EXCLUSIVE EQUIPMENT LEASE
AGREEMENT
Exclusive
Equipment Lease Agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered
into as of the 4th day of September, 2009 (the “Effective
Date”) between Mitcham Industries, Inc., a Texas corporation
(“Mitcham”), and SERCEL, Inc., a corporation organized
under the laws of Oklahoma (“SERCEL”), which parties
agree as follows:
0.
DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION
In this
Agreement, the following terms have the meanings set forth below,
which shall be equally applicable to both the singular and the
plural form:
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i.
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“Affiliate” shall mean
with respect to any person, any other person directly or indirectly
controlling, controlled by or under common control with the first
person. For the purposes of this Agreement, “control,”
when used with respect to any Person, means the possession,
directly or indirectly, of the power to vote 50% or more of the
securities having ordinary voting power for the election of
directors (or comparable positions) of such person or any one or
more business entities which are: (a) owned or controlled by,
(b) owning or controlling, or (c) owned or controlled by
the business entity owning directly or indirectly, at least fifty
percent (50% ) of the voting stock ordinarily entitled to vote in
the election of directors.
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In
the case of SERCEL, “Affiliate” shall be further
limited to business entities, which are engaged in the
manufacturing of seismic equipment.
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ii.
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“Agreement” shall mean
the present agreement (including the Schedules) as amended in
writing from time to time.
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iii.
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“Confidential
Information” shall mean any and all non-public technical,
business and/or proprietary information disclosed by one Party to
the other Party, directly or indirectly, in writing with respect to
a Party’s business strategies and practices, methodologies,
trade secrets, know-how, pricing, technology, software, products,
product plans, services, and other information the confidential or
proprietary nature of that is reasonably apparent under the
circumstances. The existence and terms of this Agreement shall be
deemed Confidential Information, unless otherwise
agreed.
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iv.
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“Effective Date” shall
mean January 1 st , 2009.
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v.
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“Exclusive Authorized Third
Party Lessor” shall mean that Mitcham shall receive first
opportunity from Sercel to rent or lease Sercel’s
products.
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vi.
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“Levels” shall mean
(1) one 3-component station of Slimwave, Geowave or
Maxiwave.
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vii.
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“MITCHAM” shall mean
Mitcham Industries Inc, and its Affiliates engaged in the rental,
lease, and sales of seismic data acquisition systems and equipment
throughout the world.
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viii.
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“Parties” shall mean
MITCHAM and Sercel; “Party” shall mean one of
them.
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ix.
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“Products” shall mean
any land, transition zone, marine or seabed seismic equipment, down
hole acquisition equipment and/or software. “Sercel”
shall mean Sercel Inc. and its Affiliates engaged in the
manufacture and marketing of seismic equipment.
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x.
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“VSP Tools” shall mean
Sercel VSP products including Slimwave, Geowave and
Maxiwave
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xi.
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“Year” shall mean one of
the three 365-day periods commencing on the Effective Date or the
first two anniversaries thereof.
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1.
Introduction . SERCEL and certain of its Affiliates design,
manufacture and market fully-configured seismic data acquisition
systems (the “SERCEL Systems”), the components thereof
and equipment related thereto, including station units that are
sometimes called “channel boxes.” At the present time,
SERCEL and certain of its Affiliates manufacture equipment as
described on Schedule 1a and
Schedule 1b (collectively the
“Products”). Mitcham and certain of its Affiliates
provides full service leasing services to customers in the oil and
gas industry, including the leasing of new and used channel boxes
to customers who have SERCEL Systems. For good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby
acknowledged for all purposes, Mitcham and SERCEL agree to the
terms set forth herein.
2. Exclusive
Authorized Third Party Lessor .
