PLACEMENT AGENCY AGREEMENT
Exhibit 10.2
February 6, 2024
Xx. Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
President and Chief Executive Officer
000 Xxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx 000
Alpharetta, Georgia 30005
Dear Xx. Xxxxxxxx:
This agreement (the “Agreement”) constitutes the agreement between Citizens JMP Securities, LLC (“Citizens JMP” or the “Placement Agent”) and Clearside Biomedical, Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Company”), pursuant to which the Placement Agent shall serve as the exclusive placement agent for the Company, on a “reasonable best efforts” basis, in connection with the proposed placement (the “Placement”) of shares of common stock (the “Shares”) of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”), prefunded warrants to purchase Common Stock (the “Prefunded Warrants”), and warrants to purchase Common Stock (the “Common Warrants”, collectively with the Prefunded Warrants, the “Warrants” and collectively with the Shares and the Prefunded Warrants, the “Securities”). The terms of the Placement and the Securities shall be mutually agreed upon by the Company and the purchasers (each, a “Purchaser” and, collectively, the “Purchasers”) and nothing herein constitutes that the Placement Agent would have the power or authority to bind the Company or any Purchaser or an obligation for the Company to issue any Securities or complete the Placement. This Agreement and the documents executed and delivered by the Company and the Purchasers in connection with the Placement, including but not limited to the Purchase Agreement (as defined below), the form of Prefunded Warrant and the form of Common Warrant, shall be collectively referred to herein as the “Transaction Documents.” The date of the closing of the Placement shall be referred to herein as the “Closing Date.” The Company expressly acknowledges and agrees that the Placement Agent’s obligations hereunder are on a reasonable best efforts basis only and that the execution of this Agreement does not constitute a commitment by the Placement Agent to purchase the Securities and does not ensure the successful placement of the Securities or any portion thereof or the success of the Placement Agent with respect to securing any other financing on behalf of the Company. The Placement Agent may retain other brokers or dealers to act as sub-agents or selected-dealers on its behalf in connection with the Placement, subject to the reasonable approval of the Company. The sale of the Securities to any Purchaser will be evidenced by a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) between the Company and such Purchaser in a form mutually agreed upon by the Company and the Purchaser and reasonably acceptable to the Placement Agent. Capitalized terms that are not otherwise defined herein have the meanings given to such terms in the Purchase Agreement. Prior to the signing of the Purchase Agreement, officers of the Company will be reasonably available to answer inquiries from prospective Purchasers.
SECTION 1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY; COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY.
A. Representations of the Company. Each of the representations and warranties (together with any related disclosure schedules thereto) and covenants made by the Company to the Purchasers in the Purchase Agreement in connection with the Placement is hereby incorporated herein by reference into this Agreement (as though fully restated herein) and is, as of the date of this Agreement and as of the Closing Date, hereby made to, and in favor of, the Placement Agent. In addition to the foregoing, the Company represents and warrants that:
1. The Company has prepared and filed with the Commission a registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-271902), and amendments thereto, and related preliminary prospectuses, for the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), of the Securities, which registration statement, as so amended (including post-effective amendments, if any) became effective on May 19, 2023. At the time of such filing, the Company met the requirements of Form S-3 under the Securities Act. Such registration statement meets the requirements set forth in Rule 415(a)(1)(x) under the Securities Act and complies with said Rule. The Company will file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, and the rules and regulations (the “Rules and Regulations”) of the Commission promulgated thereunder, a supplement to the form of prospectus included in such registration statement relating to the placement of the Securities and the plan of distribution thereof and has advised the Placement Agent of all further information (financial and other) with respect to the Company required to be set forth therein. Such registration statement, including the exhibits thereto, as amended at the date of this Agreement, is hereinafter called the “Registration Statement”; such prospectus in the form in which it appears in the Registration Statement at the time of effectiveness is hereinafter called the “Base Prospectus”; and the supplemented form of prospectus, in the form in which it will be filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) (including the Base Prospectus as so supplemented) is hereinafter called the “Prospectus Supplement.” Any reference in this Agreement to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein (the “Incorporated Documents”) pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 which were filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), on or before the date of this Agreement, or the issue date of the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement, as the case may be; and any reference in this Agreement to the terms “amend,” “amendment” or “supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing of any document under the Exchange Act after the date of this Agreement, or the issue date of the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement, as the case may be, deemed to be incorporated therein by reference. All references in this Agreement to financial statements and schedules and other information which is “contained,” “included,” “described,” “referenced,” “set forth” or “stated” in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement (and all other references of like import) shall be deemed to mean and include all such financial statements and schedules and other information which is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement, as the case may be. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the use of the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus Supplement has been issued, and no proceeding for any such purpose is pending or has been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, is threatened by the Commission.
