Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd Ordinary Shares, par value $0.00005 per share Underwriting Agreement
Exhibit 1.1
Ordinary Shares, par value $0.00005 per share
___
_______________, 2022
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC,
BofA Securities, Inc.
As representatives (the “Representatives”) of the several Underwriters
named in Schedule I hereto,
named in Schedule I hereto,
c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
000 Xxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000.
c/o BofA Securities, Inc.
Xxx Xxxxxx Xxxx
Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd, an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated in this agreement (this “Agreement”), to issue and sell to the Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”) an aggregate of [●] ordinary shares, par value $0.00005 per share (“Ordinary Shares”), of the Company and, at the election of the Underwriters, up to [●] additional Ordinary Shares and the shareholders of the Company named in Schedule II hereto (the “Selling Shareholders”) propose, subject to the terms and conditions stated in this Agreement, to sell to the Underwriters an aggregate of [●] Ordinary Shares and, at the election of the Underwriters, up to [●] additional Ordinary Shares. The aggregate of [●] Ordinary Shares to be sold by the Company and the Selling Shareholders is herein called the “Firm Shares” and the aggregate of [●] additional Ordinary Shares to be sold by the Company and the Selling Shareholders is herein called the “Optional Shares”. The Firm Shares and the Optional Shares that the Underwriters elect to purchase pursuant to Section 3 hereof are herein collectively called the “Shares”.
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC and [●] have severally agreed to reserve up to [●] of the Shares to be purchased by them under this Agreement for sale at the direction of the Company to certain parties designated by the Company (collectively, “Participants”) in a directed share program as described in the Prospectus (as defined below) under the heading “Underwriting—Directed Share Program”. Any Shares designated for sale at the direction of the Company in the Directed Share Program to Participants located in the Republic of China will be sold to such Participants by [●]. Each of Xxxxxxx Sachs & Co. LLC and [●], acting severally in such capacity, is hereinafter called a “Directed Share Underwriter,” and the Shares to be sold by a Directed Share Underwriter pursuant to the Directed Share Program are hereinafter called the “Directed Shares.” Any Directed Shares not confirmed for purchase by the deadline or
deadlines established therefor by the relevant Directed Share Underwriter in consultation with the Company will be offered to the public by the Underwriters as set forth in the Prospectus.
1. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each of the Underwriters that:
(a) A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-[●]) (the “Initial Registration Statement”) in respect of the Shares has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”); the Initial Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, each in the form heretofore delivered to you, have been declared effective by the Commission in such form; other than a registration statement, if any, increasing the size of the offering (a “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement”), filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), which became effective upon filing, no other document with respect to the Initial Registration Statement has been filed with the Commission; and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement, any post-effective amendment thereto or the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, has been issued and no proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act has been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission (any preliminary prospectus included in the Initial Registration Statement or filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(a) of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Act is hereinafter called a “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of the Initial Registration Statement and the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, including all exhibits thereto and including the information contained in the form of final prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act in accordance with Section 6(a) hereof and deemed by virtue of Rule 430A under the Act to be part of the Initial Registration Statement at the time it was declared effective, each as amended at the time such part of the Initial Registration Statement became effective or such part of the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, became or hereafter becomes effective, are hereinafter collectively called the “Registration Statement”; the Preliminary Prospectus relating to the Shares that was included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to the Applicable Time (as defined in Section 1(c) hereof) is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus”; such final prospectus, in the form first filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act, is hereinafter called the “Prospectus”; any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Act or Rule 163B under the Act is hereinafter called a “Testing-the-Waters Communication”; and any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act is hereinafter called a “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication”; and any “issuer free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 433 under the Act relating to the Shares is hereinafter called an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”);
(b) (A) No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and (B) each Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the applicable requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and did not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information (as defined in Section 10(c) of this Agreement);
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(c) For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is [●:●●] [a.m./p.m.] (New York City time) on the date of this Agreement. The Pricing Prospectus, as supplemented by the information listed on Schedule III(c) hereto, taken together (collectively, the "Pricing Disclosure Package"), as of the Applicable Time, did not, and as of each Time of Delivery (as defined in Section 5(a) of this Agreement) will not, include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and each Written Testing-the-Waters Communication does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and each Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time, did not, and as of each Time of Delivery will not, include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information;
(d) No documents were filed with the Commission since the Commission’s close of business on the business day immediately prior to the date of this Agreement and prior to the execution of this Agreement, except as set forth on Schedule III(b) hereto;
(e) (i) The Registration Statement conforms, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects to the applicable requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and (ii) the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to each part of the Registration Statement, as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, and as of each Time of Delivery, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information;
(f) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has, since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the Pricing Prospectus, (i) sustained any material loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree or (ii) entered into any transaction or agreement (whether or not in the ordinary course of business) that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, in each case otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus; and, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus, there has not been (x) any change in the share capital (other than as a result of (i) the exercise, if any, of stock options or the award, if any, of stock options, restricted stock or restricted stock units in the ordinary course of business pursuant to the Company’s equity plans that are described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus or (ii) the issuance, if any, of shares upon conversion of Company securities as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus) or long-term debt of the Company or any of its
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subsidiaries or (y) any Material Adverse Effect (as defined below); as used in this Agreement, “Material Adverse Effect” shall mean any material adverse change or effect, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change or effect, in or affecting (i) the business, properties, general affairs, management, financial position, shareholders' equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, or (ii) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement, including the issuance and sale of the Shares, or to consummate the transactions contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;
(g) The Company and its subsidiaries do not own any real property. The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them (other than with respect to Intellectual Property, title to which is addressed exclusively in subsection (w)), in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects except such as are described in the Pricing Prospectus or such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company and its subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its subsidiaries;
(h) Each of the Company and each of its subsidiaries has been (i) duly incorporated, organized and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, and (ii) duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, except, in the case of this clause (ii), where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, and each subsidiary of the Company has been listed on Exhibit 21 to the Registration Statement;
(i) The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and all of the issued shares of the Company, including the Shares to be sold by the Selling Shareholders, have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and conform to the description of the Shares contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and all of the issued shares of each subsidiary of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and (except, in the case of any foreign subsidiary, for directors' qualifying shares) are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims;
(j) The Shares to be issued and sold by the Company have been duly and validly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued and fully paid and non-assessable and will conform to the description of the Shares contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and the issuance of the Shares is not subject to any preemptive or similar rights, in each case other than rights which have been complied with or waived in writing;
(k) The issue and sale of the Shares to be sold by the Company, the execution and delivery by the Company of, and the compliance by the Company with, this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and the Pricing Prospectus
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do not and will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, (A) any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, except, in the case of this clause (A) for such defaults, breaches, or violations that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, (B) the certificate of incorporation or by-laws (or other applicable organizational document) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or (C) any statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or regulatory body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or regulatory body is required for the issue of the Shares to be sold by the Company and the sale of the Shares or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the offering of the Directed Shares in any jurisdiction where the Directed Shares are being offered, except such as have been obtained under the Act, the approval by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") of the underwriting terms and arrangements and such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Shares by the Underwriters;
(l) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is (i) in violation of its Memorandum of Association or Articles of Association (or other applicable organizational document), (ii) in violation of any statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties, or (iii) in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound, except, in the case of the foregoing clauses (ii) and (iii), for such violations or defaults as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;
(m) The statements set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under the caption “Description of Share Capital”, insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Shares, and under the captions “U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” and “Underwriting”, insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate, complete and fair in all material respects;
(n) Other than as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus, there are no legal, governmental or regulatory investigations, actions, demands, claims, suits, arbitrations, inquiries or proceedings (“Actions”) pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries or, to the Company's knowledge, any officer or director of the Company, is a party or of which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or, to the Company's knowledge, any officer or director of the Company, is the subject which, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries (or such officer or director), would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect; and, to the Company's knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or others; there are no current or pending Actions that are required under the Act to be described in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Prospectus that are not so described therein; and there are no statutes, regulations or contracts or other documents that are required under the Act to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing
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Prospectus that are not so filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus;
(o) The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares and the application of the proceeds thereof, will not be an “investment company”, as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”);
(p) At the time of filing the Initial Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or any offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Act) of the Shares, and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer”, as defined under Rule 405 under the Act;
(q) Ernst & Young LLP, who has certified certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder;
(r) The Company maintains a system of internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) that (i) complies with the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act, (ii) has been designed by the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or under their supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and (iii) is sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain accountability for assets, (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization and (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences; and the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective and the Company is not aware of any material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting;
