Underwriting Agreement, dated August 2, 2023, by and among the Company and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Cowen and Company, LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein

EX-1.1 2 ea182841ex1-1_vicarious.htm UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT, DATED AUGUST 2, 2023, BY AND AMONG THE COMPANY AND MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC AND COWEN AND COMPANY, LLC, AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SEVERAL UNDERWRITERS NAMED THEREIN

Exhibit 1.1

 

$45,000,000 OF SHARES OF


Vicarious Surgical Inc.

Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share





UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

 

 

 

 

 

August 2, 2023

 

 

August 2, 2023

 

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
Cowen and Company, LLC

 

c/o	Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC 1585 Broadway New York, New York 10036

 

c/o	Cowen and Company, LLC 599 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Vicarious Surgical Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes to issue and sell to the several Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”) $45,000,000 of shares of its Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Firm Shares”). The Company also proposes to issue and sell to the several Underwriters not more than an additional $6,750,000 of shares of its Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Additional Shares”) if and to the extent that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) and Cowen and Company, LLC, as representatives of the offering (the “Representatives”), shall have determined to exercise, on behalf of the Underwriters, the right to purchase such shares of common stock granted to the Underwriters in Section ‎2 hereof. The Firm Shares and the Additional Shares are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Shares.” The shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share of the Company to be outstanding after giving effect to the sales contemplated hereby are hereinafter referred to as the “Common Stock.”

 

The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-267785), including a preliminary prospectus, relating to the Shares. The registration statement as amended at the time it becomes effective, including the information (if any) deemed to be part of the registration statement at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), is hereinafter referred to as the “Registration Statement”; the prospectus in the form first used to confirm sales of Shares (or in the form first made available to the Underwriters by the Company to meet requests of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173 under the Securities Act) is hereinafter referred to as the “Prospectus.” If the Company has filed an abbreviated registration statement to register additional shares of Common Stock pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act (a “Rule 462 Registration Statement”), then any reference herein to the term “Registration Statement” shall be deemed to include such Rule 462 Registration Statement.

 

For purposes of this Agreement, “free writing prospectus” has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, “preliminary prospectus” shall mean each prospectus used prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and each prospectus that omitted information pursuant to Rule 430B under the Securities Act that was used after such effectiveness and prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, and “Time of Sale Prospectus” means the preliminary prospectus contained in the Registration Statement at the time of its effectiveness together with the documents and pricing information set forth in Schedule II hereto. As used herein, the terms “Registration Statement,” “preliminary prospectus,” “Time of Sale Prospectus” and “Prospectus” shall include the documents, if any, incorporated by reference therein as of the date hereof. The terms “supplement,” “amendment” and “amend” as used herein with respect to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus shall include all documents subsequently filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that are deemed to be incorporated by reference therein. The term “Time of Sale” means 8:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 2, 2023.

 

 

1. Representations and Warranties. The Company represents and warrants to and agrees with each of the Underwriters that, as of the date hereof, the Time of Sale and as of the Closing Date:

 

(a) The Registration Statement has become effective; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement is in effect, and no proceedings for such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act are pending before or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission.

 

(b) (i) Each document, if any, filed or to be filed pursuant to the Exchange Act and incorporated by reference in the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus complied or will comply when so filed in all material respects with the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, (ii) the Registration Statement, when it became effective, did not contain and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, will 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 not misleading, (iii) the Registration Statement and the Prospectus comply and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, (iv) the Time of Sale Prospectus does not, and at the time of each sale of the Shares in connection with the offering when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers and at the Closing Date (as defined in Section ‎4), the Time of Sale Prospectus, as then amended or supplemented by the Company, if applicable, will not, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, (v) each road show, if any, when considered together with the Time of Sale Prospectus, does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading and (vi) the Prospectus does not contain and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, except that the representations and warranties set forth in this paragraph do not apply to statements or omissions in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the Underwriter Information (as defined in Section 8(b) herein).

 

(c) The Company is an “ineligible issuer” in connection with the offering pursuant to Rules 164, 405 and 433 under the Securities Act. The Company has not prepared, used or referred to, and will not prepare, use or refer to, any free writing prospectus.

 

(d) The Company has been duly incorporated, is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, has the corporate power and authority to own or lease its property and to conduct its business as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus and is duly qualified to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which the conduct of its business or its ownership or leasing of property requires such qualification, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

 

(e) Each subsidiary of the Company has been duly incorporated, organized or formed, is validly existing as a corporation or other business entity in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, organization or formation, has the corporate or other business entity power and authority to own or lease its property and to conduct its business as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus and is duly qualified to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which the conduct of its business or its ownership or leasing of property requires such qualification, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole; all of the issued shares of capital stock or other equity interests of each subsidiary of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims.

 

(f) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.

 

(g) The authorized capital stock of the Company conforms in all material respects as to legal matters to the description thereof contained in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(h) The shares of Common Stock outstanding prior to the issuance of the Shares have been duly authorized and are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

(i) The Shares have been duly authorized and, when issued, delivered and paid for in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, and the issuance of the Shares will not be subject to any preemptive or similar rights.

 

(j) The execution and delivery by the Company of, and the performance by the Company of its obligations under, this Agreement will not contravene (i) any provision of applicable law, (ii) the certificate of incorporation or by-laws of the Company, (iii) any agreement or other instrument binding upon the Company or any of its subsidiaries that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (iv) any judgment, order or decree of any governmental body, agency or court having jurisdiction over the Company or any subsidiary, except in the case of clauses (iii) and (iv), as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company or its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, and no consent, approval, authorization or order of, or qualification with, any governmental body, agency or court is required for the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement, except such as have been obtained or validly waived by us or as may be required by the securities or Blue Sky laws of the various states or the rules and regulations of The New York Stock Exchange in connection with the offer and sale of the Shares.

 

(k) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is (i) in violation of its certificate of incorporation, by-laws or similar organizational document, (ii) in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement, note, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which it or any of them may be bound or to which any of the properties or assets of the Company or any subsidiary is subject, except for such defaults that would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (iii) in violation of any law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any arbitrator, court, governmental body, regulatory body, administrative agency or other authority, body or agency having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties, assets or operations.

 

(l) There has not occurred any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business, operations or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole (a “material adverse effect”), from that set forth in the Time of Sale Prospectus.

 

 

(m) There are no legal or governmental proceedings (i) pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or to which any of the properties of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject other than proceedings accurately described in all material respects in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus and proceedings that would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or on the power or ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated by each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus or (ii) that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus and are not so described in all material respects; and there are no statutes, regulations, contracts or other documents that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus or to be filed or incorporated by reference as exhibits to the Registration Statement that are not described in all material respects or filed or incorporated by reference as required.

