FORM OF GENERAL INTERNET INC.
STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of this day of 19 , by and between General
Internet Inc., a New York corporation and ________________________________,
Optionee under the Corporation's 1998 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan.
All capitalized terms in this Agreement shall have the meaning
assigned to them in this Agreement or in the attached Appendix.
I. EXERCISE OF OPTION
1. Exercise. Optionee hereby purchases shares of Common Stock (the
"Purchased Shares") pursuant to that certain option (the "Option") granted
Optionee on ____________________, 199__ (the "Grant Date") to purchase up to
_______________ shares of Common Stock under the Plan at the exercise price of
$______ per share (the "Exercise Price").
2. Payment. Concurrently with the delivery of this Agreement to the
Corporation, Optionee shall pay the Exercise Price for the Purchased Shares in
accordance with the provisions of the Option Agreement and shall deliver
whatever additional documents may be required by the Option Agreement as a
condition for exercise.
3. Stockholder Rights. Until such time as the Corporation exercises
the First Refusal Right, Optionee (or any successor in interest) shall have all
the rights of a stockholder (including voting, dividend and liquidation rights)
with respect to the Purchased Shares, subject, however, to the transfer
restrictions of Articles B and C.
A. SECURITIES LAW COMPLIANCE
1. Restricted Securities. The Purchased Shares have not been
registered under the 1933 Act and are being issued to Optionee in reliance upon
the exemption from such registration provided by SEC Rule 701 for stock
issuances under compensatory benefit plans such as the Plan. Optionee hereby
confirms that Optionee has been informed that the Purchased Shares are
restricted securities under the 1933 Act and may not be resold or transferred
unless the Purchased Shares are first registered under the Federal securities
laws or unless an exemption from such registration is available. Accordingly,
Optionee hereby acknowledges that Optionee is prepared to hold the Purchased
Shares for an indefinite period and that Optionee is aware that SEC Rule 144
issued under the 1933 Act which exempts certain resales of unrestricted
securities is not presently available to exempt the resale of the Purchased
Shares from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act.
2. Restrictions on Disposition of Purchased Shares. Optionee shall
make no disposition of the Purchased Shares (other than a Permitted Transfer)
unless and until there is compliance with all of the following requirements:
(i) Optionee shall have provided the Corporation with a written
summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition.
(ii) Optionee shall have complied with all requirements of this
Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Purchased Shares.
(iii) Optionee shall have provided the Corporation with written
assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Corporation, that
(a) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the
Purchased Shares under the 1933 Act or (b) all appropriate action
necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the 1933
Act or any exemption from registration available under the 1933 Act
(including Rule 144) has been taken.
The Corporation shall not be required (i) to transfer on its books
any Purchased Shares which have been sold or transferred in violation of the
provisions of this Agreement or (ii) to treat as the owner of the Purchased
Shares, or otherwise to accord voting, dividend or liquidation rights to, any
transferee to whom the Purchased Shares have been transferred in contravention
of this Agreement.
3. Restrictive Legends. The stock certificates for the Purchased
Shares shall be endorsed with the following restrictive legend:
"The shares represented by this certificate have not been
registered under the Securities Act of 1933. The shares may not be
sold or offered for sale in the absence of (a) an effective
registration statement for the shares under such Act, (b) a `no
action' letter of the Securities and Exchange Commission with
respect to such sale or offer or (c) satisfactory assurances to the
Corporation that registration under such Act is not required with
respect to such sale or offer."
B. TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS
1. Restriction on Transfer. Except for any Permitted Transfer,
Optionee shall not transfer, assign, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the
Purchased Shares in contravention of the First Refusal Right or the Market
Stand-Off.
2. Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Corporation)
to whom the Purchased Shares are transferred by means of a Permitted Transfer
must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in
writing to the Corporation that such person is bound by the provisions of this
Agreement and that the transferred shares are subject to (i) the First Refusal
Right and (ii) the Market Stand-Off, to the same extent such shares would be so
subject if retained by Optionee.
3. Market Stand-Off.
(a) In connection with any underwritten public offering by the
Corporation of its equity securities pursuant to an effective registration
statement filed under the 1933 Act, including the Corporation's initial public
offering, Owner shall not sell, make any
short sale of, loan, hypothecate, pledge, grant any option for the purchase of,
or otherwise dispose or transfer for value or otherwise agree to engage in any
of the foregoing transactions with respect to, any Purchased Shares without the
prior written consent of the Corporation or its underwriters. Such restriction
(the "Market Stand-Off") shall be in effect for such period of time from and
after the effective date of the final prospectus for the offering as may be
requested by the Corporation or such underwriters. In no event, however, shall
such period exceed one hundred eighty (180) days and the Market Stand-Off shall
in all events terminate two (2) years after the effective date of the
Corporation's initial public offering.
