Form of Exchange Agreement, dated as of March 22, 2024, by and among the Company and the warrantholders party thereto

Contract Categories: Business Finance - Exchange Agreements
EX-10.1 3 tm249553d2_ex10-1.htm EXHIBIT 10.1

 

Exhibit 10.1

 

YIELD10 BIOSCIENCE, INC.

 

 March 22, 2024

 

Holder of Common Stock Purchase Warrants

 

Re:     Inducement Offer to Exercise Common Stock Purchase Warrants

 

Dear Holder:

 

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (the “Company”) is pleased to offer to you the opportunity to exercise all of the warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), set forth on Exhibit A hereto (the “Existing Warrants”) and currently held by you (the “Holder”). The issuance of the shares of Common Stock underlying the Existing Warrants (the “Warrant Shares”) has been registered pursuant to the resale registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-273070) and the registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-273240), respectively (collectively, the “Registration Statements”). The Registration Statements are currently effective and, upon exercise of the Existing Warrants pursuant to this letter agreement, will be effective for the resale and issuance of the Warrant Shares, as applicable. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the New Warrants.

 

In consideration for exercising in full all of the Existing Warrants held by you and set forth on the Holder's signature page hereto (the “Warrant Exercise”) at the reduced exercise price per Warrant Share of $0.43, the Company hereby offers to issue you or your designee a new unregistered Common Stock Purchase Warrant (“New Warrant”) pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), to purchase up to a number of shares (the “New Warrant Shares”) of Common Stock equal to 200% of the number of Warrant Shares issued pursuant to the Warrant Exercise hereunder, which New Warrant shall be substantially in the form as reflected in Exhibit A hereto, will be exercisable on the Shareholder Approval Date (as defined below), and have a term of exercise of five years from the Shareholder Approval Date, and an exercise price per share equal to $0.43.

 

The New Warrant certificate(s) will be delivered within two (2) Trading Days following the Execution Time. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that any Warrant Exercise would otherwise cause the Holder to exceed the beneficial ownership limitations (“Beneficial Ownership Limitation”) set forth in Section 2(e) of the Existing Warrants (or, if applicable and at the Holder’s election, 9.99%), the Company shall only issue such number of Warrant Shares to the Holder that would not cause the Holder to exceed the maximum number of Warrant Shares permitted thereunder, as directed by the Holder, with the balance to be held in abeyance until notice from the Holder that the balance (or portion thereof) may be issued in compliance with such limitations, which abeyance shall be evidenced through the Existing Warrants which shall be deemed prepaid thereafter (including the payment in full of the exercise price), and exercised pursuant to a Notice of Exercise in the Existing Warrant (provided no additional exercise price shall be due and payable).

 

Expressly subject to the paragraph immediately following this paragraph below, Holder may accept this offer by signing this letter below, with such acceptance constituting Holder's exercise in full of the Existing Warrants for an aggregate exercise price set forth on the Holder’s signature page hereto (the “Warrants Exercise Price”) on or before 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on March 22, 2024 (the “Execution Time”).

 

 

 

Additionally, the Company agrees to the representations, warranties and covenants set forth on Annex A attached hereto. Holder represents and warrants that, as of the date hereof it is, and on each date on which it exercises any New Warrants it will be, an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501 of the Securities Act, and agrees that the New Warrants will contain restrictive legends when issued, and neither the New Warrants nor the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the New Warrants will be registered under the Securities Act, except as provided in Annex A attached hereto. Also, Holder represents and warrants that it is acquiring the New Warrants as principal for its own account and has no direct or indirect arrangement or understandings with any other persons to distribute or regarding the distribution of the New Warrants (this representation is not limiting Holder’s right to sell the New Warrant Shares pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act or otherwise in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws).

 

The Holder understands that the New Warrants and the New Warrant Shares are not, and may never be, registered under the Securities Act, or the securities laws of any state and, accordingly, each certificate, if any, representing such securities shall bear a legend substantially similar to the following:

 

“THIS SECURITY HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.”

