class. The rights conferred upon the holders of the shares of any class issued with preferred or other rights shall not, subject to any rights or restrictions for the time being attached to the shares of that class, be deemed to be materially adversely varied by the creation, allotment or issue of further shares ranking pari passu with or subsequent to them or the redemption or purchase of any shares of any class by our company. The rights of the holders of shares shall not be deemed to be materially adversely varied by the creation or issue of shares with preferred or other rights including, without limitation, the creation of shares with enhanced or weighted voting rights.
Amendment of Governing Documents. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation’s governing documents may be amended with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Under the Companies Act and our memorandum and articles of association, our memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution of our shareholders.
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Rights of Non-resident or Foreign Shareholders. There are no limitations imposed by our memorandum and articles of association on the rights of non-resident or foreign shareholders to hold or exercise voting rights on our shares. In addition, there are no provisions in our memorandum and articles of association governing the ownership threshold above which shareholder ownership must be disclosed.
Listing
Our Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on the NYSE American under the symbol “RYDE”. We do not intend to list the Common Warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and branch registrar for our Shares, which will maintain our branch register located in the United States, will be VStock Transfer, LLC. Its address is 18 Lafayette Place, Woodmere, NY 11598.
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The following summary of the material Cayman Islands, Singapore and U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this registration statement, all of which are subject to change. This summary does not deal with all possible tax consequences relating to an investment in our securities, such as the tax consequences under U.S. state and local tax laws or under the tax laws of jurisdictions other than the Cayman Islands, Singapore and the United States. To the extent that the discussion relates to matters of Cayman Islands tax law, it represents the opinion of Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP, our Cayman Islands counsel.
Cayman Islands Taxation
The Cayman Islands currently levies no taxes on individuals or corporations based upon profits, income, gains or appreciation and there is no taxation in the nature of inheritance tax or estate duty. There are no other taxes likely to be material to us levied by the government of the Cayman Islands except for stamp duties which may be applicable on instruments executed in, or, after execution, brought within the jurisdiction of the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands is a party to a double tax treaty entered with the United Kingdom in 2010 but is otherwise not party to any double tax treaties that are applicable to any payments made to or by our company. There are no exchange control regulations or currency restrictions in the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, our Company has obtained an undertaking from the Financial Secretary: (a) that no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to our Company or its operations; and (b) that the aforesaid tax or any tax in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall not be payable on or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of our Company or by way of withholding in whole or in part of any relevant payment as defined in section 6(3) of the Tax Concessions Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands. The undertaking for our Company is for a period of 20 years from 28 February 2023.
Payments of dividends and capital in respect of our Class A Ordinary Shares will not be subject to taxation in the Cayman Islands and no withholding will be required on the payment of a dividend or capital to any holder of our Class A Ordinary Shares, nor will gains derived from the disposal of our Class A Ordinary Shares be subject to Cayman Islands income or corporation tax.
No stamp duty is payable in the Cayman Islands in respect of the issue of our Class A Ordinary Shares or on an instrument of transfer in respect of our Class A Ordinary Shares, so long as the instrument of transfer is not executed in, brought to, or produced before a court of in the Cayman Islands.
Certain Singapore Tax Considerations
Dividend Distributions
All Singapore-tax resident companies are currently under the one-tier corporate tax system, or one-tier system.
Under the one-tier system, the income tax paid by a tax resident company is a final tax and its distributable profits can be distributed to shareholders as tax exempt (one-tier) dividends. Such dividends are tax exempt in the hands of a shareholder, regardless of the tax residence status, shareholding level or legal form of the shareholder.
Accordingly, dividends received in respect of the ordinary shares by either a resident or non-resident of Singapore are not subject to Singapore income tax (whether by withholding or otherwise), on the basis that we are a tax resident of Singapore and under the one-tier system.
Foreign shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisers to take into account the tax laws of their respective countries of residence and the existence of any agreement for the avoidance of double taxation which their country of residence may have with Singapore.
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Corporate Income Tax
A Singapore tax resident corporate taxpayer is subject to Singapore income tax on:
● | income accrued in or derived from Singapore; and | |
● | foreign sourced income received or deemed received in Singapore, unless otherwise exempted. |
Foreign-sourced income is deemed to be received in Singapore when it is:
(a) | remitted to, transmitted or brought into Singapore; | |
(b) | used to pay off any debt incurred in respect of a trade or business carried on in Singapore; or | |
(c) | used to purchase any movable property brought into Singapore. |
Foreign income in the form of branch profits, dividends and service fee income (“specified foreign income”) received or deemed received in Singapore by a Singapore tax resident corporate taxpayer are exempted from Singapore tax provided that the following qualifying conditions are met:
(a) | such income is subject to tax of a similar character to income tax (by whatever name called) under the law of the territory from which such income is received; | |
(b) | at the time such income is received in Singapore by the person resident in Singapore, the highest rate of tax of a similar character to income tax (by whatever name called) levied under the law of the territory from which such income is received on any gains or profits from any trade or business carried on by any company in that territory at that time is at least 15.0%; and | |
(c) | the Comptroller of Income Tax (“the Comptroller”) is satisfied that the tax exemption would be beneficial to the person resident in Singapore who is receiving or deemed to be receiving the specified foreign income. |
A non-Singapore tax resident corporate taxpayer, subject to certain exceptions, is subject to Singapore income tax on income accrued in or derived from Singapore, and on foreign income received or deemed received in Singapore.
A company is regarded as tax resident in Singapore if the control and management of the company’s business is exercised in Singapore. Control and management is defined as the making of decisions on strategic matters, such as those concerning the company’s policy and strategy. Generally, the location of the company’s board of directors meetings where strategic decisions are made determines where the control and management is exercised. However, under certain scenarios, holding board meetings in Singapore may not be sufficient and other factors will be considered to determine if the control and management of the business is indeed exercised in Singapore.
The prevailing corporate tax rate in Singapore is 17.0%.
With effect from year of assessment 2020, the partial tax exemption scheme will be limited to the first S$200,000 (instead of S$300,000 previously) of the normal chargeable income – 75.0% of the first S$10,000 and 50.0% of the next S$190,000. The remaining chargeable income that exceeds S$200,000 will be fully taxable at the prevailing corporate tax rate.
Capital Gains
Any gains considered to be in the nature of capital made from the sale of the Class A Ordinary Shares will not be taxable in Singapore to the extent that they do not fall within the ambit of the new Section 10L of the Income Tax Act 1947 of Singapore (“ITA”), which came into effect on January 1, 2024. However, any gains derived by any person from the sale of the Class A Ordinary Shares which are gains from any trade, business, profession or vocation carried on by that person, if accruing in or derived from Singapore, may be taxable as such gains are considered revenue in nature.
Under Section 10L of the ITA, gains received in Singapore by an entity of a relevant group from the sale or disposal of any movable or immovable property outside Singapore will be treated as income chargeable to tax under Section 10(1)(g) of the ITA under certain circumstances. Any registered shares, equity interests or securities will be deemed to be located outside Singapore if the register or principal register (if there is more than one register) is located outside Singapore regardless of where the issuer is incorporated. If the Common Warrants are deemed to be foreign assets, gains from their disposal will be subject to tax if an entity of a relevant group (other than an excluded entity) disposed of the Common Warrants on or after 1 January 2024. If the Class A Ordinary Shares are deemed to be foreign assets, gains from their disposal will be subject to tax if an entity of a relevant group (other than an excluded entity) disposed of the Class A Ordinary Shares on or after 1 January 2024. An entity is a member of a group of entities if its assets, liabilities, income, expenses and cash flows are (a) included in the consolidated financial statements of the parent entity of the group; or (b) excluded from the consolidated financial statements of the parent entity of the group solely on size or materiality grounds or on the grounds that the entity is held for sale. A group is a relevant group if (a) the entities of the group are not all incorporated, registered or established in Singapore; or (b) any entity of the group has a place of business outside Singapore. An excluded entity is defined in Section 10L of the ITA to include a pure equity-holding company or any other entity with adequate economic substance in Singapore taking into account factors enumerated in Section 10L.
Investors are advised to consult their own tax advisors on the applicable tax treatment if they received gains in Singapore from the disposal of the Class A Ordinary Shares.
Holders of the Class A Ordinary Shares who apply or who are required to apply Financial Reporting Standard (“FRS”) 39, FRS 109 or Singapore Financial Reporting Standard (International) 9 (“SFRS(I) 9”) (as the case may be), for Singapore income tax purposes may be required to recognize gains or losses (not being gains or losses in the nature of capital) on the Class A Ordinary Shares, irrespective of disposal, in accordance with FRS 39 or FRS 109 or SFRS(I) 9 (as the case may be).
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Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations
The following discussion is a summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the ownership and disposition of the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants by a U.S. Holder (as defined below) that acquires the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants in this offering and holds the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants as “capital assets” (generally, property held for investment) under the Section 1221 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). This discussion is based upon existing U.S. federal income tax laws, which is subject to differing interpretations or change, possibly with retroactive effect. There can be no assurance that the Internal Revenue Service or a court will not take a contrary position. This discussion, moreover, does not address the U.S. federal estate, gift, Medicare, and alternative minimum tax considerations, or any state, local and non-U.S. tax considerations, relating to the ownership or disposition of the Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants. The following summary does not address all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be important to particular investors in light of their individual circumstances or to persons in special tax situations such as, banks and other financial institutions; insurance companies; pension plans; cooperatives; regulated investment companies; real estate investment trusts; broker-dealers; traders that elect to use a mark-to-market method of accounting; certain former U.S. citizens or long-term residents; tax-exempt entities (including private foundations); holders who acquire their Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants pursuant to any employee share option or otherwise as compensation; investors that will hold their Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion, constructive sale or other integrated transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes; investors that have a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar; persons holding their Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants in connection with a trade or business conducted outside the United States; persons that actually or constructively own 10% or more of our stock (by vote or value); or partnerships or other entities taxable as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or persons holding the Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants through such entities, all of whom may be subject to tax rules that differ significantly from those discussed below.
Each U.S. Holder is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the application of U.S. federal taxation to its particular circumstances, and the state, local, non-U.S. and other tax considerations of the ownership and disposition of the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants.
General
For purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, (i) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created in or organized under the law of the United States or any state thereof or the District of Columbia; (iii) an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or (iv) a trust (A) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and which has one or more U.S. persons who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (B) that has otherwise validly elected to be treated as a U.S. person under the Code.
If a partnership (or other entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is a beneficial owner of the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants, the tax treatment of a partner in the partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Partnerships holding the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants and their partners are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding an investment in the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants.
A U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a Unit generally should be allocated between the Class A Ordinary Share and the Common Warrant based on their relative fair market value. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in a Class A Ordinary Share generally will be the portion of the Unit’s purchase price allocated to such Class A Ordinary Share and a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in a Common Warrant generally will be the portion of the Unit’s purchase price allocated to such Common Warrant.
Exercise or Lapse of Common Warrants
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, and except as discussed below with respect to a cashless exercise of a Common Warrant, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the acquisition of Class A Ordinary Shares upon the exercise of a Common Warrant. A U.S. Holder’s tax basis in Class A Ordinary Shares received upon exercise of the Common Warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Common Warrant exchanged therefor and the exercise price. The U.S. Holder’s holding period for Class A Ordinary Shares received upon exercise of the Common Warrant will begin on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the Common Warrant and will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the Common Warrant. If a Common Warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the Common Warrant.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a Common Warrant are not entirely clear under current law. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a cashless exercise may be tax-deferred, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either tax-deferred situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A Ordinary Shares received generally would equal the U.S. Holder’s basis in the Common Warrants exercised therefor. If the cashless exercise is not treated as a gain realization event, a U.S. Holder’s holding period in the Class A Ordinary Shares would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the Common Warrants and will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the Common Warrants. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A Ordinary Shares would include the holding period of the Common Warrants exercised therefor.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise of a Common Warrant could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized in the manner set forth below under “— Sale or Other Disposition.” In such event, a U.S. Holder could be deemed to have surrendered Common Warrants equal to the number of Class A Ordinary Shares having an aggregate fair market value equal to the exercise price for the total number of Common Warrants to be exercised. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, the U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss with respect to the Common Warrants deemed surrendered in an amount generally equal to the difference between (i) the fair market value of the Class A Ordinary Shares that would have been received in a regular exercise of the Common Warrants deemed surrendered, net of the aggregate exercise price of such Common Warrants and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in such Common Warrants. In this case, a U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the Class A Ordinary Shares received would equal the sum of (i) U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Common Warrants deemed exercised and (ii) the aggregate exercise price of such Common Warrants. A U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A Ordinary Shares received in such case generally would commence on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the Common Warrants and will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the Common Warrants.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise of Common Warrants, including when a U.S. Holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares received, there can be no assurance regarding which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise of Common Warrants.
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each Common Warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of Class A Ordinary Shares for which the Common Warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the Common Warrant in certain events. An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. U.S. Holders of Common Warrant would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases such U.S. Holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of Class A Ordinary Shares that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the Common Warrant), which adjustment may be made as a result of a distribution of cash or other property to the holders of Class A Ordinary Shares. Such constructive distribution to a U.S. Holder of Common Warrants would be treated as if such U.S. Holder had received a cash distribution from us generally equal to the fair market value of such increased interest (taxed generally as described below under “— Dividends”).
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Dividends
Subject to the PFIC rules described below under “— Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations”, any cash distributions paid on the Class A Ordinary Shares (including the amount of any Singapore tax withheld) out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles, will generally be includible in the gross income of a U.S. Holder as dividend income on the day actually or constructively received by the U.S. Holder, in the case of Class A Ordinary Shares. Because we do not intend to determine our earnings and profits on the basis of U.S. federal income tax principles, any distribution we pay will generally be treated as a “dividend” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends received on the Class A Ordinary Shares will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction allowed to corporations in respect of dividends received from U.S. corporations.
Individuals and other non-corporate U.S. Holders will be subject to tax at the lower capital gain tax rate applicable to “qualified dividend income”; provided that certain conditions are satisfied, including that (1) the Class A Ordinary Shares on which the dividends are paid are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, (2) we are neither a PFIC nor treated as such with respect to a U.S. Holder (as discussed below) for the taxable year in which the dividend is paid and the preceding taxable year, and (3) certain holding period and other requirements are met.
For U.S. foreign tax credit purposes, dividends paid on the Class A Ordinary Shares generally will be treated as income from foreign sources and generally will constitute passive category income. A U.S. Holder who does not elect to claim a foreign tax credit for foreign tax withheld may instead claim a deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in respect of such withholding, but only for a year in which such holder elects to do so for all creditable foreign income taxes. The rules governing the foreign tax credit are very complex. For example, certain Treasury Regulations promulgated in December 2021 imposed requirements regarding the eligibility of creditable taxes for U.S. holders and recent notices from the IRS provided temporary relief from such Treasury Regulations, provided certain requirements are satisfied. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the availability of the foreign tax credit under their particular circumstances, including the effects of any applicable income tax treaties and any Treasury Regulations or IRS guidance.
Sale or Other Disposition
A U.S. Holder will generally recognize gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of the Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized upon the disposition and the holder’s adjusted tax basis in such Class A Ordinary Shares or Common Warrants. The gain or loss will generally be capital gain or loss. Any capital gain or loss will be long term if the Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants, as applicable, have been held for more than one year. The deductibility of a capital loss may be subject to limitations. Any such gain or loss that the U.S. Holder recognizes will generally be treated as U.S. source income or loss for foreign tax credit limitation purposes, which may limit the availability of foreign tax credits. Each U.S. Holder is advised to consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences if a foreign tax is imposed on a disposition of the Class A Ordinary Shares or the Common Warrants, including the availability of the foreign tax credit under its particular circumstances and the effects of any applicable income tax treaties and the recent Treasury Regulations and IRS guidance discussed above.
Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations
For United States federal income tax purposes, a non-United States corporation, such as our Company, will be treated as a “passive foreign investment company,” or “PFIC” if, in the case of any particular taxable year, either (a)75% or more of our gross income for such year consists of certain types of “passive” income or (b) 50% or more of the value of our assets (generally determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income. Passive income for this purpose generally includes, among other things, dividends, interest, rents, royalties, gains from commodities and securities transactions, and gains from assets that produce passive income. Cash is generally a passive asset. Goodwill is active to the extent attributable to activities that produce or are intended to produce active income. In determining whether a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC, a pro rata portion of the income and assets of each corporation in which it owns, directly or indirectly, at least a 25% interest (by value) is taken into account.
Based upon our current and expected income and assets (including goodwill), we do not expect to be a PFIC for the current taxable year. However, while we do not expect to be or become a PFIC, no assurance can be given in this regard because the determination of whether we are or will become a PFIC for any taxable year is a fact-intensive inquiry made annually that depends, in part, upon the composition and classification of our income and assets. Fluctuations in the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may cause us to be or become a PFIC for the current or subsequent taxable years because the value of our assets for the purpose of the asset test, including the value of our goodwill and any unbooked intangibles, may be determined by reference to the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares (which may be volatile). The composition of our income and assets may also be affected by how, and how quickly, we use our liquid assets and the cash raised in our initial price offering. It is also possible that the Internal Revenue Service may challenge our classification of certain income or assets for purposes of the analysis set forth in subparagraphs (a) and (b), above or the valuation of our goodwill and any unbooked intangibles, which may result in our company being or becoming a PFIC for the current or future taxable years.
It is not entirely clear how various aspects of the PFIC rules apply to the Common Warrants. Section 1298(a)(4) of the Code provides that, to the extent provided in Treasury Regulations, any person who has an option to acquire stock in a PFIC shall be considered to own such stock in the PFIC for purposes of certain PFIC rules. Proposed Treasury Regulations under Section 1298(a)(4) of the Code have been promulgated with a retroactive effective date (the “Proposed PFIC Option Regulations”). However, no final Treasury Regulations are currently in effect under Section 1298(a)(4) of the Code. Each U.S. Holder is urged to consult its tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules (including the Proposed PFIC Option Regulations) to an investment in the Common Warrants.
If we are classified as a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder holds our Class A Ordinary Shares, and unless the U.S. Holder makes a mark-to-market election (as described below), the U.S. Holder will generally be subject to special tax rules on (i) any excess distribution that we make to the U.S. Holder (which generally means any distribution paid during a taxable year to a U.S. Holder that is greater than 125% of the average annual distributions paid in the three preceding taxable years or, if shorter, the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A Ordinary Shares), and (ii) any gain realized on the sale or other disposition, including, under certain circumstances, a pledge, of Class A Ordinary Shares. Under the PFIC rules:
● | such excess distribution and/or gain will be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A Ordinary Shares; |
● | such amount allocated to the current taxable year and any taxable years in the U.S. Holder’s holding period prior to the first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, each a pre-PFIC year, will be taxable as ordinary income; |
● | such amount allocated to each prior taxable year, other than a pre-PFIC year, will be subject to tax at the highest tax rate in effect applicable to the U.S. Holder for that year; and |
● | an interest charge generally applicable to underpayments of tax will be imposed on the tax attributable to each prior taxable year, other than a pre-PFIC year. |
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder holds our Class A Ordinary Shares and we own any equity in a non-United States entity that is also a PFIC, or a lower-tier PFIC, such U.S. Holder would be treated as owning a proportionate amount (by value) of the shares of the lower-tier PFIC for purposes of the application of these rules. U.S. Holders are advised to consult their tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules to any of the entities in which we may own equity.
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A U.S. Holder that holds stock in a non-U.S. corporation during any taxable year in which the corporation is treated as a PFIC is subject to special tax rules with respect to (a) any gain realized on the sale, exchange or other disposition of the stock and (b) any “excess distribution” by the corporation to the holder, unless the holder elects to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”) or makes a “mark-to-market” election, each as discussed below. An “excess distribution” is that portion of a distribution with respect to PFIC stock that exceeds 125% of the average of such distributions over the preceding three-year period or, if shorter, the U.S. Holder’s holding period for its shares. Excess distributions and gains on the sale, exchange or other disposition of stock of a corporation which was a PFIC at any time during the U.S. Holder’s holding period are allocated ratably to each day of the U.S. Holder’s holding period. Amounts allocated to the taxable year in which the disposition occurs and amounts allocated to any period in the shareholder’s holding period before the first day of the first taxable year that the corporation was a PFIC will be taxed as ordinary income (rather than capital gain) earned in the taxable year of the disposition. Amounts allocated to each of the other taxable years in the U.S. Holder’s holding period are not included in gross income for the year of the disposition, but are subject to a tax (equal to the highest ordinary income tax rates in effect for those years, and increased by an interest charge at the rate applicable to income tax deficiencies) that is added to the tax otherwise due for the taxable year in which the disposition occurs. The tax liability for amounts allocated to years before the year of disposition or “excess distribution” cannot be offset by any net operating losses for such years, and gains (but not losses) realized on the sale of the Class A Ordinary Shares cannot be treated as capital, even if a U.S. Holder held such Class A Ordinary Shares as capital assets. The preferential U.S. federal income tax rates for dividends and long-term capital gain of individual U.S. Holders (as well as certain trusts and estates) would not apply, and special rates would apply for calculating the amount of the foreign tax credit with respect to excess distributions.
If a corporation is a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder holds shares in the corporation, then the corporation generally will continue to be treated as a PFIC with respect to the holder’s shares, even if the corporation no longer satisfies either the passive income or passive asset tests described above, unless the U.S. Holder terminates this deemed PFIC status by electing to recognize gain, which will be taxed under the excess distribution rules as if such shares had been sold on the last day of the last taxable year for which the corporation was a PFIC.
The excess distribution rules may be avoided if a U.S. Holder makes a QEF election effective beginning with the first taxable year in the holder’s holding period in which the corporation is a PFIC. A U.S. Holder that makes a QEF election is required to include in income its pro rata share of the PFIC’s ordinary earnings and net capital gain as ordinary income and long-term capital gain, respectively, subject to a separate election to defer payment of taxes, which deferral is subject to an interest charge. A U.S. Holder whose QEF election is effective after the first taxable year during the holder’s holding period in which the corporation is a PFIC will continue to be subject to the excess distribution rules for years beginning with such first taxable year for which the QEF election is effective.
In general, a U.S. Holder makes a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621 to a timely filed (taking into account any extensions) U.S. federal income tax return for the year beginning with which the QEF election is to be effective. In certain circumstances, a U.S. Holder may be able to make a retroactive QEF election. A QEF election can be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. In order for a U.S. Holder to make a valid QEF election, the corporation must annually provide or make available to the holder certain information. We do not intend to provide to U.S. Holders the information required to make a valid QEF election and we currently make no undertaking to provide such information. Accordingly, it is currently anticipated that a U.S. Holder will not be able to avoid the special tax rules described above by making the QEF election. In addition, a U.S. Holder of our Common Warrants may not make a QEF election regarding our Common Warrants.
As an alternative to making a QEF election, except with respect to the Common Warrants, a U.S. Holder may make a “mark-to-market” election with respect to its PFIC shares if the shares meet certain minimum trading requirements. If a U.S. Holder makes a valid mark-to-market election for the first tax year in which such holder holds (or is deemed to hold) stock in a corporation and for which such corporation is determined to be a PFIC, such holder generally will not be subject to the PFIC rules described above in respect of its stock. Instead, a U.S. Holder that makes a mark-to-market election will be required to include in income each year an amount equal to the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the shares that the holder owns as of the close of the taxable year over the holder’s adjusted tax basis in the shares. The U.S. Holder will be entitled to a deduction for the excess, if any, of the holder’s adjusted tax basis in the shares over the fair market value of the shares as of the close of the taxable year; provided, however, that the deduction will be limited to the extent of any net mark-to-market gains with respect to the shares included by the U.S. Holder under the election for prior taxable years. The U.S. Holder’s basis in the shares will be adjusted to reflect the amounts included or deducted pursuant to the election. Amounts included in income pursuant to a mark-to-market election, as well as gain on the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of the shares, will be treated as ordinary income. The deductible portion of any mark-to-market loss, as well as loss on a sale, exchange or other disposition of shares to the extent that the amount of such loss does not exceed net mark-to-market gains previously included in income, will be treated as ordinary loss.
The mark-to-market election applies to the taxable year for which the election is made and all subsequent taxable years, unless the shares cease to meet applicable trading requirements (described below) or the IRS consents to its revocation. The excess distribution rules generally do not apply to a U.S. Holder for tax years for which a mark-to-market election is in effect. However, if a U.S. Holder makes a mark-to-market election for PFIC stock after the beginning of the holder’s holding period for the stock, a coordination rule applies to ensure that the holder does not avoid the tax and interest charge with respect to amounts attributable to periods before the election.
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A mark-to-market election is available only if the shares are considered “marketable” for these purposes. Shares will be marketable if they are regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the SEC or on a non-U.S. exchange or market that the IRS determines has rules sufficient to ensure that the market price represents a legitimate and sound fair market value. For these purposes, shares will be considered regularly traded during any calendar year during which they are traded, other than in de minimis quantities, on at least 15 days during each calendar quarter. Any trades that have as their principal purpose meeting this requirement will be disregarded. In addition, a mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to the Common Warrants. Each U.S. Holder should ask its own tax advisor whether a mark-to-market election is available or desirable.
A U.S. Holder of PFIC stock must generally file an IRS Form 8621 annually. A U.S. Holder must also provide such other information as may be required by the U.S. Treasury Department if the U.S. Holder (i) receives certain direct or indirect distributions from a PFIC, (ii) recognizes gain on a direct or indirect disposition of PFIC stock, or (iii) makes certain elections (including a QEF election or a mark-to-market election) reportable on IRS Form 8621.
U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors as to our status as a PFIC, and, if we are treated as a PFIC, as to the effect on them of, and the reporting requirements with respect to, the PFIC rules and the desirability of making, and the availability of, either a QEF election or a mark-to-market election with respect to our Class A Ordinary Shares and Common Warrants. We provide no advice on taxation matters.
Information with Respect to Foreign Financial Assets
In addition, certain U.S. Holders may be subject to certain reporting obligations with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants if the aggregate value of these and certain other “specified foreign financial assets” exceeds $50,000. If required, this disclosure is made by filing Form 8938 with the IRS. Significant penalties can apply if U.S. Holders are required to make this disclosure and fail to do so. In addition, a U.S. Holder should consider the possible obligation for online filing of a FinCEN Report 114—Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report as a result of holding the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants. U.S. Holders are thus encouraged to consult their U.S. tax advisors with respect to these and other reporting requirements that may apply to their acquisition of the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Common Warrants.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
In general, information reporting requirements will apply to distributions made on our Class A Ordinary Shares and Common Warrants within the U.S. to a non-corporate U.S. Holder and to the proceeds from the sale, exchange, redemption or other disposition of our Class A Ordinary Shares and Common Warrants by a non-corporate U.S. Holder to or through a U.S. office of a broker. Payments made (and sales or other dispositions effected at an office) outside the U.S. will be subject to information reporting in limited circumstances.
In addition, backup withholding of U.S. federal income tax may apply to such amounts if the U.S. Holder fails to provide an accurate taxpayer identification number (or otherwise establishes, in the manner provided by law, an exemption from backup withholding) or to report dividends required to be shown on the U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax returns.
Backup withholding is not an additional income tax, and the amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a U.S. Holder will be allowed as credit against the U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided that the appropriate returns are filed.
You should consult your own tax advisor as to the qualifications for exemption from backup withholding and the procedures for obtaining the exemption.
64 |
Expenses Related To This Offering
Set forth below is an itemization of the total expenses, excluding placement agent fees, which are expected to be incurred in connection with the offer and sale of the Units by us. With the exception of the SEC registration fee, the NYSE American listing fee and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) filing fee, all amounts are estimates.
SEC registration fee | US$ | 7,380 | ||
FINRA filing fee | US$ | 8,000 | ||
Legal fees and expenses | US$ | 170,000 | ||
Accounting fees and expenses | US$ | 15,000 | ||
Miscellaneous | US$ | 10,000 | ||
Total | US$ | 210,380 |
65 |
The validity of the securities offered by this prospectus and other legal matters concerning this offering relating to Cayman Islands law will be passed upon for us by Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP. Certain legal matters relating to U.S. law will be passed upon for us by Sidley Austin LLP. Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, New York, New York, will pass upon certain legal matters in connection with the offering for the placement agent.
66 |
The financial statements as of December 31, 2022 and 2023 and for the three years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and the related financial statement schedule incorporated by reference in this prospectus have been audited by Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report (which report expresses an unqualified opinion on the financial statements and includes an explanatory paragraph referring to the translation of SGD amounts to United States dollar amounts). Such financial statements and financial statement schedule are incorporated by reference in reliance upon the report of such firm given upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.
The office of Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP is located at 733 Third Avenue, Floor 16, #1014, New York, NY 10017, the United States.
67 |
Where You Can Find Additional Information
We have filed a registration statement, including relevant exhibits and schedules, with the SEC on Form F-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the underlying securities to be sold in this offering. This prospectus, which constitutes a part of the registration statement on Form F-1, does not contain all of the information contained in the registration statement. You should read our registration statements and their exhibits and schedules for further information with respect to us and our securities.
All information filed with the SEC can be obtained over the internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You can request copies of documents, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by writing to the SEC.
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INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document that we have filed separately with the SEC. You should read the information incorporated by reference because it is an important part of this prospectus. We incorporate by reference the following information or documents that we have filed with the SEC:
● | Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on April 29, 2024; and | |
● | Reports of Foreign Private Issuers on Form 6-K furnished to the SEC on March 6, March 8, March 15, 2024 and June 7, 2024; |
All annual reports on Form 20-F and any amendment thereto and any report on Form 6-K (or portion thereof) that expressly indicates it is being incorporated by reference in this prospectus, in each case, that we file with or furnish to the SEC prior to the termination or completion of the offering under this prospectus (including all such reports or documents we may file with or furnish to the SEC on or after the date on which the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part is first filed with the SEC and prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement), will also be incorporated by reference into this prospectus and deemed to be part of this prospectus from the date of the filing or furnishing of such reports and documents. Unless expressly incorporated by reference, nothing in this prospectus shall be deemed to incorporate by reference information furnished to, but not filed with, the SEC.
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PART II
Information Not Required In Prospectus
ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Under our memorandum and articles of association, to the fullest extent permissible under Cayman Islands law every director and officer of our company shall be indemnified against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, expenses, losses, damages or liabilities incurred or sustained by him, other than by reason of such person’s own dishonesty, willful default or fraud, in connection with the execution or discharge of his duties, powers, authorities or discretions as a director or officer of our company, including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any costs, expenses, losses or liabilities incurred by him in defending (whether successfully or otherwise) any civil proceedings concerning our company or its affairs in any court whether in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere.
Pursuant to the form of indemnification agreements filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-274283), as amended, initially filed with the SEC on August 31, 2023, we have agreed to indemnify our directors against certain liabilities and expenses that they incur in connection with claims made by reason of their being a director of our company.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
ITEM 7. RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES.
During the past three years, we have issued and sold the following securities without registering the securities under the Securities Act. We believe that each of the following issuances was exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, regarding transactions not involving a public offering, or in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act regarding sales by an issuer in offshore transactions. None of the transactions involved an underwriter.
Purchaser | Date of Sale or Issuance | Title and Number of Securities | Consideration (US$ millions, except for exercise price) | |||
Zou Junming Terence | May 5, 2023 | 176,640.8 Class B Ordinary Shares | Shares in Ryde Group (BVI) Ltd | |||
Shareholders of Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd. | May 5, 2023 | 3,263,666 Class A Ordinary Shares and 1,240,319 Class B Ordinary Shares | Shares in Ryde Technologies Pte. Ltd. | |||
Certain Investors | September 15, 2023 | 1,155,350 Class A Ordinary Shares | 3.250 | |||
Certain Meili Noteholders | September 15, 2023 | 38,251 Class A Ordinary Shares | 0.161 | |||
Certain employees and consultants | Various dates | 4,718,276 Class A Ordinary Shares | Nominal price | |||
Certain Meili Noteholders | March 14, 2024 | 68,478 Class A Ordinary Shares | 0.289 |
II-1 |
ITEM 8. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a) | Exhibits |
See Exhibit Index beginning on page II-3 of this registration statement.
(b) | Financial Statement Schedules |
Schedules have been omitted because the information required to be set forth therein is not applicable or is shown in the Combined and Consolidated Financial Statements or the Notes thereto.
ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS.
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the placement agent at the closing specified in the placement agency agreement, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the placement agent to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the provisions described in Item 6, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
(1) | For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant under Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective. |
(2) | For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
II-2 |
Ryde Group Ltd
Exhibit Index
* | Submitted herewith. |
II-3 |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form F-1 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Singapore, on September 12, 2024.
