Underwriting Agreement, dated as of January 24, 2023, by and among Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Piper Sandler & Co., as representatives of the several underwriters named therein

Contract Categories: Business Finance - Underwriting Agreements
EX-1.1 2 d455919dex11.htm EX-1.1 EX-1.1

Exhibit 1.1

EXECUTION VERSION

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc.

8,333,334 Shares

Common Stock

(par value $0.0001 per share)

Underwriting Agreement

New York, New York

January 24, 2023

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Piper Sandler & Co.

As Representatives of the several Underwriters

c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10179

c/o Piper Sandler & Co.

800 Nicollet Mall, Suite 800

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes to sell to the several underwriters named in Schedule II hereto (the “Underwriters”), for whom you (the “Representatives”) are acting as representatives, the number of shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”), of the Company set forth in Schedule I hereto (said shares to be issued and sold by the Company being hereinafter called the “Underwritten Securities”). The Company also proposes to grant to the Underwriters an option to purchase up to the number of additional shares of Common Stock set forth in Schedule I hereto (the “Option Securities”; the Option Securities, collectively with the Underwritten Securities, being hereinafter called the “Securities”). To the extent there are no additional Underwriters listed on Schedule II other than you, the term Representatives as used herein shall mean you, as Underwriters, and the terms Representatives and Underwriters shall mean either the singular or plural as the context requires. Certain terms used herein are defined in Section 22 hereof. In the event that the Company has no subsidiaries, or only one subsidiary, then all references in this underwriting agreement (this “Agreement”) to “subsidiaries” of the Company shall be deemed to refer to no subsidiary, or such single subsidiary, mutatis mutandis.


Any reference herein to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 which were filed under the Exchange Act on or before the Effective Date of the Registration Statement or the issue date of the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be; and any reference herein to the terms “amend,” “amendment” or “supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing of any document under the Exchange Act after the Effective Date of the Registration Statement or the issue date of the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be, deemed to be incorporated therein by reference.

1. Representations and Warranties. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each Underwriter as set forth below in this Section 1.

(a) The Company meets the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the Securities Act and has prepared and filed with the SEC a shelf registration statement, as defined in Rule 405 (the file number of which is set forth in Schedule I hereto) on Form S-3, including a related Base Prospectus, for the registration of the offering and sale of the Securities under the Securities Act. Such Registration Statement, including any amendments thereto filed prior to the Execution Time has been declared effective by the SEC. The Company may have filed with the SEC, as part of an amendment to the Registration Statement or pursuant to Rule 424(b), preliminary prospectus supplements relating to the Securities, each of which has previously been furnished to you. The Company will file with the SEC a final prospectus supplement relating to the Securities in accordance with Rule 424(b) after the Execution Time. As filed, such final prospectus supplement shall contain all information required by the Securities Act and the rules thereunder and, except to the extent the Representatives shall agree in writing to a modification, shall be in all substantive respects in the form furnished to you prior to the Execution Time or, to the extent not completed at the Execution Time, shall contain only such specific additional information and other changes (beyond that contained in the Base Prospectus and any Preliminary Prospectus) as the Company has advised you, prior to the Execution Time, will be included or made therein. The Registration Statement, at the Execution Time, meets the requirements set forth in Rule 415(a)(1)(x) under the Securities Act. The initial Effective Date of the Registration Statement was not earlier than the date three years before the Execution Time.

(b) On the most recent Effective Date, the Registration Statement did, and when the Prospectus is first filed in accordance with Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date (as defined herein) and on any date on which Option Securities are purchased, if such date is not the Closing Date (a “settlement date”), the Prospectus (and any supplement thereto) will, comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act; on the most recent Effective Date, at the Execution Time and on the Closing Date, the Registration Statement did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; and on the date of any filing pursuant to Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, the Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the

 

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statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to the information contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement thereto), it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8 hereof.

(c) (i) The Disclosure Package and the price to the public, the number of Underwritten Securities and the number of Option Securities to be included on the cover page of the Prospectus, when taken together as a whole, (ii) each electronic road show, when taken together as a whole with the Disclosure Package and the price to the public, the number of Underwritten Securities and the number of Option Securities to be included on the cover page of the Prospectus, and (iii) any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, if any, identified in Schedule IV hereto, when taken together as a whole with the Disclosure Package and the price to the public, the number of Underwritten Securities and the number of Option Securities to be included on the cover page of the Prospectus, does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from the Disclosure Package based upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8 hereof.

(d) (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, the Company was not an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405. At the time of the initial filing of the Registration Statement, the Company was a well-known seasoned issuer as defined in Rule 405. The Company has paid the registration fee for this offering pursuant to Rule 456(b)(1) or will pay such fee within the time period required by such rule (without giving effect to the proviso therein) and in any event prior to the Closing Date.

(e) (i) At the earliest time after the filing of the Registration Statement that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Securities Act) and (ii) as of the Execution Time (with such date being used as the determination date for purposes of this clause (ii)), the Company was not and is not an Ineligible Issuer (as defined in Rule 405), without taking account of any determination by the SEC pursuant to Rule 405 that it is not necessary that the Company be considered an Ineligible Issuer.

 

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(f) The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication since the Company’s initial public offering and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications. “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405, including any presentation used in a Testing-the-Waters Communication. “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Securities Act.

(g) Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus does not include any information that conflicts with the information contained in the Registration Statement, including any document incorporated by reference therein and any prospectus supplement deemed to be a part thereof that has not been superseded or modified. The foregoing sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus based upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8 hereof.

(h) Each of the Company and its subsidiaries has been duly incorporated or organized and is validly existing as a corporation or private limited company in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is chartered or organized with full corporate power and authority to own or lease, as the case may be, and to operate its properties and conduct its business as described in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation and is in good standing under the laws of each jurisdiction which requires such qualification, except when the failure to be qualified or in good standing would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), prospects, earnings, business or properties of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business (a “Material Adverse Effect”).

(i) Except as set forth on Schedule V hereto, the Company does not own or control, directly or indirectly, any corporation, association or other entity.

(j) The Company’s authorized equity capitalization is as set forth in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; the capital stock of the Company conforms in all respects to the description thereof contained in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; the outstanding shares of Common Stock have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and nonassessable; the Securities have been duly and validly authorized and, when issued and delivered to and paid for by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement, will be fully paid and nonassessable; the Securities in book-entry form are in valid and sufficient form; the holders of outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are not entitled to preemptive or other rights to subscribe for the Securities, except for any such rights as have been effectively waived; and, except as set forth in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no options, warrants or other rights to purchase, agreements or other obligations to issue, or rights to convert any obligations into or exchange any securities for, shares of capital stock of or ownership interests in the Company are outstanding.

 

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(k) There is no franchise, contract or other document of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement or Prospectus, or to be filed as an exhibit thereto, which is not described or filed as required (and the Preliminary Prospectus contains in all material respects the same description of the foregoing matters contained in the Prospectus); and the statements in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus under the headings “Risk Factors – Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property,” “Risk Factors – Risks Related to Marketing, Reimbursement, Healthcare Regulations and Ongoing Regulatory Compliance,” “Business – Intellectual Property,” “Business – License Agreements,” “Business – Government Regulation,” “Description of Capital Stock” and “Material U.S. federal income tax consequences to non-U.S. holders of our common stock,” insofar as such statements summarize legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings discussed therein, are accurate and fair summaries of such legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings.

