EMPLOYMENT, LOCK-UP AND OPTIONS AGREEMENT
Mabiala T. Phuati
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Chairman of the Board
Chief Executive Officer
This Compensation Schedule (this "Schedule") dated November 15, 2014 is entered into by and between AmericaTowne, Inc., a Delaware corporation with a mailing address for notice purposes at 353 East Six Forks Road, Suite 270 in Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx 00000 (the "Company") and Mabiala T. Phuati, an individual with a mailing address of 0000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx, XX 00000 XXX (the "Employee"), and is incorporated and merged with the Employment Agreement executed by the Company and the Employee (the "Agreement").
1. Effective Date. This Schedule is effective upon approval by the Company's Board of Directors, and shall continue until such time the Agreement is terminated under the applicable provisions therein.
2. Compensation/Salary & Benefits. Based upon the companies cashflow and capital raised, the Company at its discretion will pay salaries, and benefits to key management staff, other employees and persons. Salaries and benefits may include commissions, health plans, transportation compensation and other benefits. The type, amount, timing and distribution of these salaries and benefits will be determined by the Board. For this consideration, key employees agree to be bound by this agreement.
3. Compensation/Stock Issuance. The Company agrees to issue 477,198 shares of the Company's common stock (the "Shares") to Executive in consideration of his services. Upon issuance of the common stock, the shares shall be considered outstanding and fully paid. The Shares shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:
3.1. Employee's Representations. In connection with the issuance and acquisition of the Shares, the Employee hereby represents and warrants to the Company as follows:
3.1.1. The Employee is acquiring and will hold the Shares for investment for his account only and not with a view to, or for resale in connection with, any "distribution" thereof within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act").
3.1.2. The Employee understands that the Shares have not been registered under the Securities Act by reason of a specific exemption therefrom and that the Shares must be held indefinitely, unless they are subsequently registered under the Securities Act, or the Employee obtains an opinion of counsel, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company and its counsel, that such registration is not required. The Employee further acknowledges and understands that the Company is under no obligation to register the Shares.
3.1.3. The Employee is aware of the adoption of Rule 144 of the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act, which permits limited public resales of the securities acquired in a non-public offering, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. The Employee acknowledges and understands that the conditions for resale set forth in Rule 144 have not been satisfied and that the Company has no plans to satisfy these conditions in the foreseeable future.
3.1.4. The Employee has been furnished with, and has had access to, such information as he considers necessary or appropriate for deciding whether to invest in the Shares, and has had an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers from the Company regarding the terms and conditions of the issuance of the Shares.
3.1.5. The Employee is aware that his investment in the Company is a speculative investment that has limited liquidity and is subject to the risk of complete loss. The Employee is able, without impairing his financial condition to hold the Purchased Shares for an indefinite period and to suffer a complete loss of his investment in the Purchased Shares.
3.2. Limitations on Transfer of The Shares. The Employee shall not sell, assign, transfer, pledge, hypothecate, mortgage, encumber or otherwise dispose of all or any of the Shares except as expressly provided in this Agreement. Notwithstanding, the Employee may transfer all or any of his Shares: (a) by way of gift to any member of his family or to any trust for the benefit of any such family member or the Employee; provided, however that any such transferee shall agree in writing with the Company, as a condition to such transfer, to be bound by all of the provisions of this Agreement to the same extent as if such transferee were the Employee, or by will or the laws of descent and distribution, in which event each transferee shall be bound by all of the provisions of this Agreement to the same extent as if such transferee were the Employee. As used herein, the word "family" shall include any spouse, lineal ancestor or descendant, brother or sister.
3.3. Right of First Refusal on Disposition of The Shares.
3.3.1. If at any time the Employee desires to sell for cash any of the Shares pursuant to a bona fide offer from a third party (the "Proposed Transferee"), the Employee shall submit a written offer (the "Offer") to sell such Shares (the "Offered Shares") to the Company on terms and conditions, including price, not less favorable to the Company than those on which the Employee proposes to sell such Offered Shares to the Proposed Transferee. The Offer shall disclose the identity of the Proposed Transferee, the number of Offered Shares proposed to be sold and the price thereof, the total number of Shares owned by the Employee, and the terms and conditions of, and any other material facts relating to, the proposed sale.