Ryde Group Ltd | ||
By: | /s/ Zou Junming Terence | |
Name: | Zou Junming Terence | |
Title: | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer |
II-4 |
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints each of Zou Junming Terence and Lang Chen Fei as an attorney-in-fact with full power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to do any and all acts and all things and to execute any and all instruments which said attorney and agent may deem necessary or desirable to enable the registrant to comply with the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and any rules, regulations and requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder, in connection with the registration under the Securities Act of securities of the registrant (the “Securities”), including, without limitation, the power and authority to sign the name of each of the undersigned in the capacities indicated below to the Registration Statement on Form F-1 (the “Registration Statement”) to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to such Securities, to any and all amendments or supplements to such Registration Statement, whether such amendments or supplements are filed before or after the effective date of such Registration Statement, to any related Registration Statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, and to any and all instruments or documents filed as part of or in connection with such Registration Statement or any and all amendments thereto, whether such amendments are filed before or after the effective date of such Registration Statement; and each of the undersigned hereby ratifies and confirms all that such attorney and agent shall do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature | Title | Date | |||
/s/ Zou Junming Terence | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer | September 12, 2024 | |||
Name: | Zou Junming Terence | (principal executive officer) | |||
/s/ Lang Chen Fei | Chief Financial Officer | September 12, 2024 | |||
Name: | Lang Chen Fei | (principal accounting and financial officer) | |||
/s/ Khoo Su Nee Joanne | Independent Non-executive Director | September 12, 2024 | |||
Name: | Khoo Su Nee Joanne | ||||
/s/ Poon Wai Hong | Independent Non-executive Director | September 12, 2024 | |||
Name: | Poon Wai Hong | ||||
/s/ Venkata Subramanian s/o Sreenivasan | Independent Non-executive Director | September 12, 2024 | |||
Name: | Venkata Subramanian s/o Sreenivasan | ||||
/s/ Tan Ting Yong | Non-executive Director | September 12, 2024 | |||
Name: | Tan Ting Yong |
II-5 |
Signature of Authorized Representative in the United States
Pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of Ryde Group Ltd, has signed this registration statement or amendment thereto in the City of Newark, State of Delaware on September 12, 2024.
Authorized U.S. Representative | ||
By: | /s/ Donald J. Puglisi | |
Name: | Donald J. Puglisi | |
Title: | Authorized Representative |
II-6 |
Exhibit 1.1
PLACEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENT
________, 2024
Maxim Group LLC
300 Park Avenue, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Introduction. Subject to the terms and conditions herein (this “Agreement”), Ryde Group Ltd, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”), hereby agrees to sell up to an aggregate of $[_______] of registered units (the “Units”) of the Company, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0002 per share (the “Ordinary Share”) and one warrant (the “Warrant”), each to purchase one Ordinary Share (the “Warrant Shares,” and collectively with the Units, the Ordinary Shares and the Warrants, the “Securities”), directly to various investors (each, an “Investor” and, collectively, the “Investors”) through Maxim Group LLC (the “Placement Agent”) as placement agent. The documents executed and delivered by the Company and the Investors in connection with the Offering (as defined below), including, without limitation, a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), shall be collectively referred to herein as the “Transaction Documents.” The purchase price to the Investors for each Unit is $[____], and the exercise price to the Investors for each Warrant is $[____]. The Placement Agent may retain other brokers or dealers to act as sub-agents or selected-dealers on its behalf in connection with the Offering. Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the meanings set forth for them in the Purchase Agreement.
The Company hereby confirms its agreement with the Placement Agent as follows:
Section 1. Agreement to Act as Placement Agent.
(a) On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements of the Company herein contained, and subject to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Placement Agent shall be the exclusive placement agent, during the term, as provided in the Engagement Agreement (as defined below), in connection with the offering and sale by the Company of the Securities pursuant to the Company’s registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-[____]), as amended (the “Registration Statement”), with the terms of such offering (the “Offering”) to be subject to market conditions and negotiations between the Company, the Placement Agent and the prospective Investors. The Placement Agent will act on a reasonable best efforts basis and the Company agrees and acknowledges that there is no guarantee of the successful placement of the Securities, or any portion thereof, in the prospective Offering. Under no circumstances will the Placement Agent or any of its Affiliates (as defined below) be obligated to underwrite or purchase any of the Securities for its own account or otherwise provide any financing. The Placement Agent shall act solely as the Company’s agent and not as principal. The Placement Agent shall have no authority to bind the Company with respect to any prospective offer to purchase the Securities and the Company shall have the sole right to accept offers to purchase the Securities and may reject any such offer, in whole or in part. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, payment of the purchase price for, and delivery of, the Securities shall be made at one or more closings (each a “Closing” and the date on which each Closing occurs, a “Closing Date”). The Closing of the issuance of the Securities shall occur via “Delivery Versus Payment”, i.e., on the Closing Date, the Company shall issue the Securities directly to the account designated by the Placement Agent and, upon receipt of such Securities, the Placement Agent shall electronically deliver such Securities to the applicable Investor and payment shall be made by the Placement Agent (or its clearing firm) by wire transfer to the Company. As compensation for services rendered, on each Closing Date, the Company shall pay to the Placement Agent the fees and expenses set forth below:
(i) A cash fee equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Securities at the Closing of the Offering.
(ii) The Company also agrees to reimburse Placement Agent’s expenses (with supporting invoices/receipts) of up to $100,000 (inclusive of any advance paid by the Company to the Placement Agent), payable immediately upon the Closing of the Offering.
(iii) If within three (3) months following the consummation of the Offering, the Company completes any financing of equity, equity-linked, convertible or debt or other capital-raising activity with, or receives any proceeds from, any investors that were contacted, introduced or participated in this Offering (excluding any investors that either held ordinary shares of the Company prior to the Closing Date or that were introduced by the Company), then the Company shall pay to the Placement Agent upon the closing of such financing or receipt of such proceeds, the cash and warrant compensation as described in Section 1(a) herein.
(b) The term of the Placement Agent’s exclusive engagement will be as provided in Section 1 of the Engagement Agreement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the provisions concerning confidentiality, indemnification and contribution contained herein and the Company’s obligations contained in the indemnification provisions will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement, and the Company’s obligation to pay fees actually earned and payable and to reimburse expenses actually incurred and reimbursable pursuant to Section 1 hereof and which are permitted to be reimbursed under Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Rule 5110(g)(4)(A), will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement; provided, however, that if for any reason an Offering is not consummated, then the obligation of the Company to reimburse the Placement Agent for expenses shall not exceed $50,000 in the aggregate. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to limit the ability of the Placement Agent or its Affiliates to pursue, investigate, analyze, invest in, or engage in investment banking, financial advisory or any other business relationship with Persons (as defined below) other than the Company. As used herein (i) “Persons” 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 and (ii) “Affiliate” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
Section 2. Representations, Warranties and Covenants of the Company. The Company hereby represents, warrants and covenants to the Placement Agent as of the date hereof, and as of each Closing Date, as follows:
(a) Securities Law Filings. The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) the Registration Statement under the Securities Act, which was initially filed on [______], 2024 and declared effective on [______], 2024 for the registration of the Securities under the Securities Act. Following the determination of pricing among the Company and the prospective Investors introduced to the Company by the Placement Agent, the Company will file with the Commission pursuant to Rules 430A and 424(b) under the Securities Act, and the rules and regulations (the “Rules and Regulations”) of the Commission promulgated thereunder, a final prospectus relating to the placement of the Securities, their respective pricings and the plan of distribution thereof and will advise the Placement Agent of all further information (financial and other) with respect to the Company required to be set forth therein. Such registration statement, at any given time, including the exhibits thereto filed at such time, as amended at such time, is hereinafter called the “Registration Statement”; such prospectus in the form in which it appears in the Registration Statement at the time of effectiveness, is hereinafter called the “Preliminary Prospectus”; and the final prospectus, in the form in which it will be filed with the Commission pursuant to Rules 430A and/or 424(b) (including the Preliminary Prospectus as it may be amended or supplemented) is hereinafter called the “Final Prospectus.” The Registration Statement at the time it originally became effective is hereinafter called the “Original Registration Statement.” Any reference in this Agreement to the Registration Statement, the Original Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein (the “Incorporated Documents”), if any, which were or are filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), at any given time, as the case may be; and any reference in this Agreement to the terms “amend,” “amendment” or “supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement, the Original Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing of any document under the Exchange Act after the date of this Agreement, or the issue date of the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus, as the case may be, deemed to be incorporated therein by reference. All references in this Agreement to financial statements and schedules and other information which is “contained,” “included,” “described,” “referenced,” “set forth” or “stated” in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus (and all other references of like import) shall be deemed to mean and include all such financial statements and schedules and other information which is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus, as the case may be. As used in this paragraph and elsewhere in this Agreement, “Time of Sale Disclosure Package” means the Preliminary Prospectus, any subscription agreement between the Company and the Investors, the final terms of the Offering provided to the Investors (orally or in writing) and any issuer free writing prospectus as defined in Rule 433 of the Act (each, an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”), if any, that the parties hereto shall hereafter expressly agree in writing to treat as part of the Time of Sale Disclosure Package. The term “any Prospectus” shall mean, as the context requires, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Prospectus, and any supplement to either thereof. The Company has not received any notice that the Commission has issued or intends to issue a stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the use of the Preliminary Prospectus or any prospectus supplement or intends to commence a proceeding for any such purpose.
(b) Assurances. The Original Registration Statement, as amended (and any further documents to be filed with the Commission) contains all exhibits and schedules as required by the Securities Act. Each of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time it became effective, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations and did not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus, each as of its respective date, comply or will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations. Each of the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, did not and will not contain as of the date thereof any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Incorporated Documents, when they were filed with the Commission, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder, and none of such documents, when they were filed with the Commission, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein (with respect to Incorporated Documents incorporated by reference in the Preliminary Prospectus or Final Prospectus), in light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading. No post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement reflecting any facts or events arising after the date thereof which represent, individually or in the aggregate, a fundamental change in the information set forth therein is required to be filed with the Commission. Except for this Agreement and the Transaction Documents, there are no documents required to be filed with the Commission in connection with the transaction contemplated hereby that (x) have not been filed as required pursuant to the Securities Act or (y) will not be filed within the requisite time period. Except for this Agreement and the Transaction Documents, there are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Preliminary Prospectus or Final Prospectus, or to be filed as exhibits or schedules to the Registration Statement, which have not been described or filed as required.
(c) Offering Materials. Neither the Company nor any of its directors and officers has distributed and none of them will distribute, prior to each Closing Date, any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities other than the Time of Sale Disclosure Package.
(d) Authorization; Enforcement. The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of each of this Agreement by the Company and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Company and no further action is required by the Company, the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors”) or the Company’s shareholders in connection therewith other than in connection with the Required Approvals (as defined in the Purchase Agreement). This Agreement has been duly executed by the Company and, when delivered in accordance with the terms hereof, will constitute the valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.
(e) No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated pursuant to the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the issuance and sale of the Securities and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby to which it is a party do not and will not (i) conflict with or violate any provision of the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents, or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event that with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the properties or assets of the Company or any Subsidiary, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation (with or without notice, lapse of time or both) of, any agreement, credit facility, debt or other instrument (evidencing a Company or Subsidiary debt or otherwise) or other understanding to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any property or asset of the Company or any Subsidiary is bound or affected, or (iii) subject to the Required Approvals, conflict with or result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment, injunction, decree or other restriction of any court or governmental authority to which the Company or a Subsidiary is subject (including federal and state securities laws and regulations), or by which any property or asset of the Company or a Subsidiary is bound or affected; except in the case of each of clauses (ii) and (iii), such as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(f) Certificates. Any certificate signed by an officer of the Company and delivered to the Placement Agent or to counsel for the Placement Agent shall be deemed to be a representation and warranty by the Company to the Placement Agent as to the matters set forth therein.
(g) Reliance. The Company acknowledges that the Placement Agent will rely upon the accuracy and truthfulness of the foregoing representations and warranties and hereby consents to such reliance.
(h) Forward-Looking Statements. No forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith.
(i) Statistical or Market-Related Data. Any statistical, industry-related and market-related data included or incorporated by reference in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package are based on or derived from sources that the Company reasonably and in good faith believes to be reliable and accurate, and such data agree with the sources from which they are derived.
(j) Certain Fees; FINRA Affiliations. Except as set forth in the Registration Statement and Final Prospectus, no brokerage or finder’s fees or commissions are or will be payable by the Company, any Subsidiary or Affiliate of the Company to any broker, financial advisor or consultant, finder, placement agent, investment banker, bank or other Person with respect to the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. There are no other arrangements, agreements or understandings of the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its shareholders that may affect the Placement Agent’s compensation, as determined by FINRA. Other than payments to the Placement Agent for this Offering, the Company has not made and has no agreements, arrangements or understanding to make any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or otherwise) to: (i) any person, as a finder’s fee, consulting fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised or provided capital to the Company; (ii) any FINRA member participating in the offering as defined in FINRA Rule 5110 (a “Participating Member”); or (iii) any person or entity that has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Participating Member, within the 180-day period preceding the initial filing of the Registration Statement through the 60-day period after the Effective Date. None of the net proceeds of the Offering will be paid by the Company to any Participating Member or its affiliates, except as specifically authorized herein. To the Company’s knowledge, no officer, director or any beneficial owner of 10% or more of the Company’s Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Participating Member in the Offering. Except for securities purchased on the open market, no Company Affiliate is an owner of shares or other securities of any Participating Member. No Company Affiliate has made a subordinated loan to any Participating Member. No proceeds from the sale of the Securities (excluding placement agent compensation as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Final Prospectus) will be paid to any Participating Member, any persons associated with a Participating Member or an affiliate of a Participating Member. Except as disclosed in the Final Prospectus, the Company has not issued any warrants or other securities or granted any options, directly or indirectly, to the Placement Agent within the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement. Except for securities issued to the Placement Agent as disclosed in the Registration Statement and Final Prospectus, no person to whom securities of the Company have been privately issued within the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement is a Participating Member, is a person associated with a Participating Member or is an affiliate of a Participating Member. No Participating Member in the Offering has a conflict of interest with the Company. For this purpose, a “conflict of interest” exists when a Participating Member, the parent or affiliate of a Participating Member or any person associated with a Participating Member in the aggregate beneficially own 5% or more of the Company’s outstanding subordinated debt or common equity, or 5% or more of the Company’s preferred equity. “FINRA member participating in the Offering” includes any associated person of a Participating Member in the Offering, any member of such associated person’s immediate family and any affiliate of a Participating Member in the Offering. When used in this Section 2(j), the term “affiliate of a FINRA member” or “affiliated with a FINRA member” means an entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with a FINRA member. The Company will advise the Placement Agent and Placement Agent Counsel (as defined below) if it learns that any officer, director or owner of 10% or more of the Company’s outstanding Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents is or becomes an affiliate or associated person of a Participating Member.
(k) Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is comprised of the persons set forth under the heading of the Company’s annual report filed on Form 20-F captioned “Directors, Senior Management and Employees.” The qualifications of the persons serving as board members and the overall composition of the Board of Directors comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules promulgated thereunder applicable to the Company and the rules of the Trading Market. In addition, at least a majority of the persons serving on the Board of Directors qualify as “independent” as defined under the rules of the Trading Market.
(l)
(m) Representations, Warranties and Covenants Incorporated by Reference. Each of the representations, warranties and covenants (together with any related disclosure schedules thereto) made to the Investors in the Purchase Agreement is hereby incorporated herein by reference (as though fully restated herein) and is hereby made to, and in favor of, the Placement Agent.
Section 3. Delivery and Payment. Each Closing shall occur at the offices of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105 (“Placement Agent Counsel”) (or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the Placement Agent and the Company). Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, at each Closing payment of the purchase price for the Securities sold on such Closing Date shall be made by Federal Funds wire transfer, against delivery of such Securities, and such Securities shall be registered in such name or names and shall be in such denominations, as the Placement Agent may request at least one business day before the time of purchase.
Deliveries of the documents with respect to the purchase of the Securities, if any, shall be made at the offices of Placement Agent Counsel. All actions taken at a Closing shall be deemed to have occurred simultaneously.
Section 4. Covenants and Agreements of the Company. The Company further covenants and agrees with the Placement Agent as follows:
(a) Registration Statement Matters. The Company will advise the Placement Agent promptly after it receives notice thereof of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any supplement to the Final Prospectus has been filed and will furnish the Placement Agent with copies thereof. The Company will file promptly all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date of any Prospectus and for so long as the delivery of a prospectus is required in connection with the Offering. The Company will advise the Placement Agent, promptly after it receives notice thereof (i) of any request by the Commission to amend the Registration Statement or to amend or supplement any Prospectus or for additional information; (ii) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto or any order directed at any Incorporated Document, if any, or any amendment or supplement thereto or any order preventing or suspending the use of the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus or any prospectus supplement or any amendment or supplement thereto or any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the institution or threatened institution of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or a Prospectus or for additional information; (iii) of the issuance by any state securities commission of any proceedings for the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction or of the initiation, or the threatening, of any proceeding for that purpose; (iv) of the mailing and delivery to the Commission for filing of any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Final Prospectus; (v) of the receipt of any comments or request for any additional information from the Commission; and (vi) of the happening of any event during the period described in this Section 4(a) that, in the judgment of the Company, makes any statement of a material fact made in the Registration Statement or the Final Prospectus untrue or that requires the making of any changes in the Registration Statement or the Final Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Company shall use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or prevention or suspension of such use. If the Commission shall enter any such stop order or order or notice of prevention or suspension at any time, the Company will use its best efforts to obtain the lifting of such order at the earliest possible moment, or will file a new registration statement and use its best efforts to have such new registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable. Additionally, the Company agrees that it shall comply with the provisions of Rules 424(b), 430A, 430B and 430C, as applicable, under the Securities Act, including with respect to the timely filing of documents thereunder, and will use its reasonable efforts to confirm that any filings made by the Company under such Rule 424(b) are received in a timely manner by the Commission.
(b) Blue Sky Compliance. The Company will cooperate with the Placement Agent and the Investors in endeavoring to qualify the Securities for sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions (United States and foreign) as the Placement Agent and the Investors may reasonably request and will make such applications, file such documents, and furnish such information as may be reasonably required for that purpose, provided the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction where it is not now so qualified or required to file such a consent, and provided further that the Company shall not be required to produce any new disclosure document. The Company will, from time to time, prepare and file such statements, reports and other documents as are or may be required to continue such qualifications in effect for so long a period as the Placement Agent may reasonably request for distribution of the Securities. The Company will advise the Placement Agent promptly of the suspension of the qualification or registration of (or any such exemption relating to) the Securities for offering, sale or trading in any jurisdiction or any initiation or threat of any proceeding for any such purpose, and in the event of the issuance of any order suspending such qualification, registration or exemption, the Company shall use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal thereof at the earliest possible moment.
(c) Amendments and Supplements to a Prospectus and Other Matters. The Company will comply with the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the Securities as contemplated in this Agreement, the Incorporated Documents and any Prospectus. If during the period in which a prospectus is required by law to be delivered in connection with the distribution of Securities contemplated by the Incorporated Documents or any Prospectus (the “Prospectus Delivery Period”), any event shall occur as a result of which, in the judgment of the Company or in the opinion of the Placement Agent or counsel for the Placement Agent, it becomes necessary to amend or supplement the Incorporated Documents or any Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, as the case may be, not misleading, or if it is necessary at any time to amend or supplement the Incorporated Documents or any Prospectus or to file under the Exchange Act any Incorporated Document to comply with any law, the Company will promptly prepare and file with the Commission, and furnish at its own expense to the Placement Agent and to dealers, an appropriate amendment to the Registration Statement or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Incorporated Documents or any Prospectus that is necessary in order to make the statements in the Incorporated Documents and any Prospectus as so amended or supplemented, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, as the case may be, not misleading, or so that the Registration Statement, the Incorporated Documents or any Prospectus, as so amended or supplemented, will comply with law. Before amending the Registration Statement or supplementing the Incorporated Documents or any Prospectus in connection with the Offering, the Company will furnish the Placement Agent with a copy of such proposed amendment or supplement and will not file any such amendment or supplement to which the Placement Agent reasonably objects.
(d) Copies of any Amendments and Supplements to a Prospectus. The Company will furnish the Placement Agent, without charge, during the period beginning on the date hereof and ending on the later of the last Closing Date of the Offering, as many copies of any Prospectus or prospectus supplement and any amendments and supplements thereto, as the Placement Agent may reasonably request.
(e) Free Writing Prospectus. The Company covenants that it will not, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Placement Agent, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed, make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act) required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433 of the Securities Act. In the event that the Placement Agent expressly consents in writing to any such free writing prospectus (a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus”), the Company covenants that it shall (i) treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and (ii) comply with the requirements of Rule 164 and 433 of the Securities Act applicable to such Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including in respect of timely filing with the Commission, legending and record keeping.
(f) Transfer Agent. The Company will maintain, at its expense, a registrar and transfer agent for the Ordinary Shares.
(g) Earnings Statement. As soon as practicable and in accordance with applicable requirements under the Securities Act, but in any event not later than 18 months after the last Closing Date, the Company will make generally available to its security holders and to the Placement Agent an earnings statement, covering a period of at least 12 consecutive months beginning after the last Closing Date, that satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) and Rule 158 under the Securities Act.
(h) Periodic Reporting Obligations. During the Prospectus Delivery Period, the Company will duly file, on a timely basis, with the Commission and the Trading Market all reports and documents required to be filed under the Exchange Act within the time periods and in the manner required by the Exchange Act.
(i) Additional Documents. The Company will enter into any subscription, purchase or other customary agreements as the Placement Agent or the Investors deem necessary or appropriate to consummate the Offering, all of which will be in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Placement Agent and the Investors. The Company agrees that the Placement Agent may rely upon, and each is a third-party beneficiary of, the representations and warranties, and applicable covenants, set forth in any such purchase, subscription or other agreement with Investors in the Offering.
(j) No Manipulation of Price. Neither the Company, nor, to its knowledge, any of its employees, directors or shareholders, has taken or will take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that has constituted or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act, or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.
(k) Acknowledgment. The Company acknowledges that any advice given by the Placement Agent to the Company is solely for the benefit and use of the Board of Directors of the Company and may not be used, reproduced, disseminated, quoted or referred to, without the Placement Agent’s prior written consent.
(l) Announcement of Offering. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Placement Agent may, subsequent to the Closing, make public its involvement with the Offering.
(m) Reliance on Others. The Company confirms that it will rely on its own counsel and accountants for legal and accounting advice.
(n) Research Matters. By entering into this Agreement, the Placement Agent does not provide any promise, either explicitly or implicitly, of favorable or continued research coverage of the Company and the Company hereby acknowledges and agrees that the Placement Agent’s selection as a placement agent for the Offering was in no way conditioned, explicitly or implicitly, on the Placement Agent providing favorable or any research coverage of the Company. In accordance with FINRA Rule 2241(b)(2)(K), the parties acknowledge and agree that the Placement Agent has not directly or indirectly offered favorable research, a specific rating or a specific price target, or threatened to change research, a rating or a price target, to the Company or inducement for the receipt of business or compensation. The Company hereby waives and releases, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that the Company may have against the Placement Agent with respect to any conflict of interest that may arise from the fact that the views expressed by their independent research analysts and research departments may be different from or inconsistent with the views or advice communicated to the Company by the Placement Agent’s investment banking divisions. The Company acknowledges that the Placement Agent is a full-service securities firm and as such from time to time, subject to applicable securities laws, may effect transactions for its own account or the account of its customers and hold long or short position in debt or equity securities of the Company.
(o) Subsequent Equity Sales.
(i) From the date hereof until six months after the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall (i) issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents or (ii) file any registration statement or amendment or supplement thereto, other than the Final Prospectus or filing a registration statement on Form S-8 in connection with any employee benefit plan, in each case without prior written consent of the Placement Agent.
(ii) Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 4(o) shall not apply in respect of an Exempt Issuance, except that no Variable Rate Transaction (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) shall be an Exempt Issuance. An “Exempt Issuance” means the issuance of (a) Ordinary Shares or options to employees, officers or directors of the Company pursuant to any share or option plan duly adopted for such purpose, by a majority of the non-employee members of the Board of Directors or a majority of the members of a committee of non-employee directors established for such purpose for services rendered to the Company, (b) securities upon the exercise or exchange of or conversion of any Securities issued hereunder, and/or other securities exercisable or exchangeable for or convertible into Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding on the date of this Agreement, provided that such securities have not been amended since the date of this Agreement to increase the number of such securities or to decrease the exercise price, exchange price or conversion price of such securities (other than in connection with share splits or combinations) or to extend the term of such securities, (c) securities issued pursuant to acquisitions or strategic transactions approved by a majority of the disinterested directors of the Company, provided that such securities are issued as “restricted securities” (as defined in Rule 144) and carry no registration rights that require or permit the filing of any registration statement in connection therewith during the prohibition period in Section 4(o)(i) herein, and provided that any such issuance shall only be to a Person (or to the equityholders of a Person) which is, itself or through its subsidiaries, an operating company or an owner of an asset in a business synergistic with the business of the Company and shall provide to the Company additional benefits in addition to the investment of funds, but shall not include a transaction in which the Company is issuing securities primarily for the purpose of raising capital or to an entity whose primary business is investing in securities and (d) up to $[_____] of Ordinary Shares and/or Warrants issued to other purchasers pursuant to the Registration Statement concurrently with the Closing at the Unit Purchase Price.
Section 5. Conditions of the Obligations of the Placement Agent. The obligations of the Placement Agent hereunder shall be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company set forth in Section 2 hereof, in each case as of the date hereof and as of each Closing Date as though then made, to the timely performance by each of the Company of its covenants and other obligations hereunder on and as of such dates, and to each of the following additional conditions:
(a) Accountants’ Comfort Letter. On the date hereof, the Placement Agent shall have received, and the Company shall have caused to be delivered to the Placement Agent, a letter from Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP (the independent registered public accounting firm of the Company), addressed to the Placement Agent, dated as of the date hereof, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Placement Agent. The letter shall not disclose any change in the condition (financial or other), earnings, operations, business or prospects of the Company from that set forth in the Incorporated Documents or the applicable Prospectus or prospectus supplement, which, in the Placement Agent’s sole judgment, is material and adverse and that makes it, in the Placement Agent’s sole judgment, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the Offering of the Securities as contemplated by such Prospectus.
(b) Compliance with Registration Requirements; No Stop Order; No Objection from the FINRA. Each Prospectus (in accordance with Rule 424(b)) and “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act), if any, shall have been duly filed with the Commission, as appropriate; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; no order preventing or suspending the use of any Prospectus shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; no order having the effect of ceasing or suspending the distribution of the Securities or any other securities of the Company shall have been issued by any securities commission, securities regulatory authority or stock exchange and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or shall be pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, contemplated by any securities commission, securities regulatory authority or stock exchange; all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with; and the FINRA shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the placement terms and arrangements.
(c) Corporate Proceedings. All corporate proceedings and other legal matters in connection with this Agreement, the Registration Statement and each Prospectus, and the registration, sale and delivery of the Securities, shall have been completed or resolved in a manner reasonably satisfactory to the Placement Agent’s counsel, and such counsel shall have been furnished with such papers and information as it may reasonably have requested to enable such counsel to pass upon the matters referred to in this Section 5.
(d) No Material Adverse Change. Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement and prior to each Closing Date, in the Placement Agent’s sole judgment after consultation with the Company, there shall not have occurred any Material Adverse Effect or any material adverse change or development involving a prospective material adverse change in the condition or the business activities, financial or otherwise, of the Company from the latest dates as of which such condition is set forth in the Registration Statement and Prospectus (“Material Adverse Change”).
(e) Opinions of Counsels for the Company. The Placement Agent shall have received on each Closing Date: (i) the opinion of US legal counsel to the Company, dated as of such Closing Date, including, without limitation, a negative assurance letter addressed to the Placement Agent and in form and substance satisfactory to the Placement Agent, (ii) the opinion of Cayman Islands legal counsel to the Company, dated as of such Closing Date, including, without limitation, a negative assurance letter addressed to the Placement Agent and in form and substance satisfactory to the Placement Agent, (iii) the opinion of Singapore legal counsel to the Company, dated as of such Closing Date, including, without limitation, a negative assurance letter addressed to the Placement Agent and in form and substance satisfactory to the Placement Agent, .
(f) Officers’ Certificate. The Placement Agent shall have received on each Closing Date a certificate of the Company, dated as of such Closing Date, signed by the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, to the effect that, and the Placement Agent shall be satisfied that, the signers of such certificate have reviewed the Registration Statement, the Incorporated Documents, the Prospectus, and this Agreement and to the further effect that:
(i) The representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct, in all material respects, as if made on and as of such Closing Date, and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied, in all reasonable respects, at or prior to such Closing Date;
(ii) No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the use of the Prospectus has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened under the Securities Act; no order having the effect of ceasing or suspending the distribution of the Securities or any other securities of the Company has been issued by any securities commission, securities regulatory authority or stock exchange in the United States and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, contemplated by any securities commission, securities regulatory authority or stock exchange in the United States;
(iii) When the Registration Statement became effective, at the time of sale, and at all times subsequent thereto up to the delivery of such certificate, the Registration Statement and the Incorporated Documents, if any, when such documents became effective or were filed with the Commission, and any Prospectus, contained all material information required to be included therein by the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, as the case may be, and in all material respects conformed to the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, as the case may be, and the Registration Statement and the Incorporated Documents, if any, and any Prospectus, did not and do not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading (provided, however, that the preceding representations and warranties contained in this paragraph (iii) shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by the Placement Agent expressly for use therein) and, since the Effective Date of the Registration Statement, there has occurred no event required by the Securities Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder to be set forth in the Incorporated Documents which has not been so set forth; and
(iv) Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Incorporated Documents and any Prospectus, there has not been: (a) any Material Adverse Change; (b) any transaction that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole, except transactions entered into in the ordinary course of business; (c) any obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole, incurred by the Company or any Subsidiary, except obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business; (d) any material change in the capital stock (except changes thereto resulting from the exercise of outstanding stock options or warrants) or outstanding indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary; (e) any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made on the capital stock of the Company; or (f) any loss or damage (whether or not insured) to the property of the Company or any Subsidiary which has been sustained or will have been sustained which has a Material Adverse Effect.
(g) Bring-down Comfort Letter. On each Closing Date, the Placement Agent shall have received from Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP, or such other independent registered public accounting firm of the Company, a letter dated as of such Closing Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Placement Agent, to the effect that they reaffirm the statements made in the letter furnished pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section 5, except that the specified date referred to therein for the carrying out of procedures shall be no more than two business days prior to such Closing Date.
(h) Lock-Up Agreements. On the date hereof, the Placement Agent shall have received the executed lock-up agreement, in the form attached as Exhibit A hereto, from each of the directors, officers and 5% or greater shareholders of the Company. The Company shall not amend, modify, waive or terminate any provision of any of the lock-up agreements except to extend the term of the lock-up period and shall enforce the provisions of each lock-up agreement in accordance with its terms. If any party to a lock-up agreement breaches any provision of a lock-up agreement, the Company shall promptly use its best efforts to seek specific performance of the terms of such lock-up agreement.
(i) Stock Exchange Listing. The Ordinary Shares shall be registered under the Exchange Act and shall be listed on the Trading Market, and the Company shall not have taken any action designed to terminate, or likely to have the effect of terminating, the registration of the Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Act or delisting or suspending from trading the Ordinary Shares from the Trading Market, nor shall the Company have received any information suggesting that the Commission or the Trading Market is contemplating terminating such registration or listing.
(j) Additional Documents. On or before each Closing Date, the Placement Agent and counsel for the Placement Agent shall have received such information and documents as they may reasonably require for the purposes of enabling them to pass upon the issuance and sale of the Securities as contemplated herein, or in order to evidence the accuracy of any of the representations and warranties, or the satisfaction of any of the conditions or agreements, herein contained.
If any condition specified in this Section 5 is not satisfied when and as required to be satisfied, this Agreement may be terminated by the Placement Agent by notice to the Company at any time on or prior to a Closing Date, which termination shall be without liability on the part of any party to any other party, except that Section 6 (Payment of Expenses), Section 7 (Indemnification and Contribution) (including Addendum A attached hereto) and Section 8 (Representations and Indemnities to Survive Delivery) shall at all times be effective and shall survive such termination.