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

(m) The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, will not be an “investment company” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

(n) No consent, approval, authorization, filing with or order of any court or governmental agency or body is required in connection with the transactions contemplated herein, except such as have been obtained under the Securities Act and such as may be required under the listing rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”), applicable rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) and the blue sky laws of any jurisdiction in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters in the manner contemplated herein and in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(o) Neither the issue and sale of the Securities nor the consummation of any other of the transactions herein contemplated nor the fulfillment of the terms hereof will conflict with, result in a breach or violation of, or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries pursuant to, (i) the charter or bylaws of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, (ii) the terms of any indenture, contract, lease, mortgage, deed of trust, note agreement, loan agreement or other agreement, obligation, condition, covenant or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or bound or to which its or their property is subject, or (iii) any statute, law, rule, regulation, judgment, order or decree applicable to the Company or any of its subsidiaries of any court, regulatory body, administrative agency, governmental body, arbitrator or other authority having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of its or their properties, except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) for any such breach, violation or imposition as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect and as would not materially adversely affect the ability of the Underwriters to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

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(p) There are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company, as applicable, to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any securities of the Company or to require the Company to include such securities with the Securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement, except as have been validly waived in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities contemplated hereby and as have been described in the Preliminary Prospectus, and the holders of outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are not entitled to statutory preemptive or other similar contractual rights to subscribe for the Securities.

(q) The historical financial statements of the Company included in the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and the Registration Statement present fairly in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of the dates and for the periods indicated, comply as to form in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements of the Securities Act and have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved.

(r) No action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries or its or their property is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened that (i) could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the performance of this Agreement or the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated hereby or (ii) could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(s) Each of the Company and each of its subsidiaries owns or leases all such properties as are necessary to the conduct of its operations as presently conducted, except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(t) Neither the Company nor any subsidiary is in violation or default of (i) any provision of its charter or bylaws, (ii) the terms of any indenture, contract, lease, mortgage, deed of trust, note agreement, loan agreement or other agreement, obligation, condition, covenant or instrument to which it is a party or bound or to which its property is subject or (iii) any statute, law, rule, regulation, judgment, order or decree of any court, regulatory body, administrative agency, governmental body, arbitrator or other authority having jurisdiction over the Company or such subsidiary or any of its properties, as applicable, except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) for any such violation or default as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(u) Deloitte & Touche LLP, who have certified certain financial statements of the Company and delivered their report with respect to the audited financial statements and schedules included in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, are independent public accountants with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act and the applicable published rules and regulations thereunder.

 

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(v) There are no transfer taxes or other similar fees or charges under federal law or the laws of any state, or any political subdivision thereof, required to be paid in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the issuance by the Company or sale by the Company of the Securities.

(w) The Company has filed all tax returns that are required to be filed or has requested extensions thereof (except in any case in which the failure to so file would not have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto)) and has paid all taxes required to be paid by it and any other assessment, fine or penalty levied against it, to the extent that any of the foregoing is due and payable, except for any such assessment, fine or penalty that is currently being contested in good faith or as would not have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(x) No labor problem or dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or is threatened or imminent, and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by the employees of any of its or its subsidiaries’ principal suppliers, contractors or customers, that could have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(y) 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 the Company reasonably believes are prudent and customary in the businesses in which they are engaged; all policies of insurance and fidelity or surety bonds insuring the Company or any of its subsidiaries or their respective businesses, assets, employees, officers and directors are in full force and effect; the Company and its subsidiaries are in compliance with the terms of such policies and instruments in all material respects; and there are no material claims by the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any such policy or instrument as to which any insurance company is denying liability or defending under a reservation of rights clause; neither the Company nor any such subsidiary has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for; and neither the Company nor any such 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 reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(z) No subsidiary of the Company is currently prohibited, directly or indirectly, from paying any dividends to the Company, from making any other distribution on such subsidiary’s capital stock, from repaying to the Company any loans or advances to such subsidiary from the Company or from transferring any of such subsidiary’s property or assets to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company, except as described in or contemplated by the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

 

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(aa) The Company and each of its subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls (as contemplated under Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) 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 accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences; and (v) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (“XBRL”) included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus is in compliance with the SEC’s published rules, regulations and guidelines applicable thereto. The Company’s and its subsidiaries’ internal controls over financial reporting are effective and the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any material weakness in their internal controls over financial reporting.

(bb) The Company and its subsidiaries maintain “disclosure controls and procedures” (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act); such disclosure controls and procedures are effective at the reasonable assurance level.

(cc) The Company has not taken, directly or indirectly (without giving effect to the activities of the Underwriters), any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.

(dd) The Company and its subsidiaries (i) are in compliance with any and all applicable foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of human health and safety, the environment or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (“Environmental Laws”), (ii) have received and are in compliance with all permits, licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses and (iii) have not received notice of any actual or potential liability under any environmental law, except where such non-compliance with Environmental Laws, failure to receive required permits, licenses or other approvals, or liability would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto). Except as set forth in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has been named as a “potentially responsible party” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended.

(ee) In the ordinary course of its business, the Company periodically reviews the effect of Environmental Laws on the business, operations and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries, in the course of which it identifies and evaluates associated costs and liabilities (including, without limitation, any capital or operating expenditures required for clean-up, closure of properties or compliance with Environmental Laws, or

 

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any permit, license or approval, any related constraints on operating activities and any potential liabilities to third parties). On the basis of such review, the Company has reasonably concluded that such associated costs and liabilities would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(ff) Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that the statistical and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus is not based on or derived from sources that are reliable and accurate in all material respects, and, to the extent required by such sources, the Company has obtained the written consent to the use of such data from such sources.

(gg) None of the following events has occurred or exists: (i) a failure to fulfill the obligations, if any, under the minimum funding standards of Section 302 of the United States Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder with respect to a Plan, determined without regard to any waiver of such obligations or extension of any amortization period, that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (ii) an audit or investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or any other federal or state governmental agency or any foreign regulatory agency with respect to the employment or compensation of employees by any of the Company or any of its subsidiaries that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (iii) any breach of any contractual obligation, or any violation of law or applicable qualification standards, with respect to the employment or compensation of employees by the Company or any of its subsidiaries that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. None of the following events has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: (i) a material increase in the aggregate amount of contributions required to be made to all Plans in the current fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries compared to the amount of such contributions made in the most recently completed fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries, other than increases in the ordinary course resulting from an increase in the number of eligible participants in such Plans or increases resulting from increased participation by eligible participants in such Plans; (ii) a material increase in the “accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations” (within the meaning of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106) of the Company and its subsidiaries compared to the amount of such obligations in the most recently completed fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries; (iii) any event or condition giving rise to a liability under Title IV of ERISA that could have a Material Adverse Effect; or (iv) the filing of a claim by one or more employees or former employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries related to their employment that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “Plan” means a plan (within the meaning of Section 3(3) of ERISA) subject to Title IV of ERISA with respect to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries may have any liability.

 

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(hh) There is, and there has been, no failure on the part of the Company and any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, that are in effect and with which the Company is required to comply as of the Effective Date.

(ii) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates nor, any director, officer, employee, or, to the knowledge of the Company, any agent or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, (i) in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization or approval of the payment, giving or receipt of money, property, gifts or anything else of value, to any government official (including any officer or employee of a government or government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing or any political party or party official or candidate for political office) in order to influence official action, or (ii) that could result in a violation or a sanction for violation by such persons of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 or the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, each as may be amended, or similar law of any other relevant jurisdiction, or the rules or regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Anti-Corruption Laws”). The Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates have instituted and maintained policies and procedures designed to promote and achieve compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws. No part of the proceeds of the offering will be used by the Company, its subsidiaries, or its affiliates, directly or indirectly, in violation of the Anti-Corruption Laws.

