Exhibit 10.1
JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT
______________
among
BASIN INDUSTRIAL LIMITED
and
ALPHARX INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS
LIMITED
and
ALPHA AP INC.
JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT
This Joint Venture Agreement
("Agreement") is entered into as of this 22nd day of April, 2005
between Basin Industrial Limited , a British Virgin Islands
corporation located at 12 Dai Fu Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate,
Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong ("Basin"), AlphaRx
International Holdings Limited , a British Virgin Islands
corporation located at Unit A, 19/F Sang Woo Building, Nos.
227-228, Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay Hong Kong ("AIH"), and
Alpha AP Inc. , a British Virgin Islands corporation located
at c/o Advance Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 12 Dai Fu Street, Tai Po
Industrial Estate, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
("Alpha").
WHEREAS:
A.
AlphaRx, Inc. ("AlphaRx") is an emerging speciality pharmaceutical
company that develops, formulates and commercializes innovative
therapeutic products using proprietary drug delivery technologies,
and in particular is focused on the discovery, development and
marketing of products in pain management an inflammation
treatment;
B.
AIH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlphaRx;
C.
Basin is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advance Pharmaceutical
Company Limited ("APC"); and
D.
Basin and AIH have established Alpha, which joint venture company
will specialize in the manufacturing, distribution and
commercialization of the Products in the Territory, all in
accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the related
agreements contemplated by this Agreement.
NOW THEREFORE THIS AGREEMENT
WITNESSES that in
consideration of the mutual agreements set forth herein, the
parties hereto agree as follows:
1. DEFINITIONS AND EXHIBITS
Wherever used in this Agreement,
the following words and terms shall have the respective meanings
ascribed to them as follows:
1.1
"Accountant" means the auditor or accountant, as the case may be,
of Alpha appointed from time to time;
1.2
"Affiliate(s)" means with respect to any corporation, any other
corporation which directly or indirectly controls or is controlled
by or is under direct or indirect common control with such first
mentioned corporation or any corporation which is directly or
indirectly controlled by a corporation which controls the first
mentioned corporation.
1.3
"AIH License Agreement" means the license agreement between AlphaRx
and AIH whereby AlphaRx has granted AIH all the necessary rights to
enable it to enter into
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and perform its obligations under
the AIH Manufacturing and Distribution License Agreement and to
grant certain licenses to the Products.
1.4
"AIH Manufacturing and Distribution License Agreement" means the
manufacturing and distribution license agreement between AIH and
Alpha whereby AIH has granted Alpha manufacturing and distribution
rights to the Products in the Territory.
1.5
"AIH Shares" means the Shares from time to time owned by
AIH.
1.6
"Alpha IPO" means the initial underwritten public offering of
Alpha's Shares on: (i) a recognized securities exchange in Hong
Kong, or (ii) a recognized securities exchange worldwide if agreed
between the Holders.
1.7
"Alpha Liquidity Event" means either: 1.7.1 an Alpha IPO, or 1.7.2
an Alpha Reverse Takeover.
1.8
"Alpha Reverse Takeover" means a reverse takeover whereby the
Holders sell all Shares in Alpha to a public company in exchange
for shares of the public company, such public company to be listed
on: (a) a recognized securities exchange in Hong Kong, or (b) a
recognized securities exchange worldwide if agreed between the
Holders.
1.9
"Ancillary Agreements" means the AIH License Agreement and the AIH
Manufacturing and Distribution License Agreement.
1.10
"Articles" means the Memorandum and Articles of Association,
Articles of Incorporation, or other charter document of Alpha,
including any amendments thereto. The initial Articles will be
substantially in the form of Schedule "A".
1.11
"Basin Shares" means the Shares from time to time owned by
Basin.
1.12
"Board" means the board of directors of Alpha.
1.13
"Business Day" means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, or a
day which is a common law or statutory bank holiday in Hong
Kong.
1.14
"Countries" means each of the countries that collectively form the
Territory which countries are listed in Schedule "B" as such
Schedule may be amended from time to time on the mutual agreement
of the Parties
1.15
"Effective Date" means the date of this Agreement set out on page 1
hereof.
1.16
"Founder" means Basin or AIH, as applicable and "Founders" means
Basin and AIH together.
1.17
"Holder" means any holder of Shares who is a Party to this
Agreement.
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1.18
"HK$" means Hong Kong Dollars.
1.19
"Party" means each of Basin, AIH, any other Holder, or Alpha, as
applicable, and "Parties" means all of the foregoing.