 

Certificates evidencing the New Warrant Shares shall not contain any legend (including the legend set forth above), (i) while a registration statement covering the resale of such New Warrant Shares is effective under the Securities Act, (ii) following any sale of such New Warrant Shares pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act, (iii) if such New Warrant Shares are eligible for sale under Rule 144 (assuming cashless exercise of the New Warrant), without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such New Warrant Shares and without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions, (iv) if such New Warrant Shares may be sold under Rule 144 (assuming cashless exercise of the New Warrant) and the Company is then in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such New Warrant Shares, or (v) if such legend is not required under applicable requirements of the Securities Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and the earliest of clauses (i) through (v), the “Delegend Date”)). The Company shall cause its counsel to issue a legal opinion to the Transfer Agent promptly after the Delegend Date if required by the Company and/or the Transfer Agent to effect the removal of the legend hereunder, or at the request of the Holder, which opinion shall be in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Holder. From and after the Delegend Date, such New Warrant Shares shall be issued free of all legends. The Company agrees that following the Delegend Date or at such time as such legend is no longer required under this Section, it will, no later than two (2) Trading Days following the delivery by the Holder to the Company or the Transfer Agent of a certificate representing the New Warrant Shares issued with a restrictive legend (such second (2nd) Trading Day, the “Legend Removal Date”), deliver or cause to be delivered to the Holder a certificate representing such shares that is free from all restrictive and other legends or, at the request of the Holder shall credit the account of the Holder’s prime broker with the Depository Trust Company System as directed by the Holder.

 

 

 

In addition to the Holder’s other available remedies, the Company shall pay to a Holder, in cash, (i) as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of New Warrant Shares (based on the VWAP of the Common Stock on the date such New Warrant Shares are submitted to the Transfer Agent) delivered for removal of the restrictive legend, $10 per Trading Day (increasing to $20 per Trading Day five (5) Trading Days after such damages have begun to accrue) for each Trading Day after the Legend Removal Date until such certificate is delivered without a legend and (ii) if the Company fails to (a) issue and deliver (or cause to be delivered) to the Holder by the Legend Removal Date a certificate representing the New Warrant Shares so delivered to the Company by the Holder that is free from all restrictive and other legends and (b) if after the Legend Removal Date the Holder purchases (in an open market transaction or otherwise) shares of Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of all or any portion of the number of shares of Common Stock, or a sale of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to all or any portion of the number of shares of Common Stock that the Holder anticipated receiving from the Company without any restrictive legend, then, an amount equal to the excess of the Holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions and other out-of-pocket expenses, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased (including brokerage commissions and other out-of-pocket expenses, if any) (the “Buy-In Price”) over the product of (A) such number of New Warrant Shares that the Company was required to deliver to the Holder by the Legend Removal Date and for which the Holder was required to purchase shares to timely satisfy delivery requirements, multiplied by (B) the weighted average price at which the Holder sold that number of shares of Common Stock.

 

From the date hereof until forty five (45) days after the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall (A) issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents or (B) file any registration statement or any amendment or supplement to any existing registration statement (other than the resale registration statement referred to herein or prospectus supplements to the Registration Statements to reflect the transactions contemplated hereby); provided, however, that the Company may file a registration statement on Form S-1 thirty (30) days after the Closing Date, and provided, further, however, that any offering under such Form S-1 may not commence until forty five(45) days after the Closing Date.

 

From the date hereof until one-hundred and eighty (180) days after the Closing Date, the Company shall be prohibited from effecting or entering into an agreement to effect any issuance by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of shares of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents (or a combination of units thereof) involving a Variable Rate Transaction. “Variable Rate Transaction” is defined herein as a transaction in which the Company (i) issues or sells any debt or equity securities that are convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for, or include the right to receive additional shares of Common Stock either (A) at a conversion price, exercise price or exchange rate or other price that is based upon and/or varies with the trading prices of or quotations for the Common Stock at any time after the initial issuance of such debt or equity securities, or (B) with a conversion, exercise or exchange price that is subject to being reset at some future date after the initial issuance of such debt or equity security (other than in connection with a stock split or stock dividend or similar event) or upon the occurrence of specified or contingent events directly or indirectly related to the business of the Company or the market for shares of Common Stock or (ii) enters into, or effects a transaction under, any agreement, including, but not limited to, an equity line of credit or an “at-the-market offering,” whereby the Company may issue securities at a future determined price regardless of whether shares pursuant to such agreement have actually been issued and regardless of whether such agreement is subsequently canceled. The Holder shall be entitled to obtain injunctive relief against the Company to preclude any such issuance, which remedy shall be in addition to any right to collect damages.

