Non-Competition Agreement
Exhibit
10.07
This Non-Competition Agreement is
entered into on December 29, 2009 by and among Iceland Health, Inc., a Florida
corporation ("Buyer"), Nutrition 21, Inc., a New York corporation, (“Nutrition
21”) and Iceland Health, LLC, a New York limited liability company,
(“IH”).
Whereas, Buyer, Nutrition 21 and IH
have entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement, dated December 29, 2009, (the
“Purchase Agreement”) which contemplates the purchase by Buyer of certain of the
assets and the business of Nutrition 21 and IH;
Whereas, it is a material inducement to
Buyer’s obligation to consummate the transactions under the Purchase Agreement
that IH and Nutrition 21, enter into this Non-Competition Agreement;
and
Whereas, hereafter the term “Buyer"
shall include all of its affiliates, as defined below, which are engaged in any
component of the Business (as defined below).
Now, Therefore, in consideration of the
mutual promises and covenants set forth herein and other valuable consideration,
the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties
hereto, intending to be legally bound, agree as follows:
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1.
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Background.
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a.
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Nutrition
21 and IH hereby acknowledge that Buyer is purchasing certain assets of
Nutrition 21 and IH and the goodwill value of the
Business. Nutrition 21 and IH hereby further acknowledge that
Buyer intends to conduct the Business and the restrictive covenants set
forth hereinafter are a condition to Buyer’s obligation to consummate the
transactions contemplated in the Purchase Agreement because they are
necessary to preserve the value of the Business as conducted by Nutrition
21 and IH and as will be conducted by
Buyer.
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b.
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In
view of the fact that any activity of Nutrition 21 or IH in violation of
the terms hereof will adversely affect Buyer and will deprive Buyer of
material benefits and bargains under the Purchase Agreement, Nutrition 21
and IH hereby agree to the restrictions set forth
herein).
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2.
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Certain
Definitions.
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(i)
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“Restricted
Activities” means the sale of finished and packaged nutritional supplement
end-products to end users or for ultimate sale to end users without
further fabrication or packaging; provided that sale of products that are
sold solely by prescription or that do not contain Chromium Picolinate,
Chromium Histidinate, Chromium Picolinate-Biotin Blend,
Arginine-Silicate-Inositol Blend, fish oil or omega 3 shall in no event
constitute Restricted Activities.
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(ii)
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For
clarity, it is agreed that it is not a Restricted Activity for Nutrition
21 to engage in the sale of any and all raw materials, formulations,
compounds, blends and bulk and other materials to third party non-end
users to be further fabricated, blended or packaged for ultimate sales to
end-users as nutritional supplements or otherwise, whether or not (i) sold
by prescription or (ii) containing Chromium Picolinate, Chromium
Histidinate, Chromium Picolinate-Biotin Blend, and
Arginine-Silicate-Inositol Blend, fish oil or omega
3.
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(iii)
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The
term “affiliate” shall mean, with respect to any person or entity, any
person or entity which directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by
or is under common control with such person or
entity,
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(iv)
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The
term “person” shall mean an individual, a corporation, an association, a
partnership (limited or general), a limited liability company, an estate,
a trust, and any other entity or
organization,
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(v)
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The
term “Restricted Region” shall mean anywhere within the
world.
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(vi)
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The
term “Business” shall mean “consumer business”
which sells finished and packaged nutritional supplement end-products
directly to end users by direct response under the name Iceland
Health.
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(vii)
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All
capitalized terms used herein and not defined shall have the meanings
given to them in the Purchase
Agreement.
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3.
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Non Competition and
Non-Solicitation.
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a.
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Nutrition
21 and IH acknowledge that, through the Closing Date, they conducted the
Business in the Restricted Region.
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b.
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Nutrition
21 and IH hereby agree that during the period commencing on the date
hereof and ending exactly four years thereafter, Nutrition 21 and IH will
not, directly or indirectly, for the account or benefit of their own
respective accounts or that of any other person, anywhere in the
Restricted Region (which shall include directing activity within the
Restricted Region from outside the Restricted
Region):
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i.
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engage,
participate or invest in, or provide or facilitate the provision of
financing to, or in any way assist (whether as an employee, owner,
part-owner, shareholder, member, partner, director, officer, trustee,
principal, agent or consultant, or in any other capacity) any activity,
business, organization or person whose or which business, activities,
products or services constitute Restricted Activities;
or
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ii.
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induce
or attempt to induce any employee of Buyer to leave the employ of Buyer,
in any way interfere with the relationship between Buyer and any of its
employees; employ, or otherwise engage as an employee, independent
contractor, or otherwise, any employee of Buyer; or induce or attempt to
induce any customer, supplier, licensee, or business relation of Buyer to
cease doing business with Buyer, or in any way interfere with the
relationship between any customer, supplier, licensee, or business
relation of Buyer (this clause 3.b.ii. shall not restrict sales to
customers of Buyer if such sales are not Restricted
Activities).
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4.
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Excluded Inventory. The
parties agree that all sales of Excluded Inventory, as such term is
defined in the Purchase Agreement, by IH or Nutrition 21 shall be by a
means and into a market agreed to by the Buyer and IH and Nutrition 21 in
advance of any such sales.
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5.
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Confidential Information and
Cooperation.
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a.
