Exhibit 10.12
STOCK OPTION
PLAN
BLACKHAWK CAPITAL GROUP BDC,
INC.
1.
Purpose of the Plan
The purpose of this Stock Option Plan (this
"Plan") is to advance the interests of Blackhawk Capital Group BDC,
Inc. (the "Company") by providing to directors and officers of the
Company and to other key employees of the Company who have
substantial responsibility for the direction and management of the
Company additional incentives to exert their best efforts on behalf
of the Company, to increase their proprietary interest in the
success of the Company, to reward outstanding performance and to
provide a means to attract and retain persons of outstanding
ability to the service of the Company. Options granted
under this Plan may qualify as incentive stock options ("ISOs"), as
defined in Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended (the "Code").
2.
Administration
This Plan shall be administered by a committee
(the "Committee") comprised of at least two (2) members of the
Company's Board of Directors who each shall be (a) a "non-employee
director," as defined in Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, unless administration
of the Plan by "non-employee directors" is not then required for
exemptions under Rule 16b-3 to apply to transactions under the
Plan, (b) not an "interested person," as defined in Section
2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the
"Act"), and (c) an "outside director" as defined under Section
162(m) of the Code, unless the action taken pursuant to the Plan is
not required to be taken by "outside directors" to qualify for tax
deductibility under Section 162(m) of the Code. The
Committee shall interpret this Plan and, to the extent and in the
manner contemplated herein, shall exercise the discretion reserved
to it hereunder. The Committee may prescribe, amend and
rescind rules and regulations relating to this Plan and to make all
other determinations necessary for its
administration. The decision of the Committee on any
interpretation of this Plan or administration hereof, if in
compliance with the provisions of the Act and regulations
promulgated thereunder, shall be final and binding with respect to
the Company, any optionee or any person claiming to have rights, as
or on behalf of any optionee. Each issuance of options
to directors, officers and other employees of the Company will be
approved by a required majority, as defined in Section 57(o) of the
Act, of the Board of Directors on the basis that such issuance is
in the best interests of the Company and its
stockholders.
3.
Shares Subject to the Plan
The shares subject to option and the other
provisions of this Plan shall be shares of the Company's common
stock, par value $0.00001 per share (the
"shares"). Subject to the provisions hereof concerning
adjustment, the total number of shares that may be purchased upon
the exercise or surrender of stock options granted under this Plan
shall not exceed 3,000,000 shares, 2,500,000 of which shall be
ISOs, which includes all shares with respect to which options have
been granted or surrendered for payment in cash or other
consideration pursuant to this Plan. In the event any
option shall cease to be exercisable in whole or in part for any
reason, the shares which were covered by such option, but as to
which the option had not been exercised, shall again be available
under this Plan. Shares may be made available from
authorized, unissued or reacquired stock or partly from
each.
4.
Participants
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Directors,
Officers and Key Employees . The Committee shall determine and
designate from time to time those directors, officers and key
employees of the Company who shall be eligible to participate in
this Plan. The Committee shall also determine the number
of shares to be offered from time to time to each
optionee. In making these determinations, the Committee
shall take into account the past service of each such director,
officer or key employee to the Company, the present and potential
contributions of such person to the success of the Company and such
other factors as the Committee shall deem relevant in connection
with accomplishing the purposes of this Plan; provided that the
Committee shall determine that each grant of options to an
optionee, the number of shares offered thereby and the terms of
such option are in the best interests of the Company and its
stockholders. The date on which the Committee approves
the grant of any option to any such person shall be the date of
issuance of such option. The agreement documenting the
award of any option granted pursuant to this paragraph 4(a) shall
contain such terms and conditions as the Committee shall deem
advisable, including but not limited to being exercisable only in
such installments as the Committee may determine.
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Non-Employee
Directors . Non-employee directors will be
eligible to participate in the Plan upon issuance of an order by
the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section
61(a)(3)(B)(i)(II) of the Act and then only in accordance with the
terms and conditions of such order.
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Option
Agreements . Agreements evidencing options
granted to different optionees or at different times need not
contain similar provisions. Options that are intended to
be ISOs will be designated as such; any option not so designated
will be treated as a nonqualified stock option.
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5.
Option Price
Each option agreement shall state the price at
which the subject option may be exercised, which shall not be less
than the current fair market value of the shares at the date of
issuance of an option, which shall be determined by the Committee;
provided, that the exercise price of any option what is intended to
be an ISO and that is granted to a holder of 10% or more of the
Company's shares shall not be less than 110% of such current fair
market value.
6.
Option Period
Each option agreement shall state the period or
periods of time within which the subject option may be exercised,
in whole or in part, by the optionee as may be determined by the
Committee; provided, that the option period shall not exceed ten
years from the date of issuance of the option and, in the case of
an option that is intended to be an ISO and that is granted to a
holder of 10% or more of the Company's shares, shall not exceed
five years.
7.
Payment for Shares
Full payment for shares purchased shall be made
at the time of exercising the option in whole or in
part. Payment of the purchase price shall be made in
cash (including check, bank draft or money order).
8.
Transferability of Options
Options shall not be transferable other than by
will, intestacy, or as otherwise permitted by the Act, provided
that a transfer will not be permitted to the extent that it would
result in adverse tax consequences for the optionee under Section
83 or Section 422 of the Code.
9.
Termination of Options
The period during which an option may be
exercisable following a termination of service generally may not
exceed three months, unless (i) employment is terminated for cause,
in which case options are forfeited; (ii) employment is terminated
as the result of disability, in which case in the discretion of the
Committee the incentive stock options may be exercised during a
period of one year following the date of such disability, or (iii)
employment is terminated as the result of death, or if the employee
dies following a termination of service (other than as a result of
disability) and during the period that the incentive stock option
is still exercisable, in which case in the discretion of the
Committee the incentive stock option may be exercised during a
period of one year following the date of such death. In
no event, however, may an incentive stock option be exercised after
the expiration of its original term.
10.
Adjustments on Changes in Capitalization
(a) For
nonqualified stock options, on a stock split (including a reverse
stock split) or stock dividend in which the only effect is to
increase or decrease on a pro-rata basis the number of shares
subject to the nonqualified stock option, the Committee may, in its
exclusive discretion, proportionally adjust the exercise price and
numbers of shares subject to the nonqualified stock
option.
(b) For
incentive stock options, if any combination, consolidation, forward
or reverse split, merger, reorganization, repurchase, spin-off, or
exchange of stock, stock dividend or other special and nonrecurring
dividend or distribution (whether in cash, securities or other
property), liquidation, dissolution, or other transaction, affects
the Common Stock such that an adjustment is appropriate to prevent
dilution o
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