1
EXHIBIT 10.8
ALANEX CORPORATION
EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
ADOPTED JULY 17, 1996
1. PURPOSE.
(a) The purpose of the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "Plan")
is to provide a means by which employees of Alanex Corporation, a California
corporation (the "Company"), and its Affiliates, as defined in subparagraph
1(b), which are designated as provided in subparagraph 2(b), may be given an
opportunity to purchase stock of the Company.
(b) The word "Affiliate" as used in the Plan means any parent
corporation or subsidiary corporation of the Company, as those terms are defined
in Sections 424(e) and (f), respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
as amended (the "Code").
(c) The Company, by means of the Plan, seeks to retain the
services of its employees, to secure and retain the services of new employees,
and to provide incentives for such persons to exert maximum efforts for the
success of the Company.
(d) The Company intends that the rights to purchase stock of the
Company granted under the Plan be considered options issued under an "employee
stock purchase plan" as that term is defined in Section 423(b) of the Code.
2. ADMINISTRATION.
(a) The Plan shall be administered by the Board of Directors (the
"Board") of the Company unless and until the Board delegates administration to a
Committee, as provided in subparagraph 2(c). Whether or not the Board has
delegated administration, the Board shall have the final power to determine all
questions of policy and expediency that may arise in the administration of the
Plan.
(b) The Board shall have the power, subject to, and within the
limitations of, the express provisions of the Plan:
(i) To determine when and how rights to purchase stock of
the Company shall be granted and the provisions of each offering of such rights
(which need not be identical).
(ii) To designate from time to time which Affiliates of
the Company shall be eligible to participate in the Plan.
(iii) To construe and interpret the Plan and rights granted
under it, and to establish, amend and revoke rules and regulations for its
administration. The Board, in the
1.
2
exercise of this power, may correct any defect, omission or inconsistency in the
Plan, in a manner and to the extent it shall deem necessary or expedient to make
the Plan fully effective.
(iv) To amend the Plan as provided in paragraph 13.
(v) Generally, to exercise such powers and to perform
such acts as the Board deems necessary or expedient to promote the best
interests of the Company and its Affiliates.
(c) The Board may delegate administration of the Plan to a
Committee composed of not fewer than two (2) members of the Board (the
"Committee"). If administration is delegated to a Committee, the Committee shall
have, in connection with the administration of the Plan, the powers theretofore
possessed by the Board, subject, however, to such resolutions, not inconsistent
with the provisions of the Plan, as may be adopted from time to time by the
Board. The Board may abolish the Committee at any time and revest in the Board
the administration of the Plan.
3. SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN.
(a) Subject to the provisions of paragraph 12 relating to
adjustments upon changes in stock, the stock that may be sold pursuant to rights
granted under the Plan shall not exceed in the aggregate one hundred twenty-five
thousand (125,000) shares of the Company's common stock (the "Common Stock").
If any right granted under the Plan shall for any reason terminate without
having been exercised, the Common Stock not purchased under such right shall
again become available for the Plan.
(b) The stock subject to the Plan may be unissued shares or
reacquired shares, bought on the market or otherwise.
4. GRANT OF RIGHTS; OFFERING.
(a) The Board or the Committee may from time to time grant or
provide for the grant of rights to purchase Common Stock of the Company under
the Plan to eligible employees (an "Offering") on a date or dates (the "Offering
Date(s)") selected by the Board or the Committee. Each Offering shall be in such
form and shall contain such terms and conditions as the Board or the Committee
shall deem appropriate. The provisions of separate Offerings need not be
identical, but each Offering shall include (through incorporation of the
provisions of this Plan by reference in the Offering or otherwise) the period
during which the Offering shall be effective, which period shall not exceed
twenty-seven (27) months beginning with the Offering Date, and the substance of
the provisions contained in paragraphs 5 through 8, inclusive.
(b) If an employee has more than one right outstanding under the
Plan, unless he or she otherwise indicates in agreements or notices delivered
hereunder: (1) each agreement or notice delivered by that employee will be
deemed to apply to all of his or her rights under the Plan, and (2) a right with
a lower exercise price (or an earlier-granted right, if two rights have
2.