 

(n) Each preliminary prospectus filed as part of the Registration Statement as originally filed or as part of any amendment thereto, or filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act, complied when so filed in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

 

(o) The Company is not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus will not be, required to register as an “investment company” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

(p) Neither the Company nor any affiliate of the Company has taken, nor will the Company or any affiliate take, directly or indirectly, any action which is designed, or would reasonably be expected, to cause or result in, or which constitutes, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Common Stock or to result in a violation of Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

(q) The Company and each of 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 such noncompliance with Environmental Laws, failure to receive required permits, licenses or other approvals or failure to comply with the terms and conditions of such permits, licenses or approvals would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

(r) There are no costs or liabilities associated with Environmental Laws (including, without limitation, any capital or operating expenditures required for clean-up, closure of properties or compliance with Environmental Laws or any permit, license or approval, any related constraints on operating activities and any potential liabilities to third parties) which would, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

(s) There are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any securities of the Company or to require the Company to include such securities with the Shares registered pursuant to the Registration Statement, except as otherwise have been validly waived in connection with the issuance and sale of the Shares contemplated hereby and as described in the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

 

(t) (i) None of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, or any director, officer or employee thereof, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any agent or representative of the Company or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, has taken or will take any action in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization or approval of the payment, giving or receipt of money, property, gifts or anything else of value, directly or indirectly, to any government official (including any officer or employee of a government or government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, or any political party or party official or candidate for political office) (“Government Official”) in order to influence official action, or to any person in violation of any applicable anti-corruption laws; (ii) the Company and each of its subsidiaries and affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with applicable anti-corruption laws and have instituted and maintained and will continue to maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote and achieve compliance with such laws and with the representations and warranties contained herein; and (iii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries will use, directly or indirectly, the proceeds of the offering in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of value, to any person in violation of any applicable anti-corruption laws.

 

(u) The operations of the Company and each of its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in material compliance with all applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), and the applicable anti-money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company and each of its subsidiaries conduct business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened. The Company and each of its subsidiaries have instituted and maintained and will continue to maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote and achieve compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Laws.

 

(v) (i) None of the Company, any of its subsidiaries, or any director, officer or employee thereof, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any agent, affiliate or representative of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, is an individual or entity (“Person”) that is, or is owned or controlled by one or more Persons that are:

 

(A) the subject of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, His Majesty’s Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), or

 

(B) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions (including, without limitation, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria).

 

(ii) The Company will not, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other Person:

 

(A) to fund or facilitate any activities or business of or with any Person or in any country or territory that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject of Sanctions; or

 

(B) in any other manner that will result in a violation of Sanctions by any Person (including any Person participating in the offering, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise).

 

(iii) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have not knowingly engaged in, are not now knowingly engaged in, and will not engage in, any dealings or transactions with any Person, or in any country or territory, that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject of Sanctions.

 

 

(w) Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, (i) the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, have not incurred any material liability or obligation, direct or contingent, nor entered into any material transaction; (ii) the Company has not purchased any of its outstanding capital stock, nor declared, paid or otherwise made any dividend or distribution of any kind on its capital stock other than ordinary and customary dividends; and (iii) there has not been any material change in the capital stock, short-term debt or long-term debt of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, other than the exercise, grant or forfeiture of equity awards, as applicable, in each case granted pursuant to any equity compensation plan described in the Time of Sale Prospectus.

 

(x) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have 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 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 its subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company and its subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and would not be reasonably expected to interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its subsidiaries.

 

(y) (i) To the Company’s knowledge, the Company and its subsidiaries own or have a valid license to all patents and patent applications, inventions, copyrights, know-how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures), trademarks and trademark applications, service marks, trade names and other intellectual property (collectively, “Intellectual Property Rights”) used in or reasonably necessary to the conduct of their businesses, including for the development, manufacture, operation, sale and/or commercialization of any products or services currently under development or sold by any of the Company or its subsidiaries; (ii) the Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company and its subsidiaries and, to the Company’s knowledge, the Intellectual Property Rights licensed to the Company and its subsidiaries, are valid, subsisting and enforceable, and the Company and its subsidiaries are unaware of any facts or circumstances that would render any such Intellectual Property Rights invalid or unenforceable; (iii) there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened, action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity, ownership, registrability, scope or enforceability of any such Intellectual Property Rights; (iv) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice alleging any infringement, misappropriation or other violation of Intellectual Property Rights; (v) the Company and its subsidiaries (A) are in compliance with the terms of each agreement pursuant to which Intellectual Property Rights are licensed to the Company or its subsidiaries, (B) the Company and its subsidiaries have not received any unresolved written notice alleging any such noncompliance and are not aware of any facts or circumstances that would form a basis for any such claim and (C) all such agreements are in full force and effect; (vi) to the Company’s knowledge, no third party is infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating, or has infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated, any Intellectual Property Rights owned by or licensed to the Company; (vii) to the Company’s knowledge, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates, or has infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated, any Intellectual Property Rights; (viii) all Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company or its subsidiaries has been duly maintained, and the Company is unaware of any defects in any such Intellectual Property Rights; (ix) all employees or contractors engaged in, or expected to be engaged in, the development of Intellectual Property Rights for or on behalf of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company have executed an invention assignment agreement whereby such employees or contractors presently assign all of their right, title and interest in and to such Intellectual Property Rights to the Company or the applicable subsidiary, and to the Company’s knowledge no such agreement has been breached or violated; (x) the Company and its subsidiaries use, and have used, reasonable efforts to appropriately maintain and protect the confidentiality of all confidential information used in connection with the Company and its subsidiaries, and to the Company’s knowledge, the confidentiality of such confidential information has not been compromised, disclosed to or accessed by any third party except pursuant to appropriate nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements; and (xi) no university, military, educational institution, research center, governmental or regulatory authority has any claim of right to, ownership of or other lien on any Intellectual Property Rights owned by or licensed to the Company.

 

 

(z) (i) None of the software developed or owned by the Company or its subsidiaries is subject to any escrow obligations; (ii) the Company and its subsidiaries use and have used any and all software and other materials distributed under a “free,” “open source,” or similar licensing model (including but not limited to the MIT License, Apache License, GNU General Public License, GNU Lesser General Public License and GNU Affero General Public License) (“Open Source Software”) in compliance with all license terms applicable to such Open Source Software; and (iii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries uses or distributes or has used or distributed any Open Source Software in any manner that requires or has required (A) the Company or any of its subsidiaries to permit reverse engineering of any software code or other technology owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries or (B) any software code or other technology owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries to be (1) disclosed or distributed in source code form, (2) licensed for the purpose of making derivative works or (3) redistributed at no charge.

 

(aa) (i)The Company has not received any FDA Form 483, written notice of adverse filing, warning letter, untitled letter or other correspondence or notice from the FDA or other relevant regulatory authorities, or any other court or arbitrator or federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory authority, alleging or asserting material noncompliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.), as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, and any and all other similar state, local, federal or foreign health care laws and the regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws, including all laws and regulations applicable to ownership, testing, development, manufacture, packaging, processing, use, distribution, storage, import, export or disposal of the Company’s product candidates, each as amended from time to time (collectively, “Health Care Laws”); (ii) the Company is and has been in compliance in all material respects with applicable Health Care Laws; (iii) the Company has not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any court or arbitrator or U.S. or non-U.S. federal, national, state, local or other governmental or regulatory authority, governmental or regulatory agency or body, court, arbitrator or self-regulatory organization (each, a “Governmental Authority”) or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Health Care Laws and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action is threatened; (iv) the Company has filed, obtained, maintained or submitted all reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required by applicable Health Care Laws, and that all such reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments were complete, correct and not misleading on the date filed (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission); (v) neither the Company nor its directors, officers, employees or agents are or have been debarred, suspended or excluded, or has been convicted of any crime or engaged in any conduct that would result in a debarment, suspension or exclusion from any federal or state government health care program, human research study, clinical trial, or clinical registry, or to the knowledge of the Company, is subject to a governmental inquiry, investigation, proceeding, or other similar action that could reasonably be expected to result in debarment, suspension, or exclusion; and (vi) the Company is not a party to and the Company does not have any ongoing reporting obligations pursuant to, any corporate integrity agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, monitoring agreements, consent decrees, settlement orders, plans of correction or similar agreements with or imposed by an Governmental Authority.