1.20
"Products" means the authorized products as listed in Schedule "C"
attached hereto, manufactured, purchased, marked, sold or otherwise
used in accordance with the AIH Manufacturing and Distribution
License Agreement.
1.21
"Shares" means common shares of Alpha as specified in the
Articles.
1.22
"Territory" means the geographic area comprised of the
Countries.
2. INITIAL MATTERS
2.1
Incorporation and Continuance of Alpha. Alpha shall be incorporated
as a British Virgin Islands corporation.
2.2
Subscription. Upon the Effective Date, Alpha shall issue severally
and not jointly (a) 5,000 Shares to Basin at the issue price of
HK$1 per share for an aggregate issue price of HK$5,000, and (b)
5,000 Shares to AIH at the issue price of HK$1 per share for an
aggregate issue price of HK$5,000. Alpha shall prepare documents
for subscription of the Shares in the names of Basin and AIH, and
Alpha shall issue to Basin and AIH certificates evidencing the
Shares purchased.
2.3
Funding. Basin and AIH acknowledge that Alpha will require initial
funding of HK$15,000,000 in order to manufacture and distribute the
Products in the Territory. In order to fund this requirement, Basin
has agreed to provide debt financing to Alpha of HK$1,250,000
quarterly for three years, which shall be repayed without any
interest and as soon as net profit appears in the management
accounts of Alpha from time to time or upon the occurrence of an
Alpha Liquidity Event, subject to the terms and conditions of the
Alpha Liquidity Event (including but not limited to conditions
placed on the use of proceeds and restrictions that may be imposed
by underwriters).
2.4
Initial Public Offering or Reverse Takeover. The Holders shall take
no action which would prevent Alpha from (i) maintaining records
adequate to permit a Liquidity Event and (ii) obtaining an annual
audit of Alpha's financial statements. The Holders may cause the
Board, subject to their fiduciary duties, to consider an Alpha
Liquidity Event. If the Board determines to pursue an Alpha
Liquidity Event, then, subject to subsection 4.3.17, each Holder
shall:
2.4.1
in the case of an Alpha IPO, sign customary agreements requested by
the IPO underwriters (such as lockups and questionnaires required
for regulatory compliance) which are signed by other Alpha
shareholders; and
2.4.2
in the case of an Alpha Reverse Takeover, provide such further
documents or instruments reasonably required by the other Holders
or any applicable third
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party to effect the Alpha Reverse
Takeover or to carry out its obligations thereunder.
However, this Section 2.4 does
not require a Holder to take any action that it reasonably believes
would be detrimental to Alpha's or the Holder's business and does
not constitute a representation or warranty by a Holder or by Alpha
that an Alpha Liquidity Event will occur.
3. BUSINESS OF ALPHA
3.1
Business of Alpha. Alpha shall be granted an exclusive license in
the Territory by AIH to manufacture, distribute, market and sell
the Products, on the understanding that Alpha will sub-contract the
manufacturing of the Products to APC, as described in this
Agreement and as provided for in the AIH Manufacturing and
Distribution License Agreement and any sub-contracting agreement to
be entered into between Alpha, Basin and APC.
3.2
License and Royalty Fees. Alpha will pay AIH the license fee and
royalties as provided for in the AIH Manufacturing and Distribution
License Agreement.
3.3
Management Fees. Alpha will pay Basin a management fee of five
percent (5%) of gross revenues of Alpha, as provided for in the AIH
Manufacturing and Distribution License Agreement and any
sub-contracting agreement to be entered into between Alpha, Basin
and APC.
4. MANAGEMENT OF ALPHA
4.1
Board of Directors.
4.1.1
The Board shall initially have four authorized positions. Basin and
AIH shall each have the right to nominate two members to the Board,
subject to the other provisions of this Section 4.1.1. Should the
number of Board positions be increased or decreased, Basin and AIH
will continue to hold equal Board seats, subject to the other
provisions of this Section 4.1.1. Each Founder shall have the right
to replace any director which it is exclusively entitled to
nominate at any time effective upon notice to Alpha, the director
to be removed and the other Founder. Basin and AIH together shall
have the right to request removal of any other director upon notice
to Alpha and the director to be removed. Each Holder will vote all
Shares held by it or to which it has the right to direct the vote
so as to elect the Founders' nominees, remove Founders' directors
for whom removal has been requested by the respective Founder, and
to otherwise maintain the Board constituency described in this
Section 4.1.1.
