UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE
14A
(Rule
14a-101)
INFORMATION
REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT
SCHEDULE
14A INFORMATION
Proxy
Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
Exchange
Act of 1934 (Amendment No. _____)
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Preliminary
Proxy Statement
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For Use of the |
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Definitive
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Definitive
Additional Materials
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Rule
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Soliciting
Material Pursuant to§240.14a-12
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CNS RESPONSE, INC.
(Name of
Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
(Name of
Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)
Payment
of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
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computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and
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(2)
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Aggregate
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applies:
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other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to Exchange Act
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state how it was
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Form,
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PRELIMINARY
COPY
CNS
RESPONSE, INC.
2755
Bristol Street, Suite 285
Costa
Mesa, CA 92626
September
__, 2009
Dear
Stockholder:
As you may know, CNS’s former CEO,
Leonard J. Brandt, has been waging a campaign to try to remove our current
directors and elect himself and his own nominees either at a stockholder meeting
or through an action by written consent without a meeting. He has
sent you a notice of a special meeting that he has purportedly called for
September 4, 2009, together with a proxy card.
CNS believes that Mr. Brandt cannot
call or hold this meeting and that any action he purports to take on September
4, 2009 will be invalid. We outline those reasons in our enclosed
proxy statement, but suffice it to say that it is a long list. We
believe that Mr. Brandt’s attempt to hold this meeting is an attempt to achieve
his personal goals at the expense of CNS and all the rest of its
stockholders. We do not believe that the proxy card Mr. Brandt sent
to you will be usable for any validly called stockholder meeting or any valid
purpose.
Moreover, if you fill out and return
the proxy card you receive from Mr. Brandt, it may result in a quorum at one of
the purported meetings he calls. That would allow him to claim he can
take a vote at the meeting, which is exactly what he wants. Therefore
simply by returning the proxy card you may be unintentionally assisting Mr.
Brandt in his efforts to take control of the company, even if the proxy card you
send includes a vote against him. In other words, if you return the
proxy card to him at all – no
matter how you vote – you will be helping him in his
efforts.
We are sending you this proxy
statement to urge you not to return a proxy card to Mr. Brandt. Even
(or particularly) if you want to vote against him and his proposed director
nominees at the meeting he purports to have called, we urge you not to return
any proxy card to him. We will have our own validly called Annual
Meeting of all CNS stockholders on September 29, and at that meeting you will
have the opportunity to decide who will serve as your directors for the coming
year.
If you have already returned a proxy
card to Mr. Brandt, we urge you to revoke your proxy immediately. You
have the right to revoke your proxy at any time before it is exercised at Mr.
Brandt’s purported special meeting on Friday, September 4. Time is
short, so we urge you to act immediately.
You
may revoke your proxy by:
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executing
a written notice of revocation of proxy or notice of revocation of written
consent and delivering the same by fax, email or physical delivery
(whether by hand delivery or overnight express) to CNS Response, Inc.,
2755 Bristol Street, Suite 285, Costa Mesa, California 92626, Fax Number:
(866) 294-2611 Email Address:
gcarpenter@cnsresponse.com.
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you
may also revoke your proxy by executing a written notice of revocation of
proxy or notice of revocation of written consent and delivering the same
to Mr. Brandt at 31878 Del Obispo Street, Suite 118-131, San Juan
Capistrano, California 92675 or by fax to (949)
743-2785.
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Please be aware that you will not be
disenfranchised by not returning Mr. Brandt’s proxy or participating in his
purported meeting. As we have previously announced, our plan is to
hold the CNS annual meeting of stockholders on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at
10:00 a.m. PDT at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, California. The first
annual meeting in the Company's history, it will be open to all stockholders of
record as of August 27, 2009. At that meeting we plan to elect
directors. When we have filed definitive proxy materials for that
annual meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission, we will deliver to
you further information about the meeting, together with a proxy
card.
CNS’s senior management and
directors have been actively working to improve the Company’s financial position
and planning for our future. A lot of good things have happened since
Mr. Brandt was removed as our CEO in April and I hope you have been keeping up
with our press releases announcing significant developments. Most
recently, we closed a $2 million private placement, and in addition to the
inflow of needed cash, this financing also resulted in the conversion of $1.7
million of our debt into equity and removed the related liens that affected our
valuable assets. Following the closing, we also added Tommy Thompson
and John Pappajohn to our board of directors, and we are very excited to have
them join CNS at this critical time in our development. Messrs.
Thompson and Pappajohn are two of the six nominees we are proposing for election
as directors at the board-called September 29 meeting. The other
nominees – me, Henry Harbin, David Jones and Jerry Vaccaro – also are current
directors.
Our board of directors believes that
it is in the best interests of CNS and its stockholders to elect our nominees
and reject Mr. Brandt’s attempts to seize control. If you wish to
elect our nominees or simply to resist Mr. Brandt’s plans for the Company, you
should not return any proxy card or any written consent form to Mr. Brandt --
especially if your
intent is to vote against his nominees or proposal. These matters are
more fully described in the accompanying proxy statement.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS
THAT YOU DO NOT
RETURN A PROXY CARD OR WRITTEN CONSENT FORM TO MR. BRANDT, EVEN IF YOUR INTENT
IS TO VOTE AGAINST HIM.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS
THAT IF YOU ALREADY HAVE RETURNED SUCH A CARD, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS URGES YOU
TO REVOKE THE PROXY OR CONSENT.
WE ARE
RECOMMENDING THAT YOU NOT VOTE AT ALL AT THIS PURPORTED MEETING AND THAT YOU
VOTE ONLY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS WE HAVE CALLED AND CURRENTLY
INTEND TO HOLD ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2009. WE ARE NOT SOLICITING YOUR VOTE
YET FOR THAT ANNUAL MEETING – WE WILL ONLY DO SO AFTER WE HAVE FILED DEFINITIVE
PROXY MATERIALS WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WITH RESPECT TO THAT
MEETING.
It is extremely important that you
not vote in connection with Mr. Brandt’s
purported meeting. If you already have returned a proxy
card to Mr. Brandt, it is extremely important that you revoke that proxy,
whether you voted for or against Mr. Brandt’s nominees, or
abstained.
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Very
truly yours,
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/s/
George Carpenter
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George
Carpenter
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Chairman
of the Board of Directors and
Chief
Executive Officer
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
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PAGE
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THE
PURPORTED SPECIAL MEETING
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5
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BACKGROUND
OF THE SOLICITATION
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7
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QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS REGARDING THE PURPORTED SPECIAL MEETING
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10
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CNS
ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
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12
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INFORMATION
REGARDING THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEES AND COMPANY
MANAGEMENT
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13
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Director
Nominees
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Other
Executive Officers
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Board
Composition and Committees and Director Independence
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15
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Further
Information Concerning the Board of Directors
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15
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Compensation
of Directors and Officers
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16
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Stockholder
Communication with the Board of Directors
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16
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Code
of Ethics
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16
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EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION
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Compensation
Discussion and Analysis
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17
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Summary
Compensation Table
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19
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Plan
Based Awards
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Narrative
Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table
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21
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Employment
Agreements
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21
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Outstanding
Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End 2008
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22
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Director
Compensation
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23
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Securities
Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation
Plans
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24
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TRANSACTIONS
WITH RELATED PERSONS, PROMOTERS OR CERTAIN CONTROL
PERSONS
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25
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AUDIT
RELATED MATTERS
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30
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Audit
Committee Report
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30
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Services
Provided by the Independent Auditors
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31
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Pre-Approval
Policies and Procedures
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31
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Fees
Paid to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
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31
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SECURITY
OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND
MANAGEMENT
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32
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OTHER
MATTERS
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34
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Section
16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
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34
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Solicitation
of Proxies
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34
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Annual
Report on Form 10-K
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APPENDIX
I – INFORMATION CONCERNING PERSONS WHO MAY
ASSIST
IN THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES BY THE COMPANY
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_________________________________________________________
PRELIMINARY
COPY
CNS
RESPONSE, INC.
2755
Bristol Street, Suite 285
Costa
Mesa, CA 92626
_________________________________________
PROXY
STATEMENT
_________________________________________
SPECIAL
MEETING IN LIEU OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
TO
BE HELD SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
CALLED
BY LEONARD BRANDT AND CERTAIN OTHER STOCKHOLDERS IN
THEIR
CAPACITIES AS STOCKHOLDERS
_________________________________________
ABOUT
THE MEETING
As you
may know, CNS Response, Inc.’s (“CNS,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or
“us”) former CEO, Leonard J. Brandt, has been waging a campaign to try to remove
our current directors and elect himself and his own nominees either at a
stockholder meeting or through an action by written consent without a
meeting. He has sent you a notice of a special meeting that he has
purportedly called for September 4, 2009 at 1:00 P.M. to be held at the
registered office of the Company, United Corporate Services, Inc., 874 Walker
Road, Suite C, Dover, Delaware 19904. CNS believes that Mr.