 

 

(bb) The preclinical studies conducted by, on behalf of or sponsored by the Company, or in which the Company has participated, that are described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus, or the results of which are referred to in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus, as applicable, were, and if still pending, are being conducted in all material respects in accordance with the experimental protocols established for each study, as well as any conditions of approval imposed by any institutional review board, ethics review board or committee responsible for the oversight of such studies, and all applicable local, state and federal laws, rules and regulations of the FDA and comparable regulatory agencies outside of the United States to which they are subject (such regulatory agencies, collectively, the “Regulatory Authorities”) and all other applicable Health Care Laws; the descriptions in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus of the results of such studies do not contain any misstatement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make such statements not misleading, and fairly present the data derived from such studies; the Company has no knowledge of any other studies or trials not described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, the results of which are inconsistent with or reasonably call into question the results described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus when viewed in the context in which such results are described and the current state of development; the Company has not received any written notice, correspondence or other communications from the Regulatory Authorities, institutional review boards, ethics review boards or committees responsible for the oversight of preclinical studies requiring or threatening (i) the termination or suspension of any research studies conducted by or on behalf of, or sponsored by, the Company or in which the Company has participated, or (ii) the material modification of any studies that would cause them to differ from their descriptions in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, other than ordinary course communications with respect to modifications in connection with the design and implementation of such studies, and, to the Company’s knowledge, there are no reasonable grounds for the same. There has not been any violation of applicable law or regulation by the Company in its product development, submissions or reports to any regulatory authority that could be expected to require investigation, corrective action or enforcement action and would, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

(cc) The manufacture of the Company’s product candidates by or on behalf of the Company is being conducted in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Health Care Laws, including, without limitation, the FDA’s current good manufacturing practice regulations at 21 CFR Part 820, and, to the extent applicable, the respective counterparts thereof promulgated by governmental authorities in countries outside the United States. The Company has not had any manufacturing site (whether Company-owned, or that of a third party manufacturer for the Company’s product candidates) subject to a Governmental Authority (including FDA) shutdown or import or export prohibition, nor received any FDA or other Governmental Authority “warning letters,” or “untitled letters” alleging or asserting material noncompliance with any applicable Health Care Laws, requests to make material changes to the Company’s product candidates, processes or operations, or similar correspondence or notice from the FDA or other Governmental Authority alleging or asserting material noncompliance with any applicable Health Care Laws, other than those that have been satisfactorily addressed and/or closed with the FDA or other Governmental Authority. To the knowledge of the Company, neither the FDA nor any other Governmental Authority is considering such action.

 

(dd) (i) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have complied and are presently in compliance with all internal and external privacy policies, contractual obligations, industry standards, applicable laws, statutes, judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or other governmental or regulatory authority and any other legal obligations, in each case, relating to the collection, use, transfer, processing, import, export, storage, protection, disposal, disclosure, handling and analysis by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of personal, personally identifiable, protected health information, consumer information and other household, sensitive, confidential or regulated data (“Data Security Obligations”, and such data, “Data”); (ii) the Company and its subsidiaries have not received any notice, claim, complaint, demand or letter in respect of their businesses under applicable laws, rules, regulations, contractual and fiduciary obligations, privacy policies and industry standards regarding misuse, loss, unauthorized destruction or unauthorized disclosure of any Data; (iii) to the Company’s knowledge, there has been no unauthorized or illegal use of or access to any Data by any third party, except where such unauthorized or illegal use of or access to any Data would not have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole ; and (iv) there is no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body pending or threatened alleging non-compliance with any Data Security Obligation, and to the Company’s knowledge, the Company and its subsidiaries are not the subject of any inquiry or investigation by any governmental or regulatory authority regarding any of the foregoing.

 

 

(ee) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have taken all technical and organizational measures necessary to protect the Company’s or its subsidiaries’ information technology and computer systems, networks, hardware, software, Data used in connection with the operation of the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ businesses (including the data and information of patients, customers, employees, suppliers, vendors and any third party data maintained, processed or stored by the Company or its subsidiaries, and any such data processed or stored by third parties on behalf of the Company and its subsidiaries), equipment or technology (collectively, the “IT Systems and Data”). Without limiting the foregoing, the Company and its subsidiaries have established, maintained, implemented and complied with information technology, information security, cyber security and data protection controls, policies and procedures, including oversight, access controls, encryption, technological and physical safeguards and business continuity/disaster recovery and security plans to (A) maintain and protect the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy, disaster recovery and security of their IT Systems and Data consistent with industry standards and practices or as required by applicable Data Security Obligations and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations and (B) to protect against and prevent security breach or incident, destruction, loss, unauthorized distribution, use, access, disablement, misappropriation or modification, or other compromise or misuse of or relating to IT Systems and Data (“Breach”). There has been no such Breach, and the Company and its subsidiaries have not been notified of and have no knowledge of any event or condition that would result in, any such Breach. The Company and its subsidiaries have not been required by any governmental or regulatory authority or otherwise under applicable law or by any contractual obligation to notify any individual or data protection authority of any Breach, compromise or incident involving Data and, to the Company’s knowledge, no person has claimed or threatened to claim, and no grounds exist for an individual to claim, compensation from the Company or any of its subsidiaries regarding any of the foregoing.

 

(ff) No material labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists, or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent; and the Company is not aware of any existing, threatened or imminent labor disturbance by the employees of any of its principal suppliers, manufacturers or contractors that could, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

(gg) 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 are prudent and customary in the businesses in which they are engaged; neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries 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, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

(hh) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have filed all federal, state, local and foreign tax returns required to be filed through the date of this Agreement or have requested extensions thereof (except where the failure to file would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole) and have paid all taxes required to be paid thereon (except for cases in which the failure to file or pay would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or, except as currently being contested in good faith and for which reserves required by generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) have been created in the financial statements of the Company), and no tax deficiency has been determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries which, singly or in the aggregate, has had (nor does the Company nor any of its subsidiaries have any notice or knowledge of any tax deficiency which could reasonably be expected to be determined adversely to the Company or its subsidiaries and which could reasonably be expected to have) a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

 

 

(ii) The financial statements included or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes thereto, comply as to form in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements of the Securities Act and present fairly the consolidated financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries as of the dates shown and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown, and such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods covered thereby except for any normal year-end adjustments in the Company’s quarterly financial statements. The other financial information included in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus has been derived from the accounting records of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries and presents fairly in all material respects the information shown thereby. The statistical, industry-related and market-related data included in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources which the Company reasonably and in good faith believes are reliable and accurate and such data is consistent with the sources from which they are derived, in each case in all material respects.

 

(jj) There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply, to the extent required, in all material respects with any applicable provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications (it being understood that this subsection shall not require the Company to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, as of an earlier date than it would otherwise be required to so comply under applicable law).

