Exhibit
4.5
INVESTOR REGISTRATION
RIGHTS AGREEMENT
THIS INVESTOR REGISTRATION RIGHTS
AGREEMENT (this
“ Agreement ”), dated as of January 5, 2006, by
and among IGNIS PETROLEUM GROUP, INC., a Nevada
corporation (the “ Company ”), and the
undersigned investors listed on Schedule I attached hereto (each,
an “ Investor ” and collectively, the “
Investors ”).
A. In
connection with the Securities Purchase Agreement by and among the
parties hereto of even date herewith (the “
Securities Purchase Agreement ”), the Company has
agreed, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the
Securities Purchase Agreement, to issue and sell to the Investors
secured convertible debentures (the “ Convertible
Debentures ”) which shall be convertible into shares of
the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the
“ Common Stock ”), pursuant to the terms of the
Securities Purchase Agreement for an aggregate purchase price of up
to Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000). Capitalized terms not defined
herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Securities
Purchase Agreement.
B. To induce
the Investors to execute and deliver the Securities Purchase
Agreement, the Company has agreed to provide certain registration
rights under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules
and regulations there under, or any similar successor statute
(collectively, the “ Securities Act ”), and
applicable state securities laws.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual
covenants contained herein and other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby
acknowledged, the Company and the Investors hereby agree as
follows:
As used in this Agreement, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
(a) “
Person ” means a corporation, a limited liability
company, an association, a partnership, an organization, a
business, an individual, a governmental or political subdivision
thereof or a governmental agency.
(b) “
Register ,” “ registered ,” and
“ registration ” refer to a registration
effected by preparing and filing one or more Registration
Statements (as defined below) in compliance with the Securities Act
and pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act or any successor
rule providing for offering securities on a continuous or delayed
basis (“ Rule 415 ”), and the declaration or
ordering of effectiveness of such Registration Statement(s) by the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “
SEC ”).
(c) “
Registrable Securities ” means the shares of Common
Stock issuable to the Investors upon conversion of the Convertible
Debentures pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement and the
Warrant Shares, as these terms are defined in the Securities
Purchase Agreement.
(d) “
Registration Statement ” means a registration
statement under the Securities Act which covers the Registrable
Securities.
(a) Subject to
the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Company shall
prepare and file, no later than thirty (30) days from the date
hereof (the “ Scheduled Filing Deadline ”), with
the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 or SB-2 (or, if the
Company is then eligible, on Form S-3) under the Securities Act
(the “ Initial Registration Statement ”) for the
resale by the Investors of the Registrable Securities, which
includes at least 30,000,000 shares of Common Stock to be issued
upon conversion of the Convertible Debentures and 5,774,592 shares
of Common Stock to be issued upon exercise of the Warrants of even
date herewith. The Company shall cause the Registration Statement
to remain effective until all of the Registrable Securities have
been sold or are eligible to be sold under Rule 144(k). Prior to
the filing of the Registration Statement with the SEC, the Company
shall furnish a copy of the Initial Registration Statement to the
Investors for their review and comment. The Investors shall furnish
comments on the Initial Registration Statement to the Company
within twenty-four (24) hours of the receipt thereof from the
Company.
(b)
Effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement . The
Company shall use its best efforts (i) to have the Initial
Registration Statement declared effective by the SEC no later than
one hundred twenty (120) days after the date filed (the “
Scheduled Effective Deadline ”) and (ii) to insure
that the Initial Registration Statement and any subsequent
Registration Statement remains in effect until all of the
Registrable Securities have been sold or are eligible to be sold
under Rule 144(k), subject to the terms and conditions of this
Agreement. It shall be an event of default hereunder if the Initial
Registration Statement is not filed by the Scheduled Filing
Deadline or declared effective by the SEC by the Scheduled
Effective Deadline.
(c) Failure
to File or Obtain Effectiveness of the Registration Statement .