4.1.2
Directors of Alpha will serve without compensation. Each Founder
shall indemnify the other Founder and Alpha against any claim for
compensation made by a Alpha director nominated by that Founder.
Alpha will reimburse reasonable travel costs of any director
attending a Board meeting.
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4.1.3
The directors shall from time to time shall select a director to
act as chairman of the Board.
4.2
Quorum of the Board of Directors; Approval by Board of Directors. A
quorum of the Board requires the presence (physically, by telephone
or by other permitted means) of at least two of the directors,
including at least one director nominated by Basin and one
nominated by AIH (if they are entitled to nominate one or more
directors at the relevant time under Section 4.1.1.). Except as
provided in Section 4.3, any action or determination by the Board
requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board members
present at the meeting. In the case of an equality of votes, the
chairman shall not have a second or casting vote. Subject to any
requirements of applicable law, Board meetings shall be held at
least quarterly in Hong Kong at times and places to be determined
by the Board.
4.3
Founders' Approval. As permitted under British Virgin Islands law,
Alpha shall not take the following actions under this Section 4.3
without prior and independent approval of each of the Founders
(except for Section 4.3.4, which will only require the approval of
the Founder that originally nominated the director). A Founder's
approval will be considered given if all of the Founder's
representatives who are present at a shareholder meeting or
directors present at a Board meeting, vote in favour of the action,
or approve of the action by a written resolution executed by all
directors of Alpha.
4.3.1
Making any basic change in the general nature or scope of business
of Alpha as defined or contemplated in Section 3.1, including,
without limitation Alpha entering into any new line of
business.
4.3.2
Amending the Articles, including, without limitation, changing its
name or the name under which it carries on business, increasing or
decreasing the number of authorized shares of Alpha, creating a new
class of shares of Alpha, or changing the rights, preferences or
privileges of the Shares.
4.3.3
Increasing or decreasing the authorized number of directors on the
Board.
4.3.4
Removing a director nominated by a Founder.
4.3.5
Dissolving, winding up or liquidating Alpha.
4.3.6
Repurchasing, redeeming or cancelling Shares; or increasing the
number of shares reserved for issuance under any Share option or
purchase plan.
4.3.7
Amalgamating, merging or consolidating Alpha with another entity,
or selling, leasing, or otherwise disposing all or substantially
all of the assets of Alpha, whether in one transaction or a series
of transactions.
4.3.8
Entering into any transaction not in the ordinary course of
business having a value or involving an expense in excess of
[HK$1,000,000] or having a term greater than two
years.
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4.3.9
Investing in any other entity.
4.3.10 Entering into any agreement with any
director or shareholder of Alpha or an Affiliate of that director
or shareholder (except this Agreement but including the Ancillary
Agreements) , except as otherwise permitted in any agreement
between Alpha and each Founder.
4.3.11 Declaring dividends.
4.3.12 Acquiring assets for consideration in
excess of [HK$1,000,000] except as otherwise provided for in
Alpha's then-approved budget.
4.3.13 Borrowing in excess of
[HK$1,000,000] (other than from Basin in accordance with
this Agreement).
4.3.14 Sale of securities other than pursuant to
a prospectus to any person reasonably deemed to compete with Alpha
or either Founder.
4.3.15 Encumbering its technology, except as
otherwise permitted in this Agreement or any agreement between
Alpha and AIH.
4.3.16 Opening an office outside of the
Territory.
4.3.17 Deciding to effect the Alpha
IPO.
4.3.18 Changing the rights described in this
Section 4.3.
4.3.19 Changing Alpha's executive management
structure.
4.3.20 Approving annual budgets, budget
revisions, business plans or business plan revisions during the
period.
4.3.21 Issuing any security of Alpha, whether
Shares, securities convertible into Shares or debt
securities.
4.3.22 Entering into, or amending once entered
into, any agreement that represents an expense, over the life of
the contract, in excess of [HK$50,000] .
4.3.23 Incorporating any subsidiary.
4.3.24 Entering into any partnership or joint
venture arrangement, except in the ordinary course of business for
the purpose of establishing offices and branches within the
Territory.
4.3.25 Factoring or assigning any of its book
debts.
4.3.26 Giving any guarantee or indemnity for or
otherwise securing the liabilities or obligations of any
person.
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4.3.27 Making, amending or terminating any
arrangements relating to franchising, patents, know-how or trade
marks.
4.3.28 Purchasing or selling any freehold or
leasehold property or any interest therein.
