Exhibit 10.1
COMMON STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT
COMMON STOCK PURCHASE
AGREEMENT (the "Agreement"), dated as of August 6,
2009, by and between COMPETITIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a Delaware
corporation (the
"Company," as further defined in Section 10), and
FUSION CAPITAL FUND II, LLC,
an Illinois limited liability company (the
"Buyer"). Capitalized terms used
herein and not otherwise defined
herein are defined in Section 10 hereof.
WHEREAS:
Subject to the
terms and conditions set forth in this
Agreement, the
Company wishes to sell to the
Buyer, and the Buyer wishes to buy from the
Company, up to Eight Million Dollars ($8,000,000) of the Company's
common stock,
par value $0.01 per share (the "Common Stock").
The shares of Common Stock to
be purchased hereunder are referred
to herein as the "Purchase Shares."
NOW THEREFORE, the
Company and the Buyer hereby
agree as follows:
1. PURCHASE
OF COMMON STOCK.
Subject to the
terms and conditions set forth in this
Agreement, the
Company has the right to sell to the Buyer, and the Buyer has
the obligation to
purchase from the Company, Purchase
Shares as follows:
(a)
Commencement of Purchases of Common Stock. The
purchase and sale
of Purchase Shares hereunder shall occur from time to time
upon written notices
by the Company to the Buyer on the
terms and conditions as set forth herein
following the satisfaction of the conditions (the
"Commencement") as set forth
in Sections 6 and 7 below (the date
of satisfaction of such conditions, the
"Commencement Date").
(b) The Company's
Right to Require Purchases. Any time on or after the
Commencement Date, the Company shall have the
right but not the obligation to
direct the Buyer by its delivery to the Buyer of Base Purchase
Notices from time
to time to buy Purchase Shares (each such
purchase a "Base Purchase") in any
amount up to Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars
($75,000) per Base Purchase Notice
(the "Base Purchase Amount") at the Purchase
Price on the Purchase Date. The
Company may deliver multiple Base Purchase
Notices to the Buyer so long as at
least two (2) Business Days have passed since the most recent
Base Purchase was
completed. Notwithstanding the forgoing, any time on or
after the Commencement
Date, the Company shall also
have the right but not the obligation by its
delivery to the Buyer of Block Purchase Notices from time to
time to direct the
Buyer to buy Purchase Shares (each
such purchase a "Block Purchase") in any
amount up to Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000) per Block
Purchase Notice at the
Block Purchase Price on the
Purchase Date as provided herein. For a Block
Purchase Notice to be valid the following conditions must be
met: (1) the Block
Purchase Amount shall not exceed One
Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) per
Block Purchase Notice, (2) the Company must deliver the
Purchase Shares before
11:00 a.m. eastern time on the Purchase Date and (3)
the Closing Sale Price of
the Common Stock must not be below $2.00 (subject
to equitable adjustment for
any reorganization, recapitalization, non-cash
dividend, stock split or other
similar transaction) on the Purchase
Date The Block Purchase Amount may be
increased to up to Two Hundred
Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) per Block
Purchase Notice if the Closing Sale Price of the Common Stock is
not below $4.00
(subject to equitable adjustment for
any reorganization, recapitalization,
non-cash dividend, stock split or other
similar transaction) on the Purchase
Date. The Block Purchase Amount
may be increased to up to
Five
<PAGE>
Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) per
Block Purchase Notice if the Closing
Sale Price of the Common Stock
is not below $6.00 (subject to equitable
adjustment for any reorganization,
recapitalization, non-cash dividend, stock
split or other similar transaction) on the
Purchase Date. The Block Purchase
Amount may be increased to up to One
Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per Block
Purchase Notice if the Closing
Sale Price of the Common Stock is not below
$10.00 (subject to equitable
adjustment for any reorganization,
recapitalization, non-cash dividend, stock split or
other similar transaction)
on the Purchase Date. The Block Purchase Amount
may be increased to up to Two
Million Dollars ($2,000,000) per Block Purchase Notice if the
Closing Sale Price
of the Common Stock is not below $20.00 (subject to equitable
adjustment for any
reorganization, recapitalization, non-cash
dividend, stock split or other
similar transaction) on the Purchase
Date. As used herein, the term "Block
Purchase Price" shall mean the lesser of (i) the lowest Sale Price
of the Common
Stock on the Purchase Date or (ii) the lowest Purchase Price during
the previous
ten (10) Business Days prior to the date that the
valid Block Purchase Notice
was received by the Buyer. However,
if at any time on the Purchase Date the
Closing Sale Price of the Common Stock is below
the applicable Block Purchase
threshold price, such Block Purchase shall be void and
the Buyer's obligations
to buy Purchase Shares in
respect of that Block Purchase Notice shall
be
terminated. Thereafter, the Company
shall again have the right to submit a
Block Purchase Notice as set forth herein by
delivery of a new Block Purchase
Notice. The Company may deliver multiple Block Purchase
Notices to the Buyer so
long as at least two (2) Business Days have passed
since the most recent Block
Purchase was completed.
