Amendment to Notification by a Small Business Investment Company or Business Development Company — Reg. E Filing Table of Contents
Document/ExhibitDescriptionPagesSize 1: 1-E/A Amendment to Notification by a Small Business HTML 1.11M Investment Company or Business Development Company
The name
of the Issuer is Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc. (the "Company" or
"Blackhawk"). Its principal business office is located at 880 Third
Avenue, 12th Floor,
New York, New York10022-4730.
Item 2.
Affiliates
and Principal Security Holders of
Issuer.
(a) The
following table lists the affiliates of the Company and the nature of the
affiliation:
Affiliate
Nature of Affiliation
Craig
A. Zabala
Chief
Executive Officer, Acting Chief Financial Officer and Acting Chief
Compliance Officer, Chairman of the Board, Principal
Shareholder
Walter
V.E. Parker
President
Robert
M. Fujii
Vice
President, Shareholder
The
Concorde Group, Inc.
Control
Person, Principal Shareholder
Janet
Buxman Kurihara
Director
Michael
K. Woodwards
Director
Randy
Tejral
Director
Robert
Francis
Director
(b) The
following is a list of persons who own ten percent or more of the outstanding
securities of any class of the Company:
Name
Class of Securities
Amount Owned
% of Class
The
Concorde Group, Inc.
Common
Stock
10,017,591
30.85
%
Item 3.
Directors
and Officers.
The following are the names and
addresses of each officer and director of the Company:
Barak Asset Management LLC, a New York
limited liability company ("Barak") is the investment adviser of the
Company.
Item 4.
Counsel
for Issuer and Underwriters.
Counsel for the Company is Gibbons
P.C., One Pennsylvania Plaza, 37th Floor,
New York, New York10119. The placement agent for the Offering is
Odeon Capital Group LLC.
2
Item 5.
Events
Making Exemption Unavailable.
No event specified in Rule 602(b), (c)
or (d) has occurred which would make an exemption under this Regulation
unavailable for securities of the Company in the absence of a waiver by the
Commission pursuant to Rule 602 (e).
Item 6.
Jurisdictions
in which Securities are to be
Offered.
(a) The Company is offering the shares
of Common Stock covered by this notification in the following
states: California, New York, New Jersey.
(b) Not applicable.
Item 7.
Unregistered
Securities Issued or Sold Within One
Year.
(a) The following lists unregistered
securities issued by the Company within one year prior to filing this
notification, including the title and amount of securities issued, aggregate
offering prices, names of persons to whom the securities were
issued: None.
(b) The following chart lists
unregistered securities of the Company issued within one year prior to the
filing of this notification to officers, directors, or principal security
holders of the Company or the underwriter of any securities of the
Company: None.
(c) Not applicable.
Item 8.
Other
Present or Proposed Offerings.
The Company is not presently offering
or presently contemplating the offering of any securities, in addition to those
covered by this notification.
The date
of this Amended Preliminary
Offering Circular is January 31, 2011
Maximum
Offering:
10,000,000
shares of Common Stock
Minimum
Offering:
There
is no minimum offering amount. All sales of shares will be made
on a "best efforts"
basis.
Under the
terms of our Offering, all subscription funds will be placed into a non-interest
bearing escrow account by Blackhawk with a bank and funds will be released out
of escrow at "rolling" closings following an initial closing.
THESE
SECURITIES ARE OFFERED PURSUANT TO AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION; HOWEVER, THE COMMISSION HAS NOT MADE AN
INDEPENDENT DETERMINATION THAT THE SECURITIES BEING OFFERED ARE EXEMPT FROM
REGISTRATION. THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION DOES NOT PASS UPON THE
MERITS OF OR GIVE ITS APPROVAL TO ANY SECURITIES OFFERED OR THE TERMS OF THE
OFFERING, NOR DOES IT PASS UPON THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY OFFERING
CIRCULAR OR OTHER SELLING LITERATURE.
PROSPECTIVE
INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT BLACKHAWK IS IN A DIRE FINANCIAL
CONDITION. BLACKHAWK CURRENTLY HAS TOTAL NET LIABILITIES OF $541,922
AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2010, AND HAS NO MONEY TO OPERATE THE COMPANY OR MAKE ANY
INVESTMENTS. SINCE INCEPTION, THE COMPANY'S OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN
PRINCIPALLY FUNDED BY STOCK OFFERINGS AND LOANS FROM THE CONCORDE GROUP, INC.
("CONCORDE"), A CORPORATION CONTROLLED BY THE FOUNDER AND AN AFFILIATE OF THE
COMPANY. CONCORDE CURRENTLY HAS NO MONEY TO LEND TO, OR INVEST IN,
BLACKHAWK. BLACKHAWK WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
WITHOUT ADDITIONAL CAPITAL. OUR INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
HAS ISSUED A "GOING CONCERN OPINION" ON OUR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS INDICATING THAT
THESE CONDITIONS RAISE SUBSTANTIAL DOUBT ABOUT BLACKHAWK’S ABILITY TO CONTINUE
AS A GOING CONCERN. BLACKHAWK COULD POTENTIALLY BE FORCED TO SEEK RELIEF THROUGH
A FILING UNDER THE U.S. BANKRUPTCY CODE.
OFFERING PRICE
TO PUBLIC
UNDERWRITING
DISCOUNTS AND
COMMISSIONS
PROCEEDS TO
ISSUER (1)
Total
Minimum
-
-
-
Total
Maximum
$
5,000,000.00
$
500,000.00
$
4,500,000.00
Per
Share
$
0.50
$
.05
$
0.45
(1) Does
not reflect expenses of Offering, estimated to be $50,000, consisting of $45,000
in legal fees and expenses and $5,000 in accounting fees and
expenses. For sales to investors who are affiliates of Blackhawk, the
placement agent fee is $.0250 (5% per share) rather than $.05 (10% per
share).
The unaudited net asset value (NAV) per
share at September 30, 2010 was $(0.01669). During the Offering
period, shares will not be issued at a price below NAV and Blackhawk will
calculate its NAV frequently enough so that shares will never be issued below
NAV. An investor
that purchases shares of common stock in this Offering for $.50 per share will
experience immediate dilution of $.4068 or 81% per share.
For
the material risks involved in purchasing these securities please see "Risk
Factors" beginning on page 9.
Odeon
Capital Group LLC, Placement Agent
OFFERING
Blackhawk
is offering for sale a maximum of 10,000,000 shares of its Common Stock on a
"best efforts" basis at a purchase price of $0.50 per share. There is
no minimum offering amount. Under the terms of our Offering, all
subscription funds will be placed into a non-interest bearing escrow account by
Blackhawk with a bank and funds will be released at "rolling"
closings. Funds will be released periodically at
closings. After the first closing, there will be additional closings
at which Blackhawk will issue shares of its Common Stock under Regulation E of
the Securities Act. Blackhawk will hold successive "rolling" closings
until up to $5,000,000 (10,000,000 shares) has been raised. The dates
of, and the amount of shares sold at, closings will be determined at the sole
discretion of Blackhawk. The amount of $5,000,000 is the maximum
amount that may be raised in the Offering. All shares sold in our
Offering will not contain any restrictive legends as to transfer. The
Offering will remain open until May 27, 2011, unless extended at the sole
discretion of Blackhawk. All investors must complete a subscription
agreement and represent that they are "accredited investors."
The
Offering is being conducted pursuant to Regulation E under the Securities Act
which applies to offerings undertaken by registered business development
companies (BDCs) regulated by the Investment Company Act. In our
Offering, shares of common stock are only being offered to "accredited
investors" as that term is defined in Rule 501 under Regulation D of the
Securities Act and in those States that have coordinated exemptions for
Regulation E offerings.
The
Company took into account the following factors in determining the offering
price of $.50: (i) the offering price exceeds the net asset value ("NAV") per
share, which on September 30, 2010 on an unaudited basis was ($0.01669) per
share; (ii) the last trade on January 25, 2011 on the OTC Market (OTCQB) for the
Common Stock was $.23; and (iii) the Company believes that the offering price
could attract investor's interest in purchasing the shares. Because
the shares of Common Stock trade so infrequently on the OTCQB, the offering
price per share could not be determined based upon market value of the shares of
Common Stock.
The date
we will begin offering our shares of Common Stock for sale pursuant to this
Offering is February __, 2011.
Blackhawk
has retained Odeon Capital Group LLC as placement agent for the
Offering. See "Placement Agent" immediately below.
Each
prospective purchaser must be an "accredited investor" (as defined under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act")) and sign a Subscription
Agreement. The Subscription Agreement contains provisions to avoid
(a) any resale by any purchaser deemed a public sale, (b) any purchaser being
deemed an underwriter, and (c) any rapid resale of shares in the
Offering. Also, the Company is working closely with the Placement
Agent to safeguard against a purchaser engaging in any of the activities
specified in (a), (b) and (c).
The
following officers and directors will assist the Placement Agent in the offering
and sale of shares of Common Stock in the Offering: Dr. Craig A.
Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Walter V.E.
Parker, President of the Company. No other officers and directors
will be involved in selling shares in the Offering. No disinterested
director of the Company will assist in the distribution of the Company's
shares. They will not receive any compensation for their work
assisting the Placement Agent. No existing stockholders of the
Company will receive any shares in the Offering.
Dr. Craig
A. Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will receive
accrued salary under his employment agreement of $35,000 in connection with the
Offering.
Walter
V.E. Parker, President, will receive his salary under his employment agreement
of $10,000 per month (commencing December 6, 2010) if the Company raises
$1,000,000 in the Offering. He also receives options to purchase up
to 900,000 shares of Common Stock at $.40 per share if $4,000,000 is raised in
the Offering. See "Recent Developments" below describing how he earns
these options based upon the amount the Company raises in the
Offering.
EXPENSES INCURRED IN PRIOR
OFFERINGS
The
Company has raised a total of $1,711,731 in four offerings since
2004. Except for a single $250,000 investment, all of the proceeds of
these offerings have been used to pay for professional services, advisory fees,
filing fees, insurance, interest expense, and miscellaneous
expenses. The first $800,000 of net proceeds raised in the current
offering will be used to pay salaries to senior management, sub-advisers, rent,
phones and telecommunications, and miscellaneous operating expenses, at market
rates.
PLACEMENT
AGENT
On
January 24, 2011, the Company entered into an agreement ("Placement Agent
Agreement") with Odeon Capital Group, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company
("Placement Agent") to provide placement agent, financial advisory and
investment banking services in connection with a Regulation E Offering or
Regulation D Offering on an exclusive basis and annual advisory
services.
Pursuant
to the Placement Agent Agreement, the Placement Agent will act as exclusive
placement agent in raising on a best efforts basis up to five million dollars
($5,000,000) pursuant to Regulation D or Regulation E under the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"). The maximum amount to be
raised in the Offering is $5,000,000 and the Company anticipates that 10,000,000
shares will be sold at a purchase price of $.50 per share. There is
no minimum requirement for the sale of shares by the Company.
Pursuant
to the Placement Agent Agreement, from and after the final closing of the
Offering, the Placement Agent will (i) act as the exclusive financial advisor to
exclusively source, on behalf of the Company, between $75,000,000 and
$250,000,000 of potential portfolio assets to be acquired by the Company in
exchange for common stock of the Company; provided, however, that under
no circumstances shall the Placement Agent be liable for any failure to source
such portfolio assets; and (ii) in the event that $5,000,000 of the shares are
sold in the Offering, then for a period of two (2) years, to advise the Company
with respect to the retention of an investor relations firm and the sourcing of
one or more broker-dealer or investment banking firms to provide research
services for the Company ("Annual Services").
If,
during the term of the Agreement, or within 24 months thereafter, the Company
considers or undertakes any other transaction, including any sale (whether in
one or a series of transactions) of all or a substantial portion of the assets
or capital stock of the Company, any merger, joint venture, partnership,
spin-off, reverse spin-off, non-pro rata spin-off or other business combination
involving the Company, or any recapitalization, restructuring or liquidation of
the Company or any other form of transaction or disposition that results in the
effective sale, transfer or other disposition of ownership or control over a
substantial portion of one or more of the principal businesses, assets or
operations of the Company, offerings, financing, restructuring, repurchases of
securities, foreign exchange or derivatives transaction, including, but not
limited to, public or private offerings of debt or equity, or in connection with
the transactions contemplated hereby, Placement Agent will have a right of first
refusal to serve in the relevant lead roles commonly performed by banks,
investment banks and financial advisors in connection with such transactions,
including those of lead agent and lead arranger, sole bookrunning lead managing
underwriter or initial purchaser (as the case may be), exclusive placement
agent, lead financial advisor, principal counterparty and dealer manager, as
applicable. Also, if during the term of this Placement Agent
Agreement or within 24 months thereafter, the Company is considering or
undertakes any other transaction to obtain debt or equity financing or
investments in connection with its business (a "Subsequent Offering"), Placement
Agent will have a right of first refusal to serve as the Company's exclusive
Placement Agent in connection with any Subsequent Offering. In
addition, if during the term of the Placement Agent Agreement or within 24
months thereafter, the Company is considering or undertakes any transaction to
acquire a portfolio asset, subsidiary or company from a source introduced to the
Company by Placement Agent in connection with the Annual Services, Placement
Agent will have a right of first refusal to serve in the relevant lead roles
commonly performed by financial advisors in connection with such transactions,
including those of lead agent and lead arranger, sole bookrunning lead managing
underwriter or initial purchaser (as the case may be), exclusive Placement
Agent, lead financial advisor, principal counterparty and dealer manager, as
applicable. As compensation for any of the foregoing services
described in this paragraph, Placement Agent will be paid its customary fees for
performing comparable roles in connection with comparable transactions and
Placement Agent will enter into a separate agreement or other appropriate
documentation with the Company for such transaction(s) containing such
compensation and other terms and conditions as are customary for internationally
recognized investment banking firms for similar transactions, including, without
limitation, appropriate indemnification provisions. If the Company
sells securities to or receives financing from any investors previously
introduced by the Placement Agent, in connection with the Offering ("Protected
Investors"), then in connection with such sales or financing Placement Agent
shall receive additional financing fees (the "Additional Fees") that are equal
to the greater of (a) the fees set forth below and (b) any underwriting,
placement or financing fees that are listed in any future offering circular,
prospectus, or placement memorandum. Prior to the termination of this
Agreement, the Placement Agent will furnish the Company with a written list of
the Protected Investors.
The
Placement Agent is entitled to the following fees and expenses:
(a)
In
the event (and in each event) that the Company executes a definitive
agreement to consummate an Offering, the Company shall pay to Placement
Agent a cash fee equal to (i) 5% of the gross proceeds raised in the
Offering from investors with which the Company has affiliations who would
be suitable for the Offering, (ii) 10% of the gross proceeds raised in the
Offering from investors who are not stockholders of the Company as of the
date hereof and (iii) the Placement Agent shall use its "best efforts" to
organize a "syndicate" of duly-registered broker-dealers to assist in the
placement of the Offering. Placement Agent shall manage the
"book" for (i.e., keep track of) the sales efforts of the broker-dealers
participating in the syndicate. There shall be no minimum
offering size required for the Placement Agent to receive its compensation
as set forth in this subsection (a). Placement Agent is
entitled to its fees and its expenses, including reasonable fees and
expenses of its counsel, which are capped at $50,000 unless the Company
consents otherwise.
In
connection with the Annual Services, from and after the final closing of
the Offering, the Company shall pay to Placement Agent, on each
anniversary of the final closing of the Offering, a cash fee of $50,000
per year.
The
Placement Agent's engagement may be terminated by either party at any time, with
or without cause, upon written notice to the other party, provided, however, (i) the
Placement Agent will be entitled to its full fees and expenses in the event that
(x) at any time prior to expiration of 24 months after such termination by the
Company, an Offering is consummated; (y) the Company enters into a definitive
agreement during the term of the Placement Agent Agreement or during such 24
month period which results in an Offering; or (z) the Company enters into a
definitive agreement with any third party that the Placement Agent introduced to
it, or to which the Placement Agent provided information about the
Company.
The
Placement Agent Agreement contains standard indemnification provisions pursuant
to which the Company indemnifies the Placement Agent for certain
losses.
RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS
On December 9, 2010, the Company
entered into an interim employment agreement ("Interim Agreement") with Walter
V. E. Parker ("Executive"). The term of the Interim Agreement is the
first to occur of one year from the execution of the Interim Agreement or 90
days after final closing of this Offering when the Company will execute a formal
employment agreement with the Executive to replace the Interim Agreement
("Formal Agreement"). The purpose of the Interim Agreement is to have
a President in place at the Company while the Company conducts this Offering who
can assist with selling shares in the Offering and conducting the business and
operations of the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company
approved the Interim Agreement on December 6, 2010 by unanimous written
consent.
Under the Interim Agreement, the
Executive shall serve as President and will be paid a base salary of $10,000 for
the first six months and $15,000 for the remainder of the term. His
salary accrues, however, until the Company raises $1,000,000 in the
Offering. Executive may be granted up to 900,000 options to purchase
shares of Common Stock of the Company based upon the Company raising $4,000,000
in this Offering. In particular, he receives the following stock
options pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan and approval by the
Company's Stock Option Committee: (a) upon $1,000,000 being raised in the
Offering, 250,000 options at an exercise price of $0.40 per share; (b) upon the
next $1,000,000 being raised in the Offering, an additional 250,000 options at
the exercise price of $0.40; (c) upon the next $1,000,000 being raised in the
Offering, an additional 200,000 options at the exercise price of $0.40; and (d)
upon the next $1,000,000 being raised in the Offering, an additional 200,000
options at the exercise price of $0.40 per share. Until the Formal Agreement is
entered into by the Company and the Executive, if the Executive is terminated
for any reason other than cause and the Company has sold at least $1,500,000 of
shares of Common Stock in the Offering, he receives the greater of accrued
salary to date or $100,000 severance payment and his options granted to date
vest.
Executive's
role in the Offering will be working with the Placement Agent in connection with
marketing the Offering, and trying to introduce prospective purchasers to the
Placement Agent for purchases of shares of Common Stock. Executive
individually will not sell any shares in the Offering. His
compensation (stock options described above) should not be treated as a sales
load or commission, and the awarding of his options in tranches is reflective of
the success of the Offering as a whole, irrespective of his individual marketing
effects.
USE OF
PROCEEDS
We estimate that the net proceeds we
will receive from the sale of shares of our Common Stock in this Offering will
be 4,450,000. We will incur offering expenses of approximately
$50,000, consisting of legal fees and expenses of $45,000 and $5,000 in
accounting fees and expenses. This assumes that we sell the maximum
number of shares of Common Stock in the Offering (10,000,000) at a price of
$0.50 per share, after deducting (i) placement agent fees of $500,000; (ii)
accountants' fees and expenses of $5,000; and (iii) legal fees and expenses of
$45,000. The amount of net proceeds may be more or less than the
amount described in this Offering Circular depending upon the actual number of
shares of Common Stock we sell in the Offering, which we cannot determine as of
the date of this Offering Circular.
We currently intend to use our net
proceeds as follows if the maximum number of shares of Common Stock is
sold:
* Includes
$720,000 in accrued legal fees and expenses owed to our law firm, and $98,000 in
accrued accounting fees and expenses owed to our
independent registered public accounting firm, for work performed by our legal
counsel and our accountants on matters other than work on this
Offering. In addition, Executive is entitled to receive certain base
salary payments if $1,000,000 is raised in the Offering. See "Recent
Developments" above. Also, Dr. Zabala is entitled to receive certain
accrued salary payments under his employment agreement. See "Zabala
Employment Agreement."
In the event that the maximum number of
shares is not sold in the Offering, the Board of Directors of the Company will
determine how the Offering net proceeds are used and allocated.
We anticipate that a substantial
portion of the net proceeds of this Offering will be used for the above purposes
within 12-18 months and all of the net proceeds of this Offering will be used
within two years, depending on the availability of appropriate investment
opportunities consistent with our investment objectives and market
conditions. We cannot assure you that we will achieve our investment
objectives during such time frame.
In the event that the maximum number of
shares is not sold in the Offering, the Board of Directors of the Company will
determine how the Offering proceeds are used and allocated.
Pending such investments, Blackhawk
will invest the net proceeds primarily in cash, cash equivalents, U.S.
government securities and other high quality debt instruments that mature in one
year or less from date of investment.
To date, Blackhawk has not paid
overhead expenses (rent, employee salaries and wages, phones and
telecommunications, etc.). After the Offering is completed, Blackhawk
expects to pay salaries to senior management, sub-advisers, rent, phones and
telecommunications, and miscellaneous operating expenses, at market rates if
sufficient net proceeds are raised in this Offering as determined by our Board
of Directors.
Related or affiliated persons will not
benefit by receiving any payment from Blackhawk from the proceeds of the
Offering for any liability Blackhawk may have to them now or in the future,
except the Company is paying Concorde, its largest stockholder and affiliate,
monthly rent, telephone and telecommunication, miscellaneous expenses and
secretarial assistance of $4,000 per month until Blackhawk has its own
space. Dr. Zabala is entitled to a salary of $60,000 per year
pursuant to his employment agreement with Blackhawk dated as of January 30,2009. See “Management and Certain Security Holders of the
Issuer—Zabala Employment Agreement.” Mr. Parker is entitled to salary
payments if the Company raises $1,000,000 in the Offering. See
“Recent Developments.” To date, (i) $65,000 in salary payments have
been made by Blackhawk to Dr. Zabala under his employment agreement; and (ii) no
payments have been made to Mr. Parker under the Interim Agreement.
DILUTION
Substantial
dilution will be experienced by purchasers of shares of Common Stock in the
Offering. The unaudited net tangible book value of the Company at
September 30, 2010 was ($0.01669) per share. The Company had total
net liabilities of $541,922 as of September 30, 2010. Net tangible
book value represents the amount of total tangible assets of the Company reduced
by the amount of its total liabilities, divided by the total number of
outstanding shares of voting stock of the Company. The difference between the
Offering price per share and the net tangible book value per share of the
Company’s voting stock after completion of this Offering constitutes the
dilution to holders of the shares offered hereby. After giving effect
to the sale of the maximum number of shares in the Offering, and receipt of the
net proceeds therefrom, the Company’s pro forma adjusted net tangible book value
would have been $3,958,078, or $0.0932 per share. This represents an
immediate increase in such net tangible book value of $4,450,000 and $0.10989
per share to existing holders of Common Stock in the maximum offering, as
illustrated in the following table:
Proforma
net tangible book value after this Offering
$
0.0932
Dilution
per share to new investors
$
0.4068
The
following table summarizes, for the maximum offering of $5,000,000, as of
September 30, 2010, using the Company's unaudited financial statements, the
number of shares of Common Stock purchased, the percentage of total
consideration paid and the average price per share (i) paid by present
stockholders and (ii) paid by investors purchasing shares in the
Offering. In Blackhawk's first three Regulation E offerings,
purchasers paid $.01, $1.00 and $1.00, respectively, per share for their shares
of Common Stock.
The
business of Blackhawk is subject to numerous risk factors, including the
following:
Blackhawk’s
Financial Condition and Need to Raise Additional Funds
Blackhawk has total net liabilities of
$541,922 as of September 30, 2010, and has no money to operate the Company or
make any investments. Blackhawk depends entirely on its affiliate,
Concorde, to fund its daily operations, including staffing, rent, and regulatory
filing fees. Concorde is not funding Blackhawk liabilities
currently. There can be no guarantee that Concorde will be able to
fund Blackhawk's daily operations in the future. Prospective
investors should thus be aware that Blackhawk must raise additional capital to
continue operations independently and meet its current liabilities.
There
Is Substantial Doubt About Our Ability To Continue As A Going
Concern
Our
independent public accounting firm has issued an opinion on our financial
statements that states that the financial statements were prepared assuming we
will continue as a going concern and further states that our inability to raise
equity capital, or if Concorde is unable to provide sufficient capital to the
Company to sustain our operations, raises substantial doubt about our ability to
continue as a going concern. If we fail to raise equity capital or
obtain sufficient funds from Concorde, we would not be able to continue as a
going concern and could potentially be forced to seek relief through a filing
under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Inability
To Raise Capital; Substantial Dilution
During the period from January 1, 2009
to the date of this Amended Preliminary Offering Circular, the Company has been
unable to raise any capital (either equity or debt) in its Rule 506 private
placement offerings and fourth Regulation E offering. There can be no
assurance that the Company will be able to sell any shares of Common Stock in
this Offering, which is the Company's fifth Regulation E offering. An
investor that purchases shares of Common Stock in this Offering for $.50 per
share will experience immediate substantial dilution of $0.4068 per
share.
No
Fixed Investment Policy; One Investment to Date
We have
no fixed policy as to the business or industry group in which we may invest or
as to the amount or type of securities or assets that we may
acquire. To date, we have not made any investments in a portfolio
company except the MacroMarkets investment described above. Blackhawk
has invested part of the net proceeds from its second and third Regulation E
Offerings received to date in cash equivalents and in investments with maturity
dates of less than one year, but no longer retains such investments because they
were sold to pay operational and administrative expenses. Also, it has
invested part of the proceeds from its third Regulation E offering in
MacroMarkets. Blackhawk currently has no money to invest or operate
the Company.