(s) Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the Pricing Prospectus, there has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;
(t) The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that comply with the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act; such disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company and its subsidiaries is made known to the Company's principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within those entities; and such disclosure controls and procedures are effective;
(u) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;
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(v) There are no persons with registration rights or other similar rights to have any securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or otherwise registered by the Company under the Act except as have been validly waived or complied with;
(w) (i) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and each of its subsidiaries: (A) owns or possesses valid and sufficient rights to use all Intellectual Property used in or necessary for the conduct of its business as currently conducted (this representation is not a representation regarding infringement or misappropriation of third party intellectual property, which is addressed exclusively in subsection (w)(ii) below),, and (B) exclusively owns all Intellectual Property owned or purported to be owned by such entity (in the case of (B), “Company Intellectual Property”), free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims. For the purpose of this Agreement, “Intellectual Property” means all intellectual property and proprietary rights of any kind arising in any jurisdiction of the world, including, without limitation, in or with respect to any patents (together with any reissues, continuations, continuations-in-part, divisions, renewals, extensions, counterparts and reexaminations thereof), patent applications (including provisional applications), discoveries and inventions; trademarks, service marks, trade dress, trade names, logos, Internet domain names, social media identifiers and accounts and other indicia of origin and any registrations and applications and goodwill associated with any of the foregoing, as applicable; rights in published and unpublished works of authorship, whether copyrightable or not, including, without limitation, software and firmware (whether in object code, source code or RTL), website content, data, designs, databases, and copyrights, mask work rights and all registrations and applications therefor; trade secrets, know-how and systems, procedures, methods, technologies, algorithms and any other information meeting the definition of a trade secret under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“Trade Secrets”) and the right to xxx for past, present and future infringement, misappropriation or dilution of any of the foregoing;
(ii) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect: (A) to the Company’s knowledge, the conduct of the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ respective businesses does not violate, infringe, misappropriate or conflict with any Intellectual Property rights of any third party; (B) the Company and its subsidiaries have not received any written notice of any claim of infringement, misappropriation or conflict with any such rights of others that remains unresolved; (C) to the Company’s knowledge, there are no third parties who have ownership rights or rights to use any Company Intellectual Property owned or purported to be owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, except for the rights of customers, service providers and strategic and channel partners to use the Company Intellectual Property in the ordinary course, consistent with past practice; (D) there is no pending, or to the Company’s knowledge, threatened, action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of any Company Intellectual Property; and (E) there is no pending, or to the Company’s knowledge, threatened, action, suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company or any of its subsidiaries violates, infringes, misappropriates or conflicts with any Intellectual Property or other proprietary rights of others;
(iii) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect: (A) the Company and its subsidiaries have taken
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reasonable steps necessary to secure their respective interests in the Intellectual Property developed by their employees, consultants, agents and contractors in the course of their employment with or service to the Company, including, but not limited to, the execution of valid present Intellectual Property assignment and non-disclosure agreements for the benefit of the Company and its subsidiaries by such employees, consultants, agents and contractors, (B) the Company and its subsidiaries have taken reasonable steps in accordance with customary industry practice to maintain the confidentiality of all material Trade Secrets and other confidential information owned, used or held for use by the Company or any of its subsidiaries and (C) to the Company’s knowledge, no government funding, facilities or resources of a university, college, other educational institution or research center or funding from third parties was used in the development of any Company Intellectual Property, and no governmental agency or body, university, college, other educational institution or research center has any claim, option or right in or to any Company Intellectual Property. There are no outstanding options, licenses or binding agreements of any kind relating to Company Intellectual Property that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus and are not so described;
(iv) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and except as would not reasonably be expected, individually in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect: (A) the Company and its subsidiaries have ensured that all software (including source code) and other materials that are distributed under a “free,” “open source,” or similar licensing model (including the GNU General Public License, GNU Lesser General Public License, GNU Affero General Public License, New BSD License, MIT License, Apache License, Apache 2.0 License, Common Public License and other licenses approved as Open Source licenses under the Open Source Definition of the Open Source Initiative) (“Open Source Materials”) that are used by the Company or any of its subsidiaries are used in compliance with all license terms applicable to such Open Source Materials; and (B) to the Company’s knowledge, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has used or distributed, or otherwise made available for remote interaction, any Open Source Materials in a manner that requires or has required (I) the Company or any of its subsidiaries to permit reverse engineering of any software code or technology owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or (II) any software code or other technology owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries to be (a) disclosed or distributed in source code form, (b) licensed for the purpose of making derivative works, or (c) redistributed at no charge or minimal charge.
(x) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or as could not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, (A) the Company and its subsidiaries have operated and currently operate their respective businesses in a manner compliant in all material respects with all applicable foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations and all contractual obligations and all public-facing Company policies related to privacy and data security applicable to the Company’s, and its subsidiaries’, collection, access, use, modification, processing, handling, transfer, transmission, storage, disclosure and/or disposal of the data of their respective customers, employees and other third parties (the “Privacy and Data Security Requirements”), and (B) there has been no material loss or unauthorized collection, access, use, modification, processing, handling, transfer, transmission, storage, disclosure, disposal or breach of security of customer, employee or third party data maintained by or on behalf of the Company and its subsidiaries, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has notified,
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has been required to notify pursuant to its Privacy and Data Security Requirements, nor has the current intention to notify, any customer, governmental entity or the media of any such event;
(y) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or as could not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect: (A) the information technology assets and equipment, computers, systems, networks, hardware, software, websites, applications, and databases owned, used or held for use by the Company and its subsidiaries (collectively, “IT Systems”) are adequate for, and operate and perform in all material respects as required in connection with, the operation of the business of the Company and its subsidiaries as currently conducted, and, to the Company’s knowledge, are free and clear of all material bugs, errors, defects, Trojan horses, time bombs, malware and other corruptants or malicious code; (B) the Company and its subsidiaries have taken commercially reasonable measures designed to maintain and protect their material confidential information and the integrity and security of all their IT Systems; (C) to the Company’s knowledge, there have been no breaches, violations, outages or unauthorized uses of or accesses to any IT Systems, nor any incidents, events or conditions under internal review or investigations relating to the same, except for those that have been remedied without material cost or liability; and (D) without limiting the foregoing, the Company and its subsidiaries have maintained and materially complied with reasonable information technology and information security policies and procedures;
(aa) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, nor any director or officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any employee, agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has (i) made, offered, promised or authorized any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense (or taken any act in furtherance thereof); (ii) made, offered, promised or authorized any direct or indirect unlawful payment; or (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the rules and regulations thereunder, the Xxxxxxx Xxx 0000 of the United Kingdom or any other applicable anti-corruption, anti-bribery or related law, statute or regulation (collectively, “Anti-Corruption Laws”); the Company and its subsidiaries have conducted their businesses in compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws and have instituted and maintained and will continue to maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote and achieve compliance with such laws and with the representations and warranties contained herein; neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries will use, directly or indirectly, the proceeds of the offering in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of value, to any person in violation of Anti-Corruption Laws;
(bb) The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with the requirements of applicable anti-money laundering laws, including, but not limited to, the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended by the USA PATRIOT ACT of 2001, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and the anti-money laundering laws of the various jurisdictions in which the Company and its subsidiaries conduct business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any government agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened;
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(cc) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, nor any director or officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any employee, agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is (i) currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Government, including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”), or the U.S. Department of State and including, without limitation, the designation as a “specially designated national” or “blocked person”, the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury, the United Nations Security Council, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), (ii) located, organized, or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or target of Sanctions (a “Sanctioned Jurisdiction”), and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Shares hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business with any person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time of such funding, is the subject or the target of Sanctions or (ii) in any other manner that will, to such person’s knowledge, result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions; neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is engaged in, or has, at any time in the past five years, engaged in, any dealings or transactions with or involving any individual or entity that was or is, as applicable, at the time of such dealing or transaction, the subject or target of Sanctions or with any Sanctioned Jurisdiction; the Company and its subsidiaries have instituted, and maintain, policies and procedures designed to promote and achieve continued compliance with Sanctions;
(dd) The financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes, present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the statement of operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its subsidiaries for the periods specified; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved, except in the case of unaudited interim financial statements, which are subject to normal year-end adjustments and do not contain certain footnotes as permitted by the applicable rules of the Commission. The supporting schedules, if any, present fairly in all material respects in accordance with GAAP the information required to be stated therein. The selected financial data and the summary financial information included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus present fairly in all material respects the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with that of the audited financial statements included therein. Except as included therein, no historical or pro forma financial statements or supporting schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus under the Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. All disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term is defined by the rules and regulations of the Commission) comply in all material respects with Regulation G of the Exchange Act and Item 10 of Regulation S-K of the Act, to the extent applicable;
(ee) Any statistical, industry-related and market-related data included in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes, after reasonable inquiry and in good faith, to be reliable and accurate and, to the
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extent required, the Company has obtained the written consent to the use of such data from such sources;
