ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT
Exhibit 4.4
ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT
THIS ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is entered into as of September 16, 2021 by and among (i) Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), (ii) Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation (“Continental”), and (iii) Computershare Trust Company, N.A., a federally chartered trust company, and Computershare Inc., a Delaware corporation (collectively, “Computershare”).
WHEREAS, the Company (formerly known as Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp., and formerly a Cayman Islands exempted company) and Continental have previously entered into a warrant agreement, dated as of February 23, 2021 (as may be amended from time to time, the “Warrant Agreement”) governing the terms of the Company’s 53,750,000 outstanding warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (the “Warrants”); and
WHEREAS, the Company is party to a certain Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of May 11, 2021 and amended as of May 14, 2021 (as may be further amended from time to time, the “Business Combination Agreement”), with SEAC Merger Sub Inc. (“Merger Sub”) and Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. (the “Operating Company”), pursuant to which, among other things, (i) prior to the date hereof, the Company has changed its jurisdiction of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Delaware in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law and the Cayman Islands Companies Act (the “Domestication”) and (ii) on the date hereof, Merger Sub will merge with and into the Operating Company, with the Operating Company surviving the merger and continuing as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company; and
WHEREAS, by virtue of the Domestication, the Company’s Class A ordinary shares have been converted, on a one-for-one basis, into shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Shares”), of the Company, and pursuant to Section 4.4 of the Warrant Agreement, from and after the Domestication, the Warrants relate to the Common Shares; and
WHEREAS, on the date hereof, the Company has entered into a certain Transfer Agency and Service Agreement with Computershare and, effective upon the Closing (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement), the Company wishes to appoint Computershare to serve as its transfer agent and registrar for its Common Shares pursuant to such Transfer Agent Agreement; and
WHEREAS, effective upon the Closing, the Company wishes to appoint Computershare to serve as successor Warrant Agent under the Warrant Agreement; and
WHEREAS, in connection with and effective upon such appointment, Continental wishes to assign all of its rights, interests and obligations as Warrant Agent under the Warrant Agreement, as hereby amended, to Computershare, Computershare wishes to assume all of such rights, interests and obligations and the Company wishes to approve such assignment and assumption.
NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereby agree as follows:
“The Warrant Agent may countersign a Definitive Warrant Certificate in manual of facsimile form.”
“The Warrant Agent shall not have any duty or obligation to take any action under any section of this Agreement that requires the payment of taxes and/or charges unless and until it is satisfied that all such payments have been made.”
“If for any reason the transfer agency relationship in effect between the Company and the Transfer Agent terminates, the Warrant Agent will be deemed to have resigned automatically and, concurrently with such termination, will be discharged from its duties under this Agreement.”
“Remuneration. The Company agrees to pay to the Warrant Agent reasonable compensation for all services rendered by it hereunder in accordance with a fee schedule to be mutually agreed upon and, from time to time, on demand of the Warrant Agent, to reimburse the Warrant Agent for all of its reasonable and documented out-of-pocket expenses and counsel fees and other disbursements incurred in the preparation, delivery, negotiation, amendment, administration and execution of this Agreement and the exercise and performance of its duties hereunder.”
“Reliance on Company Statement. Whenever in the performance of its duties under this Agreement the Warrant Agent shall deem it necessary or desirable that any fact or matter be proved or established by the Company prior to taking, suffering, or omitting to take any action hereunder, such fact or matter may be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by a certificate signed by a person believed by the Warrant Agent to be the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer, the President, Executive Vice President, Vice President, Secretary or Chairman of the Board of the Company (each an authorized officer); and
such certificate shall be full authorization and protection to the Warrant Agent and the Warrant Agent shall incur no liability for or in respect of any action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by it under the provisions of this Agreement in reliance upon such certificate.”
