EXHIBIT 10.7
REGISTRATION RIGHTS
AGREEMENT
This Registration Rights Agreement
(this “ Agreement ”) is made and entered into as
of __________, 2008, among Balqon Corporation, a California
corporation (the “ Company ”), and the
purchasers signatory hereto (each such purchaser is a “
Purchaser ” and collectively, the “
Purchasers ”).
This Agreement is made pursuant to
the Convertible Promissory Notes, dated as of the date hereof
between the Company and the Purchasers (the “ Notes
”).
The Company and the Purchasers
hereby agree as follows:
1.
Definitions . Capitalized terms used and not
otherwise defined herein that are defined in the Notes shall have
the meanings given such terms in the Notes. As used in
this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:
“ Advice ” shall
have the meaning set forth in Section 6(d).
“ Cut-back ” and “
Cut-back Shares ” shall have the meanings set forth in
Section 2(a).
“ Effectiveness Period ”
shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2(a).
“ Filing Date ” means,
with respect to the Registration Statement required hereunder, the
60 th
calendar day following the
effectiveness of the Merger.
“ Holder ” or “
Holders ” means the holder or holders, as the case may
be, from time to time of Registrable Securities.
“ Indemnified Party ” shall
have the meaning set forth in Section 5(c).
“ Indemnifying Party ” shall
have the meaning set forth in Section 5(c).
“ Losses ” shall have the
meaning set forth in Section 5(a).
“ Plan of Distribution ”
shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2(a).
“ Proceeding ” means an
action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding (including,
without limitation, an investigation or partial proceeding, such as
a deposition), whether commenced or threatened.
“ Prospectus ” means the
prospectus included in a Registration Statement (including, without
limitation, a prospectus that includes any information previously
omitted from a prospectus filed as part of an effective
registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A promulgated under
the Securities Act), as amended or supplemented by any prospectus
supplement, with respect to the terms of the offering of any
portion of the Registrable Securities covered by a Registration
Statement, and all other amendments and supplements to the
Prospectus, including post-effective amendments, and all material
incorporated by reference or deemed to be incorporated by reference
in such Prospectus.
“ Registrable Securities ”
means all of (i) the Shares issuable pursuant to the Notes, (ii)
the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants
to purchase Company Common Stock issued in connection with the
Notes (the “Warrants”), and (iii) any shares of
Common Stock issued or issuable upon any stock split, dividend or
other distribution, recapitalization or similar event with respect
to the foregoing.
“ Registration Statement ”
means the registration statements required to be filed hereunder,
including (in each case) the Prospectus, amendments and supplements
to such registration statement or Prospectus, including pre- and
post-effective amendments, all exhibits thereto, and all material
incorporated by reference or deemed to be incorporated by reference
in such registration statement.
“ Rule 415 ” means Rule 415
promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as
such rule may be amended from time to time, or any similar rule or
regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially
the same purpose and effect as such rule.
“ Rule 424 ” means Rule 424
promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as
such rule may be amended from time to time, or any similar rule or
regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially
the same purpose and effect as such rule.
“ Selling Shareholder Questionnaire
” shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3(a).
2.
Shelf Registration .