(ff) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have filed all material federal, state, local and foreign income and franchise tax returns required to be filed through the date hereof, subject to permitted extensions, and have paid all taxes due thereon. No material tax deficiency has been determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries and the Company does not have any knowledge of any tax deficiencies;
(gg) From the time of initial confidential submission of a registration statement relating to the Shares with the Commission through the date hereof, the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”);
(hh) Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that the forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) included in any of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus have been made other than on a reasonable basis and in good faith;
(ii) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has taken or will take, directly or indirectly, without giving effect to activities by the Underwriters, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company or any of its subsidiaries in connection with the offering of the Shares;
(jj) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has issued or guaranteed any debt securities that are rated by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization”, as that term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Rule 436(g)(2) under the Act;
(kk) The Company has properly classified all current and former employees and service providers of the Company and its subsidiaries and treated all current and former employees and service providers of the Company and its subsidiaries in accordance with all applicable laws in all material respects, including without limitation all applicable laws concerning employment, labor and compensation, and for purposes of all employee benefit plans and perquisites, which plans have been established and administered in compliance with their terms and all applicable laws in all material respects, and, to the Company’s knowledge, there is no pending or threatened complaint, claim, audit or investigation by or before any governmental body regarding any misclassification of any person employed or engaged by the Company, except in each case as would not result in a material liability to the Company;
(ll) The Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses and any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication comply in all material respects, and any further amendments or supplements thereto will comply in all material respects, with any applicable laws or regulations of foreign jurisdictions in which the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, are distributed in connection with the Directed Share Program;
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(mm) No authorization, approval, consent, license, order, registration or qualification of or with any government, governmental instrumentality or court, other than such as have been obtained, is necessary under the securities laws and regulations of foreign jurisdictions in which the Directed Shares are offered outside the United States;
(nn) The Company has specifically directed in writing the allocation of Shares to each Participant in the Directed Share Program, and neither Directed Share Underwriter nor any other Underwriter has had any involvement or influence, directly or indirectly, in such allocation decision;
(oo) The Company has not offered, or caused either Directed Share Underwriter or its affiliates to offer, Shares to any person pursuant to the Directed Share Program (i) for any consideration other than the cash payment of the initial public offering price per share set forth in Schedule III hereof or (ii) with the specific intent to unlawfully influence (x) a customer or supplier of the Company to alter the customer or supplier's terms, level or type of business with the Company or (y) a trade journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company or its products;
(pp) (A) The Company and its subsidiaries (1) are in compliance with all, and have not violated any, applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws (including common law), rules, regulations, requirements, decisions, judgments, decrees, orders and other legally enforceable requirements relating to pollution or the protection of human health or safety, the environment, natural resources, hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (collectively, “Environmental Laws”); (2) have received and are in compliance with all, and have not violated any, permits, licenses, certificates or other authorizations or approvals required of them under any Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses; and (3) have not received written notice of any actual or potential liability or obligation under or relating to, or any actual or potential violation of, any Environmental Laws, including for the investigation or remediation of any disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, and have no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in any such notice; (B) there are no costs or liabilities associated with Environmental Laws of or relating to the Company or its subsidiaries, except in the case of each of (A) and (B) above, for any such matter as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; and (C) except as described in each of the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (1) there is no proceeding that is pending, or that is known to be contemplated, against the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any Environmental Laws in which a governmental entity is also a party, other than such proceeding regarding which it is reasonably believed no monetary sanctions of $100,000 or more will be imposed, (2) the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any facts or issues regarding compliance with Environmental Laws, or liabilities or other obligations under Environmental Laws or concerning hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position of the Company and its subsidiaries, and (3) none of the Company or its subsidiaries anticipates material capital expenditures relating to any Environmental Laws.
(qq) Except for any net income, capital gains or franchise taxes imposed on the Underwriters by the government of the Cayman Islands or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein as a result of any present or former connection (other than any connection resulting from the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) between the Underwriters and the jurisdiction imposing such tax, no stamp duties or other issuance or
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transfer taxes are payable by or on behalf of the Underwriters in the Cayman Islands, the United States or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof solely in connection with (i) the execution (provided that such execution is effected outside the Cayman Islands), delivery and performance of this Agreement, (ii) the issuance and delivery of the Shares in the manner contemplated by this Agreement and the Pricing Prospectus or (iii) the sale and delivery by the Underwriters of the Shares as contemplated herein and in the Pricing Disclosure Package;
(rr) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or their properties or assets has immunity under Cayman Islands, U.S. federal or New York state law from any legal action, suit or proceeding, from the giving of any relief in any such legal action, suit or proceeding, from set-off or counterclaim, from the jurisdiction of any Cayman Islands, U.S. federal or New York state court, from service of process, attachment upon or prior to judgment, or attachment in aid of execution of judgment, or from execution of a judgment, or other legal process or proceeding for the giving of any relief or for the enforcement of a judgment, in any such court with respect to their respective obligations, liabilities or any other matter under or arising out of or in connection herewith; and, to the extent that the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of its properties, assets or revenues may have or may hereafter become entitled to any such right of immunity in any such court in which proceedings arising out of, or relating to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, may at any time be commenced, the Company has, pursuant to Section 19(d) of this Agreement, waived, and it will waive, or will cause its subsidiaries to waive, such right to the extent permitted by law;
(ss) Any final judgment for a fixed or determined sum of money rendered by any U.S. federal or New York state court located in the State of New York having jurisdiction under its own laws in respect of any suit, action or proceeding against the Company based upon this Agreement would be declared enforceable against the Company by the courts of Cayman Islands, without reconsideration or reexamination of the merits, provided that in respect of enforcement in the Cayman Islands the judgment is not in respect of taxes, fines or penalties;
(tt) The choice of laws of the State of New York as the governing law of this Agreement is a valid choice of law under the laws of the Cayman Islands and will be honored by the courts of the Cayman Islands, subject to the restrictions described under the caption “Enforceability of civil liabilities” in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company has the power to submit, and pursuant to Section 19(b) of this Agreement, has legally, validly, effectively and irrevocably submitted, to the personal jurisdiction of each New York state and United States federal court sitting in the City of New York and has validly and irrevocably waived any objection to the laying of venue of any suit, action or proceeding brought in such court;
(uu) The indemnification and contribution provisions set forth in Section 10 hereof do not contravene Cayman Islands law or public policy;
(vv) No approvals are currently required in the Cayman Islands in order for the Company to pay dividends or other distributions declared by the Company to the holders of Shares. Under current laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands and any political subdivision thereof, any amount payable with respect to the Shares upon liquidation of the Company or upon redemption thereof and dividends and other distributions declared and payable on the share capital of the Company may be paid by the Company in United States dollars and freely transferred out of the Cayman Islands, and no such payments made to the holders thereof or therein who are non-residents of the Cayman Islands will be subject to income, withholding or
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other taxes under laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein and without the necessity of obtaining any governmental authorization in the Cayman Islands or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein;
(ww) The legality, validity, enforceability or admissibility into evidence of any of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, this Agreement or the Shares in any jurisdiction in which the Company is organized or does business is not dependent upon such document being submitted into, filed or recorded with any court or other authority in any such jurisdiction on or before the date hereof or that any tax, imposition or charge be paid in any such jurisdiction on or in respect of any such document; and
(xx) Any holder of the Shares and each Underwriter are each entitled to xxx as plaintiff in the court of the jurisdiction of formation and domicile of the Company for the enforcement of their respective rights under this Agreement and the Shares and such access to such courts will not be subject to any conditions which are not applicable to residents of such jurisdiction or a company incorporated in such jurisdiction except that plaintiffs not residing in the Cayman Islands may be required to guarantee payment of a possible order for payment of costs or damages at the request of the defendant.
2. Each of the Selling Shareholders severally represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each of the Underwriters and the Company that:
(a) Except (A) as will have been obtained at or prior to each Time of Delivery for the registration under the Act of the Shares and (B) as may be required under foreign or state securities (or Blue Sky) laws or by FINRA or by the NASDAQ (as defined below) in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Shares by the Underwriters, all consents, approvals, authorizations and orders necessary for the execution and delivery by such Selling Shareholder of this Agreement and the Power of Attorney and the Custody Agreement referred to below, and for the sale and delivery of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder, have been obtained; and such Selling Shareholder has full right, power and authority to enter into this Agreement, the Power of Attorney and the Custody Agreement and to sell, assign, transfer and deliver the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder;
(b) The sale of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder and the compliance by such Selling Shareholder with this Agreement, the Power of Attorney and the Custody Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will not (A) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any statute, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which such Selling Shareholder is a party or by which such Selling Shareholder is bound or to which any of the property or assets of such Selling Shareholder is subject, or (B) result in any violation of (i) the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation or By-laws (or similar applicable organizational documents) of such Selling Shareholder if such Selling Shareholder is a corporation (or other business entity) or (ii) any statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over such Selling Shareholder or any of its subsidiaries or any property or assets of such Selling Shareholder except, in the case of clauses (A) or (B)(ii), for any such conflict, breach, violation or default that would not, individually or in the aggregate, materially affect the validity; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental body or agency is required for the performance by such
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Selling Shareholder of its obligations under this Agreement, the Power of Attorney and the Custody Agreement and the consummation by such Selling Shareholder of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, the Power of Attorney and the Custody Agreement in connection with the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder, except the registration under the Act of the Shares and such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Shares by the Underwriters;
(c) Such Selling Shareholder has, and immediately prior to each Time of Delivery (as defined in Section 5(a) hereof) such Selling Shareholder will have, good and valid title to, or a valid “security entitlement” within the meaning of Section 8-501 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code in respect of, the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder at such Time of Delivery, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims; and, upon delivery of such Shares and payment therefor pursuant hereto, good and valid title to such Shares, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims, will pass to the several Underwriters;
(d) On or prior to the date of the Pricing Prospectus, such Selling Shareholder has executed and delivered to the Underwriters an agreement substantially in the form of Annex VI hereto.
