UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
Amendment No. 5
to
FORM 10
GENERAL FORM FOR REGISTRATION OF SECURITIES
Pursuant to Section 12(b) or 12(g) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 26-1189601 |
(State or other jurisdiction of | (IRS Employer |
incorporation or organization) | Identification No.) |
39 West 37 St. 8th Floor
New York, NY 10018
(Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)
(212) 741-8181
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Copies to:
Wallace E. Brockhoff, Esq.
Lathrop & Gage LLP
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 2800
Kansas City, Missouri 64108
816-292-2000 (telephone)
816-292-2001 (facsimile)
Securities to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
None
Securities to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer ¨ | Accelerated filer ¨ |
Non-accelerated filer ¨ | Smaller reporting company x |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Amendment No. 5 on Form 10 (the “Amendment No. 5” or “Form 10”) relates to the Registration Statement of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. (“Diligent”) on Form 10, as initially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2008 (as amended on June 30, 2008, December 5, 2008, February 12, 2009 and April 17, 2009, the “Original Filing”). On June 30, 2008, the Original Filing became effective through operation of law.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| | Page No. |
| | |
Item 1: | Business | 2 |
Item 1a: | Risk Factors | 10 |
Item 2: | Financial Information | 14 |
Item 3: | Properties | 26 |
Item 4: | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management | 26 |
Item 5: | Directors and Executive Officers | 28 |
Item 6: | Executive Compensation | 32 |
Item 7: | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence | 34 |
Item 8: | Legal Proceedings | 37 |
Item 9: | Market Price of and Dividends on the Registrant's Common Equity and | |
| Related Stockholder Matters | 38 |
Item 10: | Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities | 39 |
Item 11: | Description of Registrant's Securities to be Registered | 40 |
Item 12: | Indemnification of Directors and Officers | 43 |
Item 13: | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 44 |
Item 14: | Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and | |
| Financial Disclosure | 44 |
Item 15: | Financial Statements and Exhibits | 45 |
You should rely only on the information contained in this document or to which we have referred you. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different. You should assume that the information contained in this document is accurate as of the date of this Form 10 only, except where a different specific date is set forth.
As used in this Form 10, unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “Diligent” and the “Company” refer to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its subsidiaries.
We have applied for trademarks for the names “Diligent” and “Boardbooks”. This document also contains trademarks and service marks of other companies.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for statements of historical fact, certain information described in this document contains “forward-looking statements” that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar words. The statements that contain these or similar words should be read carefully because these statements discuss our future expectations, contain projections of our future results of operations or of our financial position, or state other “forward-looking” information. Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., believes that it is important to communicate our future expectations to our investors. However, there may be events in the future that we are not able accurately to predict or control. Further, we urge you to be cautious of the forward-looking statements which are contained in this Form 10 because they involve risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting our operations, market growth, service, products and licenses. Events in the future may cause our actual results and achievements, whether expressed or implied, to differ materially from the expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements. The occurrence of future events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT US
We file reports, proxy statements, information statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You may read and copy this information, for a copying fee, 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 more information on its public reference rooms. Our Securities and Exchange Commission filings are also available to the public from commercial document retrieval services, and at the web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov. Our internet address is http://www.boardbooks.com. We will make available through a link to the SEC’s web site, electronic copies of the materials we file with the SEC (including our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K, the Section 16 reports filed by our executive officers, directors and 10% stockholders and amendments to those reports). To receive paper copies of our SEC materials, please contact us by mail addressed to Robert E. Norton, Corporate Secretary, Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., 39 West 37 St. 8th Floor, New York, NY 10018, (212) 741-8181.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General Information
Our business address is 39 West 37 St. 8th Floor, New York, NY 10018, and our telephone number is 212-741-8181. Our website is http://www.boardbooks.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this registration statement.
History
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. is a Delaware corporation that was incorporated on September 27, 2007, and commenced business on October 1, 2007, when our accounting predecessor entity and sole stockholder at that time, Diligent Board Member Services, LLC (now known as Services Share Holding, LLC, and referred to in this document as “DBMS LLC”, “LLC” or “Predecessor”), contributed substantially all of its tangible assets and its “Diligent Boardbooks” business to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Company Overview
We develop and sell an online software application called Diligent Boardbooks, which is a web-based portal that directors and administrative staff use to compile, update and examine board materials prior to and during board meetings. Each of our clients enters into a service agreement whereby we agree to provide and support the Diligent Boardbooks service.
The Boardbooks product features an on-screen interface that resembles a book and displays documents in single web-viewable pages, from a secure central database. The software is accessed via the internet and is a “point and click” system that gives directors the ability to navigate throughout the entire virtual book.
The first phase of our business focus was developing and testing the Boardbooks system, building a loyal core of blue chip customers to become champions of the product, and promoting product awareness through exposure in print media. During this phase we did not focus on revenue growth or profitability, and sales and marketing had been conducted by two to three staff members, who fit this role alongside their other responsibilities. By 2007 we had a commercially viable product and shifted our focus to commit substantial resources to the sales and marketing of our Boardbooks product. We are now in the customer acquisition phase of our business and currently provide the Boardbooks service to over 170 companies and 4,500 users.
Development Timeline
The paragraphs below provide a general timeline of the development of the Diligent Boardbooks system:
| · | The Diligent Boardbooks Concept (1998-2001). We began developing components of the Diligent Boardbooks system starting in 1998. In 2001, SunAmerica Funds requested a solution to automate the management of its board meeting papers. With this request, the founders of DBMS LLC launched the Diligent Boardbooks concept and produced and tested a working concept that was licensed to AIG. |
| · | Diligent Boardbooks Delivery and Development (2000-2002). The development process took more than three years to create the first commercially viable version of Diligent Boardbooks. The founders of DBMS LLC made this investment foreseeing the end product could become an extremely valuable licensing opportunity for DBMS LLC. |
| · | Diligent Boardbooks Testing (2002-2004). With SunAmerica Funds as an anchor client, DBMS LLC spent a year getting other major accounts to buy licenses in a market that had yet to deal with the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These clients had to be “seasoned” (a term we use to describe the time an account takes to become a “paying, satisfied Boardbooks client”) for years in many cases prior to them having the comfort to move their board materials on to our servers. |
| · | Building Credentials (2004-2006). After “seasoning” the anchor accounts we began establishing our own credentials. Our marketing group produced credential style marketing materials featuring the initial test license accounts. |
| · | Scaling (2006-2007). Before undertaking an international rollout of a large licensing sales force, we tested several key growth assumptions relating to scaling the Diligent Boardbooks service. |
| · | Roll-out (2007-2008). The roll-out of a sales force commenced in 2007 and by the end of the 3rd quarter, our sales force had increased from 3 to 23 full time salespeople, which was subsequently reduced to 18 following performance evaluations. As of the date of this filing, a 4th quarter general workforce reduction, due to a difficult worldwide economic climate, further reduced the sales force to 10. |
New Zealand Offering
Acquisition of the Diligent Boardbooks Business.
On October 1, 2007, we entered into a Contribution Agreement with DBMS LLC, under which DBMS LLC contributed assets and certain liabilities relating to the Diligent Boardbooks business, including accounts receivables, prepaid expense, property and equipment, security deposits, capital lease obligations and deferred revenue, as a contribution to our capital. In order to effectuate this as a tax-free transaction, DBMS LLC retained certain Diligent Boardbooks liabilities in the approximate amount of $6,800,000, which DBMS LLC discharged using proceeds of a loan by us to DBMS LLC of approximately $6,800,000. The monies for this loan were part of the proceeds of the share offering described below under “New Zealand Offering.” (See Item 7 “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” for more information on our capitalization and this loan.) To our knowledge, DBMS LLC has no continuing operations other than acting as a holding company for its Diligent shares.
New Zealand Offering.
On December 12, 2007, we completed an offshore offering of 24,000,000 common shares to members of the public in conjunction with a listing of our stock on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. The net proceeds of the offering were approximately $16.4 million, which we used to:
| · | Recruit additional staff to grow our business, including more licensing sales people in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. |
| · | Invest in the operational infrastructure required to scale the business. |
| · | Provide working capital to sustain the operations of the business while we further build our revenue streams. |
| · | Advance approximately $6.8 million to or on behalf of DBMS LLC to retire certain debt obligations incurred by DBMS LLC in connection with the development of the Diligent Boardbooks business. Of the $6.8 million, approximately $3.1 million was reinvested by the holders of the obligations in our common stock in a private placement (See Item 10 “Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities”) such that our net cash outflow as a result of the loan was only $3.7 million. |
Although it is intended that the proceeds from the offering be used for the purposes specified above, we are aware that we need to be flexible with our strategies, plans, targeted milestones, operations and affairs so that we can quickly respond to change, such as changes in the software industry, our competitive environment and insights we gain regarding operations, costs and investment requirements as the business grows.
Acquisition of Diligent Board Member Services NZ Limited; Activities of UK Subsidiary
Effective January 1, 2008, we acquired the stock of Diligent Board Member Services NZ Limited, for consideration of NZ$5,000 (approximately US$3,800), which provides software development services and support. Effective April 2008, our United Kingdom subsidiary, Diligent Boardbooks Limited, became active and is engaged in European sales.
Recent Events; DBMS LLC “Warranty” of Annualized Fees
In connection with the New Zealand offering, DBMS LLC agreed to warrant that should the Company’s Annualized License Fees (defined below) as of December 31, 2008 not reach $10,800,000, DBMS LLC agreed that it would forfeit certain of its shares according to a graduated share cancellation formula. The net result of any share cancellations would be that DBMS LLC would forfeit the cancelled shares and that the remaining shares still outstanding would represent an increased percentage ownership of our total equity.
“Annualized License Fees” (ALFs) is a forward-looking measure, defined as the total fees required to be paid to us for the next twelve months under all of our service contracts in effect at a particular point in time assuming that the contracts will remain in full force and effect and are fully paid without setoff or discount throughout the twelve-month period.
DBMS LLC delivered 14,000,000 of our shares to an escrow agent, pending determination of Annualized License Fees as of December 31, 2008. Based on the ALFs at December 31, 2008, the warranty was not met and the entire 14,000,000 shares were delivered to us for cancellation on January 26, 2009, and the shares have been canceled and recorded as treasury shares.
Market Opportunity
The online board portal industry remains in its infancy with market penetration still relatively low. We believe that less than 20 percent of companies use a board portal to communicate with directors. Of these 20 percent, less than five percent use an externally provided board portal product.
Our client base was previously comprised of blue chip companies predominantly in the financial service sector. These entities had previously been prime targets because their board materials are crucial to effectively managing the corporate governance process. Public recognition by prominent publications has helped us become a leader in the provision of online board portal software in this sector. A vast opportunity for us remains in the global financial service sector as there are more than 61,000 mutual funds (of all sizes, although many of this number will be managed by the same manager) and more than 11,000 banks.
Although 2008 was an extremely challenging time for the Company, Diligent managed to expand the industry sectors that it has clients in to include energy, oil and gas, health care, and universities. In spite of the financial stress in the key US market, an impressive list of new clients was added, including several international brand names. Further inroads were also made into Canada with four major energy companies and one of Canada’s largest pension funds selecting the Boardbooks board portal to provide them with real time access to vital board materials.
Encouragingly, Diligent’s sales pipeline (all prospects who have expressed interest in Diligent Boardbooks) remains strong and continues to grow. Additionally, a selling agreement with a leading Houston-based software solutions provider, Bridgeway Software, Inc, was also added later in the year, which is expected to further drive sales.
It appears that despite the dire world economic conditions, companies continue to implement and upgrade Diligent Boardbooks as a way to save costs, improve efficiencies and broaden their corporate governance and compliance standards.
Our Product Strengths
Established Brand. We compete against several competitors within the board portal industry. Notably however, we have been under development since early 2001 while many of our competitors remain at a much earlier stage of development.
Ease of Use. In an article published in The Wall Street Journal on October 23, 2006, the author commented that “The portal from Diligent Board Member Services may be the easiest to use. The Diligent layout looks like a paper book. A binding coil and divider tabs are drawn onto the screen and directors “flip” pages with the click of a mouse.” This “ease of use” has been one of the many key elements to Diligent Boardbooks' popularity among executives with little time to learn a new system.
Flexible Online and Offline Viewing. Diligent Boardbooks may be viewed online via the Internet or offline on the user’s computer. The offline version of Diligent Boardbooks allows a user to download a secure encrypted database of their own corporation’s entire Diligent Boardbooks database. This allows meetings to be run off-site without an Internet connection. The same book-like interface is used to view offline as well as online. This system is secured through high-level security and encryption technology.
Additionally, when paper copies are requested, Diligent Boardbooks has a “Print Book” feature that allows directors to print the entire collated Boardbook complete with page numbers, agenda-related footers and more. This feature is controlled by the user, allowing a page, a tab or a whole book to be printed. This is a password-specific functionality controlled by the users.
Offline Synchronization. The main distinction between Diligent Boardbooks and other systems is that Diligent Boardbooks maintains a single copy and does not download information that has already been downloaded, making synchronization an efficient and rapid process. Accordingly, there is no risk of having multiple copies or outdated documents floating on the computer desktop.
Regular Upgrades. The Diligent Boardbooks software is regularly updated by our software development team. Updates are applied automatically and users receive the benefit of enhanced functionality without the inconvenience of software reinstallation.
Application Security. We designed a powerful and secure triple redundant network to promote absolute protection and availability of client data. Primaries, secondaries and fail-over servers and systems are located in geographically diverse locations for application and data delivery security. An automated intrusion detection system blocks malicious activity and reverse proxy authentication provides another barrier of protection for sensitive data. For complete security, each individual Diligent Boardbooks user has a distinct user name and password that is required to access the Diligent Boardbooks site. All data is encrypted.
We are SAS 70 – Series II Audited (Statement on Auditing Standards – Service Organizations). This means our licensed client base can be assured that their most intimate corporate information is secure.
Global Support. We serve the highest level officers of some of the largest companies in the world. To assist with completely meeting the expectations of these directors and their key employees, we have staff and contractors in four countries. Our support team is trained to work with its high-level clients to solve any problem a user might encounter. This high level of support is a core competency that has helped to ensure successful implementation and retention for over 170 companies and approximately 4,500 users to date, while keeping client attrition rates to less than five percent per year.
Full Management and Implementation Team. We provide personalized and high quality account management and implementation to our clients. Each client has a dedicated team that includes an assigned day-to-day account manager, an assigned security engineer and an assigned executive.
Rapid, Cost Effective Deployment. Diligent Boardbooks can be rapidly deployed for use within an organization. Once a company chooses to use Diligent Boardbooks, it can begin to realize the benefits almost immediately. Director training typically takes less than 45 minutes and full product administration training less than 10 hours. We consider this a very important distinguishing factor relative to key competitors whose systems can take considerably longer to implement.
Business Model
We use the Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) model to distribute our Diligent Boardbooks software to the market and maintain the security and integrity of our clients’ data. Under this model, we license customer access to our Boardbook product, which is hosted on our secure servers, and offer a complete suite of related services including training, support, data migration and data security/backup.
The SaaS model is characterized by a company providing on-demand access to its complex software through a web-based interface in return for subscription-based revenue. The SaaS industry has undergone significant growth over the past five years, spurred on by several factors:
| · | SaaS providers can cost-effectively share one application across hundreds or thousands of companies; |
| · | Clients can accelerate the deployment process and eliminate additional infrastructure costs; |
| · | A continuing decline in the cost of bandwidth has meant web-based solutions have become more viable; |
| · | Lower cost of implementation. Clients do not pay large sums for a product with a long development and implementation timeframe with no guarantee of success. Instead, clients that pay a nominal set-up and/or training fee, and a recurring subscription fee, can begin to use the fully developed service immediately and retain the ability to cancel the service, if unsatisfied; |
| · | The success of on-demand services in the consumer market (e.g., Google, iTunes and YouTube) have made accessing content and services commonplace in professionals’ personal lives. Professionals are now demanding similar features in business software; and |
| · | The success of early leaders such as WebEx and salesforce.com has demonstrated the viability and value proposition of the SaaS model. |
Central characteristics of implementing the SaaS model include the:
| · | Ability to obtain rapid growth in market share and revenue over a sustained period of time; |
| · | Highly scalable operations that can support sales growth with much lower increases in operating costs; |
| · | Significant up-front investment in sales and marketing in order to maximize the market penetration; |
| · | Negative earnings over the expansion period offset by equity capital; and |
| · | After a period of intense competition, typically one or two companies emerge as the market leaders. |
Generally, following an initial capital raise that finances accelerated investment in marketing, there is rapid growth in sales that continues for a number of years (“Stage One”). Three to five years following the initial capital injection, the accelerated expansion in sales may steady somewhat (“Stage Two”). Growth may continue to be very strong for many years however, being limited primarily by competition and by market size (which is often, as is the case for us, of a global scale). Throughout Stage Two profitability continues to be subordinate to both revenue growth and market penetration.
Stage One revenue multiples are generally much higher than their Stage Two counterparts, reflecting the anticipated accelerated growth in revenues associated with the significant increased investment in marketing.
We are at the beginning of Stage One in our growth cycle and can be expected to remain so for a number of years. Because of the strengths of the Diligent Boardbooks product and the high quality of the existing client base, we believe our business risk is lower than is typical for a Stage One company. Our position is further strengthened by the fact that, as the vast majority of companies worldwide are not currently using an electronic board materials management system at all, there is no existing software system to displace. While in some cases there are competing electronic board materials management systems, in most cases our main competition is a paper based system, which we believe is a far inferior and more costly approach.
Marketing; Growth Strategy
We believe that building a successful sales and marketing team to present to and serve the boards of the world’s major corporations is a significant undertaking. Staff must have a deep understanding of corporate governance issues while also being able to interact credibly with the board members and senior executives of major US and international corporations.
The roll-out of a sales force commenced in 2007. By the beginning of the 4th quarter 2008, our sales force had increased to 23 full time salespeople and then was subsequently reduced to 18 after performance evaluations. We continue on an ongoing basis to evaluate the performance of our sales team and make adjustments as prudent and/or necessary. On November 21, 2008, after consideration of the current market environment and economic conditions, and the concern about the Company’s ability to raise additional growth financing on historically favorable terms, management decided to implement a cost reduction program that reduced staff by 13 people, including 8 in sales and 1 in marketing, leaving a total of 10 active in sales. Although this is a dramatic cut in sales force, the Company believes it has retained its most effective salespeople and can continue the pattern of growth necessary to maintain its market position.
Intellectual Property
As disclosed above, we acquired all Diligent Boardbooks-related intellectual property from DBMS LLC, as of October 1, 2007. We have protected our unique graphical user interface by copyright and have in process multiple patent applications to protect key or unique aspects of the new software. We will continue to take steps to protect our intellectual property, although there can be no assurance that we will be able to secure such patents or that, if successful, such patents will offer any protection.
All software developed by us is protected by copyright and has been developed entirely by our employees. Employees and contractors have no rights to the application source code, design, user interface or any other aspect of the application, which is protected by copyright and provisions in our employment contracts.
Clients have no rights, other than licensed use, to the application source code, and generally have no visibility of the source code. We make occasional exceptions to allow clients to perform due diligence security audits, which are protected by non-disclosure/non-use agreements. Client rights to the application are defined and protected by the client license agreement.
Customers and Certain Contracts
Our client base is currently comprised of large companies predominantly in the financial service sector. Our customers currently include SunAmerica Funds, Allianz Global Investors, New York Life Investment Management and Motorola. We have implemented the Diligent Boardbooks system for over 170 companies and approximately 4,500 users.
Research and Development
Our research and development efforts are focused on improving and enhancing our Diligent Boardbooks system. We spent approximately $1.3 million in 2007 and $1.0 million in 2008 on research and development. None of these costs were borne directly by our customers.