Section 6. Payment of Expenses. The Company agrees to pay all costs, fees and expenses incurred by the Company in connection with the performance of its obligations hereunder and in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, including, without limitation: (i) all expenses incident to the issuance, delivery and qualification of the Securities (including all printing and engraving costs); (ii) all fees and expenses of the registrar and transfer agent of the Ordinary Shares; (iii) all necessary issue, transfer and other stamp taxes in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities; (iv) all fees and expenses of the Company’s counsel, independent public or certified public accountants and other advisors; (v) all costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation, printing, filing, shipping and distribution of the Registration Statement (including financial statements, exhibits, schedules, consents and certificates of experts), the Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and each prospectus supplement, if any, and all amendments and supplements thereto, and this Agreement; (vi) all filing fees, reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred by the Company or the Placement Agent in connection with qualifying or registering (or obtaining exemptions from the qualification or registration of) all or any part of the Securities for offer and sale under the state securities or blue sky laws or the securities laws of any other country, and, if requested by the Placement Agent, preparing and printing a “Blue Sky Survey,” an “International Blue Sky Survey” or other memorandum, and any supplements thereto, advising the Placement Agent of such qualifications, registrations and exemptions; (vii) if applicable, the filing fees incident to the review and approval by the FINRA of the Placement Agent’s participation in the offering and distribution of the Securities; (viii) the fees and expenses associated with including the Ordinary Shares and Warrant Shares on the Trading Market; (ix) all costs and expenses incident to the travel and accommodation of the Company’s and the Placement Agent’s employees on the “roadshow,” if any; and (x) all other fees, costs and expenses referred to in the section captioned “Plan of Distribution – Placement Agent Fees, Commissions and Expenses” in the Registration Statement.
Section 7. Indemnification and Contribution. The Company agrees to the indemnification and other agreements set forth in the Indemnification Provisions (the “Indemnification”) attached hereto as Addendum A, the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference and shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.
Section 8. Representations and Indemnities to Survive Delivery. The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company or any person controlling the Company, of its officers, and of the Placement Agent set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Placement Agent, the Company, or any of its or their partners, officers or directors or any controlling person, as the case may be, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Securities sold hereunder and any termination of this Agreement. A successor to a Placement Agent, or to the Company, its directors or officers or any person controlling the Company, shall be entitled to the benefits of the indemnity, contribution and reimbursement agreements contained in this Agreement.
Section 9. Notices. All communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be mailed, hand delivered or e-mailed and confirmed to the parties hereto as follows:
If to the Placement Agent to the address set forth above, attention: James Siegel, General Counsel, email: jsiegel@maximgrp.com
With a copy to:
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
1345 Avenue of the Americas, 11th Floor
New York, New York 10105
E-mail: capmkts@egsllp.com
If to the Company:
Ryde Group Ltd
Duo Tower, 3 Fraser Street, #08-21
Singapore 189352
E-mail: _______________
Attention: _______________
With a copy to:
Sidley Austin LLP
c/o 39/F, Two Int’l Finance Centre
8 Finance St, Central, Hong Kong
E-mail: _______________
Attention: _______________
Any party hereto may change the address for receipt of communications by giving written notice to the others.
Section 10. Successors. This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto, and to the benefit of the employees, officers and directors and controlling persons referred to in Section 7 (including Addendum A attached hereto) hereof, and to their respective successors, and personal representative, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder.
Section 11. Partial Unenforceability. The invalidity or unenforceability of any section, paragraph or provision of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other section, paragraph or provision hereof. If any Section, paragraph or provision of this Agreement is for any reason determined to be invalid or unenforceable, there shall be deemed to be made such minor changes (and only such minor changes) as are necessary to make it valid and enforceable.
Section 12. Governing Law Provisions. This Agreement shall be deemed to have been made and delivered in New York City and both this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be governed as to validity, interpretation, construction, effect and in all other respects by the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to the conflict of laws principles thereof. Each of the Placement Agent and the Company: (i) agrees that any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement and/or the transactions contemplated hereby shall be instituted exclusively in New York Supreme Court, County of New York, or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, (ii) waives any objection which it may have or hereafter to the venue of any such suit, action or proceeding, and (iii) irrevocably consents to the jurisdiction of the New York Supreme Court, County of New York, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in any such suit, action or proceeding. Each of the Placement Agent and the Company further agrees to accept and acknowledge service of any and all process which may be served in any such suit, action or proceeding in the New York Supreme Court, County of New York, or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and agrees that service of process upon the Company mailed by certified mail to the Company’s address shall be deemed in every respect effective service of process upon the Company, in any such suit, action or proceeding, and service of process upon the Placement Agent mailed by certified mail to the Placement Agent’s address shall be deemed in every respect effective service process upon the Placement Agent, in any such suit, action or proceeding. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the Company agrees that neither the Placement Agent nor its affiliates, and the respective officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives of the Placement Agent, its affiliates and each other person, if any, controlling the Placement Agent or any of its affiliates, shall have any liability (whether direct or indirect, in contract or tort or otherwise) to the Company for or in connection with the engagement and transaction described herein except for any such liability for losses, claims, damages or liabilities incurred by us that are finally judicially determined to have resulted from the willful misconduct or gross negligence of such individuals or entities. If either party shall commence an action or proceeding to enforce any provision of this Agreement, then the prevailing party in such action or proceeding shall be reimbursed by the other party for its reasonable attorney’s fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such action or proceeding. In addition to and without limiting the foregoing, the Company has confirmed that it has appointed [_________], as its authorized agent (the “Authorized Agent”) upon whom process may be served in any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or based upon the this Agreement or the Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated herein which may be instituted in any New York federal or state court, by the Placement Agent, the directors, officers, partners, employees and agents of the Placement Agent and each affiliate of the Placement Agent, and expressly accept the non-exclusive jurisdiction of any such court in respect of any such suit, action or proceeding. The Company hereby represents and warrants that the Authorized Agent has accepted such appointment and has agreed to act as said agent for service of process, and the Company agrees to take any and all action, including the filing of any and all documents that may be necessary to continue such appointment in full force and effect as aforesaid. The Company hereby authorizes and directs the Authorized Agent to accept such service. Service of process upon the Authorized Agent shall be deemed, in every respect, effective service of process upon the Company. If the Authorized Agent shall cease to act as agent for service of process, the Company shall appoint, without unreasonable delay, another such agent in the United States, and notify you of such appointment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any action arising out of or based upon this Agreement may be instituted by the Placement Agent, the directors, officers, partners, employees and agents of the Placement Agent and each respective affiliate of the Placement Agent, in any court of competent jurisdiction in the Cayman Islands. This paragraph shall survive any termination of this Agreement, in whole or in part.
Section 13. General Provisions.
(a) This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the parties to this Agreement and supersedes all prior written or oral and all contemporaneous oral agreements, understandings and negotiations with respect to the subject matter hereof. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Engagement Agreement, dated May 31, 2024, as amended, by and between the Company and the Placement Agent (the “Engagement Agreement”), shall continue to be effective and the terms therein shall continue to survive and be enforceable by the Placement Agent in accordance with its terms, provided that, in the event of a conflict between the terms of the Engagement Agreement and this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing herein shall be construed to effect or negate any of the rights of the Placement Agent or obligations of the Company as set forth in that certain underwriting agreement, dated March 5, 2024, between the Placement Agent and the Company (including, but not limited to, the Placement Agent’s right of first refusal thereunder). This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each one of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument. This Agreement may not be amended or modified unless in writing by all of the parties hereto, and no condition herein (express or implied) may be waived unless waived in writing by each party whom the condition is meant to benefit. Section headings herein are for the convenience of the parties only and shall not affect the construction or interpretation of this Agreement.
(b) The Company acknowledges that in connection with the offering of the Securities: (i) the Placement Agent’s responsibility to the Company is solely contractual and commercial in nature, (ii) The Placement Agent has acted at arms length, are not agents of, and owe no fiduciary duties to the Company or any other person, (iii) the Placement Agent owes the Company only those duties and obligations set forth in this Agreement and (iv) the Placement Agent may have interests that differ from those of the Company. The Company waives to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law any claims it may have against the Placement Agent arising from any breach or an alleged breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the offering of the Securities.
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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign below whereupon this instrument, along with all counterparts hereof, shall become a binding agreement in accordance with its terms.
Very truly yours, | ||
Ryde Group Ltd | ||
By: | ||
Name: | ||
Title: |
The foregoing Placement Agency Agreement is hereby confirmed and accepted as of the date first above written.
MAXIM GROUP LLC | ||
By: | ||
Name: | ||
Title: |
[Signature Page to Placement Agency Agreement]
Addendum A
Indemnification Provisions
In connection with the Placement Agency Agreement to which this Addendum A is attached (the “Agreement”), the Company (the “Indemnitor”) agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Maxim Group LLC (“Maxim”) and its affiliates, and the respective officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives of Maxim, its affiliates and each other person, if any, controlling Maxim or any of its affiliates (Maxim and each such other person being an “Indemnified Person”) from and against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities related to, arising out of or in connection with the engagement (the “Engagement”) under the Agreement, and will reimburse each Indemnified Person for all expenses (including fees and expenses of counsel) as they are incurred in connection with investigating, preparing, pursuing or defending any action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding related to, arising out of or in connection with the Engagement, whether or not pending or threatened and whether or not any Indemnified Person is a party. The Indemnitor will not, however, be responsible for any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or expenses relating thereto) that are judicially determined in a judgment not subject to appeal to have resulted from the bad faith, gross negligence or intentional misconduct of any Indemnified Person.
The Indemnitor will not, without Maxim’s prior written consent, settle, compromise, consent to the entry of any judgment in or otherwise seek to terminate any action, claim, suit or proceeding in respect of which indemnification may be sought hereunder (whether or not any Indemnified Person is a party thereto) unless such settlement, compromise, consent or termination includes a release of each Indemnified Person from any liabilities arising out of such action, claim, suit or proceeding. No Indemnified Person seeking indemnification, reimbursement or contribution under this agreement will, without the prior written consent of the Indemnitor, settle, compromise, consent to the entry of any judgment in or otherwise seek to terminate any action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding referred to in the preceding paragraph.
If the indemnification provided for in the first paragraph of this Addendum A is judicially determined to be unavailable (other than in accordance with the second sentence of the first paragraph hereof) to an Indemnified Person in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to herein, then, in lieu of indemnifying such Indemnified Person hereunder, the Indemnitor shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Indemnified Person as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (and expense relating thereto): (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits to the applicable Indemnified Person, on the one hand, and the Indemnitor, on the other hand, of the Engagement or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not available, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in such clause (i) but also the relative fault of each of the applicable Indemnified Person and the Indemnitor, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations; provided, however, that in no event shall any Indemnified Person’s aggregate contribution to the amount paid or payable exceed the aggregate amount of fees actually received by Maxim under the Agreement. Assuming that the Indemnitor has fully satisfied the amount of their obligations provided for herein to the Indemnified Persons, and the Indemnified Persons shall have no further liabilities in connection therewith, then the Indemnitor may take control of any pending action or litigation in order to reduce the expenses in connection therewith. For the purposes of this Addendum A, the relative benefits to the Indemnitor and the applicable Indemnified Person of the Engagement shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as: (a) the total net value paid or contemplated to be paid or received or contemplated to be received by the Indemnitor and its affiliates (including the Company’s shareholders), as the case may be, in the transaction or transactions that are the subject of the Engagement, whether or not any such transaction is consummated, bears to (b) the fees paid to Maxim in connection with the Engagement.
Procedure. Upon obtaining knowledge of any claim which may give rise to indemnification not involving a Third Party Claim, the Indemnified Person shall, as promptly as practicable following the date the Indemnified Person has obtained such knowledge, give written notice (which may be delivered by facsimile transmission, with confirmation of receipt by the receiving party) of such claim for which indemnification is sought (each, a “Claim”) to the Indemnitor, but no failure to give such notice shall relieve the Indemnitor of any liability hereunder (except to the extent that the Indemnitor has suffered actual, irreversible and material economic prejudice thereby). The Indemnified Person, at its cost, shall furnish to the Indemnitor in good faith and in reasonable detail such information as the Indemnified Person may have with respect to such Claim.
Promptly after receipt by an Indemnified Person of notice of the commencement of any action, suit or proceeding involving a Claim by a third party (each, a “Third Party Claim”) against it, such Indemnified Person will give written notice to the Indemnitor of the commencement of such Third Party Claim, and shall give the Indemnitor such information with respect thereto as the Indemnitor may reasonably request, but no failure to give such notice shall relieve the Indemnitor of any liability hereunder (except to the extent the Indemnitor have suffered actual, irreversible and material economic prejudice thereby). The Indemnitor shall have the right, but not the obligation, to assume the defense and control the settlement of such Third Party Claim, at their cost and expense (and not as a reduction in the amount of indemnification available hereunder), using counsel selected by the Indemnitor and reasonably acceptable to the Indemnified Person. If the Indemnitor satisfies the requirements of this Addendum A and desire to exercise our right to assume the defense and control the settlement of such Third Party Claim, the Indemnitor shall give written notice (the “Notice”) to the Indemnified Person within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of notice from the Indemnified Person of the commencement of or assertion of any Third Party Claim stating that the Indemnitor shall be responsible for such Third Party Claim. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Indemnified Person shall have the right: (i) to assume the defense and control the settlement of a Third Party Claim and (ii) to employ separate counsel at our reasonable expense (provided that the Indemnitor shall not be required to reimburse the expenses and costs of more than one law firm) and control its own defense of a Third Party Claim if (x) the named parties to any such action (including any impleaded parties) include both the Indemnified Person and us, and the Indemnified Person shall have been advised by counsel that there are one or more legal or equitable defenses available to the Indemnified Person that are different from those available to the Indemnitor, (y) such Third Party Claim involves equitable or other non-monetary damages or in the reasonable judgment of the Indemnified Person, such settlement would have a continuing material adverse effect on the Indemnified Person’s business (including any material impairment of its relationships with customers and suppliers) or (z) or in the reasonable judgment of the Indemnified Person, the Indemnitor may not be able to satisfy fully such Third Party Claim. In addition, if the Indemnitor fails to give the Indemnified Person the Notice in accordance with the terms hereof, the Indemnified Person shall have the right to assume control of the defense of and settle the Third Party Claim and all costs incurred in connection therewith shall constitute damages of the Indemnified Person. For the avoidance of doubt, the Indemnitor acknowledges that it will advance any retainer fees required by legal counsel to an Indemnified Person simultaneously with the engagement by such Indemnified Person of such counsel, it being understood and agreed that the amount of such retainer shall not exceed $20,000 and that such retainer shall be credited to fees incurred with the balance (if any) refundable to the Indemnitor.
If at any time after the Indemnitor assumes the defense of a Third Party Claim, any of the conditions set forth in the paragraph above are no longer satisfied, the Indemnified Person shall have the same rights as set forth above as if the Indemnitor never assumed the defense of such claim.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Indemnitor or the Indemnified Person, as the case may be, shall have the right to participate, at the Indemnitor’s or the Indemnified Person’s own expense, in the defense of any Third Party Claim that the other party is defending.
If the Indemnitor assumes the defense of any Third Party Claim in accordance with the terms hereof, the Indemnitor shall have the right, upon 30 calendar days’ prior written notice to the Indemnified Person, to consent to the entry of judgment with respect to, or otherwise settle such Third Party Claim; provided, however, that with respect to such consent to the entry of judgment or settlement, the Indemnified Person will not have any liability and will be fully indemnified with respect to all Third Party Claims. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Indemnitor shall not have the right to consent to the entry of judgment with respect to, or otherwise settle a Third Party Claim if: (i) the consent to judgment or settlement of such Third Party Claim involves equitable or other non-monetary damages against the Indemnified Person, or (ii) in the reasonable judgment of the Indemnified Person, such settlement would have a continuing effect on the Indemnified Person’s business (including any material impairment of its relationships with customers and suppliers), without the prior written consent of the Indemnified Person. In addition, the Indemnified Person shall have the sole and exclusive right to settle any Third Party Claim on such terms and conditions as it deems reasonably appropriate, (x) if the Indemnitor fails to assume the defense in accordance with the terms hereof, or (y) to the extent such Third Party Claim involves only equitable or other non-monetary relief, and shall have the right to settle any Third Party Claim involving monetary damages with our consent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
The provisions of this Addendum A shall apply to the Engagement and any modification thereof and shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any termination or the completion of Maxim’s services under the Agreement.
Exhibit A
Form of Lock-up Agreement
Exhibit 4.2
CLASS A ORDINARY SHARE PURCHASE WARRANT
Ryde Group Ltd
Warrant Shares: _______ | Initial Exercise Date: _______, 2024 |
THIS CLASS A ORDINARY SHARE PURCHASE WARRANT (the “Warrant”) certifies that, for value received, _____________ or its assigns (the “Holder”) is entitled, upon the terms and subject to the limitations on exercise and the conditions hereinafter set forth, at any time on or after the date hereof (the “Initial Exercise Date”) and on or prior to 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on _____1 (the “Termination Date”) but not thereafter, to subscribe for and purchase from Ryde Group Ltd, an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the “Company”), up to ______ Class A Ordinary Shares (as subject to adjustment hereunder, the “Warrant Shares”) . The purchase price of one Class A Ordinary Share under this Warrant shall be equal to the Exercise Price, as defined in Section 2(b). This Warrant shall initially be issued and maintained in the form of a security held in book-entry form and the Depository Trust Company or its nominee (“DTC”) shall initially be the sole registered holder of this Warrant, subject to a Holder’s right to elect to receive a Warrant in certificated form pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agency Agreement, in which case this sentence shall not apply.
Section 1. Definitions. In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Warrant, the following terms have the meanings indicated in this Section 1:
“Affiliate” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person, as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act.
“Bid Price” means, for any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Class A Ordinary Share is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the bid price of the Class A Ordinary Share for the time in question (or the nearest preceding date) on the Trading Market on which the Class A Ordinary Share is then listed or quoted as reported by Bloomberg L.P. (based on a Trading Day from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) to 4:02 p.m. (New York City time)), (b) if OTCQB or OTCQX is not a Trading Market, the volume weighted average price of the Class A Ordinary Share for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on OTCQB or OTCQX as applicable, (c) if the Class A Ordinary Share is not then listed or quoted for trading on OTCQB or OTCQX and if prices for the Class A Ordinary Share are then reported on the Pink Open Market (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price per Class A Ordinary Share so reported, or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of a Class A Ordinary Share as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holders of a majority in interest of the Warrants then outstanding and reasonably acceptable to the Company, the fees and expenses of which shall be paid by the Company.
1 Insert the date that is the _ year anniversary of the Initial Exercise Date, provided that, if such date is not a Trading Day, insert the immediately following Trading Day.
“Board of Directors” means the board of directors of the Company.
“Business Day” means any day other than Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in The City of New York are authorized or required by law to remain closed; provided, however, for clarification, commercial banks shall not be deemed to be authorized or required by law to remain closed due to “stay at home”, “shelter-in-place”, “non-essential employee” or any other similar orders or restrictions or the closure of any physical branch locations at the direction of any governmental authority so long as the electronic funds transfer systems (including for wire transfers) of commercial banks in The City of New York generally are open for use by customers on such day.
“Class A Ordinary Share” means the Class A Ordinary Share of the Company, par value US$0.0002 per share, and any other class of securities into which such securities may hereafter be reclassified or changed.
“Class A Ordinary Share Equivalents” means any securities of the Company or the Subsidiaries which would entitle the holder thereof to acquire at any time Class A Ordinary Shares, including, without limitation, any debt, preferred stock, right, option, warrant or other instrument that is at any time convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or otherwise entitles the holder thereof to receive, Class A Ordinary Shares.
“Commission” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
“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.
“Registration Statement” means the Company’s registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-______).
“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
“Securities Purchase Agreement” means the securities purchase agreement, dated as of _____, 2024 among the Company and the purchasers signatory thereto, as amended, modified or supplemented from time to time in accordance with its terms.
“Subsidiary” means any subsidiary of the Company and shall, where applicable, also include any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company formed or acquired after the date hereof.
“Trading Day” means a day on which the Class A Ordinary Shares are traded on a Trading Market.
“Trading Market” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Class A Ordinary Shares are listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE American, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the New York Stock Exchange, OTCQB or OTCQX (or any successors to any of the foregoing).
“Transfer Agent” means VStock Transfer, LLC, the current transfer agent of the Company, and any successor transfer agent of the Company.
“VWAP” means, for any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Class A Ordinary Share is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of the Class A Ordinary Share for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the Trading Market on which the Class A Ordinary Share is then listed or quoted as reported by Bloomberg L.P. (based on a Trading Day from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) to 4:02 p.m. (New York City time)), (b) if OTCQB or OTCQX is not a Trading Market, the volume weighted average price of the Class A Ordinary Share for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on OTCQB or OTCQX as applicable, (c) if the Class A Ordinary Share is not then listed or quoted for trading on OTCQB or OTCQX and if prices for the Class A Ordinary Share are then reported on the Pink Open Market (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price per Class A Ordinary Share so reported, or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of a Class A Ordinary Share as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the holders of a majority in interest of the Warrants then outstanding and reasonably acceptable to the Company, the fees and expenses of which shall be paid by the Company.
“Warrant Agency Agreement” means that certain warrant agency agreement, dated on or about the Initial Exercise Date, between the Company and the Warrant Agent.
“Warrant Agent” means the Transfer Agent and any successor warrant agent of the Company.
“Warrants” means this Warrant and other Class A Ordinary Share purchase warrants issued by the Company pursuant to the Registration Statement.
Section 2. Exercise.
a) Exercise of Warrant. Exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant may be made, in whole or in part, at any time or times on or after the Initial Exercise Date and on or before the Termination Date by delivery to the Company of a duly executed PDF copy submitted by e-mail (or e-mail attachment) of the Notice of Exercise in the form annexed hereto (the “Notice of Exercise”). Within the earlier of (i) one (1) Trading Day and (ii) the number of Trading Days comprising the Standard Settlement Period (as defined in Section 2(d)(i) herein) following the date of exercise as aforesaid, the Holder shall deliver the aggregate Exercise Price for the shares specified in the applicable Notice of Exercise by wire transfer or cashier’s check drawn on a United States bank unless the cashless exercise procedure specified in Section 2(c) below is specified in the applicable Notice of Exercise. No ink-original Notice of Exercise shall be required, nor shall any medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any Notice of Exercise be required. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Holder shall not be required to physically surrender this Warrant to the Company until the Holder has purchased all of the Warrant Shares available hereunder and the Warrant has been exercised in full, in which case, the Holder shall surrender this Warrant to the Company for cancellation within three (3) Trading Days of the date on which the final Notice of Exercise is delivered to the Company. Partial exercises of this Warrant resulting in purchases of a portion of the total number of Warrant Shares available hereunder shall have the effect of lowering the outstanding number of Warrant Shares purchasable hereunder in an amount equal to the applicable number of Warrant Shares purchased. The Holder and the Company shall maintain records showing the number of Warrant Shares purchased and the date of such purchases. The Company shall deliver any objection to any Notice of Exercise within one (1) Business Day of receipt of such notice. The Holder and any assignee, by acceptance of this Warrant, acknowledge and agree that, by reason of the provisions of this paragraph, following the purchase of a portion of the Warrant Shares hereunder, the number of Warrant Shares available for purchase hereunder at any given time may be less than the amount stated on the face hereof.
Notwithstanding the foregoing in this Section 2(a), a holder whose interest in this Warrant is a beneficial interest in certificate(s) representing this Warrant held in book-entry form through DTC (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions), shall effect exercises made pursuant to this Section 2(a) by delivering to DTC (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable) the appropriate instruction form for exercise, complying with the procedures to effect exercise that are required by DTC (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable), subject to a Holder’s right to elect to receive a Warrant in certificated form pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agency Agreement, in which case this sentence shall not apply.
b) Exercise Price. The exercise price per Class A Ordinary Share under this Warrant shall be $_____, subject to adjustment hereunder (the “Exercise Price”).
c) Cashless Exercise. If at the time of exercise hereof there is no effective registration statement registering, or the prospectus contained therein is not available for the issuance of the Warrant Shares to the Holder, then this Warrant may also be exercised, in whole or in part, at such time by means of a “cashless exercise” in which the Holder shall be entitled to receive a number of Warrant Shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing [(A-B) (X)] by (A), where:
(A) | = as applicable: (i) the VWAP on the Trading Day immediately preceding the date of the applicable Notice of Exercise if such Notice of Exercise is (1) both executed and delivered pursuant to Section 2(a) hereof on a day that is not a Trading Day or (2) both executed and delivered pursuant to Section 2(a) hereof on a Trading Day prior to the opening of “regular trading hours” (as defined in Rule 600(b) of Regulation NMS promulgated under the federal securities laws) on such Trading Day, (ii) at the option of the Holder, either (y) the VWAP on the Trading Day immediately preceding the date of the applicable Notice of Exercise or (z) the Bid Price of the Class A Ordinary Shares on the principal Trading Market as reported by Bloomberg L.P. as of the time of the Holder’s execution of the applicable Notice of Exercise if such Notice of Exercise is executed during “regular trading hours” on a Trading Day and is delivered within two (2) hours thereafter (including until two (2) hours after the close of “regular trading hours” on a Trading Day) pursuant to Section 2(a) hereof or (iii) the VWAP on the date of the applicable Notice of Exercise if the date of such Notice of Exercise is a Trading Day and such Notice of Exercise is both executed and delivered pursuant to Section 2(a) hereof after the close of “regular trading hours” on such Trading Day; | |
(B) | = the Exercise Price of this Warrant, as adjusted hereunder; and | |
(X) | = the number of Warrant Shares that would be issuable upon exercise of this Warrant in accordance with the terms of this Warrant if such exercise were by means of a cash exercise rather than a cashless exercise. |
If Warrant Shares are issued in such a cashless exercise, the parties acknowledge and agree that in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, the Warrant Shares shall take on the registered characteristics of the Warrants being exercised. The Company agrees not to take any position contrary to this Section 2(c).
d) Mechanics of Exercise.
i. Delivery of Warrant Shares Upon Exercise. The Company shall cause the Warrant Shares purchased hereunder to be transmitted by the Transfer Agent to the Holder by crediting the account of the Holder’s or its designee’s balance account with The Depository Trust Company through its Deposit or Withdrawal at Custodian system (“DWAC”) if the Company is then a participant in such system and either (A) there is an effective registration statement permitting the issuance of the Warrant Shares to or resale of the Warrant Shares by Holder or (B) this Warrant is being exercised via cashless exercise, and otherwise by physical delivery of a certificate, registered in the Company’s share register in the name of the Holder or its designee, for the number of Warrant Shares to which the Holder is entitled pursuant to such exercise to the address specified by the Holder in the Notice of Exercise by the date that is the earliest of (i) one (1) Trading Day after the delivery to the Company of the Notice of Exercise, (ii) one (1) Trading Day after delivery of the aggregate Exercise Price to the Company and (iii) the number of Trading Days comprising the Standard Settlement Period after the delivery to the Company of the Notice of Exercise (such date, the “Warrant Share Delivery Date”). Upon delivery of the Notice of Exercise, the Holder shall be deemed for all corporate purposes to have become the holder of record of the Warrant Shares with respect to which this Warrant has been exercised, irrespective of the date of delivery of the Warrant Shares, provided that payment of the aggregate Exercise Price (other than in the case of a cashless exercise) is received within the earlier of (i) one (1) Trading Day and (ii) the number of Trading Days comprising the Standard Settlement Period following delivery of the Notice of Exercise. If the Company fails for any reason to deliver to the Holder the Warrant Shares subject to a Notice of Exercise by the Warrant Share Delivery Date, the Company shall pay to the Holder, in cash, as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of Warrant Shares subject to such exercise (based on the VWAP of the Class A Ordinary Share on the date of the applicable Notice of Exercise), $10 per Trading Day (increasing to $20 per Trading Day on the third Trading Day after the Warrant Share Delivery Date) for each Trading Day after such Warrant Share Delivery Date until such Warrant Shares are delivered or Holder rescinds such exercise. The Company agrees to maintain a transfer agent that is a participant in the FAST program so long as this Warrant remains outstanding and exercisable. As used herein, “Standard Settlement Period” means the standard settlement period, expressed in a number of Trading Days, on the Company’s primary Trading Market with respect to the Class A Ordinary Share as in effect on the date of delivery of the Notice of Exercise.
ii. Delivery of New Warrants Upon Exercise. If this Warrant shall have been exercised in part, the Company shall, at the request of a Holder and upon surrender of this Warrant certificate, at the time of delivery of the Warrant Shares, deliver to the Holder a new Warrant evidencing the rights of the Holder to purchase the unpurchased Warrant Shares called for by this Warrant, which new Warrant shall in all other respects be identical with this Warrant.
iii. Rescission Rights. If the Company fails to cause the Transfer Agent to transmit to the Holder the Warrant Shares pursuant to Section 2(d)(i) by the Warrant Share Delivery Date, then the Holder will have the right to rescind such exercise.
iv. Compensation for Buy-In on Failure to Timely Deliver Warrant Shares Upon Exercise. In addition to any other rights available to the Holder, if the Company fails to cause the Transfer Agent to transmit to the Holder the Warrant Shares in accordance with the provisions of Section 2(d)(i) above pursuant to an exercise on or before the Warrant Share Delivery Date (other than as a result of failure of the Holder to timely deliver the aggregate Exercise Price, unless the Warrant is validly exercised by means of cashless exercise), 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, Class A Ordinary Shares to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of the Warrant 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 Class A Ordinary Shares so purchased exceeds (y) the amount obtained by multiplying (1) the number of Warrant 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 Warrant 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 Class A Ordinary Shares that would have been issued had the Company timely complied with its exercise and delivery obligations hereunder. For example, if the Holder purchases Class A Ordinary Sharea having a total purchase price of $11,000 to cover a Buy-In with respect to an attempted exercise of Class A Ordinary Shares 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, upon request of the Company, evidence of the amount of such loss. Nothing herein shall limit a Holder’s right to pursue any other remedies available to it hereunder, at law or in equity including, without limitation, a decree of specific performance and/or injunctive relief with respect to the Company’s failure to timely deliver Class A Ordinary Shares upon exercise of the Warrant as required pursuant to the terms hereof.
v. No Fractional Shares or Scrip. No fractional shares or scrip representing fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of this Warrant. As to any fraction of a share which the Holder would otherwise be entitled to purchase upon such exercise, the Company shall, at its election, either pay a cash adjustment in respect of such final fraction in an amount equal to such fraction multiplied by the Exercise Price or round up to the next whole share.
vi. Charges, Taxes and Expenses. Issuance of Warrant 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 Warrant Shares, all of which taxes and expenses shall be paid by the Company, and such Warrant 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 that Warrant 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 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. The Company shall pay all Transfer Agent fees required for same-day processing of any Notice of Exercise and all fees to the Depository Trust Company (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions) required for same-day electronic delivery of the Warrant Shares.
vii. Closing of Books. The Company will not close its stockholder books or records in any manner which prevents the timely exercise of this Warrant, pursuant to the terms hereof.
e) Holder’s Exercise Limitations. The Company shall not effect any exercise of this Warrant, and a Holder shall not have the right to exercise any portion of this Warrant, pursuant to Section 2 or otherwise, to the extent that after giving effect to such issuance after exercise as set forth on the applicable Notice of Exercise, the Holder (together with the Holder’s Affiliates, and any other Persons acting as a group together with the Holder or any of the Holder’s Affiliates (such Persons, “Attribution Parties”)), would beneficially own in excess of the Beneficial Ownership Limitation (as defined below). For purposes of the foregoing sentence, the number of Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by the Holder and its Affiliates and Attribution Parties shall include the number of Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of this Warrant with respect to which such determination is being made, but shall exclude the number of Class A Ordinary Shares which would be issuable upon (i) exercise of the remaining, nonexercised portion of this Warrant beneficially owned by the Holder or any of its Affiliates or Attribution Parties and (ii) exercise or conversion of the unexercised or nonconverted portion of any other securities of the Company (including, without limitation, any other Class A Ordinary Share Equivalents) subject to a limitation on conversion or exercise analogous to the limitation contained herein beneficially owned by the Holder or any of its Affiliates or Attribution Parties. Except as set forth in the preceding sentence, for purposes of this Section 2(e), beneficial ownership shall be calculated in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, it being acknowledged by the Holder that the Company is not representing to the Holder that such calculation is in compliance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the Holder is solely responsible for any schedules required to be filed in accordance therewith. To the extent that the limitation contained in this Section 2(e) applies, the determination of whether this Warrant is exercisable (in relation to other securities owned by the Holder together with any Affiliates and Attribution Parties) and of which portion of this Warrant is exercisable shall be in the sole discretion of the Holder, and the submission of a Notice of Exercise shall be deemed to be the Holder’s determination of whether this Warrant is exercisable (in relation to other securities owned by the Holder together with any Affiliates and Attribution Parties) and of which portion of this Warrant is exercisable, in each case subject to the Beneficial Ownership Limitation, and the Company shall have no obligation to verify or confirm the accuracy of such determination. In addition, a determination as to any group status as contemplated above shall be determined in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. For purposes of this Section 2(e), in determining the number of outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares, a Holder may rely on the number of outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares as reflected in (A) the Company’s most recent periodic or annual report filed with the Commission, as the case may be, (B) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (C) a more recent written notice by the Company or the Transfer Agent setting forth the number of Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding. Upon the written or oral request of a Holder, the Company shall within one Trading Day confirm orally and in writing to the Holder the number of Class A Ordinary Shares then outstanding. In any case, the number of outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares shall be determined after giving effect to the conversion or exercise of securities of the Company, including this Warrant, by the Holder or its Affiliates or Attribution Parties since the date as of which such number of outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares was reported. The “Beneficial Ownership Limitation” shall be 4.99% (or, upon election by a Holder prior to the issuance of any Warrants, 9.99%) of the number of Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to the issuance of Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of this Warrant. The Holder, upon notice to the Company, may increase or decrease the Beneficial Ownership Limitation provisions of this Section 2(e), provided that the Beneficial Ownership Limitation in no event exceeds 9.99% of the number of shares of the Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to the issuance of Class A Ordinary Shares upon exercise of this Warrant held by the Holder and the provisions of this Section 2(e) shall continue to apply. Any increase in the Beneficial Ownership Limitation will not be effective until the 61st day after such notice is delivered to the Company. The provisions of this paragraph shall be construed and implemented in a manner otherwise than in strict conformity with the terms of this Section 2(e) to correct this paragraph (or any portion hereof) which may be defective or inconsistent with the intended Beneficial Ownership Limitation herein contained or to make changes or supplements necessary or desirable to properly give effect to such limitation. The limitations contained in this paragraph shall apply to a successor holder of this Warrant.
