Attached files
Exhibit 1.1
VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc.
2,352,942 shares of Common Stock
Warrants to purchase up to 2,352,942 shares of Common Stock
UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT
May 10, 2016
Chardan Capital Markets, LLC
WallachBeth Capital, LLC
As Representatives of the
Several Underwriters
c/o Chardan Capital Markets, LLC
17 State Street, Suite 1600
New York, NY 10004
c/o WallachBeth Capital, LLC
100 Wall Street, Suite 6600
New York, NY 10005
Ladies and Gentlemen:
VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a Nevada corporation (collectively with its direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliates, including, without limitation, all entities disclosed or described in the Registration Statement (as hereinafter defined) as being subsidiaries or affiliates (each, a “Subsidiary”) of VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., the “Company”)), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated herein, to issue and sell to the several underwriters named in Schedule A hereto (the “Underwriters” or, each, an “Underwriter”), for whom you are acting as representatives (each, a “Representative” and together, the “Representatives”), an aggregate of 2,352,942 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Common Shares”) of the Company (the “Firm Shares”) and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,352,942 Common Shares (the “Firm Warrants”). The respective amounts of the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants to be so purchased by the several Underwriters are set forth opposite their names on Schedule A hereto.
The Company has also granted the Underwriters the option to purchase an aggregate of up to 352,942 additional Common Shares (the “Option Shares” and, together with the Firm Shares, the “Shares”) and/or additional warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 352,942 Common Shares (the “Option Warrants” and together with the Firm Warrants, the “Warrants”) as may be necessary to cover over-allotments in connection with this offering.
The Company and the Underwriters hereby confirm their agreement as follows:
1. PURCHASE, SALE AND DELIVERY OF OFFERED SECURITIES.
(a) On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters, and the Underwriters agree, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a price of $3.84568 per share and $0.00907 per warrant (the “Purchase Price”), the respective numbers of Firm Shares and Firm Warrants set forth opposite the names of the Underwriters in Schedule A hereto. The Company will deliver the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants to the Representative for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters, through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company, or, at the election of the Representative, in the form of definitive certificates and/or warrants, as applicable, in each such case, issued in such names and in such denominations as the Representative may direct by notice in writing to the Company given at or prior to 12:00 Noon, New York time, on the second (2nd) full business day preceding the Closing Date against payment of the aggregate Purchase Price therefor by wire transfer in federal (same day) funds to an account at a bank acceptable to the Representatives payable to the order of the Company for the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants sold by them. Time shall be of the essence, and delivery at the time and place specified pursuant to this Agreement is a further condition of the obligations of each Underwriter hereunder. The time and date of the delivery and closing shall be at 10 A.M., New York time, on May 16, 2016, in accordance with Rule 15c6-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The time and date of such payment and delivery are herein referred to as the “Closing Date.” The Closing Date and the location of delivery of, and the form of payment for, the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants may be varied by agreement by and between the Company and the Representatives.
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(c) For the purpose of covering any over-allotments in connection with the distribution and sale of the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants as contemplated by the Prospectus, the Underwriters may purchase all or less than all of the Option Shares and/or all or less than all of the Option Warrants. The price per share to be paid for the Option Shares shall be the Purchase Price per Firm Share and the price per warrant to be paid for the Option Warrants shall be the Purchase Price per Firm Warrant. The Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters the number of Option Shares and/or Option Warrants specified in the written notice delivered by the Representatives to the Company described below and the Underwriters agree, severally and not jointly, to purchase such Option Shares and/or Option Warrants. The option granted hereby may be exercised as to all or any part of the Option Shares and/or Option Warrants at any time, and from time to time, not more than forty-five (45) days subsequent to the date of this Agreement. No Option Shares and/or Option Warrants shall be sold and delivered unless the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants previously have been, or simultaneously are, sold and delivered. The right to purchase the Option Shares and/or Option Warrants or any portion thereof may be surrendered and terminated at any time upon notice by the Representatives to the Company. The option granted hereby may be exercised by written notice being given to the Company by the Representatives setting forth the number of Option Shares and/or Option Warrants to be purchased by the Underwriters and the date and time for delivery of and payment for the Option Shares and/or Option Warrants. Each date and time for delivery of and payment for the Option Shares and/or Option Warrants (which may be the Closing Date, but not earlier) is herein called the “Option Closing Date” and shall in no event be earlier than two (2) business days nor later than five (5) business days after written notice is given. The Option Closing Date and the Closing Date are herein called the “Closing Dates.” The Company will deliver the Option Shares and/or Option Warrants to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company or, at the election of the Representatives, in the form of definitive certificates and/or warrants, as applicable, issued in such names and in such denominations as the Representatives may direct by notice in writing to the Company given at or prior to 12:00 Noon, New York time, on the second (2nd) full business day preceding the Option Closing Date against payment of the aggregate Purchase Price therefor by wire transfer in federal (same day) funds to an account at a bank acceptable to the Representatives payable to the order of the Company for the Option Shares and/or Option Warrants. Time shall be of the essence, and delivery at the time and place specified pursuant to this Agreement is a further condition of the obligations of each Underwriter hereunder. The Company, in the event the Representatives elect to have the Underwriters take delivery of definitive certificates and/or warrants instead of delivery from the Company of the certificates and/or warrants through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company, shall make the certificates for the Option Shares and the warrants for the Option Warrants available to the Representatives for examination on behalf of the Underwriters in New York, New York not later than 10:00 A.M., New York Time, at least one (1) full business day prior to the Option Closing Date. The Option Closing Date and the location of delivery of, and the form of payment for, the Option Shares and Option Warrants may be varied by agreement by the Company and the Representatives.
2. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. The Company represents and warrants to the several Underwriters, as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Dates, and agrees with the several Underwriters that:
(a) The Company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement (including all pre-effective amendments thereto) on Form S-1 (File No. 333-210152), including any related prospectus or prospectuses, for the registration of the Shares, the Warrants and the Warrant Shares (as hereinafter defined) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), which registration statement (including all pre-effective amendments thereto) have been prepared by the Company in all material respects in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Securities Act (the “Rules and Regulations”) and contains or will contain all material statements that are required to be stated therein in accordance with the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations. Except as the context may otherwise require, such registration statement (as amended) on file with the Commission at the date and time the registration statement is declared effective (including the Preliminary Prospectus (defined below) included in the registration statement, financial statements, schedules, exhibits and all other documents filed as a part thereof or incorporated therein and all information deemed to be a part thereof, as of the date and time the Registration Statement is declared effective, pursuant to paragraph (b) of Rule 430A of the Securities Act Regulations (the “Rule 430A Information”)), is referred to herein as the “Registration Statement.” If the Company files any registration statement pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the Rules and Regulations (a “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement”), then after such filing, the term “Registration Statement” shall include such Rule 462(b) Registration Statement. The Registration Statement has been declared effective by the Commission on the date hereof.
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Each prospectus used prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and each prospectus that omitted the Rule 430A Information that was used after such effectiveness and prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, is herein called a “Preliminary Prospectus.” The Preliminary Prospectus, subject to completion, dated May 9, 2016, that was included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to the Applicable Time is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus.” The final prospectus in the form first furnished to the Underwriters for use in this offering is hereinafter called the “Prospectus.”
“Applicable Time” means 5:00 P.M., New York time, on the date of this Agreement or such other time as agreed to by the Company and the Representative.
“Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 of the Rules and Regulations relating to the Shares and the Warrants in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g) of the Rules and Regulations.
“General Disclosure Package” means any General Use Free Writing Prospectus (defined below) issued at or prior to the Applicable Time, the Pricing Prospectus and the information included on Schedule B hereto, all considered together.
“General Use Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is identified on Schedule C to this Agreement.
“Limited Use Free Writing Prospectuses” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not a General Use Free Writing Prospectus.
A registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-37761) in respect of the registration of the Common Shares under the Exchange Act was filed with the Commission on May 3, 2016, and was declared effective by the Commission; no other document with respect to such registration statement has theretofore been filed with the Commission (the “Form 8-A Registration Statement”).
For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the Registration Statement, the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Form 8-A Registration Statement, or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing shall be deemed to include the copy filed with the Commission pursuant to its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System or any successor system (“EDGAR”).
(b) Neither the Commission nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any state regulatory authority has issued any order preventing or suspending the use of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or has instituted or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened to institute, any proceedings with respect to such an order. The Company has complied with each request (if any) from the Commission for additional information.
(c) Each of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time it became effective, complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations. Each Preliminary Prospectus, including the prospectus filed as part of the Registration Statement as originally filed or as part of any amendment or supplement thereto, and the Prospectus, at the time each was filed with the Commission, complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations.
(d) Neither the Registration Statement nor any amendment thereto, at its effective time, as of the Applicable Time, at the Closing Dates, contained, contains or will contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.
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(e) The General Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time and as of the Closing Dates, did not, does not and will not include 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; and each Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus hereto does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, and each such Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Prospectus as of the Applicable Time, did not include an 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; provided, however, that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to information contained in or omitted from the Pricing Prospectus, in reliance upon, and in conformity with, written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information the parties hereto agree is limited to the Underwriter’s Information as defined in Section 18.
(f) Neither the Prospectus nor any amendment or supplement thereto (including any prospectus wrapper), as of its issue date, at the time of any filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) or at the Closing Dates, included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will 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; provided, however, that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to information contained in or omitted from the Prospectus, in reliance upon, and in conformity with, written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information the parties hereto agree is limited to the Underwriter’s Information as defined in Section 18.
(g) The Company has not, directly or indirectly, distributed and will not distribute any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Shares and the Warrants other than any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and other materials, if any, permitted under the Securities Act. The Company will file with the Commission all Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses in the time and manner required under Rules 163(b)(2) and 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations.
(h) None of the Company’s filings with the Commission contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and the Company has made all filings with the Commission required under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.
(i) [Reserved.]
(j) As of the time of filing of the Registration Statement, the Company was a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
(k) At the time of filing the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any post-effective amendments thereto, and at the date hereof, the Company was not, and the Company currently is not, an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations.
(l) The Company has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation under the laws of the State of Nevada, with requisite power and authority to own or lease its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The Company is duly qualified to transact business in all jurisdictions in which the conduct of its business requires such qualification except where the failure to be so qualified would not (i) have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the earnings, business, management, properties, assets, rights, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company or (ii) prevent the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby (the occurrence of any such effect or any such prevention described in the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii) being referred to as a “Material Adverse Effect”). The certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the company, as amended to date (the “Charter”), comply with Nevada law and are in full force and effect.
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(m) This Agreement and the Warrant Agreement have been duly and validly authorized by the Company, and, when executed and delivered, will constitute, the valid and binding agreements of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms, except: (i) as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally; (ii) as enforceability of any indemnification or contribution provision may be limited under the federal and state securities laws; and (iii) 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 therefor may be brought.
