Underwriting Agreement by and among the Company, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Evercore Group L.L.C. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., dated October 29, 2024
Exhibit 1.1
Execution Version
VERA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
7,142,858 Shares of Class A Common Stock
Underwriting Agreement
October 29, 2024
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
Evercore Group L.L.C.
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
As Representatives of the
several Underwriters listed
in Schedule 1 hereto
c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
383 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10179
c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
200 West Street
New York, New York 10282
c/o Evercore Group L.L.C.
55 East 52nd Street
New York, New York 10055
and
c/o Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
110 East 59th Street
New York, New York 10022
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Vera Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company), proposes to issue and sell to the several underwriters listed in Schedule 1 hereto (the Underwriters), for whom J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (J.P. Morgan), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (Goldman Sachs), Evercore Group L.L.C. (Evercore) and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (Cantor) are acting as representatives (the Representatives), an aggregate of 7,142,858 shares (the Underwritten Shares) of Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company and, at the option of the Underwriters, up to an additional 1,071,428 shares of Class A common stock of the Company (the Option Shares). The Underwritten Shares and the Option Shares are herein referred to as the Shares. The shares of Class A common stock of the Company to be outstanding after giving effect to the sale of the Shares are referred to herein as the Stock.
The Company hereby confirms its agreement with the several Underwriters concerning the purchase and sale of the Shares, as follows:
1. Registration Statement. The Company has prepared and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (collectively, the Securities Act), a registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-282861), including a prospectus, relating to the Shares. Such registration statement, as amended at the time it became effective, including the information, if any, deemed pursuant to Rule 430A, 430B or 430C under the Securities Act to be part of the registration statement at the time of its effectiveness (Rule 430 Information), is referred to herein as the Registration Statement; and as used herein, the term Preliminary Prospectus means any preliminary prospectus (including any preliminary prospectus supplement) relating to the offering of the Shares in the form filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act and the prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time of its effectiveness that omits Rule 430 Information, and the term Prospectus means the prospectus in the form first used (or made available upon request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173 under the Securities Act) in connection with confirmation of sales of the Shares. If the Company has filed an abbreviated registration statement pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act (the Rule 462 Registration Statement), then any reference herein to the term Registration Statement shall be deemed to include such Rule 462 Registration Statement. Any reference in this underwriting agreement (this Agreement) to the Registration Statement, 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 under the Securities Act, as of the effective date of the Registration Statement or the date of such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be, and any reference to amend, amendment or supplement with respect to the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include any documents filed after such date under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (collectively, the Exchange Act) that are deemed to be incorporated by reference therein. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to such terms in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.
At or prior to the Applicable Time (as defined below), the Company had prepared the following information (collectively with the pricing information set forth on Annex A, the Pricing Disclosure Package): a Preliminary Prospectus dated October 28, 2024 and each free-writing prospectus (as defined pursuant to Rule 405 under the Securities Act) listed on Annex A hereto.
Applicable Time means 5:30 P.M., New York City time, on October 29, 2024.
2. Purchase of the Shares.
(a) The Company agrees to issue and sell the Underwritten Shares to the several Underwriters as provided in this Agreement, and each Underwriter, on the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements set forth herein and subject to the conditions set forth herein, agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company the respective number of Underwritten Shares at a price per share of $39.48 (the Purchase Price) set forth opposite such Underwriters name in Schedule 1 hereto.
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In addition, the Company agrees to issue and sell the Option Shares to the several Underwriters as provided in this Agreement, and the Underwriters, on the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements set forth herein and subject to the conditions set forth herein, shall have the option to purchase, severally and not jointly, from the Company the Option Shares at the Purchase Price less an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Underwritten Shares but not payable on the Option Shares.
If any Option Shares are to be purchased, the number of Option Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter shall be the number of Option Shares which bears the same ratio to the aggregate number of Option Shares being purchased as the number of Underwritten Shares set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule 1 hereto (or such number increased as set forth in Section 10 hereof) bears to the aggregate number of Underwritten Shares being purchased from the Company by the several Underwriters, subject, however, to such adjustments to eliminate any fractional Shares as the Representatives in their sole discretion shall make.
The Underwriters may exercise the option to purchase Option Shares at any time in whole, or from time to time in part, on or before the thirtieth day following the date of the Prospectus, by written notice from the Representatives to the Company. Such notice shall set forth the aggregate number of Option Shares as to which the option is being exercised and the date and time when the Option Shares are to be delivered and paid for, which may be the same date and time as the Closing Date (as hereinafter defined) but shall not be earlier than the Closing Date nor later than the tenth full business day (as hereinafter defined) after the date of such notice (unless such time and date are postponed in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 hereof). Any such notice shall be given at least two business days prior to the date and time of delivery specified therein.
(b) The Company understands that the Underwriters intend to make a public offering of the Shares, and initially to offer the Shares on the terms set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Underwriters may offer and sell Shares to or through any affiliate of an Underwriter.
(c) Payment for the Shares shall be made by wire transfer in immediately available funds to the account specified by the Company to the Representatives in the case of the Underwritten Shares, at the offices of Goodwin Procter LLP at 9:00 A.M. New York City time on October 31, 2024, or at such other time or place on the same or such other date, not later than the fifth business day thereafter, as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing or, in the case of the Option Shares, on the date and at the time and place specified by the Representatives in the written notice of the Underwriters election to purchase such Option Shares. The time and date of such payment for the Underwritten Shares is referred to herein as the Closing Date and the time and date for such payment for the Option Shares, if other than the Closing Date, is herein referred to as the Additional Closing Date.
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Payment for the Shares to be purchased on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall be made against delivery to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters of the Shares to be purchased on such date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, with any transfer taxes payable in connection with the sale of such Shares duly paid by the Company. Delivery of the Shares shall be made through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct.
(d) The Company acknowledges and agrees that each of the Representatives and the other Underwriters are acting solely in the capacity of an arms length contractual counterparty to the Company with respect to the offering of Shares contemplated hereby (including in connection with determining the terms of the offering) and not as a financial advisor or a fiduciary to, or an agent of, the Company or any other person. Additionally, none of the Representatives nor any other Underwriter is advising the Company or any other person as to any legal, tax, investment, accounting or regulatory matters in any jurisdiction. The Company shall consult with its own advisors concerning such matters and shall be responsible for making its own independent investigation and appraisal of the transactions contemplated hereby, and none of the Representatives nor the other Underwriters shall have any responsibility or liability to the Company with respect thereto. Any review by the Representatives and the other Underwriters of the Company, the transactions contemplated hereby or other matters relating to such transactions will be performed solely for the benefit of the Underwriters and shall not be on behalf of the Company.
3. Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company represents and warrants to each Underwriter that:
(a) Preliminary Prospectus. No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and each Preliminary Prospectus included in the Pricing Disclosure Package, at the time of filing thereof, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act, and no Preliminary Prospectus included in the Pricing Disclosure Package, at the time of filing thereof, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in any Preliminary Prospectus, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 7(b) hereof.
(b) Pricing Disclosure Package. The Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the
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Representatives expressly for use in such Pricing Disclosure Package, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 7(b) hereof. No statement of material fact included in the Prospectus has been omitted from the Pricing Disclosure Package and no statement of material fact included in the Pricing Disclosure Package that is required to be included in the Prospectus has been omitted therefrom.
(c) Issuer Free Writing Prospectus. Other than the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company (including its agents and representatives, other than the Underwriters in their capacity as such) has not prepared, made, used, authorized, approved or referred to and will not prepare, make, use, authorize, approve or refer to any written communication (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act) that constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the Shares (each such communication by the Company or its agents and representatives (other than a communication referred to in clause (i) below) an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus) other than (i) any document not constituting a prospectus pursuant to Section 2(a)(10)(a) of the Securities Act or Rule 134 under the Securities Act or (ii) the documents listed on Annex A hereto, each electronic road show and any other written communications approved in writing in advance by the Representatives. Each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus complies in all material respects with the Securities Act, has been or will be (within the time period specified in Rule 433 under the Securities Act) filed in accordance with the Securities Act (to the extent required thereby) and does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Disclosure Package, and, when taken together with the Preliminary Prospectus accompanying, or delivered prior to delivery of, such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Preliminary Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Preliminary Prospectus, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 7(b) hereof.
(d) Emerging Growth Company. From the time of the filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged directly or through any person authorized to act on its behalf in any Testing-the-Waters Communication undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Securities Act) through the date hereof, the Company has been and is an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an Emerging Growth Company). Testing-the-Waters Communication means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on either Section 5(d) of, or Rule 163B under, the Securities Act.
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(e) Testing-the-Waters Materials. The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communications other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representatives (x) with entities that are qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Securities Act (IAIs) and otherwise in compliance with the requirements of Section 5(d) of the Securities Act or (y) with entities that the Company reasonably believed to be QIBs or IAIs and otherwise in compliance with the requirements of Rule 163B under the Securities Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications by virtue of a writing substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto. The Company has not distributed or approved for distribution any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Annex B hereto. Written Testing-the-Waters Communication means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act. Any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Disclosure Package, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act, and when taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(f) Registration Statement and Prospectus. The Registration Statement is an automatic shelf registration statement as defined under Rule 405 of the Securities Act that has been filed with the Commission not earlier than three years prior to the date hereof; and no notice of objection of the Commission to the use of such registration statement or any post-effective amendment thereto pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Securities Act has been received by the Company. No order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued by the Commission, and no proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act against the Company or related to the offering of the Shares has been initiated or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened by the Commission; as of the applicable effective date of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, as of the date of such amendment, the Registration Statement and any such post-effective amendment complied and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act, and did not as of the applicable effective date and will not as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; and as of the date of the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, the Prospectus will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the
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circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and any amendment or 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 7(b) hereof.
