AMERICAN REALTY CAPITAL – RETAIL CENTERS OF AMERICA, INC. UP TO 35,000,000 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK EXCLUSIVE DEALER MANAGER AGREEMENT
AMERICAN REALTY CAPITAL – RETAIL CENTERS
OF AMERICA, INC.
UP TO 35,000,000 SHARES OF COMMON
STOCK
,
2010
Realty Capital Securities,
LLC
Three Xxxxxx Place, Suite
3300
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
00000
Ladies and
Gentlemen:
American
Realty Capital – Retail Centers of America, Inc. (the “Company”) is a Maryland corporation that
intends to qualify to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (a
“REIT”) for federal income tax purposes
beginning with the taxable year ending December 31, 2011, or the first year
during which the Company begins material operations. The Company
proposes to offer (a) up to 35,000,000 shares of its common stock, $.01 par
value per share (the “Shares”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per
Share (subject in certain circumstances to discounts based upon the volume of
shares purchased), in the primary offering (the “Primary
Offering”), and (b) up to
1,000,000 Shares for a purchase price of $9.50 per Share for issuance through
the Company’s distribution reinvestment plan (the “DRP” and together with the Primary
Offering, the “Offering”) (subject to the right of the Company
to reallocate such Shares between the Primary Offering and the DRP), all upon
the other terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Prospectus (as
defined in Section
1(a)).
The Company will be managed by
American Realty Capital Retail Advisor, LLC (the “Advisor”) pursuant to the advisory agreement to
be entered into between the Company and the Advisor (the “Advisory
Agreement”) substantially
in the form included as an exhibit to the Registration Statement (as
defined in Section
1(a)).
Upon the terms and subject to the
conditions contained in this Exclusive Dealer Manager Agreement (this
“Agreement”), the Company hereby appoints Realty
Capital Securities, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Dealer
Manager”), to act as the
exclusive dealer manager for the Offering, and the Dealer Manager desires to
accept such engagement.
1. REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY AND THE ADVISOR. The Company and the Advisor
hereby represent, warrant and agree during the term of this Agreement as
follows:
(a) REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND
PROSPECTUS. In connection with the Offering, the Company has prepared
and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement (File No.
333- ) on Form S-11 for the registration of
the Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”), and the rules and
regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder (the “Securities
Act Rules and Regulations”); one or more amendments to such
registration statement have been or may be so prepared and filed. The
registration statement on Form S-11 and the prospectus contained therein, as
finally amended at the date the registration statement is declared effective by
the Commission (the “Effective
Date”) are respectively
hereinafter referred to as the “Registration
Statement” and the
“Prospectus”, except that (i) if the Company files
a post-effective amendment to such registration statement, then the term
“Registration Statement” shall, from and after the declaration of the
effectiveness of such post-effective amendment by the Commission, refer to such
registration statement as amended by such post-effective amendment, and the term
“Prospectus” shall refer to the amended prospectus then on file with the
Commission, and (ii) if the prospectus filed by the Company pursuant to either
Rule 424(b) or 424(c) of the Securities Act Rules and Regulations shall differ
from the prospectus on file at the time the Registration Statement or the most
recent post-effective amendment thereto, if any, shall have become effective,
then the term “Prospectus” shall refer to such prospectus filed pursuant to
either Rule 424(b) or 424(c), as the case may be, from and after the date on
which it shall have been filed. The term “preliminary
Prospectus” as used herein shall mean a preliminary prospectus related to the
Shares as contemplated by Rule 430 or Rule 430A of the Securities Act Rules and
Regulations included at any time as part of the Registration Statement. As used herein, the terms
“Registration Statement”, “preliminary Prospectus” and “Prospectus” shall
include the documents, if any, incorporated by reference therein. As
used herein, the term “Effective Date” also shall refer to the effective date of
each post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, unless the context
otherwise requires.
(b) DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY
REFERENCE. The documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by
reference in the Prospectus, at the time they are hereafter are filed with the
Commission, will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange
Act”) and the rules and
regulations promulgated thereunder (the “Exchange
Act Rules and Regulations”), and, when read together with the
other information in the Prospectus, at the time the Registration Statement
became effective and as of the applicable Effective Date of each post-effective
amendment to the Registration Statement, did not and will not include an untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be
stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the
light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading.
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT,
ETC. During the term of this Agreement:
(i) on
(A) each applicable Effective Date, (B) the date of the preliminary Prospectus,
(C) the date of the Prospectus and (D) the date any supplement to the Prospectus
is filed with the Commission, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and any
amendments or supplements thereto, as applicable, have complied, and will comply, in all
material respects with the Securities Act, the Securities Act Rules and
Regulations, the Exchange Act and the Exchange Act Rules and Regulations;
and
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(ii) the Registration Statement does
not, and any amendment thereto will not, in each case as of the
applicable Effective Date, include any untrue statement of material fact or omit
to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make
the statements therein not misleading and the Prospectus does not, and any
amendment or supplement thereto will not, as of the applicable filing date,
include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material
fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein,
in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading;
provided, however, that the foregoing provisions of this
Section
1(c) will not extend to any
statements contained in, incorporated by reference in or omitted from the
Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto
that are based upon written information furnished to the Company by the Dealer
Manager expressly for use therein.
(d) SECURITIES MATTERS. There has
not been (i) any request by the Commission for any further amendment to the
Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for any additional information, (ii)
any issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of
the Registration Statement or the institution or, to the Company’s knowledge,
threat of any proceeding for that purpose, or (iii) any notification with
respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for sale in any
jurisdiction or any initiation or, to the Company’s knowledge, threat of any
proceeding for such purpose. The Company is in compliance in all
material respects with all federal and state securities laws, rules and
regulations applicable to it and its activities, including, without limitation,
with respect to the Offering and the sale of the Shares.
(e) COMPANY STATUS. The Company
is a corporation duly formed and validly existing under the general laws of the
State of Maryland, with all requisite power and authority to enter into this
Agreement and to carry out its obligations hereunder.
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF
AGREEMENT. This Agreement is duly and validly authorized, executed
and delivered by or on behalf of the Company and constitutes a valid and binding
agreement of the Company enforceable in accordance with its terms (except as
such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization,
moratorium or other similar laws of the United States, any state or any
political subdivision thereof which affect creditors’ rights generally or by
equitable principles relating to the availability of remedies or except to the
extent that the enforceability of the indemnity and contribution provisions
contained in this Agreement may be limited under applicable securities
laws).
The execution and delivery of this Agreement and the performance
of this Agreement, the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and
the fulfillment of the terms hereof, do not and will not conflict with, or
result in a breach of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a
default under: (i) the Company’s or any of its subsidiaries’ charter,
bylaws, or other organizational documents, as the case may be; (ii) any
indenture, mortgage, stockholders’ agreement, note, lease or other agreement or
instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by
which the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties is bound
except, for purposes of this clause (ii) only, for such conflicts, breaches or
defaults that do not result in and could not reasonably be expected to result
in, individually or in the aggregate, a Company MAE (as defined below in this
Section 1(f)); or (iii) any statute, rule or
regulation or order of any court or other governmental agency or body having
jurisdiction over the Company, any of its subsidiaries or any of their
properties. No consent, approval, authorization or order of any court
or other governmental agency or body has been obtained or is required for the
performance of this Agreement or for the consummation by the Company of any of
the transactions contemplated hereby (except as have been obtained under the
Securities Act, the Exchange Act, from the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority (the “FINRA”) or as may be required under state
securities or applicable blue sky laws in connection with the offer and sale of
the Shares or under the laws of states in which the Company may own real
properties in connection with its qualification to transact business in such
states or as may be required by subsequent events which may
occur). Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in
violation of its charter, bylaws or other organizational documents, as the case
may be.
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As used in this Agreement, “Company
MAE” means any
event, circumstance, occurrence, fact, condition, change or effect, individually
or in the aggregate, that is, or could reasonably be expected to be, materially
adverse to (A) the condition,
financial or otherwise, earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the
Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, or (B) the
ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or the
validity or enforceability of this Agreement or the Shares.
(g) ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS. As of the
initial Effective Date, there are no actions, suits or proceedings against, or
investigations of, the Company or its subsidiaries pending or, to the knowledge
of the Company, threatened, before any court, arbitrator, administrative agency
or other tribunal (i) asserting the invalidity of this Agreement, (ii) seeking
to prevent the issuance of the Shares or the consummation of any of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement, (iii) that might materially and
adversely affect the performance by the Company of its obligations under or the
validity or enforceability of, this Agreement or the Shares, (iv) that might
result in a Company MAE, or (v) seeking to affect adversely the federal income
tax attributes of the Shares except as described in the
Prospectus. The Company promptly will give notice to the Dealer
Manager of the occurrence of any action, suit, proceeding or investigation of
the type referred to in this Section
1(g) arising or occurring
on or after the initial Effective Date.
(h) ESCROW
AGREEMENT. The Company will enter into an escrow agreement (the
“Escrow
Agreement”) with the Dealer Manager and Xxxxx Fargo Bank, National
Association (the “Escrow
Agent”), substantially in the form included as an exhibit to the
Registration Statement, which will provide for the establishment of an escrow
account (the “Escrow
Account”) for the purpose of holding subscription funds in respect of
Shares of the Company. Once a minimum of $2,000,000 of subscription
funds has been deposited in the Escrow Account, upon determination by the
Company that it intends to break escrow, the Company shall deposit (or cause to
be deposited) all subscription funds to a designated deposit account in the name
of the Company (the “Deposit
Account”) at a depository bank (the “Depository
Bank”) which shall be subject to the reasonable prior approval of the
Dealer Manager, subject to any higher or continuing escrow obligations imposed
by certain states as described in the Prospectus. The Deposit Account
shall be subject to a deposit account control agreement executed by the
Depositary Bank, the Company, and the Dealer Manager, which shall be
substantially in the form included as an exhibit to the Escrow Agreement (the
“Control
Agreement”). As used herein, “Person”
or “Persons”
means any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or
unincorporated association, joint venture, joint stock company, limited
liability company, governmental authority or agency, or other entity of any
kind.