Competition
We are subject to significant competition that could impact our ability to gain market share, win business and increase the price pressure on our products. We face strong competition from a wide variety of firms, both large and small. Some of our primary direct competitors are the following:
| · | Thomson Reuters, headquartered in New York, which provides a board portal service through a product called Thomson BoardLink; |
| · | BoardVantage, Inc., located in California, which provides a product called BoardVantage Board Portal; |
| · | Directors Desk, located in New York and Washington, which provides a product called Directors Desk; and |
| · | SAI Global Limited, which acquired 80-20 Software Inc., a Melbourne-based service provider with a product called Leaders4. |
We believe the principal factors that generally determine a company’s competitive advantage in the market in which Diligent Boardbooks competes are:
| · | software development capabilities; |
| · | functionality and reliability of products and services; |
| · | competitive sales and marketing capabilities; |
| · | proven testing record of software products and services; and |
We believe that we compete favorably regarding each of these factors.
Regulation
Our business is not subject to any industry-specific regulation that affects our business as currently conducted, although we are subject to general tax, corporate, securities, employment, privacy and other laws and regulations that affect businesses generally. We are a beneficiary of the push to improve corporate governance and oversight stimulated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which we believe has increased demand for our Diligent Boardbooks product.
Environmental Matters
We do not believe that the costs and effects of compliance with environmental laws will be material to our business.
Employees
As of January 30, 2009, we had approximately 45 full-time employees. Of these, the majority are located in our New York, New York and Montville, New Jersey offices. The remaining employees are located predominantly in our Christchurch, New Zealand office, which provides software and help desk support for several large corporations, as well as providing the software development of the Diligent Boardbooks product.
ITEM 1a. RISK FACTORS
Our business, industry and common stock are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. The discussion below presents material risks and uncertainties we believe are important for you to consider. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed by any of the following risks, or by other risks identified in this registration statement, or by other risks that have not been identified, or that we may believe are immaterial or unlikely. In such a case, the value of our common stock could decline, and stockholders may lose all or part of their investment. The risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements, and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Statements.”
If we are unable to meet the challenges related to the market acceptance and provision of our Boardbooks system, our ability to grow the business may be harmed.
We expect that the growth of our business will depend in part upon whether our Boardbooks system will achieve and sustain expected levels of demand and market acceptance. If enterprises do not perceive the benefits of our Boardbooks system, then the market may not develop at all, or it may develop more slowly than we expect, either of which could significantly and adversely affect our growth. Key challenges that we face related to our provision of services include the risk that we may encounter unexpected technical and other difficulties in developing our Boardbooks system that could delay or prevent the development of certain features; the risk that the rate of adoption by enterprises of the Boardbooks system will not be as we anticipate; and the risk that security breaches may occur, notwithstanding the use of our security measures, by hackers that develop new methods of avoiding security software. If we do not adequately address these challenges, our growth and operating results may be negatively impacted.
We currently rely on products comprising the Boardbooks system for all of our revenue.
Our revenue is derived exclusively from sales and service of the Boardbooks system, and we expect that this product will account for substantially all of our revenue for the foreseeable future. If our Boardbooks system fails to maintain or achieve greater market acceptance, we will not be able to grow our revenues sufficiently to achieve profitability.
We might not expand distribution adequately.
If we encounter difficulty in expanding our sales network, demand for our services might not fully develop. We might not be able to compete successfully with our current and future competitors. Furthermore, if our business grows too rapidly and we fail to properly manage that growth, by, for example, failing to meet customer demand properly, long term demand for our services would be negatively affected.
We might not be able to retain certain key personnel.
Any failure to generally attract, retain and effectively manage qualified personnel could adversely affect our business. In particular, we have been dependent on the experience and expertise of our founders and, a number of crucial senior employees. For the foreseeable future, we will remain dependent on the continued involvement and commitment of these key employees.
We might not be able to obtain additional funding.
On March 11, 2009, the Company secured $3 million of financing from Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC, who collectively purchased 30 million shares of newly-created Series A Preferred Stock for $0.10 per share. At the current level of reduced expenses, coupled with conservative sales growth forecasts, management believes this funding will be sufficient to support sales growth and achieve cash flow breakeven by approximately the third quarter of 2010.
Even with the successful close of this financing, if the Company cannot reach cashflow breakeven, and in the absence of future financing commitments, we may need to significantly reduce staff and cut operating expenses, including selling and marketing expenses, in order to preserve our available working capital and extend the time available to secure additional funding. The implementation of these cost cutting actions could adversely affect our ability to meet our growth and profitability objectives.
We might not collect our note receivable.
We hold a note receivable from DBMS LLC in the amount of $6,800,000, which is due on October 1, 2010 and is secured by a first-lien pledge of 22,612,737 of our shares, which includes 892,500 shares pledged directly by Corcoran Consulting LLC. Corcoran Consulting LLC pledged the 892,500 shares directly because it elected to do so rather than by contributing the shares to DBMS LLC and then including them in the shares pledged by it. The pledged shares do not secure any other obligations.
Prior to March 30, 2009, 25,000,000 of our shares were pledged to secure the note. On March 30, 2009, DBMS LLC sold 2,387,263 pledged shares to Spring Street Partners, L.P. in a private transaction valued at $0.075 per share, or $179,045 in the aggregate. The proceeds were applied against the note interest payment due April 1, 2009 and will be applied against the next interest payment when due July 1, 2009. As a result, the number of shares securing the note is now 22,612,737. Using the NZ$ 0.13 closing price of our stock on March 31, 2009 and an exchange rate on that date of NZ$1=US$0.57, the value of the remaining shares pledged to secure the loan is $1,675,804. If the market value of our stock owned by DBMS LLC does not appreciate sufficiently to allow DBMS LLC to generate sufficient funds at or prior to maturity of the note to pay the principal and accrued interest, the note may not be fully collectible. To our knowledge, DBMS LLC has no operations other than acting as a holding company for shares of our stock. We have recognized a $5.8 million impairment charge with respect to the note as of December 31, 2008 to reflect market conditions regarding our common stock.
If we are unable to collect the note receivable when due or if it is determined to be further impaired in its value, the shortfall would decrease our earnings in the period in which the shortfall is recognized. If we foreclose upon the shares securing the note, the shares will be treated as treasury shares held by us and would have the effect of decreasing the number of outstanding shares of our common stock by the number of foreclosed shares.
We might not be able to procure patents.
We are pursuing several patents that we believe will help protect our intellectual property and the services we provide boards of directors. However, there is no guarantee that such patents, if successful, will offer any protection. Additionally, other parties may develop and patent other very similar, potentially substitutable products, processes or technologies. Such events may be outside our control and may have adverse consequences for us. We have developed an intellectual property strategy to deal with such matters to the extent practicable.
Our customers require a high degree of reliability in our services, and if we cannot meet their expectations, demand for our services will decline.
Any failure to provide reliable, uninterrupted access, or a satisfactory experience for our customers, whether or not caused by our own failure, could reduce demand for our services. If we experience hardware or software problems, our business could be harmed. Furthermore, we are reliant on a number of third parties to provide essential services on an outsourced basis. A failure for any reason by any of these suppliers to provide services or a failure of their systems may adversely affect our ability to provide services to our customers.
Our software is complex and may contain errors that could damage our reputation and decrease usage of our services.
Our software may contain errors that interrupt access or have other unintended consequences. If a software error occurs, or if any other unintended negative results occur, such as the loss of sensitive information, a security breach or unauthorized access to our network, our reputation could be harmed and our business may suffer.
If our security measures are breached and unauthorized access is obtained to a customer’s internal network, our virtual network may be perceived as not being secure and enterprises may curtail or stop using our services.
While we have adopted best practices and are SAS 70 Series II audited, there will be new security threats by third parties on an ongoing basis. It is imperative for our customers that access to their mission critical data is secure. A key component of our ability to attract and retain customers is the security measures that we have engineered into our system. If an actual or perceived breach of network security occurs, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to our services, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed. To date, we have not experienced any security breaches to our system.
Security concerns may delay the widespread adoption of the Internet, or limit usage of Internet-based services, which would reduce demand for our products and services.
We are reliant on data transmission over the Internet. The difficulty of secure transmission of confidential information over public networks is a significant barrier to further adoption of the Internet as a business medium. The Internet is a public network and information is sent over this network from many sources. Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of code breaking or other developments could result in compromised security on our network or the networks of others. Security and authentication concerns with respect to the transmission over the Internet of confidential information, such as corporate access passwords and the ability of hackers to penetrate online security systems may reduce the demand for our services. Further, new access methods, devices, applications and operating systems have also introduced additional vulnerabilities which have been actively exploited by hackers. Internet-based worms and viruses (computer programs that are created to slow Internet traffic or disrupt computer networks or files by replicating through software or operating systems) are examples of events or computer programs that can disrupt users from using our Internet-based services and reduce demand for our services, potentially affecting our business and financial performance. Furthermore, any well-publicized compromises of confidential information may reduce demand for Internet-based communications, including our services.
Current and future conditions in the global economy and global capital markets, and cyclical industry conditions, may adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Our business and operating results have been and will continue to be affected by economic conditions. As a result of slowing global economic growth, the credit market crisis, declining consumer and business confidence, fluctuating commodity prices, and other challenges currently affecting the global economy, our customers and prospects may experience deterioration of their businesses, cash flow shortages, and difficulty obtaining financing. As a result, existing or potential customers may delay or cancel plans to purchase our Diligent Boardbooks product. If the global economic slowdown continues for significant periods or deteriorates significantly, our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
Disruption in credit markets and volatility in equity markets may affect our ability to access sufficient funding.
The global equity markets have been volatile and credit markets globally have been disrupted, which has reduced the availability of investment capital and credit. If these conditions continue or worsen, we may be unable to access adequate funding to continue operating and growing our business.
As disclosed above, on March 11, 2009, the Company secured $3 million of financing from Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC, who collectively purchased 30 million shares of newly-created Series A Preferred Stock for $0.10 per share. At the current level of reduced expenses, coupled with conservative sales growth forecasts, management believes this funding will be sufficient to support sales growth and achieve cash flow breakeven by approximately the third quarter of 2010.
Even with the successful close of this financing, if the Company cannot reach cashflow breakeven, we may significantly reduce staff and cut operating expenses, including selling and marketing expenses, in order to preserve our available working capital and extend the time available to secure adequate funding. The implementation of these cost cutting actions could adversely affect our ability to meet our long term growth and profitability objectives. The extent of any impact will depend on several factors, including our operating cash flows, the duration of tight credit conditions and volatile equity markets, our credit capacity, the cost of financing, and other general economic and business conditions.
Our accounting and other management systems, controls and resources may not be adequate to meet the financial reporting and other requirements to which we are subject.
Upon effectiveness of our Form 10 on June 30, 2008, we became subject to reporting and other obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These reporting and other obligations place significant demands on management and administrative resources, including accounting resources. As a reporting company, we incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses.
In addition, as a reporting company, we are subject to rules adopted by the SEC pursuant to §404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which require us to include in our Annual Report on Form 10-K our management's report on, and assessment of, the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of such internal controls. If we fail to properly assess or achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, there is a risk that we will not comply with all of the requirements. Moreover, effective internal controls are necessary to help prevent financial fraud. Any of these possible outcomes could result in an adverse reaction in the financial marketplace due to a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which ultimately could harm our business and could negatively impact the market price of our securities.
Any required upgrades to our financial and management controls, reporting systems, information technology and procedures under the financial reporting requirements and other rules that apply to reporting companies, now and in the future, will require that our management and resources be diverted from our core business to assist in compliance with those requirements. There can be no assurance that the time and resources our management will need to devote to these upgrades, service outages or delays due to the installation of upgrades, or the impact on the reliability of our data from these upgrades will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Loans to two of our officers (one of whom was a director) existed at the time of the filing of the Original Filing, which violated Section 402 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Section 402 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 prohibits us from directly or indirectly extending or maintaining credit, arranging for the extension of credit, or renewing an extension of credit, in the form of a personal loan to or for any of our directors or executive officers. When we filed the Original Filing on April 30, 2008, we had non-interest bearing loans outstanding to two officers, one of whom was also a director, in the amount of NZD 218,000 ($145,843). Although, on October 23, 2008, the loans were repaid by the two officers via a bonus awarded to them by the Diligent Board of Directors which was directly applied to the outstanding loans, the existence of the loans at the time of the Original Filing unknowingly violated Section 402 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
ITEM 2. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes that appear elsewhere in this registration statement. In addition to historical consolidated financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.
On October 1, 2007, the Diligent Boardbooks business was transferred to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. from its accounting predecessor, DBMS LLC. Both before and after the transfer, the management of the business remained substantially the same. Accordingly, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” and the “Company”, when used in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”), refers to DBMS LLC for periods prior to October 1, 2007 and to Diligent for periods on or after October 1, 2007, unless otherwise indicated.
Overview
We develop and sell an online software application called Diligent Boardbooks, which is a web-based portal that directors and administrative staff use to compile, update and examine board materials prior to and during board meetings. Each of our clients enters into a service agreement whereby we agree to provide and support the Diligent Boardbooks service.
The Diligent Boardbooks product features an on-screen interface that resembles a book and displays documents in single web-viewable pages, from a secure central database. The software is accessed via the internet and is a “point and click” system that gives directors the ability to navigate throughout the entire virtual book.
The first phase of our business focus was developing and testing the Diligent Boardbooks system, building a loyal core of blue chip customers to become champions of the product, and promoting product awareness through exposure in print media. During this phase we did not focus on revenue growth or profitability, and sales and marketing had been conducted by two to three staff members, who fit this role alongside their other responsibilities. By 2007 we had a commercially viable product and shifted our focus to commit substantial resources to the sales and marketing of our Diligent Boardbooks product. We are now in the customer acquisition phase of our business and currently provide the Diligent Boardbooks service to over 170 companies and approximately 4,500 users.
We believe that building a successful sales and marketing team to present to and serve the boards of the world’s major corporations is a significant undertaking. Staff must have a deep understanding of corporate governance issues while also being able to interact credibly with the board members and senior executives of major U.S. and international corporations.
The Company adopted a growth strategy which required significant capital over and above what had been provided by private sources. In December 2007, the Company raised $16.4 million dollars, net of expenses, in its initial public offering on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Our plan was to use the proceeds of the IPO to significantly expand our sales force and aggressively target growth. By the first quarter of 2008, much of the infrastructure for this growth was set up.
Despite growth in net sales, our growth rate lagged behind the projections we had set for the Company, which was exacerbated by the global financial crisis. By the third quarter of 2008, we initiated plans to scale back our growth plans in order to reduce our operating expenses. We significantly reduced our sales force, reduced salaries for some of our more highly compensated employees and reduced the number of members of the board of directors from nine to five. The cost cutting continues into 2009, as we consolidate our New York and New Jersey offices and look for further opportunities to reduce overhead.
In March 2009, the Company secured $3 million of financing through the issuance of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock. At the current level of reduced expenses, coupled with conservative sales growth forecasts, management believes this funding will be sufficient to support sales growth and achieve cash flow breakeven by approximately the third quarter of 2010.
In October 2010, a note receivable from LLC matures. Management has concluded that, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), an impairment loss and valuation allowance is required, and accordingly the note is carried on our books at its fair value at December 31, 2008. The Note is not currently in default and management believes it is possible that we will collect a substantial portion, if not all, of the principal balance at maturity. We plan to use the proceeds of this Note for an expansion of our marketing and sales efforts as well as infrastructure increases to support significant sales growth.
Our overall performance depends in part on worldwide economic conditions. The United States and other key international economies are currently undergoing a period of severe recession, characterized by falling demand for a variety of goods and services, restricted credit, going concern threats to financial institutions and major multi-national companies, poor liquidity, declining asset values, reduced corporate profitability, extreme volatility in credit, equity and foreign exchange markets and increased bankruptcies. These conditions could adversely affect our customers’ ability or willingness to purchase our service, delay prospective customers’ purchasing decisions, reduce the value or duration of their subscription contracts, or affect renewal rates, all of which could adversely affect our operating results.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. On an ongoing basis, management evaluates its estimates and judgments, including those related to revenue recognition, deferral of costs, the allowance for accounts receivable, software development costs, the impairment of long-lived assets and note receivable, income taxes and assumptions for stock-based compensation. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience, known trends or events and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We define our “critical accounting policies” as those that require us to make subjective estimates about matters that are uncertain and are likely to have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations or that concern the specific manner in which we apply GAAP. Our estimates are based upon assumptions and judgments about matters that are highly uncertain at the time the accounting estimate is made and applied and require us to assess a range of potential outcomes.
We believe the following critical accounting policies to be both those most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and those that require the most subjective judgment.
Revenues and Accounts Receivable
We derive our revenues from set-up and training fees (“installation fees”) of the Boardbooks system and license fees for the ongoing use of our Diligent Boardbooks software. We have no other significant sources of revenues at this time.
Diligent recognizes revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 104, Revenue Recognition which states that revenue is realized and earned when all of the following criteria are met: (a) persuasive evidence of the arrangement exists, (b) delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, (c) the seller’s price to the buyer is fixed and determinable and (d) collectability is reasonably assured. Revenue from Diligent Boardbooks licenses is accrued ratably over the contract period. License fees paid in advance are recorded as deferred revenue until recognized. Through September 30, 2008, revenue from installations was recognized upon completion of the installation. Effective October 1, 2008, revenue from installations is accrued ratably over the contract period. The effect of this change is not material to the Company’s financial condition, operations or cash flow.
Accounts receivable are recorded at estimated net realizable value. A provision for doubtful accounts is based on management’s assessment of amounts considered uncollectable for specific customers based on age of debt, history of payments and other relevant information. An allowance for doubtful accounts is provided for accounts receivable which management determines will not be collectable in full.
Cost of Revenues and Operating Expenses
Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues consists of direct expenses related to account management, customer support and IT hosting. We do not allocate indirect overhead to cost of revenues.
Selling and Marketing Expenses. Selling and marketing expenses are comprised of sales commissions, salaries for sales and marketing employees, and direct advertising expenses, including mailings and travel. We do not allocate indirect overhead to selling and marketing.
General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses consist of compensation and related expenses for executive, finance, accounting, administrative, legal, professional fees, other corporate expenses and overhead costs such as rents, utilities etc.
Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses are incurred as we upgrade and maintain our software, and develop product enhancements. Such expenses include compensation and employee benefits of engineering and testing personnel, materials, travel and all direct overhead associated with design and required testing of our product line. We do not allocate indirect overhead to research and development.
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 86, “Accounting for Costs of Computer Software to be Sold, Leased, or Otherwise Marketed,” requires companies to expense software development costs as they incur them until technological feasibility has been established, at which time those costs are capitalized until the product is available for general release to customers. To date, our software has been available for general release concurrent with the establishment of technological feasibility and, accordingly, we have not capitalized any development costs. SFAS 2, “Accounting for Research and Development Costs,” establishes accounting and reporting standards for research and development. In accordance with SFAS 2, costs we incur to enhance products or after the general release of the service using the product are expensed in the period they are incurred and included in research and development costs in our consolidated statements of operations.
Prior to January 1, 2008, our research and development was outsourced to Diligent Board Member Services, NZ Limited (“DBMS NZ”), an affiliate through common ownership by a stockholder and former director of the Company. Effective January 1, 2008, the Company acquired DBMS NZ and now the research and development activities are fully integrated into the Company.
Share-Based Compensation. In November 2007, we adopted our 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan pursuant to which we intend to issue share-based compensation from time to time, in the form of stock, stock options and other equity based awards.
Share-based compensation incurred in 2007 and 2008 consists of stock issued to employees and contractors for services rendered. In accordance with SFAS 123(R), Share-Based Payment, Diligent measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity-based securities using the fair value of the award on the date of the grant, and recognizes the cost over the period that the award recipient is required to provide services to Diligent in exchange for the award.