(c) Payment for
Purchase Shares. The Buyer shall pay to the Company an
amount equal to the Purchase Amount with respect to such Purchase
Shares as full
payment for such Purchase Shares via
wire transfer of immediately available
funds on the same Business Day that the Buyer receives
such Purchase Shares if
they are received by the Buyer before 11:00 a.m. eastern time
or if received by
the Buyer after 11:00 a.m. eastern time,
the next Business Day. The Company
shall not issue any fraction of a share of Common Stock
upon any purchase. If
the issuance would result in the issuance
of a fraction of a share of Common
Stock, the Company shall round such fraction of a
share of Common Stock up or
down to the nearest whole share. All payments
made under this Agreement shall
be made in lawful money of the United
States of America or wire transfer of
immediately available funds to such account as the Company may from
time to time
designate by written notice in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement.
Whenever any amount expressed to be due by the terms of this
Agreement is due on
any day that is not a Business Day, the same
shall instead be due on the next
succeeding day that is a
Business Day.
(d) Purchase
Price Floor. The Company and the Buyer shall not
effect
any sales under this Agreement on any Purchase Date where the
Purchase Price for
any purchases of Purchase Shares would be less
than the Floor Price. "Floor
Price" means $1.00, which shall
be appropriately adjusted for any
reorganization, recapitalization, non-cash
dividend, stock split or other
similar transaction.
(e) Records
of Purchases. The Buyer and the
Company shall each
maintain records showing the remaining Available Amount at any give
time and the
dates and Purchase Amounts for each
purchase or shall use such other method,
reasonably satisfactory to the Buyer
and the Company.
(f) Taxes.
The Company shall pay any and
all transfer, stamp or
similar taxes that may be payable with respect to the
issuance and delivery of
any shares of Common Stock to
the Buyer made under this
Agreement.
(g) Compliance with
Principal Market Rules. The Company shall not effect
any sale under this Agreement and the
Buyer shall not have the right or the
obligation to purchase shares of Common Stock under this Agreement
to the extent
that after giving effect to
such purchase the "Exchange Cap"
-2-
<PAGE>
shall be deemed to be reached. The "Exchange Cap" shall
be deemed to have been
reached if, at any time prior to the shareholders of
the Company approving the
transaction contemplated by this
Agreement, upon a purchase under
this
Agreement, the Purchase Shares and Commitment Shares
issuable pursuant to such
purchase would, together with all
Purchase Shares and Commitment Shares
previously issued under this Agreement, exceed 1,975,305
shares of Common Stock
(19.99% of the 9,881,466 outstanding shares of
Common Stock as of the date of
this Agreement). The Company may, but shall be under no
obligation to, request
its shareholders to approve the transaction contemplated by this
Agreement. The
Company shall not be required to issue any
shares of Common Stock under this
Agreement if such issuance would
breach the Company's obligations under the
rules or regulations of the
Principal Market.
2. BUYER'S
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.
The Buyer represents and warrants to the
Company that as of the date hereof
and as of the Commencement Date:
(a)
Investment Purpose. The Buyer is entering into this
Agreement and
acquiring the Commitment Shares, (as
defined in Section 4(e) hereof) and the
Purchase Shares (collectively referred to herein as the
"Securities"), for its
own account for investment only and not with a
view towards, or for resale in
connection with, the public sale or distribution
thereof; provided however, by
making the representations herein, the Buyer does not
agree to hold any of the
Securities for any minimum or other
specific term other than as set forth in
Section 4(e) with respect to
the Commitment Shares.
(b)
Accredited Investor Status. The Buyer is an "accredited
investor"
as that term is defined in
Rule 501(a)(3) of Regulation D.
(c) Reliance
on Exemptions. The Buyer understands that the Securities
are being offered and sold to it in
reliance on specific exemptions from the
registration requirements of United States federal and state
securities laws and
that the Company is relying in part
upon the truth and accuracy of, and the
Buyer's compliance with, the
representations, warranties, agreements,
acknowledgments and understandings of the
Buyer set forth herein in order to
determine the availability of such exemptions and the
eligibility of the Buyer
to acquire the Securities.
(d)
Information. The Buyer has been
furnished with all materials
relating to the business, finances and operations of
the Company and materials
relating to the offer and sale
of the Securities that have been reasonably
requested by the Buyer, including, without
limitation, the SEC Documents (as
defined in Section 3(f) hereof). The Buyer
understands that its investment in
the Securities involves a high degree of
risk. The Buyer (i) is able to bear
the economic risk of an investment in the
Securities including a total loss,
(ii) has such knowledge and experience in financial and business
matters that it
is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the proposed
investment in the
Securities and (iii) has had an
opportunity to ask questions of and receive
answers from the officers of the Company concerning the
financial condition and
business of the Company and
others matters related to an investment in the
Securities. Neither such inquiries nor any other
due diligence investigations
conducted by the Buyer or its representatives shall modify,
amend or affect the
Buyer's right to rely on the Company's representations and
warranties contained
in Section 3 below. The Buyer has sought such
accounting, legal and tax advice
as it has considered necessary to
make an informed investment decision with
respect to its acquisition of
the Securities.