(b) Owner shall be subject to the Market Stand-Off provided
and only if the officers and directors of the Corporation are also subject to
similar restrictions.
(c) Any new, substituted or additional securities which are by
reason of any Recapitalization or Reorganization distributed with respect to the
Purchased Shares shall be immediately subject to the Market Stand-Off, to the
same extent the Purchased Shares are at such time covered by such provisions.
(d) In order to enforce the Market Stand-Off, the Corporation
may impose stop-transfer instructions with respect to the Purchased Shares until
the end of the applicable stand-off period.
C. RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL
1. Grant. The Corporation is hereby granted the right of first
refusal (the "First Refusal Right"), exercisable in connection with any proposed
transfer of the Purchased Shares. For purposes of this Article D, the term
"transfer" shall include any sale, assignment, pledge, encumbrance or other
disposition of the Purchased Shares intended to be made by Owner, but shall not
include any Permitted Transfer.
2. Notice of Intended Disposition. In the event any Owner of
Purchased Shares desires to accept a bona fide third-party offer for the
transfer of any or all of such shares (the Purchased Shares subject to such
offer to be hereinafter referred to as the "Target Shares"), Owner shall
promptly (i) deliver to the Corporation written notice (the "Disposition
Notice") of the terms of the offer, including the purchase price and the
identity of the third-party offeror, and (ii) provide satisfactory proof that
the disposition of the Target Shares to such third-party offeror would not be in
contravention of the provisions set forth in Articles B and C.
3. Exercise of the First Refusal Right. The Corporation shall, for a
period of forty-five (45) days following receipt of the Disposition Notice, have
the right to repurchase any or all of the Target Shares subject to the
Disposition Notice upon the same terms as those specified therein or upon such
other terms (not materially different from those specified in the Disposition
Notice) to which Owner consents. Such right shall be exercisable by delivery of
written notice (the "Exercise Notice") to Owner prior to the expiration of the
forty-five (45)-day exercise period. If such right is exercised with respect to
all the Target Shares, then the Corporation shall effect the repurchase of such
shares, including payment of the purchase price, not more than fifteen (15)
business days after delivery of the Exercise Notice; and at such time the
certificates representing the Target Shares shall be delivered to the
Corporation.
Should the purchase price specified in the Disposition Notice be
payable in property other than cash or evidences of indebtedness, the
Corporation shall have the right to pay the purchase price in the form of cash
equal in amount to the value of such property. If Owner and the Corporation
cannot agree on such cash value within thirty (30) days after the Corporation's
receipt of the Disposition Notice, the valuation shall be made by an appraiser
of recognized standing selected by Owner and the Corporation or, if they cannot
agree on an appraiser within forty-five (45) days after the Corporation's
receipt of the Disposition Notice, each shall select an appraiser of recognized
standing and the two (2) appraisers shall designate a third appraiser of
recognized standing, whose appraisal shall be determinative of such value. The
cost of such appraisal shall be shared equally by Owner and the Corporation. The
closing shall then be held on the later of (i) the fifteenth (15th) business day
following delivery of the Exercise Notice or (ii) the fifteenth (15th) business
day after such valuation shall have been made.
4. Non-Exercise of the First Refusal Right. In the event the
Exercise Notice is not given to Owner prior to the expiration of the forty-five
(45)-day exercise period, Owner shall have a period of thirty (30) days
thereafter in which to sell or otherwise dispose of the Target Shares to the
third-party offeror identified in the Disposition Notice upon terms (including
the purchase price) no more favorable to such third-party offeror than those
specified in the Disposition Notice; provided, however, that any such sale or
disposition must not be effected in contravention of the provisions of Article B
and Paragraph C.3. The third-party offeror shall acquire the Target Shares free
and clear of the Repurchase Right and the First Refusal Right, but the acquired
shares shall remain subject to Article B and Paragraph C.3. In the event Owner
does not effect such sale or disposition of the Target Shares within the
specified thirty (30)-day period, the First Refusal Right shall continue to be
applicable to any subsequent disposition of the Target Shares by Owner until
such right lapses.
5. Partial Exercise of the First Refusal Right. In the event the
Corporation makes a timely exercise of the First Refusal Right with respect to a
portion, but not all, of the Target Shares specified in the Disposition Notice,
Owner shall have the option, exercisable by written notice to the Corporation
delivered within fifteen (15) business days after Owner's receipt of the
Exercise Notice, to effect the sale of the Target Shares pursuant to either of
the following alternatives:
(i) sale or other disposition of all the Target Shares to the
third-party offeror identified in the Disposition Notice, but in full
compliance with the requirements of Xxxxxxxxx X.0, as if the Corporation
did not exercise the First Refusal Right; or
(ii) sale to the Corporation of the portion of the Target Shares
which the Corporation has elected to purchase, such sale to be effected in
substantial conformity with the provisions of Paragraph D.3. The First
Refusal Right shall continue to be applicable to any subsequent
disposition of the remaining Target Shares until such right lapses.