 

(kk) Deloitte & Touche LLP, who have certified certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries and delivered its report with respect to the audited consolidated financial statements and schedules filed with the Commission as part of the Registration Statement and included in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations thereunder adopted by the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).

 

(ll) The Company and each of its subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences; and (v) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement is accurate. Since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (i) no material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated), except as disclosed in the Time of Sale Prospectus and Prospectus and (ii) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

(mm) The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

 

(nn) From the time the Registration Statement has been filed with the Commission through the date hereof, the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”).

 

 

(oo) The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication with any person other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representatives with entities that are reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act or institutions that are reasonably believed to be accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Securities Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act other than those listed on Schedule III hereto. “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) or Rule 163B of the Securities Act.

 

(pp) As of the time of each sale of the Shares in connection with the offering when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers, none of (A) the Time of Sale Prospectus, and (B) any individual Testing-the-Waters Communication, when considered together with the Time of Sale Prospectus or road show, included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

 

(qq) Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect, each “Employee Benefit Plan” (as defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (collectively, “ERISA”)) established or maintained by the Company, its subsidiaries or their “ERISA Affiliates” (as defined below) (each, a “Plan”) is and has been operated in compliance with its terms and all applicable laws, including ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (the “Code”). No “reportable event” (as defined under ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur with respect to any Plan and no Plan, if terminated, would have any “amount of unfunded benefit liabilities” (as defined under ERISA), as the fair market value of the assets under each Plan (excluding for these purposes accrued but unpaid contributions) exceeds the present value of all benefits accrued under such Plan (determined based on those assumptions used to fund such Plan). Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect, neither the Company, its subsidiaries nor any of their ERISA Affiliates has incurred or reasonably expects to incur any liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any Plan, (ii) Sections 412 and 430, 4971, 4975 or 4980B of the Code or (iii) Sections 302 and 303, 406, 4063 and 4064 of ERISA. Each Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified, and nothing has occurred, whether by action or failure to act, that would reasonably be expected to cause the loss of such qualification. There is no pending audit or, to the Company’s knowledge, investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or any other governmental or other regulatory entity or agency with respect to any Plan that could reasonably be expected to result in liability to the Company or any of its subsidiaries. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries have any “accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations” (within the meaning of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106). “ERISA Affiliate” means, with respect to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, any member of any group of organizations described in Sections 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the Code of which the Company or such subsidiary is a member.

 

(rr) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has any securities rated by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act.

 

2. Agreements to Sell and Purchase. The Company hereby agrees to sell to the several Underwriters, and each Underwriter, upon the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter stated, agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company the respective numbers of Firm Shares set forth in Schedule I hereto opposite its name at $0.94 a share (the “Purchase Price”).

 

 

On the basis of the representations and warranties contained in this Agreement, and subject to its terms and conditions, the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters the Additional Shares, and the Underwriters shall have the right to purchase, severally and not jointly, up to $6,750,000 of Additional Shares at the Purchase Price, provided, however, that the amount paid by the Underwriters for any Additional Shares shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Shares but not payable on such Additional Shares. The Representatives may exercise this right on behalf of the Underwriters in whole or from time to time in part by giving written notice not later than 30 days after the date of this Agreement. Any exercise notice shall specify the number of Additional Shares to be purchased by the Underwriters and the date on which such Additional Shares are to be purchased. Each purchase date must be at least one business day after the written notice is given and may not be earlier than the closing date for the Firm Shares or later than ten business days after the date of such notice. Additional Shares may be purchased as provided in Section ‎4 hereof solely for the purpose of covering sales of shares in excess of the number of the Firm Shares. On each day, if any, that Additional Shares are to be purchased (an “Option Closing Date”), each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase the number of Additional Shares (subject to such adjustments to eliminate fractional shares as the Representatives may determine) that bears the same proportion to the total number of Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date as the number of Firm Shares set forth in Schedule I hereto opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of Firm Shares.

 

3. Terms of Public Offering. The Company is advised by the Representatives that the Underwriters propose to make a public offering of their respective portions of the Shares as soon after the Registration Statement and this Agreement have become effective as in the Representatives’ judgment is advisable. The Company is further advised by the Representatives that the Shares are to be offered to the public initially at $1.00 a share (the “Public Offering Price”) and to certain dealers selected by the Representatives at a price that represents a concession not in excess of $0.036 a share under the Public Offering Price.

 

4. Payment and Delivery. Payment for the Firm Shares shall be made to the Company in Federal or other funds immediately available in New York City against delivery of such Firm Shares for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on August 7, 2023, or at such other time on the same or such other date, not later than August 14, 2023, as shall be designated in writing by the Representatives. The time and date of such payment are hereinafter referred to as the “Closing Date.”

 

Payment for any Additional Shares shall be made to the Company in Federal or other funds immediately available in New York City against delivery of such Additional Shares for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the date specified in the corresponding notice described in Section ‎2 or at such other time on the same or on such other date, in any event not later than the tenth business day thereafter, as shall be designated in writing by the Representatives.

 

The Firm Shares and Additional Shares shall be registered in such names and in such denominations as the Representatives shall request in writing not later than one full business day prior to the Closing Date or the applicable Option Closing Date, as the case may be. The Firm Shares and Additional Shares shall be delivered to the Representatives on the Closing Date or an Option Closing Date, as the case may be, for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters, with any transfer taxes payable in connection with the transfer of the Shares to the Underwriters duly paid, against payment of the Purchase Price therefor.

 

5. Conditions to the Underwriters’ Obligations. The obligations of the Company to sell the Shares to the Underwriters and the several obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and pay for the Shares on the Closing Date are subject to the condition that the Registration Statement shall have become effective not later than 8:00 p.m. (New York City time) on the date hereof.

 

 

The several obligations of the Underwriters are subject to the following further conditions:

 

(a) Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement and prior to the Closing Date:

 

(i) no order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall be in effect, and no proceeding for such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act shall be pending before or threatened by the Commission;

 

(ii) there shall not have occurred any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business or operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, from that set forth in the Time of Sale Prospectus that, in the Representatives’ judgment, is material and adverse and that makes it, in the Representatives’ judgment, impracticable to market the Shares on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Time of Sale Prospectus.

 

(b) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date a certificate, dated the Closing Date and signed by an executive officer of the Company, to the effect set forth in Sections ‎5(a)(i) and ‎5(a)(ii) above and to the effect that the representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement are true and correct as of the Closing Date and that the Company has complied with all of the agreements and satisfied all of the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder on or before the Closing Date.

 

The officer signing and delivering such certificate may rely upon the best of his or her knowledge as to proceedings threatened.

 

(c) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion and negative assurance letter of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. (“Mintz”), outside counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

 

(d) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion of McCarter & English, LLP, intellectual property counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

 

(e) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., regulatory counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

 

(f) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion and negative assurance letter of Shearman & Sterling LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

 

With respect to the negative assurance letters to be delivered pursuant to Sections 5(c) and 5(f) above, Mintz and Shearman & Sterling LLP may state that their opinions and beliefs are based upon their participation in the preparation of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto and review and discussion of the contents thereof (including documents incorporated by reference), but are without independent check or verification, except as specified.

 

The opinions of Mintz, McCarter & English, LLP and Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. described in Sections ‎5(c), (d) and (e) above shall be rendered to the Underwriters at the request of the Company and shall so state therein.

