ASSET SALE AND TRANSITION
AGREEMENT
THIS ASSET SALE AND TRANSITION AGREEMENT
(“ Agreement ”), dated as of October 21, 2005
(the “ Effective Date ”), is entered into
between M-WAVE, INC. , a Delaware corporation
(“ M-Wave ”), and AMERICAN STANDARD
CIRCUITS, INC. , an Illinois Corporation (“
American Standard ”).
RECITALS :
M-Wave and
American Standard are parties to that certain Amended and Restated
Agreement for Strategic Operating Alliance, dated December 31, 2004
(“ SOA Agreement ”), pursuant to which, among
other things, M-Wave obtained orders for high performance circuit
boards for Radio Frequency (“ RF ”) and Digital
applications, and American Standard fulfilled such
orders;
M-Wave desires
to sell, and American Standard desires to purchase, all rights
related to that certain list of customers for the RF business (the
“ Customer List ”), attached hereto as
Exhibit A , in exchange for the consideration and covenants
set forth herein.
In connection
with the transactions contemplated hereby, American Standard
desires to appoint M-Wave as its exclusive representative through
December 31, 2006 with regard to those customers on the Customer
List.
In connection
with the transactions contemplated hereby, the parties wish to
terminate and extinguish certain agreements and reaffirm certain
obligations.
M-Wave is the
tenant under, and AMI Partners, LLC is the landlord under, that
certain Industrial Loft Lease (the “ Lease ”),
dated January 28, 2004, as amended, in respect of the second floor
of an industrial building located at 475 Industrial Way, West
Chicago, Illinois 60185 (the “ Leased Facility
”).
NOW, THEREFORE,
in consideration of the foregoing recitals and the mutual promises
and covenants herein set forth, the parties hereto agree as
follows:
1. Sale of Assets .
M-Wave hereby sells, conveys and transfers, and American Standard
hereby purchases, the Customer List for RF products, the Customers
on it and all of M-Wave’s right, title and interest in the
name “Poly Circuits” (but only to the extent any rights
therein exist) in exchange for the consideration and covenants set
forth herein; provided, however, M-Wave provides no representations
or warranties with respect to the name “Poly Circuits,”
including, without limitation, with regard to its availability,
suitability, general commercial use or value. In the event that
M-Wave or its present or past affiliates has registered the name
“Poly Circuits” with the United States or any state
agency as a trademark, it agrees to execute any and all documents
necessary to transfer the registration to American
Standard.
2. Consideration .
In consideration of the agreements and covenants set forth herein,
the parties hereto agree as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise
provided herein, the SOA Agreement shall be terminated in its
entirety and extinguished as of the Effective Date, and after the
Effective Date the parties thereto shall have no further liability
or obligation under the SOA Agreement to any other party
thereto;
(b) On the Effective Date,
American Standard shall issue the promissory note, attached hereto
as Exhibit B , in the principal amount of $205,000 (the
“Note”), to M-Wave. After termination of the
Representation Term (as defined below), and once all commissions
due under this Agreement have been paid, and as long as no Event of
Default (as defined in the Note) or Breach (as defined below) of
this Agreement has occurred, which Breach has not been cured within
30 days following written notice from M-Wave to American Standard
to do so, M-Wave shall forgive the unpaid balance due under the
Note, including all interest accrued thereon, and the Note shall be
cancelled. American Standard’s Breach for purposes of this
paragraph shall not constitute an Event of Default if M-Wave is in
material Breach under this Agreement.
(c) If M-Wave is in Breach of this Agreement, which
Breach has not been cured within 30 days, and as long as an Event
of Default has not occurred, and American Standard is not itself in
Breach of this Agreement, M-Wave shall forgive the unpaid balance
due under the Note, including all interest accrued thereon, and the
Note shall be cancelled. “ Breach ” shall mean
(i) with respect to M-Wave, any material breach by M-Wave of its
obligations set forth in Section 5 hereof, and (ii) with respect to
American Standard, the failure of American Standard to make any
payment with regard to any commissions due and owing to M-Wave as
provided in this Agreement.
