AQMS Aqua Metals Inc

Delaware	001-37515	47-1169572
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)
5370 Kietzke Lane, Suite 201 Reno, Nevada 89511
(Address of principal executive offices)

(775) 446-4418

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)

Emerging growth company ☐

Title of each class Common stock: Par value $.001

Trading Symbol(s) AQMS

Name of each exchange on which registered Nasdaq Capital Market

Exhibit Number		Exhibit Description
1.1		Underwriting Agreement dated as of May 14, 2024 between the Company and The Benchmark Company, LLC*
4.1		Form of Non-Redeemable Common Stock Purchase Warrant
4.2		Form of Warrant Agency Agreement to be entered into between the Company and VStock Transfer, LLC
4.3		Form of Underwriter Warrant to be issued to the Benchmark Company, LLC
5.1		Opinion of Greenberg Traurig, LLP
23.1		Consent of Greenberg Traurig, LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
99.1		Press Release dated May 14, 2024 regarding the launch of the offering of Common Stock and Warrants
99.2		Press Release dated May 15, 2024 regarding pricing of the offering of Common Stock and Warrants
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

*	Certain annexes to this agreement have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. The Company agrees to furnish supplementally to the SEC a copy of any omitted annex upon request.

	AQUA METALS, INC.
Dated: May 15, 2024	/s/ Judd Merrill
	Judd Merrill
	Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit 1.1

 

AQUA METALS, INC.

 

17,500,000 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK

AND

17,500,000 COMMON STOCK PURCHASE WARRANTS

 

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

 

May 14, 2024

 

The Benchmark Company, LLC

150 East 58^th Street, 17^th Floor
New York, NY 10155

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated in this agreement (this “Agreement”), to issue and sell to The Benchmark Company, LLC (the “Underwriter”), an aggregate of 17,500,000 authorized but unissued shares (the “Firm Shares”) of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) of the Company, and 17,500,000 authorized common stock purchase warrants, each warrant to purchase one share of Common Stock (the “Firm Warrants”) and, at the election of the Underwriter, up to 2,625,000 additional shares of Common Stock (the “Additional Shares”) and/or up to 2,625,000 additional common stock purchase warrants (the “Additional Warrants”), in an offering under its registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-267780). The Firm Warrants and the Additional Warrants will be exercisable at $0.39 per share of Common Stock, payable in cash only, for a period of five years from the date of this Agreement, not subject to redemption by the Company, and issued pursuant to a Warrant Agency Agreement (the “Warrant Agency Agreement”) between the Company and VStock Transfer, LLC, as Warrant Agent (the “Warrant Agent”) The Firm Shares and the Additional Shares being collectively called the “Shares” and the Firm Warrants and Additional Warrants being collectively called the “Public Warrants,” and the Shares and Public Warrants being collectively called the “Securities”.

 

The Company and the Underwriter hereby confirm their agreement with respect to the purchase and sale of the Securities as follows:

 

1.    REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND PROSPECTUS. The Company has prepared and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-267780) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and the rules and regulations (the “Rules and Regulations”) of the Commission thereunder, and such amendments to such registration statement as may have been required to the date of this Agreement. Such registration statement has been declared effective by the Commission. Such registration statement, at any given time, including amendments thereto at such time, the exhibits and any schedules thereto at such time, the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the Securities Act at such time and the documents and information otherwise deemed to be a part thereof or included therein by Rule 430B under the Securities Act or otherwise pursuant to the Rules and Regulations at such time, is herein called the “Registration Statement.” The Registration Statement at the time it originally became effective is herein called the “Original Registration Statement.”

 

 

The Company proposes to file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act a final prospectus supplement relating to the Securities to a form of prospectus included in the Registration Statement in the form heretofore delivered to the Underwriter. Such prospectus in the form in which it appears in the Registration Statement is hereinafter called the “Base Prospectus.” Such supplemental form of prospectus, in the form in which it shall be filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) (including the Base Prospectus as so supplemented) is hereinafter called the “Prospectus.” Any preliminary form of Prospectus which is filed or used prior to filing the Prospectus is hereinafter called a “Preliminary Prospectus.” Any reference herein to the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the Securities Act as of the date of such prospectus.

 

For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing shall be deemed to include the copy filed with the Commission pursuant to its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”). All references in this Agreement to amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to mean and include the subsequent filing of any document under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which is deemed to be incorporated by reference therein or otherwise deemed by the Rules and Regulations to be a part thereof.

2.    REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY.

 

(a)    The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, the Underwriter as follows:

 

(i)    No order preventing or suspending the use of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued by the Commission and each such document, at the time of filing or the time of first use within the meaning of the Rules and Regulations, complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations 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; except that the foregoing shall not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof.

 

 

(ii)    The Company has complied to the Commission’s satisfaction with all requests of the Commission for additional or supplemental information, if any. The Registration Statement has become and remains effective as provided in Section 8 of the Securities Act. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement is in effect and no proceedings for such purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, are contemplated or threatened by the Commission.

 

(iii)    Each part of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time such part became effective (including each deemed effective date with respect to the Underwriter pursuant to Rule 430B under the Securities Act), at all other subsequent times until the expiration of the Prospectus Delivery Period (as defined below), and at the Closing Date (as hereinafter defined), and the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus), at the time of filing or the time of first use within the meaning of the Rules and Regulations, at all subsequent times until expiration of the Prospectus Delivery Period, and at the Closing Date complied and will comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements and provisions of the Securities Act, the Rules and Regulations and the Exchange Act and did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, as of its date, or the time of first use within the meaning of the Rules and Regulations, at all subsequent times until the expiration of the Prospectus Delivery Period, and at the Closing Date, did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and is prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commission applicable thereto. The representations and warranties set forth in the two immediately preceding sentences do not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto, or the Prospectus, or any amendments or supplements thereto, made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information relating to the Underwriter furnished to the Company by the Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof.

 

(iv)    Neither (A) the Issuer General Free Writing Prospectus(es) issued at or prior to the Time of Sale, the Statutory Prospectus and the information set forth in Schedule I to this Agreement, all considered together (collectively, the “Time of Sale Disclosure Package”), and together with the price to the public, the number of Firm Shares and Firm Warrants and the number of Additional Shares and Additional Warrants to be included on the cover page of the Prospectus nor (B) any individual Issuer Limited-Use Free Writing Prospectus, when considered together with the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, includes or included as of the Time of Sale any untrue statement of a material fact or omits or omitted as of the Time of Sale 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. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Statutory Prospectus included in the Registration Statement or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof. As used in this paragraph and elsewhere in this Agreement:

 

 

(1)    “Time of Sale” means 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement.

 

(2)    “Statutory Prospectus” as of any time means the Preliminary Prospectus that is included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to the Time of Sale. For purposes of this definition, information contained in a form of prospectus that is deemed retroactively to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B under the Securities Act shall be considered to be included in the Statutory Prospectus as of the actual time that form of prospectus is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act.

 

(3)    “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act, relating to the Securities that (A) is required to be filed with the Commission by the Company, or (B) is exempt from filing pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i) under the Securities Act because it contains a description of the Securities or of the offering that does not reflect the final terms, in each case in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g) under the Securities Act.

 

(4)    “Issuer General Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced by its being specified in Schedule II to this Agreement.

 

(5)    “Issuer Limited-Use Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not an Issuer General Free Writing Prospectus.

 

(v)    Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of its date and at all subsequent times through the Prospectus Delivery Period or until any earlier date that the Company notified or notifies the Underwriter as described in Section 4(a)(iii)(B), did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, any Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus. The foregoing sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof.

 

(A)    At the earliest time after the filing of the Registration Statement that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Securities Act) of the Securities and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, including the Company or any subsidiary in the preceding three years not having been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor or having been made the subject of a judicial or administrative decree or order as described in Rule 405 (without taking account of any determination by the Commission pursuant to Rule 405 that it is not necessary that the Company be considered an ineligible issuer), nor an “excluded issuer” as defined in Rule 164 under the Securities Act.

 

 

(B)    Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus satisfied, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the Prospectus Delivery Period, all other conditions to use thereof as set forth in Rules 164 and 433 under the Securities Act.

 

(vi)    No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in either the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith. Any statistical, industry-related and market-related data included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, are based on or derived from sources that the Company reasonably and in good faith believes to be reliable and accurate, and such data agree with the sources from which they are derived.

 

(vii)    The financial statements of the Company, together with the related notes, included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and fairly present in all material respects the consolidated financial condition of the Company and its subsidiaries as of the dates indicated and the consolidated results of operations and changes in cash flows for the periods therein specified (subject to normal year-end audit adjustments for interim financial statements) and have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America consistently applied throughout the periods involved; and the supporting schedules included in the Registration Statement, if any, present fairly in all material respects the information required to be stated therein. No other financial statements or schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus. There is no pro forma or as adjusted financial information which is required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, or the Prospectus or a document incorporated by reference therein in accordance with the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations which has not been included or incorporated as so required. To the Company’s knowledge, Forvis, LLP, which has expressed its opinion with respect to the audited financial statements and schedules filed as a part of the Registration Statement and included in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is an independent public accounting firm within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations and such accountant is not in violation of the auditor independence requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”).

 

 

(viii)    The Company and each of its subsidiaries has been duly organized under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization. The Company and each of its subsidiaries is validly existing as a corporation (or as applicable, such other legal entity) in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization. Each of the Company and its subsidiaries has the corporate (or as applicable, such other legal entity) power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as currently being carried on and as described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation (or other legal entity) in good standing in each jurisdiction in which it owns or leases real property or in which the conduct of its business makes such qualification necessary and in which the failure to so qualify would result in a Material Adverse Change (as defined below) or affect its ability to execute or perform its obligations under this Agreement.

 

(ix)    Except as contemplated in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has incurred any liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent, which are material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, entered into any transactions not in the ordinary course of business which are material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, declared or paid any dividends or made any distribution of any kind with respect to its capital stock; and except as disclosed in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than grants under the Equity Compensation Plans (as defined below) or a change in the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock due to the issuance of shares (i) upon the exercise or conversion of outstanding options, warrants or convertible notes or vesting of any outstanding restricted stock units or (ii) sold in the Company’s current at-the-market offering pursuant to the prospectus supplement dated October 7, 2022 to the Registration Statement (the “ATM Offering”), any material change in the Company’s short-term or long-term debt except for the extinguishment thereof, any issuance of options, warrants, convertible securities or other rights to purchase the capital stock of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any material adverse change in the financial condition, business, prospects, property, operations or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole (“Material Adverse Change”).

 

(x)    Except as set forth in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there is not pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened or contemplated, any action, suit or proceeding (an “Action”) to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject before or by any court or governmental agency, authority or body, or any arbitrator, which, individually or in the aggregate, would result in any Material Adverse Change. Except as disclosed in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any subsidiary, nor any director or officer thereof, is or has within the last 10 years been the subject of any Action involving a claim of violation of or liability under federal or state securities laws or a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. There has not been, and to the knowledge of the Company, there is not pending or contemplated, any investigation by the Commission or Regulatory Authorities (as hereinafter defined) involving the Company or any subsidiary or their respective assets or any current or former director or officer of the Company. To the Company’s knowledge, the Commission has not issued any stop order or other order suspending the effectiveness of any registration statement filed by the Company under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act.

 

 

(xi)    This Agreement, Warrant Agreement (as defined herein), Warrant Agency Agreement and form of agreement representing the Public Warrant have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, and each constitutes a valid, legal and binding obligation of the Company, enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as rights to indemnity hereunder may be limited by federal or state securities laws and except as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws affecting the rights of creditors generally and subject to general principles of equity. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement and the Public Warrant and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will not result in a breach or violation of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a default under, any statute, any agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which it is bound or to which any of its property is subject, or any order, rule, regulation or decree of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its properties, except in each case for violations and defaults that, individually or in the aggregate, would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement and the Public Warrant and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will not result in a breach or violation of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a default under, the Company’s charter or by-laws, in each case as in effect on the date hereof. No consent, approval, authorization or order of, or filing with, any court or governmental agency or body is required for the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement and the Public Warrant or for the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, including the issuance or sale of the Securities and Warrant Securities (as defined below) by the Company, except such as have been obtained or may be required under the Securities Act, state securities or blue sky laws, or the rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or the NASDAQ Capital Market, or consents that, if not obtained, would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company’s ability to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; and the Company has the power and authority to enter into this Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement and the Public Warrants and to authorize, issue and sell the Shares, the Public Warrants, the Common Stock underlying the Public Warrants, and the Warrant Securities as contemplated by this Agreement.

 

 

(xii)    All of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company, including the outstanding shares of Common Stock and preferred stock, if any, are duly authorized and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, have been issued in compliance with all federal and state securities laws, were not issued in violation of or subject to any preemptive rights or other rights to subscribe for or purchase securities that have not been waived in writing (a copy of which has been delivered to counsel to the Underwriter); the Securities which may be sold hereunder, the Common Stock underlying the Public Warrants and the Warrant Securities that may be issued and sold pursuant to this Agreement, the Public Warrants and the Warrant Agreement by the Company have been duly authorized for issuance and sale to the Underwriter pursuant to this Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement, Public Warrants and the Warrant Agreement, and when issued and delivered by the Company pursuant to this Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement, the Public Warrants and the Warrant Agreement against payment of the consideration set forth herein and therein, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and not subject to any preemptive or other similar rights of any security holder of the Company; and the Securities and Warrant Securities conform to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus and such description conforms in all material respects to the rights set forth in the instruments defining the same. Except as otherwise stated in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there are no preemptive rights or other rights to subscribe for or to purchase, or any restriction upon the voting or transfer of, any shares of the capital stock of the Company pursuant to the Company’s charter, by-laws or any agreement or other instrument to which the Company is a party or by which the Company is bound. The offering and sale of the Securities and Warrant Securities as contemplated by this Agreement, the Warrant Agency Agreement, the Public Warrants and the Warrant Agreement do not give rise to any rights for or relating to the registration of any shares of Common Stock or other securities of the Company that have not been waived. All of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of each of the Company’s subsidiaries have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable, and, except as otherwise described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus and the Company owns of record and beneficially, free and clear of any material security interests, claims, liens, proxies, equities or other encumbrances, all of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of each of the Company’s subsidiaries. Except as described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there are no options, warrants, agreements, contracts or other rights in existence to purchase or acquire from the Company or any subsidiary of the Company any shares of the capital stock of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company. The Company has an authorized and outstanding capitalization as set forth in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus. No Person has any right to cause the Company to effect the registration under the Securities Act of any securities of the Company in connection with this offering.

 

(xiii)    Except as described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, the Company and each of its subsidiaries holds, and is operating in compliance in all material respects with, all franchises, grants, authorizations, licenses, permits, easements, consents, certificates and orders of any governmental or self-regulatory body (collectively, “Regulatory Authorities”) required for the conduct of its business as described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, except for such franchises, grants, authorizations, licenses, permits, easements, consents, certificates and orders the failure of which to hold or operate in compliance with would not result in a Material Adverse Change, and all such franchises, grants, authorizations, licenses, permits, easements, consents, certifications and orders are valid and in full force and effect, except in each case as would not result in a Material Adverse Change; and the Company and each of its subsidiaries is in compliance with all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations, orders and decrees, except in each case as would not result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

 

(xiv)    Except as described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, the Company’s registration with any Regulatory Authorities, if any are required, in respect of the Company’s products and services, and all supporting documentation, materials, correspondence, and information filed by it with any Regulatory Authorities, is in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and all rules applied by such Regulatory Authorities, including with respect to accuracy of filings with such Regulatory Authorities.

 

(xv)    The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title to all personal property described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus as being owned by them which are material to the business of the Company, in each case free and clear of all material liens, claims, security interests, other encumbrances or defects except such as are described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus and except as do not interfere in any material respect with the conduct of the business of the Company or its subsidiaries and as would not result in a Material Adverse Change. The property held under lease by the Company and its subsidiaries is held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with only such exceptions with respect to any particular lease as do not interfere in any material respect with the conduct of the business of the Company or its subsidiaries and as would not result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

(xvi)    Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, to the knowledge of the Company, the Company and each of its subsidiaries owns, possesses or licenses all patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, tradenames, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, copyrights, licenses, inventions, trade secrets and rights necessary for the conduct of the business of the Company and its subsidiaries as currently carried on and as described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, except for any such items that the failure to so own, possess or license would not result in a Material Adverse Change; except as stated in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit or proceeding that the Company or any of its subsidiaries infringes or otherwise violates any patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, tradenames, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, copyrights, licenses, inventions, trade secrets or other similar rights of others, except for any pending or threatened action, suit or proceeding as would not result in a Material Adverse Claim.

 

(xvii)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is (A) in violation of its respective charter or by-laws, in each case as in effect on the date hereof, or (B) in breach of or otherwise in default, and, to the Company’s knowledge, no event has occurred which, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a default, in the performance of any material obligation, agreement or condition contained in any bond, debenture, note, indenture, loan agreement or any other material contract, lease or other instrument to which it is subject or by which any of them may be bound, or to which any of the material property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, except for any breach or default that would not result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

 

(xviii)    There is no document, contract or other agreement required to be described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or to be filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement which is not described or filed as required by the Securities Act or the Rules and Regulations. Each description of a contract, document or other agreement in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus accurately reflects in all material respects the terms of the underlying contract, document or other agreement. Each contract, document or other agreement described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or listed in the exhibits to the Registration Statement or incorporated by reference is in full force and effect and is valid and enforceable by and against the Company or its subsidiaries, as the case may be, in accordance with its terms. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, if a subsidiary is a party, nor to the Company’s knowledge, any other party is in default in the observance or performance of any term or obligation to be performed by it under any such agreement, and no event has occurred which with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute such a default. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no default exists, and no event has occurred which with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute a default, in the due performance and observance of any term, covenant or condition, by the Company or its subsidiaries, if a subsidiary is a party thereto, of any other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which Company or its subsidiaries or their respective properties or businesses may be bound or affected.

 

(xix)    The Company and its subsidiaries have timely filed all federal, state and local income tax returns required to be filed and are not in default in the payment of any taxes which were payable pursuant to said returns or any assessments with respect thereto, other than any which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is contesting in good faith, except in each case where the failure to so file or pay would not result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

(xx)    No material labor dispute exists or, to the knowledge of the Company and its subsidiaries, is imminent with respect to any of the employees of the Company or its subsidiaries, which could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change. None of the Company’s or its subsidiaries’ employees is a member of a union that relates to such employee’s relationship with the Company or such subsidiary, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to a collective bargaining agreement, and the Company and its subsidiaries believe that their relationships with their employees are good. No executive officer or employee of the Company or its subsidiaries, to the knowledge of the Company, is, or is now expected to be, in violation of any material term of any employment contract, confidentiality, disclosure or proprietary information agreement or non-competition agreement, or any other contract or agreement or any restrictive covenant in favor of any third party, and the continued employment of each such executive officer or employee does not subject the Company or any of its subsidiaries to any liability with respect to any of the foregoing matters. The Company and its subsidiaries are in compliance with all U.S. federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to employment and employment practices, environment, health, safety and transportation, exposure to hazardous materials, general occupational safety, terms and conditions of employment and wages and hours, except where the failure to be in compliance could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Change.

 

 

(xxi)    The Company has not distributed and will not distribute any prospectus or other offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities other than any Preliminary Prospectus, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or other materials permitted by the Securities Act to be distributed by the Company; provided, however, that, except as set forth on Schedule II, the Company has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, except in accordance with the provisions of Section 4(a)(xiv) of this Agreement.

 

(xxii)    The Common Stock is registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market and the Company has taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act or delisting the Common Stock from the NASDAQ Capital Market. The Company has not received any notification that the Commission is contemplating terminating such registration. The Company received notification from NASDAQ on November 24, 2023, that it was not in compliance with respect to the continued listing standard set forth in Rule 5550(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules because the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock over the previous 30 consecutive trading-day period had fallen below $1.00 per share. To the Company’s knowledge, it has complied in all material respects with all the other applicable requirements of the NASDAQ Capital Market for maintenance of inclusion of the Common Stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market.

 

(xxiii)    The subsidiaries of the Company listed on Schedule III hereto are the Company’s only significant subsidiaries (as such term is defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X promulgated by the Commission).

 

(xxiv)    The Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls designed to provide reasonable assurances 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 in the United States of America 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 existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, since December 31, 2022, there has been (i) no material weakness or significant deficiencies in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated), and (ii) 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.

 

 

(xxv)    Other than as contemplated by this Agreement, the Company has not incurred any liability for any finder’s or broker’s fee or agent’s commission in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

(xxvi)    The Company carries, or is covered by, insurance in such amounts and covering such risks as the Company reasonably believes is adequate for the conduct of its business and the value of its properties and as is customary for companies engaged in similar businesses in similar industries.