-3-
<PAGE>
(e) No
Governmental Review. The Buyer understands that no United
States
federal or state agency or any
other government or governmental agency has
passed on or made any recommendation or
endorsement of the Securities or the
fairness or suitability of the
investment in the Securities nor have such
authorities passed upon or endorsed
the merits of the offering of
the
Securities.
(f) Transfer or
Sale. The Buyer understands that except as provided in
the Registration Rights Agreement (as defined in
Section 4(a) hereof): (i) the
Securities have not been and are not being registered under
the 1933 Act or any
state securities laws, and may
not be offered for sale, sold, assigned or
transferred unless (A) subsequently registered
thereunder or (B) an exemption
exists permitting such Securities to be sold,
assigned or transferred without
such registration; (ii) any sale of the Securities made in
reliance on Rule 144
may be made only in accordance with the terms of Rule
144 and further, if Rule
144 is not applicable, any resale of
the Securities under circumstances in
which the seller (or the person through whom the sale is
made) may be deemed to
be an underwriter (as that term
is defined in the 1933 Act) may require
compliance with some other exemption
under the 1933 Act or the rules and
regulations of the SEC thereunder; and (iii) neither
the Company nor any other
person is under any obligation to register the Securities
under the 1933 Act or
any state securities laws or to
comply with the terms and conditions of any
exemption thereunder.
(g)
Validity; Enforcement. This Agreement has
been duly and validly
authorized, executed and delivered on
behalf of the Buyer and is a valid and
binding agreement of the Buyer enforceable against the Buyer
in accordance with
its terms, subject as to enforceability to general
principles of equity and to
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization,
moratorium, liquidation and
other similar laws relating to,
or affecting generally, the enforcement of
applicable creditors' rights and
remedies.
(h)
Residency. The Buyer is a
resident of the State of Illinois.
(i) No
Prior Short Selling. The Buyer represents and warrants
to the
Company that at no time prior
to the date of this Agreement has any of the
Buyer, its agents, representatives or affiliates engaged in
or effected, in any
manner whatsoever, directly or indirectly, any (i) "short sale" (as
such term is
defined in Section 242.200 of Regulation SHO of the
Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the "1934
Act")) of the Common Stock or (ii)
hedging
transaction, which establishes a net short position
with respect to the Common
Stock.
3.
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE
COMPANY.
The Company represents and warrants to the
Buyer that as of the date hereof
and as of the Commencement Date:
(a) Organization
and Qualification. The Company and its "Subsidiaries"
(which for purposes of this Agreement means
any entity in which the Company,
directly or indirectly, owns 50% or more of the voting stock or
capital stock or
other similar equity interests) are
corporations duly organized and validly
existing in good standing under the laws of the
jurisdiction in which they are
incorporated, and have the requisite corporate power and
authority to own their
properties and to carry on their business as now being
conducted. Each of the
Company and its Subsidiaries is duly qualified as
a foreign corporation to do
business and is in good standing in every jurisdiction in which its
ownership of
property or the nature of the business conducted by it makes
such qualification
necessary, except to the extent that the
failure to be so qualified or be in
good standing could not reasonably
be expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect. As used in this Agreement, "Material Adverse Effect"
means any material
adverse effect on any of: (i) the
business, properties, assets, operations,
results of operations or financial
condition of the
-4-
<PAGE>
Company and its Subsidiaries, if any, taken as a whole, or (ii) the
authority or
ability of the Company to
perform its obligations under the
Transaction
Documents (as defined in Section 3(b) hereof). The
Company has no Subsidiaries
except as set forth on Schedule
3(a).
