Joint Venture Purchase
Agreement
VENTURE
AGREEMENT
OF
STEWARTS ROOT BEER DRIVE
IN RESTAURANTS
This Agreement,
dated and effective as of January 1, 2007, by and between Frosted
Mug Holdings, LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company
("Frosted"), and Rockelle Corporation, a Delaware corporation
("Rockelle") (Frosted and Rockelle being hereinafter sometimes
collectively called "Partners" and individually called a
"Partner"),
WITNESSETH
WHEREAS, the
Partners wish to engage together in the business of Stewarts Root
Beer Drive In Restaurants and, to further that objective, to
incorporate said business in the State of New Jersey under the name
Frosted Rock, Inc. in order to form a Joint Venture
(“JV”) and adopt this Agreement as the articles of the
JV for the operation of same;
WHEREAS,
Rockelle is intent on purchasing Frosted and all of its assets and
business and the Partners agree that the formation of this JV with
the purchase options set forth herein is the preferred form to
engage in this effort;
NOW, THEREFORE,
in consideration of the foregoing and of the mutual covenants and
benefits herein set forth and contemplated, the Partners agree as
follows:
ARTICLE
I
ORGANIZATION OF THE
JV
(i) The
Partners hereby form and establish a General Joint Venture (the
"JV") pursuant to the laws of the State of New Jersey which shall
govern the interpretation and operation of the JV.
(ii)
Except to the extent otherwise
provided herein, the rights and liabilities of the Partners and the
conduct and termination of the JV shall be governed by the law of
the State of New Jersey.
(iii)
The Partners will promptly execute
all certificates and other documents, and make all such filings and
recordings and perform such other acts as may now or hereafter be
necessary or desirable, to comply with the requirements of New
Jersey law for the organization and formation of the JV and the
carrying on of its business.
(iv)
Each Partner shall be a general
partner.
(v)
All assets of the JV hereafter
acquired shall automatically be the property of Frosted unless and
until Rockelle makes the $4,000,000 payment under Article XII(a)(3)
herein. Thereafter, this section shall be governed by Article III
set forth below.
(b)
Name
.
The name of the JV is “Frosted
Rock, Inc.” The JV’s business and affairs shall be
conducted only under that name.
(c)
Effective Date and
Term . The JV shall commence on the date hereof
(hereinafter called the " Effective Date ") and
shall continue in effect until terminated as provided in Article X
hereof.
(d)
Principal
Office . The principal office and place of business of
the JV shall be 777 Walnut Avenue, Cranford, NJ 07016 or such other
location as the Partners may designate.
(e)
Purpose and
Scope . The sole purpose of the JV shall be to engage in
the business of administering the licensees of Stewarts Root Beer,
the franchisees of Stewarts Root Beer, the growth of the business
of Stewarts Root Beer, expansion of the trademarks of Stewarts Root
Beer and in other activities incidental to such business, which
activities may from time to time include: Expansion of the
trademark’s use in the market place and any other use and
expansion of the business of Stewarts Root Beer Drive In
Restaurants as the Partners may see fit; and performing all other
activities as are necessary or incidental to conducting such
business.
The JV shall
have the power to do any act and thing and to enter into any
contract incidental to, or necessary, proper or advisable for, the
accomplishment or attainment of the purpose of the JV specified in
this Agreement.
(f)
Partners'
Authority .
Except as
otherwise provided in this Agreement, no Partner acting alone shall
have any authority to act for, or to assume any obligations or
responsibilities on behalf of, the other Partner or the JV. Each
Partner will indemnity the JV and the other Partner against any
claim, loss or damage to the JV or such other Partner which may
result from the Partner's breach of this Section (f). Except that
Rockelle shall have the right to operate the JV business on a day
to day basis including any and all agreements that can be performed
in six months or less. All other agreements will require the
unanimous agreement of the Partners, unless and until Rockelle
makes the $4,000,000 payment under Article XII(a)(3) herein.
Thereafter, a majority of the Operating Committee may approve all
actions of the JV, as set forth under Article V(3)
herein.
ARTICLE
II
OTHER AND/OR COMPETING
BUSINESSES
Except as
otherwise provided herein, nothing contained in this Agreement
shall be deemed to restrict in any way the freedom of either
Partner or of any Affiliate of either Partner to conduct,
independently of the JV, and whether or not in competition with the
JV, any business or activity whatever (other than the business
contemplated to be performed by the JV under and in accordance with
this Agreement) without any accountability to the JV or to the
other Partner. For purposes of this Agreement "Affiliate" means, as
to any entity, a corporation, company, trust, firm or other entity
which directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by, or is
under common control with, such entity.
ARTICLE
III
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
JV
(a)
Initial
Contributions .