(e) Such Selling Shareholder has not taken and will not take, directly or indirectly, any action that is designed to or that has constituted or might reasonably be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares;
(f) To the extent that any statements or omissions made in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto are made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Selling Shareholder pursuant to Items 7 and 11(m) of Form S–1 expressly for use therein (all such information, the “Selling Shareholder Information”), such Registration Statement and Preliminary Prospectus did, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will, when they become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, it being understood and agreed for the purposes of this Agreement that the Selling Shareholder Information for such Selling Shareholder consists only of (A) such Selling Shareholder’s legal name, address and shares beneficially owned by such Selling Shareholder before and after the offering contemplated hereby, (B) the other information with respect to such Selling Shareholder (excluding percentages) which appear under the caption “Principal and Selling Shareholders” in the Preliminary Prospectus and (C) if such Selling Shareholder is an executive officer or director of the Company (including any person who is named in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto as a person who is to become a director of the Company at a future date), the biographical information of such Selling Shareholder as set forth under the caption “Management” in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto;
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(g) In order to document the Underwriters' compliance with the reporting and withholding provisions of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 with respect to the transactions herein contemplated, such Selling Shareholder will deliver to you prior to or at the First Time of Delivery a properly completed and executed United States Treasury Department Form W-9 (or other applicable form or statement specified by Treasury Department regulations in lieu thereof);
(h) Book-entry securities entitlements representing all of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder have been placed in custody under a Custody Agreement, in the form heretofore furnished to you (the "Custody Agreement"), duly executed and delivered by such Selling Shareholder to Computershare Inc., as custodian (the "Custodian"), and such Selling Shareholder has duly executed and delivered a Power of Attorney, in the form heretofore furnished to you (the "Power of Attorney"), appointing the persons indicated in Schedule II hereto, and each of them, as such Selling Shareholder's attorneys-in-fact (the "Attorneys-in-Fact") with authority to execute and deliver this Agreement on behalf of such Selling Shareholder, to determine the purchase price to be paid by the Underwriters to the Selling Shareholders as provided in Section 3 hereof, to authorize the delivery of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder and otherwise to act on behalf of such Selling Shareholder in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Custody Agreement;
(i) The Shares held in custody for such Selling Shareholder under the Custody Agreement are subject to the interests of the Underwriters hereunder; the arrangements made by such Selling Shareholder for such custody, and the appointment by such Selling Shareholder of the Attorneys-in-Fact by the Power of Attorney, are to that extent irrevocable; the obligations of the Selling Shareholders hereunder shall not be terminated by operation of law, whether by the death or incapacity of any individual Selling Shareholder or, in the case of an estate or trust, by the death or incapacity of any executor or trustee or the termination of such estate or trust, or in the case of a partnership or corporation, by the dissolution of such partnership, limited liability company or corporation, or by the occurrence of any other event; if any individual Selling Shareholder or any such executor or trustee should die or become incapacitated, or if any such estate or trust should be terminated, or if any such partnership, limited liability company or corporation should be dissolved, or if any other such event should occur, before the delivery of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder, book-entry securities representing the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Selling Shareholders in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and of the applicable Custody Agreement; and actions taken by the Attorneys-in-Fact pursuant to the Powers of Attorney shall be as valid as if such death, incapacity, termination, dissolution or other event had not occurred, regardless of whether or not the Custodian, the Attorneys-in-Fact, or any of them, shall have received notice of such death, incapacity, termination, dissolution or other event;
(j) Such Selling Shareholder will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Shares hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business with any person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time of such funding, is the subject or the target of Sanctions, or in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions, or (ii) in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of
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value, to any person in violation of any Money Laundering Laws or any Anti-Corruption Laws; and
(k) Such Selling Shareholder is not prompted by any material non-public information concerning the Company or any of its subsidiaries that is not disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus to sell its Shares pursuant to this Agreement
3. Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, (a) the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders agree, severally and not jointly, to sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders, at a purchase price per share of $[●], the number of Firm Shares (to be adjusted by you so as to eliminate fractional shares) determined by multiplying the aggregate number of Firm Shares to be sold by the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders as set forth opposite their respective names in Schedule II hereto by a fraction, the numerator of which is the aggregate number of Firm Shares to be purchased by such Underwriter as set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and the denominator of which is the aggregate number of Firm Shares to be purchased by all of the Underwriters from the Company and all of the Selling Shareholders hereunder and (b) in the event and to the extent that the Underwriters shall exercise the election to purchase Optional Shares as provided below, the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders, as and to the extent indicated in Schedule II hereto, agree, severally and not jointly, to sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders, at the purchase price per share set forth in clause (a) of this Section 3 (provided that the purchase price per Optional Share shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Shares but not payable on the Optional Shares), that portion of the number of Optional Shares as to which such election shall have been exercised (to be adjusted by you so as to eliminate fractional shares) determined by multiplying such number of Optional Shares by a fraction, the numerator of which is the maximum number of Optional Shares which such Underwriter is entitled to purchase as set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and the denominator of which is the maximum number of Optional Shares that all of the Underwriters are entitled to purchase hereunder.
The Company and the Selling Shareholders, as and to the extent indicated in Schedule II hereto, hereby grant, severally and not jointly, to the Underwriters the right to purchase at their election up to [●] Optional Shares, at the purchase price per share set forth in the paragraph above, provided that the purchase price per Optional Share shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Shares but not payable on the Optional Shares. Any such election to purchase Optional Shares shall be made [in proportion to the maximum number of Optional Shares to be sold by the Company and all Selling Shareholders as set forth in Schedule II hereto]. Any such election to purchase Optional Shares may be exercised only by written notice from you to the Company and the Attorneys-in-Fact, given within a period of 30 calendar days after the date of this Agreement, setting forth the aggregate number of Optional Shares to be purchased and the date on which such Optional Shares are to be delivered, as determined by you but in no event earlier than the First Time of Delivery (as defined in Section 5 hereof) or, unless you and the Company and the Attorneys-in-Fact otherwise agree in writing, earlier than two or later than ten business days after the date of such notice.
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4. Upon the authorization by you of the release of the Shares, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Shares for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
5. (a) The Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive or book-entry form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representatives may request upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice to the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company and the Selling Shareholders to the Representatives, through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the accounts specified by the Company and the Custodian to the Representatives at least forty-eight hours in advance. The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be, with respect to the Firm Shares, 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on [●], 2022 or such other time and date as the Representatives, the Company and the Attorneys-in-Fact may agree upon in writing, and, with respect to the Optional Shares, 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the date specified by the Representatives in each written notice given by the Representatives of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Optional Shares, or such other time and date as the Representatives[,] [and] the Company [and the Attorneys-in-Fact] and the Company may agree upon in writing. Such time and date for delivery of the Firm Shares is herein called the “First Time of Delivery”, each such time and date for delivery of the Optional Shares, if not the First Time of Delivery, is herein called the “Second Time of Delivery”, and each such time and date for delivery is herein called a “Time of Delivery”.
(b) The documents to be delivered at each Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 9 hereof, including the cross receipt for the Shares and any additional documents requested by the Underwriters pursuant to Section 9(o) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Xxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxx LLP, 0000 Xxxxxxxxxxx Xxxx, Xxxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000 (the “Closing Location”), and the Shares will be delivered at the Designated Office, all at such Time of Delivery. A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at [●:●●] p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next preceding such Time of Delivery, at which meeting the final drafts of the documents to be delivered pursuant to the preceding sentence will be available for review by the parties hereto. For the purposes of this Section 5, “New York Business Day” shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is not a day on which banking institutions in New York City are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.