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

(kk) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates nor any director, officer, employee or, to the knowledge of the Company, any agent or representative of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (i) is, or is controlled or 50% or more owned in the aggregate by or is acting on behalf of, one or more individuals or entities that are currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the United States (including any administered or enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of State or the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce), the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, a member state of the European

 

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Union (including sanctions administered or enforced by His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom) or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions” and such persons, “Sanctioned Persons” and each such person, a “Sanctioned Person”), (ii) is located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is, or whose government is, the subject or the target of Sanctions that broadly prohibit dealings with that country or territory, including, without limitation, the Crimea Region and the non-government controlled areas of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria (collectively, “Sanctioned Countries” and each, a “Sanctioned Country”) or (iii) will, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of this offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other individual or entity, to fund or facilitate any activities or business of or with a Sanctioned Person or Sanctioned Country, or in any other manner that would result in a violation of any Sanctions by, or could result in the imposition of Sanctions against, any individual or entity (including any individual or entity participating in the offering, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise).

(ll) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates has engaged in any dealings or transactions with or for the benefit of a Sanctioned Person, or with or in a Sanctioned Country, in the preceding five (5) years, nor does the Company or any of its subsidiaries have any plans to engage in dealings or transactions with or for the benefit of a Sanctioned Person, or with or in a Sanctioned Country.

(mm) The Company and its subsidiaries own, possess, license or have other rights to use, on reasonable terms, all patents, patent applications, trade and service marks, trade and service mark registrations, trade names, copyrights, licenses, inventions, trade secrets, technology, know-how and other intellectual property (collectively, the “Intellectual Property”) necessary for the conduct of the Company’s business as now conducted or as proposed to be conducted in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and the conduct of their respective businesses does not and will not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise conflict in any material respect with any intellectual property of another. The Company and its subsidiaries have not received any notice of any claim of infringement, misappropriation or conflict with any intellectual property right of another in connection with its patents, patent applications, patent rights, licenses, inventions, trademarks, service marks, trade names, copyrights and know-how, which could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim. There are no rights of third parties to any such Intellectual Property, including no liens, security interests or other encumbrances. To the Company’s knowledge: (a) there is no material infringement by third parties of any Intellectual Property; (b) there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the Company’s rights in or to any such Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; (c) such Intellectual Property has not been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity or scope of any such Intellectual Property, including

 

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interferences, oppositions, reexaminations or government proceedings, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; (d) there is no pending or threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates, or would, upon the commercialization of any product or service described in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus as under development, infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate, any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary rights of others, and the Company is unaware of any other fact which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; (e) to the Company’s knowledge, the Company and its subsidiaries have taken all reasonable steps to protect, maintain and safeguard their Intellectual Property, including the execution of appropriate nondisclosure, confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements and invention assignments with their employees, and no employee of the Company is in or has been in violation of any term of any employment contract, patent disclosure agreement, invention assignment agreement, non-competition agreement, non-solicitation agreement, nondisclosure agreement or any restrictive covenant to or with a former employer where the basis of such violation relates to such employee’s employment with the Company; (f) to the Company’s knowledge, there are no material defects in any of the patents or patent applications included in the Intellectual Property; (g) there is no patent or published patent application in the U.S. or other jurisdiction which contains claims that dominate or may dominate any Intellectual Property described in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus as being owned by or licensed to the Company or that interferes with the issued or pending claims of any such Intellectual Property; (h) there is no prior art of which the Company is aware that may render any patent held by the Company invalid or any patent application held by the Company unpatentable; and (i) all prior art of which the Company is aware that may be material to the validity of a U.S. patent or to the patentability of a U.S. patent application has been disclosed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and all such prior art has been disclosed to the patent office of other jurisdictions where required. All licenses to which the Company is a party relating to the Intellectual Property are in full force and effect and the Company is not in violation of any term of such license. The product candidates described in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus as under development by the Company or its subsidiaries fall within the scope of the claims of one or more patents or patent applications owned by, or exclusively licensed to, the Company or its subsidiaries.

(nn) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company (i) does not have any material lending or other relationship with any bank or lending affiliate of the Underwriters and (ii) does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities hereunder to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of the Underwriters.

(oo) Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and to the extent applicable to the Company’s operations, the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, its subsidiaries (i) are and at all times have been in compliance with all statutes, rules and regulations applicable to the ownership, research, testing, development, manufacture, packaging, processing, use, distribution, promotion, storage, import, export and disposal of any product manufactured or

 

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distributed by the Company, including, without limitation, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.), the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. § 262) and the regulations promulgated thereunder, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)), the civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq.), the criminal false statements law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a)), the civil monetary penalties law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a), the exclusion law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7), 18 U.S.C. §§ 286 and 287, the health care fraud criminal provisions under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. § 17921 et seq.) (“HIPAA”), the statute and regulations of Medicare (Title XVIII of the Social Security Act), Medicaid (Title XIX of the Social Security Act) and all other government funded or sponsored health care programs, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Pub. Law 111-148), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. Law 111-152), including without limitation, Section 6002 (commonly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act), the regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws, regulations relating to Good Clinical Practices and Good Laboratory Practices and all other local, state, federal, national, supranational and foreign laws relating to the regulation of the Company (collectively, the “Applicable Laws”), except for such non-compliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (ii) have not received any written notice from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority or third party alleging or asserting non-compliance with any Applicable Laws or any licenses, exemptions, certificates, approvals, clearances, authorizations, permits, registrations and supplements or amendments thereto required by any such Applicable Laws for the Company to conduct its business (“Authorizations”), except for such non-compliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (iii) possess all material Authorizations and such Authorizations are valid and in full force and effect and are not in violation of any term of any such Authorizations, except for such violations as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; (iv) have not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Applicable Laws or Authorizations nor, to the Company’s knowledge, is any such claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action threatened; (v) have not received written notice that any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority has taken, is taking or intends to take action to materially limit, suspend, materially modify or revoke any Authorizations nor, to the Company’s knowledge, is any such limitation, suspension, modification or revocation threatened; (vi) have filed, obtained, maintained or submitted all material reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required by all Applicable Laws or Authorizations and that all such reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments were complete and accurate on the date filed in all material respects (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission); (vii) are not a party, nor are their respective employees, officers, directors or agents a party, to any corporate integrity agreements, monitoring agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, consent decrees, settlement orders or similar agreements with or imposed by any governmental or regulatory

 

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authority; and (viii) have not been, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, have any of their respective employees, officers, directors or agents been, excluded, suspended or debarred from participation in any U.S. federal health care program or human clinical research or, to the knowledge of the Company, are subject to a governmental inquiry, investigation, proceeding or other similar action that could reasonably be expected to result in debarment, suspension or exclusion.

(pp) The clinical and pre-clinical trials conducted by or on behalf of or sponsored by the Company or its subsidiaries, or in which the Company or its subsidiaries have participated, that are described in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or the results of which are referred to in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as applicable, and are intended to be submitted to Regulatory Authorities, as defined below, as a basis for product approval, were and, if still pending, are being conducted in all material respects in accordance with all applicable statutes, rules and regulations of the FDA and comparable drug regulatory agencies outside of the United States to which it is subject (collectively, the “Regulatory Authorities”), including, without limitation, 21 C.F.R. Parts 50, 54, 56, 58 and 312, and current Good Clinical Practices and Good Laboratory Practices; the descriptions in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus of the results of such studies and tests are accurate and complete in all material respects; the Company has no knowledge of any other trials the results of which are inconsistent with or otherwise call into question the results described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; neither the Company nor its subsidiaries have received any written notices, correspondence or other communication from the Regulatory Authorities or any other governmental agency indicating the termination or suspension of any clinical or pre-clinical trials that are described in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or the results of which are referred to in the Registration Statement, Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such termination or suspension is pending.