3
identical exercise prices), will be exercised to the fullest possible extent
before a right with a higher exercise price (or a later-granted right, if two
rights have identical exercise prices) will be exercised.
5. ELIGIBILITY.
(a) Rights may be granted only to employees of the Company or, as
the Board or the Committee may designate as provided in subparagraph 2(b), to
employees of any Affiliate of the Company. Except as provided in subparagraph
5(b), an employee of the Company or any Affiliate shall not be eligible to be
granted rights under the Plan, unless, on the Offering Date, such employee has
been in the employ of the Company or any Affiliate for such continuous period
preceding such grant as the Board or the Committee may require, but in no event
shall the required period of continuous employment be greater than two (2)
years. In addition, unless otherwise determined by the Board or the Committee
and set forth in the terms of the applicable Offering, no employee of the
Company or any Affiliate shall be eligible to be granted rights under the Plan,
unless, on the Offering Date, such employee's customary employment with the
Company or such Affiliate is for at least twenty (20) hours per week and at
least five (5) months per calendar year.
(b) The Board or the Committee may provide that, each person who,
during the course of an Offering, first becomes an eligible employee of the
Company or designated Affiliate will, on a date or dates specified in the
Offering which coincides with the day on which such person becomes an eligible
employee or occurs thereafter, receive a right under that Offering, which right
shall thereafter be deemed to be a part of that Offering. Such right shall have
the same characteristics as any rights originally granted under that Offering,
as described herein, except that:
(i) the date on which such right is granted shall be the
"Offering Date" of such right for all purposes, including determination of the
exercise price of such right;
(ii) the period of the Offering with respect to such right
shall begin on its Offering Date and end coincident with the end of such
Offering; and
(iii) the Board or the Committee may provide that if such
person first becomes an eligible employee within a specified period of time
before the end of the Offering, he or she will not receive any right under that
Offering.
(c) No employee shall be eligible for the grant of any rights
under the Plan if, immediately after any such rights are granted, such employee
owns stock possessing five percent (5%) or more of the total combined voting
power or value of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Affiliate. For
purposes of this subparagraph 5(c), the rules of Section 424(d) of the Code
shall apply in determining the stock ownership of any employee, and stock which
such employee may purchase under all outstanding rights and options shall be
treated as stock owned by such employee.
3.
4
(d) An eligible employee may be granted rights under the Plan only
if such rights, together with any other rights granted under "employee stock
purchase plans" of the Company and any Affiliates, as specified by Section
423(b)(8) of the Code, do not permit such employee's rights to purchase stock of
the Company or any Affiliate to accrue at a rate which exceeds twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000) of fair market value of such stock (determined at the
time such rights are granted) for each calendar year in which such rights are
outstanding at any time.
(e) Officers of the Company and any designated Affiliate shall be
eligible to participate in Offerings under the Plan, provided, however, that the
Board may provide in an Offering that certain employees who are highly
compensated employees within the meaning of Section 423(b)(4)(D) of the Code
shall not be eligible to participate.
6. RIGHTS; PURCHASE PRICE.
(a) On each Offering Date, each eligible employee, pursuant to an
Offering made under the Plan, shall be granted the right to purchase up to the
number of shares of Common Stock of the Company purchasable with a percentage
designated by the Board or the Committee not exceeding fifteen percent (15%) of
such employee's Earnings (as defined in subparagraph 7(a)) during the period
which begins on the Offering Date (or such later date as the Board or the
Committee determines for a particular Offering) and ends on the date stated in
the Offering, which date shall be no later than the end of the Offering. The
Board or the Committee shall establish one or more dates during an Offering (the
"Purchase Date(s)") on which rights granted under the Plan shall be exercised
and purchases of Common Stock effected in accordance with such Offering.
