SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT

Contract Categories: Business Finance - Purchase Agreements
EX-4.1 2 a06-11613_2ex4d1.htm EX-4

Exhibit 4.1

 

SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT

 

SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), dated as of April 28, 2006, by and among Earth Biofuels, Inc., a Delaware corporation, with headquarters located at 3001 Knox Street, Suite 403, Dallas, Texas 75205 (the “Company”), and the investors listed on the Schedule of Buyers attached hereto (individually, a “Buyer” and collectively, the “Buyers”).

 

WHEREAS:

 

A.            The Company and each Buyer is executing and delivering this Agreement in reliance upon the exemption from securities registration afforded by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), and Rule 506 of Regulation D (“Regulation D”) as promulgated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the 1933 Act.

 

B.            Each Buyer wishes to purchase, and the Company wishes to sell, upon the terms and conditions stated in this Agreement, that aggregate number of shares of the Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company (the “Common Stock”), set forth opposite such Buyer’s name in column (3) on the Schedule of Buyers (which aggregate amount for all Buyers together shall be 6,400,000 shares of Common Stock and shall collectively be referred to herein as the “Common Shares”).

 

C.            Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement, the Company may be required to issue to each Buyer that number of additional shares of Common Stock set forth opposite such Buyer’s name in column (4) on the Schedule of Buyers (which aggregate amount for all Buyers together shall be 6,400,000 shares of Common Stock and shall collectively be referred to herein as the “Additional Shares”).

 

D.            Contemporaneously with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the parties hereto are executing and delivering a Registration Rights Agreement, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company has agreed to provide certain registration rights with respect to the Common Shares, and the Additional Shares under the 1933 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and applicable state securities laws.

 

E.             The Common Shares and the Additional Shares collectively are referred to herein as the “Securities”.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, the Company and each Buyer hereby agree as follows:

 

1.                                       PURCHASE AND SALE OF COMMON SHARES.

 

(a)           Purchase of Common Shares.  Subject to the satisfaction (or waiver) of the conditions set forth in Sections 6 and 7 below, the Company shall issue and sell to each Buyer, and each Buyer severally, but not jointly, agrees to purchase from the Company on the Closing Date (as defined below), the number of Common Shares as is set forth opposite such Buyer’s name in column (3) on the Schedule of Buyers (the “Closing”).  The Closing shall occur on the

 



 

Closing Date at the offices of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, 919 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022 or may be conducted at such other locations or remotely by facsimile transmission or other electronic means as agreed upon by the Company and the Buyers.

 

(b)           Purchase Price.  The purchase price for the Common Shares to be purchased by each Buyer at the Closing shall be the amount set forth opposite such Buyer’s name in column (5) of the Schedule of Buyers (the “Purchase Price”) which shall be equal to the amount of $0.50 per Common Share (the “Purchase Price Per Common Share”).

 

(c)           Closing Date.  The date and time of the Closing (the “Closing Date”) shall be 10:00 a.m., New York City Time, on the date hereof (or such other date and time as is mutually agreed to by the Company and each Buyer).

 

(d)           Form of Payment.  On the Closing Date, (i) each Buyer shall pay its respective Purchase Price to the Company for the Common Shares to be issued and sold to such Buyer at the Closing, by wire transfer of immediately available funds in accordance with the Company’s written wire instructions, and (ii) the Company shall deliver to each Buyer one or more stock certificates, free and clear of all restrictive and other legends (except as expressly provided in Section 2(g) hereof), evidencing the number of Common Shares such Buyer is purchasing as is set forth opposite such Buyer’s name in column (3) of the Schedule of Buyers, in all cases duly executed on behalf of the Company and registered in the name of such Buyer.

 

2.                                       BUYER’S REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.

 

Each Buyer represents and warrants with respect to only itself that:

 

(a)           No Public Sale or Distribution.  Such Buyer (i) is acquiring the Common Shares and (ii) will acquire the Additional Shares, if any, in the ordinary course of business for its own account and not with a view towards, or for resale in connection with, the public sale or distribution thereof, except pursuant to sales registered or exempted under the 1933 Act.  Such Buyer does not presently have any agreement, arrangement or understanding, directly or indirectly, with any Person to distribute or effect any distribution of any of the Securities (or any securities which are derivatives thereof) to or through any person or entity; provided, however, that by making the representations herein, such Buyer does not agree to hold any of the Securities for any minimum or other specific term and reserves the right to dispose of the Securities at any time in accordance with or pursuant to a registration statement or an exemption under the 1933 Act. 

 

(b)           Accredited Investor Status.  Such Buyer is an “accredited investor” as that term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D.

 

(c)           Reliance on Exemptions.  Such Buyer understands that the Securities are being offered and sold to it in reliance on specific exemptions from the registration requirements of United States federal and state securities laws and that the Company is relying in part upon the truth and accuracy of, and such Buyer’s compliance with, the representations, warranties, agreements, acknowledgments and understandings of such Buyer set forth herein in order to determine the availability of such exemptions and the eligibility of such Buyer to acquire the Securities.

 

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(d)           Information.  Such Buyer and its advisors, if any, have been furnished with all materials relating to the business, finances and operations of the Company and materials relating to the offer and sale of the Securities which have been requested by such Buyer.  Such Buyer and its advisors, if any, have been afforded the opportunity to ask questions of the Company.  Neither such inquiries nor any other due diligence investigations conducted by such Buyer or its advisors, if any, or its representatives shall modify, amend or affect such Buyer’s right to rely on the Company’s representations and warranties contained herein.  Such Buyer understands that its investment in the Securities involves a high degree of risk and is able to afford a complete loss of such investment.  Such Buyer has sought such accounting, legal and tax advice as it has considered necessary to make an informed investment decision with respect to its acquisition of the Securities.

 

(e)           No Governmental Review.  Such Buyer understands that no United States federal or state agency or any other government or governmental agency has passed on or made any recommendation or endorsement of the Securities or the fairness or suitability of the investment in the Securities nor have such authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the offering of the Securities.

 

(f)            Transfer or Resale.  Such Buyer understands that except as provided in the Registration Rights Agreement: (i) the Securities have not been and are not being registered under the 1933 Act or any state securities laws, and may not be offered for sale, sold, assigned or transferred unless (A) subsequently registered thereunder, (B) such Buyer shall have delivered to the Company an opinion of counsel, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the effect that such Securities to be sold, assigned or transferred may be sold, assigned or transferred pursuant to an exemption from such registration, or (C) such Buyer provides the Company with reasonable assurance that such Securities can be sold, assigned or transferred pursuant to Rule 144 or Rule 144A promulgated under the 1933 Act, as amended (or a successor rule thereto) (collectively, “Rule 144”); (ii) any sale of the Securities made in reliance on Rule 144 may be made only in accordance with the terms of Rule 144 and further, if Rule 144 is not applicable, any resale of the Securities under circumstances in which the seller (or the Person (as defined below) through whom the sale is made) may be deemed to be an underwriter (as that term is defined in the 1933 Act) may require compliance with some other exemption under the 1933 Act or the rules and regulations of the SEC thereunder; and (iii) neither the Company nor any other Person is under any obligation to register the Securities under the 1933 Act or any state securities laws or to comply with the terms and conditions of any exemption thereunder.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Securities may be pledged in connection with a bona fide margin account or other loan secured by the Securities and such pledge of Securities shall not be deemed to be a transfer, sale or assignment of the Securities hereunder, and no Buyer effecting a pledge of Securities shall be required to provide the Company with any notice thereof or otherwise make any delivery to the Company pursuant to this Agreement or any other Transaction Document, including, without limitation, this Section 2(f); provided that in order to make any sale, transfer or assignment of Securities, such Buyer and its pledgee makes such disposition in accordance with or pursuant to a registration statement or an exemption under the 1933 Act.

 

(g)           Legends.  Such Buyer understands that the certificates or other instruments representing the Securities and, until such time as the resale of the Common Shares or the Additional Shares, as applicable, have been registered under the 1933 Act as contemplated

 

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by the Registration Rights Agreement or this Agreement, the stock certificates representing the Securities, except as set forth below, shall bear any legend as required by the “blue sky” laws of any state and a restrictive legend in substantially the following form (and a stop-transfer order may be placed against transfer of such stock certificates):

 

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.  THE SECURITIES MAY NOT BE OFFERED FOR SALE, SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR ASSIGNED (I) IN THE ABSENCE OF (A) AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FOR THE SECURITIES UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR (B) AN OPINION OF COUNSEL REASONABLY SATISFACTORY TO THE COMPANY, IN A GENERALLY ACCEPTABLE FORM, THAT REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER SAID ACT OR (II) UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT TO RULE 144 OR RULE 144A UNDER SAID ACT.  NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, THE SECURITIES MAY BE PLEDGED IN CONNECTION WITH A BONA FIDE MARGIN ACCOUNT OR OTHER LOAN OR FINANCING ARRANGEMENT SECURED BY THE SECURITIES.

 

The legend set forth above shall be removed and the Company shall issue a certificate without such legend to the holder of the Securities upon which it is stamped or issue to such holder by electronic delivery at the applicable balance account at DTC, if (i) such Securities are registered for resale under the 1933 Act, (ii) in connection with a sale, assignment or other transfer other than to an affiliate or partner, shareholder or member of such holder, such holder provides the Company with an opinion of counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Company, in a customary and acceptable form, to the effect that such sale, assignment or transfer of the Securities may be made without registration under the applicable requirements of the 1933 Act, or (iii) such holder provides the Company with reasonable assurance that the Securities can be sold, assigned or transferred pursuant to Rule 144 or Rule 144A.

 

If the Company shall fail for any reason or for no reason to issue to the holder of the Securities within three (3) Trading Days (as defined in Section 4(m) below) after the occurrence of any of (i) through (iii) above, a certificate without such legend to the holder or to issue such Securities to such holder by electronic delivery at the applicable balance account at DTC, and if on or after such Trading Day the holder purchases (in an open market transaction or otherwise) shares of Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the holder of such Securities that the holder anticipated receiving without legend from the Company (a “Buy-In”), then the Company shall, within three (3) Business Days after such three (3) Business Day period, and at the holder’s request and in the holder’s discretion, either (i) pay cash to the holder in an amount equal to the holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased (the “Buy-In Price”), at which point the Company’s obligation to deliver such unlegended Securities shall terminate, or (ii) promptly honor its obligation to deliver to the holder such unlegended Securities as provided above and pay cash to the holder in an amount equal to the excess (if any) of the Buy-In Price over the product of (A) such number of shares of Common Stock, times (B) the closing sales price of the Common Stock on the date of exercise.  As used herein, “Business Day” means any day other than Saturday, Sunday or other

 

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day on which commercial banks in The City of New York are authorized or required by law to remain closed.