(qq) The Company and its subsidiaries possess all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations (collectively, “Permits”) issued by, and has made all declarations and filings with, the applicable federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory authorities that are necessary for the ownership or lease of its properties or the conduct of its businesses as described in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, or to permit all clinical and nonclinical studies and trials conducted by or on behalf of the Company and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, all necessary FDA and applicable foreign regulatory agency approvals, except where the failure to possess such Permit or make such declaration or filing would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto); the Company and its subsidiaries are not in material violation of, or in material default under, any such Permit; and the Company and its subsidiaries have not received in writing notice of any revocation or modification of any such Permit and does not have any reason to believe that any such Permit will not be renewed in the ordinary course. The Company and its subsidiaries have not received in

 

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writing any FDA Form 483, written notice of adverse finding, warning letter, untitled letter or other correspondence or written notice from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority alleging or asserting non-compliance with (A) any Applicable Laws or (B) any Permits required by any such Applicable Laws.

(rr) To the Company’s knowledge, the manufacturing facilities and operations of its suppliers or its subsidiaries are operated in compliance in all material respects with all applicable statutes, rules, regulations and policies of the Regulatory Authorities.

(ss) The Company and its subsidiaries’ information technology assets and equipment, computers, systems, networks, hardware, software, websites, applications, and databases (collectively, “IT Systems”) are adequate for, and operate and perform in all material respects as required in connection with the operation of the business of the Company and its subsidiaries as currently conducted, free and clear of all material bugs, errors, defects, Trojan horses, time bombs, malware and other corruptants. The Company and its subsidiaries have implemented and maintained commercially reasonable controls, policies, procedures and safeguards relating to data privacy and security and the collection, storage, use, processing, disclosure, handling and analysis of Personal Data and Sensitive Data (the “Policies”) to maintain and protect their material confidential information and the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of all IT Systems and data (including all personal, personally identifiable or sensitive information on individuals (“Personal Data”) and all sensitive, confidential or proprietary data (collectively, with Personal Data, “Sensitive Data”)) used in connection with their businesses.

(tt) To the Company’s knowledge, there has been no material security breach, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, destruction or other compromise of any Personal Data or Sensitive Data or the information technology computer systems, networks, hardware, software, data equipment or technology upon which such data is stored (collectively, “IT Systems and Data”) and the Company and its subsidiaries have no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in any security breach, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, destruction or other compromise of their IT Systems and Data. The Company and its subsidiaries employ commercially reasonable physical, technical and organizational security measures, policies and procedures designed to protect all IT Systems and Data from and against unauthorized access, use and/or disclosure. The Company and its subsidiaries are presently in material compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and statutes concerning the privacy and security of Personal Data, including without limitation, HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. § 17921 et seq.), the California Consumer Privacy Act, and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679) (collectively, the “Privacy Laws”) except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and its subsidiaries have at all times made all disclosures to users or customers required by Privacy Laws and none of such disclosures made or contained in any of the Policies have been inaccurate or, to the knowledge of the Company, in violation of any applicable Privacy Laws in any material respect. The Company further certifies that neither it nor

 

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any subsidiary: (i) has received notice of any actual or potential liability under or relating to, or actual or potential violation of, any of the Privacy Laws; (ii) is currently conducting or paying for, in whole or in part, any investigation, remediation or other corrective action pursuant to any Privacy Law; or (iii) is a party to any order, decree or agreement that imposes any obligation or liability under any Privacy Law. The Company and its subsidiaries are also presently in compliance with all judgments, orders, rules, directives and decrees of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal and external policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Data, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, and the Company and its subsidiaries have implemented backup and disaster recovery technology as the Company reasonably believes is consistent with industry standards and practices.

(uu) The application of the proceeds received by the Company from the issuance, sale and delivery of the Securities as described in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus will not violate Regulation T, U or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system or any other regulation of such Board of Governors.

(vv) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person (other than this Agreement) that would give rise to a valid claim against the Company or any of its subsidiaries or the Underwriters for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities or any transaction contemplated by this Agreement, the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus.

(ww) No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in either the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith.

(xx) The Common Stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market.

(yy) Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates (within the meaning of FINRA Rule 5121(f)(1)) directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, or is an associated person (within the meaning of Article I, Section 1(ee) of the bylaws of FINRA) of, any member firm of FINRA.

(zz) The interactive data in XBRL included as an exhibit to the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the SEC’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company and delivered to the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the offering of the Securities shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter.

 

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2. Purchase and Sale.

(a) Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to each Underwriter, and each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at the purchase price set forth in Schedule I hereto, the number of Underwritten Securities set forth opposite such Underwriter’s name in Schedule II hereto.

(b) Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company hereby grants an option to the several Underwriters to purchase, severally and not jointly, up to the number of Option Securities set forth in Schedule I hereto at the same purchase price per share as the Underwriters shall pay for the Underwritten Securities, less an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Underwritten Securities but not payable on the Option Securities. Said option may be exercised in whole or in part at any time on or before the 30th day after the date of the Prospectus upon written or telegraphic notice by the Representatives to the Company setting forth the number of Option Securities as to which the several Underwriters are exercising the option and the settlement date. The number of Option Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter shall be the same percentage of the total number of Option Securities to be purchased by the several Underwriters as such Underwriter is purchasing of the Underwritten Securities, subject to such adjustments as you in your absolute discretion shall make to eliminate any fractional shares.

3. Delivery and Payment.

(a) Delivery of and payment for the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities (if the option provided for in Section 2(b) hereof shall have been exercised on or before the first Business Day immediately preceding the Closing Date) shall be made on the date and at the time specified in Schedule I hereto or at such time on such later date not more than two Business Days after the foregoing date as the Representatives shall designate, which date and time may be postponed by agreement between the Representatives and the Company or as provided in Section 9 hereof (such date and time of delivery and payment for the Securities being herein called the “Closing Date”). Delivery of the Securities shall be made to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives of the purchase price thereof to or upon the order of the Company by wire transfer payable in same-day funds to an account specified by the Company. Delivery of the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities shall be made through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct.

(b) If the option provided for in Section 2(b) hereof is exercised after the first Business Day immediately preceding the Closing Date, the Company will deliver the Option Securities (at the expense of the Company) to the Representatives, at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, on the date specified by the Representatives (which shall be within two Business Days after exercise of said option) for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters, against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives of the purchase price thereof to or upon the

 

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order of the Company by wire transfer payable in same-day funds to an account specified by the Company. If settlement for the Option Securities occurs after the Closing Date, the Company will deliver to the Representatives on the settlement date for the Option Securities, and the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase the Option Securities shall be conditioned upon receipt of, supplemental opinions, certificates and letters confirming as of such date the opinions, certificates and letters delivered on the Closing Date pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

4. Offering by Underwriters. It is understood that the several Underwriters propose to offer the Securities for sale to the public as set forth in the Prospectus.

