REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT
Exhibit 10.13
THIS REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT, dated as of February 28, 2005 (this "Agreement"), is made by and between LIBERTY STAR GOLD CORP., a Nevada corporation with headquarters located at 0000 X. Xxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxx, Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxx 00000 (the “Company”), and each entity named on a signature page hereto (each, an “Investor”).
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Private Placement Subscription Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2005, between the Investor and the Company (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”) (capitalized terms not defined in this Agreement have the meaning set out in the Securities Purchase Agreement), the Company has agreed to issue and sell to the Investors the Shares and the Warrants; and
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WHEREAS, the Warrant Shares may be issued upon the exercise of the Warrants; and |
WHEREAS, the Company has agreed to provide certain registration rights under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, or any similar successor statute (collectively, the “Securities Act”), with respect to the Registrable Securities (as defined below);
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants contained herein and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company and the Investor hereby agree as follows:
1. Definitions. As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Effective Date” means the date the SEC declares a Registration Statement covering Registrable Securities and otherwise meeting the conditions contemplated hereby to be effective.
“Investor” means the Investor and any permitted transferee or assignee who agrees to become bound by the provisions of this Agreement and who holds Shares, Warrants or Warrant Shares.
“Permitted Suspension Period” means up to two periods during any consecutive 12-month period during which the holder’s right to sell Registrable Securities under the Registration Statement is suspended, each of which suspension period shall neither (i) be for more than fifteen (15) days nor (ii) begin less than ten (10) business days after the last day of the preceding suspension (whether or not such last day was during or after a Permitted Suspension Period).
“Register,” “Registered,” and “Registration” refer to a registration effected by preparing and filing a Registration Statement or Statements in compliance with the Securities Act and pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act or any successor rule providing for offering securities on a continuous basis (“Rule 415"), and the declaration or ordering of effectiveness of such Registration Statement by the SEC.
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"Registrable Securities" means, collectively, the Shares and the Warrant Shares. |
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“Registration Statement” means a registration statement of the Company under the Securities Act covering Registrable Securities on Form SB-2, if the Company is then eligible to file using such form, and if not eligible, on Form S-1 or other appropriate form.
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“Required Effective Date” means, 90 days from the date of the Required Filing Date; |
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“Required Filing Date” means 60 days from the Closing Date. |
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“Shares” means the Shares acquired by the Investor under the Securities Purchase Agreement. |
“Warrants” means the Warrants acquired by the Investor under the Securities Purchase Agreement.
“Warrant Shares” means the common shares of the Company acquired by the Investor upon exercise of the Warrants.
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2. |
Registration. |
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(a) |
Mandatory Registration. |
(i) The Company shall use its commercially reasonable best efforts to prepare and file with the SEC, within 30 days after the Closing Date and will file no later than the Required Filing Date, a Registration Statement registering for resale by the Investor a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock for the Investors to sell the Registrable Securities. The parties acknowledge that other securities issued by the Company will be registered on the same Registration Statement.
(ii) The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to cause such Registration Statement to be declared effective on or before the Required Effective Date.
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(b) |
Return of Payments by the Company. |
(i) If the Registration Statement covering the Registrable Securities is not filed as contemplated by this Agreement with the SEC by the Required Filing Date, the Company will require its attorneys who are acting as escrow agents to hold the proceeds under the Securities Purchase Agreement to return the proceeds to the Investor, without deduction except bank wiring charges, if applicable.
(ii) In exercising the rights, duties and obligations prescribed or confirmed by this Agreement, the Escrow Agent will act honestly and in good faith and will exercise that degree of care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances.
(iii) The Company and the Investor jointly and severally covenant and agree from time to time and at all times hereafter well and truly to save, defend and keep harmless and fully indemnify the Escrow Agent, its successors, and assigns, from and against all loss, costs, charges, suits, demands, claims, damages and expenses which the Escrow Agent, its successors or assigns may at any time or times hereafter bear, sustain, suffer or be put unto for or by reason or on account of its acting pursuant to this Agreement or anything in any manner relating thereto or by reason of the Escrow Agent’s compliance in good faith with the terms hereof.
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(iv) If the Escrow Agent receives any written instructions contrary to the instructions contained in this Agreement, the Escrow Agent may continue to hold the proceeds until the lawful determination of the issue between the parties hereto.