Diligent measures the cost of nonemployee services received in exchange for an award of equity-based securities using the fair value method prescribed by Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) 96-18, Accounting for Equity Instruments That Are Issued to Other Than Employees for Acquiring, or in Conjunction with Selling, Goods or Services. Compensation cost for awards granted to non-employees is measured based on the fair value of the award at the measurement date, which is the date performance is satisfied or services are rendered by the non-employee. Compensation costs are amortized over the underlying awards’ vesting terms, and are recorded as share-based compensation expense. These costs are included in general and administrative expense in our statement of operations.
Interest Income (Expense), net
Interest income is derived from interest bearing bank deposits held by US, UK and New Zealand bank accounts, together with investment income from a loan receivable due from a related party, DBMS LLC.
Foreign Exchange Loss
As a worldwide company, certain of Diligent’s revenues and expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, which are recorded at the approximate rates of exchange in effect at the transaction dates. Assets and liabilities are translated at the exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet dates, with differences recorded as foreign exchange gains or losses in the statements of operations. Additionally, the Company has cash balances maintained in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and British Pounds Sterling (GBP).
The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, Diligent Boardbooks Limited (“DBL”) and DBMS NZ, utilize the GBP and the NZD, respectively, as their functional currencies. Assets and liabilities of these subsidiaries are translated to US dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet dates, with the resulting translation adjustments directly recorded to a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income.
Income taxes
The parent Company files U.S. federal and state income tax returns. Foreign operations file income tax returns in their respective foreign jurisdictions. The Company accounts for deferred income taxes under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.
In June 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Interpretation No. 48 (FIN 48) Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109. FIN 48 clarifies the criteria that must be met for financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. This Interpretation also addresses recognition and derecognition of related penalties and interest, classification of liabilities and disclosures of unrecognized tax benefits. FIN 48 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006. The Company adopted FIN 48 as of October 1, 2007. The adoption of FIN 48 did not have a material impact on the Company.
Note receivable from affiliate
The note receivable from affiliate is recorded at net realizable value, adjusted for any valuation allowance for amounts considered uncollectable. The valuation allowance is reviewed for adjustment quarterly.
The Company recorded a $5.8 million valuation allowance and a corresponding charge to impairment loss in order to write down the Note to its estimated fair value of the underlying collateral at December 31, 2008. In the absence of an active market for the Company’s stock, or other observable inputs for similar instruments, the Company based its valuation principally on the value of the recent issue of preferred stock, adjusted using an assumed discount rate of 20%, which is management’s estimate based on the value of the preferred features of the Series A Preferred Stock. In addition, management assumed that the LLC and/or its members would sell a portion of the underlying collateral to meet their quarterly interest payments, thereby reducing the amount of collateral expected to be available when the Note matures in 2010. These are considered unobservable inputs falling within the definition of Level 3 inputs pursuant to SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurements.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In September 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measurements. This standard defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure about fair value measurements. SFAS 157 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007 and interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In February 2008, the FASB issued Staff Position No. 157-2 (FSP 157-2), which delays the effective date of SFAS 157 to fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except for items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). The delay is intended to allow the FASB and constituents additional time to consider the effect of various implementation issues that have arisen, or that may arise, from the application of SFAS 157. The Company does not expect the adoption of FSP 157-2 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In October 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. 157-3, Determining the Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset is Not Active. FSP No. 157-3 clarifies the application of SFAS No. 157 in a market that is not active and provides an example of key considerations in determining the fair value of a financial asset when the market for that asset is not active. FSP No. 157-3 was effective on October 10, 2008, including prior periods for which financial statements have not been issued. Revisions resulting from a change in the valuation technique or its application should be accounted for as a change in accounting estimate following the guidance in SFAS No. 154, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections. The Company adopted FSP No. 157-3 on October 10, 2008 and it did not have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements.
In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities - including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115, which permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. SFAS 159 is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In June 2007, the FASB ratified EITF Issue No. 07-3, Accounting for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services Received for Use in Future Research and Development Activities, which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The EITF reached a conclusion that nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities pursuant to an executory contractual arrangement should be deferred and capitalized. Such amounts should be recognized as an expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed. Entities should continue to evaluate whether they expect the goods to be delivered or services to be rendered. If an entity does not expect the goods to be delivered or services to be rendered, the capitalized advance payment should be charged to expense. The adoption of EITF 07-3 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements, an Amendment of ARB No. 51. This Statement changes the accounting for and reporting of noncontrolling interests (formerly known as minority interests) in consolidated financial statements. This statement is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008. The Company does not believe the adoption of this statement will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In December 2007, the FASB ratified EITF Issue No. 07-1, Accounting for Collaborative Arrangements, which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008. EITF 07-1 defines collaborative arrangements and establishes reporting requirements for transactions between participants in a collaborative arrangement and between participants in the arrangement and third parties. EITF 07-1 also establishes the appropriate income statement presentation and classification for joint operating activities and payments between participants, as well as the sufficiency of the disclosures related to these arrangements. The Company does not believe the adoption of EITF 07-1 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141(R), Business Combinations. SFAS No. 141(R) retains the underlying concepts of SFAS No. 141 in that all business combinations are still required to be accounted for at fair value under the acquisition method of accounting, but SFAS No. 141(R) changed the method of applying the acquisition method in a number of significant aspects. Acquisition costs will generally be expensed as incurred; noncontrolling interests will be valued at fair value at the acquisition date; in-process research and development will be recorded at fair value as an indefinite-lived intangible asset at the acquisition date; restructuring costs associated with a business combination will generally be expensed subsequent to the acquisition date; and changes in deferred tax asset valuation allowances and income tax uncertainties after the acquisition date generally will affect income tax expense. This statement does not apply to a combination between entities or businesses under common control. SFAS No. 141(R) is effective on a prospective basis for all business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual period subsequent to December 15, 2008. Early adoption is not permitted.
In April 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position (FSP) No. 142-3, Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets. The final FSP amends the factors that should be considered in developing renewal or extension assumptions used to determine the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets. The FSP is intended to improve the consistency between the useful life of an intangible asset determined under SFAS 142 and the period of expected cash flows used to measure the fair value of the asset under SFAS 141(R) and other US generally accepted accounting principles. The FSP is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company does not believe the adoption of FSP 142-3 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In May 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162, The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. SFAS 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles to be used in the preparation of financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. It is effective 60 days following the SEC’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amendments to AU Section 411, The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity With Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The Company does not believe the adoption of SFAS 162 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In June 2008, the FASB issued FSP EITF 03-6-1, Determining Whether Instruments Granted in Share-Based Payment Transactions are Participating Securities (“EITF 03-6-1”). EITF 03-6-1 defines participating securities as those that are expected to vest and are entitled to receive nonforfeitable dividends or dividend equivalents. Unvested share-based payment awards that have a right to receive dividends on common stock (restricted stock) will be considered participating securities and included in earnings per share using the two-class method. The two-class method requires net income to be reduced for dividends declared and paid in the period on such shares. Remaining net income is then allocated to each class of stock (proportionately based on unrestricted and restricted shares which pay dividends) for calculation of basic earnings per share. Diluted earnings per share would then be calculated based on basic shares outstanding plus any additional potentially dilutive shares, such as options and restricted stock that do not pay dividends or are not expected to vest. This FSP is effective in the first quarter 2009. The Company does not believe the adoption of EITF 03-6-1 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In June 2008, the FASB issued EITF 07-5, Determining whether an Instrument (or Embedded Feature) is indexed to an Entity's Own Stock (“EITF 07-5”). EITF No. 07-5 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is not permitted. Paragraph 11(a) of SFAS No. 133 - specifies that a contract that would otherwise meet the definition of a derivative but is both (a) indexed to the Company's own stock and (b) classified in stockholders' equity in the statement of financial position would not be considered a derivative financial instrument. EITF 07-5 provides a new two-step model to be applied in determining whether a financial instrument or an embedded feature is indexed to an issuer's own stock and thus able to qualify for the SFAS No. 133 paragraph 11(a) scope exception. The Company does not believe that the adoption of EITF 07-5 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Results of Operations
Comparisons of the Years Ended December 31, 2008, the Three Months ended December 31, 2007 and the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2007
Revenues
The Company’s total revenues were $2.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to $0.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $1.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. The sales for the three months ended December 31, 2007 show an increase over the average quarterly sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Sales continued to grow in 2008, with the rate of sales growth for year ended 2008 compared with the fourth quarter of 2007 on an annualized basis increasing 42%. The increase in revenues in 2008 is due to the increase in our worldwide sales force. After our initial public offering in December 2007, we significantly expanded our sales force. While the total number of sales people was reduced in the last quarter of 2008 (see Selling and Marketing Expenses below), the fully trained sales force increased from 5 to 10 at December 31, 2007 and 2008, respectively.
The cumulative number of licenses increased to 174 at December 31, 2008 from 74 at December 31, 2007 and 57 at September 30, 2007.
Cost of Revenues and Operating Expenses
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues were $1.9 million, $0.3 million and $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007, respectively. Staffing costs for account management, customer support and IT services increased significantly in 2008, to $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from $0.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $0.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Non-employee IT-related costs for our hosting activities increased to over $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from only $17 thousand for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $38 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Additionally, our IT services costs in Canada and the UK increased to over $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from $16 thousand for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $2 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2007.
Selling and Marketing Expenses
Selling and marketing expenses were $6.2 million, $0.9 million and $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007, respectively. Subsequent to our initial public offering at the end of 2007, we significantly increased our sales and marketing efforts. This resulted in an increase in our sales force, which peaked to 23 at September 30, 2008, from 17 at December 31, 2007 and 4 at September 30, 2007. Our sales force was subsequently reduced to 10 at December 31, 2008, all of whom are fully trained. Salaries, benefits and commissions for our sales force accounted for the most significant portion of this increase, and were approximately $2.8 million, $0.3 million and $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Marketing expenses also increased, to $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from $0.1 million each for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Travel, training and sales office expense for our increased sales force were $0.4 million, $26 thousand and $55 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Additionally, our worldwide marketing strategy resulted in an increase in our foreign selling and marketing expenses, to $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from $0.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $0.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. These increases were offset by a decrease in outside contractor expenses as we built our internal sales and marketing teams, to $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from $0.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $0.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, compared to $2.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $1.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. General and administrative expenses in 2008 and the last quarter of 2007 include $0.9 million and $1.8 million, respectively, of share-based compensation expense relating to stock awards made to employees and non-employees under the Company’s 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan.
General and administrative expenses, excluding share-based compensation, were $4.5 million, $0.7 million and $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007, respectively. General and administrative expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2007 were consistent with the level of expenses for the prior nine months of 2007, however they increased significantly in 2008. This increase is due primarily to the increased compliance costs associated with becoming a publicly-traded company at the end of 2007, and included approximately $1.4 million of additional legal and accounting services, director fees, and travel costs in 2008. Additionally, the increase in our staffing levels has resulted in increased costs, for office rentals and related overhead, of over $0.3 million.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses were $1.0 million in 2008 compared to $0.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $0.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. This represents a slight decrease in the annual level of research and development expenses, resulting from the achievement of certain key product enhancements.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization increased to $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 from $25 thousand for the three months ended December 31, 2007 and $55 thousand for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. This is attributable to purchases of property and equipment of $0.9 million and $0.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007, respectively, consisting principally of computer software, computer equipment and leasehold improvements.
Impairment Loss on Note Receivable
The Company recorded a $5.8 million valuation allowance and a corresponding charge to impairment loss in order to write down a note receivable from LLC to its estimated net realizable value at December 31, 2008. The net realizable value was determined to be the fair value of the underlying collateral securing the note of 25 million shares of the Company’s stock. In the absence of an active market for the Company’s stock, or other observable inputs for similar instruments, the Company based its valuation principally on the value of the recent issue of preferred stock, adjusted using an assumed discount rate of 20%, which is management’s estimate based on the value of the preferred features of the Series A Preferred Stock.. In addition, management assumed that the LLC and/or its members would sell a portion of the underlying collateral to meet their quarterly interest payments, thereby reducing the amount of collateral expected to be available when the Note matures in 2010. These are considered unobservable inputs falling within the definition of Level 3 inputs pursuant to SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurements.
Interest Income (Expense), net
Net interest income of $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 and $40 thousand for the three months ended December 31, 2007 includes $0.3 million and $25 thousand, respectively, of interest income on the Note Receivable from our affiliate, as well as interest on the Company’s cash and cash equivalents and term deposits which were interest-bearing. Prior to the formation of the successor Company and its initial public offering in December 2007, the Predecessor financed its operations primarily through short and long-term borrowings. Accordingly, the interest expense of $0.4 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2007 is attributable to the cost of these borrowings.
Foreign Exchange Loss
Our functional currency is the U.S. dollar. As a worldwide company, certain of our revenues and expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, which are recorded at the approximate rates of exchange in effect at the transaction dates. Assets and liabilities resulting from these transactions are translated at the exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet dates, with differences recorded as foreign exchange gains or losses in the statements of operations. Additionally, during 2008, the parent Company maintained significant cash balances in foreign currencies, primarily in NZD and, to a lesser extent, GBP. The foreign exchange losses of $0.6 million, $0.1 million and $4 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007, respectively, are a result of unfavorable movements in the rates of exchange between the US dollar and NZD and between the US dollar and GBP.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2008, our principal sources of liquidity were cash and cash equivalents and term deposits totaling approximately $1.3 million, and accounts receivable of approximately $0.4 million. The primary source of our liquidity for the past year has come from the proceeds of our New Zealand public offering completed in December 2007.
Historically, we have financed our operations through operating revenues, short-term borrowings and secured and unsecured indebtedness from related and third parties. Since our initial public offering on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in December 2007, which raised $16.4 million (net) from the issuance of 24 million shares of common stock, all pre-offering debt with the exception of certain leases, has either been repaid or converted into our equity. Additionally, we used our cash to build our sales pipeline and customer base and to build a scalable infrastructure.
Despite growth in net sales, our growth rate lagged behind the projections we had set for the Company, which was exacerbated by the global financial crisis. Amid liquidity concerns, we initiated plans to scale back our growth plans in order to reduce our operating expenses. During the fourth quarter of 2008, we significantly reduced our sales force, reduced salaries for some of our more highly compensated employees and reduced the number of members of the board of directors. The cost cutting continues into 2009, as we consolidate our New York and New Jersey offices and look for further opportunities to reduce overhead. We also actively sought additional sources of financing.
On March 11, 2009, the Company secured $3 million of financing from Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC, who collectively purchased 30 million shares of newly-created Series A Preferred Stock for $0.10 per share. As discussed in the following paragraph, at the current level of reduced expenses, coupled with current sales growth forecasts, management believes this funding will be sufficient to support sales growth and achieve cash flow breakeven by approximately the third quarter of 2010.
The cash receipts for the Company, consisting of payments for recurring license fees, new license fees and installation fees, are projected to be approximately $5.3 million for 2009 and its operating cash expenditures are projected to be approximately $8.9 million. Cash capital expenditures, net of operating lease proceeds, plus financing costs, and non-operating expenses, are projected to be approximately $300 thousand for 2009 and cash received for interest and other income is projected to be approximately $400 thousand. This forecast results in a cash burn rate for 2009 of approximately $3.5 million (compared to $12.4 million for 2008). With the cash balances of $1.3 million at December 31, 2008 and the financing of $2.9 million (net) secured in March 2009, the Company’s projected cash balances at December 31, 2009 would be approximately $700 thousand.
The Company continues to consider and evaluate strategic growth opportunities that could result in additional capital requirements and are not currently within the budget. Our current operating expenses and expected capital expenditures are fixed, predictable and adequate to support our budgeted growth. We anticipate our professional fees for the year ended December 31, 2009, including fees associated with reporting obligation compliance, and general administrative costs to be consistent with those incurred for the year ended December 31, 2008. The primary uncertainty concerning our capital needs pertains to our ability to achieve the expected sales growth in a timely manner such that recurring revenues exceed operating expenditures prior to the depletion of capital.
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | | | | Three Months | | | Nine Months | |
| | Year ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 30, 2007 | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Cash flows provided by (used in): | | | | | | | | | | |
Operating activities | | $ | (11,298,122 | ) | | $ | (1,303,496 | ) | | $ | (4,007,712 | ) |
Investing activities | | | (782,891 | ) | | | (277,117 | ) | | | (8,958 | ) |
Financing activities | | | (308,675 | ) | | | 15,255,693 | | | | 4,126,317 | |
Net Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash used in operations has continued to increase as our net losses have increased. As noted previously, the higher losses are due to significantly higher costs incurred in the areas of selling and marketing, and general and administrative, particularly for compliance costs subsequent to the initial public offering. Additionally, at December 31, 2008 we had higher balances in accounts receivable and prepaid expenses, and additional amounts held as security deposits on leases.
Net Cash Flows from Investing Activities
The increase in cash used in investing activities in 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007 is primarily due to the Company’s increased investment in property and equipment subsequent to our initial public offering. The $0.9 million and $0.2 million of property and equipment acquired during the year ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007, respectively, consists principally of computer software, computer equipment and leasehold improvements.
Net Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Prior to our initial public offering in December 2007, we raised financing principally through loans from members and affiliates, and to a lesser degree from short and long-term borrowings from third parties. The $15.3 million in cash provided by financing activities in the three months ended December 31, 2007 consists of $16.4 million raised in the initial public offering (net of listing costs) and $2.5 million from a loan by a director of the Company, which was converted to equity prior to December 31, 2007. Offsetting these sources of cash was $3.7 million which was loaned to the Predecessor under a Promissory Note and Security Agreement to discharge certain debts of the Predecessor. During the year ended 2008, financing activities consisted of an additional $0.1 million advanced to the Predecessor under the Promissory Note and Security Agreement, as well as repayments of payable to affiliates and obligations under capital leases.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that is material to stockholders.
ITEM 3. PROPERTIES
Our headquarters are located at 39 West 37 St. 8th Floor, New York, NY 10018, where our primary executive, sales and administrative offices are located. We also have an ancillary executive, sales and administrative office located at 115 Horseneck Rd, Suite 3, Montville, NJ 07045, which we plan to consolidate with our New York headquarters in 2009. We have sales offices in Canada, England and New Zealand. We also have an office at 69 Cambridge Terrace, 4th Floor, Christchurch, New Zealand, where our software development takes place. We lease all of these properties and do not own any real property.
We believe that our current facilities are suitable and adequate to meet our current needs, and that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed to accommodate expansion of our operations, although we intend to open additional sales offices as our geographic sales footprint warrants.
We believe that our facilities are adequately covered by insurance.
ITEM 4. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table provides information concerning beneficial ownership of our common stock and Series A Preferred stock as of April 1, 2009 by:
| · | Each person who is known to us to be the beneficial owner of 5% or more of our common stock; |
| · | Each of our named executive officers, Brian Henry, Alessandro Sodi and Sharon Daniels; and |
| · | All of our directors and named executive officers as a group. |
Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and generally includes voting power or investment power with respect to the securities held. Shares of common stock subject to options and warrants currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of April 1, 2009, are deemed outstanding and beneficially owned by the person holding such options or warrants for purposes of computing the number of shares and percentage beneficially owned by such person, but are not deemed outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage beneficially owned by any other person. Except as indicated in the footnotes to this table, the persons or entities named have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of our common stock and preferred stock shown as beneficially owned by them. Beneficial ownership representing less than one percent is denoted with an asterisk (“*”).