(a) On
or prior to the Filing Date, the Company shall prepare and file
with the Commission a Registration Statement covering the resale of
100% of the Registrable Securities for an offering to be made on a
continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415; provided, however, that if
the SEC takes the position that the offering of some or all of the
Registrable Securities is not eligible to be made on a delayed or
continuous basis under the provisions of Rule 415, the Company
shall amend the Registration Statement prior to its effectiveness
to remove from the Registration Statement such portion of the
Registrable Securities (the “Cut-back Shares”) and/or
agree to such restrictions and limitations on the registration and
resale of the Registrable Securities as the SEC may require to
assure the Company’s compliance with the requirements of Rule
415 (collectively, the “SEC Restrictions”). Any
cut-back (“Cut-back”) of the Registrable Securities
pursuant to this Section 2(a) shall be subject to the priority of
registration for the Registrable Securities covered by that certain
Registration Rights Agreement dated July 11, 2008, as amended (the
“Priority Shares”), and any cut-backs shall be
allocated to the Holders of Registrable Securities on a pro rata
basis, unless the SEC Restrictions require otherwise. In
the event there are holders of securities, other than the
Registrable Securities and the Priority Shares, who are entitled to
registration rights (“Other Shares”), the securities
that are entitled to be included in the registration shall first be
allocated to the holders of Priority Shares, next to the Holders of
Registrable Securities and thereafter to the holders of Other
Shares, subject to such allocation priorities as set forth in the
registration rights agreements for such Other
Shares. Such Registration Statement shall contain the
“ Plan of Distribution ” section substantially
in the form attached hereto as Annex A , with such changes
as are reasonably required to respond to the actual plan of
distribution or any comments to such section by the Commission and
to comply with then applicable securities laws. Subject
to the terms of this Agreement, the Company shall use its
commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Registration
Statement to be declared effective under the Securities Act as
promptly as possible after the filing thereof, and shall use its
commercially reasonable efforts to keep such Registration Statement
continuously effective under the Securities Act until the earlier
of (A) the date that is two years after the date on which all the
Shares are issued to the Holders, (B) the date on which there
ceases to be outstanding any Registrable Securities, and (C) the
date on which the Company receives an opinion from its legal
counsel to the effect that all Registrable Securities can be freely
traded without the continued effectiveness of a Registration
Statement (the “ Effectiveness Period
”).
(b) The
parties hereto agree that the Company will not be required to use a
Registration Statement for any registration in which securities of
the Company are sold to an underwriter for reoffering to the
public, and the Company will in no event be required to cooperate
with or pay for any such underwritten offering.
3.
Registration Procedures
In connection with the Company’s
registration obligations hereunder, the Company shall:
(a) Not
less than three trading days prior to the filing of each
Registration Statement or any related Prospectus or any amendment
or supplement thereto (including any document that would be
incorporated or deemed to be incorporated therein by reference),
the Company shall, (i) furnish to each Holder copies of the
“Principal and Selling Stockholders” and “Plan of
Distribution” sections of such Registration Statement or
other documents proposed to be filed, if such sections have been
revised since the previous filing of such Registration Statement or
any amendment or supplement thereto, which documents (other than
those incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference) will
be subject to the review of such Holders, and (ii) cause its
officers and directors, counsel and independent certified public
accountants to respond to such inquiries as shall be necessary, in
the reasonable opinion of respective counsel, to conduct a
reasonable investigation within the meaning of the Securities
Act. The Company shall not file a Registration Statement
or any such Prospectus or any amendments or supplements thereto to
which the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities
included in such Registration Statement shall reasonably object in
good faith, provided that, the Company is notified of such
objection in writing no later than two trading days after the
Holders have been so furnished copies of such
documents. In order to be included in such registration,
each Holder agrees to furnish to the Company a completed
Questionnaire substantially in the form attached to this Agreement
as Annex B (a “ Selling Securityholder Questionnaire
”) not less than ten days after written request therefore has
been made by the Company. Any Holder who fails to timely
forward to the Company the completed Questionnaire shall be
excluded from the registration.
(b) (i)
Prepare and file with the Commission such amendments, including
post-effective amendments, to a Registration Statement and the
Prospectus used in connection therewith as may be necessary to keep
a Registration Statement continuously effective as to the
applicable Registrable Securities for the Effectiveness Period and
prepare and file with the Commission such additional Registration
Statements in order to register for resale under the Securities Act
all of the Registrable Securities; (ii) cause the related
Prospectus to be amended or supplemented by any required Prospectus
supplement (subject to the terms of this Agreement), and as so
supplemented or amended to be filed pursuant to Rule 424; (iii)
respond as promptly as reasonably possible to any comments received
from the Commission with respect to a Registration Statement or any
amendment thereto and, upon written request by any Holder of at
least 25% of the Registrable Securities included in such
Registration Statement, as promptly as reasonably possible provide
such Holders with true and complete copies of all material written
correspondence from and to the Commission relating to a
Registration Statement; and (iv) comply in all material respects
with the provisions of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act with
respect to the disposition of all Registrable Securities covered by
a Registration Statement during the applicable period in accordance
(subject to the terms of this Agreement) with the intended methods
of disposition by the Holders thereof set forth in such
Registration Statement as so amended or in such Prospectus as so
supplemented.