(g) Incorporated Documents. The documents incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package, when they were filed with the Commission conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act, and none of such documents contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Pricing Disclosure Package, when such documents are filed with the Commission, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(h) Financial Statements. The financial statements (including the related notes thereto) of the Company included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Company as of the dates indicated and the results of its operations and the changes in its cash flows for the periods specified; such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods covered thereby, and any supporting schedules included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement present fairly in all material respects the information required to be stated therein; and the other financial information included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus has been derived from the accounting records of the Company and presents fairly in all material respects the information shown thereby; all disclosures included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus regarding non-GAAP financial measures (as such term is defined by the rules and regulations of Commission) comply with Regulation G of the Exchange Act, and Item 10 of Regulation S-K of the Securities Act, to the extent applicable.
(i) No Material Adverse Change. Except as otherwise disclosed or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus: (i) there has been no material adverse change, or any development that could reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse change, in (A) the condition, financial or
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otherwise, or in the earnings, business, properties, operations, operating results, assets, liabilities or prospects, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, of the Company, or (B) the ability of the Company to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or perform its obligations hereunder (any such change being referred to herein as a Material Adverse Change); (ii) the Company has not incurred any material liability or obligation, indirect, direct or contingent, including without limitation any losses or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood, earthquakes, accident or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any strike, labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, that are material, individually or in the aggregate, to the Company, and has not entered into any material transactions not in the ordinary course of business; and (iii) there has not been any material decrease in the capital stock or any material increase in any short-term or long-term indebtedness of the Company and there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company or, except for any repurchase or redemption by the Company of any class of capital stock.
(j) Organization and Good Standing. The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation and has the corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Company is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in the State of California and each other jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change.
(k) Capitalization. The authorized, issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company is as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption Capitalization as of the date stated therein (other than for subsequent issuances, if any, pursuant to employee benefit plans, or upon the exercise of outstanding options, in each case described or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus). The Companys capital stock (including the Shares) conform in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package. All of the issued and outstanding Shares have been duly authorized and validly issued, are fully paid and nonassessable and have been issued in compliance with all federal and state securities laws. None of the outstanding Shares was issued in violation of any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities of the Company. There are no authorized or outstanding options, warrants, preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other rights to purchase, or equity or debt securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, any capital stock of the Company other than those described or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The descriptions of the Companys stock option, stock bonus and other stock plans or arrangements, and the options or other rights granted
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thereunder, set forth or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus accurately and fairly presents, in all material respects, the information required to be shown with respect to such plans, arrangements, options and rights.
(l) Stock Options. With respect to the stock options (the Stock Options) granted pursuant to the stock-based compensation plans of the Company (the Company Stock Plans), (i) each Stock Option intended to qualify as an incentive stock option under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (the Code) so qualifies, (ii) each grant of a Stock Option was duly authorized no later than the date on which the grant of such Stock Option was by its terms to be effective by all necessary corporate action, including, as applicable, approval by the board of directors of the Company (or a duly constituted and authorized committee thereof) and any required stockholder approval by the necessary number of votes or written consents, and the award agreement governing such grant (if any) was duly executed and delivered by each party thereto, (iii) each such grant was made in accordance with the terms of the Company Stock Plans, the Exchange Act and all other applicable laws and regulatory rules or requirements, including the rules of the Nasdaq Global Market (the Nasdaq Market) and any other exchange on which Company securities are traded, and (iv) each such grant was properly accounted for in accordance with GAAP in the financial statements (including the related notes) of the Company and disclosed in the Companys filings with the Commission in accordance with the Exchange Act and all other applicable laws.
(m) Due Authorization. The Company has full right, power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and to perform its obligations hereunder; and all action required to be taken for the due and proper authorization, execution and delivery by it of this Agreement and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby has been duly and validly taken.
(n) Underwriting Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.
(o) The Shares. The Shares have been duly authorized for issuance and sale pursuant to this Agreement and, when issued and delivered by the Company against payment therefor pursuant to this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, and the issuance and sale of the Shares is not subject to any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other similar rights to subscribe for or purchase the Shares.
(p) Descriptions of the Underwriting Agreement. This Agreement conforms in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
(q) No Violation or Default. The Company is not (i) in violation of its charter or by-laws or similar organizational documents; (ii) in default, and no event has occurred that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a default, in the due performance or observance of any term, covenant or condition contained in any indenture,
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mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which the Company is bound or to which any property or asset of the Company is subject; or (iii) in violation of any law or statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority having jurisdiction over the Company, except, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above, for any such default or violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change.
(r) No Conflicts. The Company is not in violation of its charter or bylaws, partnership agreement or operating agreement or similar organizational documents, as applicable, or is in default (or, with the giving of notice or lapse of time, would be in default) (Default) under any indenture, loan, credit agreement, note, lease, license agreement, contract, franchise or other instrument (including, without limitation, any pledge agreement, security agreement, mortgage or other instrument or agreement evidencing, guaranteeing, securing or relating to indebtedness) to which the Company is a party or by which it or any of them may be bound, or to which any of its properties or assets are subject (each, an Existing Instrument), except for such Defaults as could not be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change. The Companys execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and the issuance and sale of the Shares (including the use of proceeds from the sale of the Shares as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption Use of proceeds) (i) have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action and will not result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or by laws of the Company (ii) will not conflict with or constitute a breach of, or Default or a Debt Repayment Triggering Event (as defined below) under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company pursuant to, or require the consent of any other party to, any Existing Instrument, except as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change, and (iii) will not result in any violation of any law, administrative regulation or administrative or court decree applicable to the Company, except as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change.
(s) No Consents Required. No consent, approval, authorization or other order of, or registration or filing with, any court or other governmental or regulatory authority or agency, is required for the Companys execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except (A) such as have been obtained or made by the Company and are in full force and effect under the Securities Act and such as may be required under applicable state securities or blue sky laws or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) and (B) such as have been obtained under the laws and regulations of jurisdictions outside the United States in which Shares are offered. As used herein, a Debt Repayment Triggering Event means any event or condition which gives, or with the giving of notice or lapse of time would give, the holder of any note, debenture or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holders behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company.
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(t) Compliance with Laws. The Company has been and is in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, except where failure to be so in compliance would not be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change.
(u) Legal Proceedings. There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation brought by or before any legal or governmental entity now pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, against or affecting the Company, which could be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change. No material labor dispute with the employees of the Company, or with the employees of any principal supplier, manufacturer, customer or contractor of the Company, exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is threatened or imminent.
(v) Independent Accountants. KPMG LLP, which has expressed its opinion with respect to the financial statements (which term as used in this Agreement includes the related notes thereto) filed with the Commission as a part of or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is (i) an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the rules of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), (ii) in compliance with the applicable requirements relating to the qualification of accountants under Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X under the Securities Act and (iii) a registered public accounting firm as defined by the PCAOB whose registration has not been suspended or revoked and who has not requested such registration to be withdrawn.
(w) Title to Real and Personal Property. The Company has good and marketable title to all of the real and personal property and other assets reflected as owned in the financial statements referred to in Section 3(h) above (or elsewhere in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus), in each case free and clear of any security interests, mortgages, liens, encumbrances, equities, adverse claims and other defects, except where failure to so possess would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change (provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, rights to Intellectual Property are addressed exclusively in Section 3(x) below). The real property, improvements, equipment and personal property held under lease by the Company are held under valid and enforceable leases, with such exceptions as are not material and do not materially interfere with the use made or proposed to be made of such real property, improvements, equipment or personal property by the Company.
(x) Intellectual Property. The Company owns, has applied to register, or has obtained valid and enforceable licenses for, the inventions, patent applications, patents, trademarks, trade names, service names, copyrights, trade secrets and other intellectual property described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus as being owned or licensed by them or which, to the Companys knowledge, are
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necessary for the conduct of its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (collectively, Intellectual Property). To the Companys knowledge, the conduct of its business does not and will not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise conflict in any material respect with any valid and enforceable rights of others. The Intellectual Property of the Company has not been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such adjudication. To the Companys knowledge: (i) there are no third parties who have rights to any Intellectual Property, except for customary reversionary rights of third-party licensors with respect to Intellectual Property that is disclosed or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus as licensed to the Company; and (ii) there is no infringement by third parties of any Intellectual Property. There is no pending or, to the Companys knowledge, except as would not individually or in the aggregate, have or would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others: (A) challenging the Companys rights in or to any Intellectual Property; and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; (B) challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of any Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts that would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; or (C) asserting that the Company infringes or otherwise violates, or would, upon the commercialization of any product or service described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus as under development, infringe or violate, any patent, trademark, trade name, service name, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary rights of others. To the Companys knowledge, the Company has materially complied with the terms of each agreement pursuant to which Intellectual Property has been licensed to the Company, and, to the Companys knowledge, all such agreements are in full force and effect. To the Companys knowledge, there are no material defects in any of the patents or patent applications included in the Intellectual Property. To the Companys knowledge, the Company has taken reasonable steps to protect, maintain and safeguard its Intellectual Property, including the execution of appropriate nondisclosure, confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements and invention assignments with its employees, and, to the Companys knowledge, no employee of the Company is 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 employees employment with the Company. To the Companys knowledge, the duty of candor and good faith as required by the United States Patent and Trademark Office during the prosecution of the United States patents and patent applications included in the Intellectual Property have been complied with; and to the Companys knowledge, in all foreign offices having similar requirements, all such requirements have been complied with. To the Companys knowledge, none of the Company owned Intellectual Property or technology (including information technology and outsourced arrangements) employed by the Company has been obtained or is being used by the Company in violation of any contractual obligation binding on the Company or any of its officers, directors or employees or otherwise in violation of the rights of any persons.