(a) Mitcham
hereby represents to SERCEL that Mitcham has the necessary skills,
experience, personnel, facilities and equipment to effectively
perform its responsibilities as the exclusive leasing
representative for SERCEL as described in the Agreement. In
reliance upon that representation, SERCEL hereby appoints Mitcham
as the exclusive authorized lessor of the Products listed on
Schedule 1a (the “Exclusive
Products”) throughout the world (the “Territory”)
and as the non-exclusive authorized lessor of the Products listed
on Schedule 1b throughout the Territory; except
that Mitcham shall not offer financing leases or leases equal to or
greater than one year except with SERCEL’s prior written
consent. SERCEL has the right to undertake equipment leases with a
term greater than or equal to one year without any prior notice
given to Mitcham. During the term of this Agreement, Mitcham will
actively promote and solicit the leasing of the
Products.
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(b) During
the term of this Agreement, SERCEL shall not recommend or suggest
any competitor of Mitcham (including without limitation the
competitors listed in Schedule 2a ) or any other
third party known by SERCEL or its Affiliates as a source from
which any of the Exclusive Products may be leased in the
Territory.
(c) During
the term of this Agreement, SERCEL and/or any Affiliate shall
remain free to perform, directly or indirectly, with any third
party any operating or financial lease with a term greater than or
equal to one year or, subject to the provisions of paragraph 2(f)
herein, with respect to Land, Marine, OBC, VSP Tools Product
throughout the Territory. The Parties acknowledge that the purpose
of this Agreement is the lease of Products by Mitcham. This
Agreement does not allow Mitcham to act as distributor, agent,
commercial representative or reseller of brand-new
Products.
(d) Mitcham’s
exclusive rights to lease the DSU3 428XL system shall apply
throughout the Territory except that:
(i) Mitcham will
not rent DSU3 428XL system for use in mainland China to any seismic
contractor that is owned or controlled by Chinese nationals without
SERCEL’s prior written consent; and
(ii) Mitcham will
have non-exclusive rights of rental of the 428XL DSU3 system in the
countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, including
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
(e) Mitcham’s
exclusive rights to lease VSP Tools shall apply throughout North
and South America except that:
(i) Mitcham will
not rent VSP Tools for use in mainland China to any seismic
contractor that is owned or controlled by Chinese nationals without
SERCEL’s prior written consent; and
(ii) Mitcham will
have non-exclusive rights of rental of VSP Tools for Europe, Asia,
Africa and the Australia Continents.
(f) During
the term of the Agreement, in the event that a third party makes
inquiry of SERCEL as to the possibility of leasing any of the
Products anywhere in the Territory, then and upon each inquiry,
SERCEL shall contact Mitcham (by phone, email or letter) and
explain in reasonable detail the identity of the third party and
the terms, if any, that have been discussed with regard to such
lease, and Mitcham shall promptly contact such third party and
negotiate the terms of the proposed lease. Mitcham shall have
discretion to accept or reject any third party referred by SERCEL
for leasing as a result of (i) possessing an insufficient
amount of the Products for lease to such third party (provided,
however, the continued failure of Mitcham to maintain a sufficient
amount of products to satisfy demand could be evidence that Mitcham
is not actively promoting the leasing of Products, as required
hereunder unless caused by the
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failure of
SERCEL to deliver Products to Mitcham), (ii) reasonably
apparent credit risk or any other reasonable business-related
factor, or (iii) inability to reach agreement on the terms of
such lease. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, Mitcham shall
use commercially reasonable best efforts to service every third
party referred by SERCEL for leasing. Mitcham shall be deemed to
have rejected such a third party as a result of inability to agree
on the terms within fifteen (15) business days of such third
party’s first contact by Mitcham with regard to such proposed
lease. SERCEL may then respond to this one time business
opportunity in any means it sees fit. If SERCEL leases to such
third party, then SERCEL shall have the right to continue to lease
to such third party after the term of the initial lease between
them shall terminate; provided, however, that if (x) the lease
between such a third party and SERCEL shall terminate, (y) the
leased Product is returned to SERCEL, and/or (z) such third
party shall later make an inquiry concerning leasing of the
Products, SERCEL shall again follow the procedure set forth in this
Sub-Section (f); and provided further that when such lease ends,
SERCEL will offer to sell any Products leased thereunder to
Mitcham, on mutually agreed terms. The purchase of these products
will not count toward the minimum purchase commitment made by
Mitcham to SERCEL in this agreement.