Investors
May Lose Their Entire Investment In This Offering
Investing in the Common Shares of the
Company is highly risky. The Company cannot assure an investor that
it will raise adequate capital in this Offering. Investors may lose
all of their investment in the Common Shares purchased in this
Offering. Investors should review the "Use of Proceeds" section of
this Amended Preliminary Offering Circular, particularly with respect to
Blackhawk's use of proceeds to pay for legal fees and expenses, and accounting
fees and expenses, incurred by Blackhawk prior to this Offering.
Management's
Lack of BDC Experience
With the
exception of Dr. Zabala, who founded Blackhawk, and Walter V.E. Parker, who was
appointed President of the Company on December 9, 2010 and has BDC
experience, management has no experience in BDC investing and no BDC
operations experience. There is no guarantee that the management of
Blackhawk will be able to meet the regulatory requirements under the Investment
Company Act applicable to BDCs on behalf of Blackhawk.
A
failure on our part to maintain our status as a BDC would significantly reduce
our operating flexibility.
If we do
not continue to qualify as a BDC, we might be regulated as a closed-end
investment company under the Investment Company Act, which would significantly
decrease our operating flexibility.
Our
Ability to Grow Will Depend on Our Ability to Raise Capital
Blackhawk
has raised in its four Regulation E offerings only $1,711,731, net of expenses
of $221,218, in equity capital and has borrowed $255,779 from Concorde, the
largest stockholder of Blackhawk of which $255,779 along with $7,391 of accrued
interest was converted into 13,160,791 shares of common stock by
Concorde. On May 29, 2007, Blackhawk borrowed $25,500 from
Concorde. This amount was converted into shares of Common Stock in
Blackhawk's second Regulation E offering at the exchange rate of $1.00 per share
(25,500 shares). The Company attempted to raise up to $5,000,000
(1,000,000 shares of Common Stock at an offering price of $5.00 per share)
pursuant to a Regulation E offering in January 2010. On January 21,2010, the Company announced that due to adverse market conditions it had not
sold any shares of Common Stock in that Regulation E offering and it
subsequently terminated the offering. We can provide you with no
assurance that we will be able to raise money in this Offering given difficult
market conditions. We will need to periodically access the equity
markets to raise cash to fund new investments. An inability to
successfully access the equity markets could limit our ability to grow our
business and fully execute our business strategy. We cannot assure
you that we will be able to raise adequate capital in the future.
Blackhawk
Not Having Sufficient Funds For Expenses of Regulatory Compliance
Under Investment Company Act
If Blackhawk does not raise sufficient
net proceeds in this Offering or operations, or is unable to borrow sufficient
funds from its controlling shareholder Concorde, it may not have sufficient
funds for paying for the expenses of regulatory compliance under the Investment
Company Act. Concorde currently does not have any funds that it could
provide to Blackhawk.
Our
Common Stock May Be Considered "A Penny Stock" and, as a result, It May Be
Difficult To Trade A Significant Number Of Shares of our Common
Stock.
The SEC has adopted regulations that
generally define "penny stock" to be an equity security that has a market price
of less than $5.00 per share, subject to specific exemptions. Since
our Common Stock has been eligible for quotation on the OTCBB (OTCQB), the
market price of our Common Stock has been less than $5.00 per
share. It is likely that the market price for our Common Stock will
remain less than $5.00 per share for the foreseeable future and therefore may be
a "penny stock" according to SEC rules. This designation requires any
broker or dealer selling these securities to disclose certain information
concerning the transaction, obtain a written agreement from the purchaser and
determine that the purchaser is reasonably suitable to purchase the
securities. These rules may restrict the ability of brokers or
dealers to sell our Common Stock and may affect the ability of investors
hereunder to sell their shares. In addition, because our Common Stock
is traded on the OTCQB, investors may find it difficult to obtain accurate
quotations of the stock and may experience a lack of buyers to purchase such
stock or a lack of market makers to support the stock price.
Blackhawk's unaudited NAV of its common
stock as of September 30, 2010 was ($0.01669) per share. The NAV has
fluctuated over the last three (3) years and was negative at the end of 2009,
2007, 2006, and at March 31, 2010, June 30, 2010 and September 30,2010. There are material risks associated with the changes in
Blackhawk's NAV and the fact that it has been negative during such fiscal
periods. These risks are: (i) Blackhawk may be insolvent
or bankrupt due to negative NAV; (ii) fluctuations in NAV may not be reflected
in the price of the common stock in the market place and the price of the common
stock may be at a premium or discount to NAV; and (iii) when Blackhawk purchases
assets in a portfolio investment, NAV may reflect this as a liability and not an
asset.
Offering
Terms; Sales of Common Stock on Best Efforts Basis
This is
the fifth Regulation E offering that Blackhawk has conducted. This
Offering is being conducted on a "best efforts" basis, and not on a
maximum-minimum basis as was the case with Blackhawk's second Regulation E
offering. Given that this Offering is on a "best efforts" basis,
Blackhawk will close on any subscriptions it receives from prospective investors
it deems acceptable in amounts up to $5,000,000. This means that
investors who purchase shares in this Offering will not have the protection of a
maximum-minimum offering structure.
Significant
Deficiencies And Material Weaknesses In The Company's Internal Controls;
Violation of Rule 38a-1 Under The Investment Company Act
The Company has significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in its internal control over financial
reporting. Management (consisting of one individual, Dr. Craig A.
Zabala) has determined that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures are
not effective to ensure that material information is recorded, processed,
summarized and reported by management of the Company on a timely basis to comply
with the Company's disclosure obligations under the Securities Exchange Act and
the rules and regulations thereunder. Management determined that the
Company's internal control over financial reporting was not effective based on
management's identification of the material weaknesses as
follows: (a) Blackhawk has a material weakness in its internal
controls due to a lack of segregation of duties, and (b) Blackhawk lacks the
resources to hire additional personnel to perform this function until it raises
additional capital.
The Company is taking the following
steps to remedy the deficiencies: the Company seeks compliance advice from
experienced, outside counsel. Presently, the Company does not have
the funds to hire a chief compliance officer, but will hire such an individual
upon completion of this Offering.
The Company is taking the following
steps to eliminate the material weaknesses in its internal
controls: the Company is working with experienced, outside counsel to
remedy these deficiencies since it currently does not have funds to retain a
chief compliance officer.
Dr. Craig A. Zabala, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, of the Company, has served as acting Chief Compliance Officer
since 2006. Under Rule 38a-1 of the Investment Company Act, the
Company is obligated to have a chief compliance officer whose appointment must
be approved by the board of directors. The Company does not presently
have the funds to hire a chief compliance officer, but plans to hire a Chief
Compliance Officer when it completes this Offering.
Start-up
Operations; No Cash Dividend Payments to Date; Possibility of Substantial
Losses
Blackhawk
has never paid cash dividends nor does it have any present intent to do
so.
Business development is by nature a
high-risk activity that often results in substantial losses. The
companies in which Blackhawk intends to invest often lack effective management,
face operating problems and have incurred substantial
losses. Potential investees include established businesses which may
be experiencing severe financial or operating difficulties or may, in the
opinion of their management, be managed ineffectively and yet have the potential
for substantial growth or for reorganization into separate independent
companies.
Blackhawk
will attempt to reduce the level of its investment risks through one or more of
the following factors:
·
carefully
investigating potential investees;
·
financing
only what it believes to be practical business opportunities, as
contrasted to research projects;
·
selecting
effective, entrepreneurial management for its
investees;
providing
managerial assistance and support to investees in areas, where the need is
apparent;
·
obtaining,
alone or with others, actual or working control of its
investees;
·
supporting
the investees in obtaining necessary financing, and, where feasible,
arranging major contracts, joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions;
and
·
where
possible, maintaining sufficient capital resources to make follow-on
investments where necessary, appropriate and
feasible.
The
proposed operations of Blackhawk are speculative
The
success of the proposed business plan of Blackhawk will depend to a great extent
on the operations, financial condition and management of the identified target
companies. While investments in entities having established operating
histories are preferred, there can be no assurance that Blackhawk will be
successful in locating candidates meeting such criteria. The decision
to invest in a company will likely be made without detailed feasibility studies,
independent analysis, market surveys or similar information which, if Blackhawk
had more funds available to it, would be desirable. In the event
Blackhawk completes one or more stock acquisitions, the success of its
operations will be dependent upon management of those target companies and
numerous other factors beyond the control of Blackhawk. There is no
assurance that Blackhawk can identify a target company to invest in, or that
such investments will be successful.
There
is no agreement for any stock acquisitions and no minimum requirements for any
stock acquisitions
As of the
date of this Amended Preliminary Offering Circular, Blackhawk has made one
portfolio investment, the MacroMarkets investment described
herein. There can be no assurance that Blackhawk will be successful
in identifying and evaluating suitable business opportunities or in concluding
an investment. Except with respect to the ETF industry and distressed
companies previously discussed, no particular industry or specific business
within an industry has been selected for a target company. Blackhawk
has not established a specific length of operating history or a specified level
of earnings, assets, net worth or other criteria, which it will require a target
company to have achieved, or without which Blackhawk would not consider an
investment. Accordingly, Blackhawk may invest in a company which has
no significant operating history, losses, limited or no potential for immediate
earnings, limited assets, negative net worth or other negative
characteristics. There is no assurance that Blackhawk will be able to
negotiate an investment on terms favorable to Blackhawk.
Reporting
requirements may delay or preclude investments
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 and Rule 13a-11 of the Exchange Act, and Item
9.01 of Form 8-K with respect to the financial statements that must be filed in
connection with an acquisition, Blackhawk is required to provide certain
information about significant acquisitions including audited financial
statements of the acquired company. These audited financial
statements normally must be furnished within 75 days following the effective
date of a stock acquisition. Obtaining audited financial statements
are the economic responsibility of the target company. The additional
time and costs that may be incurred by some potential target companies to
prepare such financial statements may significantly delay or essentially
preclude consummation of an otherwise desirable investment by
Blackhawk. Acquisition prospects that do not have or are unable to
obtain the required audited statements may not be appropriate for investment so
long as the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act are
applicable. Notwithstanding a target company's agreement to obtain
audited financial statements within the required time frame, such audited
financial statements may not be available to Blackhawk at the time of effecting
an investment in such target company. In cases where audited
financial statements are unavailable, Blackhawk will have to rely upon
information that has not been verified by outside auditors in making its
decision to engage in a transaction with the business entity. This
risk increases the prospect that an investment with such a target company might
prove to be an unfavorable one for Blackhawk.
We
May Change Our Investment Policies Without Further Shareholder
Approval
Although
we are limited by the Investment Company Act with respect to the percentage of
our assets that must be invested in qualified investment companies, we are not
limited with respect to the minimum standard that any investment company must
meet, nor the industries in which those investment companies must
operate. We may make investments without shareholder approval and
such investments may deviate significantly from our historic
operations. Any change in our investment policy or selection of
investments could adversely affect our stock price, liquidity, and the ability
of our shareholders to sell their stock. Any investment made by
Blackhawk must be consistent with the BDC provisions of the Investment Company
Act.
Our
Investments May Not Generate Sufficient Income to Cover Our
Operations
We intend
to make investments into qualified companies that will provide the greatest
overall return on our investment. However, certain of those
investments may fail, in which case we will not receive any return on our
investment. In addition, our investments may not generate income,
either in the immediate future, or at all. As a result, we may have
to sell additional stock, or borrow money, to cover our operating
expenses. In the past, Blackhawk has borrowed money from its largest
stockholder, Concorde, to fund its operating expenses. Concorde has
agreed to provide sufficient capital to fund limited operating
expenses. However, there can be no assurance that (i) Concorde will
have money to loan to Blackhawk, and (ii) Concorde will continue to lend money
to Blackhawk after such date. As of the date of this Amended
Preliminary Offering Circular, Concorde does not have funds to lend to or
contribute to Blackhawk. The effect of such actions could cause our
stock price to decline or, if we are not successful in raising additional
capital, we could cease to continue as a going concern.
Regulatory
Oversight; Compliance Requirements
As a BDC,
Blackhawk is subject to the provisions of Sections 55 through 65 of the
Investment Company Act, and certain additional provisions of that Act made
applicable to business development companies by Section 59 of that
Act. Under these regulations, Blackhawk's investment policies are
defined and subject to certain limitations. Furthermore, under
Section 58 of that Act, Blackhawk may not withdraw its election to be so
regulated as a business development company without the consent of a majority of
its issued and outstanding voting securities.
Blackhawk
has no fixed policy as to any particular business or industry group in which it
may invest or as to the amount or type of securities or assets that it may
acquire. Blackhawk may in the future invest in assets that are not
qualifying assets as defined by Section 55 of the Investment Company Act;
however, no such additional assets have been identified as of the date of this
Memorandum, and Blackhawk does not intend to fall below the 70% requirement as
set forth in Section 55 of that Act.
At the
time of sale of Blackhawk's portfolio securities, there may not be a market of
sufficient stability to allow Blackhawk to sell its entire position, potentially
resulting in Blackhawk not being able to sell such securities at prevailing
market prices or at the prices at which Blackhawk may have valued its position
in the investee's securities.
Market
Price for Common Stock; Illiquidity of Common Stock
Since
October 2010 shares of Common Stock have traded very infrequently on the OTC
Markets on the OTCQB under the symbol BHCG. Prior to trading on the
OTC Markets OTC QB, shares traded very infrequently on the OTC Bulletin
Board. During the period from January 2007 to January 25, 2011,
shares have traded between $0.04 and $0.90, with extremely limited trading
volume.
The shares do not trade frequently and
there can be wide gaps in the bid and ask prices for the shares of Common
Stock. Investors should be aware of these market conditions in
considering whether to purchase shares in this Offering.
Valuation-Policy
Guidelines
Blackhawk's
Board of Directors is responsible for the valuation of Blackhawk's assets in
accordance with its approved guidelines. Blackhawk's board of
directors is responsible for recommending overall valuation guidelines and the
valuation of the specific investments.
There is
a range of values that are reasonable for an investment at any particular
time. Fair value is generally defined as the price at which the
investment in question could change hands, the "exit price," assuming that both
parties to the transaction are under no unusual pressure to buy or sell and have
both reasonable knowledge of all the relevant facts.
Effective
January 1, 2008, Blackhawk adopted SFAS No. 157, "Fair Value Measurements"
("SFAS 157"), for investments measured at fair value on a recurring
basis. SFAS 157 accomplishes the following key
objectives:
•
Defines
fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to
transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants
at the measurement date;
Establishes
a three-level hierarchy ("Valuation Hierarchy") for fair value
measurements;
•
Requires
consideration of Blackhawk's creditworthiness when valuing liabilities;
and
•
Expands
disclosures about instruments measured at fair
value.
The
Valuation Hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of
an asset or liability as of the measurement date. A financial
instrument's categorization within the Valuation Hierarchy is based upon the
lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value
measurement. The three levels of the Valuation Hierarchy and the
distribution of Blackhawk's financial assets within it are as
follows:
•
Level
1 - inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices (unadjusted) for
identical assets or liabilities in active
markets.
•
Level
2 - inputs to the valuation methodology include quoted prices for similar
assets and liabilities in active markets, and inputs that are observable
for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, for
substantially the full term of the financial
instrument.
•
Level
3 - inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable and significant
to the fair value measurement.
To
increase objectivity in valuing its assets and complementing SFAS 157, Blackhawk
also intends to use external measures of value such as public markets or
significant third-party transactions whenever possible. Neither a
long-term workout value nor an immediate liquidation value will be used, and no
increment of value will be included for changes that may take place in the
future. Certain members of Blackhawk's Board of Directors may hold
positions in some of Blackhawk's investee companies.
Valuations
assume that, in the ordinary course of its business, Blackhawk will eventually
sell its position in the private or public market or may distribute its larger
positions to its stockholders. Accordingly, no premiums will be
placed on investments to reflect the ability of Blackhawk to sell block
positions or control of companies, either by itself or in conjunction with other
investors.
In fact,
in certain circumstances, Blackhawk may have to sell the securities it owns of
its investees in the open market at discounts to market prices at the time of
sale, due to the large position it may hold relative to the average daily
trading volume.
In
addition to SFAS 157, Blackhawk intends to use four basic methods of valuation
for its investments to assist its Board of Directors in the valuation
process. As an investee evolves, its progress may sometime require
changes in Blackhawk's method of valuing the investee's
securities. Blackhawk's investment will be separated into its
component parts (such as debt, preferred stock, common stock or warrants), and
each component will be valued separately to arrive at a total
value. Blackhawk believes that a mixture of valuation methods is
often essential to represent a fair value of Blackhawk's investment position in
any particular investee. For example, one method may be appropriate
for the equity securities of a company while another method may be appropriate
for the senior securities of the same company. In various instances
of valuation, the board of directors of Blackhawk may modify the valuation
methods mentioned below based on the board of directors best judgment in any
particular situation.
The cost
method values an investment based on its original cost to Blackhawk, adjusted
for the amortization of original issue discount, accrued interest and certain
capitalized expenditures of Blackhawk. While the cost method is the
simplest method of valuation, it is often the most unreliable because it is
applied in the early stages of an investee's development and is often not
directly tied to objective measurements. All investments are carried
at cost until significant positive or adverse events subsequent to the date of
the original investment warrant a change to another method. Some
examples of such events are: (1) a major recapitalization; (2) a major
refinancing; (3) a significant third-party transaction; (4) the development of a
meaningful public market for the investee's common stock; and (5) material
positive or adverse changes in the investee's business.
The
appraisal method is used to value an investment position based upon a careful
analysis of the best available outside information when there is no established
public or private market in the investee company's securities and it is no
longer appropriate to use the cost method. Comparisons are made using
factors (such as earnings, sales or net worth) that influence the market value
of similar public companies or that are used in the pricing of private
transactions of comparable companies. Major discounts, usually in
percentages up to 50%, are taken when private companies are appraised by
comparing private company to similar public companies. Liquidation
value may be used when an investee company is performing substantially below
plan and its continuation as an operating entity is in doubt. Under
the appraisal method, the differences among companies in terms of the source and
type of revenues, quality of earnings, and capital structure are carefully
considered.
An
appraisal method value can be defined as the price at which the investment in
question could change hands, assuming that both parties to the transaction are
under no unusual pressure to buy or to sell, and both have reasonable knowledge
of all the relevant facts. In the case of start-up companies where
the entire assets may consist of only one or more of the following: (1) a
marketing plan, (2) management or (3) a pilot operation, an evaluation may be
established by capitalizing the amount of the investment that could reasonably
be obtained for a predetermined percentage of the ownership in the particular
company. Valuations under the appraisal method are considered to be
more subjective than the cost, public market or private market
methods.
The
private market method uses third-party transactions (actual or proposed) in the
investee's securities as the basis for valuation. This method is
considered to be an objective measure of value since it depends upon the
judgment of a sophisticated, independent investor. Actual firm offers are used
as well as historical transactions, provided that any offer used was seriously
considered and well documented.
The
public market method is the preferred method of valuation when there is an
established public market for the investee's securities, since that market
provides the most objective basis for valuation. In determining
whether the public market is sufficiently established for valuation purposes, we
intend to examine the trading volumes, the number of stockholders and the number
of market makers. Under the public market method, as well as under
the other valuation methods, we may discount investment positions that are
subject to significant legal, contractual or practical
restrictions.
Regulation
- BDCs
The
following is a summary description of the Investment Company Act, as applied to
BDCs. This description is qualified in its entirety by reference to
the full text of the Investment Company Act applicable to BDCs and the rules
promulgated thereunder by the Commission.
The Small
Business Investment Incentive Act of 1980 became law on October 21, 1980. This
law modified the provisions of the Investment Company Act, which are applicable
to a company, such as Blackhawk, which is a "business development
company." Blackhawk elected to be treated as a business development
company on September 20, 2004. Blackhawk may not withdraw its
election without first obtaining the approval of a majority of its outstanding
voting securities.
A BDC
must be operated for the purpose of investing in the securities of certain
present and former "eligible portfolio companies" and certain bankrupt or
insolvent companies and must make available significant managerial assistance to
its investee companies. An eligible portfolio company generally is a
United States company that is not an investment company (except for wholly-owned
small business investment companies licensed by the U.S. Small Business
Administration) and (1) does not have a class of securities included in the
Federal Reserve Board's over-the-counter margin list, (2) is actively controlled
by the business development company and has an affiliate of the business
development company on its board of directors, or (3) meets such other criteria
as may be established by the Commission. Control, under the Investment Company
Act, as amended, is presumed to exist where the business development company,
and its affiliates or related parties, own 25% or more of the issued and
outstanding voting securities of the investee. The Commission in 2007
adopted revised rules expanding certain definitions of eligible portfolio
companies.
The
Investment Company Act prohibits or restricts Blackhawk from investing in
certain types of companies, such as brokerage firms, insurance companies,
investment banking firms and investment companies. Moreover, the
Investment Company Act limits the type of assets that Blackhawk may acquire to
"qualifying assets" and certain other assets necessary for its operations (such
as office furniture, equipment and facilities) if, at the time of the
acquisition, less than 70% of the value of Blackhawk's assets consists of
qualifying assets. The effect of this regulation is to require that
at least 70% of a business development company's assets be maintained in
qualifying assets. Qualifying assets include: (1) securities of
companies that were eligible portfolio companies at the time Blackhawk acquired
their securities; (2) securities of bankrupt or insolvent companies that are not
otherwise eligible portfolio companies; (3) securities acquired as follow-on
investments in companies that were eligible at the time of Blackhawk's initial
acquisition of their securities but are no longer eligible, provided that
Blackhawk has maintained a substantial portion of its initial investment in
those companies; (4) securities received in exchange for or distributed on or
with respect to any of the foregoing; and (5) cash items, government securities
and high-quality, short-term debt. The Investment Company Act also
places restrictions on the nature of the transactions in which, and the persons
from whom, securities can be purchased in order for the securities to be
considered to be qualifying assets. As of the date of this Amended
Preliminary Offering Circular, Blackhawk has made the MacroMarkets
investment, its only portfolio investment. The net proceeds raised in
its second and third Regulation E offerings were invested in the securities
referenced in subsection (5) above and $250,000 was used to make the
MacroMarkets investment.
The
Investment Company Act, under specified conditions, permits Blackhawk to issue
multiple classes of senior debt and preferred stock, if its asset coverage, as
defined in the Investment Company Act, is at least 200% after the issuance of
the debt or the preferred stock. Blackhawk currently has no policy
regarding the issuance of multiple classes of senior debt.
Blackhawk
may issue, in limited amounts, warrants, options and rights to purchase its
securities to its directors, officers and employees (and provide loans to such
persons for the exercise thereof) in connection with an executive compensation
plan, if certain conditions are met. These conditions include the
authorization of such issuance by a majority of Blackhawk's voting securities
(as defined below) and the approval by a majority of the independent members of
the board of directors and by a majority of the directors who have no financial
interest in the transaction. The issuance of options, warrants or
rights to directors who are not also officers requires the prior approval of the
Commission.
As
defined in the Investment Company Act, the term "majority of a registrant's
issued and outstanding voting securities" means the vote of (a) 67% or more of a
registrant's issued and outstanding common stock present at a meeting, if the
holders of more than 50% of the issued and outstanding common stock are present
or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of a registrant's outstanding
common stock, whichever is less.
Blackhawk
may sell its securities at a price that is below the prevailing net asset value
per share only upon the approval of the policy by the holders of a majority of
its issued and outstanding voting securities, including a majority of the voting
securities held by non-affiliated persons, at its last annual meeting or within
one year prior to the transaction. In addition, Blackhawk may
repurchase its common stock, subject to the restrictions of the Investment
Company Act.
In
accordance with the Investment Company Act, a majority of the members of
Blackhawk's board of directors must not be "interested persons" of Blackhawk, as
that term is defined in the Investment Company Act. Generally,
"interested persons" of Blackhawk include all affiliated persons of Blackhawk
and members of their immediate families, any "interested person" of an
underwriter or of an "investment advisor" to Blackhawk, any person who has acted
as legal counsel to Blackhawk within the last two fiscal years, or any broker or
dealer, or affiliate of a broker or dealer.
Most of
the transactions involving Blackhawk and its affiliates (as well as affiliates
of those affiliates) which were prohibited without the prior approval of the
Commission under the Investment Company Act, prior to its amendment by the Small
Business Investment Incentive Act now require the prior approval of a majority
of Blackhawk's independent directors and a majority of the directors having no
financial interest in the transactions. The effect of this amendment
is that Blackhawk may engage in certain affiliated transactions that would be
prohibited, absent prior Commission approval in the case of investment
companies, which are not business development companies. However,
certain transactions involving certain closely affiliated persons of Blackhawk,
including its directors, officers and employees, still require the prior
approval of the Commission. In general, "affiliated persons" of a
person include: (a) any person who owns, controls or holds with power to vote,
more than five percent of Blackhawk's issued and outstanding common stock, (b)
any director, executive officer or general partner of that person, (c) any
person who directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with that person, and (d) any person five percent or more of whose
outstanding voting securities are directly or indirectly owned, controlled or
held with power to vote, by such other person. Such persons generally
must obtain the prior approval of a majority of Blackhawk's independent
directors and, in some situations, the prior approval of the Commission, before
engaging in certain transactions involving Blackhawk or any company controlled
by Blackhawk. In accordance with the Investment Company Act, a
majority of the members of Blackhawk's board of directors are not interested
persons as defined in the Investment Company Act. The Investment
Company Act generally does not restrict transactions between Blackhawk and its
investee companies.