6. The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters:
(a) To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act not later than the Commission's close of business on the second business day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement, or, if applicable, such earlier time as may be required by Rule 430A(a)(3) under the Act; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus prior to the last Time of Delivery which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish you with copies thereof; to file promptly all material required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of
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any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus in respect of the Shares, of the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act or suspending any such qualification, to promptly use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order;
(b) Promptly from time to time to take such action as you may reasonably request to qualify the Shares for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as you may request and to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of the Shares, provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation (where not otherwise required), to subject itself to taxation in respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise so subject or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction (where not otherwise required);
(c) Prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and from time to time, to furnish the Underwriters with written and electronic copies of the Prospectus in New York City in such quantities as you may reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the time of issue of the Prospectus in connection with the offering or sale of the Shares and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made when such Prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act, to notify you and upon your request to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many written and electronic copies as you may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) in connection with sales of any of the Shares at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus, upon your request but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many written and electronic copies as you may request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;
(d) To make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable (which may be satisfied by filing with the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System or any successor thereto (“XXXXX”), but in any event not later than sixteen months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Act), an earnings statement of the Company and its subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158);
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(e)(1) During the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including the date 180 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Lock-Up Period”), not to (i) offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with or confidentially submit to the Commission a registration statement under the Act relating to, any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Shares, including but not limited to any options or warrants to purchase shares of Shares or any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, Shares or any such substantially similar securities, or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Shares or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Shares or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, or publicly disclose the intention to take any action described in clauses (i) or (ii) above, without the prior written consent of Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC;
The restrictions described above do not apply to (A) the Shares to be sold hereunder; (B) the issuance of shares or securities convertible into or exercisable for Shares pursuant to the conversion or exchange of convertible or exchangeable securities or the exercise of warrants or options or other equity awards (including net exercise), in each case outstanding on the date of this Agreement and described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus; (C) grants of stock options, stock awards, restricted stock or other equity awards and the issuance of Shares or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Shares (whether upon the exercise of stock options or otherwise) to the Company’s employees, officers, directors, advisors or consultants pursuant to the terms of an equity compensation plan described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus; (D) the establishment or amendment of a trading plan pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the sale of Shares, provided that (i) such plan or amendment does not provide for the sale of Shares during the Lock-Up Period and (ii) no public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act shall be required or voluntarily made by the Company regarding the establishment or amendment of such plan during the Lock-Up Period; (E) the issuance of up to 10% of the outstanding Shares, or securities convertible into, exercisable for, or which are otherwise exchangeable for, Shares, immediately following the First Time of Delivery, in connection with one or more acquisitions of a company or a business, assets or technology of another person or entity, joint ventures, commercial relationships or strategic alliances (including but not limited to marketing or distribution arrangements, collaboration agreements or intellectual property license agreements); or (F) the filing of any registration statement on Form S-8 relating to securities granted or to be granted pursuant to any equity incentive plan or employee stock purchase plan described in the Prospectus or any assumed benefit plan pursuant to an acquisition or similar strategic transaction; provided that in case of clauses (B), (C) and (E), the Company shall cause each recipient of such securities to (x) execute and deliver a lock-up agreement with the Underwriters on substantially the same terms as the lock-up letter described in Section 9(m) hereof for the remainder of the Lock-Up Period and (y) enter stop transfer instructions with the Company’s transfer agent and registrar on such securities, which the Company agrees it will not waive or amend without the prior written consent of the Representatives.
(e)(2) If Xxxxxxx Sachs & Co. LLC, in its sole discretion, agrees to release or waive the restrictions set forth in a lock-up letter described in Section 9(m) hereof for an officer or director of the Company and provides the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver at least three business days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the
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Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver by a press release substantially in the form of Annex VII hereto through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver.
(f) So long as the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, to furnish to its shareholders as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year an annual report (including a balance sheet and statements of income, shareholders' equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries certified by independent public accountants) and, as soon as practicable after the end of each of the first three quarters of each fiscal year (beginning with the fiscal quarter ending after the effective date of the Registration Statement), to make available to its shareholders consolidated summary financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries for such quarter in reasonable detail; provided, however, that no report or other information need be furnished pursuant to this Section 6(f) to the extent that is available on XXXXX.
(g) During a period of three years from the effective date of the Registration Statement, to furnish to you copies of all reports or other communications (financial or other) furnished to shareholders, and to deliver to you (i) as soon as they are available, copies of any reports and financial statements furnished to or filed with the Commission or any national securities exchange on which any class of securities of the Company is listed (provided, however, that any report, communication or financial statement furnished or filed with the Commission that is publicly available on the Commission’s XXXXX system shall be deemed to have been furnished to you at the time furnished or filed with the Commission); and (ii) such additional information concerning the business and financial condition of the Company as you may from time to time reasonably request (such financial statements to be on a consolidated basis to the extent the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries are consolidated in reports furnished to its shareholders generally or to the Commission);
(h) To use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement in the manner specified in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”;
(i) To use its best efforts to list for quotation the Shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.’s National Market (“NASDAQ”);
(j) To file with the Commission such information on Form 10-Q or Form 10-K as may be required by Rule 463 under the Act;
(k) If the Company elects to rely upon Rule 462(b), the Company shall file a Rule 462(b) Registration Statement with the Commission in compliance with Rule 462(b) by 10:00 P.M., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement, and the Company shall at the time of filing either pay to the Commission the filing fee for the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or give irrevocable instructions for the payment of such fee pursuant to Rule 3a(c) of the Commission’s Informal and Other Procedures (16 C.F.R. 202.3a(c));
(l) Upon request of any Underwriter, to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to such Underwriter an electronic version of the Company’s trademarks, servicemarks and corporate logo for use on the website, if any, operated by such Underwriter for the purpose of facilitating the on-line offering of the Shares (the “License”); provided, however, that the License shall be non-exclusive, used solely for the purpose described above, granted without any fee, and may not be assigned, sublicensed, or transferred;
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(m) To comply with all applicable securities and other laws, rules and regulations in each jurisdiction in which the Directed Shares are offered in connection with the Directed Share Program; and
(n) To promptly notify you if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Act and (ii) the last Time of Delivery.
7.
(a) The Company represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Shares that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act; each Selling Shareholder represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Shares that would constitute a free writing prospectus; and each Underwriter represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Shares that would constitute a free writing prospectus required to be filed with the Commission; any such free writing prospectus the use of which has been consented to by the Company and the Representatives is listed on Schedule III(a) hereto;
(b) The Company has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 under the Act applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission or retention where required and legending; and the Company represents that it has satisfied and agrees that it will satisfy the conditions under Rule 433 under the Act to avoid a requirement to file with the Commission any electronic road show;
(c) The Company agrees that if at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Written Testing-the-Waters Communication any event occurred or occurs as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Written Testing-the-Waters Communication would conflict with the information in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then prevailing, not misleading, the Company will give prompt notice thereof to the Representatives and, if requested by the Representatives, will prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or other document which will correct such conflict, statement or omission (provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or a Written Testing-the-Waters Communication made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information);
(d) The Company represents and agrees that (i) it has not engaged in, or authorized any other person to engage in, any Testing-the-Waters Communications, other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the prior consent of the Representatives with entities that the Company reasonably believes are qualified institutional buyers as defined in Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Act; and (ii) it has not distributed, or authorized any other person to distribute, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications, other than those distributed with the prior consent of the Representatives that are listed on Schedule III(d) hereto; and the Company reconfirms that the Underwriters have been authorized to act on its behalf in engaging in Testing-the-Waters Communications; and
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(e) Each Underwriter represents and agrees that any Testing-the-Waters Communications undertaken by it were with entities that such Underwriter reasonably believes are qualified institutional buyers as defined in Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Act.
8. The Company covenants and each of the Selling Shareholders covenant and agree with one another and with the several Underwriters that (a) the Company will pay or cause to be paid the following: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company's counsel and accountants in connection with the registration of the Shares under the Act and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing, reproduction and filing of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing any Agreement among Underwriters, this Agreement, the Blue Sky Memorandum, closing documents (including any compilations thereof) and any other documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Shares; (iii) all reasonable and documented expenses in connection with the qualification of the Shares for offering and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 6(b) hereof, including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky survey (iv) all fees and expenses in connection with listing the Shares on the NASDAQ; (v) the filing fees incident to, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with, any required review by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Shares (provided that the amount payable by the Company pursuant to clauses (iv) and (v) shall not exceed $35,000); (vi) the cost of preparing share certificates; if applicable (vii) the cost and charges of any transfer agent or registrar; (viii) all expenses incurred by the Company in connection with any roadshow presentation to potential investors (provided, however, that the Underwriters and the Company shall each pay 50% of the cost of chartering any aircraft to be used in connection with the roadshow by the Company and the Underwriters); (ix) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section; and (x) the fees of one counsel for all of the Selling Shareholders in an amount not to exceed $30,000 in the aggregate; and (b) such Selling Shareholder will pay or cause to be paid all costs and expenses incident to the performance of such Selling Shareholder's obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section, including, subject to clause (a)(x), such Selling Shareholder’s pro rata share of (i) any fees and disbursements of counsel for such Selling Shareholder, (ii) the fees and expenses of the Attorneys-in-Fact and the Custodian and (iii) all expenses and taxes incident to the sale and delivery of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder to the Underwriters hereunder. In connection with clause (b)(iii) of the preceding sentence, the Representatives agree to pay New York State stock transfer tax, and the Selling Shareholder agrees to reimburse the Representatives for associated carrying costs if such tax payment is not rebated on the day of payment and for any portion of such tax payment not rebated. In addition, the Company shall pay or cause to be paid all fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program and stamp duties, similar taxes or duties or other taxes, if any, incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in this Section and Sections 10 and 13 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, share transfer taxes on resale of any of the Shares by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.
