AREA REPRESENTATIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN EVOS USA, INC. AND HEALTHY FAST FOOD, INC. DATED DECEMBER 1, 2006
EXHIBIT
10.8
AREA
REPRESENTATIVE
AGREEMENT BETWEEN EVOS USA, INC. AND
HEALTHY
FAST FOOD,
INC. DATED DECEMBER 1, 2006
BETWEEN
EVOS
USA,
INC.
AND
HEALTHY
FAST FOOD, INC.
Effective
Date: December 1st, 2006
Franchisor: Area
Representative:
EVOS USA,
INC. HEALTHY
FAST FOOD, INC.
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx 0000
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx X
Xxxxx,
Xxxxxxx 00000 Xxxxxxxxx,
Xxxxxx 00000
Territory:
The
states of
Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon, Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma
and
Texas.
TAMPDOCS\519491.9
11/21/06
Section Page
1. DEFINITIONS 2
(a) Competitive
Business 2
(b) Development
Schedule 2
(c) Development
Year 2
(d) Franchise
Agreement 2
(e) Territory 2
2. MATERIAL INDUCEMENTS
2
(a) Acknowledgments
2
(b) No
Guarantees 3
(c) Representations
3
3. ADVANCES
4
(a) Amounts
4
(b) Reimbursement
Funds
4
(c) Credits 4
4. TERM
AND
RENEWAL
4
(a) Term
4
(b) Renewal 4
5. APPOINTMENT 5
(a) Appointment 5
(b) Reservation
of
Rights
5
(c) Alternative
Channels of
Distribution 6
(d) Referrals
of
Prospects
6
(e) Strict
Performance 6
(f) Franchise
Agreements
6
6. YOUR
TRAINING
STORE
6
7. YOUR
OFFICE
6
8. PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS
7
(a) Development
Schedule
7
(b) Best
Efforts
7
(c) Effect
of
Failure
7
(d) Adjusted
Territory 7
(e) Expiration/Effect
7
9. DISCLOSURE
AND
REGISTRATION
8
(a) Franchise
Documentation
8
(b) Registration
8
(c) Delays
8
(d) Information
Requirements
8
(e) Broker
Registration
8
(f) Disclosure
Documents
9
(g) Franchise
Disclosure
9
i
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
(h) Franchise
Agreements 9
10. FRANCHISE
SOLICITATION
10
(a) Recruiting
and
Screening
10
(b) Application
Process
10
(c) Method
of
Approval 10
11. COMPENSATION
10
(a) Initial
Franchise
Fees
10
(b) Royalties 11
(c) Terms
of
Payment
11
(d) Setoffs 11
12. ANCILLARY
ACTIVITIES 11
13. TRAINING
12
(a) Area
Representative
Training 12
(b) Initial
Franchise Owner
Training 12
(c) Additional
Training 12
(d) Support
Service
Training
12
(e) Supplemental
Training
12
(f) Costs
and
Expenses 12
14. AR
MANUAL 12
15. SERVICE
OBLIGATIONS 13
16. COMPUTER
SYSTEM
16
17. FRANCHISE
OWNER
INSPECTIONS 16
18. MARKS
17
(a) Ownership
and
Goodwill
17
(b) Limitations
on
Use
17
(c) Infringements
and
Claims 17
(d) Discontinuance
of
Use
17
19. CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION 17
(a) Nature
of
Information
17
(b) Nondisclosure
18
(c) Use
of
Ideas
18
(d) Exclusive
Relationship 18
20. IMAGE
AND OPERATING
STANDARDS 19
(a) Standards
of
Service
19
(b) Advertising 19
(c) Promotional
Materials
19
(d) Judicial
Actions 20
(e) Management
of
Business
20
(f) Minimum
Staffing
Levels
20
(g) Facilities
and
Equipment
20
21. INSURANCE
20
(a) Coverage
Requirements 20
ii
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
(b) Verifications
20
22. TRANSFER
21
(a) By
Us
21
(b) By
You
21
(c) Conditions
for Approval of
Transfer 21
(d) Transfer
to a Controlled
Entity 22
(e) Effect
of Consent to
Transfer 23
(f) Compliance
with
Laws
23
(g) Right
of First
Refusal
23
(h) Transfer
Upon Death or
Disability 23
(i) Management
Upon Death or
Disability 24
(j) Sale
of
Securities
24
23. TERMINATION
BY US / WITH
CAUSE 24
24.
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
ON
TERMINATION
OR EXPIRATION
26
(a) Ours
26
(b) Disassociation
26
(c) Confidential
Information
26
(d) Noncompetition 27
25. RELATIONSHIP
OF THE
PARTIES
27
(a) Independent
Contractors 27
(b) Identification
27
(c) Liabilities
27
(d) Indemnification
by
You
27
(e) Indemnification
by
Us
28
(f) Contributions
28
26. BUSINESS
ORGANIZATION
28
27. NOTICES
29
28. MISCELLANEOUS
29
(a) Severability;
Substitution of Valid
Provisions
29
(b) No
Waiver
29
(c) Binding
Nature,
Assignments 29
(d) Headings
29
(e) Construction
29
(f) Further
Instruments and
Actions 30
(g) Complete
Agreement;
Modification 30
(h) Execution
and
Counterparts 30
(i) Understanding
of
Agreement 30
(j) Cumulative
Remedies 30
(k) Costs
and Attorneys’
Fees
30
(l) Certain
Definitions
30
(m) Continuing
Obligations
30
(n) Governing
Law
30
(o) Jurisdiction
31
(p) Arbitration
Proceedings 31
(q) Force
Majeure
31
iii
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
Exhibits
Exhibit
A-
Development Schedule
Exhibit
B-Projected
Corporate Staffing Requirements
Exhibit
C-Form of
Securities Sale Addendum
iv
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
THIS
AREA
REPRESENTATIVE AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is
effective on December 1st, 2006 (the
(“Effective Date”) (regardless of the actual date of
signature), by EVOS USA, INC., a Florida corporation
(“we,” “us” or “our” or the
“Franchisor”),
and HEALTHY FAST FOOD, INC.,
a(n) Nevada corporation (collectively, “you,”
“your” or the “Area Representative”) (you and
we are sometimes collectively referred to as the “parties” and
each are sometimes separately referred to as a
“party”).
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
A. EVOS®
System. We
and our
affiliates have expended considerable time, effort and expense in developing
the
EVOS® concept which specializes in serving healthier fast food in a fast-casual
environment (each an “EVOS® Restaurant” or
“Restaurant”). EVOS® Restaurants operate under
the
Marks and Copyrights and under distinctive business formats, employee selection
and training programs, methods, procedures, designs, layouts, signs, equipment,
menus, use of certain soy-based products, recipes, trade dress, standards and
specifications, all of which we may improve, further develop, change or replace
or otherwise modify from time to time (the
“System”).
We
commission, use,
promote and license in the operation of an EVOS® Restaurant certain trademarks,
service marks and other commercial symbols, including the trade and service
xxxx
“EVOS®” and other associated logos, copyrighted works, designs,
Art, trade dress, trademarks, service marks, commercial symbols, and e-names,
which will gain or have gained and continue to gain public acceptance and
goodwill, and may create, commission, use and license additional trademarks,
service marks, e-names, copyrighted works, Art and commercial symbols in
conjunction with the operation of EVOS® Restaurants (collectively, the
“Marks”). We license them from an affiliate and sublicense them
to you.
We
grant to persons
who meet our qualifications and are willing to undertake the investment and
effort, a Franchise to own and operate an EVOS® Restaurant offering the products
and services we authorize and approve and utilizing the Marks and the
System. You have applied for a Franchise to own and operate an EVOS®
Restaurant and to act as our Area Representative in the
Territory. Your rights to own and operate an EVOS® Restaurant will be
governed by a separate Franchise Agreement.
B. Area
Representatives. We
appoint
certain persons who meet our standards and qualifications and who are willing
to
undertake special efforts (“Area Representatives”), the right
to solicit and screen prospective franchise owners for the right to own and
operate EVOS® Restaurant franchises (“Franchises”), to assist
us in rendering certain services to them, within a defined geographic territory
(the “Territory”) and to perform certain other business
activities and responsibilities that we require from time to
time. Individuals or entities granted Franchises are referred to as
“Franchise Owner(s).” You want to serve as one of
our Area Representatives. The business you conduct under this
Agreement is referred to as the “Area Representative
Business.”
OPERATIVE
TERMS
ACCORDINGLY,
the parties agree as follows:
1
1. DEFINITIONS
The
following terms
have the following meanings in this Agreement:
(a) COMPETITIVE
BUSINESS. The
term “Competitive Business” as used in this Agreement means any
business or facility owning, operating, managing, granting, offering or
soliciting franchises or licenses to others to do so, any quick service
restaurant (other than an EVOS® Restaurant operated under a franchise agreement
with us) that offers food products for dining on-site, catering, delivery
service, kiosk-type or take-out of food products where 50% or more of the menu
items consist of healthier fare, or organic or natural foods, soy-based or
lower
carb foods, or any type of deli or fast foods and
beverages which are then the same or similar as those
offered by EVOS® Restaurants. A Competitive Business does not include
restaurants that offer primarily fine dining or where patrons order from wait
staff from menus at their tables.
(b) DEVELOPMENT
SCHEDULE. The
words “Development Schedule” mean the minimum number of
franchised EVOS® Restaurants to be open and in operation on the last day of any
Development Year in the Territory.
(c) DEVELOPMENT
YEAR. The
first Development Year begins 6 months from the Effective Date (the
“Development Commencement Date”) and ends on the first day of
the month following 12 full calendar months following the Development
Commencement Date. Then, each subsequent Development Year begins on
each anniversary of the first day of Development Year 2 (i.e., if the
Development Commencement Date is April 15, 2007, then Development Year 2 begins
on May 1, 2008).
(d) FRANCHISE
AGREEMENT. The
words “Franchise Agreement” mean the form of Franchise
Agreement we use from time to time (including all related exhibits, riders,
addenda, amendments and guarantees), in granting Franchises.
(e) TERRITORY. The
word “Territory” means the geographic area consisting of the
states of Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon, Ohio, Kansas,
Oklahoma and Texas.
2. MATERIAL
INDUCEMENTS
(a) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We
are
presenting this Agreement to you because you expressed the desire to own and
operate an Area Representative Business. You understand that the
terms of this Agreement are reasonably necessary to maintain our high standards
of quality and service and the uniformity of those standards at each Franchise
and to protect and preserve the goodwill of the Marks. In signing
this Agreement, you acknowledge.
(i) The
importance of operating your Area Representative Business in strict conformity
with our standards.
(ii) That
you have conducted an independent investigation of the Area Representative
Business and recognize that, like any other business, its nature may evolve
and
change over time.
(iii) That
an investment in an Area Representative Business involves business risks,
responsibilities and obligations.
(iv) That
the success of this business venture is primarily dependent on your business
abilities and efforts.
2
(v) You
will comply with and/or assist us to the fullest extent possible in our efforts
to comply with Executive Order 13224 issued by the President of the United
States, the USA PATRIOT Act, and all other present and future federal, state
and
local laws, ordinances, regulations, policies, lists and any other requirements
of any governmental authority addressing or in any way relating to terrorist
acts and acts of war (the “Anti-Terrorism Laws”).
(vi) Neither
you nor any of your owners, employees, or agents, property or interests is
subject to being “blocked” under any of the Anti-Terrorism Laws and that neither
you nor they are otherwise in violation of any of the Anti-Terrorism
Laws.
(b) NO
GUARANTEES. We
expressly disclaim the making of, and you acknowledge that you have not received
or relied upon, any warranty or guarantee, express or implied, as to the
revenues, sales, profits or success of the business venture contemplated by
this
Agreement or the extent to which we will continue to develop and expand the
network of Area Representative Businesses. You acknowledge
that:
(i) Any
statements regarding the potential or probable revenues, sales or profits of
the
business venture are made solely in the Franchise Offering Circular, if any,
delivered to you prior to signing this Agreement.
(ii) Any
statements regarding the potential or probable revenues, sales or profits of
the
business venture or statistical information regarding any existing Area
Representative Business or any Franchise that is not contained in our Franchise
Offering Circular is unauthorized, unwarranted and unreliable, and should be
reported to us immediately.
(iii) Any
information you obtained from other owners of Area Representative Businesses
relating to revenues, sales, profits or otherwise does not constitute
information obtained from us and we do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy
of
any such information.
(iv) You
have not received or relied on any representations about the Area Representative
Business made by us, or our officers, directors, employees or agents, that
are
contrary to the statements made in our Franchise Offering Circular or to the
terms of this Agreement.
(c) REPRESENTATIONS. To
induce us to enter into this Agreement with you, you represent and warrant
that:
(i) In
all of your dealings with us, our officers, directors, employees and agents
act
only in a representative capacity and not in an individual
capacity.