 

If this offer is accepted and this letter agreement is executed by the Execution Time, then on or before 9:15 a.m., Eastern Time, on the date hereof, the Company shall issue a press release and/or file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission disclosing all material terms of the transactions contemplated hereunder. From and after the issuance of such press release or the filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, as applicable, the Company represents to you that it shall have publicly disclosed all material, non-public information delivered to you by the Company, or any of its respective officers, directors, employees or agents in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder. In addition, effective upon the issuance of such press release and/or Current Report on Form 8-K, the Company acknowledges and agrees that any and all confidentiality or similar obligations under any agreement, whether written or oral, between the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates on the one hand, and you and your Affiliates on the other hand, shall terminate. The Company represents, warrants and covenants that, upon acceptance of this offer, the Warrant Shares shall be issued free of any legends or restrictions on resale by Holder.

 

No later than the second (2nd) Trading Day following the date hereof, the closing shall occur at such location as the parties shall mutually agree. Unless otherwise directed by Maxim Group LLC (the “Placement Agent”), settlement of the Warrant Shares shall occur via “Delivery Versus Payment” (“DVP”) (i.e., on the Closing Date, the Company shall issue the Warrant Shares registered in the Holders’ names and addresses and released by the Transfer Agent directly to the account(s) at the Placement Agent identified by each Holder; upon receipt of such Warrant Shares, the Placement Agent shall promptly electronically deliver such Warrant Shares to the applicable Holder, and payment therefor shall be made by the Placement Agent (or its clearing firm) by wire transfer to the Company). The date of the closing of the exercise of the Existing Warrants shall be referred to as the “Closing Date”.

 

 

 

The Company acknowledges and agrees that the obligations of the Holders under this letter agreement are several and not joint with the obligations of any other holder or holders of warrants to purchase Common Stock of the Company that were issued by the Company on May 5, 2023 and August 15, 2023 (each, an “Other Holder”) under any other agreement related to the exercise of such warrants (“Other Warrant Exercise Agreement”), and the Holder shall not be responsible in any way for the performance of the obligations of any Other Holder or under any such Other Warrant Exercise Agreement. Nothing contained in this letter agreement, and no action taken by the Holders pursuant hereto, shall be deemed to constitute the Holder and the Other Holders as a partnership, an association, a joint venture or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Holder and the Other Holders are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement and the Company acknowledges that the Holder and the Other Holders are not acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement or any Other Warrant Exercise Agreement. The Company and the Holder confirm that the Holder has independently participated in the negotiation of the transactions contemplated hereby with the advice of its own counsel and advisors. The Holder shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights, including, without limitation, the rights arising out of this letter agreement, and it shall not be necessary for any Other Holder to be joined as an additional party in any proceeding for such purpose.

 

The Company hereby represents and warrants as of the date hereof and covenants and agrees from and after the date hereof until forty five (45) days after the date hereof, that none of the terms offered to any Other Holder with respect to any Other Warrant Exercise Agreement (or any amendment, modification or waiver thereof) relating to warrants that were sold concurrently with the Existing Warrants, is or will be more favorable to such Other Holder than those of the Holder and this letter agreement unless such terms are concurrently offered to the Holder. If, and whenever on or after the date hereof until forty five (45) days after the date hereof, the Company enters into an Other Warrant Exercise Agreement relating to warrants that were sold concurrently with the Existing Warrants, then (i) the Company shall provide notice thereof to the Holder promptly following the occurrence thereof and (ii) the terms and conditions of this letter agreement shall be, without any further action by the Holder or the Company, automatically amended and modified in an economically and legally equivalent manner such that the Holder shall receive the benefit of the more favorable terms and/or conditions (as the case may be) set forth in such Other Warrant Exercise Agreement (including the issuance of additional Warrant Shares), provided that upon written notice to the Company at any time the Holder may elect not to accept the benefit of any such amended or modified term or condition, in which event the term or condition contained in this letter agreement shall apply to the Holder as it was in effect immediately prior to such amendment or modification as if such amendment or modification never occurred with respect to the Holder. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply similarly and equally to each such Other Warrant Exercise Agreement.

 

The Company further agrees to hold an annual or special meeting of shareholders on or prior to the date that is ninety (90) days following the Closing Date for the purpose of obtaining such approval as may be required by the applicable rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market (or any successor entity) from the shareholders of the Company with respect to issuance of all of the New Warrants and the New Warrant Shares upon the exercise thereof (“Shareholder Approval,” and the date on which it is received and deemed effective under Delaware law, the “Shareholder Approval Date”), with the recommendation of the Company’s Board of Directors that such proposals are approved, and the Company shall solicit proxies from its shareholders in connection therewith in the same manner as all other management proposals in such proxy statement and all management-appointed proxyholders shall vote their proxies in favor of such proposals. If the Company does not obtain Shareholder Approval at the first meeting, the Company shall call a meeting every ten (10) days thereafter to seek Shareholder Approval until the earlier of the date on which Shareholder Approval is obtained or the New Warrants are no longer outstanding. The Company shall set the record date for the annual or special meeting to seek Shareholder Approval prior to the Closing Date.

