BOARD OF DIRECTORS -
RETAINER AGREEMENT
This agreement
(" Agreement ") is made as of October 1, 2009 between China
Energy Recovery, Inc., a Delaware corporation, with its principal
place of business at 7F, No. 267 Qu Yang Road, Hongkou District,
Shanghai 200081, China (" CER "), and Estelle Lau, with an
address of Estelle Lau (" Director "), whereby Director
agrees to serve as a director of CER and provide all necessary
services in connection therewith, according to the
following:
Subject to the
approval of its stockholders, CER agrees to engage Director to
serve, and Director agrees to serve, as a member of the Board of
Directors of CER (the " Board of Directors ") and to provide
those services required of a director pursuant to (i) CER’s
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, as each may be amended
from time to time (the " Certificate and Bylaws "), (ii) the
General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (" DGCL "),
the federal securities laws and other state and federal laws and
regulations, as applicable, and (iii) as otherwise directed by the
Board of Directors and shareholders of CER (collectively, the "
Services ").
Director is an
independent contractor and this Agreement will not create any
partnership, joint venture or employer/employee relationship for
purposes of employee benefits, income tax withholding, F.I.C.A.
taxes or otherwise. Except as specifically provided
herein, Director shall have no right, authority or power to enter
into any agreement or incur any obligation on behalf of CER or its
Affiliates (as defined below) or to bind CER or its
Affiliates. For purposes hereof, " Affiliate "
shall mean with respect to any individual, partnership, joint
venture, corporation, limited liability company, trust,
unincorporated association or other entity (each, a " Person
"): (i) any other Person that directly or indirectly through one or
more intermediaries controls or is controlled by or is under common
control with such Person; (ii) any other Person owning or
controlling 10% or more of the outstanding voting securities of or
other ownership interests in such Person; (iii) any officer,
director, member or partner of such Person; (iv) if such Person is
an officer, director, member or partner, any other Person for which
such Person acts in any such capacity; or (v) any company in which
CER has and maintains an investment through itself or any other
Affiliate.
CER will
supply, at no cost to Director: periodic briefings on the business,
director packages for each board and committee meeting, copies of
minutes of meetings and any other materials that are required under
CER’s Certificate and Bylaws or the charter of any committee
of the board on which Director serves and any other materials which
may be necessary for performing the Services requested under this
Agreement.
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Director’s Representations and Warranties;
Covenants
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Director
represents and warrants that no other party has exclusive rights to
his services in the specific areas described herein and that
Director is in no way compromising any rights, duties or trust
between any other party and Director. Director further
represents, warrants and agrees that no other agreement, written or
otherwise, now exists or will be entered into that will create a
conflict of interest with this Agreement or otherwise impair
Director's ability to perform his obligations under this Agreement
or otherwise with respect to CER. Director further
covenants and agrees that he will comply with all applicable state
and federal laws and regulations, as applicable, including, but not
limited to, Director's fiduciary duties to CER set forth in the
DGCL and Sections 10 and 16 of the Securities and Exchange Act of
1934, as amended.
During the term
of this Agreement and for a period of six months thereafter (the "
Non-Competition Period "), Director shall not, without
obtaining CER’s prior written consent, directly or
indirectly, as an officer, director, employee, consultant, owner,
shareholder, adviser, joint venturer or otherwise, participate in,
assist, aid, engage in, prepare to engage in or advise in any way
any business or enterprise that is in competition with the Company
anywhere that the Company is conducting business during the
Non-Competition Period.
CER shall pay
Director a nonrefundable retainer of $30,000 per year during the
term of this Agreement to provide the Services. A pro
rata portion of the annual retainer shall be paid to Director for
portions of the term served by Director that are less than a full
year. This retainer may be revised by action of the
Board of Directors from time to time. Such revision
shall be effective as of the date specified in the resolution for
payments not yet made and need not be documented by an amendment to
this Agreement.
On the
Effective Date (as defined below) of this Agreement, Director shall
receive options to purchase 60,000 shares of CER common stock,
exercisable at a price per share equal to the current fair market
value of CER's common stock on the grant date of the option as
determined by the Board of Directors. This option grant
shall be subject to the terms of the equity incentive plan adopted
by CER's Board of Directors, and made pursuant to the terms of a
separate option agreement between CER and
Director. Twelve and one half percent (12.5%) of the
total number of options shall vest on each quarterly anniversary of
the grant date; provided, that upon the termination of
Director’s service as a director of CER, all unvested options
shall be terminated and be forfeited.
Retainer
payments shall be made quarterly in cash in advance on the first
day of each accounting quarter. No invoices need be submitted
by Director for payment of the retainer.
CER will
reimburse Director for reasonable expenses approved in advance by
CER's Chief Executive Officer, such approval not to be unreasonably
withheld. Invoices for approved expenses, with receipts
attached, shall be submitted to and must be approved by CER’s
Chief Executive Officer as to form and completeness.
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Indemnification and Insurance
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CER and
Director will execute an indemnification agreement substantially in
the form of the agreement attached hereto as Exhibit B (the
" Indemnification Agreement "). In addition, CER
will use its commercial best efforts to procure and maintain
directors’ and officer’s liability insurance, provided
such insurance can be obtained on reasonable terms.
The term of
this Agreement shall commence on the date that Director is formally
appointed to fill a vacant directorship by the existing Board of
Directors (the " Effective Date ") and shall continue
through the date that is the earlier to occur of: (i) a termination
of this Agreement in accordance with Section VII; and (ii) the two
year anniversary of the Effective Date. Notwithstanding
the foregoing sentence, this Agreement shall be automatically
renewed for successive terms upon Director’s reelection as a
member of CER’s Board of Directors for the period of such new
term, unless the Board of Directors determines not to renew this
Agreement in its sole discretion. Any amendment to this
Agreement must be approved in a meeting or by a written action of
CER’s Board of Directors. Amendments to Section IV
regarding compensation hereof do not require Director’s
approval or consent to be effective.