(ii) This
Agreement and all business dealings between you and such individuals as a result
of this Agreement, are solely between you and us.
(iii) You
have made no misrepresentations in obtaining your rights under this Agreement
including in the application that you provided to us.
(iv) You
have read this Agreement and our Franchise Offering Circular in their
entirety.
3
3. ADVANCES
(a) AMOUNTS.
You
have already advanced us funds in the amount of $35,000 in July,
2006. On signing this Agreement, you will pay us an additional
$25,000 (the “Reimbursement Funds”), so that the total amount
advanced will be $60,000 in cash.
(b) REIMBURSEMENT
FUNDS. We
are
using the Reimbursement Funds to reimburse our expenses or pay them, as the
case
may be, associated with legal fees and governmental filing fees related to
entering into this Agreement and preparing the related disclosure
documents. However, we will not disburse any of the Reimbursement
Funds until we have applied for registration in the states of California and
Washington so that you can solicit franchises there. We will file the
applications in those states within 30 days of the Effective Date.
(c) CREDITS. In
exchange for the advances, we will waive the initial franchise fee otherwise
due
us from you or your affiliates for 11 new Restaurants that you or your
affiliates will own and operate in the Territory. Once we have
received all of the advances, and in exchange for certain other agreements
between the parties otherwise described in this Agreement, we release you from
any other obligation you may have to reimburse us for any expenses that we
incurred in connection with the preparation and development of this Agreement
and the disclosure documents associated with it.
4. TERM
AND RENEWAL.
(a) TERM. The
Effective Date of this Agreement is shown on the cover, regardless of the actual
date of signatures of the parties. This Agreement commences on its
Effective Date and will continue until the end of the 10th Development Year;
unless terminated sooner in accordance with this Agreement (the
“Term”). The word “Term” includes
the time period of any renewal or extension of this Agreement.
(b) RENEWAL. At
the
expiration of the Term (or each successive renewal Term), if you are not then
in
breach of this Agreement, you may renew this Agreement for 2 renewal periods
of
5 years if you fulfill all of the following conditions:
(i) You
have notified us 180 days prior to the end of the Term or renewal period of
your
intent to renew.
(ii) You
and we enter into our then-current form of Area Representative
Agreement.
(iii) You
and we mutually agree on a development schedule (if any) for EVOS® Restaurants
in the Territory during the renewal term (the “Successor
Schedule”).
(iv) You
must reimburse us for the expenses we incur associated with the renewal (with
the expectation, but no guarantee, that they will not exceed
$15,000). No renewal fee will be charged for Restaurants already
developed in the Territory before the end of the period.
(v) You
sign and deliver to us a general release in our then-standard form.
4
5. APPOINTMENT
(a) APPOINTMENT. We
appoint you as our Area Representative for the Term and you agree to the
appointment. During the Term: (i) we grant you the
right, and you accept the obligation, to actively and continually solicit
prospective franchise owners and assist us in rendering the services described
in this Agreement to our Franchise Owners whose EVOS® Restaurants are physically
located within the Territory as long as you are in full compliance with this
Agreement; and (ii) you agree to devote your full time and attention, and to
utilize your best efforts, to the operation of your Area Representative
Business, to enhance the sales and operations of EVOS® Restaurants within the
Territory, to solicit prospective franchise owners, and to fulfill this
Agreement, other than the time you devote to the operation of EVOS® Restaurants
owned by you or your affiliates. However, notwithstanding the
foregoing, you acknowledge and agree that the operations of your or your
affiliate-owned EVOS® Restaurants must not be such a burden or limitation on
your resources so that it materially detracts from the operation of your Area
Representative Business. You agree to acquire the managerial and
financial resources to operate your own and affiliated EVOS® Restaurants and
fully exploit the opportunities available to you and your Area Representative
Business.
(b) RESERVATION
OF RIGHTS. On
behalf of us and our affiliates, we retain the right to do the following and
without any compensation to you:
(i) To
solicit prospective franchise owners and grant other persons Franchises, or
other rights to operate EVOS® Restaurants: (x) through national or regional
advertising, trade shows or conventions, or using or through the Internet,
Intranet or other forms of e-commerce or through similar means (but we will
refer leads from within your Territory to you); and/or (y) anywhere outside
of the Territory.
(ii) To
solicit Area Representatives, developers and brokers for the purpose of
expanding franchises in locations other than the Territory, or within the
Territory if doing so does not materially interfere with your rights and
compensation under this Agreement.
(iii) To
own and operate EVOS® Restaurants ourselves or through affiliates anywhere other
than in your Territory.
(iv) Sell,
solicit, recruit and provide services for EVOS® Restaurants or any franchised
business not defined as an EVOS® Restaurant in this Agreement.
(v) To
sell, and provide the services authorized for sale by, EVOS® Restaurants under
the Marks or other trade names, trademarks, service marks and commercial
symbols through similar or dissimilar channels (like telephone, mail order,
kiosk, co-branded sites and sites located within other retail businesses,
Intranet, Internet, web sites, wireless, email or other forms of e-commerce)
for
distribution within and outside of the Territory and pursuant to such terms
and
conditions as we consider appropriate.
(vi) To
solicit prospective franchise owners for, and own and operate, businesses and
restaurants of any other kind or nature, anywhere.
(vii) To
own, operate, and develop other businesses (including other restaurant concepts)
in your Territory (other than a Competitive Business).
5
(c) ALTERNATIVE
CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION. To
the
extent we deem practicable, we may give you the opportunity to participate
in
the sale of other services through other distribution channels
or to
Franchises in the Territory; but we are not obligated to do
so. However, you may not participate in other services or areas of
distribution, without our prior written approval. You acknowledge
that: (i) there may be Franchise Agreements or other agreements
already in effect between us and Franchise Owners or distributors in the
Territory; and (ii) the rights granted to you under this Agreement are subject
to the rights of existing Franchise Owners and distributors in the
Territory.
(d) REFERRALS
OF PROSPECTS. We
will refer to you, as we deem appropriate, all information that we obtain from
prospective franchise owners who want to operate Franchises within the Territory
regardless of the source. You must at your
expense: (i) complete the solicitation and background
investigation of such prospective franchise owners; (ii) send to us all
information that you obtain from prospective franchise owners who want to
operate outside of the Territory; and (iii) complete all character profiles
and
other procedures we direct from time to time.
(e) STRICT
PERFORMANCE. You
must perform your obligations under this Agreement strictly in accordance with
the terms and provisions of this Agreement, and our policies as they may be
developed, modified and supplemented from time to time, and only within the
Territory, unless we notify you that you may operate in a contiguous geographic
area to your Territory.
(f) FRANCHISE
AGREEMENTS. You
acknowledge that: (i) you are familiar with our current forms of
Franchise Agreement; and (ii) we may modify or amend our forms of Franchise
Agreement and all terms of granting franchises at any time. Terms not
otherwise defined in this Agreement have meanings as defined in the Franchise
Agreement.
6. YOUR
TRAINING STORE
During
the
Term, you agree to own, operate and maintain at all times at least 1 franchised
EVOS® Restaurant in the Territory (the “Training
Store”). Your Store located at 00000 X. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxx 00000 meets our standards as a Training Store. You
must maintain the Training Store as a certified training facility based on
the
standards we develop from time to time throughout the term of this
Agreement. You recognize that the Training Store must meet our
requirements for a training facility and therefore may be more expensive to
develop, construct, own and operate than a typical EVOS® Restaurant. If at any
time, your Training Store does not meet our certification as a training
facility: (i) you will be in breach of this Agreement; and (ii) we
may cancel, and you will then forfeit, any compensation that we otherwise owe
you pursuant to this Agreement for any Franchise Owner who you are not able
to
train at your Training Store.
7. YOUR
OFFICE
During
the Term,
you are required to maintain an office at a location we approve (your
“Office”) and that is sufficient for you to fulfill your
responsibilities under this Agreement and project a suitable image for
prospective Franchise Owners. Thus, your Office must meet such
reasonable standards for location, layout and décor as we develop from time to
time. We approve your current Office but you and we agree that it is
temporary only and you will obtain an Office separate from other businesses
no
later than the end of Development Year 2. We will not unreasonably
withhold approval of any future Office.
6
8. PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS
During
the Term you
must at all times faithfully, honestly and diligently perform your obligations
and exert your best efforts to promote and enhance your Area Representative
Business
and the
sale, development and servicing of Franchises and EVOS® Restaurants within the
Territory.
(a) DEVELOPMENT
SCHEDULE. You
agree that your rights under this Agreement are contingent on your opening
and
maintaining the number of EVOS® Restaurants required by the Development
Schedule. You must replace any Franchise that terminates or expires
or any EVOS® Restaurant that closes, within the Territory in order to maintain
the number of EVOS® Restaurants required in the Development
Schedule. In addition to the foregoing, you must develop Stores
within the Territory so that all of the states within the Territory experience
the development and opening of EVOS® Restaurants. In this regard, the
Territory will automatically be adjusted to eliminate any states in the
Territory if you have not achieved the minimum development in such
state(s).
(b) BEST
EFFORTS.
You must use your
best efforts to ensure that EVOS® Restaurants in the Territory meet our
standards and specification for quality and performance (“System
Standards”).
(c) EFFECT
OF FAILURE. If
you
do not meet or exceed the Development Schedule, we may either:
(i) Reduce
the Territory to an area that we believe you are able to adequately supervise
(the “Adjusted Territory”) (which may result in ending your
rights to service some Restaurants you have been servicing and assigning those
servicing obligations and the related compensation to others or assuming them
ourselves).
(ii) Terminate
this Agreement otherwise in accordance with its terms.
(d) ADJUSTED
TERRITORY. If
we
reduce the Territory to an Adjusted Territory, then:
(i) You
will continue to perform all of your duties and obligations under this Agreement
with respect to Franchises for EVOS® Restaurants that opened in the Territory
prior to adjustment until further notice from us.
(ii) You
will no longer market or solicit Franchise Owners for the purchase of EVOS®
Restaurants or provide related services outside of the Adjusted
Territory.
(iii) You
will not be paid any compensation relating to EVOS® Restaurants operating
located outside of the Adjusted Territory after the date of
adjustment.
(e) EXPIRATION/EFFECT. If
this Agreement expires or terminates, you will no longer provide any services
whatsoever to, transact business with or engage in any transactions with, any
Franchise or EVOS® Restaurant operating in the Territory, including any EVOS®
Restaurant developed or in development or any of our other franchise owners
or
Area Representatives. Any carryover of your activities as our Area
Representative will not limit or restrict our rights under this Agreement in
any
way.
7
9. DISCLOSURE
AND REGISTRATION
(a) FRANCHISE
DOCUMENTATION. We
offer Franchises through a set of documents, including, franchise agreements,
offering circulars and related or ancillary documents necessary to offer or
sell
Franchises, or register the Franchise in compliance with state and federal
franchise or business opportunity laws (the
“Documentation”). You will review the Documentation
in detail so
that you are
fully familiar with them. You recognize that we may modify or amend
the Documentation at any time without notice or obligation to you; however,
we
will promptly send you copies.
(b) REGISTRATION. If
your activities as our Area Representative require the preparation, amendment,
registration or filing of any Documentation or other documents under applicable
franchise, business opportunity or related laws, then you must not solicit
prospective franchise owners until we have: (i) registered the Franchise in
the
applicable jurisdictions; (ii) provided you with the Documentation necessary
for
you to solicit prospective franchise owners; and (iii) notified you that the
registration is in effect. You must stop soliciting prospective
franchise owners immediately at any time that we notify you that the
registration of the Franchise is not then in effect or the Documentation is
not
in compliance with applicable law. We will prepare the Documentation
and file any materials to be registered with any state regulatory
agency. We will bear the costs of the preparation of the
Documentation as well as registration and filing.
(c) DELAYS. If
we
have not completed the annual update of the Franchise Offering Circular or
if we
are required, but have not filed applications to offer and sell Franchises
in
any state in the Territory that requires franchise sales registration as of
the
effective date of this Agreement, for 90 or more consecutive days, then the
Development Schedule will be modified to provide you with additional time (on
a
pro rata basis) for you to comply with the Development Schedule for that
particular Franchise (for example, if we have not registered a Franchise in
a
particular state in the Territory that requires it for 180 consecutive days,
then the Development Schedule pertaining to that Franchise will be extended
180
days). If we, through no fault of yours, lose our rights to solicit
and/or sell Franchises in any state in the Territory, we will modify the
Development Schedule to accommodate you for the lost opportunity in that
state. However, you understand that it is common for temporary lapses
in the ability to offer and sell Franchises due to the need for periodic
modifications, updates and regulatory approvals. Thus, lapses of
consecutive time periods of 90 days or less will not require any modification
of
the schedule.