(n) The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the Warrant Agreement by the Company, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby will not (with or without notice or lapse of time or both) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, constitute a default or a Debt Repayment Triggering Event (as defined below) under, give rise to any right of termination or other right or the cancellation or acceleration of any right or obligation or loss of a benefit under, or give rise to the creation or imposition of any lien, encumbrance, security interest, claim or charge upon any property or assets of the Company pursuant to, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which the Company is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company is subject, nor will such actions result in any violation of the provisions of the Charter of the Company or any law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order or decree of any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its properties or assets. A “Debt Repayment Triggering Event” means any event or condition that gives, or with the giving of notice or lapse of time would give the holder of any note, debenture or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company.
(o) The Shares and the Warrants have been duly authorized for issuance and sale and, when issued and paid for, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; the holders thereof are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; the Shares and the Warrants 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; and all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Shares and the Warrants has been duly and validly taken. The Shares and the Warrants conform in all material respects to all statements with respect thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. All corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Warrants has been duly and validly taken; the Common Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants (the “Warrant Shares”) have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance by all necessary corporate action on the part of the Company and when paid for and issued in accordance with the Warrants and the Warrant Agreement, the Warrant Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; the holders thereof are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; and the Warrant Shares 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.
(p) The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth under the heading “Capitalization” in the Pricing Prospectus, and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable, have been issued in compliance with federal, state and local securities laws, and conform to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. As of May 10, 2016 there were 2,525,276 Common Shares issued and outstanding and 6,513,303 preferred shares, par value $0.001, of the Company issued and outstanding, and 8,996,393 Common Shares were issuable upon the exercise of all options, warrants and convertible securities outstanding as of such date. Since such date, the Company has not issued any securities other than Common Shares of the Company issued pursuant to the exercise of stock options previously outstanding under the Company’s stock option plans. All of the Company’s options, warrants and other rights to purchase or exchange any securities for shares of the Company’s capital stock have been duly authorized and validly issued and were issued in compliance with federal, state and local securities laws. None of the outstanding Common Shares was issued in violation of any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities of the Company. There are no authorized or outstanding shares of capital stock, options, warrants, preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other rights to purchase, or equity or debt securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, any capital stock of the Company other than those described above or accurately described in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The description of the Company’s stock option, stock bonus and other stock plans or arrangements, and the options or other rights granted thereunder, as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, accurately and fairly present the information required to be shown with respect to such plans, arrangements, options and rights.
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(q) There is no shareholders’ agreement, voting agreement, investor rights agreement or similar agreement with respect to the Company current in effect.
(r) The Company does not own or control, directly or indirectly, any interest in any corporation, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability corporation, association or other entity except for the Subsidiaries.
(s) OUM & Co. LLP (the “Auditors”), who have certified certain of the financial statements, together with related notes, filed with the Commission as part of the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) as required by the Securities Act.
(t) The financial statements of the Company, together with related notes as set forth in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and present fairly the financial position and the results of operations and cash flows of the Company, at the indicated dates and for the indicated periods. Such financial statements and related schedules have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), consistently applied throughout the periods involved, except as disclosed therein, and all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of results for such periods have been made. The summary and selected financial and statistical data included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus present fairly the information shown therein and such data has been compiled on a basis consistent with the financial statements presented therein and the books and records of the Company. All disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” comply with Regulation G of the Exchange Act and Item 10 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act, to the extent applicable. The Company does not have any material liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent (including any off-balance sheet obligations, not disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. There are no financial statements (historical or pro forma) that are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that are not included as required.
(u) Since the date of the most recent financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (i) there has not been any material adverse change or any development involving a prospective material adverse change in or affecting the earnings, business, management, properties, assets, rights, operations, condition (financial or otherwise), or prospects of the Company, whether or not occurring in the ordinary course of business, (ii) there has not been any material transaction entered into or any material transaction that is probable of being entered into by the Company, other than transactions in the ordinary course of business and changes and transactions described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as each may be amended or supplemented, and (iii) the Company has not sustained any loss or interference with its business that is material to the Company and that is either from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor disturbance or dispute or any action, order or decree of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except in each case as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
(v) Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as applicable, the Company (i) is and at all times has been in compliance with all statutes, rules and regulations applicable to the ownership, testing, development, manufacture, packaging, processing, use, distribution, marketing, advertising, labeling, promotion, sale, offer for sale, storage, import, export or disposal of any product currently manufactured or distributed by the Company, including, without limitation, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.), the federal Anti-kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)), the civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq.), the administrative False Claims Law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a)), the Anti-Inducement Law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a(a)(5)), the exclusion laws and the statutes of applicable government funded or sponsored healthcare programs, applicable laws pertaining to data privacy, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws, including, without limitation, where applicable, regulations relating to Good Clinical Practices and Good Laboratory Practices and all other comparable local, state, federal, national,
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supranational and foreign laws relating to the regulation of the Company (collectively, the “Applicable Laws”), except for such non-compliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (ii) has not received any written notice from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority or third party alleging or asserting non-compliance with any Applicable Laws or any licenses, exemptions, certificates, approvals, clearances, qualifications, authorizations, permits, registrations and supplements or amendments thereto required by any such Applicable Laws (“Authorizations”), except for such non-compliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (iii) possesses all Authorizations necessary for the operation of its business as currently conducted as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and such Authorizations are valid and in full force and effect and the Company is not in violation of any term of any such Authorizations, except for such violations as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (iv) has not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Applicable Laws or Authorizations nor, to the Company’s knowledge, is any such claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action threatened in writing, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (v) has not received written notice that any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority has taken, is taking or intends to take action to materially limit, suspend, materially modify or revoke any Authorizations nor, to the Company’s knowledge, is any such limitation, suspension, modification or revocation threatened, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (vi) has filed, 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 accurate on the date filed in all material respects (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission); and (vii) is not a party to any material corporate integrity agreements, monitoring agreements, consent decrees, settlement orders, or similar agreements with or imposed by any governmental or regulatory authority.
(w) None of the Company’s product candidates has received marketing approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or any comparable drug regulatory agency outside of the United States to which it is subject (collectively, the “Regulatory Authorities”). To the Company’s knowledge, all nonclinical studies and clinical trials conducted by or on behalf of or sponsored by the Company, with respect to the Company’s product candidates, including any such studies and trials that are described in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, or the results of which are referred to in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as applicable (collectively, “Company Trials”), were, and if still pending are, being conducted in all material respects in accordance with all Applicable Laws; the descriptions in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus of the results of any Company Trials are accurate and complete descriptions in all material respects and fairly present the data derived therefrom; the Company has no knowledge of any other studies or trials not described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the results of which are materially inconsistent with or call into question the results described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; the Company is currently in compliance in all material respects with all Applicable Laws; the Company has not received, nor does it have knowledge that any of its collaboration partners has received, any written notices, correspondence or other written communications from the Regulatory Authorities or any other governmental agency requiring or threatening the termination, material modification or suspension of Company Trials, other than ordinary course communications with respect to modifications in connection with the design and implementation of such studies or trials. The Company has obtained (or caused to be obtained) the informed consent of each human subject who participated in a Company Trial. To the Company’s knowledge, none of the Company Trials involved any investigator who has been disqualified as a clinical investigator.
(x) Each approval, consent, order, authorization, designation, declaration or filing by or with any regulatory, administrative or other governmental body necessary for, or in connection with, the execution and delivery by the Company of this Agreement and the Warrant Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein contemplated (including, without limitation, the issuance of the Shares, Warrants and Warrant Shares) has been obtained or made and is in full force and effect, except such additional steps as may be required by the Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) or such additional steps as may be necessary to qualify the Shares and Warrants for public offering by the Underwriters under state securities or Blue Sky laws. No event has occurred that allows or results in, or after notice or lapse of time or both would allow or result in, revocation, suspension, termination or invalidation of any such authorization or any other impairment of the rights of the holder or maker of any such authorization. All company approvals (including those of shareholders) necessary for the Company to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Warrant Agreement have been obtained and are in effect.
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(y) The Company is not nor with the giving of notice or lapse of time or both, will be, (i) in violation of its Charter, (ii) in violation of or in default under any agreement, lease, contract, indenture or other instrument or obligation to which it is a party or by which it, or any of its properties, is bound or (iii) in violation of any law, order, rule or regulation judgment, order, writ or decree applicable to the Company of any court or of any government, regulatory body or administrative agency or other governmental body having jurisdiction over the Company, or any of its properties or assets, except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), for such violations or defaults as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. The execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Warrant Agreement and all ancillary documents, and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated ,and the fulfillment of the terms hereof and thereof do not and will not conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, (i) any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which the Company or any of its properties is bound, (ii) the Charter of the Company, or (iii) any law, order, rule or regulation judgment, order, writ or decree applicable to the Company of any court or of any government, regulatory body or administrative agency or other governmental body having jurisdiction over the Company, or any of its properties or assets, except in the case of clauses (i) and (iii), for such conflict, breach or default as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
(z) [Reserved.]
(aa) All direct and indirect Subsidiaries of the Company are duly organized and in good standing under the laws of the place of organization or incorporation, and each Subsidiary is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which its ownership or lease of property or the conduct of business requires such qualification, except where the failure to qualify would not have a material adverse effect on the assets, business or operations of the Company taken as a whole. The Company’s ownership and control of each Subsidiary is as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. No Subsidiary of the Company is prohibited or restricted, directly or indirectly, from paying any dividends to the Company, from making any other distributions on such Subsidiary’s capital stock, from repaying to the Company any loans or advances to such Subsidiary from the Company or from transferring any of such Subsidiary’s property or assets to the Company or any other Subsidiary of the Company.
(bb) Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company (i) holds all licenses, registrations, certificates and permits from governmental authorities (collectively, “Governmental Licenses”) which are necessary to the conduct of its business, (ii) is in compliance with the terms and conditions of all Governmental Licenses, and all Governmental Licenses are valid and in full force and effect, and (iii) has not received any written or other notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Governmental License. All of the Governmental Licenses of the Company are valid and in full force and effect. The Company has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Governmental Licenses which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(cc) The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering of the Shares and Warrants and the application of the proceeds thereof (including the issuance of the Warrant Shares) as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, will not become an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.
(dd) Neither the Company nor any of its officers, directors or affiliates has taken or will take, directly or indirectly, any action designed or intended to stabilize or manipulate the price of any security of the Company, or which caused or resulted in, or which might in the future reasonably be expected to cause or result in, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company..