(b)
Authorization; Enforcement; Validity. (i)
The Company has the
requisite corporate power and
authority to enter into and
perform its
obligations under this Agreement, the Registration Rights
Agreement and each of
the other agreements entered into by the parties
on the Commencement Date and
attached hereto as exhibits to this Agreement
(collectively, the "Transaction
Documents"), and to issue the Securities in accordance with the
terms hereof and
thereof, (ii) the execution and delivery of
the Transaction Documents by the
Company and the consummation by it of the transactions
contemplated hereby and
thereby, including without limitation, the issuance of the
Commitment Shares and
the reservation for issuance and the issuance of the Purchase
Shares (up to the
Exchange Cap) issuable under this Agreement, have
been duly authorized by the
Company's Board of Directors and no further consent or
authorization is required
by the Company, its Board of Directors or its shareholders, (iii)
this Agreement
has been, and each other Transaction Document shall be on the
Commencement Date,
duly executed and delivered by the Company and (iv) this
Agreement constitutes,
and each other Transaction Document upon its execution on behalf of
the Company,
shall constitute, the valid and binding obligations of
the Company enforceable
against the Company in accordance
with their terms, except as such
enforceability may be limited by
general principles of equity or applicable
bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium,
liquidation or similar laws
relating to, or affecting generally, the
enforcement of creditors' rights and
remedies. The Board of Directors of the
Company has approved the resolutions
(the "Signing Resolutions") substantially in the
form as set forth as Exhibit
C-1 attached hereto to authorize
this Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby. The Signing
Resolutions are valid, in full force and
effect and have not been modified or supplemented in
any respect other than by
the resolutions set forth in
Exhibit C-2 attached hereto regarding
the
registration statement referred to in
Section 4 hereof. The Company has
delivered to the Buyer a true and correct copy of
a unanimous written consent
adopting the Signing Resolutions executed by all of the
members of the Board of
Directors of the Company. No other approvals or consents of
the Company's Board
of Directors and/or shareholders is
necessary under applicable laws and the
Company's Certificate of Incorporation and/or Bylaws to
authorize the execution
and delivery of this Agreement or any of the
transactions contemplated hereby,
including, but not limited to, the issuance
of the Commitment Shares and the
issuance of the Purchase Shares
up to the Exchange Cap.
(c)
Capitalization. As of the date
hereof, the authorized capital
stock of the Company consists of (i) 20,000,000 shares of Common
Stock, of which
as of the date hereof, 9,881,466 shares are
issued and outstanding, none are
held as treasury shares, 807,409 shares are
reserved for issuance pursuant to
the Company's stock option plans of
which only approximately 132,000 shares
remain available for future grants and no other shares are issuable
and reserved
for issuance pursuant to securities (other than stock options
issued pursuant to
the Company's stock option plans)
exercisable or exchangeable for, or
convertible into, shares of Common Stock and (ii)
35,920 shares of Preferred
Stock, $25.00 par value of which as of the date hereof
2,427 shares are issued
and outstanding. All of such
outstanding shares have been, or upon issuance
will be, validly issued and are
fully paid and nonassessable. Except as
disclosed in Schedule 3(c), (i) no shares
of the Company's capital stock are
subject to preemptive rights or
any other similar rights or any liens or
encumbrances suffered or permitted by the Company, (ii) there are
no outstanding
debt securities, (iii) there are no outstanding options, warrants,
scrip, rights
to subscribe to, calls or commitments of any character
whatsoever relating to,
or securities or rights convertible into,
any shares of capital stock of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or contracts, commitments,
understandings or
arrangements by which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is or may become
bound to issue additional shares of capital stock of
the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries or options, warrants,
scrip, rights to subscribe to, calls or
commitments of any character
-5-
<PAGE>
whatsoever relating to, or securities or rights convertible
into, any shares of
capital stock of the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries, (iv) there are no
agreements or arrangements under which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is
obligated to register the sale of any of
their securities under the 1933 Act
(except the Registration Rights
Agreement), (v) there are no
outstanding
securities or instruments of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries which
contain any redemption or similar
provisions, and there are no contracts,
commitments, understandings or arrangements by which
the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is or may become bound to redeem a
security of the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries, (vi) there are
no securities or instruments containing
anti-dilution or similar provisions that will be
triggered by the issuance of
the Securities as described in this
Agreement and (vii) the Company does not
have any stock appreciation rights or "phantom stock" plans or
agreements or any
similar plan or agreement. The
Company has furnished to the Buyer true and
correct copies of the Company's Certificate of Incorporation,
as amended and as
in effect on the date hereof
(the "Certificate of Incorporation"), and the
Company's By-laws, as amended and
as in effect on the date hereof
(the
"By-laws"), and summaries of the terms of
all securities convertible into or
exercisable for Common Stock, if any, and copies of any documents
containing the
material rights of the holders
thereof in respect thereto.
(d) Issuance
of Securities. The Commitment Shares
have been duly
authorized and, upon issuance in
accordance with the terms hereof,
the
Commitment Shares shall be (i) validly issued, fully paid and
non-assessable and
(ii) free from all taxes, liens and charges with
respect to the issue thereof.
2,000,000 shares of Common Stock have
been duly authorized and reserved for
issuance upon purchase under this
Agreement. 86,933 shares of Common Stock
(subject to equitable adjustment for
any reorganization, recapitalization,
non-cash dividend, stock split or
other similar transaction) have been duly
authorized and reserved for issuance
as Additional Commitment Shares in
accordance with Section 4(e) this Agreement. Upon issuance
and payment therefor
in accordance with the terms and
conditions of this Agreement, the Purchase
Shares shall be validly issued, fully paid and
nonassessable and free from all
taxes, liens and charges with respect to
the issue thereof, with the holders
being entitled to all rights
accorded to a holder of Common
Stock.