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(i) SALES LITERATURE. Any
supplemental sales literature or advertisement (including, without limitation
any “broker-dealer use only” material), regardless of how labeled or described,
used in addition to the Prospectus in connection with the Offering which
previously has been, or hereafter is, furnished or approved by the Company
(collectively, “Approved
Sales Literature”), shall,
to the extent required, be filed with and approved by the appropriate securities
agencies and bodies, provided that the Dealer Manager will make all FINRA
filings, to the extent required. Any and all Approved Sales
Literature did not or will not at the time provided for use include 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.
(j) AUTHORIZATION OF SHARES. The
Shares have been duly authorized and, when issued and sold as
contemplated by the Prospectus and
upon payment therefor as provided in this Agreement and the Prospectus, will be
validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and will conform to the description
thereof contained in the Prospectus.
(k) TAXES. Any taxes, fees and
other governmental charges in connection with the execution and delivery of this
Agreement or the execution, delivery and sale of the Shares have been or will be
paid when due.
(l) INVESTMENT COMPANY. The
Company is not, and neither the offer or sale of the Shares nor any of the
activities of the Company will cause the Company to be, an “investment company”
or under the control of an “investment company” as such terms are defined in the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
(m) TAX RETURNS. The Company has
filed all material federal, state and foreign income tax returns required to be
filed by or on behalf of the Company on or before the due dates therefor (taking
into account all extensions of time to file) and has paid or provided for the
payment of all such material taxes indicated by such tax returns and all
assessments received by the Company to the extent that such taxes or assessments
have become due.
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(n) REIT
QUALIFICATIONS. The Company will make a timely election to be
subject to tax as a REIT pursuant to Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)
for its taxable year ended December 31, 2010, or the first year during
which the Company begins material operations. The Company has been organized and
operated in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a
REIT. The Company’s current and proposed method of operation as
described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will enable it to
continue to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under
the Code.
(o) INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
FIRM. The accountants who have certified certain financial statements
appearing in the Prospectus are an independent registered public accounting firm
within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Rules and
Regulations. Such accountants have not been engaged by the Company to
perform any “prohibited activities” (as defined in Section 10A of the Exchange
Act).
The Company and its subsidiaries each
maintains a system of internal accounting and other controls sufficient to
provide reasonable assurances that: (i) transactions are executed in
accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (ii)
transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles as
applied in the United States (“GAAP”) and to maintain accountability for
assets; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s
general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for
assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate
action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as described
in the Registration Statement, since the end of the Company’s most recent
audited fiscal year, there has been (A) no material weakness in the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated), and (B)
no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has
materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting.
(p) PREPARATION OF THE FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS. The financial statements filed with the Commission as a
part of the Registration Statement and included in the Prospectus present fairly
the consolidated financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries as of
and at the dates indicated and the results of their operations and cash flows
for the periods specified. Such financial statements have been
prepared in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the
periods involved, except as may be expressly stated in the related notes
thereto. No other financial statements or supporting schedules are
required to be included in the Registration Statement or any applicable
Prospectus.
(q) MATERIAL ADVERSE
CHANGE. Since the respective dates as of which information is given
in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, except as may otherwise be
stated therein or contemplated thereby, there has not occurred a Company
MAE, whether or not arising in the
ordinary course of business.
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(r) GOVERNMENT PERMITS. The
Company and its subsidiaries possess such certificates, authorities or permits
issued by the appropriate state, federal or foreign regulatory agencies or
bodies necessary to conduct the business now operated by them, other than those
which the failure to possess or own would not have, individually or in the
aggregate, a Company MAE. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries
has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or
modification of any such certificate, authority or permit which, individually or
in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding,
would result in a Company MAE.
(s) ADVISOR; ADVISORY AGREEMENT AND THE
SERVICES AGREMENT.
(i) The Advisor is a limited liability
company duly formed and validly existing under the laws of the State of
Delaware, with all requisite power and authority to enter into this Agreement
and to carry out its obligations hereunder.
(ii) Each of this Agreement and the Advisory
Agreement is duly and validly authorized, executed and delivered by or on behalf
of the Advisor and constitutes a valid and binding agreement of the Advisor
enforceable in accordance with its terms (except as such enforceability may be
limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar
laws of the United States, any state or any political subdivision thereof which
affect creditors’ rights generally or by equitable principles relating to the
availability of remedies or except to the extent that the enforceability of the
indemnity and contribution provisions contained in this Agreement may be limited
under applicable securities laws).
(iii) The execution and delivery
of each of this Agreement and the Advisory Agreement and the performance
hereunder and thereunder by the Advisor do not and will not (A) conflict with,
or result in a breach of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a
default under: (i) the Advisor’s or any of its subsidiaries’ charter
or bylaws or other organizational documents or (ii) any indenture, mortgage,
stockholders’ agreement, note, lease or other agreement or instrument to which
the Advisor or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Advisor or any
of its subsidiaries or any of their properties is bound except, for purposes of
this clause (ii) only, for such conflicts, breaches or defaults that could not
reasonably be expected to have or result in, individually or in the aggregate,
(a) a material adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise,
earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Advisor or (b) a
Company MAE; or (B) result in, and could not reasonably be expected to
result in, individually or in the aggregate, in any material respect any
conflict with, breach of, or default under any statute, rule or regulation or
order of any court or other governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over
the Advisor or any of its properties. No consent, approval,
authorization or order of any court or other governmental agency or body has
been obtained nor is required for the performance of the Advisory Agreement by
the Advisor. The Advisor is not in violation of its limited liability company
agreement or other organizational documents.
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(iv) There
is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or brought by
any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or,
to the knowledge of the Advisor, threatened against or affecting the
Advisor.
(v) The Advisor possesses such
certificates, authorities or permits issued by the appropriate state, federal or
foreign regulatory agencies or bodies necessary to conduct the business now
operated by it, other than those which the failure to possess or own would not
have or result in, individually or in the aggregate, (A) a material adverse
effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, earnings, business affairs or
business prospects of the Advisor, (B) a Company MAE, or (C) a material adverse
effect on the performance of the services under the Advisory Agreement by the
Advisor, and the Advisor has not received any notice of proceedings relating to
the revocation or modification of any such certificate, authority or
permit.
(t) PROPERTIES. Except as
otherwise disclosed in the Prospectus and except as would not result in,
individually or in the aggregate, a Company MAE, (i) all properties and assets
described in the Prospectus are owned with good and marketable title by the
Company and its subsidiaries, and (ii) all liens, charges, encumbrances, claims
or restrictions on or affecting any of the properties and assets of the Company
or any of its subsidiaries which are required to be disclosed in the Prospectus
are disclosed therein.
(u) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. The
Company does not have any knowledge of (i) the unlawful presence of any
hazardous substances, hazardous materials, toxic substances or waste materials
(collectively, “Hazardous
Materials”) on any of the
properties owned by it or its subsidiaries or subject to mortgage loans owned by
the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or (ii) any unlawful spills, releases,
discharges or disposal of Hazardous Materials that have occurred or are
presently occurring off such properties as a result of any construction on or
operation and use of such properties, which presence or occurrence in the case
of clauses (i) and (ii) would result in, individually or in the aggregate, a
Company MAE. In connection with the properties owned by the Company
and its subsidiaries or subject to mortgage loans owned by the Company or any of
its subsidiaries, the Company has no knowledge of any material failure to comply
with all applicable local, state and federal environmental laws, regulations,
ordinances and administrative and judicial orders relating to the generation,
recycling, reuse, sale, storage, handling, transport and disposal of any
Hazardous Materials.
2. REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES OF THE DEALER MANAGER. The Dealer Manager
represents and warrants to the Company, during the term of this Agreement,
that:
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(a) ORGANIZATION
STATUS. The Dealer Manager is a limited liability company duly
organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of
Delaware, with all requisite power and authority to enter into this Agreement
and to carry out its obligations hereunder.
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF AGREEMENT. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and
delivered by the Dealer Manager, and assuming due authorization, execution and
delivery of this Agreement by the Company and the Advisor, will constitute a
valid and legally binding agreement of the Dealer Manager enforceable against
the Dealer Manager in accordance with its terms (except as such enforceability
may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other
similar laws of the United States, any state or any political subdivision
thereof which affect creditors’ rights generally or by equitable principles
relating to the availability of remedies or except to the extent that the
enforceability of the indemnity and contribution provisions contained in this
Agreement may be limited under applicable securities laws).
(c) ABSENCE
OF CONFLICT OR DEFAULT. The execution and delivery of this Agreement,
the consummation of the transactions herein contemplated and compliance with the
terms of this Agreement by the Dealer Manager will not conflict with or
constitute a default under (i) its organizational documents, (ii) any indenture,
mortgage, stockholders’ agreement, note, lease or other agreement or instrument
to which the Dealer Manager is a party or by which it may be bound, or to which
any of the property or assets of the Dealer Manager is subject, or (iii) any
rule, regulation, writ, injunction or decree of any government, governmental
instrumentality or court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the
Dealer Manager or its assets, properties or operations, except in the case of
clause (ii) or (iii) for such conflicts or defaults that would not, individually
or in the aggregate, have or reasonably be expected to have a material adverse
effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), business affairs, properties
or results of operations of the Dealer Manager.
(d) BROKER-DEALER
REGISTRATION; FINRA MEMBERSHIP. The Dealer Manager is, and during the
term of this Agreement will be, (i) duly registered as a broker-dealer pursuant
to the provisions of the Exchange Act, (ii) a member in good standing of FINRA,
and (iii) a broker or dealer duly registered as such in those states where the
Dealer Manager is required to be registered in order to carry out the Offering
as contemplated by this Agreement. Each of the Dealer Manager’s
employees and representatives has all required licenses and registrations to act
under this Agreement. There is no provision in the Dealer Manager’s
FINRA membership agreement that would restrict the ability of the Dealer Manager
to carry out the Offering as contemplated by this Agreement.
