MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
EXHIBIT
10.26
THIS
AGREEMENT
is
effective as of the 1st day of March, 2006
(the
"Effective
Date")
BETWEEN:
I.Q.
MICRO INC.,
a
company duly incorporated pursuant to the laws of the state of Colorado, having
an office at 000 Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 000, Xxxx Xxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxxx, X.X.X.,
00000.
(hereinafter
referred to as the "Company")
OF
THE
FIRST PART
AND:
JOCHRI
CONSULT AS,
a company
duly incorporated pursuant to the laws of Norway, having an office at
Xxxxxxxxxxx 00, 0000 Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx.
(hereinafter
referred to as the "Manager")
OF
THE
SECOND PART
RECITALS
WHEREAS
the
Company is a publicly traded corporation in the United States and the parent
company, Osmotex A/S is a Norwegian, private corporation holding approximately
85% of the total issued shares of the Company;
WHEREAS
Osmotex
has developed and patented certain technologies in the field of microfluidics
and Osmotex has granted a worldwide, exclusive sales and marketing licence
to
the Company;
WHEREAS
the
Company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, IQ Micro (USA) Inc. that
functions as the operating business of the Company and this subsidiary shares
office space with its parent company in West Palm Beach, Florida;
WHEREAS
the
Company has requested the assistance of the Manager and in particular, one
of
its employees, Per Arne Lislien in providing certain management services to
the
Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary as hereinafter described,
and;
WHEREAS
the Manager has agreed to provide such assistance and services to the Company
in
accordance with the terms and conditions herein set forth.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing recitals and the mutual covenants
set forth below, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1 DUTIES
AND DEVOTION OF TIME
1.1 Duties.
During
the term of this Agreement the Manager shall be responsible for the duties
contained in Schedule "A" attached hereto and incorporated herein by this
reference (the "Duties").
1.2 Devotion
of Time.
The
parties hereto acknowledge and agree that the work of the Manager is and shall
be of such a nature that regular business hours will not apply to his Duties.
The Manager agrees that the consideration set forth herein shall be in full
and
complete satisfaction for such work and services, regardless of when and where
such work and services are performed. The Company agrees that so long as the
Manager properly discharges his duties hereunder, the Manager may devote the
remainder of his time and attention to other non-competing business and personal
pursuits.
1.3 Business
Opportunities the Property of the Company.
The
Manager agrees to communicate immediately to the Company all business
opportunities, inventions and improvements in the nature of the business of
the
Company which, during the term of this Agreement, the Manager may conceive,
make
or discover, become aware of, directly or indirectly, or have presented to
him
in any manner which relates in any way to the Company, either as it is now
or as
it may develop, and such business opportunities, inventions or improvements
shall become the exclusive property of the Company without any obligation on
the
part of the Company to make any payments in addition to the management fee
to
the Manager.
1.4 No
Personal Use.
The
Manager shall not use any of the work the Manager shall perform for the Company
for any personal purposes without first obtaining the prior written consent
of
the Company.
2 MANAGEMENT
FEES AND INCENTIVE STOCK OPTIONS
2.1 Management
Fees.
In
consideration of the Manager providing the services referred to herein, the
Company agrees to pay the Manager a monthly management fee (the "Monthly
Management Fee") of ten thousand dollars, ($10,000.00) U.S.
2.2 Incentive
Stock Options.
As a
condition of this Agreement and to form part of this Agreement, Per Arne Lislien
will be offered and will accept participation in an incentive stock
option plan that will provide him with the opportunity to purchase either
existing or new shares in the Company on terms
acceptable
to the Manager.
1
3 REIMBURSEMENT
OF EXPENSES
3.1 Reimbursement
of Expenses.
The
Manager shall be reimbursed for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred
by the Manager in or about the execution of the Duties contained herein,
including without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all reasonable
travel and promotional expenses payable or incurred by the Manager in connection
with the Duties under this Agreement. All payments and reimbursements shall
be
made within two (2) weeks of submission by the Manager of vouchers, bills or
receipts for such expenses.
4 CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION
4.1 Confidential
Information.
The
Manager shall not, either during the term of this Agreement or under the
provisions of Section 5.3, without specific consent in writing, disclose or
reveal in any manner whatsoever to any other person, firm or corporation, nor
will he use, directly or indirectly, for any purpose other than the purposes
of
the Company, the private affairs of the company or any confidential information
which he may acquire during the term of this Agreement with relation to the
business and affairs of the directors and shareholders of the Company, unless
the Manager is ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction or unless
required by any statutory authority.