2. The Registration Statement (and any further documents to be filed with the Commission) contains all exhibits and schedules as required by the Securities Act. Each of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time it became effective, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations and did not and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Base Prospectus, and the Prospectus Supplement, each as of its respective date, comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations. Each of the Base Prospectus, and the Prospectus Supplement, as amended or supplemented, did not and will not contain as of the date thereof any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The Incorporated Documents, when they were filed with the Commission, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and none of such documents, when they were filed with the Commission, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein (with respect to Incorporated Documents incorporated by reference in the Base Prospectus or Prospectus
Supplement), in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading; and any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Base Prospectus or Prospectus Supplement, when such documents are filed with the Commission, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations, as applicable, and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. No post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement reflecting any facts or events arising after the date thereof which represent, individually or in the aggregate, a fundamental change in the information set forth therein is required to be filed with the Commission. There are no documents required to be filed with the Commission in connection with the transaction contemplated hereby that (x) have not been filed as required pursuant to the Securities Act or (y) will not be filed within the requisite time period. There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Base Prospectus, or Prospectus Supplement, or to be filed as exhibits or schedules to the Registration Statement, which (x) have not been described or filed as required or (y) will not be filed within the requisite time period.
3. [Reserved]
4. There are no affiliations with any FINRA member firm among the Company’s officers, directors or, to the knowledge of the Company, any ten percent (10.0%) or greater stockholder of the Company, except as set forth in the Registration Statement and SEC Reports.
B. Covenants of the Company. The Company has delivered or made available, or will as promptly as practicable deliver or make available, to the Placement Agent complete conformed copies of the Registration Statement and of each consent and certificate of experts, as applicable, filed as a part thereof, and conformed copies of the Registration Statement (without exhibits), the Base Prospectus, and the Prospectus Supplement, as amended or supplemented, in such quantities and at such places as the Placement Agent reasonably requests. Neither the Company nor any of its directors and officers has distributed and none of them will distribute, prior to the Closing Date, any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities pursuant to the Placement other than the Base Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement, the Registration Statement, copies of the documents incorporated by reference therein and any other materials permitted by the Securities Act.
SECTION 2. REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PLACEMENT AGENT.
A. The Placement Agent represents and warrants that it (i) is a member in good standing of FINRA, (ii) is registered as a broker/dealer under the Exchange Act, (iii) is licensed as a broker/dealer under the laws of the States applicable to the offers and sales of the Securities by such Placement Agent, (iv) is and will be a corporate entity validly existing under the laws of its place of incorporation, and (v) has full power and authority to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Placement Agent will immediately notify the Company in writing of any change in its status as such. The Placement Agent covenants that it will use its reasonable best efforts to conduct the Placement hereunder in compliance with the provisions of this Agreement and the requirements of applicable law.
SECTION 3. COMPENSATION.
A. In consideration of the services to be provided for hereunder, the Company shall pay to the Placement Agent or their respective designees, the following compensation with respect to the placement of the Securities:
1. A cash fee (the “Cash Fee”) equal to an aggregate of up to six percent (6.0%) of the aggregate gross proceeds raised in the Placement as provided in the Engagement Agreement (as defined below). The Cash Fee shall be paid to the Placement Agent at the Closing of the Placement.