Brandt cannot call or hold this meeting and that any action he purports to take
on September 4, 2009 will be invalid. We outline those reasons
below.
Mr. Brandt claims to have set a record
date of August 24, 2009 and intends to use that date to determine those CNS
stockholders entitled to attend and vote at the special meeting. We
believe that is the incorrect date, as the board of directors had previously set
a record date of August 27, 2009 as the record date for any meeting attempted to
be called by Mr. Brandt. We believe that the use of any date other
than August 27, 2009 could render any action taken at the special meeting
invalid. It is our intention to have votes counted by the inspector
of elections based on an August 27 record date. We may also have
votes counted by the inspector of elections based on an August 24 record date in
order to have a complete record of actions purportedly taken at the special
meeting.
Although we do not believe that the
proxy card Mr. Brandt sent to you will be usable for any validly called
shareholder meeting or any valid purpose, if you fill out and return the card
you receive from Mr. Brandt, it may result in Mr. Brandt claiming that a quorum
was present at one of the purported meetings he calls and attempting to call a
vote on his proposals. Therefore simply by returning the card you may
be unintentionally assisting Mr. Brandt in his efforts to take control of the
Company, even if you vote against him.
Therefore, we are sending you this
proxy statement to urge you not to return a proxy card to Mr. Brandt, even (or
particularly) if you desire to vote against his proposed director nominees at
the meeting he purports to have called.
If you have already returned a proxy
card to Mr. Brandt, we urge you to revoke your proxy. You have the
right to revoke your proxy at any time before it is exercised at Mr. Brandt’s
purported special meeting. This may be done by executing a written
notice of revocation of proxy or notice of revocation of written consent and
delivering the same by fax, email or physical delivery (whether by hand delivery
or overnight express) to CNS Response, Inc., 2755 Bristol Street, Suite 285,
Costa Mesa, California 92626. Fax: (866) 294-2611 Email:
gcarpenter@cnsresponse.com. You may also revoke your proxy by
executing a written notice of revocation of proxy or notice of revocation of
written consent and delivering the same to Mr. Brandt at 31878 Del Obispo
Street, Suite 118-131, San Juan Capistrano, California 92675 or by fax to (949)
743-2785.
Please
be aware that you will not be disenfranchised by not returning Mr. Brandt’s
proxy. As we have previously announced, our plan is to hold the CNS
annual meeting of stockholders on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PDT
at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, California. The first annual meeting in
the Company's history, it will be open to all stockholders of record as of
August 27, 2009. At that meeting we plan to elect
directors. When we have filed definitive proxy materials for that
annual meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission, we will deliver to
you further information about the meeting, together with a proxy
card.
CNS’s senior management and
directors have been actively working to improve the Company’s financial position
and planning for our future. A lot of good things have happened since
Mr. Brandt was removed as our CEO in April and we hope you have been keeping up
with our press releases announcing significant developments. Most
recently, we closed a $2 million private placement, and in addition to the
inflow of needed cash, this financing also resulted in the conversion of $1.7
million of our debt into equity and removed the related liens that affected our
valuable assets. Following the closing, we also added Tommy Thompson
and John Pappajohn to our board of directors, and we are very excited to have
them join CNS at this critical time in our development. Messrs.
Thompson and Pappajohn are two of the six nominees we are proposing for election
as directors at the board-called September 29 meeting. The other
nominees – George Carpenter, Henry Harbin, David Jones and Jerry Vaccaro – also
are current directors.
Our board of directors believes that
it is in the best interests of CNS and its stockholders to elect our nominees
and reject Mr. Brandt’s attempts to seize control. If you wish to
elect our nominees or simply to resist Mr. Brandt’s plans for the Company, you
should not
return any proxy card or any written consent form to Mr. Brandt -- especially if your intent is
to vote against his nominees or proposal. These matters are more
fully described below.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS
THAT YOU DO NOT
RETURN A PROXY CARD OR WRITTEN CONSENT FORM TO MR. BRANDT, EVEN IF YOUR INTENT
IS TO VOTE AGAINST HIM.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS
THAT IF YOU ALREADY HAVE RETURNED SUCH A CARD, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS URGES YOU
TO REVOKE THE PROXY OR CONSENT.
WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT YOU NOT
VOTE AT ALL AT THIS PURPORTED MEETING AND THAT YOU VOTE ONLY AT THE ANNUAL
MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS WE HAVE CALLED AND CURRENTLY INTEND TO HOLD ON SEPTEMBER
29, 2009. WE ARE NOT SOLICITING YOUR VOTE YET FOR THAT ANNUAL MEETING
– WE WILL ONLY DO SO AFTER WE HAVE FILED DEFINITIVE PROXY MATERIALS WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WITH RESPECT TO THAT
MEETING.
It is extremely important that you
not vote in connection with Mr. Brandt’s
purported meeting. If you already have returned a proxy
card to Mr. Brandt, it is extremely important that you revoke that proxy,
whether you voted for or against Mr. Brandt’s nominees, or
abstained.
Our board of directors believes that
it is in the best interest of CNS and its stockholders to elect the nominees
identified above at our annual meeting to be held on September 29,
2009. We oppose the election of Mr. Brandt and any of his director
nominees and any attempt by him to cause the removal of our current
directors. THEREFORE, OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RECOMMENDS THAT YOU NOT VOTE IN CONNECTION WITH MR. BRANDT’S PURPORTED MEETING
AND REVOKE ANY PROXY OR WRITTEN CONSENT THAT YOU HAVE PROVIDED TO
BRANDT.
BACKGROUND
OF OUR SOLICITATION
As you know, CNS made an important
change in April 2009 when the board of directors dismissed Leonard J. Brandt as
our CEO and replaced him with George Carpenter, who had been serving as our
President. The board decided to make this change for a number of
reasons, but the primary reason was a fundamental disagreement between the other
directors and Mr. Brandt regarding the Company’s strategy. Mr.
Brandt, after 12 months of being unsuccessful in his efforts to secure
acceptable financing for CNS, recommended that we reduce staff, discontinue
payroll, notify our clinical trial sites that further payments would be delayed
or suspended, and use bridge loans to “drip feed” CNS on a month-to-month
basis. Our other directors disagreed with this recommendation, and
determined that Mr. Carpenter was better qualified to lead our efforts to secure
additional financing to complete the clinical trial, continue to lay the
groundwork for commercialization and place CNS on a sound financial footing that
we expect will allow us to implement our business plan.
We believe that Mr. Carpenter has made
great progress over the last four months, as evidenced by a variety of positive
developments, including our successful capital raising efforts that to date have
resulted in over $2 million in additional cash investment and the elimination of
$1.7 million in indebtedness through the automatic conversion of outstanding
notes upon the completion of the financing. He also has been
instrumental in our efforts in getting Messrs. Thompson and Pappajohn to join
our board of directors. The addition of Messrs. Thompson and
Pappajohn, and their many years of relevant experience in business, finance and
government, strengthens our board’s ability to face the challenges we anticipate
as CNS continues its growth.
Unfortunately, Mr. Brandt has spent the
last four months reacting to his removal and engaging in a number of activities
that we believe had the goals of preventing our financing initiatives and
restoring himself to power. So far, those efforts have not benefited
CNS or our stockholders – they have just caused us to incur significant legal
and related expenses and have caused our management and directors to spend
valuable time contending with Mr. Brandt. As you may know,
to date Mr. Brandt has attempted to call, hold, adjourn and/or reconvene
purported special meetings on seven occasions since
June and has made a number of SEC filings which we believe have contained
falsehoods and misleading statements and we have been vigorously contesting
these actions in both state and federal court.