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(y) No Undisclosed Relationships. There are no business relationships or related-party transactions involving the Company or any other person required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that have not been described as required.
(z) Investment Company Act. The Company is not, and will not be, either after receipt of payment for the Shares or after the application of the proceeds therefrom as described under Use of Proceeds in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (collectively, the Investment Company Act).
(aa) Taxes. The Company has filed all necessary federal, state and foreign income and franchise tax returns or have properly requested extensions thereof and has paid all taxes required to be paid by any of them and, if due and payable, any related or similar assessment, fine or penalty levied against any of them except as may be being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings or in any case in which the failure to so file or pay would not result in a Material Adverse Change. The Company has made adequate charges, accruals and reserves in the applicable financial statements referred to in Section 3(h) above in respect of all federal, state and foreign income and franchise taxes for all periods as to which the tax liability of the Company has not been finally determined, except any taxes for which the failure to pay would not result in a Material Adverse Change.
(bb) Licenses and Permits. The Company possesses such valid and current certificates, authorizations or permits required by state, federal or foreign regulatory agencies or bodies to conduct its business as currently conducted and as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (Permits), except where failure to so possess would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change. The Company is not in violation of, or in default under, any of the Permits and has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of, or non-compliance with, any such certificate, authorization or permit, except as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change.
(cc) No Labor Disputes. No labor disturbance by or dispute with employees of the Company exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened, and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by, or dispute with, the employees of any of its principal suppliers, contractors or customers, except as would not result in a Material Adverse Change. The Company has not received any notice of cancellation or termination with respect to any collective bargaining agreement to which it is a party.
(dd) Certain Environmental Matters. Except as could not be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change: (i) the Company is not in violation of any federal, state, local or foreign statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, code, policy or rule of common law or any judicial or administrative
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interpretation thereof, including any judicial or administrative order, consent, decree or judgment, relating to pollution or protection of human health, the environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata) or wildlife, including, without limitation, laws and regulations relating to the release or threatened release of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, wastes, toxic substances, hazardous substances, petroleum or petroleum products (collectively, Hazardous Materials) or to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials (collectively, Environmental Laws); (ii) the Company has all permits, authorizations and approvals required under any applicable Environmental Laws and is in compliance with its requirements; (iii) there are no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits, demands, demand letters, claims, liens, notices of noncompliance or violation, investigation or proceedings relating to any Environmental Law against the Company; and (iv) to the Companys knowledge, there are no events or circumstances that might reasonably be expected to form the basis of an order for clean-up or remediation, or an action, suit or proceeding by any private party or governmental body or agency, against or affecting the Company relating to Hazardous Materials or any Environmental Laws.
(ee) Compliance with ERISA. The Company and any employee benefit plan (as defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (collectively, ERISA)) established or maintained by the Company or its ERISA Affiliates (as defined below) are in compliance in all material respects with ERISA. ERISA Affiliate means, with respect to the Company, any member of any group of organizations described in Sections 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the Code of which the Company is a member. No reportable event (as defined under ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur with respect to any employee benefit plan established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates. No employee benefit plan established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates, if such employee benefit plan were terminated, would have any amount of unfunded benefit liabilities (as defined under ERISA). Neither the Company nor any of its ERISA Affiliates has incurred or reasonably expects to incur any liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any employee benefit plan or (ii) Sections 412, 4971, 4975 or 4980B of the Code. Each employee benefit plan established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified and nothing has occurred, whether by action or failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification.
(ff) Disclosure Controls. The Company has established and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act) that comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act, which (i) are designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company is made known to the Companys principal executive officer and its principal financial officer by others within the Company, particularly during the periods in which the periodic reports required under the Exchange Act are being prepared; (ii) have been evaluated by management of the Company for effectiveness as of the end of the Companys most
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recent fiscal quarter; and (iii) are effective in all material respects to perform the functions for which they were established. Except as disclosed or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, since the end of the Companys most recent audited fiscal year, there have been no significant deficiencies or material weakness in the Companys internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and no change in the Companys internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting. The Company is not aware of any change in its internal control over financial reporting that has occurred during its most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting.
(gg) Accounting Controls. The Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with managements general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with managements 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) interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and is prepared in accordance with the Commissions rules and guidelines applicable thereto. Based on the Companys most recent evaluation of its internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Rule 13a-15(c) of the Exchange Act, except as disclosed or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no material weaknesses in the Companys internal controls. The Companys auditors and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company have been advised of: (i) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which have adversely affected or are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Companys ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Companys internal controls over financial reporting.
(hh) eXtensible Business Reporting Language. The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commissions rules and guidelines applicable thereto.
(ii) Insurance. The Company is insured by recognized, financially sound and reputable institutions with policies in such amounts and with such deductibles and covering such risks as are generally deemed adequate and customary for its business including, but not limited to, policies covering real and personal property owned or
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leased by the Company against theft, damage, destruction, acts of vandalism and earthquakes and policies covering the Company for product liability claims and clinical trial liability claims. The Company has no reason to believe that it will not be able (i) to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such policies expire or (ii) to obtain comparable coverage from similar institutions as may be necessary or appropriate to conduct its business as now conducted and at a cost that could not be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change. The Company has not been denied any insurance coverage which it has sought or for which it has applied.
(jj) Cybersecurity; Data Protection. The Companys information technology assets and equipment, computers, systems, networks, hardware, software, websites, applications, and databases (collectively, IT Systems) are materially adequate for, and operate and perform in all material respects as required in connection with the operation of the business of the Company as currently conducted. To the Companys knowledge, the IT Systems that are critical to the operation of the Companys business contain no material bugs, errors, defects, Trojan horses, time bombs, malware and other corruptants. The Company has implemented and maintained commercially reasonable physical, technical and administrative controls reasonably designed to maintain and protect (a) the integrity and security of all IT Systems and (b) Personal Data, used in connection with its business. Personal Data means any information within any definition for personal information or any similar term (e.g., personal data or personally identifiable information or PII) provided by applicable Privacy Laws. To the Companys knowledge, there have been no material breaches, outages or unauthorized uses of or accesses to the Companys IT Systems and no material unauthorized uses or access to Personal Data, except for those that have been remedied without material cost or liability or the duty to notify any other person, nor any incidents under internal review or investigations relating to the same. To the Companys knowledge, the Company is presently in material compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments and orders binding on the Company, applicable binding rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, and contractual obligations, each relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Personal Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Personal Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification.
(kk) Compliance with Data Privacy Laws. The Company is in material compliance with all applicable state and federal data privacy and security laws and regulations, including without limitation HIPAA, and since May 25, 2018, the Company has been and currently is in material compliance with, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU 2016/679) and all applicable national data protection laws in effect in the United Kingdom and the member states of the European Union (collectively, the Privacy Laws). The Company has in place, materially complies with, and takes appropriate steps reasonably designed to ensure compliance in all material respects with its policies and procedures relating to data privacy and security and the collection, storage, use, disclosure, handling, and analysis of Personal Data (the Policies). The Company has at all times made all relevant disclosures to users or customers required by applicable laws and regulatory rules or requirements, and none of such disclosures made or contained in any Policy have been inaccurate or in violation of
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any applicable laws and regulatory rules or requirements in any material respect. The Company further represents that it: (i) has not received written notice of any actual or potential liability, or actual or potential violation of, any of the Privacy Laws; (ii) is not 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 not a party to any order, decree, or agreement with a governmental authority that imposes any obligation or liability under any Privacy Law.
(ll) No Unlawful Payments. Neither the Company nor, to the best of the Companys knowledge, any employee or agent of the Company, has made any contribution or other payment to any official of, or candidate for, any federal, state or foreign office in violation of any law or of the character required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus.
(mm) Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Laws. Neither the Company nor any director, officer, or employee of the Company, nor to the knowledge of the Company, any agent, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company has, in the course of its actions for, or on behalf of, the Company (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expenses relating to political activity; (ii) made or taken any act in furtherance of an offer, promise, or authorization of any direct or indirect unlawful payment or benefit to any foreign or domestic government official or employee, including of any government-owned or controlled entity or public international organization, or any political party, party official, or candidate for political office; (iii) violated or is in violation of any applicable provision of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the FCPA), the UK Bribery Act 2010, or any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption law; or (iv) made, offered, authorized, requested, or taken an act in furtherance of any unlawful bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment or benefit. The Company and, to the knowledge of the Company, the Companys affiliates have conducted their respective businesses in compliance with the FCPA and have instituted, maintain and enforce, and will continue to maintain and enforce policies and procedures designed to promote and ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance with all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws.
(nn) Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company is, and has been conducted at all times, in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar applicable rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the 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 with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.
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(oo) No Conflicts with Sanctions Laws. Neither the Company, nor any of its directors, officers, or employees, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, after due inquiry, any agent, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company is currently the subject or the target of any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, His Majestys Treasury of the United Kingdom, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, Sanctions); nor is the Company located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or the target of comprehensive Sanctions including, without limitation, the Crimea Region and the non-government controlled areas of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic, the so-called Luhansk Peoples Republic, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria (collectively, Sanctioned Countries); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of this offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of or business with any person, or in any country or territory, that at the time of such financing, is the subject or the target of Sanctions or is a Sanctioned Country, respectively, or in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of applicable Sanctions. Since April 24, 2019, the Company has not knowingly engaged in and is not now knowingly engaged in any dealings or transactions with any person that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject or the target of Sanctions or with any Sanctioned Country.