(d) After the Effective
Date, American Standard shall purchase from M-Wave, at cost, any
inventory outstanding on the Effective Date, as more particularly
described on Exhibit C attached hereto, that is to be sold,
directly or indirectly, to those customers set forth on the
Customer List. The purchase price for each item of inventory
purchased pursuant to the Section 2(d) shall be paid within thirty
(30) business days following the date such item is delivered by
American Standard to its customer. American Standard shall use such
outstanding inventory to satisfy orders from customers set forth on
the Customer List whenever possible. Prior to any payment to M-Wave
for such inventory, M-Wave agrees to have any lien on such
inventory released by any party having a lien on it.
(e) American Standard shall
cause the Lease to be terminated and extinguished as of October 31,
2005, and after October 31, 2005 the parties thereto shall have no
further liability or obligation under the Lease to any other party
thereto; provided, however, M-Wave shall leave at the Leased
Premises, furniture and fixtures currently located at the Leased
Premises. M-Wave will be required to vacate the premises no later
than December 31, 2005. M-Wave will pay to American Standard the
amount of $7857.50 per month or a prorated amount of $258.33 for
every day of occupancy after October 31, 2005.
3. Appointment of
Representative . As of the Effective Date, and through December
31, 2006 (the “ Representation Term ”), American
Standard hereby appoints M-Wave as its exclusive sales
representative with regard to those customers set forth on the
Customer List, and M-Wave accepts the appointment and agrees to
sell and promote American Standard’s products to such
customers on the terms and conditions set forth herein.
4. Terms of
Representation . M-Wave’s representation of American
Standard, in accordance with Section 3 above, shall be subject to
the following terms and conditions:
(a) M-Wave shall receive a
commission on each sale of products by American Standard, with
regard to the Customers on the Customer List, whether sold through
M-Wave or directly by American Standard or any of its affiliates
(including affiliated persons), equal to the product of the
percentage rate, set forth opposite the applicable Customer’s
name on Exhibit A , multiplied by the “net invoice
price.” “ Net invoice price ” shall mean
the total price at which an order is invoiced to the customer
including any increase or decrease in the total amount of the order
(even though such increase or decrease takes place after the end of
the Representation Term), but excluding shipping and mailing costs,
taxes, insurance, COD charges, NRE, Tooling Charges, Testing,
returned products for any reason and any commercially reasonable
allowances or discounts granted to such customer by American
Standard, consistent with historical practice.
(b) Commissions are due and
payable the first week of the month following thirty (30) days
after shipment of the respective products. On a monthly basis,
American Standard will send M-Wave a detailed commission statement
showing the computation of all commissions earned. If the customer
fails to pay American Standard within 90 days following the invoice
date (a “Delinquent Account”), then the current
commission payment due to M-Wave will be debited for commissions
paid with respect to the Delinquent Account; provided, however,
M-Wave’s commission account shall be credited to the extent
any payments on any such Delinquent Account(s) are ultimately
received, and American Standard shall use commercially reasonably
efforts to collect any Delinquent Account, and provided, further,
the commissions otherwise due on products shipped during the last
90 days of this Agreement shall be paid on said monthly basis
following the month in which said invoices are paid by the
customer.
(c) M-Wave will coordinate
all RFQ’s with American Standard’s sales department.
All purchase orders are subject to acceptance or rejection by an
authorized officer of American Standard and to the approval of
American Standard’s credit department. American Standard
shall be solely responsible for all credit risks and collections.
If American Standard notifies any customer set forth on the
Customer List in writing of its acceptance or rejection of a
purchase order, a copy of such written notification shall be
simultaneously transmitted to M-Wave. At least once every month,
American Standard shall supply M-Wave with copies of all paid
invoices and each of the customer purchase orders for the current
month.
(d) All sales shall be at
prices and upon terms established by American Standard and it shall
have the right, in its sole discretion, from time to time, to
establish, change, alter, or amend prices and other terms and
conditions of sale. M-Wave shall not accept orders in American
Standard’s name or make price quotations or delivery promises
without American Standard’s prior approval.