5. Agreements. The Company agrees with the several Underwriters that:

(a) Prior to the termination of the offering of the Securities, the Company will not file any amendment of the Registration Statement or supplement (including the Prospectus or any Preliminary Prospectus) to the Base Prospectus unless the Company has furnished you a copy for your review prior to filing and will not file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which you reasonably object. The Company will cause the Prospectus, properly completed, and any supplement thereto to be filed in a form approved by the Representatives with the SEC pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) within the time period prescribed and will provide evidence satisfactory to the Representatives of such timely filing. The Company will promptly advise the Representatives (i) when the Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, shall have been filed (if required) with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b), (ii) when, prior to termination of the offering of the Securities, any amendment to the Registration Statement shall have been filed or become effective, (iii) of any request by the SEC or its staff for any amendment of the Registration Statement, or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, or for any supplement to the Prospectus or for any additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the SEC of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any notice objecting to its use or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for that purpose and (v) of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for sale in any jurisdiction or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or the occurrence of any such suspension or objection to the use of the Registration Statement and, upon such issuance, occurrence or notice of objection, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal of such stop order or relief from such occurrence or objection, including, if necessary, by filing an amendment to the Registration Statement or a new registration statement and using its reasonable best efforts to have such amendment or new registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable.

(b) If, at any time prior to the filing of the Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b), any event occurs as a result of which the Disclosure Package would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made or the circumstances then prevailing, not misleading, the Company will (i) notify promptly the Representatives so that any use of the Disclosure Package may cease until it is amended or supplemented; (ii) amend or supplement the Disclosure Package to correct such statement or omission; and (iii) supply any amendment or supplement to you in such quantities as you may reasonably request.

 

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(c) If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Securities is required to be delivered under the Securities Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), any event occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein in the light of the circumstances under which they were made or the circumstances then prevailing not misleading, or if it shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement, file a new registration statement or supplement the Prospectus to comply with the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or the respective rules thereunder, including in connection with use or delivery of the Prospectus, the Company promptly will (i) notify the Representatives of any such event; (ii) prepare and file with the SEC, subject to the second sentence of paragraph (a) of this Section 5, an amendment or supplement or new registration statement which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; (iii) use its best efforts to have any amendment to the Registration Statement or new registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable in order to avoid any disruption in use of the Prospectus; and (iv) supply any supplemented Prospectus to you in such quantities as you may reasonably request.

(d) As soon as practicable, the Company will make generally available to its security holders and to the Representatives an earnings statement or statements of the Company and its subsidiaries which will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 under the Securities Act.

(e) Upon request, the Company will furnish to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement (including exhibits thereto) with conformed signatures and to each other Underwriter a copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto) and, so long as delivery of a prospectus by an Underwriter or dealer may be required by the Securities Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), as many copies of each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any supplement thereto as the Representatives may reasonably request. The Company will pay the expenses of printing or other production of all documents relating to the offering.

(f) The Company will arrange, if necessary, for the qualification of the Securities for sale under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may reasonably designate and will maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Securities; provided that in no event shall the Company be obligated to qualify to do business in any jurisdiction where it is not now so qualified or to take any action that would subject it to service of process in suits, other than those arising out of the offering or sale of the Securities, in any jurisdiction where it is not now so subject.

 

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(g) The Company will not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, hedge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction which is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the Company or any affiliate of the Company or any person in privity with the Company or any affiliate of the Company), directly or indirectly, including the submission or filing (or participation in the submission or filing) of a registration statement with the SEC in respect of, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act, any other shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock; or publicly announce an intention to effect any such transaction, for a period of 60 days after the date of this Agreement (such period, the “Company Lock-up Period”), provided, however, that the Company may: (i) effect the transactions contemplated hereby; (ii) grant options, restricted stock units or other equity awards or issue shares of Common Stock to its employees, officers, directors, advisors or consultants pursuant to employee benefit plans of the Company, provided, that each recipient of such securities that is a newly appointed director or executive officer pursuant to this clause (ii) agrees to restrictions on the resale of securities that are consistent with the provisions set forth in the lock-up letter described in Section 6(l) hereof; (iii) file one or more registration statements on Form S-8 relating to stock options or employee benefit plans of the Company; or (iv) offer, issue and sell Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock in connection with any (1) mergers, (2) acquisition of securities, businesses, property or other assets, (3) joint ventures, (4) strategic alliances, (5) partnerships with experts or other talent to develop or provide content or (6) equipment leasing arrangements, provided, that the aggregate number of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock (on an as-converted or as-exercised basis, as the case may be) that the Company may issue or agree to issue pursuant to this clause (iv) shall not exceed 5% of the total number of shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately following the completion of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and provided, further, that each recipient of such securities that is a newly appointed director or executive officer agrees to restrictions on the resale of securities that are consistent with the provisions set forth in the lock-up letter described in Section 6(l) hereof.

(h) The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to maintain the listing of the Securities issued and sold by the Company on The Nasdaq Global Select Market.

(i) The Company will not take, directly or indirectly (without giving effect to activities by the Underwriters), any action designed to or that would constitute or that would reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.

 

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(j) The Company agrees to pay the costs and expenses relating to the following matters: (i) the preparation, printing or reproduction and filing with the SEC of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and exhibits thereto), each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and each amendment or supplement to any of them; (ii) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery (including postage, air freight charges and charges for counting and packaging) of such copies of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and all amendments or supplements to any of them, as may, in each case, be reasonably requested for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities; (iii) the preparation, printing, authentication, issuance and delivery of certificates for the Securities, including any stamp or transfer taxes in connection with the original issuance and sale of the Securities; (iv) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery of this Agreement, any blue sky memorandum and all other agreements or documents printed (or reproduced) and delivered in connection with the offering of the Securities; (v) the registration of the Securities under the Exchange Act and the listing of the Securities on Nasdaq; (vi) any registration or qualification of the Securities for offer and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of the several states (including filing fees and the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters relating to such registration and qualification); (vii) any filings required to be made with FINRA (including filing fees and the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters relating to such filings); (viii) the transportation and other expenses incurred by or on behalf of Company representatives in connection with presentations to prospective purchasers of the Securities, provided, however, that if the Representatives and the Company mutually agree that an aircraft shall be chartered in connection with any road show, the Underwriters and the Company shall each pay 50% of the costs and expenses of such chartered aircraft to be used in connection with the road show by the Company and the Underwriters; (ix) the fees and expenses of the Company’s accountants and the fees and expenses of counsel (including local and special counsel) for the Company; and (x) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder, provided, however, that the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters incurred pursuant to clauses (vi) and (vii) of this Section 5(j) shall not exceed $20,000 in the aggregate.

(k) The Company agrees that, unless it has or shall have obtained the prior written consent of the Representatives, and each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees with the Company that, unless it has or shall have obtained, as the case may be, the prior written consent of the Company, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405) required to be filed by the Company with the SEC or retained by the Company under Rule 433; provided that the prior written consent of the parties hereto shall be deemed to have been given in respect of the Free Writing Prospectuses included in Schedule III hereto and any electronic road show. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Representatives or the Company is hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus.” The Company agrees that (x) it has treated and will treat, as the case may be, each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and (y) it has complied and will comply, as the case may be, with the requirements of Rule 164 under the Securities Act (“Rule 164”) and Rule 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including in respect of timely filing with the SEC, legending and record keeping.

 

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6. Conditions to the Obligations of the Underwriters. The obligations of the Underwriters to purchase the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities, as the case may be, shall be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein as of the Execution Time, the Closing Date and any settlement date pursuant to Section 3 hereof, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions:

(a) The Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, have been filed in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b); any other material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) shall have been filed with the SEC within the applicable time periods prescribed for such filings by Rule 433; and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or threatened.