(c) Use
its commercially reasonable efforts to notify the Holders (which
notice shall, pursuant to clauses (ii) through (vi) hereof, be
accompanied by an instruction to suspend the use of the Prospectus
until the requisite changes have been made) as promptly as
reasonably possible and (if requested by any Holder of at least 25%
of the Registrable Securities included in a Registration Statement)
confirm such notice in writing (i)(A) when a Prospectus or any
Prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to a Registration
Statement has been filed; (B) when the Commission notifies the
Company whether there will be a “review” of such
Registration Statement and whenever the Commission comments in
writing on such Registration Statement; and (C) with respect to a
Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment, when the
same has become effective; (ii) of any request by the Commission or
any other federal or state governmental authority for amendments or
supplements to a Registration Statement or Prospectus or for
additional information; (iii) of the issuance by the Commission or
any other federal or state governmental authority of any stop order
suspending the effectiveness of a Registration Statement covering
any or all of the Registrable Securities or the initiation of any
Proceedings for that purpose; (iv) of the receipt by the Company of
any notification with respect to the suspension of the
qualification or exemption from qualification of any of the
Registrable Securities for sale in any jurisdiction, or the
initiation or threatening of any Proceeding for such purpose; (v)
of the occurrence of any event or passage of time that makes the
financial statements included in a Registration Statement
ineligible for inclusion therein or any statement made in a
Registration Statement or Prospectus or any document incorporated
or deemed to be incorporated therein by reference untrue in any
material respect or that requires any revisions to a Registration
Statement, Prospectus or other documents so that, in the case of a
Registration Statement or the Prospectus, as the case may be, it
will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary
to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under
which they were made, not misleading; and (vi) the occurrence or
existence of any pending corporate development with respect to the
Company that the Company believes may be material and that, in the
determination of the Company, makes it not in the best interest of
the Company to allow continued availability of a Registration
Statement or Prospectus; provided that any and all of such
information shall be kept confidential by each Holder until such
information otherwise becomes public, unless disclosure by a Holder
is required by law; provided , further ,
notwithstanding each Holder’s agreement to keep such
information confidential, the Holders make no acknowledgement that
any such information is material, non-public
information.
(d) Use
its commercially reasonable efforts to avoid the issuance of, or,
if issued, obtain the withdrawal of (i) any order suspending the
effectiveness of a Registration Statement, or (ii) any suspension
of the qualification (or exemption from qualification) of any of
the Registrable Securities for sale in any jurisdiction, at the
earliest practicable moment.
(e) Furnish
to each Holder, without charge, to the extent requested in writing
by such Holder, at least one conformed copy of each such
Registration Statement and each amendment thereto, including
financial statements and schedules, all documents incorporated or
deemed to be incorporated therein by reference, and all exhibits to
such Registration Statement (including those previously furnished
or incorporated by reference) promptly after the filing of such
documents with the Commission.
(f) Promptly
deliver to each Holder, without charge, as many copies of the
Prospectus or Prospectuses (including each form of prospectus) and
each amendment or supplement thereto as such Holder may reasonably
request in writing in connection with resales by such
Holder. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, the
Company hereby consents to the use of such Prospectus and each
amendment or supplement thereto by each of the Holders in
connection with the offering and sale of the Registrable Securities
covered by such Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto,
except after the giving on any notice pursuant to Section
3(c).
(g) Prior
to any resale of Registrable Securities by a Holder, use its
commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify or cooperate
with the selling Holders in connection with the registration or
qualification (or exemption from the registration or qualification)
of such Registrable Securities for the resale by the Holder under
the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions within the
United States as any Holder reasonably requests in writing, to keep
each registration or qualification (or exemption therefrom)
effective during the Effectiveness Period and to do any and all
other acts or things reasonably necessary to enable the disposition
in such jurisdictions of the Registrable Securities covered by each
Registration Statement; provided, that the Company shall not be
required to qualify generally to do business in any jurisdiction
where it is not then so qualified, subject the Company to any
material tax in any such jurisdiction where it is not then so
subject or file a general consent to service of process in any such
jurisdiction.