(i)
Rockelle shall pay $100,000 to
Frosted upon execution of this Agreement and $50,000 to Frosted
within 120 days from the date hereof, for the exclusive purpose of
making interest and/or principal payments (as may be determined by
Frosted in its sole discretion) to Stewarts Restaurants, Inc.
(“SRI”) by Frosted on the outstanding note due to SRI
from Frosted. If the monies held in escrow have not been used to
make payments to SRI within one year from the date hereof, such
monies shall be distributed back to Rockelle. From the date hereof,
all income of Frosted will be contributed to the JV and Rockelle
shall be solely responsible for all other capital needs of the JV.
All property of Frosted shall be contributed to the use of the JV
until the terms set forth in Article XII are fulfilled, at which
time such property shall become the property of
Rockelle.
(ii)
The JV hereby assumes the
obligations and liabilities relating to Frosted as described on
Exhibit B and in accordance with the requirements set forth in
Article XII. Frosted hereby warrants and represents that there are
no other liabilities of Frosted other than as set forth Exhibit B
and in the ordinary course of business.
(iii)
On the date of this Agreement,
Frosted shall contribute to the capital of the JV all of the issued
and outstanding membership interests of Frosted to be held in
escrow subject to Rockelle satisfying the requirements set forth in
Article XII.
(iv)
Subject to payment as set forth in
Article XII(a)(4), Rockelle shall make payment not more than 120
days from the date hereof in the amount of $50,000 (payment two)
and payment of $100,000 (payment three) not more than 180 days from
the date hereof. However, upon execution of this Agreement Rockelle
has the option to choose to have 100% of all income from operations
paid to Frosted until $100,000 has been obtained thus eliminating
the need for payment number three set forth herein. In the event
that Rockelle should choose this option, then in that event, all
books of account shall remain in control of Frosted until full
payment has been obtained. Each subsequent payment shall not be due
if payment in accordance with Article XII(a)(4) is made prior to
said payment two and/or three are due.
ARTICLE
IV
JV
INTERESTS
(a)
The Partners' Percentage
JV Interests .
The
Partners’ Interests in the JV shall be 51% for Rockelle and
49% for Frosted. All income of the JV shall be retained by the JV
subject to the terms of Article XII.
ARTICLE
V
MANAGEMENT OF THE
JV
(a)
The Operating Committee
and the Manager .
The general
conduct of the business of the JV shall be vested in an Operating
Committee, which shall be empowered to set policy for and issue
instructions to the Manager and to make all decisions in respect of
the business and operations of the JV, except as otherwise set
forth in this Agreement. The Manager shall have the responsibility
for the day to day management of the operations and activities of
the JV and shall be subject to the overall supervision of the
Operating Committee. The Manager shall be Rockelle subject to
Article III(a)(iv).
(b)
Operating Committee
Members, Voting and Meetings
.
The Operating Committee shall be
composed of Gerald Stephen and John R. Frieri or any other person
appointed by Frosted. Each Partner may from time to time and for
any reason appointed by it or designate an alternate to act for any
member, which alternate shall be deemed a member of the Operating
Committee while so acting. Each appointment made by a Partner to
the Operating Committee shall remain in effect until the Partner
making such appointment shall notify the JV and the other Partner
of a change in such appointment. The members of the Operating
Committee representing each Partner shall have one vote, and at all
meetings of the Operating Committee a member shall be acting solely
as the representative of the Partner which appointed him. All
actions of the Operating Committee shall be taken by unanimous
vote; provided, however, that if a Partner's JV Interest shall have
been reduced below 45%, actions of the Operating Committee shall be
taken by majority vote with the representatives of each Partner
being entitled to vote per percentage point of Interest held by
each Partner in the JV. An annual meeting of the Operating
Committee, at which among other things programs and budgets shall
be considered, shall be held at the principal office of the JV on
the first business day of the month of February (or such other date
as the Operating Committee shall designate) and other meetings of
the Operating Committee shall be held from time to time as the
Operating Committee shall determine. Minutes shall be kept
reflecting the actions of the Operating Committee, copies of which
shall be promptly transmitted to each member and the
Partners.
(c)
Employees
.
The JV shall employ and pay such
persons as the Manager shall from time to time
authorize.
(d)
Certain Matters Requiring
Unanimous Consent .
The specific
consent of each Partner shall be required in connection with the
following matters, unless and until a Partner's JV Interest shall
have been reduced below 45%, at which time, such actions shall be
approved by a majority vote of the Operating Committee as set forth
in Article V(b) above:
(i)
Any contract or agreement that
cannot be performed in six months or shall have a term of more than
six months.
(ii)
Incurring, guaranteeing or
otherwise becoming liable for indebtedness for borrowed
money.