(b) The Company shall have requested and caused Sidley Austin LLP, counsel for the Company, to have furnished to the Representatives their opinion (including regulatory opinion) and negative assurance letter, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives.

(c) The Company shall have requested and caused Morrison & Foerster LLP, intellectual property counsel for the Company, to have furnished to the Representatives their opinion, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives.

(d) The Representatives shall have received from Cooley LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion and negative assurance letter, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives, with respect to the issuance and sale of the Securities, the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package, the Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) and other related matters as the Representatives may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters.

(e) The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate of the Company, signed by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of the Company, dated the Closing Date, to the effect that the signers of such certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package, the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, as well as each electronic road show used in connection with the offering of the Securities, and this Agreement and that:

(i) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct on and as of the Closing Date with the same effect as if made on the Closing Date and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Date;

 

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(ii) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened; and

(iii) since the date of the most recent financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto), there has been no Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(f) The Company shall have requested and caused Deloitte & Touche LLP to have furnished to the Representatives, at the Execution Time and at the Closing Date, letters (which may refer to letters previously delivered to one or more of the Representatives), dated respectively as of the Execution Time and as of the Closing Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants “comfort letters” to underwriters.

(g) Subsequent to the Execution Time or, if earlier, the dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement (exclusive of any amendment thereof) and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), there shall not have been (i) any change or decrease specified in the letter or letters referred to in paragraph (e) of this Section 6 or (ii) any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the condition (financial or otherwise), earnings, business or properties of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto) the effect of which, in any case referred to in clause (i) or (ii) above, is, in the sole judgment of the Representatives, so material and adverse as to make it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Securities as contemplated by the Registration Statement (exclusive of any amendment thereof), the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

(h) The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives at the Execution Time and at the Closing Date a certificate of the Chief Financial Officer of the Company, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives as to the accuracy of certain financial information included in the Registration Statement and the Disclosure Package.

(i) Prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives such further information, certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.

(j) Subsequent to the Execution Time, there shall not have been any decrease in the rating of any of the Company’s debt securities by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined for purposes of Rule 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act) or any notice given of any intended or potential decrease in any such rating or of a possible change in any such rating that does not indicate the direction of the possible change.

 

23


(k) The Securities shall have been listed and admitted and authorized for trading on Nasdaq, and satisfactory evidence of such actions shall have been provided to the Representatives.

(l) At the Execution Time, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a lock-up letter substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto from each executive officer and director of the Company addressed to the Representatives.

If any of the conditions specified in this Section 6 shall not have been fulfilled when and as provided in this Agreement, or if any of the opinions and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall not be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, this Agreement and all obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be canceled at, or at any time prior to, the Closing Date by the Representatives. Notice of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or by telephone or facsimile confirmed in writing.

The documents required to be delivered by this Section 6 shall be delivered at the office of Cooley LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, at 3 Embarcadero Center, 20th Floor, San Francisco, California 94111, on the Closing Date.

7. Reimbursement of Underwriters’ Expenses. If the sale of the Securities provided for herein is not consummated because any condition to the obligations of the Underwriters set forth in Section 6 hereof is not satisfied, because of any termination pursuant to Section 10 hereof or because of any refusal, inability or failure on the part of the Company to perform any agreement herein or comply with any provision hereof other than by reason of a default by any of the Underwriters, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters severally through J.P. Morgan Securities LLC on demand for all expenses (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel) that shall have been incurred by them in connection with the proposed purchase and sale of the Securities.

8. Indemnification and Contribution.

(a) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, the directors, officers, employees, affiliates and agents of each Underwriter and each person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act against any and all losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which they or any of them may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or other federal or state statutory law or regulation, at common law or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the registration statement for the registration of the Securities as originally filed or in any amendment thereof, or in the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or any other preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the

 

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Securities, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (including, for the avoidance of doubt, in any road show as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act) or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or in any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and agrees to reimburse each such indemnified party, as incurred, for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; provided, however, that the Company will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon any such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made therein in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in paragraph (b) below. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have.

(b) Each Underwriter severally and not jointly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who signs the Registration Statement, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, to the same extent as the foregoing indemnity from the Company to each Underwriter, but only with reference to written information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion in the documents referred to in the foregoing indemnity. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability which any Underwriter may otherwise have. The Company acknowledges that the only information furnished in writing by or on behalf of the several Underwriters for inclusion in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication consists of the following: the concession and reallowance figures appearing in the third paragraph under the capital “Underwriting” and the information contained in the fifteenth and sixteenth paragraphs under the capital “Underwriting.”

(c) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 8 of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 8, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the failure so to notify the indemnifying party (i) will not relieve it from liability under paragraph (a) or (b) above unless and to the extent it did not otherwise learn of such action and such failure results in the forfeiture by the indemnifying party of substantial rights and defenses and (ii) will not, in any event, relieve the indemnifying party from any obligations to any indemnified party other than the indemnification obligation provided in paragraph (a) or (b) above. The indemnifying party shall be entitled to appoint counsel of the indemnifying party’s choice at the indemnifying party’s expense to represent the indemnified party in any action for which indemnification is sought (in which case the indemnifying party shall not thereafter be responsible for the fees and expenses of any

 

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separate counsel retained by the indemnified party or parties except as set forth below); provided, however, that such counsel shall be satisfactory to the indemnified party. Notwithstanding the indemnifying party’s election to appoint counsel to represent the indemnified party in an action, the indemnified party shall have the right to employ separate counsel (including local counsel), and the indemnifying party shall bear the reasonable fees, costs and expenses of such separate counsel (it being understood, however, that the indemnifying party shall not be liable for the fees and expenses of more than one separate counsel, in addition to local counsel) if (i) the use of counsel chosen by the indemnifying party to represent the indemnified party would present such counsel with a conflict of interest, (ii) the actual or potential defendants in, or targets of, any such action include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it and/or other indemnified parties which are different from or additional to those available to the indemnifying party, (iii) the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party within a reasonable time after notice of the institution of such action or (iv) the indemnifying party shall authorize the indemnified party to employ separate counsel at the expense of the indemnifying party. An indemnifying party will not, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any pending or threatened claim, action, suit or proceeding in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties to such claim or action) unless such settlement, compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such claim, action, suit or proceeding and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

(d) In the event that the indemnity provided in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this Section 8 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party for any reason, the Company and the Underwriters severally agree to contribute to the aggregate losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with investigating or defending the same) (collectively, “Losses”) to which the Company and one or more of the Underwriters may be subject in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and by the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Securities. If the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is unavailable for any reason, the Company and the Underwriters severally shall contribute in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such Losses as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. Benefits received by the Company shall be deemed to be equal to the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by it, and benefits received by the Underwriters shall be deemed to be equal to the total underwriting discounts and commissions, in each case as set forth on the cover page of the Prospectus. Relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any untrue or any alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information provided by the Company

 

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on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution were determined by pro rata allocation or any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph (d), in no event shall an Underwriter be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by such Underwriter with respect to the offering of the Securities exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph (d), no person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. For purposes of this Section 8, each person who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act and each director, officer, employee, affiliate and agent of an Underwriter shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, each officer of the Company who shall have signed the Registration Statement and each director of the Company shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company, subject in each case to the applicable terms and conditions of this paragraph (d).