 

(g) The Underwriters shall have received, on each of the date hereof and the Closing Date, a letter dated the date hereof or the Closing Date, as the case may be, in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriters, from Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent public accountants, containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus; provided that the letter delivered on the Closing Date shall use a “cut-off date” not earlier than the date hereof.

 

  

(h) The “lock-up” agreements, each substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto, between the Representatives and certain shareholders, officers and directors of the Company relating to restrictions on sales and certain other dispositions of shares of Common Stock or certain other securities, delivered to the Representatives on or before the date hereof, shall be in full force and effect on the Closing Date.

 

(i) The Shares shall have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), subject only to official notice of issuance.

 

(j) The several obligations of the Underwriters to purchase Additional Shares hereunder are subject to the delivery to the Representatives on the applicable Option Closing Date of the following:

 

(i) a certificate, dated the Option Closing Date and signed by an executive officer of the Company, confirming that the certificate delivered on the Closing Date pursuant to Section 5(b) hereof remains true and correct as of such Option Closing Date;

 

(ii) an opinion and negative assurance letter of Mintz, outside counsel for the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(c) hereof;

 

(iii) an opinion of McCarter & English, LLP, intellectual property counsel for the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(d) hereof;

 

(iv) an opinion of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., regulatory counsel for the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(e) hereof;

 

(v) an opinion and negative assurance letter of Shearman & Sterling LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(f) hereof;

 

(vi) a letter dated the Option Closing Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriters, from Deloitte & Touche LLP, independent public accountants, substantially in the same form and substance as the letter furnished to the Underwriters pursuant to Section 5(g) hereof; provided that the letter delivered on the Option Closing Date shall use a “cut-off date” not earlier than two business days prior to such Option Closing Date; and

 

(vii) such other documents as the Representatives may reasonably request with respect to the good standing of the Company, the due authorization and issuance of the Additional Shares to be sold on such Option Closing Date and other matters related to the issuance of such Additional Shares.

 

 

6. Covenants of the Company. The Company covenants with each Underwriter as follows:

 

(a) To furnish to the Representatives, without charge, two signed copies of the Registration Statement (including exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference) and for delivery to each other Underwriter a conformed copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto but including documents incorporated by reference) and to furnish to the Representatives in New York City, without charge, prior to 10:00 a.m. New York City time on the business day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and during the period mentioned in Section ‎6(e) or ‎6(f) below, as many copies of the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus, any documents incorporated by reference therein and any supplements and amendments thereto or to the Registration Statement as the Representatives may reasonably request.

 

(b) Before amending or supplementing the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus, to furnish to the Representatives a copy of each such proposed amendment or supplement and not to file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which the Representatives reasonably object, and to file with the Commission within the applicable period specified in Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act any prospectus required to be filed pursuant to such Rule.

 

(c) Not to take any action that would result in an Underwriter or the Company being required to file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act a free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of the Underwriter that the Underwriter otherwise would not have been required to file thereunder.

 

(d) If the Time of Sale Prospectus is being used to solicit offers to buy the Shares at a time when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers and any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which it is necessary to amend or supplement the Time of Sale Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances, not misleading, or if any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which the Time of Sale Prospectus conflicts with the information contained in the Registration Statement then on file, or if, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters, it is necessary to amend or supplement the Time of Sale Prospectus to comply with applicable law, forthwith to prepare, file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and to any dealer upon request, either amendments or supplements to the Time of Sale Prospectus so that the statements in the Time of Sale Prospectus as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when the Time of Sale Prospectus is delivered to a prospective purchaser, be misleading or so that the Time of Sale Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, will no longer conflict with the Registration Statement, or so that the Time of Sale Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, will comply with applicable law.

 

(e) If, during such period after the first date of the public offering of the Shares as in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Securities Act) is required by law to be delivered in connection with sales by an Underwriter or dealer, any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which it is necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances when the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Securities Act) is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading, or if, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters, it is necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus to comply with applicable law, forthwith to prepare, file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and to the dealers (whose names and addresses the Representatives will furnish to the Company) to which Shares may have been sold by the Representatives on behalf of the Underwriters and to any other dealers upon request, either amendments or supplements to the Prospectus so that the statements in the Prospectus as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Securities Act) is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, will comply with applicable law.

 

(f) If required by applicable law, to endeavor to qualify the Shares for offer and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives shall reasonably request; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall require the Company to qualify to do business in any jurisdiction, to execute a general consent of service of process in any jurisdiction or to subject itself to taxation in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise subject.

 

 

(g) To make generally available to the Company’s security holders and to the Representatives as soon as reasonably practicable an earnings statement covering a period of at least twelve months beginning with the first fiscal quarter of the Company occurring after the date of this Agreement which shall satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder; provided, however, that the Company will be deemed to have furnished such statement to its security holders to the extent it is filed on the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System.

 

(h) Whether or not the transactions contemplated in this Agreement are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, to pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and the Company’s accountants in connection with the registration and delivery of the Shares under the Securities Act and all other fees or expenses in connection with the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus, and amendments and supplements to any of the foregoing, including all printing costs associated therewith, and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers, in the quantities hereinabove specified, (ii) all costs and expenses related to the transfer and delivery of the Shares to the Underwriters, including any transfer or other taxes payable thereon, (iii) the cost of printing or producing any Blue Sky or Legal Investment memorandum in connection with the offer and sale of the Shares under state securities laws and all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Shares for offer and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section ‎6(g) hereof, including filing fees and the reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky or Legal Investment memorandum (provided that the amount payable by the Company with respect to such fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters pursuant to clause (iii) shall not exceed $5,000 in the aggregate), (iv) all filing fees and the reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters incurred in connection with the review and qualification of the offering of the Shares by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, in an amount not to exceed $25,000, (v) all costs and expenses incident to listing the Shares on the NYSE, (vi) the cost of printing certificates representing the Shares, (vii) the costs and charges of any transfer agent, registrar or depositary, (viii) the costs and expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations on any “road show” undertaken in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Shares, including, without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations with the prior approval of the Company, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and any such consultants, (ix) the document production charges and expenses associated with printing this Agreement and (x) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of the obligations of the Company hereunder for which provision is not otherwise made in this Section. It is understood, however, that except as provided in this Section, Section ‎8 entitled “Indemnity and Contribution” and the last paragraph of Section ‎10 below, the Underwriters will pay all of their costs and expenses, including fees and disbursements of their counsel, stock transfer taxes payable on resale of any of the Shares by them and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

 

(i) The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act and (ii) completion of the Restricted Period (as defined in this Section ‎6).

 

(j) If at any time following the distribution of any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission.

 

  

(k) The Company will deliver to each Underwriter (or its agent), on the date of execution of this Agreement, a properly completed and executed Certification Regarding Beneficial Owners of Legal Entity Customers, together with copies of identifying documentation, and the Company undertakes to provide such additional supporting documentation as each Underwriter may reasonably request in connection with the verification of the foregoing Certification.