(b) In connection with each Offering made under this Plan, the
Board or the Committee shall specify a maximum number of shares which may be
purchased by any employee as well as a maximum aggregate number of shares which
may be purchased by all eligible employees pursuant to such Offering. In
addition, in connection with each Offering which contains more than one Purchase
Date, the Board or the Committee may specify a maximum aggregate number of
shares which may be purchased by all eligible employees on any given Purchase
Date under the Offering. If the aggregate purchase of shares upon exercise of
rights granted under the Offering would exceed any such maximum aggregate
number, the Board or the Committee shall make a pro rata allocation of the
shares available in as nearly a uniform manner as shall be practicable and as it
shall deem to be equitable.
(c) The purchase price of stock acquired pursuant to rights
granted under the Plan shall be not less than the lesser of:
(i) an amount equal to eighty-five percent (85%) of the
fair market value of the stock on the Offering Date; or
(ii) an amount equal to eighty-five percent (85%) of the
fair market value of the stock on the Purchase Date.
4.
5
7. PARTICIPATION; WITHDRAWAL; TERMINATION.
(a) An eligible employee may become a participant in the Plan
pursuant to an Offering by delivering a participation agreement to the Company
within the time specified in the Offering, in such form as the Company provides.
Each such agreement shall authorize payroll deductions of up to the maximum
percentage specified by the Board or the Committee of such employee's Earnings
during the Offering. "Earnings" is defined as an employee's regular salary or
wages (including amounts thereof elected to be deferred by the employee, that
would otherwise have been paid, under any cash or deferred arrangement
established by the Company), which shall include commissions and overtime pay,
but shall exclude bonuses, incentive pay, profit sharing, other remuneration
paid directly to the employee, the cost of employee benefits paid for by the
Company or an Affiliate, education or tuition reimbursements, imputed income
arising under any group insurance or benefit program, traveling expenses,
business and moving expense reimbursements, income received in connection with
stock options, contributions made by the Company or an Affiliate under any
employee benefit plan, and similar items of compensation. The payroll deductions
made for each participant shall be credited to an account for such participant
under the Plan and shall be deposited with the general funds of the Company or
an Affiliate. A participant may reduce (including to zero), increase or begin
such payroll deductions after the beginning of any Offering only as provided for
in the Offering. A participant may make additional payments into his or her
account only if specifically provided for in the Offering and only if the
participant has not had the maximum amount withheld during the Offering.
(b) At any time during an Offering, a participant may terminate
his or her payroll deductions under the Plan and withdraw from the Offering by
delivering to the Company a notice of withdrawal in such form as the Company
provides. Such withdrawal may be elected at any time prior to the end of the
Offering except as provided by the Board or the Committee in the Offering. Upon
such withdrawal from the Offering by a participant, the Company shall distribute
to such participant all of his or her accumulated payroll deductions (reduced to
the extent, if any, such deductions have been used to acquire stock for the
participant) under the Offering, without interest, and such participant's
interest in that Offering shall be automatically terminated. A participant's
withdrawal from an Offering will have no effect upon such participant's
eligibility to participate in any other Offerings under the Plan but such
participant will be required to deliver a new participation agreement in order
to participate in subsequent Offerings under the Plan.
(c) Rights granted pursuant to any Offering under the Plan shall
terminate immediately upon cessation of any participating employee's employment
with the Company and any designated Affiliate, for any reason, and the Company
shall distribute to such terminated employee all of his or her accumulated
payroll deductions (reduced to the extent, if any, such deductions have been
used to acquire stock for the terminated employee), under the Offering, without
interest.
5.
6
(d) Rights granted under the Plan shall not be transferable, and,
except as provided in paragraph 14, shall be exercisable only by the person to
whom such rights are granted.