Finally,
notwithstanding restrictions imposed under federal securities laws, it is
anticipated that Blackhawk will acquire securities of investee companies
pursuant to stock purchase agreements or other agreements that may further limit
Blackhawk's ability to distribute, sell or transfer such
securities. And as a practical matter, even if such transfers are
legally or contractually permissible, there may be no market, or a very limited
market, for such securities. Economic conditions may also make the price and
terms of a sale or transfer transactions unattractive.
In
addition to the above-described provisions of the Investment Company Act, there
are a number of other provisions of the federal securities laws that affect
Blackhawk's operations. For example, restrictions imposed by the
federal securities laws, in addition to possible contractual provisions, may
adversely affect the ability of Blackhawk to sell or otherwise to distribute or
dispose of its portfolio securities.
Most if
not all securities that Blackhawk acquires as venture capital investments will
be "restricted securities" within the meaning of the Securities Act and will not
be permitted to be resold without compliance with the Securities
Act. Thus, Blackhawk will not be permitted to resell portfolio
securities unless a registration statement has been declared effective by the
Commission with respect to such securities or Blackhawk is able to rely on an
available exemption from such registration requirements. In most
cases Blackhawk will endeavor to obtain from its investee companies
"registration rights," pursuant to which Blackhawk will be able to demand that
an investee company register the securities owned by Blackhawk at the expense of
the investee company. Even if the investee company bears this
expense, however, the registration of any securities owned by Blackhawk is
likely to be a time-consuming process, and Blackhawk always bears the risk,
because of these delays, that it will be unable to resell such securities, or
that it will not be able to obtain an attractive price for such
securities.
At times
Blackhawk will not register portfolio securities for sale but will seek to sell
and sometimes seek an exemption from registration for portfolio
securities. The most likely exemption available to Blackhawk is
Section 4(1) of the Securities Act, which, in effect, exempts sales of
securities in transactions by any person other than an issuer, underwriter or
dealer. This exemption will likely be available to permit a private
sale of portfolio securities and in some cases a public sale, if the provisions
of Rule 144 under the Securities Act, are complied with. The
Commission has adopted changes to Rule 144, including shortening the one-year
holding period to six-months for sales of securities by
non-affiliates.
Blackhawk
may elect to distribute in-kind securities of investee companies to its
stockholders. Prior to any such distribution, Blackhawk expects that
it will need to file, or cause the issuers of such distributed securities, to
file, a registration statement or, in the alternative, an information statement,
which when declared effective by the Commission, will permit the distribution of
such securities and also permit distributee stockholders of Blackhawk to sell
such distributed securities.
Blackhawk
does not currently intend to pay cash dividends. Blackhawk's current dividend
policy is to make in-kind distributions of its larger investment positions to
its stockholders when Blackhawk's board of directors deems such distributions
appropriate. Because Blackhawk does not intend to make cash
distributions, stockholders would need to sell securities distributed in-kind,
when and if distributed, in order to realize a return on their
investment.
An
in-kind distribution will be made only when, in the judgment of Blackhawk’s
board of directors, it is in the best interest of Blackhawk's stockholders to do
so. The board of directors will review, among other things, the
investment quality and marketability of the securities considered for
distribution; the impact of a distribution of the investee's securities on the
investee's customers, joint venture associates, other investors, financial
institutions and management; tax consequences and the market effects of an
initial or broader distribution of such securities. Securities of
Blackhawk's larger investment positions in more mature investee companies with
established public markets are most likely to be considered for
distribution. It is possible that Blackhawk may make an in-kind
distribution of securities that are substantially liquid irrespective of the
distributee's stockholder rights to sell such securities. Any such
in-kind distribution would require stockholder approval only if the distribution
represents substantially all of Blackhawk's assets. It is possible
that Blackhawk may make an in-kind distribution of securities that have
appreciated or depreciated from the time of purchase depending upon the
particular distribution. Blackhawk has not established a policy as to
the frequency or size of distributions and indeed there can be no assurance that
any distributions will be made.
Managerial
Assistance
Blackhawk
believes that providing significant managerial assistance to its investees is
critical to its business development activities. "Making available
significant managerial assistance" as defined in the Investment Company Act,
with respect to a business development company such as Blackhawk, means (a) any
arrangement whereby a business development company, through its directors,
officers, employees or general partners, offers to provide, and, if accepted,
does so provide, significant guidance and counsel concerning the management,
operations, or business objectives and policies of a portfolio company; or (b)
the exercise by a business development company of a controlling influence over
the management or policies of a portfolio company by the business development
company acting individually or as a part of a group acting together which
controls such portfolio company. Blackhawk is required by the
Investment Company Act to make significant managerial assistance available at
least with respect to investee companies that Blackhawk will treat as qualifying
assets for purposes of the 70% test. The nature, timing and amount of
managerial assistance provided by Blackhawk varies depending upon the particular
requirements of each investee company.
Blackhawk
may be involved with its investees in recruiting management, product planning,
marketing and advertising and the development of financial plans, operating
strategies and corporate goals. In this connection, Blackhawk may
assist clients in developing and utilizing accounting procedures to record
efficiently and accurately, transactions in books of account that will
facilitate asset and cost control and the ready determination of results of
operations. Blackhawk may also seek capital for its investees from
other potential investors and occasionally subordinate its own investment to
those of other investors. Where possible, Blackhawk may introduce its
investees to potential suppliers, customers and joint venture partners and
assist its investees in establishing relationships with commercial and
investment bankers and other professionals, including management consultants,
recruiters, legal counsel and independent accountants. Blackhawk also
intends to assist in obtaining joint ventures, acquisitions and
mergers.
In
connection with its managerial assistance, Blackhawk may be represented by one
or more of its officers or directors who are members of the board of directors
of an investee. As an investment matures and the investee develops
management depth and experience, Blackhawk's role will become progressively less
active. However, when Blackhawk owns or could acquire a substantial
proportion of a more mature investee company's equity, Blackhawk may remain
active in, and may frequently be involved in, the planning of major transactions
by the investee. Blackhawk's goal is to assist each investee company
in establishing its own independent and effective board of directors and
management.
Competition
Blackhawk
is subject to substantial competition from business development companies,
venture capital firms, new product development companies, marketing companies
and diversified manufacturers and other companies, most of whom are larger than
Blackhawk and have significantly larger net worth, financial and personnel
resources than does Blackhawk. In addition, Blackhawk competes with
companies and individuals engaged in the business of providing management
consulting services.
Concorde's
Ownership of Blackhawk Common Stock; Affiliates, Conflicts of
Interest
As of the
date of this Amended Preliminary Offering Circular, Concorde owns 10,017,591
shares of Blackhawk Common Stock, representing 30.85% of the outstanding shares
of Common Stock. Dr. Zabala, Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Concorde, is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blackhawk,
and controls Concorde through his 62.42% stock ownership of
Concorde. He also owns or controls 2,432,500 shares of Blackhawk
Common Stock, representing 7.49% of the outstanding shares of Blackhawk Common
Stock. Concorde and Dr. Zabala may be deemed to control
Blackhawk. Conflicts of interest may arise between Concorde and
Blackhawk for business and investment opportunities and other
matters. Any conflicts of interest will be resolved by a board
committee of Blackhawk directors consisting of only independent Blackhawk
directors.
PRIOR REGULATION E
OFFERINGS
Blackhawk
has conducted four prior Regulation E offerings. The first Regulation
E offering terminated on May 18, 2005 and raised net cash proceeds of
$17,929. Net proceeds were used to pay for professional services
(legal and accounting), consulting, filing fees, insurance, interest expense to
affiliate, and other miscellaneous expenses. The second Regulation E
offering terminated on November 15, 2007 and raised net cash proceeds of
$525,001. Proceeds were used to pay for professional services (legal,
accounting, and consulting), advisory fees, filing fees, insurance, interest
expense to affiliate, and other miscellaneous expenses, and for short-term
investments pending portfolio investment. The third Regulation E
offering terminated on November 28, 2008 (the last offer or sale in that
offering was made on June 29, 2008) and raised net cash proceeds of
$1,168,801. Net proceeds were used to pay for professional services
(legal and accounting), investment advisory fees, filing fees, insurance, and
other miscellaneous expenses, and for short-term investments pending portfolio
investment. The fourth Regulation E Offering was unsuccessful and the
Company did not raise any money in that offering; it was terminated on January21, 2010.
Item 1. General
Description of the Issuer.
On
September 14, 2004, Blackhawk filed a Form N-54A Notification with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, electing to become a business development
company pursuant to Section 54 of the Investment Company Act.
Blackhawk
was incorporated on April 22, 2004 under the laws of the State of Delaware to
engage in any lawful corporate undertaking. Blackhawk's operations to date have
been limited to issuing shares to its original shareholders, organizational and
administrative activities, and conducting five offerings (including this
Offering) under Regulation E, and investing in MacroMarkets LLC (see
below).
The
Company completed its third Regulation E offering in November
2007. The net amount raised in the three offerings was $1,711,731. At
this time, the financial crisis in the U.S. economy and among U.S. financial
services and other companies was upon us. Thereafter, during the
period from late 2007-2010, Blackhawk engaged a number of FINRA-member broker
dealers to raise capital, but were all unsuccessful, as the upheaval in the U.S.
capital markets and related regulatory policies precluded all but the very
largest U.S. companies to access the public markets. Other BDCs
sustained severe losses on their portfolio investments during this
period. It was not until 2010 that financial markets and general
economic conditions began to improve somewhat. While we were only
able to make one investment (MacroMarkets) during this period of turmoil, the
Company did not suffer the losses, and resulting legacy issues, from additional
investments during this period.
In
addition, the Company incurred a great deal of expenses as a result of an SEC
audit, two very long and comprehensive SEC reviews (financial and non-financial)
of the Company’s Form 1-Es and 1-E/As and 1934 Act filings, four Regulation E
offerings and several unsuccessful Regulation D offerings and the legal,
accounting and placement agent expenses in connection with such offerings, and
the drafting, preparation and filing of the Company’s required 1934 Act
filings.
The Company is committed to its
obligations to operate as a BDC under the Investment Company
Act.
Blackhawk will attempt to locate
eligible portfolio companies and other assets to invest in, lend funds to,
acquire an interest in and/or possibly manage. Blackhawk intends to offer
managerial assistance to eligible portfolio companies in which it
invests. Blackhawk intends to acquire a portfolio or portfolios of
investments, for shares of its Common Stock, from one or several holders of
assets. There can be no assurance that Blackhawk will be able to
close any of such transactions or on favorable terms if
closed. Blackhawk may attempt to negotiate a commitment for a credit
facility to provide additional capital for the purchase of portfolio assets, but
there can be no assurance that it will be able to secure such a credit
facility.
Blackhawk
plans to invest in the lower quadrant of the US middle-market in a diverse range
of industries. These investments will include various types of debt
and equity securities issued by lower middle-market companies with market
capitalizations and revenues under $300 million, which Blackhawk believes is a
critically underserved segment of the US capital markets. Blackhawk
believes its investment strategy with lower middle-market companies is
opportunistic because these companies have been historically under-serviced, by
both the commercial banking industry and U.S. based investment
firms. This situation has been exacerbated during the current credit
crisis which has led to a contraction and consolidation of financing sources;
there are fewer commercial banks, specialty finance companies, private equity
funds and hedge funds focused on financing lower middle-market
companies. Record levels of uninvested private equity capital
(estimated at over $500 billion) and refinancing needs (including $300 billion
of high-yield bonds maturing in next two years), which will fuel demand for
leveraged lending, will only exacerbate the tendency of larger financial
services firms to underserve the lower middle-market. These market
conditions, which are expected to continue for a prolonged period of time, may
allow Blackhawk to negotiate favorable terms with lower middle-market companies,
including higher yields, lower/safer leverage levels, more significant covenant
protection and greater equity participation than typical of other market
transactions. Blackhawk will generally seek to avoid competing
directly with other capital providers in order to avoid the less favorable terms
typically associated with such competitive investment
opportunities. The Company’s investment objective is to generate both
current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity
investments. There can be no assurance that these objectives will be
met or that Blackhawk will be able to make any of these investments or have the
funds to make any of the investments.
Blackhawk
would seek to invest in compelling opportunities in the credit markets for the
lower quadrant of the US middle market. Middle market finance sector
has lost a significant number of competitors. Bank consolidation has
reduced competition; high yield market focus is on larger companies and
transactions; senior lending restraint has re-established need for mezzanine
funding, particularly for small to mid-size companies. Competition from finance
companies, hedge funds and CLOs has diminished due to scarce capital and risk
concerns.
Middle
market debt securities are more attractive than broadly syndicated debt
securities. These generally have more conservative capital
structures, tighter financial covenants, better security packages and higher
yields. Established financial relationships are a high barrier to
entry in the middle market financing business. There is a preference
for accessing capital from, and maintaining close and longstanding relationships
with, a small group of established capital providers. There is a
preference by private middle market companies to execute transactions with
private capital providers, rather than public high-yield bond transactions,
which generally necessitate SEC compliance and reporting
obligations. The middle market debt sector is a highly fragmented
portion of the overall leveraged finance market, in which many of the largest
capital providers choose not to participate as a result of a preference for
larger, more liquid transactions.
All of
the above investment categories are subject to the investment restrictions in
the BDC provisions of the Investment Company Act applicable to Blackhawk,
including without limitation that Blackhawk not invest in an "investment
company" registered under the Investment Company Act.
As a
business development company or BDC, Blackhawk is able to raise money to acquire
interests in small private business, as well as larger private companies, and
distressed public companies as defined under the business development company
provisions of the Investment Company Act. We intend to seek equity
positions and on going relationships with companies offering sustainable and
profitable growth. We do not intend to limit our acquisitions to a
single line of business or industry.
The
Company's investment objective is not a fundamental policy and may be changed
without shareholder approval. The Company may invest to control or
manage any portfolio companies.
Consistent
with Section 58 of the Investment Company Act, we may not, unless authorized by
the vote of a majority of our outstanding common stock, change the nature of our
business so as to cease to be, or to withdraw our election as, a business
development company. In addition, as a BDC, we will not make any
significant material changes in our investment guidelines and policies without
obtaining the approval of our Board of Directors.
Blackhawk
may invest in a variety of securities, including bonds, convertible debentures,
preferred stock and common stock. We have not set a policy as to what
proportion of our assets may be invested in any type of security, nor have we
set a policy regarding a potential concentration in any particular industry or
group of industries.
Blackhawk
will seek to render significant managerial assistance to and/or control of
eligible companies. While we do not currently intend to invest as
part of a group, we have not set any policy to that effect, and may determine to
so invest in the future without seeking shareholder approval. We have
not yet set a policy with respect to any assets that are not required to be
invested in eligible portfolio companies or other companies qualifying under
Section 55 of the Investment Company Act.
Consistent
with its objective of long-term capital appreciation, Blackhawk will consult
with its investees with respect to obtaining capital and offers managerial
assistance to selected businesses that, in the opinion of our management, have a
significant potential for growth.
In
addition to acquiring investment positions in new and developing companies,
Blackhawk may also occasionally invest in more mature privately and
publicly-held companies, some of which may be experiencing financial
difficulties, but which, Blackhawk believes, have potential for further
development or revitalization, and which, in the long-term, could experience
growth and achieve profitability.
Blackhawk
has engaged Barak Asset Management, LLC, a New York limited liability company
("Barak"), and an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers
Act of 1940, as amended, to serve as an investment adviser to Blackhawk and
manage its portfolio of investments at such time as when Blackhawk has portfolio
investments. Barak was formed by Sharon Highland in 2006. From 2002
to 2006, Ms. Highland was Director of Product Development and Management in the
Private Client Group for managed accounts, open and closed-end funds at
BlackRock. From 1997 to 2002, she was Senior Vice President and Head
of Wrap Fee Investments at PIMCO Allianz. Barak’s engagement is
pursuant to an investment advisory management agreement dated October 31, 2006,
with a one-year term (extendable for one year periods) subject to Blackhawk's
right to terminate upon sixty (60) days notice, and has fees ranging from 0.50%
to 1.80% of assets managed. Fees depend on the type and amount of
assets purchased. For example, if the Company purchases equities in
the amount of $1,000,000, it would pay Barak a fee of 0.5625% of the amount of
equity security purchased. If the Company purchased a bond in the
amount of $500,000, it would pay Barak a fee of 0.50% of the amount of bond
purchased. The range of fees for all securities managed by Barak is
..20% to .875%, provided that aggregate fees for assets under management equal to
$150 million will be no more than .50% annually. The agreement was
renewed to October 31, 2011 by the board of directors in accordance with the
Investment Company Act. Barak manages assets of Blackhawk on a
non-exclusive basis consistent with Blackhawk's business development company
("BDC") investment guidelines and policies and consistent with the BDC
provisions under the Investment Company Act.
Since
being retained as investment advisor to the Company commencing October 2006,
Barak has provided investment and portfolio management services, including
selecting, monitoring and selling the Company's short-term
investments.
The
custodian of the Company's securities is Barak Asset Management LLC
Reliance
on Strong Management Teams of Investee Companies
Blackhawk
believes that it will be most likely to succeed in its investment strategies if
its investee companies have strong management teams. Generally,
Blackhawk intends to focus as much or more on finding and supporting business
executives who have the ability, entrepreneurial motivation and experience
required to build independent companies with a significant potential for growth,
as it will on identifying, selecting and financing investment opportunities
based on promising ideas, products or marketing
strategies. Consistent with this belief, Blackhawk believes it will
be able to provide investee companies with managerial assistance. For
example, we intend to encourage our investee companies to afford their
management teams opportunities for meaningful equity participation and assist
them in planning means to accomplish this result.
MacroMarkets
Investment
On
January 12, 2009, Blackhawk made its first portfolio investment when it entered
into a voting capital interests purchase agreement ("Purchase Agreement") with
MacroMarkets LLC, a Delaware limited liability company
("MacroMarkets"). Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Blackhawk
purchased a five percent (5%) membership interest in MacroMarkets for $250,000
and Dr. Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blackhawk, was appointed
a non-voting board member of MacroMarkets. The Purchase Agreement
contains standard representations, warranties and indemnification
provisions. The transaction closed on January 12, 2009. Blackhawk
used funds from working capital to make the equity investment.
MacroMarkets,
LLC owns MacroFinancial LLC, which is a FINRA registered broker-dealer and has
served in the role of distributor of all MacroMarkets registered products to
date. MacroMarkets terminated its most recent public products in
December 2009 under a preauthorized termination event which also terminated
MacroFinancial's distribution of these products. The firm maintains
its broker-dealer status with FINRA and is current on all required filings and
activities. MacroFinancial will resume its distribution role of
MacroMarkets products once new product offerings are filed and
approved.
To date
six (6) MacroShare products (3 pairs) have been publicly
listed. Currently, there are no MacroShare products
listed. Of the six (6) listed products, the first pair reached an
asset level of $1,600,000,000 and average daily trading volume of 3,000,000
before it reached a termination trigger. The second and third pair
reached asset levels of $50,000,000 and $30,000,000, respectively, and were
terminated due to insufficient investor interest. Currently,
MacroMarkets is working on several new MacroShare product offerings which it
expects to file for registration in the next few months.
MacroMarkets
holds patents for MacroShares®, an exchange-traded product family whose unique
structure can be applied to asset classes that can be reliably
indexed.
Here is
the information on the MacroMarkets investment interest in tabular
form:
Financial
technology specializing in exchange traded funds and
securities
Original
Investment
$250,000
Value
of Investment (9/30/2010)
$250,000
Relationship
With Concorde and Other Matters
Blackhawk
has the following affiliated relationships with Concorde:
·
Concorde
owns 10,017,591 shares of Common Stock of Blackhawk, representing 30.85%
of the outstanding shares of Common Stock of
Blackhawk;
·
To
the extent that current resources are not sufficient for the Company to
pay its obligations as they become due, Concorde has agreed to provide
sufficient capital to the Company to subsidize operational expenses to
operate if it has the capital to assist the Company; Concorde presently
does not have any funds to assist the
Company;
Blackhawk
shares office space and other administrative functions with Concorde; the
Board of Directors of Blackhawk voted to start paying Concorde monthly
rent of $4,000 beginning January 1, 2009; rent incurred in each of the
three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 amounted to
$12,000 and $36,000 respectively; at September 30, 2010, $14,000 was due
to Concorde;
·
As
of September 30, 2010, Concorde paid $8,484 of expenses on behalf of
Blackhawk; and
·
Dr.
Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blackhawk, also holds such
positions with Concorde (along with the title of President) and owns
62.42% of Concorde's outstanding shares of Common
Stock.
From
inception (April 22, 2004) through September 30, 2010, Blackhawk funded its cash
operating requirements through the sale of its common stock and loans from
Concorde.
In 2004,
Blackhawk received $65 from the founders and $16,647, net of costs of $4,272,
from the sale of stock under its first Regulation E offering.
In 2005,
Blackhawk received $1,282, net of costs of $87,635, from the sale of stock under
its first Regulation E offering.
During
2004, 2005 and 2006, Blackhawk borrowed $91,908, $13,281 and $133,005,
respectively, from Concorde to fund the formation of Blackhawk, offering costs
for the offering plan and operating expenses. Of the amount borrowed
in 2006, $100,000 was evidenced by a demand convertible note bearing interest at
8.25% per annum convertible after November 1, 2006 into common stock of
Blackhawk at a price of $1.00 per share or the price per share of Blackhawk's
second Regulation E offering. The balance of borrowings were
non-interest bearing and are due on demand. The borrowings were
approved unanimously by the Board of Directors of Blackhawk as fair and in the
best interests of Blackhawk.
Pursuant
to the Company's second Regulation E offering, as of June 4, 2007, the Company
sold and exchanged an aggregate of 502,891 shares of Common Stock at a purchase
price of $1.00 per share, to four (4) accredited investors for an aggregate
amount of $502,891. The sale consisted of the following: (i) 370,000
shares sold to three (3) accredited investors for the purchase price of $1.00
per share, or an aggregate of $370,000; and (ii) the issuance of 132,891 to
Concorde, an affiliate and the largest stockholder of the Company, in exchange
for (x) $107,391 in a convertible note (consisting of $100,000 in principal and
$7,391 in accrued and unpaid interest) owed by the Company to Concorde and
issued on August 1, 2006 and (y) $25,500 in a convertible note owed by the
Company to Concorde and issued on May 29, 2007. The conversion price
for both of these notes was $1.00 per share of Common Stock. In June
and July 2007, the Company sold an additional 150,000 and 5,000, respectively,
shares of its Common Stock for an aggregate of $155,000 in cash in the second
Regulation E offering. The net cash proceeds from the second
Regulation E offering were $525,001.
Pursuant
to the Company's third Regulation E offering, which commenced on November 30,2007, Blackhawk sold an aggregate of 1,298,112 shares of Common Stock, at a
purchase price of $1.00 per share to nine (9) purchasers for an aggregate amount
of $1,298,112 during the year ended December 31, 2008. Selling
commissions were $129,311.
The net
cash proceeds from the three (3) Regulation E offerings were
$1,711,731.
The
fourth Regulation E Offering did not raise any funds. It was
terminated on January 21, 2010.
On June21, 2006, Blackhawk entered into an Exchange Agreement ("Exchange Agreement")
with Concorde pursuant to which a Note issued by Blackhawk on May 3, 2006 to
Concorde in the principal amount of $68,847 was exchanged for 6,884,700 shares
("Shares") of Common Stock of Blackhawk. The Shares were "restricted
securities" as defined in Rule 144 of the Securities Act. The stock
was issued in the exchange at $.01 per share. This exchange took
place pursuant to Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act as an exchange by an
issuer with an existing security holder where no commission or other
remuneration was paid or given to Concorde or any other party for soliciting
such exchange. This transaction was approved by all of the directors
of Blackhawk pursuant to action by unanimous written consent as fair and in the
best interests of Blackhawk and its stockholders.
Concorde
converted a portion of amount due from Blackhawk totaling $61,432 into 6,143,200
shares of Common Stock at the offering price of $.01 per share in
2005.
On April23, 2004, Blackhawk issued 8,500,000 shares of Series A preferred stock and
11,000,000 shares of common stock to its founders at $.00001 per share for a
total of $195. Between September 27, 2004 and December 31, 2005,
Blackhawk sold 17,126,781 shares of its Common Stock at $.01 per share for a
total of $171,268, which includes 6,143,200 shares issued to Concorde paid for
by reducing a portion of amounts owing to Concorde of $61,432. These
shares were sold pursuant to Blackhawk's first Regulation E offering under the
Securities Act. On November 9, 2005, the board of directors rescinded
the issuance of shares of preferred stock to Concorde. Blackhawk
refunded to Concorde the $85 that Concorde paid for the
shares. Concorde waived any rights it may have had against Blackhawk
in connection with the issuance and stated that it would not assert any claim
against Blackhawk. On November 12, 2005, certain investors returned
4,500,000 shares of common stock and were refunded $45 on March 22,2006. Each investor waived any rights he or she may have had against
Blackhawk in connection with the issuance and stated that he or she would not
assert any claim against Blackhawk. On November 29, 2005, Blackhawk
amended its Certificate of Incorporation in the State of Delaware to eliminate
the right to issue preferred shares. As of November 29, 2005, all
outstanding shares are Common Stock.