 

(xxvii)    The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities, will not be an “investment company,” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

(xxviii)    As of the filing date of the Registration Statement and as of any update of the Registration Statement pursuant to Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act (including the filing of any Annual Report on Form 10-K), the Company was eligible to file a “shelf” registration statement on Form S-3 with the Commission.

 

(xxix)    The issuance of the Firm Shares, Firm Warrants, Additional Shares and Additional Warrants is eligible to be registered pursuant to the Prospectus filed as a part of the Registration Statement.

 

(xxx)    The documents filed under the Exchange Act and incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, when they were filed with the Commission, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act, as applicable, and were filed on a timely basis with the Commission and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, when such documents are filed with the Commission, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act, and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

 

(xxxi)     The Company is in substantial compliance with all applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder that are effective with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries on the date of this Agreement, except where such noncompliance would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

(xxxii)     The Company has established disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14 under the Exchange Act) designed to provide reasonable assurance that material information relating to the Company, including its subsidiaries, is made known to the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, and such disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the last date of the most recent fiscal quarter for which the Company has filed a quarterly or annual report with the Commission.

 

 

(xxxiii)     The Company has not, and to its knowledge no one acting on its behalf has, (i) taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or to result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Securities, (ii) sold, bid for, purchased, or, paid any compensation for soliciting purchases of, any of the Securities, or (iii) paid or agreed to pay to any Person any compensation for soliciting another to purchase any other securities of the Company, other than, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), compensation paid to the Underwriters in connection with the Offering.

 

(xxxiv)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any of its directors, officers, agents, employees, affiliates or other person acting on their behalf is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that has violated or would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “FCPA”), including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA.

 

(xxxv)    The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times, in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar applicable rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), except as would not result in a Material Adverse Change; 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.

 

(xxxvi)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of this offering of the Securities contemplated hereby, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.

 

(xxxvii)    No transaction has occurred between or among the Company and any of its officers or directors, shareholders or any affiliate or affiliates of any such officer or director or shareholder that is required to be described in and is not described in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus.

 

 

(xxxviii)    There are no affiliations with FINRA among the Company’s officers, directors or, to the best of the knowledge of the Company, any five percent or greater stockholder of the Company, except as set forth in the Registration Statement or otherwise disclosed in writing to the Underwriter.

 

(xxxix)     No approval of the stockholders of the Company under the rules and regulations of NASDAQ Capital Market is required for the Company to issue and deliver the Securities to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement.

 

(xl)    No holder of any security of the Company has any right, which has not been waived, to have any security owned by such holder included in the Registration Statement or to demand registration of any security owned by such holder for a period of 180 days after the Closing Date. Each director and executive officer of the Company listed on Schedule V hereto has delivered to the Underwriter his or her enforceable written lock-up agreement in the form attached to this Agreement as Exhibit A hereto (“Lock-Up Agreement”).

 

(b)    Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company and delivered to the Underwriter shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to the Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby.

 

3.    PURCHASE, SALE AND DELIVERY OF SECURITIES.

 

(a)    On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, (i) the Company agrees to issue and sell to the Underwriter, and the Underwriter agrees to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price equal to $0.3627 per share (the “Per Share Price”)and at a purchase price equal to $0.0093 per Warrant (the “Per Warrant Price”), the number of Firm Shares and Firm Warrants as set forth opposite the name of the Underwriter on Schedule IV hereto, and (ii) in the event and to the extent that the Underwriter shall exercise the election to purchase Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants as provided below, the Company agrees to issue and sell to the Underwriter, and the Underwriter agrees to purchase from the Company, at the Per Share Price and Per Warrant Price, that number of Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants as to which such election shall have been exercised, provided, however, the Company shall sell to the Underwriter Firm Shares and Additional Shares to be resold to officers and directors of the Company without discount or commission at the public offering price per share and shall sell to the Underwriter Firm Warrants and Additional Warrants to be resold to officers and directors of the Company at $0.01 per Warrant, also without discount or commission.

 

 

As referenced in Section 3(a)(ii) above, the Company hereby grants to the Underwriter the option to purchase from the Company either or both the Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants, in each case in the quantities as it determines in its sole discretion, at the Per Share Price and the Per Warrant Price. This option may be exercised by the Underwriter in whole or in part at any time on or before the date that is thirty (30) days following the date hereof, by written notice to the Company. Such notice shall set forth the aggregate number of Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants as to which the option is being exercised, and the date and time when the Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants are to be delivered (such date and time being herein referred to as the “Option Closing Date”); provided, however, that the Option Closing Date shall not be earlier than the Closing Date nor later than two business days after the date on which the option shall have been exercised unless the Company and the Underwriter otherwise agree in writing.

 

Payment of the purchase price and delivery for the Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants shall be made at the Option Closing Date in the same manner and at the same office as the payment for the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants as set forth in Section 3(b) below.

 

(b)    The Securities being purchased hereunder will be delivered by the Company to, or as directed by, the Underwriter and the Underwriter shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Company, by wire transfer, same-day funds payable to the order of the Company equal to the aggregate purchase price for the Firm Shares, Firm Warrants or the Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants, as appropriate, at the offices of The Benchmark Company, LLC, 150 East 58^th Street., 17^th Floor, New York, NY 10155, or such other location as directed by the Underwriter and may be mutually acceptable, (1) with respect to the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time on the two (or if the Firm Shares and Firm Warrants are priced, as contemplated by Rule 15c6-1(c) under the Exchange Act, on or after 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, the third) full business day following the date hereof, or at such other time and date as the Underwriter and the Company determine pursuant to Rule 15c6-1(a) under the Exchange Act (such time and date of delivery being herein referred to as the “Closing Date”) and (2) with respect to the Additional Shares and/or Additional Warrants, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time on the Option Closing Date. If the Underwriter so elects, delivery of the Securities may be made by credit through full fast transfer to the account at The Depository Trust Company designated by the Underwriter.

 

(c)    The Company, hereby agrees to issue and sell to the Underwriter on the Closing Date and Option Closing Date warrants to purchase that number of shares of Common Stock equal to an aggregate of 2% of the amount of Firm Shares and Additional Shares, and the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Firm Warrants and Additional Warrants, respectively, sold in the Offering (the “Underwriter’s Warrants”); provided, however, that the Underwriter shall not be entitled to Underwriter Warrants hereunder on any Firm Shares, Additional Shares, Firm Warrants and Additional Warrants resold to officers and director of the Company. The Underwriter’s Warrants as evidenced by the Warrant Agreement (the “Warrant Agreement”), in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B, shall be exercisable as of the 180^th day following the date of this Agreement and expiring five (5) years after the date of this Agreement at an initial exercise price per share of $0.4875. The Underwriters’ Warrants and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise thereof (“Warrant Shares”) are sometimes referred to herein collectively as the “Warrant Securities.” The Underwriter understands and agrees that there are significant restrictions pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110 against transferring the Warrant Securities and by its acceptance thereof shall agree that it will not, sell, transfer, assign, pledge or hypothecate the Warrant Securities, or any portion thereof, or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of such securities other than in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the Warrant Securities may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated prior to the date that is one hundred eighty (180) days immediately following the date of this Agreement.

 

 

4.    COVENANTS.

 

(a)    The Company covenants and agrees with the Underwriter as follows:

 

(i)    During the period beginning on the date hereof and ending on the later of the Closing Date or such date, as in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriter and counsel for the Company, the Prospectus is no longer required by law to be delivered (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Securities Act is no longer required to be provided), in connection with sales by an underwriter or dealer (the “Prospectus Delivery Period”), prior to amending or supplementing the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, the Company shall furnish to the Underwriter for review a copy of each such proposed amendment or supplement.

 

(ii)    During the Prospectus Delivery Period, the Company shall promptly advise the Underwriter in writing (i) of the receipt of any comments of, or requests for additional or supplemental information from, the Commission, (ii) of the time and date of any filing of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to any Preliminary Prospectus, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, (iii) of the time and date that any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement becomes effective, and (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto or of any order preventing or suspending its use or the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or of any proceedings to remove, suspend or terminate from listing or quotation the Common Stock from any securities exchange upon which it is listed for trading or included or designated for quotation, or of the threatening or initiation of any proceedings for any of such purposes. If the Commission shall enter any such stop order at any time, the Company will use its reasonable efforts to obtain the lifting of such order at the earliest possible moment. Additionally, the Company agrees that it shall comply with the provisions of Rules 424(b), 430A and 430B, as applicable, under the Securities Act and will use its reasonable efforts to confirm that any filings made by the Company under Rule 424(b) or Rule 433 were received in a timely manner by the Commission (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8) or Rule 164(b)).

 

 

(iii)    During the Prospectus Delivery Period, the Company will comply as far as it is reasonably able with all requirements imposed upon it by the Securities Act, as now and hereafter amended, and by the Rules and Regulations, as from time to time in force, and by the Exchange Act so far as necessary to permit the continuance of sales of or dealings in the Securities as contemplated by the provisions hereof, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, and the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. If during such period any event occurs as a result of which the Prospectus (or if the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package) would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then existing, not misleading, or if during such period it is necessary or appropriate in the opinion of the Company or its counsel or the Underwriter or counsel to the Underwriter to amend the Registration Statement or supplement the Prospectus (or if the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package) to comply with the Securities Act or to file under the Exchange Act any document which would be deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Prospectus in order to comply with the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriter and will amend the Registration Statement or supplement the Prospectus (or if the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package) or file such document (at the expense of the Company) so as to correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance.

 

(A)    If at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus or included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances prevailing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriter and will amend or supplement, at the Company expense, such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission.

 

(iv)    The Company shall use its reasonable efforts to take or cause to be taken all necessary action to qualify the Securities for sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as the Underwriter reasonably designate upon written request and to continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Securities, except that the Company shall not be required in connection therewith to qualify as a foreign corporation or to execute a general consent to service of process in any state.

 

(v)    The Company will furnish to the Underwriter and counsel for the Underwriter copies of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and all amendments and supplements to such documents (in each case without exhibits thereto or documents incorporated therein by reference) as soon as practicable following receipt of a request therefor, in such quantities as the Underwriter may from time to time reasonably request.

 

(vi)    The Company will make generally available to its security holders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than 15 months after the end of the Company’s current fiscal quarter, an earnings statement (which need not be audited) covering a 12-month period that shall satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 of the Rules and Regulations.

 

 

(vii)    The Company will pay or cause to be paid (A) all expenses (including transfer taxes allocated to the respective transferees) incurred in connection with the delivery to the Underwriter of the Securities, (B) all expenses and fees in connection with the preparation, printing, filing, delivery, and shipping of the Registration Statement (including the financial statements therein and all amendments, schedules, and exhibits thereto), the Securities, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, and the printing, delivery, and shipping of this Agreement and other underwriting documents, including any Blue Sky Memoranda (covering the states and other applicable jurisdictions), (C) all filing fees in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offering and sale by the Underwriter or by dealers under the securities or blue sky laws of the states and other jurisdictions as requested by the Underwriter and to the extent required by law, (D) the fees and expenses of any transfer agent or registrar for the Securities, (E) the filing fees incident to any required review and approval by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Securities, (F) listing fees, if any, (G) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder that are not otherwise specifically provided for herein, (H) all costs and expenses relating to investor presentations or any “road show”, including, without limitation, the costs of recording and hosting on the Internet of the Company’s road show presentation and any travel expenses of the Company’s officers and employees and any other expenses of the Company, (I) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Underwriter’s counsel, and (J) a non-accountable expense allowance payable to the Underwriter in the amount of $30,000; provided, however, that the maximum amount of fees, costs and expenses incurred by the Underwriter with respect to subparagraphs (A) through (J) above, on their own behalf, including, without limitation, the fees, disbursements and expenses of counsel to the Underwriter, that the Company shall be required to pay under this Section 4(a)(vii) shall be $115,000.. If this Agreement is terminated by the Underwriter pursuant to Section 8(i) or (ii) hereof or if the sale of the Securities provided for herein is not consummated by reason of any failure, refusal or inability on the part of the Company to perform any agreement on its part to be performed, or because any other condition of the Underwriter’s obligations hereunder required to be fulfilled by the Company is not fulfilled or waived by the Underwriter, the Company will reimburse the Underwriter, upon presentation of a written accounting in reasonable detail (but without the need to include the underlying statements or evidence of payment) for reasonable actual out-of-pocket disbursements (including but not limited to printing expenses, travel expenses, postage, facsimile and telephone charges) incurred by the Underwriter in connection with their investigation, preparing to market and marketing the Securities or in contemplation of performing their obligations hereunder and for reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel, not to exceed $115,000 in the aggregate, less any retainer amount previously paid. Except as provided herein, the Underwriter shall pay all of their own costs and expenses, including, without limitation, fees and disbursements of their counsel.

 

(viii)    The Company will apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Securities to be sold by it hereunder for the purposes set forth in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus.

 

 

(ix)    None of the Company and its subsidiaries has taken or will take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or which might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, or which has constituted, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.

 

(x)    Except as provided in this Agreement, the Company will not incur any liability for any finder’s or broker’s fee or agent’s commission in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

(xi)    During the Prospectus Delivery Period, the Company will file on a timely basis with the Commission such periodic reports as required by the Exchange Act.

 

(xii)    The Company and its subsidiaries will maintain controls and other procedures, including without limitation those applicable to the Company and required by Sections 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the applicable regulations thereunder, that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer and its principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure, to ensure that material information relating to Company, including its subsidiaries, is made known to them by others within those entities, subject to the representation in Section 2(a)(xxii).

 

(xiii)    The Company and its subsidiaries, to the extent required, will substantially comply with all effective applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, subject to the representation in Section 2(a)(xxii) and except where such noncompliance would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

(xiv)    The Company represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Underwriter, and the Underwriter represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Company, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act, or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, required to be filed with the Commission; provided that the prior written consent of the parties hereto shall be deemed to have been given in respect of the free writing prospectuses included in Schedule II. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Company and the Underwriter is hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus.” The Company represents that it has treated or agrees that it will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely Commission filing where required, legending and record keeping.

 

 

(xv)    From the date hereof until 90 days after the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any subsidiary shall (i) except for the securities to be issued pursuant to this Agreement, issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any shares of Common Stock or any securities which would entitle the holder thereof to acquire any Common Stock, including, without limitation, any debt, preferred stock, rights, options, warrants or other instrument that is at any time convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or otherwise entitles the holder thereof to receive, Common Stock, or (ii) file any registration statement or amendment or supplement thereto, other than the Prospectus or filing a registration statement on Form S-8 in connection with any employee benefit plan; provided, however, this subpart (xv) shall not restrict the Company from (x) issuing any debt or equity securities that are pursuant to a USDA guarantee or otherwise part of a debt financing of the Company’s recycling facilities, (y) issuing any stock based awards and the underlying award securities pursuant to the Company’s Amended and Restated 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, 2019 Stock Incentive Plan, and 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“Equity Compensation Plans”), provided that such stock-based awards have not been amended since the date of this Agreement to increase the number or such securities or to decrease the exercise price, exchange price or conversion price of such securities or to extend the term of such securities, or (z) effecting any sales under the ATM Offering upon the approval of the Underwriter.

 

5.    CONDITIONS OF THE UNDERWRITER’S OBLIGATIONS. The obligations of the Underwriter hereunder are subject to the accuracy, as of the date hereof and at the Closing Date (as if made at the Closing Date) of and compliance with all representations, warranties and agreements of the Company contained herein (except to the extent any such representations, warranties or agreements expressly relate to a specified earlier date, in which case, such representations, warranties and agreements shall be accurate or complied with as of such specified earlier date), to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions, in each case unless waived by the Underwriter:

 

(a)    If the filing of the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, is required under the Securities Act or the Rules and Regulations, the Company shall have filed the Prospectus (or such amendment or supplement) or such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus with the Commission in the manner and within the time period so required (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8) or Rule 164(b)); the Registration Statement shall remain effective; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof, or any amendment thereof, nor suspending or preventing the use of the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been issued; no proceedings for the issuance of such an order shall have been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened; any request of the Commission for additional information (to be included in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or otherwise) shall have been complied with to the Underwriter’s reasonable satisfaction; and FINRA shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and compensation arrangements.

 

 

(b)    The Underwriter shall not have advised the Company that the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, contains an untrue statement of fact which, in the Underwriter’s opinion, is material, or omits to state a fact which, in the Underwriter’s opinion, is material and is required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, unless, in each case, the Company shall have filed an amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the applicable documents included in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or the Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to correct such statement of fact or omission.

 

(c)    Except as contemplated in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries shall have incurred any liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent which are material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, entered into any transactions not in the ordinary course of business which are material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, or declared or paid any dividends or made any distribution of any kind with respect to its capital stock; and except as disclosed in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there shall not have been any change in the capital stock (other than a change in the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock due to the issuance of shares (i) upon the exercise or conversion of outstanding options, warrants or convertible notes or vesting of any outstanding restricted stock units or (ii) sold in the ATM Offering), any material change in the short-term or long-term debt of the Company except for the extinguishment thereof, any issuance of options, warrants, convertible securities or other rights to purchase the capital stock of the Company or any of the Company’s subsidiaries (other than the issuance of options, restricted stock units and other awards or shares under the Company’s equity incentive plans and employee stock purchase plans), or any Material Adverse Change, the effect of which, in any such case described above, in the Underwriter’s reasonable judgment, makes it impractical or inadvisable to offer or deliver the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.

 

(d)    On or after the Time of Sale (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded any of the Company’s securities by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as that term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Rule 436(g)(2) under the Securities Act, and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, with possible negative implications, its rating of any of the Company’s securities.

 

(e)    On the Closing Date and the Option Closing Date, if any, there shall have been furnished to the Underwriter the opinion of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Underwriter, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Underwriter.

 

(f)    On the date of the execution of this Agreement, 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 of the Closing Date and the Option Closing Date, if any, the Underwriter shall have received a letter of Forvis, LLP, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof, and addressed to the Underwriter, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Underwriter.

 

 

(g)    On the Closing Date, there shall have been furnished to the Underwriter a certificate, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Underwriter, signed by the chief executive officer or the chief financial officer of the Company, to the effect that:

 

(i)    The representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct, in all material respects, as if made at and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent any such representations or warranties expressly relate to a specified earlier date, in which case, such representations and warranties shall be true and correct as of such specified earlier date), and the Company has complied in all material respects with all the material agreements and satisfied in all material respects all the material conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Date (except for any such agreements or conditions that have been waived by the Underwriter);

 

(ii)    No stop order or other order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof or any amendment thereof or the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale nor suspending or preventing the use of the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, has been issued, and no proceeding for that purpose has been instituted or, to the signer’s knowledge, is contemplated by the Commission or any state or regulatory body; and

 

(iii)    The signer of said certificate has carefully examined the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and any amendments thereof or supplements thereto (including any documents filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Registration Statement or the Prospectus), and

 

(A)    each part of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and any amendments thereof or supplements thereto (including any documents filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Prospectus) contain, and contained when such part of the Registration Statement (or such amendment) became effective, all statements and information required to be included therein, each part of the Registration Statement, or any amendment thereof, does not contain, and did not contain when such part of the Registration Statement (or such amendment) became effective, any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state, and did not omit to state when such part of the Registration Statement (or such amendment) became effective, any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and the Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, does not include and did not include as of its date or the time of first use within the meaning of the Rules and Regulations, any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state, and did not omit to state as of its date or the time of first use within the meaning of the Rules and Regulations, a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading

 

(B)    neither (1) the Time of Sale Disclosure Package nor (2) any individual Issuer Limited-Use Free Writing Prospectus, when considered together with the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, include, nor included as of the Time of Sale, any untrue statement of a material fact or omits, or omitted as of the Time of Sale, 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,

 

 

(C)    since the Time of Sale, there has occurred no event required to be set forth in an amended or supplemented prospectus which has not been so set forth, and there has been no document required to be filed under the Exchange Act that upon such filing would be deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Registration Statement or the Prospectus that has not been so filed,

 

(D)    except as contemplated in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has incurred any liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent, which are material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, entered into any transactions not in the ordinary course of business which are material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, declared or paid any dividends or made any distribution of any kind with respect to its capital stock, and except as disclosed in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than a change in the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock due to the issuance of shares upon the exercise or conversion of outstanding options, warrants or convertible notes or vesting of any restricted stock units pursuant to the Company’s existing equity incentive plan or employee stock purchase plan), any material change in the Company’s short-term or long-term debt except for the extinguishment thereof, any issuance of options, warrants, convertible securities or other rights to purchase the capital stock of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (other than the issuance of options, restricted stock units and other awards or shares under the Company’s equity incentive plan and employee stock purchase plan), or any Material Adverse Change, and

 

(E)    except as stated in the Time of Sale Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus, there is not pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened or contemplated, any action, suit or proceeding to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party before or by any court or governmental agency, authority or body, or any arbitrator, the negative outcome of which, individually or in the aggregate, would result in any Material Adverse Change.