Failure of Owner to deliver timely notification to the Corporation
shall be deemed to be an election by Owner to sell the Target Shares pursuant to
alternative (i) above.
6. Recapitalization/Reorganization.
(a) Any new, substituted or additional securities or other
property which is by reason of any Recapitalization distributed with respect to
the Purchased Shares shall be immediately subject to the First Refusal Right,
but only to the extent the Purchased Shares are at the time covered by such
right.
(b) In the event of a Reorganization, the First Refusal Right
shall remain in full force and effect and shall apply to the new capital stock
or other property received in exchange for the Purchased Shares in consummation
of the Reorganization, but only to the extent the Purchased Shares are at the
time covered by such right.
7. Lapse. The First Refusal Right shall lapse upon the earliest to
occur of (i) the first date on which shares of the Common Stock are held of
record by more than five hundred (500) persons, (ii) a determination is made by
the Board that a public market exists for the outstanding shares of Common Stock
or (iii) a firm commitment underwritten public offering, pursuant to an
effective registration statement under the 1933 Act, covering the offer and sale
of the Common Stock in the aggregate amount of at least ten million dollars
($10,000,000). However, the Market Stand-Off shall continue to remain in full
force and effect following the lapse of the First Refusal Right.
D. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. Assignment. The Corporation may assign the First Refusal Right to
any person or entity selected by the Board, including (without limitation) one
or more stockholders of the Corporation.
2. No Employment or Service Contract. Nothing in this Agreement or
in the Plan shall confer upon Optionee any right to continue in Service for any
period of specific duration or interfere with or otherwise restrict in any way
the rights of the Corporation (or any Parent or Subsidiary employing or
retaining Optionee) or of Optionee, which rights are hereby expressly reserved
by each, to terminate Optionee's Service at any time for any reason, with or
without cause.
3. Notices. Any notice required to be given under this Agreement
shall be in writing and shall be deemed effective upon personal delivery or upon
deposit in the U.S. mail, registered or certified, postage prepaid and properly
addressed to the party entitled to such notice at the address indicated below
such party's signature line on this Agreement or at such other address as such
party may designate by ten (10) days advance written notice under this paragraph
to all other parties to this Agreement.
4. No Waiver. The failure of the Corporation in any instance to
exercise the First Refusal Right shall not constitute a waiver of any other
repurchase rights and/or rights of first refusal that may subsequently arise
under the provisions of this Agreement or any other agreement between the
Corporation and Optionee. No waiver of any breach or condition of this Agreement
shall be deemed to be a waiver of any other or subsequent breach or condition,
whether of like or different nature.
5. Cancellation of Shares. If the Corporation shall make available,
at the time and place and in the amount and form provided in this Agreement, the
consideration for the Purchased Shares to be repurchased in accordance with the
provisions of this Agreement, then from and after such time, the person from
whom such shares are to be repurchased shall no longer have any rights as a
holder of such shares (other than the right to receive payment of such
consideration in accordance with this Agreement). Such shares shall be deemed
purchased in accordance with the applicable provisions hereof, and the
Corporation shall be deemed the owner and holder of such shares, whether or not
the certificates therefor have been delivered as required by this Agreement.
6. Optionee Undertaking. Optionee hereby agrees to take whatever
additional action and execute whatever additional documents the Corporation may
deem necessary or advisable in order to carry out or effect one or more of the
obligations or restrictions imposed on either Optionee or the Purchased Shares
pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.
7. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed
in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York without resort to that
State's conflict-of-laws rules.
8. Successors and Assigns. The provisions of this Agreement shall
inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon, the Corporation and its successors
and assigns and upon Optionee, Optionee's permitted assigns and the legal
representatives, heirs and legatees of Optionee's estate, whether or not any
such person shall have become a party to this Agreement and have agreed in
writing to join herein and be bound by the terms hereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement on the
day and year first indicated above.
GENERAL INTERNET INC.
By:
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Title:
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Address:
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OPTIONEE
By:
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Title:
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Address:
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APPENDIX
The following definitions shall be in effect under the Agreement:
A. Agreement shall mean this Stock Purchase Agreement.
B. Board shall mean the Corporation's Board of Directors.
C. Code shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
D. Common Stock shall mean the Corporation's common stock.
E. Corporation shall mean General Internet Inc., a New York
corporation.