Blackhawk
had a net decrease in assets resulting from operations for the three and
nine-month periods ended September 30, 2010 of $88,679 and $407,426,
respectively, and total net liabilities of $541,922 as of September 30, 2010 and
to date has made one investment in an eligible portfolio company,
MacroMarkets. Blackhawk intends to raise capital through this
Offering and thereby access the equity markets to raise cash to fund
investments. There can be no assurance that Blackhawk will be able to
raise any money in this Offering. Blackhawk also intends to raise
additional capital in the future in equity offerings (other than this Offering),
although there can be no assurance that it can raise such additional
capital. Since inception, Blackhawk's operations have been
principally funded by Regulation E offerings and by loans from
Concorde. Blackhawk is presently dependent on Concorde to provide
capital and liquidity needs. Concorde has agreed to provide
sufficient capital to Blackhawk to operate to the extent Concorde has such
funds. Concorde currently has no funds to provide to
Blackhawk.
The
following discussion is a general summary of the material federal income tax
considerations applicable to Blackhawk and to an investment in Blackhawk
shares. This summary does not purport to be a complete description of
the income tax considerations applicable to such an investment. For
example, it does not describe tax consequences that are assumed to be generally
known by investors or certain considerations that may be relevant to certain
types of holders subject to special treatment under federal income tax laws,
including stockholders subject to the alternative minimum tax, tax-exempt
organizations, insurance companies, regulated investment companies, dealers in
securities, pension plans and trusts, and financial
institutions. This summary assumes that investors hold Blackhawk
common stock as capital assets (within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended ("Code")). The discussion is based upon the Code,
Treasury regulations, and administrative and judicial interpretations, each as
in effect as of the date of this prospectus and all of which are subject to
change, possibly retroactively, which could affect the continuing validity of
this discussion. Blackhawk has not sought and will not seek any
ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") regarding this
Offering. This summary does not discuss any aspects of U.S. estate or
gift tax or foreign, state or local tax. It does not discuss the
special treatment under federal income tax laws that could result if Blackhawk
invested in tax-exempt securities or certain other investment assets in which it
does not currently intend to invest.
A "U.S.
stockholder" generally is a beneficial owner of shares of Blackhawk common stock
who is for federal income tax purposes:
·
a
citizen or individual resident of the United States including an alien
individual who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States or who
meets the "substantial presence" test in Code Section 7701
(b);
·
a
corporation or other entity taxable as a corporation, for federal income
tax purposes, created or organized in or under the laws of the United
States or any political subdivision
thereof;
·
a
trust over which a court in the U.S. has primary supervision over its
administration or over which U.S. persons have control;
or
·
an
estate, the income of which is subject to federal income taxation
regardless of its source.
A
"Non-U.S. stockholder" is a beneficial owner of shares of Blackhawk common stock
that is neither a U.S. stockholder nor a partnership for federal income tax
purposes.
If a
partnership (including an entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal
income tax purposes) holds shares of Blackhawk common stock, the tax treatment
of a partner in the partnership will generally depend upon the status of the
partner and the activities of the partnership. A prospective
stockholder who is a partner of a partnership holding shares of Blackhawk common
stock should consult his, her or its tax advisors with respect to the purchase,
ownership and disposition of shares of Blackhawk common stock.
Tax
matters are often very complicated and the tax consequences to an investor of an
investment in Blackhawk shares will depend on the facts of his, her or its
particular situation. Blackhawk encourages investors to consult their
own tax advisors regarding the specific consequences of such an investment,
including tax reporting requirements, the applicability of federal, state, local
and foreign tax laws, eligibility for the benefits of any applicable tax treaty
and the effect of any possible changes in the tax laws.
Taxation
of U.S. Stockholders
For
federal income tax purposes, distributions by Blackhawk generally are taxable to
U.S. stockholders as ordinary income or capital gains. Distributions
will be taxable as dividend income to U.S. stockholders to the extent of
Blackhawk's current or accumulated earnings and profits. For taxable
years beginning before January 1, 2013, such dividends should be "qualified
dividend income" eligible to be taxed in the hands of non-corporate stockholders
at the rates applicable to long-term capital gains, provided holding period and
other requirements are met at the stockholder level. Generally, for
taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, such dividends are taxable at a
maximum rate of 15% in the case of individuals, trusts or
estates. Distributions in excess of Blackhawk’s current and
accumulated earnings and profits first will reduce a U.S. stockholder's adjusted
tax basis in such stockholder's common stock and, after the adjusted basis is
reduced to zero, will constitute capital gains to such U.S.
stockholder.
A U.S.
stockholder generally will recognize taxable gain or loss if the U.S.
stockholder sells or otherwise disposes of his, her or its shares of Blackhawk
common stock. Any gain arising from such sale or disposition
generally will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S.
stockholder has held his, her or its shares for more than one
year. Otherwise, it will be classified as short-term capital gain or
loss. In addition, all or a portion of any loss recognized upon a
disposition of shares of Blackhawk common stock may be disallowed if other
shares of Blackhawk common stock are purchased within 30 days before or after
the disposition. In such a case, the basis of the newly purchased
shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.
For
taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, individual U.S. stockholders are
subject to a maximum federal income tax rate of 15% on their net capital gain
(i.e., the excess of realized net long-term capital gain over realized net
short-term capital loss for a taxable year) including any long-term capital gain
derived from an investment in Blackhawk shares. Such rate is lower
than the maximum rate on ordinary income currently payable by
individuals. Corporate U.S. stockholders currently are subject to
federal income tax on net capital gain at the maximum 35% rate also applicable
to ordinary income. Non-corporate stockholders with net capital
losses for a year (i.e., capital losses in excess of capital gains) generally
may deduct up to $3,000 of such losses against their ordinary income each year
($1,500 for married individuals filing separately); any net capital losses of a
non-corporate stockholder in excess of $3,000 ($1,500 for married individuals
filing separately) generally may be carried forward and used in subsequent years
as provided in the Code. Corporate stockholders generally may not
deduct any net capital losses for a year, but may carry back such losses for
three years or carry forward such losses for five years.
Distributions
are taxable to stockholders even if they are paid from income or gains earned by
Blackhawk before a stockholder’s investment (and thus were economically included
in the price the stockholder paid). If an investor purchases shares
of Blackhawk common stock shortly before the record date of a distribution, the
price of the shares will presumably include the value of the distribution and
the investor will be subject to tax on the distribution even though
economically, it may represent a return of his, her or its
investment.
At the
beginning of each calendar year, Blackhawk will report to each of its
stockholders and to the IRS the federal tax status of each year's distributions
generally will be reported to the IRS (including the amount of dividends, if
any, eligible for the 15% "qualified dividend income" rate for taxable years
beginning before January 1, 2013). Distributions may also be subject
to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on a U.S. stockholder’s
particular situation.
Blackhawk
may be required to withhold federal income tax ("backup withholding"), currently
at a rate of 28% (31% for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012), from
all taxable distributions to any non-corporate U.S. stockholder (1) who fails to
furnish Blackhawk with a correct taxpayer identification number or a certificate
that such stockholder is exempt from backup withholding, or (2) with respect to
whom the IRS notifies Blackhawk that such stockholder has failed to properly
report certain interest and dividend income to the IRS and to respond to notices
to that effect. An individual U.S. stockholder's taxpayer
identification number is his or her social security number. Any
amount withheld under backup withholding is allowed as a credit against the U.S.
stockholder's federal income tax liability, provided that proper information is
provided to the IRS.
Whether
an investment in the shares is appropriate for a non-U.S. stockholder will
depend upon that person’s particular circumstances; non-U.S. stockholders should
consult their tax advisors before investing in Blackhawk common
stock. In general, dividend distributions paid by Blackhawk to a
non-U.S. stockholder are subject to withholding of federal income tax at a rate
of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate). If the distributions are
effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the non-U.S. stockholder
(and, if an income tax treaty applies, attributable to a permanent establishment
in the United States), Blackhawk will not be required to withhold federal tax if
the non-U.S. stockholder complies with applicable certification and disclosure
requirements, although the distributions will be subject to federal income tax
at the rates applicable to U.S. stockholders. (Special certification
requirements apply to non-U.S. stockholders that are foreign partnerships or
foreign trusts - such entities are urged to consult their tax
advisors.)
Gains
realized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale of Blackhawk common stock will
not be subject to federal withholding tax and generally will not be subject to
federal income tax unless the distributions or gain, as the case may be, are
effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the non-U.S. stockholder
(and, if an income tax treaty applies, are attributable to a permanent
establishment maintained by the non-U.S. stockholder in the
U.S.). For a corporate non-U.S. stockholder, distributions and gains
realized upon the sale of Blackhawk common stock that are effectively connected
to a U.S. trade or business may, under certain circumstances, be subject to an
additional "branch profits tax" at a 30% rate (or at a lower rate if provided
for by an applicable treaty).
A
non-U.S. stockholder who is a non-resident alien individual, and who is
otherwise subject to withholding of federal tax, may be subject to information
reporting and backup withholding of federal income tax on dividends unless the
non-U.S. stockholder provides Blackhawk or the dividend paying agent with an IRS
Form W-8BEN (or an acceptable substitute or successor form) or otherwise meets
documentary evidence requirements for establishing that it is a non-U.S.
stockholder or otherwise establishes an exemption from backup
withholding.
Investment
in the shares may not be appropriate for a non-U.S. stockholder; non-U.S.
persons should consult their tax advisors with respect to the federal income tax
and withholding tax, and state, local and foreign tax consequences of an
investment in the shares.
Blackhawk
will be treated as a regular C corporation, subject to federal income tax at the
regular corporation income tax rates on any ordinary income or net capital gain
recognized by it, unless and until it is able to make an election to be treated
as a Regulated Investment Company under Subchapter M of the Code, which it
cannot currently do.
As a
regular C corporation, Blackhawk currently will be subject to federal income tax
at rates up to 35%. Long-term capital gains realized by Blackhawk are
not taxed at a lower tax rate (unlike individuals), but will be subject to the
regular corporate income tax rate. Blackhawk will also not be allowed
to use a lower tax rate on qualified dividend income, but depending on its
percentage ownership interest in the dividend paying corporation and other
factors, may be entitled to a dividends received deduction.
Similar
to individuals, Blackhawk will be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax, with a
tax rate of 20% and an annual exemption amount of $40,000. The
exemption amount is phased out by 25% of the amount by which alternative minimum
taxable income exceeds $150,000. Blackhawk will be required to make
estimated tax payments quarterly to avoid incurring an underpayment penalty if
its annual tax liability is expected to be $500 or more in a taxable
year.
Blackhawk
may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which it does
not receive cash. For example, if Blackhawk acquired and held debt
obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue
discount, Blackhawk would need to include in income in each year a portion of
the original issue discount that accrues over the life of the obligation,
regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by it in the
same taxable year.
Transactions
in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions and forward contracts are
subject to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to accelerate income to
Blackhawk, defer losses, cause adjustments to the holding periods of
investments, convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains,
convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses, or have other
tax consequences. It is not clear that Blackhawk will engage in these
types of transactions.
Blackhawk
is offering a maximum of 10,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price
of $0.50 per share on a "best efforts" basis. There is no minimum
offering amount that is required to be raised to break escrow. All
subscription funds will be placed into a non-interest bearing escrow account
with a bank. The offering will remain open until May 27, 2011 unless
extended at the discretion of Blackhawk.
Blackhawk
will hold successive "rolling" closings until up to $5,000,000 (10,000,000
shares) has been raised. The date of, and number of shares sold at,
each successive closing will be determined at the sole discretion of
Blackhawk. $5,000,000 is the maximum amount that may be raised in the
Offering. The dates of such successive closings will be determined at
the sole discretion of Blackhawk.
Investors
must be "accredited investors" under the Securities Act and execute a
subscription agreement attesting to that fact and providing other
information.
MANAGEMENT AND CERTAIN
SECURITY HOLDERS OF THE ISSUER
The
following table sets forth as of January 25, 2011 each person known by Blackhawk
to be the beneficial owner of five percent or more of the common stock of
Blackhawk, all directors individually and all directors and officers of
Blackhawk as a group. Except as noted, each person has sole voting
and investment power with respect to the shares shown.
All
Executive Officers, Directors and 5% Holders as a Group (9
Persons)
16,615,360
(7)
51.17
%
(1)
Excludes
10,017,591 shares of common stock held by The Concorde Group, Inc. of
which Dr. Zabala is the controlling shareholder. Includes
100,000 shares held in Uniform Transfers to Minors accounts for Dr.
Zabala's two nieces. Also includes options to purchase 600,000
shares at an exercise price of $0.40 per share that are presently
exercisable.
Dr.
Craig A. Zabala may be deemed to be a control person of Blackhawk as
defined in Section 2(a)(1) of the Investment Company
Act.
(3)
On
December 9, 2010, the Company entered into an interim agreement ("Interim
Agreement") with Walter V.C. Parker ("Parker") pursuant to which, among
other things, Parker was appointed President of the
Company. See "Recent Developments" above. Pursuant
to the Interim Agreement, and subject to compliance with the BDC
provisions of the Investment Company Act, Blackhawk's Stock Option Plan
and the approval of the Company's Stock Option Committee, Mr. Parker is
eligible to receive an aggregate of options to purchase 900,000 shares of
Common Stock at an exercise price of $.40 per share if certain amounts are
raised in this Offering. See "Recent Developments" above for
detailed information on these
options.
(4)
Dr.
Craig A. Zabala is an officer, director and controlling shareholder of The
Concorde Group, Inc.
(5)
The
individual listed is a less than one percent (1%) shareholder of The
Concorde Group, Inc.
(6)
An
aggregate of 145,000 shares are held in UTMA accounts for Ms. McCarthy’s
nieces, nephews and close family
friends.
(7)
Excludes
options to be issued to Parker under Interim Agreement. See
footnote (3) above.
The management of the Company consists
of three officers - Dr. Craig A. Zabala, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and
acting Chief Financial Officer and acting Chief Compliance Officer, Walter V.E.
Parker, President and Robert M. Fujii as Vice President of the
Company.
The Company has never held a
shareholder vote to elect directors.
Biographies
Dr. Craig A. Zabala is the
Founder, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Concorde Group,
Inc., a financial services holding company, Chairman, President, and Chief
Executive Officer of Concorde Europe Inc., Chairman, President, and Chief
Executive Officer of Concorde Europe, Ltd., a company formed under the Laws of
Wales and England, Founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
DBL Holdings, LLC (dba Drexel Burnham Lambert), and Founder, Chairman, President
(until December 9, 2010) and Chief Executive Officer of Blackhawk (OTCBB:
BHCG). Previously, from 1998 to 2002, he was Scholar in Residence and
Visiting Lecturer at The Zicklin School of Business and the Department of
Finance, Graduate School, Baruch College, City University of New York, where he
taught an MBA course on Entrepreneurial Strategy and a course on Special Topics
in Investment Banking for the M.S. degree in Finance. Additionally,
Dr. Zabala was on the editorial board of Global Focus, an academic journal on
international business, economics, and social policy.
From 2002
to 2003, he was a Registered Representative and an Investment Advisor with Brean
Murray & Co., Inc. in New York City under a joint venture with
Concorde. From 1999 to 2001, Dr. Zabala was Senior Vice President of
Merchant Banking and Investment Advisor with Trautman, Wasserman & Company,
a merchant bank and broker dealer in New York City under a joint venture with
Concorde. Prior to this, from 1997 to 1998, Dr. Zabala was Vice
President and Investment Advisor, Private Client Group, Merrill Lynch & Co.,
New York City. From 1996 to 1997, Dr. Zabala was an investment banker
at Baird Patrick & Company, Inc., New York City. Prior to this,
from 1994 to 1995, Dr. Zabala was Acting Chief Financial Officer and Investment
Banker at Gilman Securities, Inc. in New York City. From 1992 through
April 1996, Dr. Zabala was Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Golf Reservations of America, Inc., Sherman Oaks, California; his areas of
responsibility included developing the business plan, joint-venture marketing
relationships, capital raising and financial strategies, and commercial banking
strategies.
From 1991
to 1993, Dr. Zabala was a Visiting Scholar and Visiting Lecturer, teaching the
following courses, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital and Applied Finance, at the
Walter A. Hass School of Business, University of California at
Berkeley. From 1990 to 1991, he was a Visiting Fellow at the School
of Industrial and Business Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry,
England. From 1989 to 1990, he was Vice President of Corporate
Finance at D.H. Blair and Company. From 1986 to 1990, he served as
Assistant Professor of Management at the School of Management, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York. Dr. Zabala was an Economist
at the U.S. Department of Labor (1979 to 1982) and the U.S. Department of
Commerce (1982 to 1986) in Washington, D.C. During his career in
Washington, he was also employed full-time as an autoworker from 1976 to 1983 at
the General Motors Assembly Division, General Motors Corporation, Van Nuys,
California, where he worked and also carried out research on production
relations for his doctoral research on the U.S. automobile
industry.
Dr.
Zabala received his A.B., magna cum laude, Pi Gamma Mu and Phi Beta Cappa, in
1974, M.A. in 1977, and Ph.D. in 1983 all from the University of California, Los
Angeles, and was also a Postdoctoral Scholar in 1986 at the University of
California, Los Angeles. He also pursued advanced post-graduate
studies in production theory and econometrics in the Department of Economics,
The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., from 1980 to
1984. He is pursuing graduate studies in finance at the Center for
Financial and Management Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, United Kingdom since 2003. Dr. Zabala has
financed a number of start-up firms and emerging growth firms.
Robert V.E. Parker is the
President of the Company and was appointed to that position on December 9, 2010
pursuant to the Interim Agreement. He served as a founding principal
of the Sippican Group, LLC, a management consulting firm dealing with closely
held and troubled businesses. Mr. Parker's previous experience also
includes serving as a Managing Director with Claymore Partners, Inc., a
long-standing management advisory firm addressing the needs of troubled
businesses; and with the Corporate Finance Division of Xerox Credit Corporation,
where he served as Vice President and Senior Credit Officer and was also
responsible for commercial finance portfolio workouts. During his
employment with Xerox Credit, Mr. Parker successfully managed a commercial
investment and loan portfolio with a mid to high nine figure size. In
recognition of his performance, Xerox awarded Mr. Parker the President's
Award. Earlier, he served with the Project and Lease Finance Group of
Kidder Peabody & Co., where he focused on energy transactions and debtor
advisories. Previous experience at Manufacturer's Hanover Trust
included responsibilities for commercial real estate, REITs and selected
non-performing assets. Mr. Parker also formerly served as an
Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee for Prospect Capital
Corporation, a $832 million asset (June 30, 2010) mezzanine debt and private
equity firm, which is a publicly-traded, closed-end, dividend-focused investment
company operating as a business development company (PSEC). Mr.
Parker's service as an Independent Director for Prospect began with the
company's first IPO in 2004.
Robert M. Fujii is the Vice
President of Blackhawk. He also holds positions as CFO of The
Concorde Group, Inc. and Acting CFO of Concorde Commercial Finance
LLC. Mr. Fujii was previously a financial consultant for Craig A.
Zabala & Company, a business consulting company in New York City. From 1992
to 1993, Mr. Fujii worked as a financial analyst for Nichire Foods America sales
office in San Francisco. From 1979 to 1992, Mr. Fujii worked as the
Supervisor of Budgets and General Accounting for Varian Associates, Inc., a
manufacturer of scientific measuring instruments, located in Walnut Creek,
California. He received his BA in Biochemistry in 1971 from the
University of California at Berkeley and an MBA in International Business and
Finance from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley
in 1993.
Janet Buxman Kurihara has been
a director of Blackhawk since August 2004. Ms. Kurihara was regional
director at Telenisus Corp., a network security and data storage company from
2000-2001. From January 2001 to October 2001, she was regional
director at Riptechi Inc., a network security company. From October
2001 to March 2003, she owned Definitive Market consultants, a consulting
company. Since March 2003, Ms. Kurihara has been a senior manager of
new product development and product strategy at Qwest.
Mick Woodwards has been a
director of Blackhawk since August 2004. Since November 1993, Mr.
Woodwards has been owner of Lakewood Rent-All, a party rental firm.
Randy Tejral is retired and is
a private investor in residential real estate. Mr. Tejral was the
founder and President of Tejral Masonry Inc., a masonry construction firm in
Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Tejral has been a director of Blackhawk since
March 2005.
Robert Francis is the founder
and Vice President of Omaha Telecom LLC, a telecommunications construction and
servicing company in Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Francis has been a director
of Blackhawk since March 2005.
Dr.
Zabala is a principal and controlling shareholder, officer, director and control
person of Concorde, a control person of Blackhawk.
Mr.
Fujii, Ms. Kurihara, Mr. Woodwards, Mr. Tejral and Mr. Francis are minority
shareholders (individually owning less than 1%) of Concorde.
Board
Composition
Blackhawk's
Board of Directors consists of five directors. At each annual meeting
of its stockholders, all of its directors are elected to serve from the time of
election and qualification until the next annual meeting following
election. In addition, Blackhawk's bylaws provide that the maximum
authorized number of directors may be changed by resolution of the stockholders
or by resolution of the board of directors.
Meetings
and Committees of the Board of Directors
Our Board
of Directors conducts its business through meetings of the Board and by acting
pursuant to unanimous written consent without a meeting. From January1, 2009 to December 31, 2009, the Board of Directors held four (4) meetings in
person or by teleconference. During 2009, the Board of Directors also
acted by unanimous written consent nine (9) times.
Blackhawk
has a Stock Option Committee but does not have any other board committees,
including an audit committee. Blackhawk's Stock Option Committee was
formed in January 2009 and consists of Robert J. Francis and Janet Buxman
Kurihara. The Stock Option Committee administers the Company's Stock
Option Plan. The Stock Option Committee acted by unanimous written
consent one (1) time in
2009.
Blackhawk
does not have a nominating committee or committee performing similar
functions. Blackhawk's Board of Directors believes that it is
appropriate for Blackhawk not to have such a committee because of the costs
associated with such process and that Blackhawk has not yet raised sufficient
capital or made its first portfolio investment. All directors
participate in the consideration of director nominees.
Blackhawk
does not have any procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to
its board of directors.
Based upon a review of filings with the
SEC, we believe that all our directors, executive officers and 10% beneficial
owners complied during fiscal 2009 with the reporting requirements of Section
16(a) of the Exchange Act.
Limitations
of Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Our
bylaws limit the liability of directors and officers to the maximum extent
permitted by Delaware law. We will indemnify any person who was or is
a party, or is threatened to be made a party to, an action, suit or proceeding,
whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, if that person is or
was a director, officer, employee or agent of ours or serves or served any other
enterprise at our request.
We have
been advised that it is the position of the SEC that insofar as the
indemnification provisions referenced above may be invoked to disclaim liability
for damages arising under the Securities Act, these provisions are against
public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and are, therefore,
unenforceable.
Blackhawk does not have directors' and
officers' liability insurance.
Blackhawk
has adopted a Code of Ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the Investment Company Act that
applies to its principal executive officer, principal financial officer,
principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar
functions. The term code of ethics means written standards that are
reasonably designed to deter wrongdoing and to promote:
§
honest
and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent
conflicts of interest between personal and professional
relationships;
§
full,
fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in reports and
documents that Blackhawk files with, or submits to, the SEC and in other
public communications made by the
issuer;
§
compliance
with applicable governmental laws, rules and
regulations;
§
the
prompt internal reporting of violations of the Code to the board of
directors or another appropriate person or persons;
and
§
accountability
for adherence to the Code.
The Board
of Directors voted by unanimous written consent on August 17, 2006 to amend and
restate the Code of Ethics to include additional compliance provisions
applicable to Blackhawk's directors, officers and employees recommended by a
consulting firm specializing in SEC compliance matters for business development
companies registered under the Investment Company Act, such as
Blackhawk. The Company does not have an audit committee.
Blackhawk
hereby undertakes to provide to any person without charge, upon request, a copy
of such code of ethics. Such request may be made in writing to the
Chairman of the Board of Directors at Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc., 880
Third Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY10022.
Except as
set forth herein with respect to the Zabala Employment Agreement and the Interim
Agreement with Mr. Parker (see "Recent Developments" above), since its inception
(April 2004), Blackhawk has not paid any compensation to its executive officers
or directors, except $65,000 to Dr. Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, and Brad Silver, a former officer and director of Blackhawk who
resigned on December 8, 2005, who was paid $12,000 in consulting fees to assist
Blackhawk in extraordinary administration duties during fiscal year
2005. Other than its Stock Option Plan described herein, Blackhawk
does not presently have and never has had any stock option plans, equity
incentive or award plans, pension or retirement plans, non-qualified deferred
compensation plans, director compensation plans, or any other similar
plan.
Blackhawk's
Board of Directors does not have a standing compensation committee or committee
performing similar functions. It is the view of the Board of
Directors that it is inappropriate for Blackhawk to have such a committee
because Blackhawk to date has not raised sufficient capital, has made only one
portfolio investment (MacroMarkets) and except as noted in the previous
paragraph, has not paid any compensation to its officers and
directors.
