Sales of powdered formula products from our distributors to St. Angel (Beijing) Business Service was $22.0 million and $14.9 million for fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, which was not included in the above transaction amount.
The following table sets forth the value of our purchases from our related parties for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 and 2010:
We had indebtedness from related parties controlled by Liang Zhang. The following table sets forth the amount of indebtedness principal outstanding during the fiscal years ended March 31, 2011 and 2010:
As of June 8, 2011, the principal of long term loan from related parties is $3.9 million. The interest expense for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 and 2010 was $386,000 and $460,000 respectively. The interest rate for the loan outstanding at March 31, 2011 was 10.0%. The interest accrued at March 31, 2011 was $904,000.
On June 15, 2007, we issued 4,000,000 shares of common stock to Warburg for $66.0 million and entered into a registration rights agreement with Warburg. Pursuant to this registration rights agreement, we granted Warburg certain customary registration rights, including demand, piggyback and Form S-3 registration rights. David Li, who is one of our directors, is a managing director of Warburg. Subject to the provisions of the registration rights agreement and the restrictions of its lock-up agreement, Warburg will be entitled to require us to register the resale of its shares under the Securities Act.
On April 23, 2008, Beams Power Investment Limited, or Beams, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company and our majority stockholder, and Warburg entered into a note purchase agreement. Pursuant to this note purchase agreement, Beams issued Warburg a senior convertible note in an aggregate principal amount of $30 million, which is convertible into up to 1,000,000 shares of our common stock held by Beams.
In addition, Beams and Warburg entered into a share pledge agreement, dated April 23, 2008, pursuant to which Beams agreed to pledge an aggregate of 5,967,000 of shares of our common stock held by Beams as initial collateral for the loan covered by the note. On December 4, 2008, Beams agreed to pledge an additional 8,000,000 shares of our common stock held by Beams as collateral for the loan covered by the note.
In connection with the issuance of the note and the share pledge agreement, we entered into a registration rights agreement, dated April 23, 2008, with Beams and Warburg, pursuant to which we granted Warburg certain customary registration rights, including demand, piggyback and Form S-3 registration rights, with respect to the shares of our common stock Warburg acquires or may acquire pursuant to the note purchase agreement, the note and the share pledge agreement.
Control Agreements with Affiliated Entities
In order to comply with PRC law and avoid restrictions on foreign investment in medical clinical operations, we operate our medical treatment services (mostly pre-natal diagnostics services) through four entities -- Nanjing Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd., Taiyuan Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd, Shijiazhuang Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd and Heilongjiang Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd (the “Four Entities”) that are not directly owned by us. We control and consolidate these entities into our group consolidated results through a series of contractual arrangements which are summarized below.
(a)
Exclusive Consulting and Service Agreement entered into by and between Shengyuan Nutritional Food Co., Ltd. (“Nutritional”) and Beijing Shengyuan Huimin Technology Service Co., Ltd. (“Huimin”). Pursuant to this agreement, Nutritional agrees to provide to Huimin certain consulting services for which Huimin shall pay Nutritional a service fee in an amount equal to 10%-50% of Huimin’s monthly net sale, the exact percentage to be determined by the two parties. The term of the agreement is 10 years unless Nutritional terminates it before its expiration and Nutritional shall have the right to extend the Agreement before it expires.
(b)
Business Operating Agreement entered into by and among Nutritional, Huimin, Jibin Zhang (who is our Director of Loans) and Yunpeng Jiang (who is our Director of Strategic Acquisitions). Pursuant to this agreement, Huimin agrees to conduct its business in a way that is consistent with Nutritional’s direction. In addition, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang authorize Nutritional to exercise all of their respective shareholders’ rights in Huimin.
(c)
Call Option Agreement entered into by and among Nutritional, Huimin, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang. Pursuant to this agreement, within a ten-year period and any extended period as requested by Nutritional, Nutritional is entitled to an irrevocable and exclusive right to purchase or authorize any third party to purchase the shares of Huimin held by Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang at the lowest feasible price according to PRC laws and regulations. In addition, Nutritional is entitled to call part or all of the option right at any time during the effective period of this agreement and there is no limit on the number of calls until Nutritional hold 100% of Huimin’s shares.
(d)
Pledge Agreement entered into by and among Nutritional, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang. To ensure the performance of the Exclusive Consulting and Service Agreement, Call Option Agreement and Business Operating Agreement, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang, as pledgers under this agreement, pledge all of their shares and corresponding interests and rights in Huimin to Nutritional, as pledgee under this agreement.