Section 3. Certain Adjustments.
a) Stock Dividends and Splits. If the Company, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding: (i) pays a stock dividend or otherwise makes a distribution or distributions on Class A Ordinary Shares or any other equity or equity equivalent securities payable in Class A Ordinary Shares (which, for avoidance of doubt, shall not include any Class A Ordinary Shares issued by the Company upon exercise of this Warrant), (ii) subdivides outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares into a larger number of shares, (iii) combines (including by way of reverse stock split) outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares into a smaller number of shares, or (iv) issues by reclassification of Class A Ordinary Shares 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 Class A Ordinary Shares (excluding treasury shares, if any) outstanding immediately before such event and of which the denominator shall be the number of Class A Ordinary Shares 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 3(a) 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.
b) Subsequent Rights Offerings. In addition to any adjustments pursuant to Section 3(a) above, if at any time the Company grants, issues or sells any Class A Ordinary Share Equivalents or rights to purchase stock, warrants, securities or other property pro rata to the record holders of any class of Class A Ordinary Shares (the “Purchase Rights”), then the Holder will be entitled to acquire, upon the terms applicable to such Purchase Rights, the aggregate Purchase Rights which the Holder could have acquired if the Holder had held the number of Class A Ordinary Shares 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 on which a record is taken for the grant, issuance or sale of such Purchase Rights, or, if no such record is taken, the date as of which the record holders of Class A Ordinary Shares are to be determined for the grant, issue or sale of such Purchase Rights (provided, however, that, to the extent that the Holder’s right to participate in any such Purchase Right would result in the Holder exceeding the Beneficial Ownership Limitation, then the Holder shall not be entitled to participate in such Purchase Right to such extent (or beneficial ownership of such Class A Ordinary Shares as a result of such Purchase Right to such extent) and such Purchase Right to such extent shall be held in abeyance for the Holder until such time, if ever, as its right thereto would not result in the Holder exceeding the Beneficial Ownership Limitation).
c) 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 Class A Ordinary Shares, 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 Class A Ordinary Shares 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 Class A Ordinary Shares 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, then the Holder shall not be entitled to participate in such Distribution to such extent (or in the beneficial ownership of any Class A Ordinary Shares 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).
d) Fundamental Transaction. If, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding, (i) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another Person, (ii) the Company or any Subsidiary, directly or indirectly, effects any sale, lease, license, assignment, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of all or substantially all of its assets in one or a series of related transactions, (iii) any, direct or indirect, purchase offer, tender offer or exchange offer (whether by the Company or another Person) is completed pursuant to which holders of Class A Ordinary Shares are permitted to sell, tender or exchange their shares for other securities, cash or property and has been accepted by the holders of greater than 50% of the outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares or greater than 50% of the voting power of the common equity of the Company, (iv) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any reclassification, reorganization or recapitalization of the Class A Ordinary Shares or any compulsory share exchange pursuant to which the Class A Ordinary Share is effectively converted into or exchanged for other securities, cash or property, or (v) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions consummates a stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination (including, without limitation, a reorganization, recapitalization, spin-off, merger or scheme of arrangement) with another Person or group of Persons whereby such other Person or group acquires greater than 50% of the outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares or greater than 50% of the voting power of the common equity of the Company (each a “Fundamental Transaction”), then, upon any subsequent exercise of this Warrant, the Holder shall have the right to receive, for each Warrant Share that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, at the option of the Holder (without regard to any limitation in Section 2(e) on the exercise of this Warrant), the number of Class A Ordinary Shares 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 Fundamental Transaction by a holder of the number of Class A Ordinary Shares for which this Warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such Fundamental Transaction (without regard to any limitation in Section 2(e) on the exercise of this Warrant). 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 Class A Ordinary Share 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 Class A Ordinary Shares 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 any exercise of this Warrant following such Fundamental Transaction. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, in the event of a Fundamental Transaction, the Company or any Successor Entity (as defined below) shall, at the Holder’s option, exercisable at any time concurrently with, or within 30 days after, the consummation of the Fundamental Transaction (or, if later, the date of the public announcement of the applicable Fundamental Transaction), purchase this Warrant from the Holder by paying to the Holder an amount of cash equal to the Black Scholes Value (as defined below) of the remaining unexercised portion of this Warrant on the date of the consummation of such Fundamental Transaction; provided, however, that, if the Fundamental Transaction is not within the Company’s control, including not approved by the Company’s Board of Directors, the Holder shall only be entitled to receive from the Company or any Successor Entity the same type or form of consideration (and in the same proportion), at the Black Scholes Value of the unexercised portion of this Warrant, that is being offered and paid to the holders of Class A Ordinary Shares of the Company in connection with the Fundamental Transaction, whether that consideration be in the form of cash, stock or any combination thereof, or whether the holders of Class A Ordinary Shares are given the choice to receive from among alternative forms of consideration in connection with the Fundamental Transaction; provided, further, that if holders of Class A Ordinary Shares of the Company are not offered or paid any consideration in such Fundamental Transaction, such holders of Class A Ordinary Shares will be deemed to have received Class A Ordinary Shares of the Successor Entity (which Entity may be the Company following such Fundamental Transaction) in such Fundamental Transaction. “Black Scholes Value” means the value of this Warrant based on the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model obtained from the “OV” function on Bloomberg, L.P. (“Bloomberg”) determined as of the day of consummation of the applicable Fundamental Transaction for pricing purposes and reflecting (A) a risk-free interest rate corresponding to the U.S. Treasury rate for a period equal to the time between the date of the public announcement of the applicable contemplated Fundamental Transaction and the Termination Date, (B) an expected volatility equal to the greater of (1) the 30 day volatility, (2) the 100 day volatility or (3) the 365 day volatility, each of clauses (1)-(3) as obtained from the HVT function on Bloomberg (determined utilizing a 365 day annualization factor) as of the Trading Day immediately following the public announcement of the applicable contemplated Fundamental Transaction, (C) the underlying price per share used in such calculation shall be the highest VWAP during the period beginning on the Trading Day immediately preceding the public announcement of the applicable contemplated Fundamental Transaction (or the consummation of the applicable Fundamental Transaction, if earlier) and ending on the Trading Day of the Holder’s request pursuant to this Section 3(d) and (D) a remaining option time equal to the time between the date of the public announcement of the applicable contemplated Fundamental Transaction and the Termination Date and (E) a zero cost of borrow. The payment of the Black Scholes Value will be made by wire transfer of immediately available funds (or such other consideration) within the later of (i) five Business Days of the Holder’s election and (ii) the date of consummation of the Fundamental Transaction. The Company shall cause any successor entity in a Fundamental Transaction in which the Company is not the survivor (the “Successor Entity”) to assume in writing all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3(d) pursuant to written agreements in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Holder and approved by the Holder (without unreasonable delay) prior to such Fundamental Transaction and shall, at the option of the Holder, deliver to the Holder in exchange for this Warrant a security of the Successor Entity evidenced by a written instrument substantially similar in form and substance to this Warrant which is exercisable for a corresponding number of shares of capital stock of such Successor Entity (or its parent entity) equivalent to the Class A Ordinary Shares acquirable and receivable upon exercise of this Warrant (without regard to any limitations on the exercise of this Warrant) prior to such Fundamental Transaction, and with an exercise price which applies the exercise price hereunder to such shares of capital stock (but taking into account the relative value of the Class A Ordinary Shares pursuant to such Fundamental Transaction and the value of such shares of capital stock, such number of shares of capital stock and such exercise price being for the purpose of protecting the economic value of this Warrant immediately prior to the consummation of such Fundamental Transaction), and which is reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Holder. Upon the occurrence of any such Fundamental Transaction, the Successor Entity shall be added to the term “Company” under this Warrant (so that from and after the occurrence or consummation of such Fundamental Transaction, each and every provision of this Warrant and the other Transaction Documents referring to the “Company” shall refer instead to each of the Company and the Successor Entity or Successor Entities, jointly and severally), and the Successor Entity or Successor Entities, jointly and severally with the Company, may exercise every right and power of the Company prior thereto and the Successor Entity or Successor Entities shall assume all of the obligations of the Company prior thereto under this Warrant and the other Transaction Documents with the same effect as if the Company and such Successor Entity or Successor Entities, jointly and severally, had been named as the Company herein. For the avoidance of doubt, the Holder shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of this Section 3(d) regardless of (i) whether the Company has sufficient authorized Class A Ordinary Shares for the issuance of Warrant Shares and/or (ii) whether a Fundamental Transaction occurs prior to the Initial Exercise Date.
e) Calculations. All calculations under this Section 3 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 3, the number of Class A Ordinary Shares deemed to be issued and outstanding as of a given date shall be the sum of the number of Class A Ordinary Shares (excluding treasury shares, if any) issued and outstanding.
f) Notice to Holder.
i. Adjustment to Exercise Price. Whenever the Exercise Price is adjusted pursuant to any provision of this Section 3, the Company shall instruct the Warrant Agent to promptly deliver to the Holder by email a notice setting forth the Exercise Price after such adjustment and any resulting adjustment to the number of Warrant Shares and setting forth a brief statement of the facts requiring such adjustment. The Warrant Agent shall have no duty, responsibility or obligation to determine the correctness of any provisions contained in such notice, including but not limited to any provisions relating either to the kind or amount of securities or other property receivable upon exercise of warrants or with respect to the method employed and provided therein for any adjustments, and shall be entitled to rely conclusively for all purposes upon the provisions contained in any such agreement.
ii. Notice to Allow Exercise by Holder. If (A) the Company shall declare a dividend (or any other distribution in whatever form) on the Class A Ordinary Shares, (B) the Company shall declare a special nonrecurring cash dividend on or a redemption of the Class A Ordinary Shares, (C) the Company shall authorize the granting to all holders of the Class A Ordinary Shares rights or warrants to subscribe for or purchase any shares of capital stock of any class or of any rights, (D) the approval of any stockholders of the Company shall be required in connection with any reclassification of the Class A Ordinary Shares, any consolidation or merger to which the Company (or any of its Subsidiaries) is a party, any sale or transfer of all or substantially all of its assets, or any compulsory share exchange whereby the Class A Ordinary Shares are converted into other securities, cash or property, or (E) 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 delivered by email to the Holder at its last email address as it shall appear upon the Warrant Register of the Company, at least 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 Class A Ordinary Shares 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 Class A Ordinary Shares of record shall be entitled to exchange their Class A Ordinary Shares for securities, cash or other property deliverable upon such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange; provided that the failure to deliver such notice or any defect therein or in the delivery thereof shall not affect the validity of the corporate action required to be specified in such notice. To the extent that any notice provided in this Warrant constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K. The Holder shall remain 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 except as may otherwise be expressly set forth herein.
g) Voluntary Adjustment By Company. Subject to the rules and regulations of the Trading Market, the Company may at any time during the term of this Warrant reduce the then current Exercise Price to any amount and for any period of time deemed appropriate by the board of directors of the Company.
Section 4. Transfer of Warrant.
a) Transferability. This Warrant and all rights hereunder 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 attached hereto duly executed by the Holder or its agent or attorney and funds sufficient to pay any transfer taxes payable upon the making of such transfer. Upon such surrender and, if required, such payment, 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 instrument of assignment, 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. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Holder shall not be required to physically surrender this Warrant to the Company unless the Holder has assigned this Warrant in full, in which case, the Holder shall surrender this Warrant to the Company within three (3) Trading Days of the date on which the Holder delivers an assignment form to the Company assigning this Warrant in full. The Warrant, if properly assigned in accordance herewith, may be exercised by a new holder for the purchase of Warrant Shares without having a new Warrant issued.
b) New Warrants. If this Warrant is not held in global form through DTC (or any successor depositary), 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 4(a), 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 the Warrant or Warrants to be divided or combined in accordance with such notice. All Warrants issued on transfers or exchanges shall be dated the initial issuance date of this Warrant and shall be identical with this Warrant except as to the number of Warrant Shares issuable pursuant thereto.
c) Warrant Register. The Warrant Agent (or if this Warrant is not held in global form through DTC, the Company) shall register this Warrant, upon records to be maintained by the Warrant Agent (or if this Warrant is not held in global form through DTC, the Company) for that purpose (the “Warrant Register”), in the name of the record Holder hereof from time to time. The Company and the Warrant Agent 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.
Section 5. Miscellaneous.
a) No Rights as Stockholder Until Exercise; No Settlement in Cash. This Warrant does not entitle the Holder to any voting rights, dividends or other rights as a stockholder of the Company prior to the exercise hereof as set forth in Section 2(d)(i), except as expressly set forth in Section 3. Without limiting any rights of a Holder to receive Warrant Shares on a “cashless exercise” pursuant to Section 2(c) or to receive cash payments pursuant to Section 2(d)(i) and Section 2(d)(iv) herein, in no event shall the Company be required to net cash settle an exercise of this Warrant.
b) 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 Warrant Shares, and in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably satisfactory to it (which, in the case of the 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 stock certificate.
c) Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc. If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Business Day, then such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Business Day.
d) Authorized Shares.
The Company covenants that, during the period the Warrant is outstanding, it will reserve from its authorized and unissued Class A Ordinary Shares a sufficient number of shares to provide for the issuance of the Warrant Shares upon the exercise of any purchase rights under this Warrant. The Company further covenants that its issuance of this Warrant shall constitute full authority to its officers who are charged with the duty of issuing the necessary Warrant Shares upon the exercise of the purchase rights under this Warrant. The Company will take all such reasonable action as may be necessary to assure that such Warrant Shares may be issued as provided herein without violation of any applicable law or regulation, or of any requirements of the Trading Market upon which the Class A Ordinary Shares may be listed. The Company covenants that all Warrant Shares which may be issued upon the exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant will, upon exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant and payment for such Warrant Shares in accordance herewith, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free from all taxes, liens and charges created by the Company in respect of the issue thereof (other than taxes in respect of any transfer occurring contemporaneously with such issue).
Except and to the extent as waived or consented to by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding Warrants (based on the number of Warrant hares underlying such Warrants), the Company shall not by any action, including, without limitation, amending 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 of this Warrant, but will at all times in good faith assist in the carrying out of all such terms and in the taking of all such actions as may be necessary or appropriate to protect the rights of Holder as set forth in this Warrant against impairment. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company will (i) not increase the par value of any Warrant Shares above the amount payable therefor upon such exercise immediately prior to such increase in par value, (ii) take all such action as may be necessary or appropriate in order that the Company may validly and legally issue fully paid and nonassessable Warrant Shares upon the exercise of this Warrant and (iii) use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain all such authorizations, exemptions or consents from any public regulatory body having jurisdiction thereof, as may be, necessary to enable the Company to perform its obligations under this Warrant.
Before taking any action which would result in an adjustment in the number of Warrant Shares for which this Warrant is exercisable or in the Exercise Price, the Company shall obtain all such authorizations or exemptions thereof, or consents thereto, as may be necessary from any public regulatory body or bodies having jurisdiction thereof.
e) Governing Law. All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of this Warrant shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law thereof. Each party agrees that all legal proceedings concerning the interpretations, enforcement and defense of the transactions contemplated by this Warrant (whether brought against a party hereto or their respective affiliates, directors, officers, shareholders, partners, members, employees or agents) shall be commenced exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection herewith or with any transaction contemplated hereby or discussed herein, and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such suit, action or proceeding is improper or is an inconvenient venue for such proceeding. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by mailing a copy thereof via registered or certified mail or overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Warrant and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. If either party shall commence an action, suit or proceeding to enforce any provisions of this Warrant, the prevailing party in such action, suit or proceeding shall be reimbursed by the other party for their reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such action or proceeding.
f) Restrictions. The Holder acknowledges that the Warrant Shares acquired upon the exercise of this Warrant, if not registered, and the Holder does not utilize cashless exercise, will have restrictions upon resale imposed by state and federal securities laws.
g) Nonwaiver and Expenses. No course of dealing or any delay or failure to exercise any right hereunder on the part of Holder shall operate as a waiver of such right or otherwise prejudice the Holder’s rights, powers or remedies. Without limiting any other provision of this Warrant, if the Company willfully and knowingly fails to comply with any provision of this Warrant, which results in any material damages to the Holder, the Company shall pay to the Holder such amounts as shall be sufficient to cover any costs and expenses including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, including those of appellate proceedings, incurred by the Holder in collecting any amounts due pursuant hereto or in otherwise enforcing any of its rights, powers or remedies hereunder.
h) Notices. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries to be provided by the Holders hereunder including, without limitation, any Notice of Exercise, shall be in writing and delivered personally, by e-mail, or sent by a nationally recognized overnight courier service, addressed to the Company, at ___________, Attention: ___________, email address: ___________, or such other email address or address as the Company may specify for such purposes by notice to the Holders. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries to be provided by the Company hereunder shall be in writing and delivered personally, by e-mail, or sent by a nationally recognized overnight courier service addressed to each Holder at the e-mail address or address of such Holder appearing on the books of the Company. Any notice or other communication or deliveries hereunder shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of (i) the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail at the e-mail address set forth in this Section prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any date, (ii) the next Trading Day after the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail at the e-mail address set forth in this Section on a day that is not a Trading Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, (iii) the second Trading Day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. nationally recognized overnight courier service, or (iv) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. To the extent that any notice provided hereunder constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K.
i) Limitation of Liability. No provision hereof, in the absence of any affirmative action by the Holder to exercise this Warrant to purchase Warrant Shares, and no enumeration herein of the rights or privileges of the Holder, shall give rise to any liability of the Holder for the purchase price of any Class A Ordinary Share or as a stockholder of the Company, whether such liability is asserted by the Company or by creditors of the Company.
j) Remedies. The Holder, in addition to being entitled to exercise all rights granted by law, including recovery of damages, will be entitled to specific performance of its rights under this Warrant. The Company agrees that monetary damages would not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of a breach by it of the provisions of this Warrant and hereby agrees to waive and not to assert the defense in any action for specific performance that a remedy at law would be adequate.
k) Successors and Assigns. Subject to applicable securities laws, this Warrant and the rights and obligations evidenced hereby shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the successors and permitted assigns of the Company and the successors and permitted assigns of Holder. The provisions of this Warrant are intended to be for the benefit of any Holder from time to time of this Warrant and shall be enforceable by the Holder or holder of Warrant Shares.
l) Amendment. This Warrant may be modified or amended or the provisions hereof waived with the written consent of the Company, on the one hand, and the Holder, on the other hand.
m) Severability. Wherever possible, each provision of this Warrant shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Warrant shall be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of such provisions or the remaining provisions of this Warrant.
n) Headings. The headings used in this Warrant are for the convenience of reference only and shall not, for any purpose, be deemed a part of this Warrant.
o) Warrant Agency Agreement. If this Warrant is held in global form through DTC (or any successor depositary), this Warrant is issued subject to the Warrant Agency Agreement. To the extent any provision of this Warrant conflicts with the express provisions of the Warrant Agency Agreement, the provisions of this Warrant shall govern and be controlling.
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(Signature Page Follows)
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Warrant to be executed by its officer thereunto duly authorized as of the date first above indicated.
Ryde Group Ltd | ||
By: | ||
Name: | ||
Title: |
NOTICE OF EXERCISE
To: | Ryde Group Ltd |
(1) The undersigned hereby elects to purchase ________ Warrant Shares of the Company pursuant to the terms of the attached Warrant (only if exercised in full), and tenders herewith payment of the exercise price in full, together with all applicable transfer taxes, if any.
(2) Payment shall take the form of (check applicable box):
[ ] in lawful money of the United States; or | ||
[ ] if permitted the cancellation of such number of Warrant Shares as is necessary, in accordance with the formula set forth in subsection 2(c), to exercise this Warrant with respect to the maximum number of Warrant Shares purchasable pursuant to the cashless exercise procedure set forth in subsection 2(c). |
(3) Please issue said Warrant Shares in the name of the undersigned or in such other name as is specified below:
_______________________________
The Warrant Shares shall be delivered to the following DWAC Account Number:
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
[SIGNATURE OF HOLDER]
Name of Investing Entity: ________________________________________________________________________
Signature of Authorized Signatory of Investing Entity: _________________________________________________
Name of Authorized Signatory: ___________________________________________________________________
Title of Authorized Signatory: ____________________________________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMENT FORM
(To assign the foregoing Warrant, execute this form and supply required information. Do not use this form to purchase shares.)
FOR VALUE RECEIVED, the foregoing Warrant and all rights evidenced thereby are hereby assigned to
Exhibit 4.3
RYDE GROUP LTD
and
Vstock Transfer, LLC, as
Warrant Agent
Warrant Agency Agreement
Dated as of ___________, 2024
WARRANT AGENCY AGREEMENT
WARRANT AGENCY AGREEMENT, dated as of __________, 2024 (“Agreement”), by and between Ryde Group Ltd, a company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the “Company”), and VStock Transfer, LLC (“VStock” or the “Warrant Agent”).
W I T N E S S E T H
WHEREAS, pursuant to an offering by the Company of Units (the “Offering”), with each Unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value US$0.0002 per share (the “Class A Ordinary Shares”) and one warrant (the “Class A Ordinary Share Warrants” or “Warrants”) to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share (the Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, the “Warrant Shares”);
WHEREAS, upon the terms and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth and pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form F-1, as amended (File No. 333-_____) (the “Registration Statement”), and the terms and conditions of the Warrant Certificate (as defined below), the Company wishes to issue Warrants in book entry form entitling the respective holders of the Warrants (the “Holders”, which term shall include a Holder’s transferees, successors and assigns and “Holder” shall include, if the Warrants are held in “street name”, a Participant (as defined below) or a designee appointed by such Participant) to purchase an aggregate of up to ______ Class A Ordinary Shares underlying the Warrants (as defined below) upon the terms and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth (the “Offering”); and
WHEREAS, the Company wishes the Warrant Agent to act on behalf of the Company, and the Warrant Agent is willing to act on behalf of the Company, in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, exercise and replacement of the Warrants and, in the Warrant Agent’s capacity as the Company’s transfer agent, the delivery of the Warrant Shares.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual agreements herein set forth, the parties hereby agree as follows:
Section 1. Certain Definitions. For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings indicated:
(a) “Affiliate” has the meaning ascribed to it in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
(b) “Business Day” means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, any day which is a federal legal holiday in the United States or any day on which the Nasdaq Stock Market is authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close.
(c) “Close of Business” on any given date means 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on such date; provided, however, that if such date is not a Business Day, it means 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the next succeeding Business Day.
(e) “Person” means an individual, corporation, association, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust, unincorporated organization, government or political subdivision thereof or governmental agency or other entity.
(f) “Warrant Certificate” means a certificate in substantially the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto, representing such number of Warrant Shares (as defined below) as is indicated therein, provided that any reference to the delivery of a Warrant Certificate in this Agreement shall include delivery of notice from the Depository or a Participant (each as defined below) of the transfer or exercise of the Warrant in the form of a Global Warrant (as defined below).
All other capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the Warrant Certificate.
Section 2. Appointment of Successor Warrant Agent. The Company hereby appoints the Warrant Agent to act as agent for the Company in accordance with the express terms or conditions hereof (and no implied terms and conditions), and the Warrant Agent hereby accepts such appointment. The Company may from time to time appoint such Co-Warrant Agents as it may, in its sole discretion, deem necessary or desirable upon ten (10) calendar days’ prior written notice to the Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent shall have no duty to supervise, and shall in no event be liable for, the acts or omissions of any such Co-Warrant Agent. In the event the Company appoints one or more co-Warrant Agents, the respective duties of the Warrant Agent and any Co-Warrant Agent shall be as the Company shall reasonably determine, provided that such duties and determination are consistent with the terms and provisions of this Agreement.
Section 3. Global Warrants.
(a) The Warrants shall be issuable in book entry form. All of the Warrants shall initially be represented by one or more Global Warrants (the “Global Warrants” and, each, a “Global Warrant”), deposited with the Warrant Agent and registered in the name of Cede & Co., a nominee of The Depository Trust Company (the “Depository”), or as otherwise directed by the Depository. Ownership of beneficial interests in the Warrants, shall be shown on, and the transfer of such ownership shall be effected through, records maintained by (i) the Depository or its nominee for each Global Warrant or (ii) institutions that have accounts with the Depository (such institution, with respect to a Warrant in its account, a “Participant”). For purposes of Regulation SHO, a holder whose interest in a Global Warrant is a beneficial interest in certificate(s) representing such Warrant held in book-entry form through the Depository shall be deemed to have exercised its interest in such Warrant upon instructing its broker that is a Participant to exercise its interest in such Warrant, provided that in each such case payment of the applicable aggregate Exercise Price (other than in the case of a cashless exercise) is delivered by such Participant within the earlier of (i) one trading day and (ii) the number of trading days comprising the Standard Settlement Period, in each case following such instruction. As used herein, “Standard Settlement Period” means the standard settlement period, expressed in a number of trading days, on the Company’s primary trading market with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares as in effect on the date of delivery of the Exercise Notice.
(b) If the Depository subsequently ceases to make its book-entry settlement system available for the Warrants, the Company may instruct the Warrant Agent regarding other arrangements for book-entry settlement. In the event that the Warrants are not eligible for, or it is no longer necessary to have the Warrants available in, book-entry form, the Warrant Agent shall provide written instructions to the Depository to deliver to the Warrant Agent for cancellation each Global Warrant, and the Company shall instruct the Warrant Agent in writing to deliver to each Holder a Warrant Certificate.
(c) A Holder has the right to elect at any time or from time to time a Warrant Exchange (as defined below) pursuant to a Warrant Certificate Request Notice (as defined below). Upon written notice by a Holder to the Company and the Warrant Agent for the exchange of some or all of such Holder’s Global Warrants for a separate certificate in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 1 (such separate certificate, a “Warrant Certificate”) evidencing the same number of Warrants, which request shall be in the form attached hereto as Annex A (a “Warrant Certificate Request Notice” and the date of delivery of such Warrant Certificate Request Notice by the Holder, the “Warrant Certificate Request Notice Date” and the deemed surrender upon delivery by the Holder to the Warrant Agent of a number of Global Warrants for the same number of Warrants evidenced by a Warrant Certificate, a “Warrant Exchange”), the Company and the Warrant Agent shall promptly effect the Warrant Exchange and shall promptly issue and deliver, at the expense of the Company, to the Holder a Warrant Certificate, for such number of Warrants in the name set forth in the Warrant Certificate Request Notice. Such Warrant Certificate shall be dated the original issue date of the Warrants, shall be executed by manual signature by an authorized signatory of the Company, and shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 1. In connection with a Warrant Exchange, the Company agrees to deliver, or to direct the Warrant Agent to deliver, the Warrant Certificate, to the Holder within three (3) Business Days of the Warrant Certificate Request Notice pursuant to the delivery instructions in the Warrant Certificate Request Notice (“Warrant Certificate Delivery Date”). Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company shall act as warrant agent with respect to any physical Warrant Certificate issued pursuant to this section. If the Company fails for any reason to deliver to the Holder the Warrant Certificate subject to the Warrant Certificate Request Notice by the Warrant Certificate Delivery Date, the Company shall pay to the Holder, in cash, as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of Warrant Shares evidenced by such Warrant Certificate (based on the VWAP (as defined in the Warrants) of the Class A Ordinary Shares on the Warrant Certificate Request Notice Date), $10 per Business Day for each Business Day after such Warrant Certificate Delivery Date until such Warrant Certificate is delivered or, prior to delivery of such Warrant Certificate, the Holder rescinds such Warrant Exchange. In no event shall the Warrant Agent be liable for the Company’s failure to deliver the Warrant Certificate by the Warrant Certificate Delivery Date. The Company covenants and agrees that, upon the date of delivery of the Warrant Certificate Request Notice, the Holder shall be deemed to be the holder of the Warrant Certificate, as applicable, and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, the Warrant Certificate shall be deemed for all purposes to contain all of the terms and conditions of the Warrants, evidenced by such Warrant Certificate, and the terms of this Agreement, other than Sections 3(c) and 9 herein, shall not apply to the Warrants evidenced by the Warrant Certificate. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, in the event of inconsistency between any provision in this Agreement and any provision in a Warrant Certificate, as it may from time to time be amended, the terms of such Warrant Certificate shall control.
Section 4. Form of Warrant Certificates. The Warrant Certificate, together with the form of election to purchase Class A Ordinary Shares (“Exercise Notice”) and the form of assignment to be printed on the reverse thereof, shall be in the form of Exhibit 1.
Section 5. Countersignature and Registration. The Warrant Certificates shall be executed on behalf of the Company by its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President, either manually or by .pdf via email signature. The Warrant Certificates shall be countersigned by the Warrant Agent either manually or by .pdf via email signature and shall not be valid for any purpose unless so countersigned. In case any officer of the Company who shall have signed any of the Warrant Certificates shall cease to be such officer of the Company before countersignature by the Warrant Agent and issuance and delivery by the Company, such Warrant Certificates, nevertheless, may be countersigned by the Warrant Agent, issued and delivered with the same force and effect as though the Person who signed such Warrant Certificate had not ceased to be such officer of the Company; and any Warrant Certificate may be signed on behalf of the Company by any Person who, at the actual date of the execution of such Warrant Certificate, shall be a proper officer of the Company to sign such Warrant Certificate, although at the date of the execution of this Agreement any such Person was not such an officer.
The Warrant Agent will keep or cause to be kept, at its office designated for such purposes, books for registration and transfer of the Warrant Certificates issued hereunder. Such books shall show the names and addresses of the respective Holders of the Warrant Certificates, the number of warrants evidenced on the face of each such Warrant Certificate and the date of each such Warrant Certificate. The Warrant Agent will create a special account for the issuance of Warrant Certificates.
Section 6. Transfer, Split Up, Combination and Exchange of Warrant Certificates; Mutilated, Destroyed, Lost or Stolen Warrant Certificates. With respect to the Global Warrant, subject to the provisions of the Warrant Certificate, and the last sentence of this first paragraph of Section 6 and subject to applicable law, rules or regulations, or any “stop transfer” instructions the Company may give to the Warrant Agent, at any time after the closing date of the Offering, and at or prior to the Close of Business on the Termination Date (as such term is defined in the Warrant Certificate), any Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates or Global Warrant or Global Warrants may be transferred, split up, combined or exchanged for another Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates or Global Warrant or Global Warrants, entitling the Holder to purchase a like number of Class A Ordinary Shares as the Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates or Global Warrant or Global Warrants surrendered then entitled such Holder to purchase. Any Holder desiring to transfer, split up, combine or exchange any Warrant Certificate or Global Warrant shall make such request in writing delivered to the Warrant Agent and shall surrender the Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates, together with the required form of assignment and certificate duly executed and properly completed and such other documentation as the Warrant Agent may reasonably request, to be transferred, split up, combined or exchanged at the office of the Warrant Agent designated for such purpose, provided that no such surrender is applicable to the Holder of a Global Warrant. Any requested transfer of Warrants, whether in book-entry form or certificate form, shall be accompanied by evidence of authority of the party making such request that may be reasonably required by the Warrant Agent. Thereupon the Warrant Agent shall, subject to the last sentence of this first paragraph of Section 6, countersign and deliver to the Person entitled thereto a Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates, as the case may be, as so requested. The Company may require payment from the Holder of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or governmental charge that may be imposed in connection with any transfer, split up, combination or exchange of Warrant Certificates. The Warrant Agent shall not have any duty or obligation to take any action under any section of this Agreement that requires the payment of taxes and/or charges unless and until it is satisfied that all such payments have been made.