Limitation Upon Representation
. During the Representation Term,
M-Wave shall not provide representation on behalf of a Competing
Supplier to any customer set forth on the Customer List for which
American Standard continues to actively supply RF products. A
“ Competing Supplier ” means any other domestic
or foreign supplier of RF products similar to those RF products
manufactured by American Standard and actively sold to customers
set forth on the Customer List.
In the event that M-Wave receives orders and/or
quotations for RF Products from prior RF Customers who are not
on the Customer List it shall refer all such orders and/or
quotations to American Standard. In the event that M-Wave
receives orders and/or quotations for RF products from Digital
Customers it will provide American Standard with a
“first right of refusal” on these product
requests. ASC will be a supplier to M-Wave in this situation
provided they are competitive.
M-Wave shall
not directly or indirectly for itself or any third party engage in
the business of manufacturing RF products during the term of this
Agreement and any extensions of it.
5. Accounts
Receivable . All accounts receivable outstanding in connection
with products shipped on or prior to the Effective Date shall
remain the sole and exclusive property of M-Wave. Any accounts
receivable created in connection with customer purchase orders
shipped after the Effective Date shall be the sole and exclusive
property of American Standard. Any payment received by M-Wave for
products shipped after the Effective Date to customers on the
Customer List shall be remitted directly to American Standard
within two (2) days after M-Wave’s receipt of each such
payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein,
M-Wave shall have the right to retain, and to offset, any payments
received by it on behalf of American Standard to the extent of any
commissions that have been earned, but which have not yet been
paid.
6. Transition
Assistance . Following the Effective Date, and with respect to
those customers on the Customer List, M-Wave shall provide
commercially reasonable assistance in the transition of customer
information and customer relations, including the conversion of all
open purchase orders and sharing of pricing information and
notifying customers that American Standard is the party
manufacturing and selling the product for the Customer in lieu of
M-Wave.
7. Packaging and
Labeling . American Standard will package and include Labels,
at its own expense, on or with all of its products and packaging as
required. As used herein, “ Label(s) ” shall
mean all (a) labels and other written, printed or graphic matter
placed upon any products, (b) containers and/or wrappers used with
the products including, without limitation, product inserts which
bear the trademarks or trade dress of American Standard, and (c)
other matters designated in any purchase orders, by any customer or
on approved prototypes/samples.
8. Shipments .
American Standard shall ship all products to customers, at its own
expense, in accordance with the applicable requirements specified
in each relevant purchase order.
9. Customer
Complaints . As of and following the Effective Date, American
Standard shall handle all customer complaints, Return Material
Authorizations and technical problems relating to products shipped
to customers; provided however, during the Representation Term,
American Standard may request that M-Wave provide a reasonable
level of additional customer service or logistical coordination in
connection with any customer complaints or technical problems
relating to products sold to customers listed on the Customer List
and shipped prior to the Effective Date. M-Wave will have no
liability, and shall incur no additional cost, in providing any of
the foregoing limited customer support.
(a) Engineering .
M-Wave will pay American Standard $50 per hour for engineering
services requested by M-Wave and provided by American Standard
employees.
(b) Digital Product
Procurement . M-Wave shall provide American Standard with a
“first right of refusal” on all Digital product
requests for quotes whereby, prior to ordering any Digital
product(s) from any other domestic supplier, M-Wave shall provide
American Standard an opportunity to see the pricing and material
terms of other bids (but not the name of such supplier(s)) and make
a competitive offer with regard to such products.
12. M-Wave Options .
M-Wave has previously granted Gordhan Patel (“ Patel
”) options to purchase 104,167 shares of M-Wave’s
common stock (the “ Options ”) at an exercise
price of $1.35 per share for a term of four (4) years from the date
of the SOA Agreement. The Options were fully vested as of December
31, 2004 and shall remain exercisable in full in accordance with
the terms hereof; provided that Patel shall not exercise any
portion thereof prior to December 31, 2007 until M-Wave has filed
the appropriate S-8 registration statement.