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9. The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder, as to the Shares to be delivered at each Time of Delivery, shall be subject, in their discretion, to the condition that all representations and warranties and other statements of the Company and the Selling Shareholders herein are, at and as of the Applicable Time and such Time of Delivery, true and correct, the condition that the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall have performed all of its and their obligations hereunder theretofore to be performed, and the following additional conditions:
(a) The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by the rules and regulations under the Act and in accordance with Section 6(a) hereof; all material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by Rule 433; if the Company has elected to rely upon Rule 462(b) under the Act, the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement shall have become effective by 10:00 P.M., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act shall have been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission; no stop order suspending or preventing the use of the Pricing Prospectus, Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission; and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to your reasonable satisfaction;
(b) Xxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxx LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to you such written opinion or opinions, dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to such matters as you may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;
(c) (i) Haiwen & Partners, People’s Republic of China counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to the Underwriters such written opinion or opinions, dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to such matters as you may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters; and (ii) Haiwen & Partners, Hong Kong counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to the Underwriters such written opinion or opinions, dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to such matters as you may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;
(d) Xxxxx Xxxx & Xxxxxxxx LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to you their written opinion (a form of such opinion is attached as Annex II hereto), dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you;
(e) Xxxxxx and Calder (Cayman) LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to you their written opinion (a form of such opinion is attached as Annex III hereto), dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you;
(f) JunHe LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Company their written opinion (a form of such opinion is attached as Annex IV hereto),
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dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, and a copy of such opinion shall have been provided to you, with consent from such counsel;
(g) JunHe Law Offices, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Underwriters their written opinion (a form of such opinion is attached as Annex V hereto), dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to such matters as you may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;
(h) The respective counsel for each of the Selling Shareholders, as indicated in Schedule II hereto, each shall have furnished to you their written opinion with respect to each of the Selling Shareholders for whom they are acting as counsel (a form of each such opinion is attached as Annex VIII hereto), dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you;
(i) On the date of the Prospectus at a time prior to the execution of this Agreement, at 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the effective date of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement filed subsequent to the date of this Agreement and also at each Time of Delivery, Ernst & Young LLP shall have furnished to you a letter or letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof, in form and substance satisfactory to you, to the effect set forth in Annex I hereto (the executed copy of the letter delivered prior to the execution of this Agreement is attached as Annex I(a) hereto and a form of the letter to be delivered on the effective date of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement and as of each Time of Delivery is attached as Annex I(b) hereto);
(j) (i) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries shall have sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the Pricing Prospectus any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, and (ii) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Pricing Prospectus there shall not have been any change in the share capital (other than as a result of (i) the exercise, if any, of stock options or the award, if any, of stock options, restricted stock or restricted stock units in the ordinary course of business pursuant to the Company’s equity plans that are described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus or (ii) the issuance, if any, of shares upon conversion of Company securities as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus) or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any change or effect, or any development involving a prospective change or effect, in or affecting (A) the business, properties, general affairs, management, financial position, shareholders' equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, or (B) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement, including the issuance and sale of the Shares, or to consummate the transactions contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is in your judgment so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Shares being delivered at such Time of
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Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;
(k) On or after the Applicable Time there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) a suspension or material limitation in trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange or on the NASDAQ; (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the NASDAQ; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities declared by either Federal or Cayman Islands or New York or California State authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States; (iv) the outbreak or escalation of hostilities involving the United States or the declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war or (v) the occurrence of any other calamity or crisis or any change in financial, political or economic conditions in the United States or elsewhere, if the effect of any such event specified in clause (iv) or (v) in the judgment of the Representatives makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Shares being delivered at such Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;
(l) The Shares to be sold at such Time of Delivery shall have been duly listed, subject to official notice of issuance, for quotation on NASDAQ;
(m) The Company shall have obtained and delivered to the Underwriters executed copies of an agreement from each director and officer and substantially all shareholders of the Company, substantially to the effect set forth in Annex VI hereto in form and substance satisfactory to you;
(n) The Company shall have complied with the provisions of Section 6(c) hereof with respect to the furnishing of prospectuses on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement;
(o) The Company and the Selling Shareholders shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you at such Time of Delivery certificates of officers of the Company and of the Selling Shareholders, respectively, satisfactory to you as to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company and the Selling Shareholders, respectively, herein at and as of such Time of Delivery, as to the performance by the Company and the Selling Shareholders of all of their respective obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to such Time of Delivery, as to the matters set forth in subsections (a) and (j) of this Section and as to such other matters as you may reasonably request; and
(p) The Company shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you on the date of the Prospectus at a time prior to the execution of this Agreement and at such Time of Delivery a certificate of the Chief Financial Officer of the Company as to the accuracy of certain financial information included in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, in form and substance satisfactory to you.
10. (a) The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue
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statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “roadshow” as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Act (a “roadshow”), any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information.
(b) Each of the Selling Shareholders, will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Selling Shareholder which constitutes Selling Shareholder Information; and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that such Selling Shareholder shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information; provided, further, that the liability of such Selling Shareholders pursuant to this subsection (b) shall not exceed the net proceeds after underwriting commissions and discounts but before deducting expenses from the sale of the Shares being sold by such Selling Shareholders.
(c) Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, will indemnify and hold harmless the Company and each Selling Shareholder against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Company or such Selling Shareholder may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof)
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arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information; and will reimburse the Company and each Selling Shareholder for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company or such Selling Shareholder in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred. As used in this Agreement with respect to an Underwriter and an applicable document, “Underwriter Information” shall mean the written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein; it being understood and agreed upon that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the concession and reallowance figures appearing in the [●] paragraph under the caption “Underwriting”, and the information contained in the [●] paragraph under the caption “Underwriting”.
(d) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a), (b) or (c) of this Section 9 of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; provided that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 10 except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided further that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 10. In case any such action shall be brought against any indemnified party and it shall notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not, except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party), and, after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party under such subsection for any legal expenses of other counsel or any other expenses, in each case subsequently incurred by such indemnified party, in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation. No indemnifying party shall, without the written consent of the indemnified party, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified party is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (i) includes an unconditional release of the indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.
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(e) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 10 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a), (b) or (c) above in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company and the Selling Shareholders on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Shares. If, however, the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is not permitted by applicable law, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to such amount paid or payable by such indemnified party in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company and the Selling Shareholders on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof), as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company and the Selling Shareholders on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company and the Selling Shareholders bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or the Selling Shareholder on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other and the parties' relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company, each of the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection (e) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this subsection (e). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to above in this subsection (e) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (e), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Shares underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission and (ii) each Selling Shareholder’s obligation to contribute any amount under this subsection (e) is limited in the manner and to the extent set forth in Section 10(b), and such Selling Shareholder shall not be required to contribute any amount in excess of the applicable net proceeds received by such Shareholder. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (e) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint, and the Selling Shareholders’ obligations in this subsection (e) to contribute are several in proportion to the respective proceeds received by each such Selling Shareholder and not joint.
(f) The obligations of the Company and the Selling Shareholders under this Section 10 shall be in addition to any liability which the Company and the Selling Shareholders may
29
otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each employee, officer and director of each Underwriter and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer or other affiliate of any Underwriter; and the obligations of the Underwriters under this Section 10 shall be in addition to any liability which the respective Underwriters may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each officer and director of the Company and to each person, if any, who controls the Company or any Selling Shareholder within the meaning of the Act.
(g)
(i) The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Directed Share Underwriter against any losses, claims, damages and liabilities to which such Directed Share Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) (x) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any material prepared by or with the consent of the Company for distribution to Participants in connection with the Directed Share Program or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, (y) arise out of or are based upon the failure of any Participant to pay for and accept delivery of Directed Shares that the Participant agreed to purchase, or (z) are related to, arise out of or are in connection with the Directed Share Program, and will reimburse each Directed Share Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Directed Share Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that with respect to clauses (y) and (z) above, the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability is finally judicially determined to have resulted from the bad faith or gross negligence of such Directed Share Underwriter.
(ii) Promptly after receipt by a Directed Share Underwriter of notice of the commencement of any action, such Directed Share Underwriter shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the Company, notify the Company in writing of the commencement thereof; provided that the failure to notify the Company shall not relieve the Company from any liability that it may have under the preceding paragraph of this Section 10(g)(ii) except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided further that the failure to notify the Company shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to such Directed Share Underwriter otherwise than under the preceding paragraph of this Section 10(g)(ii). In case any such action shall be brought against a Directed Share Underwriter, such Directed Share Underwriter shall notify the Company of the commencement thereof, the Company shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it shall wish, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such Directed Share Underwriter (who shall not, except with the consent of such Directed Share Underwriter, be counsel to the Company), and, after notice from the Company to such Directed Share Underwriter of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the Company shall not be liable to such Directed Share Underwriter under this subsection for any legal expenses of other counsel or any other expenses, in each case subsequently incurred by such Directed Share Underwriter, in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation. The Company shall not, without the written consent of each Directed Share Underwriter, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder by such Directed
30
Share Underwriter (whether or not such Directed Share Underwriter is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (x) includes an unconditional release of such Directed Share Underwriter from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (y) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of either Directed Share Underwriter.