Compensation
Discussion and Analysis — 2009
The
Company's principal executive officer is Craig A. Zabala, who serves as CEO and
Acting Chief Financial Officer and Acting Chief Compliance
Officer. Dr. Zabala served as President until December 9, 2010, when
Mr. Parker was appointed to that position (see "Recent Developments"
above).
The
Company does not have a Compensation Committee or similar
committee. The determination of Mr. Zabala's compensation is made by
the Board of Directors and pursuant to his employment agreement. See
"Zabala Employment Agreement" herein.
Introduction
This
Compensation Discussion and Analysis is designed to provide shareholders with an
understanding of the Company's compensation philosophy and objectives and the
analysis that we performed in setting executive compensation. It
discusses the Board's compensation actions with respect to Dr. Zabala, the only
salaried employee of the Company during 2009.
Objectives
For the
Company's success and enhancement of long-term stockholder value, the Company
depends on the management and abilities of Dr. Zabala. The Board's
compensation objectives are to provide an important oversight function of
compensation and appropriate levels of compensation, reward above average
performance, recognize individual initiative and achievement, assist the Company
in attracting and retaining qualified management to contribute to its success
and motivate Dr. Zabala to enhance stockholder value.
Base
Salary - Base salaries should meet the objectives of attracting and
retaining executive officers needed to successfully manage the Company's
business. Actual individual salary amounts are not determined
by formulas, but instead reflect the Board's judgment with respect to
responsibility, performance, experience, historical compensation,
equitable considerations and other factors, including any retention
concerns. The Company set Dr. Zabala's base salary in his
employment agreement at a low level with increases based upon his success
in raising equity capital for the
Company.
·
Bonus
- The Company may pay annual bonuses to executive officers to motivate
them to achieve the Company principal business and investment goals and to
bring total compensation to competitive levels. The bonus is
based on a qualitative consideration of individual and company
performance. The Board considers a variety of factors in
establishing bonuses, including performance, exceeding budgets, peer
review and commitment to the Company. The bonus for Dr. Zabala
in his employment agreement is also based upon a closing of an equity
offering.
·
Common
Stock - We believe that equity ownership by management aligns management's
interests with increasing stockholder value. The Company has a
stock option plan adopted in 2009 pursuant to which executives are awarded
stock options. During 2009, Dr. Zabala was awarded options to
purchase 600,000 shares at $.40 per share pursuant to his employment
agreement.
Compensation
Determinations
Salary
and Bonus
The Board
determined that the salary paid to Dr. Zabala during the 2009 fiscal year was at
a level that was in the best interests of shareholders. In making its
determination, the Board considered whether the salary payable to Dr. Zabala by
the Company pursuant to his employment agreement was consistent with the
compensation philosophies described above.
When
making compensation decisions for executive officers, the Board of Directors
takes many factors into account, including the individual's role and
responsibilities, performance, tenure, and experience; the overall performance
of the Company; the recommendations of the Board; the individual's historical
compensation; and comparison to other executive officers of the
Company. The Company does not utilize any benchmarking or performance
targets to set its compensation levels.
The Board
considers: (a) responsibilities and duties of Dr. Zabala set forth in
his employment agreement; (b) his success in raising equity capital, identifying
investments and closing on investments; (c) work with SEC filings; (d) the fact
that Dr. Zabala performs all management functions for the Company; (e)
compensation in relation to the size of the Company and its investments and
their performance; (f) the performance of the Company's assets; and (g) the
assets, liabilities and financial performance of the Company.
Evaluating
Performance
The Board
evaluates the performance of Dr. Zabala on an annual basis. The Board
also seeks the input of Dr. Zabala in connection with his performance
evaluation; however, Dr. Zabala is not present when the Board meets to evaluate
his performance and determine his compensation.
CEO
Performance
The Board
of Directors uses discretion in its evaluation of individual performance and
considers the following factors, among others, in approving any bonus to Dr.
Zabala: his management, raising of equity or debt capital for the Company,
strategic planning, business development and investment returns.
Change
of Control and Termination Benefits
The
Company has an employment agreement with Dr. Zabala which provides for
termination benefits. See "Zabala Employment Agreement"
below.
The Board
of Directors recognizes the important contributions Dr. Zabala has made to the
Company in 2009 — principally, his efforts trying to raise equity capital for
the Company through private placements and a Regulation E Offering, closing the
MacroMarkets investment (the Company's first investment) and looking for other
investments for the Company, establishing relationships with placement agents
and investment bankers, working with the Company's investment adviser and
managing the operations of the Company.
The
Company's compensation philosophy is to incentivize its management and reward
them for performance linked to long-term shareholder value. Based
upon these factors, the Board of Directors reviewed Dr. Zabala's employment
agreement and determined he was not entitled to an increased salary (above
$60,000 per annum) and a bonus principally because no equity offering was closed
in 2009.
By the
Board of Directors of Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc.
Craig
A. Zabala
Janet
Buxman Kurihara
Mick
Woodwards
Randy
Tejral
Robert
J. Francis
Summary
Compensation Table
The
following table sets forth information with respect to the compensation paid,
earned and accrued for the 2009, 2008 and 2007 fiscal years to each named
executive officer, and to each officer of the Company with aggregate
compensation in excess of $100,000. In 2009 $50,000 in salary
payments were made to Dr. Zabala and $5,000 in salary payments were
accrued to him.
CEO,
Acting Chief Financial Officer and Compliance Officer and
Director
2009
$
55,000
$
0
$
0
$
55,000
2008
$
0
$
0
$
0
$
0
2007
$
0
$
0
$
0
$
0
Stock
Option Plan
2009
Grants of Plan-Based Awards
The
following table sets forth certain information with respect to each grant of an
award made to a named executive officer in 2009 under our stock option
plan.
No
options were exercised in 2009 and no stock awards were made in
2009.
Pension
Benefits
The
Company does not provide any tax-qualified defined benefit plan or supplemental
executive retirement plan, or similar plan that provides for specified
retirement payments or benefits.
Employment
Agreements
We have no employment agreements other
than the Zabala Employment Agreement and the Interim Agreement with Mr.
Parker.
Zabala
Employment Agreement
On January 30, 2009, the Company
entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Craig A. Zabala ("Dr. Zabala"),
founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and acting Chief
Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, of the Company. Dr.
Zabala resigned as President when Mr. Parker was appointed to that position on
December 9, 2010. The Employment Agreement was approved at a meeting
of the Board of Directors of the Company held January 28, 2009. The
meeting was attended by four (including Dr. Zabala) of the five directors of the
Company and the Employment Agreement was approved by all three (3) of the
Company's independent directors.
For the past five years, in addition to
his responsibilities for the Company as its founder, Chairman, President (until
December 9, 2010) and Chief Executive Officer and acting Chief Financial Officer
and Chief Compliance Officer, Dr. Zabala has been the founder, Chairman,
President, and Chief Executive Officer of Concorde, Chairman, President, and
Chief Executive Officer of Concorde Europe Inc., Chairman, President, and Chief
Executive Officer of Concorde Europe, Ltd., a company formed under the laws of
Wales and England, and founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
of DBL Holdings, LLC (d/b/a Drexel Burnham Lambert). Dr. Zabala is 58
years old. Concorde owns 10,017,591 shares of Company Common Stock, representing
30.85% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. Dr. Zabala controls
Concorde through his 62.42% stock ownership of Concorde. He also owns
or controls 2,432,500 shares of Company Common Stock, representing 7.49% of the
outstanding shares of the aggregate Common Stock. Concorde and Dr.
Zabala may be deemed to control the Company.
The term
of Dr. Zabala's Employment Agreement is three (3) years. The term
will be automatically renewed for one (1) additional year each year unless
ninety (90) calendar days prior to the end of the term, the Company advises Dr.
Zabala in writing that it does not wish to extend the Employment Period for an
additional year.
Pursuant to the Employment Agreement,
Dr. Zabala serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company,
provided that if the Company hires and/or enters into an employment agreement
with any executive who serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of the
Company, Dr. Zabala shall resign his position as President, but would keep his
position as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Zabala resigned as President
when Mr. Parker was appointed to that position on December 9,2010. Dr. Zabala serves as acting Chief Financial Officer and acting
Chief Compliance Officer of Blackhawk until it retains employees for such
positions. The Employment Agreement also permits Dr. Zabala to
perform work for Concorde and DBL Holdings, LLC, affiliates of the Company,
provided that such work does not compete with the business and business
opportunities of the Company.
Dr. Zabala receives a base annual
salary of $60,000 under the Employment Agreement. Each year, the
Board of Directors may increase the base salary in its discretion. In
the event that the Company sold a minimum of $3,000,000 of shares of its Common
Stock in its 2009 private placement offering under Rule 506 under Regulation D
under the Securities Act, the Company would have had to increase Dr.
Zabala's annual base salary to $250,000 and pay him a $50,000 bonus (which bonus
could have been increased proportionately if the Company raises raised more than
$3,000,000 in the offering but the amount of the bonus would not have been
greater than $100,000). If the minimum amount was not raised in the
Offering, Dr. Zabala's base salary remains at $60,000. The offering
was terminated on December 14, 2009 with no shares being sold and consequently
Dr. Zabala was not paid any bonus and did not receive a salary
increase.
Pursuant to the Employment Agreement,
Dr. Zabala is entitled to be granted 600,000 options to purchase shares of
Common Stock at an exercise price of fair market value per share on date of
grant as determined by the Board of Directors pursuant to the requirements of
the Company's Stock Option Plan and the Board of Directors will also determine
vesting for such grant pursuant to the requirements of the Stock Option Plan,
provided that (i) the Company issues such options pursuant to its Stock Option
Plan approved by the stockholders and the Board of Directors of the Company in
accordance with the Investment Company Act; (ii) such issuance and Stock Option
Plan comply with the Investment Company Act provisions applicable to options
issued to an officer of a business development company; and (iii) upon issuance,
the exercise price of the options must be above the net asset value per share of
Common Stock of the Company. The terms of the options granted to Dr.
Zabala are described below.
The Employment Agreement terminates
upon the earliest to occur of (i) Dr. Zabala's death or disability; (ii) cause
or non-cause termination of Dr. Zabala by the Company; (iii) a termination by
Dr. Zabala for "good reason" or Dr. Zabala resigns from the Company without
"good reason" or (iv) Dr. Zabala is replaced as President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company (except if another executive is hired as President and
Chief Operating Officer). Mr. Parker replaced Dr. Zabala as President
on December 9, 2010.
If Dr. Zabala is terminated without
cause, or if he resigns for "good reason," he would receive accrued salary and
bonuses, if any, to the end of the employment term. In addition, if
Dr. Zabala is terminated without cause or if he resigns for "good reason," the
Company must pay to Concorde rental payments (for rental of space at 880 Third
Avenue, 12th Floor,
New York, New York10022-4730) of $4,000 per month from April 2004 until the
month Dr. Zabala is terminated without cause or resigns for "good
reason." If he is terminated for cause, he is not entitled to any
rights or compensation under the Employment Agreement, provided that the Company
must make the $4,000 monthly rental payment to its affiliate Concorde described
in the preceding sentence. If Dr. Zabala is terminated in the event
of death or disability, or he resigns without "good reason," he shall only be
entitled to receive accrued and unpaid base salary and benefits through the date
of his employment termination. If the Company hires a replacement for
Dr. Zabala who does not serve as President and Chief Operating Officer, but
serves as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Zabala would be entitled to the benefits
above for a non-cause termination.
The Employment Agreement contains
restrictive covenants applicable to Dr. Zabala. He must not disclose
to any party the Company's confidential information unless a limited exception
applies. He must not compete with the business of the Company during
the employment period and for 12 months thereafter, provided that if he is
terminated for cause, the 12 month non-competition period would be shortened to
60 days. The Employment Agreement also contains a non-solicitation
(Company employees, clients and customers) provision for the above restricted
period, a non-disparagement clause (without time limit) and a provision that
grants ownership rights to the Company to all intellectual property of Dr.
Zabala when he works for the Company.
Interim
Agreement With Walter V.E. Parker
The Interim Agreement with Mr. Parker
pursuant to which he was appointed President is described in detail in the
"Recent Developments" section above.
Stock
Option Grant to Zabala
On January 30, 2009, the Stock Option
Plan Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company, consisting of
independent directors Janet Buxman Kurihara and Robert J. Francis ("Committee")
approved and administered a stock option grant to Dr. Zabala ("Stock Option
Grant") approved by the Board of Directors of the Company. The Stock
Option Grant was made pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan (described
below) and the Employment Agreement.
The Committee determined that after a
good faith review of the current and historical bid, ask and sales prices of the
Company’s Common Stock on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board market, that the
exercise price of the stock options ($.40) is at fair market value of the shares
of Common Stock on the date of grant based upon the trailing 52-week high of
$.40 per share as reported on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board, and that such
exercise price is above net asset value per share on grant date.
The Company and Dr. Zabala entered into
a stock option agreement dated February 2, 2009 containing the above terms of
the Stock Option Grant.
Under the Investment Company Act, the
Stock Option Plan and Stock Option Grant had to be approved by a majority of
stockholders of the Company. On January 30, 2009, the Company
received written consents approving the Stock Option Grant from stockholders
owning 17,290,450 shares of Common Stock of the Company, representing 53.25% of
the outstanding shares of Common Stock. The Company filed with the
Commission a Schedule 14C under the Exchange Act with respect to such consents
approving the Stock Option Grant, and sent out an information statement to its
stockholders relating to approval of the Stock Option Grant.
Option
Grant to Walter V.E. Parker
The Company granted Mr. Parker 900,000
options to purchase shares at $.40 per share conditioned upon the Company
raising $4,000,000 in the Offering. See "Recent Developments"
above.
In December 2008, Blackhawk's Board of
Directors adopted and approved by unanimous written consent, Blackhawk's Stock
Option Plan (the "Stock Option Plan"), under which stock option awards may be
made to officers, directors and key employees of Blackhawk. In
December 2008, stockholders of Blackhawk owning approximately 53.25% of
Blackhawk's outstanding shares of Common Stock approved the Stock Option Plan by
means of written consent of the stockholders. The Stock Option Plan
became effective in late January 2009. On February 2, 2009, Dr.
Zabala was granted options to purchase 600,000 shares of Common
Stock.
General
The purpose of the Stock Option Plan is
to advance the interests of Blackhawk by providing to directors and officers of
Blackhawk and to other key employees of Blackhawk who have substantial
responsibility for the direction and management of Blackhawk additional
incentives to exert their best efforts on behalf of Blackhawk, to increase their
proprietary interest in the success of Blackhawk, to reward outstanding
performance and to provide a means to attract and retain persons of outstanding
ability to the service of Blackhawk.
Under the Stock Option Plan, options
("Awards") may be granted from time to time to officers, directors and key
employees ("Eligible Persons"), all generally in the Stock Option Committee's
("Committee") discretion. The Committee is composed of at least two
non-employee directors, which are responsible for administering the Stock Option
Plan. Each Award under the Plan will be evidenced by a separate
written agreement which sets forth the terms and conditions of the
Award. There is no maximum number of persons eligible to receive
Awards under the Stock Option Plan, nor is there any limit on the amount of
Awards that may be granted to any such person, except as described below with
respect to incentive stock options. As a business development
company, Blackhawk's Stock Option Plan must be approved by a required majority,
as defined in Section 57(o) of the Investment Company Act, of the Board of
Directors on the basis that such issuance is in the best interests of Blackhawk
and its stockholders. Non-employee directors will be eligible to
participate in the Plan upon issuance of an order by the Commission pursuant to
Section 61(a)(3)(B)(i)(II) of the Investment Company Act and then only in
accordance with the terms and conditions of such order.
We have reserved 3,000,000 shares of
Common Stock for issuance under the Stock Option Plan, subject to adjustment to
protect against dilution in the event of certain changes in our
capitalization. Of such shares, 2,500,000 are reserved for incentive
stock options.
Administration
The Stock Option Plan is administered
by the Committee. To the extent necessary to comply with Rule 16b-3
under the Exchange Act, the Committee will consist solely of two or more
non-employee directors, as that term is defined in Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange
Act. Under the Stock Option Plan, the Committee will have complete
authority to determine the persons to whom Awards will be granted from time to
time, as well as the terms and conditions of such Awards. The
Committee also will have discretion to interpret the Stock Option Plan and the
Awards granted under the Stock Option Plan and to make other determinations
necessary or advisable for the administration of the Stock Option
Plan.
Stock Option
Terms
The Committee may grant either
incentive stock options (for purposes of Section 422 of the Code), or
nonqualified stock options under the Stock Option Plan. Except as
described below for incentive stock options, the Committee generally has the
discretion to determine the persons to whom stock options will be granted, the
number of shares subject to such options, the exercise prices of such options,
the vesting schedules with respect to such options, the terms of such options,
as well as the period, if any, following a participant's termination of service
during which such option may be exercised, and the circumstances in which all or
a portion of an option may become immediately exercisable or be
forfeited.
All rights to exercise options shall
terminate three (3) months after any optionee ceases to be an officer, director
or a key employee of Blackhawk except as otherwise provided by the Committee in
an option agreement, and no options will vest after an optionee's termination
date. If Blackhawk terminates any officer or key employee for cause,
his or her options shall be forfeited immediately. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, however, where an optionee's service as a director, officer or
key employee of Blackhawk terminates as a result of the optionee's death or his
total and permanent disability, the optionee or the executors or administrators
or legatees or distributees of the estate, as the case may be, shall have the
right, from time to time within one year after the optionee's total and
permanent disability or death and prior to the expiration of the term of the
option, to exercise any portion of the option not previously exercised, in whole
or in part, as provided in the option agreement.
In the discretion of the Committee the
price due upon exercise of an option may be paid in cash or in shares of our
Common Stock valued at their then current fair market value, or a combination of
both. Shares delivered in payment of such price may be shares acquired by prior
exercises of options or otherwise, in the Committee's
discretion. Also in the discretion of the Committee, a participant
may exercise an option as to only a part of the shares covered thereby and then,
in an essentially simultaneous transaction, use the shares so acquired in
payment of the exercise price for additional option shares.
Holders of options shall have no rights
as shareholders unless and until such options are exercised and shares are
delivered to such persons in accordance with the Stock Option Plan.
Incentive
Stock Options
Incentive stock options may be granted
only to persons who are employees (including directors who are also employees
but excluding non-employee directors). Generally, incentive stock
options must be granted within ten years of the date the Stock Option Plan is
adopted, and the term of any incentive stock option may not exceed ten
years. Furthermore, the aggregate fair market value of shares of
Common Stock with respect to which any incentive stock options are exercisable
for the first time by a participant during any calendar year, whether such
incentive stock options are granted under the Stock Option Plan or any other
plans we may adopt, may not exceed $100,000. Furthermore, the
exercise price of incentive stock options must be at least 100% of the fair
market value of the Common Stock at the time the incentive stock option is
granted, except in the case of incentive stock options granted to any individual
who owns more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our
stock, in which case the exercise price of incentive stock options must be at
least 110% of the fair market value of the Common Stock at the time of
grant.
Changes of
Control or Other Fundamental Change
The Stock Option Plan provides that
upon certain mergers or other reorganizations to which we are a party that
involves an exchange or conversion or other adjustment of our outstanding Common
Stock, each participant generally shall be entitled upon the exercise of his or
her stock options to receive the number and class of securities or other
property to which such participant would have been entitled in the merger or
reorganization if such participant had exercised such stock option prior to such
merger or reorganization.
The Stock
Option Plan also provides that, upon the occurrence of a change of control the
Committee has the right, but not the obligation, to accelerate the time at which
all or a portion of any outstanding options may be exercised.
Miscellaneous
The Board of Directors generally may
amend or terminate the Stock Option Plan or any provision of the Stock Option
Plan at any time. To the extent required by the Exchange Act, or the
Code, however, absent approval by our stockholders, no amendment may (i)
materially alter the group of persons eligible to participate in the Stock
Option Plan; (ii) except as specifically provided in the Stock Option Plan,
increase the number of shares available for Awards under the Stock Option Plan;
(iii) extend the period during which incentive stock options may be granted; or
(iv) decrease the exercise price of any option granted under the Stock Option
Plan. Furthermore, without the consent of the participant, no amendment to or
discontinuance of the Stock Option Plan or any provision thereof shall adversely
affect any Award granted to the participant under the Stock Option
Plan.
Federal
Income Tax Consequences
The
following is a brief description of the Federal income tax consequences to the
participants and Blackhawk of the issuance and exercise of stock options under
the Stock Option Plan. All ordinary income recognized by a
participant with respect to Awards under the Stock Option Plan shall be subject
to both wage withholding and employment taxes. The deduction allowed
to us for the ordinary income recognized by a participant with respect to an
Award under the Stock Option Plan will be limited to amounts that constitute
reasonable, ordinary and necessary business expenses.
Incentive Stock
Options
In
general, no income will result for Federal income tax purposes upon either the
granting or the exercise of any incentive option issued under the Stock Option
Plan. If certain holding period requirements (at least two years from
the date of grant of the option and at least one year from the date of exercise
of the option) are satisfied prior to a disposition of stock acquired upon
exercise of an incentive option, the excess of the sales price upon disposition
over the option exercise price generally will be recognized by the participant
as a capital gain, and Blackhawk will not be allowed a business expense
deduction.
If the
holding period requirements with respect to incentive options are not met, the
participant generally will recognize, at the time of the disposition of the
stock, ordinary income in an amount equal to the difference between the option
price of such stock and the lower of the fair market value of the stock on the
date of exercise and the amount realized on the sale or exchange. The
difference between the option price of such stock and the fair market value of
the stock on the date of exercise is a tax preference item for purposes of
calculating the alternative minimum tax on a participant’s federal income tax
return. If the amount realized on the sale or exchange exceeds the
fair market value of the stock on the date of exercise, then such excess
generally will be recognized as a capital gain. In the case of a
disposition prior to satisfaction of the holding period requirements which
results in the recognition of ordinary income by the participant, we generally
will be entitled to a deduction in the amount of such ordinary income in the
year of the disposition.
If a
participant delivers shares of our Common Stock in payment of the option price,
the participant generally will be treated as having made a like-kind exchange of
such shares for an equal number of the shares so purchased, and no gain or loss
will be recognized with respect to the shares surrendered in payment of said
option price. In such a case, the participant will have a tax basis
in a number of shares received pursuant to the exercise of the option equal to
the number of shares of Common Stock used to exercise the option and equal to
such participants tax basis in the shares of Common Stock submitted in payment
of the option price. The remaining shares of Common Stock acquired
pursuant to the exercise of the option will have a tax basis equal to the gain,
if any, recognized on the exercise of the option and any other consideration
paid for such shares on the exercise of the option.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a
participant delivers any stock that was previously acquired through the exercise
of an incentive stock option in payment of all or a portion of the option price
of an option, and the holding period requirements described above have not been
satisfied with respect to the shares of stock so delivered, the use of such
stock to pay a portion of the option price will be treated as a disqualifying
disposition of such shares, and the participant generally will recognize
income.
The grant
of nonqualified stock options under the Stock Option Plan will not result in any
income being taxed to the participant at the time of the grant or in any tax
deduction for us at such time. At the time a nonqualified stock
option is exercised, the participant will be treated as having received ordinary
income equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares of Common
Stock acquired as of the date of exercise over the price paid for such
stock. At that time, we will be allowed a deduction for Federal
income tax purposes equal to the amount of ordinary income attributable to the
participant upon exercise. The participant's holding period for the
shares of Common Stock acquired will commence on the date of exercise, and the
tax basis of the shares will be the greater of their fair market value at the
time of exercise or the exercise price.
Plan
Benefits
As of the date of this Offering
Circular, 600,000 options have been granted under the Stock Option Plan to Dr.
Zabala and 900,000 options have been granted to Mr. Parker (subject to specified
conditions being satisfied set forth in the Interim Agreement).
Zabala is
entitled to certain compensation and payments pursuant to the Zabala Employment
Agreement (he received $55,000 in salary in 2009—$50,000 was paid to him and
$5,000 was accrued). Parker is entitled to certain payments under the Interim
Agreement. See “Recent Developments” in the front of this Amended
Preliminary Offering Circular. No payments have been made to
Parker. Except as disclosed in this Amended Preliminary Offering
Circular, there are no direct and indirect interests of each person named above
in Blackhawk and in any material transactions within the past two years or in
any proposed transaction to which Blackhawk was or is to be a
party.
Concorde
owns 10,017,591 shares of Blackhawk Common Stock, representing 30.85% of the
outstanding shares of Common Stock. Craig A. Zabala, Chairman and
President of Concorde, is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Blackhawk, and controls Concorde through his 62.42% stock ownership of
Concorde. He also owns or controls 2,432,500 shares of Blackhawk
Common Stock, representing 7.49% of the outstanding shares of Blackhawk Common
Stock. Concorde and Zabala may be deemed to control
Blackhawk. Conflicts of interest may arise between Concorde and
Blackhawk for business and investment opportunities and other
matters. Any conflicts of interest will be resolved by a committee of
Blackhawk Board of Directors consisting of only independent Blackhawk
directors.