Upon receipt by the Warrant Agent of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of a Warrant Certificate, which evidence shall include an affidavit of loss, or in the case of mutilated certificates, the certificate or portion thereof remaining, and, in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably acceptable to the Company and the Warrant Agent, and satisfaction of any other reasonable requirements established by Section 8-405 of the Uniform Commercial Code as in effect in the State of Delaware, and reimbursement to the Company and the Warrant Agent of all reasonable expenses incidental thereto, and upon surrender to the Warrant Agent and cancellation of the Warrant Certificate if mutilated, the Company will make and deliver a new Warrant Certificate of like tenor to the Warrant Agent for delivery to the Holder in lieu of the Warrant Certificate so lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated.
Section 7. Exercise of Warrants; Exercise Price; Termination Date.
(a) The Warrants shall be exercisable commencing on the Initial Exercise Date. The Warrants shall cease to be exercisable and shall terminate and become void, and all rights thereunder and under this Agreement shall cease, at or prior to the Close of Business on the Termination Date (as such term is defined in the Warrant Certificate). Subject to the foregoing and to Section 7(b) below, the Holder of a Warrant may exercise the Warrant, in whole or in part upon surrender of the Warrant Certificate, if required, with the properly completed and duly executed Exercise Notice and payment of the Exercise Price (unless exercised via a cashless exercise), which may be made, at the option of the Holder, by wire transfer or by certified or official bank check in United States dollars, to the Warrant Agent at the office of the Warrant Agent designated for such purposes. In the case of the Holder of a Global Warrant, the Holder shall deliver the duly executed Exercise Notice and the payment of the Exercise Price as described herein. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement, a holder whose interest in a Global Warrant is a beneficial interest in a Global Warrant held in book-entry form through the Depository (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions) shall effect exercises by delivering to the Depository (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable) the appropriate instruction form for exercise, complying with the procedures to effect exercise that is required by the Depository (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable). The Company acknowledges that the bank accounts maintained by the Warrant Agent in connection with the services provided under this Agreement will be in its name and that the Warrant Agent may receive investment earnings in connection with the Warrant Agent’s own investments at Warrant Agent risk and for its benefit of funds held in those accounts from time to time. Neither the Company nor the Holders will receive interest on any deposits or Exercise Price. No ink-original Exercise Notice shall be required, nor shall any medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any Exercise Notice be required. The Company hereby acknowledges and agrees that, with respect to a holder whose interest in a Global Warrant is a beneficial interest in a Global Warrant held in book-entry form through the Depositary (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions), upon delivery of irrevocable instructions to such holder’s Participant to exercise such warrants, that solely for purposes of Regulation SHO that such holder shall be deemed to have exercised such warrants.
(b) Upon receipt of an Exercise Notice for a Cashless Exercise, the Warrant Agent shall deliver a copy of the Exercise Notice to the Company and request from the Company, and the Company shall promptly calculate and transmit to the Warrant Agent in writing, the number of Warrant Shares issuable in connection with such Cashless Exercise. The Warrant Agent shall have no obligation under this Agreement to calculate, the number of Warrant Shares issuable in connection with a Cashless Exercise, nor shall the Warrant Agent have any duty or obligation to investigate or confirm whether the Company’s determination of the number of Warrant Shares issuable upon such exercise, pursuant to this Section 7, is accurate or correct.
(c) Upon the Warrant Agent’s receipt of a Warrant Certificate, at or prior to the Close of Business on the Termination Date set forth in such Warrant Certificate, with the executed Exercise Notice and payment of the Exercise Price for the shares to be purchased (other than in the case of a Cashless Exercise) and an amount equal to any applicable tax, or governmental charge referred to in Section 6 by wire transfer, or by certified check or bank draft payable to the order of the Company (or, in the case of the Holder of a Global Warrant, the delivery of the executed Exercise Notice and the payment of the Exercise Price (other than in the case of a Cashless Exercise) and any other applicable amounts as set forth herein), the Warrant Agent shall cause the Warrant Shares underlying such Warrant Certificate, or Global Warrant, to be delivered to or upon the order of the Holder of such Warrant Certificate, or Global Warrant, registered in such name or names as may be designated by such Holder, no later than the Warrant Share Delivery Date (as such term is defined in the Warrant Certificate). If the Company is then a participant in the DWAC system of the Depository and either (A) there is an effective registration statement permitting the issuance of the Warrant Shares to or resale of the Warrant Shares by Holder or (B) the Warrant is being exercised via Cashless Exercise, then the certificates for Warrant Shares shall be transmitted by the Warrant Agent to the Holder by crediting the account of the Holder’s broker with the Depository through its DWAC system. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Company becomes obligated to pay any amounts to any Holders pursuant to [Sections 2(d)(i) or 2(d)(iv)] of the Warrant Certificate, such obligation shall be solely that of the Company and not that of the Warrant Agent. Notwithstanding anything else to the contrary in this Agreement, except in the case of a Cashless Exercise, if any Holder fails to duly deliver payment to the Warrant Agent of an amount equal to the aggregate Exercise Price of the Warrant Shares to be purchased upon exercise of such Holder’s Warrant as set forth in Section 7(a) hereof by the Warrant Share Delivery Date, the Warrant Agent will not be obligated to deliver such Warrant Shares (via DWAC or otherwise) until following receipt of such payment, and the applicable Warrant Share Delivery Date shall be deemed extended by one day for each day (or part thereof) until such payment is delivered to the Warrant Agent.
(d) The Warrant Agent shall deposit all funds received by it in payment of the Exercise Price for all Warrants in the account of the Company maintained with the Warrant Agent for such purpose (or to such other account as directed by the Company in writing) and shall advise the Company via email at the end of each day on which exercise notices are received, or funds for the exercise of any Warrant are received, of the amount so deposited to its account.
(e) In case the Holder of any Warrant Certificate shall exercise fewer than all Warrants evidenced thereby, upon the request of the Holder, a new Warrant Certificate evidencing the number of Warrants equivalent to the number of Warrants remaining unexercised may be issued by the Warrant Agent to the Holder of such Warrant Certificate or to his duly authorized assigns in accordance with [Section 2(d)(ii)] of the Warrant Certificate, subject to the provisions of Section 6 hereof.
Section 8. Cancellation and Destruction of Warrant Certificates. All Warrant Certificates surrendered for the purpose of exercise, transfer, split up, combination or exchange shall, if surrendered to the Company or to any of its agents, be delivered to the Warrant Agent for cancellation or in canceled form, or, if surrendered to the Warrant Agent, shall be canceled by it, and no Warrant Certificates shall be issued in lieu thereof except as expressly permitted by any of the provisions of this Agreement. The Company shall deliver to the Warrant Agent for cancellation and retirement, and the Warrant Agent shall so cancel and retire any other Warrant Certificate purchased or acquired by the Company otherwise than upon the exercise thereof. The Warrant Agent shall deliver all canceled Warrant Certificates to the Company, or shall, at the written request of the Company, destroy such canceled Warrant Certificates, and in such case shall deliver a certificate of destruction thereof to the Company, subject to any applicable law, rule or regulation requiring the Warrant Agent to retain such canceled certificates.
Section 9. Certain Representations; Reservation and Availability of Class A Ordinary Shares or Cash.
(a) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, assuming due authorization, execution and delivery hereof by the Warrant Agent, constitutes a valid and legally binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, and the Warrants have been duly authorized, executed and issued by the Company and, assuming due execution thereof by the Warrant Agent pursuant hereto and payment therefor by the Holders, constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms and entitled to the benefits hereof; in each case except as enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other similar laws relating to or affecting creditors’ rights generally or by general equitable principles (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).
(b) As of the date hereof, the authorized share capital of the Company consists of 250,000,000 Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each, comprising (i) 175,000,000 Class A Class A Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value of US$0.0002 each; and (ii) 75,000,000 Class B Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each. As of the date hereof, 17,339,871 Class A Ordinary Shares and 3,542,400 Class B Ordinary Shares are issued and outstanding, _______ Class A Ordinary Shares are reserved for issuance upon exercise of the Warrants, and 1,557,104 Class A Ordinary Shares are authorized for issuance to employees, consultants and directors pursuant to the Company’s stock plan, under which options to purchase _____ Class A Ordinary Shares are issued and outstanding. There are no other outstanding obligations, warrants, options or other rights to subscribe for or purchase from the Company any class of capital stock of the Company.
(c) The Company covenants and agrees that it will cause to be reserved and kept available out of its authorized and unissued Class A Ordinary Shares or its authorized and issued Class A Ordinary Shares held in its treasury, free from preemptive rights, the number of Class A Ordinary Shares that will be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Warrants.
(d) The Warrant Agent will create a special account for the issuance of Class A Ordinary Shares upon the exercise of Warrants.
(e) The Company further covenants and agrees that it will pay when due and payable any and all federal and state transfer taxes and charges which may be payable in respect of the original issuance or delivery of the Warrant Certificates or certificates evidencing Class A Ordinary Shares upon exercise of the Warrants. The Company shall not, however, be required to pay any tax or governmental charge which may be payable in respect of any transfer involved in the transfer or delivery of Warrant Certificates or the issuance or delivery of certificates for Class A Ordinary Shares in a name other than that of the Holder of the Warrant Certificate evidencing Warrants surrendered for exercise or to issue or deliver any certificate for Class A Ordinary Shares upon the exercise of any Warrants until any such tax or governmental charge shall have been paid (any such tax or governmental charge being payable by the Holder of such Warrant Certificate at the time of surrender) or until it has been established to the Company’s and the Warrant Agent’s reasonable satisfaction that no such tax or governmental charge is due.
Section 10. Class A Ordinary Shares Record Date. Each Person in whose name any certificate for Class A Ordinary Shares are issued (or to whose broker’s account is credited Class A Ordinary Shares through the DWAC system) upon the exercise of Warrants shall for all purposes be deemed to have become the holder of record for the Class A Ordinary Shares represented thereby on, and such certificate shall be dated, the date on which submission of the Exercise Notice was made, provided that the Warrant Certificate evidencing such Warrant was duly surrendered (but only if required herein) and payment of the Exercise Price (and any applicable transfer taxes) was received on or prior to the Warrant Share Delivery Date; provided, however, that, if the date of submission of the Exercise Notice is a date upon which the Class A Ordinary Share transfer books of the Company are closed, such Person shall be deemed to have become the record holder of such shares on, and such certificate shall be dated, the next succeeding day on which the Class A Ordinary Share transfer books of the Company are open.
Section 11. Adjustment of Exercise Price, Number of Class A Ordinary Shares or Number of the Company Warrants. The Exercise Price, the number of shares covered by each Warrant and the number of Warrants outstanding are subject to adjustment from time to time as provided in [Section 3] of the Warrant Certificate. In the event that at any time, as a result of an adjustment made pursuant to [Section 3] of the Warrant Certificate, the Holder of any Warrant thereafter exercised shall become entitled to receive any shares of capital stock of the Company other than Class A Ordinary Shares, thereafter the number of such other shares so receivable upon exercise of any Warrant shall be subject to adjustment from time to time in a manner and on terms as nearly equivalent as practicable to the provisions with respect to the shares contained in [Section 3] of the Warrant Certificate, and the provisions of Sections 7, 9 and 13 of this Agreement with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares shall apply on like terms to any such other shares. All Warrants originally issued by the Company subsequent to any adjustment made to the Exercise Price pursuant to the Warrant Certificate shall evidence the right to purchase, at the adjusted Exercise Price, the number of Class A Ordinary Shares purchasable from time to time hereunder upon exercise of the Warrants, all subject to further adjustment as provided herein.
Section 12. Certification of Adjusted Exercise Price or Number of Class A Ordinary Shares. Whenever the Exercise Price or the number of Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon the exercise of each Warrant Certificate is adjusted as provided in Section 11 or 13, the Company shall (a) promptly prepare a certificate setting forth the Exercise Price of each Warrant Certificate, as so adjusted, and a brief, reasonably detailed statement of the facts accounting for such adjustment, (b) promptly file with the Warrant Agent and with each transfer agent for the Class A Ordinary Shares a copy of such certificate and (c) instruct the Warrant Agent, at the Company’s expense, to send a brief summary thereof to each Holder of a Warrant Certificate. The Warrant Agent shall be fully protected in relying on such certificate and on any adjustment or statement therein contained and shall have no duty or liability with respect to and shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any such adjustment or any such event unless and until it shall have received such certificate.
Section 13. Fractional Class A Ordinary Shares.
(a) The Company shall not issue fractions of Warrants or distribute Warrant Certificates which evidence fractional Warrants. Whenever any fractional Warrant would otherwise be required to be issued or distributed, the actual issuance or distribution shall reflect a rounding of such fraction to the nearest whole Warrant (rounded up).
(b) The Company shall not issue fractions of Class A Ordinary Shares upon exercise of Warrants or distribute stock certificates which evidence fractional Class A Ordinary Shares. Whenever any fraction of a Class A Ordinary Share would otherwise be required to be issued or distributed, the actual issuance or distribution in respect thereof shall be made in accordance with [Section 2(d)(v)] of the Warrant Certificate.
Section 14. Concerning the Warrant Agent.
(a) The Company agrees to pay to the Warrant Agent, pursuant to the fee schedule mutually agreed upon by the parties hereto and provided separately on the date hereof, for all services rendered by it hereunder and, from time to time, its reasonable expenses and counsel fees and other disbursements incurred in the preparation, delivery, negotiation, amendment, administration and execution of this Agreement and the exercise and performance of its duties hereunder.
(b) The Company covenants and agrees to indemnify and to hold the Warrant Agent harmless against any costs, expenses (including reasonable fees and expenses of its legal counsel), losses or damages, which may be paid, incurred or suffered by or to which it may become subject, arising from or out of, directly or indirectly, any claims or liability resulting from its actions or omissions as Warrant Agent pursuant hereto; provided, that such covenant and agreement does not extend to, and the Warrant Agent shall not be indemnified with respect to, such costs, expenses, losses and damages incurred or suffered by the Warrant Agent as a result of, or arising out of, its gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct (each as determined by a final non-appealable court of competent jurisdiction).
(c) Upon the assertion of a claim for which the Company may be required to indemnify the Warrant Agent, the Warrant Agent shall promptly notify the Company of such assertion, and shall keep the other party reasonably advised with respect to material developments concerning such claim. However, failure to give such notice shall not affect the Warrant Agent’s right to and the Company’s obligations for indemnification hereunder.
(d) Neither party to this Agreement shall be liable to the other party for any consequential, indirect, punitive, special or incidental damages under any provisions of this Agreement or for any consequential, indirect, punitive, special or incidental damages arising out of any act or failure to act hereunder even if that party has been advised of or has foreseen the possibility of such damages.
(e) Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the rights and obligations of the parties set forth in this Section 14 shall survive termination of this Agreement, the expiration of the Warrants and/or the resignation, removal or replacement of the Warrant Agent.
Section 15. Purchase or Consolidation or Change of Name of Warrant Agent. Any Person into which the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent may be merged or with which it may be consolidated, or any Person resulting from any merger or consolidation to which the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent shall be party, or any Person succeeding to the stock transfer or other shareholder services business of the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent, shall be the successor to the Warrant Agent under this Agreement without the execution or filing of any paper or any further act on the part of any of the parties hereto, provided that such Person would be eligible for appointment as a successor Warrant Agent under the provisions of Section 17. In case at the time such successor Warrant Agent shall succeed to the agency created by this Agreement any of the Warrant Certificates shall have been countersigned but not delivered, any such successor Warrant Agent may adopt the countersignature of the predecessor Warrant Agent and deliver such Warrant Certificates so countersigned; and in case at that time any of the Warrant Certificates shall not have been countersigned, any successor Warrant Agent may countersign such Warrant Certificates either in the name of the predecessor Warrant Agent or in the name of the successor Warrant Agent; and in all such cases, such Warrant Certificates shall have the full force provided in the Warrant Certificates and in this Agreement.
In case at any time the name of the Warrant Agent shall be changed and at such time any of the Warrant Certificates shall have been countersigned but not delivered, the Warrant Agent may adopt the countersignature under its prior name and deliver Warrant Certificates so countersigned; and in case at that time any of the Warrant Certificates shall not have been countersigned, the Warrant Agent may countersign such Warrant Certificates either in its prior name or in its changed name; and in all such cases, such Warrant Certificates shall have the full force provided in the Warrant Certificates and in this Agreement.
Section 16. Duties of Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent undertakes the duties and obligations imposed by this Agreement upon the following express terms and conditions (and no implied terms and conditions), by all of which the Company, by its acceptance hereof, shall be bound and shall not assume any obligations or relationship of agency or trust with any of the Holders of the Warrants or any other Person:
(a) The Warrant Agent may consult with legal counsel selected by it (who may be legal counsel for the Company), and the opinion and advice of such counsel shall be full and complete authorization and protection to the Warrant Agent as to any action taken or omitted by it in accordance with such opinion or advice.
(b) Whenever in the performance of its duties under this Agreement the Warrant Agent shall deem it necessary or desirable that any fact or matter be proved or established by the Company prior to taking or suffering any action hereunder, such fact or matter (unless other evidence in respect thereof be herein specifically prescribed) may be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by a certificate signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President of the Company; and such certificate shall be full authorization and protection to the Warrant Agent, and the Warrant Agent shall incur no liability for or in respect of any action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by it under the provisions of this Agreement in reliance upon such certificate. The Warrant Agent shall have no duty to act without such a certificate as set forth in this Section 16(b).
(c) Subject to the limitation set forth in Section 14, the Warrant Agent shall be liable hereunder only for its own gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct (each as determined in a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction).
(d) The Warrant Agent shall not be liable for or by reason of any of the statements of fact or recitals contained in this Agreement or in the Warrant Certificates (including in the case of any notation in book-entry form to reflect ownership), except its countersignature thereof, by the Company or be required to verify the same, but all such statements and recitals are and shall be deemed to have been made by the Company only.
(e) The Warrant Agent shall not have any liability or be under any responsibility in respect of the validity of this Agreement or the execution and delivery hereof (except the due execution hereof by the Warrant Agent) or in respect of the validity or execution of any Warrant Certificate (except its countersignature thereof); nor shall it be responsible for any breach by the Company of any covenant or condition contained in this Agreement or in any Warrant Certificate; nor shall it be responsible for the adjustment of the Exercise Price or the making of any change in the number of Class A Ordinary Shares required under the provisions of Section 11 or 13 or responsible for the manner, method or amount of any such change or adjustment or the ascertaining of the existence of facts that would require any such adjustment or change (except with respect to the exercise of Warrants evidenced by Warrant Certificates after actual notice of any adjustment of the Exercise Price); nor shall it by any act hereunder be deemed to make any representation or warranty as to the authorization or reservation of any Class A Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to this Agreement or any Warrant Certificate or as to whether any Class A Ordinary Shares will, when issued, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.
(f) Each party hereto agrees that it will perform, execute, acknowledge and deliver or cause to be performed, executed, acknowledged and delivered all such further and other acts, instruments and assurances as may reasonably be required by the other party hereto for the carrying out or performing by any party of the provisions of this Agreement.
(g) The Warrant Agent is hereby authorized to accept instructions with respect to the performance of its duties hereunder from the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President of the Company, and to apply to such officers for advice or instructions in connection with its duties, and it shall not be liable and shall be indemnified and held harmless for any action taken or suffered to be taken by it in good faith in accordance with instructions of any such officer, provided Warrant Agent carries out such instructions without gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct.
(h) The Warrant Agent and any shareholder, director, officer or employee of the Warrant Agent may buy, sell or deal in any of the Warrants or other securities of the Company or become pecuniarily interested in any transaction in which the Company may be interested, or contract with or lend money to the Company or otherwise act as fully and freely as though it were not Warrant Agent under this Agreement. Nothing herein shall preclude the Warrant Agent from acting in any other capacity for the Company or for any other Person. In the event that the Warrant Agent seeks to exercise a Warrant, and provides the Company with (i) an opinion of counsel to the effect that a public sale or transfer of the Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrant may be made without registration under the 1933 Act and such sale or transfer is effected or (ii) the Purchaser provides reasonable assurances that the Securities can be sold pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Rule 144, Section 4(a)(1), or other applicable exemption, the Company shall permit the transfer, and, in the case of the Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrant, promptly instruct its transfer agent to issue one or more certificates, free from restrictive legend, in such name and in such denominations as specified by the Holder. The Company acknowledges that a breach by it of its obligations hereunder will cause irreparable harm to the Holder by vitiating the intent and purpose of the transactions contemplated hereby. Accordingly, the Company acknowledges that the remedy at law for a breach of its obligations under this Section 16(h) may be inadequate and agrees, in the event of a breach or threatened breach by the Company of the provisions of this Section, that the Holder shall be entitled, in addition to all other available remedies, to an injunction restraining any breach and requiring immediate transfer, without the necessity of showing economic loss and without any bond or other security being required.
(i) The Warrant Agent may execute and exercise any of the rights or powers hereby vested in it or perform any duty hereunder either itself or by or through its attorney or agents, and the Warrant Agent shall not be answerable or accountable for any act, default, neglect or misconduct of any such attorney or agents or for any loss to the Company resulting from any such act, default, neglect or misconduct, absent gross negligence or bad faith in the selection and continued employment thereof (which gross negligence and bad faith must be determined by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction).
(j) The Warrant Agent shall not be obligated to expend or risk its own funds or to take any action that it believes would expose or subject it to expense or liability or to a risk of incurring expense or liability, unless it has been furnished with assurances of repayment or indemnity satisfactory to it.
(k) The Warrant Agent shall not be liable or responsible for any failure of the Company to comply with any of its obligations relating to any registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission or this Agreement, including without limitation obligations under applicable regulation or law.
(l) The Warrant Agent may rely on and be fully authorized and protected in acting or failing to act upon (a) any guaranty of signature by an “eligible guarantor institution” that is a member or participant in the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program or other comparable “signature guarantee program” or insurance program in addition to, or in substitution for, the foregoing; or (b) any law, act, regulation or any interpretation of the same even though such law, act, or regulation may thereafter have been altered, changed, amended or repealed.
(m) In the event the Warrant Agent believes any ambiguity or uncertainty exists hereunder or in any notice, instruction, direction, request or other communication, paper or document received by the Warrant Agent hereunder, the Warrant Agent, may, in its sole discretion, refrain from taking any action, and shall be fully protected and shall not be liable in any way to Company, the holder of any Warrant or any other Person for refraining from taking such action, unless the Warrant Agent receives written instructions signed by the Company which eliminates such ambiguity or uncertainty to the satisfaction of Warrant Agent.
(n) This Section 16 shall survive the expiration of the Warrants, the termination of this Agreement and the resignation, replacement or removal of the Warrant Agent. The costs and expenses incurred in enforcing this right of indemnification shall be paid by the Company.
Section 17. Change of Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent may resign and be discharged from its duties under this Agreement upon thirty (30) days’ notice in writing sent to the Company and, in the event that the Warrant Agent or one of its affiliates is not also the transfer agent for the Company, to each transfer agent of the Class A Ordinary Shares. In the event the transfer agency relationship in effect between the Company and the Warrant Agent terminates, the Warrant Agent will be deemed to have resigned automatically and be discharged from its duties under this Agreement as of the effective date of such termination, and the Company shall be responsible for sending any required notice thereunder. The Company may remove the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent upon thirty (30) days’ notice in writing, sent to the Warrant Agent or successor Warrant Agent, as the case may be, and to each transfer agent of the Class A Ordinary Shares, and to the Holders of the Warrant Certificates. If the Warrant Agent shall resign or be removed or shall otherwise become incapable of acting, the Company shall appoint a successor to the Warrant Agent. If the Company shall fail to make such appointment within a period of thirty (30) days after such removal or after it has been notified in writing of such resignation or incapacity by the resigning or incapacitated Warrant Agent or by the Holder of a Warrant Certificate (who shall, with such notice, submit this Warrant Certificate for inspection by the Company), then the Holder of any Warrant Certificate may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a new Warrant Agent, provided that, for purposes of this Agreement, the Company shall be deemed to be the Warrant Agent until a new warrant agent is appointed. Any successor Warrant Agent, whether appointed by the Company or by such a court, shall be a Person, other than a natural person, organized and doing business under the laws of the United States or of a state thereof, in good standing, which is authorized under such laws to exercise stock transfer powers and is subject to supervision or examination by federal or state authority and which has at the time of its appointment as Warrant Agent a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000. After appointment, the successor Warrant Agent shall be vested with the same powers, rights, duties and responsibilities as if it had been originally named as Warrant Agent without further act or deed; but the predecessor Warrant Agent shall deliver and transfer to the successor Warrant Agent any property at the time held by it hereunder, and execute and deliver any further assurance, conveyance, act or deed necessary for the purpose but such predecessor Warrant Agent shall not be required to make any additional expenditure (without prompt reimbursement by the Company) or assume any additional liability in connection with the foregoing. Not later than the effective date of any such appointment, the Company shall file notice thereof in writing with the predecessor Warrant Agent and each transfer agent of the Class A Ordinary Shares and mail a notice thereof in writing to the Holders of the Warrant Certificates. However, failure to give any notice provided for in this Section 17, or any defect therein, shall not affect the legality or validity of the resignation or removal of the Warrant Agent or the appointment of the successor Warrant Agent, as the case may be.
Section 18. Issuance of New Warrant Certificates. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Agreement or of the Warrants to the contrary, the Company may, at its option, issue new Warrant Certificates evidencing Warrants in such form as may be approved by its Board of Directors to reflect any adjustment or change in the Exercise Price per share and the number or kind or class of shares of stock or other securities or property purchasable under the several Warrant Certificates made in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
Section 19. Notices. Notices or demands authorized by this Agreement to be given or made (i) by the Warrant Agent or by the Holder of any Warrant Certificate to or on the Company, (ii) by the Company or by the Holder of any Warrant Certificate to or on the Warrant Agent or (iii) by the Company or the Warrant Agent to the Holder of any Warrant Certificate, shall be deemed given when in writing (a) on the date delivered, if delivered personally, (b) on the first Business Day following the deposit thereof with Federal Express or another recognized overnight courier, if sent by Federal Express or another recognized overnight courier, (c) on the fourth Business Day following the mailing thereof with postage prepaid, if mailed by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested), and (d) the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail attachment at or prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a Business Day and (e) the next Business Day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail attachment on a day that is not a Business Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Business Day, in each case to the parties at the following addresses (or at such other address for a party as shall be specified by like notice):
(a) | If to the Company, to: |
___________________
___________________
___________________
With a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:
Sidley Austin
39/F, Two Int’l Finance Centre
Central, Hong KongE-mail: sidleyprojectexocet@sidley.com
Attn: Meng Ding
(b) | If to the Warrant Agent, to: |
VStock Transfer, LLC18 Lafayette Place
Woodmere, New York 11598Email: Action@vstocktransfer.com
For any notice delivered by email to be deemed given or made, such notice must be followed by notice sent by overnight courier service to be delivered on the next Business Day following such email, unless the recipient of such email has acknowledged via return email receipt of such email.
(c) If to the Holder of any Warrant Certificate, to the address of such Holder as shown on the registry books of the Company. Any notice required to be delivered by the Company to the Holder of any Warrant may be given by the Warrant Agent on behalf of the Company. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, where this Agreement provides for notice of any event to a Holder of any Warrant, such notice shall be sufficiently given if given to the Depository (or its designee) pursuant to the procedures of the Depository or its designee. To the extent that any notice provided hereunder constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Report on Form 6-K.
Section 20. Supplements and Amendments.
(a) The Company and the Warrant Agent may from time to time supplement or amend this Agreement without the approval of any Holders of Global Warrants in order to (i) add to the covenants and agreements of the Company for the benefit of the Holders of the Global Warrants, (ii) to surrender any rights or power reserved to or conferred upon the Company in this Agreement, (iii) to cure any ambiguity, (iv) to correct or supplement any provision contained herein which may be defective or inconsistent with any other provisions herein, or (v) to make any other provisions with regard to matters or questions arising hereunder which the Company and the Warrant Agent may deem necessary or desirable, provided that such addition, correction or surrender shall not adversely affect the interests of the Holders of the Global Warrants or Warrant Certificates in any material respect.
(b) In addition to the foregoing, with the consent of Holders of Warrants entitled, upon exercise thereof, to receive not less than a majority of the Class A Ordinary Shares issuable thereunder, the Company and the Warrant Agent may modify this Agreement for the purpose of adding any provisions to or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the provisions of this Agreement or modifying in any manner the rights of the Holders of the Global Warrants; provided, however, that that (i) if any amendment, modification or waiver disproportionately and adversely impacts a Holder (or group of Holders), the consent of such disproportionately impacted Holder (or group of Holders) shall also be required and (ii) no modification of the terms (including but not limited to the adjustments described in Section 11) upon which the Warrants are exercisable or reducing the percentage required for consent to modification of this Agreement may be made without the consent of the Holder of each outstanding warrant certificate affected thereby; provided further, however, that no amendment hereunder shall affect any terms of any Warrant Certificate issued in a Warrant Exchange. As a condition precedent to the Warrant Agent’s execution of any amendment, the Company shall deliver to the Warrant Agent a certificate from a duly authorized officer of the Company that states that the proposed amendment complies with the terms of this Section 20. No supplement or amendment to this Agreement shall be effective unless duly executed by the Warrant Agent.
Section 21. Successors. All covenants and provisions of this Agreement by or for the benefit of the Company or the Warrant Agent shall bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns hereunder.
Section 22. Benefits of this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to give any Person other than the Company, the Holders of Warrant Certificates and the Warrant Agent any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under this Agreement; but this Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the Company, the Warrant Agent and the Holders of the Warrant Certificates.
Section 23. Governing Law; Jurisdiction. This Agreement and each Warrant Certificate issued hereunder shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York without giving effect to the conflicts of law principles thereof. The Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of or relating in any way to this Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenience forum.
Section 24. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument. A signature to this Agreement transmitted electronically shall have the same authority, effect and enforceability as an original signature.
Section 25. Captions. The captions of the sections of this Agreement have been inserted for convenience only and shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any of the provisions hereof.
Section 26. Severability. Wherever possible, each provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Agreement shall be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of such provisions or the remaining provisions of this Agreement; provided, however, that if such prohibited and invalid provision shall adversely affect the rights, immunities, liabilities, duties or obligations of the Warrant Agent, the Warrant Agent shall be entitled to resign immediately upon written notice to the Company.
Section 27. Conflicts. To the extent any provision of this Agreement conflicts with the express provisions of the Warrant Certificate, the provisions of the Warrant Certificate shall govern and be controlling.
Section 28. Force Majeure. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Warrant Agent will not be liable for any delays or failures in performance resulting from acts beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, acts of God, terrorist acts, shortage of supply, breakdowns or malfunctions, interruptions or malfunction of computer facilities, or loss of data due to power failures or mechanical difficulties with information storage or retrieval systems, labor difficulties, war, or civil unrest.
Section 29. Entire Agreement. The parties hereto acknowledge that there are no agreements or understandings, written or oral, between them with respect to matters contemplated hereunder other than as set forth herein and the Warrant Certificates, that this Agreement and the Warrant Certificates contain the entire agreement between them with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof.
Section 30. Fees; Expenses. As consideration for the services provided by VStock (the “Services”), the Company shall pay to VStock the fees set forth on Schedule 1 hereto (the “Fees”). If the Company requests that VStock provide additional services not contemplated hereby, the Company shall pay to VStock fees for such services at VStock’s reasonable and customary rates, such fees to be governed by the terms of a separate agreement to be mutually agreed to and entered into by the Parties at such time (the “Additional Service Fee”; together with the Fees, the “Service Fees”).
(a) The Company shall reimburse VStock for all reasonable and documented expenses incurred by VStock (including, without limitation, reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel) in connection with the Services (the “Expenses”); provided, however, that VStock reserves the right to request advance payment for any out-of-pocket expenses. The Company agrees to pay all Service Fees and Expenses within thirty (30) days following receipt of an invoice from VStock.
(b) The Company agrees and acknowledges that VStock may adjust the Service Fees annually, on or about each anniversary date of this Agreement, by the annual percentage of change in the latest Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers United States City Average, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, VStock shall assist the Company with the transfer of records of the Company held by VStock. VStock shall be entitled to reasonable additional compensation and reimbursement of any Expenses for the preparation and delivery of such records to the successor agent or to the Company, and for maintaining records and/or Stock Certificates that are received after the termination of this Agreement (the “Record Transfer Services”).