This Agreement
shall automatically terminate upon the earlier to occur of (i) the
death of Director, (ii) resignation or removal of the Director
from, or failure to win election or reelection to, the CER Board of
Directors, or (iii) upon the approval of the Board of Directors, in
its sole discretion.
In the event of
the termination of this Agreement, Director agrees to return any
materials transferred to Director under this Agreement, except as
may be necessary to fulfill any outstanding obligations
hereunder. Director agrees that CER has the right of
injunctive relief to enforce this provision.
In the event of
termination, Director shall be entitled to receive the number of
options which have vested in Director as of the date of termination
pursuant to Paragraph A of Section IV above. The
unvested options as of the date of termination shall be forfeited
by Director.
Termination
shall not relieve either party of its continuing obligations under
this Agreement, the Indemnification Agreement or the
Confidentiality Agreement (as defined below) with respect to
confidentiality of proprietary information.
Director agrees
to sign and abide by CER’s Director Proprietary Information
and Inventions Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as
Exhibit A (the " Confidentiality Agreement
").
Any dispute
regarding this Agreement (including without limitation its
validity, interpretation, performance, enforcement, termination and
damages) shall be determined in accordance with the laws of the
State of Delaware and the United States of America. Any
action under this paragraph shall not preclude any party hereto
from seeking injunctive or other legal relief to which each party
may be entitled.
This Agreement
(including the Confidentiality Agreement and the Indemnification
Agreement) supersedes all prior or contemporaneous written or oral
understandings or agreements, and may not be added to, modified, or
waived, in whole or in part, except by a writing signed by the
party against whom such addition, modification or waiver is sought
to be asserted.
This Agreement
and all of the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and inure to
the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors
and permitted assigns and, except as otherwise expressly provided
herein, neither this Agreement, nor any of the rights, interests or
obligations hereunder shall be assigned by either of the parties
hereto without the prior written consent of the other
party.
Any and all
notices, requests and other communications required or permitted
hereunder shall be in writing, registered mail or by facsimile, to
each of the parties at the addresses set forth above or the numbers
set forth below:
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Director:
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Attention: Estelle Lau
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Telephone:
650-529-0902
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Facsimile: 209-439-6649
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CER:
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Attention:
Qinghuan Wu
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7F, No. 267 Qu
Yang Road
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Hongkou
District
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Shanghai
200081, China
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Telephone:
86-21-65088566
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Facsimile:
86-21-65082941
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Any such notice
shall be deemed given when received and notice given by registered
mail shall be considered to have been given on the tenth (10th) day
after having been sent in the manner provided for above.
Notwithstanding
the expiration of termination of this Agreement, neither party
hereto shall be released hereunder from any liability or obligation
to the other which has already accrued as of the time of such
expiration or termination (including, without limitation,
CER’s obligation to make any fees and expense payments
required pursuant to Section IV hereof) or which thereafter might
accrue in respect of any act or omission of such party prior to
such expiration or termination.
Any provision
of this Agreement which is determined to be invalid or
unenforceable shall not affect the remainder of this Agreement,
which shall remain in effect as though the invalid or unenforceable
provision had not been included herein, unless the removal of the
invalid or unenforceable provision would substantially defeat the
intent, purpose or spirit of this Agreement. Further, to
the extent that any provision of this Agreement is inconsistent
with any provision in CER's Certificate or Bylaws, such provision
in the Certificate or Bylaws shall control.
* * * * *
IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties hereto have caused this Agreement
to be executed by their duly authorized officers, as of the date
first written above.
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DIRECTOR:
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By:
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/s/ Estelle
Lau
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Name: Estelle
Lau
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CER:
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China Energy
Recovery, Inc.
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By:
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/s/ Qinghuan
Wu
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Name: Qinghuan
Wu
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Title: Chief Executive
Officer
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EXHIBIT A
BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROPRIETARY
INFORMATION
AND INVENTIONS
AGREEMENT
WHEREAS,
Estelle Lau (" Director ") and China Energy Recovery, Inc.,
a Delaware corporation (" CER "), have entered into the
Board of Directors – Retainer Agreement dated as of October
1, 2009 (the " Retainer Agreement "), whereby Director
agrees to serve as a member of the board of directors of
CER;
WHEREAS, the
parties agree that in connection with Director's services to CER as
a director, Director will receive certain confidential and
proprietary information of CER, the disclosure of which information
by Director would be damaging to CER; and
WHEREAS, the
parties desire to assure the confidential status of the information
which may be disclosed by CER to Director pursuant to the Retainer
Agreement and in connection with Director's services as a director
of CER.
NOW THEREFORE,
in reliance upon and in consideration of the following undertaking,
the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the
parties agree as follows:
1. Director
acknowledges that pursuant to his service as a director of CER: (i)
Director has had and will have access to Proprietary Information
(as defined below), all of which has been and shall be made
accessible to Director only in strict confidence; (ii) unauthorized
disclosure of the Proprietary Information will damage CER's
business; (iii) Proprietary Information would be susceptible to
immediate competitive application by a competitor of CER; (iv)
CER's business is substantially dependent on access to and the
continuing secrecy of Proprietary Information; (v) Proprietary
Information is novel, unique to CER and known only to Director,
other directors, CER and certain key employees and contractors of
CER; (vi) CER shall at all times retain ownership and control of
all Proprietary Informati