Insider Letter Agreement among Enterprise Acquisition Corp., UBS Securities LLC, Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., and Officer/Stockholder (January 10, 2008)
This agreement is between an officer and stockholder of Enterprise Acquisition Corp., the company itself, and its IPO underwriters, UBS Securities LLC and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. The officer agrees to certain restrictions and obligations regarding voting, compensation, and handling of shares in connection with the company's initial public offering and potential business combination. The officer waives rights to certain distributions and compensation, agrees to escrow shares, and commits to present business opportunities to the company first. The agreement is governed by New York law and includes background representations by the officer.
January 10, 2008
Enterprise Acquisition Corp.
6800 Broken Sound Parkway
Boca Raton, Florida 33487
UBS Securities LLC
299 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10171
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc.
4400 Biscayne Blvd., 14th Floor
Miami, Florida 33137
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| Re: | Initial Public Offering |
Gentlemen:
The undersigned officer and stockholder of Enterprise Acquisition Corp. (“Company”), in consideration of UBS Securities LLC and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. (collectively, the “Underwriters”) having agreed to underwrite an initial public offering of the securities of the Company (“IPO”) and having completed the IPO process, hereby agrees as follows (certain capitalized terms used herein are defined in paragraph 14 hereof):
1. If the Company solicits approval of its stockholders of a Business Combination, the undersigned will vote all Insider Shares beneficially owned by him in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the holders of the IPO Shares.
2. In the event that the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination within 24 months from the effective date (“Effective Date”) of the registration statement relating to the IPO, the undersigned will (i) cause the Trust Fund to be liquidated and distributed to the holders of IPO Shares and (ii) take all reasonable actions within his power to cause the Company to liquidate as soon as reasonably practicable. The undersigned hereby waives any and all right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any distribution of the Trust Fund and any remaining net assets of the Company as a result of such liquidation with respect to the Insider Shares beneficially owned by him (“Claim”) and hereby waives any Claim the undersigned may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any contracts or agreements with the Company and will not seek recourse against the Trust Fund for any reason whatsoever.
3. In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may arise from multiple affiliations, the undersigned agrees to present to the Company for its consideration, prior to presentation to any other person or entity, any suitable opportunity to acquire an operating business, until the earlier of the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination, the liquidation of the Company or until such time as the undersigned ceases to be an officer of the Company, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary and contractual obligations the undersigned might have.
Enterprise Acquisition Corp.
UBS Securities LLC
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc.
__________, 2008
Page 2
4. The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Company will not consummate any Business Combination which involves a company which is affiliated with any of the Insiders unless the Company obtains an opinion from an independent investment banking firm reasonably acceptable to the Underwriters that the business combination is fair to the Company’s stockholders from a financial perspective.
5. Neither the undersigned, any member of the family of the undersigned, nor any affiliate (“Affiliate”) of the undersigned will be entitled to receive and will not accept any compensation for services rendered to the Company prior to or in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination; provided that commencing on the Effective Date, Bell & Staton, Inc. (“Related Party”), shall be allowed to charge the Company $7,500 per month, to compensate it for certain general and administrative services including office space, utilities and secretarial support, as may be required by the Company from time to time. The Related Party and the undersigned shall also be entitled to reimbursement from the Company for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with seeking and consummating a Business Combination.
6. Neither the undersigned, any member of the family of the undersigned, nor any Affiliate of the undersigned will be entitled to receive or accept a finder’s fee or any other compensation in the event the undersigned, any member of the family of the undersigned or any Affiliate of the undersigned originates a Business Combination.
7. The undersigned will escrow all of the Insider Shares beneficially owned by him acquired prior to the IPO until one year after the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination subject to the terms of a Stock Escrow Agreement which the Company will enter into with the undersigned and an escrow agent acceptable to the Company.
8. The undersigned agrees to be the Chief Financial Officer of the Company until the earlier of the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company. The undersigned’s biographical information furnished to the Company and the Underwriters and attached hereto as Exhibit A is true and accurate in all respects, does not omit any material information with respect to the undersigned’s background and contains all of the information required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 401 of Regulation S-K, promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933. The undersigned’s Questionnaire furnished to the Company and the Underwriters and annexed as Exhibit B hereto is true and accurate in all respects. The undersigned represents and warrants that:
(a) he is not subject to, or a respondent in, any legal action for, any injunction, cease-and-desist order or order or stipulation to desist or refrain from any act or practice relating to the offering of securities in any jurisdiction;
Enterprise Acquisition Corp.