 

(l) The Company also covenants with each Underwriter that, without the prior written consent of the Representatives on behalf of the Underwriters, it will not, and will not publicly disclose an intention to, during the period ending 90 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Restricted Period”), (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, or (2) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause 1 or 2 above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) file any registration statement with the Commission relating to the offering of any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, or (d) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing described in clauses (a), (b) and (c). The restrictions contained in the foregoing sentence shall not apply to (A) the Shares to be sold hereunder, (B) the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of an option or warrant or the conversion of a security outstanding on the date hereof as described in each of the Time of Sale Prospectus and Prospectus, (C) the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock in connection with the conversion of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, to Class A common stock, provided that such shares of Common Stock received upon such conversion shall be subject to the terms of an agreement substantively in the form of Exhibit A hereto, (D) facilitating the establishment of a trading plan on behalf of a shareholder, officer or director of the Company pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act, for the transfer of shares of Common Stock, provided that (i) such plan does not provide for the transfer of Common Stock during the Restricted Period and (ii) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act, if any, is required of or voluntarily made by the Company regarding the establishment of such plan, such announcement or filing shall include a statement to the effect that no transfer of Common Stock may be made under such plan during the Restricted Period, (E) the grant of options to purchase shares of Common Stock or other awards granted under an equity incentive plan described in the Registration Statement, Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, and the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise thereof, or (F) the filing by the Company of any registration statement on Form S-8 or successor form thereto relating to the shares of Common Stock granted pursuant to or reserved for issuance under an equity incentive plan described in the Registration Statement, Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(m) The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to effect and maintain the listing of the Shares on the NYSE.

 

7. Covenants of the Underwriters. Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, covenants with the Company not to take any action that would result in the Company being required to file with the Commission under Rule 433(d) a free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of such Underwriter that otherwise would not be required to be filed by the Company thereunder, but for the action of the Underwriter.

 

 

8. Indemnity and Contribution. (a) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act and each affiliate of any Underwriter within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including, without limitation, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with defending or investigating any such action or claim) that arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or any amendment thereof, any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, any “road show” as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act (a “road show”), the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of, or are based upon, any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of, or are based upon, any such untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriters through the Representatives consists of the information described as such in paragraph (b) below.

 

(b) Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, its officers who sign the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act to the same extent as the foregoing indemnity from the Company to such Underwriter, but only with reference to information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, any road show, or the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto; it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any such Underwriter consists of the following information in the Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the third and fifteenth (except the third and tenth sentences thereof) paragraph under the caption “Underwriting” (the “Underwriter Information”).

 

(c) In case any proceeding (including any governmental investigation) shall be instituted involving any person in respect of which indemnity may be sought pursuant to Section ‎8(a) or ‎8(b), such person (the “indemnified party”) shall promptly notify the person against whom such indemnity may be sought (the “indemnifying party”) in writing and the indemnifying party, upon request of the indemnified party, shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party and any others the indemnifying party may designate in such proceeding and shall pay the reasonably incurred fees and disbursements of such counsel related to such proceeding. In any such proceeding, any indemnified party shall have the right to retain its own counsel, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such indemnified party unless (i) the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have mutually agreed in writing to the retention of such counsel or (ii) the named parties to any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the indemnifying party and the indemnified party and representation of both parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them. It is understood that the indemnifying party shall not, in respect of the legal expenses of any indemnified party in connection with any proceeding or related proceedings in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the reasonably incurred fees and expenses of more than one separate firm (in addition to any local counsel) for all such indemnified parties and that all such fees and expenses shall be reimbursed as they are incurred. Such firm shall be designated in writing by the Representatives, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section ‎8(a), and by the Company, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section ‎8(b). The indemnifying party shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify the indemnified party from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by the second and third sentences of this paragraph, the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request and (ii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened proceeding in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party, unless such settlement includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such proceeding and does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

 

  

(d) To the extent the indemnification provided for in Section ‎8(a) or ‎8(b) is unavailable to an indemnified party or insufficient in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to therein, then each indemnifying party under such paragraph, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party thereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand from the offering of the Shares or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause ‎8(d)(i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause ‎8(d)(i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the offering of the Shares shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the net proceeds from the offering of the Shares (after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses) received by the Company and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate Public Offering Price of the Shares. The relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Underwriters’ respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section ‎8 are several in proportion to the respective number of Shares they have purchased hereunder, and not joint.

 

(e) The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just or equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section ‎8 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in Section ‎8(d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to in Section ‎8(d) shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section ‎8, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Shares underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The remedies provided for in this Section ‎8 are not exclusive and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available to any indemnified party at law or in equity.

 

(f) The indemnity and contribution provisions contained in this Section ‎8 and the representations, warranties and other statements of the Company contained in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of (i) any termination of this Agreement, (ii) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, any person controlling any Underwriter or any affiliate of any Underwriter or by or on behalf of the Company, its officers or directors or any person controlling the Company and (iii) acceptance of and payment for any of the Shares.

 

  

9. Termination. The Underwriters may terminate this Agreement by notice given by the Representatives to the Company, if after the execution and delivery of this Agreement and prior to or on the Closing Date or any Option Closing Date, as the case may be, (i) trading generally shall have been suspended or materially limited on, or by, as the case may be, any of the NYSE, the NYSE American, the NASDAQ Global Market, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange or the Chicago Board of Trade, (ii) trading of any securities of the Company shall have been suspended on any exchange or in any over the counter market, (iii) a material disruption in securities settlement, payment or clearance services in the United States shall have occurred, (iv) any moratorium on commercial banking activities shall have been declared by Federal or New York State authorities or (v) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, or any change in financial markets or any calamity or crisis that, in the Representatives’ judgment, is material and adverse and which, singly or together with any other event specified in this clause (v), makes it, in the Representatives’ judgment, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offer, sale or delivery of the Shares on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus.

 

10. Effectiveness; Defaulting Underwriters. This Agreement shall become effective upon the execution and delivery hereof by the parties hereto.

 

If, on the Closing Date or an Option Closing Date, as the case may be, any one or more of the Underwriters shall fail or refuse to purchase Shares that it has or they have agreed to purchase hereunder on such date, and the aggregate number of Shares which such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed or refused to purchase is not more than one-tenth of the aggregate number of the Shares to be purchased on such date, the other Underwriters shall be obligated severally in the proportions that the number of Firm Shares set forth opposite their respective names in Schedule I bears to the aggregate number of Firm Shares set forth opposite the names of all such non-defaulting Underwriters, or in such other proportions as the Representatives may specify, to purchase the Shares which such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed or refused to purchase on such date; provided that in no event shall the number of Shares that any Underwriter has agreed to purchase pursuant to this Agreement be increased pursuant to this Section ‎10 by an amount in excess of one-ninth of such number of Shares without the written consent of such Underwriter. If, on the Closing Date, any Underwriter or Underwriters shall fail or refuse to purchase Firm Shares and the aggregate number of Firm Shares with respect to which such default occurs is more than one-tenth of the aggregate number of Firm Shares to be purchased on such date, and arrangements satisfactory to the Representatives and the Company for the purchase of such Firm Shares are not made within 36 hours after such default, this Agreement shall terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company. In any such case either the Representatives or the Company shall have the right to postpone the Closing Date, but in no event for longer than seven days, in order that the required changes, if any, in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Prospectus, in the Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements may be effected. If, on an Option Closing Date, any Underwriter or Underwriters shall fail or refuse to purchase Additional Shares and the aggregate number of Additional Shares with respect to which such default occurs is more than one-tenth of the aggregate number of Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date, the non-defaulting Underwriters shall have the option to (i) terminate their obligation hereunder to purchase the Additional Shares to be sold on such Option Closing Date or (ii) purchase not less than the number of Additional Shares that such non-defaulting Underwriters would have been obligated to purchase in the absence of such default. Any action taken under this paragraph shall not relieve any defaulting Underwriter from liability in respect of any default of such Underwriter under this Agreement.