(e) DISCLOSURE. The
information under the caption “Plan of Distribution” in the Prospectus insofar
as it relates to the Dealer Manager, and all other information furnished to the
Company by the Dealer Manager in writing specifically for use in the
Registration Statement, any preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, does not
contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material
fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements
therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading.
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3. OFFERING AND
SALE OF THE SHARES. Upon the terms and subject
to the conditions set forth in this Agreement, the Company hereby appoints the
Dealer Manager as its agent and exclusive distributor to solicit and to retain
the Soliciting Dealers (as defined in Section
3(a)) to solicit
subscriptions for the Shares at the subscription price to be paid in
cash. The Dealer Manager hereby accepts such agency and exclusive
distributorship and agrees to use its reasonable best efforts to sell or cause
to be sold the Shares in such quantities and to such Persons in accordance with
such terms as are set forth in this Agreement, the Prospectus and the
Registration Statement. The Dealer Manager shall do so during the
period commencing on the initial Effective Date and ending on the earliest to
occur of the following: (1) the later of (x) two years after the
initial Effective Date of the Registration Statement and (y) at the Company’s
election, the date on which the Company is permitted to extend the Offering in
accordance with the rules of the Commission; (2) the acceptance by the Company
of subscriptions for 36,000,000 Shares; (3) the termination of the Offering by
the Company, which the Company shall have the right to terminate in its sole and
absolute discretion at any time, provided that if such termination shall occur
at any time during the 180-day period following the initial Effective Date, the
Company shall not commence or undertake any preparations to commence another
offering of Shares or any similar securities prior to the 181st date following
the initial Effective Date; (4) the termination of the effectiveness of the
Registration Statement, provided that if such termination shall occur at any
time during the 180-day period following the initial Effective Date, the Company
shall not commence or undertake any preparations to commence another offering of
Shares or any similar securities prior to the 181st day following the initial
Effective Date; and (5) the liquidation or dissolution of the Company (such
period being the “Offering
Period”).
The number of Shares, if any, to be
reserved for sale by each Soliciting Dealer may be determined, from time to
time, by the Dealer Manager upon prior consultation with the
Company. In the absence of such determination, the Company shall,
subject to the provisions of Section
3(b), accept Subscription
Agreements based upon a first-come, first accepted reservation or other similar
method. Under no circumstances will the Dealer Manager be obligated
to underwrite or purchase any Shares for its own account and, in soliciting
purchases of Shares, the Dealer Manager shall act solely as the Company’s agent
and not as an underwriter or principal.
(a) SOLICITING DEALERS. The Shares offered
and sold through the Dealer Manager under this Agreement shall be offered and
sold only by the Dealer Manager and other securities dealers the Dealer Manager
may retain (collectively the “Soliciting
Dealers”); provided,
that (i) the Dealer Manager
reasonably believes that all Soliciting Dealers are registered with the
Commission, are members of FINRA and are duly licensed or registered by the
regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they will offer and sell
Shares or are exempt from broker dealer registration with the Commission
and all other applicable regulatory authorities, (ii) all such engagements are
evidenced by written agreements, the terms and conditions of which substantially
conform to the form of Soliciting Dealers Agreement approved by the Company and
the Dealer Manager (the “Soliciting
Dealers Agreement”), and
(iii) the Company shall have previously approved each Soliciting Dealer (such
approval not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed).
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(b) SUBSCRIPTION DOCUMENTS. Each
Person desiring to purchase Shares through the Dealer Manager, or any other
Soliciting Dealer, will be required to complete and execute the subscription
documents described in the Prospectus.
(c) COMPLETED SALE. A sale of a
Share shall be deemed by the Company to be completed for purposes of
Section
3(d) if and only if (i) the
Company has received a properly completed and executed subscription agreement,
together with payment of the full purchase price of each purchased Share, from
an investor who satisfies the applicable suitability standards and minimum
purchase requirements set forth in the Registration Statement as determined by
the Soliciting Dealer, or the Dealer Manager, as applicable, in accordance with
the provisions of this Agreement, (ii) the Company has accepted such
subscription, and (iii) such investor has been admitted as a shareholder of the
Company. In addition, no sale of Shares shall be completed until at
least five (5) business days after the date on which the subscriber receives a
copy of the Prospectus. The Dealer Manager hereby acknowledges and
agrees that the Company, in its sole and absolute discretion, may accept or
reject any subscription, in whole or in part, for any reason whatsoever or no
reason, and no commission or dealer manager fee will be paid to the Dealer
Manager with respect to that portion of any subscription which is
rejected.
(d) DEALER-MANAGER
COMPENSATION.
(i) Subject to the volume discounts and
other special circumstances described in or otherwise provided in the “Plan of
Distribution” section of the Prospectus or this Section
3(d), the Company agrees to
pay the Dealer Manager selling commissions in the amount of seven percent (7.0%)
of the selling price of each Share for which a sale is completed from the Shares
offered in the Primary Offering. The Company will not pay selling
commissions for sales of Shares pursuant to the DRP, and the Company will pay
reduced selling commissions or may eliminate commissions on certain sales of
Shares, including the reduction or elimination of selling commissions in
accordance with, and on the terms set forth in, the Prospectus. The
Dealer Manager will reallow all the selling commissions, subject to federal and
state securities laws, to the Soliciting Dealer who sold the Shares, as
described more fully in the Soliciting Dealers Agreement.
(ii) Subject to the special circumstances
described in or otherwise provided in the “Plan of Distribution” section of the
Prospectus or this Section
3(d), as compensation for
acting as the dealer manager, the Company will pay the Dealer Manager, a dealer
manager fee in the amount of three percent (3.0%) of the selling price of each
Share for which a sale is completed from the Shares offered in the Primary
Offering (the “Dealer
Manager Fee”). No Dealer Manager Fee
will be paid in connection with Shares sold pursuant to the DRP. The
Dealer Manager may retain or re-allow all or a portion of the Dealer Manager
Fee, subject to federal and state securities laws, to the Soliciting Dealer who
sold the Shares, as described more fully in the Soliciting Dealers
Agreement.
11
(iii) All sales commissions payable to the
Dealer Manager will be paid within thirty (30) days after the investor
subscribing for the Share is admitted as a shareholder of the Company, in an
amount equal to the sales commissions payable with respect to such
Shares.
(iv) In
no event shall the total aggregate compensation payable to the Dealer Manager
and any Soliciting Dealers participating in the Offering, including, but not
limited to, selling commissions and the Dealer Manager Fee exceed ten percent
(10.0%) of gross offering proceeds from the Primary Offering in the
aggregate.
In
connection with the minimum amount offered by the Company pursuant to the
Prospectus and FINRA’s 10% underwriting compensation limitation under FINRA Rule
2310 (“FINRA’s
10% cap”), the Dealer Manager shall advance all of the fixed expenses,
including, but not limited to, wholesaling salaries, salaries of dual employees
allocated to wholesaling activities, and other fixed expenses, (including, but
not limited to, wholesaling expense reimbursements and the Dealer Manager’s
legal expenses associated with filing the Offering with FINRA), that are
required to be included within FINRA’s 10% cap to ensure that the aggregate
underwriting compensation paid in connection with the Offering does not exceed
FINRA’s 10% cap.
The
Dealer Manager shall repay to the Company any excess amounts received over
FINRA’s 10% cap if the Offering is terminated after receiving the minimum amount
offered by the Company pursuant to the Prospectus and before reaching the
maximum amount of offered by the Company pursuant to the
Prospectus.
(v) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained herein, if the Company pays any selling
commission to the Dealer Manager for sale by a Soliciting Dealer of one or more
Shares and the subscription is rescinded as to one or more of the Shares covered
by such subscription, then the Company shall decrease the next payment of
selling commissions or other compensation otherwise payable to the Dealer
Manager by the Company under this Agreement by an amount equal to the commission
rate established in this Section 3(d),
multiplied by the number of Shares as to which the subscription is
rescinded. If no payment of selling commissions or other compensation
is due to the Dealer Manager after such withdrawal occurs, then the Dealer
Manager shall pay the amount specified in the preceding sentence to the Company
within a reasonable period of time not to exceed thirty (30) days following
receipt of notice by the Dealer Manager from the Company stating the amount owed
as a result of rescinded subscriptions.
12
(e) REASONABLE
BONA FIDE DUE DILIGENCE EXPENSES. The Company or the Advisor shall
reimburse the Dealer Manager or any Soliciting Dealer for reasonable bona fide due diligence
expenses incurred by the Dealer Manager or any Soliciting Dealer; provided that reimbursement
of such bona fide due
diligence expenses shall not exceed 0.5% of the gross proceeds from the Primary
Offering. The Company shall only reimburse the Dealer Manager or any
Soliciting Dealer for such approved bona fide due diligence
expenses to the extent such expenses have actually been incurred and are
supported by detailed and itemized invoice(s) provided to the Company and
permitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of FINRA.
4.
CONDITIONS
TO THE DEALER MANAGER’S OBLIGATIONS. The Dealer Manager’s
obligations hereunder shall be subject to the following terms and conditions,
and if all such conditions are not satisfied or waived by the Dealer Manager on
or before the initial Effective Date or at any time thereafter until the
Termination Date (as defined in Section
10(a)), then no funds shall
be released (1) from the Escrow Account if the Dealer Manager provides notice to
this effect to the Company and the Escrow Agent, and (2) from the Deposit
Account if the Dealer Manager provides notice to this effect to the Company and
Xxxxx Fargo Bank, National Association:
(a) The
representations and warranties on the part of the Company and the Advisor
contained in this Agreement hereof shall be true and correct in all material
respects and the Company and the Advisor shall have complied with their
covenants, agreements and obligations contained in this Agreement in all
material respects;
(b) The
Registration Statement shall have become effective and no stop order suspending
the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been issued by the
Commission and, to the best knowledge of the Company and the Advisor, no
proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted, threatened or
contemplated by the Commission; and any request by the Commission for additional
information (to be included in the Registration Statement or Prospectus or
otherwise) shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the
Dealer Manager.