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(ee) The Company owns or possesses the valid right to use all (i) valid and enforceable patents, patent applications, trademarks, trademark registrations, service marks, service mark registrations, Internet domain name registrations, copyrights, copyright registrations, licenses, trade secret rights (“Intellectual Property Rights”) and (ii) inventions, software, works of authorships, trade marks, service marks, trade names, databases, formulae, know how, Internet domain names and other intellectual property (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary confidential information, systems, or procedures) (collectively, “Intellectual Property Assets”) necessary to conduct their respective businesses as currently conducted, and as proposed to be conducted and described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The Company has not received any opinion from their legal counsel concluding that any activities of their respective businesses infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate, valid and enforceable Intellectual Property Rights of any other person, and have not received written notice of any challenge, which is to their knowledge still pending, by any other person to the rights of the Company with respect to any Intellectual Property Rights or Intellectual Property Assets owned or used by the Company. To the knowledge of the Company, the Company’s business as now conducted does not give rise to any infringement of, any misappropriation of, or other violation of, any valid and enforceable Intellectual Property Rights of any other person. All licenses for the use of the Intellectual Property Rights described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are valid, binding upon, and enforceable by or against the parties thereto in accordance to its terms. The Company has complied in all material respects with, and is not in breach nor has received any asserted or threatened claim of breach of any Intellectual Property license, and the Company has no knowledge of any breach or anticipated breach by any other person to any Intellectual Property license. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no claim has been made against the Company alleging the infringement by the Company of any patent, trademark, service mark, trade name, copyright, trade secret, license in or other intellectual property right or franchise right of any person. The Company has taken all reasonable steps to protect, maintain and safeguard its Intellectual Property Rights, including the execution of appropriate nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements. The consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in the loss or impairment of or payment of any additional amounts with respect to, nor require the consent of any other person in respect of, the Company's right to own, use, or hold for use any of the Intellectual Property Rights as owned, used or held for use in the conduct of the business as currently conducted. The Company has at all times complied with all applicable laws relating to privacy, data protection, and the collection and use of personal information collected, used, or held for use by the Company in the conduct of the Company's business. No claims have been asserted or threatened against the Company alleging a violation of any person's privacy or personal information or data rights and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby will not breach or otherwise cause any violation of any law related to privacy, data protection, or the collection and use of personal information collected, used, or held for use by the Company in the conduct of the Company's business. The Company takes reasonable measures to ensure that such information is protected against unauthorized access, use, modification, or other misuse. The Company has taken all necessary actions to obtain ownership of all works of authorship and inventions made by its employees, consultants and contractors during the time they were employed by or under contract with the Company and which relate to the Company’s business. All founders and key employees have signed confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with the Company.
(ff) The Company has good and marketable title in fee simple to, or have valid rights to lease or otherwise use, all items of real or personal property which are material to the business of the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, security interests, claims and defects that do not, singularly or in the aggregate, materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company; and all of the leases and subleases material to the business of the Company, and under which the Company holds properties described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, are in full force and effect, and the Company has received no notice of any material claim of any sort that has been asserted by anyone adverse to the rights of the Company under any of the leases or subleases mentioned above, or affecting or questioning the rights of the Company to the continued possession of the leased or subleased premises under any such lease or sublease.
(gg) No labor disturbance by or dispute with employees of the Company exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened. No labor dispute with the employees of the Company exists nor, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent. The Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by the employees of any of its principal suppliers, manufacturers, customers or contractors, which, in either case, would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
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(hh) The Company and any “employee benefit plan” (as defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (collectively, “ERISA”)) established or maintained by the Company or its “ERISA Affiliates” (as defined below) are in compliance in all material respects with ERISA. “ERISA Affiliate” means, with respect to the Company, any member of any group of organizations described in Sections 414(b),(c),(m) or (o) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (the “Code”) of which the Company is a member. No “reportable event” (as defined under ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur with respect to any “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates. No “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates, if such “employee benefit plan” were terminated, would have any “amount of unfunded benefit liabilities” (as defined under ERISA). Neither the Company nor any of its ERISA Affiliates has incurred or reasonably expects to incur any material liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any “employee benefit plan” or (ii) Sections 412, 4971, 4975 or 4980B of the Code. Each “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified and, to the knowledge of the Company, nothing has occurred, whether by action or failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification.
(ii) Except in each case as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus: (i) the Company has complied and is in compliance, in all material respects, with all applicable federal, state, local, foreign, and international laws (including the common law), statutes, rules, regulations, orders, judgments, decrees or other legally binding requirements of any court, administrative agency or other governmental authority relating to pollution or to the protection of the environment, natural resources or human health or safety, or to the manufacture, use, generation, treatment, storage, disposal, release or threatened release of hazardous or toxic substances, pollutants, contaminants or wastes, or the arrangement for such activities (“Environmental Laws”); (ii) the Company has obtained and is in compliance, in all material respects, with all permits, licenses, authorizations or other approvals required of them under Environmental Laws to conduct its business and is not subject to any action to revoke, terminate, cancel, limit, amend or appeal any such permits, licenses, authorizations or approvals; (iii) the Company is not a party to any judicial or administrative proceeding (including a notice of violation) under any Environmental Laws (a) to which a governmental authority is also a party and which involves potential monetary sanctions, unless it could reasonably be expected that such proceeding will result in monetary sanctions of less than $100,000, or (b) which is otherwise material; and no such proceeding has been threatened or is known to be contemplated; (iv) the Company has not received notice nor is otherwise aware of any pending or threatened material claim or potential liability under Environmental Laws in respect of its past or present business, operations (including the disposal of hazardous substances at any off-site location), facilities or real property (whether owned, leased or operated) or on account of any predecessor or any person whose liability under any Environmental Laws it has agreed to assume; and the Company is not aware of any facts or conditions that could reasonably be expected to give rise to any such claim or liability; and (v) the Company is not aware of any matters regarding compliance with existing or reasonably anticipated Environmental Laws, or with any liabilities or other obligations under Environmental Laws (including asset retirement obligations), that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position of the Company.
(jj) The Company (i) has timely filed all necessary federal, state, local and foreign tax returns, and all such returns were true, complete and correct, and no issues have been raised (and are currently pending ) by any taxing authority in connection with any such tax returns, (ii) has paid all federal, state, local and foreign taxes, assessments, governmental or other charges due and payable for which it is liable, including, without limitation, all sales and use taxes and all taxes which the Company is obligated to withhold from amounts owing to employees, creditors and third parties, and (iii) does not have any tax deficiency or claims outstanding or assessed or, to its knowledge, proposed against any of them, except those, in each of the cases described in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph (jj), that would not, singularly or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company has not engaged in any transaction which is a corporate tax shelter or which could be characterized as such by the Internal Revenue Service or any other taxing authority. The accruals and reserves on the books and records of the Company in respect of tax liabilities for any taxable period not yet finally determined are adequate to meet any assessments and related liabilities for any such period, and since March 31, 2014 the Company has not incurred any liability for taxes other than in the ordinary course. The term “tax returns” means all returns, declarations, reports, statements, and other documents required to be filed in respect of all federal, state, local, foreign, and other net income, gross income, gross receipts, sales, use, ad valorem, transfer, franchise, profits, licenses, 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, with any interest and any penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts with respect thereto.
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(kk) The Company carries insurance in such amounts and covering such risks as is adequate for the conduct of its business and the value of its properties and as is customary for companies engaged in similar businesses in similar industries. The Company has no 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 at a cost that would not have a Material Adverse Effect. All policies of insurance owned by the Company are, to the Company’s knowledge, in full force and effect and the Company is in compliance with the terms of such policies. The Company has not received any written notice from an insurer, agent of such insurer or the broker of the Company that any material capital improvements or any other material expenditures (other than premium payments) are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such insurance. The Company does not insure risk of loss through any captive insurance, risk retention group, reciprocal group or by means of any fund or pool of assets specifically set aside for contingent liabilities other than as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
(ll) The Company maintains systems of “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act and has been designed by, or under the supervision of, its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP, including, but not limited to, internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that: (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity 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. There are no material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, and there has been no change in internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The Company’s auditors and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company have been advised of: (i) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which have adversely affected or are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting.
(mm) The Company has made and keep books, records and accounts, which, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company in all material respects.
(nn) The Company has established and maintains “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rules 13a-14(c) and 15d-14(c) under the Exchange Act); the Company’s “disclosure controls and procedures” are reasonably designed to ensure that all information (both financial and non-financial) required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and regulations under the Exchange Act, and that all such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure and to make the certifications of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company required under the Exchange Act with respect to such reports.
(oo) The minute books of the Company have been made available to the Underwriters and counsel for the Underwriters, and such books (i) contain a complete summary of all meetings and actions of the board of directors (including each board committee) and shareholders of the Company (or analogous governing bodies and interest holders, as applicable), since the time of its respective incorporation or organization through the date of the latest meeting and action, and (ii) accurately in all material respects reflect all transactions referred to in such minutes.
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(pp) No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company on the one hand, and the directors, officers, stockholders (or analogous interest holders), customers or suppliers of the Company or any of its affiliates on the other hand, which is required to be described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and which is not so described.
(qq) No person or entity has the right to require registration of Common Shares or other securities of the Company because of the filing or effectiveness of the Registration Statement or otherwise, except for persons and entities who have expressly waived such right in writing or who have been given timely and proper written notice and have failed to exercise such right within the time or times required under the terms and conditions of such right. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no persons with registration rights or similar rights to have any securities registered by the Company under the Securities Act.
(rr) The Company does not own any “margin securities” as that term is defined in Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve Board”), and none of the proceeds of the sale of the Shares and Warrants will be used, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of purchasing or carrying any margin security, for the purpose of reducing or retiring any indebtedness which was originally incurred to purchase or carry any margin security or for any other purpose which might cause any of the Shares and Warrants to be considered a “purpose credit” within the meanings of Regulation T, U or X of the Federal Reserve Board.
(ss) The Company is not a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person that would give rise to a valid claim against the Company or the Underwriters for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the offering and sale of the Shares and Warrants or any transaction contemplated by this Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus.\
(tt) The Company has filed in a timely manner all reports required to be filed pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(e), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (except to the extent that Section 15(d) requires reports to be filed pursuant to Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Exchange Act, which shall be governed by the next clause of this sentence); and the Company has filed in a timely manner all reports required to be filed pursuant to Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Exchange Act, except where the failure to timely file could not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(uu) The exercise price of each option issued under the Company’s stock option or other employee benefit plans has been no less than the fair market value of an Common Share as determined on the date of grant of such option. All grants of options were validly issued and properly approved by the board of directors of the Company (or a duly authorized committee thereof) in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and recorded in the Company’s financial statements in accordance with GAAP and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such grants involved “back dating,” “forward dating” or similar practice with respect to the effective date of grant.
(vv) Since the date as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus through the date hereof, and except as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus, the Company has not (i) issued or granted any securities other than options to purchase Common Shares pursuant to the Company’s stock option plan, (ii) incurred any material liability or obligation, direct or contingent, other than liabilities and obligations which were incurred in the ordinary course of business, (iii) entered into any material transaction other than in the ordinary course of business or (iv) declared or paid any dividend on its capital stock.
(ww) [Reserved].
(xx) No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith.
(yy) The Shares and Warrant Shares have been approved for listing subject to notice of issuance on the Nasdaq Capital Market (the “Exchange”).