(pp) No Brokers Fees. Except pursuant to this Agreement, there is no broker, finder or other party that is entitled to receive from the Company any brokerage or finders fee or other fee or commission as a result of any transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(qq) No Registration Rights. Except for such rights as have been duly waived, no person has the right to require the Company to register any securities for sale under the Securities Act by reason of the filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission or the issuance and sale of the Shares.
(rr) No Stabilization. The Company has not taken, directly or indirectly, without giving effect to activities by the Underwriters, any action designed to or that would reasonably be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Shares or of any reference security (as defined in Rule 100 of Regulation M under the Exchange Act (Regulation M)) with respect to the Shares, whether to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares or otherwise, and has taken no action which would directly or indirectly violate Regulation M.
(ss) Margin Rules. Neither the issuance, sale and delivery of the Shares nor the application of the proceeds thereof by the Company as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus will 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.
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(tt) FINRA Matters. All of the information provided to the Underwriters or to counsel for the Underwriters by the Company, its counsel, its officers and directors and, to the Companys knowledge, the holders of any securities (debt or equity) or options to acquire any securities of the Company in connection with the offering of the Shares is true, complete, correct in all material respects and compliant with FINRAs rules and any letters, filings or other supplemental information provided to FINRA pursuant to FINRA Rules or NASD Conduct Rules is true, complete and correct in all material respects.
(uu) No Outstanding Loans or Other Extensions of Credit. The Company does not have any outstanding extension of credit, in the form of a personal loan, to or for any director or executive officer (or equivalent thereof) of the Company except for such extensions of credit as are expressly permitted by Section 13(k) of the Exchange Act.
(vv) Forward-Looking Statements. Each financial or operational projection or other forward-looking statement (as defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act or Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (i) was so included by the Company in good faith and with reasonable basis after due consideration by the Company of the underlying assumptions, estimates and other applicable facts and circumstances and (ii) is accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying those factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statement. No such statement was made with the knowledge of an executive officer or director of the Company that it was false or misleading.
(ww) Statistical and Market Data. All statistical, demographic and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes, after reasonable inquiry, to be reliable and accurate in all material respects. To the extent required, the Company has obtained the written consent to the use of such data from such sources.
(xx) Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is, and has been, no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Companys directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any applicable provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications.
(yy) Status under the Securities Act. At the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or any offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Securities Act) of the Shares and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an ineligible issuer, and is a well-known seasoned issuer, in each case as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act. The Company has paid the registration fee for this offering pursuant to Rule 456(b)(1) under the Securities Act 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.
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(zz) Clinical Data and Regulatory Compliance. The preclinical tests and clinical trials, and other studies (collectively, studies) that are described in, or the results of which are referred to in, the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus were and, if still pending, are being conducted in all material respects in accordance with the protocols, procedures and controls designed and approved for such studies and with standard medical and scientific research procedures; each description of the results of such studies is accurate and complete in all material respects and fairly presents the data derived from such studies, and the Company has no knowledge of any other studies the results of which are inconsistent with, or otherwise call into question, the results described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus; the Company has made all such filings and obtained all such approvals as may be required by the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or any committee thereof or from any other U.S. or foreign government or drug or medical device regulatory agency, or health care facility Institutional Review Board (collectively, the Regulatory Agencies); the Company has not received any notice of, or correspondence from, any Regulatory Agency requiring the termination, suspension or modification of any clinical trials that are described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus; and the Company has operated and is currently in compliance in all material respects with all applicable rules, regulations and policies of the Regulatory Agencies.
(aaa) Compliance with Health Care Laws. The Company is, and at all times has been, in compliance with all Health Care Laws in all material respects. For purposes of this Agreement, Health Care Laws means: (i) the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Section 301 et seq.), the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.), and the regulations promulgated thereunder; (ii) all applicable federal, state, local and foreign health care fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the Anti-Kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b(b)), the Civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. Section 3729 et seq.), the criminal false statements law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b(a)), 18 U.S.C. Sections 286 and 287, the health care fraud criminal provisions under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.), the civil monetary penalties law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7a), the exclusion law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7), the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1320-7h), and applicable laws governing government funded or sponsored healthcare programs; (iii) HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (42 U.S.C. Section 17921 et seq.); (iv) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; (v) licensure, quality, safety and accreditation requirements under applicable federal, state, local or foreign laws or regulatory bodies, (vi) all other local, state, federal, national, supranational and foreign health care laws applicable to the Company, and (vii) the directives and regulations promulgated pursuant to such statutes and any state or non-U.S. counterpart thereof. The Company has not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Health Care Laws nor, to the Companys knowledge, is any such claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement,
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investigation, arbitration or other action threatened. The Company has filed, maintained or submitted all material reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required by any Health Care Laws, and 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). The Company is not a party to any corporate integrity agreements, monitoring agreements, consent decrees, settlement orders, or similar agreements with or imposed by any governmental or regulatory authority. Additionally, neither the Company, any of its employees, officers, directors, or agents has 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, is subject to a governmental inquiry, investigation, proceeding, or other similar action that could reasonably be expected to result in debarment, suspension, or exclusion.
(bbb) No Rights to Purchase Capital Stock. The issuance and sale of the Shares as contemplated hereby will not cause any holder of any shares of capital stock, securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for capital stock or options, warrants or other rights to purchase capital stock or any other securities of the Company to have any right to acquire any shares of preferred stock of the Company.
(ccc) No Contract Terminations. The Company has not sent or received any communication regarding termination of, or intent not to renew, any of the contracts or agreements referred to or described in any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any free writing prospectus, or referred to or described in, or filed as an exhibit to, the Registration Statement, and no such termination or non-renewal has been threatened by the Company or, to the Companys knowledge, any other party to any such contract or agreement, which threat of termination or non-renewal has not been rescinded as of the date hereof, except as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Change.
(ddd) No Ratings. There are (and prior to the Closing Date, will be) no debt securities, convertible securities or preferred stock issued or guaranteed by the Company that are rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act.
(eee) Subsidiaries. The Company has no subsidiaries (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act).
(fff) Legality. The legality, validity, enforceability or admissibility into evidence of any of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, this Agreement or the Shares in any jurisdiction in which the Company is organized or does business is not dependent upon such document being submitted into, filed or recorded with any court or other authority in any such jurisdiction on or before the date hereof or that any tax, imposition or charge be paid in any such jurisdiction on or in respect of any such document.
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4. Further Agreements of the Company. The Company covenants and agrees with each Underwriter that:
(a) Required Filings. The Company will file the final Prospectus with the Commission within the time periods specified by Rule 424(b) and Rule 430A, 430B or 430C under the Securities Act, will file any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to the extent required by Rule 433 under the Securities Act; and the Company will file promptly all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date of the Prospectus and for so long as the delivery of a prospectus is required in connection with the offering or sale of the Shares; and the Company will furnish copies of the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (to the extent not previously delivered) to the Underwriters in New York City prior to 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the business day next succeeding the date of this Agreement in such quantities as the Representatives may reasonably request. The Company will pay the registration fee for this offering within the time period required by Rule 456(b)(1) under the Securities Act (without giving effect to the proviso therein) and in any event prior to the Closing Date.
(b) Delivery of Copies. Upon written request of the Representatives, the Company will deliver, without charge, (i) to the Representatives, four signed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto, in each case including all exhibits and consents filed therewith and documents incorporated by reference therein; and (ii) to each Underwriter (A) a conformed copy of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto (without exhibits) and (B) during the Prospectus Delivery Period (as defined below), as many copies of the Prospectus (including all amendments and supplements thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus) as the Representatives may reasonably request. As used herein, the term Prospectus Delivery Period means such period of time after the first date of the public offering of the Shares as in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters a prospectus relating to the Shares is required by law to be delivered (or required to be delivered but for Rule 172 under the Securities Act) in connection with sales of the Shares by any Underwriter or dealer.
(c) Amendments or Supplements, Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses. Before making, preparing, using, authorizing, approving, referring to or filing any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and before filing any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, the Company will furnish to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters a copy of the proposed Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, amendment or supplement for review and will not make, prepare, use, authorize, approve, refer to or file any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which the Representatives reasonably object.
(d) Notice to the Representatives. The Company will advise the Representatives promptly, and confirm such advice in writing (which may be by electronic mail), (i) when the Registration Statement has become effective; (ii) when any
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amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective; (iii) when any supplement to the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or any amendment to the Prospectus has been filed or distributed; (iv) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or the receipt of any comments from the Commission relating to the Registration Statement or any other request by the Commission for any additional information including, but not limited to, any request for information concerning any Testing-the-Waters Communication; (v) of the issuance by the Commission or any other governmental or regulatory authority of any order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any of the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or, to the knowledge of the Company, the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act; (vi) of the occurrence of any event or development within the Prospectus Delivery Period as a result of which the Prospectus, any of the Pricing Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package, any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading; (vii) of the receipt by the Company of any notice of objection of the Commission to the use of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Securities Act and (viii) of the receipt by the Company of any notice with respect to any suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offer and sale in any jurisdiction or, to the knowledge of the Company, the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose; and the Company will use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any of the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or suspending any such qualification of the Shares and, if any such order is issued, will obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal thereof.