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Nutrition 21 and IH
acknowledge that all confidential information relating to Buyer and the
Business, including without limitation (a) trade secrets and intellectual
property, (b) information concerning services and products and the
development, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and pricing of
services and products, (c) information concerning customers, customer
lists and suppliers and (d) credit and financial data and (d)
all of the Assets (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) (collectively,
the “Proprietary Information”), are valuable, special and unique assets of
the Buyer, access to and knowledge of which have been gained by Nutrition
21 and IH.
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b.
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Nutrition
21 and IH further agree that all Proprietary Information shall be
considered confidential information and that from and after the date
hereof Nutrition 21 or IH will (x) not disclose, at any time, any of such
Proprietary Information to any person or entity for any reason or purpose
whatsoever, (y) not make use of any Proprietary Information for their own
purposes or for the benefit of any person other than Buyer except that
Nutrition 21 may use customer lists for non-Restricted Activities, and (z)
surrender immediately to Buyer all Proprietary Information existing in
tangible form (whether in print, photos, audio or video tape, computer
disk or memory, or otherwise) which is in the possession or control of
either Nutrition 21 or IH, except that Nutrition 21 may retain customer
lists to be used exclusively for non-Restricted
Activities.
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6.
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Scope of
Agreement.
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a.
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Nutrition
21 and IH acknowledge that the time, scope, geographic area and other
provisions of this Agreement have been specifically negotiated by
sophisticated commercial parties and agree that (a) all such provisions
are reasonable under the circumstances of the transactions contemplated
hereby and by the Purchase Agreement, (b) are given as an integral and
essential part of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Purchase
Agreement, and (c) but for the covenants of Nutrition 21 and IH contained
in this Agreement, Buyer would not have entered into or would not
consummate the transactions contemplated by the Purchase
Agreement.
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b.
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Nutrition
21 and IH acknowledge and agree that they have independently consulted
with their respective counsel and have been advised in all respects
concerning the reasonableness and propriety of the covenants contained
herein, with regard to the Business, and represent that the Agreement is
intended to be, and shall be, fully enforceable and effective in
accordance with its terms.
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7.
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Certain Remedies,
Severability. It is specifically understood and agreed
that any breach of the provisions of this Agreement by either Nutrition 21
or IH will result in irreparable injury to Buyer and Buyer, that the
remedy at law alone will be an inadequate remedy for such breach and that,
in addition to any other remedy it may have, Buyer shall be entitled to
enforce the specific performance of this Agreement against IH and
Nutrition 21 through both temporary and permanent injunctive (and other
equitable) relief without the necessity of proving monetary damages, but
without limitation of its right to damages and any and all other remedies
available to Buyer, it being understood that injunctive relief is in
addition to, and not in lieu of, such other remedies. In the
event that any covenant contained in this Agreement shall be determined by
any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable by reason of its
extending for too great a period of time or over too great a geographical
area or by reason of its being too extensive in any other respect, it
shall be interpreted to extend only over the maximum period of time for
which it may be enforceable and/or over the maximum geographical area as
to which it may be enforceable and/or to the maximum extent in all other
respects as to which it may be enforceable, all as determined by such
court in such action. The existence of any claim or cause of
action which Nutrition 21 or IH or any other party may have against Buyer
shall not constitute a defense or bar to the enforcement of any of the
provisions of this Agreement.
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8.
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Jurisdiction. The
parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue
of the courts of Broward County, Florida to enforce the covenants
contained in this Agreement. In the event that a court shall
hold such covenants unenforceable (in whole or in part) by reason of the
breadth of such scope or otherwise, it is the intention of the parties
hereto that such determination shall not bar or in any way affect the
right of Buyer to the relief provided for herein in the courts of any
other state within the geographic scope of such covenants, as to breaches
of such covenants in such other respective states, the above covenants as
they relate to each state being, for this purpose, severable into distinct
and independent covenants.
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9.
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Notices. All
notices shall be provided to the parties in the manner provided in the
Purchase Agreement.
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10.
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Miscellaneous. This
Agreement shall be governed by and construed under the internal laws, and
not the laws of conflicts of laws, of the State of Florida, and shall not
be amended or modified in whole or in part except by an agreement in
writing signed by each party. The prevailing party in any
controversy hereunder shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and
expenses. The failure of any of the parties to require the
performance of a term or obligation or to exercise any right under this
Agreement or the waiver of any breach hereunder shall not prevent
subsequent enforcement of such term or obligation or exercise of such
right or the enforcement at any time of any other right hereunder or be
deemed a waiver of any subsequent beach of the provision so breached, or
of any other breach hereunder. This Agreement shall inure to
the benefit of, and be binding upon, successors and permitted assigns of
the parties hereto. This Agreement may not be assigned by
Nutrition 21 or IH. This Agreement supersedes all prior
understandings and agreements between the parties relating to the subject
matter hereof.
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11.
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Counterparts. This
Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall
be deemed an original and all of which together shall constitute one and
the same instrument.
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In
Witness Whereof, the parties have executed this Non-Competition Agreement
as of the date first set forth above.
Buyer:
Iceland Health, Inc.
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By:_________________________________
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Seller:
Nutrition 21, Inc.
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By:
________________________________
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Seller:
Iceland Health, LLC
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By:
________________________________
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