(d) INFORMATION
REQUIREMENTS. In
connection with fulfilling legal and other franchise requirements, you
must:
(i) Provide
to us all information reasonably required by us to prepare all Documentation,
including requisite offering circulars and ancillary documents for the offering
of Franchises in the Territory.
(ii) Sign
and return to us all Documentation reasonably required by us, or our designee,
for the purpose of registering the offer of Franchises throughout the
Territory.
(iii) Review
all Documentation materials we prepare on your behalf. We are not
liable for any errors or omissions which may occur in the preparation of those
materials, as long as you have approved them.
(e) BROKER
REGISTRATION. You
(and, if necessary, your owners and officers, if any) will register and/or
obtain licensure as a franchise broker, real estate broker, business broker
or
otherwise in any jurisdiction in which you are required to do so, and maintain
such registrations or licenses throughout the Term, at your cost and
expense. You must not solicit prospective franchise owners
until: (i) such registration or license, if necessary, is effective;
and (ii) you have provided to us documentary proof of its
effectiveness. You must not engage or utilize any franchise brokers
for any reason without our prior written approval.
8
(f) DISCLOSURE
DOCUMENTS. You
must comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations
governing the offering of Franchises in your Territory. In this
connection, you must:
(i) Furnish
to prospective franchise owners only Documentation we designate, including
the
then-current form of franchise offering circular we have authorized for use
within your Territory, along with such promotional material that we have
previously approved.
(ii) Comply
with all requirements for timing of delivery of the Documentation and obtaining
and delivering to us the original signed acknowledgment of receipt for each
franchise offering circular you deliver to any prospective franchise
owner.
(iii) Make
no representations or other statements that conflict with any of the information
contained in the franchise offering circular delivered to the prospective
franchise owner and within our then-current Franchise Agreement.
(iv) Make
no earnings claims, or projections, or provide any information with regard
to
sales, revenues, income, costs or expenses relating to any Franchise or any
individual EVOS® Restaurant unless in accordance with the provisions of the
franchise offering circular to be provided to prospective franchise
owners.
(v) Promptly
notify us of any material information or event which comes to your attention
that may require disclosure in the franchise offering circular.
(vi) Use,
display, publish and distribute for purposes of soliciting prospective franchise
owners, only advertising, marketing and promotional materials that we have
previously approved as acceptable for use in your Territory.
(g) FRANCHISE
DISCLOSURE. We
will make reasonable efforts to provide you with copies of correspondence,
reports and data issued by each Franchise Owner to us (the
“Reports”) if: (i) we determine them to be useful to
your operation of your Area Representative Business; and (ii) the Reports are
the type of information which Franchise Owners provide to us under their
Franchise Agreements. We will also report to you sufficient data with
each compensation payment to enable you to verify the amounts
payable. We may provide this information electronically only at our
option.
(h) FRANCHISE
AGREEMENTS. When
providing information to prospective franchise owners and in assisting in the
closing of any sale of a Franchise, you must only provide our then-current
form
of Franchise Agreement and any ancillary Documentation that we have approved
for
use within your Territory. You have no authority to make any changes,
additions or deletions of any kind to them. You must not make any financial
projections to prospective franchise owners or review or comment on any prepared
or submitted by prospective franchise owners. The only financial
disclosures, if any, made to prospective franchise owners are contained in
the
Documentation. You have no authority to, and agree not to, assist,
advise, or solicit any Franchise Owner’s efforts to operate Franchises in any
method inconsistent with the System. You are not authorized to enter into
Franchise Agreements on our behalf. Franchise Agreements and any
ancillary agreements are not binding on us until we sign the Franchise Agreement
and we can refuse to do so at any time.
9
10. FRANCHISE
SOLICITATION
(a) RECRUITING
AND SCREENING. You
are responsible for advertising for, recruiting, soliciting and screening
prospects for Franchises within the Territory according to the standards,
materials, policies and procedures we develop and announce from time to time
which also may be specified in the AR Manual. You must only use the
application forms and other documents we specify for each prospect that wants
to
purchase a Franchise (an “Applicant”).
(b) APPLICATION
PROCESS. You
must maintain written or electronic records of all contacts with all prospects
for Franchises regardless whether such contact rises to the level of such
prospect becoming an Applicant. You must provide written progress
reports as we request from time to time. You must assist Applicants
in completing the Application. We may inspect your records in this
regard at any time, with or without notice. You must perform the due
diligence, preliminary investigation and evaluation as we specify from time
to
time in the AR Manual or otherwise. You must promptly submit all
Applications for Franchises that you receive to us along with all information
we
require regarding the Applicant and maintain a copy with your
records.
(c) METHOD
OF APPROVAL. We
will approve or disapprove Applicants by delivering notice to you (which may
be
electronically delivered). We will use our best efforts to deliver
such notices to you within 30 days after we receive the complete Application,
and other materials we customarily require of Applicants or those we
specifically request. We will condition approval by requiring an
acceptable personal interview of an Applicant or its owners. If we
perform the interview, we will be responsible for our expenses in doing so
and
we may require the Applicant to meet us at our headquarters. We may
require you to conduct initial interviews on our behalf; however, we retain
the
ultimate determination on whether to grant such Applicant a
Franchise. If we determine that the Applicant possesses sufficient
financial and managerial capability and meets the other criteria then utilized
by us in the award of Franchises within the Territory, we will offer to award
one to the Applicant. The award of the Franchise will be evidenced by
our signing and delivery of the Franchise Agreement, after we have received
it
signed by the Applicant and payment of the appropriate fees.
11. COMPENSATION.
During
the Term, we
will pay you compensation, based on amounts we receive from Franchises sold,
located or operating in your Territory, as follows (collectively,
“Compensation”):
(a) INITIAL
FRANCHISE FEES. Starting
with the ninth new Franchise sold in your Territory, we will pay you an amount
equal to 50% of the Initial Franchise Fee (or similar fee) paid to us for EVOS®
Restaurants located in the Territory, for which you are responsible and the
procuring cause for the sale and for which you provide training. To
the extent we refund any or all of the Initial Franchise Fee paid to us, you
must reimburse us the compensation we paid to you pertaining to
it. For the first 8 Franchises sold in the Territory, we will retain
the full initial franchise fees and use the portion we otherwise would have
paid
you to provide the EVOS® corporate opening team as described in Section 15(a)
below.
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(b) ROYALTIES. We
will pay you an amount equal to 50% of the monthly Royalties we receive from
all
EVOS® Restaurants located in the Territory, subject to the performance
adjustments below (“Royalty Compensation”):
(i) Performance
Measures: We will measure both your performance and that of
the Stores in your Territory. We will adjust Royalty Compensation if
you or the Stores in your Territory do not meet our minimum
standards. Currently, this requires an 85% or better score on our
Service Assurance Reports (“SAR”) and a 75% or better
score
on our Quality Assurance Reports (“QAR”), but we may vary both
the scoring and the evaluation criteria from time to time. We will apply the
same evaluation criteria and scoring in your Territory as we do elsewhere both
for franchises and our company-owned units. We will measure
performance standards on roughly a quarterly basis of 13 weeks (a
“Period”).
(ii) Store
Averages: If you do not meet our performance standards
(based on the average for all Stores in your Territory) during the immediately
preceding Period, then the amount due for Royalty Compensation for the next
Period will be reduced to 75% of the amount otherwise due (75% of 50% of the
Royalties we received). For example, if the average score for the
Stores in your Territory is less than our minimum during Period 3, you will
be
paid 75% of the Royalty Compensation otherwise due you for Period 4 and
subsequent periods until the Stores in your Territory achieve an average score
of our minimum (currently 75% QAR; 85% SAR) or better, at which point we will
begin paying Royalty Compensation without such adjustments for the period after
you meet the standards.
(iii) Per
Store: In addition, the Royalty Compensation will be
adjusted for individual Stores not meeting the performance
standards. If any Stores in your Territory do not achieve the minimum
required score for any Period, then you will have the next Period to correct
the
problems. If, at the end of the next Period, the Store still scores
below the minimum required score, then the Royalty Compensation will be reduced
such that the Royalties from the substandard Store are not counted towards
the
50% calculation for the Royalty Compensation. Once a Store achieves
or exceeds the minimum required score, then the adjustment will stop starting
the next period.
(c) TERMS
OF PAYMENT. During
the Term, we will pay such amounts to you on or before the 20th day of
each
accounting period as follows: (i) based on the amounts we
collect during the immediately preceding accounting period for Royalties; and
(ii) based on the openings of each Restaurant we have approved in the Territory
during the immediately preceding accounting period. We alone
determine whether or not to charge particular fees, collection efforts to
utilize and whether to waive, write-off or forgive payments due us.
(d) SETOFFS. We
may
setoff against any compensation we owe you, any amount that you owe us,
including (without limitation) for any refunds we authorize (whether or not
required by contract (i.e., a refunded initial franchise fee)), any advances
and
marketing contributions.
12. ANCILLARY
ACTIVITIES
You
must disclose
to us any and all income, fees, monies earned, and any other type of
remuneration, compensation or consideration you or your affiliates receive
by,
directly or indirectly, selling, providing, brokering, or assisting in the
sale
of goods or services to Franchise Owners (an “Ancillary
Activity”) in connection with your Area Representative Business,
(including real estate commissions) but excluding anything we pay to
you. You will not engage in any Ancillary Activities, or receive any
consideration for doing so, unless and until you have notified us and we have
approved such activity. You will not engage in any such Ancillary
Activity that we have not approved in writing. You must also disclose
to us on a quarterly basis the information we request concerning the earnings
you or your affiliates receive from Ancillary Activities. You consent
to our disclosure of such information as required by law.
11
13. TRAINING
(a) AREA
REPRESENTATIVE TRAINING. We
will
furnish initial training on the operation of an Area Representative Business
(“Area Representative Training”) to you and up to 3 of your
personnel (or, if you are a Business Entity, up to 4 of your owners and/or
personnel, employees or agents). You agree that at least 1 of your
personnel will attend and complete Area Representative Training within 30 days
of when we inform you it is available.
(b) INITIAL
FRANCHISE OWNER TRAINING. You
have already completed the initial training that we provide to Franchise
Owners.
(c) ADDITIONAL
TRAINING. You
must attend and satisfactorily complete any additional Training that we require
of Franchise Owners or Area Representatives (the “Additional
Training”). We will not charge for Additional Training but
you will be responsible for your travel and living expenses. To the
extent we deem feasible, we will attempt to deliver Additional Training in
ways
to reduce unnecessary travel costs.
(d) SUPPORT
SERVICE TRAINING. All
of
your support personnel who provide franchise support services to Franchise
Owners must complete our Support Service Training that we require of all field
supervisors satisfactorily at your expense. You must pay our
then-current fee for providing Support Service Training (the “Support
Service Training Fee”) which is due and payable prior to attendance.
The Support Service training Fee is currently $2,000 per person. To
the extent we deem feasible, we will attempt to deliver some of this training
in
ways to reduce unnecessary travel costs.
(e) SUPPLEMENTAL
TRAINING.
During the Term,
you also must attend supplemental and refresher training programs as we require
for all Area Representatives and Franchise Owners. Any charges
will be on a uniform cost recovery basis. Furthermore, you must
attend all meetings of Area Representatives, at your expense, at such locations
as we designate. To the extent we deem feasible, we will attempt to
deliver some of this training in ways to reduce unnecessary travel
costs.
(f) COSTS
AND EXPENSES. You
are solely responsible for your compensation, travel, lodging and living
expenses incurred in connection with your attendance at any training
program.
14. AR
MANUAL
We
will give you
access to (via electronic means or otherwise), 1 or more manuals to guide and
assist you in fulfilling your duties and responsibilities under this Agreement
and as our Area Representative (collectively, the “AR Manual”),
as soon as it is completed. We may periodically amend and supplement
the AR Manual as we see fit. You will abide by such changes as you
are notified. Changes will be made on a uniform basis.
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15. SERVICE
OBLIGATIONS
You
must perform
the following services, in the manner and to the extent we designate from time
to time, on our behalf with respect to Franchise Owners of EVOS located or
to be
located in the Territory (or to the extent we designate outside the Territory
during the Interim):
(a) Provide
to all
Franchise Owners (i) all initial training for the time period and covering
the operations and procedures as we specify (in the AR Manual or otherwise)
at
your Training Store, and (ii) supplemental and refresher training at your
Training Store; all in accordance with the timing, content and standards we
periodically prescribe. If the Franchise Owner does not
satisfactorily complete any of the training, the Franchise Agreement will be
terminated immediately. Furthermore, if we determine that you have
not trained a Franchise Owner to our satisfaction and we provide the training
ourselves or arrange for someone else to do so, then we will charge you $10,000
due on receipt of invoice plus any out-of-pocket costs we incur for doing so,
but the total charge and costs will not exceed the greater of $17,500 or 1/2
of
the initial franchise fee paid by that Franchise Owner, and we will provide
such
training to that Franchise Owner. We will provide the EVOS® corporate
opening team for the first Store to open by the first 8 new Franchise Owners
sold in the Territory.