(e) Ongoing Compliance. (1) If during the Prospectus Delivery Period (i) any event or development shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or 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 existing when the Prospectus is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading or (ii) it is necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus to comply with applicable law, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriters thereof and forthwith prepare and, subject to paragraph (c) above, file with the Commission and furnish to the Underwriters and to such dealers as the Representatives may designate such amendments or supplements to the Prospectus (or any document to be filed with the Commission and incorporated by reference therein) as may be necessary so that the statements in the Prospectus as so amended or supplemented (or any document to be filed with the Commission and incorporated by reference therein) will not, in the light of the
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circumstances existing when the Prospectus is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Prospectus will comply with applicable law and (2) if at any time prior to the Closing Date (i) any event or development shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which the Pricing Disclosure Package as then amended or 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 existing when the Pricing Disclosure Package is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading or (ii) it is necessary to amend or supplement the Pricing Disclosure Package to comply with law, the Company will immediately notify the Underwriters thereof and forthwith prepare and, subject to paragraph (c) above, file with the Commission (to the extent required) and furnish to the Underwriters and to such dealers as the Representatives may designate such amendments or supplements to the Pricing Disclosure Package (or any document to be filed with the Commission and incorporated by reference therein) as may be necessary so that the statements in the Pricing Disclosure Package as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Pricing Disclosure Package is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Pricing Disclosure Package will comply with law.
(f) Blue Sky Compliance. The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts with Underwriters cooperation, if necessary, to qualify the Shares for offer and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives shall reasonably request and will use commercially reasonable best efforts to continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for distribution of the Shares; provided that the Company shall not be required to (i) qualify as a foreign corporation or other entity or as a dealer in securities in any such jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to so qualify, (ii) file any general consent to service of process in any such jurisdiction or (iii) subject itself to taxation in any such jurisdiction if it is not otherwise so subject.
(g) Earning Statement. The Company will make generally available to its security holders and the Representatives as soon as reasonably practicable an earning statement that satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 of the Commission promulgated thereunder covering a period of at least twelve months beginning with the first fiscal quarter of the Company occurring after the effective date (as defined in Rule 158) of the Registration Statement; provided that the Company will be deemed to have furnished such statements to its security holders and the Representatives to the extent they are filed on the Commissions Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR).
(h) Clear Market. For a period of 60 days after the date of the Prospectus, the Company will not (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or submit to, or file with, the Commission a registration statement under the Securities Act relating to, any shares of Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Stock, or publicly disclose the intention to undertake any of the foregoing, or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic
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consequences of ownership of the Stock or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, other than the Shares to be sold hereunder.
The restrictions described above do not apply to (i) the issuance of shares of Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for shares of Stock pursuant to the conversion or exchange of convertible or exchangeable securities or the exercise of warrants or options (including net exercise) or the settlement of restricted stock units (including net settlement), in each case outstanding on the date of this Agreement and described in the Prospectus; (ii) grants of stock options, stock awards, restricted stock, restricted stock units, or other equity awards and the issuance of shares of Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Stock (whether upon the exercise of stock options or otherwise) to the Companys employees, officers, directors, advisors, or consultants pursuant to the terms of an equity compensation plan in effect as of the Closing Date and described in the Prospectus; (iii) grants of inducement awards and the issuance of shares of Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Stock (whether upon the exercise of inducement awards or otherwise) to persons not previously an employee or director of the Company, or following a bona fide period of non-employment, as an inducement material to such persons entering into employment with the Company pursuant to the terms of an inducement plan in effect as of the Closing Date and described in the Prospectus; (iv) the issuance of up to 10% of the outstanding shares of Stock, or securities convertible into, exercisable for, or which are otherwise exchangeable for, Stock, immediately following the Closing Date, in acquisitions or other similar strategic transactions, provided that such recipients enter into a lock-up agreement with the Underwriters; (v) the filing of any registration statement on Form S-8 relating to securities granted or to be granted pursuant to any plan in effect on the date of this Agreement and described in the Prospectus, any plan proposed to be adopted and described in this Agreement or any assumed benefit plan pursuant to an acquisition or similar strategic transaction; (vi) the establishment of a trading plan pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the transfer of Stock, provided that such plan does not provide for the transfer of Stock during the lock-up period; or (vii) the filing of any registration statement required by the terms of existing registration rights agreements described in the Prospectus.
(i) Use of Proceeds. The Company will apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the heading Use of proceeds.
(j) No Stabilization. Neither the Company nor its affiliates will take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Stock.
(k) Exchange Listing. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to list the Shares on the Nasdaq Market.
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(l) Reports. For a period of two years from the date of this Agreement, so long as the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, the Company will furnish to the Representatives, as soon as they are available, copies of all reports or other communications (financial or other) furnished to holders of the Shares, and copies of any reports and financial statements furnished to or filed with the Commission or any national securities exchange or automatic quotation system; provided the Company will be deemed to have furnished such reports and financial statements to the Representatives to the extent they are filed on EDGAR.
(m) Record Retention. The Company will, pursuant to reasonable procedures developed in good faith, retain copies of each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not filed with the Commission in accordance with Rule 433 under the Securities Act.
(n) Shelf Renewal. If immediately prior to the third anniversary (the Renewal Deadline) of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement, any of the Shares remain unsold by the Underwriters, the Company will, prior to the Renewal Deadline, file, if it has not already done so and is eligible to do so, a new automatic shelf registration statement relating to the Shares, in a form satisfactory to the Representatives. If the Company is not eligible to file an automatic shelf registration statement, the Company will, prior to the Renewal Deadline, if it has not already done so, file a new shelf registration statement relating to the Shares, in a form satisfactory to the Representatives, and will use its best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days after the Renewal Deadline. The Company will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the issuance and sale of the Shares to continue as contemplated in the expired registration statement relating to the Shares. References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new automatic shelf registration statement or such new shelf registration statement, as the case may be.
(o) Emerging Growth Company. The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act and (ii) completion of the 60-day restricted period referred to in Section 4(h) hereof.
5. Certain Agreements of the Underwriters. Each Underwriter hereby represents and agrees that:
(a) It has not and will not use, authorize use of, refer to or participate in the planning for use of, any free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act (which term includes use of any written information furnished to the Commission by the Company and not incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement and any press release issued by the Company) other than (i) a free writing prospectus that contains no issuer information (as defined in Rule 433(h)(2) under the Securities Act) that was not included (including through incorporation by reference) in the Preliminary Prospectus or a previously filed Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, (ii) any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed on Annex A or prepared pursuant to Section 3(c) or
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Section 4(c) above (including any electronic road show), or (iii) any free writing prospectus prepared by such underwriter and approved by the Company in advance in writing (each such free writing prospectus referred to in clauses (i) or (iii), an Underwriter Free Writing Prospectus).
(b) It has not and will not, without the prior written consent of the Company, use any free writing prospectus that contains the final terms of the Shares unless such terms have previously been included in a free writing prospectus filed with the Commission; provided that Underwriters may use a term sheet substantially in the form of Annex C hereto without the consent of the Company; provided, further that any Underwriter using such term sheet shall notify the Company, and provide a copy of such term sheet to the Company, prior to, or substantially concurrently with, the first use of such term sheet.
(c) It is not subject to any pending proceeding under Section 8A of the Securities Act with respect to the offering (and will promptly notify the Company if any such proceeding against it is initiated during the Prospectus Delivery Period).
6. Conditions of Underwriters Obligations. The obligation of each Underwriter to purchase the Underwritten Shares on the Closing Date or the Option Shares on the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, as provided herein is subject to the performance by the Company of its covenants and other obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions:
(a) Registration Compliance; No Stop Order. No order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall be in effect, and no proceeding for such purpose, pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act shall be pending before or threatened by the Commission; the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been timely filed with the Commission under the Securities Act (in the case of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, to the extent required by Rule 433 under the Securities Act) and in accordance with Section 4(a) hereof; and all requests by the Commission for additional information shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Representatives.
(b) Representations and Warranties. The representations and warranties of the Company contained herein shall be true and correct on the date hereof and on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be; and the statements of the Company and its officers made in any certificates delivered pursuant to this Agreement shall be true and correct on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.
(c) No Material Adverse Change. No event or condition of a type described in Section 3(i) hereof shall have occurred or shall exist, which event or condition is not described in the Pricing Disclosure Package (excluding any amendment or supplement thereto) and the Prospectus (excluding any amendment or supplement thereto) and the effect of which in the judgment of the Representatives makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Shares on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, on the terms and in the manner contemplated by this Agreement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
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(d) Officers Certificate. The Representatives shall have received on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, a certificate of the chief financial officer or chief accounting officer of the Company and one additional senior executive officer of the Company who is satisfactory to the Representatives (i) confirming that such officers have carefully reviewed the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and, to the knowledge of such officers, the representations set forth in Sections 3(b) and 3(d) hereof are true and correct, (ii) confirming that the other representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct and that the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and (iii) to the effect set forth in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above.
(e) Comfort Letters. On the date of this Agreement and on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, KPMG LLP shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, containing statements and information of the type customarily included in accountants comfort letters to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; provided, that the letter delivered on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall use a cut-off date no more than two business days prior to such Closing Date or such Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.
(f) Opinion and 10b-5 Statement of Counsel for the Company. Cooley LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, their written opinion and 10b-5 statement, dated the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.
(g) Opinion of Intellectual Property Counsel for the Company. Cooley LLP, intellectual property counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, their written opinion, dated the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.
(h) Opinion and 10b-5 Statement of Counsel for the Underwriters. The Representatives shall have received on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, an opinion and 10b-5 statement, addressed to the Underwriters, of Goodwin Procter LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such documents and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.
