On October 30, 2023, Athersys, Inc. (the "Company") reported to have entered into an offer letter (the "Letter Agreement") with a holder ("Holder") of the Company’s common stock purchase warrants issued on October 16, 2023 (the "Existing Warrants") to (1) reduce the exercise price of the Existing Warrants from $0.1395 to $0.01 per share (the "Reduced Exercise Price"), (2) issue to the Holder new common stock purchase warrants (the "New Warrants") to purchase up to 20,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share; and (3) make the Existing Warrants immediately exercisable (Filing, 8-K, Athersys, OCT 30, 2023, View Source [SID1234636429]).
Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, the Holder agreed to (A) reduce the period of the subsequent equity sale restrictions contained in Section h)(i) of Annex A to the warrant exercise inducement offer letter dated October 11, 2023 between the Holder and the Company (the "October 11, 2023 Letter") from 60 days to 30 days; (B) reduce the applicable period in each and all of the provisions relating to restrictions on the Company (or any of its subsidiaries) involving a "Variable Rate Transaction" (as such term, or a term of similar meaning, is defined in the applicable document) so that each such period terminates on March 1, 2024 in all stock purchase agreements, related letter agreements, and all other related agreements with the Holder; and (C) vote as set forth below in connection with a Fundamental Transaction.
The Holder agreed that upon the occurrence of a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the New Warrants), if the Holder holds any shares of the Company’s common stock and a stockholder vote is required for such Fundamental Transaction, then the Holder agrees to vote all shares of its common stock that it holds as of any such record date that may be taken the vote of stockholders that are entitled to vote on such Fundamental Transaction in accordance with the recommendations of the Company’s board of directors.
We also agreed to file a registration statement (the "Registration Statement") on Form S-1 (or other appropriate form) providing for the resale of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the New Warrants (the "New Warrant Shares"), on or before November 12, 2023, and to use commercially reasonable efforts to have such Resale Registration Statement declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") within 90 days following the date of filing with the SEC and to keep the Resale Registration Statement effective at all times until no holder of the New Warrants owns any New Warrants or New Warrant Shares.
In addition, on October 30, 2023, the Company and the Holder entered into an Amendment to Series A Common Stock Purchase Warrants (the "Warrant Amendment") which amended the Existing Warrants to reflect (i) the Reduced Exercise Price, (ii) that the Existing Warrants are now immediately exercisable, and (iii) that the Existing Warrants will terminate on October 30, 2028. The Warrant Amendment is filed as Exhibit 10.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Warrant Amendment is qualified in its entirety by reference to such exhibit.
New Warrant Terms
The following summary of certain terms and provisions of the New Warrants is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the provisions of the New Warrants, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 4.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference. The following description of the New Warrants is qualified in its entirety by reference to such exhibit.
Exercise Period and Dilution
Each New Warrant will have an exercise price equal to its applicable Reduced Exercise Price. The New Warrants are immediately exercisable on the date of issuance and may be exercised for a period of five years therefrom. The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise is subject to appropriate proportional adjustment in the event of share dividends, share splits, reorganizations or similar events affecting our common stock and the exercise price.
Exercisability
The New Warrants will be exercisable, at the option of each holder, in whole or in part, by delivering to us a duly executed exercise notice and, within the earlier of (i) two trading days and (ii) the number of trading days comprising the standard settlement period with respect to the common stock as in effect on the date of delivery of the notice of exercise thereafter, payment in full for the number of shares of common stock purchased upon such exercise (except in the case of a cashless exercise as discussed below). A holder may not exercise any portion of the New Warrant to the extent that the holder, together with its affiliates and any other persons acting as a group together with any such persons, would own more than 4.99% (or, at the election of the purchaser, 9.99%) of the number of shares of common stock outstanding immediately after exercise (the "Beneficial Ownership Limitation"); provided that a holder with a Beneficial Ownership Limitation of 4.99%, upon notice to us and effective 61 days after the date such notice is delivered to us, may increase the Beneficial Ownership Limitation so long as it in no event exceeds 9.99% of the number of shares of common stock outstanding immediately after exercise.
Cashless Exercise
If, at the time a holder exercises its New Warrants, a registration statement registering the issuance of the shares of common stock underlying the New Warrants under the Securities Act is not then effective or available for the issuance of such shares, then in lieu of making the cash payment otherwise contemplated to be made to us upon such exercise in payment of the aggregate exercise price, the holder may only exercise its New Warrants (either in whole or in part), at such time by means of a cashless exercise in which the holder shall be entitled to receive upon such exercise the net number of shares of common stock determined according to a formula set forth in the New Warrants, which generally provides for a number of shares of common stock equal to (A) (1) the volume weighted average price on (x) the trading day preceding the notice of exercise, if the notice of exercise is executed and delivered on a day that is not a trading day or prior to the opening of "regular trading hours" on a trading day or (y) the trading day of the notice of exercise, if the notice of exercise is executed and delivered after the close of "regular trading hours" on such trading day, or (2) the bid price on the day of the notice of exercise, if the notice of exercise is executed during "regular trading hours" on a trading day and is delivered within two hours thereafter, less (B) the exercise price, multiplied by (C) the number of shares of common stock the New Warrant was exercisable into, with such product then divided by the number determined under clause (A) in this sentence.
Fractional Shares
No fractional shares of common stock will be issued upon the exercise of the New Warrants. Rather, we will, at our election, and in lieu of the issuance of such fractional share, either (i) pay cash in an amount equal to such fraction multiplied by the exercise price or (ii) round up to the next whole share issuable upon exercise of the New Warrant.
Transferability
Subject to applicable laws, a New Warrant may be transferred at the option of the holder upon surrender of the New Warrant to us together with the appropriate instruments of transfer and funds sufficient to pay any transfer taxes payable upon such transfer.
Market
There is no trading market available for the New Warrants on any securities exchange or nationally recognized trading system. We do not intend to list the New Warrants on any securities exchange or nationally recognized trading system. The shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the New Warrants are currently quoted on the Pink Open Market tier operated by OTC Markets Group, Inc. (the "OTC Pink") under the symbol "ATHX."
Rights as a Stockholder
Except as otherwise provided in the New Warrants or by virtue of such holder’s ownership of shares of the Company’s common stock, the holders of the New Warrants do not have the rights or privileges of holders of the Company’s common stock, including any voting rights, until they exercise their New Warrants.
Fundamental Transaction
In the event of a fundamental transaction, as described in the New Warrants and generally including any reorganization, recapitalization or reclassification of our common stock, the sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of our properties or assets, our consolidation or merger with or into another person, the acquisition of more than 50% of our outstanding shares of common stock, the holders of the New Warrants will be entitled to receive upon exercise of the New Warrants the kind and amount of securities, cash or other property that the holders would have received had they exercised the New Warrants immediately prior to such fundamental transaction. Additionally, in the event of a fundamental transaction, we or any successor entity will, at the option of the holder of a New Warrant exercisable at any time concurrently with or within 30 days after the consummation of the fundamental transaction (or, if later, the date of the public announcement thereof), purchase the New Warrant from the holder by paying to the holder an amount of consideration equal to the value of the remaining unexercised portion of such New Warrant on the date of consummation of the fundamental transaction based on the Black-Scholes option pricing model, determined pursuant to a formula set forth in the New Warrants. The consideration paid to the holder will be the same type or form of consideration that was offered and paid to the holders of shares of common stock in connection with the fundamental transaction; provided that if no such consideration was offered or paid, the holders of common stock will be deemed to have received common stock of the successor entity in such fundamental transaction for purposes of this provision of the New Warrants.
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