 

(h)    The Company shall have furnished to the Underwriter and counsel for the Underwriter such additional documents, certificates and evidence as the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter may have reasonably requested.

 

All such opinions, certificates, letters and other documents will be in compliance with the provisions hereof only if they are reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Underwriter and counsel for the Underwriter. The Company will furnish the Underwriter with such conformed copies of such opinions, certificates, letters and other documents as the Underwriter shall reasonably request.

 

 

6.    INDEMNIFICATION AND CONTRIBUTION.

 

(a)    The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Underwriter, and each of its respective directors, officers and employees and each person, if any, who controls any such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Underwriter may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise (including in settlement of any litigation if such settlement is effected with the written consent of the Company), insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon (i) an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, including the information deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement at the time of effectiveness and at any subsequent time pursuant to Rules 430A and 430B of the Rules and Regulations, if applicable, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto (including any documents filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Prospectus), any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any materials or information provided to investors by, or with the approval of, the Company in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Securities (“Marketing Materials”), including any roadshow or investor presentations made to investors by the Company (whether in person or electronically) 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 the Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by it in connection with investigating or defending against such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; or (ii) in whole or in part upon any inaccuracy in the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein; or (iii) in whole or in part upon any failure of the Company to perform its obligations hereunder; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action 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 Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, or any such amendment or supplement, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any Marketing Materials, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof.

 

In addition to their other obligations under this Section 6(a), the Company agrees that, as an interim measure during the pendency of any claim, action, investigation, inquiry or other proceeding arising out of or based upon any statement or omission, or any alleged statement or omission, described in this Section 6(a), it will reimburse the Underwriter on a monthly basis for all reasonable legal fees or other expenses incurred in connection with investigating or defending any such claim, action, investigation, inquiry or other proceeding upon presentation of a written accounting in reasonable detail (but without the need to include the underlying statements or evidence of payment), notwithstanding the absence of a judicial determination as to the propriety and enforceability of the Company’s obligation to reimburse the Underwriter for such expenses and the possibility that such payments might later be held to have been improper by a court of competent jurisdiction. To the extent that any such interim reimbursement payment is so held to have been improper, the Underwriter shall promptly return it to the Company, together with interest, compounded daily, determined on the basis of the prime rate (or other commercial lending rate for borrowers of the highest credit standing) announced from time to time by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (the “Prime Rate”). Any such interim reimbursement payments which are not made to the Underwriter within 30 days of a request for reimbursement shall bear interest at the Prime Rate from the date of such request. This indemnity agreement shall be in addition to any liabilities which they may otherwise have.

 

 

(b)    The Underwriter will indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors and officers, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act of the Exchange Act, against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Company, or any such director, officer or controlling person may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise (including in settlement of any litigation, if such settlement is effected with the written consent of such Underwriter), 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 Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, 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 Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by an Underwriter with respect to such Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof, and will reimburse the Company, or any such director, officer or controlling person for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company, or such director, officer or controlling person in connection with investigating or defending against any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action as such expenses are incurred.

 

(c)    Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above 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; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve the indemnifying party from any liability that it may have to any indemnified party except to the extent such indemnifying party has been materially prejudiced by such failure. 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 in, and, to the extent that it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party, and after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of the indemnifying party’s election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party under such subsection for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation; provided, however, that if, in the sole judgment of the Underwriter, it is advisable for the Underwriter to be represented by separate counsel, the Underwriter shall have the right to employ a single counsel to represent the Underwriter in any claim in respect of which indemnity may be sought by the Underwriter under subsection (a) of this Section 6, in which event the reasonable fees and expenses of such separate counsel shall be borne by the indemnifying party or parties and reimbursed to the Underwriter as incurred (in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph in subsection (a) above). In no event shall the indemnifying parties be liable for fees and expenses of more than one counsel (in addition to any local counsel) separate from their own counsel for all indemnified parties in connection with any one action or separate but similar or related actions in the same jurisdiction arising out of the same general allegations or circumstances.

 

 

The indemnifying party under this Section 6 shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify the indemnified party against any loss, claim, damage, liability or expense by reason of such settlement or judgment. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel to which it is entitled under this Section 6, the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 60 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least 45 days prior to such settlement being entered into, and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement (other than with respect to fees and expenses that the indemnifying party is contesting in good faith). No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement, compromise or consent to the entry of judgment in any pending or threatened action, suit or proceeding in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity was or could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party, unless such settlement, compromise or consent (a) includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such action, suit or proceeding and (b) 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.

 

(d)    If the indemnification provided for in this Section 6 is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to in subsection (a) or (b) above, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the respective Underwriter on the other from the offering of the Securities or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the respective Underwriter on the other in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the respective Underwriter 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 bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the respective Underwriter, 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 respective Underwriter and the parties’ relevant intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The Company and the respective Underwriter agree that it would not be just and equitable if contributions pursuant to this subsection (d) were to be determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in the first sentence of this subsection (d). The amount paid by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to in the first sentence of this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending against any action or claim which is the subject of this subsection (d). Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), the respective Underwriter shall not be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages that the respective 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 Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

 

(e)    The obligations of the Company under this Section 6 shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have and the benefits of such obligations shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each person, if any, who controls the respective Underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act; and the obligations of the respective Underwriter under this Section 6 shall be in addition to any liability that the respective Underwriter may otherwise have and the benefits of such obligations shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each director of the Company (including any person who, with his consent, is named in the Registration Statement as about to become a director of the Company), to each officer of the Company who has signed the Registration Statement and to each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act.

 

(f)    The Underwriter confirms and the Company acknowledges that there is no information concerning the Underwriter furnished in writing to the Company by the Underwriter specifically for inclusion in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Time of Sale Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, except for the following disclosure contained in the “Underwriting” section of the Prospectus: (i) the third paragraph, (ii) the first and third paragraphs and the second sentence of the fourth paragraph under the sub-header “Stabilization” and (iii) the subsection “Affiliations.”

 

7.    REPRESENTATIONS AND AGREEMENTS TO SURVIVE DELIVERY. All representations, warranties, and agreements of the Company herein or in certificates delivered pursuant hereto, including but not limited to the agreements of the Underwriter and the Company contained in Section 6 hereof, shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Underwriter or any controlling person thereof, or the Company or any of its officers, directors, or controlling persons, and shall survive delivery of, and payment for, the Securities to and by the Underwriter hereunder.

 

 

8.    TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT.

 

(a)    The Underwriter shall have the right to terminate this Agreement by giving notice to the Company as hereinafter specified at any time at or prior to the Closing Date, if (i) the Company shall have failed, refused or been unable, at or prior to the Closing Date, to perform any material agreement on its part to be performed hereunder, (ii) any condition of the Underwriter’s obligations set forth in Section 5 hereunder is not fulfilled or waived by the Underwriter, (iii) trading in the Company’s Common Stock shall have been suspended by the Commission or the NASDAQ Capital Market or trading in securities generally on the NASDAQ Capital Market shall have been suspended, (iii) minimum or maximum prices for trading shall have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices for securities shall have been required, on the NASDAQ Capital Market by such exchange or by order of the Commission or any other governmental authority having jurisdiction (which includes the Company’s Common Stock), or (iv) a banking moratorium shall have been declared by federal or state authorities which prevents payment by an Underwriter pursuant to Section 3, in each case of (i) through (iv) herein, the effect of which, in the Underwriter’s good faith judgment, would make it impracticable to proceed with the offering, sale and/or delivery of the Securities as contemplated by the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. Any such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Section 4(a)(vii) and Section 6 hereof shall at all times be effective and shall survive such termination.

 

(b)    If the Underwriter elects to terminate this Agreement as provided in this Section 8, the Company shall be notified promptly by the Underwriter by telephone, confirmed by letter as provided in Section 10.

 

9.    DEFAULT BY THE COMPANY. If the Company shall fail at the Closing Date or at the Option Closing Date to sell and deliver the Securities which it is obligated to sell hereunder, then this Agreement shall terminate without any liability on the part of the Underwriter or, except as provided in Section 4(a)(vii), any non-defaulting party. No action taken pursuant to this Section 9 shall relieve the Company from liability, if any, in respect of such default.

 

10.    NOTICES. Except as otherwise provided herein, all communications hereunder shall be in writing and, if to the Underwriter, shall be mailed, delivered to The Benchmark Company, LLC, 150 Eat 58^th Street, 17^th Floor, New York, New York 10155, Attention: John J. Borer III, with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe LLP, 711 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017, Attention: Andrew D. Hudders, Esq.; if to the Company, shall be mailed, delivered or telecopied to it at 2500 Peru Drive, McCarran, Nevada 89437, Attention: Stephen Cotton, with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to Greenberg Traurig, LLP, 18565 Jamboree Road, Suite 500, Irvine, California 92612, Attention: Daniel K. Donahue, Esq., or in each case to such other address as the person to be notified may have requested in writing. Any party to this Agreement may change such address for notices by sending to the parties to this Agreement written notice of a new address for such purpose.

 

11.    PERSONS ENTITLED TO BENEFIT OF AGREEMENT. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns and the controlling persons, officers and directors referred to in Section 6. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give to any other person, firm or corporation any legal or equitable remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision herein contained. The term “successors and assigns” as herein used shall not include any purchaser, as such purchaser, of any of the Securities from the Underwriter.

 

 

12.    ABSENCE OF FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP. The Company acknowledges and agrees that: (a) the Underwriter has been retained solely to act as underwriter in connection with the sale of the Securities and that no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company and the Underwriter has been created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, irrespective of whether the Underwriter has advised or are advising the Company on other matters; (b) the price and other terms of the Securities set forth in this Agreement were established by the Company following discussions and arms-length negotiations with the Underwriter and the Company is capable of evaluating and understanding and understands and accepts the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; (c) it has been advised that the Underwriter and its affiliates are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that the Underwriter has no obligation to disclose such interest and transactions to the Company by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship; and (d) it has been advised that the Underwriter is acting, in respect of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, solely for the benefit of the Underwriter, and not on behalf of the Company.

 

13.    GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without reference to its conflict of laws provisions. The parties hereby irrevocably and unconditionally: submit to the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in the State of New York, for any dispute related to this Agreement or any of the matters contemplated hereby; consent to service of process by registered or certified mail return receipt requested or by any other manner provided by applicable law; and waive any right to claim that any action, proceeding or litigation so commenced has been commenced in an inconvenient forum.

 

14.    INTEGRATION; AMENDMENT. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriter with respect to the subject matter hereof. No provision of this Agreement may be modified or amended except in a written instrument signed by the Company and the Underwriter.

 

15.    COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts and, if executed in more than one counterpart, the executed counterparts shall each be deemed to be an original and all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

 

Please sign and return to the Company the enclosed duplicates of this letter whereupon this letter will become a binding agreement between the Company and the Underwriter in accordance with its terms.

 

	Very truly yours,
	AQUA METALS, INC.
	By:	/s/ Stephen Cotton
		Stephen Cotton, Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

Confirmed as of the date first above.

 

 

THE BENCHMARK COMPANY, LLC
By:	/s/ John J. Borer III
	John J. Borer III
	Co-Head of Investment Banking, Senior Managing Director

 

 

 

Schedule I

Time of Sale Disclosure Package

 

 

Preliminary Prospectus supplement dated May 14, 2024

 

 

Schedule II

 

Issuer General Free Writing Prospectuses

 

 

None.

 

 

Schedule III

 

Subsidiaries

 

Aqua Metals Reno, Inc., a Delaware Corporation

 

Aqua Metals Reno, Inc., a Delaware Corporation

 

Aqua Metals Operations, Inc., a Delaware Corporation 

 

Aqua Metals Waltham 1, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company

 

Aqua Metals Waltham Holding, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company

 

 

Schedule IV

 

 

Underwriter	Firm Shares	Additional Shares	Firm Warrants	Additional Warrants
The Benchmark Company, LLC

 

 

Schedule V

 

List of Person and Entities Subject to Lock Up

 

 

Stephen Cotton

Edward Smith

Vincent L. DiVito

Molly (Peifang) Zhang

Merrill Judd

David McMurty

Benjamin Taecker

 

 

EXHIBIT A

 

LOCK UP AGREEMENT

 

May __, 2024

 

The Benchmark Company, LLC

150 East 58th St., 17th Floor

New York, NY 10155

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

The undersigned understands that you, as the Underwriter (the “Underwriter”) proposes to enter into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and certain stockholders of the Company named in Schedule V thereto relating to a proposed offering of shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”), of the Company (the “Offering”). All capitalized terms in this letter agreement not defined herein, shall have the meaning given to them in the Underwriting Agreement.

 

In consideration of the foregoing, and in order to induce the Underwriter to participate in the Offering, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which is hereby acknowledged, the undersigned hereby agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Underwriter (which consent may be withheld in its sole discretion), the undersigned will not, during the period (the “Lock-Up Period”) beginning on the date hereof and ending on the date 90 days after the Closing Date, (1) offer, pledge, announce the intention to sell, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file (or participate in the filing of) a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in respect of, any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock (including without limitation, shares of Common Stock which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by the undersigned in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and securities which may be issued upon exercise of a stock option, warrant or unit), (2) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the shares of Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of shares of Common Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to, the registration of any shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock, or (4) publicly announce an intention to effect any transaction specified in clauses (1), (2) or (3) above.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the restrictions set forth in clause (1) and (2) above shall not apply to (a) transfers (i) as a bona fide gift or gifts; provided that no filing by any party under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, shall be required or shall be made voluntarily during the Lock-up Period in connection with such transfer, (ii) if the undersigned is a natural person, by will or intestate succession upon the death of the undersigned or (iii) to any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or the immediate family of the undersigned; provided, in each case, that (x) the transferee agrees to be bound in writing by the restrictions set forth herein, and (y) any such transfer shall not involve a disposition for value, (b) the acquisition or exercise of any restricted stock, restricted stock unit or stock option issued pursuant to the Company’s existing Compensatory Plan, including any exercise of a stock option effected by the delivery of shares of Common Stock of the Company held by the undersigned, provided, that the restrictions set forth herein shall apply to any of the undersigned’s Common Stock issued upon such exercise, (c) the sale of Common Stock pursuant to a contract, instruction or plan that satisfies all of the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act (a “Plan”) adopted at least thirty (30) days prior to the date of this Agreement and which Plan has not been modified during such thirty (30) day period, (d) any sale of common stock effected for purposes of funding a tax payment associated with the vesting of restricted stock or a restricted stock unit and (e) the establishment of any Plan; provided, that (i) no sales of the undersigned’s Common Stock or other securities shall be made pursuant to such a Plan prior to the expiration of the Lock-Up Period, and (ii) such a Plan may only be established if no public announcement of the establishment or existence thereof and no filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory authority in respect thereof or transactions thereunder or contemplated thereby, by the undersigned, the Company or any other person, shall be required, and no such announcement or filing is made voluntarily, by the undersigned, the Company or any other person, prior to the expiration of the Lock-Up Period. For purposes of this Lock-Up Agreement, “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood, marriage or adoption, not more remote than first cousin.

 

 

The foregoing restrictions are expressly agreed to preclude the undersigned from engaging in any hedging or other transaction which is designed to or reasonably expected to lead to or result in a sale or disposition of shares of Common Stock even if such securities would be disposed of by someone other than the undersigned. Such prohibited hedging or other transactions would include without limitation any short sale or any purchase, sale or grant of any right (including without limitation any put option or “put equivalent position” (within the meaning of Rule 16a-1(h) under the Exchange Act) or call option or call equivalent position) with respect to any of the shares of Common Stock or with respect to any security that includes, relates to, or derives any significant part of its value from such shares.

 

The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power and authority to enter into this Lock-Up Agreement. All authority herein conferred or agreed to be conferred and any obligations of the undersigned shall be binding upon the successors, assigns, heirs or personal Underwriter of the undersigned.

 

The undersigned also agrees and consents to the entry of stop transfer instructions with the Company’s transfer agent and registrar or depositary against the transfer of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock except in compliance with the foregoing restrictions.

 

This agreement 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., www.docusign.com) 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.

 

This Lock-Up Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to the conflict of laws principles thereof. The undersigned irrevocably (i) submits to the jurisdiction of any court of the State of New York for the purpose of any suit, action, or other proceeding arising out of this Agreement (each a “Proceeding”), (ii) agrees that all claims in respect of any Proceeding may be heard and determined in any such court, (iii) waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any immunity from jurisdiction of any such court or from any legal process therein, (iv) agrees not to commence any Proceeding other than in such courts, and (v) waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim that such Proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum.

 

The undersigned acknowledges that the Underwriter will rely on the representations and agreements of the undersigned contained in this agreement in connection with entering into the Underwriting Agreement and performing the obligations of the Underwriter thereunder.

 

With respect to the Offering, the undersigned waives any registration rights relating to registration under the Securities Act of the offer and sale of any Common Stock owned either of record or beneficially by the undersigned, including any rights to receive notice of the Offering.

 

The undersigned understands that, if the Underwriting Agreement is not executed by May 30, 2024, or if the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the securities to be sold thereunder, then this Lock-Up Agreement shall be void and of no further force or effect.

 

Very truly yours,
Printed Name of Holder
By:
	Signature

 

Printed Name of Person Signing
(and indicate capacity of person signing if signing as custodian, trustee, or on behalf of an entity)

 

 

EXHIBIT B

 

UNDERWRITER WARRANT AGREEMENT

 

 

Exhibit 4.1

 

NON-REDEEMABLE COMMON STOCK PURCHASE WARRANT

 

AQUA METALS, INC.

 

Warrant Shares: _______

Initial Exercise Date: _______, 2024

 

THIS NON-REDEEMABLE COMMON STOCK PURCHASE WARRANT (the “Warrant”) certifies that, for value received, _____________ or its assigns (the “Holder”) is entitled, upon the terms and subject to the limitations on exercise and the conditions hereinafter set forth, at any time on or after the date hereof (the “Initial Exercise Date”) and on or prior to 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on five year anniversary of the Initial Exercise Date (the “Termination Date”) but not thereafter, to subscribe for and purchase from Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), up to ______ shares (as subject to adjustment hereunder, the “Warrant Shares”) of Common Stock. The purchase price of one share of Common Stock under this Warrant shall be equal to the Exercise Price, as defined in Section 2(b). This Warrant shall initially be issued and maintained in the form of a security held in book-entry form and the Depository Trust Company or its nominee (“DTC”) shall initially be the sole registered holder of this Warrant, subject to a Holder’s right to elect to receive a Warrant in certificated form pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agency Agreement, in which case this sentence shall not apply.

 

Section 1. Definitions. In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Warrant, the following terms, which may not be specifically capitalized, have the meanings indicated in this Section 1:

 

“Affiliate” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person, as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

“Board of Directors” means the board of directors of the Company.

 

“Business Day” means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, any day which is a federal legal holiday in the United States or any day on which banking institutions in the State of New York are authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close.

 

“Commission” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

“Common Stock” means the common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share, and any other class of securities into which such securities may hereafter be reclassified or changed.

 

“Common Stock Equivalents” means any securities of the Company or the Subsidiaries which would entitle the holder thereof to acquire at any time Common Stock, including, without limitation, any debt, preferred stock, right, option, warrant or other instrument that is at any time convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or otherwise entitles the holder thereof to receive, Common Stock.

 

“Person” means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind.

 

“Registration Statement” means the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333‑267780).

 

“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

 

“Subsidiary” means any subsidiary of the Company and shall, where applicable, also include any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company formed or acquired after the date hereof.

 

“Trading Day” means a day on which the Common Stock is traded on a Trading Market.

 

“Trading Market” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE American, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the New York Stock Exchange, OTCQB or OTCQX (or any successors to any of the foregoing).

 

“Transfer Agent” means VStock Transfer, LLC, the current transfer agent of the Company, with a mailing address of 18 Lafayette Place, Woodmere, NY 11598 and any successor transfer agent of the Company.

 

“Underwriting Agreement” means the underwriting agreement, dated as of _________, 2024 between the Company and The Benchmark Company, LLC as the underwriter, as amended, modified or supplemented from time to time in accordance with its terms.

 

“Warrant Agency Agreement” means that certain warrant agency agreement, dated on or about the Initial Exercise Date, between the Company and the Warrant Agent.

 

“Warrant Agent” means the Transfer Agent and any successor warrant agent of the Company.

 

“Warrants” means this Warrant and other Common Stock purchase warrants issued by the Company pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement. 

Section 2. Exercise.