2. Subject to compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(D), the Company also agrees to reimburse the Placement Agent for all travel and other out-of-pocket expenses, including the reasonable fees, costs and disbursements of its legal counsel, in an amount not to exceed an aggregate of $75,000. The Company will reimburse the Placement Agent directly out of the Closing of the Placement. In the event that this Agreement shall terminate prior to the consummation of the Placement, Citizens JMP shall nevertheless still be entitled to reimbursement for its actual expenses; provided, however, that such expenses shall not exceed $25,000, in the aggregate.
B. The Placement Agent reserves the right to reduce any item of its compensation or adjust the terms thereof as specified herein in the event that a determination shall be made by FINRA to the effect that such Placement Agent’s aggregate compensation is in excess of FINRA Rules or that the terms thereof require adjustment.
SECTION 4. INDEMNIFICATION. The Company agrees to the indemnification and other agreements set forth in Exhibit A of the engagement agreement between the Company and Citizens JMP, dated January 26, 2024 (the “Engagement Agreement”), the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference and shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement (the “Indemnification Provisions”).
SECTION 5. ENGAGEMENT TERM. The Placement Agent engagement hereunder shall be until the Closing Date (such date, the “Termination Date” and the period of time during which this Agreement remains in effect is referred to herein as the “Term”). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the provisions concerning the Company’s obligation to pay any fees actually earned pursuant to Section 3 hereof and the provisions concerning confidentiality, indemnification and contribution contained herein and the Company’s obligations contained in the Indemnification Provisions will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement. If this Agreement is terminated prior to the completion of the Placement, all fees due to the Placement Agent shall be paid by the Company to the Placement Agent on or before the Termination Date (in the event such fees are earned or owed as of the Termination Date). The Placement Agent agrees not to use any confidential information concerning the Company provided to the Placement Agent by the Company for any purposes other than those contemplated under this Agreement.
SECTION 6. PLACEMENT AGENT INFORMATION. The Company agrees that any information or advice rendered by the Placement Agent in connection with this engagement is for the confidential use of the Company only in their evaluation of the Placement and, except as otherwise required by law, the Company will not disclose or otherwise refer to the advice or information in any manner without the Placement Agent’s prior written consent.
SECTION 7. NO FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP. This Agreement does not create, and shall not be construed as creating rights enforceable by any person or entity not a party hereto, except those entitled hereto by virtue of the Indemnification Provisions hereof. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Placement Agent is not and shall not be construed as a fiduciary of the Company and shall have no duties or liabilities to the equity holders or the creditors of the Company or any other person by virtue of this Agreement or the retention of such Placement Agent hereunder, all of which are hereby expressly waived.
SECTION 8. CLOSING. The obligations of the Placement Agent, and the closing of the sale of the Securities hereunder are subject to the accuracy, when made and on the Closing Date, of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein and in the Purchase Agreement, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of their obligations hereunder, and to each of the following additional terms and conditions, except as otherwise disclosed to and acknowledged and waived by the Placement Agent:
A. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission, and any request for additional information on the part of the Commission (to be included in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement or otherwise) shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Placement Agent. Any filings required to be made by the Company in connection with the Placement shall have been timely filed with the Commission.
B. The Placement Agent shall not have discovered and disclosed to the Company on or prior to the Closing Date that the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement or any amendment or supplement thereto contains an untrue statement of a fact which, in the opinion of counsel for the Placement Agent, is material or omits to state any fact which, in the opinion of such counsel, is material and is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.
C. All corporate proceedings and other legal matters incident to the authorization, form, execution, delivery and validity of each of this Agreement, the Securities, the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement and all other legal matters relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be reasonably satisfactory in all material respects to counsel for Citizens JMP, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel all documents and information that they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.