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(i) CFO Certificate. The Representatives shall have received on the date of this Agreement on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, a certificate, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof and addressed to the Representatives, of its chief financial officer with respect to certain financial data, providing management comfort with respect to such information, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.
(j) No Legal Impediment to Issuance and Sale. No action shall have been taken and no statute, rule, regulation or order shall have been enacted, adopted or issued by any federal, state or foreign governmental or regulatory authority that would, as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, prevent the issuance or sale of the Shares; and no injunction or order of any federal, state or foreign court shall have been issued that would, as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, prevent the issuance or sale of the Shares.
(k) Good Standing. The Representatives shall have received on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, satisfactory evidence of the good standing of the Company in its jurisdiction of organization and its good standing in such other jurisdictions as the Representatives may reasonably request, in each case in writing or any standard form of telecommunication from the appropriate governmental authorities of such jurisdictions.
(l) Exchange Listing. The Company has notified the Nasdaq Market of the listing of the Shares to be delivered on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and the Nasdaq Market has not notified the Company that it has any objections to such notification.
(m) Lock-up Agreements. The lock-up agreements, each substantially in the form of Exhibit B hereto, between you and certain stockholders, officers and directors of the Company relating to sales and certain other dispositions of shares of Stock or certain other securities, delivered to you on or before the date hereof, shall be full force and effect on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.
(n) Additional Documents. On or prior to the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives such further certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.
All opinions, letters, certificates and evidence mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall be deemed to be in compliance with the provisions hereof only if they are in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriters.
7. Indemnification and Contribution.
(a) Indemnification of the Underwriters. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates, directors and officers and each person, if any, who controls such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities
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(including, without limitation, reasonable and documented legal fees and other expenses incurred in connection with any suit, action or proceeding or any claim asserted, as such fees and expenses are incurred), joint or several, that arise out of, or are based upon, (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any issuer information filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication prepared or authorized by the Company, any road show as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act (a road show) or any Pricing Disclosure Package (including any Pricing Disclosure Package that has subsequently been amended), or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, in each case except insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in paragraph (b) below.
(b) Indemnification of the Company. Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act to the same extent as the indemnity set forth in paragraph (a) above, but only with respect to any losses, claims, damages or liabilities that arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, any road show or any Pricing Disclosure Package (including any Pricing Disclosure Package that has subsequently been amended), it being understood and agreed upon that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the concession and reallowance figures appearing in the third paragraph under the caption Underwriting and the information contained in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth paragraphs under the caption Underwriting.
(c) Notice and Procedures. If any suit, action, proceeding (including any governmental or regulatory investigation), claim or demand shall be brought or asserted against any person in respect of which indemnification may be sought pursuant to the preceding paragraphs of this Section 7, such person (the Indemnified Person) shall promptly notify the person against whom such indemnification may be sought (the Indemnifying Person) in writing; provided that the failure to notify the Indemnifying Person shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 7 except to the extent that
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it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided, further, that the failure to notify the Indemnifying Person shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an Indemnified Person otherwise than under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 7. If any such proceeding shall be brought or asserted against an Indemnified Person and it shall have notified the Indemnifying Person thereof, the Indemnifying Person shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Person (who shall not, without the consent of the Indemnified Person, be counsel to the Indemnifying Person) to represent the Indemnified Person and any others entitled to indemnification pursuant to this Section that the Indemnifying Person may designate in such proceeding and shall pay the reasonable and documented fees and expenses in such proceeding and shall pay the reasonable and documented fees and expenses of such counsel related to such proceeding, as incurred. In any such proceeding, any Indemnified Person shall have the right to retain its own counsel, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Indemnified Person unless (i) the Indemnifying Person and the Indemnified Person shall have mutually agreed to the contrary; (ii) the Indemnifying Person has failed within a reasonable time to retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Person; (iii) the Indemnified Person shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it that are different from or in addition to those available to the Indemnifying Person; or (iv) the named parties in any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the Indemnifying Person and the Indemnified Person and representation of both parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them. It is understood and agreed that the Indemnifying Person shall not, in connection with any proceeding or related proceeding in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the fees and expenses of more than one separate firm (in addition to any local counsel) for all Indemnified Persons, and that all such reasonable and documented fees and expenses shall be paid or reimbursed as they are incurred. Any such separate firm for any Underwriter, its affiliates, directors and officers and any control persons of such Underwriter shall be designated in writing by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and any such separate firm for the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and any control persons of the Company shall be designated in writing by the Company. The Indemnifying Person shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent, the Indemnifying Person agrees to indemnify each Indemnified Person from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an Indemnified Person shall have requested that an Indemnifying Person reimburse the Indemnified Person for reasonable and documented fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by this paragraph, the Indemnifying Person shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by the Indemnifying Person of such request and (ii) the Indemnifying Person shall not have reimbursed the Indemnified Person in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement. No Indemnifying Person shall, without the written consent of the Indemnified Person, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened proceeding in respect of which any Indemnified Person is or could have been a party and indemnification could have been sought hereunder by such Indemnified Person, unless such settlement (x) includes an unconditional release of such Indemnified Person, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to such Indemnified Person, from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such proceeding and (y) does not include any statement as to or any admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any Indemnified Person.
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(d) Contribution. If the indemnification provided for in paragraphs (a) or (b) above is unavailable to an Indemnified Person or insufficient in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to therein, then each Indemnifying Person under such paragraph, in lieu of indemnifying such Indemnified Person thereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Indemnified Person as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, from the offering of the Shares or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) but also the relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the net proceeds (before deducting expenses) received by the Company from the sale of the Shares and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters in connection therewith, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate offering price of the Shares. The relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission.
(e) Limitation on Liability. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to paragraph (d) above were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in paragraph (d) above. The amount paid or payable by an Indemnified Person as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to in paragraph (d) above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any reasonable and documented legal or other expenses incurred by such Indemnified Person in connection with any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (d) and (e), 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 Shares exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters obligations to contribute pursuant to paragraphs (d) and (e) are several in proportion to their respective purchase obligations hereunder and not joint.
(f) Non-Exclusive Remedies. The remedies provided for in this Section 7 paragraphs (a) through (e) are not exclusive and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available to any Indemnified Person at law or in equity.
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8. Effectiveness of Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective as of the date first written above.
9. Termination. This Agreement may be terminated in the absolute discretion of the Representatives, by notice to the Company, if after the execution and delivery of this Agreement and on or prior to the Closing Date or, in the case of the Option Shares, prior to the Additional Closing Date (i) trading generally shall have been suspended or materially limited on or by any of the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Market; (ii) trading of any securities issued or guaranteed by the Company shall have been suspended on any exchange or in any over-the-counter market; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities shall have been declared by federal or New York State authorities; or (iv) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities or any change in financial markets or any calamity or crisis, either within or outside the United States, that, in the judgment of the Representatives, is material and adverse and makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Shares on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, on the terms and in the manner contemplated by this Agreement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
10. Defaulting Underwriter.
(a) If, on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, any Underwriter defaults on its obligation to purchase the Shares that it has agreed to purchase hereunder on such date, the non-defaulting Underwriters may in their discretion arrange for the purchase of such Shares by other persons satisfactory to the Company on the terms contained in this Agreement. If, within 36 hours after any such default by any Underwriter, the non-defaulting Underwriters do not arrange for the purchase of such Shares, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of 36 hours within which to procure other persons satisfactory to the non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase such Shares on such terms. If other persons become obligated or agree to purchase the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter, either the non-defaulting Underwriters or the Company may postpone the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, for up to five full business days in order to effect any changes that in the opinion of counsel for the Company or counsel for the Underwriters may be necessary in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or in any other document or arrangement, and the Company agrees to promptly prepare any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus that effects any such changes. As used in this Agreement, the term Underwriter includes, for all purposes of this Agreement unless the context otherwise requires, any person not listed in Schedule 1 hereto that, pursuant to this Section 10, purchases Shares that a defaulting Underwriter agreed but failed to purchase.
(b) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters and the Company as provided in paragraph (a) above, the aggregate number of Shares that remain unpurchased on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, does not exceed one-eleventh of the aggregate number of Shares to be purchased on such date, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of Shares that such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder on such date plus such Underwriters pro rata share (based on the number of Shares that such Underwriter agreed to purchase on such date) of the Shares of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made.
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(c) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters and the Company as provided in paragraph (a) above, the aggregate number of Shares that remain unpurchased on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, exceeds one-eleventh of the aggregate amount of Shares to be purchased on such date, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described in paragraph (b) above, then this Agreement or, with respect to any Additional Closing Date, the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase Shares on the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall terminate without liability on the part of the non-defaulting Underwriters. Any termination of this Agreement pursuant to this Section 10 shall be without liability on the part of the Company, except that the Company will continue to be liable for the payment of expenses as set forth in Section 11 hereof and except that the provisions of Section 7 hereof shall not terminate and shall remain in effect.
(d) Nothing contained herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter of any liability it may have to the Company or any non-defaulting Underwriter for damages caused by its default.