(g) In no
event shall either SERCEL or Mitcham have any right to require that
the other party charge any specific price or follow any pricing
guidelines or establish or require any other specific or general
term with regard to the leasing of any of the Products, or the
provision of any other good or service by either of them.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Mitcham shall use its commercially
reasonable best efforts to have a reasonable quantity of the
Products available for lease at prices which Mitcham believes
reflects the supply of and demand for the Products.
3. Purchase
of Products from SERCEL .
(a) Subject
to the other provisions of this Agreement, Mitcham agrees that it
will purchase from SERCEL and SERCEL agrees that it will sell to
Mitcham, all of the Products necessary to meet Mitcham’s
obligations under each lease as provided herein. The terms and
conditions of purchases by Mitcham of the Products hereunder shall
be governed by SERCEL’s standard terms and conditions, a copy
of which is attached hereto as Schedule 3(a
) ; provided, however, that in the event of any conflict
between the terms of such terms hereof, the terms of the Agreement
shall prevail. SERCEL may update Schedule 3(a)
from time to time after written notice to Mitcham.
(b) The price
of the Products shall be determined in accordance with the
discount(s) set forth on Schedule 3(b) , and
Mitcham shall receive the discounts set forth on Schedule
3(b) with regard to the Products ordered by Mitcham in each
order, subject to adjustment agreed to by the parties pursuant to
paragraph 3(c) herein..
(c) The
Parties acknowledge that SERCEL’s prices for the products are
based on discounts offered by SERCEL based on volume. SERCEL agrees
to offer Mitcham discounts on the Products that are at least as
favorable to Mitcham as SERCEL offers to its other customers for
comparable volumes and consideration to payment terms.
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(d) Delivery
is Ex-Works Sercel Plant(s). Packing charges will be quoted to
Mitcham and the purchase order received from Mitcham will reflect
the full value of the quotation including packing charges. Mitcham
may instruct Sercel at their discretion to include freight and
insurance in the proposal. This will be quoted at Sercel’s
cost plus a handling fee of ten percent (10%).
(e) Sercel
reserves the right to increases prices of product and repair
services up to five (5%) percent per year. This only includes
products and repair services that involve Sercel manufactured
products. Out sourced services and products will be increased at a
proportionate level to increases imposed on Sercel.
4. Minimum
Purchase Requirements for 428XL DSU3 .
(a) Subject
to the terms hereof, Mitcham will issue a Purchase Order for 27,000
DSU3 428XL system channels within two weeks of signing this
agreement. This PO will be called a Master PO. Subsequently,
Mitcham will issue PO’s which reference the Master PO to draw
against the 27,000 channels. These PO’s will be called Supply
PO’s. Orders that Mitcham places with SERCEL affiliates apply
toward the minimum purchase requirements for 428XL DSU3. In the
event that Mitcham does not purchase Products from SERCEL via
Supply PO’s under the Agreement in an amount that satisfies
the Minimum Purchase Requirements (set forth below), at
SERCEL’s option but subject to Section 4(c) below, SERCEL may
terminate this Agreement on 30 days written notice; and upon
such termination Mitcham shall not be obligated to purchase any
Products other than the Products that it has ordered prior to the
effective date of such termination.
(b) For
purposes hereof, the term “Minimum Purchase
Requirement” shall mean Products purchased and delivered to
Mitcham via Supply PO’s from SERCEL as follows:
From
July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: 3,000 428XL DSU3;
9,000 Channels
From
January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010: 3,000 428XL DSU3;
9,000 Channels
From
January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011: 3,000 428XL DSU3;
9,000 Channels
(c) Notwithstanding
anything herein to the contrary, in the event that a Minimum
Purchase Requirement is not satisfied by Mitcham in any period
ending before December 31, 2011, this Agreement may not be
terminated by SERCEL due to such failure if Mitcham meets the
Minimum Purchase Requirement for the subsequent period (i.e.,
Mitcham will have one period that equals (1) one year in which
to cure any failure to meet the Minimum Purchase
Requirement).