 

(h)           Validity; Enforcement.  This Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement have been duly and validly authorized, executed and delivered on behalf of such Buyer and shall constitute the legal, valid and binding obligations of such Buyer enforceable against such Buyer in accordance with their respective terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation and other similar laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of applicable creditors’ rights and remedies.

 

(i)            No Conflicts.  The execution, delivery and performance by such Buyer of this Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement and the consummation by such Buyer of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby will not (i) result in a violation of the organizational documents of such Buyer or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any agreement, indenture or instrument to which such Buyer is a party, or (iii) result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment  or decree (including federal and state securities laws) applicable to such Buyer, except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above, for such conflicts, defaults, rights or violations which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the ability of such Buyer to perform its obligations hereunder.

 

(j)            Residency.  Such Buyer is a resident of that jurisdiction specified below its address on the Schedule of Buyers.

 

3.                                       REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY.

 

The Company represents and warrants to each of the Buyers that:

 

(a)           Organization and Qualification.  Each of the Company and its “Subsidiaries” (which for purposes of this Agreement means any entity in which the Company, directly or indirectly, owns capital stock or holds an equity or similar interest) are corporations duly organized and validly existing in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which they are incorporated, and have the requisite corporate power and authorization to own their properties and to carry on their business as now being conducted.  Each of the Company and its Subsidiaries is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to do business and is in good standing in every jurisdiction in which its ownership of property or the nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification necessary, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not have a Material Adverse Effect.  As used in this Agreement, “Material Adverse Effect” means any material adverse effect on the business, properties, assets, operations, results of operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or on the transactions contemplated hereby and the other Transaction Documents or by the agreements and instruments to be entered into in connection herewith or therewith, or on the authority or ability of the Company to perform its obligations under the Transaction Documents (as defined below).  The Company has no Subsidiaries except as set forth on Schedule 3(a)

 

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(b)           Authorization; Enforcement; Validity.  The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions (as defined in Section 5) and each of the other agreements entered into by the parties hereto in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (collectively, the “Transaction Documents”) and to issue the Securities in accordance with the terms hereof.  The execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, including, without limitation, the issuance of the Common Shares and the Additional Shares, if applicable, and the reservation for issuance and the issuance of the Additional Shares have been duly authorized by the Company’s Board of Directors and no further consent or authorization is required by the Company, its Board of Directors or its stockholders.  This Agreement and the other Transaction Documents have been duly executed and delivered by the Company, and constitute the legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation or similar laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of applicable creditors’ rights and remedies.

 

(c)           Issuance of Securities.  The Common Shares and the Additional Shares are duly authorized and, upon issuance in accordance with the terms hereof, shall be validly issued and free from all taxes, liens and charges with respect to the issue thereof and the Common Shares and the Additional Shares, if and when issued, shall be fully paid and nonassessable with the holders being entitled to all rights accorded to a holder of Common Stock.  As of the Closing Date, the Company shall have duly authorized and reserved for issuance a number of shares of Common Stock which equals the number of Additional Shares.  Until such time as the Company has effected the Acquisition (as defined below), the Company take all action necessary to reserve and keep available out of its authorized and unissued Capital Stock, solely for the purpose of issuing Additional Shares pursuant hereto, 6,400,000 shares of Common Stock (which number shall be adjusted as set forth below).  The issuance by the Company of the Securities is exempt from registration under the 1933 Act.

 

(d)           No Conflicts.  The execution, delivery and performance of the Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including, without limitation, the issuance of the Common Shares and the reservation for issuance and issuance of the Additional Shares) will not (i) result in a violation of the Certificate of Incorporation (as defined below) or Bylaws (as defined below) of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any material agreement, indenture or instrument to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a party, or (iii) result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment or decree (including federal and state securities laws and regulations and the rules and regulations of the OTC Bulletin Board as reported on Bloomberg Financial Markets LP (the “Principal Market”)) applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or by which any property or asset of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is bound or affected.

 

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(e)           Consents.  Except for filings and approvals required by the Principal Market and Form D filings by the Company, to be made with the SEC and with state securities regulatory authorities, the Company is not required to obtain any consent, authorization or order of, or make any filing or registration with, any court, governmental agency or any regulatory or self-regulatory agency or any other Person in order for it to execute, deliver or perform any of its obligations under or contemplated by the Transaction Documents, in each case in accordance with the terms hereof or thereof.  The Company and its Subsidiaries are unaware of any facts or circumstances that might prevent the Company from obtaining or effecting any of the registration, application or filings pursuant to the preceding sentence.  The Company is not in violation of the listing requirements of the Principal Market and has no knowledge of any facts that would reasonably lead to delisting or suspension of the Common Stock in the foreseeable future.

 

(f)            Acknowledgment Regarding Buyer’s Purchase of Securities.  The Company acknowledges and agrees that each Buyer is acting solely in the capacity of arm’s length purchaser with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby and that no Buyer is (i) an officer or director of the Company, (ii) an “affiliate” of the Company (as defined in Rule 144) or (iii) to the knowledge of the Company, a “beneficial owner” of more than 10% of the Common Stock (as defined for purposes of Rule 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”)).  The Company further acknowledges that no Buyer is acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Company (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and any advice given by a Buyer or any of its representatives or agents in connection with the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby is merely incidental to such Buyer’s purchase of the Securities.  The Company further represents to each Buyer that the Company’s decision to enter into the Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation by the Company and its representatives.

 

(g)           No General Solicitation; Placement Agent’s Fees.  Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, nor any Person acting on its or their behalf, has engaged in any form of general solicitation or general advertising (within the meaning of Regulation D) in connection with the offer or sale of the Securities.  The Company shall be responsible for the payment of any placement agent’s fees, financial advisory fees, or brokers’ commissions (other than for Persons engaged by any Buyer or its investment advisor, if any) relating to or arising out of the transactions contemplated hereby.  The Company shall pay, and hold each Buyer harmless against, any liability, loss or expense (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees and out-of-pocket expenses) arising in connection with any such claim.  The Company has not engaged any placement agent or other agent in connection with the sale of the Securities.

 

(h)           No Integrated Offering.  None of the Company, its Subsidiaries, any of their affiliates, and any Person acting on their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would require registration of any of the Securities under the 1933 Act or cause this offering of the Securities to be integrated with prior offerings by the Company for purposes of the 1933 Act in a manner that would make unavailable the exemption from registration afforded by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act or Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act, or

 

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any applicable stockholder approval provisions, including, without limitation, under the rules and regulations of any exchange or automated quotation system on which any of the securities of the Company are listed or designated.  None of the Company, its Subsidiaries, their affiliates and any Person acting on their behalf will take any action or steps referred to in the preceding sentence that would require registration of any of the Securities under the 1933 Act or cause the offering of the Securities to be integrated with other offerings.

 

(i)            Dilutive Effect.  The Company understands and acknowledges that its obligation to issue any Additional Shares hereunder, shall be, should it be required by reason of this Agreement, absolute and unconditional regardless of the dilutive effect that such issuance may have on the ownership interests of other stockholders of the Company.

 

(j)            Application of Takeover Protections; Rights Agreement.  The Company and its board of directors have taken all necessary action, if any, in order to render inapplicable any control share acquisition, business combination, poison pill (including any distribution under a rights agreement) or other similar anti-takeover provision under the Certificate of Incorporation or the laws of the State of Delaware which is or could become applicable to any Buyer as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including, without limitation, the Company’s issuance of the Securities and any Buyer’s ownership of the Securities.  The Company has not adopted a shareholder rights plan or similar arrangement relating to accumulations of beneficial ownership of Common Stock or a change in control of the Company.

 

(k)           SEC Documents; Financial Statements.  Except as set forth on Schedule 3(k), since September 13, 2005, the Company has timely filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by it with the SEC pursuant to the reporting requirements of the 1934 Act (all of the foregoing filed prior to the date hereof or prior to the date of the Closing, and all exhibits included therein and financial statements and schedules thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein being hereinafter referred to as the “SEC Documents”).  There are no SEC Documents which are not available on the SEC’s EDGAR system.  As of their respective dates, the SEC Documents complied in all material respects with the requirements of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder applicable to the SEC Documents, and none of the SEC Documents, at the time they were filed with the SEC, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.  As of their respective dates, the financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Documents complied as to form in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the published rules and regulations of the SEC with respect thereto.  Such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied, during the periods involved (except (i) as may be otherwise indicated in such financial statements or the notes thereto, or (ii) in the case of unaudited interim statements, to the extent they may exclude footnotes or may be condensed or summary statements) and fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the Company as of the dates thereof and the results of its operations and cash flows for the periods then ended (subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments).  No other information provided by or on behalf of the Company to the Buyers which is not included in the SEC Documents, including, without limitation,

 

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information referred to in Section 2(d) of this Agreement, contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstance under which they are or were made, not misleading.

 

(l)            Absence of Certain Changes.  Except as disclosed in Schedule 3(l), since December 31, 2005, there has been no material adverse change and no material adverse development in the business, properties, operations, condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations or prospects of the Company or its Subsidiaries.  Except as disclosed in Schedule 3(1), since December 31, 2005, the Company has not (i) declared or paid any dividends, (ii) sold any assets, individually or in the aggregate, in excess of $100,000 outside of the ordinary course of business or (iii) had capital expenditures, individually or in the aggregate, in excess of $100,000.  The Company has not taken any steps to seek protection pursuant to any bankruptcy law nor does the Company have any knowledge or reason to believe that its creditors intend to initiate involuntary bankruptcy proceedings or any actual knowledge of any fact which would reasonably lead a creditor to do so.  The Company is not as of the date hereof, and after giving effect to the transactions contemplated hereby to occur at the Closing, will not be Insolvent (as defined below).  For purposes of this Section 3(l), “Insolvent” means (i) the Company is unable to pay its debts and liabilities, subordinated, contingent or otherwise, as such debts and liabilities become absolute and matured, (ii) the Company intends to incur or believes that it will incur debts that would be beyond its ability to pay as such debts mature or (iii) the Company has unreasonably small capital with which to conduct the business in which it is engaged as such business is now conducted or is about to be conducted.