(h) If
requested by a selling Holder, cooperate with such Holder to
facilitate the timely preparation and delivery of certificates
representing Registrable Securities to be delivered to a transferee
pursuant to a Registration Statement, which certificates shall be
free, to the extent permitted by applicable law, of all restrictive
legends, and to enable such Registrable Securities to be in such
denominations and registered in such names as any such Holder may
request.
(i) Upon
the occurrence of any event contemplated by this Section 3, as
promptly as reasonably possible under the circumstances taking into
account the Company’s good faith assessment of any adverse
consequences to the Company and its stockholders of the premature
disclosure of such event, prepare a supplement or amendment,
including a post-effective amendment, to a Registration Statement
or a supplement to the related Prospectus or any document
incorporated or deemed to be incorporated therein by reference, and
file any other required document so that, as thereafter delivered,
neither a Registration Statement nor such Prospectus will contain
an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they
were made, not misleading. If the Company notifies the
Holders in accordance with clauses (ii) through (vi) of Section
3(c) above to suspend the use of any Prospectus until the requisite
changes to such Prospectus have been made, then the Holders shall
suspend use of such Prospectus. The Company will use its
commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that the use of the
Prospectus may be resumed as promptly as is
practicable. The Company shall be entitled to exercise
its right under this Section 3(i) to suspend the availability of a
Registration Statement and Prospectus for a period not to exceed 40
trading days (which need not be consecutive days) in any 12 month
period.
(j) Comply
with all applicable rules and regulations of the Commission until
the end of the Effectiveness Period.
(k) The
Company may require each selling Holder to furnish to the Company a
certified statement as to the number of shares of Common Stock
beneficially owned by such Holder and the person who has voting and
dispositive control over the such shares. The Company
shall have no obligation to keep a Prospectus usable or to give
notice that a Prospectus is not usable by a particular Holder, and
the Company will have no liability for, to the extent such
Prospectus is not usable by such Holder because current information
with respect to such Holder is not included therein because such
Holder has not provided information to the Company in accordance
with Section 3(a) or this Section 3(k) .
(l) Notwithstanding
any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, it shall not be a
breach or violation of any obligation of the Company hereunder if
the Company fails to take any action otherwise required hereunder
because, in its reasonable determination, such action would require
the Company to disclose material, non-public information that the
Company has a bona fide business or legal reason for
not disclosing regardless of whether the Company caused such
material, non-public information to exist.
4.
Registration Expenses . All
fees and expenses incident to the performance of or compliance with
this Agreement by the Company shall be borne by the Company whether
or not any Registrable Securities are sold pursuant to a
Registration Statement. The fees and expenses referred
to in the foregoing sentence shall include, without limitation, (i)
all registration and filing fees (including, without limitation,
fees and expenses (A) with respect to filings required to be made
with the trading market on which the Common Stock is then listed
for trading, and (B) in compliance with applicable state securities
or Blue Sky laws reasonably agreed to by the Company in writing
(including without limitation, fees and disbursements of counsel
for the Company in connection with Blue Sky qualifications or
exemptions of the Registrable Securities and determination of the
eligibility of the Registrable Securities for investment under the
laws of such jurisdictions as requested in writing by the Holders),
(ii) printing expenses (including, without limitation, expenses of
printing certificates for Registrable Securities and of printing
prospectuses if the printing of prospectuses is reasonably
requested by the Holders of a majority of the Registrable
Securities included in a Registration Statement), (iii) messenger,
telephone and delivery expenses, (iv) fees and disbursements of
counsel for the Company, (v) Securities Act liability insurance, if
the Company so desires such insurance, and (vi) fees and expenses
of all other Persons retained by the Company in connection with the
consummation of the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement. In addition, the Company shall be responsible
for all of its internal expenses incurred in connection with the
consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
(including, without limitation, all s