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(zz) Solely to the extent that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission and the Exchange thereunder (collectively, the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) have been applicable to the Company, there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company to comply in all material respects with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Company has taken all necessary actions to ensure that it is in compliance with all provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that are in effect and with which the Company is required to comply (including Section 402 related to loans) and is actively taking steps to ensure that it will be in compliance with other provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act not currently in effect or which will become applicable to the Company. There are no outstanding personal loans made, directly or indirectly, by the Company to any director or executive officer of the Company.
(aaa) The Company has taken all necessary actions to ensure that, upon and at all times after the Exchange shall have approved the Shares and Warrant Shares for listing it will be in compliance with all applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the rules of the Exchange that are then in effect and is actively taking steps to ensure that it will be in compliance with other applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the rules of the Exchange not currently in effect upon and all times after the effectiveness of such requirements.
(bbb) Neither the Company nor any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company: (i) has used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity: (ii) has made any direct or indirect unlawful contribution or payment to any official of, or candidate for, or any employee of, any federal, state or foreign office from corporate funds; (iii) has made any bribe, unlawful rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment; or (iv) is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such Persons of the OECD Convention on Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “FCPA”) or any similar law or regulation to which the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company is subject. The Company and its affiliates have each conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA and any applicable similar law or regulation and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith. The foregoing representation and warranty shall also be deemed given regarding laws of non-U.S. jurisdictions similar to the FCPA.
(ccc) There are no transactions, arrangements or other relationships between and/or among the Company, any of its affiliates (as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations) and any unconsolidated entity, including, but not limited to, any structured finance, special purpose or limited purpose entity that could reasonably be expected to materially affect the Company’s liquidity or the availability of or requirements for its capital resources required to be described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus which have not been described as required.
(ddd) There are no outstanding loans, advances (except normal advances for business expenses in the ordinary course of business) or guarantees of indebtedness by the Company to or for the benefit of any of the officers or directors of the Company, or any of their respective family members, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. All transactions by the Company with office holders or control persons of the Company have been duly approved by the board of directors of the Company, or duly appointed committees or officers thereof, if and to the extent required under Applicable Laws.
(eee) The statistical and market related data included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes to be reliable and accurate, and such data agree with the sources from which they are derived.
(fff) The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, and the regulations and decrees promulgated thereunder, the applicable money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the applicable rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened.
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(ggg) Neither the Company nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or representative of the Company is currently subject to any sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”), the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom (“HMT”), or any similar sanctions imposed by any other body, governmental or other, to which the Company is subject (collectively, “other economic sanctions”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any Subsidiary, joint venture partner or other Person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any Person currently subject to any sanctions administered by OFAC, UNSC, the European Union, HMT or other economic sanctions.
(hhh) After giving effect to the transactions contemplated hereby to occur on the Closing Dates, the Company will not be Insolvent (as defined below). For purposes of this Section 3(hhh), “Insolvent” means, with respect to any person, (i) the present fair saleable value of such person's assets is less than the amount required to pay such person's total Indebtedness, (ii) such person is unable to pay its debts and liabilities, subordinated, contingent or otherwise, as such debts and liabilities become absolute and matured, (iii) such person intends to incur or believes that it will incur debts that would be beyond its ability to pay as such debts mature or (iv) such person has unreasonably small capital with which to conduct the business in which it is engaged as such business is now conducted and is proposed to be conducted.
(iii) There are no claims, payments, issuances, arrangements or understandings for services in the nature of a finder’s, consulting or origination fee with respect to the introduction of the Company to the Representatives or the sale of the Shares and Warrants hereunder or any other arrangements, agreements, understandings, payments or issuances with respect to the Company that may affect the Underwriters’ compensation, as determined by FINRA.
(jjj) Except as disclosed to the Representatives in writing, the Company has not made any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or otherwise) to (i) any person, as a finder’s fee, investing fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who provided capital to the Company, (ii) any FINRA member, or (iii) any person or entity that has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any FINRA member within the 12-month period prior to the date on which the Registration Statement was filed with the Commission or thereafter.
(kkk) None of the net proceeds of the offering will be paid by the Company to any participating FINRA member or any affiliate or associate of any participating FINRA member, except as specifically authorized herein.
(lll) To the Company’s knowledge, no (i) officer or director of the Company, (ii) owner of 5% or more of the Company’s unregistered securities or (iii) owner of any amount of the Company’s unregistered securities acquired within the 180-day period prior to the date on which the Registration Statement was filed with the Commission, has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any FINRA member. The Company will advise the Representatives and their counsel if it becomes aware that any officer, director or shareholder of the Company is or becomes an affiliate or associated person of a FINRA member participating in the offering.
Any certificate signed by or on behalf of the Company and delivered to the Representatives or to counsel for the Underwriters shall be deemed to be a representation and warranty by the Company to each Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby.
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3. FURTHER AGREEMENTS OF THE COMPANY. The Company agrees with the several Underwriters:
(a) To prepare the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if necessary, in a form approved by the Representatives and file such Rule 462(b) Registration Statement with the Commission by 10:00 P.M., New York time, on the date hereof, and the Company shall at the time of filing either pay to the Commission the filing fee for the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or give irrevocable instructions for the payment of such fee pursuant to Rule 111(b) under the Rules and Regulations; to prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by the Representatives containing information previously omitted at the time of effectiveness of the Registration Statement in reliance on Rules 430A, 430B or 430C of the Rules and Regulations and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and Regulations not later than the second business (2nd) day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement or, if applicable, such earlier time as may be required by Rule 430A of the Rules and Regulations; to notify the Representatives immediately of the Company’s intention to file or prepare any supplement or amendment to any Registration Statement or to the Prospectus and to make no amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or to the Prospectus to which the Representatives shall reasonably object by notice to the Company after a reasonable period to review; to advise the Representatives, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to any Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any supplement to the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or any amended Prospectus has been filed and to furnish the Underwriters with copies thereof; to file promptly all material required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rules 433(d) or 163(b)(2) of the Rules and Regulations, as the case may be; to advise the Representatives, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus, of the suspension of the qualification of the Shares and Warrants for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus or suspending any such qualification, and promptly to use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order.
(b) For a period of three years after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall use its best efforts to maintain the registration of the Common Shares under the Exchange Act. The Company shall not deregister the Common Shares under the Exchange Act without the prior written consent of the Representative.
(c) The Company, on behalf of itself and any successor entity, agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, it will not, for a period of 12 months after the date of this Agreement, directly or indirectly in any “at-the-market” or continuous equity transaction, offer to sell, sell, contract to sell, grant any option to sell or otherwise dispose of shares of capital stock of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of capital stock of the Company.
(d) The Company represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Representatives, and each Underwriter represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, it has not made and will not, make any offer relating to the Shares and Warrants that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations unless the prior written consent of the Representatives has been received (each, a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus”); provided that the prior written consent of the Representatives hereto shall be deemed to have been given in respect of the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses included in Schedule C hereto. The Company represents that it has treated and agrees that it will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, comply with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 of the Rules and Regulations applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including the requirements relating to timely filing with the Commission, legending and record keeping and will not take any action that would result in an Underwriter or the Company being required to file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations a free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of such Underwriter that such Underwriter otherwise would not have been required to file thereunder. The Company will satisfy the condition in Rule 433 of the Rules and Regulations to avoid a requirement to file with the Commission any electronic road show.
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(e) If at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the later of (i) the latest effective date of the Registration Statement or (ii) the date of the Prospectus, when a prospectus relating to the Shares and Warrants is required to be delivered (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Rules and Regulations) any event occurs or condition exists as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact, or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made when the Prospectus is delivered (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Rules and Regulations), not misleading, or if it is necessary at any time to amend or supplement any Registration Statement or the Prospectus to comply with the Securities Act, that the Company will promptly notify the Representatives thereof and upon its request will prepare an appropriate amendment or supplement in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance and will use its best efforts to have any amendment to any Registration Statement declared effective as soon as possible. The Company will furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many copies as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request of such amendment or supplement. In case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Rules and Regulations) relating to the Shares and Warrants nine (9) months or more after the later of (i) the latest effective date of the Registration Statement or (ii) the date of the Prospectus, the Company upon the request of the Representatives will prepare promptly an amended or supplemented Prospectus as may be necessary to permit compliance with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act and deliver to such Underwriter as many copies as such Underwriter may request of such amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act.
(f) If the General Disclosure Package is being used to solicit offers to buy the Shares and Warrants at a time when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers and any event shall occur as a result of which, in the judgment of the Company or in the reasonable opinion of the Underwriters, it becomes necessary to amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then prevailing, not misleading, or to make the statements therein not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement then on file and not superseded or modified, or if it is necessary at any time to amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package to comply with any law, the Company promptly will prepare, file with the Commission (if required) and furnish to the Underwriters and any dealers an appropriate amendment or supplement to the General Disclosure Package.
(g) If at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, Pricing Prospectus or Prospectus and not superseded or modified or included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would 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 prevailing at the subsequent time, not misleading, the Company has promptly notified or will promptly notify the Representatives so that any use of the Issuer Free Writing Prospectus may cease until it is amended or supplemented and has promptly amended or will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission. The foregoing sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon, and in conformity with, written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information the parties hereto agree is limited to the Underwriter’s Information (as defined in Section 18).
(h) To furnish promptly to the Representatives and to counsel for the Underwriters a signed copy of each of the Registration Statement as originally filed with the Commission, and of each amendment thereto filed with the Commission, including all consents and exhibits filed therewith.
(i) To deliver promptly to the Representatives in New York City such number of the following documents as the Representatives shall reasonably request: (i) conformed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed with the Commission (in each case excluding exhibits), (ii) each Preliminary Prospectus, (iii) any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, (iv) the Prospectus (the delivery of the documents referred to in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of this paragraph (i) to be made not later than 10:00 A.M., New York time, on the business day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement), (v) conformed copies of any amendment to the Registration Statement (excluding exhibits), and (vi) any amendment or supplement to the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (the delivery of the documents referred to in clauses (v) and (vi) of this paragraph (i) to be made not later than 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the business day following the date of such amendment or supplement).
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(j) To make generally available to its shareholders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than sixteen months after the effective date of each Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) of the Rules and Regulations), an earnings statement of the Company (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158); and to furnish to its shareholders as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year an annual report (including a balance sheet and statements of income, shareholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and any consolidated Subsidiaries certified by independent public accountants) and as soon as possible after each of the first three fiscal quarters of each fiscal year (beginning with the first fiscal quarter after the effective date of such Registration Statement), consolidated summary financial information of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such quarter in reasonable detail. However, so long as the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act and is timely filing reports with the Commission on EDGAR, compliance with such reporting requirements shall deemed to constitute compliance with the requirements set forth in this Section 3(j).
(k) To take promptly from time to time such actions as the Representatives may reasonably request to qualify the Shares and Warrants for offering and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions (domestic or foreign) as the Representatives may designate and to continue such qualifications in effect, and to comply with such laws, for so long as required to permit the offer and sale of Shares and Warrants in such jurisdictions; provided that the Company shall not be obligated to qualify as foreign corporations in any jurisdiction in which they are not so qualified or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction.