D. The Placement Agent shall have received from Xxxxxx LLP, outside counsel to the Company, its written opinion and a negative assurance letter addressed to the Placement Agent and dated as of the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Placement Agent.
E. The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause to be delivered to the Placement Agent on the Closing Date a “comfort” letter from Xxxxx & Young LLP, the Company’s independent registered accounting firm, addressed to the Placement Agent and in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Placement Agent.
F. On the Closing Date, the Placement Agent shall have received a certificate of the chief executive officer of the Company, dated, as applicable, as of the Closing Date, to the effect that, as of the date of this Agreement and as of the applicable date, the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein and in the Purchase Agreement were and are accurate in all material respects (as modified by disclosure schedules thereto), except for such changes as are contemplated by this Agreement and except as to representations and warranties that were expressly limited to a state of facts existing at a time prior to the applicable Closing Date, and that, as of the applicable date, the obligations to be performed by the Company hereunder on or prior thereto have been fully performed in all material respects.
G. On the Closing Date, the Placement Agent shall have received a certificate of the Secretary of the Company, dated as of the Closing Date, certifying to the organizational documents, good standing in the state of incorporation of the Company and board resolutions relating to the Placement of the Securities from the Company.
H. Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement and prior to the Closing Date, there shall not have occurred any Material Adverse Effect.
I. The Common Stock is registered under the Exchange Act and, as of the Closing Date, the Shares and the shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants shall be listed for trading on the Trading Market or other applicable U.S. national exchange. The Company shall have taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of terminating the registration of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act or delisting or suspending from trading the Common Stock from the Trading Market, nor has the Company received any information suggesting that the Commission or the Trading Market is contemplating terminating such registration or listing.
J. No action shall have been taken and no statute, rule, regulation or order shall have been enacted, adopted or issued by any governmental agency or body which would, as of the Closing Date, prevent the issuance or sale of the Securities or materially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company; and no injunction, restraining order or order of any other nature by any federal or state court of competent jurisdiction shall have been issued as of the Closing Date which would prevent the issuance or sale of the Securities or materially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company.
K. The Company shall have prepared and filed with the Commission a Current Report on Form 8-K with respect to the Placement, including as an exhibit thereto this Agreement.
L. The Company shall have entered into a Purchase Agreement with each of the Purchasers and such agreements shall be in full force and effect and shall contain representations, warranties and covenants of the Company as agreed between the Company and the Purchasers.
X. XXXXX shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the terms and arrangements of this Agreement. In addition, the Company shall, if requested by the Placement Agent, make or authorize Placement Agent’s counsel to make on the Company’s behalf, any filing with the FINRA Corporate Financing Department pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110 with respect to the Placement and pay all filing fees required in connection therewith.
If any of the conditions specified in this Section 8 shall not have been fulfilled when and as required by this Agreement, all obligations of the Placement Agent hereunder may be cancelled by the Placement Agent at, or at any time prior to, the consummation of the Closing. Notice of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or orally. Any such oral notice shall be confirmed promptly thereafter in writing.
SECTION 9. [RESERVED].
SECTION 10. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and to be performed entirely in such State. This Agreement may not be assigned by either party without the prior written consent of the other party. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto, and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Any right to trial by jury with respect to any dispute arising under this Agreement or any transaction or conduct in connection herewith is waived. Any dispute arising under this Agreement may be brought into the courts of the State of New York or into the Federal Court located in New York, New York and, by execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Company hereby accepts for itself and in respect of its property, generally and unconditionally, the jurisdiction of aforesaid courts. Each party hereto hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to
process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by delivering a copy thereof via overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any manner permitted by law. If either party shall commence an action or proceeding to enforce any provisions of a Transaction Document, then the prevailing party in such action or proceeding shall be reimbursed by the other party for its attorney’s fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such action or proceeding.