4.2 Non-Disclosure
Provisions.
The
foregoing provision shall be subject to the further non-disclosure provisions
contained in Schedule "B" attached hereto and incorporated hereinafter by this
reference.
4.3 Provisions
Survive Termination.
The
provisions of this section shall survive the termination of this Agreement
for a
period of three years.
5 TERM
5.1 Term.
This
Agreement shall remain in effect until terminated in accordance with any of
the
provisions contained in this Agreement.
6 TERMINATION
6.1 Termination
by Manager.
Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein, the parties hereto agree
that the Manager may terminate this Agreement., with or without cause, by giving
ninety (90) days written notice of such intention to terminate.
2
6.2 Resignation
or Cessation of Duties.
In the
event that the Manager ceases to perform all of the Duties contained herein,
other than by reason of Per Arne Lislien's death or disability, or if he resigns
unilaterally and on his own initiative from all of his positions this Agreement
shall be deemed to be terminated by the Manager as of the date of such cessation
of Duties or such resignation, and the Company shall have no further obligations
under Section 2 hereof.
6.3 Termination
by Company.
The
Company may terminate this Agreement at any time for just cause without further
obligation. In the event of termination for any reason other than for just
cause, the Company will continue to pay the management fee under Clause 2.1
for
three (3) additional months. Any stock options that have been granted but that
have not yet vested shall immediately vest at the date of the final payment,
and
may be exercised for a period of 30 days only after the final
payment.
6.4 Death.
In the
event of the death of Per Arne Lislien during the term of this Agreement, this
Agreement shall be terminated as of the date of such death, and the Manager
shall be entitled to the termination allowance stated in Section 6.3
hereof.
6.5 Disability.
In the
event that Per Arne Lislien will during the term of this Agreement by reason
of
illness or mental or physical disability or incapacity be prevented from or
incapable of performing the Duties hereunder, then the Manager shall be entitled
to receive the remuneration provided for herein at the rate specified
hereinbefore for the period during which such illness, disability or incapacity
will continue, but not exceeding three (3) successive months If such illness,
disability or incapacity continues or will continue for a period longer than
three (3) successive months, then this Agreement may, at the option of the
Directors of the Company, forthwith be terminated, and the Manager shall be
entitled to the termination allowance stated in Section 6.3 hereof.
6.6 Termination
Payment.
Any
payments made by the Company to the Manager upon the termination of this
Agreement shall be made in cash, or, if the Company does not have available
funds, in equal monthly cash installments over one year. All payments required
to be made by the Company to the Manager pursuant to Section 6 hereof shall
be
made in full.
7 RIGHTS
AND OBLIGATIONS UPON TERMINATION
7.1 Rights
and Obligations.
Upon
termination of this Agreement, the Manager shall deliver up to the Company
all
documents, papers, plans, materials and other property of or relating to the
affairs of the Company, other than the Manager's personal papers in regard
to
his role in the Company, which may then be in the Manager's possession or under
his control.
8 CLOSING
8.1 Closing
Date.
This
Agreement shall be effective as of March 1, 2006.
3
8.2 Conditions
of Closing.
The
parties hereto agree that it shall be a condition of the execution of this
Agreement that prior to or contemporaneously with the execution of this
Agreement:
(a) |
this
Agreement shall be approved by the Board of Directors of the
Company.
|
9 NOTICES
AND REQUESTS
9.1 Notices
and Requests.
All
notices and requests in connection with this Agreement shall be deemed given
as
of the day they are received either by messenger, delivery service, or mailed
by
registered or certified mail with postage prepaid and return receipt requested
and addressed as follows:
(a) |
If
to the Company, the registered office in the State of
Florida.
|
(b) |
If
to the Manager, the office address in Horten,
Norway.
|
or
to
such other address as the party to receive notice or request so designates
by
written notice to the others.
10 INDEPENDENT
PARTIES
10.1 Independent
Parties.
This
Agreement is intended solely as a management services agreement and no
partnership, agency, joint venture, distributorship or other form of agreement
is intended.
11 AGREEMENT
VOLUNTARY AND EQUITABLE
11.1 Agreement
Voluntary.
The
parties acknowledge and declare that in executing this Agreement they are each
relying wholly on their own judgment and knowledge and have not been influenced
to any extent whatsoever by any representations or statements made by or on
behalf of any other party regarding any matters dealt with herein or incidental
thereto.