(iii) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 10(g) is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless a Directed Share Underwriter under Section 10(g)(i) above in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to therein, then the Company shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Directed Share Underwriter as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and such Directed Share Underwriter on the other from the offering of the Directed Shares. If, however, the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is not permitted by applicable law, then the Company shall contribute to such amount paid or payable by such Directed Share Underwriter in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and such Directed Share Underwriter on the other in connection with any statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof), as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and each Directed Share Underwriter on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Directed Shares (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by such Directed Share Underwriter for the Directed Shares. If the loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, the relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company on the one hand or such Directed Share Underwriter on the other and the parties' relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and the Directed Share Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 10(g)(iii) were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this Section 10(g)(iii). The amount paid or payable by each Directed Share Underwriter as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to above in this Section 10(g)(iii) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Directed Share Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 10(g)(iii), neither Directed Share Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Directed Shares sold by such Directed Share Underwriter and distributed to the Participants exceeds the amount of any damages which such Directed Share Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.
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(iv) The obligations of the Company under this Section 10(g) shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each employee, officer and director of each Directed Share Underwriter and each person, if any, who controls either Directed Share Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer or other affiliate of either Directed Share Underwriter.
11. (a) If any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to purchase the Shares which it has agreed to purchase hereunder at a Time of Delivery, you may in your discretion arrange for you or another party or other parties to purchase such Shares on the terms contained herein. If within thirty-six hours after such default by any Underwriter you do not arrange for the purchase of such Shares, then the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall be entitled to a further period of thirty-six hours within which to procure another party or other parties satisfactory to you to purchase such Shares on such terms. In the event that, within the respective prescribed periods, you notify the Company and the Selling Shareholders that you have so arranged for the purchase of such Shares, or the Company or a Selling Shareholder notifies you that it has so arranged for the purchase of such Shares, you or the Company or the Selling Shareholders shall have the right to postpone such Time of Delivery for a period of not more than seven days, in order to effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any other documents or arrangements, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which in your opinion may thereby be made necessary. The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall include any person substituted under this Section with like effect as if such person had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such Shares.
(b) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you, the Company and the Selling Shareholders as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Shares which remains unpurchased does not exceed one-eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Shares to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, then the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of Shares which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder at such Time of Delivery and, in addition, to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase its pro rata share (based on the number of Shares which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Shares of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.
(c) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you, the Company and the Selling Shareholders as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Shares which remains unpurchased exceeds one-eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Shares to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, or if the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall not exercise the right described in subsection (b) above to require non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters, then this Agreement (or, with respect to a Second Time of Delivery, the obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and of the Company and the Selling Shareholders to sell the Optional Shares) shall thereupon terminate, without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter, the Company or the Selling Shareholders, except for the expenses to be borne by the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters as provided in Section 8 hereof and the indemnity and contribution agreements in
32
Section 10 hereof; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.
12. The respective indemnities, rights of contribution, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation (or any statement as to the results thereof) made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or any director, officer, employee, affiliate or controlling person of any Underwriter, or the Company, or any of the Selling Shareholders, or any officer or director or controlling person of the Company, or any controlling person of any Selling Shareholder, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Shares.
13. If this Agreement shall be terminated pursuant to Section 11 hereof, neither the Company nor the Selling Shareholders shall then be under any liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 8 and 10 hereof; but, if for any other reason, any Shares are not delivered by or on behalf of the Company and the Selling Shareholders as provided herein or the Underwriters decline to purchase the Shares for any reason permitted under this Agreement, the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders pro rata (based on the number of Shares to be sold by the Company and such Selling Shareholder hereunder[, with the number to be sold by [●] and [●] to be included, for purposes of this clause (a), in the number of Shares to be sold by the Company]) will reimburse the Underwriters through you for all documented out-of-pocket expenses approved in writing by you, including fees and disbursements of counsel, reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in making preparations for the purchase, sale and delivery of the Shares not so delivered, but the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall then be under no further liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 8 and 10 hereof.
14. In all dealings hereunder, the Representatives shall act on behalf of each of the Underwriters, and the parties hereto shall be entitled to act and rely upon any statement, request, notice or agreement on behalf of any Underwriter made or given by you jointly or by Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC on behalf of you as the Representatives; and in all dealings with any Selling Shareholder hereunder, you and the Company shall be entitled to act and rely upon any statement, request, notice or agreement on behalf of such Selling Shareholder made or given by any or all of the Attorneys-in-Fact for such Selling Shareholder.
All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to each of the Representatives in care of (a) Xxxxxxx Sachs & Co. LLC, 000 Xxxx Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000-0000, Attention: Registration Department; and (b) BofA Securities, Inc., Xxx Xxxxxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000, Attention [●]; if to any Selling Shareholder shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to counsel for such Selling Shareholder at its address set forth in Schedule II hereto; if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail, email or facsimile transmission to the address of the Company set forth on the cover of the Registration Statement, Attention: Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx-Xxxxxxxx, General Counsel; and if to any shareholder that has delivered a lock-up letter described in Section 9(m) hereof shall be delivered or sent by mail to the Attorneys-in-Fact c/o the Company at the address of the Company set forth on the cover of the Registration Statement, Attention: Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx-Xxxxxxxx, General Counsel; provided, however, that any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 10(d) hereof shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to such Underwriter at its address set forth in its Underwriters' Questionnaire, or telex constituting such Questionnaire, which address
33
will be supplied to the Company or the Selling Shareholders by you upon request; provided, however, that notices under subsection 6(e) shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to you at (i) Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC, 000 Xxxx Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000-0000, Attention: Control Room; and (ii) BofA Securities, Inc., Xxx Xxxxxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000, Attention [●]. Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.
In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company and the Selling Shareholder, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.
15. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure solely to the benefit of, the Underwriters, the Company and the Selling Shareholders and, to the extent provided in Sections 10 and 12 hereof, the officers and directors of the Company and each person who controls the Company, any Selling Shareholder or any Underwriter, or any director, officer, employee or affiliate of any Underwriter, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and no other person shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement. No purchaser of any of the Shares from any Underwriter shall be deemed a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.
16. Time shall be of the essence of this Agreement. As used herein, the term “business day” shall mean any day when the Commission's office in Washington, D.C. is open for business.
17. The Company and the Selling Shareholders acknowledge and agree that (i) the purchase and sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement is an arm's-length commercial transaction between the Company and the Selling Shareholders, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other, (ii) in connection therewith and with the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is acting solely as a principal and not the agent or fiduciary of the Company or any Selling Shareholder, (iii) no Underwriter has assumed an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company or any Selling Shareholder with respect to the offering contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company or any Selling Shareholder on other matters) or any other obligation to the Company or any Selling Shareholder except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement, (iv) the Company and each Selling Shareholder has consulted its own legal and financial advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate, and (v) none of the activities of the Underwriters in connection with the transactions contemplated herein constitutes a recommendation, investment advice, or solicitation of any action by the Underwriters with respect to any entity or natural person. The Company and each Selling Shareholder agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters, or any of them, has rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owes a fiduciary or similar duty to the Company or any Selling Shareholder, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.
18. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.
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19.
(a) This Agreement and any transaction contemplated by this Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related thereto shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to principles of conflict of laws that would result in the application of any other law than the laws of the State of New York. The Company and each Selling Shareholder agree that any suit or proceeding arising in respect of this Agreement or any transaction contemplated by this Agreement will be tried exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York or, if that court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, in any state court located in The City and County of New York and the Company and each Selling Shareholder agree to submit to the jurisdiction of, and to venue in, such courts.
(b) The Company and each Selling Shareholder hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. federal and New York state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. The Company and each Selling Shareholder waive any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such suit or proceeding in such courts. The Company and each Selling Shareholder agree that final judgment in any such suit, action or proceeding brought in such court shall be conclusive and binding upon the Company or such Selling Shareholder and may be enforced in any court to the jurisdiction of which Company is subject by a suit upon such judgment. The Company and the Selling Shareholders irrevocably appoint Credo Semiconductor, Inc., 0000 Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000 as its authorized agent upon which process may be served in any such suit or proceeding, and agrees that service of process upon such authorized agent, and written notice of such service to the Company or such Selling Shareholder by the person serving the same to the address provided in this Section, shall be deemed in every respect effective service of process upon the Company in any such suit or proceeding. The Company and the Selling Shareholders hereby represent and warrant that such authorized agent has accepted such appointment and has agreed to act as such authorized agent for service of process. The Company and each Selling Shareholder further agree to take any and all action as may be necessary to maintain such designation and appointment of such authorized agent in full force and effect for a period of seven years from the date of this Agreement.