(e) No
Conflicts. Except as disclosed in Schedule 3(e), the
execution,
delivery and performance of the Transaction
Documents by the Company and the
consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated
hereby and thereby
(including, without limitation, the reservation for issuance and
issuance of the
Purchase Shares up to the Exchange Cap) will not
(i) result in a violation of
the Certificate of Incorporation, any Certificate of
Designations, Preferences
and Rights of any outstanding series of preferred
stock of the Company or the
By-laws or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default
(or an event which with
notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or
give to others
any rights of termination, amendment,
acceleration or cancellation of, any
agreement, indenture or instrument to
which the Company or any of
its
Subsidiaries is a party, or result in a violation of any law,
rule, regulation,
order, judgment or decree (including
federal and state securities laws and
regulations and the rules and regulations of the Principal
Market applicable to
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries) or by which any property or
asset of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries is bound or
affected, except in the case of
conflicts, defaults, terminations, amendments, accelerations,
cancellations and
violations under clause (ii), which could not
reasonably be expected to result
in a Material Adverse Effect. Except as disclosed in Schedule
3(e), neither the
Company nor its Subsidiaries is in violation of any term of
or in default under
its Certificate of Incorporation, any Certificate
of Designation, Preferences
and Rights of any outstanding
series of preferred stock of the Company or
By-laws or their organizational charter or
by-laws, respectively. Except as
disclosed in Schedule 3(e), neither the Company nor any
of its Subsidiaries is
in violation of any term of
or is in default under any material contract,
agreement, mortgage, indebtedness, indenture,
instrument, judgment, decree or
order or any statute, rule or
regulation applicable to the Company or its
Subsidiaries, except for possible
conflicts, defaults, terminations or
amendments which could not reasonably be
expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect. The business of the
Company
-6-
<PAGE>
and its Subsidiaries is not being
conducted, and shall not be conducted, in
violation of any law, ordinance, regulation of any
governmental entity, except
for possible violations, the sanctions for which either
individually or in the
aggregate could not reasonably be expected to
have a Material Adverse Effect.
Except as specifically contemplated by this Agreement and as
required under the
1933 Act or applicable state securities
laws, the Company is not required to
obtain any consent, authorization or
order of, or make any filing
or
registration with, any court or
governmental agency or any regulatory or
self-regulatory agency in order for it to execute, deliver or
perform any of its
obligations under or contemplated by the
Transaction Documents in accordance
with the terms hereof or thereof.
Except as disclosed in Schedule 3(e), all
consents, authorizations, orders, filings and registrations which
the Company is
required to obtain pursuant to
the preceding sentence shall be obtained or
effected on or prior to the Commencement
Date. Except as listed in Schedule
3(e), since January 1, 2008, the
Company has not received nor delivered any
notices or correspondence from or to the Principal Market.
The Principal Market
has not commenced any delisting
proceedings against the Company.
(f) SEC
Documents; Financial Statements. Except
as disclosed in
Schedule 3(f), since January 1, 2008, the Company has timely
filed all reports,
schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be
filed by it with
the SEC pursuant to the
reporting requirements of the 1934 Act (all of the
foregoing filed prior to the date hereof and all
exhibits included therein and
financial statements and schedules
thereto and documents incorporated by
reference therein being hereinafter referred to as the "SEC
Documents"). As of
their respective dates (except as they have
been correctly amended), the SEC
Documents complied in all material respects with
the requirements of the 1934
Act and the rules and regulations of the SEC
promulgated thereunder applicable
to the SEC Documents, and none of the SEC Documents, at the time
they were filed
with the SEC (except as they may have
been properly amended), contained any
untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material
fact required
to be stated therein or necessary in order to
make the statements therein, in
light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading. As of
their respective dates (except as
they have been properly amended), the
financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Documents
complied as to
form in all material respects with applicable
accounting requirements and the
published rules and regulations of the SEC with respect
thereto. Such financial
statements have been prepared in accordance with
generally accepted accounting
principles, consistently applied, during the periods involved
(except (i) as may
be otherwise indicated in such financial statements or the notes
thereto or (ii)
in the case of unaudited interim
statements, to the extent they may exclude
footnotes or may be condensed or summary statements)
and fairly present in all
material respects the financial position of the Company as of
the dates thereof
and the results of its operations and
cash flows for the periods then ended
(subject, in the case of
unaudited statements, to normal year-end
audit
adjustments). Except as listed in Schedule
3(f), the Company has received no
notices or correspondence from the SEC since January 1,
2008. The SEC has not
commenced any enforcement proceedings
against the Company or any of its
subsidiaries.