 

(m)          No Undisclosed Events, Liabilities, Developments or Circumstances.  No event, liability, development or circumstance has occurred or exists with respect to the Company or its Subsidiaries or their respective business, properties, prospects, operations or financial condition, that would be required to have been disclosed by the Company as of the date hereof under applicable securities laws and which has not been publicly announced.

 

(n)           Conduct of Business; Regulatory Permits.  Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is in violation of any term of or in default under the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws or their organizational charter or bylaws, respectively.  To the best knowledge of the Company, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation of any judgment, decree or order or any statute, ordinance, rule or regulation applicable to the Company or its Subsidiaries, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries will conduct its business in violation of any of the foregoing, except in each case for possible violations which would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company is not in violation of any of the rules, regulations or requirements of the Principal Market and has no knowledge of any facts or circumstances that would reasonably lead to delisting or suspension of the Common Stock by the Principal Market in the foreseeable future.  Since December 31, 2005, (i) the Common Stock has been designated for quotation or listed on the Principal Market, (ii) trading in the Common Stock has not been suspended by the SEC or the Principal Market and (iii) the Company has received no communication, written or oral, from the SEC or the Principal Market regarding the suspension or delisting of the Common Stock from the Principal Market.  The Company and its Subsidiaries possess all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct their respective businesses, except where the

 

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failure to possess such certificates, authorizations or permits would not have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect, and neither the Company nor any such Subsidiary has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such certificate, authorization or permit.

 

(o)           Foreign Corrupt Practices.  Neither the Company, nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor any director, officer, agent, employee or other Person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries has, in the course of its actions for, or on behalf of, the Company (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expenses relating to political activity; (ii) made any direct or indirect unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee from corporate funds; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended; or (iv) made any unlawful bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee.

 

(p)           Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  The Company is in compliance with any and all requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that are effective as of the date hereof and applicable to the Company, and any and all applicable rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC thereunder that are effective as of the date hereof, except where such noncompliance would not have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(q)           Transactions With Affiliates.  Except as set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005, none of the officers, directors or employees of the Company is presently a party to any transaction with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (other than for ordinary course services as employees, officers or directors), including any contract, agreement or other arrangement providing for the furnishing of services to or by, providing for rental of real or personal property to or from, or otherwise requiring payments to or from any such officer, director or employee or, to the knowledge of the Company, any corporation, partnership, trust or other entity in which any such officer, director, or employee has a substantial interest or is an officer, director, trustee or partner.

 

(r)            Equity Capitalization.  As of the date hereof, the authorized capital stock of the Company consists of (x) 250,000,000 shares of Common Stock, of which as of the date hereof, 194,609,739 shares are issued, 194,609,739 shares are outstanding; 3,444,444 shares are reserved (or to be reserved) for issuance pursuant to the Company’s employee incentive plan and other options and warrants outstanding and  800,000 shares are reserved (or to be reserved) for issuance pursuant to securities exercisable or exchangeable for, or convertible into, shares of Common Stock and (y) 15,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which as of the date hereof, no shares are issued and outstanding.  All of such outstanding shares have been, or upon issuance will be, validly issued and are fully paid and nonassessable.  Except as set forth above in this Section 3(r) or on Schedule 3(r): (i) no shares of the Company’s capital stock are subject to preemptive rights or any other similar rights or any liens or encumbrances suffered or permitted by the Company; (ii) there are no outstanding options, warrants, scrip, rights to subscribe to, calls or commitments of any character whatsoever relating to, or securities or rights convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, any shares of capital stock of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or may become bound to issue additional shares of capital stock of

 

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the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or options, warrants, scrip, rights to subscribe to, calls or commitments of any character whatsoever relating to, or securities or rights convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, any shares of capital stock of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries; (iii) there are no outstanding debt securities, notes, credit agreements, credit facilities or other agreements, documents or instruments evidencing Indebtedness (as defined below) of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or by which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or may become bound; (iv) there are no financing statements securing obligations in any material amounts, either singly or in the aggregate, filed in connection with the Company; (v) there are no agreements or arrangements under which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is obligated to register the sale of any of their securities under the 1933 Act (except the Registration Rights Agreement); (vi) there are no outstanding securities or instruments of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries which contain any redemption or similar provisions, and there are no contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or may become bound to redeem a security of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries; (vii) there are no securities or instruments containing anti-dilution or similar provisions that will be triggered by the issuance of the Securities; (viii) the Company does not have any stock appreciation rights or “phantom stock” plans or agreements or any similar plan or agreement; and (ix) the Company and its Subsidiaries have no liabilities or obligations required to be disclosed in the SEC Documents (as defined herein) but not so disclosed in the SEC Documents, other than those incurred in the ordinary course of the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s respective businesses and which, individually or in the aggregate, do not or would not have a Material Adverse Effect.  The Company has furnished or made available to each Buyer upon such Buyer’s request, true, correct and complete copies of the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, as amended and as in effect on the date hereof (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), and the Company’s Bylaws, as amended and as in effect on the date hereof (the “Bylaws”), and the terms of all securities convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock and the material rights of the holders thereof in respect thereto.  Schedule 3(r) sets forth the shares of Common Stock owned beneficially or of record and Common Stock Equivalents (as defined below) held by each director and executive officer.

 

(s)           Indebtedness and Other Contracts.  Except as disclosed in Schedule 3(s), neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries (i) has any outstanding Indebtedness (as defined below), (ii) is a party to any contract, agreement or instrument, the violation of which, or default under which, by the other party(ies) to such contract, agreement or instrument would result in a Material Adverse Effect, (iii) is in violation of any term of or in default under any contract, agreement or instrument relating to any Indebtedness, except where such violations and defaults would not result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Material Adverse Effect, or (iv) is a party to any contract, agreement or instrument relating to any Indebtedness, the performance of which, in the judgment of the Company’s officers, has or is expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.  For purposes of this Agreement: (x) “Indebtedness” of the Company means, without duplication (A) all indebtedness for borrowed money, (B) all obligations issued, undertaken or assumed as the deferred purchase price of property or services (other than trade payables entered into in the ordinary course of business), (C) all reimbursement or payment obligations with respect to letters of credit, surety bonds and other similar instruments, (D) all obligations evidenced by notes, bonds, debentures or similar instruments, including obligations so evidenced incurred in connection with the acquisition of property, assets or businesses, (E) all indebtedness created or arising under any conditional sale or other title retention agreement, or incurred as financing, in

 

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either case with respect to any property or assets acquired with the proceeds of such indebtedness (even though the rights and remedies of the seller or bank under such agreement in the event of default are limited to repossession or sale of such property), (F) all monetary obligations under any leasing or similar arrangement which, in connection with generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied for the periods covered thereby, is classified as a capital lease, (G) all indebtedness referred to in clauses (A) through (F) above secured by (or for which the holder of such Indebtedness has an existing right, contingent or otherwise, to be secured by) any mortgage, lien, pledge, charge, security interest or other encumbrance upon or in any property or assets (including accounts and contract rights) owned by any Person, even though the Person which owns such assets or property has not assumed or become liable for the payment of such indebtedness, and (H) all Contingent Obligations in respect of indebtedness or obligations of others of the kinds referred to in clauses (A) through (G) above; (y) “Contingent Obligation” means, as to any Person, any direct or indirect liability, contingent or otherwise, of that Person with respect to any indebtedness, lease, dividend or other obligation of another Person if the primary purpose or intent of the Person incurring such liability, or the primary effect thereof, is to provide assurance to the obligee of such liability that such liability will be paid or discharged, or that any agreements relating thereto will be complied with, or that the holders of such liability will be protected (in whole or in part) against loss with respect thereto; and (z) “Person” means an individual, a limited liability company, a partnership, a joint venture, a corporation, a trust, an unincorporated organization and a government or any department or agency thereof.

 

(t)            Absence of Litigation.  Except as set forth on Schedule 3(t) there is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by the Principal Market, any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company, the Common Stock or any of its Subsidiaries or any of the Company’s or the Company’s Subsidiary’s officers or directors, whether of a civil or criminal nature or otherwise.  The matters set forth on Schedule 3(t) would not have a Material Adverse Effect. 

 

(u)           Insurance.  The Company and each of its Subsidiaries are insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as management of the Company believes to be prudent and customary in the businesses in which the Company and its Subsidiaries are engaged.  Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for.  Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business at a cost that would not have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(v)           Employee Relations.  (i) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to any collective bargaining agreement or employs any member of a union.  The Company and its Subsidiaries believe that their relations with their employees are good.  No executive officer of the Company (as defined in Rule 501(f) of the 1933 Act) has notified the Company that such officer intends to leave the Company or otherwise terminate such officer’s employment with the Company.  No executive officer of the Company, to the knowledge of the Company, is, or is now expected to be, in violation of any material term of any employment contract, confidentiality, disclosure or proprietary information agreement, non-competition

 

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agreement, or any other contract or agreement or any restrictive covenant, and the continued employment of each such executive officer does not subject the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to any liability with respect to any of the foregoing matters.

 

(ii)         The Company and its Subsidiaries are in compliance with all federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations respecting labor, employment and employment practices and benefits, terms and conditions of employment and wages and hours, except where failure to be in compliance would not, either individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
 

(w)          Title.  The Company and its Subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property and good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them which is material to the business of the Company and its Subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects except as disclosed on Schedule 3(w) and for such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and any of its Subsidiaries.  Any real property and facilities held under lease by the Company and any of its Subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its Subsidiaries.