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the day and year first above written.
RYDE GROUP LTD | ||
By: | ||
Name: | ||
Title: |
VSTOCK TRANSFER LLC | ||
By: | ||
Name: | ||
Title: |
Schedule I
[VStock’s fee schedule]
Annex A: Form of Warrant Certificate Request Notice
WARRANT CERTIFICATE REQUEST NOTICE
To: _______, as Warrant Agent for __________. (the “Company”)
The undersigned Holder of [_______] [_______] Class A Ordinary Share Purchase Warrants (“Warrants”) in the form of [_______] [_______] Global Warrants issued by the Company hereby elects to receive a Warrant Certificate evidencing the Warrants held by the Holder as specified below:
1. | Name of Holder of [_______] [_______] Warrants in form of Global Warrants: ___________________________ | |
2. | Name of Holder in Warrant Certificate (if different from name of Holder of Warrants in form of Global Warrants): ________________________________ | |
3. | Number of Warrants in name of Holder in form of Global Warrants: ___________________ | |
4. | Number of Warrants for which Warrant Certificate shall be issued: __________________ | |
5. | Number of Warrants in name of Holder in form of Global Warrants after issuance of Warrant Certificate, if any: ___________ | |
6. | [_______] [_______] Warrant Certificate shall be delivered to the following address: |
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
The undersigned hereby acknowledges and agrees that, in connection with this Warrant Exchange and the issuance of the Warrant Certificate, the Holder is deemed to have surrendered the number of Warrants in form of Global Warrants in the name of the Holder equal to the number of Warrants evidenced by the Warrant Certificate.
[SIGNATURE OF HOLDER]
Name of Investing Entity: ____________________________________________________
Signature of Authorized Signatory of Investing Entity: ______________________________
Name of Authorized Signatory: ________________________________________________
Title of Authorized Signatory: _________________________________________________
Date: _______________________________________________________________
Exhibit 1: Form of Warrant Certificate
Schedule 1 | ||||
Fees | ||||
Monthly Warrant Administration Fee (per Warrant Issue) | $ | ____.00 | ||
EXCHANGE OF WARRANTS INTO CLASS A ORDINARY SHARES | ||||
Per Manual Exercise of Warrants (until established on DTC WARR System) | $ | ____.00 |
SPECIAL SERVICES
Services not included herein (including, without limitation, trustee and custodial services, exchange/tender offer services and stock dividend disbursement services) but requested by the Company may be subject to additional charges.
Out-of-pocket Expenses
All customary out-of-pocket expenses will be billed in addition to the foregoing fees. These charges include, but are not limited to, printing and stationery, freight and materials delivery, postage and handling.
The foregoing fees apply to services ordinarily rendered by _______ and are subject to reasonable adjustment based on final review of documents.
Exhibit 5.1
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Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP 138 Market Street #24-04 CapitaGreen Singapore 048946 Tel: +65 6800 9830 Fax: +65 6800 9831 |
12 September 2024
lishi.fong@harneys.com
+65 6800 9833
060056.0001/LZF
Ryde Group Ltd
Harneys Fiduciary (Cayman) Limited
4th Floor, Harbour Place
103 South Church Street, P.O. Box 10240
Grand Cayman, KY1-1002
Cayman Islands
Dear Sir or Madam
Ryde Group Ltd (the Company)
We are lawyers qualified to practise in the Cayman Islands and have acted as Cayman Islands legal advisers to the Company in connection with the Company’s registration statement on Form F-1, including all amendments or supplements thereto (the Registration Statement), to be filed on or about the date of this opinion with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), relating to the offering (the Offering) of units (the Units), where each Unit consists of one Class A Ordinary Share of nominal or par value of US$0.0002 of the Company (each an Offer Share, and together, the Offer Shares) and one warrant (each a Warrant and together, the Warrants) exercisable for one Class A Ordinary Share of nominal or a par value of US$0.0002 of the Company (each an Underlying Share, and together the Underlying Shares) (collectively, the Underlying Shares and the Offer Shares are the Shares), to be issued pursuant to the Resolutions (as defined in Schedule 1).
We are furnishing this opinion as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement.
For the purposes of giving this opinion, we have examined the Documents (as defined in Schedule 1). We have not examined any other documents, official or corporate records or external or internal registers and have not undertaken or been instructed to undertake any further enquiry or due diligence in relation to the transaction which is the subject of this opinion.
In giving this opinion we have relied upon the assumptions set out in Schedule 2 which we have not independently verified.
Jersey legal services are provided through a referral arrangement with Harneys (Jersey) which is an independently owned and controlled Jersey law firm. Registered in Singapore with limited liability (T13LL2450G). 608845727.4 |
Anguilla | Bermuda | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands Cyprus | Hong Kong | Jersey | London | Luxembourg Montevideo | São Paulo | Shanghai | Singapore harneys.com |
Based solely upon the foregoing examinations and assumptions and upon such searches as we have conducted and having regard to legal considerations which we deem relevant, and subject to the qualifications set out in Schedule 3, we are of the opinion that under the laws of the Cayman Islands:
1 | Existence and Good Standing. The Company has been duly incorporated as an exempted company with limited liability and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the Cayman Islands as at 9 September 2024. |
2 | Authorised Share Capital. Based on our review of the M&A (as defined in Schedule 1), the authorised share capital of the Company is US$50,000 divided into 250,000,000 ordinary shares of nominal or par value of US$0.0002 each, comprising (a) 175,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value US$0.0002 each and (b) 75,000,000 Class B Ordinary Shares of nominal or par value of US$0.0002 each. |
3 | Valid Issuance of Shares. |
(a) | The Offer Shares to be issued by the Company as contemplated by the Registration Statement have been duly authorised and, when allotted, issued and fully paid for in accordance with the Resolutions (as defined in Schedule 1), and when the name of the shareholder is entered in the register of members of the Company, the Offer Shares will be validly issued, allotted and fully paid and there will be no further obligation on the holder of any of the Offer Shares to make any further payment to the Company in respect of such Offer Shares. | |
(b) | Subject to the satisfaction of any conditions or requirements set forth in the Registration Statement, when the Underlying Shares are issued upon the Exercise (as defined in Schedule 2) of the Warrants in accordance with the M&A, the Registration Statement and the Warrant Agency Agreement, and entered as fully paid on the register of members of the Company, the Underlying Shares will be validly allotted and issued, fully paid and there will be no further obligation on the holder of any of the Underlying Shares to make any further payment to the Company in respect of such Underlying Shares. |
4 | Cayman Islands Law. The statements under the caption “Taxation” in the prospectus forming part of the Registration Statement, to the extent that they constitute statements of Cayman Islands law, are accurate in all material respects as at the date of this opinion and such statements constitute our opinion. |
This opinion is confined to the matters expressly opined on herein and given on the basis of the laws of the Cayman Islands as they are in force and applied by the Cayman Islands courts at the date of this opinion. We have made no investigation of, and express no opinion on, the laws of any other jurisdiction. Except as specifically stated herein, we express no opinion as to matters of fact.
In connection with the above opinion, we hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act, as amended, or the Rules and Regulations of the Commission thereunder.
This opinion is limited to the matters referred to herein and shall not be construed as extending to any other matter or document not referred to herein.
This opinion shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Cayman Islands.
Yours faithfully |
/s/ Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP |
Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP |
2 |
Schedule 1
List of Documents and Records Examined
1 | the Certificate of Incorporation of the Company dated 21 February 2023; |
2 | the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the Company as adopted by a special resolution passed on 14 September 2023 (the M&A); |
3 | the shareholder list of the Company maintained by VStock Transfer, LLC dated 9 September 2024, the register of members of the Company maintained by the Company’s registered office provider dated 1 March 2024, and the register of directors and officers of the Company filed with the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands on 7 March 2024; |
4 | a certificate of good standing dated 9 September 2024 in respect of the Company, issued by the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands (the Certificate of Good Standing); |
5 | the search results in relation to the Company obtained from the Cayman Islands Online Registry Information System (CORIS), the Cayman Islands’ General Registry’s online database, on 9 September 2024; |
6 | a copy of the minutes of meeting or written resolutions of the shareholder(s) of the Company dated 21 April 2023, 5 May 2023, 27 July 2023 and 14 September 2023; |
7 | a copy of the written resolutions of the compensation committee of the Company dated 20 June 2024; and |
8 | a copy of the written resolutions of the director(s) of the Company dated 21 February 2023, 5 May 2023, 15 August 2023, 14 September 2023, 25 September 2023, 29 September 2023, 14 March 2024,17 May 2024, 20 June 2024, 10 September 2024 and 12 September 2024; (together with 6 and 7 above, the Resolutions), |
(copies of 1-8 above are the Corporate Documents)
9 | the Registration Statement; |
10 | the draft warrant agency agreement to be entered into between the Company as company and VStock Transfer LLC as agent (the Warrant Agency Agreement, and together with the Registration Statement, the Transaction Documents); |
the Corporate Documents and the Transaction Documents are collectively referred to in this opinion as the Documents.
3 |
Schedule 2
Assumptions
1 | Validity under Foreign Laws. That (i) all formalities required under any applicable laws (other than the laws of the Cayman Islands) have been complied with; and (ii) no other matters arising under any foreign law will affect the views expressed in this opinion. |
2 | Draft Documents. That the Company will duly execute and deliver the relevant Transaction Documents in the form of the drafts provided to us for review. |
3 | Choice of Laws. The choice of the laws of the State of New York selected to govern the relevant Transaction Documents has been made in good faith and will be regarded as a valid and binding selection which will be upheld in the courts of that jurisdiction and all other relevant jurisdictions (other than the Cayman Islands) and the entry into and performance of the relevant Transaction Documents will not cause any of the parties thereto to be in breach of any agreement or undertaking. |
4 | Directors. The board of directors of the Company considers the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents to be in the best interests of the Company and no director has (i) a financial interest in a party to or in the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents or (ii) other relationship to a party to the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents which has not been properly disclosed in the Resolutions. |
5 | Conditions. All conditions to the obligations of the parties to the Warrant Agency Agreement will be satisfied or duly waived prior to the issue and sale of the Shares and there will be no breach of the terms of the Warrant Agency Agreement. |
6 | Authenticity of Documents. All original Documents are authentic, all signatures, initials and seals are genuine, all copies of Documents are true and correct copies and the Transaction Documents conform in every material respect to the latest drafts of the same produced to us and, where the Transaction Documents have been provided to us in successive drafts marked-up to indicate changes to such documents, all such changes have been so indicated. |
7 | Corporate Documents. All matters required by law to be recorded in the Corporate Documents are so recorded, and all corporate minutes, resolutions, certificates, documents and records which we have reviewed are accurate and complete, and all facts expressed in or implied thereby are accurate and complete. |
8 | Constitutional Documents. The M&A remain in full force and effect and are otherwise unamended. |
9 | No Steps to Wind-up. The directors and shareholders of the Company have not taken any steps to have the Company struck off or placed in liquidation, no steps have been taken to wind up the Company and no receiver has been appointed over any of the property or assets of the Company. |
10 | Resolutions. The Resolutions remain in full force and effect. |
11 | Unseen Documents. Save for the Documents provided to us there are no resolutions, agreements, documents or arrangements which materially affect, amend or vary the transactions envisaged in the Documents. There is no contractual prohibition (other than as arising under Cayman Islands law) binding on the Company prohibiting it from issuing and allotting the Shares. |
12 | Proceeds of Crime. No monies paid to or for the account of any party under the Transaction Documents represent or will represent criminal property or terrorist property (as defined in the Proceeds of Crime Act (2024 Revision) and the Terrorism Act (2018 Revision), respectively). |
13 | Exercise. At the time of the exercise of the Warrants in accordance with the M&A (the Exercise): |
(a) | the Companies Act (2024 Revision) of the Cayman Islands (the Companies Act) will not have changed in such a way as to materially impact the Exercise; | |
(b) | the Company will have sufficient authorised but unallotted and unissued Underlying Shares, in each case to effect the Exercise in accordance with the M&A and the Companies Act; | |
(c) | the Company will be able to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business immediately following the Exercise; | |
(d) | the Company will have shares in issue immediately prior to the Exercise other than the Underlying Shares to be issued; | |
(e) | all the considerations will have been fully paid and without obligation of the holder to make further payment to the Company in respect of the issuance of the Underlying Shares; | |
(f) | the Company will not have been struck off or placed in liquidation; | |
(g) | the issue price for the Underlying Shares to be issued on the Exercise will not be less than the par value of such Underlying Shares; and | |
(h) | the provisions of the M&A relating to the Exercise will not have been altered, amended and restated. |
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Schedule 3
Qualifications
1 | Foreign Statutes. We express no opinion in relation to provisions making reference to foreign statutes in the Transaction Documents. |
2 | Stamp Duty. Cayman Islands stamp duty may be payable if the original Transaction Documents are executed in, brought to, or produced before a court of, the Cayman Islands. |
3 | Good Standing. The Company shall be deemed to be in good standing at any time if all fees (including annual filing fees) and penalties under the Companies Act have been paid and the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands has no knowledge that the Company is in default under the Companies Act. |
4 | Conflict of Laws. An expression of an opinion on a matter of Cayman Islands law in relation to a particular issue in this opinion should not necessarily be construed to imply that the Cayman Islands courts would treat Cayman Islands law as the proper law to determine that issue under its conflict of laws rules. |
5 | Economic Substance. We have undertaken no enquiry and express no view as to the compliance of the Company with the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act (2024 Revision). |
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Exhibit 5.2
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SIDLEY AUSTIN 39/F,
TWO INT’L FINANCE CENTRE +852 2509 7888 +852 2509 3110 FAX
AMERICA ● ASIA PACIFIC ● EUROPE
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September 12, 2024
Ryde Group Ltd
Duo Tower, 3 Fraser Street, #08-21
Singapore 189352
Re: | Registration Statement on Form F-1 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We refer to the Registration Statement on Form F-1 (the “Registration Statement”) of Ryde Group Ltd, an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with limited liability (the “Company”), being filed on September 12, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) . The Registration Statement relates to the registration under the Securities Act of 5,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0002 per share, of the Company (the “Shares”) and 5,000,000 warrants, each to purchase one Share (the “Warrants”). The Shares and Warrants are to be issued by the Company pursuant to an securities purchase agreement between the Company and Maxim Group, LLC, as the placement agent, the form of which is being filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Registration Statement (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”).
This opinion letter is being delivered in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act.
We have examined and relied upon copies of the Registration Statement, the form of the Securities Purchase Agreement and the form of the Warrants. We have also examined originals, or copies of originals certified to our satisfaction, of such agreements, documents, certificates and statements of the Company and other corporate documents and instruments, and have examined such questions of law, as we have considered relevant and necessary as a basis for this opinion letter. We have assumed the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all persons and the conformity with the original documents of any copies thereof submitted to us for examination. As to facts relevant to the opinions expressed herein, we have relied without independent investigation or verification upon, and assumed the accuracy and completeness of, certificates, letters and oral and written statements and representations of public officials and officers and other representatives of the Company.
Partners
| Constance Choy H.M., Desmond Ang C.K., (Stephanie) Chan C. M., (Christopher) Cheng C.H., Meng Ding, Dominic D. James, (Sherlyn)
Lau S.Y., David K. Lee,
Olivia Ngan S.M., (Raymond) Oh C.H., Yuet Ming Tham, (Friven) Yeoh K.H., Claudia Yu K.W., Yan Zhang
Registered
Foreign Lawyers | Lei Li (New York)*, (Carrie) Li J. (New York)*, David J. Ryan (Victoria), G. Matthew Sheridan (New York)*,
Effie Vasilopoulos (New South Wales)*, (Renee) Xiong Y. (New York)*, Liming Xu (New York)
Consultants | Hon Au Yeung, Huberta
Chow X.L., Douglas Tsang C.L.,
(Eva) Tsui Y.W, Alan Wong C.K., Felicity Wong K.Y., Holly Yeung S.M., Iris Yuen L.S.
* Partner of Sidley Austin Holding LLP (a Delaware Limited Liability Partnership)
Page 2
Based on the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Warrants will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company when (i) the Registration Statement, as finally amended, shall have been declared effective under the Securities Act; and (ii) instruments representing the Warrants shall have been duly executed and issued and duly delivered to Maxim Group, LLC or its assigns, all in accordance with the Securities Purchase Agreement as executed and delivered by the parties thereto.
Our opinions are subject to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer and other similar laws relating to or affecting creditors’ rights generally and to general equitable principles (regardless of whether considered in a proceeding in equity or at law), including concepts of commercial reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing and the possible unavailability of specific performance or injunctive relief.
For purposes of this opinion letter, we have assumed that (i) the Company was duly organized or formed and at all relevant times was, is and will be validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization or formation and at all relevant times had, has and will have full right, power and authority to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under the Securities Purchase Agreement and the Warrants; (ii) each of the Securities Purchase Agreement and the Warrants have been or, at their respective time of delivery will be, duly authorized, executed and delivered under the laws of the Cayman Islands; (iii) any Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants have been duly authorized and, when issued, will be legally and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; and (iv) each of the Securities Purchase Agreement and the Warrants will be in the form reviewed by us and will be governed by the laws of the State of New York.
We express no opinion as to any provision of any instrument, agreement or other document (i) regarding severability of the provisions thereof; (ii) providing that the assertion or employment of any right or remedy shall not prevent the concurrent assertion or employment of any other right or remedy, or that every right and remedy shall be cumulative and in addition to every other right and remedy, or that any delay or omission to exercise any right or remedy shall not impair any right or remedy or constitute a waiver thereof; (iii) imposing liquidated damages or penalties; (iv) regarding waiver of usury, stay, extension or similar laws; (v) regarding any obligation or agreement to use best efforts, reasonable best efforts or commercially reasonable efforts or any similar obligation or agreement; (vi) regarding choice of law; (vii) regarding specific performance or the grant of any power of attorney; or (viii) requiring any party to take further action or to enter into further agreements or instruments or to provide further assurances.
This opinion letter is limited to the laws of the State of New York (excluding the securities laws of the State of New York). We express no opinion as to the laws, rules or regulations of any other jurisdiction, including, without limitation, the federal laws of the United States of America or any state securities or blue sky laws.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as an Exhibit to the Registration Statement and to all references to our Firm included in or made a part of the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act.
Very truly yours, | |
/s/ Sidley Austin |
Exhibit 10.8
SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT
THIS SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is entered into and made effective as of [_______], 2024, between Ryde Group Ltd, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”), and each purchaser identified on the signature pages hereto (each, including its successors and assigns, a “Purchaser” and collectively the “Purchasers”).
WHEREAS, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act (as defined below), the Company desires to issue and sell to each Purchaser, and each Purchaser, severally and not jointly, desires to purchase from the Company, securities of the Company as more fully described in this Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company and each Purchaser agree as follows:
ARTICLE
I.
DEFINITIONS
1.1 Definitions. In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Agreement, for all purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings set forth in this Section 1.1:
“Acquiring Person” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.5.
“Action” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(j).
“Affiliate” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act.
“Authorizations” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(n).
“Board of Directors” means the board of directors of the Company.
“Business Day” means any day other than Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in The City of New York are authorized or required by law to remain closed; provided, however, for clarification, commercial banks shall not be deemed to be authorized or required by law to remain closed due to “stay at home”, “shelter-in-place”, “non-essential employee” or any other similar orders or restrictions or the closure of any physical branch locations at the direction of any governmental authority so long as the electronic funds transfer systems (including for wire transfers) of commercial banks in The City of New York are generally open for use by customers on such day.
“Closing” means the closing of the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to Section 2.1.
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“Closing Date” means the Trading Day on which all of the Transaction Documents have been executed and delivered by the applicable parties thereto, and all conditions precedent to (i) the Purchasers’ obligations to pay the Subscription Amount and (ii) the Company’s obligations to deliver the Securities, in each case, have been satisfied or waived, but in no event later than the first (1st) Trading Day (or second (2nd) Trading Day if this Agreement is executed after 4:00 p.m. (New York City Time) but prior to 11:59 p.m. (New York City Time)) following the date hereof.
“Commission” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Company Counsel” means Sidley Austin LLP, with offices located at c/o 39/F, Two Int’l Finance Centre, 8 Finance St, Central, Hong Kong.
“Disclosure Schedules” means the Disclosure Schedules of the Company delivered concurrently herewith.
“Disclosure Time” means, (i) if this Agreement is signed on a day that is not a Trading Day or after 9:00 a.m. (New York City time) and before midnight (New York City time) on any Trading Day, 9:01 a.m. (New York City time) on the Trading Day immediately following the date hereof, unless otherwise instructed as to an earlier time by the Placement Agent, and (ii) if this Agreement is signed between midnight (New York City time) and 9:00 a.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, no later than 9:01 a.m. (New York City time) on the date hereof, unless otherwise instructed as to an earlier time by the Placement Agent.
“Evaluation Date” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(s).
“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
“Exempt Issuance” means the issuance of (a) Ordinary Shares or options to employees, officers or directors of the Company pursuant to any share or option plan duly adopted for such purpose, by a majority of the non-employee members of the Board of Directors or a majority of the members of a committee of non-employee directors established for such purpose for services rendered to the Company, (b) securities upon the exercise or exchange of or conversion of any Securities issued hereunder, and/or other securities exercisable or exchangeable for or convertible into Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding on the date of this Agreement, provided that such securities have not been amended since the date of this Agreement to increase the number of such securities or to decrease the exercise price, exchange price or conversion price of such securities (other than in connection with share splits or combinations) or to extend the term of such securities, (c) securities issued pursuant to acquisitions or strategic transactions approved by a majority of the disinterested directors of the Company, provided that such securities are issued as “restricted securities” (as defined in Rule 144) and carry no registration rights that require or permit the filing of any registration statement in connection therewith during the prohibition period in Section 4.12(a) herein, and provided that any such issuance shall only be to a Person (or to the equityholders of a Person) which is, itself or through its subsidiaries, an operating company or an owner of an asset in a business synergistic with the business of the Company and shall provide to the Company additional benefits in addition to the investment of funds, but shall not include a transaction in which the Company is issuing securities primarily for the purpose of raising capital or to an entity whose primary business is investing in securities and (d) up to $[_____] of Shares and Warrants issued to other purchasers pursuant to the Prospectus concurrently with the Closing at the Unit Purchase Price, less the aggregate Subscription Amount pursuant to this Agreement.
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“FCPA” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended.
“GAAP” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(h).
“Indebtedness” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(aa).
“Intellectual Property” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(p).
“Liens” means a lien, charge, pledge, security interest, encumbrance, right of first refusal, preemptive right or other restriction.
“Material Adverse Effect” shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section 3.1(b).
“Ordinary Shares” means the Class A ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.0002 per share, and any other class of securities into which such securities may hereafter be reclassified or changed.
“Ordinary Share Equivalents” means any securities of the Company or the Subsidiaries which would entitle the holder thereof to acquire at any time Ordinary Shares, including, without limitation, any debt, preferred shares, right, option, warrant or other instrument that is at any time convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or otherwise entitles the holder thereof to receive, Ordinary Shares.
“Person” means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind.
“Placement Agent” means Maxim Group LLC.
“Placement Agent Counsel” means Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, with offices located at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105-0302.
“Preliminary Prospectus” means any preliminary prospectus included in the Registration Statement, as originally filed or as part of any amendment thereto, or filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(a) of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Securities Act.
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“Pricing Prospectus” means (i) the Preliminary Prospectus relating to the Securities that was included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to [9:00 a.m.] (New York City time) on the date hereof and (ii) any free writing prospectus (as defined in the Securities Act) identified on Schedule A hereto, taken together.
“Proceeding” means an action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding (including, without limitation, an informal investigation or partial proceeding, such as a deposition), whether commenced or threatened.
“Prospectus” means the final prospectus filed for the Registration Statement.
“Purchaser Party” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.8.
“Registration Statement” means the effective registration statement with Commission File No. 333-[_________] which registers the sale of the Shares, the Warrants and the Warrant Shares to the Purchasers, and includes any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement.
“Required Approvals” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(e).
“Rule 144” means Rule 144 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Rule may be amended or interpreted from time to time, or any similar rule or regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially the same purpose and effect as such Rule.
“Rule 424” means Rule 424 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Rule may be amended or interpreted from time to time, or any similar rule or regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially the same purpose and effect as such Rule.
“Rule 462(b) Registration Statement” means any registration statement prepared by the Company registering additional Securities, which was filed with the Commission on or prior to the date hereof and became automatically effective pursuant to Rule 462(b) promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act.
“SEC Reports” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(h).
“Securities” means the Units, Shares, the Warrants and the Warrant Shares.
“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
“Shares” means the Ordinary Shares issued or issuable to each Purchaser pursuant to this Agreement.
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“Short Sales” means all “short sales” as defined in Rule 200 of Regulation SHO under the Exchange Act (but shall not be deemed to include locating and/or borrowing Ordinary Shares).
“Subscription Amount” means, as to each Purchaser, the aggregate amount to be paid for the Units hereunder as specified below such Purchaser’s name on the signature page of this Agreement and next to the heading “Subscription Amount,” in United States dollars and in immediately available funds.
“Subsidiary” means any subsidiary of the Company as disclosed in the SEC Reports, and shall, where applicable, also include any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company formed or acquired after the date hereof.
“Trading Day” means a day on which the principal Trading Market is open for trading.
“Trading Market” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Ordinary Shares are listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE American, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or the New York Stock Exchange (or any successors to any of the foregoing).
“Transaction Documents” means this Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement, the Warrants, all exhibits and schedules thereto and hereto and any other documents or agreements executed in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder.
“Transfer Agent” means Vstock Transfer, LLC, the current transfer agent of the Company, with offices located at 18 Lafayette Pl, Woodmere, NY 11598, and any successor transfer agent of the Company.
“Unit Purchase Price” equals $[___] per Unit, subject to adjustment for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions of the Ordinary Shares that occur after the date of this Agreement.
“Units” means each unit consisting of (a) one Share and (b) one Warrant to purchase one Warrant Share.
“Warrant Agency Agreement” means the warrant agency agreement dated on or about the Closing Date, between the Company and the Transfer Agent.
“Warrant Shares” means the Ordinary Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants.
“Warrants” means, collectively, the Ordinary Share purchase warrants delivered to the Purchasers at the Closing in accordance with Section 2.2(a) hereof, which Warrants shall be exercisable immediately and have a term of exercise equal to five (5) years, in the form of Exhibit A attached hereto.
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ARTICLE
II.
PURCHASE AND SALE
2.1 Closing. On the Closing Date, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, substantially concurrent with the execution and delivery of this Agreement by the parties hereto, the Company agrees to sell, and the Purchasers, severally and not jointly, agree to purchase, up to an aggregate of $[_____] of Units as determined pursuant to Section 2.2(a). Unless otherwise directed by the Placement Agent, each Purchaser’s Subscription Amount as set forth on the signature page hereto executed by such Purchaser shall be made available for “Delivery Versus Payment” (“DVP”) settlement with the Company or its designee. The Company shall deliver to each Purchaser its respective Shares and Warrants (as applicable to such Purchaser) as determined pursuant to Section 2.2(a), and the Company and each Purchaser shall deliver the other items set forth in Section 2.2 deliverable at the Closing. Upon satisfaction of the covenants and conditions set forth in Sections 2.2 and 2.3, the Closing shall occur at the offices of the Placement Agent Counsel or such other location as the parties shall mutually agree. Each Purchaser acknowledges that, concurrently with the Closing and pursuant to the Prospectus, the Company may sell up to $[_____] of additional Units to purchasers who are not parties to this Agreement, less the aggregate Subscription Amount pursuant to this Agreement, and will issue to such purchasers such Ordinary Shares and Warrants in the same form and at the same Unit Purchase Price. Unless otherwise directed by the Placement Agent, settlement of the Shares shall occur via DVP (i.e., on the Closing Date, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the Purchasers’ names and addresses and released by the Transfer Agent directly to the account(s) at the Placement Agent identified by each Purchaser; upon receipt of such Shares, the Placement Agent shall promptly electronically deliver such Shares to the applicable Purchaser, and payment therefor shall be made by the Placement Agent (or its clearing firm) by wire transfer to the Company). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein and a Purchaser’s Subscription Amount set forth on the signature pages attached hereto, the number of Shares purchased by a Purchaser (and its Affiliates) hereunder shall not, when aggregated with all other Ordinary Shares owned by such Purchaser (and its Affiliates) at such time, result in such Purchaser beneficially owning (as determined in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act) in excess of 9.99% of the then issued and outstanding aggregate number of Ordinary Shares and Class B ordinary shares of the Company outstanding at the Closing (the “Beneficial Ownership Maximum”), and such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount, to the extent it would otherwise exceed the Beneficial Ownership Maximum immediately prior to the Closing, shall be conditioned upon the issuance of Shares at the Closing to the other Purchasers signatory hereto. To the extent that a Purchaser’s beneficial ownership of the Shares would otherwise be deemed to exceed the Beneficial Ownership Maximum, such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount shall automatically be reduced as necessary in order to comply with this paragraph.
2.2 Deliveries.
(a) On or prior to the Closing Date (except as indicated below), the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to each Purchaser the following:
(i) on the date hereof, this Agreement duly executed by the Company;
(ii) (A) a legal opinion (including a negative assurance letter) of Company Counsel, substantially in the form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Placement Agent, (B) a legal opinion of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Singapore counsel to the Company, substantially in the form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Placement Agent, and (C) a legal opinion of Harney Westwood & Riegels Singapore LLP, Cayman Islands counsel to the Company, substantially in the form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Placement Agent;
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(iii) subject to Section 2.1, the Company shall have provided each Purchaser with the Company’s wire instructions, on Company letterhead and executed by the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer;
(iv) subject to Section 2.1, a copy of the irrevocable instructions to the Transfer Agent instructing the Transfer Agent to deliver on an expedited basis via The Depository Trust Company Deposit or Withdrawal at Custodian system (“DWAC”) Shares equal to such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount divided by the Unit Purchase Price, registered in the name of such Purchaser;
(v) for each Purchaser of Warrants pursuant to Section 2.1, a Warrant registered in the name of such Purchaser to purchase up to a number of Ordinary Shares as set forth in the Warrant, with an exercise price equal to $[___], subject to adjustment therein via DWAC; and
(vi) the Preliminary Prospectus and Prospectus (which may be delivered in accordance with Rule 172 under the Securities Act).
(b) On or prior to the Closing Date, each Purchaser shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Company the following:
(i) on the date hereof, this Agreement duly executed by such Purchaser; and
(ii) such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount, which shall be made available for DVP settlement with the Company or its designee.
2.3 Closing Conditions.
(a) The obligations of the Company hereunder in connection with the Closing are subject to the following conditions being met:
(i) the accuracy in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality, in all respects) on the Closing Date of the representations and warranties of the Purchasers contained herein (unless as of a specific date therein in which case they shall be accurate in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality, in all respects) as of such date);
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(ii) all obligations, covenants and agreements of each Purchaser required to be performed at or prior to the Closing Date shall have been performed; and
(iii) the delivery by each Purchaser of the items set forth in Section 2.2(b) of this Agreement.
(b) The respective obligations of the Purchasers hereunder in connection with the Closing are subject to the following conditions being met:
(i) the accuracy in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality or Material Adverse Effect, in all respects) when made and on the Closing Date of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein (unless as of a specific date therein in which case they shall be accurate in all material respects or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality or Material Adverse Effect, in all respects) as of such date);
(ii) all obligations, covenants and agreements of the Company required to be performed at or prior to the Closing Date shall have been performed;
(iii) the delivery by the Company of the items set forth in Section 2.2(a) of this Agreement;
(iv) there shall have been no Material Adverse Effect with respect to the Company since the date hereof; and
(v) from the date hereof to the Closing Date, trading in the Ordinary Shares shall not have been suspended by the Commission or the Company’s principal Trading Market, and, at any time prior to the Closing Date, trading in securities generally as reported by Bloomberg L.P. shall not have been suspended or limited, or minimum prices shall not have been established on securities whose trades are reported by such service, or on any Trading Market, nor shall a banking moratorium have been declared either by the United States or New York State authorities nor shall there have occurred any material outbreak or escalation of hostilities or other national or international calamity of such magnitude in its effect on, or any material adverse change in, any financial market which, in each case, in the reasonable judgment of such Purchaser, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to purchase the Securities at the Closing.
ARTICLE
III.