(b) Schedule
and coordinate all training of all Franchise Owners with the Franchisor,
if and
to the extent we provide it.
(c) Consult
and advise Franchise Owners with site selection and lease negotiation of
their
EVOS® Restaurants. However, we will retain ultimate authority to
approve or disapprove all real estate related decisions requiring our approval
under the Franchise Agreement. We will notify you of our decision
within 10 business days of receiving the complete site evaluation package
from
you.
(d) Develop
and maintain relationships with landlords for purposes of obtaining sites
for
EVOS® Restaurants and coordinating efforts with Franchise Owners to lease such
sites.
(e) Notify
vendors and, if necessary, locate new vendors approved by us for the Franchises
in the Territory and coordinating distribution and purchasing programs on
a
Territory basis under our direction and support.
(f) Provide
grand opening support, including, but not limited to coordinating marketing
with
local television, radio, newspapers and trade publications.
(g) Develop
relationships with landlords, contractors, equipment suppliers and service
providers in the Territory (acceptable to and approved by us) and assist
in
supervision of the build-out for the EVOS® Restaurants in the
Territory.
(h) Assist
us in developing programs for suppliers and distributors of approved products
to
Franchise Owners’ Territory.
(i) Provide
such pre-opening and post-opening assistance for each new EVOS® Restaurant that
we prescribe from time to time.
(j) Be
responsible for periodic but no less than monthly monitoring of the operation
of
EVOS® Restaurants established in your Territory and informing us, whether those
EVOS® Restaurants
meet
with our system standards in design, construction, appearance and function
as
specified in our Manual, including but not limited to ensuring that all food
is
properly stored, inventory is properly rotated, all recipes are adhered to,
all
food products are sliced and weighed according to System Standards, the
appearance of the presentation of the food to the customer meets our System
Standards, all areas of the facility, inside and out, are cleaned and maintained
according to System Standards, and all equipment is functioning
properly.
13
(k) Actively
and continuously market and promote through advertising (or otherwise as
we
direct) and solicit prospective franchise owners in your Territory according
to
an annual plan and budget that you develop and submit for our approval no
later
than October 31 for the upcoming Development Year. You will bear all
costs of soliciting prospective franchise owners and developing prospective
franchise owners into EVOS® Restaurants operators including all phone, office,
administrative, personnel, staffing, advertising, marketing, collateral and
other recruiting costs and expenses according to the guidelines we specify
in
the AR Manual.
(l) Assist
Franchise Owners by providing guidance, assistance and logistical support
during
transfers of their Franchises or EVOS® Restaurants, (including providing
guidance, assistance and logistical support in connection with mergers,
acquisitions, transfers, resales, asset sales, etc. by or among Franchise
Owners
and third parties) including referrals to preferred vendors we
designate.
(m) Participate
in our quality assurance programs and periodically evaluate them with
us.
(n) Monitor
and report the sales volume and other data, as we determine from time to
time,
for the EVOS® Restaurants located in the Territory.
(o) Conduct
on our behalf, or assist us with, inspecting or auditing EVOS® Restaurants and
their Owners. You will visit every EVOS® Restaurant and each
Franchise Owner in the Territory at least monthly. We may inspect any
EVOS® Restaurant in the Territory at any time. Although you will
visit them more frequently, you must provide an in-depth EVOS® Restaurant report
at least quarterly following the standards, procedures and measurement criteria
that we develop from time to time. Each visitation will also be
combined with your following an evaluation protocol for each EVOS®
Restaurant.
(p) Monitor
and communicate to us the marketing efforts of each EVOS® Restaurant in your
Territory to ensure compliance with our requirements.
(q) If
local franchise owner co-ops or other franchise owner associations are formed
that include Franchise Owners in your Territory, you must use your best efforts
to participate in meetings of such associations. If applicable, and
as permitted by the co-op or association governing documents, you will serve
as,
and fulfill the obligations of, the President. We may require you to establish
one or more Franchise Owner associations or Franchise Owner Advisory
Counsels
(r) Provide
Franchise Owners in the Territory with supervisory assistance and guidance
in
connection with the opening and initial operations of their EVOS® Restaurants as
we may designate in a manner and at times we deem advisable.
(s) Maintain
positive relationships, serve as our liaison and evaluate additional incentive
programs and marketing programs from approved and preferred suppliers, vendors
and others we designate.
14
(t) Establish,
organize and participate in all meetings of, any Owner associations (if any)
and
Franchise Owner advisory board (if any) conference calls (upon request) (or
similar organizations we approve) in the Territory, in accordance with rules,
regulations and governing documents as we may require from time to
time.
(u) Provide
to Franchise Owners the continuing operating assistance described in the
Franchise Agreement that we periodically delegate to you in accordance with
our
policies and instructions, and assist us in facilitating transfers and renewals
of franchises. You must hire and maintain the staff, personnel and
resources to enable you to fulfill all of your service obligations in accordance
with the staffing plan and schedule attached as Exhibit
B which can only be modified by mutual written consent.
(v) Pay
to us an amount equal to our expenditures (including wages, travel and living),
plus 25%, for work and expenses incurred by us in performing services to
Franchise Owners located in the Territory which you are required to perform
under this Agreement that you have failed to perform, if you have failed
to cure
such failure to perform to our satisfaction, within 30 days of our notice
to you
that you have failed to perform such services. You recognize your
failure to so perform constitutes a breach of this Agreement.
(w) Visit
with each EVOS® Restaurant in the Territory at least monthly, and file contact
reports in our system electronically or as we determine following each visit
to
include a review of operational, sales, marketing, and profit and loss
performance of each Franchise Owner on a per Restaurant basis.
(x) Report
to and take direction from us or our designee and assist us or our designee
in
our efforts to satisfy all obligations that we have under the Franchise
Agreements with the Franchise Owners.
(y) Assist
us in the enforcement of all provisions of any Franchise Agreement, including
collection of monies due us, provided that you must require that monies owed
to
us are made payable only to us or in the manner we designate.
(z) Attend
and participate, at your expense, required company meetings, trade shows
and
conventions we designate during each calendar year, unless otherwise approved
by
us in writing to you.
(aa) At
all times during the term of this Agreement, you agree to maintain your primary
residence and your Office within the boundaries of your Territory.
(bb) Provide
to us and to each Franchise Owner in your Territory your Office address,
telephone number, facsimile number, email address and hours of
operation.
(cc) At
our option, establish approved vendor relationships for the purchase and
sale of
products and services to EVOS® Restaurants in accordance with our System
Standards.
(dd) Assist
us with the roll-out programs that we establish from time to time, including
but
not limited to new products, new menus, new marketing programs, new promotions,
new vendor programs, new logos, new equipment, and new computer hardware
and
software.
(ee) Comply
with all applicable laws while operating your business and performing under
this
Agreement.
15
(ff) As
we may require from time to time, collect financial statements from Franchise
Owners and provide such statements, together with your financial statements,
to
us within 30 days after the end of each period. The types of
financial statements will be specified in our Manuals and will include balance
sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows and equity, and will be
consistent with industry standards.
(gg) Follow
and use our communications tools and policies.
(hh) Follow
and implement our documentation, record keeping and filing system.
(ii) Provide
an annual business plan to us for your Area Representative Business, and
ensure
the timely completion and submission of a business plan for each of the
Franchise Owners in your Territory on a per Restaurant basis.
(jj) Allow
us to use, and consent to our publication of your and your principals’ names,
likenesses, photographs and testimonials as we see fit without any
compensation.
16. COMPUTER
SYSTEM
You
must
obtain your own accounting services and any required hardware or software
related to them. You must at all times maintain the records specified
in the Manuals, including, without limitation, sales, inventory and expense
information. You must provide your own internet service provider. In
developing and operating your AR Business, you must use the computer hardware
and software that we specify (the “Computer
System”). We may modify specifications and components of the
Computer System from time to time. Such modifications and specifications may
require you to incur costs to purchase, lease or license new or modified
computer hardware or software and to obtain service and support for the Computer
System during the Term. You agree to incur such costs in connection
with obtaining the computer hardware and software comprising the Computer System
(or additions or modifications). Within 30 days after you receive
notice from us, you must obtain the components of the Computer System that
we
specify. We also have the right to charge you a reasonable systems
fee for modifications of and enhancements made to any software that we license
to you and other maintenance and support services that we or our affiliates
furnish to you related to the Computer System but we will not charge you this
fee if you pay an MIS Fee under a Franchise Agreement with us. You
must: (a) supply us with any and all codes, passwords, and information necessary
to have access to your Computer System and not change any of them without first
notifying us; and (b) not load or utilize any software on the Computer System
that we have not specified or approved for use.
17. FRANCHISE
OWNER INSPECTIONS
You
must
conduct inspections of EVOS® Restaurants at our request. In addition,
you acknowledge that we have the sole right to: (a) grant
Franchises; (b) terminate a Franchise Agreement for failure to cure defaults
(if
an opportunity to cure is granted); (c) approve site selection, leases, and
real
estate purchases of Franchise Owners; and (d) approve all floor plans and EVOS®
Restaurant development (floor plans. construction, architectural plans,
etc.) and (e) take any legal action with respect to any default or any
violation of a Franchise Agreement. You also will pay our approved
provider of mystery shopping and evaluation services for their services based
on
the evaluation schedule we specify, which will be no more frequent than what
we
require outside of the Territory or for our company-owned stores.
16
18. MARKS
(a) OWNERSHIP
AND GOODWILL. Your
right to use the Marks is derived solely from this Agreement. You may
only use the Marks in connection with the operation of your Area Representative
Business and only in accordance with this Agreement. Any unauthorized
use of the Marks by you constitutes an infringement of our rights in and to
the
Marks. Your usage of the Marks, and any goodwill established by your
use of the Marks, inures to our exclusive benefit. You must not, at
any time, contest, or assist anyone else in contesting, the validity or
ownership of any of the Marks. All provisions of this Agreement
applicable to the Marks applies to any additional trademarks, service marks,
logo forms, trade dress and commercial symbols that we authorize for use by,
and
license to, you in connection with this Agreement.
(b) LIMITATIONS
ON USE. You
must not use any Xxxx as part of any corporate or trade name or with any prefix,
suffix or other modifying words, terms, designs or symbols, or in any modified
form. You must not use any Xxxx in connection with the sale of any
unauthorized product or service
or in any
other manner not expressly authorized by us in writing. You must
display the Marks prominently and in the manner prescribed by us on signs and
forms. You must give such notices of trademark and service xxxx
registrations and copyrights as we specify and you must obtain such fictitious
or assumed name registrations as may be required under applicable
law. You will not employ the Marks in any way that we have determined
may result in liability to us for any debts or obligations of
yours.
(c) INFRINGEMENTS
AND CLAIMS. You
are responsible for researching and identifying unauthorized and infringing
uses
of our Marks in your Territory. You must notify us immediately in
writing if you become aware of any apparent infringement of, or challenge to,
your use of any Xxxx, or claim by any person of any rights in any of the
Marks. You must not communicate with any person other than us and our
counsel in connection with any such infringement, challenge or
claim. We have sole right to take any action we deem appropriate and
the right to control exclusively any litigation, administrative or other
proceeding arising out of any infringement, challenge or claim or otherwise
relating to any Xxxx. You will sign all documents, render such
assistance and do such acts as we consider advisable to protect and maintain
our
interest in any such proceeding or to otherwise protect and maintain our
interest in the Marks.
(d) DISCONTINUANCE
OF USE. If
it
becomes advisable at any time for us and/or you to modify or discontinue use
of
any Xxxx, and/or use one or more additional or substitute trademarks or service
marks, you must comply within a reasonable time after receiving
notice. We will not be obligated to reimburse you for any costs,
expenses, losses or damages whatsoever that you spend or suffer as a
result.
19. CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION
(a) NATURE
OF INFORMATION. We
possess or license certain proprietary and confidential information, which
includes: trade secrets; methods; techniques; formats; management
methods; specifications; procedures; information; systems; computer software;
methods of business management; the System; and the know-how related to its
use;
any computer software programs we or our associates provide or recommend for
use
by EVOS® Restaurants or Area Representatives and the hardware specifications for
running such software; terms and conditions of our agreements with preferred
suppliers; training materials, programs and conference materials designed for
Franchise Owners or Area Representatives or personnel of EVOS® Restaurants or
Area Representatives; information contained in and contents of the Manuals;
knowledge and operating results in financial performance of any Franchise,
EVOS®
Restaurants or Area Representative, including your Area Representative Business;
sales and promotion techniques and knowledge of and experience in the operation
and franchising of EVOS; and information obtained or
17
acquired
through or as the result of use of any web site, Internet, Intranet or other
forms of e-commerce (including customer information, number of “hits” to web
sites and the like) (collectively, the “Confidential
Information”). We will disclose, to the extent we deem
practicable, the Confidential Information to you in training sessions, the
Franchise Manual and in guidance that we furnish to you during the
Term. You acknowledge that any unauthorized disclosure by you of the
Confidential Information will cause irreparable harm to us.