 

(x)            Intellectual Property Rights.  The Company and its Subsidiaries own or possess adequate rights or licenses to use all trademarks, trade names, service marks, service mark registrations, service names, patents, patent rights, copyrights, inventions, licenses, approvals, governmental authorizations, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights (“Intellectual Property Rights”) necessary to conduct their respective businesses as now conducted.  None of the Company’s Intellectual Property Rights have expired or terminated, or are expected to expire or terminate within three years from the date of this Agreement.  The Company does not have any knowledge of any infringement by the Company or its Subsidiaries of Intellectual Property Rights of others.  There is no claim, action or proceeding being made or brought, or to the knowledge of the Company, being threatened, against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries regarding its Intellectual Property Rights.  The Company is unaware of any facts or circumstances which might give rise to any of the foregoing infringements or claims, actions or proceedings.  The Company and its Subsidiaries have taken reasonable security measures to protect the secrecy, confidentiality and value of all of their Intellectual Property Rights.

 

(y)           Environmental Laws.  The Company and its Subsidiaries (i) are in compliance with any and all Environmental Laws (as hereinafter defined), (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 where, in each of the foregoing clauses (i), (ii) and (iii), the failure to so comply could be reasonably expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect.  The term “Environmental Laws” means all federal, state, local or foreign laws relating to pollution or protection of human health or the environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata), including, without limitation, laws relating to emissions, discharges, releases or threatened releases of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, or toxic or hazardous substances or wastes

 

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(collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) into the environment, or otherwise relating to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials, as well as all authorizations, codes, decrees, demands or demand letters, injunctions, judgments, licenses, notices or notice letters, orders, permits, plans or regulations issued, entered, promulgated or approved thereunder.

 

(z)            Subsidiary Rights.  The Company or one of its Subsidiaries has the unrestricted right to vote, and (subject to limitations imposed by applicable law) to receive dividends and distributions on, all capital securities of its Subsidiaries as owned by the Company or such Subsidiary.

 

(aa)         Tax Status.  The Company and each of its Subsidiaries (i) has made or filed all federal and state income and all other tax returns, reports and declarations (or extensions thereof) required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject, (ii) has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations, except those being contested in good faith and (iii) has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate for the payment of all taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to which such returns, reports or declarations apply.  There are no unpaid taxes in any material amount claimed to be due by the taxing authority of any jurisdiction, and the officers of the Company know of no basis for any such claim.

 

(bb)         Internal Accounting and Disclosure Controls.  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 generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain asset and liability accountability, (iii) access to assets or incurrence of liabilities is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets and liabilities is compared with the existing assets and liabilities at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any difference.  Other than as described in the Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed with the SEC for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005, the Company does not currently maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-14 under the 1934 Act) that are effective in ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the 1934 Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC, including, without limitation, controls and procedures designed in to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the 1934 Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer or officers and its principal financial officer or officers, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Specifically, the independent auditors for the Company identified deficiencies in the Company’s controls related to valuation and recording of fixed assets.

 

(cc)         Off Balance Sheet Arrangements.  There is no transaction, arrangement, or other relationship between the Company and an unconsolidated or other off balance sheet entity that is required to be disclosed by the Company in its Exchange Act filings and is not so disclosed or that otherwise would be reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

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(dd)         Manipulation of Price.  The Company has not, and to its knowledge no one acting on its behalf has, (i) taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or to result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Securities, (ii) sold, bid for, purchased, or paid any compensation for soliciting purchases of, any of the Securities, or (iii) paid or agreed to pay to any person any compensation for soliciting another to purchase any other securities of the Company.

 

(ee)         Transfer Taxes.  On the Closing Date, all stock transfer or other taxes (other than income or similar taxes) which are required to be paid in connection with the sale and transfer of the Securities to be sold to each Buyer hereunder will be, or will have been, fully paid or provided for by the Company, and all laws imposing such taxes will be or will have been complied with.

 

(ff)           Disclosure.  The Company confirms that neither it nor any other Person acting on its behalf has provided any of the Buyers or their respective agents or counsel with any information that constitutes or could reasonably be expected to constitute material, nonpublic information.  The Company understands and confirms that each of the Buyers will rely on the foregoing representations in effecting transactions in securities of the Company.  All disclosure provided to the Buyers regarding the Company, its business and the transactions contemplated hereby, including the Schedules to this Agreement, furnished by or on behalf of the Company are true and correct and do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.  Each press release issued by the Company since September 13, 2005 did not at the time of release contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading.  No event or circumstance has occurred or information exists with respect to the Company or any Subsidiary or either of its or their respective business, properties, prospects, operations or financial conditions, which, under applicable law, rule or regulation, requires public disclosure or announcement by the Company but which has not been so publicly announced or disclosed (assuming for this purpose that the Company’s reports filed under the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are being incorporated into an effective registration statement filed by the Company under the 1933 Act).  The Company acknowledges and agrees that no Buyer makes or has made any representations or warranties with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby other than those specifically set forth in Section 2.

 

4.                                       COVENANTS, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES.

 

(a)           Best Efforts.  Each party shall use its best efforts timely to satisfy each of the covenants and the conditions to be satisfied by it as provided in Sections 5, 6 and 7 of this Agreement.

 

(b)           Form D and Blue Sky; Other Filings and Consents.  The Company agrees to file a Form D in respect of the Securities as required under Regulation D and to provide a copy thereof to each Buyer promptly after such filing.  The Company, as promptly as reasonably practicable after the date hereof, shall take such action as the Company shall reasonably

 

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determine is necessary in order to obtain an exemption for or to qualify the Securities for sale to the Buyers at the Closing pursuant to this Agreement under applicable securities or “Blue Sky” laws of the states of the United States (or to obtain an exemption from such qualification), and shall promptly thereafter provide evidence of any such action so taken to the Buyers.  The Company shall make all filings and reports relating to the offer and sale of the Securities required under applicable securities or “Blue Sky” laws of the states of the United States following the Closing Date.  The Company undertakes as promptly as reasonably practicable after the date hereof to (i) file all other filings and registrations, or (ii) use its reasonable best efforts to obtain, as applicable, all consents, authorizations, orders, in each case, which are required of the Company pursuant to Section 3(e) hereof.

 

(c)           Reporting Status.  Until the date on which the Investors (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement) shall have sold all the Common Shares and Additional Shares, if applicable (the “Reporting Period”), the Company shall timely file all reports required to be filed with the SEC pursuant to the 1934 Act, and the Company shall not terminate its status as an issuer required to file reports under the 1934 Act even if the 1934 Act or the rules and regulations thereunder would otherwise permit such termination.

 

(d)           Use of Proceeds.  The Company will use the proceeds from the sale of the Common Shares to acquire that certain ethanol production plant (the “Acquisition”) more specifically described on the letter of intent attached hereto as Exhibit B; provided however that if the Acquisition has not occurred prior to August 31, 2006, the Company may use the proceeds from the sale of the Common Shares for general and administrative expenses, including the repayment of any outstanding Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, but not for the redemption or repurchase of any of its equity securities.

 

(e)           Financial Information.  The Company agrees to send the following to each Investor during the Reporting Period (i) unless the following are filed with the SEC through EDGAR and are available to the public through the EDGAR system, within one (1) Business Day after the filing thereof with the SEC, a copy of its Annual Reports on Form 10-KSB, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-QSB, any Current Reports on Form 8-K and any registration statements (other than on Form S-8) or amendments filed pursuant to the 1933 Act, (ii) on the same day as the release thereof, facsimile copies of all press releases issued by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and (iii) copies of any notices and other information made available or given to the stockholders of the Company generally, contemporaneously with the making available or giving thereof to the stockholders. 

 

(f)            Listing.  The Company shall promptly secure the listing of all of the Registrable Securities (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement) upon each national securities exchange and automated quotation system, if any, upon which shares of Common Stock are then listed (subject to official notice of issuance) and shall maintain, so long as any other shares of Common Stock shall be so listed, such listing of all Registrable Securities from time to time issuable under the terms of the Transaction Documents.  The Company shall maintain the Common Stock’s authorization for listing on the Principal Market.  Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall take any action which would be reasonably expected to result in the delisting or suspension of the Common Stock on the Principal Market. The

 

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Company shall pay all fees and expenses in connection with satisfying its obligations under this Section 4(f).

 

(g)           Fees.  Subject to Section 8 below, at the Closing, the Company shall reimburse up to $30,000 of the fees and expenses in connection with the preparation, execution and performance of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereunder,of Kamunting Street Master Fund, Ltd. (a Buyer) or its designee(s) (in addition to any other expense amounts paid to any Buyer prior to the date of this Agreement), which amount shall be withheld by such Buyer from its Purchase Price at the Closing.  The Company shall be responsible for the payment of any placement agent’s fees, financial advisory fees, or broker’s commissions (other than for Persons engaged by any Buyer) relating to or arising out of the transactions contemplated hereby.  The Company shall pay, and hold each Buyer harmless against, any liability, loss or expense (including, without limitation, reasonable attorney’s fees and out-of-pocket expenses) arising in connection with any claim relating to any such payment.  Except as otherwise set forth in the Transaction Documents, each party to this Agreement shall bear its own expenses in connection with the sale of the Securities to the Buyers.

 

(h)           Pledge of Securities.  The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Securities may be pledged by an Investor in connection with a bona fide margin agreement or other loan or financing arrangement that is secured by the Securities.  The pledge of Securities shall not be deemed to be a transfer, sale or assignment of the Securities hereunder, and no Investor effecting a pledge of Securities shall be required to provide the Company with any notice thereof or otherwise make any delivery to the Company pursuant to this Agreement or any other Transaction Document, including, without limitation, Section 2(f) of this Agreement; provided that an Investor and its pledgee shall be required to comply with the provisions of Section 2(f) of this Agreement in order to effect a sale, transfer or assignment of Securities to such pledgee.  The Company hereby agrees to execute and deliver such documentation as a pledgee of the Securities may reasonably request in connection with a pledge of the Securities to such pledgee by an Investor.