Unless otherwise indicated, the principal address of each of the persons below is c/o Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., 39 West 37 St. 8th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
Name of Beneficial Owner | | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned (1) | | | Percentage of Outstanding Shares (2) | |
Officers and Directors | | | | | | |
Brian Henry, former Global Sales Channel Partner Director (3)(6) | | | 13,338,997 | | | | 11.1 | % |
Sharon Daniels, Director, CMO (4)(6) | | | 12,154,619 | | | | 10.1 | % |
Alessandro Sodi, Director, CEO, President (6) | | | 4,050,128 | | | | 3.4 | % |
Peter Huljich, Director (5) | | | 3,906,884 | | | | 3.2 | % |
Rick Bettle, Director | | | 50,000 | | | | * | |
Mark Russell, Director | | | 50,000 | | | | * | |
David Liptak, Director (7) | | | 22,387,263 | | | | 18.6 | % |
All directors and named officers as a group (7 persons) | | | 55,937,891 | | | | 46.4 | % |
| | | | | | | | |
5% Security Holders | | | | | | | | |
Services Share Holding, LLC (6) | | | 21,720,237 | | | | 18.0 | % |
Spring Street Partners, L.P.(7) | | | 22,387,263 | | | | 18.6 | % |
Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC (6)(8) | | | 21,855,339 | | | | 18.1 | % |
(1) | Includes (i) stock held in joint tenancy, (ii) stock owned as tenants in common, (iii) stock owned or held by spouse or other members of the nominee's household, and (iv) stock in which the nominee either has or shares voting and/or investment power, even though the nominee disclaims any beneficial interest in such stock. |
(2) | Percentages are based on 90,440,000 shares of common stock outstanding and 30,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock outstanding as of April 1, 2009. The Series A Preferred Stock is convertible at the holder’s option into common stock at any time. |
(3) | Includes (i) 12,622,924 shares beneficially owned jointly by the Brian Henry Living Trust, Brian Henry trustee, and the Kiri Borg Living Trust, Kiri Borg trustee, (ii) 649,406 shares beneficially owned by the Borg Henry Family Grandchildren’s Trust, of which Kiri Borg is trustee and (iii) 66,667 shares beneficially owned by the Clifton Trust, of which Brian Henry is trustee. |
(4) | Includes (i) 6,080,287 shares beneficially owned by Sharon Daniels and (ii) 6,074,332 shares of common stock beneficially owned by Sharon Daniels through S.K. Daniels Holdings, Inc. |
(5) | Includes (i) 50,000 shares held of record by Peter Huljich and (ii) 3,856,884 shares beneficially owned through the PRH Trust, of which Mr. Huljich is the trustee. |
(6) | Services Share Holding, LLC (“SSH”) has a principal address of 335 Rust Avenue, Westhampton Beach, New York 11978. The direct and indirect members of SSH include the Brian Henry Living Trust, the Kiri Borg Living Trust, the Borg Henry Family Grandchildren’s Trust, Sharon Daniels, S.K. Daniels Holdings, Inc., Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC and Alessandro Sodi. Although no single direct or indirect member of SSH has the power to direct the voting or disposition of the shares held by SSH, the shares held through SSH by such members are included in their totals listed above to the extent of their pecuniary interest therein. All 21,720,237 shares held by SSH are pledged to us to secure its $6,800,000 promissory note payable to us. Corcoran Consulting, LLC has pledged an additional 892,500 shares directly to us to secure the note. See “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.” |
(7) | Spring Street Partners, L.P.’s principal address is 515 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor, NY, NY 10022. David Liptak is the founder, managing member and a senior member of the Executive Committee of Spring Street Partners, L.P. Spring Street Partners, L.P.’s holdings include (i) 20,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and (ii) 2,387,263 shares of common stock. |
(8) | Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC’s principal address is 94 Long Pond Road, Hewitt, New Jersey 07421. Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC’s holdings include (i) 10,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, and (ii) 11,855,339 shares of common stock. |
We are not aware of any arrangements involving our stockholders, the operation of which would result in a change of control.
ITEM 5. DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The directors, executive officers and certain significant employees of Diligent are set forth below. None of such persons has been involved in any legal proceeding enumerated in Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S−K, Item 401, within the time periods described in that regulation.
Executive Officers, Directors and Certain Significant Employees
The following table contains information with respect to our directors, executive officers and significant employees. None of these persons have an arrangement or understanding with another person pursuant to which he was elected as a director, executive officer or other significant employee, respectively. Except for Sharon Daniels, who is the niece of Don Meisner and former spouse of Marc Daniels, no family relationships exist among these persons. All have been in their respective capacity as described in their biographies below.
Name | | Age | | Position |
| | | | |
Alessandro Sodi | | 49 | | Chief Executive Officer, President and Director |
Sharon Daniels | | 46 | | Chief Marketing Officer and Director |
Hunter Cohen | | 52 | | Chief Financial Officer |
Kevin Lawler | | 59 | | Director of Finance, New Zealand |
Marc Daniels | | 51 | | EVP, Licensing |
Don Meisner | | 54 | | Treasurer |
Robert Norton | | 66 | | EVP/General Counsel/Secretary |
Alastair Percival | | 42 | | Sr. VP/Director of Operations |
Rick Bettle | | 62 | | Chairman and Director |
Peter Huljich | | 32 | | Director |
Mark Russell | | 52 | | Director |
David Liptak | | 50 | | Director |
Alessandro Sodi serves as a director and as our Chief Executive Officer and President. Before our founding, since 1998, Mr. Sodi served as an officer of our predecessor entity, DBMS LLC, which was previously known as Manhattan Creative Partners, LLC (“MCP”). Until 2003, when MCP moved its focus to corporate governance service delivery, it was a consulting firm specializing in software development and the Internet. From 2001 to 2003 Mr. Sodi managed the development of software that would become the Diligent Boardbooks system.
Sharon Daniels serves as a director and as our Chief Marketing Officer. From 1996 to 2003, Ms. Daniels was Managing Director of Manhattan Creative Strategies, a marketing firm. Ms. Daniels created and maintains the Diligent global brand as well as the Diligent Boardbooks graphical user interface. She has over 20 years experience in branding and strategic business development and has extensive international experience with technology and financial service companies. Ms. Daniels is the niece of Don Meisner and former spouse of Marc Daniels.
Hunter Cohen serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Before joining us in August 2008, for more than five years, he was an independent consultant specializing in startup and emerging growth companies, providing transition management. In addition, Mr. Cohen has over 20 years of experience as a senior executive, having held executive-level positions at companies of varying sizes. In 2003, he founded CoNeXus Software, Inc., a startup company in the social network advertising business.
Kevin Lawler is our Director of Finance, New Zealand. Prior to joining us in 2004, he served as Senior Vice President - Finance of General Cable NZ, a subsidiary of the US based company. Mr. Lawler has over 25 years of experience operating as a Senior Finance Executive. He has extensive experience with international reporting and managing global cash. Mr. Lawler resides in Christchurch, New Zealand, and manages the New Zealand Exchange reporting and compliance responsibilities with the New Zealand resident directors.
Marc Daniels serves as our Executive Vice President, Licensing. Prior to joining our predecessor entity, DBMS LLC in 2003, Mr. Daniels served as the COO of Flextronics Test. Between 1997 and 2001, Mr. Daniels helped develop UGO.com, which is a website serving individuals engaged in internet gaming. In addition to managing large companies, Mr. Daniels has established and run new businesses, including the founding in 1979 of CDA Computer Sales, a computer mail-order company. Mr. Daniels is the former spouse of Sharon Daniels.
Don Meisner is our Treasurer. Mr. Meisner has a broad range of business experience including accounting, forecasting, budgeting, business analysis and systems implementation, with a particular emphasis on corporate compliance and financial reporting. Prior to joining us in 2007, Mr. Meisner served as the Controller of the Lebermuth Company, Inc. from February 2002 through 2007, where he was responsible for all aspects of accounting, as well as legal and insurance issues. Mr. Meisner is the uncle of Sharon Daniels.
Robert Norton serves as our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Norton has been a practicing attorney for over 35 years, commencing his career at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York City. Mr. Norton served as General Counsel of MasterCard International for over 15 years, where he was the head of the law department and was responsible for all legal matters addressed by the corporation. For the last five years, Mr. Norton has been engaged as a sole practitioner in private practice and at times as a contract attorney. Mr. Norton is also a director of the Westchester Mental Health Association in White Plains, New York.
Alastair Percival serves as a Senior Vice President and Director of Operations. Mr. Percival joined Manhattan Creative Partners, which was the predecessor to DBMS NZ, in 2003. He is responsible for managing the software development team in New Zealand, worldwide customer support, the account management teams and the U.S.-based IT services team. He has been involved in technology for over 20 years, and started a technology and consulting company in 1997 (Telenet Services) that delivered a range of e-commerce and online applications through online subscriptions. Prior to starting Telenet, he was a project manager for ICL Fujitsu Retail division, which provides stock management systems to supermarket chains in the United Kingdom.
Rick Bettle serves as the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Bettle is an Accredited Fellow and Immediate Past President of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. He is also a Graduate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mr. Bettle is currently Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, Dominion Finance Ltd., and ATTTO Ltd, and a Director of Southport Ltd, Goodman NZ, Revera Ltd and Synergy International Ltd. He previously chaired the New Zealand Totalisator Agency Board for over eight years. He has also previously chaired The Racing Industry Board, NZ Lamb Co., Capital Coast Health and Wrightson Finance. Mr. Bettle was Managing Director of Wrightson from 1987 to 1991 and CEO of Alliance Group from 1991 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998 he was head of the law firm Kensington Swan.
Peter Huljich serves as a member of our board of directors. For the last five years, Mr. Huljich has served as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Huljich Wealth Management, an independent, specialist funds management company based in Auckland, New Zealand. He has over ten years of investment experience since joining the privately-held Huljich Group, which was created from the sale of Best Corporation to Danone Group in 1995. Mr. Huljich also has an extensive background in, and familiarity with, the securities industry and Australian financial markets, which provides a valuable contribution to our Board. Mr. Huljich is currently a Non Executive Director of New Zealand Finance Holdings Limited.
Mark Russell serves as a member of our board of directors. Mr. Russell is a senior commercial partner of the New Zealand law firm Buddle Findlay, acting for a wide range of public and private companies and has extensive experience in corporate finance and structuring, and banking and insolvency. He acts for a number of companies listed on NZX and NZAX, with particular emphasis on Listing Rules, compliance advice, initial listing and IPOs. He gives banking and securities advice to New Zealand and overseas banks and overseas law firms, and he also provides advice to trustee companies and issuers on public securities issues and managed funds. He is ranked as a leading individual in banking and finance in Asia Pacific Legal 500 2006/2007. Mr. Russell is also a Director of Landpower Holdings Limited.
David Liptak was elected by the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock to become a director effective April 1, 2009. Mr. Liptak is the founder of Spring Street Partners, L.P., which he formed in 1995. Mr. Liptak is also the Managing Member of Spring Street Partners and a senior member of the Executive Committee of Spring Street Partners. Mr. Liptak has over 15 years of investment experience since forming West Broadway Partners, Inc., an investment partnership that ultimately managed more than $700 million in investor capital in the West Broadway Partners group of funds. Mr. Liptak was responsible for all trading and management decisions for the West Broadway Partners group of funds. In addition, Mr. Liptak served as Senior Portfolio Manager for West Broadway Partners, LP and West Broadway Partners, Ltd., the firm's domestic and offshore merger arbitrage and event driven funds, and was Chairman of the firm's Executive Committee. Mr. Liptak closed his funds and left the firm in March 2005. In 1995, Mr. Liptak formed Spring Street Partners, LP and commenced the investment activities that led to the establishment of the firm as an SEC registered broker/dealer and member of the NASD. In March, 2005 Mr. Liptak began managing Spring Street Partners on a full time basis.
Board of Directors
Our business and affairs are managed under the direction of our board of directors. The board is currently comprised of six directors, three of whom are independent. Our bylaws (and in some cases, the New Zealand Stock Exchange listing rules) provide that:
| · | We must have a minimum of five directors and a maximum of eleven directors, with at least two directors ordinarily resident in New Zealand and at least three independent directors; |
| · | Certain time limits apply for nominating directors; |
| · | Any person appointed as a director to fill a casual vacancy must retire from office at the next annual meeting but will be eligible for re-election; |
| · | All directors will be subject to removal from office by ordinary resolution of our stockholders; |
| · | All directors are subject to re-election annually; |
| · | A director who has a personal interest in any matter may not vote on a board resolution in respect of that matter; |
| · | The board’s power to authorize payment of remuneration by us to a director in his or her capacity as a director is subject to prior approval by ordinary resolution of our stockholders; and |
| · | We must maintain an Audit Committee. |
The board meets regularly to direct management and will include sessions to consider the strategic direction and to review progress on our published projections and business plans. The specific responsibilities of the Board include:
| · | Working with management to set our strategic direction; |
| · | Monitoring and working with management to direct our business and financial performance; |
| · | Monitoring compliance and risk management; |
| · | Selection of a CEO and, where applicable, other executive officers; |
| · | Establishing and ensuring implementation of succession plans for senior management; and |
| · | Ensuring that effective disclosure policies and procedures are adopted. |
The Board intends to develop a Board Code of Conduct and a process for measuring Board performance.
Board Committees
The Board has two formally constituted committees of directors. These committees review and analyze policies and strategies, usually developed by management, which are within their terms of reference. The committees examine proposals and, where appropriate, make recommendations to the Board. Committees do not take action or make decisions on behalf of the Board unless specifically authorized to do so by the Board.
Audit and Compliance Committee. The Audit and Compliance Committee is responsible for overseeing our risk management (including treasury and financing policies), treasury, insurance, accounting and audit activities, and reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls, meeting with and reviewing the performance of external auditors, reviewing the consolidated financial statements, and making recommendations on financial and accounting policies. The members of the Audit and Compliance Committee are Mark Russell (Chairman), Rick Bettle and Peter Huljich.
Remuneration and Nominations Committee. The Remuneration and Nominations Committee is responsible for overseeing management succession planning, establishing employee incentive schemes, reviewing and approving the compensation arrangements for the executive directors and senior management, and recommending to the Board the remuneration of Directors. It is also responsible for recommending candidates for election to the Board of Directors. The members of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee are Rick Bettle (Chairman), Mark Russell and Peter Huljich.
ITEM 6. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The table below summarizes information concerning compensation for the twelve months ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007, of those persons who were at December 31, 2008, and December 31, 2007, respectively: (i) our Chief Executive Officer and (ii) our two other most highly compensated executive officers. We refer to these officers as our “named executive officers.”
SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
Name and Principal Position(1) | | Year | | Salary ($) | | | Bonus ($) | | | Stock awards ($)(2) | | | Option awards ($)(2) | | | All other compensation ($) | | | Total ($) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Alessandro Sodi | | 2008 | | | 323,663 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 323,663 | |
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | | 2007 | | | 66,000 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 66,000 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Brian Henry | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Former Global Sales Channel | | 2008 | | | 299,868 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 299,868 | |
Partner Director | | 2007 | | | 82,500 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 82,500 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Sharon Daniels | | 2008 | | | 260,700 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 260,700 | |
Chief Marketing Officer | | 2007 | | | 66,000 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 66,000 | |
(1) | Mr. Henry served as Chief Executive Officer until December 12, 2007, when he was appointed Global Sales Channel Partner Director. On March 12, 2009, Mr. Henry resigned from this position and terminated his employment with the Company. Mr. Sodi was appointed Chief Executive Officer on December 12, 2007. |
(2) | Amounts shown (if any) represent the compensation expense we recognized in 2007 and 2008, respectively, related to stock and option awards in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123(R). |
Equity incentives granted to our executives are currently limited to restricted stock awards. Our executives do not participate in any other long or short-term incentive plans.
We are currently authorized to issue equity awards under our 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan. Awards under our 2007 Plan may be in the form of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options and restricted stock awards.
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2008
The following table provides each element of compensation paid or granted to each director who is not also a named executive officer, for service rendered during the twelve months ended December 31, 2008.
Name | | Fees earned or paid in cash ($)(1) | | | Stock awards ($) | | | Option awards ($) | | | All other compensation ($)(2) | | | Total ($) | |
Edward Charlton (3) | | | 50,699 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 50,699 | |
Rick Bettle | | | 48,507 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 48,507 | |
Peter Huljich | | | 46,040 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 46,040 | |
Kevin Lawler (3) | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 207,801 | | | | 207,801 | |
Mark Russell | | | 46,040 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 83,281 | | | | 129,321 | |
Guy Saxton (3) | | | 46,559 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 46,559 | |
(1) | The amounts shown represent fees in U.S. dollars. Mr. Charlton and Mr. Saxton were paid in GBP, and Messrs. Bettle, Huljich, Lawler and Russell in NZD. The exchange rates used to calculate the dollar amounts of fees earned by directors were the month-end closing rates for the month prior to payment. Directors are paid quarterly. For the March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008, September 30, 2008 and December 31, 2008 payments in GBP, 1 US$ purchased 0.5037, 0.5024, 0.5498, and 0.6416 GBP, respectively, at those dates. For the March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008, September 30, 2008 and December 31, 2008 payments in NZD, 1 US$ purchased 1.2500, 1.3140, 1.4304, and 1.8182 NZD, respectively, at those dates. |
(2) | Includes payment of legal fees by us for services rendered to Buddle Findlay, of which Mr. Russell is a partner. It also includes salary compensation and bonus for the year ended December 31, 2008 for Mr. Lawler. As described in Item 1a. (Risk Factors), Mr. Lawler received a non-interest bearing loan from the Company which was repaid via a bonus of $72,922 awarded to him by the Diligent Board of Directors and applied directly to the outstanding loan balance. The additional $134,879 that Mr. Lawler received was his base compensation as an officer and employee of the Company. |
(3) | Messrs. Charlton, Lawler and Saxton resigned from our Board of Directors in December 2008. Our Board of Directors is currently operating with six directors. |
The aggregate directors’ fees for our non-employee directors was fixed at a total of approximately $320,000 per year. However, subsequent to May 30, 2008, the directors have voluntarily taken a temporary reduction to approximately $160,000 per year. We do not intend to pay directors’ fees to the executive directors in the foreseeable future. The directors are also entitled to be paid for all reasonable travel, accommodation and other expenses incurred by them in connection with their attendance at board or stockholder meetings, or otherwise in connection with our business.
ITEM 7. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Transactions with promoters and certain control persons
Under Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, DBMS LLC, Brian Henry, Kiri Borg, Sharon Daniels and Alessandro Sodi may be deemed “promoters” of the Company. Under SEC Regulation S-K, the Company is required to make certain disclosures about persons that are deemed promoters.
DBMS LLC is controlled by its majority member, Diligent Partners LLC (now known as North American Financial Partners, LLC). Diligent Partners LLC is majority owned by Brian Henry, Kiri Borg, Sharon Daniels and Alessandro Sodi who together took the initiative in founding and organize the Boardbooks business (the “Founders”).
On January 1, 2007, DBMS LLC acquired various leased furniture and equipment related to the Boardbooks business from Manhattan Creative Strategies, LLC and MSO New York, LLC, each of which is a subsidiary of Diligent Partners LLC. DBMS LLC did not give consideration for these assets other than the assumption of certain contracts. The assets were transferred to DBMS LLC to better reflect the use of the assets on a going-forward basis. The transfer was approved by Diligent Partners, LLC as the common parent of the entities involved.
On December 12, 2007, the Company completed an offshore offering of 24,000,000 common shares to members of the public in conjunction with a listing of the Company’s stock on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Because the New Zealand offering required that the Boardbooks business be owned by a corporation rather than a limited liability company, on October 1, 2007, DBMS LLC contributed all of the assets and certain of the liabilities relating to the Boardbooks business to the Company in exchange for 68,484,611 shares of the common stock of the Company. As DBMS LLC owned 100% of the Company following the contribution, no valuation or determination of the number of shares issued to DBMS LLC under the Contribution Agreement was performed independent of the valuation of the business in the context of the New Zealand offering as discussed below. The Founders, as beneficial owners of Diligent Partners LLC (the majority owner of DBMS LLC), received indirect beneficial ownership of Company common stock in exchange for the Boardbooks assets, which ownership is summarized under Item 4 of this Form 10 entitled “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management.”