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
3.1 Representations and Warranties of the Company. Except as set forth in the Disclosure Schedules, which Disclosure Schedules shall be deemed a part hereof and shall qualify any representation or otherwise made herein to the extent of the disclosure contained in the corresponding section of the Disclosure Schedules, the Company hereby makes the following representations and warranties to each Purchaser:
(a) Subsidiaries. All of the Subsidiaries of the Company are set forth on Schedule 3.1(a).The Company owns, directly or indirectly, all of the capital stock or other equity interests of each Subsidiary free and clear of any Liens, and all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of each Subsidiary are validly issued and are fully paid, non-assessable and free of preemptive and similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities. If the Company has no subsidiaries, all other references to the Subsidiaries or any of them in the Transaction Documents shall be disregarded.
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(b) Organization and Qualification. The Company and each of the Subsidiaries is an entity duly incorporated or otherwise organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization, with the requisite power and authority to own and use its properties and assets and to carry on its business as currently conducted. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation nor default of any of the provisions of its respective certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents. Each of the Company and the Subsidiaries is duly qualified to conduct business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation or other entity in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted or property owned by it makes such qualification necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, as the case may be, could not have or reasonably be expected to result in: (i) a material adverse effect on the legality, validity or enforceability of any Transaction Document, (ii) a material adverse effect on the results of operations, assets, business, prospects or condition (financial or otherwise) of the Company and the Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (iii) a material adverse effect on the Company’s ability to perform in any material respect on a timely basis its obligations under any Transaction Document (any of (i), (ii) or (iii), a “Material Adverse Effect”) and no Proceeding has been instituted in any such jurisdiction revoking, limiting or curtailing or seeking to revoke, limit or curtail such power and authority or qualification.
(c) Authorization; Enforcement. The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents to which it is a party and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Company and no further action is required by the Company, the Board of Directors or the Company’s shareholders in connection herewith or therewith other than in connection with the Required Approvals. This Agreement and each other Transaction Document to which the Company is a party has been (or upon delivery will have been) duly executed by the Company and, when delivered in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof, will constitute the valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by Applicable Law.
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(d) No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents to which it is a party, the issuance and sale of the Securities and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby do not and will not (i) conflict with or violate any provision of the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents, or (ii) except as set forth in the Prospectus, conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event that with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the properties or assets of the Company or any Subsidiary, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, anti-dilution or similar adjustments, acceleration or cancellation (with or without notice, lapse of time or both) of, any agreement, credit facility, debt or other instrument (evidencing a Company or Subsidiary debt or otherwise) or other understanding to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any property or asset of the Company or any Subsidiary is bound or affected, or (iii) subject to the Required Approvals, conflict with or result in a violation of any Applicable Law or other restriction of any court or Governmental Authority to which the Company or a Subsidiary is subject (including federal and state securities laws and regulations), or by which any property or asset of the Company or a Subsidiary is bound or affected; except in the case of each of clauses (ii) and (iii), such as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(e) Filings, Consents and Approvals. The Company is not required to obtain any consent, waiver, authorization or order of, give any notice to, or make any filing or registration with, any court or other federal, state, local or other Governmental Authority or other Person in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Transaction Documents, other than: (i) the filings required pursuant to Section 4.4 of this Agreement, (ii) such filings as are required to be made under applicable state securities laws, (iii) the filing with the Commission of the Prospectus, (iv) application(s) to each applicable Trading Market for the listing of the Shares and Warrant Shares for trading thereon in the time and manner required thereby (collectively, the “Required Approvals”).
(f) Issuance of the Securities; Registration. The Securities are duly authorized and, when issued and paid for in accordance with the applicable Transaction Documents, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, free and clear of all Liens imposed by the Company. The Warrant Shares are duly authorized and, when issued in accordance with the terms of the Warrants, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, free and clear of all Liens imposed by the Company. The Company has reserved from its duly authorized capital stock the maximum number of Ordinary Shares issuable pursuant to this Agreement and the Warrants. The Securities are not and will not be subject to the preemptive rights of any holders of any security of the Company or similar contractual rights granted by the Company. All corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Securities has been duly and validly taken. The Securities conform in all material respects to all statements with respect thereto contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. The Company has prepared and filed the Registration Statement in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act, which became effective on [_______], 2024 (the “Effective Date”), including the Prospectus, and such amendments and supplements thereto as may have been required to the date of this Agreement. The Registration Statement is effective under the Securities Act and no stop order preventing or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or suspending or preventing the use of the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued by the Commission and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the knowledge of the Company, are threatened by the Commission. The Company, if required by the rules and regulations of the Commission, shall file the Prospectus with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b). At the time the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto became effective, at the date of this Agreement and at the Closing Date, the Registration Statement and any amendments thereto conformed and will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, at the time the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, as applicable, or any amendment or supplement thereto was issued and at the Closing Date, conformed and will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and did not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
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(g) Capitalization. The capitalization of the Company as of the date hereof is as set forth on Schedule 3.1(g), which Schedule 3.1(g) shall also include the number of Ordinary Shares owned beneficially, and of record, by Affiliates of the Company as of the date hereof. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(g), the Company has not issued any capital stock since its most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act, other than pursuant to the exercise of employee stock options under the Company’s stock option plans, the issuance of Ordinary Shares to employees pursuant to the Company’s employee stock purchase plans and pursuant to the conversion and/or exercise of Ordinary Share Equivalents outstanding as of the date of the most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act. No Person has any right of first refusal, preemptive right, right of participation, or any similar right to participate in the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.1(g) and as a result of the purchase and sale of the Securities, there are no outstanding options, warrants, scrip rights to subscribe to, calls or commitments of any character whatsoever relating to, or securities, rights or obligations convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or giving any Person any right to subscribe for or acquire, any Ordinary Shares or the capital stock of any Subsidiary, or contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any Subsidiary is or may become bound to issue additional Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents or capital stock of any Subsidiary. The issuance and sale of the Securities will not obligate the Company or any Subsidiary to issue Ordinary Shares or other securities to any Person (other than the Purchasers) and will not result in a right of any holder of Company securities or instruments to adjust the exercise, conversion, exchange or reset price under any such securities or instruments. Except as described in the Registration Statement, there are no outstanding securities or instruments of the Company or any Subsidiary that contain any redemption or similar provisions and there are no contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any Subsidiary is or may become bound to redeem a security of the Company or such Subsidiary. The Company does not have any stock appreciation rights or “phantom stock” plans or agreements or any similar plan or agreement. All of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, have been issued in compliance with all federal and state securities laws, and none of such outstanding shares was issued in violation of any preemptive rights or similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities. The authorized shares of the Company conform in all material respects to all statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus. The offers and sales of the Company’s securities were at all relevant times either registered under the Securities Act and the applicable state securities or Blue Sky laws or, based in part on the representations and warranties of the purchasers, exempt from such registration requirements. No further approval or authorization of any shareholder, the Board of Directors or others is required for the issuance and sale of the Securities. There are no shareholders agreements, voting agreements or other similar agreements with respect to the Company’s capital stock to which the Company is a party or, to the knowledge of the Company, between or among any of the Company’s shareholders.
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(h) SEC Reports; Financial Statements. The Company has filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by the Company under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, including pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) thereof, for the two years preceding the date hereof (or such shorter period as the Company was required by law or regulation to file such material) (the foregoing materials, including the exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein, together with the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, being collectively referred to herein as the “SEC Reports”) on a timely basis or has received a valid extension of such time of filing and has filed any such SEC Reports prior to the expiration of any such extension. As of their respective dates, the SEC Reports complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, and none of the SEC Reports, when filed, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Company has never been an issuer subject to Rule 144(i) under the Securities Act. The financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Reports comply in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the rules and regulations of the Commission with respect thereto as in effect at the time of filing. Such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved, except as may be otherwise specified in such financial statements or the notes thereto and except that unaudited financial statements may not contain all footnotes required by GAAP, and fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of and for the dates thereof and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended, subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal, immaterial, year-end audit adjustments. The agreements and documents described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus, and the SEC Reports conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained therein and there are no agreements or other documents required by the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus or the SEC Reports or to be filed with the Commission as exhibits to the Registration Statement, that have not been so described or filed. Each agreement or other instrument (however characterized or described) to which the Company is a party or by which it is or may be bound or affected and (i) that is referred to in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus or the SEC Reports, or (ii) is material to the Company’s business, has been duly authorized and validly executed by the Company, is in full force and effect in all material respects and is enforceable against the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, the other parties thereto, in accordance with its terms, except (x) as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally, (y) as enforceability of any indemnification or contribution provision may be limited under the federal and state securities laws, and (z) that the remedy of specific performance and injunctive and other forms of equitable relief may be subject to the equitable defenses and to the discretion of the court before which any proceeding therefore may be brought. None of such agreements or instruments has been assigned by the Company, and neither the Company nor, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, any other party is in default thereunder and, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, no event has occurred that, with the lapse of time or the giving of notice, or both, would constitute a default thereunder. To the best of the Company’s knowledge, performance by the Company of the material provisions of such agreements or instruments will not result in a violation of any existing Applicable Law or order or decree of any Governmental Authority or court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its assets or businesses, including, without limitation, those relating to environmental laws and regulations.
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(i) Material Changes; Undisclosed Events, Liabilities or Developments. Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included within the SEC Reports, except as set forth in the Prospectus, (i) there has been no event, occurrence or development that has had or that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) the Company has not incurred any liabilities (contingent or otherwise) other than (A) trade payables and accrued expenses incurred in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (B) liabilities not required to be reflected in the Company’s financial statements pursuant to GAAP or disclosed in filings made with the Commission, (iii) the Company has not altered its method of accounting, (iv) the Company has not declared or made any dividend or distribution of cash or other property to its shareholders or purchased, redeemed or made any agreements to purchase or redeem any shares of its capital stock, (v) the Company has not issued any equity securities to any officer, director or Affiliate, except pursuant to existing Company stock option plans and the issuance of Ordinary Share Equivalents as disclosed in the SEC Reports and (vi) no officer or director of the Company has resigned from any position with the Company. The Company does not have pending before the Commission any request for confidential treatment of information. Except for the issuance of the Securities contemplated by this Agreement, no event, liability, fact, circumstance, occurrence or development has occurred or exists or is reasonably expected to occur or exist with respect to the Company or its Subsidiaries or their respective businesses, prospects, properties, operations, assets or financial condition that would be required to be disclosed by the Company under applicable securities laws at the time this representation is made or deemed made that has not been publicly disclosed at least one (1) Trading Day prior to the date that this representation is made. Unless otherwise disclosed in an SEC Report filed prior to the date hereof, the Company has not: (i) issued any securities or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, for borrowed money; or (ii) declared or paid any dividend or made any other distribution on or in respect to its capital stock.
(j) Litigation. There is no action, suit, inquiry, notice of violation, proceeding or investigation pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company, any Subsidiary or any of their respective properties before or by any court, arbitrator, Governmental Authority (federal, state, county, local or foreign) (collectively, an “Action”) that (i) adversely affects or challenges the legality, validity or enforceability of any of the Transaction Documents or the Securities or, (ii) could, if there were an unfavorable decision, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary, nor any director or officer thereof, is or has been the subject of any Action involving a claim of violation of or liability under federal or state securities laws or a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. There has not been, and to the knowledge of the Company, there is not pending or contemplated, any investigation by the Commission involving the Company or any current or former director or officer of the Company. The Commission has not issued any stop order or other order suspending the effectiveness of any registration statement filed by the Company or any Subsidiary under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act.
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(k) Labor Relations. No labor dispute exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent with respect to any of the employees of the Company, which could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. None of the Company’s or its Subsidiaries’ employees is a member of a union that relates to such employee’s relationship with the Company or such Subsidiary, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to a collective bargaining agreement, and the Company and its Subsidiaries believe that their relationships with their employees are good. To the knowledge of the Company, no executive officer of the Company or any Subsidiary, is, or is now expected to be, in violation of any material term of any employment contract, confidentiality, disclosure or proprietary information agreement or non-competition agreement, or any other contract or agreement or any restrictive covenant in favor of any third party, and the continued employment of each such executive officer does not subject the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to any liability with respect to any of the foregoing matters. The Company and its Subsidiaries are in compliance with all Applicable Laws relating to employment and employment practices, terms and conditions of employment and wages and hours, except where the failure to be in compliance could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and each of the Subsidiaries (A) is in compliance, in all material respects, with Applicable Laws (including pursuant to the Occupational Health and Safety Act or its foreign equivalents) relating to the protection of human health and safety in the workplace (“Occupational Laws”); (B) has received all Authorizations or other approvals required of it under applicable Occupational Laws to conduct its business as currently conducted; and (C) is in compliance, in all material respects, with all terms and conditions of such Authorizations or approval. No action, proceeding, revocation proceeding, writ, injunction or claim is pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries relating to Occupational Laws, and the Company does not have knowledge of any facts, circumstances or developments relating to its operations or cost accounting practices that could reasonably be expected to form the basis for or give rise to such actions, suits, investigations or proceedings.
(l) Compliance. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary: (i) is in default under or in violation of (and no event has occurred that has not been waived that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would result in a default by the Company or any Subsidiary under), nor has the Company or any Subsidiary received notice of a claim that it is in default under or that it is in violation of, any credit facility or other indenture, loan or credit agreement or any other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties is bound (whether or not such default or violation has been waived, (ii) is in violation of any judgment, decree or order of any court, arbitrator or other Governmental authority or (iii) is or has been in violation of any statute, rule, ordinance or regulation of any Governmental authority, including without limitation all foreign, federal, state and local laws relating to taxes, environmental protection, occupational health and safety, product quality and safety and employment and labor matters, except in each case as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(m) Environmental Laws. The Company and its Subsidiaries (i) are in compliance with all federal, state, local and foreign laws relating to pollution or protection of human health or the environment (including ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata), including laws relating to emissions, discharges, releases or threatened releases of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, or toxic or hazardous substances or wastes (collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) into the environment, or otherwise relating to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials, as well as all authorizations, codes, decrees, demands, or demand letters, injunctions, judgments, licenses, notices or notice letters, orders, permits, plans or regulations, issued, entered, promulgated or approved thereunder (“Environmental Laws”); (ii) have received all permits licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses; and (iii) are in compliance with all terms and conditions of any such permit, license or approval where in each clause (i), (ii) and (iii), the failure to so comply could be reasonably expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect.
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(n) Law and Permits. Except as described in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, the Company and each of the Subsidiaries: (i) is and at all times since January 1, 2023 has been in material compliance with all United States (federal, state and local) and foreign statutes, rules, regulations, codes, treaties, or guidance applicable to the Company or the Subsidiaries, including, without limitation, such regulations as described in the Registration Statement and Prospectus (“Applicable Laws”); (B) since January 1, 2023 has not received any notice of adverse finding, warning letter, untitled letter or other correspondence or notice from any Governmental Authority (as defined below) alleging or asserting noncompliance with any Applicable Laws or any licenses, certificates, approvals, clearances, authorizations, permits and supplements or amendments thereto required by any such Applicable Laws (“Authorizations”); (C) since January 1, 2023 has not received notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any Governmental Authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Applicable Laws or Authorizations and has no knowledge that any such Governmental Authority or third party intends to assert any such claim, litigation, arbitration, action, suit, investigation or proceeding; (D) since January 1, 2023 has not received notice that any Governmental Authority has taken, is taking or intends to take action to limit, suspend, modify or revoke any Authorizations and the Company has no knowledge that any such Governmental Authority is considering such action; (E) possess all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct their respective businesses as described in the SEC Reports and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such permit; and (F) has filed, obtained, maintained or submitted all material reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required by any Applicable Laws or Authorizations and that all such reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments were complete and correct in all material respects on the date filed (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission), except in the case of (A) through (F) above, as could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. “Governmental Authority” means any federal, provincial, state, local, foreign or other governmental, quasi-governmental or administrative agency, court or body or any other type of regulatory authority or body, including, without limitation, those described in the Registration Statement and Prospectus including the Trading Market. The aggregate of all pending legal or governmental proceedings to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or of which any of their respective property or assets is the subject which are not described in the Registration Statement, Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, including ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business, would not result in a Material Adverse Effect.
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(o) Title to Assets. The Company and the Subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property owned by them and good and marketable title in all personal property owned by them that is material to the business of the Company and the Subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all Liens, except for (i) Liens arising under any credit facility, (ii) Liens as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and the Subsidiaries and (iii) Liens for the payment of foreign, federal, state or other taxes, for which appropriate reserves have been made therefor in accordance with GAAP and, the payment of which is neither delinquent nor subject to penalties. Any real property and facilities held under lease by the Company and the Subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with which the Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance.
(p) Intellectual Property. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries owns, possesses, or can acquire on reasonable terms, all Intellectual Property (as defined below) necessary for the conduct of their respective businesses as now conducted or as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus to be conducted. Except as would not result in a Material Adverse Effect, (A) there are no rights of third parties to any such Intellectual Property owned by the Company; (B) to the knowledge of the Company, there is no infringement, misappropriation or violation by third parties of any such Intellectual Property; (C) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s rights in or to any such Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; (D) the Intellectual Property owned by the Company and each of the Subsidiaries, and to the knowledge of the Company, the Intellectual Property licensed to the Company, each of the Subsidiaries, has not been adjudged invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity or scope of any such Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; (E) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company or any of its Subsidiaries infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates any Intellectual Property or other proprietary rights of others, and neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries has received any written notice of such claim; and (F) to the Company’s knowledge, no employee of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is in or has ever been in violation of any term of any employment contract, patent disclosure agreement, invention assignment agreement, non-competition agreement, non-solicitation agreement, nondisclosure agreement or any restrictive covenant to or with a former employer where the basis of such violation relates to such employee’s employment with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or actions undertaken by the employee while employed with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. “Intellectual Property” shall mean all patents, patent applications, trade and service marks, trade and service mark registrations, trade names, copyrights, licenses, inventions, trade secrets, domain names, technology, know-how and other intellectual property.
(q) Insurance. The Company and the Subsidiaries are insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as are prudent and customary in the businesses in which the Company and the Subsidiaries are engaged, including, but not limited to, directors and officers insurance coverage at least equal to the aggregate Subscription Amount. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business without a significant increase in cost.
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(r) Transactions With Affiliates and Employees. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, none of the officers or directors of the Company or any Subsidiary and, to the knowledge of the Company, none of the employees of the Company or any Subsidiary is presently a party to any transaction with the Company or any Subsidiary (other than for services as employees, officers and directors), including any contract, agreement or other arrangement providing for the furnishing of services to or by, providing for rental of real or personal property to or from, providing for the borrowing of money from or lending of money to or otherwise requiring payments to or from any officer, director or such employee or, to the knowledge of the Company, any entity in which any officer, director, or any such employee has a substantial interest or is an officer, director, trustee, shareholder, member or partner, in each case in excess of $120,000 other than for (i) payment of salary or consulting fees for services rendered, (ii) reimbursement for expenses incurred on behalf of the Company and (iii) other employee benefits, including stock option agreements under any stock option plan of the Company.
(s) Sarbanes-Oxley; Internal Accounting Controls. The Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance with any and all applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that are effective as of the date hereof, and any and all applicable rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission thereunder that are effective as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Date. The Company and the Subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls 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 GAAP and to maintain asset accountability, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. The Company and the Subsidiaries have established disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the Company and the Subsidiaries and designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms. The Company’s certifying officers have evaluated the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures of the Company and the Subsidiaries as of the end of the period covered by the most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act (such date, the “Evaluation Date”). The Company presented in its most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act the conclusions of the certifying officers about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on their evaluations as of the Evaluation Date. Since the Evaluation Date, there have been no changes in the internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in the Exchange Act) of the Company and its Subsidiaries that have materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the internal control over financial reporting of the Company and its Subsidiaries.
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(t) Certain Fees. Except as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and Prospectus, or as set forth on Schedule 3.1(t), no brokerage or finder’s fees or commissions are or will be payable by the Company, any Subsidiary or Affiliate of the Company to any broker, financial advisor or consultant, finder, placement agent, investment banker, bank or other Person with respect to the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. There are no other arrangements, agreements or understandings of the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its shareholders that may affect the Placement Agent’s compensation, as determined by FINRA. Other than payments to the Placement Agent for this Offering, the Company has not made and has no agreements, arrangements or understanding to make any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or otherwise) to: (i) any person, as a finder’s fee, consulting fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised or provided capital to the Company; (ii) any FINRA member participating in the offering as defined in FINRA Rule 5110 (a “Participating Member”); or (iii) any person or entity that has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Participating Member, within the 180-day period preceding the initial filing of the Registration Statement through the 60-day period after the Effective Date. None of the net proceeds of the Offering will be paid by the Company to any Participating Member or its affiliates, except as specifically authorized herein.
(u) Investment Company. The Company is not, and is not an Affiliate of, and immediately after receipt of payment for the Securities, will not be or be an Affiliate of, an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The Company shall conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become an “investment company” subject to registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
(v) Registration Rights. No Person has any right to cause the Company or any Subsidiary to effect the registration under the Securities Act of any securities of the Company or any Subsidiary, other than those rights that have been waived or satisfied.
(w) Listing and Maintenance Requirements. The Ordinary Shares are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act, and the Company has taken no action designed to, or which to its knowledge is likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Act nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission is contemplating terminating such registration. The Company has not, in the 12 months preceding the date hereof, received notice from any Trading Market on which the Ordinary Shares are or have been listed or quoted to the effect that the Company is not in compliance with the listing or maintenance requirements of such Trading Market. The Company is, and has no reason to believe that it will not in the foreseeable future continue to be, in compliance with all such listing and maintenance requirements. The Ordinary Shares are currently eligible for electronic transfer through The Depository Trust Company or another established clearing corporation and the Company is current in payment of the fees to The Depository Trust Company (or such other established clearing corporation) in connection with such electronic transfer.
(x) Application of Takeover Protections. The Company and the Board of Directors have taken all necessary action, if any, in order to render inapplicable any control share acquisition, business combination, poison pill (including any distribution under a rights agreement) or other similar anti-takeover provision under the Company’s certificate of incorporation (or similar charter documents) or the laws of its state or jurisdiction of incorporation that is or could become applicable as a result of the Purchasers and the Company fulfilling their obligations or exercising their rights under the Transaction Documents.
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(y) Disclosure. Except with respect to the material terms and conditions of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents, the Company confirms that neither it nor any other Person acting on its behalf has provided any of the Purchasers or their agents or counsel with any information that it believes constitutes or might constitute material, non-public information which is not otherwise disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus or Prospectus. The Company understands and confirms that the Purchasers will rely on the foregoing representation in effecting transactions in securities of the Company. All of the disclosure furnished by or on behalf of the Company to the Purchasers regarding the Company and its Subsidiaries, their respective businesses and the transactions contemplated hereby, including but not limited to, the Disclosure Schedules, is true and correct and does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The SEC Reports, when they were filed with the Commission, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the applicable rules and regulations, and none of such documents, when they were filed with the Commission, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein (with respect to the SEC Reports incorporated by reference in the Prospectus), in light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading; and any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Prospectus, when such documents are filed with the Commission, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations, as applicable, and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading. The press releases disseminated by the Company during the twelve months preceding the date of this Agreement taken as a whole do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made and when made, not misleading. The Company acknowledges and agrees that no Purchaser makes or has made any representations or warranties with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby other than those specifically set forth in Section 3.2 hereof. No post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement reflecting any facts or events arising after the date thereof which represent, individually or in the aggregate, a fundamental change in the information set forth therein is required to be filed with the Commission. There are no documents required to be filed with the Commission in connection with the transaction contemplated hereby that (x) have not been filed as required pursuant to the Securities Act or (y) will not be filed within the requisite time period. There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Pricing Prospectus or Prospectus, or to be filed as exhibits or schedules to the Registration Statement, which have not been described or filed as required.
(z) No Integrated Offering. Assuming the accuracy of the Purchasers’ representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.2, neither the Company, nor any of its Affiliates, nor any Person acting on its or their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would cause this offering of the Securities to be integrated with prior offerings by the Company for purposes of any applicable shareholder approval provisions of any Trading Market on which any of the securities of the Company are listed or designated.
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(aa) Solvency. Based on the consolidated financial condition of the Company as of the Closing Date, after giving effect to the receipt by the Company of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities hereunder, (i) the fair saleable value of the Company’s assets exceeds the amount that will be required to be paid on or in respect of the Company’s existing debts and other liabilities (including known contingent liabilities) as they mature, (ii) the Company’s assets do not constitute unreasonably small capital to carry on its business as now conducted and as proposed to be conducted including its capital needs taking into account the particular capital requirements of the business conducted by the Company, consolidated and projected capital requirements and capital availability thereof as such matters are described in the Registration Statement, and (iii) the current cash flow of the Company, together with the proceeds the Company would receive, were it to liquidate all of its assets, after taking into account all anticipated uses of the cash, would be sufficient to pay all amounts on or in respect of its liabilities when such amounts are required to be paid. The Company does not intend to incur debts beyond its ability to pay such debts as they mature (taking into account the timing and amounts of cash to be payable on or in respect of its debt). The Company has no knowledge of any facts or circumstances which lead it to believe that it will file for reorganization or liquidation under the bankruptcy or reorganization laws of any jurisdiction within one year from the Closing Date. Schedule 3.1(aa) sets forth as of the date hereof all outstanding secured and unsecured Indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary, or for which the Company or any Subsidiary has commitments. For the purposes of this Agreement, “Indebtedness” means (x) any liabilities for borrowed money or amounts owed in excess of $50,000 (other than trade accounts payable incurred in the ordinary course of business), (y) all guaranties, endorsements and other contingent obligations in respect of indebtedness of others, whether or not the same are or should be reflected in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet (or the notes thereto), except guaranties by endorsement of negotiable instruments for deposit or collection or similar transactions in the ordinary course of business; and (z) the present value of any lease payments in excess of $50,000 due under leases required to be capitalized in accordance with GAAP. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in default with respect to any Indebtedness.
(bb) Tax Status. Except for matters that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its Subsidiaries each (i) has made or filed all United States federal, state and local income and all foreign income and franchise tax returns, reports and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject, (ii) has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations and (iii) has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate for the payment of all material taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to which such returns, reports or declarations apply. There are no unpaid taxes in any material amount claimed to be due by the taxing authority of any jurisdiction, and the officers of the Company or of any Subsidiary know of no basis for any such claim. The provisions for taxes payable, if any, shown on the financial statements filed with or as part of the Registration Statement are sufficient for all accrued and unpaid taxes, whether or not disputed, and for all periods to and including the dates of such consolidated financial statements. The term “taxes” mean all federal, state, local, foreign, and other net income, gross income, gross receipts, sales, use, ad valorem, transfer, franchise, profits, license, lease, service, service use, withholding, payroll, employment, excise, severance, stamp, occupation, premium, property, windfall profits, customs, duties or other taxes, fees, assessments, or charges of any kind whatsoever, together with any interest and any penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts with respect thereto. The term “returns” means all returns, declarations, reports, statements, and other documents required to be filed in respect to taxes. The Company did not qualify as a “passive foreign investment company” within the meaning of Section 1297 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for its most recently completed taxable year.
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(cc) Foreign Corrupt Practices. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary, nor to the knowledge of the Company or any Subsidiary, any agent or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary, has (i) directly or indirectly, used any funds for unlawful contributions, gifts, entertainment or other unlawful expenses related to foreign or domestic political activity, (ii) made any unlawful payment to foreign or domestic government officials or employees or to any foreign or domestic political parties or campaigns from corporate funds, (iii) failed to disclose fully any contribution made by the Company or any Subsidiary (or made by any person acting on its behalf of which the Company is aware) which is in violation of Applicable Law, or (iv) violated in any material respect any provision of FCPA or any foreign equivalent. The Company has taken reasonable steps to ensure that its accounting controls and procedures are sufficient to cause the Company to comply in all material respects with the FCPA or any foreign equivalent.
(dd) Accountants. The Company’s accounting firm is Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP. To the knowledge and belief of the Company, such accounting firm (i) is a registered public accounting firm as required by the Exchange Act and (ii) shall express its opinion with respect to the financial statements to be included in the Company’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.
(ee) Acknowledgment Regarding Purchasers’ Purchase of Securities. The Company acknowledges and agrees that each of the Purchasers is acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length purchaser with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby. The Company further acknowledges that no Purchaser is acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Company (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby and any advice given by any Purchaser or any of their respective representatives or agents in connection with the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby is merely incidental to the Purchasers’ purchase of the Securities. The Company further represents to each Purchaser that the Company’s decision to enter into this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation of the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company and its representatives.
(ff) Acknowledgment Regarding Purchaser’s Trading Activity. Anything in this Agreement or elsewhere herein to the contrary notwithstanding (except for Sections 3.2(f) and 4.14 hereof), it is understood and acknowledged by the Company that: (i) none of the Purchasers has been asked by the Company to agree, nor has any Purchaser agreed, to desist from purchasing or selling, long and/or short, securities of the Company, or “derivative” securities based on securities issued by the Company or to hold the Securities for any specified term; (ii) past or future open market or other transactions by any Purchaser, specifically including, without limitation, Short Sales or “derivative” transactions, before or after the closing of this or future private placement transactions, may negatively impact the market price of the Company’s publicly-traded securities; (iii) any Purchaser, and counter-parties in “derivative” transactions to which any such Purchaser is a party, directly or indirectly, presently may have a “short” position in the Ordinary Shares, and (iv) each Purchaser shall not be deemed to have any affiliation with or control over any arm’s length counter-party in any “derivative” transaction. The Company further understands and acknowledges that (y) one or more Purchasers may engage in hedging activities at various times during the period that the Securities are outstanding, including, without limitation, during the periods that the value of the Warrant Shares deliverable with respect to Securities are being determined, and (z) such hedging activities (if any) could reduce the value of the existing shareholders’ equity interests in the Company at and after the time that the hedging activities are being conducted. The Company acknowledges that such aforementioned hedging activities do not constitute a breach of any of the Transaction Documents.
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(gg) Regulation M Compliance. The Company has not, and to its knowledge no one acting on its behalf has, (i) taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or to result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Securities, (ii) sold, bid for, purchased, or, paid any compensation for soliciting purchases of, any of the Securities, or (iii) paid or agreed to pay to any Person any compensation for soliciting another to purchase any other securities of the Company, other than, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), compensation paid to the Placement Agent in connection with the placement of the Securities.
(hh) Cybersecurity. (i)(x) To the Company’s knowledge, there has been no security breach or other compromise of or relating to any of the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s information technology and computer systems, networks, hardware, software, data (including the data of its respective customers, employees, suppliers, vendors and any third party data maintained by or on behalf of it), equipment or technology (collectively, “IT Systems and Data”) and (y) the Company and the Subsidiaries have not been notified of, and has no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in, any security breach or other compromise to its IT Systems and Data; (ii) the Company and the Subsidiaries are presently in compliance with all Applicable Laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (iii) the Company and the Subsidiaries have implemented and maintained commercially reasonable safeguards to maintain and protect its material confidential information and the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of all IT Systems and Data; and (iv) the Company and the Subsidiaries have implemented backup and disaster recovery technology consistent with industry standards and practices.
(ii) Office of Foreign Assets Control. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any Subsidiary is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”).
(jj) U.S. Real Property Holding Corporation. The Company is not and has never been a U.S. real property holding corporation within the meaning of Section 897 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the Company shall so certify upon Purchaser’s request.
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(kk) Bank Holding Company Act. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates is subject to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHCA”) and to regulation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”). Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates owns or controls, directly or indirectly, five percent (5%) or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities or twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total equity of a bank or any entity that is subject to the BHCA and to regulation by the Federal Reserve. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates exercises a controlling influence over the management or policies of a bank or any entity that is subject to the BHCA and to regulation by the Federal Reserve.
(ll) Money Laundering. The operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, applicable money laundering statutes and applicable rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), and no Action or Proceeding by or before any court or Governmental Authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any Subsidiary with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company or any Subsidiary, threatened.
(mm) Foreign Private Issuer. The Company is a “foreign private issuer” as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act.
(nn) Jurisdiction. The Company has the power to submit, and has legally, validly, effectively and irrevocably submitted, to the jurisdiction of any federal or state court in the State of New York, County of New York, and has the power to designate, appoint and empower, and has legally, validly and effectively designated, appointed and empowered, an agent for service of process in any suit or proceeding based on or arising under this Agreement in any federal or state court in the State of New York.
3.2 Representations and Warranties of the Purchasers. Each Purchaser, for itself and for no other Purchaser, hereby represents and warrants as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Date to the Company as follows (unless as of a specific date therein, in which case they shall be accurate as of such date):
(a) Organization; Authority. Such Purchaser is either an individual or an entity duly incorporated or formed, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or formation with full right, corporate, partnership, limited liability company or similar power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents and performance by such Purchaser of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership, limited liability company or similar action, as applicable, on the part of such Purchaser. Each Transaction Document to which it is a party has been duly executed by such Purchaser, and when delivered by such Purchaser in accordance with the terms hereof, will constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of such Purchaser, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, except: (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by Applicable Law.