As part of his campaign, Mr. Brandt has
made a number of statements suggesting that his purpose in calling his many
meetings has been to allow CNS stockholders to exercise their right to elect
directors. In that vein, he has criticized CNS for not holding a
stockholder meeting to allow stockholders to elect directors – implying that CNS
itself and other CNS directors have been standing in the way of a stockholder
meeting. He chooses not to highlight some relevant facts, however,
when he makes these statements – like the fact that he was CNS’s
Chairman for more than three years and, as Chairman, could have called a meeting
at any time during his tenure, a procedure that does not require the approval of
any of the other directors; or, during his entire tenure as a director, he has
never made a motion at any meeting of directors to call a stockholder
meeting. We believe that his purpose in purporting to call a meeting
in his capacity as a stockholder was to try to catch the Company by surprise,
act quickly to change the board and then tell the rest of the stockholders what
he had done. It was only after seven failed attempts to get a quorum
for those purported meetings that he finally delivered a proxy statement to CNS
stockholders and invited everyone to participate in the meeting – not just those
of you who were inclined to travel to Dover, Delaware on a holiday, a Sunday or
any of the other five occasions Mr. Brandt’s designee stood in the hallway of an
office building and claimed he or she was convening a stockholder
meeting.
We
intend to participate in the purported September 4 meeting to object to any
action Mr. Brandt or his proxies or designees attempt to take and in order to
oppose the election of Mr. Brandt and his slate of nominees. As noted
above, we believe that Mr. Brandt cannot call or hold this meeting and that any
action he purports to take on September 4, 2009 will be
invalid. While we do not believe that an exhaustive treatment
addressing Delaware law and the Company’s governing instruments is appropriate,
we do believe that the following summary gives you an accurate overview of the
reasons for our belief.
Inability to Call September
4 Meeting as a “Reconvened” Meeting
Delaware law allows a stockholder
meeting to be adjourned once it has been called. When a
properly-adjourned meeting is then properly reconvened, that reconvened meeting
is simply a continuation of the original meeting – it is not considered to be a
new meeting. The significance of this is that a new notice need not
be sent to stockholders and a new record date need not be
set. However, if the attempt to adjourn a meeting is not properly
carried out, the meeting comes to an end and it cannot be reconvened
afterwards. As a result, any meeting that is to be called and held
after the improperly adjourned meeting ended would have to be called and held as
a new meeting – it would not be a continuation of the original
meeting. This would require that a new notice be sent to stockholders
and a new record date established.
At Brandt’s purported July 3 meeting,
his designee failed to properly adjourn the meeting. This caused the
meeting to end and, as a result, the September 4 meeting cannot be a reconvened
meeting that relates back to the original July 3 meeting through the chain of
other purportedly called and adjourned meetings on July 12, July 21, July 30,
August 17 and August 26.
The result, in the Company’s view, is
that any meeting called by Mr. Brandt subsequent to July 3 can only be called
and held as a new meeting. Although some of the statements included
in Mr. Brandt’s proxy materials and other public statements suggest that the
September 4 meeting is reconvening the earlier meetings, his action of sending
out a new notice of meeting on August 26 would appear to indicate that Brandt
believes that the September 4 meeting is a new meeting. However, as
Mr. Brandt is aware, Company bylaws that took effect in June that apply to any
new meeting specifically state that a special meeting cannot be called by
stockholders for the purpose of electing directors. Therefore, the
Company believes that any action to elect directors at the September 4 meeting
will be invalid.
In addition, even if the July 3
adjournment was proper, the meeting came to an end on one or more of the other
occasions Mr. Brandt purportedly reconvened that meeting. For
example, Delaware law allows notices of meetings to be used for no more than 60
days – after that time period, the notice becomes stale and a new notice must be
given for a new meeting. Mr. Brandt sent notices on June 20 and June
23 (which notice arguably replaced the June 20 notice). As a result,
the notice became stale on August 21, so any meeting held after August 21 cannot
be a meeting that is a continuation of the July 3 meeting. As
discussed above, the Company’s bylaws apply to any new meeting – including the
September 4 meeting – and specifically state that a special meeting cannot be
called by stockholders for the purpose of electing
directors. Therefore, the Company believes that any action to elect
directors at the September 4 meeting will be invalid.
The Company also believes that a
meeting cannot be held on September 4 because there are not at least 10 days
between the record date of August 27 and the meeting date of September
4. Under Delaware law, the record date for a stockholder meeting must
be not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days prior to the date of the
meeting. As discussed below, Mr. Brandt indicates in his proxy
materials that the record date for the purported September 4 meeting is August
24, 2009 when he is aware that the board of directors had set August 27, 2009 as
the record date. We believe Mr. Brandt is deliberately attempting to
circumvent the board’s valid action and Delaware law by attempting to hold a
meeting using a record date other than August 27. We also believe
that the August 27 record date makes it impossible for the meeting to be held on
September 4 without violating Delaware law and that any vote or other action
taken based on a record date other than August 27 could be held to be
invalid.
Use of an Invalid Record
Date
Mr. Brandt indicates in his proxy
materials that the record date for the purported September 4 meeting is August
24, 2009. As Mr. Brandt knows, because he attended the relevant board
of directors meeting, on July 20 the board of directors set August 27, 2009 as
the record for any meeting of stockholders Mr. Brandt attempts to
call. We believe that Mr. Brandt’s choice of August 24 is a
deliberate attempt to disenfranchise the stockholders who acquired our shares in
the private placement that closed on August 26 and the holders of our notes, who
Mr. Brandt knew would receive shares of common stock upon the automatic
conversion of the notes when the financing closed.
Delaware law empowers the board of
directors to set the record date for stockholder meetings, whether the meeting
is called by the company itself or by another person under relevant charter or
bylaw provisions, as is the case here with Mr. Brandt’s attempts to call a
meeting. CNS, therefore, believes that only August 27 is a valid
record date and, therefore, any vote or other action taken based on a record
date other than August 27 could be held to be invalid.
QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS REGARDING THE MEETING
Why
am I receiving these materials?
Mr.
Brandt has purportedly called a special meeting for September 4, 2009 at
1:00P.M. to be held at the registered office of the Company, United Corporate
Services, Inc., 874 Walker Road, Suite C, Dover, Delaware
19904. Although we do not believe that the proxy card Mr. Brandt sent
to you will be usable for any validly called stockholder meeting or any other
valid purpose, we are sending you this proxy statement to urge you not to return
a proxy card to Mr. Brandt, even (or particularly) if you desire to vote against
his proposed director nominees at the meeting he purports to have
called.
Who
is soliciting my vote?
Mr.
Brandt is soliciting your vote in connection with his purported
meeting. We are recommending that you not vote at all at
this purported meeting and that you vote only at the Annual Meeting of
Stockholders we have called and currently intend to hold on September 29,
2009. We are not soliciting your vote yet for that Annual Meeting –
we will only do so after we have filed definitive proxy materials with the
Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to that
meeting.
What
am I being asked to vote on?
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Mr.
Brandt is asking you to vote in favor of himself and his other director
nominees.
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OUR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS THAT YOU DO NOT RETURN A
PROXY CARD OR WRITTEN CONSENT FORM TO MR. BRANDT, EVEN IF YOUR INTENT IS
TO VOTE AGAINST HIM.
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OUR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT IF YOU ALREADY HAVE RETURNED SUCH
A CARD, THAT YOU SHOULD REVOKE THE PROXY OR CONSENT, USING THE
INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED BELOW.
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As we
have previously announced, our plan is to hold the CNS annual meeting of
stockholders on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PDT at the Island
Hotel in Newport Beach, California. The first annual meeting in the Company's
history, it will be open to all shareholders of record as of August 27,
2009. At that meeting we plan to elect directors. When we
have filed definitive proxy materials for that annual meeting with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, we will deliver to you further information
about the meeting, together with a proxy card. Please also be aware
that you cannot vote for our nominees on any proxy card or consent form provided
by Leonard J. Brandt.
What
should I do if I have questions about how to ensure that my shares are voted for
the director nominees that I desire?
If you
have any questions about how to ensure that your shares are voted in accordance
with your wishes, please contact:
George
Carpenter, CEO CNS Response, Inc.
gcarpenter@cnsresponse.com
What
should I do if I receive a proxy card or form of consent from Leonard J.
Brandt?
As you
may know, CNS’s former CEO, Leonard J. Brandt, has been soliciting proxies and
written consents in an attempt to remove our current directors and elect himself
and his own nominees either at a stockholder meeting or through an action by
written consent without a meeting. As a result, you may receive or
may have already received proxy materials and a proxy card and/or consent
solicitation materials and a form of written consent from Mr.
Brandt. (And in some cases, those materials may even have been mailed
by us pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission rules requiring us to do
so). Mr. Brandt and his nominees have NOT been endorsed by our Board,
our Board does not recommend their election, and we are not responsible for the
accuracy or adequacy of any information provided by or relating to Mr. Brandt or
his nominees that is contained in any proxy or consent solicitation materials
filed or disseminated by, or on behalf of, Mr. Brandt or his nominees
or any other
statements that Mr. Brandt or his nominees may otherwise
make.