(v) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Escrow Agent may act upon any written instructions given by the Company and the Investor jointly.
(vi) The Company and the Investor acknowledge that Xxxxx Xxxxxx LLP has consented to act as escrow agent only on the condition the above terms are binding upon each of them, and Xxxxx, Xxxxxx LLP will take the benefit of this bargain notwithstanding that they have not executed this Agreement.
3. Obligations of the Company. In connection with the registration of the Registrable Securities, the Company shall do each of the following:
(a) Prepare promptly, and file with the SEC by the Required Filing Date a Registration Statement with respect to not less than the number of Registrable Securities provided in Section 2(a) above, and thereafter use its reasonable best efforts to cause such Registration Statement relating to Registrable Securities to become effective by the Required Effective Date and keep the Registration Statement effective at all times other than during Permitted Suspension Periods during the period (the “Registration Period”) continuing until the earlier of (i) the date when the Investors may sell all Registrable Securities under Rule 144 without volume or other restrictions or limits (the “Unrestricted Sale Date”) or (ii) the date the Investors no longer own any of the Registrable Securities, which Registration Statement (including any amendments or supplements thereto and prospectuses contained therein) shall 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, in light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading;
(b) Prepare and file with the SEC such amendments (including post-effective amendments) and supplements to the Registration Statement and the prospectus used in connection with the Registration Statement as may be necessary to keep the Registration Statement effective at all times during the Registration Period, and, during the Registration Period, comply with the provisions of the Securities Act with respect to the disposition of all Registrable Securities of the Company covered by the Registration Statement until such time as all of such Registrable Securities have been disposed of in accordance with the intended methods of disposition by the seller or sellers thereof as set forth in the Registration Statement;
(c) Furnish to each Investor or its agent (i) promptly after the same is prepared and publicly distributed, filed with the SEC, or received by the Company, one (1) copy of the Registration Statement, each preliminary prospectus and prospectus, and each amendment or supplement thereto, and (ii) such number of copies of a prospectus, and all amendments and supplements thereto and such other documents, as such Investor may reasonably request in order to facilitate the disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by such Investor;
(d) As promptly as practicable after becoming aware thereof, notify each Investor of the happening of any event of which the Company has knowledge, as a result of which the prospectus included in the Registration Statement, as then in effect, includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and use its best efforts promptly to prepare a supplement or amendment to the Registration Statement or other appropriate filing with the
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SEC to correct such untrue statement or omission, and deliver a number of copies of such supplement or amendment to each Investor as such Investor may reasonably request;
(e) As promptly as practicable after becoming aware thereof, notify each Investor who holds Registrable Securities being sold (or, in the event of an underwritten offering, the managing underwriters) of the issuance by the SEC of a Notice of Effectiveness or any notice of effectiveness or any stop order or other suspension of the effectiveness of the Registration Statement at the earliest possible time;
(f) Comply with Regulation FD or any similar rule or regulation regarding the dissemination of information regarding the Company, and in furtherance of the foregoing, and not in limitation thereof, not disclose to the Investor any non-public material information regarding the Company;
(g) Notwithstanding the foregoing, if at any time or from time to time after the date of effectiveness of the Registration Statement, the Company notifies the Investors in writing that the effectiveness of the Registration Statement is suspended for any reason, whether due to a potential material event or otherwise, the Investors shall not offer or sell any Registrable Securities, or engage in any other transaction involving or relating to the Registrable Securities, from the time of the giving of such notice until such Investor receives written notice from the Company that such the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been restored, whether because the potential material event has been disclosed to the public or otherwise; provided, however, that the Company may not so suspend the right to such holders of Registrable Securities during the periods the Registration Statement is required to be in effect other than during a Permitted Suspension Period;
(h) Provide a transfer agent (“Transfer Agent”) and registrar, which may be a single entity, for the Registrable Securities not later than the initial Effective Date;
(i) Take all other reasonable administrative steps and actions (including the participation of Company counsel) necessary to expedite and facilitate disposition by the Investor of the Registrable Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement; provided, however, that the foregoing does not require that the Company take any steps whatsoever regarding the identification or selection of a broker to sell the Registrable Securities, the identification of buyers of the Registrable Securities, or the negotiation of the sale terms of the Registrable Securities.
