Sale and Delivery of Shares (a) Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Fund agrees to issue and sell through the Agent acting as sales agent, or directly to the Agent acting as principal from time to time pursuant to a Terms Agreement, and the Agent agrees to use its commercially reasonable efforts to sell as sales agent for the Fund, the Shares. Sales of the Shares, if any, through the Agent acting as sales agent or directly to the Agent acting as principal, will be made by means of ordinary brokers’ transactions on the NYSE or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices.
(b) The Shares are to be sold on a daily basis or otherwise as shall be agreed to by the Fund and the Agent on any trading day (other than a day on which the NYSE is scheduled to close prior to its regular weekday closing time, each, a “Trading Day”) that the Fund has satisfied its obligations under Section 5 of this Agreement and that the Fund has instructed the Agent to make such sales. On any Trading Day, the Fund may instruct the Agent by telephone (confirmed promptly by telecopy or email, which confirmation will be promptly acknowledged by the Agent) as to the maximum number of Shares to be sold by the Agent on such day (in any event not in excess of the number available for issuance under the Prospectus and the currently effective Registration Statement) and the minimum price per Share at which such Shares may be sold. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, the Agent shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to sell as sales agent all of the Shares so designated by the Fund. The Fund and the Agent each acknowledge and agree that (A) there can be no assurance that the Agent will be successful in selling the Shares, (B) the Agent will incur no liability or obligation to the Fund or any other person or entity if it does not sell Shares for any reason other than a failure by the Agent to use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices and applicable law and regulations to sell such Shares as required by this Agreement, and (C) the Agent shall be under no obligation to purchase Shares on a principal basis except as otherwise specifically agreed by the Agent and the Fund pursuant to a Terms Agreement. In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and the terms of a Terms Agreement, the terms of such Terms Agreement will control.
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Fund shall not authorize the issuance and sale of, and the Agent as sales agent shall not be obligated to use its commercially reasonable efforts to sell, any Shares (i) at a price lower than the minimum price therefor authorized from time to time, or (ii) in a number or with an aggregate gross sales price in excess of the number or gross sales price, as the case may be, of Shares authorized from time to time to be issued and sold under this Agreement, in each case, by the Fund’s board of directors, or a duly authorized committee thereof, or in a number in excess of the number of Shares approved for listing on the NYSE, and in each case notified to the Agent in writing. In addition, the Fund or the Agent may, upon notice to the other party hereto by telephone (confirmed promptly by telecopy or email, which confirmation will be promptly acknowledged), suspend the offering of the Shares with respect to which the Agent is acting as sales agent for any reason and at any time; provided, however, that such suspension or termination shall not affect or impair the parties’ respective obligations with respect to the Shares sold hereunder prior to the giving of such notice.
(d) The Fund agrees that any offer to sell, any solicitation of an offer to buy, or any sales of Shares or any other equity security of the Fund shall only be effected by or through only one of the Agent or the Alternative Agent on any single given day, but in no event by both, and the Company shall in no event request that the Agent and the Alternative Agent sell Shares on the same day; provided, however, that (a) the foregoing limitation shall not apply to (i) exercise of any option, warrant, right or any conversion privilege set forth in the instrument governing such security or (ii) sales solely to employees or security holders of the Fund or its Adviser, or to a trustee or other person acquiring such securities for the accounts of such persons, and (b) such limitation shall not apply on any day during which no sales are made pursuant to this Agreement.
(e) The gross sales price of any Shares sold pursuant to this Agreement by the Agent acting as sales agent of the Fund shall be the market price prevailing at the time of sale for shares of the Fund’s Common Stock sold by the Agent on the NYSE or otherwise, at prices relating to prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices. The compensation payable to the Agent for sales of Shares with respect to which the Agent acts as sales agent shall be equal to 3.0% of the gross sales price of the Shares sold pursuant to this Agreement. The Fund may sell Shares to the Agent as principal at a price agreed upon at the relevant Applicable Time and pursuant to a separate Terms Agreement. The remaining proceeds, after further deduction for any transaction fees, transfer taxes or similar taxes or fees imposed by any governmental, regulatory or self-regulatory organization in respect of such sales, shall constitute the net proceeds to the Fund for such Shares (the “Net Proceeds”). The Agent shall notify the Fund as promptly as practicable if any deduction referenced in the preceding sentence will be required. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event the Fund engages the Agent for a sale of Shares for which the Agent engages in special selling efforts, as that term is used in Regulation M under the 1934 Act, the Fund and the Agent will agree to compensation that is customary for the Agent with respect to such transactions.
(f) If acting as sales agent hereunder, the Agent shall provide written confirmation to the Fund following the close of trading on the NYSE each day in which Shares are sold under this Agreement setting forth the number of Shares sold on such day, the aggregate gross sales proceeds of the Shares, the aggregate Net Proceeds to the Fund and the aggregate compensation payable by the Fund to the Agent with respect to such sales.
(g) Under no circumstances shall the aggregate gross sales price or number, as the case may be, of Shares sold pursuant to this Agreement, any Terms Agreement, the Alternative Distribution Agreement, and any Alternative Terms Agreement exceed the aggregate gross sales price or number, as the case may be, of Shares of Common Stock (i) set forth in the preamble paragraph of this Agreement as the Maximum Amount, (ii) available for issuance under the Prospectus and the then currently effective Registration Statement or (iii) authorized from time to time to be issued and sold under this Agreement or any Terms Agreement by the Fund’s board of directors, or a duly authorized committee thereof or approved for listing on the NYSE and, in each case referred to in this clause (iii), notified to the Agent in writing. In addition, under no circumstances shall any Shares with respect to which the Agent acts as sales agent be sold at a price lower than the minimum price therefor authorized from time to time by the Fund’s board of directors, or a duly authorized committee thereof, and notified to the Agent in writing.