8. EXERCISE.
(a) On each date specified therefor in the relevant Offering
("Purchase Date"), each participant's accumulated payroll deductions and other
additional payments specifically provided for in the Offering (without any
increase for interest) will be applied to the purchase of whole shares of stock
of the Company, up to the maximum number of shares permitted pursuant to the
terms of the Plan and the applicable Offering, at the purchase price specified
in the Offering. No fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of
rights granted under the Plan. The amount, if any, of accumulated payroll
deductions remaining in each participant's account after the purchase of shares
which is less than the amount required to purchase one share of stock on the
final Purchase Date of an Offering shall be held in each such participant's
account for the purchase of shares under the next Offering under the Plan,
unless such participant withdraws from such next Offering, as provided in
subparagraph 7(b), or is no longer eligible to be granted rights under the Plan,
as provided in paragraph 5, in which case such amount shall be distributed to
the participant after such final Purchase Date, without interest. The amount, if
any, of accumulated payroll deductions remaining in any participant's account
after the purchase of shares which is equal to the amount required to purchase
whole shares of stock on the final Purchase Date of an Offering shall be
distributed in full to the participant after such Purchase Date, without
interest.
(b) No rights granted under the Plan may be exercised to any
extent unless the Plan (including rights granted thereunder) is covered by an
effective registration statement pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "Securities Act"). If on a Purchase Date in any Offering hereunder
the Plan is not so registered, no rights granted under the Plan or any Offering
shall be exercised on such Purchase Date, and the Purchase Date shall be delayed
until the Plan is subject to such an effective registration statement, except
that the Purchase Date shall not be delayed more than twelve (12) months and the
Purchase Date shall in no event be more than twenty-seven (27) months from the
Offering Date. If on the Purchase Date of any Offering hereunder, as delayed to
the maximum extent permissible, the Plan is not registered, no rights granted
under the Plan or any Offering shall be exercised and all payroll deductions
accumulated during the Offering (reduced to the extent, if any, such deductions
have been used to acquire stock) shall be distributed to the participants,
without interest.
9. COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY.
(a) During the terms of the rights granted under the Plan, the
Company shall keep available at all times the number of shares of stock required
to satisfy such rights.
(b) The Company shall seek to obtain from each regulatory
commission or agency having jurisdiction over the Plan such authority as may be
required to issue and sell shares of stock upon exercise of the rights granted
under the Plan. If, after reasonable efforts, the
6.
7
Company is unable to obtain from any such regulatory commission or agency the
authority which counsel for the Company deems necessary for the lawful issuance
and sale of stock under the Plan, the Company shall be relieved from any
liability for failure to issue and sell stock upon exercise of such rights
unless and until such authority is obtained.
10. USE OF PROCEEDS FROM STOCK.
Proceeds from the sale of stock pursuant to rights granted under the
Plan shall constitute general funds of the Company.
11. RIGHTS AS A STOCKHOLDER.
A participant shall not be deemed to be the holder of, or to have any
of the rights of a holder with respect to, any shares subject to rights granted
under the Plan unless and until the participant's stockholdings acquired upon
exercise of rights under the Plan are recorded in the books of the Company.
12. ADJUSTMENTS UPON CHANGES IN STOCK.
(a) If any change is made in the stock subject to the Plan, or
subject to any rights granted under the Plan (through merger, consolidation,
reorganization, recapitalization, stock dividend, dividend in property other
than cash, stock split, liquidating dividend, combination of shares, exchange of
shares, change in corporate structure or otherwise), the Plan and outstanding
rights will be appropriately adjusted in the class(es) and maximum number of
shares subject to the Plan and the class(es) and number of shares and price per
share of stock subject to outstanding rights.
(b) In the event of: (1) a dissolution or liquidation of the
Company; (2) a merger or consolidation in which the Company is not the surviving
corporation; (3) a reverse merger in which the Company is the surviving
corporation but the shares of the Company's Common Stock outstanding immediately
preceding the merger are converted by virtue of the merger into other property,
whether in the form of securities, cash or otherwise; or (4) any other capital
reorganization in which more than fifty percent (50%) of the shares of the
Company entitled to vote are exchanged, then, as determined by the Board in its
sole discretion (i) any surviving corporation may assume outstanding rights or
substitute similar rights for those under the Plan, (ii) such rights may
continue in full force and effect, or (iii) participants' accumulated payroll
deductions may be used to purchase Common Stock immediately prior to the
transaction described above and the participants' rights under the ongoing
Offering terminated.