 

(a) Exercise of Warrant. Exercise of this Warrant may be made, in whole or in part, at any time or times on or after the Initial Exercise Date and on or before the Termination Date by delivery to the Company of a duly executed PDF copy submitted by e-mail (or e-mail attachment) of the Notice of Exercise in the form annexed hereto (the “Notice of Exercise”). Within the earlier of (i) two (2) Trading Days and (ii) the number of Trading Days comprising the Standard Settlement Period (as defined in Section 2(c)(i) herein) following the date of exercise as aforesaid, the Holder shall deliver the aggregate Exercise Price for the shares specified in the applicable Notice of Exercise by wire transfer or cashier’s check drawn on a United States. No ink-original Notice of Exercise shall be required. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Holder shall not be required to physically surrender this Warrant to the Company until the Holder has purchased all of the Warrant Shares available hereunder and the Warrant has been exercised in full, in which case, the Holder shall surrender this Warrant to the Company for cancellation within two (2) Trading Days of the date on which the final Notice of Exercise is delivered to the Company. Partial exercises of this Warrant resulting in purchases of a portion of the total number of Warrant Shares available hereunder shall have the effect of lowering the outstanding number of Warrant Shares purchasable hereunder in an amount equal to the applicable number of Warrant Shares purchased. The Holder and the Company shall maintain records showing the number of Warrant Shares purchased and the date of such purchases. The Company shall deliver any objection to any Notice of Exercise within one (1) Business Day of receipt of such notice. The Holder and any assignee, by acceptance of this Warrant, acknowledge and agree that, by reason of the provisions of this paragraph, following the purchase of a portion of the Warrant Shares hereunder, the number of Warrant Shares available for purchase hereunder at any given time may be less than the amount stated on the face hereof.

 

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing in this Section 2(a), a holder whose interest in this Warrant is a beneficial interest in certificate(s) representing this Warrant held in book-entry form through DTC (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions), shall effect exercises made pursuant to this Section 2(a) by delivering to DTC (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable) the appropriate instruction form for exercise, complying with the procedures to effect exercise that are required by DTC (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable), subject to a Holder’s right to elect to receive a Warrant in certificated form pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agency Agreement, in which case this sentence shall not apply.

 

(b) Exercise Price. The exercise price per share of Common Stock under this Warrant shall be $[     ][100% of the common share offering price], subject to adjustment hereunder (the “Exercise Price”).

 

(c) Mechanics of Exercise.

 

i. Delivery of Warrant Shares Upon Exercise. The Company shall cause the Warrant Shares purchased hereunder to be transmitted by the Transfer Agent to the Holder by crediting the account of the Holder’s or its designee’s balance account with The Depository Trust Company through its Deposit or Withdrawal at Custodian system (“DWAC”) if the Company is then a participant in such system and there is an effective registration statement permitting the issuance by the Company of the Warrant Shares to the Warrant Holder without any securities law restrictions on resale, and otherwise by book-entry statement in the name of the Holder or its designee, for the number of Warrant Shares to which the Holder is entitled pursuant to such exercise to the address specified by the Holder in the Notice of Exercise by the date that is the earliest of (i) two (2) Trading Days after the delivery to the Company of the Notice of Exercise, (ii) one (1) Trading Day after delivery of the aggregate Exercise Price to the Company and (iii) the number of Trading Days comprising the Standard Settlement Period after the delivery to the Company of the Notice of Exercise (such date, the “Warrant Share Delivery Date”). Upon delivery of the Notice of Exercise, the Holder shall be deemed for all corporate purposes to have become the holder of record of the Warrant Shares with respect to which this Warrant has been exercised, irrespective of the date of delivery of the Warrant Shares, provided that payment of the aggregate Exercise Price is received within the earlier of (i) two (2) Trading Days and (ii) the number of Trading Days comprising the Standard Settlement Period following delivery of the Notice of Exercise. If the Company fails for any reason to deliver to the Holder the Warrant Shares subject to a Notice of Exercise by the Warrant Share Delivery Date, the Company shall pay to the Holder, in cash, as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of Warrant Shares subject to such exercise (based on the Exercise Price on the date of the applicable Notice of Exercise), $10 per Trading Day (increasing to $20 per Trading Day on the fifth Trading Day after such liquidated damages begin to accrue) for each Trading Day after such Warrant Share Delivery Date until such Warrant Shares are delivered or Holder rescinds such exercise. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company shall not be responsible for the payment of liquidated damages resulting from the failure to issue or deliver Warrant Shares if such failure is caused solely by any action or inaction of the Holder. The Company agrees to maintain a transfer agent that is a participant in the FAST program so long as this Warrant remains outstanding and exercisable. As used herein, “Standard Settlement Period” means the standard settlement period, expressed in a number of Trading Days, on the Company’s primary Trading Market with respect to the Common Stock as in effect on the date of delivery of the Notice of Exercise.

 

ii. Delivery of New Warrants Upon Exercise. If this Warrant shall have been exercised in part, the Company shall, at the request of a Holder and upon surrender of this Warrant, at the time of delivery of the Warrant Shares, deliver to the Holder a new Warrant evidencing the rights of the Holder to purchase the unpurchased Warrant Shares called for by this Warrant, which new Warrant shall in all other respects be identical with this Warrant.

 

 

iii. Compensation for Buy-In on Failure to Timely Deliver Warrant Shares Upon Exercise. In addition to any other rights available to the Holder, if the Company fails to cause the Transfer Agent to transmit to the Holder the Warrant Shares in accordance with the provisions of Section 2(c)(i) above pursuant to an exercise on or before the Warrant Share Delivery Date (other than any such failure that is solely due to any action or inaction by the Holder with respect to such exercise), and if after such date the Holder is required by its broker to purchase (in an open market transaction or otherwise) or the Holder’s brokerage firm otherwise purchases, shares of Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of the Warrant Shares which the Holder anticipated receiving upon such exercise (a “Buy-In”), then the Company shall (A) pay in cash to the Holder the amount, if any, by which (x) the Holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased exceeds (y) the amount obtained by multiplying (1) the number of Warrant Shares that the Company was required to deliver to the Holder in connection with the exercise at issue times (2) the price at which the sell order giving rise to such purchase obligation was executed, and (B) at the option of the Holder, either reinstate the portion of the Warrant and equivalent number of Warrant Shares for which such exercise was not honored (in which case such exercise shall be deemed rescinded) or deliver to the Holder the number of shares of Common Stock that would have been issued had the Company timely complied with its exercise and delivery obligations hereunder. For example, if the Holder purchases Common Stock having a total purchase price of $11,000 to cover a Buy-In with respect to an attempted exercise of shares of Common Stock with an aggregate sale price giving rise to such purchase obligation of $10,000, under clause (A) of the immediately preceding sentence the Company shall be required to pay the Holder $1,000. The Holder shall provide the Company written notice indicating the amounts payable to the Holder in respect of the Buy-In and, upon request of the Company, evidence of the amount of such loss. Nothing herein shall limit a Holder’s right to pursue any other remedies available to it hereunder, at law or in equity including, without limitation, a decree of specific performance and/or injunctive relief with respect to the Company’s failure to timely deliver shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Warrant as required pursuant to the terms hereof.

 

iv. No Fractional Shares or Scrip. No fractional shares or scrip representing fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of this Warrant. As to any fraction of a share which the Holder would otherwise be entitled to purchase upon such exercise, the Company shall, at its election, either pay a cash adjustment in respect of such final fraction in an amount equal to such fraction multiplied by the Exercise Price or round up to the next whole share.

 

v. Charges, Taxes and Expenses. Issuance of Warrant Shares shall be made without charge to the Holder for any issue or transfer tax or other incidental expense in respect of the issuance of such Warrant Shares, all of which taxes and expenses shall be paid by the Company, and such Warrant Shares shall be issued in the name of the Holder or in such name or names as may be directed by the Holder; provided, however, that, in the event that Warrant Shares are to be issued in a name other than the name of the Holder, this Warrant when surrendered for exercise shall be accompanied by the Assignment Form attached hereto duly executed by the Holder and the Company may require, as a condition thereto, the payment of a sum sufficient to reimburse it for any transfer tax incidental thereto. The Company shall pay all Transfer Agent fees required for same-day processing of any Notice of Exercise and all fees to the Depository Trust Company (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions) required for same-day electronic delivery of the Warrant Shares.

 

vi. Closing of Books. The Company will not close its stockholder books or records in any manner which prevents the timely exercise of this Warrant, pursuant to the terms hereof.

 

vii. Maintenance of Commission Registration and Blue Sky. At all times during which the Warrants are outstanding and the Company may be obligated to issue Warrant Shares upon exercise of the Warrants, the Company will maintain an effective registration statement permitting the issuance by the Company of the Warrant Shares to the Holder without any federal or state securities law restrictions on resale of the Warrant Shares.

 

 

Section 3. Certain Adjustments.

 

(a) Stock Dividends and Splits. If the Company, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding: (i) pays a stock dividend or otherwise makes a distribution or distributions on shares of its Common Stock or any other equity or equity equivalent securities payable in shares of Common Stock (which, for avoidance of doubt, shall not include any shares of Common Stock issued by the Company upon exercise of this Warrant), (ii) subdivides outstanding shares of Common Stock into a larger number of shares, (iii) combines (including by way of reverse stock split) outstanding shares of Common Stock into a smaller number of shares, or (iv) issues by reclassification of shares of the Common Stock any shares of capital stock of the Company, then in each case the Exercise Price shall be multiplied by a fraction of which the numerator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) outstanding immediately before such event and of which the denominator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after such event, and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of this Warrant shall be proportionately adjusted such that the aggregate Exercise Price of this Warrant shall remain unchanged. Any adjustment made pursuant to this Section 3(a) shall become effective immediately after the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to receive such dividend or distribution and shall become effective immediately after the effective date in the case of a subdivision, combination or re-classification.

 

(b) Fundamental Transaction. If, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding, (i) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another Person other than any Subsidiary or any Affiliate of the Company, whereby the stockholders of the Company immediately prior to such merger or consolidation do not own, directly or indirectly, at least 50% of the voting power of the surviving entity immediately after such merger or consolidation; (ii) the Company (and all of its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole), directly or indirectly, effects any sale, lease, license, assignment, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of all or substantially all of its assets in one or a series of related transactions; (iii) any, direct or indirect, purchase offer, tender offer or exchange offer (whether by the Company or another Person) is completed pursuant to which holders of Common Stock are permitted to sell, tender or exchange their shares for other securities, cash or property and has been accepted by the holders of 50% or more of the outstanding Common Stock; (iv) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any reclassification, reorganization or recapitalization of the Common Stock or any compulsory share exchange pursuant to which the Common Stock is effectively converted into or exchanged for other securities, cash or property; or (v) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions consummates a stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination (including, without limitation, a reorganization, recapitalization, spin-off, merger or scheme of arrangement) with another Person or group of Persons whereby such other Person or group acquires more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (not including any shares of Common Stock held by the other Person or other Persons making or party to, or associated or affiliated with the other Persons making or party to, such stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination) (each a “Fundamental Transaction”), then, upon any subsequent exercise of this Warrant, the Holder shall have the right to receive, for each Warrant Share that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, at the option of the Holder, the number of shares of Common Stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of the Company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration (the “Alternate Consideration”) receivable as a result of such Fundamental Transaction by a holder of the number of shares of Common Stock for which this Warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such Fundamental Transaction. For purposes of any such exercise, the determination of the Exercise Price shall be appropriately adjusted to apply to such Alternate Consideration based on the amount of Alternate Consideration issuable in respect of one share of Common Stock in such Fundamental Transaction, and the Company shall apportion the Exercise Price among the Alternate Consideration in a reasonable manner reflecting the relative value of any different components of the Alternate Consideration. The Company shall cause any successor entity in a Fundamental Transaction in which the Company is not the survivor (the “Successor Entity”) to assume in writing all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3(b) pursuant to written agreements in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Holder and approved by the Holder (without unreasonable delay) prior to such Fundamental Transaction and shall, at the option of the Holder, deliver to the Holder in exchange for this Warrant a security of the Successor Entity evidenced by a written instrument substantially similar in form and substance to this Warrant which is exercisable for a corresponding number of shares of capital stock of such Successor Entity (or its parent entity) equivalent to the shares of Common Stock acquirable and receivable upon exercise of this Warrant prior to such Fundamental Transaction, and with an exercise price which applies the exercise price hereunder to such shares of capital stock (but taking into account the relative value of the shares of Common Stock pursuant to such Fundamental Transaction and the value of such shares of capital stock, such number of shares of capital stock and such exercise price being for the purpose of protecting the economic value of this Warrant immediately prior to the consummation of such Fundamental Transaction), and which is reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Holder. Upon the occurrence of any such Fundamental Transaction, the Successor Entity shall succeed to, and be substituted for (so that from and after the date of such Fundamental Transaction, the provisions of this Warrant referring to the “Company” shall refer instead to the Successor Entity), and may exercise every right and power of the Company and shall assume all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant with the same effect as if such Successor Entity had been named as the Company herein. 

 

 

(c) Calculations. All calculations under this Section 3 shall be made to the nearest cent or the nearest 1/100th of a share, as the case may be. For purposes of this Section 3, the number of shares of Common Stock deemed to be issued and outstanding as of a given date shall be the sum of the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) issued and outstanding.

 

(d) Notice to Holder.

 

i. Adjustment to Exercise Price. Whenever the Exercise Price is adjusted pursuant to any provision of this Section 3, the Company shall promptly deliver to the Holder by email a notice setting forth the Exercise Price after such adjustment and any resulting adjustment to the number of Warrant Shares and setting forth a brief statement of the facts requiring such adjustment.

 

ii. Notice to Allow Exercise by Holder. If (A) the Company shall declare a dividend (or any other distribution in whatever form) on the Common Stock, (B) the Company shall declare a special nonrecurring cash dividend on or a redemption of the Common Stock, (C) the Company shall authorize the granting to all holders of the Common Stock rights or warrants to subscribe for or purchase any shares of capital stock of any class or of any rights, (D) the approval of any stockholders of the Company shall be required in connection with any reclassification of the Common Stock, any consolidation or merger to which the Company (and all of its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole) is a party, any sale or transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or any compulsory share exchange whereby the Common Stock is converted into other securities, cash or property, or (E) the Company shall authorize the voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation or winding up of the affairs of the Company, then, in each case, the Company shall cause to be delivered by email to the Holder at its last email address as it shall appear upon the Warrant Register of the Company, at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the applicable record or effective date hereinafter specified, a notice (unless such information is filed with the Commission, in which case a notice shall not be required) stating (x) the date on which a record is to be taken for the purpose of such dividend, distribution, redemption, rights or warrants, or if a record is not to be taken, the date as of which the holders of the Common Stock of record to be entitled to such dividend, distributions, redemption, rights or warrants are to be determined or (y) the date on which such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange is expected to become effective or close, and the date as of which it is expected that holders of the Common Stock of record shall be entitled to exchange their shares of the Common Stock for securities, cash or other property deliverable upon such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange; provided that the failure to deliver such notice or any defect therein or in the delivery thereof shall not affect the validity of the corporate action required to be specified in such notice. To the extent that any notice provided in this Warrant constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K. The Holder shall remain entitled to exercise this Warrant during the period commencing on the date of such notice to the effective date of the event triggering such notice except as may otherwise be expressly set forth herein.

 

 

(e) Voluntary Adjustment By Company. Subject to the rules and regulations of the Trading Market on which any of its securities are traded and as applicable, provided that there is a current and effective registration statement permitting the issuance by the Company of the Warrant Shares to the Warrant Holder without any securities law restrictions on resale, the Company may at any time during the term of this Warrant, reduce the then current Exercise Price to any amount and for any period of time deemed appropriate by the board of directors of the Company.

 

Section 4. Transfer of Warrant.

 

(a) Transferability. Subject to compliance with any applicable securities laws, this Warrant and all rights hereunder (including, without limitation, any registration rights) are transferable, in whole or in part, upon surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the Company or its designated agent, together with a written assignment of this Warrant substantially in the form attached hereto duly executed by the Holder or its agent or attorney and funds sufficient to pay any transfer taxes payable upon the making of such transfer. Upon such surrender and, if required, such payment, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in the name of the assignee or assignees, as applicable, and in the denomination or denominations specified in such instrument of assignment, and shall issue to the assignor a new Warrant evidencing the portion of this Warrant not so assigned, and this Warrant shall promptly be cancelled. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Holder shall not be required to physically surrender this Warrant to the Company unless the Holder has assigned this Warrant in full, in which case, the Holder shall surrender this Warrant to the Company within three (3) Trading Days of the date on which the Holder delivers an assignment form to the Company assigning this Warrant in full. The Warrant, if properly assigned in accordance herewith, may be exercised by a new holder for the purchase of Warrant Shares without having a new Warrant issued.

 

(b) New Warrants. If this Warrant is not held in global form through DTC (or any successor depositary), this Warrant may be divided or combined with other Warrants upon presentation hereof at the aforesaid office of the Company, together with a written notice specifying the names and denominations in which new Warrants are to be issued, signed by the Holder or its agent or attorney. Subject to compliance with Section 4(a), as to any transfer which may be involved in such division or combination, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in exchange for the Warrant or Warrants to be divided or combined in accordance with such notice. All Warrants issued on transfers or exchanges shall be dated the initial issuance date of this Warrant and shall be identical with this Warrant except as to the number of Warrant Shares issuable pursuant thereto.

 

(c) Warrant Register. The Warrant Agent shall register this Warrant, upon records to be maintained by the Warrant Agent for that purpose (the “Warrant Register”), in the name of the record Holder hereof from time to time. The Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the registered Holder of this Warrant as the absolute owner hereof for the purpose of any exercise hereof or any distribution to the Holder, and for all other purposes, absent actual notice to the contrary.

 

 

Section 5. Redemption of Warrants. This Warrant shall not be redeemable by the Company.

 

Section 6. Miscellaneous.

 

(a) No Rights as Stockholder Until Exercise; No Settlement in Cash. This Warrant does not entitle the Holder to any voting rights, dividends or other rights as a stockholder of the Company prior to the exercise hereof as set forth in Section 2(c)(i), except as expressly set forth in Section 3. In no event shall the Company be required to net cash settle an exercise of this Warrant.

 

(b) Loss, Theft, Destruction or Mutilation of Warrant. The Company covenants that upon receipt by the Company of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of this Warrant or any stock certificate relating to the Warrant Shares, and in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably satisfactory to it (which, in the case of the Warrant, shall not include the posting of any bond), and upon surrender and cancellation of such Warrant or stock certificate, if mutilated, the Company will make and deliver a new Warrant or stock certificate of like tenor and dated as of such cancellation, in lieu of such Warrant or stock certificate.

 

(c) Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc. If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Business Day, then such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Business Day.

 

(d) Authorized Shares. The Company covenants that, during the period the Warrant is outstanding, it will reserve from its authorized and unissued Common Stock a sufficient number of shares to provide for the issuance of the Warrant Shares upon the exercise of this Warrant. The Company further covenants that its issuance of this Warrant shall constitute full authority to its officers who are charged with the duty of issuing the necessary Warrant Shares upon the exercise of this Warrant. The Company will take all such reasonable action as may be necessary to assure that such Warrant Shares may be issued as provided herein without violation of any applicable law or regulation, or of any requirements of the Trading Market upon which the Common Stock may be listed. The Company covenants that all Warrant Shares which may be issued upon the exercise of this Warrant will, upon exercise of this Warrant and payment for such Warrant Shares in accordance herewith, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free from all taxes, liens and charges created by the Company in respect of the issue thereof (other than taxes in respect of any transfer occurring contemporaneously with such issue).

 

Except and to the extent as waived or consented to by the Holder, the Company shall not by any action, including, without limitation, amending its certificate of incorporation or through any reorganization, transfer of assets, consolidation, merger, dissolution, issue or sale of securities or any other voluntary action, avoid or seek to avoid the observance or performance of any of the terms of this Warrant, but will at all times in good faith assist in the carrying out of all such terms and in the taking of all such actions as may be necessary or appropriate to protect the rights of Holder as set forth in this Warrant against impairment. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company will (i) not increase the par value of any Warrant Shares above the amount payable therefor upon such exercise immediately prior to such increase in par value, (ii) take all such action as may be necessary or appropriate in order that the Company may validly and legally issue fully paid and non-assessable Warrant Shares upon the exercise of this Warrant and (iii) use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain all such authorizations, exemptions or consents from any public regulatory body having jurisdiction thereof, as may be, necessary to enable the Company to perform its obligations under this Warrant.

 

 

Before taking any action which would result in an adjustment in the number of Warrant Shares for which this Warrant is exercisable or in the Exercise Price, the Company shall obtain all such authorizations or exemptions thereof, or consents thereto, as may be necessary from any public regulatory body or bodies having jurisdiction thereof.