WE URGE YOU NOT TO SIGN OR RETURN ANY
PROXY CARD OR WRITTEN CONSENT TO MR. BRANDT.
Simply by
returning the card you may be unintentionally assisting Mr. Brandt in his
efforts to take control of the company, even if you vote against
him. Please be aware that you will not be disenfranchised by not returning
Mr. Brandt’s proxy. As we have previously announced, our plan is to
hold the CNS annual meeting of stockholders on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at
10:00 a.m. PDT at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, California. The annual
meeting will be open to all shareholders of record as of August 27,
2009. At that meeting we plan to elect directors. When we
have filed definitive proxy materials for that annual meeting with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, we will deliver to you further information
about the meeting, together with a proxy card.
Can
I revoke a proxy or written consent that I have already given to Leonard J.
Brandt?
You may
revoke a proxy you have already given to Mr. Brandt at any time before your
proxy is voted at the special meeting. You also may revoke any
written consent that you have already given to Mr. Brandt at any time before he
delivers written consents representing a majority of our outstanding common
stock to us.
IF
YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM BOTH A PROXY AND A WRITTEN CONSENT, YOU MUST REVOKE BOTH THE
PROXY AND THE WRITTEN CONSENT IF YOUR INTENT IS TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF OUR DIRECTOR
NOMINEES AT OUR ANNUAL MEETING.
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Revoking a proxy given to Mr.
Brandt. If you hold your CNS shares as a record holder,
you may revoke a proxy you provided to Mr. Brandt at any time before your
proxy is voted at Brandt’s purported special meeting
by:
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delivering
to Mr. Brandt a signed written notice of revocation, bearing a date later
than the date of the proxy, stating that the proxy is revoked;
or
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delivering
to CNS a signed written notice of revocation, bearing a date later than
the date of the proxy, stating that the proxy is
revoked.
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If you hold your CNS shares in street
name, you may change your vote by submitting new votinginstructions to your
broker, bank or other nominee. You must contact your broker, bank or other
nomineeto find out how to do so.
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Revoking a written consent
given to Mr. Brandt. If you hold your CNS shares as a record
holder, you may revoke a written consent you provided to Mr. Brandt at any
time before your consent is delivered by him to the Company in connection
with an action by written consent
by:
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delivering
to Mr. Brandt a signed written notice of revocation, bearing a date later
than the date of the consent, stating that the consent is revoked;
or
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delivering
to CNS a signed written notice of revocation, bearing a date later than
the date of the consent, stating that the consent is
revoked.
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Who
pays for the solicitation of proxies?
We will
pay the cost of preparing this proxy statement as well as any other materials
that may be distributed on behalf of our board. We may use the
services of our directors, officers, employees and others to solicit proxies,
personally or by mail, telephone, or facsimile. Appendix I to this proxy
statement sets forth information about the directors and other individuals who,
under rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, are
“participants” in our solicitation of proxies in connection with the special
meeting. We also make arrangements with brokers, banks and other custodians,
nominees, fiduciaries and stockholders of record to forward solicitation
material to the beneficial owners of stock held of record by such persons. We
may reimburse such individuals or firms for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses
incurred by them in soliciting proxies, but we will not pay any compensation for
their services.
May
I access the proxy materials for the special meeting on the
Internet?
Under
recently implemented rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we are
providing access to our proxy materials both by sending you this full set of
proxy materials and by notifying you of the availability of our proxy materials
on the Internet. This proxy statement is available at
www.CNSResponse.com.
CNS Annual Stockholder
Meeting
As we
have previously announced, our plan is to hold the CNS annual meeting of
stockholders on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PDT at the Island
Hotel in Newport Beach, California. The first annual meeting in the Company's
history, it will be open to all shareholders of record as of August 27,
2009. At that meeting we plan to elect six directors –John Pappajohn,
Tommy Thompson, George Carpenter, Henry Harbin, David Jones and Jerry
Vaccaro. When we have filed definitive proxy materials for that
annual meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission, we will deliver to
you further information about the meeting, together with a proxy
card.
Our board of directors believes that it
is in the best interests of CNS and its stockholders to elect our nominees at
our annual meeting to be held on September 29, 2009 and reject Mr. Brandt’s
attempts to seize control. If you wish to elect our nominees or
simply to resist Mr. Brandt’s plans for the Company, you should not return any
proxy card or any written consent form to Mr. Brandt -- especially if your intent is
to vote against his nominees or proposal.
It is extremely important that you
not vote in connection with Mr. Brandt’s
purported meeting. If you already have returned a proxy
card to Mr. Brandt, it is extremely important that you revoke that proxy,
whether you voted for or against Mr. Brandt’s nominees, or
abstained.
WE ARE
RECOMMENDING THAT YOU NOT VOTE AT ALL AT THIS PURPORTED MEETING AND
THAT YOU VOTE ONLY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS WE HAVE CALLED AND
CURRENTLY INTEND TO HOLD ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2009. WE ARE NOT SOLICITING
YOUR VOTE YET FOR THAT ANNUAL MEETING – WE WILL ONLY DO SO AFTER WE HAVE FILED
DEFINITIVE PROXY MATERIALS WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WITH
RESPECT TO THAT MEETING.
INFORMATION REGARDING THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEES AND COMPANY MANAGEMENT
DIRECTOR
NOMINEES
The
following table sets forth the name, age and position of each of our directors
that are nominees for election at our annual stockholder meeting to be held on
September 29, 2009 and the current positions that they hold with
us. The information in the table below is as of August 31,
2009:
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Name
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Age
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Position Held
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George
Carpenter
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51
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Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary
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Dr.
Henry T. Harbin
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62
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Director
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David
B. Jones
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65
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Director
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John
Pappajohn
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81
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Director
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Tommy
Thompson
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66
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Director
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Jerome
Vaccaro, M.D.
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53
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Director
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George
Carpenter, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer,
Secretary
George
Carpenter has served as our Chief Executive Officer since April 10, 2009 and
prior to that date served as our President since October 1,
2007. Prior to joining us, Mr. Carpenter was the President & CEO
of WorkWell Systems, Inc., a national physical medicine firm that manages
occupational health programs for Fortune 500 employers. Prior to his
position at WorkWell Systems, Mr. Carpenter founded and served as Chairman and
CEO of Core, Inc., a company focused on integrated disability management and
work-force analytics. Core was acquired in 2001 by Assurant,
Inc. From 1984 to 1990, Mr. Carpenter was a Vice President of
Operations with Baxter Healthcare, served as a Director of Business Development
and as a strategic partner for Baxter's alternate site
businesses. Mr. Carpenter began his career at Inland Steel where he
served as a Senior Systems Consultant in manufacturing process control. Mr.
Carpenter holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and a BA with
Distinction in International Policy & Law from Dartmouth
College.
Henry
T. Harbin, M.D., Director
Henry
Harbin, M.D. joined our Board of directors on October 17, 2007. Dr.
Harbin is a Psychiatrist with over 30 years of experience in the behavioral
health field. He has held a number of senior positions in both public and
private health care organizations. He worked for 10 years in the public mental
health system in Maryland serving as Director of the state mental health
authority for three of those years. He has been CEO of two national
behavioral healthcare companies - Greenspring Health Services and Magellan
Health Services. At the time he was CEO of Magellan, it was the largest managed
behavioral healthcare company managing the mental health and substance abuse
benefits of approximately 70 million Americans including persons who were
insured by private employers, Medicaid and Medicare. In 2002 and 2003, he served
on the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. As a part
of the Commission he was chair of the subcommittee for the Interface between
Mental Health and General Medicine. In 2005, he served as co-chair of
the National Business Group on Health's work group that produced the Employer's
Guide to Behavioral Health Services in December 2005. Since 2004, Dr. Harbin has
been providing health care consulting services to a number of private and public
organizations.
David
B. Jones, Director
David B.
Jones has been a director of CNS California since August 2006, and became a
director of the company upon completion of our merger with CNS California on
March 7, 2007. Mr. Jones currently serves as a partner of Sail
Venture Partners, L.P., a position which he has held since 2003. From
1998 to 2004, Mr. Jones served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Dartron, Inc., a computer accessories manufacturer. From 1985 to 1997, Mr. Jones
was a general partner of InterVen Partners, a venture capital firm with offices
in Southern California and Portland, Oregon. From 1979 to 1985, Mr. Jones was
President and Chief Executive Officer of First Interstate Capital, Inc., the
venture capital affiliate of First Interstate Bancorp. Mr. Jones is a graduate
of Dartmouth College and holds Masters of Business Administration and law
degrees from the University of Southern California.