11.2 Agreement
Equitable.
The
parties further acknowledge and declare that they each have carefully considered
and understand the provisions contained herein, including, but without limiting
the generality of the foregoing, the Manager's rights upon termination and
the
restrictions on the Manager after termination and agree that the said provisions
are mutually fair and equitable, and that they executed this Agreement
voluntarily and of their own free will.
4
12 CONTRACT
NON-ASSIGNABLE; INUREMENT
12.1 Contract
Non-Assignable.
This
Agreement and all other rights, benefits and privileges contained herein may
not
be assigned by the Manager.
12.2 Inurement.
The
rights, benefits and privileges contained herein, including without limitation
the benefits of Sections 2 and 6 hereof; shall inure to the benefit of and
be
binding upon the respective parties hereto, their heirs, executors,
administrators and successors.
13 ENTIRE
AGREEMENT
13.1 Entire
Agreement.
This
Agreement represents the entire Agreement between the parties and supersedes
any
and all prior agreements and understandings, whether written or oral, among
the
parties including the Management Agreement between Osmotex AS and Per Arne
Lislien. The Manager acknowledges that he was not induced to enter into this
Agreement by any representation, warranty, promise or other statement, except
as
contained herein.
13.2 Previous
Agreements Cancelled.
Save
and except for the express provisions of this Agreement, any and all previous
agreements, written or oral, between the parties hereto or on their behalf
relating to the services of the Manager for the Company are hereby terminated
and cancelled and each of the parties hereby releases and further discharges
the
other of and from all manner of actions, causes of action, claims and demands
whatsoever under or in respect of any such agreements.
14 WAIVER
14.1 Waiver.
No
consent or waiver, express or implied, by either party to or of any breach
or
default by the other party in the performance by the other of its or his
obligations herein shall be deemed or construed to be a consent or waiver to
or
of any breach or default of the same or any other obligation of such party.
Failure on the part of either party to complain of any act or failure to act,
or
to declare the other party in default irrespective of how long such failure
continues, shall not constitute a waiver by such party of its or his rights
herein or of the right to then or subsequently declare a default.
15 SEVERABILITY
15.1 Severability.
If any
provision contained herein is determined to be void or unenforceable in whole
or
in part, it is to that extent deemed omitted. The remaining provisions shall
not
be affected in any way.
5
16 AMENDMENT
16.1 Amendment.
This
Agreement shall not be amended or otherwise modified except by a written notice
of even date herewith or subsequent hereto signed by both parties.
17 HEADINGS
17.1 Headings.
The
headings of the sections and subsections herein are for convenience only and
shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any provisions of
this Agreement.
18 GOVERNING
LAW
18.1 Governing
Law.
This
Agreement shall be construed under and governed by the laws of the state of
Florida and the laws of United States applicable therein.
19 EXECUTION
19.1 Execution
in Several Counterparts.
This
Agreement may be executed by facsimile and in several counterparts, each of
which shall be deemed to be an original and alt of which shall together
constitute one and the same instrument.
6
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF,
the
parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the 28 day of February ,
2006.
THE
COMPANY
Per:
/s/
Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Authorized
Signatory
Name:
/s/
Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Title: | ||
Chief Executive Officer | ||
SIGNED by Per Arne Lislien on behalf of the |
)
|
|
MANAGER in the presence of: |
)
|
|
)
|
||
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
|
)
|
|
)
|
||
XX 0000, 0000 Xxxxxx |
)
|
/s/
Per Arne Lislien
|
Norway
|
)
|
PER
ARNE LISLIEN
|
Address
|
)
|
|
)
|
||
Chief
Executive Officer
|
)
|
|
Occupation
|
)
|
7
SCHEDULE
"A"
MANAGER'S
DUTIES
1. On
behalf
of the Manager, Per Arne Lislien shall be appointed as the Chief Operations
Officer of the Company and he shall faithfully, honestly and diligently serve
the Company and its subsidiary.
2. The
Manager and Per Arne Lislien will create value for the shareholders by managing
the operations of the Company by professionally performing the functions of
Chief Operations Officer.
3. The
Manager and Per Arne Lislien shall be responsible for managing the operations
of
the Company in accordance with the policies and instructions of the Board of
Directors.
4. The
Manager's primary responsibility will be to successfully commercialize the
Osmotex technologies on a worldwide basis.