13. AMENDMENT OF THE PLAN.
(a) The Board at any time, and from time to time, may amend the
Plan. However, except as provided in paragraph 12 relating to adjustments upon
changes in stock, no amendment shall be effective unless approved by the
stockholders of the Company within twelve (12) months
7.
8
before or after the adoption of the amendment, where the amendment will:
(i) Increase the number of shares reserved for rights
under the Plan;
(ii) Modify the provisions as to eligibility for
participation in the Plan (to the extent such modification requires
stockholder approval in order for the Plan to obtain employee stock
purchase plan treatment under Section 423 of the Code or to comply with
the requirements of Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Rule 16b-3")); or
(iii) Modify the Plan in any other way if such modification
requires stockholder approval in order for the Plan to obtain employee
stock purchase plan treatment under Section 423 of the Code or to
comply with the requirements of Rule 16b-3.
It is expressly contemplated that the Board may amend the Plan in any respect
the Board deems necessary or advisable to provide eligible employees with the
maximum benefits provided or to be provided under the provisions of the Code and
the regulations promulgated thereunder relating to employee stock purchase plans
and/or to bring the Plan and/or rights granted under it into compliance
therewith.
(b) Rights and obligations under any rights granted before
amendment of the Plan shall not be altered or impaired by any amendment of the
Plan, except with the consent of the person to whom such rights were granted or
except as necessary to comply with any laws or governmental regulation.
14. DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARY.
(a) A participant may file a written designation of a beneficiary
who is to receive any shares and cash, if any, from the participant's account
under the Plan in the event of such participant's death subsequent to the end of
an Offering but prior to delivery to him of such shares and cash. In addition, a
participant may file a written designation of a beneficiary who is to receive
any cash from the participant's account under the Plan in the event of such
participant's death during an Offering.
(b) Such designation of beneficiary may be changed by the
participant at any time by written notice. In the event of the death of a
participant and in the absence of a beneficiary validly designated under the
Plan who is living at the time of such participant's death, the Company shall
deliver such shares and/or cash to the executor or administrator of the estate
of the participant, or if no such executor or administrator has been appointed
(to the knowledge of the Company), the Company, in its discretion, may deliver
such shares and/or cash to the spouse or to any one or more dependents or
relatives of the participant, or if no spouse, dependent or relative is known to
the Company, then to such other person as the Company may designate.
8.
9
15. TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF THE PLAN.
(a) The Board may suspend or terminate the Plan at any time. No
rights may be granted under the Plan while the Plan is suspended or after it is
terminated.
(b) Rights and obligations under any rights granted while the Plan
is in effect shall not be altered or impaired by suspension or termination of
the Plan, except as expressly provided in the Plan or with the consent of the
person to whom such rights were granted or except as necessary to comply with
any laws or governmental regulation.
16. EFFECTIVE DATE OF PLAN.
The Plan shall become effective upon the effectiveness of the Company's
initial public offering of shares of common stock, but no rights granted under
the Plan shall be exercised unless and until the Plan has been approved by the
stockholders of the Company.
9.
10
ALANEX CORPORATION
EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN OFFERING
1. GRANT; OFFERING DATE.
(a) The Board of Directors of Alanex Corporation (the "Company"),
pursuant to the Company's Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "Plan"), hereby
authorizes the grant of rights to purchase shares of common stock of the Company
("Common Stock") to all Eligible Employees (an "Offering"). The first Offering
shall begin simultaneously with the initial public offering of the Company's
Common Stock, or the effective date of such initial public offering (the
"Effective Date") and end on August 31, 1998 (the "Initial Offering").
Thereafter, an Offering shall begin on September 1 every second year, beginning
with calendar year 1998, and shall end on the day prior to the second
anniversary of its Offering Date. The first day of an Offering is that
Offering's "Offering Date." If an Offering Date does not fall on a day during
which the Company's Common Stock is actively traded, then the Offering Date
shall be the next subsequent day during which the Company's Common Stock is
actively traded.