(l) Upon request, during the period of five years from the date hereof, to deliver to each of the Underwriters, (i) as soon as they are available, copies of all reports or other communications furnished to shareholders, and (ii) as soon as they are available, copies of any reports and financial statements furnished or filed with the Commission or any national securities exchange on which the Shares and Warrants (if so listed) are listed. However, so long as the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act and is timely filing reports with the Commission on EDGAR, it is not required to furnish such reports or statements to the Underwriters.
(m) That the Company will not, for a period of ninety days from the date of this Agreement (the “Lock-Up Period”), without the prior written consent of the Representatives, directly or indirectly offer, sell, assign, transfer, pledge, contract to sell, or otherwise dispose of, any Common Shares or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Shares, other than the Company’s sale of the Shares and Warrants hereunder and the issuance of options to acquire Common Shares pursuant to the Company’s employee benefit plans, qualified stock option plans or other employee compensation plans as such plans are in existence on the date hereof and described in the Prospectus and the issuance of Common Shares pursuant to the valid exercises of options, warrants or rights outstanding on the date hereof. The Company will cause each officer, director and shareholder listed in Schedule E to furnish to the Representatives, prior to the date hereof, a letter, substantially in the form of Exhibit I hereto, pursuant to which each such person shall agree, among other things, not to directly or indirectly offer, sell, assign, transfer, pledge, contract to sell, or otherwise dispose of, or announce the intention to otherwise dispose of, any Common Shares or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Shares, not to engage in any swap, hedge or similar agreement or arrangement that transfers, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the economic risk of ownership of Common Shares or any such securities during the Lock-Up Period, without the prior written consent of the Representatives. The Company also agrees that during such period, other than for the sale of the Shares and Warrants hereunder, the Company will not file any registration statement, preliminary prospectus or prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, under the Securities Act for any such transaction or which registers, or offers for sale, Common Shares or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Shares, except for a registration statement on Form S-8 relating to employee benefit plans.
(n) If the Representatives, in their sole discretion, agree to release or waive the restrictions set forth in a lock-up letter described in Section 3(m) hereof for an officer or director of the Company and provides the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver at least three business days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver by a press release substantially in the form of Exhibit II hereto through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver.
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(o) To supply the Representatives with copies of all correspondence to and from, and all documents issued to and by, the Commission in connection with the registration of the Shares and Warrants under the Securities Act or any of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto or document incorporated by reference therein.
(p) For a period of forty days, commencing on the date of this Agreement, the Company agrees not to issue any press release or other communication directly or indirectly or hold any press conference with respect to the Company, its condition, financial or otherwise, or earnings, business affairs or business prospects (except for routine oral marketing communications in the ordinary course of business and consistent with the past practices of the Company and of which the Representatives are notified), without the prior written consent of the Representatives (which consent will not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), unless in the judgment of the Company and its counsel, and after notification to the Representatives, such press release or communication is required by law.
(q) Until the Representatives shall have notified the Company of the completion of the resale of the Shares and Warrants, that the Company will not, and will cause its affiliated purchasers (as defined in Regulation M under the Exchange Act) not to, either alone or with one or more other persons, bid for or purchase, for any account in which it or any of its affiliated purchasers has a beneficial interest, any Shares or Warrants, or attempt to induce any person to purchase any Shares or Warrants; and not to, and to cause its affiliated purchasers not to, make bids or purchase for the purpose of creating actual, or apparent, active trading in or of raising the price of the Shares or Warrants.
(r) Not to take any action prior to latest of the Closing Dates which would require the Prospectus to be amended or supplemented pursuant to Section 3(e).
(s) To at all times comply with all applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in effect from time to time.
(t) To maintain, at its expense, a registrar and transfer agent for the Shares and Warrants acceptable to the Representatives (the “Transfer Agent”) and to furnish to the Representatives at the Company’s sole cost and expense such transfer sheets of the Company’s securities as the Representatives may reasonably request, including the daily and monthly consolidated transfer sheets of the Transfer Agent and The Depository Trust Company. The Representatives acknowledge that Computershare Trust Company, N.A. is acceptable to the Representatives to act as Transfer Agent for the Shares and Warrants.
(u) As of the date of this Agreement, the Company shall retain an independent registered public accounting firm reasonably acceptable to the Representatives, and the Company shall continue to retain a nationally recognized independent registered public accounting firm for a period of at least three (3) years after the date of this Agreement. The Representatives acknowledge that the Auditors are acceptable to the Representatives.
(v) As of the date of this Agreement, the Company shall have retained a financial public relations firm reasonably acceptable to the Representatives and the Company, which shall initially be Jenene Thomas Communications, LLC, which firm shall be experienced in assisting issuers in initial public offerings of securities and in their relations with their security holders, and shall retain such firm or another firm reasonably acceptable to the Representatives for a period of not less than two (2) years after the Effective Date.
(w) To apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares and Warrants and the exercise of any Warrant Shares as set forth in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the heading “Use of Proceeds,” and except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package, the Company does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Shares and Warrants and the exercise of any Warrant Shares hereunder to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of any Underwriter. The Company shall manage its affairs and investments in such a manner as not to be or become an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.
(x) To list, subject to notice of issuance, and to maintain the listing of the Shares and Warrant Shares on the Exchange.
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(y) To use its best efforts to do and perform all things required to be done or performed under this Agreement by the Company prior to each of the Closing Dates and to satisfy all conditions precedent to the delivery of the Shares and Warrants.
(z) Upon request of any Underwriter, to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to such Underwriter an electronic version of the Company’s trademarks, servicemarks and corporate logo for use on the website, if any, operated by such Underwriter for the purpose of facilitating the on-line offering of the Shares and Warrants (the “License”); provided, however that the License shall be used solely for the purpose described above, is granted without any fee and may not be assigned or transferred.
(aa) Provided that the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants are sold in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Representatives shall have an irrevocable right of first refusal (the “Right of First Refusal”), for a period of twelve months from the date of effectiveness of this offering, to act as co-lead underwriters or co-lead book-running managers or co-lead placement agents (or if only one Representative exercises such right, lead underwriter, lead book-running manager or lead placement agent) or in any other similar capacity, on the Representatives’ customary terms and conditions, in the event the Company or any Subsidiary retains or otherwise uses (or seeks to retain or use) the services of an investment bank or similar financial advisor to pursue a registered, underwritten public offering of securities (in addition to the offering contemplated by this Agreement), a private placement of securities, a merger, acquisition of another company or business, change of control, sale of substantially all assets or other similar transaction (regardless of whether the Company would be considered an acquiring party, a selling party or neither in such transaction) (each, a “Subject Transaction”). The Company shall notify the Representatives of its intention to pursue a Subject Transaction, including the material terms thereof, by providing written notice thereof by registered mail or overnight courier service addressed to each Representative. If a Representative fails to exercise its Right of First Refusal with respect to any Subject Transaction within ten (10) Business Days after the mailing of such written notice, then such Representative shall have no further claim or right with respect to the Subject Transaction. A Representative may elect, in its sole and absolute discretion, not to exercise its Right of First Refusal with respect to any Subject Transaction; provided that any such election by a Representative shall not adversely affect such Representative’s Right of First Refusal with respect to any other Subject Transaction or the rights of the other Representative. The terms and conditions of any such engagements shall be set forth in separate agreements and may be subject to, among other things, satisfactory completion of due diligence by the Representatives, market conditions, the absence of a material adverse change to the Company’s business, financial condition and prospects, approval of each Representative’s internal committee and any other conditions that the Representatives may deem appropriate for transactions of such nature.
4. PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.
(a) The Company agrees to pay, or reimburse if paid by any Underwriter, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated or this Agreement is terminated: (a) the costs incident to the authorization, issuance, sale, preparation and delivery of the Shares and Warrants and any taxes payable in that connection; (b) the costs incident to the registration of the Shares and Warrants under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act; (c) the costs incident to the preparation, printing and distribution of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, any amendments, supplements and exhibits thereto, and the costs of printing, reproducing and distributing the “Agreement Among Underwriters” between the Representatives and the Underwriters, the Master Selected Dealers’ Agreement, the Underwriters’ Questionnaire, this Agreement, any blue sky surveys and any closing documents by mail, facsimile or other means of communications; (d) the fees and expenses (including related fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters) incurred in connection with securing any required review by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Shares and Warrants and any filings made with FINRA; (e) any applicable listing or other fees of the Exchange; (f) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration or qualification of the Shares and Warrants under the “blue sky” securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions as the Representative may reasonably designate (including, without limitation, all filing and registration fees, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of “blue sky” counsel); (g) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration, qualification or exemption of the Shares under the securities laws of such foreign jurisdictions as the Representatives may reasonably designate; (h) the cost of preparing, printing and delivering stock certificates and warrants; (i) all fees and expenses of the registrar and transfer agent of the Shares and the Warrants; (j) all fees and expenses of the public relations firm referred to in Section 3(w); (k) the costs and expenses of the Company relating
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to investor presentations on any “road show” undertaken in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Shares and Warrants, including, without limitation, expenses associated with the preparation or dissemination of any electronic road show, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations with the prior approval of the Company, travel and lodging expenses of the officers of the Company and such consultants, including the cost of any aircraft chartered in connection with the road show, (l) all reasonable fees, expenses and disbursements relating to background checks of the Company’s officers and directors in an amount not to exceed $5,000 per individual and $20,000 in the aggregate, (m) up to $29,500 for the Representative’s use of i-Deal’s book-building, prospectus tracking and compliance software for the offering; (n) the Underwriters’ actual costs and expenses incurred in connection with the road show; (o) the fees and expenses of counsel to the Representatives; (p) the costs associated with post-Closing advertising the offering in the national editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times; (q) the costs associated with bound volumes of the public offering materials as well as commemorative mementos and lucite tombstones, each of which the Company or its designee shall provide within a reasonable time after the Closing Date in such quantities as the Representatives may reasonably request (provided, that, such amounts shall not exceed $5,000 without the Company's prior written consent); and (r) all other costs and expenses incident to the offering of the Shares or the performance of the obligations of the Company under this Agreement (including, without limitation, the fees and expenses of the Company’s counsel, the Company’s independent accountants and the Company’s other agents and representatives). The Company shall promptly reimburse the Underwriters, upon request, their reasonable out-of-pocket costs and accountable expenses incurred in connection with their rendering services under this Agreement (including fees and expenses relating to due diligence, fees and expenses of the Representatives’ legal counsel, and the fees and expenses of any other independent experts retained by the Representatives); provided, however, that the aggregate reimbursement amount pursuant to this Section 4(a) shall not exceed $150,000. It is specifically agreed that this $150,000 cap shall cover all out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable to the Underwriters under this Section 4(a). The Representatives may deduct from the net proceeds of the offering payable to the Company on the Closing Date, or the Option Closing Date, if any, the expenses set forth herein to be paid by the Company to the Underwriters.