11. Payment of Expenses.
(a) Whether or not the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, the Company will pay or cause to be paid all costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder, including without limitation, (i) the costs incident to the authorization, issuance, sale, preparation and delivery of the Shares and any taxes payable in that connection; (ii) the costs incident to the preparation, printing and filing under the Securities Act of the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (including all exhibits, amendments and supplements thereto) and the distribution thereof; (iii) the fees and expenses of the Companys counsel and independent accountants; (iv) the reasonable and documented fees and expenses incurred in connection with the registration or qualification and determination of eligibility for investment of the Shares under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may designate and the preparation, printing and distribution of a Blue Sky Memorandum (including the related fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters); (v) the cost of preparing stock certificates; (vi) the costs and charges of any transfer agent and any registrar; (vii) all expenses and application fees incurred in connection with any filing with, and clearance of the offering by, FINRA; (viii) all expenses incurred by the Company in connection with any road show presentation to potential investors; and (ix) all expenses and application fees related to the listing of the Shares on the Nasdaq Market; provided, however, that the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters incurred pursuant clauses (iv) and (vii) of this Section 11(a) shall not exceed $10,000 in the aggregate.
(b) If (i) this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 9, (ii) the Company for any reason fails to tender the Shares for delivery to the Underwriters or (iii) the Underwriters decline to purchase the Shares for any reason permitted under this Agreement, the Company agrees to reimburse the Underwriters for all reasonable and documented out-of-pocket costs and expenses (including the reasonable and documented fees and expenses of their counsel) reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in connection with this Agreement and the offering contemplated hereby.
34
12. Persons Entitled to Benefit of Agreement. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers and directors and any controlling persons referred to herein, and the affiliates of each Underwriter referred to in Section 7 hereof. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any other person any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision contained herein. No purchaser of Shares from any Underwriter shall be deemed to be a successor merely by reason of such purchase.
13. Survival. The respective indemnities, rights of contribution, representations, warranties and agreements of the Company and the Underwriters contained in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of the Company or the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement or any certificate delivered pursuant hereto shall survive the delivery of and payment for the Shares and shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any termination of this Agreement or any investigation made by or on behalf of the Company or the Underwriters or the directors, officers, controlling persons or affiliates referred to in Section 7 hereof.
14. Certain Defined Terms. For purposes of this Agreement, (a) except where otherwise expressly provided, the term affiliate has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act; (b) the term business day means any day other than a day on which banks are permitted or required to be closed in New York City; and (c) the term subsidiary has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.
15. Compliance with USA Patriot Act. In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.
16. Miscellaneous.
(a) Notices. All notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given if mailed or transmitted and confirmed by any standard form of telecommunication. Notices to the Underwriters shall be given to the Representatives: c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179 (fax: (212) 622-8358); Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk; c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, Attention: Registration Department, ; c/o Evercore Group L.L.C., 55 East 52nd Street, Suite 35, New York, New York, 10055, Attention: General Counsel; and c/o Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., 110 East 59th Street New York, New York 10022, Attention: Equity Capital Markets with a copy to Investment Banking Legal Department; with a copy to Goodwin Procter LLP, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York, 10018, Attention: Jesse Nevarez. Notices to the Company shall be given to it at 8000 Marina Blvd, Suite 120, Brisbane, CA, 94005, Attention: Marshall Fordyce, Chief Executive Officer; with a copy to Cooley LLP, Three Embarcadero Center, 20th Floor, San Francisco, California 94111, Attention: Jodie Bourdet.
35
(b) Governing Law. This Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
(c) Submission to Jurisdiction. The Company hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. federal and New York state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. The Company waives any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such suit or proceeding in such courts. The Company agrees that final judgment in any such suit, action or proceeding brought in such court shall be conclusive and binding upon the Company and may be enforced in any court to the jurisdiction of which Company is subject by a suit upon such judgment.
(d) Waiver of Jury Trial. Each of the parties hereto hereby waives any right to trial by jury in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement.
(e) Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.
(i) 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.
(ii) 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 16(e):
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).
36
Default Right has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable.
U.S. Special Resolution Regime means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
(f) Counterparts. This Agreement may be signed in counterparts (which may include counterparts delivered by any standard form of telecommunication), each of which shall be an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. This Agreement may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including pdf or any electronic signature complying with the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, e.g., www.docusign.com or www.echosign.com) or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.
(g) Amendments or Waivers. No amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement, nor any consent or approval to any departure therefrom, shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be in writing and signed by the parties hereto.
(h) Headings. The headings herein are included for convenience of reference only and are not intended to be part of, or to affect the meaning or interpretation of, this Agreement.
[Signature page follows]
37
If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please indicate your acceptance of this Agreement by signing in the space provided below.
Very truly yours, | ||
VERA THERAPEUTICS, INC. | ||
By:
| /s/ Marshall Fordyce | |
Name: Marshall Fordyce | ||
Title: Chief Executive Officer |
[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]
Accepted: As of the date first written above
J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC
GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. LLC
EVERCORE GROUP L.L.C.
CANTOR FITZGERALD & CO.
Acting individually and as Representatives
of the several Underwriters named in
the attached Schedule 1.
J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC | ||
By: | /s/ Benjamin Burdett | |
Name: Benjamin Burdett | ||
Title: Managing Director, Head of Healthcare ECM |
GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. LLC | ||
By: | /s/ Lyla Bibi Maduri | |
Name: Lyla Bibi Maduri | ||
Title: Managing Director |
EVERCORE GROUP L.L.C. | ||
By: | /s/ Gloria Tang | |
Name: Gloria Tang | ||
Title: Managing Director |
CANTOR FITZGERALD & CO. | ||
By: | /s/ Jason Fenton | |
Name: Jason Fenton | ||
Title: Managing Director |
[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]
Schedule 1
Underwriter | Number of Shares | |||
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC | 2,785,715 | |||
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC | 1,821,428 | |||
Evercore Group L.L.C. | 1,464,286 | |||
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. | 1,071,429 | |||
|
| |||
Total | 7,142,858 | |||
|
|
Annex A
(a) Pricing Disclosure Package
None.
(b) Pricing Information Provided Orally by Underwriters
1. | The Company is selling 7,142,858 shares of Class A Common Stock. |
2. | The Company has granted an option to the Underwriters to purchase up to an additional 1,071,428 shares of Class A Common Stock. |
3. | The public offering price per share of Class A Common Stock shall be $42.00. |
Annex B
Written Testing-the-Waters Communications
TTW Presentation dated October 2024.
Annex C
Vera Therapeutics, Inc.
Pricing Term Sheet
None.
Exhibit A
Testing-the-Waters Authorization
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
Evercore Group L.L.C.
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
As Representatives of the several Underwriters (the Representatives)
c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
383 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10179
c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
200 West Street
New York, New York 10282
c/o Evercore Group L.L.C.
55 East 52nd Street
New York, New York 10055
and
c/o Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
110 East 59th Street
New York, New York 10022
RE: Testing the Waters Authorization
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In reliance on Section 5(d) of and/or Rule 163B under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Act), Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (the Issuer) hereby authorizes J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Evercore Group L.L.C. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and their respective affiliates and employees (together, the Underwriters) to engage on behalf of the Issuer in oral and written communications with potential investors that are or are reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers, as defined in Rule 144A under the Act, or institutions that are accredited investors, within the meaning of Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9), (a)(12) or (a)(13) under the Act, to determine whether such investors might have an interest in the Issuers contemplated public offering (Testing-the-Waters Communications).
A Written Testing-the Waters Communication means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act. Each of the Underwriters, individually and not jointly, agrees that it shall not distribute any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication that has not been approved by the Issuer.
The Issuer represents that it is an emerging growth company as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Act (Emerging Growth Company) and agrees to promptly notify the Underwriters in writing if the
Issuer hereafter ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company while this authorization is in effect. If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication there occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Issuer will promptly notify the Underwriters and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission.
Nothing in this authorization is intended to limit or otherwise affect the ability of the Underwriters and their respective employees, to engage in communications in which they could otherwise lawfully engage in the absence of this authorization, including, without limitation, any written communication containing only one or more of the statements specified under Rule 134(a) under the Act. This authorization shall remain in effect until the Issuer has provided to the Underwriters a written notice revoking this authorization. All notices as described herein shall be sent by email to the attention of Tom Morrisroe at ***@***; Lyla Bibi at ***@***; Brock Ghelfi at ***@***; Gloria Tang at ***@***; and Jason Fenton at ***@***, with copies to Jesse Nevarez and Marishka DeToy, each of Goodwin Procter LLP, at ***@*** and ***@***, respectively.
Sincerely, | ||
VERA THERAPEUTICS, INC. | ||
By: |
| |
Name: | Marshall Fordyce | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
Exhibit B
FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT
, 20
J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC
GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. LLC
EVERCORE GROUP L.L.C.
CANTOR FITZGERALD & CO.
As Representatives of
the several Underwriters listed in
Schedule 1 to the Underwriting
Agreement referred to below
c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
383 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10179
c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
200 West Street
New York, New York 10282
c/o Evercore Group L.L.C.
55 East 52nd Street
New York, New York 10055
and
c/o Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
110 East 59th Street
New York, New York 10022
Re: VERA THERAPEUTICS, INC. Public Offering
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The undersigned understands that J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (J.P. Morgan), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (Goldman Sachs), Evercore Group L.L.C. (Evercore) and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (Cantor), as Representatives of the several Underwriters, propose to enter into an underwriting agreement (the Underwriting Agreement) with Vera Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company), providing for the public offering (the Public Offering) by
the several Underwriters named in Schedule 1 to the Underwriting Agreement (the Underwriters), of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (the Securities). Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the meanings set forth in the Underwriting Agreement.