13. Intellectual
Property . Unless specifically and expressly granted herein and
notwithstanding a party’s use thereof, no license or rights
under either party’s intellectual property rights including,
without limitation, copyrights, trademarks, trade names, trade
secrets, patent or any other proprietary rights issued, honored
and/or enforceable under any applicable laws, are implied or
granted in this Agreement. Except as otherwise provided herein,
each Party shall retain full ownership of all of its intellectual
property. M-Wave hereby grants to American Standard, for the life
of the patents, a royalty-free, non-exclusive license with regard
to any patents held by M-Wave on the Effective Date that are
required to be used by American Standard in its production of RF
products.
(a) American Standard
represents and warrants that it currently has all material licenses
and permits necessary for the operation of its business as
currently conducted.
(b) American Standard will
be responsible for any reporting of matters regarding the
manufacture or products, as applicable, to relevant regulatory
authorities, in accordance with pertinent laws and regulations and
shall notify M-Wave of any occurrence or information that arises
out of its manufacturing activities that has adverse regulatory
compliance and/or reporting consequences concerning a
product.
(c) American Standard shall
be responsible for handling and responding to any governmental
agency inspections with respect to manufacturing of products and
shall provide to M-Wave copies of any information requested by any
governmental agency in connection with any governmental inspection
related to the products.
15. Product Warranty
. M-Wave will continue to honor its product warranty obligations to
those customers set forth on the Customer List for products shipped
prior to the Effective Date; provided, however, that American
Standard will bear all costs of repairing any defective product,
any products that were determined not to be in accordance with the
applicable specifications, and any shortages in shipments of
products. M-Wave’s obligation under this Section 15 are
subject to and conditioned upon American Standard’s
compliance with its obligations under this Section 15
hereof.
(a) During the
Representation Term and for a period of one year thereafter, each
party shall keep complete and accurate accounts, notes, data and
records of all work performed in connection with purchase orders
received during the Representation Term from customers on the
Customer List and of all work performed under the SOA Agreement
(collectively, the “ Records ”). American
Standard shall maintain complete and adequate records pertaining to
the methods and facilities used by it for the manufacture,
processing, testing, packing, labeling, pricing and distribution of
the products in accordance with the applicable regulations in the
United States and other countries, if applicable.
(b) During the
Representation Term and for a period of one year thereafter, each
party shall be permitted, at the expense of the requesting party,
to audit and make copies of the Records of the other party to
verify the proper allocation and payment of revenue and expenses
under this Agreement or the SOA Agreement. Any Confidential
Information (as defined below) provided pursuant to this Section
shall be subject to the provisions of Section 17 below, provided
that a party may disclose such Confidential Information to its
advisors and attorneys, as necessary to complete the audit
described in this Section. Each audit will be conducted only during
normal business hours of the audited party.
(a) Each party acknowledges
that any and all Confidential Information disclosed (at any time)
or submitted by one party (the “ Disclosing Party
”) to the other (the “ Receiving Party ”)
hereunder, including under Section 16 hereof, or previously
provided under the SOA Agreement or otherwise, (i) shall be
received and maintained by the Receiving Party with at least the
same degree of care to avoid disclosure of such Confidential
Information as it uses with respect to its own Confidential
Information, and (ii) shall not be used for any purposes other than
those expressly permitted under this Agreement and shall not be
disclosed to any third party without the prior written consent of
the Disclosing Party.
(b) For the purposes of this
Agreement, “ Confidential Information ” shall
mean any information or material that is special, unique,
proprietary, or gives such party or its affiliates a competitive
advantage and/or enhances such party’s or its affiliates'
goodwill, whether such information or material is designated
“confidential” or not, and whether such information or
material is written or oral, or obtained by viewing such
party’s premises, data or files, including, but not limited
to, formulae or revisions thereto, processes and methods, business
plans, financial data, customers, product development plans,
marketing plans or strategies, distributor or representative lists,
manufacturing methodologies, and research data, except to the
extent that it can be established by the Receiving Party by
competent proof that such Confidential Information: (i) was already
known to the Receiving Party, other than under an obligation of
confidentiality, at the time of disclosure by the Disclosing
Party;
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