(d) For
purposes of determining whether Mitcham has satisfied the Minimum
Purchase Requirement, Products purchased by Mitcham shall include
Products ordered by Mitcham via Supply PO’s regardless
of when such Products are delivered so long as such
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Products are
ordered before 90 days of the end of a period and paid for in
accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in
Schedule 3(a) . If Mitcham orders within the
specified period and SERCEL is not able to deliver due to
manufacturing delivery issues, there will be no penalty against
Mitcham and such orders will be applied to satisfy the Minimum
Purchase Requirement. In the event Mitcham purchases more than the
Minimum Purchase Requirement in any given period, such excess shall
be applied in meeting the Minimum Purchase Requirement for any
subsequent period.
5. Minimum
Purchase Requirement for VSP Tools
(a) Subject
to the terms hereof, Mitcham will issue a Purchase Order for 300
levels of VSP Tools within two weeks of signing this agreement.
This PO will be called a Master PO. Subsequently, Mitcham will
issue PO’s which reference the Master PO to draw against the
300 levels. These PO’s will be called Supply PO’s. In
the event that Mitcham does not purchase Products from SERCEL via
Supply PO’s under the Agreement in an amount that satisfies
the Minimum Purchase Requirements (set forth below), at
SERCEL’s option but subject to Section 5(c) below, SERCEL may
terminate this Agreement on 30 days written notice; and upon
such termination Mitcham shall not be obligated to purchase any
Products other than the Products that it has ordered prior to the
effective date of such termination.
(b) For
purposes hereof, the term “Minimum Purchase
Requirement” shall mean Products purchased and delivered to
Mitcham via Supply PO’s from SERCEL as follows:
From
July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: 100 levels of VSP
Tools
From
January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010: 100 levels of VSP
Tools
From
January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011: 100 levels of VSP
Tools
NOTE: At
time of agreement Sercel acknowledges receipt of Purchase Orders
for 102 Maxiwave tools and 13 Slimwave tools which order shall be
applied towards the Minimum Purchase Requirement.
(c) Notwithstanding
anything herein to the contrary, in the event that a Minimum
Purchase Requirement is not satisfied by Mitcham in any period
ending before December 31, 2011, this Agreement may not be
terminated by SERCEL due to such failure if Mitcham meets the
Minimum Purchase Requirement for the subsequent period (i.e.,
Mitcham will have one period that equals (1) one year in which
to cure any failure to meet the Minimum Purchase
Requirement).
(d) For
purposes of determining whether Mitcham has satisfied the Minimum
Purchase Requirement, Products purchased by Mitcham shall include
Products ordered by Mitcham via Supply PO’s regardless of
when such Products are delivered so long as such Products are
ordered before 90 days of the end of a period and paid for in
accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in
Schedule 3(a) . If Mitcham orders within the
specified period
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and SERCEL is
not able to deliver due to manufacturing delivery issues, there
will be no penalty against Mitcham and such orders will be applied
to satisfy the Minimum Purchase Requirement. In the event Mitcham
purchases more than the Minimum Purchase Requirement in any given
period, such excess shall be applied in meeting the Minimum
Purchase Requirement for any subsequent period.
6. Third
Party Replacement Parts. Mitcham shall not order from any third
party any replacement parts for any Products that are not qualified
by SERCEL. Any use of replacement parts that have not been
qualified by SERCEL will give SERCEL the right, in any case, to
cancel any warranty remaining on the equipment for which such
unqualified parts are used and/or SERCEL shall be entitled to
terminate this Agreement should Mitcham fail to remedy such
situation within 10 days of SERCEL giving notice to
Mitcham.