In the event the Registration Statement is not filed by the
Scheduled Filing Deadline or is not declared effective by the SEC
on or before the Scheduled Effective Deadline, or if after the
Registration Statement has been declared effective by the SEC,
sales cannot be made pursuant to the Registration Statement
(whether because of a failure to keep the Registration Statement
effective, failure to disclose such information as is necessary for
sales to be made pursuant to the Registration Statement, failure to
register sufficient shares of Common Stock or otherwise) then as
partial relief for the damages to any holder of Registrable
Securities by reason of any such delay in or reduction of its
ability to sell the underlying shares of Common Stock (which remedy
shall not be exclusive of any other remedies at law or in equity),
the Company will pay as liquidated damages (the “
Liquidated Damages ”) to the holder, at the
holder’s option, either a cash amount or restricted shares of
the Company’s Common Stock within three (3) business days,
after demand therefore, equal to two percent (2%) of the liquidated
value of the Convertible Debentures outstanding as Liquidated
Damages for each thirty (30) day period after the Scheduled Filing
Deadline or the Scheduled Effective Date as the case may
be.
(d)
Liquidated Damages . The Company and the Investor hereto
acknowledge and agree that the sums payable under subsection 2(c)
above shall constitute liquidated damages and not penalties and are
in addition to all other rights of the Investor, including the
right to call a default. The parties further acknowledge that (i)
the amount of loss or damages likely to be incurred is incapable or
is difficult to precisely estimate, (ii) the amounts specified in
such subsections bear a reasonable relationship to, and are not
plainly or grossly disproportionate to, the probable loss likely to
be incurred in connection with any failure by the Company to obtain
or maintain the effectiveness of a Registration Statement, (iii)
one of the reasons for the Company and the Investor reaching an
agreement as to such amounts was the uncertainty and cost of
litigation regarding the question of actual damages, and (iv) the
Company and the Investor are sophisticated business parties and
have been represented by sophisticated and able legal counsel and
negotiated this Agreement at arm’s length.
(a) Company
shall keep the Registration Statement effective pursuant to Rule
415 at all times until the earlier of (i) the date on which the
Investor shall have sold all the Registrable Securities covered by
such Registration Statement, which Registration Statement
(including any amendments or supplements thereto and prospectuses
contained therein) shall not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be
stated therein, or necessary to make the statements therein, in
light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading;
or (ii) all Registrable Securities can be sold pursuant to Rule
144(k) (the “ Registration Period ”).
(b) The Company
shall prepare and file with the SEC such amendments (including
post-effective amendments) and supplements to a Registration
Statement and the prospectus used in connection with such
Registration Statement, which prospectus is to be filed pursuant to
Rule 424 promulgated under the Securities Act, as may be necessary
to keep such Registration Statement effective at all times during
the Registration Period, and, during such period, comply with the
provisions of the Securities Act with respect to the disposition of
all Registrable Securities of the Company covered by such
Registration Statement until such time as all of such Registrable
Securities shall have been disposed of in accordance with the
intended methods of disposition by the seller or sellers thereof as
set forth in such Registration Statement. In the case of amendments
and supplements to a Registration Statement which are required to
be filed pursuant to this Agreement (including pursuant to this
Section 3(b)) by reason of the Company’s filing a report on
Form 10-KSB, Form 10-QSB or Form 8-K or any analogous report under
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “
Exchange Act ”), the Company shall incorporate such
report by reference into the Registration Statement, if applicable,
or shall file such amendments or supplements with the SEC within
two days of the date on which the Exchange Act report is filed
which created the requirement for the Company to amend or
supplement the Registration Statement.
(c) The Company
shall furnish to each Investor whose Registrable Securities are
included in any Registration Statement, without charge, (i) at
least one (1) copy of such Registration Statement as declared
effective by the SEC and any amendment(s) thereto, including
financial statements and schedules, all documents incorporated
therein by reference, all exhibits and each preliminary prospectus,
(ii) ten (10) copies of the final prospectus included in such
Registration Statement and all amendments and supplements thereto
(or such other number of copies as such Investor may reasonably
request) and (iii) such other documents as such Investor may
reasonably request from time to time in order to facilitate the
disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by such
Investor.
(d) The Company
shall use its best efforts to (i) register and qualify the
Registrable Securities covered by a Registration Statement under
such other securities or “blue sky” laws of such
jurisdictions in the United States as any Investor reasonably
requests, (ii) prepare and file in those jurisdictions, such
amendments (including post-effective amendments) and supplements to
such registrations and qualifications as may be necessary to
maintain the effectiveness thereof during the Registration Period,
(iii) take such other actions as may be necessary to maintain such
registrations and qualifications in effect at all times during the
Registration Period, and (iv) take all other actions reasonably
necessary or advisable to qualify the Registrable Securities for
sale in such jurisdictions; provided, however, that the Company
shall not be required in connection therewith or as a condition
thereto to (w) make any change to its articles of incorporation or
by-laws, (x) qualify to do business in any jurisdiction where it
would not otherwise be required to qualify but for this Section
3(d), (y) subject itself to general taxation in any such
jurisdiction, or (z) file a general consent to service of process
in any such jurisdiction. The Company shall promptly notify each
Investor who holds Registrable Securities of the receipt by the
Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the
registration or qualification of any of the Registrable Securities
for sale under the securities or “blue sky” laws of any
jurisdiction in the United States or its receipt of actual notice
of the initiation or threat of any proceeding for such
purpose.