(b) Prior to the commencement of any Offering, the Board of Directors
(or the Committee described in subparagraph 2(c) of the Plan, if any) may change
any or all terms of such Offering and any subsequent Offerings. The granting of
rights pursuant to each Offering hereunder shall occur on each respective
Offering Date unless, prior to such date (a) the Board of Directors (or such
Committee) determines that such Offering shall not occur, or (b) no shares
remain available for issuance under the Plan in connection with the Offering.
2. ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES.
(a) All employees of the Company and each of its Affiliates (as
defined in the Plan) incorporated in the United States shall be granted rights
to purchase Common Stock under each Offering on the Offering Date of such
Offering, (an "Eligible Employee"). Notwithstanding the foregoing, no employee
who (i) receives compensation from the Company and its Affiliates in excess of
ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) on an annualized basis (provided that such
employee is a "highly compensated employee" within the meaning of Section
423(b)(4)(D) of the Code), or (ii) is disqualified by subparagraph 5(c) or 5(d)
of the Plan shall be an Eligible Employee or be granted rights under an
Offering. An employee need not otherwise satisfy the employment requirements of
subparagraph 5(a) (that is, an employee need not be customarily employed for at
least twenty (20) hours per week and at least five (5) months per calendar year)
to be an Eligible Employee granted rights under the Offering.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, each person who first becomes an
Eligible Employee during any Offering will, on the day after the first Purchase
Date (that is, on September 1 or March 1) coincident with or next following the
date such person first satisfies
1.
11
any service requirement to become an Eligible Employee, receive a right under
such Offering, which right shall thereafter be deemed to be a part of the
Offering. Such right shall have the same characteristics as any rights
originally granted under the Offering except that:
(1) the date on which such right is granted shall be the
"Offering Date" of such right for all purposes, including determination of the
exercise price of such right; and
(2) the Offering for such right shall begin on its
Offering Date and end coincident with the end of the ongoing Offering.
3. RIGHTS.
(a) Subject to the limitations contained herein and in the Plan, on
each Offering Date each Eligible Employee shall be granted the right to purchase
the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable with up to fifteen percent
(15%) of such employee's Earnings paid during the period of such Offering
beginning after such Eligible Employee first commences participation; provided,
however, that no employee may purchase Common Stock in a particular year with
more than fifteen percent (15%) of such employee's Earnings in such year under
all ongoing Offerings under the Plan and all other Company plans intended to
qualify as "employee stock purchase plans" under Section 423 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). "Earnings" for this purpose means
an employee's regular salary or wages (including amounts the employee elected to
defer, but which would otherwise have been paid under a 401(k) plan or similar
arrangement), commissions, overtime pay, bonuses and incentive pay. The maximum
number of shares of Common Stock an Eligible Employee may purchase on any
Purchase Date in an Offering shall be such number of shares as has a fair market
value (determined as of the Offering Date for such Offering) equal to (x)
$25,000 multiplied by the number of calendar years in which the right under such
Offering has been outstanding at any time, minus (y) the fair market value of
any other shares of Common Stock (determined as of the relevant Offering Date
with respect to such shares) which, for purposes of the limitation of Section
423(b)(8) of the Code, are attributed to any of such calendar years in which the
right is outstanding. The amount in clause (y) of the previous sentence shall be
determined in accordance with regulations applicable under Section 423(b)(8) of
the Code based on (i) the number of shares previously purchased with respect to
such calendar years pursuant to such Offering or any other Offering under the
Plan, or pursuant to any other Company plans intended to qualify as "employee
stock purchase plans" under Section 423 of the Code, and (ii) the number of
shares subject to other rights outstanding on the Offering Date for such
Offering pursuant to the Plan or any other such Company plan.
(b) The maximum aggregate number of shares available to be purchased
by all Eligible Employees under an Offering on any Purchase Date shall be the
number of shares remaining available under the Plan on the applicable Purchase
Date. If the aggregate purchase of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of
rights granted under the Offering would exceed the maximum aggregate number of
shares available, the Board shall make a pro rata allocation of the shares
available in a uniform and equitable manner.
2.