“Indemnity; Limitation on Liability. The Company also covenants and agrees to indemnify the Warrant Agent for, and to hold it harmless against, any and all loss, liability, damage, judgment, fine, penalty, claim, demand, settlement, cost or expense (including, without limitation, the reasonable fees and expenses of legal counsel) (“Losses”) that may be paid, incurred or suffered by it, or to which it may become subject, other than such Losses arising in connection with the gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on the part of the Warrant Agent (which gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct must be determined by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction), for any action taken, suffered, or omitted to be taken by the Warrant Agent in connection with the execution, acceptance, administration, exercise and performance of its duties under this Agreement, including the costs and expenses of defending against any claim of liability arising therefrom, directly or indirectly, or enforcing its rights hereunder. The costs and expenses incurred in enforcing this right of indemnification shall be paid by the Company. The Warrant Agent shall be liable hereunder only for its own gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct (which gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct must be determined by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction). Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, any liability of the Warrant Agent under this Agreement will be limited to the amount of annual fees paid by the Company to the Warrant Agent during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event for which recovery from the Warrant Agent is being sought. Anything to the contrary notwithstanding, in no event will the Warrant Agent be liable for special, punitive, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damages of any kind whatsoever (including, without limitation, lost profits), even if the Warrant Agent has been advised of the likelihood of such loss or damages, and regardless of the form of action. The provisions under this Section 8.4 shall survive the expiration of the Warrant and the termination of this Agreement and the resignation, replacement or removal of the Warrant Agent.”
“Acceptance of Agency. The Warrant Agent hereby accepts the agency established by this Agreement and agrees to perform the same upon the express terms and conditions (and no implied terms and conditions) herein set forth and among other things shall account for, and pay to the Company, all monies received by the Warrant Agent for the purchase of Class A Shares through the exercise of the Warrants. The Warrant Agent shall act hereunder solely as agent for the Company. The Warrant Agent shall not assume any obligations or relationship of agency or trust with any of the owners or holders of the Warrants or Class A Shares. The Warrant Agent shall not have any duty or responsibility in the case of the receipt of any written demand from any holder of Warrants with respect to any action or default by the Company, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any duty or responsibility to initiate or attempt to initiate any proceedings at law or otherwise or to make any demand upon the Company. The Warrant Agent shall have no responsibility to the Company, any holders of Warrants, any holders of Class A Shares or any other person for interest or earnings on any moneys held by the Warrant Agent pursuant to this Agreement.”
“8.7 Legal Counsel. The Warrant Agent may consult with legal counsel selected by it (who may be legal counsel for the Company), and the opinion or advice of such counsel shall be full and complete authorization and protection to the Warrant Agent as to any action taken or omitted by it in accordance with such advice or opinion.
such funds or adequate indemnification against such risk or liability is not reasonably assured to it.
reported by Bloomberg Finance L.P.). Computershare shall have no responsibility or liability for any diminution of the Funds that may result from any deposit made by Computershare in accordance with this paragraph, including any losses resulting from a default by any bank, financial institution or other third party. Computershare may from time to time receive interest, dividends or other earnings in connection with such deposits. Computershare shall not be obligated to pay such interest, dividends or earnings to the Company, any holder or any other party. The Warrant Agent shall forward funds received for warrant exercises in a given month by the 5th business day of the following month by wire transfer to an account designated by the Company.
“No supplement or amendment to this Agreement shall be effective unless duly executed by the Warrant Agent and the Company. Upon the delivery of a certificate from an authorized officer of the Company which states that the proposed supplement or amendment is in compliance with the terms of this Section 9.8, the Warrant Agent shall execute such supplement or amendment. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the Warrant Agent shall not be required to execute any supplement or amendment to this Agreement that it has reasonably determined would adversely affect its own rights, duties, obligations or immunities under this Agreement.”
“Notices. Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of any Warrant to or on the Company shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Company with the Warrant Agent), as follows:
Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. 00 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000 Attn: General Counsel
Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the holder of any Warrant or by the Company to or on the Warrant Agent shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Warrant Agent with the Company), as follows:
Computershare Trust Company, N.A. Computershare Inc.
000 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx, XX 00000 Attn: Client Services
in each case, with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to: Xxxxxx & Xxxxxxx LLP
000 Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, 00xx Xxxxx
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
Attn: Xxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Email: xxxxx.xxxxxx@xx.xxx”
“; provided, however, that if the exclusion of such provision shall adversely affect the rights, immunities, liabilities, duties or obligations of the Warrant Agent (after giving effect to any such similar provision), the Warrant Agent shall be entitled to resign upon fifteen (15) days’ prior written notice to the Company.”
[Signature Pages Follow]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have signed this Agreement as of the date and year first written above.
GINKGO BIOWORKS HOLDINGS, INC.
By: /s/ Xxxx Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxx Xxxxxxx
Title: Chief Financial Officer
CONTINENTAL STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY
By: /s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Title: Vice President, Corporate Actions
COMPUTERSHARE TRUST COMPANY, N.A. and COMPUTERSHARE, INC.,
On behalf of both entities By: /s/ Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Name: Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Title: Manager, Corporate Actions