Restricted Employment for Certain State Personnel Contractor acknowledges that, pursuant to Section 572.069 of the Texas Government Code, a former state officer or employee of a state agency who during the period of state service or employment participated on behalf of a state agency in a procurement or contract negotiation involving Contractor may not accept employment from Contractor before the second anniversary of the date the Contract is signed or the procurement is terminated or withdrawn.
CONDITIONS FOR EMERGENCY/HURRICANE OR DISASTER - TERM CONTRACTS It is hereby made a part of this Invitation for Bids that before, during and after a public emergency, disaster, hurricane, flood, or other acts of God that Orange County shall require a “first priority” basis for goods and services. It is vital and imperative that the majority of citizens are protected from any emergency situation which threatens public health and safety, as determined by the County. Contractor agrees to rent/sell/lease all goods and services to the County or other governmental entities as opposed to a private citizen, on a first priority basis. The County expects to pay contractual prices for all goods or services required during an emergency situation. Contractor shall furnish a twenty-four (24) hour phone number in the event of such an emergency.
CERTIFICATION REGARDING BOYCOTTING CERTAIN ENERGY COMPANIES (Texas law as of September 1, 2021) By submitting a proposal to this Solicitation, you certify that you agree, when it is applicable, to the following required by Texas law as of September 1, 2021: If (a) company is not a sole proprietorship; (b) company has ten (10) or more full-time employees; and (c) this contract has a value of $100,000 or more that is to be paid wholly or partly from public funds, the following certification shall apply; otherwise, this certification is not required. Pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 2274 of SB 13 (87th session), the company hereby certifies and verifies that the company, or any wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company, or affiliate of these entities or business associations, if any, does not boycott energy companies and will not boycott energy companies during the term of the contract. For purposes of this contract, the term “company” shall mean an organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company, that exists to make a profit. The term “boycott energy company” shall mean “without an ordinary business purpose, refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with a company because the company (a) engages in the exploration, production, utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacturing of fossil fuel-based energy and does not commit or pledge to meet environmental standards beyond applicable federal and state law, or (b) does business with a company described by paragraph (a).” See Tex. Gov’t Code § 809.001(1).
CERTIFICATION PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FIREARM AND AMMUNITION INDUSTRIES (Texas law as of September 1, 2021) By submitting a proposal to this Solicitation, you certify that you agree, when it is applicable, to the following required by Texas law as of September 1, 2021: If (a) company is not a sole proprietorship; (b) company has at least ten (10) full-time employees; (c) this contract has a value of at least $100,000 that is paid wholly or partly from public funds; (d) the contract is not excepted under Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.003 of SB 19 (87th leg.); and (e) governmental entity has determined that company is not a sole-source provider or governmental entity has not received any bids from a company that is able to provide this written verification, the following certification shall apply; otherwise, this certification is not required. Pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 2274 of SB 19 (87th session), the company hereby certifies and verifies that the company, or association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company, including a wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary parent company, or affiliate of these entities or associations, that exists to make a profit, does not have a practice, policy, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association and will not discriminate during the term of this contract against a firearm entity or firearm trade association. For purposes of this contract, “discriminate against a firearm entity or firearm trade association” shall mean, with respect to the entity or association, to: “(1) refuse to engage in the trade of any goods or services with the entity or association based solely on its status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association; (2) refrain from continuing an existing business relationship with the entity or association based solely on its status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association; or (3) terminate an existing business relationship with the entity or association based solely on its status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.001(3) of SB 19. “Discrimination against a firearm entity or firearm trade association” does not include: “(1) the established policies of a merchant, retail seller, or platform that restrict or prohibit the listing or selling of ammunition, firearms, or firearm accessories; and (2) a company’s refusal to engage in the trade of any goods or services, decision to refrain from continuing an existing business relationship, or decision to terminate an existing business relationship to comply with federal, state, or local law, policy, or regulations or a directive by a regulatory agency, or for any traditional business reason that is specific to the customer or potential customer and not based solely on an entity’s or association’s status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association.” See Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.001(3) of SB 19.
REASONS FOR AND BENEFITS OF THE ACQUISITION The principal activities of the Group are investment holding, manufacturing and trading of printed circuit boards (the “Printed Circuit Boards Business”), trading of petroleum and energy products and related business (the “Petroleum and Energy Business”), and vessel chartering. In view of the ongoing trade war between the PRC and the US and the recent global coronavirus outbreak, there have been adverse impacts on the Printed Circuit Boards Business and the Petroleum and Energy Business. The Board expects that the Petroleum and Energy Business may be further affected due to (i) the increase of volatility of the oil price; (ii) the intensified competition in the oil trading business arising from slowing down of the international trade and the demand for oil and oil products; (iii) tightening of bank credits available to the Group; and (iv) ongoing legal proceedings against the Company. Therefore, the Group considers to diversify its business into other business sectors. The Acquisition is a good opportunity for the Group to diversify its business stream and mitigate the risks arising from the international trade. The Target Group’s business in the manufacturing and trading of printing and packaging products is based in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and its clients are mainly from Hong Kong and the PRC. Over the years, with implementation of a series of operational strategies, including focusing more on sales orders for high-quality printing and packaging products with higher profit margin, stringent cost control measures and upgrading the manufacturing base by investing in new and advanced printing and packaging equipment, the Target Group has established its own brand and a long-term loyalty client base, which contributes to more than 50% of the Target Group’s revenue. Furthermore, in negotiating the Acquisition, the Vendor agreed to provide profit guarantees to the Purchaser as set out in the section headed “Profit guarantees and compensation” above, which provides a safeguard for the Company to closely monitor the development of the Target Group. The management of the Company believes that the printing and packaging business of the Target Group will have a synergy effect on the Group’s current business. With the new business sector, the Company would be able to provide printing and packaging, brand labelling and other logistics services to its existing customers. As the Group has an existing vessel chartering business, the management of the Company will further explore the possibility of transforming the existing vessels or hiring vessels to shipping cargoes such that the Group could further use its own resources to extend its business into logistics services. With the view to strengthen the Group’s long-term competitiveness and value, the Group plans to combine the high-quality printing business with intellectual property marketing to achieve a total marketing solution model to provide creative solution to its clients. In this way, the printing and packaging business is able to create a vertically integrated business to include selecting/designing intellectual property products which fit brand image, licensing from intellectual property holder and providing printed marketing materials and packages, etc. Currently, the Group is in the process of hiring staff who are experienced in marketing intellectual property products such as cartoon and movie images. The Consideration, which would be partially settled by the issue of Promissory Note, will not require substantial immediate cash outflow of the Group, therefore easing the financial burden of the Company. In the view of all above, the Board (including the independent non-executive Directors) considers that the Acquisition is fair and reasonable and is in the interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole.