John
Pappajohn, Director
John
Pappajohn joined the CNS board of directors on August 26, 2009. Since
1969, Mr. Pappajohn has been the President and sole owner of Pappajohn Capital
Resources, a venture capital firm, and President and sole owner of Equity
Dynamics, Inc., a financial consulting firm, both located in Des Moines,
Iowa. He serves as a director on the boards of the following public
companies: American CareSource Inc., Dallas, TX since 1994; since
1996; PharmAthene, Inc., Annapolis, MD., since 2007; Spectrascience, Inc., San
Diego, CA, since 2007; CareGuide, Inc., Florida, (formerly Patient
Infosystems, Inc.), since 1996; and ConMed Healthcare Management,
Inc., Hanover, MD since 2005.
Tommy
Thompson, Director
Tommy G.
Thompson joined the CNS board of directors on August 26, 2009. Mr.
Thompson is the former Health and Human Services Secretary and four-term
Governor of Wisconsin is a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer
& Feld. He serves on the boards of CR Bard and Centene
Corporation, both which are public companies, and is Chairman of AGA Medical
Corporation, a privately-held company. Thompson served as HHS
Secretary from 2001 to 2005 and is one of the nation's leading advocates for the
health and welfare of all Americans. He is the 19th individual to serve as
Secretary of the department, which employs more than 60,000 personnel and has a
fiscal year 2005 budget of $584 billion. Thompson has dedicated his
professional life to public service and served as Governor of Wisconsin from
1987 to 2001. Thompson was re-elected to office for a third term in 1994 and a
fourth term in 1998. At HHS, Thompson led the Administration’s
efforts to pass and implement a new Medicare law that is for the first time
providing a drug benefit to America’s seniors. As governor, Thompson created the
nation's first parental school choice program in 1990, allowing low-income
Milwaukee families to send children to the private or public school of their
choice. He created Wisconsin's Council on Model Academic Standards, which
implemented high academic standards for English language arts, math, science and
social studies. Thompson began his career in public service in 1966 as a
representative in Wisconsin's state Assembly. He was elected assistant Assembly
minority leader in 1973 and Assembly minority leader in 1981. Thompson has
received numerous awards for his public service, including the Anti-Defamation
League's Distinguished Public Service Award. In 1997, Thompson received
Governing Magazine's Public Official of the Year Award, and the Horatio Alger
Award in 1998. Thompson served as chairman of the National Governors'
Association, the Education Commission of the States and the Midwestern
Governors' Conference. Thompson also served in the Wisconsin National Guard and
the Army Reserve.
Jerome
Vaccaro, M.D., Director
Jerome
Vaccaro, M.D., joined the Board of directors of CNS California in 2006 and
became a director of the company upon completion of our merger with CNS
California on March 7, 2007. Dr. Vaccaro is President and Chief
Operating Officer of APS Healthcare, Inc, (APS) a privately held specialty
healthcare company. Prior to his appointment as president of APS, Mr.
Vaccaro served as Senior Vice President with United Health Group’s Specialized
Care Services. He has served in a number of health care executive roles, most
recently as Chief Executive Officer of United Behavioral Health, and before that
as President and Chief Executive Officer of PacifiCare Behavioral Health
(“PBH”). Dr. Vaccaro has also served as Medical Director of PBH (1996-2001),
Chief Executive Officer of PacifiCare Dental and Vision (2002-2004), and Senior
Vice President for the PacifiCare Specialty Health Division (2002-2004). Dr.
Vaccaro has an extensive background in community mental health and public sector
work, including editing the textbook, “Practicing Psychiatry in the Community,”
which is hailed as the definitive community psychiatry text. Dr. Vaccaro
completed medical school and a Psychiatry Residency at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in New York City. After his training, Dr. Vaccaro served on
the full-time faculty of the University of Hawaii (1985-1989) and UCLA
(1989-1996) Departments of Psychiatry.
OTHER
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Daniel
Hoffman, Chief Medical Officer and President
Dr. Hoffman, 61, became our President
on April 10, 2009 and our Chief Medical Officer on January 15, 2008 upon our
acquisition of Neuro-Therapy Clinic, P.C, which at the time of the acquisition
was our largest customer. Dr. Hoffman is a Neuropsychiatrist with
over 25 years experience treating general psychiatric conditions such as
depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. He provides the newest advances in
diagnosing and treating attentional and learning problems in children and
adults. Dr. Hoffman has authored over 40 professional articles, textbook
chapters, poster presentations and letters to the editors on various aspects of
neuropsychiatry, Quantitative EEG, LORETA, Referenced EEG, advances in
medication management, national position papers and standards, Mild Traumatic
Brain Injury, neurocognitive effects of Silicone Toxicity, sexual dysfunction
and other various topics. Dr. Hoffman has given over 58 major presentations and
seminars, including Grand Rounds at Universities and Hospitals, workshops and
presentations at national society meeting (such as American Psychiatric
Association and American Neuropsychiatric Association, national CME conferences,
insurance companies, national professional associations, panel member
discussant, and presenter of poster sessions. Dr Hoffman has a Bachelor of
Science in Psychology from the University of Michigan, an MD from Wayne State
University School of Medicine and conducted his Residency in Psychiatry at the
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. During the past five years, Dr.
Hoffman has served as the President and CEO of Neuro-Therapy Clinic, P.C., a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the company that is focused on discovering ways to
integrate technology into the creation of better business
practices.
BOARD
COMPOSITION AND COMMITTEES AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Our board
of directors currently consists of seven members: George Carpenter, Henry
Harbin, David Jones, John Pappajohn, Tommy Thompson, Jerome Vaccaro and Leonard
Brandt. Messrs. Pappajohn and Thompson just recently joined our board
of directors on August 26, 2009; they were not members of the board during our
last fiscal year, which ended on September 30, 2008.
Currently,
we do not have any committees, including an audit committee, compensation
committee, or nominating and corporate governance committee and the functions
customarily delegated to these committees are performed by our full board of
directors. In addition, we do not have any charters that relate to
the functions traditionally performed by these committees. We are not
a “listed company” under SEC rules and are therefore not required to have
separate committees comprised of independent directors. We have, however,
determined that David Jones, Jerome Vaccaro, David Jones, John Pappajohn and
Tommy Thompson are “independent” as that term is defined in Section 5600 of the
Nasdaq Listing Rules as required by the NASDAQ Stock Market. In
addition, although our full board of directors functions as our audit committee,
we have determined that Jerome Vaccaro, David Jones, John Pappajohn and Tommy
Thompson are “independent” for purposes of Rule 5605-4 of the Nasdaq Listing
Rules as required by the NASDAQ Stock Market.
We have
also determined that David Jones qualifies as an “audit committee financial
expert” within the meaning of the rules and regulations of the SEC and that each
of our other board members are able to read and understand fundamental financial
statements and have substantial business experience that results in that
member's financial sophistication. Accordingly, our board of directors believes
that each of its members has sufficient knowledge and experience necessary to
fulfill the duties and obligations that an audit committee would
have.
FURTHER
INFORMATION CONCERNING THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meetings and
Committees. The Board of directors held six meetings during
its fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. All directors then serving, with the
exception of Mr. Vaccaro, attended 75% or more of all of the meetings of the
Board of directors during such fiscal year. The Company has not
established a specific policy with respect to members of the board of directors
attending annual stockholder meetings.
With
respect to our 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the board of directors
appointed a committee consisting of George Carpenter, Henry Harbin and David
Jones to review the director nominees and make recommendations to the full board
of directors regarding those candidates who will be the nominees for election or
re-election to our board of directors. This committee determined to
recommend George Carpenter, Henry Harbin, David Jones, John Pappajohn, Tommy
Thompson and Jerome Vaccaro as the nominees. The committee determined
not to recommend Leonard Brandt. The nominees were subsequently
approved by the board of directors. The methods used by the committee
and the board of directors for identifying candidates for election as directors
(other than those proposed by our stockholders, as discussed below) include the
solicitation of ideas for possible candidates from a number of sources—members
of the board of directors; our senior management; individuals personally known
to the members of the board of directors; and other research. We may also from
time to time retain one or more third-party search firms to identify suitable
candidates. The board also considers outside candidates for possible nomination
for election.