(e)
Entrustment Agreement entered into by and among Nutritional, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang. Pursuant to this agreement, Nutritional loans Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang each RMB15,000,000 to establish companies for pre-natal diagnostic services in China. Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang are the nominal shareholders of these companies and Nutritional is the actual shareholder of these companies.
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(f)
Entrustment Agreement entered into by and among Nutritional, Jibin Zhang, Yunpeng Jiang and Honnete. Nutritional agrees to entrust Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang arty A) to establish a limited liability company (the “future company”) and Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang will hold all of the shares of the future company in entrustment. Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang have established Nanjing Huiren, Taiyuan Huiren, Shijiazhuang Huiren and Haerbin Huiren (the “established companies”). Upon the fulfillment of the registration of the said future company, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang will transfer their shares in the established companies to the future company for free. Upon approval from Nutritional, Jibin Zhang and Yunpeng Jiang will entrust Honnete to hold the shares of the established companies.
In August and September 2010, shares of Nanjing Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd., Taiyuan Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd., and Shijiazhuang Shengyuan Huiren Clinical Examination Co., Ltd. were transferred to our subsidiary, Beijing Shengyuan Huimin Technology Service Co., Ltd.
Review, Approval or Ratification of Transactions with Related Parties
Audit committee must approve any new class of transactions involving the Company in which any of our directors, director nominees, executive officers, greater than five percent beneficial owners and their respective immediate family members has a direct or indirect material interest. In doing so, the Board takes into account, among other factors it deems appropriate:
·
The related person’s interest in the transaction;
·
The approximate dollar value of the amount involved in the transaction;
·
The approximate dollar value of the amount of the related person’s interest in the transaction without regard to the amount of any profit or loss;
·
Whether the transaction was undertaken in the ordinary course of our business;
·
Whether the transaction with the related person is proposed to be, or was, entered into on terms no less favorable to us than terms that could have been reached with an unrelated third party;
·
The purpose of, and the potential benefits to us of, the transaction; and
·
Any other information regarding the transaction or the related person in the context of the proposed transaction that would be material to investors in light of the circumstances of the particular transaction.
Director Independence
The Board has determined all Board members, excluding Liang Zhang, Joseph Chow and Donghao Yang, are independent under the applicable NASDAQ rules. The Board has also determined the members of each committee of the Board are independent under the listing standards of the NASDAQ Global Select Market except for Mr. Yang who is a member of the Audit Committee and qualifies as a member under the “exceptional and limited circumstances” provisions of such standards. In making the determination as to independence the Board considered, among other things, the types and amounts of the commercial dealings between the Company and the companies and organizations with which the directors are affiliated.
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STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS
Stockholder Proposals for Inclusion in Company Proxy Statement. Stockholders may present proposals, including nominations for directors, for inclusion in our proxy statement prepared in connection with the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012 (the “Next Annual Meeting”). Among other requirements, for a proposal to be considered for inclusion in the proxy statement for the Next Annual Meeting, written notice must be received by the corporate secretary at our principal executive offices no later than 120 calendar days before the anniversary of the date of the Company’s proxy statement released to stockholders in connection with the previous year’s annual meeting. Accordingly, we must receive all such written notices no later than September 9, 2012.
Receipt of a stockholder proposal does not necessarily guarantee that the proposal will be included in the proxy statement for the Next Annual Meeting. Stockholders interested in submitting a nomination or proposal for consideration at the Next Annual Meeting should also consult our Bylaws to ensure that any such notice of nomination or proposal is submitted to the Company in proper form. In addition, stockholders should also be aware that any such proposal must comply with SEC rules concerning the inclusion of stockholder proposals in Company-sponsored proxy materials. Our Board will review any proposal that is received by the deadline and determine if it is a proper proposal for inclusion in the proxy statement for the Next Annual Meeting.
Stockholder Proposals Not for Inclusion in Company Proxy Statement. Stockholders may nominate persons to be elected as directors of the Company, or present other proposals, to the Company to be considered at the Next Annual Meeting – but not for inclusion in our proxy statement prepared in connection with the Next Annual Meeting. In order to submit a nomination or other proposal, our Bylaws require that stockholders give written notice of any proposal to the Company. Under our Bylaws, for director nominations or other business to be properly brought at an annual meeting, the stockholder’s written notice must be received by the corporate secretary not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary of the prior year’s annual meeting (i.e., the annual meeting for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011). Accordingly, we must receive all such written notices no earlier than October 21, 2012 and no later than November 20, 2012. Depending on the nature of the proposal, our Bylaws require certain additional information to be included in such written notice. Stockholders interested in submitting a nomination or proposal for consideration at the Next Annual Meeting (but not for inclusion in our proxy statement prepared in connection with such annual meeting) should consult our Bylaws to ensure that any such notice of nomination or proposal is submitted to the Company in proper form.