12
4. PURCHASE PRICE.
The purchase price of the Common Stock under the Offering shall be the
lesser of eighty-five percent (85%) of the fair market value of the Common Stock
on the Offering Date or eighty-five percent (85%) of the fair market value of
the Common Stock on the Purchase Date, in each case rounded up to the nearest
whole cent per share. For the Initial Offering, the fair market value of the
Common Stock at the time when the Offering commences shall be the price per
share at which shares of Common Stock are first sold to the public in the
Company's initial public offering as specified in the final prospectus with
respect to that offering.
5. PARTICIPATION.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph 5, an Eligible
Employee may elect to participate in an Offering on his or her Offering Date. An
Eligible Employee shall become a participant in an Offering by delivering an
agreement authorizing payroll deductions. Such deductions may be in whole
percentages only, with a minimum percentage of one percent (1%), and a maximum
percentage of fifteen percent (15%). A participant may not make additional
payments into his or her account. The agreement shall be made on such enrollment
form as the Company provides, and must be delivered to the Company before the
applicable Offering Date to be effective for that Offering (or the remaining
portion of that Offering), unless a later time for filing the enrollment form is
set by the Board for all Eligible Employees with respect to a given Offering
Date. As to the Initial Offering, the time for filing an enrollment form and
commencing participation for individuals who are Eligible Employees on the
Offering Date for the Initial Offering shall be determined by the Company and
communicated to such Eligible Employees.
(b) A participant may not increase his or her participation level
during the course of an Offering. A participant may reduce (including to zero)
his or her participation level only once during any six month period ending on a
Purchase Date by delivering a notice to the Company in such form and at such
time as the Company provides. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a participant may
make a second reduction during such six month period if such second reduction is
to zero. A participant may withdraw from an Offering and receive his or her
accumulated payroll deductions from the Offering (reduced to the extent, if any,
such deductions have been used to acquire Common Stock for the participant on
any prior Purchase Dates), without interest, at any time prior to the end of the
Offering, except the 10 days immediately preceding any Purchase Date, by
delivering a withdrawal notice to the Company in such form as the Company
provides.
6. PURCHASES.
Subject to the limitations contained herein, on each Purchase Date,
each participant's accumulated payroll deductions (without any increase for
interest) shall be applied to the purchase of whole shares of Common Stock, up
to the maximum number of shares permitted under the Plan and the Offering.
"Purchase Date" shall be defined as each February 28 and August 31 (i.e., the
first Purchase Date of the Initial Offering shall be February 28, 1997 and
3.
13
the next Purchase Date shall be August 31, 1997). If a Purchase Date does not
fall on a day during which the Company's Common Stock is actively traded then
the Purchase Date shall be the nearest prior day during which the Company's
Common Stock is actively traded.
7. TERMINATION.
Rights granted under the Offering shall terminate immediately upon
cessation of any participating employee's employment with the Company and any
designated Affiliate, for any reason, and the Company shall distribute to such
terminated employee all of his or her accumulated payroll deductions (reduced to
the extent, if any, such deductions have been used to acquire stock for the
terminated employee), under the Offering, without interest.
8. NOTICES AND AGREEMENTS.
Any notices or agreements provided for in an Offering or the Plan shall
be given in writing, in a form provided by the Company, and unless specifically
provided for in the Plan or this Offering shall be deemed effectively given upon
receipt or, in the case of notices and agreements delivered by the Company, five
(5) days after deposit in the United States mail, postage prepaid.
9. EXERCISE CONTINGENT ON SHAREHOLDER APPROVAL.
The rights granted under an Offering are subject to the approval of the
Plan by the stockholders as required for the Plan to obtain treatment as a
tax-qualified employee stock purchase plan under Section 423 of the Code and to
comply with the requirements of the exemption from potential liability under
Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act"), set forth in Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act.
10. OFFERING SUBJECT TO PLAN.
Each Offering is subject to all the provisions of the Plan, and its
provisions are hereby made a part of the Offering, and is further subject to all
interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations which may from time to time
be promulgated and adopted pursuant to the Plan. In the event of any conflict
between the provisions of an Offering and those of the Plan (including
interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations which may from time to time
be promulgated and adopted pursuant to the Plan), the provisions of the Plan
shall control.
4.