(g) Absence
of Certain Changes. Except as disclosed in Schedule 3(g),
since March 31, 2009, there has been no material adverse change in
the business,
properties, operations, financial condition
or results of operations of the
Company or its Subsidiaries. The Company has not taken
any steps, and does not
currently expect to take any
steps, to seek protection pursuant to
any
Bankruptcy Law nor does the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries have
any
knowledge or reason to believe that its creditors intend to
initiate involuntary
bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings. The Company is
financially solvent and is
generally able to pay its debts
as they become due.
(h) Absence
of Litigation. Except as disclosed on Schedule 3(h), there
is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or
by any court,
public board, government agency, self-regulatory
organization or body pending
or, to the knowledge of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, threatened
against or affecting the Company,
the Common Stock or any of the Company's
Subsidiaries or
-7-
<PAGE>
any of the Company's or the Company's
Subsidiaries' officers or directors in
their capacities as such, which could reasonably be expected
to have a Material
Adverse Effect. A description
of each action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or
investigation before or by any
court, public board, government agency,
self-regulatory organization or body which, as of the date of this
Agreement, is
pending or threatened in writing against or
affecting the Company, the Common
Stock or any of the Company's
Subsidiaries or any of the Company's or the
Company's Subsidiaries' officers or directors in
their capacities as such, is
set forth in Schedule 3(h).
(i)
Acknowledgment Regarding Buyer's
Status. The Company acknowledges
and agrees that the Buyer is
acting solely in the capacity of arm's length
purchaser with respect to the
Transaction Documents and the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby. The
Company further acknowledges that the
Buyer is not acting as a financial advisor or
fiduciary of the Company (or in
any similar capacity) with respect
to the Transaction Documents and the
transactions contemplated hereby and thereby and any
advice given by the Buyer
or any of its representatives
or agents in connection with the Transaction
Documents and the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby is
merely
incidental to the Buyer's purchase
of the Securities. The Company further
represents to the Buyer that
the Company's decision to enter
into the
Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent
evaluation by the
Company and its representatives and
advisors.
(j) No
General Solicitation. Neither the
Company, nor any of its
affiliates, nor any person acting on its or
their behalf, has engaged in any
form of general solicitation or
general advertising (within the meaning of
Regulation D under the 1933 Act) in
connection with the offer or sale of the
Securities.
(k)
Intellectual Property Rights. The Company
and its Subsidiaries
own or possess adequate rights or licenses to use all material
trademarks, trade
names, service marks, service mark registrations, service names,
patents, patent
rights, copyrights, inventions, licenses,
approvals, governmental
authorizations, trade secrets and rights necessary to
conduct their respective
businesses as now conducted. Except as set forth on
Schedule 3(k), none of the
Company's material trademarks, trade
names, service marks, service mark
registrations, service names, patents, patent
rights, copyrights, inventions,
licenses, approvals, government
authorizations, trade secrets or other
intellectual property rights have expired or
terminated, or, by the terms and
conditions thereof, could expire or terminate within two
years from the date of
this Agreement. The Company and its Subsidiaries
do not have any knowledge of
any infringement by the Company or its Subsidiaries of
any material trademark,
trade name rights, patents, patent rights,
copyrights, inventions, licenses,
service names, service marks, service mark registrations,
trade secret or other
similar rights of others, or of any such
development of similar or identical
trade secrets or technical information by
others and, except as set forth on
Schedule 3(k), there is no claim, action or
proceeding being made or brought
against, or to the Company's knowledge, being threatened against,
the Company or
its Subsidiaries regarding trademark,
trade name, patents, patent rights,
invention, copyright, license, service
names, service marks, service mark
registrations, trade secret or other
infringement, which could reasonably be
expected to have a Material
Adverse Effect.
(l)
Environmental Laws. The Company and its
Subsidiaries (i) are in
compliance with any and all applicable foreign,
federal, state and local laws
and regulations relating to the
protection of human health and safety, the
environment or hazardous or toxic
substances or wastes, pollutants or
contaminants ("Environmental Laws"), (ii) have received all
permits, licenses or
other approvals required of them under applicable
Environmental Laws to conduct
their respective businesses and (iii)
are in compliance with all terms and
conditions of any such permit, license or approval, except where,
in each of the
three foregoing clauses, the failure
to so comply could not reasonably be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a
Material Adverse Effect.
-8-
<PAGE>
(m) Title. The Company and its
Subsidiaries have good and marketable title
in fee simple to all real property and good and marketable title to
all personal
property owned by them which is material to the business of
the Company and its
Subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all liens,
encumbrances and defects
except such as are described in
Schedule 3(m) or such as do not materially
affect the value of such property and do
not interfere with the use made and
proposed to be made of such property by the Company and any of its
Subsidiaries.
Any real property and facilities held under lease by the
Company and any of its
Subsidiaries are held by them under valid,
subsisting and enforceable leases
with such exceptions as are not material and do not interfere
with the use made
and proposed to be made of such property and
buildings by the Company and its
Subsidiaries.