4.3.29 Taking any action in relation to
pensions, retirement schemes, share options, profit sharing or
bonus schemes or any other officer or employee benefits.
4.3.30 Granting any power of attorney or
delegating director's powers.
4.3.31 Changing its auditors.
4.3.32 Altering its financial year
end.
4.3.33 Amending its accounting policies or
reporting practices.
4.3.34 Electing, settling or compromising any
major tax claims or elections.
4.3.35 Commencing, defending or settling any
litigation, arbitration or other proceedings which are material in
the context of Alpha's business.
4.4
Officers. The Board shall elect the officers of Alpha. For a period
of six months from the Effective Date, this election shall be
subject to Basin and AIH together reviewing and approving the
recommendations for each proposed officer.
4.5
Financial Statements and Accounting Records. Alpha's fiscal year
will be January 1 through December 31. Alpha's external auditors
shall be an independent accounting firm acceptable to Basin and
AIH. Alpha shall prepare its annual financial statements in
compliance with generally accepted accounting principles in the
Territory. Alpha shall provide each Holder:
4.5.1
audited financial statements within 90 days after each fiscal year
end;
4.5.2
monthly unaudited balance sheets, profit and loss statements and
statements of sources and uses of cash within 30 days after each
month end; and
4.5.3
quarterly 90-day projections plus yearly annual projections of
Alpha revenues.
4.6
Right of Inspection. During office hours of Alpha, each Founder
will, subject to the provisions for the protection of Confidential
Information set forth in Section 7.1 and Schedule "D" to this
Agreement, have full access to all properties, books of account,
records and the like of Alpha with the right to make copies. Any
information obtained by the Founders through exercise of this right
shall be used by the Founder only for purposes that are consistent
with its status as an equity holder in Alpha (e.g., to the extent
used to determine compliance with this Agreement), and not for the
pursuit of business interests outside Alpha (except to the extent
the Founder
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otherwise has rights for access
to such information e.g., information or property which is owned by
the Founder).
4.7
Employee Matters. If the Board and a Holder agree that a Holder or
its Affiliate will second an employee for a defined term to Alpha,
then Alpha shall reimburse the seconding Holder for salary and
benefits paid the employee during the term of secondment (other
than stock options actually paid to or provided for the benefit of
the employee during the period loaned to Alpha). Alpha shall not
bear any other costs of loaned employees. Each Alpha employee, and
any employee of another entity working for Alpha but not a regular
employee of Alpha, shall sign an employment agreement.
5. REPRESENTATIONS
5.1
Basin. Basin represents and warrants the following as of the
Effective Date:
5.1.1
Basin is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good
standing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands and has the
corporate power and authority to engage in its business and to
enter into this Agreement and to perform its obligations
hereunder.
5.1.2
All corporate action on the part of each of Basin and its officers
and directors necessary for the authorization, execution, delivery
and performance of this Agreement has been taken. This Agreement
constitutes a valid, legally binding and enforceable obligation of
Basin.
5.1.3
Except for those governmental consents or regulatory approvals
which may need to be obtained (which approvals Basin will use
reasonable commercial efforts to obtain), no consent,
authorization, license, permit, registration or approval of any
governmental or public body or authority, or regulatory authority,
is required in connection with Basin's execution and delivery of
this Agreement or with Basin's performance of its obligations
hereunder.
5.1.4
The execution and delivery of this Agreement by Basin, performance
of its obligations hereunder and its consummation of the
contemplated transactions shall not, (i) to the best of its
knowledge, violate any provision of any law, statute, rule or
regulation to which it is subject; (ii) violate any judgment,
order, writ, injunction or decree of any court applicable to it;
(iii) to the best of its knowledge, have any effect on its
compliance with any laws, statutes, rules, regulations, orders,
decrees, licenses, permits or authorizations that would materially
and adversely affect it; (iv) to the best of its knowledge, result
in the breach of, or be in conflict with, any term, covenant,
condition or provision of, or affect the validity, enforceability
and subsistence of, any agreement, lease or other commitment to
which it is a party and that would materially and adversely affect
it; or (v) to the best of its knowledge, result in the creation or
imposition of any lien, pledge, mortgage, claim, charge, or
encumbrance upon any of its assets.
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5.1.5
Basin nor has not obligated Alpha to any person in any way other
than as described in this Agreement. Basin has not retained any
person or entity to act on its behalf, nor has any person or entity
contended that it was so retained, to assist Basin as its broker,
finder or agent
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