Using the valuation of approximately $75 million implied at the time of the New Zealand offering, under the Contribution Agreement (Exhibit 10.1 to this registration statement), DBMS LLC, which is indirectly beneficially owned by the Founders, received shares representing approximately 66% of the Company or $50 million, with 14 million shares being subject to the revenue guarantee provided by the Founders in connection with the New Zealand offering that were subsequently canceled in January 2009 when the revenue guarantee was not satisfied. An additional 25 million shares have been pledged to secure DBMS LLC’s $6.8 million promissory note payable to us, of which 2,387,263 were sold on March 30, 2009 in a private transaction to pay interest due on the note and 22,612,737 of which remain pledged to us.
Other than McDouall Stuart, the lead manager for the Company’s New Zealand offering, no other persons were engaged to make a determination of the valuation of the business contributed by DBMS LLC to the Company. In determining a valuation of the Company for the New Zealand offering, McDouall Stuart used its experience with comparable companies doing stock offerings in the New Zealand market. McDouall Stuart received a total of NZ$1,340,000 in underwriting discounts and fees in connection with the offering. Other than the shares received by DBMS LLC under the Contribution Agreement, the $6.8 million loan made to DBMS LLC or as described in Item 5 with respect to Founders who are officers of the Company, DBMS LLC and the Founders did not receive anything of value from the Company.
At December 31, 2008, the Company has a note receivable from DBMS LLC with a contractual outstanding loan balance of $7,161,791 (including accrued interest of $371,778). See Loan to DBMS LLC in the following section for additional information.
Transactions Since Fiscal Year 2005
Other than the transactions described under the heading “Executive Compensation” (or with respect to which information is omitted in accordance with SEC regulations), the stock awards described in Item 10 and the transactions described below, since January 1, 2006, there have not been, and there is not currently proposed, any transaction or series of similar transactions to which we were or will be a party in which the amount involved exceeded or will exceed $120,000 and in which any director, executive officer, holder of 5% or more of any class of our capital stock or any member of the immediate family of any of the foregoing persons had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.
Legal Services. Buddle Findlay is a law firm that provides legal services to the Company in New Zealand. Mark Russell, a director of Diligent, is a partner of the law firm. The Company paid Buddle Findlay approximately $83 thousand and $124 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007, respectively.
Consulting Agreement with Sugar International. At an April 24, 2008 meeting, our Board of Directors approved a contract for sales training provided by a consultant from Sugar International Ltd. Mr. Huljich, a director of Diligent, is a director and stockholder of Sugar International and his relationship with Sugar was disclosed to the board prior to the vote on the contract. For the year ended December 31, 2008, we have paid Sugar approximately $185 thousand for consulting services.
Contribution Agreement. On October 1, 2007, we entered into a Contribution Agreement with DBMS LLC, under which DBMS LLC contributed assets and certain liabilities relating to the Diligent Boardbooks business, including accounts receivables, prepaid expense, property and equipment, security deposits, capital lease obligations and deferred revenue, as a contribution to our capital. DBMS LLC is our accounting predecessor and the members of DBMS LLC include many of our significant stockholders, directors and officers (See Item 4 “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management”).
-Loan to DBMS LLC (the “Note”). In connection with the contribution of assets relating to Diligent Boardbooks, DBMS LLC retained approximately $6.8 million in liabilities incurred during the development of the Diligent Boardbooks business. These liabilities included approximately $3.1 million in loans from third parties to fund the development of the Diligent Boardbooks business, of which $0.4 million were held by Brian Henry and Kiri Borg, two of our Promoters. We advanced approximately $6.8 million to or on behalf of DBMS LLC, of which approximately $3.7 million was used to satisfy certain liabilities retained by DBMS LLC ($0.4 million of which were held by our Promoters) and an additional approximately $3.1 million was used by the holders of DBMS LLC liabilities (including $0.4 million from Brian Henry and Kiri Borg, two of our Promoters) to subscribe for shares of our common stock for $0.75 per share in a private placement conducted on December 10, 2007. The holders who reinvested in the Company were development state investors in DBMS LLC who elected to continue their investment in the future growth of the business by continuing their existing investment in DBMS LLC over to an investment in shares of common stock of the Company. The reinvestment was approved by the governing body of DBMS LLC and by the Board of Directors of the Company on the basis that it increased the cash available to the Company to fund the Company’s operations by $3.1 million and was fair to the purchasers in the New Zealand offering because it was at the same price per share as shares were sold in the New Zealand offering. Under the terms of the subscription agreements between such holders of DBMS LLC liabilities and us, the subscribers directed us to apply the cash that would otherwise have been advanced to DBMS LLC under the Note and then paid to such subscribers by DBMS LLC to the amount due under the subscription agreements. The terms of the Note are as follows:
| · | The interest rate is five percent per annum; |
| · | DBMS LLC has granted a first-lien pledge on 22,612,737 of our shares as of April 1, 2009 to secure repayment, which includes 892,500 shares pledged directly by Corcoran Consulting LLC. Corcoran Consulting LLC pledged the 892,500 shares directly because it elected to do so rather than by contributing the shares to DBMS LLC and then including them in the shares pledged by it. The pledged shares do not secure any other obligations; |
| · | The principal amount of the loan is repayable after three years (on October 1, 2010); and |
| · | Interest is required to be paid quarterly, but may be capitalized at the election of DBMS LLC for the first four quarters. |
On March 30, 2009, DBMS LLC sold 2,387,263 pledged shares to Spring Street Partners, L.P. in a private transaction valued at $0.075 per share, or $179,045 in the aggregate. The proceeds were applied against the note interest payment due April 1, 2009 and will be applied against the next interest payment when due July 1, 2009. As a result, the number of shares securing the note is now 22,612,737. Using the NZ$ 0.13 closing price of our stock on March 31, 2009 and an exchange rate on that date of NZ$1=US$0.57, the value of the remaining shares pledged to secure the loan is $1,675,804. If the market value of our stock owned by DBMS LLC does not appreciate sufficiently to allow DBMS LLC to generate sufficient funds at or prior to maturity of the note to pay the principal and accrued interest, the note may not be fully collectible. To our knowledge, DBMS LLC has no operations other than acting as a holding company for shares of our stock. We have recognized a $5.8 million impairment charge with respect to the note as of December 31, 2008 to reflect market conditions regarding our common stock.
If we are unable to collect the note receivable when due or if it is determined to be further impaired in its value, the shortfall would decrease our earnings in the period in which the shortfall is recognized. If we foreclose upon the shares securing the note, the shares will be treated as treasury shares held by us and would have the effect of decreasing the number of outstanding shares of our common stock by the number of foreclosed shares.
Purchase of Shares in New Zealand Offering by Huljich Trusts. Approximately $2.4 million was loaned to DBMS LLC prior to the New Zealand offering by Peter Huljich, a Diligent director, and certain family and other trusts that he is involved with, to fund pre-offering operations. These obligations were settled by delivery of common shares at $0.75 per share in a private placement conducted on December 10, 2007.
Research and Development Expense. We incurred research and development costs of $1.2 million for services rendered during 2007 by DBMS NZ (formerly known as MSO New Zealand Ltd.), which is under common ownership with DBMS LLC. As of January 1, 2008, we acquired all of the stock of DBMS NZ for NZD5,000 and from that date forward it was a member of our consolidated group. During 2006, we incurred research and development costs of $452 thousand for services rendered by MSO.
Marketing Expense. During the year ended December 31, 2006, we incurred marketing expenses of approximately $189 thousand to MCS.
Consulting Expense. During the nine months ended September 30, 2007 we incurred $373 thousand for general and administrative services rendered by Fund Development Services, LLC, a company owned by Brian Henry and Kiri Borg, members of Diligent Partners, which is controlled by our Founders.
Office Lease. We sublease, on a month-to-month basis, our New Jersey office from Diligent Partners. The lease for the New Jersey office, which requires a monthly rent of $4,450, expires in June 2010 and may be canceled at any time after June 2008 with six months notice. In November 2008, the Company gave notice of its intent to terminate the lease for the New Jersey office. Additionally, the Company and the Predecessor subleased office space in New York City from Diligent Partners through April 2008. Rent expense paid to Diligent Partners for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, the year ended December 31, 2007, and the year ended December 31, 2006 was approximately $70 thousand, $110 thousand, and $56 thousand, respectively.
Sale of Series A Preferred Stock. On March 11, 2009, the Company closed a transaction involving the sale of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock. Ten million shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to current shareholder Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC in exchange for $1,000,000. Twenty million shares of Series A Preferred stock were issued to Spring Street Partners, L.P. in exchange for $2,000,000. David Liptak, the president of the managing partner of Spring Street Partners, L.P. is a member of the Board of Directors.
Although we do not have a separate conflicts policy other than that set forth in our certificate of incorporation, we comply with Delaware law with respect to transactions involving potential conflicts. Delaware law requires that all transactions between us and any director or executive officer are subject to full disclosure and approval of the majority of the disinterested members of our board of directors, approval of the majority of our stockholders or the determination that the contract or transaction is intrinsically fair to us.
Board Independence
Our common stock is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and the board of directors applies the standards of that exchange for the purposes of determining the independence of our directors and committee members. The relevant standards for independence under the New Zealand Stock Exchange listing rules (the “NZX Rules”) are available at the following web link: http://www.nzx.com/asset/sxdx_lr_1.pdf.
The board of directors has determined that Rick Bettle, Peter Huljich, and Mark Russell are independent according to the “Independent Director” definition of the NZX Rules.
ITEM 8. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
None.
ITEM 9. MARKET PRICE OF AND DIVIDENDS ON THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
Market Information
There is no United States established public trading market for our common stock. On December 12, 2007 we completed a public share offering of 24,000,000 shares of our common stock in conjunction with a listing of our stock on the New Zealand Stock Exchange under the symbol “DIL.”
The following table shows the high and low closing sales prices for our common stock in New Zealand dollars, which began trading on December 12, 2007.
| | Closing Price of Common Stock (NZD) |
Period | | High | | Low |
December 12, 2007 – December 31, 2007 | | .90 | | .68 |
2008 – 1st Quarter | | .76 | | .63 |
2008 – 2nd Quarter | | .65 | | .23 |
2008 – 3rd Quarter | | .40 | | .18 |
2008 – 4th Quarter | | .25 | | .15 |
2009 – 1st Quarter | | .15 | | .07 |
There are no outstanding options or any other securities convertible into our common stock other than the Series A Preferred Stock. Further, as of December 31, 2008, there were no shares that could be sold under Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 144 or that we have agreed to register under the Securities Act for sale by our holders. Other than the sale of 30,000,000 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock on March 11, 2009, since the completion of the New Zealand offering, we are not offering, nor have we proposed to publicly offer any of our shares, the offering of which could have a material effect on the market price of our shares.
Holders
As of April 1, 2009, there are approximately 700 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
We have not paid any dividends on our common stock within the past two fiscal years or during the current fiscal year, and have no plans to do so in the foreseeable future.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
As of December 31, 2008, no shares of common stock are issuable by us upon the exercise of options, warrants and rights under any equity compensation plan, except as follows:
Plan category | | Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options | | | Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options | | | Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans | |
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders | | | - | | | | - | | | | 5,560,000 | |
ITEM 10. RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
The following is a summary of transactions by our company within the past three years involving sales of its securities that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (or “Securities Act”).
On October 1, 2007, we issued 68,484,611 shares of our common stock to DBMS LLC in exchange for a contribution of certain of its assets related to our Diligent Boardbooks business, subject to certain liabilities, as specified in a Contribution Agreement dated October 1, 2007, in a private offering under Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933.
On December 12, 2007, we issued 24,000,000 shares of our common stock pursuant to our initial public floatation on the New Zealand Stock Exchange for NZ$1.00 per share in an offshore transaction that met the requirements of the safe harbor under Rule 903 of Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933. The offering was led by McDouall Stuart, a participant on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, on a best efforts basis. In connection with the offering, McDouall Stuart received NZ$420,000 as a lead sponsor fee, NZ$720,000 in brokerage fees and NZ$200,000 in incentive fees.
On December 10, 2007, we issued 7,515,389 shares of our common stock to various accredited investors for NZ$1.00 (US$0.75) per share in a private placement that met the requirements of the safe harbor under Rule 903 of Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933 for non-US persons and for accredited investors who were existing debt holders of DBMS LLC.
On December 12, 2007, we issued 4,000,000 shares of our common stock in recognition of services provided, or to be provided, to various employees, directors and service providers pursuant to written agreements under our 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan in accordance with Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933. Of the 4,000,000 shares, 1,929,000 were subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture based on continued service requirements that lapsed in January 2009. During 2008, 160,000 of these shares were forfeited.
On October 23, 2008, we issued 600,000 shares of our common stock to our CFO and General Counsel pursuant to written agreements under our 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Rule 506 and/or Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. As of the date of this filing, 100,000 of these shares are subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture based on continued service requirements, that lapses in May 2009.
On March 11, 2009, we issued 30,000,000 shares of newly created Series A Preferred Stock to Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC for US$0.10 per share. The Series A Preferred Stock was issued pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Rule 506 of Regulation D and/or Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (based on the issuance not involving any public offering and the shares being issued solely to accredited investors). The rights, powers and preferences of the Series A Preferred Stock are described below in Item 11 – Description of Registrant’s Securities to be Registered. In connection with the sale of the Series A Preferred Stock, we also entered into an Investor Rights Agreement with the purchasers that provides them with the right to require the Company to register their shares pursuant to a registered US public offering under certain circumstances as further specified in such agreement.
ITEM 11. DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES TO BE REGISTERED
The following description of our common and preferred stock and the relevant provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws are summaries and are qualified by reference to these documents. On March 11, 2009, our common shareholders approved our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which is attached as an exhibit to our Form 8-K that was filed on March 13, 2009. Our amended and restated bylaws are attached as an exhibit to the Original Filing.
At March 31, 2009, our authorized capital stock consists of 250,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $.001 per share, of which 90,440,000 shares are issued and outstanding, and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $.001 per share, designated as Series A Preferred Stock, of which 30,000,000 shares are issued and outstanding.
Common Stock
Our common stock is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. As of March 31, 2009, there were 90,440,000 shares of common stock outstanding. Holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. Holders of common stock do not have cumulative voting rights. Holders of the common stock are entitled to receive dividends as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available for the payment of dividends, subject to the preferences that apply to any outstanding preferred stock. See “Dividend Policy.” Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and after giving effect to the liquidation preference of any outstanding preferred stock. The common stock has no preemptive or conversion rights and no additional subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. All outstanding shares of common stock at March 31, 2009 are fully paid and non assessable, except for 100,000 shares of restricted stock that are subject to vesting requirements. On March 11, 2009, our common shareholders authorized an increase of our authorized common stock from 200 million shares to 250 million shares in connection with the issuance of 30 million convertible preferred shares, as described below. The increase in authorized common stock was necessary to account for the conversion of newly issued preferred shares into shares of our common stock.
Preferred Stock
On March 11, 2009, we issued 30,000,000 shares of newly created Series A Preferred Stock to Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC for US$0.10 per share. The Preferred Shares carry a fixed, cumulative, dividend of 11% per annum (adjusted for stock splits, consolidation, etc). The dividend may (at Diligent’s option) be paid on the first business day of each calendar year for the prior year either in cash or in kind by the issue of additional Preferred Shares (PIK Shares), to be issued at the same issue price of US$0.10 per share. The 11% annual dividend on the Preferred Shares will rank ahead of the declaration or payment of any dividends on Diligent’s common stock (ordinary shares). In addition to the 11% preferred dividend, the holders of the Preferred Shares will also be entitled to participate pro rata in any dividend paid on Diligent’s common stock. The Preferred Shares will be convertible at any time at the option of the holders into Diligent common stock on a one-for-one basis based on a conversion price of US$0.10 per share. The holders of Series A Preferred Stock are also entitled to exercise preemptive rights with respect to any future securities offerings conducted by the Company except for certain specified exceptions.
The holders of the Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to vote on an as-converted basis with the holders of our common stock except in the general election of directors. However, the holders of Series A Preferred Stock voting as a class are entitled to elect one director. The Series A director may only be removed by the holders of Series A Preferred Stock.
As long as not less than 15,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock (adjusted for stock splits, re-capitalizations and the like) remain outstanding, we may not take actions related to certain major transactions, through merger or consolidation with any other corporation or otherwise, without obtaining the consent of not-less than 60% (or 81% where noted) of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock voting separately as a class. The major transactions requiring consent include the following:
| (i) | liquidate, dissolve or wind-up the business and affairs of the Company, effect any merger or sale of substantially all of our assets, or consent to any of the foregoing; |
| (ii) | amend, alter or repeal any provision of our certificate of incorporation, or take such action with respect to the bylaws of the Company in a manner that adversely affects the powers, preferences or rights of the Series A Preferred Stock (except changes to the bylaws required by the listing rules of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, which such changes shall not trigger the right provided herein); provided, that the any such amendment, alteration or repeal shall require the written consent or affirmative vote of the holder of at least 81% of the then outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock; |
| (iii) | create, or authorize the creation of, or issue or obligate itself to issue shares of, any additional class or series of capital stock unless the same ranks junior to the Series A Preferred Stock with respect to the distribution of assets on the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, the payment of dividends and redemption rights, or increase the authorized number of shares of Series A Preferred Stock or increase the authorized number of shares of any additional class or series of capital stock unless the same ranks junior to the Series A Preferred Stock with respect to the distribution of assets on the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, the payment of dividends and redemption rights; |
| (iv) | purchase or redeem (or permit any subsidiary to purchase or redeem) or pay or declare any dividend or make any distribution on, any shares of capital stock of the Company other than (i) redemptions of or dividends or distributions on the Series A Preferred Stock as expressly authorized herein, (ii) dividends or other distributions payable on the common stock solely in the form of additional shares of common stock, (iii) repurchases of stock from former employees, officers, directors, consultants or other persons who performed services for the Company or any subsidiary in connection with the cessation of such employment or service at an amount no more than the greater of the original purchase price or the then-current fair market value thereof, or (iv) as approved by the Board of Directors, including the approval of the Series A Director; |
| (v) | create, or authorize the creation of, or issue, or authorize the issuance of any debt security, or permit any subsidiary to take any such action with respect to any debt security, other than equipment leases, accounts payable, insurance premium financing, bank loans and lines of credit and other similar corporate financings available from commercial and banking sources; |
| (vi) | create, or hold capital stock in, any subsidiary that is not wholly owned (either directly or through one or more other subsidiaries) by the Company, or sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any capital stock of any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company, or permit any direct or indirect subsidiary to sell, lease, transfer, exclusively license or otherwise dispose (in a single transaction or series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of such subsidiary; |
| (vii) | increase the authorized number of directors constituting our board of directors to more than seven (7) persons; |
| (viii) | increase the aggregate number of shares available under the Company’s common stock plan, its restricted stock plan, or any other plan involving the issuance of the Company’s equity securities to its employees, agents or directors to more than 14.5 million shares under all such plans, or issue the Company’s securities outside of such plan in exchange for services in excess of an aggregate of 1 million shares in any given twelve month period; |
| (ix) | forgive, modify the terms of, value the stock held in escrow as security for, or otherwise amend, waive or delay the enforcement of the obligations owed by Services Share Holdings, LLC (f/k/a Diligent Board Member Services, LLC) pursuant to the Promissory Note and Security Agreement dated October 1, 2007 and related obligations it has issued to the Company (the “LLC Note”), provided, that the Company’s Board of Directors may, without the consent of the Series A Preferred Stock, approve a complete prepayment of the LLC Note at a discount so long as any prepayment discount rate is approved by a majority of the directors who do not have an interest in the LLC Note; or |
| (x) | enter into any transaction with an affiliate in excess of US$250,000 per year. |
Anti-Takeover Effects of Certain Provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and Delaware Law
Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute. We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, these provisions prohibit a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a manner presented in Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Generally, a “business combination” is defined to include mergers, asset sales and other transactions resulting in financial benefit to a stockholder. In general, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and employees, owns, or within three years, did own, 15% or more of a corporation’s voting stock.