(n)
Insurance. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries are
insured by
insurers of recognized financial responsibility
against such losses and risks
and in such amounts as management of
the Company believes to be prudent and
customary in the businesses in
which the Company and its Subsidiaries are
engaged. Neither the Company nor
any such Subsidiary has been refused any
insurance coverage sought or applied for and
neither the Company nor any such
Subsidiary has any reason to
believe that it will not be able to renew its
existing insurance coverage as and
when such coverage expires or to obtain
similar coverage from similar
insurers as may be necessary to continue its
business at a cost that would not materially and adversely affect
the condition,
financial or otherwise, or the earnings, business or
operations of the Company
and its Subsidiaries, taken as
a whole.
(o)
Regulatory Permits. The Company and its
Subsidiaries possess all
material certificates, authorizations and
permits issued by the appropriate
federal, state or foreign regulatory
authorities necessary to conduct their
respective businesses, and neither
the Company nor any such Subsidiary has
received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or
modification of
any such certificate, authorization
or permit.
(p) Tax
Status. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries has
made or
filed all federal and state income and all other
material tax returns, reports
and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is
subject (unless and
only to the extent that the Company and each of its
Subsidiaries has set aside
on its books provisions reasonably adequate for
the payment of all unpaid and
unreported taxes) and has paid all taxes and other
governmental assessments and
charges that are material in
amount, shown or determined to be due on such
returns, reports and declarations, except those
being contested in good faith
and has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate
for the payment of
all taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to
which such returns, reports
or declarations apply. There are no unpaid taxes in any
material amount claimed
to be due by the taxing authority of any jurisdiction,
and the officers of the
Company know of no basis for
any such claim.
(q) Transactions
With Affiliates. Except as set forth on Schedule 3(q)
and other than the grant or exercise
of stock options disclosed on Schedule
3(c), none of the officers, directors, or employees of the
Company is presently
a party to any transaction with the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries (other
than for services as employees, officers and directors), including
any contract,
agreement or other arrangement providing for the
furnishing of services to or
by, providing for rental of real or personal property
to or from, or otherwise
requiring payments to or from any officer, director or such
employee or, to the
knowledge of the Company, any corporation, partnership, trust or
other entity in
which any officer, director, or
any such employee has an interest or is an
officer, director, trustee or partner.
(r)
Application of Takeover Protections. The Company and
its board of
directors have taken or will take prior to the
Commencement Date all necessary
action, if any, in order to render inapplicable any
control share acquisition,
business combination, poison pill
(including any distribution under a rights
agreement) or other similar anti-takeover
provision under the Certificate of
Incorporation or the laws of
-9-
<PAGE>
the state of its incorporation which is or could become
applicable to the Buyer
as a result of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement, including,
without limitation, the Company's issuance
of the Securities and the Buyer's
ownership of the Securities.
(s) Foreign
Corrupt Practices. Neither the Company, nor
any of its
Subsidiaries, nor any director, officer, agent, employee or
other person acting
on behalf of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries has, in the course of its
actions for, or on behalf of, the
Company, used any corporate funds for any
unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other
unlawful expenses relating
to political activity; made any
direct or indirect unlawful payment to any
foreign or domestic government
official or employee from corporate funds;
violated or is in violation of
any provision of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act of 1977, as amended; or made any unlawful
bribe, rebate, payoff,
influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment to any
foreign or domestic
government official or employee.
4. COVENANTS.
(a) Filing
of Form 8-K and Registration Statement. The Company
agrees
that it shall, within the time required under the 1934 Act file a
Report on Form
8-K disclosing this Agreement and the
transaction contemplated hereby. The
Company shall also file within ten (10) Business Days from the date
hereof a new
registration statement covering the sale of the
Securities in accordance with
the terms of the Registration
Rights Agreement between the Company and the
Buyer, dated as of the date
hereof ("Registration Rights Agreement").
(b) Blue
Sky. The Company shall take
such action, if any, as is
reasonably necessary in order to obtain an exemption
for or to qualify (i) the
initial sale of the Commitment Shares and any Purchase Shares to
the Buyer under
this Agreement and (ii) any subsequent sale
of the Commitment Shares and any
Purchase Shares by the Buyer, in each case, under applicable
securities or "Blue
Sky" laws of the states of the United
States in such states as is reasonably
requested by the Buyer from time to time, and shall provide
evidence of any such
action so taken to the Buyer.
(c) Listing.
The Company shall promptly secure the listing of all
of
the Purchase Shares and Commitment Shares upon each national
securities exchange
and automated quotation system, if any, upon
which shares of Common Stock are
then listed (subject to official notice of issuance) up
to an amount that does
not exceed the Exchange Cap and shall maintain, so long
as any other shares of
Common Stock shall be so listed, such listing of all
such securities from time
to time issuable under the terms of
the Transaction Documents. The Company
shall maintain the Common Stock's authorization for
quotation on the Principal
Market. Neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries shall take any action
that would be reasonably expected to result in
the delisting or suspension of
the Common Stock on the Principal Market. The Company shall
promptly, and in no
event later than the following Business Day, provide to the
Buyer copies of any
notices it receives from the
Principal Market regarding the
continued
eligibility of the Common Stock for listing on such
automated quotation system
or securities exchange. The Company
shall pay all fees and expenses
in
connection with satisfying its
obligations under this Section.
