Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence |
Review of Related Person Transactions
The Audit Committee has the primary responsibility for monitoring, reviewing and approving transactions with related parties. A “related person” is any person who is or was an executive officer of the Company, director or is a holder of more than 5% of the Company’s common stock, or their immediate family members or any entity owned or controlled by any of the foregoing persons.
The Board has adopted a policy providing that the Audit Committee will review and approve or ratify transactions in excess of $120,000 of value in which the Company participates and in which a director, executive officer or beneficial holder of more than 5% of any class of the Company’s voting securities has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. Under this policy, the Audit Committee is to obtain all information it believes to be relevant to review and approve or ratify these transactions.
After consideration of the relevant information, the Audit Committee is to approve only those related party transactions that the Audit Committee believes are on their terms, taken as a whole, no less favorable to the Company than could be obtained in an arms-length transaction with an unrelated third party and that the Audit Committee determines are not inconsistent with the Company’s best interests. In particular, the Company’s policy with respect to related party transactions requires the Audit Committee to consider the benefits to the Company, the impact on a director’s independence in the event the related person is a director, an immediate family member of a director or an entity in which a director has a position or relationship, the availability of other sources for comparable products or services, the terms of the transaction and the terms available to unrelated third-parties or to employees generally.
Participation in Investor Offerings
Between May 31, 2017 and July 28, 2017, in connection with a private offering to third-party investors, the Company issued to a trust for which Mr. Caracciolo is trustee, to Mr. Naydenov, and to Alpha Venture Capital Partners, L.P., an investment entity of which Mr. Dockery is a director and principal, respectively, $1,000,000, $100,000 and $50,000 in aggregate principal amount of unsecured convertible promissory notes (the “Convertible Notes”). The offering terms for the trust, Mr. Naydenov and Alpha Venture Capital Partners, L.P. were identical to those for all other investors in the offering and are summarized in the Form8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 31, 2017.
On November 8, 2017, in connection with a private offering to third-party investors, the Company issued to a limited liability company in which Mr. Caracciolo holds a partial ownership interest, for a price of $0.50 per share and related warrants, 200,000 shares of common stock and a warrant covering 200,000 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $0.75. The offering terms for the limited liability company were identical to those for all other investors in the offering and are summarized in the Form8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 8, 2017.
On January 31, 2018, in connection with a private offering to investors in the Convertible Notes described above, the Company issued, for a price of $0.50 per share and related warrants, (i) to the trust for which Mr. Caracciolo is trustee, 2,093,972 shares of common stock and a warrant covering 1,333,334 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $0.75, (ii) to Mr. Naydenov, 207,248 shares of common stock and a warrant covering 133,334 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $0.75, and (iii) to Alpha Venture Capital Partners, L.P., 103,586 shares of common stock and a warrant covering 66,667 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $0.75 per share. The common stock and warrants were issued in full satisfaction of the Company’s cash payment obligations relating to the Convertible Notes, which had matured on the same date. The offering terms for the trust, Mr. Naydenov and Alpha Venture Capital Partners, L.P. were identical to those for all other investors in the offering and are summarized in the Form8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 31, 2018.
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