(b) NONDISCLOSURE.
You agree that
the Confidential Information is proprietary, includes our trade secrets and
is
disclosed to you solely on the condition that you agree as follows:
(i) That
you will not use the Confidential Information in any other business or
capacity.
(ii) You
will maintain the absolute confidentiality of the Confidential Information
during and after the Term.
(iii) You
will not make unauthorized copies of any portion of the Confidential Information
regardless of whether it is disclosed in electronic medium, written or other
tangible or intangible form.
(iv) You
will adopt and implement all reasonable procedures prescribed by us from time
to
time to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of the Confidential Information
including restrictions on disclosure to your employees or agents and use of
non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in form and substance approved
by
us which we may provide for your employees or agents who have or whom we or
you
deem likely to have access to the Confidential Information.
(c) USE
OF IDEAS:
We have the
perpetual right to use, and authorize other Franchise Owners or Area
Representatives to use, and you will fully and promptly disclose to us, all
ideas, concepts, methods and techniques relating to your Area Representative
Business and/or operation of any EVOS® Restaurants that you conceive or develop
or are conceived or developed by any of your employees or any of the Franchise
Owners within the Territory during the Term.
(d) EXCLUSIVE
RELATIONSHIP: We
have entered into this Agreement with you on the condition that your other
activities and/or those of your affiliates, if any, will not in any way
interfere with your obligations and duties under this
Agreement. Accordingly, you will not advise, assist, counsel,
represent or perform any services in any way whatsoever, directly or indirectly,
associated with or in connection with any other person or entity which directly
or indirectly is in the business of owning, operating, counseling or offering
franchises for a Competitive Business. You understand that
we would be unable to protect our Confidential Information and would be unable
to encourage a free exchange of ideas and information among Franchise Owners,
our affiliates and us if Franchise Owners were permitted to hold interests
in
any Competitive Business. Accordingly, during the Term, neither you,
nor your shareholders or partners nor any member of your or their immediate
families will:
(i) Engage
in a Competitive Business or perform services for a Competitive Business
directly or indirectly, as a: director; disclosed or beneficial owner;
proprietor; officer; manager; employee; consultant; Area Representative; agent;
independent contractor; or otherwise, except under this Agreement or a Franchise
Agreement with us or our associates.
18
(ii) Have
any direct or indirect interest, as a disclosed or beneficial owner, in a
Competitive Business or any entity which is awarded or is awarding franchises
or
licenses to others to operate any Competitive Business, except EVOS® Restaurants
under Franchise Agreements with us or as an Area Representative under an Area
Representative Agreement with us.
(iii) Recruit
or hire any employee of ours, our associates, any EVOS® Restaurant or of another
Area Representative without our prior written consent and/or that of the other
employer; or
(iv) Directly
or indirectly, on behalf of yourself or any other person, or as an employee,
proprietor, disclosed or beneficial owner, consultant, agent, contractor,
employer, affiliate, partner officer, director or associate or stockholder
of
any other person
or entity,
or in any other capacity, solicit, divert, take away, or interfere with any
of
the business, customers, clients, contractors, trade or patronage of ours,
our
associates or any EVOS® Restaurant as such may exist prior to, after or
throughout the term of this Agreement, except with our prior written
consent.
20. IMAGE
AND OPERATING STANDARDS
(a) STANDARDS
OF SERVICE: During
the Term, you must: (i) at all times give prompt, courteous and
efficient service to Franchise Owners consistent with the standards we specify
in the AR Manual or otherwise; (ii) adhere to the highest standards of
honesty, integrity, fair dealing and ethical conduct in all dealings with the
Franchise Owners, prospective franchise owners, us, and the public;
(iii) not favor one or more Franchise Owners over other Franchise Owners
within the Territory; and (iv) not enter into any relationships with
Franchise Owners in the Territory or others that may result in a conflict of
interest between your obligations as our Area Representative and your
duties to provide services to a Franchise Owner.
(b) ADVERTISING: All
advertising and promotion by you must be completely factual and must conform
to
the highest standards of ethical advertising. If required by the laws
of your jurisdiction, all advertising and promotion relating to the solicitation
of prospective franchise owners must be approved by the appropriate regulatory
authorities. You must not use any advertising or promotional material
until approved by us and the appropriate regulatory
authority. Submission will be done via such methods as we approve
from time to time including electronically or via fax. If you have
not received notice of our approval within 10 days from the date of our receipt
of the advertising materials, then we will be deemed to have not approved
them. You will refrain from any business or advertising practice
which may injure our business and/or the goodwill associated with the Marks
and
Franchises.
(c) PROMOTIONAL
MATERIALS: Prior
to their use by you, samples of all advertising, marketing and promotional
materials not prepared or previously approved by us must be submitted for our
approval. Submission will be done via such methods as we approve from
time to time including electronically or via fax. If you have not
received notice of our approval within 10 days from the date of our receipt
of
the advertising materials, then we will be deemed to have not approved
them. You must not use any advertising or promotional materials that
we have not approved. We may furnish you with approved local
marketing plans and materials on the same terms and conditions as such plans
and
materials are furnished to other Franchises.
19
(d) JUDICIAL
ACTIONS: You
must notify us within 5 business days of your notice of the commencement of
any action, suit, proceeding or investigation, and of the issuance of any order,
writ, injunction, award or decree, by any court, agency or other governmental
instrumentality which may adversely affect your operations or financial
condition, your Area Representative Business, or any Franchise Owner or EVOS®
Restaurant in the Territory. You may not xxx any of our Franchise
Owners or approved vendor suppliers without our prior written
permission.
(e) MANAGEMENT
OF BUSINESS: The
Area Representative Business must at all times be under your direct
supervision.
(f) MINIMUM
STAFFING LEVELS:
At
all times
during the Term, your Area Representative Business must maintain the minimum
staffing levels required by our System Standards. Attached as Exhibit
B is our current staffing projections and suggested
salaries.
(g) FACILITIES
AND EQUIPMENT: You
must obtain and maintain certain equipment in order to operate your Area
Representative Business. You must obtain a computer and other
personal communication devices that meet the specifications and standards we
prescribe from time to time, a telephone with a separate business line, a
facsimile machine with a separate phone number and line, high-speed internet
connection with the minimum speed we designate from time to time. The
computer system must contain, and you must be reasonably proficient with, such
computer programs software that we designate for use from time to
time. You are responsible for obtaining the necessary training for
proficiency on those programs. These programs include database,
spreadsheet, financial, word processing, communications, e-mail, calendaring
and
others. You may obtain the computer system and the software from
anyone you choose.
21. INSURANCE
(a) COVERAGE
REQUIREMENTS: During
the term of this Agreement, you must at all times maintain in force, at your
expense, comprehensive public and motor vehicle liability insurance against
claims for bodily and personal injury, death and property damage caused by
or
occurring in conjunction with the conduct of your Area Representative
Business. You must maintain the coverage under one or more insurance
policies containing the minimum insurance coverages we prescribe from time
to
time (including coverage for claims by Franchise Owners, or those they injure,
while in your training program). All such policies must name us (and
whatever affiliates we designate) as an additional insured. We may
periodically increase or decrease the amounts of coverage required under the
insurance policies and require different or additional kinds of insurance at
any
time to reflect inflation, identification of new risks, changes in law or
standards of liability, higher damage awards or other relevant changes and
circumstances. We will notify you at least 60 days in advance of any
changes in amounts or types of coverage required. We will set these
standards generally on a uniform basis but may vary them from jurisdiction
to
jurisdiction due to special risks, availability, premiums and other relevant
factors.
(b) VERIFICATIONS: You
must submit to us on an annual basis a copy of each new, renewal or replacement
certificate evidencing the maintenance of your insurance
coverage. The terms of each policy must be acceptable to us before
you obtain them. If you do not maintain the required insurance
coverage, or you do not furnish us with satisfactory evidence of insurance
coverage and premium payments, we may obtain, at our option and in addition
to
our other rights and remedies under this Agreement, any required insurance
coverage on your behalf. If we do so, you must fully cooperate with
us in our effort to obtain the insurance policies and must promptly sign all
forms required to obtain or maintain the insurance. Finally, you must pay us,
on
demand, any costs and premiums we incur in obtaining insurance on your behalf.
Neither your obligation to maintain insurance, coverage nor our maintenance
of
insurance on your behalf, will reduce or absolve you of any obligations of
indemnification described in this Agreement.
20
22. TRANSFER
(a) BY
US: We
may
transfer this Agreement at any time and it will inure to the benefit of our
transferee or other legal successor, but only if such transferee expressly
assumes in writing, all obligations we have to you under this
Agreement. If we obtain a written offer from a potential buyer that
we are willing to accept we will notify you before we close on the proposed
transaction.
(b) BY
YOU: Your
rights and duties under this Agreement are personal to you. We have
entered into this Agreement in reliance upon our perceptions of your, your
owners’ or your principal
owners’
individual or collective character, skill, aptitude, attitude, relevant business
experience, business ability and financial resources. Accordingly,
you may not transfer this Agreement (or any interest in it), without our prior
written consent. Any unauthorized transfer constitutes a breach of this
Agreement and will be void and of no effect. The term
“transfer” means and includes the voluntary, involuntary,
direct or indirect assignment, sale, gift, pledge, encumbrance or other
disposition by you of any interest in this Agreement, the Area Representative
Business or the assets comprising it, and also includes:
(i) The
transfer of ownership of 25% or more of the capital stock or partnership
interests or any other form of ownership in the Area Representative Business
or
you.
(ii) Merger
or consolidation, or issuance of additional securities representing a 25% or
more ownership or voting interest in the Area Representative Business or
you.
(iii) Transfer
of interest in you or the Area Representative Business in a divorce proceeding
or otherwise by operation of law.
(iv) Transfer
of substantially all of your or the assets comprising your Area Representative
Business.
(v) Transfer
of an interest in you or the Area Representative Business by will, declaration
of or transfer in trust or under the laws of intestate succession of any person
owning more than a 25% interest in you or the Area Representative
Business.
(c) CONDITIONS
FOR APPROVAL OF TRANSFER: If
you
are in full compliance with this Agreement, we will not unreasonably withhold
our approval of a transfer except that if, based on our or our advisors’
personal experience in dealing with a proposed transferee, we do not desire
to
enter into an Area Representative Business relationship with the transferee
or
if any one or more of the conditions set forth below are not met, we may in
our
sole discretion withhold our approval:
(i) You
must provide us with a minimum of 60 days prior notice of any proposed transfer
with all of the information pertaining to the proposed transfer and thereafter
provide us promptly with all additional information relating to the transfer
or
the transferee that we reasonably request.
21
(ii) A
transfer of ownership in you or the Area Representative Business may only be
made in conjunction with a transfer of this Agreement.
(iii) The
transferee and/or its owner(s) must, in our judgment, have sufficient character,
skill, aptitude, attitude, relevant business experience, business ability and
financial resources to operate an Area Representative Business and must either
acquire the Training Store from you or already own an EVOS® Restaurant that we
consider worthy of serving as its Training Store.
(iv) All
your or the Area Representative Business’ obligations incurred in connection
with this Agreement must be assumed by the transferee.
(v) You
must submit all required reports, financial statements and other documents
due
us up to the effective date of the transfer.
(vi) The
transferee and/or its owner(s) must, in our judgment, have satisfactorily
completed our training program at the transferee’s expense and met the
qualifications and satisfactorily completed such training to own and operate
a
Training Store we approve for this purpose and signed a franchise agreement
with
us to do so.
(vii) You
must reimburse us for the expenses we incur associated with the transfer (with
the expectation, but no guaranty, that they will not exceed $15,000), unless
such transfer is made to a controlled entity under Subsection (d) of this Section, then no reimbursement is
due.
(viii) You
(and your owners) must execute a general release, in form satisfactory to us,
of
any and all known and unknown claims against us, our affiliates, and our
officers, directors, employees, and agents.
(ix) We
must approve the material terms and conditions of such transfer (which
approval will not be given if we decide the price and terms of payment are
so
burdensome as to adversely affect the future operations of the Area
Representative Business by the transferee).
(x) You
(and your transferring owners) must sign and deliver to us a written agreement
in favor of us and the transferee, agreeing that for a period of not less than
2
years, commencing on the effective date of the transfer, to comply with the
post-term competitive restrictions described in this Agreement.
(xi) The
transfer must be approved by all necessary regulatory authorities.
(d) TRANSFER
TO A CONTROLLED ENTITY: This
Agreement and the assets and liabilities of your Area Representative Business
may be assigned to a business organization on the following
conditions:
(i) It
conducts no business other than your Area Representative Business.