New Zealand Listing Rules Bylaw Provisions. The New Zealand Takeovers Code does not apply to us per se. However, as a condition of our listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, we have adopted certain bylaw provisions implementing the “Notice and Pause” rules under New Zealand that apply for as long as we are listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. The Notice and Pause rules set forth in Appendix A of our bylaws generally provide that no “insider” may acquire shares of our common stock by means of a “restricted transfer” unless notice containing the particulars is provided to us and the New Zealand Stock Exchange at least 15 business days before the transfer. Our Board of Directors is then required to take certain steps to ensure that the transfer complies with the New Zealand Stock Exchange Rules. Persons who engage in covered transactions without complying with the Notice and Pause rules are treated as defaulter’s securities that are stripped of their voting rights during the default and may be subject to involuntary sale.
For as long as we are listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, if any provisions in our bylaws are inconsistent with the New Zealand listing rules provisions, the listing rule provisions will prevail, except where compliance would breach applicable Delaware and United States law or our certificate of incorporation.
Terms of Series A Preferred Stock. The terms of our Series A Preferred Stock, including the requirement that any major transaction be approved by the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock, effectively prevent us from consummating any major transaction that the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock do not support.
Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals. Our bylaws contain advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. These provisions may have the effect of limiting the ability of our stockholders to bring matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting or a special meeting of stockholders.
The above provisions may discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened change of control of our company. These provisions also are designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited proposal for a takeover of us that does not contemplate the acquisition of all of our outstanding shares or an unsolicited proposal for the restructuring or sale of all or part of our company. These provisions, however, could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change in control of us. They may also have the effect of preventing changes in our management.
Transfer Agent And Registrar
As of the date of this registration statement, we have engaged Link Market Services Limited, Level 12, 120 Albert Street, PO Box 91976 Auckland as the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock.
ITEM 12. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
Limitation of Liability
Our certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty, to the maximum extent permitted by Delaware law. Under Delaware law, directors of a corporation will not be personally liable for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors, except for:
| · | any breach of the duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders; |
| · | acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; |
| · | unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions; or |
| · | any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. |
This limitation of liability does not apply to non-monetary remedies that may be available, such as injunctive relief or rescission, nor does it relieve our officers and directors from complying with federal or state securities laws.
Indemnification
Our certificate of incorporation provides that we shall indemnify our directors and executive officers, and may indemnify our other corporate agents, to the fullest extent permitted by law. An executive officer or director shall not be entitled to indemnification if:
| · | The executive officer or director did not act in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, our best interests; or |
| · | The executive officer or director is subject to criminal action or proceedings and had reasonable cause to believe the conduct was unlawful. |
Advancement of Expenses
Our certificate of incorporation provides that we shall advance litigation expenses to our directors and executive officers incurred in defending any claims brought against them in such capacity upon receipt of an undertaking from them to repay us if it is ultimately determined that the person is not entitled to indemnification.
These limitation of liability, indemnification and expense advancement provisions may discourage a stockholder from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. The provisions may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though an action, if successful, might benefit us and our stockholders. A stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of defense of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these limitation of liability and indemnification provisions.
ITEM 13. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
See Index to Financial Statements on page F-1.
ITEM 14. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
In connection with our offshore offering on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, we used KPMG, Wellington, New Zealand as our independent accountants.
On August 14, 2008 the Audit Committee appointed Holtz Rubenstein Reminick LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the financial statements presented in this registration statement and for the year ended December 31, 2008.
We have had no disagreements with our accountants on any financial or accounting disclosures.
ITEM 15. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Exhibit Numbers | | Exhibits |
3.13 | | Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation |
3.21 | | Amended and Restated Bylaws |
4.11 | | Form of common stock certificate |
10.11 | | Contribution Agreement dated October 1, 2007 between Diligent Board Member Services, LLC and Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.21 | | Shareholder Restriction Deed dated November 1, 2007 among Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., Diligent Board Member Services, LLC and McDouall Stuart Securities Limited |
10.31 | | Escrow Agreement dated November 7, 2007 among UMB Bank, N.A., Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. and Diligent Board Member Services, LLC |
10.41 | | Promissory Note and Security Agreement dated October 1, 2007 in the principal amount of $6,800,000 given by Diligent Board Member Services, LLC to the order of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.5.11 | | Limited Pledge of Collateral for Loan dated February 18, 2008 given by Services Share Holding, LLC (f/k/a Diligent Board Member Services, LLC) to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.5.24 | | Amendment to Limited Pledge of Collateral for Loan dated January 14, 2009 given by Services Share Holding, LLC to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.5.34 | | Limited Pledge of Collateral for Loan dated January 14, 2009 given by Corcoran Consulting, LLC to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.61 | | 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.71 | | Form of Restricted Stock Award Agreement for restricted stock awards under the 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan |
10.82 | | Service Agreement dated May 29, 2008 between Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. and Sugar International Limited |
10.93 | | Stock Purchase Agreement dated February 13, 2009 among Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC |
10.103 | | Investor Rights Agreement dated March 11, 2009 among Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC |
1 Filed with the Original Form 10 Filing on April 30, 2008.
2 Filed with Amendment No. 3 to Form 10 Filing on February 12, 2009.
3 Filed with Form 8-K Filing on March 13, 2009.
4 Filed with Form 10-K Filing on March 30, 2009.
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Dated: May 13, 2009 | DILIGENT BOARD MEMBER SERVICES, INC. |
| |
| By: | /s/ Hunter Cohen |
| | Hunter Cohen, Chief Financial Officer |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| PAGE |
| |
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | F-2 |
| |
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007 | F-3 |
| |
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007 and of Predecessor for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 | F-4 |
| |
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’/Members’ Equity (Deficit) and Comprehensive Loss for the year ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007 and of Predecessor for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 | F-5 |
| |
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the year ended December 31, 2008 and the three months ended December 31, 2007 and of Predecessor for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 | F-6 |
| |
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | F-8 |
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders'/members’ equity (deficit) and comprehensive loss, and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2008, three months ended December 31, 2007 and nine months ended September 30, 2007 (predecessor). Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.'s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements and assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall consolidated financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. as of December 31, 2008 and 2007 and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2008, three months ended December 31, 2007 and nine months ended September 30, 2007 (predecessor), in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
/s/ Holtz Rubenstein Reminick LLP
New York, New York
March 17, 2009
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
ASSETS | | | | | | |
Current assets: | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | | $ | 1,265,347 | | | $ | 13,675,080 | |
Term deposit | | | 58,150 | | | | 76,780 | |
Accounts receivable, net | | | 390,180 | | | | 266,976 | |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | | | 222,617 | | | | 87,352 | |
Total current assets | | | 1,936,294 | | | | 14,106,188 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Property and equipment, net | | | 1,116,007 | | | | 504,500 | |
Note receivable from affiliate, net of valuation allowance | | | 1,361,791 | | | | 6,715,232 | |
Restricted cash - security deposits | | | 246,685 | | | | 43,741 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Total assets | | $ | 4,660,777 | | | $ | 21,369,661 | |
| | | | | | | | |
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | | | | | | | | |
Current liabilities: | | | | | | | | |
Accounts payable | | $ | 256,319 | | | $ | 447,532 | |
Accrued expenses and other liabilities | | | 218,541 | | | | 83,703 | |
Deferred revenue | | | 601,408 | | | | 226,678 | |
Current portion of obligations under capital leases | | | 114,308 | | | | 105,355 | |
Payables to affiliates | | | 49,578 | | | | 152,897 | |
Total current liabilities | | | 1,240,154 | | | | 1,016,165 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Non-current liabilities: | | | | | | | | |
Obligations under capital leases, less current portion | | | 50,816 | | | | 165,125 | |
Total non-current liabilities | | | 50,816 | | | | 165,125 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Total liabilities | | | 1,290,970 | | | | 1,181,290 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Commitments and contingencies | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Stockholders' equity: | | | | | | | | |
Preferred Stock, $.001 par value 50,000,000 shares authorized, none issued | | | - | | | | - | |
Common Stock, $.001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized, 90,440,000 and 104,000,000 shares issued and outstanding | | | 90,440 | | | | 104,000 | |
Additional paid-in capital | | | 24,618,070 | | | | 23,754,427 | |
Accumulated deficit | | | (21,318,658 | ) | | | (3,670,056 | ) |
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | | | (20,045 | ) | | | - | |
Total stockholders' equity | | | 3,369,807 | | | | 20,188,371 | |
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity | | $ | 4,660,777 | | | $ | 21,369,661 | |
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | Year | | | Three months | | | Nine months | |
| | ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September 30, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 2007 | |
Revenues | | $ | 2,930,702 | | | $ | 515,103 | | | $ | 1,210,070 | |
Cost of revenues | | | 1,878,027 | | | | 324,029 | | | | 945,910 | |
Gross profit | | | 1,052,675 | | | | 191,074 | | | | 264,160 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Operating expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Selling and marketing expenses | | | 6,216,087 | | | | 987,043 | | | | 1,118,526 | |
General and administrative expenses | | | 5,418,747 | | | | 2,489,147 | | | | 1,895,229 | |
Research and development expenses | | | 955,385 | | | | 334,039 | | | | 918,782 | |
Depreciation and amortization | | | 278,295 | | | | 25,411 | | | | 54,800 | |
Total operating expenses | | | 12,868,514 | | | | 3,835,640 | | | | 3,987,337 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Operating loss | | | (11,815,839 | ) | | | (3,644,566 | ) | | | (3,723,177 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Other income (expenses): | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Impairment loss on note receivable from affiliate | | | (5,800,000 | ) | | | - | | | | - | |
Interest income (expense), net | | | 601,280 | | | | 39,959 | | | | (418,804 | ) |
Foreign exchange transaction loss | | | (601,245 | ) | | | (65,449 | ) | | | (4,372 | ) |
Total other income (expenses) | | | (5,799,965 | ) | | | (25,490 | ) | | | (423,176 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loss before provision for income taxes | | | (17,615,804 | ) | | | (3,670,056 | ) | | | (4,146,353 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Provision for income taxes | | | 32,798 | | | | - | | | | - | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss | | $ | (17,648,602 | ) | | $ | (3,670,056 | ) | | $ | (4,146,353 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss per share (basic and diluted) | | $ | (0.17 | ) | | $ | (0.05 | ) | | $ | (0.06 | ) |
Weighted average shares outstanding (basic and diluted) | | | 102,397,907 | | | | 75,583,402 | | | | 68,484,611 | |
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’/Members’ Equity (Deficit)
and Comprehensive Loss
Predecessor | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Accumulated | | | Total | |
| | | | | Common | | | Additional | | | | | | | | | Other | | | Stockholders'/ | |
| | Common | | | Stock | | | Paid-in- | | | Members' | | | Accumulated | | | Comprehensive | | | Members' | |
| | Shares | | | $.001 Par Value | | | Capital | | | Capital | | | Deficit | | | Income (Loss) | | | Equity/(Deficit) | |
Balance at December 31, 2006 | | | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | (1,094,436 | ) | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | (1,094,436 | ) |
Net loss and comprehensive loss | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (4,146,353 | ) | | | - | | | | - | | | | (4,146,353 | ) |
Balance at September 30, 2007 | | | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | (5,240,789 | ) | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | (5,240,789 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Successor |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance at September 30, 2007 | | | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
Net loss and comprehensive loss | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (3,670,056 | ) | | | - | | | | (3,670,056 | ) |
Initial capital contribution | | | 68,484,611 | | | | 68,485 | | | | 52,411,272 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 52,479,757 | |
Deemed dividend, in excess of Predecessor basis | | | - | | | | - | | | | (52,411,272 | ) | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (52,411,272 | ) |
Initial public offering, net at NZD1.00 (US$0.7663) per share | | | 24,000,000 | | | | 24,000 | | | | 16,347,180 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 16,371,180 | |
Conversion of debt to equity, at US$0.75 per share | | | 7,515,389 | | | | 7,515 | | | | 5,629,028 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 5,636,543 | |
Share-based compensation | | | 4,000,000 | | | | 4,000 | | | | 1,778,219 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 1,782,219 | |
Balance at December 31, 2007 | | | 104,000,000 | | | | 104,000 | | | | 23,754,427 | | | | - | | | | (3,670,056 | ) | | | - | | | | 20,188,371 | |
Net loss | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (17,648,602 | ) | | | - | | | | | |
Foreign exchange | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
translation adjustment | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (20,045 | ) | | | | |
Total comprehensive loss | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (17,668,647 | ) |
Write off related party receivable | | | - | | | | - | | | | (70,700 | ) | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (70,700 | ) |
Share-based compensation, net of forfeitures | | | 440,000 | | | | 440 | | | | 920,343 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 920,783 | |
Cancellation of shares | | | (14,000,000 | ) | | | (14,000 | ) | | | 14,000 | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | |
Balance at December 31, 2008 | | | 90,440,000 | | | $ | 90,440 | | | $ | 24,618,070 | | | $ | - | | | $ | (21,318,658 | ) | | $ | (20,045 | ) | | $ | 3,369,807 | |
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | Year | | | Three months | | | Nine months | |
| | ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September 30, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 2007 | |
Cash flows from operating activities: | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss | | $ | (17,648,602 | ) | | $ | (3,670,056 | ) | | $ | (4,146,353 | ) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to cash used in operating activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Impairment loss on note receivable from affiliate | | | 5,800,000 | | | | - | | | | - | |
Depreciation and amortization | | | 278,295 | | | | 25,411 | | | | 54,800 | |
Allowance for doubtful accounts | | | 7,125 | | | | - | | | | - | |
Share-based compensation | | | 920,783 | | | | 1,782,219 | | | | - | |
Accrued interest receivable | | | (346,559 | ) | | | (25,219 | ) | | | - | |
Other non-cash charges | | | - | | | | - | | | | 8,915 | |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Accounts receivable | | | (105,520 | ) | | | (96,871 | ) | | | (100,710 | ) |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | | | (110,965 | ) | | | 143,482 | | | | (235,503 | ) |
Restricted cash - security deposits | | | (202,944 | ) | | | 8,877 | | | | (27,618 | ) |
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | | | (264,465 | ) | | | 531,238 | | | | 351,018 | |
Deferred revenue | | | 374,730 | | | | (2,577 | ) | | | 87,739 | |
Net cash used in operating activities | | | (11,298,122 | ) | | | (1,303,496 | ) | | | (4,007,712 | ) |
Cash flows from investing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Redemption/(purchase) of term deposit, net | | | 18,630 | | | | (76,780 | ) | | | - | |
Cash acquired in acquisition, net of purchase price | | | 83,593 | | | | - | | | | - | |
Purchase of property and equipment | | | (885,114 | ) | | | (200,337 | ) | | | (8,958 | ) |
Net cash used in investing activities | | | (782,891 | ) | | | (277,117 | ) | | | (8,958 | ) |
Cash flows from financing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cash paid for note receivable from affiliate | | | (100,000 | ) | | | (3,699,290 | ) | | | - | |
Repayments of short-term borrowings, net | | | - | | | | - | | | | (26,059 | ) |
Proceeds from long-term debt, net | | | - | | | | - | | | | 180,541 | |
(Repayments)/proceeds from due to affiliates | | | (103,319 | ) | | | 152,897 | | | | 3,938,141 | |
Cash proceeds from loan, converted to equity | | | - | | | | 2,457,555 | | | | - | |
Proceeds from common stock issuance, net | | | - | | | | 16,371,180 | | | | - | |
Payments of obligations under capital leases | | | (105,356 | ) | | | (26,649 | ) | | | 33,694 | |
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | | | (308,675 | ) | | | 15,255,693 | | | | 4,126,317 | |
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents | | | (20,045 | ) | | | - | | | | - | |
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents | | | (12,409,733 | ) | | | 13,675,080 | | | | 109,647 | |
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | | | 13,675,080 | | | | - | | | | 8,506 | |
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | | $ | 1,265,347 | | | $ | 13,675,080 | | | $ | 118,153 | |
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Continued)
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | Year | | | Three months | | | Nine months | |
| | ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September 30, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 2007 | |
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: | | | | | | | | | |
Cash paid during the period for : | | | | | | | | | |
Interest | | $ | 38,356 | | | $ | 10,010 | | | $ | 355,583 | |
Income taxes | | $ | 24,750 | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net book value of assets and liabilities received in exchange for common stock, net of demand note payable | | $ | - | | | $ | 68,485 | | | $ | - | |
Increase in note receivable from affiliate in exchange for liabilities assumed | | $ | - | | | $ | 3,178,988 | | | $ | - | |
Conversion of debt to equity | | $ | - | | | $ | 5,636,543 | | | $ | - | |
Share-based compensation | | $ | 920,783 | | | $ | 1,782,219 | | | $ | - | |
Property and equipment acquired under capital leases | | $ | - | | | $ | 99,313 | | | $ | 88,317 | |
Conversion of interest to loan principal | | $ | 346,559 | | | $ | 25,219 | | | $ | - | |
Transfer of net assets from entity under common control | | $ | - | | | $ | - | | | $ | 745,345 | |
Cashless repayment of loans by officers from bonus awards | | $ | 126,767 | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
Write off of related party receivable charged to equity | | $ | 70,700 | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
1) Organization and nature of the business
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. (“Diligent” or the “Company” or the “Successor”) provides worldwide online management of corporate governance documents (“Boardbooks”) to corporate clients. Boardbooks is a web-based portal that directors and administrative staff use to compile, update and examine board materials prior to and during board meetings. Each client of the Company enters into a service agreement whereby the Company agrees to provide and support the Boardbooks service.
The Company was incorporated in the State of Delaware on September 27, 2007 and is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (“NZX”). The Company’s corporate headquarters are located in New York and New Zealand. In April 2008, the Company filed a Form 10 registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which became effective on June 30, 2008.
The Company’s predecessor entity was Diligent Board Member Services, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, which changed its name to Services Share Holding, LLC, effective January 2008 (herein referred to as “LLC” or the “Predecessor”).
On October 1, 2007, LLC contributed its Boardbooks business to the Company. Under the terms of the Contribution Agreement, LLC transferred to the Company assets and certain liabilities related to the Boardbooks business with a net book value of $256,750 in exchange for 68,484,611 shares of the Company’s stock (See Note 4). This transaction was recorded at the net book value of LLC as the Company and LLC were entities under common control. On December 12, 2007 the Company completed its initial public offering on the NZX.
The Company has a wholly-owned subsidiary located in New Zealand, Diligent Board Member Services (NZ) Ltd (“DBMS NZ”), which was acquired on January 1, 2008. Prior to January 1, 2008, DBMS NZ was owned by a stockholder and officer of the Company. DBMS NZ provides research and development services to the Company.
The Company also has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Diligent Boardbooks Limited (“DBL”), an England and Wales limited liability company which was formed on December 14, 2006, and provides European sales and marketing services. DBL was inactive until April 2008.
The Company’s consolidated financial statements are presented in US dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar, which is the Company’s functional and presentational currency.