4. Obligations of the Investors. In connection with the registration of the Registrable Securities, the Investors shall have the following obligations:
(a) Each Investor, by such Investor's acceptance of the Registrable Securities, agrees to cooperate with the Company as reasonably requested by the Company in connection with the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement hereunder, unless such Investor has notified the Company in writing of such Investor's election to exclude all of such Investor's Registrable Securities from the Registration Statement; and
(b) Each Investor agrees that, upon receipt of any notice from the Company of the happening of any event of the kind described in Section 3 above, such Investor will immediately discontinue disposition of Registrable Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement covering such Registrable Securities until such Investor's receipt of the copies of the supplemented or amended prospectus contemplated by Section 3, and, if so directed by the Company, such Investor shall deliver to the Company (at the expense of the Company) or destroy (and deliver to the Company a certificate of
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destruction) all copies in such Investor's possession, of the prospectus covering such Registrable Securities current at the time of receipt of such notice.
(c) Each Investor agrees that the Investor will notify the Company in writing when the Investor no longer is the Holder of any Registrable Securities or Securities exercisable for Registrable Securities.
5. Expenses of Registration. All reasonable expenses (other than underwriting discounts and commissions of the Investor) incurred in connection with registrations, filings or qualifications pursuant to Section 3, but including, without limitation, all registration, listing, and qualifications fees, printers and accounting fees, shall be borne by the Company.
6. Indemnification. In the event any Registrable Securities are included in a Registration Statement under this Agreement:
(a) To the extent permitted by law, the Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Investor who holds such Registrable Securities, the directors, if any, of such Investor, the officers, if any, of such Investor, (each, an “Indemnified Party”), against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses (joint or several) incurred (collectively, “Claims”) to which any of them may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such Claims (or actions or proceedings, whether commenced or threatened, in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon any of the following statements, omissions or violations in the Registration Statement, or any post-effective amendment thereof, or any prospectus included therein: (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereof or the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the final prospectus (as amended or supplemented, if the Company files any amendment thereof or supplement thereto with the SEC) or the omission or alleged omission to state therein any material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in light of the circumstances under which the statements therein were made, not misleading or (iii) any violation or alleged violation by the Company of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, any state securities law or any rule or regulation under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any state securities law (the matters in the foregoing clauses (i) through (iii) being, collectively referred to as “Violations”). Subject to clause (b) of this Section 6, the Company shall reimburse the Investors, promptly as such expenses are incurred and are due and payable, for any reasonable legal fees or other reasonable expenses incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending any such Claim. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the indemnification agreement contained in this Section 6(a) shall not (I) apply to any Claim arising out of or based upon a Violation which occurs in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by or on behalf of such Indemnified Party expressly for use in connection with the preparation of the Registration Statement or any such amendment thereof or supplement thereto, if such prospectus was timely made available by the Company pursuant to Section 3(b) hereof; (II) be available to the extent such Claim is based on a failure of the Investor to deliver or cause to be delivered the prospectus made available by the Company or the amendment or supplement thereto made available by the Company; (III) be available to the extent such Claim is based on the delivery of a prospectus by the Investor after receiving notice from the Company under Section 3 hereof (other than a notice regarding the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement thereto), or (IV) apply to amounts paid in settlement of any Claim if such settlement is effected without the prior written consent of the Company, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. The Investor will indemnify the Company and its officers, directors and agents (each, an “Indemnified Party”) against any claims arising out of or based upon a Violation which occurs in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company, by or on behalf
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of such Investor, expressly for use in connection with the preparation of the Registration Statement or the amendment or supplement thereto, subject to such limitations and conditions as are applicable to the indemnification provided by the Company to this Section 6. Such indemnity shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Indemnified Party and shall survive the transfer of the Registrable Securities by the Investors pursuant to Section 9.