(ii) You
actively manage the corporation and you own, control and have the right to
vote
more than 75% of its voting and equity interests.
(iii) The
organizational documents of such entity recite that the issuance and assignment
of any ownership interest in it are restricted by the terms of this Agreement,
and all instruments evidencing issued and outstanding ownership interests of
such entity bear a legend reciting or referring to the restrictions of this
Agreement on the issuance and transfer of those interests.
22
(iv) The
proposed owners execute an agreement, in a form we provide or approve, agreeing
to be bound jointly and severally by, to comply with, and to guaranty the
performance of, all of your obligations under this Agreement.
(v) Your
death or permanent disability of any owner of 50% or more of its equity and/or
voting interests will continue to apply for purposes of terminating this
Agreement.
(e) EFFECT
OF CONSENT TO TRANSFER: Our
consent to a proposed transfer will not constitute a waiver
of: (a) any claims we may have against you, or your owners for
anything happening up to and through the date of transfer (excluding
indemnification claims which survive); or (b) our right
to demand
exact compliance with any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement by any
transferee.
(f) COMPLIANCE
WITH LAWS: You
will comply with any laws and regulations that apply to the transfer, including
state and federal laws and regulations governing the offer, sale, and transfer
of franchises. You must indemnify and hold us and our affiliates and
our and their officers, directors, shareholders, and employees harmless against
any and all claims arising, and expense incurred (including attorneys’ fees),
directly or indirectly, from, as a result of, or in connection with, any alleged
failure on your part to comply with any franchise law or other applicable law
in
connection with the transfer.
(g) RIGHT
OF FIRST REFUSAL: If
you
(or your owners) want to engage in a transfer, you must obtain a bona fide,
signed written offer from a responsible and fully disclosed purchaser and submit
an exact copy of that offer to us. The offer must completely disclose
the purchase price, payment terms, terms of assumption of liabilities and all
other material terms of the transfer (including all exhibits and other
information so that we may readily determine the foregoing). Within
30 days from the date we receive the copy of such offer, we may purchase your
rights under this Agreement and your Area Representative Business on the terms
and conditions contained in the offer provided to us, except that:
(i) We
may substitute cash for any form of payment proposed in the offer.
(ii) Our
credit will be deemed equal to the credit of any proposed
purchaser.
(iii) We
will have no less than 90 days to prepare for closing.
The
30-day period
will not commence until you have delivered to us full and complete
documentation, including all information reasonably requested by us, to enable
us to fully evaluate the offer. If we do not exercise our right of
first refusal, you or your owners may complete the transfer on the terms
contained in the offer, subject to our approval of the transferee as described
in this Section. If the transfer as described in the offer is not
completed within 135 days after delivery of the offer to us, or if there is
a
material change in the terms of the transfer, we will again have the right
of
first refusal described in this Agreement.
(h) TRANSFER
UPON DEATH OR DISABILITY.
Upon
your
(or your controlling owner’s) death or disability (a “Disabling
Event”), your (or your controlling owner’s) executor, administrator,
conservator, guardian or other personal representative must transfer your
interest in this Agreement (or your controlling owner’s interest in you) to a
third party. Such transfer (including, without limitation, transfer
by bequest or devise) must be completed within 6 months from the date of
the Disabling Event, and will be subject to all of the terms and conditions
applicable to transfers contained in this Agreement. For purposes of
this Agreement, the term “disability” means a mental or
physical disability, impairment or condition that is reasonably expected to
prevent or actually does prevent you (or your controlling owner) you from
adequately managing your Area Representative Business.
23
A
failure to
transfer your interest in this Agreement (or your controlling owner’s interest
in you) within 6 months from the Disabling Event constitutes a breach of this
Agreement and grounds for termination for cause under Section 23.
(i) MANAGEMENT
UPON DEATH OR DISABILITY.
If, upon a
Disabling Event, your Area Representative Business is not being managed by
an
individual approved by us (a “Qualified Manager”), your
(or your controlling owner) executor, administrator, conservator, guardian
or
other
personal representative must, within 15 days from the Disabling Event, appoint
a
Qualified Manager to manage your Area Representative Business pending transfer
under Section (h). Such Qualified
Manager may be required to complete training at your expense. If a Qualified
Manager is not appointed, we have the right, but not the obligation, to appoint
an interim Qualified Manager. During the time an interim Qualified Manager
manages your Area Representative Business, we will hold all revenues from the
operation of your Area Representative Business (less a reasonable management
fee) in a separate account, and use such revenues, to the extent available,
to
pay all expenses incurred by your Area Representative Business, including
reasonable compensation and related expenses of the interim Qualified Manager.
You agree that any assistance we provide following a Disabling Event does not
give rise to any fiduciary duties on our part and we agree only to utilize
our
reasonable efforts and will not be liable to you (or your owners, creditors,
successors, heirs, devisees or assigns) for any debts, losses or obligations
incurred by your Area Representative Business during any period it is managed
by
an interim Qualified Manager.
(j) SALE
OF SECURITIES.
In the event that
you sell 5% or more of any ownership interest in you, you agree to execute
and
deliver to us, an addendum to this Agreement that we approve, substantially
in
the form attached as Exhibit C.
23. TERMINATION
BY US / WITH CAUSE
We
may terminate
this Agreement by delivering notice to you stating that we elect to terminate
this Agreement as a result of any of the breaches described below and your
failure to cure such breach to our satisfaction within 30 days after delivery
of
our notice. It is a material breach of this Agreement if
you:
(a) Fail
to satisfactorily complete the Area Representative Training Program and/or
any
additional, supplemental or refresher training programs;
(b) Fail
to meet the Development Schedule;
(c) Fail
to meet your service obligations, including but not limited to your training
obligation and meeting performance standards;
(d) Make
an unauthorized transfer of this Agreement;
(e) Make
any unauthorized use of the Marks or unauthorized use or disclosure of the
Confidential Information;
24
(f) Make
any material misrepresentation or omission to us or any Franchise
Owner;
(g) Make
earnings claims, or projections, or provide any information with regard to
sales, revenues, income, costs or expenses relating to any Franchise Owner
or
any individual EVOS® Restaurant unless in accordance with the provisions of the
franchise offering circular to be provided to prospective franchise
owners;
(h) Make
it impossible, economically impractical or excessively risky in terms of
our
potential liability, to solicit Franchise Owners on our behalf due to the
applicable laws, rules or regulations concerning franchise sales in the
Territory;
(i) Breach
any provision of this Agreement or any other agreement between you and us
or if
we terminate any Franchise Agreement with you for cause;
(j) Abandon,
surrender, transfer control of or fail to actively operate your
business;
(k) Are
convicted of or plead no contest to a felony or convicted of or plead no
contest
to any crime or offense that may adversely affect our reputation or our
business;
(l) Engage
in any dishonest or unethical conduct which may adversely affect our reputation
or our Franchise Owners’ reputation or the goodwill associated with the
Marks;
(m) Violate
any applicable franchise laws in the Territory that are not cured with the
appropriate regulatory authority or otherwise conduct yourself in a manner
that
makes it impossible or unlawful to solicit or sell franchises as contemplated
by
this Agreement in accordance with applicable laws, rules or
regulations;
(n) Make
an assignment for the benefit of creditors or admit in writing your insolvency
or inability to pay your debts generally as they become due; you consent
to the
appointment of a receiver, trustee or liquidator; all or a substantial part
of
your property is attached, seized, subjected to a writ or distress warrant
or is
levied upon, unless such attachment, seizure, writ, warrant or levy is vacated
within 30 days; or an order appointing a receiver, trustee or liquidator
of you
or substantially all of your assets is issued and is not vacated within 30
days
following the entry of such order;
(o) Make
preferential, arbitrary or capricious treatment of any Franchise Owner or
prospective franchise owner in your Territory that is not otherwise supported
by
legitimate business considerations;
(p) Solicit
or accept any rebates or other preference from any vendor, or engage in any
Ancillary Activities without our approval;
(q) Accept
payments from Franchise Owners or prospective franchise owners that are not
made
payable to us;
(r) If
25% or more of the EVOS® Restaurants in your Territory are not in substantial
compliance with our System Standards and Specifications;
(s) Do
not attend 3 or more meetings, trade shows and/or conventions for which we
require your attendance during any 36-month period;
(t) Allow
a Franchise Owner to sign a lease without our approval;
25
(u) Fail
to implement to our satisfaction our marketing, operating, training or other
programs;
(v) Fail
to timely complete to our satisfaction construction reports, final inspections
and punch list;
(w) Fail
to consistently communicate with us or the Franchise Owners in your Territory,
and to provide copies of all correspondence for our files;
(x) Violate
any service obligation;
(y) Make
any changes, additions, or deletions to our then-current form of franchise
agreement and ancillary documents that we have approved for use within your
Territory;
24. RIGHTS
AND OBLIGATIONS ON TERMINATION OR EXPIRATION
(a) OURS. If
we
terminate this Agreement pursuant to its terms and you comply with all of your
post-termination obligations, we will pay you all amounts accrued up to the
termination date.
(b) DISASSOCIATION. On
the
termination or expiration of this Agreement, your right to operate the Area
Representative Business will terminate and you must immediately in any manner
we
may designate:
(i) Not
directly or indirectly at any time or in any manner identify yourself or any
business as a current or former Area Representative of us or our
affiliates.
(ii) Return
to us all advertising materials, forms and other materials containing any
Xxxx or otherwise identifying or relating to the sale or service of the
Franchises and EVOS® Restaurants.
(iii) Cease
the use of any aspect of the System and any of the Marks and any other trade
name, trademark, service xxxx or other commercial symbol that suggests or
indicates a connection or association with us, other than under a Franchise
Agreement with us.
(iv) Take
such actions as may be required to cancel any and all fictitious or assumed
names or equivalent registrations relating to your use of any of the Marks,
associated with your status as an Area Representative.
(v) Return
all access disks and return or destroy the software furnished you by us, if
any.
(vi) Terminate
all use of e-names, web sites, web pages or any other aspect of e-commerce
relating to us, Franchise Owners, the System and the Marks, in the manner we
designate.
(c) CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION. On
termination or expiration of this Agreement, you must immediately cease to
use
any Confidential Information in any business or otherwise (except in connection
with the operation of an EVOS® Restaurant pursuant to a Franchise Agreement or
other agreement with us) and return to us all copies of the Franchise manual
and
any other Confidential Information that we have loaned or otherwise provided
to
you.
26
(d) NONCOMPETITION.
On termination or
expiration of this Agreement for any reason, including transfer of your Area
Representative Business, you agree that, for a period of 2 years commencing
on
the effective date of termination, expiration or transfer, you must not have
any
direct or indirect interest (through a member of any immediate family of you
or
your shareholders or partners or otherwise) as a disclosed or beneficial owner,
investor, partner, proprietor, contractor, associate, director, officer,
employee, consultant, member, manager, owner, Area Representative or agent
or
engage in any other capacity in any: (i) Competitive Business located
or operating within the Territory; (ii) Competitive Business located or
operating in a territory we have awarded to another Area Representative; (iii)
business offering or selling franchises in the Territory for a Competitive
Business; or (iv) Competitive Business located or operating within 5 miles
of
any other EVOS® Restaurant. Enforcement of these provisions will not
deprive you of your personal goodwill or ability to earn a living because you
acknowledge that you possess the skills and abilities of a general nature and
have other opportunities for exploiting
such
skills. The time period of the competitive restriction will be
automatically extended by the time period of any breach of this
provision.
25. RELATIONSHIP
OF THE PARTIES
(a) INDEPENDENT
CONTRACTORS.
Neither this
Agreement nor any aspect of your relationship with us creates a fiduciary
relationship between you and us. You and we are independent
contractors. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to make either you
or us a general agent, subsidiary, joint venturer, partner, employee or servant
of the other for any purpose. Since you are an independent
contractor, we will not, unless otherwise required by law, withhold from your
compensation any amounts for your income taxes or other withholding taxes and
you are solely responsible for payment of all taxes on your income or business
of whatever nature.
(b) IDENTIFICATION.
You must
conspicuously identify yourself at your premises and in all dealings with
Franchise Owners, prospective franchise owners, lessors, contractors, suppliers,
public officials and others as the owner of your own business under an agreement
with us. You must place notices of independent ownership on such
signs, forms, stationery, advertising and other materials as we may require
from
time to time. You must not employ any Xxxx in signing any contract,
lease, mortgage, check, purchase agreement, negotiable instrument or other
legal
obligation or in any other manner without our prior written
consent. You must not employ any Xxxx in a manner that is likely to
result in our liability for any of your debts or obligations.