(c) The Company and each Selling Shareholder agrees to indemnify each Underwriter, each employee, officer and director of each Underwriter and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer or other affiliate of any Underwriter, against any loss incurred as a result of any judgment or order being given or made for any amount due hereunder and such judgment or order being expressed and paid in a currency (the “judgment currency”) other than U.S. dollars and as a result of any variation as between (i) the rate of exchange at which the U.S. dollar amount is converted into the judgment currency for the purpose of such judgment or order, and (ii) the rate of exchange at which such indemnified person is able to purchase U.S. dollars with the amount of the judgment currency actually received by the indemnified person. The foregoing indemnity shall constitute a separate and independent obligation of the Company and each Selling Shareholder and shall continue in full force and effect notwithstanding any such judgment or order as aforesaid. The term “rate of exchange” shall include any premiums and costs of exchange payable in connection with the purchase of, or conversion into, the relevant currency.
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(d) To the extent that the Company or any Selling Shareholder has or hereafter may acquire any immunity (sovereign or otherwise) from jurisdiction of any court of (i) the Cayman Islands, or any political subdivision thereof, (ii) the United States or the State of New York, (iii) any jurisdiction in which it owns or leases property or assets or from any legal process (whether through service of notice, attachment prior to judgment, attachment in aid of execution, execution, set-off or otherwise) with respect to themselves or their respective property and assets or this Agreement, the Company and each such Selling Shareholder hereby irrevocably waive such immunity in respect of its obligations under this Agreement to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
20. The Company, the Selling Shareholders and each of the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.
21. This Agreement may be executed by any one or more of the parties hereto in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument. Counterparts may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including any electronic signature covered by the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Electronic Signatures and Records Act or other applicable law, e.g., xxx.xxxxxxxx.xxx) or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.
22. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company and the Selling Shareholders are authorized to disclose to any persons the U.S. federal and state income tax treatment and tax structure of the potential transaction and all materials of any kind (including tax opinions and other tax analyses) provided to the Company and the Selling Shareholders relating to that treatment and structure, without the Underwriters imposing any limitation of any kind. However, any information relating to the tax treatment and tax structure shall remain confidential (and the foregoing sentence shall not apply) to the extent necessary to enable any person to comply with securities laws. For this purpose, “tax structure” is limited to any facts that may be relevant to that treatment.
23. Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.
(a) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
(b) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
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(c) As used in this section:
“BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k).
“Covered Entity” means any of the following:
(i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b);
(ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or
(iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b).
“Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable.
“U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Xxxx-Xxxxx Xxxx Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
24. The Company will indemnify and hold harmless the Underwriters against any documentary, stamp, registration or similar issuance tax, including any interest and penalties, on the sale of the Shares by the Company to the Underwriters and on the execution and delivery of this Agreement. All payments to be made by the Company hereunder shall be made without withholding or deduction for or on account of any present or future Cayman Islands taxes, duties or governmental shares whatsoever unless the Company is compelled by law to deduct or withhold such taxes, duties or charges. In that event, the Company shall pay such additional amounts as may be necessary in order to ensure that the net amounts received after such withholding or deductions shall equal the amounts that would have been received if no withholding or deduction has been made.
If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please sign and return to us an executed counterpart hereof, and upon the acceptance hereof by you, on behalf of each of the Underwriters, this letter and such acceptance hereof shall constitute a binding agreement among each of the Underwriters, the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders. It is understood that your acceptance of this letter on behalf of each of the Underwriters is pursuant to the authority set forth in a form of Agreement among Underwriters, the form of which shall be submitted to the Company and the Selling Shareholders for examination upon request, but without warranty on your part as to the authority of the signers thereof.
[Signature Pages Follow]
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Any person executing and delivering this Agreement as Attorney-in-Fact for a Selling Shareholder represents by so doing that he has been duly appointed as Attorney-in-Fact by such Selling Shareholder pursuant to a validly existing and binding Power of Attorney that authorizes such Attorney-in-Fact to take such action.
Very truly yours, | |||||||||||
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd | |||||||||||
By: | |||||||||||
Name: | |||||||||||
Title: | |||||||||||
[Names of Selling Shareholders] | |||||||||||
By: | |||||||||||
Name: | |||||||||||
Title: | |||||||||||
As Attorney‑in‑Fact acting on behalf of each of the Selling Shareholders named in Schedule II to this Agreement. |
Accepted as of the date hereof: | ||||||||
Xxxxxxx Sachs & Co. LLC | ||||||||
By: | ||||||||
Name: | ||||||||
Title: | ||||||||
BofA Securities, Inc. | ||||||||
By: | ||||||||
Name: | ||||||||
Title: | ||||||||
On behalf of each of the Underwriters |
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SCHEDULE I
Underwriter | Total Number of Firm Shares to be Purchased | Number of Optional Shares to be Purchased if Maximum Option Exercised | |||||||||
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC | |||||||||||
BofA Securities, Inc | |||||||||||
Xxxxx and Company, LLC | |||||||||||
Mizuho Securities USA LLC | |||||||||||
Xxxxxxx & Company, LLC | |||||||||||
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx & Company, Incorporated | |||||||||||
Xxxxx-Xxxxxx Capital Group LLC | |||||||||||
Xxxx Capital Partners, LLC | |||||||||||
[•] | |||||||||||
Total |
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SCHEDULE II
Total Number of Firm Shares to be Sold | Number of Optional Shares to be Sold if Maximum Option Exercised | ||||||||||
The Company. | |||||||||||
The Selling Shareholder(s): | |||||||||||
[Name of Selling Shareholder](a) | |||||||||||
[Name of Selling Shareholder](b) | |||||||||||
[Name of Selling Shareholder](1) | |||||||||||
[Name of Selling Shareholder](d) | |||||||||||
[Name of Selling Shareholder](e) | |||||||||||
Total |
________________________________
(a) This Selling Shareholder is represented by [Name and Address of Counsel] and has appointed [Names of Attorneys‑in‑Fact (not less than two)], and each of them, as the Attorneys‑in‑Fact for such Selling Shareholder.
(b) This Selling Shareholder is represented by [Name and Address of Counsel] and has appointed [Names of Attorneys‑in‑Fact (not less than two)], and each of them, as the Attorneys‑in‑Fact for such Selling Shareholder.
(c) This Selling Shareholder is represented by [Name and Address of Counsel] and has appointed [Names of Attorneys‑in‑Fact (not less than two)], and each of them, as the Attorneys‑in‑Fact for such Selling Shareholder.
(d) This Selling Shareholder is represented by [Name and Address of Counsel] and has appointed [Names of Attorneys‑in‑Fact (not less than two)], and each of them, as the Attorneys‑in‑Fact for such Selling Shareholder.
(e) This Selling Shareholder is represented by [Name and Address of Counsel] and has appointed [Names of Attorneys‑in‑Fact (not less than two)], and each of them, as the Attorneys‑in‑Fact for such Selling Shareholder.
SCHEDULE III
(a) Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses not included in the Pricing Disclosure Package:
[Electronic roadshow dated [●], 2022]
(b) Additional Documents Incorporated by Reference:
None
(c) Information other than the Pricing Prospectus that comprise the Pricing Disclosure Package:
The initial public offering price per share for the Shares is $[●].
The number of Shares purchased by the Underwriters is [●].
[Add any other pricing disclosure.]
(d) Written Testing-the-Waters Communications:
[●]
ANNEX I
FORM OF COMFORT LETTER TO BE DELIVERED AT EACH TIME OF DELIVERY
ANNEX I(a)
COMFORT LETTER DELIVERED PRIOR TO OR AS OF THE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT
ANNEX I(b)
FORM OF COMFORT LETTER TO BE DELIVERED EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT TO THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND AS OF EACH TIME OF DELIVERY
ANNEX II
FORM OF OPINION OF XXXXX XXXX & XXXXXXXX LLP
COUNSEL FOR THE COMPANY
ANNEX III
FORM OF OPINION OF XXXXXX AND CALDER (CAYMAN) LLP
COUNSEL FOR THE COMPANY
ANNEX IV
FORM OF OPINION OF JUNHE LLP
COUNSEL FOR THE COMPANY
ANNEX V
FORM OF OPINION OF JUNHE LAW OFFICES
COUNSEL FOR THE COMPANY
ANNEX VI
FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT
ANNEX VII
[Form of Press Release]
[Date], 2022
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (the “Company”) announced today that Xxxxxxx Xxxxx & Co. LLC, the lead book-running manager in the Company’s recent public sale of ordinary shares of the Company, is [waiving] [releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to ordinary shares of the Company by [certain officers or directors] [an officer or director] of the Company. The [waiver] [release] will take effect on , 20 , and the ordinary shares may be sold on or after such date.
This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
ANNEX VIII
FORM OF OPINION OF [●]
COUNSEL FOR THE SELLING SHAREHOLDERS