 

(i)            Disclosure of Transactions and Other Material Information.  The Company shall, on or before 8:30 a.m., New York City Time, on the first Business Day after the date of this Agreement, issue a press release (the “Press Release”) reasonably acceptable to the Buyers disclosing all material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby.  On or before 8:30 a.m., New York City Time, on the first Business Day following the Closing Date, the Company shall file a Current Report on Form 8-K describing the terms of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents in the form required by the 1934 Act, and attaching the material Transaction Documents (including, without limitation, this Agreement (and all schedules to this Agreement) and the Registration Rights Agreement) as exhibits to such filing (including all attachments, the “8-K Filing”).  From and after the issuance of the Press Release, no Buyer shall be in possession of any material, nonpublic information received from the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of its respective officers, directors, employees or agents, that is not disclosed in the Press Release.  The Company shall not, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries and each of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents, not to, provide any Buyer with any material, nonpublic information regarding the Company or any of its Subsidiaries from and after the filing of the Press Release without the express written consent of such Buyer.  In the event of a breach of the foregoing covenant by the Company, and provided that the Company shall have

 

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failed (following proper written request therefor) to make an appropriate public disclosure consistent with the requirements of Regulation FD, any Subsidiary, or its each of respective officers, directors, employees and agents, in addition to any other remedy provided herein or in the Transaction Documents, a Buyer shall have the right to make a public disclosure, in the form of a press release, public advertisement or otherwise, of such material, nonpublic information without the prior approval by the Company, its Subsidiaries, or any of its or their respective officers, directors, employees or agents.  No Buyer shall have any liability to the Company, its Subsidiaries, or any of its or their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders or agents for any such disclosure.  Subject to the foregoing, neither the Company nor any Buyer shall issue any press releases or any other public statements with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby; provided, however, that the Company shall be entitled, without the prior approval of any Buyer, to make any press release or other public disclosure with respect to such transactions (i) in substantial conformity with the 8-K Filing and contemporaneously therewith and (ii) as is required by applicable law and regulations, including the applicable rules and regulations of the Principal Market (provided that in the case of clause (i) each Buyer shall be consulted by the Company in connection with any such press release or other public disclosure prior to its release). 

 

(j)            Additional Registration Statements.  Until the date that is 90 calendar days from the date the Registration Statement (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement) is first declared effective by the SEC (the “Effective Date”), the Company will use its reasonable best efforts to not file a registration statement under the 1933 Act relating to securities that are not the Securities.

 

(k)           Corporate Existence.  So long as the Company may be obligated to issue Additional Shares hereunder, it shall maintain its corporate existence and shall not sell all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, except in the event of a merger or consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, where the surviving or successor entity in such transaction (i) assumes the Company’s obligations hereunder and under the agreements and instruments entered into in connection herewith and (ii) is a publicly traded corporation whose common stock is quoted on or listed for trading on the Principal Market, The Nasdaq National Market, the New York Stock Exchange or the American Stock Exchange.

 

(l)            Reservation of Shares.  Until the Company either issues the Additional Shares as required hereby or makes the Acquisition, the Company shall take all action necessary to at all times have authorized, and reserved for the purpose of issuance of Additional Shares no less than 6,400,000 shares of Common Stock.

 

(m)          Additional Issuances of Securities.

 

(i)            For purposes of this Section 4, the following definitions shall apply.
 
(1)           “Approved Stock Plan” means any employee benefit plan which has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Company, pursuant to which the Company’s securities may be issued to any employee, officer, director or consultant for services provided to the Company.

 

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(2)           “Common Stock Equivalents” means, collectively, Options and Convertible Securities.

 

(3)           “Convertible Securities” means any stock or securities (other than Options) of the Company convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock.

 

(4)           “Excluded Securities” means Additional Shares or Common Stock issued or issuable: (i) in connection with any Approved Stock Plan; (ii) upon exercise of any Options or conversion of any Convertible Securities which are outstanding on the day immediately preceding the Closing Date, provided that the terms of such Options or Convertible Securities are not amended, modified or changed on or after the Closing Date; (iii) pursuant to a bona fide firm commitment underwritten public offering with a nationally recognized underwriter which generates gross proceeds to the Company in excess of $10,000,000 (other than an “at-the-market offering” as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) under the 1933 Act and “equity lines”); (iv) upon exercise of any Options or conversion of any Convertible Securities that are outstanding on the day immediately preceding the Closing Date, provided that the price and number of shares issuable under such Options or Convertible Securities are not amended, modified or changed on or after the Closing Date; (v) in connection with any acquisition by the Company, whether through an acquisition of stock or a merger of any business, assets or technologies the primary purpose of which is not to raise equity capital in an amount not to exceed, in the aggregate, 10% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock in any calendar year; and (vi) an anticipated issuance of no more than 10 million shares of Common Stock to an agricultural conglomerate.

 

(5)           “Options” means any rights, warrants or options to subscribe for or purchase Common Stock or Convertible Securities.

 

(6)           “Trading Day” means any day on which the Common Stock is traded on the Principal Market, or, if the Principal Market is not the principal trading market for the Common Stock, then on the principal securities exchange or securities market on which the Common Stock is then traded; provided that “Trading Day” shall not include any day on which the Common Stock is scheduled to trade on such exchange or market for less than 4.5 hours or any day that the Common Stock is suspended from trading during the final hour of trading on such exchange or market (or if such exchange or market does not designate in advance the closing time of trading on such exchange or market, then during the hour ending at 4:00 p.m., New York City Time).

 

(ii)         From the date hereof until the date that is 120 calendar days following the Effective Date until the date that is the two year anniversary of the Closing Date, the Company will not, directly or indirectly, offer, sell, grant any option to purchase, or otherwise dispose of (or announce any offer, sale, grant or any option to purchase or other disposition of) any of its or its Subsidiaries’ equity or equity equivalent securities, including without limitation any debt, preferred stock or other instrument or security that is, at any time

 

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during its life and under any circumstances, convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents (any such offer, sale, grant, disposition or announcement being referred to as a “Subsequent Placement”) unless the Company shall have first complied with this Section 4(m)(ii).

 

(1)           The Company shall deliver to each Buyer a written notice (the ”Offer Notice”) of any proposed or intended issuance or sale or exchange (the ”Offer”) of the securities being offered (the “Offered Securities”) in a Subsequent Placement, which Offer Notice shall (w) identify and describe the Offered Securities, (x) describe the price and other terms upon which they are to be issued, sold or exchanged, and the number or amount of the Offered Securities to be issued, sold or exchanged, (y) identify the persons or entities (if known) to which or with which the Offered Securities are to be offered, issued, sold or exchanged and (z) offer to issue and sell to or exchange with such Buyers a pro rata portion of 25% of the Offered Securities, allocated among such Buyers (a) based on such Buyer’s pro rata portion of the aggregate shares of Common Stock purchased hereunder (the “Basic Amount”), and (b) with respect to each Buyer that elects to purchase its Basic Amount, any additional portion of the Offered Securities attributable to the Basic Amounts of other Buyers as such Buyer shall indicate it will purchase or acquire should the other Buyers subscribe for less than their Basic Amounts (the “Undersubscription Amount”).

 

(2)           To accept an Offer, in whole or in part, such Buyer must deliver a written notice to the Company prior to the end of the seventh (7th) Business Day after such Buyer’s receipt of the Offer Notice (the “Offer Period”), setting forth the portion of such Buyer’s Basic Amount that such Buyer elects to purchase and, if such Buyer shall elect to purchase all of its Basic Amount, the Undersubscription Amount, if any, that such Buyer elects to purchase (in either case, the “Notice of Acceptance”).  If the Basic Amounts subscribed for by all Buyers are less than the total of all of the Basic Amounts, then each Buyer who has set forth an Undersubscription Amount in its Notice of Acceptance shall be entitled to purchase, in addition to the Basic Amounts subscribed for, the Undersubscription Amount it has subscribed for; provided, however, that if the Undersubscription Amounts subscribed for exceed the difference between the total of all the Basic Amounts and the Basic Amounts subscribed for (the “Available Undersubscription Amount”), each Buyer who has subscribed for any Undersubscription Amount shall be entitled to purchase only that portion of the Available Undersubscription Amount as the Basic Amount of such Buyer bears to the total Basic Amounts of all Buyers that have subscribed for Undersubscription Amounts, subject to rounding by the Company to the extent its deems reasonably necessary.

 

(3)           The Company shall have twenty (20) Business Days from the expiration of the Offer Period above to offer, issue, sell or exchange all or any part of such Offered Securities as to which a Notice of Acceptance has not been given by the Buyers (the “Refused Securities”), but only to the offerees described in the Offer Notice (if so described therein) and only upon terms and conditions (including, without limitation, unit prices and interest rates) that are not more favorable to the acquiring person or persons or less favorable to the Company than those set forth in the Offer Notice.

 

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(4)           In the event the Company shall propose to sell less than all the Refused Securities (any such sale to be in the manner and on the terms specified in Section 4(m)(ii)(3) above), then each Buyer may, at its sole option and in its sole discretion, reduce the number or amount of the Offered Securities specified in its Notice of Acceptance to an amount that shall be not less than the number or amount of the Offered Securities that such Buyer elected to purchase pursuant to Section 4(m)(ii)(2) above multiplied by a fraction, (i) the numerator of which shall be the number or amount of Offered Securities the Company actually proposes to issue, sell or exchange (including Offered Securities to be issued or sold to Buyers pursuant to Section 4(m)(ii)(3) above prior to such reduction) and (ii) the denominator of which shall be the original amount of the Offered Securities.  In the event that any Buyer so elects to reduce the number or amount of Offered Securities specified in its Notice of Acceptance, the Company may not issue, sell or exchange more than the reduced number or amount of the Offered Securities unless and until such securities have again been offered to the Buyers in accordance with Section 4(m)(ii)(1) above.

 

(5)           Upon the closing of the issuance, sale or exchange of all or less than all of the Refused Securities, the Buyers shall acquire from the Company, and the Company shall issue to the Buyers, the number or amount of Offered Securities specified in the Notices of Acceptance, as reduced pursuant to Section 4(m)(ii)(3) above if the Buyers have so elected, upon the terms and conditions specified in the Offer.  The purchase by the Buyers of any Offered Securities is subject in all cases to the preparation, execution and delivery by the Company and the Buyers of a purchase agreement relating to such Offered Securities reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Buyers and their respective counsel.

 

(6)           Any Offered Securities not acquired by the Buyers or other persons in accordance with Section 4(m)(ii)(3) above may not be issued, sold or exchanged until they are again offered to the Buyers under the procedures specified in this Agreement.

 

(iii)          The restrictions contained in subsection (ii) of this Section 4(m) shall not apply in connection with any Excluded Securities.
 