 

If this Agreement shall be terminated by the Underwriters, or any of them, because of any failure or refusal on the part of the Company to comply with the terms or to fulfill any of the conditions of this Agreement, or if for any reason the Company shall be unable to perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters or such Underwriters as have so terminated this Agreement with respect to themselves, severally, for all out-of-pocket expenses (including the reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of their counsel) reasonably incurred by such Underwriters in connection with this Agreement or the offering contemplated hereunder; provided that if the Company shall be unable to perform its obligations under this Agreement for reason of a default by any of the Underwriters, the Company shall not be obligated to reimburse the defaulting Underwriters.

 

 

11. Entire Agreement. (a) This Agreement, together with any contemporaneous written agreements and any prior written agreements (to the extent not superseded by this Agreement) that relate to the offering of the Shares, represents the entire agreement between the Company and the Underwriters with respect to the preparation of any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus, the conduct of the offering, and the purchase and sale of the Shares.

 

(b) The Company acknowledges that in connection with the offering of the Shares: (i) the Underwriters have acted at arm’s length, are not agents of, and owe no fiduciary duties to, the Company or any other person, (ii) the Underwriters owe the Company only those duties and obligations set forth in this Agreement, any contemporaneous written agreements and prior written agreements (to the extent not superseded by this Agreement), if any, (iii) the Underwriters may have interests that differ from those of the Company, and (iv) none of the activities of the Underwriters in connection with the transactions contemplated herein constitutes a recommendation, investment advice, or solicitation of any action by the Underwriters with respect to any entity or natural person. The Company waives to the full extent permitted by applicable law any claims it may have against the Underwriters arising from an alleged breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the offering of the Shares.

 

12. Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes. (a) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United State.

 

(b) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

 

For purposes of this Section a “BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k). “Covered Entity” means any of the following: (i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b); (ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or (iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b). “Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable. “U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

13. Counterparts. This Agreement may be signed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument. Any signature to this Agreement may be delivered by facsimile, electronic mail (including ..pdf) or any electronic signature complying with the New York Electronic Signatures and Records Act (N.Y. State Tech. §§ 301-309), as amended from time to time, or other applicable law, and will be deemed original signatures for purposes of this Agreement. Transmission by telecopy, electronic mail or other transmission method of an executed counterpart of this Agreement will constitute due and sufficient delivery of such counterpart.

 

14. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York.

 

15. Headings. The headings of the sections of this Agreement have been inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not be deemed a part of this Agreement.

 

16. Notices. All communications hereunder shall be in writing and effective only upon receipt and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered, mailed or sent to Morgan Stanley at Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk, with a copy to the Legal Department, and to TD Cowen at Cowen and Company, LLC, 599 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10022, Attention: Head of Equity Capital Markets, with a copy to the General Counsel, Investment Banking; and if to the Company shall be delivered, mailed or sent to Vicarious Surgical Inc., 78 Fourth Avenue, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451, Attention: Chief Legal Officer.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

 

	Very truly yours,
	Vicarious Surgical Inc.
	By:	/s/ Adam Sachs
		Name:	Adam Sachs
		Title:	President and Chief Executive Officer

 

Accepted as of the date hereof

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
Cowen and Company, LLC

 

Acting severally on behalf of themselves and the several Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto.

 

By:	Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
By:	/s/ Chris Rigoli
	Name:	Chris Rigoli
	Title:	Executive Director

 

By:	Cowen and Company, LLC
By:	/s/ Michael Campbell
	Name:	Michael Campbell
	Title:	Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets

 

 

  

Schedule I

 

Underwriter		Number of Firm Shares To Be Purchased
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC			29,250,000
Cowen and Company, LLC			15,750,000
Total:			45,000,000

 

 

Schedule II

 

Time of Sale Prospectus

 

Time of Sale Prospectus		1. Preliminary Prospectus issued August 2, 2023   2. The Company is selling 45,000,000 Firm Shares   3. The price to the public per Firm Share is $1.00   4. The Company has granted to the Underwriter the right to purchase up to 6,750,000 Additional Shares
Lock-up Restricted Period:		90 days
Title of Shares to be purchased:		Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share
Number of Firm Shares:		45,000,000
Number of Additional Shares:		6,750,000
Purchase Price:		$0.94 per share
Public Offering Price:		$1.00 per share
Selling Concession:		$0.036 per share
Closing Date and Time:		10:00 a.m., New York City Time, August 7, 2023
Closing Location:		Shearman & Sterling LLP 599 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022
Address for Notices to the Underwriters:		Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC 1585 Broadway New York, New York 10036 Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk   Cowen and Company, LLC 599 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022 Attention: Head of Equity Capital Markets   with a copy to: Shearman & Sterling LLP 599 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022 Attention: Ilir Mujalovic
Address for Notices to the Company:		Vicarious Surgical Inc. 78 Fourth Avenue, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451 Attention: Chief Executive Officer   with a copy to:   Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. One Financial Center Boston, Massachusetts 02111 Attention: Ed Pease                   Jason McCaffrey

 

 

SCHEDULE III

 

Written Testing-the-Waters Communication

 

None.

 

 

EXHIBIT A

 

FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT

 

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

Cowen and Company, LLC

 

as Representatives of the several

Underwriters to be named in the

within mentioned Underwriting Agreement

 

c/o	Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC 1585 Broadway New York, NY 10036

 

c/o Cowen and Company, LLC
599 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10022

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

The undersigned understands that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) and Cowen and Company, LLC (“TD Cowen” and together with Morgan Stanley, the “Representatives”) propose to enter into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Vicarious Surgical Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), providing for the public offering (the “Public Offering”) by the several Underwriters named therein, including the Representatives (the “Underwriters”), of $45,000,000 of shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”).

 

To induce the Underwriters that may participate in the Public Offering to continue their efforts in connection with the Public Offering, the undersigned hereby agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representatives on behalf of the Underwriters, it will not, and will not publicly disclose an intention to, during the period commencing on the date hereof and ending 90 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to the Public Offering (the “Restricted Period”), (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of Common Stock beneficially owned (as such term is used in Rule 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), by the undersigned or any other securities so owned convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, (2) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, or (3) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing described in clauses (1) or (2) above.