A CNS
stockholder may nominate one or more persons for election as a director at an
annual meeting of stockholders if the stockholder complies with the requisite
provisions contained in our Bylaws. In addition, the notice must be made in
writing and set forth as to each proposed nominee who is not an incumbent
Director (i) their name, age, business address and, if known, residence address,
(ii) their principal occupation or employment, (iii) the number of shares of
stock of the Company beneficially owned and (iv) any other information
concerning the nominee that must be disclosed respecting nominees in proxy
solicitations pursuant to Rule 14(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934. The
recommendation should be addressed to our Secretary.
Among
other matters, our full board of directors which serves as the nominating and
governance committee:
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Reviews
the desired experience, mix of skills and other qualities to assure
appropriate Board composition, taking into account the current Board
members and the specific needs of CNS Response and the
Board;
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Conducts
candidate searches, interviews prospective candidates and conducts
programs to introduce candidates to our management and operations, and
confirms the appropriate level of interest of such
candidates;
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Recommends
qualified candidates who bring the background, knowledge, experience,
independence, skill sets and expertise that would strengthen and increase
the diversity of the Board; and
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Conducts
appropriate inquiries into the background and qualifications of potential
nominees.
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Compensation of Directors and
Officers. Our full board of directors determines the compensation to be
paid to our officers and directors, with recommendations from management as to
the amount and/or form of such compensation. While our board may in the future
utilize the services of consultants in determining or recommending the amount or
form of executive and director compensation, we do not at this time employ
consultants for this purpose.
Stockholder
Communications. Stockholder may send communications to the
board of directors via email to board@cnsresponse.com or by telephoning the
Secretary at the Company’s principal executive offices, who will then relay the
communications to the board of directors.
Code of Ethics. Our
board of directors has adopted a Code of Ethical Conduct (the “Code of Conduct”)
which constitutes a “code of ethics” as defined by applicable SEC rules and a
“code of conduct” as defined by applicable NASDAQ rules. We require all
employees, directors and officers, including our principal executive officer,
principal financial officer and principal accounting officer to adhere to the
Code of Conduct in addressing legal and ethical issues encountered in conducting
their work. The Code of Conduct requires that these individuals avoid conflicts
of interest, comply with all laws and other legal requirements, conduct business
in an honest and ethical manner and otherwise act with integrity and in our best
interest. The Code of Conduct contains additional provisions that apply
specifically to our principal financial officer and other financial officers
with respect to full and accurate reporting. The Code of Conduct is available on
our website at www.cnsresponse.com
and is also filed as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form
10-K/A.
EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION
COMPENSATION
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
As we do
not have a designated compensation committee, our full board of directors
oversees matters regarding executive compensation. The Board is
responsible for, among other functions: (1) reviewing and approving corporate
goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of our executive officers and
evaluating the performance of such executive officers in light of these
corporate goals and objectives; (2) administering our 2006 Stock Incentive Plan
and other equity incentive plans that we may adopt from time to time; and (3)
negotiating, reviewing and setting the annual salary, bonus, stock options and
other benefits, direct and indirect, of the Chief Executive Officer, and other
current and former executive officers. The Board also has the authority to
select and/or retain outside counsel, compensation and benefits consultants, or
any other consultants to provide independent advice and assistance in connection
with the execution of its responsibilities. Our “named executive officers” for
our fiscal year ending September 30, 2008 were as follows:
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George
Carpenter, President;
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Horace
Hertz, Chief Financial Officer (resigned as of August 31,
2008);
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Brad
Luce, Principal Financial Officer (resigned as of December 19,
2008);
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Daniel
Hoffman, Chief Medical Officer; and
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Leonard
Brandt, Chief Executive Officer
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Compensation
Philosophy
Because
we are a small company with a total of 15 full-time and 4part-time employees, we
do not have a formal comprehensive executive compensation policy. As
we expand our operations, we intend to establish such policies to further our
corporate objectives. Generally, we compensate our executive officers
with a compensation package that is designed to drive company performance to
maximize shareholder value while meeting our needs and the needs of our
executives. The following are objectives we consider:
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Alignment
- to align the interests of executives and shareholders through
equity-based compensation awards;
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Retention
- to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified, high performing
executives to lead our growth and success;
and
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Performance
- to provide, when appropriate, compensation that is dependent upon the
executive's achievements and the company’s
performance.
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In order
to achieve the above objectives, our executive compensation philosophy is guided
by the following principles:
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Rewards
under incentive plans are based upon our short-term and longer-term
financial results and increasing shareholder
value;
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Executive
pay is set at sufficiently competitive levels to attract, retain and
motivate highly talented individuals who are necessary for us to strive to
achieve our goals, objectives and overall financial
success;
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Compensation
of an executive is based on such individual's role, responsibilities,
performance and experience, taking into account the desired pay
relationships within the executive team;
and
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Annual
performance of our company and the executive are taken into account in
determining annual bonuses with the goal of fostering a
pay-for-performance culture.
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Compensation
Elements
We
compensate our executives through a variety of components, which may include a
base salary, annual performance based incentive bonuses, equity incentives, and
benefits and perquisites, in order to provide our executives with a competitive
overall compensation package. The mix and value of these components are impacted
by a variety of factors, such as responsibility level, individual negotiations
and performance and market practice. The purpose and key characteristics for
each component are described below.
Base
Salary
Base
salary provides executives with a steady income stream and is based upon the
executive's level of responsibility, experience, individual performance and
contributions to our overall success, as well as negotiations between the
company and such executive officer. Competitive base salaries, in conjunction
with other pay components, enable us to attract and retain talented executives.
The Board typically sets base salaries for our executives at levels that it
deems to be competitive, with input from our Chief Executive
Officer.
Annual
Incentive Bonuses
Annual
incentive bonuses are a variable performance-based component of compensation.
The primary objective of an annual incentive bonus is to reward executives for
achieving corporate and individual goals and to align a portion of total pay
opportunities for executives to the attainment of our company's performance
goals. Annual incentive awards, when provided, act as a means to recognize the
contribution of our executive officers to our overall financial, operational and
strategic success.
Equity
Incentives
Equity
incentives are intended to align executive and shareholder interests by linking
a portion of executive pay to long-term shareholder value creation and financial
success over a multi-year period. Equity incentives may also be provided to our
executives to attract and enhance the retention of executives and to facilitate
stock ownership by our executives. The Board considers individual and company
performance when determining long-term incentive opportunities.
Health
& Welfare Benefits
The
executive officers participate in health and welfare, and paid time-off benefits
which we believe are competitive in the marketplace. Health and welfare and paid
time-off benefits help ensure that we have a productive and focused
workforce.
Severance
and Change of Control Arrangements
We do not
have a formal plan for severance or separation pay for our employees, but we
typically include a severance provision in the employment agreements of our
executive officers that have written employment agreements with
us. Generally, such provisions are triggered in the event of
involuntary termination of the executive without cause or in the event of a
change in control. Please see the description of our employment
agreements with each of George Carpenter and Daniel Hoffman below for further
information.
Other
Benefits
In order
to attract and retain highly qualified executives, we may provide our executive
officers with automobile allowances, consistent with current market
practices.
Accounting
and Tax Considerations
We
consider the accounting implications of all aspects of our executive
compensation strategy and, so long as doing so does not conflict with our
general performance objectives described above, we strive to achieve the most
favorable accounting (and tax) treatment possible to the company and our
executive officers.
Process
for Setting Executive Compensation; Factors Considered
When
making pay determinations for named executive officers, the Board considers a
variety of factors including, among others: (1) actual company performance as
compared to pre-established goals, (2) individual executive performance and
expected contribution to our future success, (3) changes in economic conditions
and the external marketplace, (4) prior year’s bonuses and long-term incentive
awards, and (5) in the case of executive officers, other than Chief Executive
Officer, the recommendation of our Chief Executive Officer. No specific weighing
is assigned to these factors nor are particular targets set for any particular
factor. Ultimately, the Board uses its judgment and discretion when determining
how much to pay our executive officers and sets the pay for such executives by
element (including cash versus non-cash compensation) and in the aggregate, at
levels that it believes are competitive and necessary to attract and retain
talented executives capable of achieving the Company's long-term
objectives.
Summary
Compensation Table
The
following table provides disclosure concerning all compensation paid for
services to us in all capacities for our fiscal years ending September 30, 2008,
2007 and 2006 (i) as to each person serving as our principal executive officer
(“PEO”) or acting in a similar capacity during our fiscal year ended September
30, 2008, (ii) as to each person serving as our principal financial officer
(“PFO”) or acting in a similar capacity during our fiscal year ended September
30, 2008, and (iii) as to our two most highly compensated executive officers
other than our PEO and PFO who were serving as executive officers at the end of
our fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, whose compensation exceeded
$100,000. The people listed in the table below are referred to as our
“named executive officers”.
