History of Securities Issuances
The following is a summary of our securities issuances for the past three years.
On July 20, 2015 we issued 300,000 ordinary shares to Wanchun Biotech in exchange for 100% equity interest in Wanchun Biotechnology Limited, the immediate parent of BeyondSpring U.S., in which Wanchun Biotech had previously invested $3,000,000.
On September 14, 2016, we issued 1,129,628 ordinary shares pursuant to Series B round of ordinary shares financing for aggregate cash consideration of $15,250,000.
On March 14, 2017, we completed our IPO on the NASDAQ Capital Market pursuant to which we issued 174,286 ordinary shares at $20.00 per ordinary share for gross proceeds of $3,486,000. In conjunction with our IPO, we issued 2,541,048 ordinary shares in a private placement to certain investors at $20.00 per ordinary share for gross proceeds of $50,821,000. Immediately prior to our IPO, we issued 2,112,963 ordinary shares to NPBSIPO Liquidating Trust, or Nereus Trust, in exchange for the termination of the relevant royalty payment arrangements with the seller of the patent of Plinabulin.
In connection with our initial public offering, we adopted the 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan, or our 2017 Incentive Plan, to provide additional incentives to selected directors, officers, employees and consultants, and to enable our Company to obtain and retain the services of these individuals. The 2017 Incentive Plan enables us to grant options, restricted shares or other awards to our directors, employees and consultants. We authorized 2,137,037 ordinary shares to be available for grant pursuant to awards under the 2017 Incentive Plan, and as of March 30, 2018, there were 416,260 shares remaining available for grant. As of March 30, 2018, there were the following outstanding awards under the 2017 Incentive Plan: (i) 243,162 unvested restricted shares (of which 143,162 were subject to time-based vesting and 100,000 were subject to performance-based vesting); (ii) 373,000 options, of which 283,000 were vested (with a weighted average exercise price of $29 per share) and 90,000 were unvested (with a weighted average exercise price of $28.43 per share) (of which 75,500 were subject to time-based vesting and 14,500 were subject to performance-based vesting); and (iii) 600,000 in other stock-based awards, all unvested and subject to performance-based vesting.
Differences in Corporate Law
The Companies Law is derived, to a large extent, from the older Companies Acts of England but does not follow recent United Kingdom statutory enactments, and accordingly there are significant differences between the Companies Law and the current Companies Act of England. In addition, the Companies Law differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Law applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements
The Companies Law permits mergers and consolidations between Cayman Islands companies and between Cayman Islands companies and non-Cayman Islands companies. For these purposes, (a) “merger” means the merging of two or more constituent companies and the vesting of their undertaking, property and liabilities in one of such companies as the surviving company and (b) a “consolidation” means the combination of two or more constituent companies into a combined company and the vesting of the undertaking, property and liabilities of such companies to the consolidated company. In order to effect such a merger or consolidation, the directors of each constituent company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation, which must then be authorized by (a) a special resolution of the shareholders of each constituent company and (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. The written plan of merger or consolidation must be filed with the Registrar of Companies together with a declaration as to the solvency of the consolidated or surviving company, a declaration as to the assets and liabilities of each constituent company and an undertaking that a copy of the certificate of merger or consolidation will be given to the members and creditors of each constituent company and that notification of the merger or consolidation will be published in the Cayman Islands Gazette. Dissenting shareholders have the right to be paid the fair value of their shares (which, if not agreed between the parties, will be determined by the Cayman Islands court) if they follow the required procedures, subject to certain exceptions. Court approval is not required for a merger or consolidation which is effected in compliance with these statutory procedures.