(c) The
Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and any amendment or any supplement
thereto, shall not contain any untrue statement of material fact, or omit to
state a material fact is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make
the statements therein not misleading.
(d) On
the initial Effective Date and at or prior to the fifth business day following
the Effective Date of each post-effective amendment to the Registration
Statement that includes or incorporates by reference the audited financial
statements for the preceding fiscal year, the Dealer Manager shall have received
from Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx LLP or such other independent registered public accountants
for the Company, (i) a letter, dated the applicable date, addressed to the
Dealer Manager, in form and substance satisfactory to the Dealer Manager,
containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in
accountant’s “comfort letters” to placement agents or dealer managers, delivered
according to Statement of Auditing Standards No. 72 (or any successor bulletin),
with respect to the audited financial statements and certain financial
information contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and (ii)
confirming that they are (A) independent registered public accountants as
required by the Securities Act, and (B) in compliance with the applicable
requirements relating to the qualification of accountants under Rule 2-01 of
Regulation S-X.
13
(e) At
or prior to the fifth business day following (i) the request by the Dealer
Manager in connection with any third party due diligence investigation, and
(ii) the Effective Date of each post-effective amendment to the
Registration Statement (other than post-effective amendments filed solely
pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act and other than the
post-effective amendments referred to in Section 4(d)), the
Dealer Manager shall have received from Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx LLP or such other
independent public or certified public accountants for the Company, a letter,
dated such date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Dealer Manager, to
the effect that they reaffirm the statements made in the most recent letter
furnished pursuant to Section 4(d), except
that the specified date referred to therein for the carrying out of procedures
shall be no more than three business days prior to the date of the letter
furnished pursuant to this Section
4(e).
(f) On
the Effective Date the Dealer Manager shall have received the opinion of
Proskauer Rose LLP acting as counsel for the Company, and a supplemental
“negative assurances” letter from such counsel, dated as of the Effective Date,
and in the form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Dealer
Manager.
(g) At
or prior to the Effective Date and at or prior to the fifth business day
following the effective date of each post-effective amendment to the
Registration Statement (other than post-effective amendments filed solely
pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act), the Dealer Manager shall have
received a written certificate executed by the Chief Executive Officer or
President of the Company and the Chief Financial Officer of the Company, dated
as of the applicable date, to the effect that: (i) the
representations and warranties of the Company and the Advisor set forth in this
Agreement are true and correct in all material respects with the same force and
effect as though expressly made on and as of the applicable date; and (ii)
the Company and the Advisor have complied in all material respects with all the
agreements hereunder and satisfied all the conditions on their part to be
performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to the applicable
date.
5.
COVENANTS OF
THE COMPANY AND THE ADVISOR. The Company and the Advisor
covenant and agree with the Dealer Manager as follows:
(a) REGISTRATION
STATEMENT. The Company will use commercially reasonable
efforts (i) to cause the Registration Statement and any subsequent amendments
thereto to become effective as promptly as possible, and (ii) on an ongoing
basis, maintain effective status with the Commission thereafter. The
Company will furnish a copy of any proposed amendment or supplement of the
Registration Statement or the Prospectus to the Dealer Manager. The
Company will comply in all material respects with all federal and state
securities laws, rules and regulations which are required to be complied with in
order to permit the continuance of offers and sales of the Shares in accordance
with the provisions hereof and of the Prospectus.
14
(b) COMMISSION ORDERS. If the
Commission shall issue any stop order or any other order preventing or
suspending the use of the Prospectus, or shall institute any proceedings for
that purpose, then the Company will promptly notify the Dealer Manager and use
its commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the issuance of any such order
and, if any such order is issued, to use commercially reasonable efforts to
obtain the removal thereof as promptly as possible.
(c) BLUE SKY QUALIFICATIONS. The
Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to qualify the Shares for
offering and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdictions as
the Dealer Manager and the Company shall mutually agree upon and to make such
applications, file such documents and furnish such information as may be
reasonably required for that purpose. The Company will, at the Dealer Manager’s
request, furnish the Dealer Manager with a copy of such papers filed by the
Company in connection with any such qualification. The Company will
promptly advise the Dealer Manager of the issuance by such securities
administrators of any stop order preventing or suspending the use of the
Prospectus or of the institution of any proceedings for that purpose, and will
use its commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the issuance of any such
order and if any such order is issued, to use its commercially reasonable
efforts to obtain the removal thereof as promptly as possible. The Company will
furnish the Dealer Manager with a Blue Sky Survey dated as of the initial
Effective Date, which will be supplemented to reflect changes or additions to
the information disclosed in such survey.
(d) AMENDMENTS AND
SUPPLEMENTS. If, at any time when a Prospectus relating to the Shares
is required to be delivered under the Securities Act, any event shall have
occurred to the knowledge of the Company, or the Company receives notice from
the Dealer Manager that it believes such an event has occurred, as a result of
which the Prospectus or any Approved Sales Literature as then amended or
supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact, or omit to
state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in
light of the circumstances existing at the time it is so required to be
delivered to a subscriber, or if it is necessary at any time to amend the
Registration Statement or supplement the Prospectus relating to the Shares to
comply with the Securities Act, then the Company will promptly notify the Dealer
Manager thereof (unless the information shall have been received from the Dealer
Manager) and will prepare and file with the Commission an amendment or
supplement which will correct such statement or effect such compliance to the
extent required, and shall make available to the Dealer Manager thereof
sufficient copies for its own use and/or distribution to the Soliciting
Dealers.
(e) REQUESTS FROM COMMISSION. The
Company will promptly advise the Dealer Manager of any request made by the
Commission or a state securities administrator for amending the Registration
Statement, supplementing the Prospectus or for additional
information.
15
(f) COPIES OF REGISTRATION STATEMENT. The
Company will furnish the Dealer Manager with one signed copy of the Registration
Statement, including its exhibits, and such additional copies of the
Registration Statement, without exhibits, and the Prospectus and all amendments
and supplements thereto, which are finally approved by the Commission, as the
Dealer Manager may reasonably request for sale of the
Shares.
(g) QUALIFICATION TO TRANSACT
BUSINESS. The Company will take all steps necessary to ensure that at
all times the Company will validly exist as a Maryland corporation and will be
qualified to do business in all jurisdictions in which the conduct of its
business requires such qualification and where such qualification is required
under local law.
(h) AUTHORITY TO PERFORM AGREEMENTS. The
Company undertakes to obtain all consents, approvals, authorizations or orders
of any court or governmental agency or body which are required for the Company’s
performance of this Agreement and under the Company’s articles of incorporation
(as the same may be amended, supplemented or otherwise modified, the
“Company’s
Charter”) and bylaws for
the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby,
respectively, or the conducting by the Company of the business described in the
Prospectus.
(i) SALES LITERATURE. The Company
will furnish to the Dealer Manager as promptly as shall be practicable upon
request any Approved Sales Literature (provided that the use of said material
has been first approved for use by all appropriate regulatory
agencies). Any supplemental sales literature or advertisement,
regardless of how labeled or described, used in addition to the Prospectus in
connection with the Offering which is furnished or approved by the Company
(including, without limitation, Approved Sales Literature) shall, to the extent
required, be filed with and, to the extent required, approved by the appropriate
securities agencies and bodies, provided that the Dealer Manager will make all
FINRA filings, to the extent required. The Company will be
responsible for all Approved Sales Literature. The Company agrees to
prepare sales literature reasonably requested by the Dealer Manager in
connection with the Offering. The Company and the Dealer Manager
agree that all sales literature developed in connection with the Offering shall
be the property of the Company and the Company shall have control of all such
sales literature. Each of the Company and the Advisor will not
(and will cause its affiliates to not) (1) show or give to any investor or
prospective investor or reproduce any material or writing that is marked
“broker-dealer use only” or otherwise bearing a legend denoting that it is not
to be used in connection with the sale of Shares to members of the public; and
(2) show or give to any investor or prospective investor in a particular
jurisdiction any material or writing if such material bears a legend denoting
that it is not to be used in connection with the sale of Shares to members of
the public in such jurisdiction.
(j) CERTIFICATES OF
COMPLIANCE. The Company shall provide, from time to time upon
request of the Dealer Manager, certificates of its chief executive officer and
chief financial officer of compliance by the Company of the requirements of this
Agreement.
16
(k) USE
OF PROCEEDS. The Company will apply the proceeds from the sale of the
Shares as set forth in the Prospectus.
(l) CUSTOMER
INFORMATION. The Company shall:
(i) abide
by and comply with (A) the privacy standards and requirements of the
Xxxxx-Xxxxx-Xxxxxx Act of 1999 (the “GLB
Act”), (B) the privacy standards and requirements of any other applicable
federal or state law, and (C) its own internal privacy policies and procedures,
each as may be amended from time to time;
(ii) refrain
from the use or disclosure of nonpublic personal information (as defined under
the GLB Act) of all customers who have opted out of such disclosures except as
necessary to service the customers or as otherwise necessary or required by
applicable law; and
(iii) determine
which customers have opted out of the disclosure of nonpublic personal
information by periodically reviewing and, if necessary, retrieving an
aggregated list of such customers from the Soliciting Dealers (the “List”)
to identify customers that have exercised their opt-out rights. If
either party uses or discloses nonpublic personal information of any customer
for purposes other than servicing the customer, or as otherwise required by
applicable law, that party will consult the List to determine whether the
affected customer has exercised his or her opt-out rights. Each party
understands that it is prohibited from using or disclosing any nonpublic
personal information of any customer that is identified on the List as having
opted out of such disclosures.