2) Liquidity
Despite growth in net sales during 2008, the Company’s growth rate lagged behind its projections. Amid liquidity concerns, the Company initiated plans to scale back its growth plans in order to reduce operating expenses. During the fourth quarter of 2008, the Company significantly reduced its sales force, reduced salaries for some of its more highly compensated employees and reduced the number of members of the board of directors. The Company also actively sought additional sources of financing.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
In March 2009, the Company issued 30,000,000 shares of newly-created Series A Preferred Stock for US$0.10 per share, for an aggregate of $3,000,000 in additional capital. Expenses relating to the share issuance were approximately $139,000. The Preferred Shares carry a fixed, cumulative, dividend of 11% per annum (adjusted for stock splits, consolidation, etc). The dividend, which is due on the first business day of each calendar year for the prior year, may (at the Company’s option) be paid either in cash or in kind by the issuance of additional Preferred Shares (PIK Shares), to be issued at the same issue price of US$0.10 per share. The 11% annual dividend on the Preferred Shares will have preference over the declaration or payment of any dividends on the Company’s common stock (ordinary shares). In addition to the 11% preferred dividend, the holders of the Preferred Shares will also be entitled to participate pro-rata in any dividend paid on the Company’s common stock. The Preferred Shares will be convertible at any time at the option of holders into the Company’s common stock on a one-for-one basis at a conversion price of US$0.10 per share.
At the current level of reduced expenses, coupled with conservative sales growth forecasts, management believes this funding will be sufficient to support the operations and obligations of the Company through the third quarter of 2010. The primary uncertainty concerning the Company’s capital needs pertains to its ability to achieve the expected sales growth in a timely manner such that recurring revenues exceed operating expenditures prior to the depletion of capital.
The note receivable from affiliate, due from LLC, provides for seven quarterly interest payments of approximately $90 thousand each due from April 1, 2009 through October 1, 2010, and a $7,161,791 principal payment due October 1, 2010. This note was collateralized with 25,000,000 shares of Diligent common stock at December 31, 2008. The Company believes that collection of the note receivable is dependent upon, and limited to, the amount of cash that LLC can receive from the sale of the underlying collateral as payments become due and has recorded an impairment loss on the note (see Note 9). Although management believes a portion of the principal will be collected when due in October 2010, with the exception of interest payments due under the note, the Company has not included the collection of the note receivable in its liquidity planning.
3) Significant accounting policies
Basis of presentation – The Company's consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The results of operations, cash flows and changes in stockholders’/members’ equity for 2007 are presented for the Predecessor through September 30, 2007 and for the Company for the period from October 1, 2007 (the net asset contribution date (see Note 4)) through December 31, 2007.
Principles of consolidation – The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of estimates – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Cash and cash equivalents – The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company invests its excess cash primarily in a money market fund of a major financial institution. Accordingly, its cash equivalents are subject to minimal credit and market risk. At December 31, 2008, cash equivalents include an investment in a money market fund of $675,575, which is carried at cost which approximates fair value. There were no cash equivalents at December 31, 2007.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Term deposits – Term deposits are short-term investments with banks, with maturities greater than three months at inception.
Accounts receivable – Accounts receivable are recorded at estimated net realizable value. A provision for doubtful accounts is recorded based on management’s assessment of amounts considered uncollectable for specific customers based on age of the receivable, history of payments and other relevant information. An allowance for doubtful accounts is provided for accounts receivable which management determines will not be collectable in full.
Property and equipment – Property and equipment consists of computer and office equipment, leasehold improvements and internal-use computer software. Property and equipment are carried at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization and any impairment losses.
Internal-use software – The Company accounts for internal-use software in accordance with Statement of Position (SOP) 98-1, Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software Developed for or Obtained for Internal Use, which requires the capitalization of certain costs incurred in connection with developing or obtaining software for internal use. Internal use software is included in property and equipment.
Depreciation and amortization – Depreciation on property and equipment is computed on a straight line basis at rates adequate to recover the cost of the assets over their estimated useful lives, which range from three to five years. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over estimated useful lives of the assets or the term of the underlying lease, whichever is shorter. Amortization of computer software is computed on the straight-line method over its estimated useful life, which is three years. Expenditures for repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.
Impairment of long-lived assets – In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 144, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, the Company periodically reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be fully recoverable. The carrying amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable if it exceeds the sum of the undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. Measurement of an impairment loss for long-lived assets and certain identifiable intangible assets that management expects to hold and use is based on the fair value of the asset. An impairment loss is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the long-lived asset exceeds its fair value.
Revenue recognition –The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 104, Revenue Recognition which states that revenue is realized and earned when all of the following criteria are met: (a) persuasive evidence of the arrangement exists, (b) delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, (c) the seller’s price to the buyer is fixed and determinable and (d) collectability is reasonably assured. Revenue from the Boardbooks licenses is recorded ratably over the contract period, which is generally twelve months. License fees paid in advance are recorded as deferred revenue until recognized. The Company generally invoices its customers in annual or quarterly installments. Accordingly, the deferred revenue balance does not represent the total contract value of annual or multi-year, noncancelable subscription agreements. The Company also earns fees for set-up and training (“installation fees”) of the Boardbooks system. Through September 30, 2008, installation fees were recognized upon completion of the installation. Effective October 1, 2008, installation fees are recorded ratably over the contract period. The effect of this change is not material to the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Research and development – SFAS 86, Accounting for Costs of Computer Software to be Sold, Leased, or Otherwise Marketed, requires companies to expense software development costs as they incur them until technological feasibility has been established, at which time those costs are capitalized until the product is available for general release to customers. To date, software has been available for general release concurrent with the establishment of technological feasibility and, accordingly, the Company has not capitalized any development costs. SFAS 2, Accounting for Research and Development Costs, establishes accounting and reporting standards for research and development. In accordance with SFAS 2, costs incurred to enhance products after the general release of the service using the product are expensed in the period they are incurred and included in research and development costs in our consolidated statements of operations.
Operating leases – The Company records rental costs, including costs related to fixed rent escalation clauses and rent holidays, on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Income taxes – The parent Company files U.S. federal and state income tax returns. Foreign subsidiaries file income tax returns in their respective foreign jurisdictions. The Company accounts for deferred income taxes under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.
In June 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Interpretation No. 48 (FIN 48) Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109. FIN 48 clarifies the criteria that must be met for financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. This Interpretation also addresses recognition and derecognition of related penalties and interest, classification of liabilities and disclosures of unrecognized tax benefits. FIN 48 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006. The Company adopted FIN 48 as of October 1, 2007. The adoption of FIN 48 did not have a material impact on the Company.
Foreign exchange – The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, DBL and DBMS NZ, utilize the British Pound Sterling and the New Zealand Dollar (NZD), respectively, as their functional currencies. Assets and liabilities of these subsidiaries are translated to US dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet dates, with the resulting translation adjustments directly recorded to a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income. As DBL was dormant prior to April 2008 and DBMS NZ was acquired January 1, 2008 the Company has no translation adjustment prior to 2008.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Transactions in foreign currencies are reported at the approximate rates of exchange at the transaction date. Assets and liabilities are translated at the rates of exchange in effect at the balance sheet date. All differences are recorded in results of operations. The foreign exchange loss is primarily attributable to unfavorable movement in exchange rates on certain of the Company’s cash accounts held in foreign currencies.
The Company does not use forward exchange contracts to hedge exposures to foreign currency denominated transactions.
Share-based compensation – In accordance with SFAS 123(R), Share-Based Payment, the Company measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for an equity-based award using the fair value of the award on the date of the grant, and recognizes the cost over the period that the award recipient is required to provide services to the Company in exchange for the award.
The Company measures the cost of non-employee services received in exchange for an equity-based award using the fair value method prescribed by EITF 96-18, Accounting for Equity Instruments That Are Issued to Other Than Employees for Acquiring, or in Conjunction with Selling, Goods or Services. Compensation cost for awards granted to non-employees is measured based on the fair value of the award at the measurement date, which is the date performance is satisfied or services are rendered by the non-employee. Compensation costs are amortized over the underlying awards’ vesting terms.
Fair value of financial instruments – The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses. The fair value of these financial instruments approximates book value due to their short term settlements.
Note receivable from affiliate – The note receivable from affiliate is recorded at estimated net realizable value, adjusted for any valuation allowance for amounts considered uncollectable. The valuation allowance is reviewed for adjustment quarterly.
Segment reporting – SFAS No. 131, Disclosure about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information, establishes standards for reporting information about operating segments in annual financial statements and in interim financial reports issued to stockholders. Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated on a regular basis by the chief operating decision-maker, or decision making group, in deciding how to allocate resources to an individual segment and in assessing performance of the segment. In light of the Company’s current product offering, management believes that the Company operates in one segment.
Recent accounting pronouncements – In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measurements. This standard defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure about fair value measurements. SFAS 157 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007 and interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In February 2008, the FASB issued Staff Position No. 157-2 (FSP 157-2), which delays the effective date of SFAS 157 to fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except for items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). The delay is intended to allow the FASB and constituents additional time to consider the effect of various implementation issues that have arisen, or that may arise, from the application of SFAS 157. The Company does not expect the adoption of FSP 157-2 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
In October 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. 157-3, Determining the Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset is Not Active. FSP 157-3 clarifies the application of SFAS 157 in a market that is not active and provides an example of key considerations in determining the fair value of a financial asset when the market for that asset is not active. FSP 157-3 was effective on October 10, 2008, including prior periods for which financial statements have not been issued. Revisions resulting from a change in the valuation technique or its application should be accounted for as a change in accounting estimate following the guidance in SFAS 154, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections. The Company adopted FSP 157-3 on October 10, 2008, and it did not have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements.
In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities - including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115, which permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. SFAS 159 is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In June 2007, the FASB ratified EITF Issue No. 07-3, Accounting for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services Received for Use in Future Research and Development Activities, which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The EITF reached a conclusion that nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities pursuant to an executory contractual arrangement should be deferred and capitalized. Such amounts should be recognized as an expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed. Entities should continue to evaluate whether they expect the goods to be delivered or services to be rendered. If an entity does not expect the goods to be delivered or services to be rendered, the capitalized advance payment should be charged to expense. The adoption of EITF 07-3 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements, an Amendment of ARB No. 51. This Statement changes the accounting for and reporting of noncontrolling interests (formerly known as minority interests) in consolidated financial statements. This statement is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008. The Company does not believe the adoption of this statement will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In December 2007, the FASB ratified EITF Issue No. 07-1, Accounting for Collaborative Arrangements, which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008. EITF 07-1 defines collaborative arrangements and establishes reporting requirements for transactions between participants in a collaborative arrangement and between participants in the arrangement and third parties. EITF 07-1 also establishes the appropriate income statement presentation and classification for joint operating activities and payments between participants, as well as the sufficiency of the disclosures related to these arrangements. The Company does not believe the adoption of EITF 07-1 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141(R), Business Combinations. SFAS No. 141(R) retains the underlying concepts of SFAS No. 141 in that all business combinations are still required to be accounted for at fair value under the acquisition method of accounting, but SFAS No. 141(R) changed the method of applying the acquisition method in a number of significant aspects. Acquisition costs will generally be expensed as incurred; noncontrolling interests will be valued at fair value at the acquisition date; in-process research and development will be recorded at fair value as an indefinite-lived intangible asset at the acquisition date; restructuring costs associated with a business combination will generally be expensed subsequent to the acquisition date; and changes in deferred tax asset valuation allowances and income tax uncertainties after the acquisition date generally will affect income tax expense. This statement does not apply to a combination between entities or businesses under common control. SFAS No. 141(R) is effective on a prospective basis for all business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual period subsequent to December 15, 2008. Early adoption is not permitted.
In April 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position (FSP) No. 142-3, Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets. The final FSP amends the factors that should be considered in developing renewal or extension assumptions used to determine the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets. The FSP is intended to improve the consistency between the useful life of an intangible asset determined under SFAS 142 and the period of expected cash flows used to measure the fair value of the asset under SFAS 141(R) and other US generally accepted accounting principles. The FSP is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company does not believe the adoption of FSP 142-3 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In May 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162, The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. SFAS 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles to be used in the preparation of financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. It is effective 60 days following the SEC’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amendments to AU Section 411, The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity With Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The Company does not believe the adoption of SFAS 162 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In June 2008, the FASB issued FSP EITF 03-6-1, Determining Whether Instruments Granted in Share-Based Payment Transactions are Participating Securities (“EITF 03-6-1”). EITF 03-6-1 defines participating securities as those that are expected to vest and are entitled to receive nonforfeitable dividends or dividend equivalents. Unvested share-based payment awards that have a right to receive dividends on common stock (restricted stock) will be considered participating securities and included in earnings per share using the two-class method. The two-class method requires net income to be reduced for dividends declared and paid in the period on such shares. Remaining net income is then allocated to each class of stock (proportionately based on unrestricted and restricted shares which pay dividends) for calculation of basic earnings per share. Diluted earnings per share would then be calculated based on basic shares outstanding plus any additional potentially dilutive shares, such as options and restricted stock that do not pay dividends or are not expected to vest. This FSP is effective in the first quarter 2009. The Company does not believe the adoption of EITF 03-6-1 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
In June 2008, the FASB issued EITF 07-5, Determining whether an Instrument (or Embedded Feature) is indexed to an Entity's Own Stock (“EITF 07-5”). EITF No. 07-5 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is not permitted. Paragraph 11(a) of SFAS No. 133 specifies that a contract that would otherwise meet the definition of a derivative but is both (a) indexed to the Company's own stock and (b) classified in stockholders' equity in the statement of financial position would not be considered a derivative financial instrument. EITF 07-5 provides a new two-step model to be applied in determining whether a financial instrument or an embedded feature is indexed to an issuer's own stock and thus able to qualify for the SFAS No. 133 paragraph 11(a) scope exception. The Company does not believe that the adoption of EITF 07-5 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
On October 1, 2007 the Company entered into a Contribution Agreement with LLC whereby LLC transferred to the Company assets and certain liabilities related to the Boardbooks business including its accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, property and equipment, security deposits, capital lease obligations and deferred revenue, in exchange for 68,484,611 shares of the Company’s common stock.
A listing of net assets transferred follows:
Assets transferred | | | |
Accounts receivable | | $ | 170,105 | |
Prepaid expenses (listing costs) | | | 230,834 | |
Property and equipment, net | | | 230,262 | |
Intangible property | | | - | |
Security deposits | | | 52,618 | |
Total assets | | | 683,819 | |
Liabilities assumed | | | |
Obligations under capital leases | | | 197,814 | |
Deferred revenue | | | 229,255 | |
Total liabilities | | | 427,069 | |
| | | | |
Net assets transferred | | $ | 256,750 | |
The assets and liabilities were recorded by the Company at LLC’s carrying values. In exchange for the excess of assets contributed over liabilities assumed of $256,750, LLC received 68,484,611 shares of common stock in the Company, recorded at $68,485, and was issued a demand note from the Company in the amount of $188,265. The demand note was subsequently netted against the Note Receivable from LLC (See Note 9).
As part of the Contribution Agreement, LLC also transferred all intangible property (except goodwill), customer contracts, and all shares in LLC's dormant wholly owned subsidiary, DBL, to the Company. The accounts receivable transferred included a receivable from a related party which was written off during the year ended December 31, 2008 as an adjustment to equity (See Note 7).
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
On January 1, 2008, the Company acquired all the outstanding shares of DBMS NZ, for NZD 5,000 (US$3,804). Prior to the acquisition, DBMS NZ provided research and development services for the Company (See Note 10). The purchase price was allocated to the assets and liabilities as follows:
Assets | | | |
Cash | | $ | 87,397 | |
Accounts receivable | | | 24,809 | |
Other current assets | | | 24,300 | |
Property and equipment, net | | | 4,688 | |
| | | 141,194 | |
Liabilities | | | | |
Accounts payable | | | 52,271 | |
Accrued vacation pay | | | 85,119 | |
| | | 137,390 | |
| | | | |
Net assets acquired | | $ | 3,804 | |
At December 31, 2008, the Company has a term deposit with a New Zealand bank with an original term of 100 days. The term deposit in the amount of NZD 100,000 ($58,150 at December 31, 2008) bears interest at 6.00% and matures in March 2009.
Accounts receivable consists of the following:
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
Trade receivables | | $ | 397,305 | | | $ | 179,276 | |
Allowance for doubtful accounts | | | (7,125 | ) | | | - | |
Receivable from affiliate | | | - | | | | 87,700 | |
| | $ | 390,180 | | | $ | 266,976 | |
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
The Predecessor transferred a customer account receivable from an affiliate to the Company on October 1, 2007 as part of the Contribution Agreement discussed in Note 4. Two stockholders of the Company are also stockholders of the customer. During the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007, the Company and the Predecessor recorded revenues from this customer of $17,250 and $105,696, respectively. No additional services have been provided to this affiliate during 2008. At December 31, 2008, management determined that the remaining balance of $70,700 was not collectable and wrote it off in full as an adjustment to equity.
8) | Property and equipment and obligations under capital leases |
Property and equipment is comprised of the following:
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
| | | | | | |
Equipment | | $ | 960,259 | | | $ | 381,451 | |
Computer software | | | 326,760 | | | | 148,460 | |
Leasehold improvements | | | 130,553 | | | | - | |
| | | 1,417,572 | | | | 529,911 | |
Less: accumulated depreciation/amortization | | | 301,565 | | | | 25,411 | |
Net property and equipment | | $ | 1,116,007 | | | $ | 504,500 | |
Obligations under capital leases consist of various financing arrangements entered into by the Company to acquire computer equipment and software. The leases bear interest rates ranging from 6.8% to 33.9% per annum, with monthly payments ranging from $130 to $2,439, and maturities from September 2009 to July 2011.
Each lease is secured by the underlying leased asset. Amortization of assets recorded under capital leases is included in depreciation expense. The equipment relating to capital leases, included in property and equipment on the balance sheet, is as follows:
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
Capital lease assets included in property and equipment | | $ | 246,679 | | | $ | 246,679 | |
Accumulated depreciation | | | 96,284 | | | | 16,072 | |
| | $ | 150,395 | | | $ | 230,607 | |
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | Year | | | Three months | | | Nine months | |
| | ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September 30, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 2007 | |
Depreciation expense relating to capital lease assets | | $ | 80,212 | | | $ | 16,072 | | | $ | 33,450 | |
The following is a schedule of future minimum lease payments due under capital leases as of December 31, 2008:
Year ending | | | |
December 31, | | | |
2009 | | $ | 134,159 | |
2010 | | | 50,921 | |
2011 | | | 4,606 | |
Total minimum lease payments | | | 189,686 | |
Less interest portion of payments | | | (24,562 | ) |
Present value of minimum lease payments | | $ | 165,124 | |
9) Note receivable from affiliate - - The note receivable from affiliate represents amounts due from LLC under a Promissory Note and Security Agreement dated October 1, 2007 (the “Note”). When the Diligent Boardbooks-related assets and certain liabilities were transferred to the Company from LLC on October 1, 2007, certain additional liabilities incurred during the development of the Diligent Boardbooks business remained with LLC. The Company advanced $3,699,290 in cash to LLC under the Note to enable LLC to satisfy the liabilities it retained.
In addition, $3,178,988 of the liabilities retained by LLC were satisfied by the holders of such liabilities subscribing for shares of Diligent common stock for US$0.75 per share in a private placement conducted on December 10, 2007, in anticipation of the Company’s initial public offering on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (See Note 13). Under the terms of the subscription agreements, these creditors of LLC directed the Company to apply the cash that would otherwise have been advanced to LLC under the Note and then paid to them to be applied to the amount due under the subscription agreements. As a result, $3,178,988 was not advanced as cash under the Note and was instead accounted for as a payment for common stock, and this noncash transaction is reflected in the Company’s statements of cash flows as a supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
The loan bears interest at 5% per annum, which is payable in arrears on the first day of each calendar quarter, commencing April 1, 2008. LLC has elected, under the terms of the Note, to defer each of the first four quarterly interest payments through January 1, 2009, in which case they are added to the principal balance and bear interest from the date the payment was due. The loan matures on October 1, 2010, when the entire principal balance and all accrued interest will be due and payable. It is secured by 25,000,000 shares of the Company’s stock which have been pledged as collateral by members of LLC.