3.3.2. The Company shall have an option for a period of 21 days (the "Company Option Period") following in receipt of the Offer to purchase some or all of the Offered Shares in place of the Proposed Transferee. If the Company desires to purchase any of the Offered Shares, it shall notify the Employee of such election during the Company Option Period, stating the number of Offered Shares it desires to purchase. Such notice shall, when taken in conjunction with the Offer, be deemed to constitute a valid, legally binding and enforceable agreement for the sale and purchase of such Offered Shares.
3.3.3. If the Company does not purchase all of the Offered Shares, the Offered Shares not so purchased may be sold by the Employee at any time within 42 days after the date the Offer was made (i.e. 21 days after the expiration of the option period in Section 3.3.2, above), subject to the provisions of Section 3.4 and Section 3.5 of this Schedule. Any such sale shall be to the Proposed Transferee at not less than the price and upon other terms and conditions, if any, not more favorable to the Proposed Transferee than those specified in the Offer. Any Offered Shares not sold within such 42 day period shall continue to be subject to the requirements of a prior offer pursuant to this Section 3.3. Offered Shares that are sold pursuant to this Section 3.3 to any person who is not a party hereto shall no longer be subject to this Schedule.
3.4. Additional Restrictions on Resale.
3.4.1. Securities Law Restrictions. Regardless of whether the offering and sale of the Shares under this Schedule have been registered under the Securities Act or have been registered or qualified under the securities laws of any state, the Company at its discretion may impose restrictions upon the sale, pledge or other transfer of the Shares (including the placement of appropriate legends on stock certificates or the imposition of stop-transfer instructions) if, in the judgment of the Company, such restrictions are necessary or desirable in order to achieve compliance with the Securities Act, the securities laws of any state or any other law.
3.4.2. Market Stand-Off. In connection with any underwritten public offering by the Company of its equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act, including the Company's initial/primary public offering, the Employee shall not directly or indirectly sell, make any short sale of, loan, hypothecate, pledge, offer, grant or sell any option or other contract for the purchase of, purchase any option or other contract for the sale of, or otherwise dispose of or transfer, or agree to engage in any of the foregoing transactions with respect to, any Purchased Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or its underwriters. Such restriction (the "Market Stand-Off") shall be in effect for such period of time following the date of the final prospectus for the offering as may be requested by the Company or such underwriters. In no event, however, shall such period exceed 180 days. In the event of the declaration of a stock dividend, a spin-off, a stock split, an adjustment in conversion ratio, a recapitalization or a similar transaction affecting the Company's outstanding securities without receipt of consideration, any new, substituted or additional securities which are by reason of such transaction distributed with respect to any Shares subject to the Market Stand-Off, or into which such Shares thereby become convertible, shall immediately be subject to the Market Stand-Off. In order to enforce the Market Stand-Off, the Company may impose stop-transfer instructions with respect to the Purchased Shares until the end of the applicable stand-off period. The Company's underwriters shall be beneficiaries of the agreement set forth in this Section 3.4.2. This Section 3.4.2 shall not apply to Shares registered in the public/primary public offering under the Securities Act, and the Employee shall be subject to this Section 3.4.2 only if all directors, officers, holders of at least 25% of the outstanding stock of the Company are subject to similar arrangements. This Section 3.4.2 shall expressly survive a termination of this Schedule.
3.4.3 Lock-Up Provisions. In addition to the other restrictions provided in this Schedule, the Employee agrees to the following limitations and lock-up provisions:
3.4.3.1 The Employee shall not dispose or convey greater than ten-percent (10%) of the Shares between the first day after the first year after issuance and the conclusion of the second year after issuance.