(m) DEALER
MANAGER’S REVIEW OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS. Prior to
amending or supplementing the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus
or the Prospectus (including any amendment or supplement through incorporation
of any report filed under the Exchange Act), the Company shall furnish to the
Dealer Manager for review, a reasonable amount of time prior to the proposed
time of filing or use thereof, a copy of each such proposed amendment or
supplement, and the Company shall not file or use any such proposed amendment or
supplement without the Dealer Manager’s consent, which consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld or delayed.
(n) CERTAIN
PAYMENTS. Without the prior consent of the Dealer Manager, none of
the Company, the Advisor or any of their respective affiliates will make any
payment (cash or non-cash) to any associated Person or registered representative
of the Dealer Manager.
17
(o) DEPOSIT
ACCOUNT. Once subscription funds from Persons unaffiliated with the
Company or the Advisor in the Escrow Account aggregate $2,000,000 in respect of
Shares of the Company, subject to any continuing escrow obligations imposed by
certain states as described in the Prospectus, the Company will deposit all
subsequent subscription funds in the Deposit Account. At all times
until the Termination Date, the Deposit Account shall be subject to the Control
Agreement that will provide, among other things, that no funds shall be able to
be withdrawn from the Deposit Account once the Dealer Manager provides notice to
the Company and Xxxxx Fargo Bank,
National Association that a condition set forth in Section 4 has not
been satisfied or waived by the Dealer Manager. Such restriction on
withdrawal shall continue until the Dealer Manager notifies the Company and
Xxxxx Fargo Bank, National
Association that funds in the Deposit Account can be released upon order
of the Company.
(p) REGULATORY
FILINGS. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company
shall provide the Dealer Manager for its prior approval (not to be unreasonably
withheld) with a copy of any notice, filing, application, registration,
document, correspondence or other information that the Company proposes to
deliver, make or file with any governmental authority or agency (federal, state
or otherwise) or with FINRA in connection with the Offering, this Agreement or
any of the transactions completed hereby.
6.
COVENANTS OF
THE DEALER MANAGER. The
Dealer Manager covenants and agrees with the Company as
follows:
(a) COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS. With respect to
the Dealer Manager’s participation and the participation by each Soliciting
Dealer in the offer and sale of the Shares (including, without limitation, any
resales and transfers of Shares), the Dealer Manager agrees, and each Soliciting
Dealer in its Soliciting Dealer Agreement will agree, to comply in all material
respects with all applicable requirements of (i) the Securities Act, the
Securities Act Rules and Regulations, the Exchange Act, the Exchange Act Rules
and Regulations and all other federal regulations applicable to the Offering and
the sale of Shares, (ii) all applicable state securities or blue sky laws and
regulations, from time to time in effect, and (iii) the Rules of the FINRA
applicable to the Offering, from time to time in effect, specifically including,
but not in any way limited to, NASD Conduct Rules 2310, 2340, 2420, 2730, 2740
and 2750 therein. The Dealer Manager will not offer the Shares for
sale in any jurisdiction unless and until it has been advised that the Shares
are either registered in accordance with, or exempt from, the securities and
other laws applicable thereto.
In addition, the Dealer Manager shall,
in accordance with applicable law or as prescribed by any state securities
administrator, provide, or require in the Soliciting Dealer Agreement that the
Soliciting Dealer shall provide, to any prospective investor copies of the
Prospectus and any supplements thereto during the course of the Offering and
prior to the sale. The Company may provide the Dealer Manager with
certain Approved Sales Literature to be used by the Dealer Manager and the
Soliciting Dealers in connection with the solicitation of purchasers of the
Shares. The Dealer Manager agrees not to deliver the Approved Sales
Literature to any Person prior to the initial Effective Date. If the
Dealer Manager elects to use such Approved Sales Literature after the initial
Effective Date, then the Dealer Manager agrees that such material shall not be
used by it in connection with the solicitation of purchasers of the Shares and
that it will direct Soliciting Dealers not to make such use unless accompanied
or preceded by the Prospectus, as then currently in effect, and as it may be
amended or supplemented in the future. The Dealer Manager agrees that
it will not use any Approved Sales Literature other than those provided to the
Dealer Manager by the Company for use in the Offering.
18
(b) NO ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. In offering
the Shares for sale, the Dealer Manager shall not, and each Soliciting Dealer
shall agree not to, give or provide any information or make any representation
other than those contained in the Prospectus or the Approved Sales Literature.
The Dealer Manager shall not (i) show or give to any investor or
prospective investor or reproduce any material or writing that is supplied to it
by the Company and marked “broker-dealer use only” or otherwise bearing a legend
denoting that it is not to be used in connection with the sale of Shares to
members of the public; and (ii) show or give to any investor or prospective
investor in a particular jurisdiction any material or writing that is supplied
to it by the Company if such material bears a legend denoting that it is not to
be used in connection with the sale of Shares to members of the public in such
jurisdiction.
(c) SALES OF SHARES. The Dealer Manager
shall, and each Soliciting
Dealer shall agree to, solicit purchases of the Shares only in the jurisdictions
in which the Dealer Manager and such Soliciting Dealer are legally qualified to
so act and in which the Dealer Manager and each Soliciting Dealer have been
advised by the Company in writing that such solicitations can be
made.
(d) SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT. The Dealer
Manager will comply in all material respects with the subscription procedures
and “Plan of Distribution” set forth in the Prospectus. Subscriptions
will be submitted by the Dealer Manager and each Soliciting Dealer to the
Company only on the form which is included as Exhibit B to the
Prospectus. The Dealer Manager understands and acknowledges, and each
Soliciting Dealer shall acknowledge, that the Subscription Agreement must be
executed and initialed by the subscriber as provided for by the Subscription
Agreement.
(e) SUITABILITY. The Dealer Manager will
offer Shares, and in its agreement with each Soliciting Dealer will require that
the Soliciting Dealer offer Shares, only to Persons that it has reasonable
grounds to believe meet the financial qualifications set forth in the Prospectus
or in any suitability letter or memorandum sent to it by the Company and will
only make offers to Persons in the states in which it is advised in writing by
the Company that the Shares are qualified for sale or that such qualification is
not required. In offering Shares, the Dealer Manager will comply, and
in its agreements with the Soliciting Dealers, the Dealer Manager will require
that the Soliciting Dealers comply, with the provisions of all applicable rules
and regulations relating to suitability of investors, including without
limitation the FINRA Conduct Rules and the provisions of Article III.C. of the
Statement of Policy Regarding Real Estate Investment Trusts of the North
American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. (the “NASAA
Guidelines”). The Dealer Manager agrees
that in recommending the purchase of the Shares in the Primary Offering to an
investor, the Dealer Manager and each Person associated with the Dealer Manager
that make such recommendation shall have, and each Soliciting Dealer in its
Soliciting Dealer Agreement shall agree with respect to investors to which it
makes a recommendation shall agree that it shall have, reasonable grounds to
believe, on the basis of information obtained from the investor concerning the
investor’s investment objectives, other investments, financial situation and
needs, and any other information known by the Dealer Manager, the Person
associated with the Dealer Manager or the Soliciting Dealer that: (i)
the investor is or will be in a financial position appropriate to enable the
investor to realize to a significant extent the benefits described in the
Prospectus, including the tax benefits where they are a significant aspect of
the Company; (ii) the investor has a fair market net worth sufficient to sustain
the risks inherent in the program, including loss of investment and lack of
liquidity; and (iii) an investment in the Shares offered in the Primary Offering
is otherwise suitable for the investor. The Dealer Manager agrees as
to investors to whom it makes a recommendation with respect to the purchase of
the Shares in the Primary Offering (and each Soliciting Dealer in its Soliciting
Dealer Agreement shall agree, with respect to Investors to whom it makes such
recommendations) to maintain in the files of the Dealer Manager (or the
Soliciting Dealer, as applicable) documents disclosing the basis upon which the
determination of suitability was reached as to each investor. In
making the determinations as to financial qualifications and as to suitability
required by the NASAA Guidelines, the Dealer Manager and Soliciting Dealers may
rely on (A) representations from investment advisers who are not affiliated
with a Soliciting Dealer, banks acting as trustees or fiduciaries, and (B)
information it has obtained from a prospective investor, including such
information as the investment objectives, other investments, financial situation
and needs of the Person or any other information known by the Dealer Manager (or
Soliciting Dealer, as applicable), after due inquiry. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the Dealer Manager shall not, and each Soliciting Dealer shall agree
not to, execute any transaction in the Company in a discretionary account
without prior written approval of the transaction by the
customer.
19
(f) SUITABILITY RECORDS. The
Dealer Manager shall, and each Soliciting Dealer shall agree to, maintain, for
at least six years or for a period of time not less than that required in order
to comply with all applicable federal, state and other regulatory requirements,
whichever is later, a record of the information obtained to determine that an
investor meets the suitability standards imposed on the offer and sale of the
Shares (both at the time of the initial subscription and at the time of any
additional subscriptions) and a representation of the investor that the investor
is investing for the investor’s own account or, in lieu of such representation,
information indicating that the investor for whose account the investment was
made met the suitability standards. The Company agrees that the
Dealer Manager can satisfy its obligation by contractually requiring such
information to be maintained by the investment advisers or banks referred to in
Section
6(e).
20
(g) SOLICITING DEALER
AGREEMENTS. All engagements of the Soliciting Dealers will be
evidenced by a Soliciting Dealer Agreement.
(h) ELECTRONIC DELIVERY. If it
intends to use electronic delivery to distribute the Prospectus to any Person,
that it will comply with all applicable requirements of the Commission, the Blue
Sky laws and/or FINRA and any other laws or regulations related to the
electronic delivery of documents.
(i) COORDINATION. The Company and the Dealer
Manager shall have the right, but not the obligation, to meet with key personnel
of the other on an ongoing and regular basis to discuss the conduct of the
officers.