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO STOCKHOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS
Certain stockholders who share an address are being delivered only one copy of this proxy statement unless the Company or one of its mailing agents has received contrary instructions. Upon the written or oral request of a stockholder at a shared address to which a single copy of this proxy statement was delivered, the Company shall promptly deliver a separate copy of this proxy statement to such stockholder. Written requests should be made to Synutra International, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 2275 Research Blvd., Suite 500, Rockville, Maryland 20850 and oral requests may be made by calling the Company at (301) 840-3888. In addition, if such stockholder wishes to receive separate annual reports, proxy statements or information statements in the future, such stockholder should notify the Company either in writing addressed to the foregoing address or by calling the foregoing telephone number. Stockholders sharing an address who are receiving multiple copies of this Information Statement may request delivery of a single annual report, proxy statement or information statement in the future by directing such request in writing to the address above or calling the number above.
OTHER MATTERS
Management does not intend to present any other items of business and knows of no other matters that will be brought before the annual meeting. Whether or not you plan to attend the annual meeting, please sign
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and date the proxy card and return it in the enclosed envelope (if you have requested a paper copy of the proxy statement) or vote over the internet to ensure your representation at the annual meeting.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This proxy statement and materials delivered with this proxy statement, including our annual report on Form 10-K, for the year ended March 31, 2011, contains “forward-looking” statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this proxy statement and materials delivered with this proxy statement, including, without limitation, statements regarding our financial position, business strategy, and plans and objectives of management for future operations and capital expenditures, are forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Additional statements concerning important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are disclosed in the “Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements” section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2011. All written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf subsequent to the date of this proxy statement are expressly qualified in their entirety by such cautionary statements.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
Synutra International, Inc. files reports, proxy statements, and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). You can read and copy these reports, proxy statements, and other information concerning our company at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information about the operation of the SEC’s Public Reference Room. The SEC also maintains an Internet site that contains all reports, proxy statements and other information that we file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is http://www.sec.gov.
A copy of our annual report on form 10-K, for the year ended March 31, 2011, which includes financial statements for the Company for the fiscal year then ended and excluding exhibits is available at www.envisionreports.com/SYUT and upon request will be mailed to each stockholder of record. The exhibits to the Form 10-K are available upon payment of charges that approximate reproduction costs. If you would like to request documents, please do so by February 9, 2012, to receive them before the annual meeting of stockholders. Requests should be sent in writing to:
Synutra International, Inc.
2275 Research Blvd., Suite 500
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Attention: Corporate Secretary
By Order of the Board of Directors,
Liang Zhang
Chief Executive Officer
January 10, 2012
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APPENDIX A
DIRECTIONS
Directions to venue for the Synutra International Inc. Shareholders Meeting scheduled for February 23, 2012:
From Beijing Capital International Airport: Take Airport Expressway in direction of Beijing for about 15 kilometers from toll station, take Exit 3B onto East 5th Ring Road in the direction of Jing-Tong Expressway (from Beijing to Tongzhou) for another 15 kilometers, then take Exit 9B onto Jing-Tong Expressway in the direction of Tongzhou for about 5 kilometers, after the toll station where Jing-Tong Expressway ends, bear to the left split onto the Beijing-Harbin Expressway, take Exit 2 in the direction of Gengzhuang, make a left at the traffic light and proceed through another 2 traffic lights, make another left at the T intersection, right at the next traffic light, proceed for about 200 meters and make a right to arrive at the main gate of the Synutra corporate campus.
From Central Business District (CBD) of Beijing: take Chang An Avenue east which becomes Jing-Tong Expressway after the World Trade Center Bridge, proceed onto Jing-Tong Expressway in the direction of Tongzhou for about 5 kilometers, after the toll station where Jing-Tong Expressway ends, bear to the left split onto the Beijing-Harbin Expressway, take Exit 2 in the direction of Gengzhuang, make a left at the traffic light and proceed through another 2 traffic lights, make another left at the T intersection, right at the next traffic light, proceed for about 200 meters and make a right to arrive at the main gate of the Synutra corporate campus.
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