Subsequent
to our fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, on April 10, 2009, our board of
directors elected George Carpenter, at the time our President, to the position
of Chief Executive Officer and elected Daniel Hoffman, MD, to the position of
President in addition to his previous role as Chief Medical Officer of the
company. On the same date, our Board removed Mr. Brandt from his
position as our Chief Executive Officer.
|
Name
and
Principal
Position
|
|
Fiscal
Year
Ended
September
30,
|
|
Salary
($)
|
|
|
Bonus
($)
|
|
|
Option
Awards
($)
|
|
|
All
Other
Compensation
($)
|
|
|
Total
($)
|
|
|
Leonard
Brandt (Chief Executive Officer, Principal Executive Officer,
Director)(1)
|
|
2008
|
|
|
175,000 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
19,000 |
(9) |
|
|
194,000 |
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
|
175,000 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
1,025,600 |
(4) |
|
|
18,000 |
|
|
|
1,218,600 |
|
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
175,000 |
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
196,500 |
(5) |
|
|
59,700 |
|
|
|
441,200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Daniel
Hoffman (Chief Medical Officer)
|
|
2008
|
|
|
108,100 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
39,200 |
(10) |
|
|
147,300 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Horace
Hertz (former Chief
|
|
2008
|
|
|
157,900 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
157,900 |
|
|
Financial
Officer, former Principal Financial Officer)(2)
|
|
2007
|
|
|
143,750 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
515,400 |
(6) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
659,150 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brad
Luce (former Principal Financial Officer)(3)
|
|
2008
|
|
|
7,700 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
159,500 |
(7) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
167,200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
George
Carpenter (President)
|
|
2008
|
|
|
180,000 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
680,700 |
(8) |
|
|
16,300 |
(9) |
|
|
877,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1)
|
For
the fiscal years ended 2005 and 2006, Mr. Brandt agreed to forgo payment
of his salary and allow CNS California to accrue such compensation. In
August 2006, Mr. Brandt agreed to settle his claims for compensation
through September 30, 2006 in the aggregate amount of $1,106,900 in
exchange for the issuance of 298,437 shares of CNS California common
stock, which were exchanged for 298,437 shares of our common stock upon
the closing of our merger with CNS California on March 7,
2007.
|
|
(2)
|
Mr.
Hertz resigned on August 31, 2008.
|
|
(3)
|
Mr.
Luce resigned on December 19, 2008.
|
|
(4)
|
The
fair value of options was estimated on the date of grant using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions: grant date fair value of $1.09; dividend yield of
0; risk free interest rate of 4.72%; expected volatility of 91% and an
expected life of 5 years.
|
|
(5)
|
Represents
options to purchase 2,124,740 shares of our common stock for which the CNS
California common stock underlying the originally issued options were
exchanged upon the closing of our merger with CNS
California. As of September 30, 2008, the options were fully
vested and exercisable at $0.132 per share. The fair value of
options was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option
pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions: grant date fair value of $0.132; dividend yield of
0; risk free interest rate of 5.5%; expected volatility of 100% and an
expected life of 5 years. Subsequent to our year ended
September 30, 2008, Mr. Brandt exercised the aforementioned
options.
|
|
(6)
|
The
fair value of options was estimated on the date of grant using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions: grant date fair value of $1.09; dividend yield of
0; risk free interest rate of 4.72%; expected volatility of 91% and an
expected life of 5 years. On August 31, 2008, upon the
termination of his services to the company, options to purchase 352,757
shares of common stock held by Mr. Hertz were
cancelled.
|
|
(7)
|
The
fair value of options was estimated on the date of grant using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions: grant date fair value of $0.59; dividend yield of
0; risk free interest rate of 3.41%; expected volatility of 211% and an
expected life of 5 years. On December 19, 2008, upon the
termination of his services to the company, options to purchase 257,813
shares of common stock held by Mr. Luce were
cancelled.
|
|
(8)
|
The
fair value of options was estimated on the date of grant using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions: grant date fair value of $0.80; dividend yield of
0; risk free interest rate of 4.60%; expected volatility of 105.87% and an
expected life of 5 years.
|
|
(9)
|
Relates
to healthcare insurance premiums paid on behalf of executive officers by
the company.
|
|
(10)
|
Relates
to healthcare insurance premiums of $15,300 and automobile expenses of
$8,900 paid on behalf of Dr. Hoffman by the company, as well as $15,000 in
consulting fees paid to Dr. Hoffman for services rendered to the company
prior to his employment.
|
Grant
of Plan Based Awards in the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2008
The
following table provides information about equity awards granted to each named
executive officer that received awards in our fiscal year ending September 30,
2008 under our 2006 Stock Incentive Plan, which is the only plan pursuant to
which awards were granted in such fiscal year.
|
Name
|
|
Grant
Date
|
|
All
Other Option
Awards: Number
of
Securities
Underlying
Options
|
|
|
Exercise
or
Base
Price of
Option
Awards
($/share)
|
|
|
Grant
Date
Fair
Value of
Option
Awards
($)(1)
|
|
|
George
Carpenter
|
|
10/01/2007
|
|
|
533,694 |
(2) |
|
|
$0.89 |
|
|
|
375,000 |
|
|
|
|
10/01/2007
|
|
|
435,181 |
(3) |
|
|
$0.89 |
|
|
|
305,800 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brad
Luce
|
|
09/17/2008
|
|
|
275,000 |
(4) |
|
|
$0.51 |
|
|
|
159,500 |
|
|
(1)
|
The
grant date fair value is generally the amount the company would expense in
its financial statements over the award’s service period, but does not
include a reduction for
forfeitures.
|
|
(2)
|
Options
to purchase 112,359 shares of the company's common stock vested
immediately on the date of grant. Options to purchase 112,356 shares of
the company's common stock vest in equal monthly installments of 12,484
shares over 9 months commencing on April 30, 2008. Options to purchase
308,979 shares of the company's common stock vest in equal monthly
installments of 9,363 shares over 33 months commencing on January 31,
2009.
|
|
(3)
|
Options
to purchase 8,750 shares of the company's common stock vested immediately
on the date of grant. Options to purchase 69,300 shares of the company's
common stock vest in equal monthly installments of 7,700 shares over 9
months commencing on April 30, 2008. Options to purchase 346,272 shares of
the company's common stock vest in equal monthly installments of 10,821
shares over 32 months commencing on January 31, 2009. The remaining
options to purchase 10,859 shares vest on September 30,
2011.
|
|
(4)
|
The
options were to vest in equal monthly installments of 5,729 shares over 47
months commencing on October 15, 2008, with the remaining options to
purchase 5,737 shares of common stock vesting on November 15,
2012. On December 19, 2008, Mr. Luce resigned from the company,
and all unvested options were
cancelled.
|
Narrative
Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards
Table
As we
desired to retain our cash to fund our growth, we did not pay any bonuses to our
executive officers during our fiscal years ended September 30, 2008 and
2007. The bonuses paid to our executive officers in fiscal year ended
2006 were determined by our board of directors, and were based on the
performance of the executive officer and the company. As discussed, we do not
have a formal plan for determining the compensation of our executive
officers. Instead, each named executive officer negotiates the terms
of their employment with us, taking into account our compensation philosophy
outlined above. The following is a summary of each employment
agreement that we have entered into with respect to our named executive
officers, which summary includes, where applicable, a description of all
payments the company is required to make to such named executive officers at,
following or in connection with the resignation, retirement or other termination
of such named executive officers, or a change in control of our company or a
change in the responsibilities of such named executive officers following a
change in control.
Employment
Agreements
George Carpenter
On October 1, 2007, after our 2007
fiscal year end, we entered into an Employment Agreement (the “Employment
Agreement”) with George Carpenter pursuant to which Mr. Carpenter serves as our
President. During the period of his employment, Mr. Carpenter will
receive a base salary of no less than $180,000 per annum, which is subject to
upward adjustment at the discretion of our board of directors. In
addition, pursuant to the terms of the Employment Agreement, on October 1, 2007,
Mr. Carpenter was granted an option to purchase 968,875 shares of our common
stock at an exercise price of $0.89 per share pursuant to our 2006 Stock
Incentive Plan, which vests pursuant to the terms earlier
described. In the event of a change of control transaction, a portion
of Mr. Carpenter’s unvested options equal to the number of unvested options at
the date of the corporate transaction times the ratio of the time elapsed
between October 1, 2008 and the date of the corporate transaction over the
vesting period (48 months) will automatically accelerate, and become fully
vested. Mr. Carpenter will be entitled to four weeks vacation per
annum, health and dental insurance coverage for himself and his dependents, and
other fringe benefits that we may offer our employees from time to
time.