(n)           Certain Adjustments. Except in respect of Excluded Securities, if, at any time until the six month anniversary of the Effective Date (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement), the Company shall issue or sell, or agree to issue or sell (if the Company shall issue or sell after such period pursuant to such agreement), shares of Common Stock (other than the Additional Shares) or Common Stock Equivalents to any Person or Persons for a price per share (less than the Purchase Price Per Common Share (a “Trigger Issuance”), then, and in each such case, the Company shall, at each Buyer’s sole option, without payment of additional consideration in connection with the Trigger Issuance:

 

(i)            if such Trigger Issuance is in connection with a Common Stock financing, issue to such Buyer, in cash or shares of Common Stock (in the Company’s discretion), an amount of shares of Common Stock (the “Dilution Shares”) (determined by dividing the Cash Amount by the price at which such Common Stock or Common Stock

 

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Equivalents are being sold) or cash equal to the value of the product of (i) the number of Common Shares (as the same shall be adjusted for any previous adjustments pursuant to this Section 4(n)) purchased by such Buyer and (ii) the Purchase Price Per Common Share minus the price at which such Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents are being sold (the product of (i) and (ii), the “Cash Amount”), or

 
(ii)           if such Trigger Issuance is in connection with a preferred stock, convertible debt or other Convertible Security financing, exchange for such Buyer the Common Shares received by such Buyer into the amount of such preferred stock or convertible debt or other Convertible Security (the “Convertible Dilution Shares”) that such Buyer could purchase at the Purchase Price Per Common Share on the same terms and conditions as the Trigger Issuance.
 
(iii)        Any Dilution Shares or Convertible Dilution Shares issued to such Buyer pursuant to this Section 4(n) shall be deemed to be Registrable Securities subject to the same registration rights, mutatis mutandis, as set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement, with the Closing Date being deemed the date of issuance of the applicable Dilution Shares or Convertible Dilution Shares, as applicable, for purposes of determining applicable dates thereunder.
 

(o)           Opinion of Counsel.  The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause Scheef & Stone, LLP, the Company’s outside counsel (“Company Counsel”) to deliver to each Buyer the opinion of Company Counsel, dated as of and delivered no later that the fifth (5th) Business Day following the Closing Date, in substantially the form of Exhibit C attached hereto.  

 

(p)           Consummation of Acquisition or Issuance of Additional Shares; Registration Rights.  If the Company shall not have effected the Acquisition by August 31, 2006, then within three Business Days of such date (the “Deadline Date”), the Company shall issue to the Buyers those numbers of Additional Shares set forth next to each such Buyer’s name in column (5) of Schedule A; provided that (i) such number shall be appropriately adjusted for any stock split, reverse stock split, stock combination, reclassification, reorganization or similar event after the date of this Agreement, and (ii) each such Buyer shall tender in exchange therefor that amount obtained by multiplying the number of Additional Shares being issued pursuant to this Section 4(p) by the par value of the Common Stock (such amount, the “Additional Purchase Price”).  The issuance date of any such Additional Shares shall be August 31, 2006.  Any Additional Shares issued to such Buyer pursuant to this Section 4(p) shall be deemed to be Registrable Securities subject to the same registration rights, mutatis mutandis, as set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement, with the Closing Date being deemed the date of issuance of the Additional Shares for purposes of determining applicable dates thereunder.  If the Company shall fail for any reason or for no reason to issue to such holder certificates representing Additional Shares by the Deadline Date, then, in addition to all other remedies available to the holder, if on or after the Trading Day (as defined in Section 4(m)) immediately following such three Business Day period, the holder purchases (in an open market transaction or otherwise) shares of Common Stock that the holder anticipated receiving from the Company (an “Additional Share Buy-In”), then the Company shall, within three Business Days after the holder’s request and in the holder’s discretion, either (i) pay cash to the holder in an amount equal to the holder’s total purchase price

 

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(including brokerage commissions, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased (the “Additional Share Buy-In Price”), at which point the Company’s obligation to deliver such certificate (and to issue such Additional Shares) shall terminate, or (ii) promptly honor its obligation to deliver to the holder a certificate or certificates representing such Additional Shares and pay cash to the holder in an amount equal to the excess (if any) of the Additional Share Buy-In Price over the product of (A) such number of shares of Common Stock, times (B) the closing sale price of the Common Stock on the Deadline Date.

 

5.                                       TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS; TRANSFER AGENT INSTRUCTIONS.

 

(a)           Transfer Restrictions.  The legend set forth in Section 2(g) shall be removed and the Company shall issue a certificate without such legend or any other legend to the holder of the applicable Securities upon which it is stamped, if (i) such Securities are registered for resale under the 1933 Act, (ii) in connection with a sale, assignment or other transfer, such holder provides the Company with an opinion of counsel, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the effect that such sale, assignment or transfer of such Securities may be made without registration under the applicable requirements of the 1933 Act, or (iii) such holder provides the Company with reasonable assurance that such Securities can be sold, assigned or transferred pursuant to Rule 144.  The Company shall cause General Counsel (as defined below) to issue the legal opinion included in the Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions to the Company’s transfer agent on the Effective Date.  Following the Effective Date or at such earlier time as a legend is no longer required for certain Securities, the Company will no later than three Business Days following the delivery by a Buyer to the Company or the Company’s transfer agent of a legended certificate representing such Securities, deliver or cause to be delivered to such Buyer a certificate representing such Securities that is free from all restrictive and other legends.  Following the Effective Date and upon the delivery to any Buyer of any certificate representing Securities that is free from all restrictive and other legends, such Buyer agrees that any sale of such Securities shall be made pursuant to the Registration Statement and in accordance with the plan of distribution described therein or pursuant to an available exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act.  The Company may not make any notation on its records or give instructions to any transfer agent of the Company that enlarge the restrictions on transfer set forth in Section 2(g).  The Company will not effect or publicly announce its intention to effect any exchange, recapitalization or other transaction that effectively requires or rewards physical delivery of certificates evidencing the Common Stock.

 

(b)           The Company shall issue irrevocable instructions to its transfer agent, and any subsequent transfer agent, to issue certificates or credit shares to the applicable balance accounts at The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), registered in the name of each Buyer or its respective nominee(s), for the Common Shares, and the Additional Shares in such amounts as specified from time to time by each Buyer to the Company in the form of Exhibit D attached hereto (the “Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions”).  The Company warrants that no instruction other than the Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions referred to in this Section 5, and stop transfer instructions to give effect to Section 2(g) hereof, will be given by the Company to its transfer agent in connection with this Agreement, and that the Securities shall otherwise be freely transferable on the books and records of the Company as and to the extent provided in this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents.  If a Buyer effects a sale, assignment or transfer of the Securities in accordance with Section 2(g), the Company shall permit the transfer

 

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and shall promptly instruct its transfer agent to issue one or more certificates or credit shares to the applicable balance accounts at DTC in such name and in such denominations as specified by such Buyer to effect such sale, transfer or assignment.  In the event that such sale, assignment or transfer involves Common Shares or Additional Shares sold, assigned or transferred pursuant to an effective registration statement or pursuant to Rule 144, the transfer agent shall issue such Securities to the Buyer, assignee or transferee, as the case may be, without any restrictive legend.  The Company acknowledges that a breach by it of its obligations under this Section 5 will cause irreparable harm to a Buyer.  Accordingly, the Company acknowledges that the remedy at law for a breach of its obligations under this Section 5 will be inadequate and agrees, in the event of a breach or threatened breach by the Company of the provisions of this Section 5, that a Buyer shall be entitled, in addition to all other available remedies, to an order and/or injunction restraining any breach and requiring immediate issuance and transfer, without the necessity of showing economic loss and without any bond or other security being required.

 

6.                                       CONDITIONS TO THE COMPANY’S OBLIGATION TO SELL.

 

The obligation of the Company hereunder to issue and sell the Common Shares to each Buyer at the Closing is subject to the satisfaction, at or before the Closing Date, of each of the following conditions, provided that these conditions are for the Company’s sole benefit and may be waived by the Company at any time in its sole discretion by providing each Buyer with prior written notice thereof:

 

(i)          Such Buyer shall have executed each of the Transaction Documents to which it is a party and delivered the same to the Company.
 
(ii)         Such Buyer shall have delivered to the Company the Purchase Price (less, in the case of Kamunting Street Master Fund, Ltd. the amounts withheld pursuant to Section 4(g)) for the Common Shares being purchased by such Buyer and each other Buyer at the Closing by wire transfer of immediately available funds pursuant to the wire instructions provided by the Company.
 
(iii)        The representations and warranties of such Buyer shall be true and correct in all material respects as of the date when made and as of the Closing Date as though made at that time (except for representations and warranties that speak as of a specific date), and such Buyer shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all material respects with the covenants, agreements and conditions required by this Agreement to be performed, satisfied or complied with by such Buyer at or prior to the Closing Date.
 

7.                                       CONDITIONS TO EACH BUYER’S OBLIGATION TO PURCHASE.

 

The obligation of each Buyer hereunder to purchase the Common Shares and at the Closing is subject to the satisfaction, at or before the Closing Date, of each of the following conditions, provided that these conditions are for each Buyer’s sole benefit and may be waived by such Buyer at any time in its sole discretion by providing the Company with prior written notice thereof:

 

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(i)          The Company shall have executed and delivered to such Buyer (i) each of the Transaction Documents and (ii) the Common Shares being purchased by such Buyer at the Closing pursuant to this Agreement.
 
(ii)         The Company shall have delivered to such Buyer a copy of the Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions, in the form of Exhibit C attached hereto, which instructions shall have been delivered to and acknowledged in writing by the Company’s transfer agent.
 
(iii)        The Company shall have delivered to such Buyer a certificate evidencing the incorporation and good standing of the Company and each of its operating Subsidiaries in such corporation’s state of incorporation issued by the Secretary of State of such state of incorporation as of a date within 10 days of the Closing Date.
 
(iv)        The Common Stock (A) shall be listed on the Principal Market and (B) shall not have been suspended, as of the Closing Date, by the SEC or the Principal Market from trading on the Principal Market nor shall suspension by the SEC or the Principal Market have been threatened, as of the Closing Date, either (x) in writing by the SEC or the Principal Market or (y) by falling below the minimum listing maintenance requirements of the Principal Market.
 