 

(e) Governing Law. All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of this Warrant shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law thereof. Each party agrees that all legal proceedings concerning the interpretations, enforcement and defense of the transactions contemplated by this Warrant (whether brought against a party hereto or their respective affiliates, directors, officers, shareholders, partners, members, employees or agents) shall be commenced exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection herewith or with any transaction contemplated hereby or discussed herein, and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such suit, action or proceeding is improper or is an inconvenient venue for such proceeding. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by mailing a copy thereof via registered or certified mail or overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Warrant and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. If either party shall commence an action, suit or proceeding to enforce any provisions of this Warrant, the prevailing party in such action, suit or proceeding shall be reimbursed by the other party for their reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such action or proceeding.

 

(f) Restrictions. Notwithstanding the obligation of the Company pursuant to Section 2(c)(vii), if upon an exercise of the Warrants the Warrant Shares cannot be delivered by the Company because of a federal or state securities law legal limitation without restriction of any kind imposed on the Warrant Shares, but the Company is able to deliver the Warrant Shares subject to restriction, then the Holder, at its option acknowledged in a writing from the Holder, may accept the delivery of the Warrant Shares subject to restriction, and in such case, the Holder acknowledges that the Warrant Shares acquired upon the exercise of this Warrant, if not registered, will have restrictions upon resale imposed by state and federal securities laws. For an abundance of clarity, this Section 6(f) is not intended to permit the Company to not fulfill its obligations under Section 2(c)(vii). Any failure to fulfill its obligations under Section 2(c)(vii) will be deemed a material default of this Warrant, and the Company will be liable to the Holder for any, loss, including but not limited to any loss of profit, suffered by the Holder for its inability to exercise the Warrant and obtain the Warrant Shares or for its acceptance of the Warrant Shares with restrictions. Acceptance of the Warrant Shares with restrictions will not constitute a waiver by the Holder to claiming damages.

 

(g) Nonwaiver and Expenses. No course of dealing or any delay or failure to exercise any right hereunder on the part of Holder shall operate as a waiver of such right or otherwise prejudice the Holder’s rights, powers or remedies. Without limiting any other provision of this Warrant, if the Company willfully and knowingly fails to comply with any provision of this Warrant, which results in any material damages to the Holder, the Company shall pay to the Holder such amounts as shall be sufficient to cover any costs and expenses including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, including those of appellate proceedings, incurred by the Holder in collecting any amounts due pursuant hereto or in otherwise enforcing any of its rights, powers or remedies hereunder.

 

 

(h) Notices. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries to be provided by the Holders hereunder including, without limitation, any Notice of Exercise, shall be in writing and delivered personally, by e-mail: judd.merrill@aquametals.com, or sent by a nationally recognized overnight courier service, addressed to the Company, at 5370 Kietzke Lane, Suite 201, Reno, Nevada 89511, Attention: Chief Financial Officer, or such other physical address, email address or address as the Company may specify for such purposes by notice to the Holders. Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries to be provided by the Company hereunder shall be in writing and delivered personally, by e-mail, or sent by a nationally recognized overnight courier service addressed to each Holder at the physical address, e-mail address or address of such Holder appearing on the books of the Company. Any notice or other communication or deliveries hereunder shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of (i) the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail at the e-mail address set forth in this Section prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any date, (ii) the next Trading Day after the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail at the e-mail address set forth in this Section on a day that is not a Trading Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, (iii) the second Trading Day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. nationally recognized overnight courier service, or the fifth Trading Day following the date of mailing, if sent by the United States Postal Service, postage prepaid, or (iv) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. To the extent that any notice provided hereunder constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

(i) Limitation of Liability. No provision hereof, in the absence of any affirmative action by the Holder to exercise this Warrant to purchase Warrant Shares, and no enumeration herein of the rights or privileges of the Holder, shall give rise to any liability of the Holder for the purchase price of any Common Stock or as a stockholder of the Company, whether such liability is asserted by the Company or by creditors of the Company.

 

(j) Remedies. The Holder, in addition to being entitled to exercise all rights granted by law, including recovery of damages, will be entitled to specific performance of its rights under this Warrant. The Company agrees that monetary damages would not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of a breach by it of the provisions of this Warrant and hereby agrees to waive and not to assert the defense in any action for specific performance that a remedy at law would be adequate.

 

(k) Successors and Assigns. Subject to applicable securities laws, this Warrant and the rights and obligations evidenced hereby shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the successors and permitted assigns of the Company and the successors and permitted assigns of Holder. The provisions of this Warrant are intended to be for the benefit of any Holder from time to time of this Warrant and shall be enforceable by the Holder or holder of Warrant Shares.

 

(l) Amendment. This Warrant may be modified or amended and the provisions hereof may be waived with the written consent of the Company and holders of a majority of the then outstanding Warrants (based on the number of Warrant Shares then underlying such Warrants).

 

(m) Severability. Wherever possible, each provision of this Warrant shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Warrant shall be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of such provisions or the remaining provisions of this Warrant.

 

(n) Headings. The headings used in this Warrant are for the convenience of reference only and shall not, for any purpose, be deemed a part of this Warrant.

 

 

(o) Warrant Agency Agreement. If this Warrant is held in global form through DTC (or any successor depositary), this Warrant is issued subject to the Warrant Agency Agreement. To the extent any provision of this Warrant conflicts with the express provisions of the Warrant Agency Agreement, the provisions of this Warrant shall govern and be controlling.

 

********************

 

(Signature Page Follows)

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Warrant to be executed by its officer thereunto duly authorized as of the date first above indicated.

 

	AQUA METALS, INC.
	By:
		Name:
		Title:

 

 

THIS WARRANT IS NOT VALID FOR ANY PURPOSE UNLESS COUNTERSIGNED BY THE WARRANT AGENT BELOW.
VSTOCK TRANSFER, LLC
By:
	Name:
	Title:

 

[Signature Page to Warrant – Aqua Metals, Inc.]

 

 

NOTICE OF EXERCISE

TO:        AQUA METALS, INC.

 

(1)         The undersigned hereby elects to purchase ________ Warrant Shares of the Company pursuant to the terms of the attached Warrant (only if exercised in full), and tenders herewith payment of the exercise price in full, together with all applicable transfer taxes, if any.

 

(2)         Payment shall take the form of lawful money of the United States.

 

(3)         Please issue said Warrant Shares in the name of the undersigned or in such other name as is specified below:

 

 

The Warrant Shares shall be delivered to the following DWAC Account Number:

 

 

[SIGNATURE OF HOLDER]

 

Name of Investing Entity:

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Investing Entity:

Name of Authorized Signatory:

Title of Authorized Signatory:

Date:

 

 

ASSIGNMENT FORM

 

(To assign the foregoing Warrant, execute this form and supply required information. Do not use this form to purchase shares.)

 

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, the foregoing Warrant and all rights evidenced thereby are hereby assigned to

 

Name:
			(Please Print)
Address:
			(Please Print)
Phone Number:
Email Address:
Dated: _______________ __, ______
Holder’s Signature:
Holder’s Address:

 

Exhibit 4.2

 

---

 

AQUA METALS, INC.

 

and

 

VSTOCK TRANSFER, LLC, as

Warrant Agent

 

---

 

Warrant Agency Agreement

 

Dated as of May [__], 2024

 

 

WARRANT AGENCY AGREEMENT

 

WARRANT AGENCY AGREEMENT, dated as of May [__], 2024 (“Agreement”), by and between Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and VStock Transfer, LLC, a New York limited liability trust company (“VStock” or the “Warrant Agent”).

 

W I T N E S S E T H

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to the terms of that certain Underwriting Agreement, dated [__], 2024, by and between the Company and The Benchmark Company, LLC, as representative of the underwriters named therein, the Company engaged in a public offering (the “Offering”) of: (i) [__] units (the “Units”), with each Unit consisting of (a) one share of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), and (b) one accompanying common warrant to purchase Common Stock (the “Warrants”); and (ii) the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants (the “Warrant Shares”); and

 

WHEREAS, upon the terms and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth and pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-267780) (as amended, the “Registration Statement”), and the terms and conditions of the Warrant Certificate (as defined below) the Company wishes to issue Warrants in book entry form entitling the respective holders of the Warrants (the “Holders”, which term shall include a Holder’s transferees, successors and assigns and “Holder” shall include, if the Warrants are held in “street name”, a Participant (as defined below) or a designee appointed by such Participant); and

 

WHEREAS, the Company wishes the Warrant Agent to act on behalf of the Company, and the Warrant Agent is willing to act, in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, exercise and replacement of the Warrants and in the Warrant Agent’s capacity as the Company’s transfer agent, the delivery of the Warrant Shares.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual agreements herein set forth, the parties hereby agree as follows:

 

Section 1. Certain Definitions. For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings indicated:

 

(a)         “Affiliate” has the meaning ascribed to it in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

 

(b)         “Business Day” means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, any day which is a federal legal holiday in the United States or any day on which the Nasdaq Stock Market is authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close.

 

(c)       “Close of Business” on any given date means 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on such date; provided, however, that if such date is not a Business Day, it means 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the next succeeding Business Day.

 

(d)       “Person” means an individual, corporation, association, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust, unincorporated organization, government or political subdivision thereof or governmental agency or other entity.

 

 

(e)         “Warrant Certificate” means a certificate in substantially the form attached as Exhibit 1-A (as it relates to the Warrants) hereto, representing such number of Warrant Shares (as defined above) as is indicated therein, provided that any reference to the delivery of a Warrant Certificate in this Agreement shall include delivery of notice from the Depository or a Participant (each as defined below) of the transfer or exercise of the Warrant in the form of a Global Warrant (as defined below).

 

All other capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the Warrant Certificate.

 

Section 2. Appointment of Warrant Agent. The Company hereby appoints the Warrant Agent to act as agent for the Company in accordance with the express terms or conditions hereof (and no implied terms and conditions), and the Warrant Agent hereby accepts such appointment.

 

Section 3. Global Warrants.

 

(a)         The Warrants shall be issuable in book entry form. All of the Warrants shall initially be represented by one or more Global Warrants (the “Global Warrants” and, each, a “Global Warrant”), deposited with the Warrant Agent and registered in the name of Cede & Co., a nominee of The Depository Trust Company (the “Depository”), or as otherwise directed by the Depository. Ownership of beneficial interests in the Warrants, shall be shown on, and the transfer of such ownership shall be effected through, records maintained by (i) the Depository or its nominee for each Global Warrant or (ii) institutions that have accounts with the Depository (such institution, with respect to a Warrant in its account, a “Participant”). For purposes of Regulation SHO, a holder whose interest in a Global Warrant is a beneficial interest in certificate(s) representing such Warrant held in book-entry form through the Depository shall be deemed to have exercised its interest in such Warrant upon instructing its broker that is a Participant to exercise its interest in such Warrant, provided that in each such case payment of the applicable aggregate Exercise Price is delivered by such Participant within the earlier of (i) two trading days and (ii) the number of trading days comprising the Standard Settlement Period, in each case following such instruction. As used herein, “Standard Settlement Period” means the standard settlement period, expressed in a number of trading days, on the Company’s primary trading market with respect to the Common Stock as in effect on the date of delivery of the Exercise Notice.

(b)         If the Depository subsequently ceases to make its book-entry settlement system available for the Warrants, the Company may instruct the Warrant Agent regarding other arrangements for book-entry settlement. In the event that the Warrants are not eligible for, or it is no longer necessary to have the Warrants available in, book-entry form, the Warrant Agent shall provide written instructions to the Depository to deliver to the Warrant Agent for cancellation each Global Warrant, and the Company shall instruct the Warrant Agent in writing to deliver to each Holder a Warrant Certificate.

 

 

(c)         A Holder has the right to elect at any time or from time to time a Warrant Exchange (as defined below) pursuant to a Warrant Certificate Request Notice (as defined below). Upon written notice by a Holder to the Warrant Agent for the exchange of some or all of such Holder’s Global Warrants for a Warrant Certificate, evidencing the same number of Warrants, which request shall be in the form attached hereto as Annex A (a “Warrant Certificate Request Notice” and the date of delivery of such Warrant Certificate Request Notice by the Holder, the “Warrant Certificate Request Notice Date” and the deemed surrender upon delivery by the Holder of a number of Global Warrants for the same number of Warrants evidenced by a Warrant Certificate, a “Warrant Exchange”), the Warrant Agent shall promptly effect the Warrant Exchange and shall promptly issue and deliver, at the expense of the Company, to the Holder a Warrant Certificate, for such number of Warrants in the name set forth in the Warrant Certificate Request Notice. Such Warrant Certificate shall be dated the original issue date of the Warrants, shall be executed either manually or by .pdf via email signature by an authorized signatory of the Company, and shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 1-A, and shall be reasonably acceptable in all respects to such Holder. In connection with a Warrant Exchange, the Company agrees to deliver, or to direct the Warrant Agent to deliver, the Warrant Certificate, to the Holder within ten (10) Business Days of the Warrant Certificate Request Notice pursuant to the delivery instructions in the Warrant Certificate Request Notice (“Warrant Certificate Delivery Date”). If the Company fails for any reason to deliver to the Holder the Warrant Certificate subject to the Warrant Certificate Request Notice by the Warrant Certificate Delivery Date, the Company shall pay to the Holder, in cash, as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of Warrant Shares evidenced by such Warrant Certificate (based on the Exercise Price on the date of the applicable Warrant Certificate Request Notice), $10 per Business Day for each Business Day after such Warrant Certificate Delivery Date until such Warrant Certificate is delivered or, prior to delivery of such Warrant Certificate, the Holder rescinds such Warrant Exchange. In no event shall the Warrant Agent be liable for the Company’s failure to deliver the Warrant Certificate by the Warrant Certificate Delivery Date. The Company covenants and agrees that, upon the date of delivery of the Warrant Certificate Request Notice, the Holder shall be deemed to be the holder of the Warrant Certificate, as applicable, and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, the Warrant Certificate shall be deemed for all purposes to contain all of the terms and conditions of the Warrants, evidenced by such Warrant Certificate, and the terms of this Agreement, other than Sections 3(c) and 9 herein, shall not apply to the Warrants evidenced by the Warrant Certificate. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, in the event of inconsistency between any provision in this Agreement and any provision in a Warrant Certificate, as it may from time to time be amended, the terms of such Warrant Certificate shall control.

 

Section 4. Form of Warrant Certificates. The Warrant Certificate, together with the form of election to purchase Common Stock (“Exercise Notice”) and the form of assignment to be printed on the reverse thereof, shall be in the form of Exhibit 1-A attached hereto.

 

Section 5. Countersignature and Registration. The Warrant Certificates shall be executed on behalf of the Company by its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President, either manually or by .pdf via email signature. The Warrant Certificates shall be countersigned by the Warrant Agent either manually or by .pdf via email signature and shall not be valid for any purpose unless so countersigned. In case any officer of the Company who shall have signed any of the Warrant Certificates shall cease to be such officer of the Company before countersignature by the Warrant Agent and issuance and delivery by the Company, such Warrant Certificates, nevertheless, may be countersigned by the Warrant Agent, issued and delivered with the same force and effect as though the Person who signed such Warrant Certificate had not ceased to be such officer of the Company; and any Warrant Certificate may be signed on behalf of the Company by any Person who, at the actual date of the execution of such Warrant Certificate, shall be a proper officer of the Company to sign such Warrant Certificate, although at the date of the execution of this Agreement any such Person was not such an officer.

 

The Warrant Agent will keep or cause to be kept, at its office designated for such purposes, books for registration and transfer of the Global Warrants or Warrant Certificates issued hereunder. Such books shall show the names and addresses of the respective Holders of the Global Warrants or Warrant Certificates, the number of warrants evidenced on the face of each such Global Warrants or Warrant Certificate and the date of each such Global Warrants or Warrant Certificate. The Warrant Agent will create a special account for the issuance of Global Warrants and Warrant Certificates.

 

 

Section 6. Transfer, Split Up, Combination and Exchange of Warrant Certificates; Mutilated, Destroyed, Lost or Stolen Warrant Certificates. With respect to the Global Warrant, subject to the provisions of the Warrant Certificate, and the last sentence of this first paragraph of Section 6 and subject to applicable law, rules or regulations, or any “stop transfer” instructions the Company may give to the Warrant Agent, at any time after the closing date of the Offering, and at or prior to the Close of Business on the Termination Date (as such term is defined in the Warrant Certificate), any Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates or Global Warrant or Global Warrants may be transferred, split up, combined or exchanged for another Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates or Global Warrant or Global Warrants, entitling the Holder to purchase a like number of shares of Common Stock as the Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates or Global Warrant or Global Warrants surrendered then entitled such Holder to purchase. Any Holder desiring to transfer, split up, combine or exchange any Warrant Certificate or Global Warrant shall make such request in writing delivered to the Warrant Agent and shall surrender the Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates, together with the required form of assignment and certificate duly executed and properly completed and such other documentation as the Warrant Agent may reasonably request, to be transferred, split up, combined or exchanged at the office of the Warrant Agent designated for such purpose, provided that no such surrender is applicable to the Holder of a Global Warrant. Any requested transfer of Warrants, whether in book-entry form or certificate form, shall be accompanied by evidence of authority of the party making such request that may be reasonably required by the Warrant Agent. Thereupon the Warrant Agent shall, subject to the last sentence of this first paragraph of Section 6, countersign and deliver to the Person entitled thereto a Warrant Certificate as so requested. The Company may require payment from the Holder of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or governmental charge that may be imposed in connection with any transfer, split up, combination or exchange of Warrant Certificates. 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.

 

Upon receipt by the Warrant Agent of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of a Warrant Certificate, which evidence shall include an affidavit of loss, or in the case of mutilated certificates, the certificate or portion thereof remaining, and, in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably acceptable to the Company and the Warrant Agent, and satisfaction of any other reasonable requirements established by Section 8-405 of the Uniform Commercial Code as in effect in the State of Delaware, and reimbursement to the Company and the Warrant Agent of all reasonable expenses incidental thereto, and upon surrender to the Warrant Agent and cancellation of the Warrant Certificate if mutilated, the Company will make and deliver a new Warrant Certificate of like tenor to the Warrant Agent for delivery to the Holder in lieu of the Warrant Certificate so lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated.

 

The Company shall provide to the Warrant Agent an opinion of counsel on or prior to the issuance of Warrants to set up a reserve of Warrant Shares for the outstanding Warrants. The opinion shall state that all Warrants or Warrant Shares, as applicable, are, (i) registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and (ii) upon issuance will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

Section 7. Exercise of Warrants; Exercise Price; Termination Date.

 

(a)         The Warrants shall be exercisable commencing on the Initial Exercise Date. The Warrants shall cease to be exercisable on the Termination Date (as such term is defined in the Warrant Certificate). Subject to the foregoing and to Section 7(b) below, the Holder of a Warrant may exercise the Warrant, in whole or in part upon surrender of the Warrant Certificate, if required, with the properly completed and duly executed Exercise Notice and payment of the Exercise Price, which may be made, at the option of the Holder, by wire transfer or by certified or official bank check in United States dollars, to the Warrant Agent at the office of the Warrant Agent designated for such purposes. In the case of the Holder of a Global Warrant, the Holder shall deliver the duly executed Exercise Notice and the payment of the Exercise Price as described herein. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement, a holder whose interest in a Global Warrant is a beneficial interest in a Global Warrant held in book-entry form through the Depository (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions) shall effect exercises by delivering to the Depository (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable) the appropriate instruction form for exercise, complying with the procedures to effect exercise that is required by the Depository (or such other clearing corporation, as applicable). The Company acknowledges that the bank accounts maintained by the Warrant Agent in connection with the services provided under this Agreement will be in its name and that the Warrant Agent may receive investment earnings in connection with the investment at Warrant Agent risk and for its benefit of funds held in those accounts from time to time. Neither the Company nor the Holders will receive interest on any deposits or Exercise Price. No ink-original Exercise Notice shall be required, nor shall any medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any Exercise Notice be required.

 

 

(b)         Upon the Warrant Agent’s receipt of a Warrant Certificate, at or prior to the Close of Business on the Termination Date set forth in such Warrant Certificate, with the executed Exercise Notice and payment of the Exercise Price for the shares to be purchased and an amount equal to any applicable tax, or governmental charge referred to in Section 6 by wire transfer, or by certified check or bank draft payable to the order of the Company (or, in the case of the Holder of a Global Warrant, the delivery of the executed Exercise Notice and the payment of the Exercise Price and any other applicable amounts as set forth herein), the Warrant Agent shall cause the Warrant Shares underlying such Warrant Certificate, or Global Warrant, to be delivered to or upon the order of the Holder of such Warrant Certificate, or Global Warrant, registered in such name or names as may be designated by such Holder, no later than the Warrant Share Delivery Date (as such term is defined in the Warrant Certificate). If the Company is then a participant in the DWAC system of the Depository and there is an effective registration statement permitting the issuance of the Warrant Shares to or resale of the Warrant Shares by Holder. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Company becomes obligated to pay any amounts to any Holders pursuant to Sections 2(c)(i) or 2(c)(iii) of the Warrant Certificate, such obligation shall be solely that of the Company and not that of the Warrant Agent. Notwithstanding anything else to the contrary in this Agreement, if any Holder fails to duly deliver payment to the Warrant Agent of an amount equal to the aggregate Exercise Price of the Warrant Shares to be purchased upon exercise of such Holder’s Warrant as set forth in Section 7(a) hereof by the Warrant Share Delivery Date, the Warrant Agent will not be obligated to deliver such Warrant Shares (via DWAC or otherwise) until following receipt of such payment, and the applicable Warrant Share Delivery Date shall be deemed extended by one day for each day (or part thereof) until such payment is delivered to the Warrant Agent.