During
the year ended 2006 Blackhawk borrowed $133,005 from Concorde, a corporation
controlled by the founder of Blackhawk and an affiliate of Blackhawk to fund the
formation of Blackhawk, offering costs for the offering plan and operating
expenses. Of the amounts borrowed (i) $100,000 was evidenced by a demand
convertible note bearing interest at 8.25% per annum convertible after November1, 2006 into Common Stock of the Company at a price of $1.00 per share or the
price per share of the Company's second Regulation E offering, and (ii) $25,500
was evidenced by a demand convertible non-interest bearing note convertible into
Common Stock of the Company at a price of $1.00 per share or the price per share
of the Company's second Regulation E offering. The balance of
borrowings were non-interest bearing and were due on demand. The
borrowings were approved unanimously by the Board of Directors of Blackhawk as
fair and in the best interests of Blackhawk.
Blackhawk
shares office space and other administrative functions with
Concorde. The Board of Directors of Blackhawk voted to start paying
Concorde monthly rent of $4,000 beginning January 1, 2009; rent incurred in each
of the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 amounted to
$12,000 and $36,000, respectively; at September 30, 2010, $14,000 was due to
Concorde. As of September 30, 2010, Concorde paid $8,484 of expenses
on behalf of Blackhawk.
Concorde
loaned $100,000 to Blackhawk on August 1, 2006 and $25,500 to Blackhawk on May29, 2007 (together, the "Loan") and on June 4, 2007 converted the Loan (plus
interest as of May 31, 2007 on a portion thereof in the amount of $7,391) into
shares of Common Stock at $1.00 or 132,891 shares of Common Stock in Blackhawk's
second Regulation E offering. This transaction was approved by
unanimous written consent of the Board of Directors of Blackhawk.
On June21, 2006, Blackhawk entered into an Exchange Agreement ("Exchange Agreement")
with Concorde pursuant to a non-interest bearing promissory note (the "Note")
issued by Blackhawk on May 3, 2006 to Concorde in the principal amount of
$68,847 exchangeable for 6,884,700 shares ("Shares") of the Common Stock of
Blackhawk. The Shares are "restricted securities" as defined in Rule
144 of the Securities Act. Pursuant to the Exchange Agreement,
Concorde acquired 6,884,700 shares of the Common Stock of Blackhawk in exchange
for the Note. The stock was issued in the exchange at $.01 per share,
the price per share in Blackhawk's first Regulation E offering. This
exchange took place pursuant to Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act as an
exchange by an issuer with an existing security holder where no commission or
other remuneration was paid or given to Concorde or any other party for
soliciting such exchange. The shares are "restricted securities"
under the Securities Act. This transaction was approved by all of the
directors of Blackhawk pursuant to action by unanimous written consent as fair
and in the best interests of Blackhawk and its stockholders.
Blackhawk
has engaged Barak Asset Management, LLC, a New York limited liability company
("Barak") and an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers
Act, to serve as an investment adviser to Blackhawk and manage its portfolio of
investments at such time as when Blackhawk has portfolio
investments. Barak was formed by Sharon Highland in
2006. From 2002 to 2006, Ms. Highland was Director of Product
Development and Management in the Private Client Group for managed accounts,
open and closed-end funds at BlackRock. From 1997 to 2002, she was
Senior Vice President and Head of Wrap Fee Investments at PIMCO
Allianz. Barak's engagement is pursuant to an investment advisory
management agreement dated October 31, 2006, with a one-year term (extendable
for one year periods) subject to Blackhawk's right to terminate upon sixty (60)
days notice, and has fees ranging from 0.50% to 1.80% of assets
managed. The term of the investment advisory management agreement was
extended to October 31, 2011. Barak will manage assets of Blackhawk
on a non-exclusive basis consistent with Blackhawk's BDC investment guidelines
and policies and consistent with the BDC provisions under the Investment Company
Act.
Item
1. Capital Stock and Other Securities
The
authorized capital stock of Blackhawk consists of one billion (1,000,000,000)
shares of Common Stock, par value $.00001 per share, of which there are
32,467,484 issued and outstanding as of the date of this Amended Preliminary
Offering Circular. The following statements relating to the capital
stock set forth the material terms of the securities of Blackhawk; however,
reference is made to the more detailed provisions of, and such statements are
qualified in their entirety by reference to, the certificate of incorporation
and the by-laws, copies of which are available on the SEC's web site,
www.sec.gov, under "Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc."
Common
Stock
Holders
of shares of Common Stock are entitled to one vote for each share on all matters
to be voted on by the stockholders. Holders of Common Stock do not
have cumulative voting rights. Holders of Common Stock are entitled
to share ratably in dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by
the Board of Directors in its discretion from funds legally available
therefore. In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up
of Blackhawk, the holders of Common Stock are entitled to share pro rata all
assets remaining after payment in full of all liabilities. All of the
outstanding shares of Common Stock are fully paid and
non-assessable.
Holders
of Common Stock have no preemptive rights to purchase the Common Stock of
Blackhawk. There are no conversion or redemption rights or sinking fund
provisions with respect to the Common Stock.
Preferred
Stock
Blackhawk
does not have any shares of preferred stock authorized.
Fee
Structure
Reference
is made "Remuneration; Affiliated Transactions; Investment Adviser" above
regarding Barak and the fees that Blackhawk will pay Barak for its
services.
Barak has
fees ranging from 0.50% to 1.80% of assets managed. Barak will be
responsible with appointing sub-advisors and determining compensation for each
sub-advisor individually in consultation with the Company's Board of
Directors. Capital that is not vested, held in cash or vested into
simple money market accounts, will not be subject to any fee.
Odeon
Capital Group LLC will be paid a placement agent fee of (i) $.05 per share (ten
percent (10%) of the purchase price per share) for each share sold in the
offering to investors not affiliated with the Company, and (ii) $.025 per share
(five percent (5%) of the purchase price per share) for each share sold in the
offering to investors affiliated with the Company, pursuant to the Placement
Agent Agreement.
Dividends
Subject
to the BDC provisions of the Investment Company Act and to having sufficient net
income for distribution, we intend to distribute at least 90% of Blackhawk’s net
income (net of fees and general administrative expenses) and gains to
shareholders. The balance will be held as retained earnings for
general corporate purposes including but not limited to expansion of the
company’s capital base. No assurance can be given that Blackhawk’s
investments will generate such income.
Prospective
investors in Blackhawk's Common Stock are urged to carefully review all of
Blackhawk's SEC filings. They may be found on the SEC's web site,
www.sec.gov.
Condensed
Statements of Changes in Net Assets (Liabilities) for the nine months
ended September 30, 2010 (unaudited) and year ended December 31,2009.
·
Condensed
Statement of Stockholders' Equity (Capital Deficit) for the nine months
ended September 30, 2010 (unaudited) and year ended December 31,2009.
REVIEW
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Stockholders
and Board of Directors
Blackhawk
Capital Group BDC, Inc.
We have
reviewed the accompanying condensed statement of assets and liabilities of
Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc. (the "Company") as of September 30, 2010,
including the schedule of investments, and the related condensed statements of
operations for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2010 and
2009, changes in net assets (liabilities) and stockholders’ equity (capital
deficit) for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, and cash flows for the
nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 and financial highlights for the
nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009. These interim
condensed financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's
management.
We
conducted our reviews in accordance with standards established by the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). A review of interim
financial information consists principally of applying analytical procedures to
financial data and making inquiries of persons responsible for financial and
accounting matters. It is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in
accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States), the objective of which is the expression of an opinion
regarding the financial statements taken as a whole. Accordingly, we do not
express such an opinion.
Based on
our reviews, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made
to the accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements in order
for them to be in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in
the United States of America.
As
discussed in Note 1 to the condensed financial statements, the Company has had a
net decrease in assets resulting from operations for the three and nine-month
periods ended September 30, 2010 and as of September 30, 2010 has liabilities in
excess of assets and may not be able to fund operating expenses without
additional capital and/or loans. These conditions raise substantial
doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going
concern. Management’s plan in regard to this matter is also described
in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments
that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
We have
previously audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the statement of assets and
liabilities of the Company as of December 31, 2009, including the schedule of
investments, and the related statements of operations, changes in net assets,
stockholders’ equity (capital deficit), and cash flows for the year then ended
(not presented herein), and in our report dated March 30, 2010, we expressed an
unqualified opinion on those financial statements which included an explanatory
paragraph with respect to substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to
continue as a going concern. In our opinion, the information set forth in the
accompanying condensed statement of assets and liabilities as of December 31,2009, including the schedule of investments, and the condensed statement of
changes in net assets (liabilities) and stockholders’ equity (capital deficit)
for the year ended December 31, 2009, is fairly stated in all material respects
in relation to the financial statements from which it has been
derived.
Blackhawk Capital Group BDC Inc. ("the
Company" or “Blackhawk”) was incorporated in the State of Delaware on April 22,2004.
On September 14, 2004, the Company
filed a Form N-54A, Notification with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”) electing to become a business development company pursuant to Section
54(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. As a business
development company, Blackhawk is able to acquire interests in small private
businesses, as well as non-dividend paying public companies.
Blackhawk attempts to locate and
negotiate with eligible portfolio companies for Blackhawk to invest in, lend
funds to, acquire an interest in and/or possibly manage. Blackhawk
offers managerial assistance to eligible portfolio companies in which it
invests.
Basis
of presentation
These interim financial statements of
the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim
financial information and pursuant to the requirements for reporting on Form
10-Q and Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain disclosures
accompanying annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP are
omitted. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting
solely of normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for the fair
presentation of financial statements for the interim periods have been
included. The results of operations for the current period are not
necessarily indicative of results that ultimately may be achieved for the
year. The interim unaudited financial statements and notes thereto
were reviewed by an outside auditor and should be read in conjunction with the
December 31, 2009 financial statements and notes thereto included in the
Company’s Form 10-K as filed with the SEC.
The Company had a net decrease in
assets resulting from operations for the three and nine-month periods ended
September 30, 2010 of $88,679 and $407,426, respectively, and total net
liabilities of $541,922 as of September 30, 2010. Since inception,
the Company’s operations have been principally funded by Regulation E offerings
and The Concorde Group, Inc. (“Concorde”), a corporation controlled by the
founder and an affiliate of the Company. If the Company
is unable to raise additional equity capital or if Concorde is unable to provide
sufficient capital to the Company to fund its operational expenses, it would
have an adverse impact on liquidity and operations. Such uncertainty
raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going
concern. The financial statements do not reflect any adjustment that
might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. The Company
intends to raise capital and access the equity markets to raise cash to fund
investment; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to
raise capital.
In January 2010, the Financial
Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued new accounting guidance which expands
disclosure requirements relating to fair value measurements. The guidance adds
requirements for disclosing amounts of and reasons for significant transfers
into and out of Levels 1 and 2 and requires gross rather than net disclosures
about purchases, sales, issuance and settlements relating to Level 3
measurements. The guidance also provides clarification that fair value
measurement disclosures are required for each class of assets and liabilities.
Disclosures about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value
for measurements that fall in either Level 2 or Level 3 are also required. The
Company adopted the provisions of the guidance as of March 31, 2010. Disclosures
are not required for earlier periods presented for comparative purposes. The new
guidance affects disclosures only and therefore, the adoption had no impact on
the Company’s results of operation or financial position.
Revenue
recognition
·
Unrealized
gain and losses resulting from the change in the valuation of investments
are reflected in the condensed statement of
operations.
·
Interest
income is recorded on the accrual
basis.
·
Realized
gains or losses on investments are recorded on a trade date basis using
the specific identification method.
Use
of estimates in the preparation of financial statements
The preparation of financial statements
in conformity with generally accepted principles accepted in the United States
("GAAP") 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 net revenue and expenses during each reporting period. Actual
results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates
include the valuation of investments and the valuation allowance for deferred
tax assets.
Investments
The Company's investments are carried
at fair value.
The Company considers all highly liquid
investment instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be
cash equivalents.
Net
loss per common share
Basic earnings (loss) per share is
computed solely on the weighted average number of common shares outstanding
during the period. Diluted earnings (loss) per share reflects all
potential dilution of common stock as applicable.
The following table provides basic and
diluted earnings (loss) per share for the three months ended September 30, 2010
and 2009:
For the three and nine months ended
September 30, 2010 and 2009, 600,000 shares attributable to stock options were
excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS because the effect was
anti-dilutive.
The
Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the differences
between the financial statement carrying amount and the tax bases of assets and
liabilities. The Company regularly reviews its deferred tax assets
for recoverability and establishes a valuation allowance based upon historical
losses, projected future taxable income and the expected timing of the reversals
of existing temporary differences.
As of
September 30, 2010, total deferred tax assets aggregated approximately
$1,142,000 and consist principally of net operating loss carry forwards and
capitalized start up costs, which were fully reserved based on the likelihood of
realization. The net operating loss will expire by 2029.
The
Company may recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it
is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination
by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the
position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements
from such a position should be measured based on the largest benefit that has a
greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate
settlement. As of September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the
Company has not recorded any unrecognized tax benefits. The Company's
policy is to recognize interest and penalties in general and administrative
expense.
The tax
years 2006 through 2009 remain open to examination by the major tax
jurisdictions to which the Company is subject.
The U.S. federal income tax cost basis
of the Company's investments at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, was
$250,000 and $326,350, respectively, and net unrealized depreciation for U.S.
Federal income tax purposes was $0 (gross unrealized depreciation and
appreciation each of $0) and $1,227 (gross unrealized depreciation of $1,227 and
gross unrealized appreciation of $0) at September 30, 2010 and December 31,2009, respectively.
3.
FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT
The
Company carries its investments at fair value. Fair value is an
estimate of the exit price, representing the amount that would be received to
sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between
market participants (i.e., the exit price at the measurement
date). Fair value measurements are not adjusted for transaction
costs. A fair value hierarchy consists of three levels that are used
to prioritize inputs to fair value techniques:
·
Level 1 - inputs to the valuation
methodology are quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or
liabilities in active
markets.
·
Level 2 - inputs to the valuation
methodology include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in
active markets, and inputs that are observable for the asset or liability,
either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the
financial instrument.
·
Level 3 - inputs to the valuation
methodology are unobservable and significant to the fair value
measurement.
Investments
whose values are based on quoted market prices in active markets, and whose
values are therefore classified as Level 1, consist of active listed
equities.
Investments
that trade in markets that are not considered to be active, but whose values are
based on quoted market prices, dealer quotations or valuations provided by
alternative pricing sources supported by observable inputs are classified as
Level 2. These generally include certain U.S. government obligations
and investment-grade corporate bonds.
Investments
whose values are classified as Level 3 have significant unobservable inputs, as
they may trade infrequently or not at all. Investments whose values
are classified as Level 3 generally include private investments. When
observable prices are not available for these securities, the Company uses one
or more valuation techniques (e.g., the market approach or the income approach)
for which sufficient and reliable data is available.
Within
Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, the use of the market approach generally
consists of using comparable market transactions, while the use of the income
approach generally consists of the net present value of estimated future cash
flows, adjusted as appropriate for liquidity, credit, market and/or other risk
factors.
The
inputs used by the Company in estimating the value of investments classified as
Level 3 may include the original transaction price, quoted prices for similar
securities or assets in active markets, completed or pending third-party
transactions in the underlying investment or comparable issuers, and changes in
financial ratios or cash flows.
The
values assigned to investments are based on available information and do not
necessarily represent amounts that might be realized if a ready market existed
and such differences could be material. Furthermore, the ultimate
realization of such amounts depends on future events and circumstances and
therefore valuation estimates may differ from the value realized upon
disposition of individual positions.
The carrying values and estimated fair
values of the Company's financial instruments for the periods presented are as
follows:
The
following table presents additional information about assets measured at fair
value using Level 3 inputs for the three and nine months ended September 30,2010:
Market risk represents the potential
loss that can be caused by increases or decreases in the fair value of
investments.
Interest rate risk is the risk that the
fair value or future cash flows of fixed income or rate sensitive investments
will increase or decrease because of changes in interest
rates. Generally the value of fixed income securities will change
inversely with changes in interest rates. As interest rates rise, the
fair value of fixed income securities tends to decrease. Conversely,
as interest rates fall, the fair value of fixed income securities tends to
increase. This risk is generally greater for long-term securities
than for short-term securities.
Credit risk represents the potential
loss that would occur if counterparties fail to perform pursuant to the terms of
their obligations. In addition to its investments, the Company is
subject to credit risk to the extent a custodian or broker with whom it conducts
business is unable to fulfill contractual obligations.
Liquidity risk is the risk that the
Company will not be able to raise funds to fulfill its obligations, including
inability to sell investments quickly or at close to fair
value.
4.
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
The Company shares office space and
other administrative functions with Concorde. The Board voted to
start paying Concorde monthly rent of $4,000 beginning January 1,2009. Rent incurred in each of the three and nine months ended
September 30, 2010 and 2009 amounted to $12,000 and $36,000, respectively. At
September 30, 2010, $14,000 was due to Concorde.
Pursuant to an investment advisory
management agreement dated October 31, 2006, Blackhawk engaged Barak Asset
Management, LLC (“Barak”), a Delaware limited liability company who is an
investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
(“Advisers Act”), to serve as an investment adviser to Blackhawk and manage its
portfolio of investments. The agreement is for a one-year term and
extendable for one year periods. The term of this agreement was
extended to October 31, 2011. Any one-year extension of the Barak
agreement must be approved by (a) the vote of the Company’s board of directors,
or the vote of a majority of the Company’s outstanding voting securities, and
(b) the vote of the majority of the Company’s independent
directors.
Investment advisory fees are calculated
based upon the average cash value of assets at the end of each quarter including
the value of any withdrawals from the assets made during that quarter ranging
from 0.05% to 0.22% of assets managed. Fees are billed and payable
quarterly in arrears (or a prorated period when applicable).
For the three and nine months ended
September 30, 2010 and 2009, the Company incurred fees in the amount of $2,263
and $2,188, respectively, and $7,104 and $12,030, respectively.
Ratio
of net investment loss to average net assets3
[4
]
(294
)%
(334
)%
Ratio
of operating expenses to average net assets3
[4
]
296
%
336
%
Portfolio
turnover rate
0
%
100
%
100
%
1
Calculated
based on weighted average shares outstanding during
period.
2
Total
returns for periods of less than one year not annualized. The
rate of return for each period was calculated by taking the difference
between the ending and beginning net asset value and dividing this
difference by the beginning net
asset value.
3
Annualized for periods less than
one year.
4
Ratio
was not presented as it is not considered meaningful because the Company
had a net liability throughout the reporting
period.
In December 2008, the stockholders
approved the Company's Stock Option Plan ("Stock Option Plan") which provides
for 3,000,000 shares of common stock available for grant, of which 2,500,000 are
reserved for incentive stock options, to the Company's officers, directors and
key employees. A grant must be approved by the stock option committee
of the Company (“Committee”).
The Committee may grant either
incentive stock options (for purposes of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended), or nonqualified stock options. Except as
described below for incentive stock options, the Committee generally has the
discretion to determine the persons to whom stock options will be granted, the
number of shares subject to such options, the exercise prices of such options,
the vesting schedules with respect to such options, the terms of such options,
as well as the period, if any, following a participant's termination of service
during which such option may be exercised, and the circumstances in which all or
a portion of an option may become immediately exercisable or be
forfeited.
All
rights to exercise options shall terminate three (3) months after any optionee
ceases to be an officer, director or a key employee of the Company except as
otherwise provided by the Committee in an option agreement, and no options will
vest after an optionee's termination date. If any officer or key
employee is terminated by the Company for cause, his or her options shall be
forfeited immediately. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, where
an optionee's service as a director, officer or key employee of the Company
terminates as a result of the optionee's death or his total and permanent
disability, the optionee or the executors or administrators or distributees of
the estate, as the case may be, shall have the right, from time to time within
one year after the optionee's total and permanent disability or death and prior
to the expiration of the term of the option, to exercise any portion of the
option not previously exercised, in whole or in part, as provided in the
respective option agreement.
In the
discretion of the Committee the price due upon exercise of an option may be paid
in cash or in shares of our common stock valued at their then current fair
market value, or a combination of both. Shares delivered in payment of such
price may be shares acquired by prior exercises of options or otherwise, in the
Committee's discretion. Also in the discretion of the Committee, a
participant may exercise an option as to only a part of the shares covered
thereby and then, in an essentially simultaneous transaction, use the shares so
acquired in payment of the exercise price for additional option
shares.
Holders
of options shall have no rights as shareholders unless and until such options
are exercised and shares are delivered to such persons in accordance with the
Stock Option Plan.
Incentive
stock options may be granted only to persons who are employees (including
directors who are also employees but excluding non-employee
directors). Generally, incentive stock options must be granted within
ten years of the date the Stock Option Plan is adopted, and the term of any
incentive stock option may not exceed ten years. Furthermore, the
aggregate fair market value of shares of Common Stock with respect to which any
incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by a participant
during any calendar year may not exceed $100,000. Furthermore, the
exercise price of incentive stock options must be at least 100% of the fair
market value of the Common Stock at the time the incentive stock option is
granted, except in the case of incentive stock options granted to any individual
who owns more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our
stock, in which case the exercise price of incentive stock options must be at
least 110% of the fair market value of the Common Stock at the time of
grant.
The Company accounts for stock-based
payments by regarding stock-based compensation expense in the statement of
operations over the vesting period based on the fair value of the award at the
grant date.
The following table summarizes activity
under the Company's stock option plans for the nine months ended September 30,2010:
Shares Under
Options
Weighted
Average
Exercise Price
Remaining
Contractual Life
(In Years)
Aggregate
Intrinsic Value
Outstanding
at beginning of period
600,000
$
0.40
Grants
Exercised
—
—
Forfeited
—
—
Outstanding
at end of period
600,000
$
0.40
8.33
$
0
Exercisable
at end of period
600,000
$
0.40
8.33
$
0
The aggregate intrinsic value is
calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the underlying awards
and the closing price of the Company's common stock. As of September30, 2010, there were no options outstanding to purchase shares with an exercise
price below the quoted price of the Company's common stock.
There were no stock options granted
during the three months ended September 30, 2010. The weighted
average fair value at date of grant for options granted during the three months
ended September 30, 2009 was $.22. The Company recorded $132,000 of compensation expense
for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Estimated unrecognized
stock-based compensation relating to stock options as of September 30, 2010 is
$0.
Employment
Agreement. On January 30, 2009, the Company entered into an
Employment Agreement with Craig A. Zabala ("Zabala"), founder, Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer, and acting Chief Financial Officer and
Chief Compliance Officer, of the Company.
The term of the Employment Agreement is
three (3) years (“Employment Period”). The Employment Period will be
automatically renewed for one (1) additional year each year unless ninety (90)
calendar days prior to the end of the term, the Company advises Zabala in
writing that it does not wish to extend the Employment Period for an additional
year.
Pursuant to the Employment Agreement,
Zabala serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, provided
that if the Company hires and/or enters into an employment agreement with any
executive who serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company,
Zabala shall resign his position as President, but would keep his position as
Chief Executive Officer. Zabala also agrees to serve as acting Chief
Financial Officer and acting Chief Compliance Officer until the Company retains
employees for such positions. The Employment Agreement also permits
Zabala to perform work for Concorde and another affiliate, provided that such
work does not compete with the business and business opportunities of the
Company.
Zabala receives a base annual salary of
$60,000 under the Employment Agreement. Each year, the Board of
Directors may increase the base salary in its discretion. In the
event that the Company sold a minimum of $3,000,000 of shares of its common
stock in its 2009 private placement offering ("Offering") under Rule 506 under
Regulation D under the Securities Act, the Company would have had to increase
Zabala's annual base salary to $250,000 and pay him a $50,000 bonus (which bonus
could have been increased proportionately if the Company raised more than
$3,000,000 in the Offering but the amount of the bonus would not have been
greater than $100,000). If the minimum amount is not raised in the
Offering, Zabala's base salary remains at $60,000. The Offering was
terminated on December 14, 2009 with no shares being sold and consequently Dr.
Zabala was not paid any bonus and did not receive a salary
increase.
The Employment Agreement terminates
upon the earliest to occur of (i) Zabala's death or disability; (ii) cause or
non-cause termination of Zabala by the Company; (iii) a termination by Zabala
for "good reason" or Zabala resigns from the Company without "good reason" or
(iv) Zabala is replaced as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company
(except if another executive is hired as President and Chief Operating
Officer).
If Zabala is terminated without cause,
or if he resigns for "good reason," he would receive accrued salary and bonuses,
if any, to the end of the employment term. In addition, if Zabala is
terminated without cause or if he resigns for "good reason,"the Company must
pay to Concorde rental payments of $4,000 per month from April 2004 until the
month Zabala is terminated without cause or resigns for "good
reason." If he is terminated for cause, he is not entitled to any
rights or compensation under the Employment Agreement, provided that the Company
must make the $4,000 monthly rental payment to its affiliate
Concorde. If Zabala is terminated in the event of death or
disability, or he resigns without "good reason," he shall only be entitled to
receive accrued and unpaid base salary and benefits through the date of his
employment termination. If the Company hires a replacement for Zabala
who does not serve as President and Chief Operating Officer, but serves as Chief
Executive Officer, Zabala would be entitled to the benefits above for a
non-cause termination.
Stock Option
Grant. Pursuant to the Employment Agreement, Zabala was
granted 600,000 options to purchase shares of Common Stock at an exercise price
of $0.40 per share (above the market value of $0.22 on date of grant) which
expires on February 1, 2019. The options were fully vested upon
issuance.