(d)
Limitation on Short Sales and Hedging
Transactions. The Buyer
agrees that beginning on the date of this
Agreement and ending on the date of
termination of this Agreement as provided in
Section 11(k), the Buyer and its
agents, representatives and affiliates shall not in any
manner whatsoever enter
into or effect, directly or indirectly, any (i)
"short sale" (as such term is
defined in Section 242.200 of
Regulation SHO of the 1934 Act) of the Common
Stock or (ii) hedging transaction, which establishes a
net short position with
respect to the Common Stock.
-10-
<PAGE>
(e) Issuance
of Commitment Shares; Limitation on Sales of
Commitment
Shares. Immediately upon the
execution of this Agreement, the Company shall
issue to the Buyer as consideration for the Buyer
entering into this Agreement
86,933 shares of Common Stock (the "Initial Commitment
Shares"). In connection
with each purchase of Purchase Shares hereunder, the Company
agrees to issue to
the Buyer a number of shares of Common Stock (the "Additional
Commitment Shares"
and together with the Initial Commitment Shares, the
"Commitment Shares") equal
to the product of (x) 86,933 and (y) the Purchase Amount Fraction.
The "Purchase
Amount Fraction" shall mean a fraction, the numerator
of which is the Purchase
Amount purchased by the Buyer with respect to such
purchase of Purchase Shares
and the denominator of which is
Eight Million Dollars ($8,000,000). The
Additional Commitment Shares shall be equitably adjusted for any
reorganization,
recapitalization, non-cash dividend, stock split or
other similar transaction.
The Initial Commitment Shares shall be issued in certificated
form and (subject
to Section 5 hereof) shall bear
only the following restrictive legend:
THE SECURITIES
REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAVE
NOT BEEN
REGISTERED UNDER THE
SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR APPLICABLE
STATE SECURITIES LAWS. THE SECURITIES HAVE
BEEN ACQUIRED FOR INVESTMENT AND
MAY NOT BE OFFERED FOR SALE,
SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR ASSIGNED IN THE ABSENCE
OF AN EFFECTIVE
REGISTRATION STATEMENT FOR THE
SECURITIES UNDER THE
SECURITIES ACT OF 1933,
AS AMENDED, OR APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS,
UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT TO: (1) RULE
144 UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS
AMENDED, OR (2) AN OPINION OF
HOLDER'S COUNSEL, IN A CUSTOMARY FORM, THAT
REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER
SAID ACT OR APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES
LAWS.
The Buyer agrees that the
Buyer shall not transfer or sell the Commitment
Shares until the earlier of 500 Business Days (25 Monthly Periods)
from the date
hereof or the date on which
this Agreement has been terminated, provided,
however, that such restrictions shall
not apply: (i) in connection with any
transfers to or among affiliates (as defined in the 1934 Act), (ii)
in the event
that the Commencement does not occur on or before
October 1, 2009, due to the
failure of the Company to satisfy the conditions set forth in
Section 7 or (iii)
if an Event of Default has occurred, or any
event which, after notice and/or
lapse of time, would become an Event of Default,
including any failure by the
Company to timely issue Purchase Shares under this
Agreement. Notwithstanding
the forgoing, the Buyer may transfer Commitment Shares to a third
party in order
to settle a sale made by
the Buyer where the Buyer reasonably expects the
Company to deliver Purchase Shares to the Buyer under this
Agreement so long as
the Buyer maintains ownership of the same
overall number of shares of Common
Stock by "replacing" the Commitment Shares so
transferred with Purchase Shares
when the Purchase Shares are
actually issued by the Company to the Buyer.
(g) Due
Diligence. The Buyer shall have the right, from time to
time
as the Buyer may reasonably
deem appropriate, to perform reasonable
due
diligence on the Company during
normal business hours. The Company and its
officers and employees shall provide information and
reasonably cooperate with
the Buyer in connection with any reasonable request by the
Buyer related to the
Buyer's due diligence of the Company, including,
but not limited to, any such
request made by the Buyer in connection with (i) the filing
of the registration
statement described in Section 4(a)
hereof and (ii) the Commencement. Each
party hereto agrees not to disclose any
Confidential Information of the other
party to any third party and shall not use the Confidential
Information for any
purpose other than in connection with, or in
furtherance of, the transactions
contemplated hereby. Each party
hereto acknowledges that the
-11-
<PAGE>
Confidential Information shall remain the property of
the disclosing party and
agrees&nb