 

(c)         The Warrant Agent shall deposit all funds received by it in payment of the Exercise Price for all Warrants in the account of the Company maintained with the Warrant Agent for such purpose (or to such other account as directed by the Company in writing) and shall advise the Company via email at the end of each day on which exercise notices are received, or funds for the exercise of any Warrant are received, of the amount so deposited to its account.

 

(d)         In case the Holder of any Warrant Certificate shall exercise fewer than all Warrants evidenced thereby, upon the request of the Holder, a new Warrant Certificate evidencing the number of Warrants equivalent to the number of Warrants remaining unexercised may be issued by the Warrant Agent to the Holder of such Warrant Certificate or to his duly authorized assigns in accordance with Section 2(c)(ii) of the Warrant Certificate, subject to the provisions of Section 6 hereof.

 

Section 8. Cancellation and Destruction of Warrant Certificates. All Warrant Certificates surrendered for the purpose of exercise, transfer, split up, combination or exchange shall, if surrendered to the Company or to any of its agents, be delivered to the Warrant Agent for cancellation or in canceled form, or, if surrendered to the Warrant Agent, shall be canceled by it, and no Warrant Certificates shall be issued in lieu thereof except as expressly permitted by any of the provisions of this Agreement. The Company shall deliver to the Warrant Agent for cancellation and retirement, and the Warrant Agent shall so cancel and retire any other Warrant Certificate purchased or acquired by the Company otherwise than upon the exercise thereof. The Warrant Agent shall cancel such Warrant Certificates in accordance with its policies and procedures.

 

 

Section 9. Certain Representations; Reservation and Availability of Shares of Common Stock or Cash.

 

(a)         This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, assuming due authorization, execution and delivery hereof by the Warrant Agent, constitutes a valid and legally binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, and the Warrants have been duly authorized, executed and issued by the Company and, assuming due execution thereof by the Warrant Agent pursuant hereto and payment therefor by the Holders, constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms and entitled to the benefits hereof; in each case except as enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other similar laws relating to or affecting creditors’ rights generally or by general equitable principles (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).

 

(b)         As of the date hereof, the authorized capital stock of the Company consists of 200,000,000 shares of Common Stock, of which [__] shares of Common Stock are issued and outstanding.

 

(c)         The Company covenants and agrees that it will cause to be reserved and kept available out of its authorized and unissued shares of Common Stock or its authorized and issued shares of Common Stock held in its treasury, free from preemptive rights, the number of shares of Common Stock that will be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Warrants.

 

(d)         The Warrant Agent covenants and agrees that it will create the reserve in accordance with Section 9(c) hereof for the issuance of Common Stock upon the exercise of Warrants.

 

(e)         The Company further covenants and agrees that it will pay when due and payable any and all federal and state transfer taxes and charges which may be payable in respect of the original issuance or delivery of the Warrant Certificates or certificates evidencing Common Stock upon exercise of the Warrants. The Company shall not, however, be required to pay any tax or governmental charge which may be payable in respect of any transfer involved in the transfer or delivery of Warrant Certificates or the issuance or delivery of certificates for Common Stock in a name other than that of the Holder of the Warrant Certificate evidencing Warrants surrendered for exercise or to issue or deliver any certificate for shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of any Warrants until any such tax or governmental charge shall have been paid (any such tax or governmental charge being payable by the Holder of such Warrant Certificate at the time of surrender) or until it has been established to the Company’s and the Warrant Agent’s reasonable satisfaction that no such tax or governmental charge is due.

 

Section 10. Common Stock Record Date. Each Person in whose name any certificate for shares of Common Stock is issued (or to whose broker’s account is credited shares of Common Stock through the DWAC system) upon the exercise of Warrants shall for all purposes be deemed to have become the holder of record for the Common Stock represented thereby on, and such certificate shall be dated, the date on which submission of the Exercise Notice was made, provided that the Warrant Certificate evidencing such Warrant was duly surrendered (but only if required herein) and payment of the Exercise Price (and any applicable transfer taxes) was received on or prior to the Warrant Share Delivery Date; provided, however, that, if the date of submission of the Exercise Notice is a date upon which the Common Stock transfer books of the Company are closed, such Person shall be deemed to have become the record holder of such shares on, and such certificate shall be dated, the next succeeding day on which the Common Stock transfer books of the Company are open.

 

 

Section 11. Adjustment of Exercise Price, Number of Shares of Common Stock or Number of the Company Warrants. The Exercise Price, the number of shares covered by each Warrant and the number of Warrants outstanding are subject to adjustment from time to time as provided in Section 3 of the Warrant Certificate. In the event that at any time, as a result of an adjustment made pursuant to Section 3 of the Warrant Certificate, the Holder of any Warrant thereafter exercised shall become entitled to receive any shares of capital stock of the Company other than shares of Common Stock, thereafter the number of such other shares so receivable upon exercise of any Warrant shall be subject to adjustment from time to time in a manner and on terms as nearly equivalent as practicable to the provisions with respect to the shares contained in Section 3 of the Warrant Certificate, and the provisions of Sections 7, 11 and 12 of this Agreement with respect to the shares of Common Stock shall apply on like terms to any such other shares. All Warrants originally issued by the Company subsequent to any adjustment made to the Exercise Price pursuant to the Warrant Certificate shall evidence the right to purchase, at the adjusted Exercise Price, the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable from time to time hereunder upon exercise of the Warrants, all subject to further adjustment as provided herein.

 

Section 12. Certification of Adjusted Exercise Price or Number of Shares of Common Stock. Whenever the Exercise Price or the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of each Warrant Certificate is adjusted as provided in Section 11 or 13, the Company shall (a) promptly prepare a certificate setting forth the Exercise Price of each Warrant Certificate, as so adjusted, and a brief, reasonably detailed statement of the facts accounting for such adjustment, (b) promptly file with the Warrant Agent and with each transfer agent for the Common Stock a copy of such certificate and (c) instruct the Warrant Agent, at the Company’s expense, to send a brief summary thereof to each Holder of a Warrant Certificate. The Warrant Agent shall be fully protected in relying on such certificate and on any adjustment or statement therein contained and shall have no duty or liability with respect to and shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any such adjustment or any such event unless and until it shall have received such certificate.

 

Section 13. Fractional Shares of Common Stock.

 

(a)         The Company shall not issue fractions of Warrants or distribute Warrant Certificates which evidence fractional Warrants. Whenever any fractional Warrant would otherwise be required to be issued or distributed, the actual issuance or distribution shall reflect a rounding of such fraction to the nearest whole Warrant (rounded up).

 

(b)         The Company shall not issue fractions of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of Warrants or distribute stock certificates which evidence fractional shares of Common Stock. Whenever any fraction of a share of Common Stock would otherwise be required to be issued or distributed, the actual issuance or distribution in respect thereof shall be made in accordance with Section 2(c)(iv) of the Warrant Certificate.

 

Section 14. Concerning the Warrant Agent.

 

(a)         The Company agrees to pay to the Warrant Agent, pursuant to the fee schedule mutually agreed upon by the parties hereto and provided separately on the date hereof, for all services rendered by it hereunder and, from time to time, its reasonable 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.

 

 

(b)         The Company covenants and agrees to indemnify and to hold the Warrant Agent harmless against any costs, expenses (including reasonable fees and expenses of its legal counsel), losses or damages, which may be paid, incurred or suffered by or to which it may become subject, arising from or out of, directly or indirectly, any claims or liability resulting from its actions or omissions as Warrant Agent pursuant hereto; provided, that such covenant and agreement does not extend to, and the Warrant Agent shall not be indemnified with respect to, such costs, expenses, losses and damages incurred or suffered by the Warrant Agent as a result of, or arising out of, its gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct (each as determined by a final non-appealable 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. The costs and expenses incurred by the Warrant Agent in enforcing this right of indemnification shall be paid by the Company.

 

(c)         Upon the assertion of a claim for which the Company may be required to indemnify the Warrant Agent, the Warrant Agent shall promptly notify the Company of such assertion, and shall keep the other party reasonably advised with respect to material developments concerning such claim. However, failure to give such notice shall not affect the Warrant Agent’s right to and the Company’s obligations for indemnification hereunder.

 

(d)         Neither party to this Agreement shall be liable to the other party for any consequential, indirect, punitive, special, liquidated or incidental damages under any provisions of this Agreement or for any consequential, indirect, punitive, special, liquidated or incidental damages arising out of any act or failure to act hereunder even if that party has been advised of or has foreseen the possibility of such damages.

 

(e)         Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the rights and obligations of the parties set forth in this Section 14 shall survive termination of this Agreement, the expiration of the Warrants and/or the resignation, removal or replacement of the Warrant Agent.

 

Section 15. Purchase or Consolidation or Change of Name of Warrant Agent. Any Person into which the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent may be merged or with which it may be consolidated, or any Person resulting from any merger or consolidation to which the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent shall be party, or any Person succeeding to the stock transfer or other shareholder services business of the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent, shall be the successor to the Warrant Agent under this Agreement without the execution or filing of any paper or any further act on the part of any of the parties hereto, provided that such Person would be eligible for appointment as a successor Warrant Agent under the provisions of Section 17. In case at the time such successor Warrant Agent shall succeed to the agency created by this Agreement any of the Warrant Certificates shall have been countersigned but not delivered, any such successor Warrant Agent may adopt the countersignature of the predecessor Warrant Agent and deliver such Warrant Certificates so countersigned; and in case at that time any of the Warrant Certificates shall not have been countersigned, any successor Warrant Agent may countersign such Warrant Certificates either in the name of the predecessor Warrant Agent or in the name of the successor Warrant Agent; and in all such cases, such Warrant Certificates shall have the full force provided in the Warrant Certificates and in this Agreement.

 

In case at any time the name of the Warrant Agent shall be changed and at such time any of the Warrant Certificates shall have been countersigned but not delivered, the Warrant Agent may adopt the countersignature under its prior name and deliver Warrant Certificates so countersigned; and in case at that time any of the Warrant Certificates shall not have been countersigned, the Warrant Agent may countersign such Warrant Certificates either in its prior name or in its changed name; and in all such cases, such Warrant Certificates shall have the full force provided in the Warrant Certificates and in this Agreement.

 

 

Section 16. Duties of Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent undertakes the duties and obligations imposed by this Agreement upon the following express terms and conditions (and no implied terms and conditions), by all of which the Company, by its acceptance hereof, shall be bound and shall not assume any obligations or relationship of agency or trust with any of the Holders of the Warrants or any other Person:

 

(a)         The Warrant Agent may consult with legal counsel selected by it (who may be legal counsel for the Company), and the opinion and 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 opinion or advice.

 

(b)         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 or suffering any action hereunder, such fact or matter (unless other evidence in respect thereof be herein specifically prescribed) may be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by a certificate signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President of the Company; 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. The Warrant Agent shall have no duty to act without such a certificate as set forth in this Section 16(b).

 

(c)         Subject to the limitation set forth in Section 14, the Warrant Agent shall be liable hereunder only for its own gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct (each as determined in a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction).

 

(d)         The Warrant Agent shall not be liable for or by reason of any of the statements of fact or recitals contained in this Agreement or in the Warrant Certificates (including in the case of any notation in book-entry form to reflect ownership), except its countersignature thereof, by the Company or be required to verify the same, but all such statements and recitals are and shall be deemed to have been made by the Company only.

 

(e)         The Warrant Agent shall not have any liability or be under any responsibility in respect of the validity of this Agreement or the execution and delivery hereof (except the due execution hereof by the Warrant Agent) or in respect of the validity or execution of any Warrant Certificate (except its countersignature thereof); nor shall it be responsible for any breach by the Company of any covenant or condition contained in this Agreement or in any Warrant Certificate; nor shall it be responsible for the adjustment of the Exercise Price or the making of any change in the number of shares of Common Stock required under the provisions of Section 11 or 13 or responsible for the manner, method or amount of any such change or adjustment or the ascertaining of the existence of facts that would require any such adjustment or change (except with respect to the exercise of Warrants evidenced by Warrant Certificates after actual notice of any adjustment of the Exercise Price); nor shall it by any act hereunder be deemed to make any representation or warranty as to the authorization or reservation of any shares of Common Stock to be issued pursuant to this Agreement or any Warrant Certificate or as to whether any shares of Common Stock will, when issued, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

(f)         Each party hereto agrees that it will perform, execute, acknowledge and deliver or cause to be performed, executed, acknowledged and delivered all such further and other acts, instruments and assurances as may reasonably be required by the other party hereto for the carrying out or performing by any party of the provisions of this Agreement.

 

 

(g)         The Warrant Agent is hereby authorized to accept instructions with respect to the performance of its duties hereunder from the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President of the Company, and to apply to such officers for advice or instructions in connection with its duties, and it shall not be liable and shall be indemnified and held harmless for any action taken or suffered to be taken by it in good faith in accordance with instructions of any such officer, provided Warrant Agent carries out such instructions without gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct.

 

(h)         The Warrant Agent and any shareholder, director, officer or employee of the Warrant Agent may buy, sell or deal in any of the Warrants or other securities of the Company or become pecuniarily interested in any transaction in which the Company may be interested, or contract with or lend money to the Company or otherwise act as fully and freely as though it were not Warrant Agent under this Agreement. Nothing herein shall preclude the Warrant Agent from acting in any other capacity for the Company or for any other Person. In the event that the Warrant Agent seeks to exercise a Warrant, and provides the Company with (i) an opinion of counsel to the effect that a public sale or transfer of the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant may be made without registration under the 1933 Act and such sale or transfer is effected or (ii) the Purchaser provides reasonable assurances that the Securities can be sold pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Rule 144, Section 4(a)(1), or other applicable exemption, the Company shall permit the transfer, and, in the case of the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant, promptly instruct its transfer agent to issue one or more certificates, free from restrictive legend, in such name and in such denominations as specified by the Holder. The Company acknowledges that a breach by it of its obligations hereunder will cause irreparable harm to the Holder by vitiating the intent and purpose of the transactions contemplated hereby. Accordingly, the Company acknowledges that the remedy at law for a breach of its obligations under this Section 16(h) may be inadequate and agrees, in the event of a breach or threatened breach by the Company of the provisions of this Section, that the Holder shall be entitled, in addition to all other available remedies, to an injunction restraining any breach and requiring immediate transfer, without the necessity of showing economic loss and without any bond or other security being required.

 

(i)         The Warrant Agent may execute and exercise any of the rights or powers hereby vested in it or perform any duty hereunder either itself or by or through its attorney or agents, and the Warrant Agent shall not be answerable or accountable for any act, default, neglect or misconduct of any such attorney or agents or for any loss to the Company resulting from any such act, default, neglect or misconduct, absent gross negligence or bad faith in the selection and continued employment thereof (which gross negligence and bad faith must be determined by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction).

 

(j)         The Warrant Agent shall not be obligated to expend or risk its own funds or to take any action that it believes would expose or subject it to expense or liability or to a risk of incurring expense or liability, unless it has been furnished with assurances of repayment or indemnity satisfactory to it.

 

(k)         The Warrant Agent shall not be liable or responsible for any failure of the Company to comply with any of its obligations relating to any registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission or this Agreement, including without limitation obligations under applicable regulation or law.

 

 

(l)         The Warrant Agent may rely on and be fully authorized and protected in acting or failing to act upon (a) any guaranty of signature by an “eligible guarantor institution” that is a member or participant in the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program or other comparable “signature guarantee program” or insurance program in addition to, or in substitution for, the foregoing; or (b) any law, act, regulation or any interpretation of the same even though such law, act, or regulation may thereafter have been altered, changed, amended or repealed.

 

(m)         In the event the Warrant Agent believes any ambiguity or uncertainty exists hereunder or in any notice, instruction, direction, request or other communication, paper or document received by the Warrant Agent hereunder, the Warrant Agent, may, in its sole discretion, refrain from taking any action, and shall be fully protected and shall not be liable in any way to Company, the holder of any Warrant or any other Person for refraining from taking such action, unless the Warrant Agent receives written instructions signed by the Company which eliminates such ambiguity or uncertainty to the satisfaction of Warrant Agent.

 

(n)         This Section 16 shall survive the expiration of the Warrants, the termination of this Agreement and the resignation, replacement or removal of the Warrant Agent. The costs and expenses incurred in enforcing this right of indemnification shall be paid by the Company.

 

Section 17. Change of Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent may resign and be discharged from its duties under this Agreement upon thirty (30) days’ notice in writing sent to the Company and, in the event that the Warrant Agent or one of its affiliates is not also the transfer agent for the Company, to each transfer agent of the Common Stock. In the event the transfer agency relationship in effect between the Company and the Warrant Agent terminates, the Warrant Agent will be deemed to have resigned automatically and be discharged from its duties under this Agreement as of the effective date of such termination, and the Company shall be responsible for sending any required notice thereunder. The Company may remove the Warrant Agent or any successor Warrant Agent upon thirty (30) days’ notice in writing, sent to the Warrant Agent or successor Warrant Agent, as the case may be, and to each transfer agent of the Common Stock, and to the Holders of the Warrant Certificates. If the Warrant Agent shall resign or be removed or shall otherwise become incapable of acting, the Company shall appoint a successor to the Warrant Agent. If the Company shall fail to make such appointment within a period of thirty (30) days after such removal or after it has been notified in writing of such resignation or incapacity by the resigning or incapacitated Warrant Agent or by the Holder of a Warrant Certificate (who shall, with such notice, submit this Warrant Certificate for inspection by the Company), then the Holder of any Warrant Certificate may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a new Warrant Agent, provided that, for purposes of this Agreement, the Company shall be deemed to be the Warrant Agent until a new warrant agent is appointed. Any successor Warrant Agent, whether appointed by the Company or by such a court, shall be a Person, other than a natural person, organized and doing business under the laws of the United States or of a state thereof, in good standing, which is authorized under such laws to exercise stock transfer powers and is subject to supervision or examination by federal or state authority and which has at the time of its appointment as Warrant Agent a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000. After appointment, the successor Warrant Agent shall be vested with the same powers, rights, duties and responsibilities as if it had been originally named as Warrant Agent without further act or deed; but the predecessor Warrant Agent shall deliver and transfer to the successor Warrant Agent any property at the time held by it hereunder, and execute and deliver any further assurance, conveyance, act or deed necessary for the purpose but such predecessor Warrant Agent shall not be required to make any additional expenditure (without prompt reimbursement by the Company) or assume any additional liability in connection with the foregoing. Not later than the effective date of any such appointment, the Company shall file notice thereof in writing with the predecessor Warrant Agent and each transfer agent of the Common Stock and mail a notice thereof in writing to the Holders of the Warrant Certificates. However, failure to give any notice provided for in this Section 17, or any defect therein, shall not affect the legality or validity of the resignation or removal of the Warrant Agent or the appointment of the successor Warrant Agent, as the case may be.

 

 

Section 18. Issuance of New Warrant Certificates. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Agreement or of the Warrants to the contrary, the Company may, at its option, issue new Warrant Certificates evidencing Warrants in such form as may be approved by its Board of Directors to reflect any adjustment or change in the Exercise Price per share and the number or kind or class of shares of stock or other securities or property purchasable under the several Warrant Certificates made in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.

 

Section 19. Notices. Notices or demands authorized by this Agreement to be given or made (i) by the Warrant Agent or by the Holder of any Warrant Certificate to or on the Company, (ii) by the Company or by the Holder of any Warrant Certificate to or on the Warrant Agent or (iii) by the Company or the Warrant Agent to the Holder of any Warrant Certificate, shall be deemed given when in writing (a) on the date delivered, if delivered personally, (b) on the first Business Day following the deposit thereof with Federal Express or another recognized overnight courier, if sent by Federal Express or another recognized overnight courier, (c) on the fourth Business Day following the mailing thereof with postage prepaid, if mailed by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested), and (d) the time of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail attachment at or prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a Business Day and (e) the next Business Day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via e-mail attachment on a day that is not a Business Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Business Day, in each case to the parties at the following addresses (or at such other address for a party as shall be specified by like notice):

 

(a)

If to the Company, to:

 

Aqua Metals, Inc.