Macromarkets
Investment. On January 12, 2009, Blackhawk entered into a
Voting Capital Interests Purchase Agreement ("Purchase Agreement") with
MacroMarkets LLC, a Delaware limited liability company
("MacroMarkets"). Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Blackhawk
purchased a five percent (5%) membership interest in MacroMarkets for $250,000
and Craig A. Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blackhawk, was
appointed a non-voting board member of MacroMarkets. The Purchase
Agreement contains standard representations, warranties and indemnification
provisions. The transaction closed on January 12,2009. Blackhawk used funds from working capital to make the equity
investment.
11.
SUBSEQUENT EVENT
On
December 9, 2010, the Company entered into an interim employment agreement
("Interim Agreement") with Walter V. E. Parker ("Executive"). The
term of the Interim Agreement is the first to occur of one year from the
execution of the Interim Agreement or 90 days after final closing of Blackhawk's
$5,000,000 (maximum) common stock offering under Regulation E of the Securities
Act of 1933 ("Offering") when the Company will execute a formal employment
agreement with the Executive ("Formal Agreement"). The purpose of the
Interim Agreement is to have a President in place at the Company while the
Company conducts its Regulation E Offering (as defined herein) who can assist
with selling shares in the Offering and conducting the business and operations
of the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company approved the
interim agreement on December 6, 2010 by unanimous written consent.
Under the
Interim Agreement, the Executive shall serve as President and will be paid a
base salary of $10,000 for the first six months and $15,000 for the remainder of
the term. His salary accrues, however, until the Company raises
$1,000,000 in the Offering. He also receives the following stock
options pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan and approval by the
Company's Stock Option Committee: (a) upon $1,000,000 being raised in the
Offering, 250,000 options at an exercise price of $0.40 per share; (b) upon the
next $1,000,000 being raised in the Offering, an additional 250,000 options at
the exercise price of $0.40; (c) upon the next $1,000,000 being raised in the
Offering, an additional 200,000 options at the exercise price of $0.40; and (d)
upon the next $1,000,000 being raised in the Offering, an additional 200,000
options at the exercise price of $0.40 per share. Until the Formal Agreement is
entered into by the Company and the Executive, if the Executive is terminated
for any reason other than cause and the Company has placed at least $1,500,000
of the Offering, he receives the greater of accrued salary to date or $100,000
severance payment and his options granted to date vest.
REPORT
OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Stockholders
and Board of Directors
Blackhawk
Capital Group BDC, Inc.
We have
audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities of Blackhawk
Capital Group BDC, Inc. (the "Company") as of December 31, 2009 and 2008,
including the schedule of investments as of December 31, 2009, and the related
statements of operations, changes in net assets, stockholders' equity (capital
deficit), and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 2009 and the financial highlights for each of the years in the
four-year period ended December 31, 2009. These financial statements
and financial highlights are the responsibility of the Company's
management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements and financial highlights based on our audits.
We
conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require
that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the financial statements are free of material misstatement. We were
not engaged to perform an audit of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting. Our audits include 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 financial statements, assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide
a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our
opinion, the financial statements and financial highlights referred to above
present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Blackhawk
Capital Group BDC, Inc. as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, the results of
its operations, the changes in its net assets, and its cash flows for each of
the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2009 and the financial
highlights for each of the years in the four-year period ended December 31, 2009
in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
of America.
The
accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company
will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1, the Company
has liabilities in excess of assets at December 31, 2009 and may not be able to
fund operating expenses without additional capital and/or
loans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s
ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard
to these matters is also described in Note 1. The financial
statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of
this uncertainty.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT
REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Board of
Directors
Blackhawk
Capital Group BDC Inc.
New York,
New York
We have
audited the accompanying statements of operations, changes in net assets,
stockholders’ equity and cash flows of Blackhawk Capital Group BDC Inc. for the
year ended December 31, 2005 (which statements are not presented herein) and the
financial highlights for the year then ended. These financial
statements and financial highlights are the responsibility of the Company's
management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements based on our audit.
We
conducted our audit in accordance with standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require
that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit
includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement
presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
In our
opinion, the financial statements and financial highlights referred to above
present fairly, in all material respects, Blackhawk Capital Group BDC Inc.’s
results of operations, and its cash flows, changes in stockholders’ equity and
the changes in its net assets for the year ended December 31, 2005 and its
financial highlights for the year then ended December 31, 2005 in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America.
Blackhawk
Capital Group BDC Inc. (“the Company” or “Blackhawk”) was
incorporated in the State of Delaware on April 22, 2004.
On
September 20, 2004the Company filed a Form N-54A, Notification with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) electing to become a Business
Development Company pursuant to Section 54(a) of the Investment Company Act of
1940. As a business development company, Blackhawk is able to acquire
interests in small private businesses, as well as non-dividend paying public
companies.
Blackhawk
attempts to locate and negotiate with eligible portfolio companies for Blackhawk
to invest in, lend funds to, acquire an interest in and/or possibly
manage. Blackhawk offers managerial assistance to eligible portfolio
companies in which it invests.
Basis
of presentation
The
financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the presentation
requirements of the FASB Accounting Standards codification Topic 946, Financial
Services - Investment Companies and pursuant to the requirements for reporting
on Form 10-K and Regulation S-X.
The
Company had a decrease in net assets resulting from operations for the year
ended December 31, 2009 of $986,472 and total net liabilities of $134,496 as of
December 31, 2009. Since inception, the Company's operations have
been principally funded by Regulation E offerings and The Concorde Group, Inc.
("Concorde"), a corporation controlled by the founder and an affiliate of the
Company. The Company is currently trying to raise equity capital,
although there can be no assurance such offering will be
successful. To the extent that current resources are not sufficient
for the Company to pay its obligations as they become due, Concorde has agreed
to provide sufficient capital to the Company to subsidize operational expenses
to operate through January 1, 2011 to the extent that Concorde has such capital
available and may lend it to Blackhawk. If the Company is unable to
raise equity capital or if Concorde is unable to provide sufficient capital to
the Company to fund its operational expenses, it would have an adverse impact on
liquidity and operations. Such uncertainty raises substantial doubt
about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The
financial statements do not reflect any adjustment that might result from the
outcome of this uncertainty.
Uses
of estimates in the preparation of financial statements
The
preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) 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 net revenue and
expenses during each reporting period. Actual results could differ
from those estimates.
Cash
and Cash Equivalents
The
Company considers all highly liquid investment instruments purchased with a
maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.
Income
Taxes
The
Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the differences
between the financial statement carrying amount and the tax basis of assets and
liabilities. The Company regularly reviews its deferred tax assets
for recoverability and establishes a valuation allowance when it is not more
likely than not that such assets will be realized.
As of
December 31, 2009, net deferred tax assets aggregated approximately $958,000,
which was fully reserved based on the likelihood of realization.
The
Company may recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it
is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination
by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the
position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements
from such a position should be measured based on the largest benefit that has a
greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate
settlement. As of December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, the
Company has not recorded any unrecognized tax benefits. The Company's
policy is to recognize accrued interest and penalties in general and
administrative expense.
The tax
years 2006 through 2009 remain open to examination by the major tax
jurisdictions to which the Company is subject.
Unrealized
gain and losses resulting from the change in the valuation of investments are
reflected in the statements of operations.
Interest
income is recorded on the accrual basis.
Realized
gains or losses on investments are recorded on a trade date basis using the
specific identification method.
Investments
The
Company's investments are carried at fair value.
Net loss per common share
Basic
earnings (loss) per share is computed solely on the weighted average number of
common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings (loss)
per share reflects all potential dilution of common stock as
applicable.
The
following table provides Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share for the
years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 and 2007:
For the
year ended December 31, 2009, 600,000 shares attributable to stock options were
excluded from the calculation of diluted loss per share because the effect was
anti-dilutive. There were no potential dilutive securities
outstanding in 2008 and 2007.
2.
STOCKHOLDERS’
EQUITY
During
2007, pursuant to a Regulation E Offering, the Company sold and exchanged an
aggregate of 657,891 shares of common stock, $.00001 par value per share
("Common Stock"), at a purchase price of $1.00 per share. The Company
issued $525,500 shares for $525,001. In addition, the Company issued
to Concorde, an affiliate and the largest stockholder of the Company, 132,891
shares in exchange for (x) $107,391 in a convertible note (consisting of
$100,000 in principal and $7,391 in accrued and unpaid interest) owed by the
Company to Concorde and issued on August 1, 2006 and (y) $25,500 in a
convertible note owed by the Company to Concorde and issued on May 29,2007. The conversion price for both of these notes was $1.00 per
share of Common Stock.
During
2008, pursuant to a Regulation E Offering, the Company sold an aggregate of
1,298,112 shares of Common Stock, at a purchase price of $1.00 per share for
aggregate proceeds of $1,168,801, net of expense of $129,311.
During
2009, the Company did not sell any shares of its Common Stock or any other
equity security.
3.
INCOME
TAXES
The net
deferred tax asset in the accompanying table include the following amounts of
deferred tax assets and liabilities:
Deferred Tax Assets
2009
2008
Capitalized
Startup Costs
$
594,000
$
564,000
Net
Operating Loss
364,000
-
958,000
564,000
Valuation
Allowance
(958,000
)
(564,000
)
Net
Deferred Tax Asset
$
-
$
-
The
deferred tax assets represent the benefit of its capitalized startup costs and
the net operating loss carry forward. The net operating loss will expire
by 2029. The Company has provided a full valuation allowance for such
deferred tax assets based on the likelihood of realization.
The
difference between the statutory tax rate of 34% and the company's effective tax
rate is due to the increase in the valuation allowance of $394,000 (2009),
$182,000 (2008), and $182,000 (2007) and certain expenses not deductible for tax
purposes.
4.
FAIR
VALUE MEASUREMENT
The
Company carries its investments at fair value. Fair value is an
estimate of the exit price, representing the amount that would be received to
sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between
market participants (i.e., the exit price at the measurement
date). Fair value measurements are not adjusted for transaction
costs. A fair value hierarchy consists of three levels that are used
to prioritize inputs to fair value techniques:
Level 1 -
inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical
assets or liabilities in active markets.
Level 2 -
inputs to the valuation methodology include quoted prices for similar assets and
liabilities in active markets, and inputs that are observable for the asset or
liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the
financial instrument.
Level 3 -
inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable and significant to the fair
value measurement.
Investments
whose values are based on quoted market prices in active markets, and whose
values are therefore classified as Level 1, consist of active listed
equities.
Investments
that trade in markets that are not considered to be active, but whose values are
based on quoted market prices, dealer quotations or valuations provided by
alternative pricing sources supported by observable inputs are classified as
Level 2. These generally include certain U.S. government obligations
and investment-grade corporate bonds.
Investments
whose values are classified as Level 3 have significant unobservable inputs, as
they may trade infrequently or not at all. Investments whose values
are classified as Level 3 generally include private investments. When
observable prices are not available for these securities, the Company uses one
or more valuation techniques (e.g., the market approach or the income approach)
for which sufficient and reliable data is available.
Within
Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, the use of the market approach generally
consists of using comparable market transactions, while the use of the income
approach generally consists of the net present value of estimated future cash
flows, adjusted as appropriate for liquidity, credit, market and/or other risk
factors.
The
inputs used by the Company in estimating the value of investments classified as
Level 3 may include the original transaction price, quoted prices for similar
securities or assets in active markets, completed or pending third-party
transactions in the underlying investment or comparable issuers, and changes in
financial ratios or cash flows.
The
values assigned to investments are based on available information and do not
necessarily represent amounts that might be realized if a ready market existed
and such differences could be material. Furthermore, the ultimate
realization of such amounts depends on future events and circumstances and
therefore valuation estimates may differ from the value realized upon
disposition of individual positions.
In the
normal course of its business, the Company’s investments may be subject to the
following risks:
Market
risk represents the potential loss that can be caused by increases or decreases
in the fair value of investments.
Interest
rate risk is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of fixed income
or rate sensitive investments will increase or decrease because of changes in
interest rates. Generally the value of fixed income securities will
change inversely with changes in interest rates. As interest rates
rise, the fair value of fixed income securities tends to
decrease. Conversely, as interest rates fall, the fair value of fixed
income securities tends to increase. This risk is generally greater
for long-term securities than for short-term securities.
Credit
risk represents the potential loss that would occur if counterparties fail to
perform pursuant to the terms of their obligations. In addition to
its investments, the Company is subject to credit risk to the extent a custodian
or broker with whom it conducts business is unable to fulfill contractual
obligations.
Liquidity
risk is the risk that the Company will not be able to raise funds to fulfill its
obligations, including inability to sell investments quickly or at close to fair
value.
5.
RELATED
PARTY TRANSACTIONS
At
December 31, 2006, the Company owed Concorde $8,000 of outstanding non-interest
bearing borrowings and a demand convertible note in the principal amount of
$100,000 bearing interest at 8.25% per annum. The note was
convertible after November 1, 2006 into common stock of the Company at a price
of $11.00 per share or the price per share of the Company’s next Regulation E
offering.
On May29, 2007, Blackhawk issued a convertible note in the principal amount of $25,500
to Concorde. The note evidenced a loan from Concorde to the Company
for advances of $17,500 during 2007 together with $8,000 of the advances owed to
Concorde as of December 31, 2006. The advances were used to fund a portion of
expenses incurred by the Company consisting of legal fees and expenses,
accounting fees and expenses, general and administrative expenses. The note was
repayable upon demand and did not bear interest and was convertible into shares
of common stock of the Company at a conversion rate of one share of common stock
per $1.00 of principal amount of note converted, the price per share in the
Company's Regulation E offering. On June 4, 2007, pursuant to the
terms of the notes, Concorde converted the $125,500 principal amount of the
notes plus accrued interest of $7,391 into 132,891 shares of Common Stock at
$1.00 of principal amount of note converted, the price per share in the
Company's Regulation E offering.
Pursuant
to an investment advisory management agreement dated October 31, 2006, Blackhawk
engaged Barak Asset Management, LLC (“Barak”), a Delaware limited liability
company who is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers
Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”), to serve as an investment adviser to Blackhawk and
manage its portfolio of investments. The agreement was for a one-year
term and extendable for one year periods. The agreement with Barak
was extended and expires on October 31, 2010. Any one-year extension
of the Barak agreement must be approved by (a) the vote of the Company’s board
of directors, or the vote of a majority of the Company’s outstanding voting
securities, and (b) the vote of the majority of the Company’s independent
directors.
Investment
advisory fees are calculated based upon the average cash value of assets at the
end of each quarter including the value of any withdrawals from the assets made
during that quarter ranging from 0.50% to 1.80% of assets
managed. Fees are billed and payable quarterly (or a prorated period
when applicable).
For the
year ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, the Company incurred fees to Barak in the
amount of $16,738 and $11,301, respectively.
In
December 2008, the stockholders approved the Company's Stock Option Plan ("Stock
Option Plan") which provides for 3,000,000 shares of common stock available for
grant, of which 2,500,000 shall be reserved for incentive stock options, to the
Company's officers, directors and key employees. A grant must be
approved by the stock option committee of the Company
(“Committee”). As of December 31, 2009, one grant has been made under
the Stock Option Plan.
The
Committee may grant either incentive stock options (for purposes of Section 422
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended), or nonqualified stock
options. Except as described below for incentive stock options, the
Committee generally has the discretion to determine the persons to whom stock
options will be granted, the number of shares subject to such options, the
exercise prices of such options, the vesting schedules with respect to such
options, the terms of such options, as well as the period, if any, following a
participant's termination of service during which such option may be exercised,
and the circumstances in which all or a portion of an option may become
immediately exercisable or be forfeited.
All
rights to exercise options shall terminate three (3) months after any optionee
ceases to be an officer, director or a key employee of the Company except as
otherwise provided by the Committee in an option agreement, and no options will
vest after an optionee's termination date. If any officer or key
employee is terminated by the Company for cause, his or her options shall be
forfeited immediately. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, where
an optionee's service as a director, officer or key employee of the Company
terminates as a result of the optionee's death or his total and permanent
disability, the optionee or the executors or administrators or distributees of
the estate, as the case may be, shall have the right, from time to time within
one year after the optionee's total and permanent disability or death and prior
to the expiration of the term of the option, to exercise any portion of the
option not previously exercised, in whole or in part, as provided in the
respective option agreement.
In the
discretion of the Committee the price due upon exercise of an option may be paid
in cash or in shares of our common stock valued at their then current fair
market value, or a combination of both. Shares delivered in payment of such
price may be shares acquired by prior exercises of options or otherwise, in the
Committee's discretion. Also in the discretion of the Committee, a
participant may exercise an option as to only a part of the shares covered
thereby and then, in an essentially simultaneous transaction, use the shares so
acquired in payment of the exercise price for additional option
shares.
Holders
of options shall have no rights as shareholders unless and until such options
are exercised and shares are delivered to such persons in accordance with the
Stock Option Plan.
Incentive
stock options may be granted only to persons who are employees (including
directors who are also employees but excluding non-employee
directors). Generally, incentive stock options must be granted within
ten years of the date the Stock Option Plan is adopted, and the term of any
incentive stock option may not exceed ten years. Furthermore, the
aggregate fair market value of shares of Common Stock with respect to which any
incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by a participant
during any calendar year may not exceed $100,000. Furthermore, the
exercise price of incentive stock options must be at least 100% of the fair
market value of the Common Stock at the time the incentive stock option is
granted, except in the case of incentive stock options granted to any individual
who owns more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our
stock, in which case the exercise price of incentive stock options must be at
least 110% of the fair market value of the Common Stock at the time of
grant.
The
Company accounts for stock-based payments by recording stock-based compensation
expense in the statement of operations over the vesting period based on the fair
value of the award at the grant date.
The
following table summarizes activity under the Company's stock option plans for
the year ended December 31, 2009:
Shares
Under
Options
Weighted
Average
Exercise Price
Remaining
Contractual Life
(In Years)
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
Outstanding
at beginning of period
-
-
Grants
600,000
$
0.40
Exercised
-
-
Forfeited
-
-
Outstanding
at end of period
600,000
$
0.40
9.08
-
Exercisable
at end of period
600,000
$
0.40
9.08
-
The
aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise
price of the underlying awards and the closing price of the Company's common
stock. As of December 31, 2009, there were no options outstanding to
purchase shares with an exercise price below the quoted price of the Company's
common stock.
The fair
value of stock options was determined at the date of grant and is charged to
compensation expense over the vesting period of the options. The fair
value of options at date of grant was estimated using the Black-Scholes option
pricing model utilizing the following assumptions:
The
risk-free interest rate for periods within the contractual life of the option is
based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the
grant. The expected life was determined using the simplified method
of the Company does not have sufficient historical stock option exercise
experience on which to base the expected term. Expected volatilities
are based on historical volatility of the Company' common stock. The
Company has not paid any dividends in the past and does not expect to pay any in
the near future.
The
weighted average fair value at the date of grant for options granted during the
year ended December 31, 2009 was $0.22. The Company recorded $132,000
of compensation expense for the year ended December 31,2009. Estimated unrecognized stock-based compensation relating to
stock options as of December 30, 2009 is $0.
10.
OTHER
Employment
agreement:
On
January 30, 2009, the Company entered into an Employment Agreement with Craig A.
Zabala ("Zabala"), founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and
acting Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, of the
Company.
The term
of the Employment Agreement is three (3) years (“Employment
Period”). The term will be automatically renewed for one (1)
additional year each year unless ninety (90) calendar days prior to the end of
the term, the Company advises Zabala in writing that it does not wish to extend
the Employment Period for an additional year.
Pursuant
to the Employment Agreement, Zabala serves as President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company, provided that if the Company hires and/or enters into an
employment agreement with any executive who serves as President and Chief
Operating Officer of the Company, Zabala shall resign his position as President,
but would keep his position as Chief Executive Officer. Zabala also
agrees to serve as acting Chief Financial Officer and acting Chief Compliance
Officer until the Company retains employees for such positions. The
Employment Agreement also permits Zabala to perform work for Concorde and
another affiliate, provided that such work does not compete with the business
and business opportunities of the Company.
Zabala
will receive a base annual salary of $60,000 under the Employment
Agreement. Each year, the Board of Directors may increase the base
salary in its discretion. In the event that the Company sells a
minimum of $3,000,000 of shares of its common stock in its current private
placement offering ("Offering") under Rule 506 under Regulation D under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), the Company shall
increase Zabala's annual base salary to $250,000 and pay him a $50,000 bonus
(which bonus may be increased proportionately if the Company raises more than
$3,000,000 in the Offering but the amount of the bonus shall not be greater than
$100,000). If the minimum amount is not raised in the Offering,
Zabala's base salary remains at $60,000. As of December 31, 2009, the
Company owed Mr. Zabala $60,000 under his Employment Agreement.
The
Employment Agreement terminates upon the earliest to occur of (i) Zabala's death
or disability; (ii) cause or non-cause termination of Zabala by the Company;
(iii) a termination by Zabala for "good reason" or Zabala resigns from the
Company without "good reason" or (iv) Zabala is replaced as President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Company (except if another executive is hired as
President and Chief Operating Officer).
If Zabala
is terminated without cause, or if he resigns for "good reason," he would
receive accrued salary and bonuses, if any, to the end of the employment
term. In addition, if Zabala is terminated without cause or if he
resigns for "good reason,"the Company must pay to Concorde rental payments of
$4,000 per month from April 2004 until the month Zabala is terminated without
cause or resigns for "good reason." If he is terminated for cause, he
is not entitled to any rights or compensation under the Employment Agreement,
provided that the Company must make the $4,000 monthly rental payment to its
affiliate Concorde. If Zabala is terminated in the event of death or
disability, or he resigns without "good reason," he shall only be entitled to
receive accrued and unpaid base salary and benefits through the date of his
employment termination. If the Company hires a replacement for Zabala
who does not serve as President and Chief Operating Officer, but serves as Chief
Executive Officer, Zabala would be entitled to the benefits above for a
non-cause termination.
Stock option
grant:
Pursuant
to the Employment Agreement, Zabala was granted 600,000 options to purchase
shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.40 per share (above market
value) which expires on February 1, 2019. The options were fully vested upon
issuance.
The
Company retained placement agents to raise equity capital in a private placement
offering the ("Offering") under Rule 506 of the Securities Act pursuant to
placement agent agreements with John W. Loofbourrow Associates, Inc., Direct
Access Partners, LLC, Lombardi & Co., Bentley Securities Corporation and
Growthink Securities, Inc., respectively, dated July 8, July 20, July 27, August
3, and August 21, 2009, respectively ("Placement Agent
Agreements"). All five of these agreements contain nearly identical
terms. The Placement Agents solicited interest from a limited number
of potential investors who are "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as
defined under Rule 144A under the Securities Act and "accredited investors" as
defined under Regulation D under the Securities Act in connection with raising
equity capital in the Offering. There was no minimum amount to be
raised by the Placement Agents for the Offering and the maximum amount was
$250,000,000. In return for the Placement Agent services, Blackhawk
agreed to pay a Placement Agent a five percent (5%) placement fee for securities
placed. The Placement Agent Agreements commenced on the date of the
agreement or, in the case of Bentley Securities Corporation, the day immediately
thereafter, and terminated on the earliest to occur of: (i) ten calendar days
after written notice is given to the Company by the Placement Agent of a
potential investor purchasing at least 50,000,000 shares that will close on the
purchase of the shares within five calendar days of the date of such written
notice; (ii) 180 calendar days from the date of the agreement or, in the case of
Bentley Securities Corporation, the day immediately thereafter; (iii) the date
of closing and funding by an investor of a subscription agreement for a minimum
of 50,000,000 shares; or (iv) ten calendar days after written notice is given to
the Placement Agent by the Company that the Offering will be closed at the sole
discretion of the Company (the "Term"), provided further that with respect to
Bentley Securities Corporation, its placement agent agreement also terminated
upon ten (10) days written notice by either party under the agreement and such
termination right is included as a new (v) within the definition of
"Term."
The
Placement Agent Agreements contain customary indemnification and confidentiality
provisions. With the exception of the Bentley Securities Corporation
Placement Agent Agreement, the Company's indemnification obligations under each
agreement is limited to $25,000. The Placement Agent Agreements also
provide that for a period of one year (two years for the agreement with
Growthink Securities, Inc.) from the termination date of the Placement Agent
Agreements, if a Placement Agent enters into a selling group in any subsequent
securities offerings of Blackhawk, then the Placement Agent shall receive
additional financing fees if Blackhawk sells securities to those investors
previously introduced by the Placement Agent. The additional fees
payable to the Placement Agent will be at the same rate as any underwriting or
placement fees that are listed in any Blackhawk future offering memorandum or
prospectus.
On
December 14, 2009, the Company determined to terminate the offerings because no
shares were sold. As a result, the Company determined to raise up to
$5,000,000 (1,000,000 shares of Common Stock at an offering price of $5.00 per
share) pursuant to Regulation E under the Investment Company Act and the
Securities Act.