5. CONDITIONS OF UNDERWRITERS’ OBLIGATIONS. The respective obligations of the several Underwriters hereunder are subject to the accuracy, when made and as of the Applicable Time and on such Closing Date, of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder, and to each of the following additional terms and conditions:
(a) The Registration Statement has become effective under the Securities Act, and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of any Registration Statement or any part thereof, preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission, and no injunction, restraining order or order of any nature by a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction shall have been issued as of the Closing Date which would prevent the issuance of the Shares or the Warrants, and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission (to be included in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or otherwise) shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Representatives; the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus shall have been filed with, the Commission within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by, and in compliance with, the Rules and Regulations and in accordance with Section 3(a), and the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, shall have become effective immediately upon its filing with the Commission; and FINRA shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the terms of this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.
(b) None of the Underwriters shall have discovered and disclosed to the Company on or prior to such Closing Date that any Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement thereto contains an untrue statement of a fact which, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters, is material or omits to state any fact which, in the opinion of such counsel, is material and is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or that the General Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto contains an untrue statement of fact which, in the opinion of such counsel, is material or omits to state any fact which, in the opinion of such counsel, is material and is necessary in order to make the statements, in the light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading.
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(c) All corporate proceedings and other legal matters incident to the authorization, form and validity of each of this Agreement, the Shares, the Warrants, the Warrant Shares, the Warrant Agreement, the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package, each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and all other legal matters relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be reasonably satisfactory in all material respects to counsel for the Underwriters, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel all documents and information that they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.
(d) The Representatives shall have received an opinion and 10b-5 statement from Disclosure Law Group, a professional corporation, counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date or the Option Closing Date, as the case may be, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives and previously agreed upon with counsel for the Underwriters.
(e) [Reserved.]
(f) The Representatives shall have received an opinion and 10b-5 statement from Law Office of Reid Adler, intellectual property counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date or the Option Closing Date, as the case may be, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives and previously agreed upon with counsel for the Underwriters.
(g) The Representatives shall have received an opinion and 10b-5 statement from Zysman, Aharoni, Gayer and Sullivan & Worcester LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, dated the Closing Date or the Option Closing Date, as the case may be, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such documents and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.
(h) [Reserved.]
(i) At the time of the execution of this Agreement, the Representatives shall have received from the Auditors a letter, addressed to the Underwriters, executed and dated such date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives (i) confirming that they are an independent registered accounting firm with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations and PCAOB and (ii) stating the conclusions and findings of such firm, of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters, with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
(j) On the effective date of any post-effective amendment to any Registration Statement and on such Closing Date, the Representatives shall have received a letter (the “bring-down letter”) from the Auditors addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Closing Date confirming, as of the date of the bring-down letter (or, with respect to matters involving changes or developments since the respective dates as of which specified financial information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as the case may be, as of a date not more than three (3) business days prior to the date of the bring-down letter), the conclusions and findings of such firm, of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters, with respect to the financial information and other matters covered by its letter delivered to the Representatives concurrently with the execution of this Agreement pursuant to paragraph (i) of this Section 5.
(k) The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate, dated such Closing Date, of its Chairman of the Board or President and its Chief Financial Officer stating that (i) such officers have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package, any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and, in their opinion, the Registration Statement and each amendment thereto, as of their respective effective dates and as of such Closing Date did not include any untrue statement of a material fact and did not omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and the General Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time and as of such Closing Date, any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as of its date and as of such Closing Date, the Prospectus and each amendment or supplement thereto, as of the respective date thereof and as of such Closing Date, did not include any untrue statement of a material fact and did not omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading, (ii) since the effective date of the Registration Statement,
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no event has occurred which should have been set forth in a supplement or amendment to the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, (iii) to the best of their knowledge after reasonable investigation, as of such Closing Date, the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct and the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to such Closing Date, and (iv) there has not been, subsequent to the date of the most recent audited financial statements included in the General Disclosure Package, any material adverse change in the financial position or results of operations of the Company, or any change or development that, singularly or in the aggregate, would involve a material adverse change or a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, assets or prospects of the Company, except as set forth in the Prospectus.
(l) Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the General Disclosure Package, (i) the Company shall not have sustained any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth in the General Disclosure Package, and (ii) there shall not have been any change in the capital stock or long-term debt of the Company, or any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the business, general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company, otherwise than as set forth in the General Disclosure Package, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii) of this paragraph (l), is, in the judgment of the Representatives, so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the sale or delivery of the Shares or Warrants on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the General Disclosure Package.
(m) No action shall have been taken and no law, statute, rule, regulation or order shall have been enacted, adopted or issued by any federal, state or foreign governmental or regulatory agency or body which would prevent the issuance or sale of the Shares or Warrants or materially and adversely affect or potentially materially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company; and no injunction, restraining order or order of any other nature by any federal, state or foreign court of competent jurisdiction shall have been issued which would prevent the issuance or sale of the Shares or Warrants or materially and adversely affect or potentially materially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company.
(n) Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) trading in securities generally on the Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, any other national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market, or trading in any securities of the Company on any exchange or in the over-the-counter market, shall have been suspended or materially limited, or minimum or maximum prices or maximum range for prices shall have been established on any such exchange or such market by the Commission, by such exchange or market or by any other regulatory body or governmental authority having jurisdiction, (ii) a banking moratorium shall have been declared by the United States or New York State or a material disruption has occurred in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States, (iii) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities in which the United States is involved or declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war or other calamity or crisis or (iv) there shall have occurred such a material adverse change in general economic, political or financial conditions in the United States (or the effect of international conditions on the financial markets in the United States shall be such) as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the sale or delivery of the Shares or Warrnats on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
(o) The Exchange shall have approved the Shares and Warrant Shares for listing therein, subject only to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution.
(p) FINRA shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and arrangements.
(q) On or after the date hereof (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded any of the Company’s securities by any “nationally recognized statistical organization,” as that term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Rule 436(g)(2) under the Securities Act, and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, with possible negative implications, its rating of any of the Company’s securities.
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(r) The Representatives shall have received on and as of such Closing Date satisfactory evidence of the good standing of the Company and each Subsidiary in its jurisdiction of organization and its good standing as a foreign entity in such other jurisdictions where qualified to do business or as the Representatives may reasonably request.
(s) The Representatives shall have received the written agreements, substantially in the form of Exhibit I hereto, of the officers, directors, shareholders, optionholders and warrantholders of the Company listed in Schedule E to this Agreement.
(t) The Company and the Transfer Agent shall have executed and delivered the Warrant Agreement.
(u) On or prior to such Closing Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives such further certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.
All opinions, letters, evidence and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall be deemed to be in compliance with the provisions hereof only if they are in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriters.
6. INDEMNIFICATION AND CONTRIBUTION.
(a) The Company shall indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its directors, officers, managers, members, employees, representatives and agents and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (collectively the “Underwriter Indemnified Parties,” and each an “Underwriter Indemnified Party”) against any loss, claim, damage, expense or liability whatsoever (or any action, investigation or proceeding in respect thereof), joint or several, to which such Underwriter Indemnified Party may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, claim, damage, expense, liability, action, investigation or proceeding arises out of or is based upon (A) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations, any Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any amendment or supplement thereto or (B) the omission or alleged omission to state in any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations, any Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any amendment or supplement thereto, a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and shall reimburse each Underwriter Indemnified Party promptly upon demand for any legal fees or other expenses reasonably incurred by that Underwriter Indemnified Party in connection with investigating, or preparing to defend, or defending against, or appearing as a third party witness in respect of, or otherwise incurred in connection with, any such loss, claim, damage, expense, liability, action, investigation or proceeding, as such fees and expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage, expense or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement in, or omission or alleged omission from any Preliminary Prospectus, any Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or any such amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for use therein, which information the parties hereto agree is limited to the Underwriter’s Information (as defined in Section 18). The indemnity agreement in this Section 6(a) is not exclusive and is in addition to each other liability which the Company might have under this Agreement or otherwise, and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available under this Agreement, at law or in equity to any Underwriter Indemnified Party.
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(b) Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, shall indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (collectively the “Company Indemnified Parties” and each a “Company Indemnified Party”) against any loss, claim, damage, expense or liability whatsoever (or any action, investigation or proceeding in respect thereof), joint or several, to which such Company Indemnified Party may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, claim, damage, expense, liability, action, investigation or proceeding arises out of or is based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any "issuer information" filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations, any Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any amendment or supplement thereto, or (ii) the omission or alleged omission to state in any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations, any Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any amendment or supplement thereto, a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, but in each case only to the extent that the untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of that Underwriter specifically for use therein, which information the parties hereto agree is limited to the Underwriter’s Information as defined in Section 18, and shall reimburse the Company Indemnified Parties for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with investigating or preparing to defend or defending against or appearing as third party witness in connection with any such loss, claim, damage, liability, action, investigation or proceeding, as such fees and expenses are incurred. This indemnity agreement is not exclusive and will be in addition to any liability which the Underwriters might otherwise have and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available under this Agreement, at law or in equity to the Company Indemnified Parties.
(c) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 6 of notice of the commencement of any action, the indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against an indemnifying party under this Section 6, notify such indemnifying party in writing of the commencement of that action; provided, however, that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have under this Section 6 except to the extent it has been materially prejudiced by such failure; and, provided, further, that the failure to notify an indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under this Section 6. If any such action shall be brought against an indemnified party, and it shall notify the indemnifying party thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it wishes, jointly with any other similarly notified indemnifying party, to assume the defense of such action with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party (which counsel shall not, except with the written consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party). After notice from the indemnifying party to the indemnified party of its election to assume the defense of such action, except as provided herein, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to the indemnified party under Section 6 for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by the indemnified party in connection with the defense of such action other than reasonable costs of investigation; provided, however, that any indemnified party shall have the right to employ separate counsel in any such action and to participate in the defense of such action but the fees and expenses of such counsel (other than reasonable costs of investigation) shall be at the expense of such indemnified party unless (i) the employment thereof has been specifically authorized in writing by the Company in the case of a claim for indemnification under Section 6(a) or the Representatives in the case of a claim for indemnification under Section 6(c), (ii) such indemnified party shall have been advised by its counsel that there may be one or more legal defenses available to it which are different from or additional to those available to the indemnifying party, or (iii) the indemnifying party has failed to assume the defense of such action and employ counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party within a reasonable period of time after notice of the commencement of the action or the indemnifying party does not diligently defend the action after assumption of the defense, in which case, if such indemnified party notifies the indemnifying party in writing that it elects to employ separate counsel at the expense of the indemnifying party, the indemnifying party shall not have the right to assume the defense of (or, in the case of a failure to diligently defend the action after assumption of the defense, to continue to defend) such action on behalf of such indemnified party and the indemnifying party shall be responsible for legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense of such action; provided, however, that the indemnifying party shall not, in connection with any one such action or separate but substantially similar or related actions in the same jurisdiction arising out of the same general allegations or circumstances, be liable for the
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reasonable fees and expenses of more than one separate firm of attorneys at any time for all such indemnified parties (in addition to any local counsel), which firm shall be designated in writing by the Representatives if the indemnified parties under this Section 6 consist of any Underwriter Indemnified Party or by the Company if the indemnified parties under this Section 6 consist of any Company Indemnified Parties. Subject to this Section 6(c), the amount payable by an indemnifying party under Section 6 shall include, but not be limited to, (x) reasonable legal fees and expenses of counsel to the indemnified party and any other expenses in investigating, or preparing to defend or defending against, or appearing as a third party witness in respect of, or otherwise incurred in connection with, any action, investigation, proceeding or claim, and (y) all amounts paid in settlement of any of the foregoing. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of judgment with respect to any pending or threatened action or any claim whatsoever, in respect of which indemnification or contribution could be sought under this Section 6 (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties thereto), unless such settlement, compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party. Subject to the provisions of the following sentence, no indemnifying party shall be liable for settlement of any pending or threatened action or any claim whatsoever that is effected without its written consent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), but if settled with its written consent, if its consent has been unreasonably withheld or delayed or if there be a judgment for the plaintiff in any such matter, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless any indemnified party from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment. In addition, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested that an indemnifying party reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel, such indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of the nature contemplated by Section 6(a) effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than forty-five (45) days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the request for reimbursement, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least thirty (30) days prior to such settlement being entered into and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed such indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement.