At December 31, 2008 and 2007, the contractual outstanding loan balance was $7,161,791 (including accrued interest of $371,778) and $6,715,232 (including accrued interest of $25,219), respectively. In accordance with SFAS 114, Accounting by Creditors for Impairment of a Loan, the Company has evaluated the collectability of the loan and determined that at December 31, 2008 it is probable that the Company will be unable to collect all amounts contractually due under the Note. This conclusion is principally based on the deterioration in the value of the underlying collateral and the worsening economic environment.
The Company recorded a $5.8 million valuation allowance and a corresponding charge to impairment loss in order to write down the Note to the estimated fair value of the underlying collateral. In the absence of an active market for the Company’s stock, or other observable inputs for similar instruments, the Company based its valuation principally on the value of the recent issue of preferred stock, adjusted using an assumed discount rate of 20%, which is management’s estimate based on the value of the preferred features of the Series A Preferred Stock. In addition, management assumed that the LLC and/or its members would sell a portion of the underlying collateral to meet their quarterly interest payments, thereby reducing the amount of collateral expected to be available when the Note matures in 2010. These are considered unobservable inputs falling within the definition of Level 3 inputs pursuant to SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurements.
10) Related party transactions
Loans to director and officer – In April 2008, the Company made loans to two officers, one of whom was also a Director, in the amount of NZD 218,000 (US$145,843), which were non-interest bearing. These loans were made prior to the time that the Company was subject to the requirements of Sarbanes Oxley §402, which prohibits such loans to officers, but were outstanding at the time the Company filed its initial registration statement on Form 10 with the SEC; therefore the Company was in violation of Sarbanes Oxley §402 at that time. These loans were repaid with officers’ bonuses in October 2008 when the Company became aware of the prohibition.
Research and development expense – For the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007 (Predecessor), the Company and the Predecessor incurred approximately $312,000 and $852,000, respectively, in research and development expenses for services rendered by DBMS NZ.
At December 31, 2007, the amount owed to DBMS NZ was approximately $39,000, which is included in payables to affiliates on the consolidated balance sheet.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Marketing expense – During the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007, and the nine months ended September 30, 2007, the Company and the Predecessor incurred marketing expenses of approximately $217,000, $54,000 and $162,000, respectively, for services rendered by Yankee Hill Company, LLC, an entity owned by a stockholder of the Company. During the nine months ended September 30, 2007 the Predecessor also incurred marketing expenses of approximately $88,000 for services provided by a company owned by a member of Diligent Partners.
Consulting expense – During the nine months ended September 30, 2007, the Predecessor incurred approximately $373,000 for services rendered by a company owned by a member of Diligent Partners, which is included in general and administrative expenses.
Consulting agreement with Sugar International – In April 2008, the Board of Directors approved a contract for sales training provided by a consultant from Sugar International. A director and stockholder of the Company is a director and stockholder of Sugar International. For the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company recorded sales training expenses of approximately $184,500 for such services, of which $38,500 is included in payables to affiliates at December 31, 2008.
Legal services – A director is a partner of Buddle Findlay, a law firm which provides legal services to the Company in New Zealand. Fees paid to Buddle Findlay for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2007 were approximately $83,000, $124,000 and 0, respectively. Payables to affiliates include approximately $11,000 and $71,000 at December 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively, payable to Buddle Findlay.
Rent expense – The Company subleases, on a month-to-month basis, its New Jersey office from Diligent Partners. The lease for the New Jersey office, which requires a monthly rent of $4,450, expires in June 2010 and may be canceled at any time after June 2008 with six months notice. In November 2008, the Company gave notice of its intent to terminate the lease for the New Jersey office. Additionally, the Company and the Predecessor subleased office space in New York City from Diligent Partners through April 2008. Rent expense paid for the year ended December 31, 2008, the three months ended December 31, 2007, and the nine months ended September 30, 2007 (Predecessor) was approximately $77,000, $31,000, and $79,000, respectively.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
11) | Geographic information |
The Company’s revenue, by geographic location of the customer, and long-lived assets located outside the United States are as follows:
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | Year | | | Three months | | | Nine months | |
| | ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September 30, | |
Revenues: | | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 2007 | |
United States | | $ | 2,514,790 | | | $ | 488,464 | | | $ | 1,177,900 | |
Foreign | | | 415,912 | | | | 26,639 | | | | 32,170 | |
Total | | $ | 2,930,702 | | | $ | 515,103 | | | $ | 1,210,070 | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
Long-lived assets outside the United States, net | | $ | 278,973 | | | $ | 149,138 | |
12) | Net loss and and diluted net loss per share |
| | Successor | | | Predecessor | |
| | Year | | | Three months | | | Nine months | |
| | ended | | | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | | | September 30, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | | | 2007 | |
Net loss | | $ | (17,648,602 | ) | | $ | (3,670,056 | ) | | $ | (4,146,353 | ) |
Weighted average shares outstanding | | | 102,397,907 | | | | 75,583,402 | | | | 68,484,611 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss per share (basic and diluted) | | $ | (0.17 | ) | | $ | (0.05 | ) | | $ | (0.06 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Unvested restricted common stock shares | | | 2,119,000 | | | | 1,929,000 | | | | - | |
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
In accordance with SFAS 128, Earnings Per Share, basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period, excluding unvested restricted common shares. Diluted net loss per share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and, when dilutive, unvested restricted common shares. Because the Company reported a net loss for all periods presented, all potential common shares attributable to unvested restricted stock have been excluded from the computation of the diluted net loss per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive. In accordance with SAB 83 and SAB 98, which require that nominal issuances of common stock in connection with an initial public offering be given retroactive treatment, the 68,484,611 shares issued to the members of LLC in connection with the Contribution Agreement, have been treated as outstanding for all periods presented.
Initial capital contribution - On October 1, 2007 the Company entered into a Contribution Agreement with LLC whereby LLC transferred to the Company certain assets and liabilities related to the Boardbooks business in exchange for 68,484,611 shares of the Company’s common stock (See Note 4). The assets and liabilities transferred to the Company were recorded at the Predecessor’s net book value. The Company recorded the issuance of the shares to LLC at the initial public offering price of NZD1.00 (US$0.7663) per share, offset by a deemed dividend measured as the excess of fair value of the shares at the offering price over the Predecessor’s net book value.
Initial public offering, net – Pursuant to the prospectus dated November 8, 2007, the Company made its initial public offering on the NZX and raised NZD 24,000,000 ($16,371,180 net of listing costs totaling $2,020,020), through the issuance of 24,000,000 shares of common stock to investors. The initial public offering was completed on December 12, 2007.
Conversion of debt to equity - On December 10, 2007, 7,515,389 shares of common stock were issued by the Company to various third party and related party debt holders in exchange for their debt in the amount of $5,636,543, including approximately $3,178,988 of debt assigned to the Company in connection with the Note (See Note 9) and $2,457,555 of debt assumed by the Company subsequent to its formation and in anticipation of the initial public offering.
Share-based compensation - On December 12, 2007, the Company awarded 4,000,000 shares of restricted common stock to selected employees, directors and consultants of the Company and its affiliates. During 2008, 160,000 of these shares were forfeited. In October 2008, the Company awarded an additional 600,000 shares of restricted stock to two officers (See Note 14).
Cancellation of shares - Pursuant to the Company's initial public offering, LLC was required to place 14,000,000 of the Company's common shares into escrow through December 31, 2008, at which time these shares would be delivered to the Company for cancellation if certain sales milestones were not met. The Company did not meet these sales milestones, and accordingly, the 14,000,000 shares have been cancelled.
Issuance of preferred stock – On March 11, 2009, the Company issued 30,000,000 shares of newly created Series A preferred stock for US$0.10 per share (see Note 2).
Stock option and incentive plan - In November 2007, the Company adopted the 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (“the Plan”) authorizing the granting of awards to selected employees, directors and consultants of the Company, and its affiliates in the form of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, and stock awards. The Plan is administrated by the Company's Board of Directors. The Company's Board of Directors determines the number of shares, the term, the frequency and date, the type, the exercise periods, any performance criteria pursuant to which awards may be granted and the restrictions and other terms and conditions of each grant of restricted shares in accordance with the terms of the Plan. The Plan authorizes the issuance of up to 10,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
On November 8, 2007, the Company granted 4,000,000 shares of common stock to selected employees (3,064,000 shares), directors (200,000 shares) and consultants (736,000 shares) of the Company, and its affiliates. Of these shares, 2,071,000 shares were fully vested upon issuance on December 12, 2007, 160,000 shares were forfeited during 2008 and 1,769,000 shares vested on January 1, 2009, based on continued employment through that date. The fair value of the awards to employees was estimated to be NZD 0.90 (US$0.69) per share, which is the closing price of the Company's stock on December 12, 2007. The fair values of the awards to non-employees were closing prices on various measurement dates.
On October 23, 2008, the Company granted 600,000 shares of restricted stock to two officers in accordance with the terms of their employment agreements, which included 250,000 shares which vested immediately and 350,000 shares which vest at various times between February and May 2009, based on continued employment through those dates. The estimated fair value of the shares at the award date was measured using the closing price of NZD 0.25 (US$0.14) per share on the date of grant.
During the three months ended December 31, 2007, compensation costs totaling $1,782,219 were recognized, of which, $1,176,541 related to employees, $137,934 to directors, and the remaining $467,744 to consultants. For the year ended December 31, 2008, $920,783 was recognized as share-based compensation expense, net of forfeitures. Total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested restricted stock at December 31, 2008 is $23,099 and is expected to be recognized through May 2009.
A summary of restricted stock activity related to the Company’s employees, directors and consultants follows:
| | | | | Weighted Average | |
| | Number of | | | Grant-Date | |
| | Shares | | | Fair Value | |
| | | | | | |
Nonvested Shares at October 1, 2007 | | | - | | | $ | - | |
Granted | | | 4,000,000 | | | | 0.69 | |
Vested | | | (2,071,000 | ) | | | 0.69 | |
Forfeited | | | - | | | | - | |
Nonvested Shares at December 31, 2007 | | | 1,929,000 | | | | 0.69 | |
Granted | | | 600,000 | | | | 0.14 | |
Vested | | | (250,000 | ) | | | 0.14 | |
Forfeited | | | (160,000 | ) | | | 0.69 | |
Nonvested Shares at December 31, 2008 | | | 2,119,000 | | | | | |
Of the nonvested shares at December 31, 2008, 1,769,000 became fully vested on January 1, 2009.
No stock options have been granted under the Plan.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
401(k) plan – On January 1, 2008 the Company adopted a defined contribution plan in the form of a qualified 401(k) plan (“the 401(k) Plan”), in which substantially all US employees are eligible to participate. The Company makes no matching contributions under the 401(k) Plan.
15) | Commitments and contingencies |
Operating leases – In April 2008, the Company entered into an operating lease agreement for its office space in New York City for seven years, which requires an annual base rent of $210,000, with an escalation clause. The rental expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 was approximately $189,000.
In February 2008, DBMS NZ renewed an operating lease agreement for office space in Christchurch, New Zealand for 18 months. The terms of the lease require an annual rent of NZD 84,453 ($49,264 at December 31, 2008). The rental expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 was NZD 84,233 ($60,032).
The Company or its consolidated subsidiaries have entered into several other property leases requiring annual rentals of approximately $110,000, for terms expiring at various times through July 2012.
The lease agreements require security deposits in the amount of $246,685 at December 31, 2008.
The following is a schedule of future minimum lease payments as of December 31, 2008:
Year ending December 31 | | 2009 | | $ | 312,780 | |
| | 2010 | | | 261,369 | |
| | 2011 | | | 268,004 | |
| | 2012 | | | 258,088 | |
| | 2013 | | | 241,675 | |
| | 2014 and thereafter | | | 311,613 | |
| | | | $ | 1,653,529 | |
Employment contracts – In August 2008, the Company entered into employment contracts with two of its officers which provide for one year contracts in the amount of $476,000 in the aggregate. These employment contracts also provide for grants of stock, subject to certain vesting requirements, which were granted in October 2008 (See Note 14).
Warranties and indemnification – The Company’s service is warranted to perform in a manner materially consistent with its marketing and training materials, specifications and technical information provided to users. The Company’s arrangements generally include certain provisions for indemnifying customers against liabilities if its products or services infringe a third-party’s intellectual property rights. To date, the Company has not incurred any material costs as a result of such indemnifications and has not accrued any liabilities related to such obligations.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
The Company has also agreed to indemnify its directors and officers to the fullest extent allowed under Delaware law for costs associated with any fees, expenses, judgments, fines and settlement amounts incurred by any of these persons in any action or proceeding to which any of those persons is, or is threatened to be, made a party by reason of the person’s services as a director or officer of the Company, or arising as a result of that person serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another enterprise. The Company maintains director and officer insurance coverage that should enable the Company to recover a portion of any future amounts paid.
The Predecessor operated as a partnership under Federal, New Jersey and New York State income tax law. No provision or liability for income taxes has been recorded since the members/partners are taxed on their proportionate share of income, and the New York City Unincorporated Business Tax is not significant to the financial statements.
No provision (benefit) for U.S. income taxes has been recorded in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for the periods ended December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007 as a result of the Company's net operating losses. Net operating loss carryforwards of U.S. income taxes for 2008 and 2007 are $9.9 million and $3.3 million, which expire in 2028 and 2027, respectively. The Company’s UK subsidiary has net operating loss carryforwards of approximately £574 thousand, which may be carried forward indefinitely.
The significant components of income (loss) before income taxes and the consolidated income tax provision are as follows:
| | Year | | | Three Months | |
| | ended | | | Ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
Income (loss) before income taxes: | | | | | | |
Domestic | | $ | (16,543,217 | ) | | $ | (3,670,056 | ) |
Foreign | | | (1,072,587 | ) | | | - | |
Total | | $ | (17,615,804 | ) | | $ | (3,670,056 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
Income tax expense (benefit) | | | | | | | | |
Federal | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
Foreign | | | 32,798 | | | | - | |
Total | | $ | 32,798 | | | $ | - | |
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
The income tax provision differs from the amount of tax determined by applying the federal statutory rate as follows:
| | Year | | | Three Months | |
| | ended | | | ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
| | | | | | |
Federal tax (benefit) at 34% statutory rate | | $ | (5,624,694 | ) | | $ | (1,247,819 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
State income taxes, net of federal benefit | | | (1,819,754 | ) | | | (220,203 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
Foreign income taxes | | | 32,798 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Tax effect of: | | | | | | | | |
Meals and entertainment | | | 8,310 | | | | 2,617 | |
Share-based compensation | | | 376,554 | | | | 141,565 | |
Bad debt expense | | | 3,206 | | | | - | |
Note impairment loss | | | 2,610,000 | | | | - | |
Operating loss carryforwards | | | 4,446,378 | | | | 1,323,840 | |
Income Taxes (benefit) | | $ | 32,798 | | | $ | - | |
Deferred taxes are as follows:
| | | | | Three Months | |
| | Year Ended | | | Ended | |
| | December 31, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2008 | | | 2007 | |
Deferred tax asset (liability), non-current | | | | | | |
Share-based compensation | | $ | 72,521 | | | $ | 141,565 | |
Bad debt expense | | | 3,206 | | | | - | |
Note impairment loss | | | 2,610,000 | | | | - | |
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards | | | 5,292,960 | | | | 1,323,840 | |
Valuation Allowance | | | (7,978,687 | ) | | | (1,465,405 | ) |
Total | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
Management has provided a valuation allowance of $7,978,687 and $1,465,405 as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively, for certain deferred tax assets because they have no basis to conclude it is more likely than not that the related deferred tax assets will be realized.
The Company adopted the provisions of FIN 48 on October 1, 2007 (inception). As a result of this adoption, the Company has evaluated its uncertain tax positions as required by FIN 48 and determined that any required adjustments would not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
Diligent Board Member Services, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to regular audits by federal, state and foreign tax authorities. These audits may result in additional tax liabilities. The Company’s federal, state and foreign income tax returns for the tax years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007 are open for examination by the Federal and State taxing jurisdictions.
17) | Financial instruments |
Interest rate risk - Interest rate risk is the risk that market interest rates will change and impact Diligent’s financial results by affecting the rate of interest charged or received by the Company. It is not expected that changes in interest rates will materially affect the Company’s results of operations.
Currency rate risk - The Company is subject to currency rate risk primarily from export sales to Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and from cash balances maintained in foreign currencies. The Company has not entered into forward contracts or other currency hedges.
Liquidity risk – The Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents, including the $3 million received in March 2009 in exchange for 30 million shares of preferred stock, will be adequate through approximately the third quarter of 2010. Particularly in light of current economic conditions, the Company intends to manage liquidity risk by continuously monitoring forecasted and actual cash flows and matching the maturity profiles of financial assets and liabilities. The primary uncertainty concerning our capital needs pertains to our ability to achieve the expected sales growth in a timely manner such that recurring revenues exceed operating expenditures prior to the depletion of capital.
Concentrations of credit and other risks - The Company sells its service to a diverse number of customers and performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers' financial condition as part of its accounts receivable monitoring procedures. Financial instruments which potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of trade accounts receivable. One customer accounted for 10.5% of the accounts receivable balance at December 31, 2008; no single customer accounted for 10% or more of the accounts receivable balance at December 31, 2007. No single customer generated more than 10% of revenue for any period presented.
The Company maintains its cash balances with high credit quality banking institutions in the United States, New Zealand and Great Britain. At times the balances may be in excess of the insurance limits at a particular bank.
INDEX TO EXHIBITS
Exhibit Numbers | | Exhibits |
3.13 | | Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation |
3.21 | | Amended and Restated Bylaws |
4.11 | | Form of common stock certificate |
10.11 | | Contribution Agreement dated October 1, 2007 between Diligent Board Member Services, LLC and Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.21 | | Shareholder Restriction Deed dated November 1, 2007 among Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., Diligent Board Member Services, LLC and McDouall Stuart Securities Limited |
10.31 | | Escrow Agreement dated November 7, 2007 among UMB Bank, N.A., Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. and Diligent Board Member Services, LLC |
10.41 | | Promissory Note and Security Agreement dated October 1, 2007 in the principal amount of $6,800,000 given by Diligent Board Member Services, LLC to the order of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.5.11 | | Limited Pledge of Collateral for Loan dated February 18, 2008 given by Services Share Holding, LLC (f/k/a Diligent Board Member Services, LLC) to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.5.24 | | Amendment to Limited Pledge of Collateral for Loan dated January 14, 2009 given by Services Share Holding, LLC to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.5.34 | | Limited Pledge of Collateral for Loan dated January 14, 2009 given by Corcoran Consulting, LLC to Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.61 | | 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan of Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. |
10.71 | | Form of Restricted Stock Award Agreement for restricted stock awards under the 2007 Stock Option and Incentive Plan |
10.82 | | Service Agreement dated May 29, 2008 between Diligent Board Member Services, Inc. and Sugar International Limited |
10.93 | | Stock Purchase Agreement dated February 13, 2009 among Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC |
10.103 | | Investor Rights Agreement dated March 11, 2009 among Diligent Board Member Services, Inc., Spring Street Partners, L.P. and Carroll Capital Holdings, LLC |
1 Filed with the Original Form 10 Filing on April 30, 2008.
2 Filed with Amendment No. 3 to Form 10 Filing on February 12, 2009.
3 Filed with Form 8-K Filing on March 13, 2009.
4 Filed with Form 10-K Filing on March 30, 2009.