On
December 14, 2009, Blackhawk entered into an amendment ("Amendment") of its
Placement Agent Agreement with Growthink Securities, Inc. On December15, 2009, the Company entered into an Amendment of its Placement Agent Agreement
with Bentley Securities Corporation and an Amendment of its Placement Agent
Agreement with Direct Access Partners, LLC. The purpose of each
Amendment was to clarify, among other things, that: (a) the term "Offering" in
each Placement Agent Agreement also included the Company's offering of up to
1,000,000 shares (5.00 per share) pursuant to Regulation E (the "Regulation E
Offering") under the Investment Company Act and the Securities Act, and (b) that
the Placement Agent receive a ten percent (10%) placement agent fee for shares
sold in the Regulation E Offering. Growthink Securities declined to
participate in the Regulation E Offering.
On
January 21, 2010, the Company announced that due to adverse market conditions it
had not sold any shares of Common Stock in the Regulation E offering and that it
was terminating its Regulation E offering.
Investment:
On
January 12, 2009, Blackhawk entered into a Voting Capital Interests Purchase
Agreement ("Purchase Agreement") with MacroMarkets LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company ("MacroMarkets"). MacroMarkets develops financial
products and new risk management tools on assets that are difficult to own and
hedge. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Blackhawk purchased a five
percent (5%) membership interest in MacroMarkets for $250,000 and Craig A.
Zabala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blackhawk, was appointed a
non-voting board member of MacroMarkets. The Purchase Agreement
contains standard representations, warranties and indemnification
provisions. The transaction closed on January 12, 2009. Blackhawk
used funds from working capital to make the equity investment.
*
Calculated based on
weighted average shares outstanding during period.
**
Net
realized and unrealized gain(loss), per share, which is balancing amounts
necessary to reconcile the change in net asset value per share with the
other per share information
presented.
***
Common shares outstanding are reduced by rescinded shares.
This
Agreement (this “Agreement”) will confirm the
basis upon which Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc. (the “Company”), a Delaware
corporation and a business development company registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended, has engaged Odeon Capital Group, LLC (“Odeon”), a Delaware limited
liability company, to provide placement agent, financial advisory and investment
banking services in connection with the Offering (as defined below) and the
Annual Services (as defined below).
Section
1
The
Company hereby retains Odeon:
(a) to
act as the exclusive placement agent to the Company with respect to a best
efforts private placement transaction (a “Offering”), for the Company,
pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and (i)
Regulation D or (ii) Regulation E promulgated thereunder, of up to five million
dollars ($5,000,000) of shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.00001
per share (the “Shares”). The
Company will not offer any of the Shares for sale to, or solicit any offers to
buy from, any person or persons, whether directly or indirectly, otherwise than
through Odeon. The number and price of the Shares that the Company
shall ultimately agree to sell is entirely within the Company’s sole
discretion. The Offering will be pursuant to a Confidential Offering
Circular dated January __, 2011 (the “Memorandum”) and a
subscription agreement and purchase questionnaire (the "Subscription
Agreement"). The maximum amount to be raised in the Offering
is $5,000,000 and the Company anticipates that 10,000,000 Shares will be sold at
a purchase price of $0.50 per Share. There is no minimum requirement
for the sale of Shares by the Company. The closings will occur upon
receipt of funds as received. Investors must be advised that there is
no minimum amount of subscriptions that must be raised in the Offering before
the initial closing or any “rolling” closing can take place. Funds
will be placed into an escrow account prior to any closing. The
Company reserves the right to lower the minimum or increase the maximum at its
sole discretion. Under no circumstances shall Odeon be liable for failure to
obtain, produce or close the proposed Offering(s);
and
(b) from
and after the final closing of the Offering, (i) to act as the exclusive
financial advisor to exclusively source, on behalf of the Company, between
$75,000,000 and $250,000,000 of potential portfolio assets to be acquired by the
Company in exchange for common stock of the Company; provided, however, that under
no circumstances shall Odeon be liable for any failure to source such portfolio
assets; and (ii) in the event that $5 million of the Shares are sold in the
Offering, then for a period of two (2) years, to advise the Company with respect
to the retention of an investor relations firm and the sourcing of one or more
broker dealer or investment banking firms to provide market research services
for the Company (collectively, the “Annual
Services”).
Section
2. Services to be
Rendered. Odeon agrees to perform such of the following
financial advisory and investment banking services as the Company reasonably and
specifically requests:
(a) Odeon
will familiarize itself to the extent it deems appropriate and feasible with the
business, operations and financial condition of the Company and the industry in
which the Company operates (the “Industry”);
(b) As
necessary, with management of the Company, meet with potential investors
approved by the Company and provide them with such information furnished by the
Company as may be appropriate;
(c) Assist
the Company in negotiating with identified potential investors approved by the
Company including assistance in determining the terms of the
Offering;
(d)
Assist the Company and the Company’s legal counsel in preparing
documents related to the Offering and having such documents executed in order to
close the transaction and any other agreements as may be necessary;
(e)
Undertake all
actions in connection with the Offering in compliance with law, including all
federal and state securities laws; and
(f)
Undertake such further efforts and do such further
acts as may be necessary or desirable to carry out and consummate the Offering
and provide services under the Annual Services, in each case as agent and
advisor to the Company.
The
Company will furnish, and, if the Company enters into negotiations with a
counterparty regarding the Offering, will request such counterparty to furnish,
to Odeon such information as Odeon reasonably requests in connection with the
performance of its services hereunder (all such information so furnished is
referred to herein as the “Information”). The
Company understands and agrees that Odeon, in performing its services hereunder,
will use and rely upon the Information as well as publicly available information
regarding the Company, any counterparties and the Industry generally, and that
Odeon does not assume responsibility for independent verification of any
Information or any such publicly available information, including, without
limitation, any Information received with respect to the Industry or any
financial information, forecasts, projections, actuarial models or other
information considered by Odeon in connection with its analysis or the rendering
of its services. Accordingly, Odeon shall be entitled to assume and
rely upon the accuracy and completeness of all such Information and is not
required to conduct a physical inspection of any of the properties or assets (or
any documentation related thereto) of the Company, or to prepare or obtain any
independent evaluation or appraisal of any such properties or the assets, or any
other assets or liabilities of the Company or any counterparty. With
respect to any financial information, forecasts, projections or other
information made available to Odeon by or on behalf of the Company or any
counterparty and used by Odeon in its analysis or the rendering of its services,
Odeon shall be entitled to assume that such financial information, forecasts,
projections and other information have been reasonably prepared on bases
reflecting the best currently available estimates and judgments of the
management of the Company or such counterparty, as the case may be, as to the
matters covered thereby. The Company agrees to furnish or cause to be furnished
to Odeon all necessary or appropriate information for use in its engagement and
hereby warrants that any information relating to the Company that is furnished
to Odeon by or on behalf of the Company, will be true and correct in all
material respects and not misleading. If, at any time during the term
of this engagement, the Company becomes aware that the Information is no longer
true and correct in all material respects or is misleading, then the Company
shall promptly advise Odeon by telephone (with confirmation thereof in writing)
and shall promptly take all actions necessary to amend, supplement and otherwise
correct the Information so that the Information, as so amended, supplemented or
otherwise corrected, shall be true and correct in all material respects and not
misleading, including, without limitation, by preparing an amendment or
supplement, if necessary, to the Memorandum and any other materials used in
connection with the Offering (collectively, the “Offering
Materials”).
If,
during the term of this engagement or within 24 months thereafter, the Company
considers or undertakes any other transaction, including any sale (whether in
one or a series of transactions) of all or a substantial portion of the assets
or capital stock of the Company, any merger, joint venture, partnership,
spin-off, reverse spin-off, non-pro rata spin-off or other business combination
involving the Company, or any recapitalization, restructuring or liquidation of
the Company or any other form of transaction or disposition that results in the
effective sale, transfer or other disposition of ownership or control over a
substantial portion of one or more of the principal businesses, assets or
operations of the Company, offerings, financing, restructuring, repurchases of
securities, foreign exchange or derivatives transaction, including, but not
limited to, public or private offerings of debt or equity, or in connection with
this engagement or the transactions contemplated hereby, Odeon will have a right
of first refusal to serve in the relevant lead roles commonly performed by
banks, investment banks and financial advisors in connection with such
transactions, including those of lead agent and lead arranger, sole bookrunning
lead managing underwriter or initial purchaser (as the case may be), exclusive
placement agent, lead financial advisor, principal counterparty and dealer
manager, as applicable. Also, if during the term of this engagement
or within 24 months thereafter, the Company is considering or undertakes any
other transaction to obtain debt or equity financing or investments in
connection with its business (a “Subsequent Offering”), Odeon
will have a right of first refusal to serve as the Company’s exclusive placement
agent in connection with any Subsequent Offering. In addition, if
during the term of this engagement or within 24 months thereafter, the Company
is considering or undertakes any transaction to acquire a portfolio asset,
subsidiary or company from a source introduced to the Company by Odeon in
connection with the Annual Services, Odeon will have a right of first refusal to
serve in the relevant lead roles commonly performed by financial advisors in
connection with such transactions, including those of lead agent and lead
arranger, sole bookrunning lead managing underwriter or initial purchaser (as
the case may be), exclusive placement agent, lead financial advisor, principal
counterparty and dealer manager, as applicable. As compensation for
any of the foregoing services described in this paragraph, Odeon will be paid
its customary fees for performing comparable roles in connection with comparable
transactions and Odeon will enter into a separate agreement or other appropriate
documentation with the Company for such transaction(s) containing such
compensation and other terms and conditions as are customary for internationally
recognized investment banking firms for similar transactions, including, without
limitation, appropriate indemnification provisions. If the Company
sells securities to or receives financing from any investors previously
introduced by Odeon in connection with the Offering (“Protected Investors”), then in
connection with such sales or financing Odeon shall receive additional financing
fees (the “Additional
Fees”) that are equal to the greater of (a) the fees set forth in Section
3 of this Agreement and (b) any underwriting, placement or financing fees that
are listed in any future offering circular, prospectus, or placement
memorandum. Prior to the termination of this Agreement, Odeon will
furnish the Company with a written list of the Protected
Investors.
In
connection with the services described in this Section 2, the Company authorizes
Odeon, as the Company's placement agent and representative, to transmit the
Memorandum to potential parties to an Offering. The Company hereby
acknowledges that all information contained in the Memorandum will be provided
by or based upon information provided by the Company or third parties, and that
the Company will be solely responsible for the contents thereof.
Section
3. Fees.
(a) In
the event (and in each event) that the Company executes a definitive agreement
to consummate an Offering, the Company shall pay to Odeon a cash fee equal to
(i) 5% of the gross proceeds raised in the Offering from investors with which
the Company has affiliations who would be suitable for the Offering, (ii) 10% of
the gross proceeds raised in the Offering from investors who are not
stockholders of the Company as of the date hereof and (iii) Odeon shall use its
“best efforts” to organize a “syndicate” of duly-registered broker-dealers to
assist in the placement of the Offering. Placement Agent shall manage
the “book” for (i.e., keep track of) the sales efforts of the broker-dealers
participating in the syndicate. There shall be no minimum offering
size required for Odeon to receive its compensation as set forth in this Section
3.
2.
In
connection with the Annual Services provided in Section 1(b)(i), from and
after the final closing of the Offering, the Company shall pay to Odeon,
on each anniversary of the final closing of the Offering, a cash fee of
$50,000 per year.
Section
4. Expenses. In
addition to any fees that may be payable to Odeon hereunder and regardless of
whether any Offering is proposed or consummated, the Company hereby agrees, from
time to time upon request, to reimburse Odeon for all reasonable fees and
disbursements arising out of Odeon’s engagement hereunder, including the
reasonable fees, expenses and disbursements of Odeon’s legal counsel. Odeon
hereby agrees that Expenses as described in this Section 4, will be capped at
$50,000 unless company preapproval is requested and duly granted.
Section
5. Term.
(a) Subject
to Section 6 hereof, the term of the engagement hereunder with respect Odeon’s
services in connection with the Offering shall extend until the earlier of (i)
the final closing of the Offering and (ii) the date that is six months from the
date of this Agreement.
(b) Subject
to Section 6 hereof, the term of the engagement hereunder with respect Odeon’s
services in connection with the Annual Services shall extend until the second
year anniversary of the final closing of the Offering.
Section 6. Termination of
Engagement. Odeon’s engagement hereunder may be terminated by either the
Company or Odeon at any time, with or without cause, upon written advice to that
effect to the other party; provided, however,
that:
(a) Odeon
will be entitled to its full fees and expenses as outlined in Sections 3 and 4
hereof in the event that (i) at any time prior to the expiration of 24
months after such termination by the Company, an Offering is consummated;
(ii) the Company enters into a definitive agreement during the term of this
Agreement or during such 24 month period which results in an Offering; or (iii)
the Company enters into a definitive agreement with any third party that Odeon
introduced to it, or to which Odeon provided information about the Company;
and
(b) the
provisions of this Section 6 and of Sections 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 hereof,
as well as the separate letter agreement, dated the date hereof, providing for
the indemnification of Odeon by the Company, shall survive termination of this
Agreement.
Section
7. Reliance on
Others. The Company confirms that it will rely on its own
counsel, accountants and other similar expert advisors for legal, accounting,
tax and other similar advice.
Section
8. Confidentiality of
Information. Odeon shall use the Information solely for the
purposes of providing services to the Company as contemplated hereby and will
not disclose confidential Information to any third party other than Odeon’s
officers, directors, employees, affiliates, counsel and other representatives
who have a need to know such Information (collectively, the “Representatives”), except with
the prior written approval of the Company; provided, however, that the
foregoing restrictions shall not apply to any Information that (a) is included
in the Offering Materials, (b) at the time of disclosure to Odeon is already in
Odeon’s possession, provided that such information is not known by Odeon or any
of its Representatives, as the case may be, to be subject to an obligation of
confidentiality to the Company or another person or entity, (c) is or becomes
generally available to the public other than as a result of a disclosure by
Odeon or any of its Representatives in violation hereof, (d) becomes available
to Odeon or any of its Representatives on a non-confidential basis from a source
other than the Company, provided that such source is not known by Odeon to be
bound by an obligation of confidentiality to the Company or another person, (e)
Odeon or any of its Representatives can demonstrate was independently developed
by Odeon without reference to, incorporation of, or other use of any Information
or information from any source that is bound by an obligation of confidentiality
to the Company, or (f) Odeon is required by law, regulation or legal or judicial
process to disclose.
Section
9. Publicity. Notwithstanding
its engagement as placement agent and advisor hereunder, Odeon may not, without
its prior written consent, be quoted or referred to in any document, release or
communication prepared, issued or transmitted by the Company (including any
entity controlled by, or under common control with, the Company and any
director, officer, employee or agent thereof). In the event of
consummation of any Offering, Odeon shall have the right, at its own expense, to
disclose its participation in such Offering, including, without limitation, the
placement of “tombstone” advertisements in financial and other newspapers and
journals. Odeon agrees that the Company shall have the right to
announce publicly the execution of this Agreement with Odeon subject to Odeon's
prior approval of the contents of such announcement.
Section 10. Representations and
Warranties of Placement Agent. Odeon represents and warrants to the
Company as follows: (a) it is a licensed broker-dealer registered
with the SEC and FINRA and is licensed under FINRA and State securities laws
regulations to sell Shares to QIBS and accredited investors; (b) there are no
judgments, orders, decrees, or like actions, or any proceedings pending, before
the SEC, FINRA, any State, or any court or arbitration panel that prohibit or
affect it from carrying out its obligations under this Agreement; and (c) this
Agreement has been duly authorized and approved by it, does not contravene its
organizational documents or any agreement or order to which it is a party, and
is a legal and valid obligation binding on it.
Section
11. Indemnity and
Contribution. Odeon and the Company have entered into a
separate letter agreement, dated the date hereof, providing for the
indemnification of Odeon by the Company in connection with Odeon’s engagement
hereunder, the terms of which are incorporated into this Agreement in their
entirety.
Section
12. Governing Law;
Jurisdiction. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the
State of New York, without regard to such state’s rules concerning conflicts of
law, and will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Company and Odeon
and their respective successors and assigns. The Company and Odeon
agree to waive trial by jury in any action, proceeding or counterclaim brought
by or on behalf of either party with respect to any matter whatsoever relating
to or arising out of any actual or proposed transaction or the engagement of or
performance by Odeon hereunder. The Company also hereby submits to
the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York County, New
York in any proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement, agrees not
to commence any suit, action or proceeding relating thereto except in such
courts, and waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the right to move to
dismiss or transfer any action brought in such court on the basis of any
objection to personal jurisdiction, venue or inconvenient forum.
Section
13. Disclosure. Odeon
will act under this Agreement as an independent contractor. The
Company acknowledges that Odeon and its affiliates may have and may in the
future have investment banking and other relationships with parties other than
the Company, which parties may have interests with respect to this
placement. Although Odeon in the course of such other relationships
may acquire information about the placement or potential purchasers of the
securities or such other parties, Odeon shall have no obligation to disclose
such information to the Company or to use such information on behalf of the
Company. Furthermore, the Company acknowledges that Odeon may have
fiduciary or other relationships whereby Odeon may exercise voting power over
securities of various persons, which securities may from time to time include
securities of the Company or of potential purchasers of the securities of the
Company or others with interests in respect of the placement. The
Company acknowledges that Odeon may exercise such powers and otherwise perform
its functions in connection with such fiduciary or other relationships without
regard to its relationship to the Company hereunder.
Please
note that Odeon is a full service securities firm engaged in securities trading
and brokerage activities, as well as providing investment banking, financing and
financial advisory services. In the ordinary course of our trading,
brokerage and financing activities, Odeon or its affiliates may at any time hold
long or short positions, and may trade or otherwise effect transactions, for our
own account or the accounts of customers, in debt or equity securities or senior
loans of the Company.
Section
14. Miscellaneous. In
order to coordinate most effectively the activities of the Company and Odeon
contemplated by this Agreement, both the Company (including management or other
officers and directors of the Company) and Odeon will promptly inform the other
of inquiries of third parties which it receives concerning an Offering. The
parties agrees that their relationship hereunder is an advisory relationship
only and nothing herein shall cause Odeon to be a partner, agent or fiduciary
of, or joint venture partner with, the Company. Nothing in this
Agreement is intended to obligate or commit Odeon or any of its affiliates to
provide any services other than as set out above. This Agreement may
be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which together shall be
considered a single instrument. This Agreement constitutes the entire
agreement, and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (both written
and oral) of the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and
cannot be amended or otherwise modified except in writing executed by the
parties hereto. The provisions hereof shall inure to the benefit of
and be binding upon the successors and assigns of the Company and
Odeon.
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If the
foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding and agreement between Odeon and
the Company, please so indicate in the space provided for that purpose below,
together with the enclosed duplicate original, and return one (1) of these
originals to us, whereupon this letter shall constitute a binding agreement as
of the date hereof.
In
connection with the engagement of Odeon Capital Group, LLC (“Odeon”), a Delaware limited
liability company, to advise and assist Blackhawk Capital Group BDC, Inc. (the
“Company”) with the
subject matter in the letter agreement dated the date hereof between Odeon and
the Company, the Company agrees that it will indemnify and hold harmless Odeon
and its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, agents and
employees and each other person controlling Odeon or any of Odeon’s affiliates
(collectively, the “Indemnified
Parties”), to the full extent lawful, from and against any losses,
expenses, claims or proceedings (collectively, and whether incurred in
connection with any action or proceeding between an Indemnified Party and the
Company or otherwise, “losses”) (i) related to or
arising out of (A) oral or written information provided by the Company, its
employees or other agents, which information either the Company or Odeon
provides to any actual or potential buyers, sellers, investors or offerees, or
(B) any other action or failure to act by the Company, its or their directors,
officers, agents or employees or by Odeon or any Indemnified Party at the
Company’s request or with the Company’s consent, or (ii) otherwise related to or
arising out of the engagement or any transaction or conduct in connection
therewith and resulting primarily from the Company’s negligence, bad faith or
willful misconduct, except that these clauses (i) and (ii) shall not apply with
respect to (x) any losses that are finally judicially determined to have
resulted primarily from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of such
Indemnified Party, or (y) any amount paid in settlement of claims without the
Company’s consent, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld.
In the
event that the foregoing indemnity is unavailable to any Indemnified Party for
any reason (other than as a consequence of a final judicial determination of
willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence of such Indemnified Party),
then the Company agrees to contribute to any losses related to or arising out of
the engagement or any transaction or conduct in connection therewith as
follows. With respect to such losses referred to in clause (i) of the
preceding paragraph, the Company and Odeon shall contribute in such proportion
as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received (or anticipated to
be received) by Odeon, on the one hand, and by the Company and its security
holders, on the other hand, from the actual or proposed transaction arising in
connection with the engagement. With respect to any other losses, and
for losses referred to in clause (i) of the preceding paragraph if the
allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is unavailable for any
reason, the Company and Odeon shall contribute in such proportion as is
appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits as set forth above, but
also the relative fault of the Company and Odeon in connection with the
statements, omissions or other relevant equitable
considerations. Benefits received (or anticipated to be received) by
the Company and its security holders shall be deemed to be equal to the
aggregate cash consideration and value of securities or any other property
payable, issuable, exchangeable or transferable in such transaction or proposed
transaction, and benefits received by Odeon shall be deemed to be equal to the
compensation paid by the Company to Odeon (whether in cash or otherwise) in
connection with the engagement (exclusive of amounts paid for reimbursement of
expenses or paid under this agreement). Relative fault shall be
determined by reference to, among other things, whether any alleged untrue
statement or omission or any other alleged conduct relates to information
provided by the Company or other conduct by the Company (or its employees or
other agents), on the one hand, or by Odeon, on the other hand. Odeon
and the Company agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution
were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation that
does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to
above. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary above, in no event
shall Odeon be responsible for any amounts in excess of the amount of the
compensation actually paid by the Company to Odeon (in cash or otherwise) in
connection with the engagement (exclusive of amounts paid for reimbursement of
expenses or paid under this agreement).
4
Promptly
after Odeon receives notice of the commencement of any action or other
proceeding in respect of which indemnification or reimbursement may be sought
hereunder, Odeon will notify the Company thereof; but the omission so to notify
the Company shall not relieve the Company from any obligation hereunder unless,
and only to the extent that, such omission results in its forfeiture of
substantive rights or defenses. If any such action or other
proceeding shall be brought against any Indemnified Party, the Company shall,
upon written notice given reasonably promptly following Odeon’s notice to the
Company of such action or proceeding, be entitled to assume the defense thereof
at its expense with counsel chosen by the Company and reasonably satisfactory to
the Indemnified Parties; provided, however, that any Indemnified Party may at
its own expense retain separate counsel to participate in such
defense. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such Indemnified Party shall
have the right to employ separate counsel at the Company’s expense and to
control its own defense of such action or proceeding if, in the reasonable
opinion of counsel to such Indemnified Party, (i) there are legal defenses
available to such Indemnified Party or to other indemnified parties that are
different from or additional to those available to the Company, or (ii) a
conflict or likely conflict exists between the Company and such Indemnified
Party that would make such separate representation advisable; provided, however,
that in no event shall the Company be required to pay fees and expenses under
this indemnity for more than one counsel in any one legal action or group of
related legal actions. The Company agrees that it will not, without
the prior written consent of Odeon, which consent shall not be unreasonably
withheld or delayed, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any
judgment in any pending or threatened claim, action or proceeding relating to
the matters that are the subject of Odeon’s engagement (whether or not any
Indemnified Party is a party thereto) unless such settlement, compromise or
consent includes an unconditional release of Odeon and each other Indemnified
Party from all liability arising or that may arise out of such claim, action or
proceeding.
The
Company further agrees that no Indemnified Party shall have any liability
(whether direct or indirect, in contract or tort or otherwise) to the Company or
any of its affiliates, creditors or security holders for or in connection with
the engagement or any actual or proposed transactions or other conduct in
connection therewith except for losses incurred by the Company that are finally
judicially determined to have resulted primarily from the gross negligence or
willful misconduct of such Indemnified Party or have resulted from a breach of
the engagement between the Company and Odeon.
5
The
foregoing agreement is in addition to any rights Odeon may have at common law or
otherwise and shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of any successors,
assigns, and personal representatives of the Company and each Indemnified
Party. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New
York, without regard to such state’s rules concerning conflicts of
laws. Each of the parties hereto also hereby submits to the
jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York County, New
York in any proceeding arising out of or relating to this agreement, agrees not
to commence any suit, action or proceeding relating hereto except in such
courts, and waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the right to move to
dismiss or transfer any action brought in such court on the basis of any
objection to personal jurisdiction, venue or inconvenient
forum. Solely for purposes of enforcing this agreement, each party
hereby consents to personal jurisdiction, service of process and venue in any
court in which any claim or proceeding that is subject to this agreement is
brought against the other party. Any right to trial by jury with
respect to any claim or proceeding related to or arising out of the engagement,
or any transaction or conduct in connection therewith or this agreement is
waived.
If any
provision contained in this agreement or the application of any provision hereof
to any person or circumstances is held by a court of competent jurisdiction or
other authority to be invalid, void, unenforceable or against regulatory policy,
the remainder of this agreement and the application of such provision to other
persons or circumstances shall not be affected, impaired or invalidated, and
shall remain in full force and effect, unless the provision held invalid, void,
unenforceable or against regulatory policy shall substantially impair the
benefits of the remaining portions of this agreement.
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6
This
agreement shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding the completion
or termination of the engagement.