(j) ANTI-MONEY
LAUNDERING COMPLIANCE. Although acting as a wholesale distributor and
not itself selling shares directly to investors, the Dealer Manager represents
to the Company that it has established and implemented anti-money laundering
compliance programs (“AML
Program”) in accordance with applicable law, including applicable FINRA
Conduct Rules, Exchange Act Rules and Regulations and the Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act) of 2001, as amended (the “USA
PATRIOT Act”), specifically including, but not limited to, Section 352 of
the International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of
2001 (the “Money
Laundering Abatement Act”, and together with the USA PATRIOT Act, the
“AML
Rules”), reasonably expected to detect and cause the reporting of
suspicious transactions in connection with the offering and sale of the
Shares. The Dealer Manager further represents that it is currently in
compliance with all AML Rules, specifically including, but not limited to, the
Customer Identification Program requirements under Section 326 of the Money
Laundering Abatement Act, and the Dealer Manager hereby covenants to remain in
compliance with such requirements and shall, upon request by the Company,
provide a certification to the Company that, as of the date of such
certification (i) its AML Program is consistent with the AML Rules, and (ii) it
is currently in compliance with all AML Rules, specifically including, but not
limited to, the Customer Identification Program requirements under Section 326
of the Money Laundering Abatement Act.
(k) COOPERATION. Upon
the expiration or earlier termination of this Agreement, the Dealer Manager will
use reasonable efforts to cooperate fully with the Company and any other party
that may be necessary to accomplish an orderly transfer and transfer to a
successor dealer manager of the operation and management of the services the
Dealer Manager is providing to the Company under this Agreement. The
Dealer Manager will not be entitled to receive any additional fee in connection
with the foregoing provisions of this Section 6(k), but the
Company will pay or reimburse the Dealer Manager for any out-of-pocket expenses
reasonably incurred by the Dealer Manager in connection therewith.
21
(l) CUSTOMER
INFORMATION. The Dealer Manager will use commercially reasonable
efforts to provide the Company with any and all subscriber information that the
Company requests in order for the Company to comply with the requirements under
Section 5(l)
above.
7.
EXPENSES.
(a) Subject to Sections 7(b) and 7(c), the Dealer Manager shall pay all of
its own costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under
this Agreement.
(b) The Company agrees to pay all costs and
expenses related to:
(i) the Commission’s registration of the
offer and sale of the Shares with the Commission;
(ii) expenses of printing the Registration
Statement and the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto as herein
provided;
(iii) fees and expenses incurred in connection
with any required filing with the FINRA;
(iv) all the expenses of agents of the
Company, excluding the Dealer Manager, incurred in connection with performing
marketing and advertising services for the Company; and
(v) expenses of qualifying the Shares for
offering and sale under state blue sky and securities laws, and expenses in
connection with the preparation and printing of the Blue Sky
Survey.
(c) The Company shall reimburse the Dealer
Manager and Soliciting Dealers for approved or deemed approved reasonable
bona
fide due diligence expenses
in accordance with Section
3(e).
22
8.
INDEMNIFICATION.
(a) INDEMNIFIED PARTIES DEFINED. For the purposes of
this Agreement, an “Indemnified
Party” shall mean a Person entitled to indemnification under Section 8, as well as
such Person’s officers, directors (including with respect to the Company, any
Person named in the Registration Statement with his or her consent as becoming a
director in the future), employees, members, partners, affiliates, agents and
representatives, and each Person, if any, who controls such Person within the
meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange
Act.
(b) INDEMNIFICATION OF THE DEALER MANAGER
AND SOLICITING DEALERS. The Company will indemnify,
defend and hold harmless the Dealer Manager and the Soliciting Dealers, and
their respective Indemnified Parties, from and against any losses, claims,
expenses (including reasonable legal and other expenses incurred in
investigating and defending such claims or liabilities), damages or liabilities,
joint or several, to which any such Soliciting Dealers or the Dealer Manager, or
their respective Indemnified Parties, may become subject under the Securities
Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, expenses,
damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based
upon: (i) in whole or in part, any material inaccuracy in a
representation or warranty contained herein by the Company or the Advisor, any
material breach of a covenant contained herein by the Company or the Advisor, or
any material failure by the Company or the Advisor to perform, its obligations
hereunder or to comply with state or federal securities laws applicable to the
Offering; (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material
fact contained (A) in any Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment
thereto or in the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus,
(B) in any Approved Sales Literature or (C) in any blue sky application or other
document executed by the Company or on its behalf specifically for the purpose
of qualifying any or all of the Offered Shares for sale under the securities
laws of any jurisdiction or based upon written information furnished by the
Company under the securities laws thereof (any such application, document or
information being hereinafter called a “Blue
Sky Application”); or (iii)
the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated
in the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto to make
the statements therein not misleading or the omission or alleged omission to
state a material fact required to be stated in the Prospectus or any amendment
or supplement to the Prospectus to make the statements therein, in light of the
circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and the Company will
reimburse each Soliciting Dealer or the Dealer Manager, and their respective
Indemnified Parties, for any reasonable legal or other expenses incurred by such
Soliciting Dealer or the Dealer Manager, and their respective Indemnified
Parties, in connection with investigating or defending such loss, claim,
expense, damage, liability or action; provided,
however, that the Company
will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim,
expense, damage or liability arises out of, or is based upon an untrue statement
or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in reliance
upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the
Dealer Manager expressly for use in the Registration Statement or any
post-effective amendment thereof or the Prospectus or any such amendment thereof
or supplement thereto. This indemnity agreement will be in addition
to any liability which the Company may otherwise have.
23
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as
required by the Company’s Charter and Section II.G. of the NASAA Guidelines, the
indemnification and agreement to hold harmless provided in this Section
8(b) is further limited to
the extent that no such indemnification by the Company of a Soliciting Dealer or
the Dealer Manager, or their respective Indemnified Parties, shall be permitted
under this Agreement for, or arising out of, an alleged violation of federal or
state securities laws, unless one or more of the following conditions are
met: (a) there has been a successful adjudication on the merits of
each count involving alleged securities law violations as to the particular
Indemnified Party; (b) such claims have been dismissed with prejudice on the
merits by a court of competent jurisdiction as to the particular Indemnified
Party; or (c) a court of competent jurisdiction approves a settlement of the
claims against the particular Indemnified Party and finds that indemnification
of the settlement and the related costs should be made, and the court
considering the request for indemnification has been advised of the position of
the Commission and of the published position of any state securities regulatory
authority in which the securities were offered or sold as to indemnification for
violations of securities laws.
(c) DEALER MANAGER INDEMNIFICATION OF THE
COMPANY AND ADVISOR. The Dealer Manager will
indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company, the Advisor, each of their
Indemnified Parties and each Person who has signed the Registration Statement,
from and against any losses, claims, expenses (including the reasonable legal
and other expenses incurred in investigating and defending any such
claims or liabilities), damages or liabilities to which any of the aforesaid
parties may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or
otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, expenses, damages (or actions in
respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon: (i) in whole or in
part, any material inaccuracy in a representation or warranty contained herein
by the Dealer Manager or any material breach of a covenant contained herein by
the Dealer Manager; (ii) any untrue statement or any alleged untrue
statement of a material fact contained (A) in any Registration Statement or
any post-effective amendment thereto or in the Prospectus or any amendment or
supplement to the Prospectus, (B) in any Approved Sales Literature, or (C) any
Blue Sky Application; (iii) the omission or alleged omission to state a material
fact required to be stated in the Registration Statement or any post-effective
amendment thereof to make the statements therein not misleading, or the omission
or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in the
Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading; provided,
however, that in each case
described in clauses (ii) and (iii) to the extent, but only to the extent, that
such untrue statement or omission was made in reliance upon and in conformity
with written information furnished to the Company by the Dealer Manager
expressly for use in the Registration Statement or any such post-effective
amendments thereof or the Prospectus or any such amendment thereof or supplement
thereto; or (iv) any use of sales literature, including “broker-dealer use only”
materials, by the Dealer Manager that is not Approved Sales
Literature. The Dealer Manager will reimburse the aforesaid parties
for any reasonable legal or other expenses incurred in connection with
investigation or defense of such loss, claim, expense, damage, liability or
action. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability
which the Dealer Manager may otherwise have.
24
(d) SOLICITING DEALER INDEMNIFICATION OF THE
COMPANY. By
virtue of entering into the Soliciting Dealer Agreement, each Soliciting Dealer
severally will agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company, the
Dealer Manager, each of their respective Indemnified Parties, and each Person
who signs the Registration Statement, from and against any losses, claims,
expenses, damages or liabilities to which the Company, the Dealer Manager, or
any of their respective Indemnified Parties, or any Person who signed the
Registration Statement, may become subject, under the Securities Act or
otherwise, as more fully described in the Soliciting Dealer
Agreement.
(e) ACTION AGAINST PARTIES;
NOTIFICATION. Promptly after receipt by
any Indemnified Party under this Section
8 of notice of the
commencement of any action, such Indemnified Party will, if a claim in respect
thereof is to be made against any indemnifying party under this Section
8, promptly notify the
indemnifying party of the commencement thereof; provided,
however, that the failure
to give such notice shall not relieve the indemnifying party of its obligations
hereunder except to the extent it shall have been actually prejudiced by such
failure. In case any such action is brought against any Indemnified
Party, and it notifies an indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the
indemnifying party will be entitled, to the extent it may wish, jointly with any
other indemnifying party similarly notified, to participate in the defense
thereof, with separate counsel. Such participation shall not relieve
such indemnifying party of the obligation to reimburse the Indemnified Party for
reasonable legal and other expenses incurred by such Indemnified Party in
defending itself, except for such expenses incurred after the indemnifying party
has deposited funds sufficient to effect the settlement, with prejudice, of, and
unconditional release of all liabilities from, the claim in respect of which
indemnity is sought. Any such indemnifying party shall not be liable
to any such Indemnified Party on account of any settlement of any claim or
action effected without the consent of such indemnifying party, such consent not
to be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
(f) REIMBURSEMENT OF FEES AND
EXPENSES. An
indemnifying party under Section
8 of this Agreement shall
be obligated to reimburse an Indemnified Party for reasonable legal and other
expenses as follows:
(i) In the case of the Company indemnifying
the Dealer Manager, the advancement of Company funds to the Dealer Manager for
legal expenses and other costs incurred as a result of any legal action for
which indemnification is being sought shall be permissible (in accordance with
Section II.G. of the NASAA Guidelines) only if all of the following conditions
are satisfied: (A) the legal action relates to acts or omissions with
respect to the performance of duties or services on behalf of the Company; (B)
the legal action is initiated by a third party who is not a shareholder of the
Company or the legal action is initiated by a shareholder of the Company acting
in his or her capacity as such and a court of competent jurisdiction
specifically approves such advancement; and (C) the Dealer Manager undertakes to
repay the advanced funds to the Company, together with the applicable legal rate
of interest thereon, in cases in which the Dealer Manager is found not to be
entitled to indemnification.