5. The
Manager and Per Arne Lislien shall report to the Chief Executive Officer and
shall work in close cooperation with the Chief Financial Officer of the
Company.
8
SCHEDULE
"B"
NON-DISCLOSURE
PROVISIONS
1. CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION AND MATERIALS
(a) |
"Confidential
Information" shall mean, for the purposes of this Agreement, non-public
information which the Company designates as being confidential or which,
under the circumstances surrounding disclosure ought reasonably to
be
treated as confidential. Confidential Information includes, without
limitation, information, whether written, oral or communicated by any
other means, relating to released or unreleased Company software or
hardware products, the marketing or promotion of any product of the
Company, the Company's business policies or practices, and information
received from others which the Company is obliged to treat as
confidential. Confidential Information disclosed to the Manager by
any
subsidiary and/or agents of the Company is covered by this
Agreement.
|
(b) |
Confidential
Information shall not include that information defined as Confidential
Information hereinabove which the Manager can exclusively
establish:
|
(i) |
is
or subsequently becomes publicly available without breach of any
obligation of confidentiality owed to the
Company;
|
(ii) |
became
known to the Manager prior to disclosure by the Company to the
Manager;
|
(iii) |
became
known to the Manager from a source other than the Company other than
by
the breach of any obligations of confidentiality owed to the Company;
or
|
(iv) |
is
independently developed by the Manager.
|
(c) |
Confidential
Materials shall include all tangible materials containing Confidential
information, including, without limitation, written or printed documents
and computer disks or tapes, whether machine or user
readable.
|
2. RESTRICTIONS
(a) |
The
Manager shall not disclose any Confidential Information to third parties
for a period of three (3) years following the termination of this
Agreement, except as provided herein. However, the Manager may disclose
Confidential Information during
bona fide execution of the Duties or in accordance with judicial or
other
governmental order, provided that the Manager shall give reasonable
notice
to the Company prior to such disclosure and shall comply with any
applicable protective order or
equivalent.
|
9
(b) |
The
Manager shall take reasonable security precautions, at least as great
as
the precautions he takes to protect his own confidential information,
to
keep confidential the Confidential Information, as defined
hereinabove.
|
(c) |
Confidential
Information and Materials may be disclosed, reproduced, summarized
or
distributed only in pursuance of the business relationship of the Manager
with the Company, and only as provided
hereunder.
|
3. RIGHTS
AND REMEDIES
(a) |
The
Manager shall notify the Company immediately upon discovery of any
unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information or Materials,
or any other breach of this Agreement by the Manager, and shall co-operate
with the Company in every reasonable manner to aid the Company to regain
possession of said Confidential Information or Materials and prevent
all
such further unauthorized use.
|
(b) |
The
Manager' shall return all originals, copies, reproductions and summaries
of or relating to the Confidential Information at the request of the
Company or, at the option of the Company, certify destruction of the
same.
|
(c) |
The
parties hereto recognize that a breach by the Manager of any of the
provisions contained herein would result in damages to the Company
and
that the Company could not be compensated adequately for such damages
by
monetary award. Accordingly, the Manager agrees that in the event of
any
such breach, in addition to all other remedies available to the Company
at
law or in equity, the Company shall be entitled as a matter of right
to
apply to a court: of competent jurisdiction for such relief by way
of
restraining order, injunction, decree or otherwise, as may be appropriate
to ensure compliance with the provisions of this
Agreement.
|
4. MISCELLANEOUS
(a) |
All
Confidential Information and Materials are and shall remain the property
of the Company. By disclosing information to the Manager, the Company
does
not grant any express or implied right to the Manager to or under any
and
all patents, copyrights, trademarks, or trade secret information belonging
to the Company.
|
(b) |
All
obligations created herein shall survive change or termination of any
and
all business relationships between the parties for a period of three
years
after such termination.
|
(c) |
The
Company may from time to time request suggestions, feedback or other
information from the Manager on Confidential Information or on released
or
unreleased software belonging to the Company. Any suggestions, feedback
or
other disclosures made by the Manager are and shall be entirely voluntary
on the part of the Manager and shall not create any obligations on
the
part of the Company or a confidential agreement between the Manager
and
the Company. Instead, the Company shall be free to disclose and use
any
suggestions, feedback or other information from the Manager as the
Company
sees fit, entirely without obligation of any kind whatsoever to the
Manager.
|
10