F. Disposition Notice shall have the meaning assigned to such term
in Paragraph D.2.
G. Exercise Notice shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Paragraph D.3.
H. Exercise Price shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Paragraph A.1.
I. Fair Market Value of a share of Common Stock on any relevant
date, prior to an initial public offering of the Common Stock, shall be
determined by the Plan Administrator after taking into account such factors as
it shall deem appropriate.
J. First Refusal Right shall mean the right granted to the
Corporation in accordance with Article X.
X. Xxxxx Date shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Paragraph A.1.
X. Xxxxx Notice shall mean the Notice of Grant of Stock Option
pursuant to which Optionee has been informed of the basic terms of the Option.
M. Involuntary Termination shall mean the termination of Optionee's
Service which occurs by reason of:
(i) Optionee's involuntary dismissal or discharge by the Corporation
for reasons other than Misconduct, or
(ii) Optionee's voluntary resignation following (A) a change in
Optionee's position with the Corporation which materially reduces
Optionee's level of responsibility, (B) a reduction in Optionee's
level of compensation (including base salary, fringe benefits and
participation in corporate-performance based bonus or incentive
programs) by more than fifteen percent (15%) or (C) a relocation of
Optionee's place of employment by more than fifty (50) miles,
provided and only if such change, reduction or relocation is
effected by the Corporation without Optionee's consent.
N. Market Stand-Off shall mean the market stand-off restriction
specified in Paragraph C.3.
O. Misconduct shall mean the commission of any act of fraud,
embezzlement or dishonesty by Optionee, any unauthorized use or disclosure by
Optionee of confidential information or trade secrets of the Corporation (or any
Parent or Subsidiary), or any other intentional misconduct by Optionee, whether
by omission or commission, which adversely affects the business or affairs of
the Corporation (or any Parent or Subsidiary) in a material manner. The
foregoing definition shall not limit the grounds for the dismissal or discharge
of Optionee or other person in the Service of the Corporation (or any Parent or
Subsidiary).
P. 1933 Act shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Q. Option shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Paragraph
A.1.
R. Option Agreement shall mean all agreements and other documents
evidencing the Option.
S. Optionee shall mean the person to whom the Option is granted
under the Plan.
T. Owner shall mean Optionee and all subsequent holders of the
Purchased Shares who derive their chain of ownership through a Permitted
Transfer from Optionee.
U. Parent shall mean any corporation (other than the Corporation) in
an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the Corporation, provided each
corporation in the unbroken chain (other than the Corporation) owns, at the time
of the determination, stock possessing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total
combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations
in such chain.
V. Permitted Transfer shall mean (i) a gratuitous transfer of the
Purchased Shares, provided and only if Optionee obtains the Corporation's prior
written consent to such transfer, (ii) a transfer of title to the Purchased
Shares effected pursuant to Optionee's will or the laws of intestate succession
following Optionee's death or (iii) a transfer to the Corporation in pledge as
security for any purchase-money indebtedness incurred by Optionee in connection
with the acquisition of the Purchased Shares.
W. Plan shall mean the Corporation's 1998 Stock Option/Stock
Issuance Plan.
X. Plan Administrator shall mean either the Board or a committee of
Board members, to the extent the committee is at the time responsible for
administration of the Plan.
Y. Purchased Shares shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Paragraph A.1.
Z. Recapitalization shall mean any stock split, stock dividend,
recapitalization, combination of shares, exchange of shares or other change
affecting the Corporation's outstanding Common Stock as a class without the
Corporation's receipt of consideration.
AA. Reorganization shall mean any of the following transactions:
(i) a merger or consolidation in which the Corporation is not the
surviving entity,
(ii) a sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially
all of the Corporation's assets,
(iii) a reverse merger in which the Corporation is the surviving
entity but in which the Corporation's outstanding voting securities
are transferred in whole or in part to a person or persons different
from the persons holding those securities immediately prior to the
merger, or
(iv) any transaction effected primarily to change the state in which
the Corporation is incorporated or to create a holding company
structure.
BB. SEC shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CC. Service shall mean Optionee's provision of services to the
Corporation (or any Parent or Subsidiary) in the capacity of an employee,
subject to the control and direction of the employer entity as to both the work
to be performed and the manner and method of performance, a non-employee member
of the board of directors or a consultant or independent advisor.
DD. Subsidiary shall mean any corporation (other than the
Corporation) in an unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the
Corporation, provided each corporation (other than the last corporation) in the
unbroken chain owns, at the time of the determination, stock possessing fifty
percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock
in one of the other corporations in such chain.
EE. Target Shares shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Xxxxxxxxx X.0.