25
(ii) In any case of indemnification other
than that described in Section
8(f)(i) above, the
indemnifying party shall pay all legal fees and expenses reasonably incurred by
the Indemnified Party in the defense of such claims or actions; provided, however, that the indemnifying party shall not
be obligated to pay legal expenses and fees to more than one law firm in
connection with the defense of similar claims arising out of the same alleged
acts or omissions giving rise to such claims notwithstanding that such actions
or claims are alleged or brought by one or more parties against more than one
Indemnified Party. If such claims or actions are alleged or brought
against more than one Indemnified Party, then the indemnifying party shall only
be obliged to reimburse the expenses and fees of the one law firm (in addition
to local counsel) that has been participating by a majority of the indemnified
parties against which such action is finally brought; and if a majority of such
indemnified parties is unable to agree on which law firm for which expenses or
fees will be reimbursable by the indemnifying party, then payment shall be made
to the first law firm of record representing an Indemnified Party against the
action or claim. Such law firm shall be paid only to the extent of
services performed by such law firm and no reimbursement shall be payable to
such law firm on account of legal services performed by another law
firm.
9.
CONTRIBUTION.
(a) If the indemnification provided for in
Section
8 is for any reason
unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an Indemnified Party in respect
of any losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses referred to therein,
then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the aggregate amount of such
losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by such Indemnified
Party, as incurred, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the
relative benefits received by the Company, the Dealer Manager and the Soliciting
Dealer, respectively, from the proceeds received in Primary Offering pursuant to
this Agreement and the relevant Soliciting Dealer Agreement, or (ii) if the
allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by applicable law, in such
proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred
to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company, the Dealer
Manager and the Soliciting Dealer, respectively, in connection with the
statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, liabilities, claims,
damages or expenses, as well as any other relevant equitable
considerations.
26
(b) The relative benefits received by the
Company, the Dealer Manager and the Soliciting Dealer, respectively, in
connection with the proceeds received in the Primary Offering pursuant to this
Agreement and the relevant Soliciting Dealer Agreement shall be deemed to be in
the same respective proportion as the total net proceeds from the Primary
Offering pursuant to this Agreement and the relevant Soliciting Dealer Agreement
(before deducting expenses), received by the Company, and the total selling
commissions and dealer manager fees received by the Dealer Manager and the
Soliciting Dealer, respectively, in each case as set forth on the cover of the
Prospectus bear to the aggregate offering price of the Shares sold in the
Primary Offering as set forth on such cover.
(c) The relative fault of the Company, the
Dealer Manager and the Soliciting Dealer, respectively, shall be determined by
reference to, among other things, whether any such untrue or alleged untrue
statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material
fact related to information supplied by the Company, by the Dealer Manager or by
the Soliciting Dealer, respectively, and the parties’ relative intent,
knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such
statement or omission.
(d) The Company, the Dealer Manager and the
Soliciting Dealer (by virtue of entering into the Soliciting Dealer Agreement)
agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this
Section
9 were determined by
pro rata allocation or by any other method of
allocation which does not take account of the equitable contributions referred
to above in this Section
9. The aggregate
amount of losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by an
Indemnified Party and referred to above in this Section
9 shall be deemed to
include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Indemnified
Party in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any
investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or
threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or
omission or alleged omission.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of this
Section
9, the Dealer Manager and
the Soliciting Dealer shall not be required to contribute any amount by which
the total price at which the Shares sold in the Primary Offering to the public
by them exceeds the amount of any damages which the Dealer Manager and the
Soliciting Dealer have otherwise been required to pay by reason of any untrue or
alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission.
(f) No party guilty of fraudulent
misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act)
shall be entitled to contribution from any party who was not guilty of such
fraudulent misrepresentation.
(g) For the purposes of this Section
9, the Dealer Manager’s
officers, directors, employees, members, partners, agents and representatives,
and each Person, if any, who controls the Dealer Manager within the meaning of
Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act shall have
the same rights to contribution of the Dealer Manager, and each officers,
directors, employees, members, partners, agents and representatives of the
Company, each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement and
each Person, if any, who controls the Company, within the meaning of Section 15
of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act shall have the same
rights to contribution of the Company. The Soliciting Dealers’
respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section
9 are several in proportion
to the number of Shares sold by each Soliciting Dealer in the Primary Offering
and not joint.
27
10. TERMINATION
OF THIS AGREEMENT.
(a) TERM; EXPIRATION. This
Agreement shall become effective on the initial Effective Date. Unless sooner
terminated pursuant to this Section 10(a), this
Agreement shall expire at the end of the Offering Period. This Agreement may be earlier terminated
(i) by the Company pursuant to Section
10(b) and (ii) by the
Dealer Manager pursuant to Section
10(c). The date
upon which this Agreement shall have so expired or been terminated earlier shall
be referred to as the “Termination
Date”.
(b) TERMINATION BY THE COMPANY. This Agreement may be
terminated at the sole option of the Company, upon at least sixty (60)
days’ written notice to the Dealer
Manager. The Company also has the option to terminate this Agreement
immediately, subject to the thirty (30)-day cure period for a “for Cause”
termination due to a material breach of this Agreement, upon written notice of
termination from the Board of Directors of the Company to the Dealer Manager if
any of the following events occur:
(i) For Cause (as defined
below);
(ii) A court of competent jurisdiction enters
a decree or order for relief in respect of the Dealer Manager in any involuntary
case under the applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law now or
hereafter in effect, or appoints a receiver, liquidator, assignee, custodian,
trustee, sequestrator (or similar official) of the Dealer Manager or for any
substantial part of its property or orders the winding up or liquidation of the
Dealer Manager’s affairs;
(iii) The Dealer Manager commences a voluntary
case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law now or
hereafter in effect, or consents to the entry of an order for relief in an
involuntary case under any such law, or consents to the appointment of or taking
possession by a receiver, liquidator, assignee, custodian, trustee, sequestrator
(or similar official) of the Dealer Manager or for any substantial part of its
property, or makes any general assignment for the benefit of creditors, or fails
generally to pay its debts as they become due;
28
As used above, “Cause” shall mean fraud, criminal conduct,
willful misconduct or willful or grossly negligent breach of the Dealer
Manager’s obligations under this Agreement which materially adversely affects
the Dealer Manager’s ability to perform its duties; or a material breach of this
Agreement by the Dealer Manager which materially affects adversely affects the
Dealer Manager’s ability to perform its duties, provided that (A) Dealer Manager
does not cure any such material breach within thirty (30) days of receiving
notice of such material breach from the Company, or (B) if such material breach
is not of a nature that can be remedied within such period, the Dealer Manager
does not diligently take all reasonable steps to cure such breach or does not
cure such breach within a reasonable time period.
(c) TERMINATION BY DEALER
MANAGER. This
Agreement may be terminated at the sole option of the Dealer Manager,
upon at least sixty (60) days’ written notice to the Company. The Dealer Manager also
has the option to terminate this Agreement immediately, subject to the thirty
(30)-day cure period for a “for Good Reason” termination due to a material
breach of this Agreement, upon written notice of termination from the Dealer
Manager to the Company if any of the following events occur:
(i) For Good Reason (as defined
below);
(ii) A court of competent jurisdiction enters
a decree or order for relief in respect of the Company or any of its
subsidiaries in any involuntary case under the applicable bankruptcy, insolvency
or other similar law now or hereafter in effect, or appoints a receiver,
liquidator, assignee, custodian, trustee, sequestrator (or similar official) of
the Company or any of its subsidiaries or for any substantial part of its
property or orders the winding up or liquidation of the Company’s or any of its
subsidiaries’ affairs;
(iii) The Company or any of its subsidiaries
commences a voluntary case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other
similar law now or hereafter in effect, or consents to the entry of an order for
relief in an involuntary case under any such law, or consents to the appointment
of or taking possession by a receiver, liquidator, assignee, custodian, trustee,
sequestrator (or similar official) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or
for any substantial part of their property, or makes any general assignment for
the benefit of creditors, or fails generally to pay its debts as they become
due;
(iv) There
shall have been a material change in the nature of the business conducted or
contemplated to be conducted as set forth in the Registration Statement at the
initial Effective Date by the Company and its subsidiaries, considered as one
entity;
(v) There
shall have occurred a Company MAE,
whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business;
29
(vi) A
stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have
been issued by the Commission and is not rescinded within 10 business days after
the issuance thereof; or
(vii) A
material action, suit, proceeding or investigation of the type referred to in
Section 1(g)
shall have occurred or arisen on or after the initial Effective
Date.
As used above, “Good
Reason” shall mean fraud,
criminal conduct, willful misconduct or willful or grossly negligent breach of
the Company’s obligations under this Agreement, or a material breach of this
Agreement by the Company, provided that (i) the Company does not cure any such
material breach within thirty (30) days of receiving notice of such material
breach from the Dealer Manager, or (ii) if such material breach is not of a
nature that can be remedied within such period, the Company does not diligently
take all reasonable steps to cure such breach or does not cure such breach
within a reasonable time period.