(e) As promptly
as practicable after becoming aware of such event or development,
the Company shall notify each Investor in writing of the happening
of any event as a result of which the prospectus included in a
Registration Statement, as then in effect, includes an untrue
statement of a material fact or omission to state a material fact
required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements
therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading (provided that in no event shall such notice contain
any material, nonpublic information), and promptly prepare a
supplement or amendment to such Registration Statement to correct
such untrue statement or omission, and deliver ten (10) copies of
such supplement or amendment to each Investor. The Company shall
also promptly notify each Investor in writing (i) when a prospectus
or any prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment has been
filed, and when a Registration Statement or any post-effective
amendment has become effective (notification of such effectiveness
shall be delivered to each Investor by facsimile on the same day of
such effectiveness), (ii) of any request by the SEC for amendments
or supplements to a Registration Statement or related prospectus or
related information, and (iii) of the Company’s reasonable
determination that a post-effective amendment to a Registration
Statement would be appropriate.
(f) The Company
shall use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop
order or other suspension of effectiveness of a Registration
Statement, or the suspension of the qualification of any of the
Registrable Securities for sale in any jurisdiction within the
United States of America and, if such an order or suspension is
issued, to obtain the withdrawal of such order or suspension at the
earliest possible moment and to notify each Investor who holds
Registrable Securities being sold of the issuance of such order and
the resolution thereof or its receipt of actual notice of the
initiation or threat of any proceeding for such purpose.
(g) The Company
shall make available for inspection by (i) any Investor and (ii)
one (1) firm of accountants or other agents retained by the
Investors (collectively, the “ Inspectors ”) all
pertinent financial and other records, and pertinent corporate
documents and properties of the Company (collectively, the “
Records ”), as shall be reasonably deemed necessary by
each Inspector, and cause the Company’s officers, directors
and employees to supply all information which any Inspector may
reasonably request; provided, however, that each Inspector shall
agree, and each Investor hereby agrees, to hold in strict
confidence and shall not make any disclosure (except to an
Investor) or use any Record or other information which the Company
determines in good faith to be confidential, and of which
determination the Inspectors are so notified, unless (a) the
disclosure of such Records is necessary to avoid or correct a
misstatement or omission in any Registration Statement or is
otherwise required under the Securities Act, (b) the release of
such Records is ordered pursuant to a final, non-appealable
subpoena or order from a court or government body of competent
jurisdiction, or (c) the information in such Records has been made
generally available to the public other than by disclosure in
violation of this or any other agreement of which the Inspector and
the Investor has knowledge. Each Investor agrees that it shall,
upon learning that disclosure of such Records is sought in or by a
court or governmental body of competent jurisdiction or through
other means, give prompt notice to the Company and allow the
Company, at its expense, to undertake appropriate action to prevent
disclosure of, or to obtain a protective order for, the Records
deemed confidential.
(h) The Company
shall hold in confidence and not make any disclosure of information
concerning an Investor provided to the Company unless (i)
disclosure of such information is necessary to comply with federal
or state securities laws, (ii) the disclosure of such information
is necessary to avoid or correct a misstatement or omission in any
Registration Statement, (iii) the release of such information is
ordered pursuant to a subpoena or other final, non-appealable order
from a court or governmental body of competent jurisdiction, or
(iv) such information has been made generally available to the
public other than by disclosure in violation of this Agreement or
any other agreement. The Company agrees that it shall, upon
learning that disclosure of such information concerning an Investor
is sought in or by a court or governmental body of competent
jurisdiction or through other means, give prompt written notice to
such Investor and allow such Investor, at the Investor’s
expense, to undertake appropriate action to prevent disclosure of,
or to obtain a protective order for, such information.
(i) The Company
shall use its best efforts either to cause all the Registrable
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