(v)           [intentionally left blank]
 
(vi)        The Company shall have delivered to such Buyer a certificate, executed by the Secretary of the Company and dated as of the Closing Date, as to (i) the resolutions consistent with Section 3(b) as adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors in a form reasonably acceptable to such Buyer, (ii) the Certificate of Incorporation and (iii) the Bylaws, each as in effect at the Closing, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit E.
 
(vii)       The representations and warranties of the Company shall be true and correct as of the date when made and as of the Closing Date as though made at that time (except for representations and warranties that speak as of a specific date) and the Company shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all respects with the covenants, agreements and conditions required by the Transaction Documents to be performed, satisfied or complied with by the Company at or prior to the Closing Date.  Such Buyer shall have received a certificate, executed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, dated as of the Closing Date, to the foregoing effect and as to such other matters as may be reasonably requested by such Buyer in the form attached hereto as Exhibit F.
 
(viii)      The Company shall have delivered to such Buyer a letter from the Company’s transfer agent certifying the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of a date within five days of the Closing Date.
 
(ix)         The Company shall have obtained all governmental, regulatory or third party consents and approvals, if any, necessary for the sale of the Common Shares.

 

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(x)          The Company shall have delivered to such Buyer such other documents relating to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement as such Buyer or its counsel may reasonably request.
 

8.             TERMINATION.  In the event that the Closing shall not have occurred with respect to a Buyer on or before five (5) days from the date hereof due to the Company’s or such Buyer’s failure to satisfy the conditions set forth in Sections 6 and 7 above (and the nonbreaching party’s failure to waive such unsatisfied condition(s)), the nonbreaching party shall have the option to terminate this Agreement with respect to such breaching party at the close of business on such date without liability of any party to any other party.

 

9.             MISCELLANEOUS.

 

(a)           Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Jury Trial.  All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of this Agreement shall be governed by the internal laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdictions) that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdictions other than the State of New York.  Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in The City of New York, Borough of Manhattan for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection herewith or with any transaction contemplated hereby or discussed herein, and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such suit, action or proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum or that the venue of such suit, action or proceeding is improper.  Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by mailing a copy thereof to such party at the address for such notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof.  Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any manner permitted by law.  EACH PARTY HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE, AND AGREES NOT TO REQUEST, A JURY TRIAL FOR THE ADJUDICATION OF ANY DISPUTE HEREUNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY TRANSACTION CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.

 

(b)           Counterparts.  This Agreement may be executed in two or more identical counterparts, all of which shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to the other party; provided that a facsimile signature shall be considered due execution and shall be binding upon the signatory thereto with the same force and effect as if the signature were an original, not a facsimile signature.

 

(c)           Headings.  The headings of this Agreement are for convenience of reference and shall not form part of, or affect the interpretation of, this Agreement.

 

(d)           Severability.  If any provision of this Agreement shall be invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity

 

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or enforceability of the remainder of this Agreement in that jurisdiction or the validity or enforceability of any provision of this Agreement in any other jurisdiction.

 

(e)           Entire Agreement; Amendments.  This Agreement supersedes all other prior oral or written agreements between the Buyers, the Company, their affiliates and Persons acting on their behalf with respect to the matters discussed herein, and this Agreement and the instruments referenced herein contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the matters covered herein and therein and, except as specifically set forth herein or therein, neither the Company nor any Buyer makes any representation, warranty, covenant or undertaking with respect to such matters.  No provision of this Agreement may be amended other than by an instrument in writing signed by the Company and the holders of Common Shares representing at least a majority of the amount of the Common Shares, or, if prior to the Closing Date, the Buyers listed on the Schedule of Buyers as being obligated to purchase at least a majority of the amount of the Common Shares.  No provision hereof may be waived other than by an instrument in writing signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought.  No such amendment shall be effective to the extent that it applies to less than all of the holders of the Common Shares then outstanding.  No consideration shall be offered or paid to any Person to amend or consent to a waiver or modification of any provision of any of the Transaction Documents unless the same consideration also is offered to all of the parties to the Transaction Documents, holders of Common Shares.  The Company has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreements with any Buyers relating to the terms or conditions of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents except as set forth in the Transaction Documents.

 

(f)            Notices.  Any notices, consents, waivers or other communications required or permitted to be given under the terms of this Agreement must be in writing and will be deemed to have been delivered:  (i) upon receipt, when delivered personally; (ii) upon receipt, when sent by facsimile (provided confirmation of transmission is mechanically or electronically generated and kept on file by the sending party); or (iii) one Business Day after deposit with an overnight courier service, in each case properly addressed to the party to receive the same.  The addresses and facsimile numbers for such communications shall be:

 

If to the Company:

 

 

 

 

Earth Biofuels, Inc.

 

3001 Knox Street, Suite 403,

 

Dallas, Texas 75205

 

Telephone:

214 ###-###-####

 

Facsimile:

214 ###-###-####

 

Attention:

Dennis McLaughlin

 

 

 

with a copy (for informational purposes only) to:

 

 

 

 

Scheef & Stone, LLP

 

Telephone:

214 ###-###-####

 

Facsimile:

214 ###-###-####

 

Attention:

Roger A. Crabb, Esq.

 

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If to a Buyer, to its address and facsimile number set forth on the Schedule of Buyers, with copies to such Buyer’s representatives as set forth on the Schedule of Buyers,

 

with a copy (for informational purposes only) to:

 

 

 

 

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

 

919 Third Avenue

 

New York, New York 10022

 

Telephone:

(212) 756-2000

 

Facsimile:

(212) 593-5955

 

Attention:

Eleazer N. Klein, Esq.

 

or to such other address and/or facsimile number and/or to the attention of such other Person as the recipient party has specified by written notice given to each other party five (5) days prior to the effectiveness of such change.  Written confirmation of receipt (A) given by the recipient of such notice, consent, waiver or other communication, (B) mechanically or electronically generated by the sender’s facsimile machine containing the time, date, recipient facsimile number and an image of the first page of such transmission or (C) provided by an overnight courier service shall be rebuttable evidence of personal service, receipt by facsimile or receipt from an overnight courier service in accordance with clause (i), (ii) or (iii) above, respectively.

 

(g)           Successors and Assigns.  This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors and assigns, including any purchasers of the Common Shares.  The Company shall not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the holders of Common Shares representing at least a majority of the number of the Common Shares, including by merger or consolidation.  A Buyer may assign some or all of its rights hereunder without the consent of the Company, in which event such assignee shall be deemed to be a Buyer hereunder in respect of such assigned rights.

 

(h)           No Third Party Beneficiaries.  This Agreement is intended for the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective permitted successors and assigns, and is not for the benefit of, nor may any provision hereof be enforced by, any other Person.

 

(i)            Survival.  Unless this Agreement is terminated under Section 8, the representations and warranties of the Company and the Buyers contained in Sections 2 and 3, the agreements and covenants set forth in Sections 4, 5 and 9 shall survive the Closing and the delivery and exercise of Securities, as applicable.  Each Buyer shall be responsible only for its own representations, warranties, agreements and covenants hereunder.

 

(j)            Further Assurances.  Each party shall do and perform, or cause to be done and performed, all such further acts and things, and shall execute and deliver all such other agreements, certificates, instruments and documents, as any other party may reasonably request in order to carry out the intent and accomplish the purposes of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

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(k)           Indemnification.

 

(i)            In consideration of each Buyer’s execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents and acquiring the Securities thereunder and in addition to all of the Company’s other obligations under the Transaction Documents, and except in each case as provided for in Section 4(p) hereof, the Company shall defend, protect, indemnify and hold harmless each Buyer and all of their stockholders, partners, members, officers, directors, employees and direct or indirect investors and any of the foregoing Persons’ agents or other representatives (including, without limitation, those retained in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) (collectively, the “Buyer Indemnitees”) from and against any and all actions, causes of action, suits, claims, losses, costs, penalties, fees, liabilities and damages, and expenses in connection therewith (irrespective of whether any such Indemnitee is a party to the action for which indemnification hereunder is sought), and including reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements (the “Indemnified Liabilities”), incurred by any Buyer Indemnitee as a result of, or arising out of, or relating to (a) any misrepresentation or breach of any representation or warranty made by the Company in the Transaction Documents or any other certificate, instrument or document contemplated hereby or thereby, (b) any breach of any covenant, agreement or obligation of the Company contained in the Transaction Documents or any other certificate, instrument or document contemplated hereby or thereby or (c) any cause of action, suit or claim brought or made against such Buyer Indemnitee by a third party (including for these purposes a derivative action brought on behalf of the Company) and arising out of or resulting from (i) the execution, delivery, performance or enforcement of the Transaction Documents or any other certificate, instrument or document contemplated hereby or thereby, (ii) any transaction financed or to be financed in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, with the proceeds of the issuance of the Securities, or (iii) the status of such Buyer or holder of the Securities as an investor in the Company.

 

(ii)           If the indemnification provided for in Sections 9(k)(i) is judicially determined to be unavailable to a Buyer Indemnitee in respect of any Indemnified Liabilities incurred by them, then, in lieu of indemnifying such Buyer Indemnitee hereunder, the Person from whom indemnification is sought hereunder shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Buyer Indemnitee as a result of such Indemnified Liabilities (and expense relating thereto): (A) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits to the applicable Buyer Indemnitee, on the one hand, and the Person providing indemnification hereunder, on the other hand, of transactions contemplated by this Agreement or (B) if the allocation provided by clause (A) above is not available, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in such clause (A) but also the relative fault of each of the applicable Persons, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations.

 

(l)            No Strict Construction.  The language used in this Agreement will be deemed to be the language chosen by the parties to express their mutual intent, and no rules of strict construction will be applied against any party.

 

(m)          Remedies.  The Company and each Buyer and its permitted successors and assigns shall have all rights and remedies set forth in this Agreement and the Transaction Documents and all rights and remedies which they may have under any law or in equity.  The Company and each Buyer and its permitted successors and assigns shall be entitled to enforce

 

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such rights specifically, to recover damages by reason of any breach of any provision of this Agreement or the Transaction Documents and to exercise all other rights granted by law or in equity, if available.  Furthermore, the Company recognizes that in the event that it fails to perform, observe, or discharge any or all of its obligations under the Transaction Documents, any remedy at law may prove to be inadequate relief to the Buyers.  The Company therefore agrees that the Buyers shall be entitled to seek temporary and permanent injunctive relief in any such case without the necessity of proving actual damages and without posting a bond or other security.