(d) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 6 is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under Section 6(a) or 6(b), then each indemnifying party shall, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party, contribute to the amount paid, payable or otherwise incurred by such indemnified party as a result of such loss, claim, damage, expense or liability (or any action, investigation or proceeding in respect thereof), as incurred, (i) in such proportion as shall be appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Shares and Warrants, or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) of this Section 6(d) is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) of this Section 6(d) but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other with respect to the statements, omissions, acts or failures to act which resulted in such loss, claim, damage, expense or liability (or any action, investigation or proceeding in respect thereof) as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other with respect to such offering shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Shares and Warrants purchased under this Agreement (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters with respect to the Shares and Warrants purchased under this Agreement, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus. The relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement, omission, act or failure to act; provided that the parties hereto agree that the written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of the Underwriters for use in the Preliminary Prospectus, any Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any amendment or supplement thereto, consists solely of the Underwriter’s Information as defined in Section 18.
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(e) The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contributions pursuant to Section 6(d) above were to be determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation which does not take into account the equitable considerations referred to Section 6(d) above. The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the loss, claim, damage, expense, liability, action, investigation or proceeding referred to in Section 6(d) above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating, preparing to defend or defending against or appearing as a third party witness in respect of, or otherwise incurred in connection with, any such loss, claim, damage, expense, liability, action, investigation or proceeding. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 6, no Underwriters shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by such Underwriter with respect to the offering of the Shares and Warrants exceeds the amount of any damages which the Underwriter has otherwise paid or become liable to pay by reason of any untrue or alleged untrue statement, omission or alleged omission, act or alleged act or failure to act or alleged failure to act. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations to contribute as provided in this Section 6 are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.
7. TERMINATION. The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be terminated by the Representatives, in its absolute discretion by notice given to the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Shares and Warrants if, prior to that time, any of the events described in Sections 5(m) or 5(n) have occurred or if the Underwriters shall decline to purchase the Shares and Warrants for any reason permitted under this Agreement.
8. REIMBURSEMENT OF UNDERWRITERS’ EXPENSES. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, if (a) this Agreement shall have been terminated pursuant to Section 7 or 9, (b) the Company shall fail to tender the Shares or Warrants for delivery to the Underwriters for any reason not permitted under this Agreement, (c) the Underwriters shall decline to purchase the Shares or Warrants for any reason permitted under this Agreement or (d) the sale of the Shares or Warrants is not consummated because any condition to the obligations of the Underwriters set forth herein is not satisfied or because of the refusal, inability or failure on the part of the Company to perform any agreement herein or to satisfy any condition or to comply with the provisions hereof, then in addition to the payment of amounts in accordance with Section 4, the Company shall reimburse the Underwriters for the fees and expenses of Underwriters’ counsel and for such other out-of-pocket expenses as shall have been reasonably incurred by them in connection with this Agreement and the proposed purchase of the Shares and Warrants, including, without limitation, travel and lodging expenses of the Underwriters, and upon demand the Company shall pay the full amount thereof to the Representatives up to $150,000; provided, however, that if this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 9 by reason of the default of one or more Underwriters, the Company shall not be obligated to reimburse any defaulting Underwriter on account of expenses to the extent incurred by such defaulting Underwriter; provided further that the foregoing shall not limit any reimbursement obligation of the Company to any non-defaulting Underwriter under this Section 8.
9. SUBSTITUTION OF UNDERWRITERS. If any Underwriter or Underwriters shall default in its or their obligations to purchase Shares or Warrants hereunder on any Closing Date and the aggregate number of Shares and Warrants which such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase does not exceed ten percent (10%) of the total number of Shares and Warrants to be purchased by all Underwriters on such Closing Date, the other Underwriters shall be obligated severally, in proportion to their respective commitments hereunder, to purchase the Shares and Warrants which such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase on such Closing Date. If any Underwriter or Underwriters shall so default and the aggregate number of shares with respect to which such default or defaults occur is more than ten percent (10%) of the total number of Shares and Warrants to be purchased by all Underwriters on such Closing Date and arrangements satisfactory to the Representatives and the Company for the purchase of such Shares and Warrants by other persons are not made within forty-eight (48) hours after such default, this Agreement shall terminate.
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If the remaining Underwriters or substituted Underwriters are required hereby or agree to take up all or part of the Shares and Warrants of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters on such Closing Date as provided in this Section 9, (i) the Company shall have the right to postpone such Closing Date for a period of not more than five (5) full business days in order that the Company may effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any other documents or arrangements, and the Company agrees promptly to file any amendments to the Registration Statement or supplements to the Prospectus which may thereby be made necessary, and (ii) the respective numbers of Shares and Warrants to be purchased by the remaining Underwriters or substituted Underwriters shall be taken as the basis of their underwriting obligation for all purposes of this Agreement. Nothing herein contained shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter of its liability to the Company or the other Underwriters for damages occasioned by its default hereunder. Any termination of this Agreement pursuant to this Section 9 shall be without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except that the representations, warranties, covenants, indemnities, agreements and other statements set forth in Section 2, the obligations with respect to expenses to be paid or reimbursed pursuant to Sections 4 and 8 and the provisions of Section 6 and Sections 10 through 22, inclusive, shall not terminate and shall remain in full force and effect.
10. ABSENCE OF FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP. The Company acknowledges and agrees that:
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(a)
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each Underwriter’s responsibility to the Company is solely contractual in nature, the Representatives have been retained solely to act as underwriters in connection with the sale of the Shares and Warrants and no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company and the Representatives have been created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, irrespective of whether the Representatives have advised or are advising the Company on other matters;
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(b)
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the price of the Shares and Warrants set forth in this Agreement was established by the Company following discussions and arms-length negotiations with the Representatives, and the Company is capable of evaluating and understanding, and understands and accepts, the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;
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(c)
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it has been advised that the Representatives and its affiliates are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that the Representatives have no obligation to disclose such interests and transactions to the Company by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship; and
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(d)
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it waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims it may have against the Representatives for breach of fiduciary duty or alleged breach of fiduciary duty and agrees that the Representatives shall have no liability (whether direct or indirect) to the Company in respect of such a fiduciary duty claim or to any person asserting a fiduciary duty claim on behalf of or in right of the Company, including stockholders, employees or creditors of the Company.
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11. SUCCESSORS; PERSONS ENTITLED TO BENEFIT OF AGREEMENT. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the several Underwriters, the Company, and their respective successors and assigns. Nothing expressed or mentioned in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any person, other than the persons mentioned in the preceding sentence, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement, or any provisions herein contained, this Agreement and all conditions and provisions hereof being intended to be and being for the sole and exclusive benefit of such persons and for the benefit of no other person; except that the representations, warranties, covenants, agreements and indemnities of the Company contained in this Agreement shall also be for the benefit of the Underwriter Indemnified Parties, and the indemnities of the several Underwriters shall be for the benefit of the Company Indemnified Parties. It is understood that each Underwriter’s responsibility to the Company is solely contractual in nature and the Underwriters do not owe the Company, or any other party, any fiduciary duty as a result of this Agreement. No purchaser of any of the Shares or Warrants from any Underwriter shall be deemed to be a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.
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12. SURVIVAL OF INDEMNITIES, REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, ETC. The respective indemnities, covenants, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this Agreement or made by them respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, the Company or any person controlling any of them and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Shares and Warrants. Notwithstanding any termination of this Agreement, including without limitation any termination pursuant to Section 7 or Section 9, the indemnities, covenants, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements forth in Sections 2, 4, 6 and 8 and Sections 10 through 22, inclusive, of this Agreement shall not terminate and shall remain in full force and effect at all times.
13. NOTICES. All communications hereunder, except as herein otherwise specifically provided, shall be in writing and shall be mailed (registered or certified mail, return receipt requested), personally delivered or sent by facsimile transmission and confirmed and shall be deemed given when so delivered or faxed and confirmed or if mailed, two (2) days after such mailing.
If to the Underwriters:
Chardan Capital Markets, LLC
17 State Street, Suite 1600
New York, NY 10004
Attention: Shai Gerson, Managing Director
Facsimile: (646) 465-9091
Email:sgerson@chardancm.com
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With a copy to:
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Zysman, Aharoni, Gayer and Sullivan & Worcester LLP
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Attention: Oded Har-Even, Esq.
Facsimile: (212) 660-3001
Email: ohareven@zag-sw.com
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If to the Company:
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VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc.
343 Allerton Avenue
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Attention: Shawn Singh
Facsimile: 888-482-2602
Email: ssingh@vistagen.com
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With a copy to:
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Disclosure Law Group, APC
600 West Broadway, Suite 700
San Diego, CA 92101
Attention: Daniel W. Rumsey, Esq.
Facsimile: 619-330-2101
Email: drumsey@disclosurelawgroup.com
14. DEFINITION OF CERTAIN TERMS. For purposes of this Agreement, (a) “business day” means any day on which the Exchange is open for trading.
15. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and to be performed in such state.
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16. SUBMISSION TO JURISDICTION; WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. 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 New York Supreme Court, County of New York, or in 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 inconvenient forum. Any such process or summons to be served upon the Company may be served by transmitting a copy thereof by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed to it at the address set forth in Section 13 hereof. Such mailing shall be deemed personal service and shall be legal and binding upon the Company in any action, proceeding or claim. The Company agrees that the prevailing party(ies) in any such action shall be entitled to recover from the other party(ies) all of its reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses relating to such action or proceeding and/or incurred in connection with the preparation therefor. The Company (on its behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates) and each of the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.
17. [Reserved.]