(c) LIABILITIES. Neither
you nor we will make any express or implied agreements, guarantees or
representations, or incur any debt, in the name of or on behalf of the other
or
represent that the relationship between you and us is other than as franchisor
and an independently owned and operated by the Area
Representative. Neither you nor we will be obligated by or have any
liability under any agreements or representations made by the other that are
not
expressly authorized under this Agreement. Neither we nor our
associates, our or their, officers, directors, agents, employees, affiliates,
subsidiaries, stockholders, successors or assignees (collectively, the
“EVOS Entities”) will be obligated for any damages to any
person or property directly or indirectly arising out of the operation of the
Area Representative Business, whether or not caused by our or your negligent
or
willful action or failure to act.
(d) INDEMNIFICATION
BY YOU. You
must indemnify, defend and hold us and the EVOS Entities harmless against and
reimburse us and them for, any loss, liability, taxes or damages (actual or
consequential) and all reasonable costs and expenses of defending any claim
brought against us or any of them or any action in which we or any of them
is
named as a party (including, without limitation, reasonable accountants’,
attorneys’ and expert witness fees, costs of investigation and proof of facts,
court costs, other litigation expenses and travel and living expenses) which
we
or any of them may suffer, sustain or incur by reason of, arising from or in
27
(e) INDEMNIFICATION
BY US. We
must indemnify, defend and hold you and your subsidiaries, affiliates,
stockholders, directors, officers, employees, agents and assignees harmless
against and reimburse them for, any loss, liability, taxes or damages (actual
or
consequential) and all reasonable costs and expenses of defending any claim
brought against any of them or any action in which any of them is named as
a
party (including, without limitation, reasonable accountants’, attorneys’ and
expert witness fees, costs of investigation and proof of facts, court costs,
other litigation expenses and travel and living expenses) which any of them
may
suffer, sustain
or incur by
reason of, arising from or in connection with our activities, unless caused,
at
whole or in part, by your negligence, willful or reckless act or by your
violation of this Agreement. You have the right to defend any claim
against you. This indemnity continues in full force and effect
subsequent to any expiration or termination of this Agreement for any
reason.
(f) CONTRIBUTIONS.
If we bring legal
action to enforce our rights under, or to defend claims relating to, any
Franchise Agreements for Restaurants in the Territory, you must reimburse us
for
50% of our attorneys fees and costs in doing so. We may setoff these
amounts against compensation otherwise due you. If we don’t offset
such reimbursement, you must pay us within 30 days of receive of our
invoice.
26. BUSINESS
ORGANIZATION
If
you are at
any time a business organization (“Business Entity”) (like a
corporation, limited liability company or partnership) you agree and represent
that:
(a) you
have the authority to execute, deliver and perform your obligations under this
Agreement and are duly organized or formed and validly existing in good standing
under the laws of the state of your incorporation or formation;
(b) your
organizational or governing documents will recite that the issuance and transfer
of any ownership interests in you are restricted by the terms of this Agreement,
and all certificates and other documents representing ownership interests
in you
will bear a legend referring to the restrictions of this Agreement;
(c)
the Principal Owners Statement will completely and accurately describe all
of
your owners and their interests in you. A copy of our current form of
Principal Owners Statement is attached to the Uniform Franchise Offering
Circular;
(d) you
and your owners agree to revise the Principal Owners Statement as may
be necessary to reflect any ownership changes and to furnish such
other information about your organization or formation as we may request
(no
ownership changes may be made without our approval);
(e) each
of your owners during the term of this Agreement will sign and deliver to
us our
standard form of Principal Owner’s Guaranty undertaking to be bound jointly and
severally by all provisions of this Agreement and any other agreements between
you and us. A copy of our current form of Principal Owners Guaranty
is attached to the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular; and
28
(f) at
our request, you will furnish true and correct copies of all documents and
contracts governing the rights, obligations and powers of your owners and
agents
(like articles of incorporation or organization and partnership, operating
or
shareholder agreements).
27. NOTICES
All
notices
permitted or required to be delivered by this Agreement must be in writing
and
will be deemed delivered at the time delivered by hand, one business day after
sending by telegraph, telecopy or comparable electronic system, 2 business
days
after sending through a reliable airborne courier for next day delivery, or
3
business days after being placed in the U.S. mail for delivery via registered
or
certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid and addressed
to the
party to be notified at its most current principal business address of which
the
notifying party has been notified. We may also deliver notices to you
electronically (e-mail) and they will be deemed delivered one business day
after
sending.
28. MISCELLANEOUS
(a) SEVERABILITY;
SUBSTITUTION OF VALID PROVISIONS. Except
as expressly provided to the contrary, any provision of this Agreement, and
any
portion of this Agreement, which is invalid, illegal or unenforceable is
severable, without affecting in any way the remainder of the
Agreement.
(b) NO
WAIVER. If
at
any time we do not exercise a right or power available to us under this
Agreement or do not insist on your strict compliance with the terms of the
Agreement, or if there develops a custom or practice which is at variance with
the terms of this Agreement, we will not be deemed to have waived our right
to
demand exact compliance with any of the terms of this Agreement at a later
time. Similarly, our waiver of any particular breach or series of
breaches under this Agreement or of any similar term in any other agreement
between us and anyone else will not affect our rights with respect to any later
breach. It will also not be deemed to be a waiver of any breach of
this Agreement for us to accept payments which are due to us under this
Agreement. Actions permitted under this Agreement may be taken at any
time and from time to time in the actor’s sole discretion.
(c) BINDING
NATURE, ASSIGNMENTS. Except
as otherwise stated, this Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to
the
benefit of the parties and their respective heirs, guardians, personal Area
Representatives, successors and assigns. No amendment, modification,
termination or waiver of any provision of this Agreement will be effective
unless the same is in writing and signed by all the parties.
(d) HEADINGS. The
headings of the various Sections in this Agreement are for convenience of
reference only and will not define or limit any of the terms or provisions
of
this Agreement.
(e) CONSTRUCTION. In
computing periods from a specified date to a later specified date, the words
“from” and “commencing on” (and the like) mean
“from and including”; and the words “to,”
“until” and “ending on” (and the like) mean
“to but excluding.” Indications of time of
day mean
Tampa, Florida time. “A or B” means “A or B
or both.” “Including”
means “including,
but not limited to.”
29
(f) FURTHER
INSTRUMENTS AND ACTIONS. The
parties will execute and deliver such other documents and instruments as may
be
reasonably necessary and will take such further action as may be necessary
or
appropriate, to carry out the terms and purposes of this Agreement.
(g) COMPLETE
AGREEMENT; MODIFICATION. This
Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect
to
the transactions contemplated in this Agreement. No representation,
promise or inducement not included or required to be included in this Agreement
will be binding upon any party. Except as otherwise provided in this
Agreement, this Agreement may be modified only by written agreement signed
by
both you and us.
(h) EXECUTION
AND COUNTERPARTS.
This Agreement
may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which will be deemed
an
original, but all of which will represent one agreement.
(i) UNDERSTANDING
OF AGREEMENT. You
and we acknowledge and agree that each has read and understood this entire
Agreement, and that this Agreement was entered into voluntarily and after having
had all opportunities to seek such advice as each may have wished to
receive.
(j) CUMULATIVE
REMEDIES.
The rights and
remedies specifically granted by this Agreement to either party will not be
deemed to prohibit either party from exercising any other right or remedy
provided under this Agreement or permitted by law or equity.
(k) COSTS
AND ATTORNEYS’ FEES.
The party
prevailing in any judicial proceeding between you and us (and either party’s
affiliates), will be entitled to reimbursement of its costs and expenses,
including reasonable accounting and attorneys’ fees. Attorneys’ fees
include, without limitation, reasonable legal fees charged by attorneys,
paralegal fees, and costs and disbursements, whether incurred prior to, or
in
preparation for, or contemplation of, the filing of written demand or claim,
action, hearing, proceeding.
(l) CERTAIN
DEFINITIONS. The
term “affiliate” is applicable to any company that, directly or
indirectly, owns or controls, is owned or controlled by or under common control
with another person. The terms “you” and
“your” are applicable to one or more persons,
a corporation or
a partnership, as the case may be, and the singular usage includes the plural
and the masculine and neuter usages include the other and the
feminine. If two or more persons are at any time the Franchise,
whether or not as partners or joint venturers, their obligations and liabilities
to us are joint and several. The term “person”
includes individuals, corporations, partnerships and all artificial
entities. The word “owner” means any person holding
a direct or indirect, legal or beneficial ownership interest or voting rights
in
another person (or a transferee of this Agreement or an interest in you),
including any person who has a direct or indirect interest in you or this
Agreement and any person who has any other legal or equitable interest, or
the
power to vest in himself any legal or equitable interest, in the revenue,
profits, rights or assets, and includes the term “Principal
Owner.”
(m) CONTINUING
OBLIGATIONS. All
obligations which expressly or by their nature survive the expiration or
termination of this Agreement continue in full force and effect subsequent
to
and notwithstanding the expiration or termination of this Agreement and until
they are satisfied or by their nature expire.
(n) GOVERNING
LAW. This
Agreement and our relationship with you are governed by Florida law without
regard to its conflict of laws provisions. References to any law or
regulation also refer to any successor laws or regulations and any implementing
regulations for any statute, as in effect at the relevant
time. References to a governmental agency also refer to any successor
regulatory body that succeeds to the function of such agency.
30
(o) JURISDICTION. You
and we consent and irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue
of
any state or federal court of competent jurisdiction located in Hillsborough
County, Florida. You and we waive any objection to the jurisdiction
and venue of such courts.
(p) ARBITRATION
PROCEEDINGS. You
agree that you must participate in any arbitration proceedings between or
involving you and any of our franchise owners, and to the extent we require,
us
and any of our franchise owners. You further agree that you will be
bound by any arbitration award in connection with any such arbitration
proceedings. In connection with any such arbitration proceeding, you
will execute an appropriate confidentiality agreement, excepting only such
disclosures and filings as are required by law.
(q) FORCE
MAJEURE. Neither
of the parties will be liable for loss or damage or deemed to be in breach
of
this Agreement if failure to perform obligations results from:
(i) Compliance
with any law, ruling, order, regulation, requirement or instruction of any
federal, state or municipal government or an department or agency
thereof.
(ii) Acts
of God, war or terror.
(iii) Acts
or omissions of a similar event or cause.
However,
such
delays or events do not excuse payments of amounts owed at any
time.
Intending
to be
bound, the parties to this Agreement now sign and deliver this Agreement in
multiple counterparts:
WE: | YOU: | |||
EVOS USA, INC. | HEALTHY FAST FOOD, INC. | |||
By:
/s/
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
|
By:
/s/
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
|||
Name:
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
|
Name:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
|||
Title:
President
|
Title:
President
|
|||
Date: 12/1/06 | Date: 12/1/06 |
31
EXHIBIT
A
DEVELOPMENT
SCHEDULE
BETWEEN
EVOS
USA,
INC.
AND
HEALTHY
FAST FOOD, INC.
DATED
DECEMBER 1st,
2006.
(a) Number
of Restaurants to be Developed. You
must develop a total of 124 EVOS® Restaurants during the Development
Period.
(b) Development
Schedule. You
must open and maintain in operation the following cumulative minimum number
of
EVOS® Restaurants operating in the Territory as of the last day of each
Development Year. If you are ahead of the Development Schedule for
new Restaurant openings in a Development Year, then the overage will be applied
to the next Development Year’s required openings as long as you are also meeting
the cumulative requirements. For example, if during Development Year
3 you open 27 new Restaurants and you have at least 41 in operation, the 3
excess new Restaurants will count towards the Development Year 4 opening
requirements.
DEVELOPMENT
SCHEDULE
Development
Year
|
Number
of New Restaurants
Open
and Operating
|
Cumulative
Number to Maintain
in
Operation
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
10
|
3
|
14
|
24
|
4
|
18
|
42
|
5
|
22
|
64
|
6
|
12
|
76
|
7
|
12
|
88
|
8
|
12
|
100
|
9
|
12
|
112
|
10
|
12
|
124
|
The
first
Development Year begins 6 months from the Effective Date (the
“Development Commencement Date”) and ends on the first day of
the month following 12 full calendar months following the Development
Commencement Date. Then, each subsequent Development Year begins on
each anniversary of the first day of Development Year 2 (i.e., if the
Development Commencement Date is April 15, 2007, then Development Year 2 begins
on May 1, 2008).
TAMPDOCS\519491.9
11/21/06
1
(c) State
Mininums. In
addition to meeting the Development Schedule described above for total number
of
new Restaurants open, operating and maintained in operation, you must develop
Restaurants in a geographic dispersed manner so that you are fully exploiting
the opportunity within the Territory. Accordingly, by the end of
Development Years 3 and 5, you must have opened and then maintained in operation
the following number of Restaurants in the following states:
State
|
Year
5
Minimum
Number
of Stores
|
Year
3
Minimum
Number
of Stores
|
Arizona
|
3
|
1
|
Colorado
|
2
|
1
|
Kansas
|
2
|
1
|
Nevada
|
2
|
1
|
New
Mexico
|
2
|
1
|
Ohio
|
6
|
2
|
Oklahoma
|
2
|
1
|
Oregon
|
2
|
1
|
Texas
|
13
|
5
|
Utah
|
2
|
1
|
TOTAL
|
36
|
15
|
No
Applicants that
are included in the sales process prior to the Effective Date of this Agreement
will count towards your meeting the requirements of the Development
Schedule.