3.4.3.1 The Employee shall not dispose or convey greater than twenty percent (20%) of the Shares between the conclusion of the first year up to and after the first day of the third year after issuance.
3.4.4 Rights of the Company. The Company shall not be required to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or transferred in contravention of this Agreement or treat as the owner of Purchased Shares, or otherwise to accord voting, dividend or liquidation rights to, any transferee to whom Purchased Shares have been transferred in contravention of this Agreement.
3.5. Termination of Restrictions. This Section 3.4.3 shall terminate (a) immediately prior to the consummation of the first firm commitment underwritten public offering to an effective registration statement on Form S-1 (or its then equivalent) under the Securities Act, pursuant to which the aggregate price paid for the public to purchase of Stock is at least $10.00, or (b) on the third anniversary of the date of this Schedule, whichever occurs first. It is the intent of the Employee to agree to this holding period as an agreed upon "lock-up" period in consideration of his services to the Corporation.
3.6. Enforcement of Agreement. The Employee expressly agrees that the Company will be irreparably damaged if this Agreement is not specifically enforced. Upon a breach or threatened breach of the terms, covenants or conditions of this Agreement by the Employee, the Company shall, in addition to all other remedies, be entitled to a temporary or permanent injunction, without showing any actual damage, or a decree for specific performance, in accordance with the provisions hereof. If the Employee fails to fulfill any obligation to sell Shares to the Company under the Agreement, the Company may, at its option, in addition to all other remedies it may have, send to the Employee the purchase price for such Shares as specified in this Agreement. Thereupon the Company, upon written notice to the Employee, (a) shall cancel on its books the certificate or certificates representing the Shares to be sold and (b) shall issue, in lieu thereof, in the name of the Company as treasury shares, a new certificate or certificates representing such Shares, and all of the Employee's rights in and to such Shares shall terminate.
3.7. Tax Election. The issuance of the Shares may result in adverse tax consequences that may be avoided or mitigated by filing an election under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the "Section 83(b) Election") within 30 days after the date of purchase. The Employee acknowledges that he has consulted with his tax advisor to determine the tax consequences of acquiring the Purchased Shares and the advantages and disadvantages of filing the Section 83(b) Election and that it is his sole responsibility, and not the Company's, to file the Section 83(b) Election in a timely manner, even if the Employee request the Company to make such filing on his behalf.
3.8 Legend. Each certificate evidencing any of the Shares shall bear a legend substantially as follows:
THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER AND MAY NOT BE SOLD, EXCHANGED, TRANSFERRED, PLEDGED, HYPOTHCATED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANY AND ALL APPLICABLE STATE AND FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS, AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COMPANY AND THE SHAREHOLDER.
4. Compensation and Other Consideration. Unless subsequently modified by the Company and Executive in writing, the issuance of the Shares constitutes the Executive's compensation.
5. Stock Option. The Company agrees to issue the Employee an option to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company at any time prior to the conclusion of the first year of the Agreement, i.e. prior to 365 days after execution of the Agreement, at a price of $0.50 per share. Prior to issuing the shares the funds owed through a third party arrangement must be paid. The Chairman of the Board must certify that these funds have been paid. The shares purchased under this option shall be considered subject to all rights and restrictions set forth in this Schedule.
6. Employee Stock Option Plan. Employee shall be entitled to participate in the Employee Stock Option Plan of the Company once approved by the Board of Directors.
7. Modification of Schedule. The Company and Employee acknowledge and agree that modification of this Schedule requires a written document signed by both parties.
8. Vacation and Paid Time Off. Employee agrees to be bound by the policies and procedures set forth by Company related to vacation and paid time off, which at the time of execution of the Agreement and this Schedule is three (3) weeks.
9. Other Benefits. The Company agrees to extend other employment benefits provided to other similarly situated key employees consistent with the policies and procedures of Company, and upon approval by the Board of Directors.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Schedule as of the date first above written.
Mabiala T. Phuati
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Chairman of the Board
Chief Executive Officer