 

The foregoing sentence shall not apply to:

 

(a) transactions relating to shares of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the Public Offering or in open market transactions after the completion of the Public Offering, provided that no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period in connection with subsequent sales of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the Public Offering or such open market transactions;

 

 

(b) transfers, dispositions or distributions of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock (i) as a bona fide gift or charitable contribution, (ii) by will or intestacy, (iii) to any member of the undersigned’s immediate family or to a trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned and/or any member of the undersigned’s immediate family, (iv) to any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other business entity, all of the beneficial ownership interests of which, in each such case, are held by the undersigned or any member of the undersigned’s immediate family, (v) if the undersigned is an entity, to limited partners, members, shareholders or holders of similar equity interests in the undersigned, or (vi) if the undersigned is an entity, to another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity that is an affiliate (as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) of the undersigned, or to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the undersigned or affiliated with the undersigned; provided that (A) each donee, devisee, trustee, distributee, or transferee, as the case may be, shall sign and deliver a lock-up agreement substantially in the form of this agreement, (B) in the case of clauses (i) and (ii) above, any required filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that the filing relates to circumstances described in such clauses, and in the case of clauses (iii)-(vi) above, no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act reporting a reduction beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock shall be required during the Restricted Period, and (C) the undersigned does not otherwise voluntarily effect any public filing or report regarding such transfers;

 

(c) transfers of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock by operation of law pursuant to a qualified domestic order or other court order or in connection with a divorce settlement; provided that (i) each transferee shall sign and deliver a lock-up agreement substantially in the form of this agreement, (ii) any required filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act made during the Restricted Period shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that (A) the filing relates to the circumstances described in this clause (c) and (B) no securities were sold by the undersigned, and (iii) the undersigned does not otherwise voluntarily effect any other public filing or report regarding such transfers during the Restricted Period;

 

(d) (i) the exercise of options or other similar awards or the vesting or settlement of awards granted pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive plans as described in the Prospectus and outstanding on the date of the Underwriting Agreement (including the delivery and receipt of shares of Common Stock, other awards or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock in connection with such exercise, vesting or settlement), or (ii) the transfer or disposition of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into shares of Common Stock by the undersigned to the Company (or the purchase and cancellation of the same by the Company) or pursuant to a “sell-to-cover” program upon a vesting or settlement event of the Company’s securities or upon the exercise of options to purchase the Company’s securities on a “cashless” or “net exercise” basis solely to the extent permitted by the instruments representing such options pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive plans as described in the Prospectus and solely to cover withholding tax obligations in connection with such transaction and any transfer to the Company for the payment of taxes as a result of such transaction, provided that (A) the shares of Common Stock received upon the exercise or settlement of the option are subject to the terms of this agreement, (B) no public disclosure or filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period and (C) to the extent a filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act is required during the Restricted Period as a result of transfers or dispositions in this clause (d), it shall clearly indicate that the filing relates to the circumstances described in this clause (d);

 

(e) transfers to the Company pursuant to the repurchase of shares of Common Stock in connection with the termination of the undersigned’s employment with the Company or other service relationship with the Company pursuant to contractual agreements with the Company as in effect as of the date of, and disclosed in, the Prospectus, provided that no public disclosure or filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period;

 

(f) the conversion of shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, to Common Stock, provided (i) that any such shares of Common Stock received upon such conversion or reclassification shall be subject to the terms of this agreement; (ii) no filing or public announcement by any party shall be voluntarily made in connection with such conversion, and (iii) if required, any public report or filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that the filing relates to such conversion, that no securities were sold by the reporting person and that the Common Stock received upon conversion is subject to a lock-up agreement with the Representatives;

 

 

(g) the entry into a trading plan pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act (a “Rule 10b5-1 trading plan”) for the transfer of shares of Common Stock, provided that (i) such plan does not provide for the transfer of Common Stock during the Restricted Period and (ii) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act, if any, is required of or voluntarily made by or on behalf of the undersigned or the Company regarding the establishment of such plan, such announcement or filing shall include a statement to the effect that no transfer of Common Stock may be made under such plan during the Restricted Period;

 

(h) transfers pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan that has been entered into by the undersigned prior to the date of this agreement, provided that (i) any required filing under Section 16 of the Exchange Act made during the Restricted Period shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that the filing relates to the circumstances described in this clause (h) and (ii) the undersigned does not otherwise voluntarily effect any other public filing or report regarding such sales or transfers during the Restricted Period; or

 

(i) transfers pursuant to a bona fide third-party tender offer for all outstanding shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock, merger, amalgamation, consolidation or other similar transaction approved by the Company’s Board of Directors and made to all holders of the Company’s securities involving a “change of control” of the Company (including, without limitation, the entering into any lock-up, voting or similar agreement pursuant to which the undersigned may agree to transfer, sell, tender or otherwise dispose of shares of Common Stock or other such securities in connection with such transaction, or vote any shares of Common Stock or other such securities in favor of any such transaction); provided that in the event that such tender offer, merger, amalgamation, consolidation or other such transaction is not completed, such securities held by the undersigned shall remain subject to the provisions of this agreement.

 

In addition, the undersigned agrees that, without the prior written consent of Representatives on behalf of the Underwriters, it will not, during the Restricted Period, make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to, the registration of any shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock. The undersigned also agrees and consents to the entry of stop transfer instructions with the Company’s transfer agent and registrar against the transfer of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock except in compliance with the foregoing restrictions.

 

For purposes of this agreement, (i) “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood, marriage, domestic partnership or adoption, not more remote than first cousin, and (ii) “change of control” shall mean the consummation of any bona fide third party tender offer, merger, amalgamation, consolidation or other similar transaction the result of which is that any “person” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), or group of persons, other than the Company, becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 of the Exchange Act) of greater than 75% of total voting power of all outstanding voting securities of the Company (or the surviving entity).

 

The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power, capacity and authority to enter into this agreement. The undersigned understands that the Company and the Underwriters are relying upon this agreement in proceeding toward consummation of the Public Offering. The undersigned further understands that this agreement is irrevocable and shall be binding upon the undersigned’s heirs, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

 

 

The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Underwriters have not provided any recommendation or investment advice nor have the Underwriters solicited any action from the undersigned with respect to the Public Offering of the Shares and the undersigned has consulted their own legal, accounting, financial, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent deemed appropriate. The undersigned further acknowledges and agrees that, although the Underwriters may provide certain Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS disclosures or other related documentation to you in connection with the Public Offering, the Underwriters are not making a recommendation to you to participate in the Public Offering or sell any Shares at the price determined in the Public Offering, and nothing set forth in such disclosures or documentation is intended to suggest that any Underwriter is making such a recommendation.

 

Whether or not the Public Offering actually occurs depends on a number of factors, including market conditions. Any Public Offering will only be made pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement, the terms of which are subject to negotiation between the Company and the Underwriters.

 

The undersigned understands that, if (i) the Representative, on the one hand, or the Company, on the other hand, informs the other in writing, prior to the execution of the Underwriting Agreement, that it has determined not to proceed with the Public Offering, (ii) the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the securities to be sold thereunder, or (iii) the Underwriting Agreement is not executed on or before August 31, 2023, then, in each case, this agreement shall automatically, and without any action on the part of any other party, be of no further force and effect, and the undersigned shall be automatically released from all obligations under this agreement.

 

This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

 

This agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same agreement. Electronic signatures complying with the New York Electronic Signatures and Records Act (N.Y. State Tech. §§ 301-309), as amended from time to time, or other applicable law will be deemed original signatures for purposes of this lock-up agreement. Transmission by telecopy, electronic mail or other transmission method of an executed counterpart of this lock-up agreement will constitute due and sufficient delivery of such counterpart.

 

[Signature page follows]

 

 

	Very truly yours,
		[if signatory is an individual]
	Signature:
		________________________________
	Name:	________________________________
		(Print)
	Address:	________________________________
		(Print)
		[if signatory is an entity]
	Entity:
		________________________________
		(Print)
	Entity Address:	________________________________
		(Print)
	Signature:	________________________________
	Name:	________________________________
		(Print)
	Title:	________________________________
		(Print)