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(b) Understandings or Arrangements. Such Purchaser is acquiring the Securities as principal for its own account and has no direct or indirect arrangement or understandings with any other persons to distribute or regarding the distribution of such Securities (this representation and warranty not limiting such Purchaser’s right to sell the Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement or otherwise in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws). Such Purchaser is acquiring the Securities hereunder in the ordinary course of its business.
(c) Reserved.
(d) Experience of Such Purchaser. Such Purchaser, either alone or together with its representatives, has such knowledge, sophistication and experience in business and financial matters so as to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment in the Securities, and has so evaluated the merits and risks of such investment. Such Purchaser is able to bear the economic risk of an investment in the Securities and, at the present time, is able to afford a complete loss of such investment.
(e) Access to Information. Such Purchaser acknowledges that it has had the opportunity to review the Transaction Documents (including all exhibits and schedules thereto) and the SEC Reports and has been afforded, (i) the opportunity to ask such questions as it has deemed necessary of, and to receive answers from, representatives of the Company concerning the terms and conditions of the offering of the Securities and the merits and risks of investing in the Securities; (ii) access to information about the Company and its financial condition, results of operations, business, properties, management and prospects sufficient to enable it to evaluate its investment; and (iii) the opportunity to obtain such additional information that the Company possesses or can acquire without unreasonable effort or expense that is necessary to make an informed investment decision with respect to the investment. Such Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that neither the Placement Agent nor any Affiliate of the Placement Agent has provided such Purchaser with any information or advice with respect to the Securities nor is such information or advice necessary or desired. Neither the Placement Agent nor any Affiliate has made or makes any representation as to the Company or the quality of the Securities and the Placement Agent and any Affiliate may have acquired non-public information with respect to the Company which such Purchaser agrees need not be provided to it. In connection with the issuance of the Securities to such Purchaser, neither the Placement Agent nor any of its Affiliates has acted as a financial advisor or fiduciary to such Purchaser.
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(f) Certain Transactions and Confidentiality. Other than consummating the transactions contemplated hereunder, such Purchaser has not, nor has any Person acting on behalf of or pursuant to any understanding with such Purchaser, directly or indirectly executed any purchases or sales, including Short Sales, of the securities of the Company during the period commencing as of the time that such Purchaser first received a term sheet (written or oral) from the Company or any other Person representing the Company setting forth the material pricing terms of the transactions contemplated hereunder and ending immediately prior to the execution hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of a Purchaser that is a multi-managed investment vehicle whereby separate portfolio managers manage separate portions of such Purchaser’s assets and the portfolio managers have no direct knowledge of the investment decisions made by the portfolio managers managing other portions of such Purchaser’s assets, the representation set forth above shall only apply with respect to the portion of assets managed by the portfolio manager that made the investment decision to purchase the Securities covered by this Agreement. Other than to other Persons party to this Agreement or to such Purchaser’s representatives, including, without limitation, its officers, directors, partners, legal and other advisors, employees, agents and Affiliates, such Purchaser has maintained the confidentiality of all disclosures made to it in connection with this transaction (including the existence and terms of this transaction). Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the avoidance of doubt, nothing contained herein shall constitute a representation or warranty, or preclude any actions, with respect to locating or borrowing shares in order to effect Short Sales or similar transactions in the future.
The Company acknowledges and agrees that the representations contained in this Section 3.2 shall not modify, amend or affect such Purchaser’s right to rely on the Company’s representations and warranties contained in this Agreement or any representations and warranties contained in any other Transaction Document or any other document or instrument executed and/or delivered in connection with this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the avoidance of doubt, nothing contained herein shall constitute a representation or warranty, or preclude any actions, with respect to locating or borrowing shares in order to effect Short Sales or similar transactions in the future.
ARTICLE
IV.
OTHER AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES
4.1 Warrant Shares. If all or any portion of a Warrant is exercised at a time when there is an effective registration statement to cover the issuance or resale of the Warrant Shares or if the Warrant is exercised via cashless exercise, the Warrant Shares issued pursuant to any such exercise shall be issued free of all legends. If at any time following the date hereof the Registration Statement (or any subsequent registration statement registering the sale or resale of the Warrant Shares) is not effective or is not otherwise available for the sale or resale of the Warrant Shares, the Company shall immediately notify the holders of the Warrants in writing that such registration statement is not then effective and thereafter shall promptly notify such holders when the registration statement is effective again and available for the sale or resale of the Warrant Shares (it being understood and agreed that the foregoing shall not limit the ability of the Company to issue, or any Purchaser to sell, any of the Warrant Shares in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws). The Company shall use best efforts to keep a registration statement (including the Registration Statement) registering the issuance or resale of the Warrant Shares effective during the term of the Warrants.
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4.2 Furnishing of Information. Until the earliest of the time that (i) no Purchaser owns Securities or (ii) the Warrants have expired, the Company covenants to timely file (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof pursuant to the Exchange Act even if the Company is not then subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act.
4.3 Integration. The Company shall not sell, offer for sale or solicit offers to buy or otherwise negotiate in respect of any security (as defined in Section 2 of the Securities Act) that would be integrated with the offer or sale of the Securities for purposes of the rules and regulations of any Trading Market such that it would require shareholder approval prior to the closing of such other transaction unless shareholder approval is obtained before the closing of such subsequent transaction.
4.4 Securities Laws Disclosure; Publicity. The Company shall (a) by the Disclosure Time, issue a press release disclosing the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby, and (b) file a Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K, including the Transaction Documents as exhibits thereto, with the Commission within the time required by the Exchange Act. From and after the issuance of such press release, the Company represents to the Purchasers that it shall have publicly disclosed all material, non-public information delivered to any of the Purchasers by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, employees, Affiliates or agents, including, without limitation, the Placement Agent, in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. In addition, effective upon the issuance of such press release, the Company acknowledges and agrees that any and all confidentiality or similar obligations under any agreement, whether written or oral, between the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees, Affiliates or agents, including, without limitation, the Placement Agent, on the one hand, and any of the Purchasers or any of their Affiliates on the other hand, shall terminate and be of no further force or effect. The Company understands and confirms that each Purchaser shall be relying on the foregoing covenant in effecting transactions in securities of the Company. The Company and each Purchaser shall consult with each other in issuing any other press releases with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby, and neither the Company nor any Purchaser shall issue any such press release nor otherwise make any such public statement without the prior consent of the Company, with respect to any press release of any Purchaser, or without the prior consent of each Purchaser, with respect to any press release of the Company, which consent shall not unreasonably be withheld or delayed, except if such disclosure is required by law, in which case the disclosing party shall promptly provide the other party with prior notice of such public statement or communication. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not publicly disclose the name of any Purchaser, or include the name of any Purchaser in any filing with the Commission or any regulatory agency or Trading Market, without the prior written consent of such Purchaser, except (a) as required by federal securities law in connection with the filing of final Transaction Documents with the Commission and (b) to the extent such disclosure is required by law or Trading Market regulations, in which case the Company shall provide the Purchasers with prior notice of such disclosure permitted under this clause (b) and reasonably cooperate with such Purchaser regarding such disclosure.
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4.5 Shareholder Rights Plan. No claim will be made or enforced by the Company or, with the consent of the Company, any other Person, that any Purchaser is an “Acquiring Person” under any control share acquisition, business combination, poison pill (including any distribution under a rights agreement) or similar anti-takeover plan or arrangement in effect or hereafter adopted by the Company, or that any Purchaser could be deemed to trigger the provisions of any such plan or arrangement, by virtue of receiving Securities under the Transaction Documents or under any other agreement between the Company and the Purchasers.
4.6 Non-Public Information. Except with respect to the material terms and conditions of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents, which shall be disclosed pursuant to Section 4.4, the Company covenants and agrees that neither it, nor any other Person acting on its behalf will provide any Purchaser or its agents or counsel with any information that constitutes, or the Company reasonably believes constitutes, material non-public information, unless prior thereto such Purchaser shall have consented in writing to the receipt of such information and agreed in writing with the Company to keep such information confidential. The Company understands and confirms that each Purchaser shall be relying on the foregoing covenant in effecting transactions in securities of the Company. To the extent that the Company, any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates delivers any material, non-public information to a Purchaser without such Purchaser’s consent, the Company hereby covenants and agrees that such Purchaser shall not have any duty of confidentiality to the Company, any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, employees, Affiliates or agents, including, without limitation, the Placement Agent, or a duty to the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, employees, Affiliates or agents, including, without limitation, the Placement Agent, not to trade on the basis of, such material, non-public information, provided that the Purchaser shall remain subject to Applicable Law. To the extent that any notice provided pursuant to any Transaction Document constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously with the delivery of such notice file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K. The Company understands and confirms that each Purchaser shall be relying on the foregoing covenant in effecting transactions in securities of the Company.
4.7 Use of Proceeds. Except as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company shall use the net proceeds from the sale of the Securities hereunder for working capital purposes and shall not use such proceeds: (a) for the satisfaction of any portion of the Company’s debt (other than payment of trade payables in the ordinary course of the Company’s business and prior practices), (b) for the redemption of any Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents, (c) for the settlement of any outstanding litigation or (d) in violation of FCPA or OFAC regulations.
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4.8 Indemnification of Purchasers. Subject to the provisions of this Section 4.8, the Company will indemnify and hold each Purchaser and its directors, officers, shareholders, members, partners, employees and agents (and any other Persons with a functionally equivalent role of a Person holding such titles notwithstanding a lack of such title or any other title), each Person who controls such Purchaser (within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act and Section 20 of the Exchange Act), and the directors, officers, shareholders, agents, members, partners or employees (and any other Persons with a functionally equivalent role of a Person holding such titles notwithstanding a lack of such title or any other title) of such controlling persons (each, a “Purchaser Party”) harmless from any and all losses, liabilities, obligations, claims, contingencies, damages, costs and expenses, including all judgments, amounts paid in settlements, court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of investigation that any such Purchaser Party may suffer or incur as a result of or relating to (a) any breach of any of the representations, warranties, covenants or agreements made by the Company in this Agreement or in the other Transaction Documents or (b) any action instituted against the Purchaser Parties in any capacity, or any of them or their respective Affiliates, by any shareholder of the Company who is not an Affiliate of such Purchaser Party, with respect to any of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents (unless such action is solely based upon a material breach of such Purchaser Party’s representations, warranties or covenants under the Transaction Documents or any agreements or understandings such Purchaser Party may have with any such shareholder or any violations by such Purchaser Party of state or federal securities laws or any conduct by such Purchaser Party which is finally judicially determined to constitute fraud, gross negligence or willful misconduct). If any action shall be brought against any Purchaser Party in respect of which indemnity may be sought pursuant to this Agreement, such Purchaser Party shall promptly notify the Company in writing, and the Company shall have the right to assume the defense thereof with counsel of its own choosing reasonably acceptable to the Purchaser Party. Any Purchaser Party shall have the right to employ separate counsel in any such action and participate in the defense thereof, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Purchaser Party except to the extent that (i) the employment thereof has been specifically authorized by the Company in writing, (ii) the Company has failed after a reasonable period of time to assume such defense and to employ counsel or (iii) in such action there is, in the reasonable opinion of counsel, a material conflict on any material issue between the position of the Company and the position of such Purchaser Party, in which case the Company shall be responsible for the reasonable fees and expenses of no more than one such separate counsel. The Company will not be liable to any Purchaser Party under this Agreement (y) for any settlement by a Purchaser Party effected without the Company’s prior written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed; or (z) to the extent, but only to the extent that a loss, claim, damage or liability is attributable to any Purchaser Party’s breach of any of the representations, warranties, covenants or agreements made by such Purchaser Party in this Agreement or in the other Transaction Documents. The indemnification required by this Section 4.8 shall be made by periodic payments of the amount thereof during the course of the investigation or defense, as and when bills are received or are incurred. The indemnity agreements contained herein shall be in addition to any cause of action or similar right of any Purchaser Party against the Company or others and any liabilities the Company may be subject to pursuant to law.
4.9 Reservation of Ordinary Shares. As of the date hereof, the Company has reserved and the Company shall continue to reserve and keep available at all times, free of preemptive rights, a sufficient number of Ordinary Shares for the purpose of enabling the Company to issue Shares pursuant to this Agreement and Warrant Shares pursuant to any exercise of the Warrants.
4.10 Listing of Ordinary Shares. The Company hereby agrees to use commercially reasonable best efforts to maintain the listing or quotation of the Ordinary Shares on the Trading Market on which it is currently listed, and concurrently with the Closing, the Company shall apply to list or quote all of the Shares and Warrant Shares on such Trading Market and promptly secure the listing of all of the Shares and Warrant Shares on such Trading Market. The Company further agrees, if the Company applies to have the Ordinary Shares traded on any other Trading Market, it will then include in such application all of the Shares and Warrant Shares, and will take such other action as is necessary to cause all of the Shares and Warrant Shares to be listed or quoted on such other Trading Market as promptly as possible. The Company will then take all action reasonably necessary to continue the listing and trading of its Ordinary Shares on a Trading Market and will comply in all respects with the Company’s reporting, filing and other obligations under the bylaws or rules of the Trading Market. The Company agrees to maintain the eligibility of the Ordinary Shares for electronic transfer through the Depository Trust Company or another established clearing corporation, including, without limitation, by timely payment of fees to the Depository Trust Company or such other established clearing corporation in connection with such electronic transfer.
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4.11 Board Composition and Board Designations; Internal Controls. The Company shall ensure that: (i) the qualifications of the persons serving as board members and the overall composition of the Board of Directors comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules promulgated thereunder and with the listing requirements of the Trading Market and (ii) if applicable, at least one member of the Board of Directors qualifies as a “financial expert” as such term is defined under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules promulgated thereunder. The Company will maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that: (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary in order to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.
4.12 Subsequent Equity Sales.
(a) From the date hereof until six (6) months after the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall (i) issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents or (ii) file any registration statement or amendment or supplement thereto, other than the Prospectus or filing a registration statement on Form S-8 in connection with any employee benefit plan.
(b) From the date hereof until the six (6) month anniversary of the Closing Date, the Company shall be prohibited from effecting or entering into an agreement to effect any issuance by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of Ordinary Shares or Ordinary Share Equivalents (or a combination of units thereof) involving a Variable Rate Transaction. “Variable Rate Transaction” means a transaction in which the Company (i) issues or sells any debt or equity securities that are convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for, or include the right to receive additional Ordinary Shares either (A) at a conversion price, exercise price or exchange rate or other price that is based upon and/or varies with the trading prices of or quotations for the Ordinary Shares at any time after the initial issuance of such debt or equity securities, or (B) with a conversion, exercise or exchange price that is subject to being reset at some future date after the initial issuance of such debt or equity security or upon the occurrence of specified or contingent events directly or indirectly related to the business of the Company or the market for the Ordinary Shares or (ii) enters into, or effects a transaction under, any agreement, including, but not limited to, an equity line of credit or an “at-the-market offering”, whereby the Company may issue securities at a future determined price regardless of whether shares pursuant to such agreement have actually been issued and regardless of whether such agreement is subsequently canceled. Any Purchaser shall be entitled to obtain injunctive relief against the Company to preclude any such issuance, which remedy shall be in addition to any right to collect damages.
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 4.12 shall not apply in respect of an Exempt Issuance, except that no Variable Rate Transaction shall be an Exempt Issuance.
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4.13 Certain Transactions and Confidentiality. Each Purchaser, severally and not jointly with the other Purchasers, covenants that neither it nor any Affiliate acting on its behalf or pursuant to any understanding with it will execute any purchases or sales, including Short Sales of any of the Company’s securities during the period commencing with the execution of this Agreement and ending at such time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4. Each Purchaser, severally and not jointly with the other Purchasers, covenants that until such time as the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are publicly disclosed by the Company pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4, such Purchaser will maintain the confidentiality of the existence and terms of this transaction (other than as disclosed to its legal and other representatives). Notwithstanding the foregoing and notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company expressly acknowledges and agrees that (i) no Purchaser makes any representation, warranty or covenant hereby that it will not engage in effecting transactions in any securities of the Company after the time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4, (ii) no Purchaser shall be restricted or prohibited from effecting any transactions in any securities of the Company in accordance with applicable securities laws from and after the time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4 and (iii) no Purchaser shall have any duty of confidentiality or duty not to trade in the securities of the Company to the Company, any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, employees, Affiliates, or agent, including, without limitation, the Placement Agent, after the issuance of the initial press release as described in Section 4.4. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of a Purchaser that is a multi-managed investment vehicle whereby separate portfolio managers manage separate portions of such Purchaser’s assets and the portfolio managers have no direct knowledge of the investment decisions made by the portfolio managers managing other portions of such Purchaser’s assets, the covenant set forth above shall only apply with respect to the portion of assets managed by the portfolio manager that made the investment decision to purchase the Securities covered by this Agreement.
4.14 Exercise Procedures. The form of Notice of Exercise included in the Warrants set forth the totality of the procedures required of the Purchasers in order to exercise the Warrants. No additional legal opinion, other information or instructions shall be required of the Purchasers to exercise their Warrants. Without limiting the preceding sentences, no ink-original Notice of Exercise shall be required, nor shall any medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any Notice of Exercise form be required in order to exercise the Warrants. The Company shall honor exercises of the Warrants and shall deliver Warrant Shares in accordance with the terms, conditions and time periods set forth in the Transaction Documents.
4.15
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4.16 Transfer Agent. For a period of three (3) years from the Closing Date, the Company shall retain the Transfer Agent or a nationally recognized transfer and registrar agent.
4.17 Exchange Act Registration. For a period of three (3) years from the Closing Date, the Company will use its best efforts to maintain the registration of the Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Act.
ARTICLE
V.
MISCELLANEOUS
5.1 Termination. This Agreement may be terminated by any Purchaser, as to such Purchaser’s obligations hereunder only and without any effect whatsoever on the obligations between the Company and the other Purchasers, by written notice to the other parties, if the Closing has not been consummated on or before the fifth (5th) Trading Day following the date hereof; provided, however, that no such termination will affect the right of any party to sue for any breach by any other party (or parties).
5.2 Fees and Expenses. Except as expressly set forth in the Transaction Documents to the contrary, each party shall pay the fees and expenses of its advisers, counsel, accountants and other experts, if any, and all other expenses incurred by such party incident to the negotiation, preparation, execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement. The Company shall pay all Transfer Agent fees (including, without limitation, any fees required for same-day processing of any instruction letter delivered by the Company and any exercise notice delivered by a Purchaser), stamp taxes and other taxes and duties levied in connection with the delivery of any Securities to the Purchasers.
5.3 Entire Agreement. The Transaction Documents, together with the exhibits and schedules thereto, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, oral or written, with respect to such matters, which the parties acknowledge have been merged into such documents, exhibits and schedules.
5.4 Notices. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries required or permitted to be provided hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of: (a) the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via email attachment at the email address as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto at or prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a Trading Day, (b) the next Trading Day after the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via email attachment at the email address as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto on a day that is not a Trading Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, (c) the second (2nd) Trading Day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. nationally recognized overnight courier service or (d) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. The address for such notices and communications shall be as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto. To the extent that any notice provided pursuant to any Transaction Document constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K.
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5.5 Amendments; Waivers. No provision of this Agreement may be waived, modified, supplemented or amended except in a written instrument signed, in the case of an amendment, by the Company and Purchasers which purchased at least 50.1% in interest of the Shares based on the initial Subscription Amounts hereunder (or, prior to the Closing, the Company and each Purchaser) or, in the case of a waiver, by the party against whom enforcement of any such waived provision is sought, provided that if any amendment, modification or waiver disproportionately and adversely impacts a Purchaser (or group of Purchasers), the consent of such disproportionately impacted Purchaser (or group of Purchasers) shall also be required. No waiver of any default with respect to any provision, condition or requirement of this Agreement shall be deemed to be a continuing waiver in the future or a waiver of any subsequent default or a waiver of any other provision, condition or requirement hereof, nor shall any delay or omission of any party to exercise any right hereunder in any manner impair the exercise of any such right. Any proposed amendment or waiver that disproportionately, materially and adversely affects the rights and obligations of any Purchaser relative to the comparable rights and obligations of the other Purchasers shall require the prior written consent of such adversely affected Purchaser. Any amendment effected in accordance with this Section 5.5 shall be binding upon each Purchaser and holder of Securities and the Company.
5.6 Headings. The headings herein are for convenience only, do not constitute a part of this Agreement and shall not be deemed to limit or affect any of the provisions hereof.
5.7 Successors and Assigns. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their successors and permitted assigns. The Company may not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of each Purchaser (other than by merger). Any Purchaser may assign any or all of its rights under this Agreement to any Person to whom such Purchaser assigns or transfers any Securities, provided that such transferee agrees in writing to be bound, with respect to the transferred Securities, by the provisions of the Transaction Documents that apply to the “Purchasers.”
5.8 No Third-Party Beneficiaries. The Placement Agent shall be the third party beneficiary of the representations, warranties and covenants of the Company in this Agreement Section 3.1 and the representations, warranties and covenants of the Purchasers in this Agreement. This Agreement is intended for the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns and is not for the benefit of, nor may any provision hereof be enforced by, any other Person, except as otherwise set forth in Section 4.8 and this Section 5.8.
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5.9 Governing Law; Venue; Agent for Process. All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of the Transaction Documents shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law thereof. Each party agrees that all legal Proceedings concerning the interpretations, enforcement and defense of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and any other Transaction Documents (whether brought against a party hereto or its respective affiliates, directors, officers, shareholders, partners, members, employees or agents) shall be commenced exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection herewith or with any transaction contemplated hereby or discussed herein (including with respect to the enforcement of any of the Transaction Documents), and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any Action or Proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such Action or Proceeding is improper or is an inconvenient venue for such Proceeding. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and, to the extent permitted by law, consents to process being served in any such Action or Proceeding by mailing a copy thereof via registered or certified mail or overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. In addition to and without limiting the foregoing, the Company has appointed Puglisi & Associates as its authorized agent (the “Authorized Agent”) upon whom process may be served in any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or based upon the Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated herein which may be instituted in any New York Court, and expressly accept the non-exclusive jurisdiction of any such court in respect of any such suit, action or proceeding. The Company hereby represents and warrants that the Authorized Agent has accepted such appointment and has agreed to act as said agent for service of process, and the Company agrees to take any and all action, including the filing of any and all documents that may be necessary to continue such appointment in full force and effect as aforesaid. The Company hereby authorizes and directs the Authorized Agent to accept such service. Service of process upon the Authorized Agent shall be deemed, in every respect, effective service of process upon the Company. If the Authorized Agent shall cease to act as agent for service of process, the Company shall appoint, without unreasonable delay, another such agent in the United States, and notify you of such appointment. This paragraph shall survive any termination of this Agreement, in whole or in part. The Company agrees that a final judgment in any such action, proceeding or counterclaim brought in any such court shall be conclusive and binding upon the Company and may be enforced in any other courts to the jurisdiction of which the Company is or may be subject, by suit upon such judgment.
5.10 Survival. The representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the Closing and the delivery of the Securities.
5.11 Execution. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to each other party, it being understood that the parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by e-mail delivery of a “.pdf” format data file, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such “.pdf” signature page were an original thereof.
5.12 Severability. If any term, provision, covenant or restriction of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable, the remainder of the terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions set forth herein shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated, and the parties hereto shall use their commercially reasonable efforts to find and employ an alternative means to achieve the same or substantially the same result as that contemplated by such term, provision, covenant or restriction. It is hereby stipulated and declared to be the intention of the parties that they would have executed the remaining terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions without including any of such that may be hereafter declared invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable.
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5.13 Rescission and Withdrawal Right. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in (and without limiting any similar provisions of) any of the other Transaction Documents, whenever any Purchaser exercises a right, election, demand or option under a Transaction Document and the Company does not timely perform its related obligations within the periods therein provided, then such Purchaser may rescind or withdraw, in its sole discretion from time to time upon written notice to the Company, any relevant notice, demand or election in whole or in part without prejudice to its future actions and rights; provided, however, that, in the case of a rescission of an exercise of a Warrant, the applicable Purchaser shall be required to return any Ordinary Shares subject to any such rescinded exercise notice concurrently with the return to such Purchaser of the aggregate exercise price paid to the Company for such shares and the restoration of such Purchaser’s right to acquire such shares pursuant to such Purchaser’s Warrant (including, issuance of a replacement warrant certificate evidencing such restored right).
5.14 Replacement of Securities. If any certificate or instrument evidencing any Securities is mutilated, lost, stolen or destroyed, the Company shall issue or cause to be issued in exchange and substitution for and upon cancellation thereof (in the case of mutilation), or in lieu of and substitution therefor, a new certificate or instrument, but only upon receipt of evidence reasonably satisfactory to the Company of such loss, theft or destruction. The applicant for a new certificate or instrument under such circumstances shall also pay any reasonable third-party costs (including customary indemnity) associated with the issuance of such replacement Securities.
5.15 Remedies. In addition to being entitled to exercise all rights provided herein or granted by law, including recovery of damages, each of the Purchasers and the Company will be entitled to specific performance under the Transaction Documents. The parties agree that monetary damages may not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of any breach of obligations contained in the Transaction Documents and hereby agree to waive and not to assert in any Action for specific performance of any such obligation the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.
5.16 Payment Set Aside. To the extent that the Company makes a payment or payments to any Purchaser pursuant to any Transaction Document or a Purchaser enforces or exercises its rights thereunder, and such payment or payments or the proceeds of such enforcement or exercise or any part thereof are subsequently invalidated, declared to be fraudulent or preferential, set aside, recovered from, disgorged by or are required to be refunded, repaid or otherwise restored to the Company, a trustee, receiver or any other Person under any law (including, without limitation, any bankruptcy law, state or federal law, common law or equitable cause of action), then to the extent of any such restoration the obligation or part thereof originally intended to be satisfied shall be revived and continued in full force and effect as if such payment had not been made or such enforcement or setoff had not occurred.
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5.17 Independent Nature of Purchasers’ Obligations and Rights. The obligations of each Purchaser under any Transaction Document are several and not joint with the obligations of any other Purchaser, and no Purchaser shall be responsible in any way for the performance or non-performance of the obligations of any other Purchaser under any Transaction Document. Nothing contained herein or in any other Transaction Document, and no action taken by any Purchaser pursuant hereto or thereto, shall be deemed to constitute the Purchasers as a partnership, an association, a joint venture or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Purchasers are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. Each Purchaser shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights including, without limitation, the rights arising out of this Agreement or out of the other Transaction Documents, and it shall not be necessary for any other Purchaser to be joined as an additional party in any Proceeding for such purpose. Each Purchaser has been represented by its own separate legal counsel in its review and negotiation of the Transaction Documents. For reasons of administrative convenience only, each Purchaser and its respective counsel have chosen to communicate with the Company through the Placement Agent Counsel. The Placement Agent Counsel does not represent any of the Purchasers and only represents the Placement Agent. The Company has elected to provide all Purchasers with the same terms and Transaction Documents for the convenience of the Company and not because it was required or requested to do so by any of the Purchasers. It is expressly understood and agreed that each provision contained in this Agreement and in each other Transaction Document is between the Company and a Purchaser, solely, and not between the Company and the Purchasers collectively and not between and among the Purchasers.
5.18 Liquidated Damages. The Company’s obligations to pay any partial liquidated damages or other amounts owing under the Transaction Documents is a continuing obligation of the Company and shall not terminate until all unpaid partial liquidated damages and other amounts have been paid notwithstanding the fact that the instrument or security pursuant to which such partial liquidated damages or other amounts are due and payable shall have been canceled.
5.19 Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc. If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Business Day, then such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Business Day.
5.20 Construction. The parties agree that each of them and/or their respective counsel have reviewed and had an opportunity to revise the Transaction Documents and, therefore, the normal rule of construction to the effect that any ambiguities are to be resolved against the drafting party shall not be employed in the interpretation of the Transaction Documents or any amendments thereto. In addition, each and every reference to share prices and Ordinary Shares in any Transaction Document shall be subject to adjustment for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions of the Ordinary Shares that occur after the date of this Agreement. All references herein to matters disclosed within filings made by the Company with the Commission shall be construed to include documents incorporated by reference into such filings.
5.21 WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. IN ANY ACTION, SUIT, OR PROCEEDING IN ANY JURISDICTION BROUGHT BY ANY PARTY AGAINST ANY OTHER PARTY, THE PARTIES EACH KNOWINGLY AND INTENTIONALLY, TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HEREBY ABSOLUTELY, UNCONDITIONALLY, IRREVOCABLY AND EXPRESSLY WAIVES FOREVER TRIAL BY JURY.
(Signature Pages Follow)
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized signatories as of the date first indicated above.
Ryde Group Ltd |
Address for Notice: | ||
Attention: | |||
Email: | |||
By: |
| ||
Name: | |||
Title: | |||
With a copy to (which shall not constitute notice): | |||
[ ] | |||
Attention: | |||
Email: |
[REMAINDER OF PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
SIGNATURE PAGE FOR PURCHASER FOLLOWS]
[Signature Page to Securities Purchase Agreement]
[PURCHASER SIGNATURE PAGES TO SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have caused this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized signatories as of the date first indicated above.
Name of Purchaser: ________________________________________________________
Signature of Authorized Signatory of Purchaser: _________________________________
Name of Authorized Signatory: _______________________________________________
Title of Authorized Signatory: ________________________________________________
Email Address of Authorized Signatory: _________________________________________
Address for Notice to Purchaser:
Address for Delivery of Securities to Purchaser (if not same as address for notice):
DWAC for Delivery of Shares:
Subscription Amount: $_________________
Units: _________________
Shares: _________________
Warrant Shares: _________________ Beneficial Ownership Blocker ☐ 4.99% or ☐ 9.99%
EIN Number: ____________________
☐ Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, by checking this box (i) the obligations of the above-signed to purchase the securities set forth in this Agreement to be purchased from the Company by the above-signed, and the obligations of the Company to sell such securities to the above-signed, shall be unconditional and all conditions to Closing shall be disregarded, (ii) the Closing shall occur on the first (1st) Trading Day following the date of this Agreement and (iii) any condition to Closing contemplated by this Agreement (but prior to being disregarded by clause (i) above) that required delivery by the Company or the above-signed of any agreement, instrument, certificate or the like or purchase price (as applicable) shall no longer be a condition and shall instead be an unconditional obligation of the Company or the above-signed (as applicable) to deliver such agreement, instrument, certificate or the like or purchase price (as applicable) to such other party on the Closing Date.
Exhibit 23.1
Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP
733 Third Avenue, Floor 16, #1014
New York, NY 10017
(949) 326-CPAS (2727)
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement on Form F-1 of Ryde Group Ltd. of our report dated April 26, 2024, on the financial statements of Ryde Group Ltd. as of and for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, appearing in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023. We also consent to the reference to us under the heading “Experts” in such Registration Statement.
/s/ Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP
Los Angeles, California
September 12, 2024
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Exhibit 107
Calculation of Filing Fee Tables
Form F-1
(Form Type)
Ryde Group Ltd
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
Table 1: Newly Registered Securities
Security
Type | Security
Class Title | Fee
Calculation or Carry Forward Rule | Amount
Registered | Proposed
Maximum Offering Price Per Unit | Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) | Fee
Rate | Amount
of Registration Fee | |||||||||||||||||||||
Fees
to Be Paid | Equity | Units, each consisting of: (2) | 457 | (o) | 5,000,000 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||
Fees
to Be Paid | Equity | (i) one Class A Ordinary Share, par value US$0.0002 per share(2) | 457 | (o) | 5,000,000 | $ | 5.00 | $ | 25,000,000 | $147.60 per million | $ | 3,690.00 | ||||||||||||||||
Fees
to Be Paid | Equity | (ii) one Common Warrant for the purchase of one Class A Ordinary Share(2)(3) | 457 | (g) | 5,000,000 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||
Fees
to Be Paid | Equity | Class A Ordinary Share, par value US$0.0002 per share, underlying Common Warrant (2) | 457 | (o) | 5,000,000 | $ | 5.00 | $ | 25,000,000 | $147.60 per million | $ | 3,690.00 | ||||||||||||||||
Total Offering Amounts | $ | 50,000,000 | $ | 7,380.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total Fees Previously Paid | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total Fee Offsets | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net Fee Due | $ | 7,380.00 |
(1) | Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933. |
(2) | Includes one Class A Ordinary Share and one Common Warrant (each to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share). |
(3) | No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) of the Securities Act. |