SECTION 11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT/MISC. This Agreement (including the Indemnification Provisions incorporated herein) embodies the entire agreement and understanding between the parties hereto, and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, relating to the subject matter hereof. If any provision of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable in any respect, such determination will not affect such provision in any other respect or any other provision of this Agreement, which will remain in full force and effect. This Agreement may not be amended or otherwise modified or waived except by an instrument in writing signed by the Placement Agent and the Company. The representations, warranties, agreements and covenants contained herein shall survive the closing of the Placement and delivery of the Securities. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to the other party, it being understood that both parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission or a .pdf format file, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such facsimile or .pdf signature page were an original thereof. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the terms of the Engagement Agreement, including, for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2, shall continue to be effective pursuant to the terms thereof.
SECTION 12. CONFIDENTIALITY. The Placement Agent (i) will keep the Confidential Information (as such term is defined below) confidential and will not (except as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, regulation or legal process (“Legal Requirement”)), without the Company’s prior written consent, disclose to any person any Confidential Information, and (ii) will not use any Confidential Information other than in connection with the Placement. The Placement Agent further agrees to disclose the Confidential Information only to its Representatives (as such term is defined below) who need to know the Confidential Information for the purpose of the Placement, and who are informed by the Placement Agent of the confidential nature of the Confidential Information. The term “Confidential Information” shall mean, all confidential, proprietary and non-public information (whether written, oral or electronic communications) furnished by the Company to a Placement Agent or its Representatives in connection with such Placement Agent’s evaluation of the Placement. The term “Confidential Information” will not, however, include information which (i) is or becomes publicly available other than as a result of a disclosure by a Placement Agent or its Representatives in violation of this Agreement, (ii) is or becomes available to a Placement Agent or any of its Representatives on a non-confidential basis from a third-party, (iii) is known to a Placement Agent or any of its Representatives prior to disclosure by the Company or any of its Representatives, or (iv) is or has been independently developed by a Placement Agent and/or the Representatives without use of any Confidential Information furnished to it by the Company. The term “Representatives” shall mean the Placement Agent’s directors, board committees, officers, employees, financial advisors, attorneys and accountants. This provision shall be in full force until the earlier of (a) the date that the Confidential Information ceases to be confidential and (b) two years from the date hereof. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, in the event that the Placement Agent or any of its Representatives are required by Legal Requirement to disclose any of the Confidential Information, such Placement Agent and its Representatives will furnish only that portion of the Confidential Information which such Placement Agent or its Representative, as applicable, is required to disclose by Legal Requirement as advised by counsel, and will use reasonable efforts to obtain reliable assurance that confidential treatment will be accorded the Confidential Information so disclosed.
SECTION 13. NOTICES. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries required or permitted to be provided hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of (a) the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is sent to the email address specified on the signature pages attached hereto prior to 6:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a business day, (b) the next business day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is sent to the email address on the signature pages attached hereto on a day that is not a business day or later than 6:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any business day, (c) the third business day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. internationally recognized air courier service, or (d) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. The address for such notices and communications shall be as set forth on the signature pages hereto.
SECTION 14. PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Company agrees that the Placement Agent shall, from and after any Closing, have the right to reference the Placement and the Placement Agent’s role in connection therewith in the Placement Agent’s marketing materials and on its website and to place advertisements in financial and other newspapers and journals, in each case at its own expense.
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Please confirm that the foregoing correctly sets forth our agreement by signing and returning to Citizens JMP the enclosed copy of this Agreement.
| Very truly yours, | ||
| CITIZENS JMP SECURITIES, LLC | ||
| By: | /s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxxx | |
| Name: Xxxxx Xxxxxxx | ||
| Title: Managing Director | ||
| Address for notice: | ||
| 000 Xxxx Xxx, Xxxxx 0 | ||
| New York, NY 10022 | ||
| Accepted and Agreed to as of the date first written above: | ||
| CLEARSIDE BIOMEDICAL, INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx | |
| Name: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx | ||
| Title: Chief Financial Officer | ||
Address for notice:
000 Xxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Suite 200
Alpharetta, Georgia 30005
[Signature Page to Placement Agency Agreement]