9. Default by an Underwriter. If any one or more Underwriters shall fail to purchase and pay for any of the Securities agreed to be purchased by such Underwriter or Underwriters hereunder and such failure to purchase shall constitute a default in the performance of its or their obligations under this Agreement, the remaining Underwriters shall be obligated severally to take up and pay for (in the respective proportions which the amount of Securities set forth opposite their names in Schedule II hereto bears to the aggregate amount of Securities set forth opposite the names of all the remaining Underwriters) the Securities which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase; provided, however, that in the event that the aggregate amount of Securities which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase shall exceed 10% of the aggregate amount of Securities set forth in Schedule II hereto, the remaining Underwriters shall have the right to purchase all, but shall not be under any obligation to purchase any, of the Securities, and if such non-defaulting Underwriters do not purchase all the Securities, this Agreement will terminate without liability to any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company. In the event of a default by any Underwriter as set forth in this Section 9, the Closing Date shall be postponed for such period, not exceeding five Business Days, as the Representatives shall determine in order that the required changes in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements may be effected. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter of its liability, if any, to the Company and any non-defaulting Underwriter for damages occasioned by its default hereunder.

 

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10. Termination. This Agreement shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representatives, by notice given to the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Securities, if at any time prior to such delivery and payment (i) trading in the Common Stock shall have been suspended by any of the SEC, Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange or trading in securities generally on any exchange or in any over-the-counter market shall have been suspended or limited or minimum prices shall have been established on such exchange, (ii) a banking moratorium shall have been declared either by federal or New York State authorities, (iii) there shall have occurred a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services or (iv) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war, or other calamity or crisis or escalation thereof the effect of which on financial markets is such as to make it, in the sole judgment of the Representatives, impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Securities as contemplated by any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto).

11. Representations and Indemnities to Survive. The respective agreements, representations, warranties, indemnities and other statements of the Company or its officers and of the Underwriters set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or the Company or any of the officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates or controlling persons referred to in Section 8 hereof, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Securities. The provisions of Sections 7 and 8 hereof shall survive the termination or cancellation of this Agreement.

12. Notices. All communications hereunder will be in writing and effective only on receipt, and, if sent to the Representatives, will be mailed, delivered or telefaxed to (i) J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk, facsimile number: +1 ###-###-#### and (ii) Piper Sandler & Co., 800 Nicollet Mall, Suite 900, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, Attention: Equity Capital Markets and separately, General Counsel; or, if sent to the Company, will be mailed, delivered or telefaxed to 260 Littlefield Ave., South San Francisco, CA 94080, Attention: Keith Cummings.

13. Successors. This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers, directors, employees, agents and controlling persons referred to in Section 8 hereof, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder.

14. No Fiduciary Duty. The Company hereby acknowledges that (a) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters and any affiliate through which it may be acting, on the other, (b) the Underwriters are acting as principal and not as an agent or fiduciary of the Company and (c) the Company’s engagement of the Underwriters in connection with the offering and the process leading up to the offering is as independent contractors and not in any other capacity. Furthermore, the Company agrees that it is solely responsible for making its own judgments in connection with the offering (irrespective of whether any of the Underwriters has advised or is currently advising the Company on related or other matters). The Company agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters have rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owe an agency, fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.

 

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15. Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.

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

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

As used in this Section 15, “BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k); “Covered Entity” means any of the following: (i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b), (ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b) or (iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b); “Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable; and “U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

16. Integration. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

17. Applicable Law. This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York applicable to contracts made and to be performed within the State of New York.

18. Jurisdiction. The Company agrees that any suit, action or proceeding against the Company brought by any Underwriter, the directors, officers, employees, affiliates and agents of any Underwriter, or by any person who controls any Underwriter, arising out of or based upon this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby may be instituted in any State or U.S. federal court in The City of New York and County of New York, and waives any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such proceeding, and irrevocably submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of such courts in any suit, action or proceeding.

19. Waiver of Jury Trial. The Company hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

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20. Counterparts. This Agreement may be signed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall constitute an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Headings. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.

22. Definitions. The terms that follow, when used in this Agreement, shall have the meanings indicated.

Base Prospectus” shall mean the base prospectus referred to in Section 1(a) above contained in the Registration Statement at the Execution Time.

Business Day” shall mean any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or trust companies are authorized or obligated by law to close in New York City.

Disclosure Package” shall mean (i) the Base Prospectus, (ii) the Preliminary Prospectus used most recently prior to the Execution Time, (iii) any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, if any, identified in Schedule III hereto, and (iv) any other Free Writing Prospectus that the parties hereto shall hereafter expressly agree in writing to treat as part of the Disclosure Package.

Effective Date” shall mean each date and time that the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment or amendments thereto became or becomes effective.

Exchange Act” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder.

Execution Time” shall mean the date and time that this Agreement is executed and delivered by the parties hereto.

FDA” shall mean the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Free Writing Prospectus” shall mean a free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405.

Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” shall mean an issuer free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 433.

Preliminary Prospectus” shall mean any preliminary prospectus supplement to the Base Prospectus referred to in Section 1(a) above which is used prior to the filing of the Prospectus, together with the Base Prospectus.

Prospectus” shall mean the prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is first filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act after the Execution Time, together with the Base Prospectus.

 

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Registration Statement” shall mean the registration statement referred to in Section 1(a) above, including exhibits and financial statements and any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) and deemed part of such registration statement pursuant to Rule 430B, as amended as of the most recent Effective Date, and, in the event any post-effective amendment thereto becomes effective prior to the Closing Date, shall also mean such registration statement as so amended or such post-effective amendment, as the case may be.

Rule 144A,” “Rule 158,” “Rule 164,” “Rule 172,” “Rule 405,” “Rule 415,” “Rule 424,” “Rule 430B,” “Rule 433” and “Rule 501” refer to such rules under the Securities Act.

SEC” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities Act” shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder.

[Signature page follows]

 

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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign and return to us the enclosed duplicate hereof, whereupon this Agreement and your acceptance shall represent a binding agreement among the Company and the several Underwriters.

 

Very truly yours,

 

PLIANT THERAPEUTICS, INC.

By:  

/s/ Keith Cummings

  Name: Keith Cummings
  Title: Chief Financial Officer

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


The foregoing Agreement is hereby confirmed and accepted as of the date specified in Schedule I hereto.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
Piper Sandler & Co.
By:   J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
By:  

/s/ Benjamin H. Burdett

  Name: Benjamin H. Burdett
  Title: Managing Director, ECM Healthcare
By:   Piper Sandler & Co.
By:  

/s/ Chad Huber

  Name: Chad Huber
  Title: Managing Director
For themselves and the other several Underwriters named in Schedule II to the foregoing Agreement.

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


SCHEDULE I

Underwriting Agreement dated January 24, 2023

Registration Statement No. 333-257684

Representatives: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Piper Sandler & Co.

Title, Purchase Price and Description of Securities:

Title: Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share

Number of Underwritten Securities to be sold by the Company: 8,333,334

Number of Option Securities to be sold by the Company: 1,250,000

Price per Share to Public (include accrued dividends, if any): $30.00

Price per Share to the Underwriters – total: $28.20

Other provisions: None.

Closing Date, Time and Location: January 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM, New York City time, at Cooley LLP, 3 Embarcadero Center, 20th Floor, San Francisco, California 94111

Type of Offering: Non-Delayed

Date referred to in Section 5(g) after which the Company may offer or sell securities issued by the Company without the consent of the Representatives: March 25, 2023


SCHEDULE II

 

Underwriters

   Number of Underwritten Securities
to be Purchased
 

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

     3,416,668  

Piper Sandler & Co.