(d) DELIVERY
OF RECORDS UPON EXPIRATION OR EARLY TERMINATION. Upon the expiration
or early termination of this Agreement for any reason, the Dealer Manager shall
(i) promptly forward any and all funds, if any, in its possession which were
received from investors for the sale of Shares into the Escrow Account for the
deposit of investor funds, (ii) to the extent not previously provided to the
Company, provide a list of all investors who have subscribed for or purchased
shares and all broker-dealers with whom the Dealer Manager has entered into a
Soliciting Dealer Agreement, (iii) notify Soliciting Dealers
of such termination, and (iv) promptly deliver to the Company copies of any
sales literature designed for use specifically for the Offering that it is then
in the process of preparing. Upon expiration or earlier termination of this
Agreement, the Company shall pay to the Dealer Manager all compensation to which
the Dealer Manager is or becomes entitled under Section 3(d) at such
time as such compensation becomes payable.
11. MISCELLANEOUS.
(a) SURVIVAL. The following
provisions of the Agreement shall survive the expiration or earlier termination
of this Agreement: Section
3(d); Section
5(l); Section
6(k); Section
7; Section
8; Section
9; Section
10; and Section
11. Notwithstanding anything
else that may be to the contrary herein, the expiration or earlier termination
of this Agreement shall not relieve a party for liability for any breach
occurring prior to such expiration or earlier termination.
(b) NOTICES. All notices,
consents, approvals, waivers or other communications required or permitted
hereunder (each a “Notice”)
shall be in writing and shall be: (i) delivered personally or by
commercial messenger; (ii) sent by a recognized overnight courier service; or
(iii) sent by facsimile transmission, provided confirmation of receipt is
received by sender and such Notice is sent or delivered contemporaneously by an
additional method provided hereunder; in each case above provided such Notice is
addressed to the intended recipient thereof as set forth below:
30
If to the
Company:
|
American
Realty Capital – Retail Centers of America,
Inc.
|
000 Xxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx,
Xxx Xxxx 00000
Facsimile No.: (000) 000-0000
Attention:
|
Xxxxxxx X.
Xxxxxx
|
with a copy to:
Proskauer Rose LLP
0000 Xxxxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx
00000
Facsimile No.: (000)
000-0000
Attention:
|
Xxxxx X. Xxxx,
Esq.
|
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx,
Esq.
If to the Dealer
Manager:
|
Realty Capital Securities,
LLC
|
Three Xxxxxx Place, Suite
3300
Xxxxxx, XX 00000
Facsimile
No.: (000)
000-0000
Attention:
|
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx
|
Managing Director
with a copy to:
Proskauer Rose LLP
0000 Xxxxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx,
XX 00000
Facsimile No: (000) 000-0000
Attention:
|
Xxxxx X. Xxxx,
Esq.
|
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx,
Esq.
If to the
Advisor:
|
American
Realty Capital Retail
Advisor, LLC
|
000 Xxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx,
Xxx Xxxx 00000
Facsimile No.: (000) 000-0000
Attention:
|
Xxxxxxx X.
Xxxxxx
|
with a copy to:
Proskauer Rose LLP
0000 Xxxxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx
00000
Facsimile No.: (000)
000-0000
Attention:
|
Xxxxx X. Xxxx,
Esq.
|
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx,
Esq.
31
Any party
may change its address specified above by giving each party notice of such
change in accordance with this Section
11(b).
(c) SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS. No party shall assign (voluntarily, by
operation of law or otherwise) this Agreement or any right, interest or benefit
under this Agreement without the prior written consent of each other party.
Subject to the foregoing, this Agreement shall be fully binding upon, inure to
the benefit of, and be enforceable by, the parties hereto and their respective
successors and assigns.
(d) INVALID PROVISION. The
invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Agreement shall not
affect the other provisions hereof, and this Agreement shall be construed in all
respects as if such invalid or unenforceable provision were
omitted.
(e) APPLICABLE LAW. This Agreement and any
disputes relative to the interpretation or enforcement hereto shall be governed
by and construed under the internal laws, as opposed to the conflicts of laws
provisions, of the State of New York.
(f) WAIVER. EACH
OF THE PARTIES HERETO WAIVES ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, SUIT,
PROCEEDING OR COUNTERCLAIM (WHETHER BASED UPON CONTRACT, TORT
OR OTHERWISE) RELATED TO OR ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT. The
parties hereto each hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of
the courts of the State of New York and the Federal courts of the United States
of America located in the Borough of Manhattan, New York City, in respect of the
interpretation and enforcement of the terms of this Agreement, and in respect of
the transactions contemplated hereby, and each hereby waives, and agrees not to
assert, as a defense in any action, suit or proceeding for the interpretation or
enforcement hereof, that it is not subject thereto or that such action, suit or
proceeding may not be brought or is not maintainable in said courts or that the
venue thereof may not be appropriate or that this Agreement may not be enforced
in or by such courts, and the parties hereto each hereby irrevocably agrees that
all claims with respect to such action or proceeding shall be heard and
determined in such a New York State or Federal court.
(g) ATTORNEYS’ FEES. If a dispute
arises concerning the performance, meaning or interpretation of any provision of
this Agreement or any document executed in connection with this Agreement, then
the prevailing party in such dispute shall be awarded any and all costs and
expenses incurred by the prevailing party in enforcing, defending or
establishing its rights hereunder or thereunder, including, without limitation,
court costs and attorneys and expert witness fees. In addition to the
foregoing award of costs and fees, the prevailing also shall be entitled to
recover its attorneys’ fees incurred in any post-judgment proceedings to collect
or enforce any judgment.
32
(h) NO PARTNERSHIP. Nothing in this Agreement shall be
construed or interpreted to constitute the Dealer Manager or the Soliciting
Brokers as being in association with or in partnership with the Company or one
another, and instead, this Agreement only shall constitute the Soliciting Dealer
as a broker authorized by the Company to sell and to manage the sale by others
of the Shares according to the terms set forth in the Registration Statement,
the Prospectus or this Agreement. Nothing herein contained shall render the
Dealer Manager or the Company liable for the obligations of any of the
Soliciting Brokers or one another.
(i) THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES. Except for the Persons
referred to in Section
8 and Section
9, there shall be no third
party beneficiaries of this Agreement, and no provision of this Agreement is
intended to be for the benefit of any Person not a party to this Agreement, and
no third party shall be deemed to be a beneficiary of any provision of this
Agreement. Except for the Persons referred to in Section
8 and Section
9, no third party shall by
virtue of any provision of this Agreement have a right of action or an
enforceable remedy against any party to this Agreement. Each of the
Persons referred to in Section
8 and Section
9 shall be a third party
beneficiary of this Agreement.
(j) ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Agreement contains the entire
agreement and understanding among the parties hereto with respect to the subject
matter hereof, and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements,
understandings, inducements and conditions, express or implied, oral or written,
of any nature whatsoever with respect to the subject matter hereof. The express
terms hereof control and supersede any course of performance and/or usage of the
trade inconsistent with any of the terms hereof. This Agreement may not be
modified or amended other than by an agreement in writing.
(k) NONWAIVER. The failure of any party to
insist upon or enforce strict performance by any other party of any provision of
this Agreement or to exercise any right under this Agreement shall not be
construed as a waiver or relinquishment to any extent of such party’s right to
assert or rely upon any such provision or right in that or any other instance;
rather, such provision or right shall be and remain in full force and
effect.
(l) ACCESS TO INFORMATION. The Company may authorize the
Company’s transfer agent to provide information to the Dealer Manager and each
Soliciting Dealer regarding recordholder information about the clients of such
Soliciting Dealer who have invested with the Company on an on-going basis for so
long as such Soliciting Dealer has a relationship with such clients. The Dealer
Manager shall require in the Soliciting Dealer Agreement that Soliciting Dealers
not disclose any password for a restricted website or portion of website
provided to such Soliciting Dealer in connection with the Offering and not
disclose to any Person, other than an officer, director, employee or agent of
such Soliciting Dealers, any material downloaded from such a restricted website
or portion of a restricted website.
33
(m) COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be executed
(including by facsimile transmission) with counterpart signature pages or in
counterpart copies, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of which
together shall constitute one and the same instrument comprising this
Agreement.
(n) ABSENCE OF FIDUCIARY
RELATIONSHIPS. The parties acknowledge and agree that (i) the Dealer
Manager’s responsibility to the Company and the Advisor is solely contractual in
nature, and (ii) the Dealer Manager does not owe the Company, the Advisor, any
of their respective affiliates or any other Person any fiduciary (or other
similar) duty as a result of this Agreement or any of the transactions
contemplated hereby.
(o) DEALER
MANAGER INFORMATION. Prior to the initial Effective Date, the parties
will expressly acknowledge and agree as to the information furnished to the
Company by the Dealer Manager expressly for use in the Registration
Statement.
(p) PROMOTION OF DEALER MANAGER
RELATIONSHIP. The Company and the Dealer Manager will cooperate with
each other in good faith in connection with the promotion or advertisement of
their relationship in any release, communication, sales literature or other such
materials and shall not promote or advertise their relationship without the
approval of the other party in advance, which shall not be unreasonably withheld
or delayed.
(q) TITLES AND SUBTITLES. The
titles and subtitles used in this Agreement are used for convenience only and
are not to be considered in construing or interpreting this
Agreement.
If the foregoing is in accordance with
your understanding of our agreement, kindly sign and return it to us, whereupon
this instrument will become a binding agreement between you and the Company in
accordance with its terms.
[Signatures on following
page]
34
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto
have each duly executed this Dealer Manager Agreement as of the day and year set
forth above.
AMERICAN
REALTY CAPITAL – RETAIL CENTERS OF AMERICA, INC.
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By: | |||
Name:
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Title:
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AMERICAN
REALTY CAPITAL RETAIL ADVISOR, LLC
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By: | |||
Name:
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Title:
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Accepted as of the date first above
written:
REALTY
CAPITAL SECURITIES, LLC
By:
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Name:
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Title:
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