7. Resale of
Purchased Equipment by Mitcham. Without SERCEL’s prior
written consent, Mitcham hereby agrees that it will not sell any of
the Products purchased under this Agreement until a period of three
(3) years from the date it received the relevant Product.
Without limiting the foregoing, Mitcham may approach SERCEL with a
lease to purchase or sales opportunity for equipment purchased
hereunder, and SERCEL may then grant Mitcham the right to pursue
that opportunity. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
contained in this Agreement, Mitcham is not, in any case, entitled
to sell within or outside mainland China any of the Products
purchased under this Agreement to any seismic contractor owned or
controlled by Chinese nationals.
8. Provision
of Certain Goods and Services by SERCEL . SERCEL hereby agrees
that Mitcham shall have the right to send a reasonable number of
its employees and representatives of its customers who lease the
Products from Mitcham to such technical, training, operations and
maintenance classes as SERCEL provides to SERCEL’s customers
who lease or purchase the Products from SERCEL, at SERCEL standard
rates. SERCEL will provide Mitcham (4) four free training
courses per year to be used for any of the SERCEL training courses.
This does not include the cost of travel, lodging, food or
incidental expenses. As part of this agreement, Mitcham will
receive (2) two “no charge” training courses for each
central recording system purchased from Sercel. These courses may
be used for Mitcham employees or lease/rent customers of Mitcham.
SERCEL will have no responsibility for travel, lodging, food or
incidental expenses of the Mitcham attendees. SERCEL hereby agrees
to send to Mitcham such quantities of all manuals and selling
information, marketing brochures and literature regarding the
Products (other than proprietary information) as SERCEL develops
and as Mitcham shall reasonably request in connection with its
Leasing activities, at no charge to Mitcham. SERCEL’s current
training price schedule can be changed any anytime as long as
Mitcham is so notified 30 days in advance: Sercel agrees to
supply up to three (3) total TMS units to be used for the
testing and repair of 408UL or 428XL units to Mitcham at a cost of
Thirty thousand five hundred sixty-eight United States Dollars
($30,568.00) per TMS unit. The list price of this unit, for future
reference, is thirty-eight thousand two hundred ten United States
Dollars ($38,210.00) per TMS unit.
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(a) SERCEL
warrants to Mitcham all of the Products sold by SERCEL to Mitcham
are new and are subject to SERCEL’s standard warranty
terms.
(b) SERCEL
makes no warranties or representations whatsoever with respect to
any non- SERCEL products, however, any warranty information from
the manufacturers of the non-SERCEL products shall be passed on to
Mitcham.
(c) The
standard SERCEL warranty is given expressly and in lieu of all
other express or implied warranties, including a warranty of
merchantability or fitness and in no event shall SERCEL be liable
for consequential damages resulting from the use of any of the
Products.
(d) In no
event shall Mitcham have any authority whatsoever, express or
implied, to make warranties other than those provided for herein
without prior written permission from the SERCEL.
10.
Maintenance and Repair of Leased Equipment .
(a) Mitcham
and Sercel acknowledges that third party lessee of the Products
from Mitcham may return the leased Products directly to SERCEL
after the termination of such third party’s leases. In such
event, SERCEL shall perform its standard maintenance check of such
Products and inform Mitcham of any necessary repairs.
(b) The
maintenance checks and the repairs performed by SERCEL on the
Products received from the lessees shall be invoiced by SERCEL to
Mitcham at the SERCEL standard price. With respect to the repair
undertaken by SERCEL, Mitcham will be entitled to a five percent
(5%) discount on the repair pricing listed herein on attached
Schedule 5(a) . Mitcham shall also pay the reasonable
and ordinary freight and storage charges incurred by SERCEL with
respect to such Products.
(c) For any
repairs performed by SERCEL, Mitcham shall be entitled to receive
5.0% discount on the repair price listed herein on attached
Schedule 5(a).
(d) Following
such maintenan
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