5370 Kietzke Lane, Suite 201

Reno, Nevada 89511

E-mail: judd.merrill@aquametals.com

Attention: Judd Merrill, Chief Financial Officer

With a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:

 

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

18565 Jamboree Road, Suite 500

Irvine, California 92612

E-Mail: donahued@gtlaw.com

Attention: Daniel K. Donahue, Esq.

 

(b)

If to the Warrant Agent, to:

 

VStock Transfer, LLC

18 Lafayette Place

Woodmere, NY 11598

Email: action@vstocktransfer.com

Attn: Relationship Management

 

For any notice delivered by email to be deemed given or made, such notice must be followed by notice sent by overnight courier service to be delivered on the next Business Day following such email, unless the recipient of such email has acknowledged via return email receipt of such email.

 

 

(c)         If to the Holder of any Warrant Certificate, to the address of such Holder as shown on the registry books of the Company. Any notice required to be delivered by the Company to the Holder of any Warrant may be given by the Warrant Agent on behalf of the Company. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, where this Agreement provides for notice of any event to a Holder of any Warrant, such notice shall be sufficiently given if given to the Depository (or its designee) pursuant to the procedures of the Depository or its designee. To the extent that any notice provided hereunder constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Section 20. Supplements and Amendments.

 

(a)         The Company and the Warrant Agent may from time to time supplement or amend this Agreement without the approval of any Holders of Global Warrants in order to (i) add to the covenants and agreements of the Company for the benefit of the Holders of the Global Warrants, (ii) to surrender any rights or power reserved to or conferred upon the Company in this Agreement, (iii) to cure any ambiguity, (iv) to correct or supplement any provision contained herein which may be defective or inconsistent with any other provisions herein, or (v) to make any other provisions with regard to matters or questions arising hereunder which the Company and the Warrant Agent may deem necessary or desirable, provided that such addition, correction or surrender shall not adversely affect the interests of the Holders of the Global Warrants or Warrant Certificates in any material respect.

 

(b)         In addition to the foregoing, with the consent of Holders of Warrants entitled, upon exercise thereof, to receive not less than a majority of the shares of Common Stock issuable thereunder, the Company and the Warrant Agent may modify this Agreement for the purpose of adding any provisions to or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the provisions of this Agreement or modifying in any manner the rights of the Holders of the Global Warrants; provided, however, that (i) if any amendment, modification or waiver disproportionately and adversely impacts a Holder (or group of Holders), the consent of such disproportionately impacted Holder (or group of Holders) shall also be required and (ii) no modification of the terms (including but not limited to the adjustments described in Section 11) upon which the Warrants are exercisable or reducing the percentage required for consent to modification of this Agreement may be made without the consent of the Holder of each outstanding warrant certificate affected thereby; provided further, however, that no amendment hereunder shall affect any terms of any Warrant Certificate issued in a Warrant Exchange. As a condition precedent to the Warrant Agent’s execution of any amendment, the Company shall deliver to the Warrant Agent a certificate from a duly authorized officer of the Company that states that the proposed amendment complies with the terms of this Section 20. No supplement or amendment to this Agreement shall be effective unless duly executed by the Warrant Agent.

 

Section 21. Successors. All covenants and provisions of this Agreement by or for the benefit of the Company or the Warrant Agent shall bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns hereunder.

 

Section 22. Benefits of this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to give any Person other than the Company, the Holders of Warrant Certificates and the Warrant Agent any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under this Agreement; but this Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the Company, the Warrant Agent and the Holders of the Warrant Certificates.

 

 

Section 23. Governing Law; Jurisdiction. This Agreement and each Warrant Certificate issued hereunder shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York without giving effect to the conflicts of law principles thereof. The Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of or relating in any way to this Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenience forum.

 

Section 24. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument. A signature to this Agreement transmitted electronically shall have the same authority, effect and enforceability as an original signature.

 

Section 25. Captions. The captions of the sections of this Agreement have been inserted for convenience only and shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any of the provisions hereof.

 

Section 26.         Severability. Wherever possible, each provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Agreement shall be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of such provisions or the remaining provisions of this Agreement; provided, however, that if such prohibited and invalid provision shall adversely affect the rights, immunities, liabilities, duties or obligations of the Warrant Agent, the Warrant Agent shall be entitled to resign immediately upon written notice to the Company.

 

Section 27. Conflicts. To the extent any provision of this Agreement conflicts with the express provisions of the Warrant Certificate, the provisions of the Warrant Certificate shall govern and be controlling.

 

Section 28. Force Majeure. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Warrant Agent will not be liable for any delays or failures in performance resulting from acts beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, acts of God, terrorist acts, shortage of supply, breakdowns or malfunctions, interruptions or malfunction of computer facilities, or loss of data due to power failures or mechanical difficulties with information storage or retrieval systems, labor difficulties, war, or civil unrest.

 

Section 29. Entire Agreement. The parties hereto acknowledge that there are no agreements or understandings, written or oral, between them with respect to matters contemplated hereunder other than as set forth herein and the Warrant Certificates, that this Agreement and the Warrant Certificates contain the entire agreement between them with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof.

 

Section 30. Fees; Expenses. As consideration for the services provided by VStock (the “Services”), the Company shall pay to VStock the fees set forth on Schedule 1 hereto (the “Fees”). If the Company requests that VStock provide additional services not contemplated hereby, the Company shall pay to VStock fees for such services at VStock’s reasonable and customary rates, such fees to be governed by the terms of a separate agreement to be mutually agreed to and entered into by the Parties at such time (the “Additional Service Fee”; together with the Fees, the “Service Fees”).

 

(a)    The Company shall reimburse VStock for all reasonable and documented expenses incurred by VStock (including, without limitation, reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel) in connection with the Services (the “Expenses”); provided, however, that VStock reserves the right to request advance payment for any out-of-pocket expenses. The Company agrees to pay all Service Fees and Expenses within thirty (30) days following receipt of an invoice from VStock.

 

 

(b)    The Company agrees and acknowledges that VStock may adjust the Service Fees annually, on or about each anniversary date of this Agreement, by the annual percentage of change in the latest Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers United States City Average, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

(c)    Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, VStock shall assist the Company with the transfer of records of the Company held by VStock. VStock shall be entitled to reasonable additional compensation and reimbursement of any Expenses for the preparation and delivery of such records to the successor agent or to the Company, and for maintaining records and/or Stock Certificates that are received after the termination of this Agreement (the “Record Transfer Services”).

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the day and year first above written.

 

 

	AQUA METALS, INC.
	By:
	Name: Judd Merrill
	Title: Chief Financial Officer
	VSTOCK TRANSFER, LLC
	By:
	Name:
	Title:

 

 

 

Annex A: Form of Warrant Certificate Request Notice

WARRANT CERTIFICATE REQUEST NOTICE

 

To: VStock Transfer, LLC, as Warrant Agent for Aqua Metals, Inc. (the “Company”)

 

The undersigned Holder of _______ _______ Common Stock Purchase Warrants (“Warrants”) in the form of _______ _______ Global Warrants issued by the Company hereby elects to receive a Warrant Certificate evidencing the Warrants held by the Holder as specified below:

 

1.	Name of Holder of _______ ______ Warrants in form of Global Warrants: ___________________________

 

2.	Name of Holder in Warrant Certificate (if different from name of Holder of Warrants in form of Global Warrants): ________________________________

 

3.	Number of Warrants in name of Holder in form of Global Warrants: ___________________

 

4.	Number of Warrants for which Warrant Certificate shall be issued: __________________

 

5.	Number of Warrants in name of Holder in form of Global Warrants after issuance of Warrant Certificate, if any: ___________

 

_______ _______ Warrant Certificate shall be delivered to the following address:

 

______________________________

 

______________________________

 

______________________________

 

______________________________

 

The undersigned hereby acknowledges and agrees that, in connection with this Warrant Exchange and the issuance of the Warrant Certificate, the Holder is deemed to have surrendered the number of Warrants in form of Global Warrants in the name of the Holder equal to the number of Warrants evidenced by the Warrant Certificate.

 

[SIGNATURE OF HOLDER]

 

Name of Investing Entity:

 

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Investing Entity:

 

Name of Authorized Signatory:

 

Title of Authorized Signatory:

 

Date:

 

 

Exhibit 1-A: Form of Warrant Certificate

 

 

 

[FORM OF COMMON WARRANT TO BE INSERTED]

 

 

 

Schedule 1

 

Fees

 

Monthly Warrant Administration Fee (per Warrant Issue)	$____.00
EXCHANGE OF WARRANTS INTO COMMON SHARES
Per Manual Exercise of Warrants (until established on DTC WARR System)	$____.00

 

 

SPECIAL SERVICES

 

Services not included herein (including, without limitation, trustee and custodial services, exchange/tender offer services and stock dividend disbursement services) but requested by the Company may be subject to additional charges.

 

 

OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES

 

All customary out-of-pocket expenses will be billed in addition to the foregoing fees. These charges include, but are not limited to, printing and stationery, freight and materials delivery, postage and handling.

 

The foregoing fees apply to services ordinarily rendered by _______ and are subject to reasonable adjustment based on final review of documents.

 

 

Exhibit 4.3

THE REGISTERED HOLDER OF THIS PURCHASE WARRANT BY ITS ACCEPTANCE HEREOF, AGREES THAT IT WILL NOT SELL, TRANSFER OR ASSIGN THIS PURCHASE WARRANT EXCEPT AS HEREIN PROVIDED AND THE REGISTERED HOLDER OF THIS PURCHASE WARRANT AGREES THAT IT WILL NOT SELL, TRANSFER, ASSIGN, PLEDGE OR HYPOTHECATE THIS PURCHASE WARRANT FOR A PERIOD OF ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS FOLLOWING MAY 14, 2024 (THE “EFFECTIVE DATE”) TO ANYONE OTHER THAN (I) THE BENCHMARK COMPANY, LLC, OR A SELECTED DEALER IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFERING FOR WHICH THIS PURCHASE WARRANT WAS ISSUED TO THE UNDERWRITER AS CONSIDERATION (THE “OFFERING”), OR (II) THE OFFICERS OR PARTNERS, REGISTERED PERSONS OR AFFILIATES OF THE BENCHMARK COMPANY, LLC.

 

IN ADDITION, THIS PURCHASE WARRANT AND THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON EXERCISE HEREOF MAY NOT BE SOLD, TRANSFERRED, ASSIGNED, PLEDGED, OR HYPOTHECATED, OR BE THE SUBJECT OF ANY HEDGING, SHORT SALE, DERIVATIVE, PUT, OR CALL TRANSACTION THAT WOULD RESULT IN THE EFFECTIVE ECONOMIC DISPOSITION OF SUCH SECURITIES BY ANY PERSON FOR A PERIOD OF ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY (180) DAYS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE DATE OF THE SIGNING OF THE UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT FOR PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMPANY’S SECURITIES PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO.: 333-267780 AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH FINRA RULE 5110(G)(2).

 

THIS PURCHASE WARRANT IS NOT EXERCISABLE PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 14, 2024. VOID AFTER 5:00 P.M., EASTERN TIME, MAY 14, 2029.

 

 

COMMON STOCK PURCHASE WARRANT

 

For the Purchase of ______¹ Shares of Common Stock of

Aqua Metals, Inc.

 

1.         Purchase Warrant. THIS CERTIFIES THAT, in consideration of funds duly paid by or on behalf of The Benchmark Company, LLC (“Holder”), as registered owner of this Purchase Warrant, to Aqua Metals, Inc. a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), Holder is entitled, at any time or from time to time beginning November 14, 2024 (the “Commencement Date”), and at or before 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, May 14, 2029 (the “Expiration Date”), but not thereafter, to subscribe for, purchase and receive, in whole or in part, up to _____ shares (the “Shares”) of common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), subject to adjustment as provided in Section 6 hereof. If the Expiration Date is a day on which banking institutions are authorized by law to close, then this Purchase Warrant may be exercised on the next succeeding day which is not such a day in accordance with the terms herein. During the period ending on the Expiration Date, the Company agrees not to take any action that would terminate this Purchase Warrant. This Purchase Warrant is initially exercisable at $_____² per Share; provided, however, that upon the occurrence of any of the events specified in Section 6 hereof, the rights granted by this Purchase Warrant, including the exercise price per Share and the number of Shares to be received upon such exercise, shall be adjusted as therein specified. The term “Exercise Price” shall mean the initial exercise price or the adjusted exercise price, depending on the context.

 

 

---

¹ Number of shares to be 2% of the shares sold in the offering and the number of shares for which the warrants are initially exercisable, less shares/warrants sold to officers and directors.

² 125% if the public offering price of the shares sold in the offering.

 

 

2.         Exercise.

 

2.1         Exercise Form. In order to exercise this Purchase Warrant, the exercise form attached hereto should be duly executed and completed and delivered to the Company, together with this Purchase Warrant and payment of the Exercise Price for the Shares being purchased payable in cash by wire transfer of immediately available funds to an account designated by the Company or by certified check or official bank check. If the subscription rights represented hereby shall not be exercised at or before 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the Expiration Date, this Purchase Warrant shall become and be void without further force or effect, and all rights represented hereby shall cease and expire. Each exercise hereof shall be irrevocable. Delivery of the Shares shall be made within two (2) business days of the date of exercise of this Purchase Warrant.

 

2.2         Cashless Exercise. In lieu of exercising this Purchase Warrant by payment of cash or check payable to the order of the Company pursuant to Section 2.1 above, the Holder may elect to receive the number of Shares equal to the value of this Purchase Warrant (or the portion thereof being exercised), by surrender of this Purchase Warrant to the Company, together with the exercise form attached hereto, in which event the Company will issue to Holder Shares in accordance with the following formula:

 

		Y(A-B)
	X  =	A

 

	Where,
		X  =	The number of Shares to be issued to Holder;
		Y  =	The number of Shares for which the Purchase Warrant is being exercised if such exercise were by means of a cash exercise rather than a cashless exercise;
		A  =	as applicable: (i) the VWAP on the Trading Day immediately preceding the date of the applicable exercise form if such exercise form is (1) both executed and delivered pursuant to Section 2.2 hereof on a day that is not a Trading Day or (2) both executed and delivered pursuant to Section 2.2 hereof on a Trading Day prior to the opening of “regular trading hours” (as defined in Rule 600(b)(68) of Regulation NMS promulgated under the federal securities laws) on such Trading Day, (ii) at the option of the Holder, either (y) the VWAP on the Trading Day immediately preceding the date of the applicable Exercise Form or (z) the Bid Price of the Common Stock on the principal Trading Market as reported by Bloomberg L.P. as of the time of the Holder’s execution of the applicable Exercise Form if such Exercise Form is executed during “regular trading hours” on a Trading Day and is delivered within two (2) hours thereafter (including until two (2) hours after the close of “regular trading hours” on a Trading Day) pursuant to Section 2.2 hereof, which Bid Price shall be shown on supporting documents provided by the Holder to the Company within two Trading Days of delivery of the exercise form, or (iii) the VWAP on the date of the applicable exercise form if the date of such exercise form is a Trading Day and such exercise form is both executed and delivered pursuant to Section 2.2 hereof after the close of “regular trading hours” on such Trading Day; and
		B  =	The Exercise Price.

 

 

“Bid Price” means, for any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the bid price of the Common Stock for the time in question (or the nearest preceding date) on the Trading Market on which the Common Stock is then listed or quoted as reported by Bloomberg L.P. (based on a Trading Day from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) to 4:02 p.m. (New York City time)), (b) if OTCQB or OTCQX is not a Trading Market, the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on OTCQB or OTCQX as applicable, (c) if the Common Stock is not then listed or quoted for trading on OTCQB or OTCQX and if prices for the Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by OTC Markets Group, Inc. (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price per share of the Common Stock so reported, or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of a share of Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holder and reasonably acceptable to the Company, the fees and expenses of which shall be paid by the Company.

 

“VWAP” means, for any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the Trading Market on which the Common Stock is then listed or quoted as reported by Bloomberg L.P. (based on a Trading Day from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) to 4:02 p.m. (New York City time)), (b) if OTCQB or OTCQX is not a Trading Market, the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on OTCQB or OTCQX as applicable, (c) if the Common Stock is not then listed or quoted for trading on OTCQB or OTCQX and if prices for the Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by OTC Markets Group, Inc. (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the daily volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date), or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of a share of Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holder and reasonably acceptable to the Company, the fees and expenses of which shall be paid by the Company.

 

“Trading Day” means a day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.

 

 

“Trading Market” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE American, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or the New York Stock Exchange (or any successors to any of the foregoing).

 

2.3         Rule 144 Interpretation. For purposes of Rule 144 and sub-section (d)(3)(ii) thereof, it is intended, understood, and acknowledged that the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Purchase Warrant in a cashless exercise transaction as described in this Section shall be deemed to have been acquired at the time this Purchase Warrant was issued. Moreover, it is intended, understood, and acknowledged that the holding period for the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Purchase in a cashless exercise transaction as described in this Section shall be deemed to have commenced on the date this Warrant was issued.

 

2.4         When Exercise Effective. Each exercise of this Purchase Warrant shall be deemed to have been effected immediately prior to the close of business on the business day on which this Purchase Warrant shall have been duly surrendered to the Company, and, at such time, the Holder in whose name any certificate or certificates for Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Purchase Warrant becomes issuable shall then be deemed to have become the holder or holders of record thereof of the number of shares of Common Stock purchased upon exercise of this Purchase Warrant.

 

2.4         Delivery of Common Stock Certificates and New Warrant. After each exercise of this Warrant, in whole or in part, and no later than two (2) business days thereafter, the Company, at its expense (including the payment by it of any applicable issue taxes), will cause to be issued in the name of and delivered to the Holder, as the Holder (upon payment by the Holder of any applicable transfer taxes) may direct (a) a book-entry statement (with appropriate restrictive legends, as applicable) for the number of duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock to which the Holder shall be entitled upon exercise; and (b) in case exercise is in part only, a new Purchase Warrant of like tenor, dated the date hereof, for the remaining number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Purchase Warrant after giving effect to the partial exercise of this Warrant.

 

3.         Transfer.

 

3.1         General Restrictions. The registered Holder of this Purchase Warrant agrees by his, her or its acceptance hereof, that such Holder will not: (a) sell, transfer, assign, pledge or hypothecate this Purchase Warrant for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days following the Effective Date to anyone other than: (i) The Benchmark Company, LLC (“Benchmark”) or an underwriter or a selected dealer participating in the Offering, or (ii) the officers or partners, registered persons or affiliates of Benchmark or of any such underwriter or selected dealer, in each case in accordance with FINRA Conduct Rule 5110(e), and (b) cause this Purchase Warrant or the securities issuable hereunder to be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of this Purchase Warrant or the securities hereunder, except as provided for in FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). After 180 days after the Effective Date, transfers to others may be made subject to compliance with or exemptions from applicable securities laws. In order to make any permitted assignment, the Holder must deliver to the Company the assignment form attached hereto duly executed and completed, together with the Purchase Warrant and payment of all transfer taxes, if any, payable in connection therewith. The Company shall within five (5) business days transfer this Purchase Warrant on the books of the Company and shall execute and deliver a new Purchase Warrant or Purchase Warrants of like tenor to the appropriate assignee(s) expressly evidencing the right to purchase the aggregate number of Shares purchasable hereunder or such portion of such number as shall be contemplated by any such assignment.

 

 

3.2         Restrictions Imposed by the Act. The securities evidenced by this Purchase Warrant shall not be transferred unless and until: (i) if required by applicable law, the Company has received the opinion of counsel for the Company that the securities may be transferred pursuant to an exemption from registration under the Act and applicable state securities laws, or (ii) a registration statement or a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement relating to the offer and sale of such securities has been filed by the Company and declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the ”Commission”) and compliance with applicable state securities law has been established.

 

4.         Reserved.

 

5.         New Purchase Warrants to be Issued.

 

5.1         Partial Exercise or Transfer. This Purchase Warrant may be exercised or assigned in whole or in part. In the event of the exercise or assignment hereof in part only, upon surrender of this Purchase Warrant for cancellation, together with the duly executed exercise or assignment form, the Company shall cause to be delivered to the Holder without charge a new Purchase Warrant of like tenor to this Purchase Warrant in the name of the Holder evidencing the right of the Holder to purchase the number of Shares purchasable hereunder as to which this Purchase Warrant has not been exercised or assigned.

 

5.2         Lost Certificate. Upon receipt by the Company of evidence satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of this Purchase Warrant and of reasonably satisfactory indemnification or the posting of a bond, determined in the sole discretion of the Company, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Purchase Warrant of like tenor and date. Any such new Purchase Warrant executed and delivered as a result of such loss, theft, mutilation or destruction shall constitute a substitute contractual obligation on the part of the Company.