18. UNDERWRITERS’ INFORMATION. The parties hereto acknowledge and agree that, for all purposes of this Agreement, the Underwriters’ Information consists solely of the following information in the Prospectus: the following statements concerning the Underwriters contained in the “Underwriting” section of the Prospectus: (a) the first sentence under the heading “Commissions, Discounts and Other Compensation”; (b) the first sentence under the heading “Short Sales, Stabilizing Transactions and Penalty Bids — Stabilizing transactions; and (c) the first sentence under the heading “Discretionary Sales.”
19. AUTHORITY OF THE REPRESENTATIVES. In connection with this Agreement, you will act for and on behalf of the several Underwriters, and any action taken under this Agreement by the Representatives, will be binding on all the Underwriters.
20. PARTIAL UNENFORCEABILITY. The invalidity or unenforceability of any section, paragraph, clause or provision of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other section, paragraph, clause or provision hereof. If any section, paragraph, clause 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.
21. GENERAL. 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. In this Agreement, the masculine, feminine and neuter genders and the singular and the plural include one another. The section headings in this Agreement are for the convenience of the parties only and will not affect the construction or interpretation of this Agreement. This Agreement may be amended or modified, and the observance of any term of this Agreement may be waived, only by a writing signed by the Company and the Representatives.
22. COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be signed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument.
[Remainder of Page Intentionally Left Blank; Signatures Follow]
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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of the agreement between the Company and the several Underwriters, kindly indicate your acceptance in the space provided for that purpose below.
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Very truly yours,
VISTAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
By: /s/ Shawn Singh
Name: Shawn Singh
Title: Chief Executive Officer
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Accepted as of
the date first above written:
CHARDAN CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC
Acting on its own behalf
and as Representative of the several
Underwriters referred to in the
foregoing Agreement.
By: /s/ Jonas Grossman
Name: Jonas Grossman
Title: Managing Partner
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Accepted as of
the date first above written:
WALLACHBETH CAPITAL, LLC
Acting on its own behalf
and as Representative of the several
Underwriters referred to in the
foregoing Agreement.
By: /s/ Daniel Tapia
Name: Daniel Tapia
Title: Chief Compliance Officer
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SCHEDULE A
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Name
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Number of Firm Shares to be Purchased
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Number of Firm Warrants to be Purchased__
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Number of Option Shares to be Purchased
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Number of Option Warrants to be Purchased
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Chardan Capital Markets, LLC
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1,529,412
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1,529,412
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229,412
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229,412
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WallachBeth Capital, LLC
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823,530
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823,530
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123,530
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123,530
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Total
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2,352,942
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2,352,942
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352,942
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352,942
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SCHEDULE B
Pricing Information
Number of Firm Shares: 2,352,942
Number of Firm Warrants: 2,352,942
Number of Option Shares: 352,942
Number of Option Warrants: 352,942
Public Offering Price per Share: $4.24
Public Offering Price per Warrant: $0.01
Underwriting Discount per Share: $0.39432
Underwriting Discount per Warrant: $0.00093
Proceeds to Company per Share (before expenses): $3.84568
Proceeds to Company per Warrant (before expenses): $0.00907
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SCHEDULE C
General Use Free Writing Prospectuses
Free writing prospectus filed April 15, 2016.
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SCHEDULE D
[Reserved.]
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SCHEDULE E
Parties Subject to Lock-Up
List of officers, directors and 5% shareholders subject to Section 4(m)
Shawn K. Singh
H. Ralph Snodgrass
Jerrold D. Dotson
Jon S. Saxe
Brian J. Underdown
Jerry B. Gin
Platinum Long Term Growth Fund VII/Montsant Partners, LLC
Michael Goldberg
Calm Seas Capital, LLC
Cato BioVentures
Cato Holding Company
Morrison & Foerster LLP
University Health Network
Nexthera Capital Master Fund LP
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EXHIBIT I
LOCK-UP LETTER AGREEMENT
Chardan Capital Markets, LLC
WallachBeth Capital, LLC
As Representatives of the several underwriters, if any, named in the Underwriting Agreement referenced below
c/o Chardan Capital Markets, LLC
17 State Street
Suite 1600
New York, NY 10004
c/o WallachBeth Capital, LLC
100 Wall Street, Suite 6600
New York, NY 10005
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The undersigned understands that you and certain other firms, if any, (the “Underwriters”) propose to enter into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) providing for the purchase by the Underwriters of shares (the “Shares”) of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) and warrants to purchase Common Stock (the “Warrants” and, together with the Shares, the “Securities”), of Vistagen Therapeutics, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), and that the Underwriters propose to reoffer the Shares and Warrants to the public (the “Offering”).
In consideration of the execution of the Underwriting Agreement by the Underwriters, and for other good and valuable consideration, the undersigned hereby irrevocably agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, on behalf of the Underwriters, the undersigned will not, directly or indirectly, (1) offer for sale, sell, pledge, or otherwise transfer or dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device that is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the transfer or disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any shares of Common Stock (including, without limitation, shares of Common Stock that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by the undersigned in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and shares of Common Stock that may be issued upon exercise of any options or warrants) or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, (2) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of shares of Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or other securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) except as provided for below, make any demand for or exercise any right or cause to be filed a registration statement, including any amendments thereto, with respect to the registration of any shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or any other securities of the Company, or (4) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing for a period commencing on the date hereof and ending on the 90th day after the date of the Prospectus relating to the Offering (such 90-day period, the “Lock-Up Period”).
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The foregoing paragraph shall not apply to (a) transactions relating to shares of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the open market after the completion of the Offering, provided that no filing under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), shall be required or shall be voluntarily made in connection with such transfers; (b) bona fide gifts, sales or other dispositions of shares of any class of the Company’s capital stock or any security convertible into Common Stock, in each case that are made exclusively between and among the undersigned or members of the undersigned’s family, or affiliates of the undersigned, including its partners (if a partnership) or members (if a limited liability company); (c) any transfer of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into Common Stock by will or intestate succession upon the death of the undersigned; (d) transfer of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into Common Stock to an immediate family member (for purposes of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement, “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood, marriage or adoption, not more remote than first cousin) or any trust, limited partnership, limited liability company or other entity for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or any immediate family member of the undersigned; provided that, in the case of clauses (b)- (d) above, it shall be a condition to any such transfer that (i) the transferee/donee agrees to be bound by the terms of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement (including, without limitation, the restrictions set forth in the preceding sentence) to the same extent as if the transferee/donee were a party hereto, (ii) each party (donor, donee, transferor or transferee) shall not be required by law (including without limitation the disclosure requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”) and the Exchange Act) to make, and shall agree to not voluntarily make, any filing or public announcement of the transfer or disposition prior to the expiration of the 90-day period referred to above, and (iii) the undersigned notifies the Representatives at least two business days prior to the proposed transfer or disposition; (e) the transfer of shares to the Company to satisfy withholding obligations for any equity award granted pursuant to the terms of the Company’s stock option/incentive plans, such as upon exercise, vesting, lapse of substantial risk of forfeiture, or other similar taxable event, in each case on a “cashless” or “net exercise” basis (which, for the avoidance of doubt shall not include “cashless” exercise programs involving a broker or other third party), provided that as a condition of any transfer pursuant to this clause (e), that if the undersigned is required to file a report under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock during the Lock-Up Period, the undersigned shall include a statement in such report, and if applicable an appropriate disposition transaction code, to the effect that such transfer is being made as a share delivery or forfeiture in connection with a net value exercise, or as a forfeiture or sale of shares solely to cover required tax withholding, as the case may be; (f) transfers of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock pursuant to a bona fide third party tender offer made to all holders of the Common Stock, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction involving a change of control (as defined below) of the Company, including voting in favor of any such transaction or taking any other action in connection with such transaction, provided that in the event that such merger, tender offer or other transaction is not completed, the Common Stock and any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock shall remain subject to the restrictions set forth herein; (g) the exercise of warrants or the exercise of stock options granted pursuant to the Company’s stock option/incentive plans or otherwise outstanding on the date hereof; provided, that the restrictions shall apply to shares of Common Stock issued upon such exercise or conversion; (h) the establishment of any contract, instruction or plan that satisfies all of the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 (a “Rule 10b5-1 Plan”) under the Exchange Act; provided, however, that no sales of Common Stock or securities convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, Common Stock, shall be made pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 Plan prior to the expiration of the Lock-Up Period; provided further, that the Company is not required to report the establishment of such Rule 10b5-1 Plan in any public report or filing with the Commission under the Exchange Act during the lock-up period and does not otherwise voluntarily effect any such public filing or report regarding such Rule 10b5-1 Plan; and (i) any demands or requests for, exercise any right with respect to, or take any action in preparation of, the registration by the Company under the Act of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock, provided that no transfer of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock registered pursuant to the exercise of any such right and no registration statement shall be filed under the Act with respect to any of
the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock during the Lock-Up Period. For purposes of clause (f) above, “change of control” shall mean the consummation of any bona fide third party tender offer, merger, purchase, consolidation or other similar transaction the result of which is that any “person” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), or group of persons, becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 of the Exchange Act) of a majority of total voting power of the voting stock of the Company.
The undersigned also agrees and consents to the entry of stop transfer instructions with the Company’s transfer agent and registrar against the transfer of the undersigned’s securities subject to this Lock-Up Letter Agreement except in compliance with this Lock-Up Letter Agreement.
It is understood that, if the Company notifies the Underwriters that it does not intend to proceed with the Offering, if the Underwriting Agreement does not become effective, or if the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the Securities, the undersigned will be released from its obligations under this Lock-Up Letter Agreement.
The undersigned understands that the Company and the Underwriters will proceed with the Offering in reliance on this Lock-Up Letter Agreement.
Whether or not the Offering actually occurs depends on a number of factors, including market conditions. Any Offering will only be made pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement, the terms of which are subject to negotiation between the Company and the Underwriters.
This Lock-Up Letter Agreement shall automatically terminate upon the earliest to occur, if any, of (1) the termination of the Underwriting Agreement before the sale of any Securities to the Underwriters, or (2) June 30, 2016, in the event that the Underwriting Agreement has not been executed by that date.
This Lock-Up Letter Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to the conflict of laws principles thereof.
[Signature page follows]
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The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power and authority to enter into this Lock-Up Letter Agreement and that, upon request, the undersigned will execute any additional documents necessary in connection with the enforcement hereof. Any obligations of the undersigned shall be binding upon the heirs, personal representatives, successors and assigns of the undersigned.
Very truly yours,
By:______________________________
Name:
Title:
Dated: __________, 2016
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EXHIBIT II
VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc.
[Date]
VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company” announced today that Chardan Capital Markets, LLC, and WallachBeth Capital, LLC, the lead book-running managers in the Company’s recent public sale of [ ] shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to [___] shares of common stock, is [waiving][releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to [ ] shares of common stock of the Company held by [certain officers or directors][an officer or director] of the Company. The [waiver][release] will take effect on , 20 , and the shares may be sold on or after such date.
This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.