EVOS USA, INC. | HEALTHY FAST FOOD, INC. | |||
By:
/s/
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
|
By:
/s/
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
|||
Name:
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
|
Name:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
|||
Title:
President
|
Title:
President
|
|||
Date: 12/1/06 | Date: 12/1/06 |
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
2
EXHIBIT
B
PROJECTED
CORPORATE STAFFING REQUIREMENTS
BETWEEN
EVOS
USA,
INC.
AND
HEALTHY
FAST FOOD, INC.
DATED
DECEMBER 1ST,
2006
Staffing
by Year
|
|||||
Positions
|
Year
1
|
Year
2
|
Year
3
|
Year
4
|
Year
5*
|
=====
|
=====
|
=====
|
=====
|
=====
|
|
Director
of
Operations
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Director
of
Franchising
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Director
of
Marketing
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Director
of
Store Development
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Director
of
Training
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Director
of
Finance/CFO
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Accounting
Support & Bookkeeper
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Field
Supervisors
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
7
|
=====
|
=====
|
=====
|
=====
|
=====
|
|
Total
Corporate HFFI Employees
|
8
|
8
|
10
|
12
|
14
|
*Then
maintain this
minimum for Years 6-10.
TAMPDOCS\519491.9
11/21/06
1
EXHIBIT
C
FORM
OF
SECURITIES SALE ADDENDUM
BETWEEN
EVOS
USA,
INC.
AND
HEALTHY
FAST FOOD, INC.
DATED
DECEMBER 1ST,
2006
SECURITIES
SALE ADDENDUM TO THE
THIS
ADDENDUM TO THE AREA REPRESENTATIVE AGREEMENT (this
“Addendum”) is effective as of December 1st,
2006 (the
"Effective Date"), regardless of the date of signatures, and
amends and supplements the Area Representative Agreement dated as of December
1st, 2006 (the
“Agreement”), between EVOS USA, INC.
(“we,” “us” or “our”) and
you, HEALTHY FAST FOOD, INC. (“you,”
“your” or “Area
Representative”). You and we are sometimes individually
referred to as a "party" or collectively as the
"parties."
BACKGROUND
The
parties
previously entered into one or more Franchise Agreements which were subject
to
an addendum substantially the same as this Addendum. The parties are or have
entered into one or more Area Representative Agreements under which this
Addendum is applicable in the event of certain sales of the Area
Representative’s securities.
OPERATIVE
TERMS
The
parties agree
as follows:
1. Precedence
and Defined Terms. Terms
not otherwise defined in this Addendum have the meanings as defined in the
Agreement. This Addendum modifies and supersedes any contrary
provisions of the Agreement. All other terms and conditions of the
Agreement remain unaffected by this Addendum.
2. Negotiated
Changes. After
negotiations, you and we have agreed to certain modifications to the Agreement,
at your request and for your benefit. This Addendum contains the
agreements between you and us based on those negotiations.
3. Certain
Definitions. For
purposes of Section the Agreement Addendum, the definition of the word
“owner” is limited to the persons described in that definition,
but only if they also:
(a) serve
as an officer, director, manager or other principal executive serving in a
role
similar to that of an officer and director of a corporation; or
(b) are
persons who hold a 10% or more, direct or indirect, legal or beneficial
ownership interest or voting rights, in the Area Representative, or have other
legal or equitable interests or powers resulting in any legal or equitable
interest in 10% or more of the revenue, profits, rights or assets of the Area
Representative.
The
Area
Representative represents that currently the only persons who meet this amended
definition of “owner” are the following: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx
Xxxxx, Xxxxx X.
1
Xxxxxxxxxx
and
Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxxxxx. Accordingly, only those 4 individuals will be
required to complete the Principal Owner’s Guarantee You will require
prospective owners who will not serve as an officer, director, manager or other
principal executive serving in a role similar to that of an officer and director
of a corporation to complete investor questionnaires enabling you to meet your
investigatory and due diligence obligations regarding their
background.
4. Transfer
Restrictions. Notwithstanding
any contrary provisions in the Agreement:
(a) Prior
to but not following your sale of securities through a public offering (as
that
term is defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended), our approval
will
be required for transfers or sales of equity interests in the Area
Representative exceeding 5% or more. You understand and acknowledge
that this right of approval is intended to apply to single transfers and
multiple transactions with a single transferee that, when combined, exceed
5% or
more during any 6 month period. Prior to but not following your sale
of securities through a public offering (as that term is defined under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended), you will not issue additional securities
or
permit the transfer of any securities in the Area Representative to
anyone:
(i) who
will have a legal or beneficial interest of 5% or more who has not received
our
approval, not to be unreasonably withheld;
(ii) who
has been convicted of, or is the subject of any, indictment for any felony;
or
(iii) who
is an officer, director, manager (or any similar executive position), or owner
of 5% or more of the equity or voting securities, of any Competitive Business
who has not received our approval, not to be unreasonably withheld.
(b) We
understand and approve your financing strategy to raise capital through one
or
more private placements of equity securities, to be placed with passive
investors. You have represented to us that the passive investors will
not have management or control over you, and that the existing owners will
retain all management rights and control over the Business Entity and its
operations. You recognize that we are not an issuer of any of the
securities and you will provide us with copies of the private placement
memorandum and other disclosure documents for our comment and review prior
to
your dissemination of such offering materials. We may require you to
include statements in such documents to clearly indicate to prospective
investors that their relationship will be with you, and not with us, that we
are
for all purposes not an issuer of any of such securities, and that the investors
will have no claims against us relating to their purchase or sale of any such
securities.
(c) You
have submitted to us a list of the identities of your current executive officers
and directors. Prior to but not following your sale of securities
through a public offering (as that term is defined under the Securities Act
of
1933, as amended), you agree not to change any of them without obtaining our
prior approval, which will not be unreasonably withheld.
(d) You
will require prospective investors to complete investor questionnaires enabling
you to meet your investigatory and due diligence obligations regarding their
background so that you can assure that the investors are eligible to be
investors and do not have backgrounds which conflict with Sections
4(a)(ii)-(iii) above.
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
2
5. Initial
Public Offering.
Under the
Agreement, a public offering of your securities would be deemed a transfer
that
requires you to meet certain conditions, including obtaining our written consent
and the commencement of our right of first refusal to acquire your
Restaurants. Nevertheless, we will not withhold our consent to your
sale of securities through a public offering (as that term is defined under
the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended), and we will waive our right of first
refusal, if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) Use
of Proceeds.
The net proceeds of such offering of securities are not used primarily for
the
purpose of developing, opening, acquiring and operating Competitive
Businesses. The terms "net proceeds" will mean the
amount of funds raised in such offering less the offering costs described in
the
associated registration statement and prospectus (e.g., underwriters’
commissions, marketing expenses, legal and accounting fees, etc.).
(b) Management. In
the event that management does not include Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx and Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx,
we have approved the identity, duties and responsibilities of your Chief
Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer who must have requisite experience
in the restaurant industry that otherwise meets the qualifications of our
individual franchise owners. Such approval will not be unreasonably
withheld.
(c) Informational
Requirements.
Due to the application of the U.S. federal and state securities laws, you
recognize you will be required to disclose various information to prospective
investors in a public offering. This information may reflect upon
us. Accordingly, prior to engaging in any public offering and/or
disseminating any preliminary prospectuses or other offering materials, you
agree to submit to us any such written information concerning us prior to its
inclusion in any registration statement, prospectus, preliminary prospectus
or
other offering circular, business plan or other documentation to be used in
connection with the offering. Information regarding us may only be
used after we have provided our written consent to its use, and such consent
shall not being unreasonably withheld. Our consent to the use of such
information, however, does not imply or constitute our approval with respect
to
the sale of the underlying securities, the offering literature submitted to
us,
or any other aspect of the offering. No information regarding us will
be included in any securities disclosure or offering documents, unless such
information has been furnished by us, in writing, pursuant to your request,
or
we have previously approved it. When requesting such information from
us, you must state the specific purpose for which the information will be used
when making the request. If we object to any information regarding us
in any offering literature, prospectus or other documentation, you must not
use
such information unless and until our concerns are satisfied or our objections
are withdrawn. We assume no responsibility for the offering
whatsoever.
(d) Required
Legend. The
prospectus, offering document or other offering literature must contain the
following language in bold-faced type in a prominent location mutually
acceptable to you and us:
EVOS
USA,
INC. IS NOT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY THE ISSUER OF THE SECURITIES OFFERED AND
ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY WITH RESPECT TO THIS OFFERING AND/OR THE ADEQUACY
OR
ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION DESCRIBED HEREIN, INCLUDING ANY STATEMENTS MADE
WITH
RESPECT TO IT. EVOS USA, INC. DOES NOT ENDORSE OR MAKE ANY
RECOMMENDATION WITH RESPECT TO THE INVESTMENT CONTEMPLATED BY THIS
OFFERING.
(e) Exchange
Listings.
You must not use our service marks, trademarks, trade names or any portion
or
abbreviation of them, or any word or letters bearing such a resemblance in
any
listing with any exchange, CUSIP forum, or any abbreviation for any stock
exchange listings in the media or otherwise. In particular, the word
EVOS will not be so used.
TAMPDOCS\519491.911/21/06
3
(f) Timing.
Neither of the parties may engage in any public offering of its securities
at
any time within 90 days before or after the commencement or end of any public
offering of securities by the other party.
(g) Indemnification.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold us and our officers, directors,
employees and agents, harmless from and against any and all claims, demands,
liabilities, and all costs and expenses (including our cost of defense which
includes reasonable attorneys' fees) incurred in the defense of any claims,
demands or liabilities arising from your offer or sale of securities, whether
asserted by a purchaser of any such security or by any governmental
agency. We have the right (but not the obligation) to defend any such
claims, demands or liabilities and/or to participate in the defense of any
action in which we are named as a party.
(h) Notifications.
Once you become a "public company" (as that term is used in connection with
the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), you will be required to file
certain periodic reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC"). In addition, your stockholders will also be required to file
certain notices with the SEC under certain circumstances. You agree
to furnish us with copies of all filings, notices and reports made by you or
by
any of your stockholders that concern you or your securities to us if such
filings, notices and reports are not publicly available. In
particular, you agree to provide us with notification any time any person or
group acquires a 10% or greater ownership interest in your securities if such
information is not publicly available.
6. Competitive
Restrictions
(a) Competitive
Business.
Prior to but not following your sale of securities through a public offering
(as
that term is defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended), you and
we
agree that ownership of 5% or more of your securities by any other person,
group
or company that is engaged in a Competitive Business without our prior written
approval would constitute a material breach of this Agreement. If
such a breach is not cured within 60 days of written notice to you, we may
terminate the Agreement and any other agreement we have with you or your
affiliates, and exercise any or all rights to acquire the Area Representative
Business and any development rights in accordance with the post-termination
obligations described in the Agreement.
(b) Board
Membership.
Prior to but not following your sale of securities through a public offering
(as
that term is defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended), no member
of
your Board of Directors, operating managers (in the case of a partnership or
limited liability company) may be affiliated with any Competitive Business
without our prior written approval.
7. Transfers
and Assignment.
Your rights under
this Addendum are personal to you and may not be transferred in conjunction
with
the Agreement and do not inure to the benefit of your successors or
assigns. You may not transfer or assign any rights under this
Addendum in a manner regardless if part of or separate from the transfer or
assignment of the entire Franchise Agreement. This Addendum will
automatically cancel if you engage in any transaction in which 50% or more
of
the ownership interests in the Area Representative (including any equity
interests, profits interests, or rights to cash flows) is transferred to anyone
who serves as an officer, director, manager or other principal executive serving
in a role similar to that of an officer and director of a corporation who is
not
affiliated with the Area Representative.
8. Termination.
This Addendum
will automatically terminate at the same time as the Agreement.
4
9. Remaining
Terms Unaffected.
All
remaining terms and conditions of the Agreement are unaffected by this Addendum,
and continue to be effective and binding on the parties.
Intending
to be
bound, you and we sign and deliver this Addendum effective as of the Effective
Date, regardless of the actual date of signature.
HEALTHY FAST FOOD, INC. | EVOS USA, INC. | |||
By:
/s/
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
By:
/s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
|
|||
Name:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
Name: Xxxxx
Xxxxxxx
|
|||
Title:
President
|
Title:
President
|
|||
Date: 12/1/06 | Date: 12/1/06 |