(h) If either party believes that the exemptive provisions set forth in Rule 101(c)(1) of Regulation M under the 1934 Act (applicable to securities with an average daily trading volume of $1,000,000 that are issued by an issuer whose common equity securities have a public float value of at least $150,000,000) are not satisfied with respect to the Fund or the Shares, it shall promptly notify the other party and sales of Shares under this Agreement and any Terms Agreement shall be suspended until that or other exemptive provisions have been satisfied in the judgment of each party.
(i) Settlement for sales of Shares pursuant to this Section 2 will occur on the third business day that is also a Trading Day following the trade date on which such sales are made, unless another date shall be agreed to by the Fund and the Agent (each such day, a “Settlement Date”). On each Settlement Date, the Shares sold through the Agent for settlement on such date shall be delivered by the Fund to the Agent against payment of the Net Proceeds from the sale of such Shares. Settlement for all Shares shall be effected by book-entry delivery of Shares to the Agent’s account at The Depository Trust Company against payments by the Agent of the Net Proceeds from the sale of such Shares in same day funds delivered to an account designated by the Fund. If the Fund shall default on its obligation to deliver Shares on any Settlement Date, the Fund shall (i) indemnify and hold the Agent selling such Shares harmless against any loss, claim or damage arising from or as a result of such default by the Fund and (ii) pay the Agent any commission to which it would otherwise be entitled absent such default. If the Agent breaches this Agreement by failing to deliver the applicable Net Proceeds on any Settlement Date for Shares delivered by the Fund, the Agent will pay the Fund interest based on the effective overnight federal funds rate until such proceeds, together with such interest, have been fully paid.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Fund shall not offer, sell or deliver, or request the offer or sale of, any Shares and, by notice to the Agent given by telephone (confirmed promptly by telecopy or email), shall cancel any instructions for the offer or sale of any Shares, and the Agent shall not be obligated to offer or sell any Shares, (i) during any period in which the Fund’s ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ policy, as it exists on the date of this Agreement, would prohibit the purchases or sales of the Fund’s Common Stock by its officers or directors, (ii) during any other period in which the Fund is, or could be deemed to be, in possession of material non-public information and (iii) if the instructions for the offer or sale of any Shares are not pre-cleared by the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer or a designee of the Chief Compliance Officer.
(k) At each Applicable Time, Settlement Date, Registration Amendment Date and each Fund Periodic Report Date, Fund Material Disclosure Date and Request Date, the Fund shall be deemed to have affirmed each representation and warranty contained in this Agreement. Any obligation of the Agent to use its commercially reasonable efforts to sell the Shares on behalf of the Fund as sales agent shall be subject to the continuing accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Fund herein, to the performance by the Fund of its obligations hereunder and to the continuing satisfaction of the additional conditions specified in Section 5 of this Agreement.
Purchase, Sale and Delivery of Shares (a) On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to issue and sell the Underwritten Shares to the Underwriter, and the Underwriter agrees to purchase the Underwritten Shares. The purchase price for each Underwritten Share shall be $4.60 per share (the “Per Share Price”). The Company will pay the Underwriter, on each Closing Date, an amount equal to 6% of the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Underwritten Shares and the Additional Shares, as applicable, as an underwriting discount (the “Underwriter’s Fee”).
(b) The Company hereby grants to the Underwriter the option to purchase some or all of the Additional Shares and, upon the basis of the warranties and representations and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Underwriter shall have the right to purchase all or any portion of the Additional Shares at the Per Share Price as may be necessary to cover over-allotments made in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby. This option may be exercised by the Underwriter at any time on or before the thirtieth day following the date hereof, by written notice to the Company (the “Option Notice”). The Option Notice shall set forth the aggregate number of Additional Shares as to which the option is being exercised, and the date and time when the Additional Shares are to be delivered (such date and time being herein referred to as the “Option Closing Date”); provided, however, that the Option Closing Date shall not be earlier than the Closing Date (as defined below) nor earlier than the first business day after the date on which the option shall have been exercised nor later than the fifth business day after the date on which the option shall have been exercised unless the Company and the Underwriter otherwise agree. Payment of the purchase price for and delivery of the Additional Shares shall be made at the Option Closing Date in the same manner and at the same office as the payment for the Underwritten Shares as set forth in subparagraph (c) below.
(c) The Underwritten Shares will be delivered by the Company to the Underwriter against payment of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of same day funds payable to the order of the Company at the offices of R▇▇▇ Capital Partners, LLC, 2▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ or such other location as may be mutually acceptable, at 6:00 a.m. PST, on the third (or if the Underwritten Shares are priced, as contemplated by Rule 15c6-1(c) under the Exchange Act, after 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, the fourth) full business day following the date hereof, or at such other time and date as the Underwriter and the Company determine pursuant to Rule 15c6-1(a) under the Exchange Act, or, in the case of the Additional Shares, at such date and time set forth in the Option Notice. The time and date of delivery of the Underwritten Shares or the Additional Shares, as applicable, is referred to herein as the “Closing Date.” Certificates representing the Shares, in definitive form and in such denominations and registered in such names as the Underwriter may request upon at least two business days’ prior notice to the Company, will be made available for checking and packaging not later than 10:30 a.m. PDT on the business day next preceding the Closing Date at the above addresses, or such other location as may be mutually acceptable, and shall be delivered to or upon the prior written instruction of the Underwriter on the business day preceding the Closing Date to be held in escrow pending release on such Closing Date.