UBS Securities LLC
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc.
__________, 2008
Page 3
(b) he has never been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any crime (i) involving any fraud or (ii) relating to any financial transaction or handling of funds of another person, or (iii) pertaining to any dealings in any securities and he is not currently a defendant in any such criminal proceeding; and
(c) he has never been suspended or expelled from membership in any securities or commodities exchange or association or had a securities or commodities license or registration denied, suspended or revoked.
9. The undersigned has full right and power, without violating any agreement by which he is bound, to enter into this letter agreement and to serve as Chairman of the Board of the Company.
10. The undersigned hereby waives his right to exercise conversion rights with respect to any shares of the Company’s common stock owned or to be owned by the undersigned, directly or indirectly, and agrees that he will not seek conversion with respect to such shares in connection with any vote to approve a Business Combination.
11. The undersigned hereby agrees to not propose, or vote in favor of, an amendment to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to extend the period of time in which the Company must consummate a Business Combination prior to its liquidation. This paragraph may not be modified or amended under any circumstances.
12. The undersigned authorizes any employer, financial institution, or consumer credit reporting agency to release to the Underwriters and its legal representatives or agents (including any investigative search firm retained by the Underwriters) any information they may have about the undersigned’s background and finances (“Information”). Neither the Underwriters nor its agents shall be violating the undersigned’s right of privacy in any manner in requesting and obtaining the Information and the undersigned hereby releases them from liability for any damage whatsoever in that connection.
13. This letter agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction . The undersigned hereby (i) agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against her arising out of or relating in any way to this letter agreement (a “Proceeding”) shall be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York of the United States of America for the Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive, (ii) waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum and (iii) irrevocably agrees to appoint Akerman Senterfitt as agent for the service of process in the State of New York to receive, for the undersigned and on his behalf, service of process in any Proceeding. If for any reason such agent is unable to act as such, the undersigned will promptly notify the Company and the Underwriters and appoint a substitute agent acceptable to each of the Company and the Underwriters within 30 days and nothing in this letter will affect the right of either party to serve process in any other manner permitted by law.
Enterprise Acquisition Corp.
UBS Securities LLC
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc.
__________, 2008
Page 4
14. As used herein, (i) a “Business Combination” shall mean an acquisition by merger, capital stock exchange, asset or stock acquisition, reorganization or otherwise, of an operating business; (ii) “Insiders” shall mean all officers, directors and stockholders of the Company immediately prior to the IPO; (iii) “Insider Shares” shall mean all of the shares of Common Stock of the Company acquired by an Insider prior to the IPO; (iv) “IPO Shares” shall mean the shares of Common Stock issued in the Company’s IPO; and (v) “Trust Fund” shall mean the trust fund into which a portion of the net proceeds of the Company’s IPO will be deposited.
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| Ezra Shashoua |
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| Print Name of Insider |
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| /s/ Ezra Shashoua |
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| Signature |
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Exhibit A
Mr. Shashoua joined Enterprise Acquisition Corp. in 2007. Previously, from 2003 to 2007, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cruzan International, Inc., a Florida based publicly held spirits company which owned the Cruzan Rum brand and various manufacturing plants. He was part of the management team that grew the long ignored Cruzan brand into a 700,000 annual case premium rum.
Prior to his employment at Cruzan, he served in a similar capacity from 2001 to 2003 at NationsRent, Inc., a publicly held NYSE equipment rental company, and led the effort to successfully restructure and turnaround the highly leveraged company.
Mr. Shashoua had previously been at 7-Eleven, Inc. where he served in various roles of increasing responsibility over 18 years culminating in his appointment as Chief Financial Officer. During his tenure, the company went through a leveraged buyout, reorganization and sale. After reorganization, Mr. Shashoua was a leader of the management team that revitalized the 7-Eleven convenience store concept.
Mr. Shashoua started his career as an attorney at the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in Chicago. He holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and a J.D. from Illinois institute of Technology-Chicago Kent College of Law.
Exhibit B
[D&O questionnaire]