(b) Promptly after receipt by an Indemnified Party under this Section 6 of notice of the commencement of any action (including any governmental action), such Indemnified Party shall, if a Claim in respect thereof is to be made against any indemnifying party under this Section 6, deliver to the indemnifying party a written notice of the commencement thereof and the indemnifying party shall have the right to participate in, and, to the extent the indemnifying party so desires, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly noticed, to assume control of the defense thereof with counsel mutually satisfactory to the indemnifying party and the Indemnified Party or the Indemnified Party, as the case may be. In case any such action is brought against any Indemnified Party, and it notifies the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate in, and, to the extent that it may wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, assume the defense thereof, subject to the provisions herein stated and after notice from the indemnifying party to such Indemnified Party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party will not be liable to such Indemnified Party under this Section 6 for any legal or other reasonable out-of-pocket expenses subsequently incurred by such Indemnified Party in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation, unless the indemnifying party shall not pursue the action to its final conclusion. The Indemnified Party shall have the right to employ separate counsel in any such action and to participate in the defense thereof, but the fees and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses of such counsel shall not be at the expense of the indemnifying party if the indemnifying party has assumed the defense of the action with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Party provided such counsel is of the opinion that all defenses available to the Indemnified Party can be maintained without prejudicing the rights of the indemnifying party. The failure to deliver written notice to the indemnifying party within a reasonable time of the commencement of any such action shall not relieve such indemnifying party of any liability to the Indemnified Party under this Section 6, except to the extent that the indemnifying party is prejudiced in its ability to defend such action. The indemnification required by this Section 6 shall be made by periodic payments of the amount thereof during the course of the investigation or defense, as such expense, loss, damage or liability is incurred and is due and payable.
7. Contribution. To the extent any indemnification by an indemnifying party is prohibited or limited by law, the indemnifying party agrees to make the maximum contribution with respect to any amounts for which it would otherwise be liable under Section 6 to the fullest extent permitted by law; provided, however, that (a) no contribution shall be made under circumstances where the maker would not have been liable for indemnification under the fault standards set forth in Section 6; (b) no seller of Registrable Securities guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any seller of Registrable Securities who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation; and (c) except where the seller has committed fraud (other than a fraud by reason of the information included or omitted from the Registration Statement as to which the Company has not given notice as contemplated under Section 3 hereof) or intentional misconduct, contribution by any seller of Registrable Securities shall be limited in amount to the net amount of proceeds received by such seller from the sale of such Registrable Securities.
8. Reports under Securities Act and Exchange Act. With a view to making available to Investor the benefits of Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act or any other similar rule or regulation of the SEC that may at any time permit Investor to sell securities of the Company to the public without Registration (“Rule 144”), the Company agrees to:
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(a) make and keep public information available, as those terms are understood and defined in Rule 144; and
(b) file with the SEC in a timely manner all reports and other documents required of the Company under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act.
9. Amendment of Registration Rights. Any provision of this Agreement may be amended and the observance thereof may be waived (either generally or in a particular instance and either retroactively or prospectively), only with the written consent of the Company and Investors who hold a eighty (80%) percent interest of the Registrable Securities (as calculated by the number of Shares then held by the Investors). Any amendment or waiver effected in accordance with this Section 9 shall be binding upon each Investor and the Company.
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10. |
Miscellaneous. |
(a) Notices required or permitted to be given hereunder shall be given in the manner contemplated by the Securities Purchase Agreement, (i) if to the Company or to the Investor, to their respective address contemplated by the Securities Purchase Agreement, or at such other address as each such party furnishes by notice given in accordance with this Section.
(b) Failure of any party to exercise any right or remedy under this Agreement or otherwise, or delay by a party in exercising such right or remedy, shall not operate as a waiver thereof.
(c) This Agreement shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Arizona for contracts to be wholly performed in such state and without giving effect to the principles thereof regarding the conflict of laws. Each party attorns to the jurisdiction of the courts of Arizona with regard to any conflict under this Agreement.
(d) This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the successors and assigns of each of the parties hereto.
(e) Each Investor has been advised to seek and obtain independent legal advice prior to execution of this Agreement.
(f) The headings in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and shall not limit or otherwise affect the meaning thereof.
(g) This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of which shall constitute one and the same agreement. This Agreement, once executed by a party, may be delivered to the other party hereto by facsimile transmission or PDF of a copy of this Agreement bearing the signature of the party so delivering this Agreement.
(l) This Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement constitute the entire agreement among the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings among the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof. There are no restrictions, promises, warranties or undertakings, other than those set forth or referred to herein.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be duly executed by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized as of the day and year first above written.
By: _________________________________
Name: ______________________________
Title: _______________________________
INVESTOR:
____________________________________
[Print Name of Initial Investor]
By: _________________________________
Name: ______________________________
Title: _______________________________
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