In consideration of the Underwriters agreement to purchase and make the Public Offering of the Securities, and for other good and valuable consideration receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the undersigned hereby agrees that, without the prior written consent of J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Evercore and Cantor, on behalf of the Underwriters, the undersigned will not, and will not cause any direct or indirect affiliate to, during the period beginning on the date of this letter agreement (this Letter Agreement) and ending at the close of business 60 days after the date of the final prospectus supplement relating to the Public Offering (the Prospectus Supplement) (such period, the Restricted Period), (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of common stock, $0.001 per share par value, of the Company (including, for the avoidance of doubt, shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and/or shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.001 per share, the Shares), or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Shares (including without limitation, Shares or such other securities which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by the undersigned in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and securities which may be issued upon exercise of a stock option or warrant) (collectively with the Shares, Lock-Up Securities), (2) enter into any hedging, swap or other agreement or transaction that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Lock-Up Securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Lock-Up Securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to the registration of any Lock-Up Securities except for a registration statement on Form S-8, or (4) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing. The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the foregoing precludes the undersigned from engaging in any hedging or other transactions or arrangements (including, without limitation, any short sale or the purchase or sale of, or entry into, any put or call option, or combination thereof, forward, swap or any other derivative transaction or instrument, however described or defined) designed or intended, or which could reasonably be expected to lead to or result in, a sale or disposition or transfer (whether by the undersigned or any other person) of any economic consequences of ownership, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, of any Lock-Up Securities, whether any such transaction or arrangement (or instrument provided for thereunder) would be settled by delivery of Lock-Up Securities, in cash or otherwise. The foregoing restrictions will not apply to the registration of the offer and sale of the Shares, and the sale of the Shares to the Underwriters, in each case as contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement with respect to the proposed Public Offering. In addition, the foregoing restrictions shall not apply to:
i. | transactions, transfers, sales or dispositions of or entering into any other transactions (including any swap) relating to the Lock-Up Securities acquired in the Public Offering or in the open market or other transactions after the completion of the Public Offering, or that otherwise do not involve or relate to Securities owned by the undersigned prior to the Public Offering; provided that no filing under the Exchange Act or other public disclosure |
shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period in connection with subsequent sales of Shares or other securities acquired in such open market transactions during the Restricted Period, other than any required filing under Section 13 of the Exchange Act; |
ii. | transfers of Lock-Up Securities by gift, including, without limitation, to a charitable organization, or by will or intestate succession to the legal representative, heir or beneficiary of the undersigned or any Family Member, or to a trust whose beneficiaries consist exclusively of one or more of the undersigned and/or a Family Member; provided, however, that such transfer is not for consideration; |
iii. | transfers or dispositions of the Lock-Up Securities to a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity, all of the beneficial ownership interests of which, in each case, are held by the undersigned or any Family Member; |
iv. | transfers of the Lock-Up Securities by operation of law pursuant to a qualified domestic order or other court order or in connection with a divorce settlement; |
v. | if the undersigned is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity, distributions or transfers of the Lock-Up Securities to (x) another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity that is a direct or indirect affiliate (as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act) of the undersigned, (y) any investment fund or other entity controlling, controlled by, managing or managed by or under common control with the undersigned or affiliates of the undersigned (including, for the avoidance of doubt, where the undersigned is a partnership, to its general partner or a successor partnership or fund, or any other funds managed by such partnership), or (z) limited partners, general partners, members, directors, officers, employees, managers, managing members, stockholders or other equity holders of the undersigned or of the entities described in the preceding clauses (x) and (y); |
vi. | transfers or dispositions of Shares to the Company as forfeitures (x) to satisfy tax withholding and remittance obligations of the undersigned in connection with the vesting or exercise of equity awards granted pursuant to the Companys equity incentive plans or (y) pursuant to a net exercise or cashless exercise by the stockholder of outstanding equity awards pursuant to the Companys equity incentive plans; provided, however, that in each case, any such equity incentive plans exist as of the date of the Underwriting Agreement and are described in the Prospectus Supplement; |
vii. | transfers of the Lock-Up Securities pursuant to a change of control of the Company (meaning the consummation of any bona fide third party tender offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction made to all holders of Shares 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 or its subsidiaries, becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 of the Exchange Act) of more than 50% of the voting capital stock of the Company) after the Public Offering that has been approved by the independent members of the Companys board of directors, provided, that in the event that such change of control is not completed, the Lock-Up Securities owned by the undersigned shall remain subject to the restrictions herein; |
viii. | transfers of the Lock-Up Securities arising as a result of the termination of employment of the undersigned to the Company pursuant to agreements that are in effect as of the date of the Underwriting Agreement for the Public Offering and disclosed in the Prospectus Supplement, under which the Company has the option to repurchase such Lock-Up Securities or a right of first refusal with respect to transfers of such Lock-Up Securities; or |
ix. | transfers pursuant to a written trading plan intended to meet the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act (a 10b5-1 Plan) that is in effect as of the date hereof; provided, however, that in the case of any transfer described in this paragraph during the Restricted Period, if the undersigned is required to file a report under Section 16 of the Exchange Act, the undersigned shall include a statement in such report to the effect that such transfer is being made pursuant to a previously adopted 10b5-1 Plan. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, it shall be a condition to any such transfer or distribution provided in:
| clauses (ii) through (v), each transferee or distributee executes and delivers to the Representatives an agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives stating that such transferee or distributee is receiving and holding such Lock-Up Securities subject to the provisions of this Letter Agreement and agrees not to Sell or Offer to Sell such Lock-Up Securities, engage in any swap or engage in any other activities restricted under this Letter Agreement except in accordance with this Letter Agreement (as if such transferee or distributee had been an original signatory hereto); |
| clauses (iii), (v), (vi), and (viii), prior to the expiration of the Restricted Period, no public disclosure or filing under the Exchange Act by any party to the transfer (donor, donee, transferor or transferee) shall be required, or made voluntarily, reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of Shares in connection with such transfer (other than, in connection with a repurchase of Lock-Up Securities by the Company pursuant to clause (viii), a Form 4 or Form 5 required to be filed under the Exchange Act if the undersigned is subject to Section 16 reporting with respect to the Company under the Exchange Act, provided, however, that if such Form 4 or Form 5 is filed during the Restricted Period, such Form 4 or Form 5 shall indicate by footnote disclosure or otherwise that such Form 4 or Form 5 relates to a repurchase of Lock-Up Securities by the Company in connection with the termination of the undersigneds employment with the Company, and that any Lock-Up Securities subject to this Letter Agreement that continue to be held by the undersigned remain subject to the terms of this Letter Agreement); and |
| clause (iv), prior to the expiration of the Restricted Period, that if a Form 4, Form 5, Schedule 13D, Schedule 13G, Form 13F or Form 13H is required to be filed during the Restricted Period, such Form 4, Form 5, Schedule 13D, Schedule 13G, Form 13F or Form 13H shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that (A) the filing relates to the circumstances described in such clause, (B) any securities still held by the undersigned remain subject to the terms and restrictions under this Letter Agreement, and (C) no securities were sold by the undersigned, and provided further, that, the undersigned does not otherwise voluntarily effect any other public filing or report regarding such transfers during the Restricted Period. |
Furthermore, notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by this Letter Agreement, the undersigned may (i) exercise an option to purchase Shares granted under any equity incentive plan or stock purchase plan of the Company described in the Prospectus Supplement, provided that the Shares issued upon such exercise shall continue to be subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth in this Letter Agreement, and, provided, further, that, if required, any public report or filing under Section 16 of the Exchange Act shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that the filing relates to the exercise of a stock option, that no Shares were sold by the reporting person, and that Shares received upon exercise of the stock option are subject to this Letter Agreement, or (ii) establish a 10b5-1 Plan for the transfer of Shares, provided that such 10b5-1 Plan shall not provide for or permit any transfers, sales or other dispositions of Shares during the Restricted Period and any required public disclosure of such 10b5-1 Plan includes or refers to the restrictions set forth in this Letter Agreement.
In furtherance of the foregoing, the Company, and any duly appointed transfer agent for the registration or transfer of the securities described herein, are hereby authorized to decline to make any transfer of securities if such transfer would constitute a violation or breach of this Letter Agreement.
As used in this Letter Agreement, Family Member shall mean the spouse of the undersigned, an immediate family member of the undersigned or an immediate family member of the undersigneds spouse, in each case living in the undersigneds household or whose principal residence is the undersigneds household (regardless of whether such spouse or family member may at the time be living elsewhere due to educational activities, health care treatment, military service, temporary internship or employment or otherwise). Immediate family member as used above shall have the meaning set forth in Rule 16a-1(e) under the Exchange Act.
The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power and authority to enter into this Letter Agreement. All authority herein conferred or agreed to be conferred and any obligations of the undersigned shall be binding upon the successors, assigns, heirs or personal representatives of the undersigned.
The undersigned understands that, if the Underwriting Agreement does not become effective by November 30, 2024, or if the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the Shares to be sold thereunder, the undersigned shall be released from all obligations under this Letter Agreement. The undersigned understands that the Underwriters are entering into the Underwriting Agreement and proceeding with the Public Offering in reliance upon this Letter Agreement. The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Underwriters have not provided any recommendation or investment advice nor have the Underwriters solicited any action from the undersigned with respect to the Public Offering of the Securities 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 Representatives may be required or choose to provide certain Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS disclosures to you in connection with the Public Offering, the Representative and the other Underwriters are not making a recommendation to you to enter into this Letter Agreement, and nothing set forth in such disclosures is intended to suggest that the Representative or any Underwriter is making such a recommendation.
This Letter Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Letter Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
Very truly yours, | ||
[NAME OF STOCKHOLDER] | ||
By: |
| |
Name: | ||
Title: |