     1,833,333  

RBC Capital Markets, LLC

     1,416,667  

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.

     833,333  

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

     500,000  

H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC

     333,333  
  

 

 

 

Total

     8,333,334  


SCHEDULE III

Schedule of Free Writing Prospectuses included in the Disclosure Package

None.


SCHEDULE IV

Schedule of Written Testing-the-Waters Communication

None.


SCHEDULE V

Subsidiaries

Pliant Therapeutics Belgium


EXHIBIT A

Form of Lock-Up Agreement

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc.

Public Offering of Common Stock

[•], 2023

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Piper Sandler & Co.

As Representatives of the several Underwriters

c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10179

c/o Piper Sandler & Co.

800 Nicollet Mall, Suite 800

Minneapolis, MN 55402

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This letter is being delivered to you in connection with the proposed Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”), between Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and each of you as representatives (the “Representatives”) of a group of underwriters named therein (collectively, the “Underwriters”), relating to an underwritten public offering of Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”), of the Company (the “Offering”).

In order to induce you and the other Underwriters to enter into the Underwriting Agreement, the undersigned will not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, hedge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction which is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the undersigned or any affiliate of the undersigned or any person in privity with the undersigned or any affiliate of the undersigned), directly or indirectly, including the submission or filing (or participation in the submission or filing) of a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in respect of, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder with respect to, any shares of capital stock of the Company or any securities convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, such capital stock (the “Lock-Up Securities”), or publicly announce an intention to effect any such transaction, for a period from the


date hereof until 60 days after the date of the Underwriting Agreement (the “Lock-Up Period”). The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the foregoing precludes the undersigned from engaging in any hedging or other transactions designed or intended, or which could reasonably be expected to lead to or result in, a sale or disposition of any shares of Common Stock, or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, even if any such sale or disposition transaction or transactions would be made or executed by or on behalf of someone other than the undersigned.

The foregoing restrictions shall not apply to:

(i) transactions relating to shares of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the Offering or in open market transactions after the completion of the Offering;

(ii) transfers of Lock-Up Securities as a bona fide gift or charitable contribution;

(iii) exercise of stock options or warrants to purchase shares of Common Stock or the vesting of stock awards of Common Stock and any related transfer of shares of Common Stock to the Company in connection therewith (x) deemed to occur upon the “cashless” or “net” exercise of such options or warrants or (y) for the purpose of paying the exercise price of such options or warrants or for paying taxes due as a result of the exercise of such options or warrants, the vesting of such options, warrants or stock awards, or as a result of the vesting of such shares of Common Stock, it being understood that all shares of Common Stock received upon such exercise, vesting or transfer will remain subject to the restrictions of this lock-up agreement (the “Lock-Up Agreement”) during the Lock-Up Period, and provided if the undersigned is required to file a report under the Exchange Act reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock during the Lock-Up Period, the undersigned shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that the filing relates to the circumstances described in this paragraph and no other filing or public announcement shall be made voluntarily during the Lock-Up Period in connection with such exercise, vesting or transfer;

(iv) transfers of Lock-Up Securities to the Company pursuant to any contractual arrangement that provides the Company with an option to repurchase such shares of Common Stock in the event the undersigned ceases to provide services to the Company, provided that such contractual arrangement is disclosed in the final prospectus supplement relating to the Offering or the Company’s filings with the SEC, and provided further that if the undersigned is required to file a report under the Exchange Act reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock during the Lock-Up Period, the undersigned shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that the filing relates to the termination of the undersigned’s employment or other services and no other filing or public announcement shall be made voluntarily during the Lock-Up Period in connection with such transfer;

(v) transfers to the spouse, domestic partner, parent, child (including stepchild or adopted child) or grandchild or first cousin of the undersigned (each, an “Immediate Family Member”) or to a trust formed for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or an Immediate Family Member;

 

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(vi) transfers by will, other testamentary document or intestate succession to the legal representative, heir, beneficiary, trustee or Immediate Family Member of the undersigned;

(vii) transfers pursuant to a divorce settlement agreement or decree or a qualified domestic relations order;

(viii) transfers of Lock-Up Securities to any affiliate (as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended), limited partners, general partners, limited liability company members or stockholders of the undersigned, or, if the undersigned is a corporation, to any wholly owned subsidiary of such corporation; or

(ix) transfer of Lock-Up Securities pursuant to a bona fide third-party tender offer for securities of the Company, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction that is approved by the Board of Directors of the Company, made to all holders of Common Stock involving a transaction or a series of related transactions, the result of which is that any “person” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), or group of persons, other than the Company, becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 of the Exchange Act) of 75% or more of the total voting power of the voting stock of the Company (or the surviving entity), provided that in the event that such tender offer, merger, consolidation or other such transaction is not completed, the Lock-Up Securities shall remain subject to the provisions of this Lock-Up Agreement;

provided, that, in the case of clause (i), no filing under the Exchange Act reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock shall be required or voluntarily made during the Lock-Up Period, other than Forms 5 and Schedule 13F; provided further that in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to clauses (ii), (v), (vi), (vii) and (viii), (a) the recipient agrees to be bound in writing by the same restrictions set forth herein for the duration of the Lock-Up Period, (b) no filing under the Exchange Act reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock shall be required or voluntarily made during the Lock-Up Period, other than Forms 5 and Schedule 13F, and (c) any such transfer shall not involve a disposition for value.

In addition, for the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this letter shall prohibit the undersigned from entering into any plan designed to satisfy the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act (a “10b5-1 Plan”); provided, however, that (A) no sale of Lock-Up Securities may be made under such 10b5-1 Plan during the Lock-Up Period and (B) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act, if any, is required by or on behalf of the undersigned or the Company regarding the establishment of such plan, such announcement or filing shall include a statement to the effect that no transfer of Common Stock may be made under such plan during the Lock-Up Period and no filings or public announcement shall be made voluntarily during the Lock-Up Period regarding the establishment of such plan. Additionally, the foregoing restrictions shall not apply to sales of Lock-Up Securities made pursuant to a 10b5-1 Plan that has been entered into and disclosed to the Representatives by the undersigned prior to the date of this Lock-Up Agreement, provided that if the undersigned reports any such transfer on a Form 4 filed with the SEC pursuant to Section 16 of the Exchange Act, such Form 4 shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that such transfer was effected pursuant to a trading plan designed to satisfy the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act and no other filing or public announcement shall be made voluntarily during the Lock-Up Period in connection with such transfer.

 

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

This Lock-Up Agreement shall automatically terminate, and the undersigned shall be released from its obligations hereunder, upon the earliest to occur, if any, of (1) the execution of the Underwriting Agreement in connection with the Offering shall not have occurred on or before February 28, 2023, (2) the Company files an application to withdraw the registration statement relating to the Offering, (3) the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the Common Stock to be sold thereunder or (4) the Representatives, on behalf of the Underwriters, advise the Company, or the Company advises the Representatives, in writing, prior to the execution of the Underwriting Agreement, that they have determined not to proceed with the Offering.

The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power, capacity and authority to enter into this Lock-Up Agreement. This Lock-Up Agreement is irrevocable and will be binding on the undersigned and the successors, heirs, personal representatives and assigns of the undersigned.

This Lock-Up Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

[signature page follows]

 

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Very truly yours,

             

Name of Securityholder (Print exact name)
By:  

             

  Signature
If not signing in an individual capacity:

             

Name of Authorized Signatory (Print)

             

Title of Authorized Signatory (Print)
(indicate capacity of person signing if signing as custodian, trustee, or on behalf of an entity)