 

***************

 

 

 

  Sincerely yours,
   
  YIELD10 Bioscience, inc.
   
  By: /s/ Oliver P. Peoples 
  Name: Oliver P. Peoples 
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

Accepted and Agreed to:

 

Name of Holder: ________________________________________________________

 

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Holder: _________________________________

 

Name of Authorized Signatory: _______________________________________________

 

Title of Authorized Signatory: ________________________________________________

 

Number of Existing Warrants: __________________

 

Aggregate Warrant Exercise Price: _________________

 

New Warrants: (200% of total Existing Warrants being exercised): ___________

 

Beneficial Ownership Blocker:¨ 4.99% or ¨ 9.99%

 

DTC Instructions:

 

 

 

Annex A

 

Representations, Warranties and Covenants of the Company. The Company hereby makes the following representations and warranties to the Holder:

 

a)SEC Reports. The Company has filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by the Company under the Exchange Act, including pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) thereof, for the two years preceding the date hereof (or such shorter period as the Company was required by law or regulation to file such material) (the foregoing materials, including the exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein “SEC Reports”). As of their respective dates, the SEC Reports complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Exchange Act and none of the SEC Reports, when filed, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Company has never been an issuer subject to Rule 144(i) under the Securities Act.

 

b)Authorization; Enforcement. The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of this letter agreement by the Company and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Company and no further action is required by the Company, its board of directors or its stockholders in connection therewith. This letter agreement has been duly executed by the Company and, when delivered in accordance with the terms hereof, will constitute the valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.

 

c)No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance of this letter agreement by the Company and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby do not and will not: (i) conflict with or violate any provision of the Company’s certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents; or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event that with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, result in the creation of any  liens, claims, security interests, other encumbrances or defects upon any of the properties or assets of the Company in connection with, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation (with or without notice, lapse of time or both) of, any material agreement, credit facility, debt or other material instrument (evidencing Company debt or otherwise) or other material understanding to which such Company is a party or by which any property or asset of the Company is bound or affected; or (iii) conflict with or result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment, injunction, decree or other restriction of any court or governmental authority to which the Company is subject (including federal and state securities laws and regulations), or by which any property or asset of the Company is bound or affected, except, in the case of each of clauses (ii) and (iii), such as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse effect upon the business, prospects, properties, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or results of operations of the Company, taken as a whole, or in its ability to perform its obligations under this letter agreement.

 

 

 

d)Registration Obligations. Within thirty (30) calendar days after the Closing Date, the Company shall file a registration statement on Form S-3 (or other appropriate form if the Company is not then S-3 eligible) providing for the resale of the New Warrant Shares by the holders of the New Warrants (the “Resale Registration Statement”). The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the Resale Registration Statement to become effective within sixty (60) calendar days following the Closing Date (or, in the event of a “full review” by the Commission, the 90th calendar day following the Closing Date) (the “Effectiveness Date”) and to keep the Resale Registration Statement effective at all times until no holder of the New Warrants owns any New Warrants or New Warrant Shares. In the event that the Resale Registration Statement is not (i) filed by the Filing Date or (ii) declared effective by the Commission by the Effectiveness Date, then, in addition to any other rights the holders of New Warrants may have hereunder or under applicable law, on the Filing Date or the Effectiveness Date (each such date being referred to herein as an “Event Date”) and on each monthly anniversary of such Event Date (if the Resale Registration Statement shall not have been filed or declared effective by the applicable Event Date) until the Resale Registration Statement is filed or declared effective, the Company shall pay to each holder of New Warrants an amount in cash, as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, equal to the product of 1.0% multiplied by the aggregate exercise price of the New Warrants held by each holder of the New Warrants. If the Company fails to pay any partial liquidated damages pursuant to this Section in full within seven days after the date payable, the Company will pay interest thereon at a rate of 18% per annum (or such lesser maximum amount that is permitted to be paid by applicable law) to the holders of the New Warrants, accruing daily from the date such partial liquidated damages are due until such amounts, plus all such interest thereon, are paid in full. The partial liquidated damages pursuant to the terms hereof shall apply on a daily pro rata basis for any portion of a month prior to the Resale Registration Statement being filed or declared effective, as the case may be.

 

e)Trading Market. The transactions contemplated under this letter agreement comply with all the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Capital Market.