 

6.         Adjustments.

 

6.1         Adjustments to Exercise Price and Number of Securities. The Exercise Price and the number of Shares underlying the Purchase Warrant shall be subject to adjustment from time to time as hereinafter set forth:

 

6.1.1         Share Dividends; Split Ups. If, after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of Section 6.3 below, the number of outstanding Shares is increased by a stock dividend payable in Shares or by a split up of Shares or other similar event, then, on the effective day thereof, the number of Shares purchasable hereunder shall be increased in proportion to such increase in outstanding Shares, and the Exercise Price shall be proportionately decreased.

 

 

6.1.2         Aggregation of Shares. If, after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of Section 6.3 below, the number of outstanding Shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination or reclassification of Shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date thereof, the number of Shares purchasable hereunder shall be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Shares, and the Exercise Price shall be proportionately increased.

 

6.1.3         Replacement of Securities upon Reorganization, etc. In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Shares other than a change covered by Section 6.1.1 or 6.1.2 hereof or that solely affects the par value of such Shares, or in the case of any share reconstruction or amalgamation or consolidation or merger of the Company with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or share reconstruction or amalgamation or merger in which the Company is the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the property of the Company as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which the Company is dissolved, the Holder of this Purchase Warrant shall have the right thereafter (until the expiration of the right of exercise of this Purchase Warrant) to receive upon the exercise hereof, for the same aggregate Exercise Price payable hereunder immediately prior to such event, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, share reconstruction or amalgamation, or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, by a Holder of the number of Shares of the Company obtainable upon exercise of this Purchase Warrant immediately prior to such event; and if any reclassification also results in a change in Shares covered by Section 6.1.1 or 6.1.2, then such adjustment shall be made pursuant to Sections 6.1.1, 6.1.2 and this Section 6.1.3. The provisions of this Section 6.1.3 shall similarly apply to successive reclassifications, reorganizations, share reconstructions or amalgamations, or consolidations, sales or other transfers.

 

6.1.4         Changes in Form of Purchase Warrant. This form of Purchase Warrant need not be changed because of any change pursuant to this Section 6.1, and Purchase Warrants issued after such change may state the same Exercise Price and the same number of Shares as are stated in the Purchase Warrants initially issued pursuant to this Agreement. The acceptance by any Holder of the issuance of new Purchase Warrants reflecting a required or permissive change shall not be deemed to waive any rights to an adjustment occurring after the Commencement Date or the computation thereof.

 

6.2         Substitute Purchase Warrant. In case of any consolidation of the Company with, or share reconstruction or amalgamation or merger of the Company with or into, another corporation (other than a consolidation or share reconstruction or amalgamation or merger which does not result in any reclassification or change of the outstanding Shares), the corporation formed by such consolidation or share reconstruction or amalgamation shall execute and deliver to the Holder a supplemental Purchase Warrant providing that the holder of each Purchase Warrant then outstanding or to be outstanding shall have the right thereafter (until the stated expiration of such Purchase Warrant) to receive, upon exercise of such Purchase Warrant, the kind and amount of shares of stock and other securities and property receivable upon such consolidation or share reconstruction or amalgamation, by a holder of the number of Shares of the Company for which such Purchase Warrant might have been exercised immediately prior to such consolidation, share reconstruction or amalgamation or merger, sale or transfer. Such supplemental Purchase Warrant shall provide for adjustments which shall be identical to the adjustments provided for in this Section 6. The above provision of this Section shall similarly apply to successive consolidations or share reconstructions or amalgamations or mergers.

 

 

6.3         Elimination of Fractional Interests. The Company shall not be required to issue certificates representing fractions of Shares upon the exercise of the Purchase Warrant, nor shall it be required to issue scrip or pay cash in lieu of any fractional interests, it being the intent of the parties that all fractional interests shall be eliminated by rounding any fraction up or down, as the case may be, to the nearest whole number of Shares or other securities, properties or rights.

 

7.         Reservation. The Company shall at all times reserve and keep available out of its authorized Shares, solely for the purpose of issuance upon exercise of the Purchase Warrants, such number of Shares or other securities, properties or rights as shall be issuable upon the exercise thereof. The Company covenants and agrees that, upon exercise of the Purchase Warrants and payment of the Exercise Price therefor, in accordance with the terms hereby, all Shares and other securities issuable upon such exercise shall be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and not subject to preemptive rights of any shareholder.

 

8.         Certain Notice Requirements.

 

8.1         Holder’s Right to Receive Notice. Nothing herein shall be construed as conferring upon the Holders the right to vote or consent or to receive notice as a shareholder for the election of directors or any other matter, or as having any rights whatsoever as a shareholder of the Company. If, however, at any time prior to the expiration of the Purchase Warrants and their exercise, any of the events described in Section 8.2 shall occur, then, in one or more of said events, the Company shall deliver to each Holder a copy of each notice relating to such events given to the other shareholders of the Company at the same time and in the same manner that such notice is given to the shareholders.

 

8.2         Events Requiring Notice. The Company shall be required to give the notice described in this Section 8 upon one or more of the following events: (i) if the Company shall take a record of the holders of its Shares for the purpose of entitling them to receive a dividend or distribution payable otherwise than in cash, or a cash dividend or distribution payable otherwise than out of retained earnings, as indicated by the accounting treatment of such dividend or distribution on the books of the Company, or (ii) the Company shall offer to all the holders of its Shares any additional shares of capital stock of the Company or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of capital stock of the Company, or any option, right or warrant to subscribe therefor.

 

8.3         Notice of Change in Exercise Price. The Company shall, promptly after an event requiring a change in the Exercise Price pursuant to Section 6 hereof, send notice to the Holders of such event and change (“Price Notice”). The Price Notice shall describe the event causing the change and the method of calculating same.

 

 

8.4         Transmittal of Notices. All notices, requests, consents and other communications under this Purchase Warrant shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly made when hand delivered, or mailed by express mail or private courier service: (i) if to the registered Holder of the Purchase Warrant, to the address of such Holder as shown on the books of the Company, or (ii) if to the Company, to following address or to such other address as the Company may designate by notice to the Holders:

 

If to the Holder:

 

The Benchmark Company, LLC

150 E. 58th Street, 17th Floor

New York, NY 10155

Attention: President

 

with a copy to (which shall not constitute notice):

Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe, LLP

711 Third Avenue – 17^th Floor

New York, New York 10017

 

Attention: Andrew D. Hudders

Email: ahudders@golenbock.com

 

If to the Company:

 

Aqua Metals, Inc.

5370 Kietzke Lane, Suite 201

Reno, Nevada 89511

 

Attention: Judd Merrill, Chief Financial Officer

Email: judd.merrill@acquametals.com

 

With copies to (which shall not constitute notice):

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

18565 Jamboree Road, Suite 500

Irvine, California 92612

 

Attention: Daniel K. Donahue, Esq.

Email: donahued@gtlaw.com

 

9.         Miscellaneous.

 

9.1         Amendments. The Company and Benchmark may from time to time supplement or amend this Purchase Warrant without the approval of any of the Holders in order to cure any ambiguity, to correct or supplement any provision contained herein that may be defective or inconsistent with any other provisions herein, or to make any other provisions in regard to matters or questions arising hereunder that the Company and Benchmark may deem necessary or desirable and that the Company and Benchmark deem shall not adversely affect the interest of the Holders. All other modifications or amendments shall require the written consent of and be signed by (i) the Company and (ii) the Holder(s) of Purchase Warrants then-exercisable for at least a majority of the Shares then-exercisable pursuant to all then-outstanding Purchase Warrants.

 

 

9.2         Headings. The headings contained herein are for the sole purpose of convenience of reference, and shall not in any way limit or affect the meaning or interpretation of any of the terms or provisions of this Purchase Warrant.

 

9.3.         Entire Agreement. This Purchase Warrant (together with the other agreements and documents being delivered pursuant to or in connection with this Purchase Warrant) constitutes the entire agreement of the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings of the parties, oral and written, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

 

9.4         Binding Effect. This Purchase Warrant shall inure solely to the benefit of and shall be binding upon, the Holder and the Company and their permitted assignees, respective successors, legal representative and assigns, and no other person shall have or be construed to have any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of or by virtue of this Purchase Warrant or any provisions herein contained.

 

9.5         Governing Law; Submission to Jurisdiction; Trial by Jury. This Purchase Warrant shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflict of laws principles thereof. The Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of, or relating in any way to this Purchase Warrant shall be brought and enforced in the courts located in New York, New York, or in the United States District Court located in New York, New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. Any process or summons to be served upon the Company may be served by transmitting a copy thereof by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed to it at the address set forth in Section 8 hereof. Such mailing shall be deemed personal service and shall be legal and binding upon the Company in any action, proceeding or claim. The Company and the Holder agree that the prevailing party(ies) in any such action shall be entitled to recover from the other party(ies) all of its reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses relating to such action or proceeding and/or incurred in connection with the preparation therefor. The Company (on its behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates) and the Holder hereby irrevocably waive, 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.

 

9.6         Waiver, etc. The failure of the Company or the Holder to at any time enforce any of the provisions of this Purchase Warrant shall not be deemed or construed to be a waiver of any such provision, nor to in any way affect the validity of this Purchase Warrant or any provision hereof or the right of the Company or any Holder to thereafter enforce each and every provision of this Purchase Warrant. No waiver of any breach, non-compliance or non-fulfillment of any of the provisions of this Purchase Warrant shall be effective unless set forth in a written instrument executed by the party or parties against whom or which enforcement of such waiver is sought; and no waiver of any such breach, non-compliance or non-fulfillment shall be construed or deemed to be a waiver of any other or subsequent breach, non-compliance or non-fulfillment.

 

 

9.7         Exchange Agreement. As a condition of the Holder’s receipt and acceptance of this Purchase Warrant, Holder agrees that, at any time prior to the complete exercise of this Purchase Warrant by Holder, if the Company and Benchmark enter into an agreement (“Exchange Agreement”) pursuant to which they agree that all outstanding Purchase Warrants will be exchanged for securities or cash or a combination of both, then Holder shall agree to such exchange and become a party to the Exchange Agreement.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Purchase Warrant to be signed by its duly authorized officer as of May 17, 2024.

 

Aqua Metals, Inc.
By:
	Steve Cotton Chief Executive Officer

 

 

[Form to be used to exercise Purchase Warrant]

 

Date:                     , 2_    

 

The undersigned hereby elects irrevocably to exercise the Purchase Warrant for              shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Shares”), of Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and hereby makes payment of $             (at the rate of $             per Share) in payment of the Exercise Price pursuant thereto. Please issue the Shares as to which this Purchase Warrant is exercised in accordance with the instructions given below and, if applicable, a new Purchase Warrant representing the number of Shares for which this Purchase Warrant has not been exercised.

 

or

 

The undersigned hereby elects irrevocably to convert its right to purchase             Shares of the Company under the Purchase Warrant for              Shares, as determined in accordance with the following formula, as more fully set forth in the Purchase Warrant to which this form is attached:

 

	X		=		Y(A-B)
					A

 

Where,

 

	X		=		The number of Shares to be issued to Holder;
	Y		=		The number of Shares for which the Purchase Warrant is being exercised;
	A		=		The fair market value of one Share which is equal to $            ; and
	B		=		The Exercise Price which is equal to $             per share

 

The undersigned agrees and acknowledges that the calculation set forth above is subject to confirmation by the Company and any disagreement with respect to the calculation shall be resolved by the Company in its sole discretion.

 

Please issue the Shares, within two (2) business days of the date of exercise as to which this Purchase Warrant is exercised in accordance with the instructions given below and, if applicable, a new Purchase Warrant representing the number of Shares for which this Purchase Warrant has not been converted.

 

Signature

 

Signature Guaranteed

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTRATION OF SECURITIES

 

Name:
	(Print in Block Letters)

 

Address:

 

NOTICE: The signature to this form must correspond with the name as written upon the face of the Purchase Warrant without alteration or enlargement or any change whatsoever, and must be guaranteed by a bank, other than a savings bank, or by a trust company or by a firm having membership on a registered national securities exchange.

 

 

[Form to be used to assign Purchase Warrant]

 

ASSIGNMENT

 

(To be executed by the registered Holder to effect a transfer of the within Purchase Warrant):

 

FOR VALUE RECEIVED,                      does hereby sell, assign and transfer unto the right to purchase shares of Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, of Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), evidenced by the Purchase Warrant and does hereby authorize the Company to transfer such right on the books of the Company.

 

Dated:                     , 2_    

 

Signature

 

Signature Guaranteed

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTICE: The signature to this form must correspond with the name as written upon the face of the within Purchase Warrant without alteration or enlargement or any change whatsoever, and must be guaranteed by a bank, other than a savings bank, or by a trust company or by a firm having membership on a registered national securities exchange.

 

Exhibit 5.1

GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP

18565 Jamboree Road, Suite 500

Irvine, CA 92612

 

May 15, 2024

Aqua Metals, Inc.

5370 Kietzke Lane, Suite 201

Reno, Nevada 89511

 

Re: Prospectus Supplement to Registration Statement on Form S‑3

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as counsel to Aqua Metals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with (i) the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (SEC File No. 333-267780) (the “Registration Statement”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, relating to the registration by the Company of, among other things, common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) and warrants to purchase Common Stock, which may be issued from time to time as set forth in the Registration Statement and the prospectus contained therein; and (ii) the prospectus supplement dated May 14, 2024 (the “Prospectus Supplement”) relating to the issue and sale pursuant to the Registration Statement of up to 17,500,000 shares (the “Shares”) of Common Stock and up to 17,500,000 warrants (“Warrants”) each of which entitles the holder to purchase one share (“Warrant Share”) of Common Stock.

 

The Shares and Warrants are to be sold by the Company pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) dated as of May 14, 2024, between the Company and the underwriter named therein. The Underwriting Agreement will be filed with the Commission as Exhibit 1.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated May 15, 2024.

 

You have requested our opinion as to the matters set forth below in connection with the issuance of the Shares, Warrants and Warrants Shares. For purposes of rendering this opinion, we have examined the Registration Statement, the Prospectus Supplement, forms of the First Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as further amended, and Third Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company currently in effect, the Underwriting Agreement, and the resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company relating to the authorization and issuance of the Shares, Warrants and Warrants Shares, and the authorization and the approval of the Underwriting Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, and we have made such other investigations as we have deemed appropriate. We have examined and relied upon certificates of public officials and, as to certain matters of fact that are material to our opinion, we have also relied on a certificate of an officer of the Company. We have not independently verified the matters set forth in such certificates. We express no opinion herein as to the laws of any state or jurisdiction other than the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware and the federal laws of the United States of America.

 

Based upon and subject to the foregoing, we are of the opinion that (i) the Shares and Warrants, when issued and paid for in accordance with the Underwriting Agreement and as provided in the Prospectus Supplement, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and (ii) the Warrant Shares, when issued and paid for in accordance with the Warrant and as provided in the Prospectus Supplement, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

We consent to the reference to our firm under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus Supplement and to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Commission for incorporation by reference into the Registration Statement. This opinion is expressed as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any responsibility to advise you of any changes in the facts stated or assumed herein or any changes in applicable law.

 

	Very truly yours,
	/s/ GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

Aqua Metals Announces Proposed Public Offering

 

Reno, Nevada – May 14, 2024 – (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AQMS) (“Aqua Metals” or the “Company”), a pioneer in sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling, today announced that it is offering to sell shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase common stock in an underwritten public offering. All of the securities in the offering are being sold by Aqua Metals. In addition, the Company will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the number of shares and warrants offered at the public offering prices, less underwriting discounts and commissions, to cover over-allotments, if any. The final terms of the proposed offering will depend on market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size and terms of the offering. The offering is expected to price on or about Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

 

Aqua Metals intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

 

The Benchmark Company, LLC is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering. The Liquid Venture Partners group at The Benchmark Company, LLC was responsible for sourcing and executing the offering.

 

The common stock and common stock purchase warrants described above are being offered by Aqua Metals pursuant to a registration statement previously filed with and subsequently declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The common stock and common stock purchase warrants and the common stock underlying the warrants will be free trading, but the common stock purchase warrants will not be listed for trading on Nasdaq. A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the offering has been filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement, and accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering, may be obtained from The Benchmark Company, LLC, 150 East 58th Street, 17th floor, New York, NY 10155, by email at prospectus@benchmarkcompany.com, or by calling +1 (212)-312-6700.

 

ABOUT AQUA METALS, INC.

Aqua Metals, Inc. is reinventing metals recycling with its patented AquaRefining™ technology. The Company is pioneering a sustainable recycling solution for materials strategic to energy storage and electric vehicle manufacturing supply chains. AquaRefining™ is a low-emissions, closed-loop recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries with higher purity, lower emissions, and minimal waste.

 

SAFE HARBOR

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the proposed public offering and the intended use of proceeds from the offering. The offering is subject to market and other conditions and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.  Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including those risks disclosed in the section “Risk Factors” included in the preliminary prospectus supplement filed with the SEC on May 14, 2024. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur.

 

Exhibit 99.2

 

Aqua Metals Prices $7 Million Public Offering of Common Stock and Warrants

Funds Raised in Support of a $33 Million Term Sheet with One of the World’s Largest Privately Held Companies

 

RENO, Nev., May 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Metals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AQMS) (“Aqua Metals” or the “Company”), a pioneer in sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling, today announced that it priced its public offering of 17,500,000 shares of its common stock and non-redeemable warrants to purchase 17,500,000 shares of its common stock. The public offering price, before the underwriters’ discount and commissions, for each share of common stock and for each warrant is $0.39 and $0.01, respectively. Aqua Metals expects the gross proceeds from this offering to be $7 million, before deducting the underwriting discount and commissions and other estimated offering expenses. Aqua Metals granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to 2,625,000 additional shares of common stock and warrants. Aqua Metals expects to close the offering, subject to customary conditions, on Friday, May 17, 2024.

 

All the Company’s officers and directors participated in the public offering. In addition, several long-time stockholders of the Company participated in the offering, including PADNOS. All the securities in the underwritten public offering were sold by the Company.

 

Participation by PADNOS in Aqua Metals' public offering is also strategic as the companies have been collaborating on a large DOE MESC grant application submitted in March of this year and are expecting to hear the results of that application this Summer. This investment by PADNOS is a strong indicator of the Company's continued innovation, given PADNOS's reputation for innovation and leadership in sustainable materials management. PADNOS's support underscores their confidence in Aqua Metals' pioneering technology after a detailed technical exploration of other technologies and its critical role in advancing sustainable battery recycling.

 

Aqua Metals intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. The offering is also intended to strengthen the Company’s balance sheet in support of a proposed $33 million secured credit facility for which the Company has entered into a non-binding term sheet with one of the world's largest privately held companies. This proposed strategic financial collaboration is intended to provide financing for the completion of Phase One development of the Company’s Sierra AquaRefining Campus (ARC).

 

The Benchmark Company, LLC acted as the sole book-running manager for the offering. The Liquid Venture Partners group at The Benchmark Company, LLC was responsible for sourcing and executing the offering.

 

A shelf registration statement relating to the shares of common stock and warrants issued in the offering, and exercise of the common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants, was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and declared effective by the SEC. A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the offering has been filed with the SEC, and a final prospectus supplement will be filed with the SEC. Copies of the final prospectus supplement relating to this offering may be obtained from The Benchmark Company, LLC, 150 East 58th Street, 17th floor, New York, NY 10155, by email at prospectus@benchmarkcompany.com, or by calling +1 (212)-312-6700.

 

 

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

 

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) is reinventing metals recycling with its patented AquaRefining™ technology. The Company is pioneering a sustainable recycling solution for materials strategic to energy storage and electric vehicle manufacturing supply chains. AquaRefining™ is a low-emissions, closed-loop recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries with higher purity, lower emissions, and minimal waste. Learn more at www.AquaMetals.com

 

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the expected closing of the public offering and the intended use of proceeds from the offering. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including those risks disclosed in under the caption “Risk Factors” in the preliminary prospectus supplement related to the offering. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law.

 

Contact Information

 

Investor Relations

Bob Meyers & Rob Fink

FNK IR

646-878-9204

aqms@fnkir.com

 

Media

Matt Roberts

Aqua Metals

775-446-7245

matt.roberts@aquametals.com

 

Source: Aqua Metals

 

v3.24.1.1.u2

Document And Entity Information	May 14, 2024
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity, Registrant Name	AQUA METALS, INC.
Document, Type	8-K
Document, Period End Date	May 14, 2024
Entity, Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity, File Number	001-37515
Entity, Tax Identification Number	47-1169572
Entity, Address, Address Line One	5370 Kietzke Lane
Entity, Address, Address Line Two	Suite 201
Entity, Address, City or Town	Reno
Entity, Address, State or Province	NV
Entity, Address, Postal Zip Code	89511
City Area Code	775
Local Phone Number	446-4418
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Entity, Emerging Growth Company	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common stock
Trading Symbol	AQMS
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Amendment Flag	false
Entity, Central Index Key	0001621832

---