 

(n)           Rescission and Withdrawal Right.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in (and without limiting any similar provisions of) the Transaction Documents, whenever any Buyer exercises a right, election, demand or option under a Transaction Document and the Company does not timely perform its related obligations within the periods therein provided, then such Buyer may rescind or withdraw, in its sole discretion from time to time upon written notice to the Company, any relevant notice, demand or election in whole or in part without prejudice to its future actions and rights

 

(o)           Payment Set Aside.  To the extent that the Company makes a payment or payments to the Buyers hereunder or pursuant to any of the other Transaction Documents or the Buyers enforce or exercise their rights hereunder or thereunder, and such payment or payments or the proceeds of such enforcement or exercise or any part thereof are subsequently invalidated, declared to be fraudulent or preferential, set aside, recovered from, disgorged by or are required to be refunded, repaid or otherwise restored to the Company, a trustee, receiver or any other Person under any law (including, without limitation, any bankruptcy law, state or federal law, common law or equitable cause of action), then to the extent of any such restoration the obligation or part thereof originally intended to be satisfied shall be revived and continued in full force and effect as if such payment had not been made or such enforcement or setoff had not occurred.

 

(p)           Independent Nature of Buyers’ Obligations and Rights.  The obligations of each Buyer under any Transaction Document are several and not joint with the obligations of any other Buyer, and no Buyer shall be responsible in any way for the performance of the obligations of any other Buyer under any Transaction Document.  Nothing contained herein or in any other Transaction Document, and no action taken by any Buyer pursuant hereto or thereto, shall be deemed to constitute the Buyers as a partnership, an association, a joint venture or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Buyers are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents and the Company acknowledges that the Buyers are not acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents.  Each Buyer confirms that it has independently participated in the negotiation of the transaction contemplated hereby with the advice of its own counsel and advisors.  Each Buyer shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights, including, without limitation, the rights arising out of this Agreement or out of any other Transaction Documents, and it shall not be necessary for any other Buyer to be joined as an additional party in any proceeding for such purpose.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each Buyer and the Company have caused its respective signature page to this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first written above.

 

 

 

COMPANY:

 

 

 

 

EARTH BIOFUELS, INC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

 

 

 

Name:

 

 

Title:

 

 

[Signature Page to Securities Purchase Agreement]

 



 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each Buyer and the Company have caused their respective signature page to this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first written above.

 

 

 

BUYERS:

 

 

 

KAMUNTING STREET MASTER
FUND, LTD.

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

 

 

 

Name:  Christopher Falsetta

 

 

Title:  Director

 

 

 

 

 

K STREET EMERALD FUND, LLC

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

 

 

 

Name:  Christopher Falsetta

 

 

Title:  Director

 

[Signature Page to Securities Purchase Agreement]

 



 

SCHEDULE OF BUYERS

 

(1)

 

(2)

 

(3)

 

(4)

 

(5)

 

(6)

 

Buyer

 

Address and Facsimile
Number

 

Number of
Common
Shares

 

Maximum
Number of
Additional
Shares

 

Purchase Price

 

Legal Representative’s
Address and Facsimile Number

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kamunting Street
Master Fund, Ltd.

 

140 East 45th Street
15th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Attention:  Christopher Falsetta

Fax: (212) 490-4360

 

6,000,000

 

6,000,000

 

$

0.50

 

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
919 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Attention: Eleazer Klein, Esq.
Facsimile: (212) 593-5955
Telephone: (212) 756-2376

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

K Street Emerald
Fund, LLC

 

c/o Kamunting Street Master Fund, Ltd.
140 East 45th Street
15th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Attention:  Christopher Falsetta

Fax: (212) 490-4360

 

400,000

 

400,000

 

$

0.50

 

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP 919 Third Avenue New York, New York 10022 Attention: Eleazer Klein, Esq. Facsimile: (212) 593-5955 Telephone: (212) 756-2376

 

 



 

EXHIBITS

 

Exhibit A

 

Form of Registration Rights Agreement

Exhibit B

 

Letter of Intent in Respect of Acquisition

Exhibit C

 

Form of Company Counsel Opinion

Exhibit D

 

Form of Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions

Exhibit E

 

Form of Secretary’s Certificate

Exhibit F

 

Form of Officer’s Certificate

 



 

SCHEDULES

 

Schedule 3(a) - List of Subsidiaries

Schedule 3(k) - SEC Documents; Financial Statements

Schedule 3(l) - Absence of Certain Changes

Schedule 3(r) - Equity Capitalization

Schedule 3(s) - Indebtedness and Other Contracts

Schedule 3(t) - Absence of Litigation

Schedule 3(w) - Title

 



 

Schedule 3(a)

Earth Biofuels Operating, Inc., a Mississippi corporation

Durant Biofuels, LLC, an Oklahoma limited liability company

The Wing Sail Company dba Distribution Drive, a Texas corporation

Earth Biofuels Technology Company, LLC, a Texas limited liability company

 

Schedule 3(k)

None.

 

Schedule 3(l)

 

Since December 31, 2005, the Company has

(iii) had capital expenditures, individually or in the aggregate, in excess of $100,000.

Durant Biofuels, LLC expended: $243,449.24 for the building; $240,003.50 for land; and

$4,567,547.27 (half of which through a stock issuance) for equipment. Approximately
$275,000.00 was expended to acquire land adjacent to the property.

 

Schedule 3(r)

Authorized:

 

250,000,000

Issued:

 

194,609,739 (as of April 28, 2006)

Shares reserved for issuance pursuant to the Company’s employee incentive plan and other options and warrants
outstanding:
        Peter Bell 3,000,000 shares

Shares reserved for issuance pursuant to securities exercisable or exchangeable for, or convertible into, shares of common stock:

Mark Weill, Tom Gross, Joshua Cohen: for an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares.

 

Shares not fully paid for and nonassessable: none

 

(i) shares of the Company’s capital stock are subject to preemptive rights or any other similar rights or any liens or encumbrances suffered or permitted by the Company: none

 

(iii) outstanding debt securities, notes, credit agreements, credit facilities or other agreements, documents or instruments evidencing Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or by which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or may become bound:

Marc Weill, January 25, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Tom Gross, January 25, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Marc Weill, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Joshua Cohen, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Tom Gross, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

 



 

(v) agreements or arrangements under which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is obligated to register the sale of any of their securities under the 1933 Act:

Marc Weill, January 25, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Tom Gross, January 25, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Marc Weill, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Joshua Cohen, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Tom Gross, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

 

(vii) securities or instruments containing anti-dilution or similar provisions that will be triggered by the issuance of the Securities

Marc Weill, January 25, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Tom Gross, January 25, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Marc Weill, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Joshua Cohen, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

Tom Gross, March 29, 2006 Confidential Term Sheet for Convertible Promissory Note

 

Common Stock owned beneficially or of record held by each director and executive officer:

 

Title of Class

 

Name and Title

 

Number of Shares (1)

 

Common Stock

 

Dennis McLaughlin, CEO and Chairman

 

2,389,927

 

Common Stock

 

Darren Miles, CFO

 

0

 

Common Stock

 

Kit Chambers, Corporate Secretary

 

0

 

Common Stock

 

Tommy Johnson, Director

 

1,507,659

 

Common Stock

 

Bruce Blackwell, Director

 

1,500,000

 

Common Stock

 

William O. Luckett, Jr., Director

 

1,500,989

 

Common Stock

 

Morgan Freeman, Director

 

3,000,000

 

Common Stock

 

Willie Nelson, Director

 

6,000,000

 

 

Schedule 3(s)

 

Company and its subsidiaries

(i) has outstanding Indebtedness

 

Southern Bio Fuels (biodiesel refinery)

 

$

1,100,053.93

 

Bruce Blackwell

 

$

142,000.00

 

Peter Bell

 

$

96,033.24

 

Miguel Dabdoub

 

$

170,000.00

 

HPS Development, LLC

 

$

4,000,000.00

 

Apollo Resources International, Inc.

 

$

1,251,160.14

 

Marc Weill

 

$

350,000.00

 

Tom Gross

 

$

600,000.00

 

Joshua Cohen

 

$

50,000.00

 

 

Schedule 3(t)

None.

 



 

Schedule 3(w)

Lien on property in Grenada, MS in favor of BancorpSouth, to secure indebtedness of Bruce Blackwell in the amount of $750,000.

 

Schedule 3(aa)

Extensions were filed for Earth Biofuels, Inc. and its subsidiaries, as follows:

 

Entity

 

Type

 

Description

Durant Biofuels, LLC

 

OK 514

 

Oklahoma Partnership Income Tax Return

Earth Biofuels Operating, Inc.

 

NM CIT-1

 

NM Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Return

Earth Biofuels, Inc.

 

DE AFTR

 

DE Annual Franchise Tax Return

Earth Biofuels, Inc. & Subsidiaries

 

MS83-105

 

MS Corporate Income Tax Return

Earth Biofuels, Inc. & Subsidiaries

 

1120C

 

US Corporation Income Tax Return

Earth Biofuels, Inc. & Subsidiaries

 

1120ES-1

 

Corporation Quarterly Estimated Tax

Earth Biofuels Operating, Inc.

 

MS83-300 ES1

 

MS Corporate Income Tax Estimate 1st Payment

Earth Biofuels Operating, Inc.

 

MS83-300 ES2

 

MS Corporate Income Tax Estimate 2nd Payment

Earth Biofuels, Inc. & Subsidiaries

 

1120Es-2

 

Corporation Quarterly Estimated Tax

Earth Biofuels Operating, Inc.

 

MS83-300 ES3

 

MS Corporate Income Tax Estimate 3rd Payment

Earth Biofuels, Inc. & Subsidiaries

 

1120Es-3

 

Corporation Quarterly Estimated Tax

Earth Biofuels, Inc. & Subsidiaries

 

1120ES-4

 

Corporation Quarterly Estimated Tax

Earth Biofuels Operating, Inc.

 

MS83-300 ES4

 

MS Corporate Income Tax Estimate 4th Payment