Mr. Carpenter's employment is on an
"at-will" basis, and Mr. Carpenter may terminate his employment with us for any
reason or for no reason. Similarly, we may terminate Mr. Carpenter's employment
with or without cause. If we terminate Mr. Carpenter's employment
without cause or Mr. Carpenter involuntarily terminates his employment with us
(an involuntary termination includes changes, without Mr. Carpenter’s consent or
pursuant to a corporate transaction, in Mr. Carpenter’s title or
responsibilities so that he is no longer serving in his current position), Mr.
Carpenter shall be eligible to receive as severance his salary and benefits for
a period equal to six months payable in one lump sum of $98,100 upon
termination. If Mr. Carpenter is terminated by us for cause, or if
Mr. Carpenter voluntarily terminates his employment, he will not be entitled to
any severance.
Daniel Hoffman
On
January 11, 2008, we entered into an Employment Agreement with Daniel Hoffman
pursuant to which Dr. Hoffman began serving as our Chief Medical Officer
effective January 15, 2008. During the period of his employment, Dr. Hoffman
will receive a base salary of $150,000 per annum, which is subject to upward
adjustment. Dr. Hoffman will also have the opportunity to receive bonus
compensation, if and when approved by our board of directors. Dr.
Hoffman's employment is on an "at-will" basis, and Dr. Hoffman may terminate his
employment with us for any reason or for no reason. Similarly, we may terminate
Dr. Hoffman's employment with or without cause. If we terminate Dr. Hoffman's
employment without cause or Dr. Hoffman involuntarily terminates his employment
with us (an involuntary termination includes changes, without Dr. Hoffman’s
consent or pursuant to a corporate transaction, in Dr. Hoffman’s title or
responsibilities so that he is no longer the Chief Medical Officer of the
company), Dr. Hoffman will be eligible to receive as severance his salary and
benefits for a period equal to six months payable in one lump sum of $92,000
upon termination. If Dr. Hoffman is terminated by us for cause, or if Dr.
Hoffman voluntarily terminates his employment, he will not be entitled to any
severance. Dr. Hoffman will be entitled to four weeks vacation per annum, health
and dental insurance coverage for himself and his dependents, and other fringe
benefits that we may offer our employees from time to time.
Prior to
his employment, from October 1, 2007 to January 15, 2008 Dr. Hoffman earned
$15,000 for consulting services rendered to the company. In addition,
as compensation for his services to us as a consultant, Dr. Hoffman was granted
options to purchase an aggregate of 814,062 shares of our common stock at an
exercise price of $1.09 on August 7, 2007. In accordance with the terms of his
employment agreement, the terms of Dr. Hoffman's option grant were amended to
provide that in the event of a change of control transaction, a portion of Dr.
Hoffman's unvested options equal to the number of unvested options at the date
of the corporate transaction times the ratio of the time elapsed between August
7, 2007 and the date of corporate transaction over the vesting period (42
months), will automatically accelerate, and become fully vested.
The
Company has no other employment agreements with its executive
officers.
2006
Stock Incentive Plan
On
August 3, 2006, CNS California adopted the CNS California 2006 Stock Incentive
Plan (the "2006 Plan"). On March 7, 2007, in connection with the closing of the
merger transaction with CNS California, we assumed the CNS California stock
option plan and all of the options granted under the plan at the same price and
terms. The following is a summary of the 2006 Plan, which we use to
provide equity compensation to employees, directors and consultants to the
company.
The
2006 Plan provides for the issuance of awards in the form of restricted shares,
stock options (which may constitute incentive stock options (ISO) or
nonstatutory stock options (NSO)), stock appreciation rights and stock unit
grants to eligible employees, directors and consultants and is administered by
the board of directors. A total of 10 million shares of stock are reserved for
issuance under the 2006 Plan. As of September 30, 2008, there were 8,964,567
options and 183,937 restricted shares outstanding under the 2006 Plan
and 851,496 shares available for issuance of awards. The 2006 Plan provides
that in any calendar year, no eligible employee or director shall be granted an
award to purchase more than 3 million shares of stock. The option price for each
share of stock subject to an option shall be (i) no less than the fair market
value of a share of stock on the date the option is granted, if the option is an
ISO, or (ii) no less than 85% of the fair market value of the stock on the date
the option is granted, if the option is a NSO; provided, however, if the option
is an ISO granted to an eligible employee who is a 10% shareholder, the option
price for each share of stock subject to such ISO shall be no less than 110% of
the fair market value of a share of stock on the date such ISO is granted. Stock
options have a maximum term of ten years from the date of grant, except for ISOs
granted to an eligible employee who is a 10% shareholder, in which case the
maximum term is five years from the date of grant. ISOs may be granted only to
eligible employees.
Outstanding
Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End 2008
The
following table presents information regarding outstanding options held by our
named executive officers as of the end of our fiscal year ended September 30,
2008. None of the named executive officers exercised options during
the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008.
|
Name
|
Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#)
|
Option
Exercise
Price
($)
|
Option
Expiration Date
|
|
|
Exercisable
|
Unexercisable
|
|
|
|
Leonard
Brandt (1)
|
2,124,740
145,953
586,274
|
0
187,658
382,615
|
0.132
1.20
1.09
|
August
11, 2011
August
8, 2012
August
8, 2017
|
|
George
Carpenter (2)
|
242,213
|
726,662
|
0.89
|
October
1, 2017
|
|
Daniel
Hoffman (3)
|
305,276
119,013
|
419,786
0
|
1.09
0.12
|
August
8, 2017
August
11, 2016
|
|
Horace
Hertz (4)
|
298,492
|
0
|
1.09
|
August
8, 2017
|
|
Brad
Luce (5)
|
17,187
|
0
|
0.51
|
September
17, 2018
|
|
|
(1)
On August 8, 2007, Mr. Brandt was granted options to purchase 1,302,500
shares of our common stock. The options are exercisable at
$1.20 per share as to 333,611 shares and $1.09 per share as to 968,889
shares. The options to purchase 333,611 shares vest as
follows: options to purchase 83,403 shares vested on August 8,
2007, the date of grant; options to purchase 243,250 shares
vest in equal monthly amounts of 6,950 shares over 35 months commencing on
January 31, 2008; the remaining options to purchase 6,958
shares vest on December 31, 2010. The options to purchase
968,889 shares vest as follows: options to purchase 269,357 shares vested
on August 8, 2007, the date of grant; options to purchase 135,675 shares
vest in equal monthly amounts of 27,135 shares over 5 months beginning on
August 31 2007; options to purchase 543,726 shares vest in equal monthly
amounts of 20,138 shares over 27 months beginning on January 31, 2008; the
remaining options to purchase 20,131 shares vest on April 30,
2010. Subsequent to our year ended September 30, 2008, Mr.
Brandt exercised his options to purchase 2,124,740 shares of the company’s
common stock at an exercise price of $0.132 per
share.
|
|
|
(2) The
vesting terms of Mr. Carpenter’s options are described
above.
|
|
|
(3)
On August 8, 2007, Dr. Hoffman was granted options to purchase 814,062
shares of our common stock. The options are exercisable at
$1.09 per share and vest as follows: options to purchase
203,516 shares vested on March 8, 2008; options to purchase 593,600 shares
vest in equal monthly installments of 16,960 shares over 35 months
commencing on April 30, 2008; the remaining options to purchase 16,946
shares vest on March 31, 2011. In accordance with the terms of
his employment agreement, the terms of Dr. Hoffman's option grant were
amended to provide that in the event of a change of control transaction, a
portion of Dr. Hoffman's unvested options equal to the number of unvested
options at the date of the corporate transaction times the ratio of the
time elapsed between August 7, 2007 and the date of corporate transaction
over the vesting period (42 months), will automatically accelerate, and
become fully vested.
|
|
|
On
August 11, 2006, Dr. Hoffman was granted an option to purchase 119,013
shares of common stock, which are now fully exercisable at an exercise
price of $0.12 per share.
|
|
|
(4)
On August 8, 2007, Mr. Hertz was granted options to purchase 651,249
shares of our common stock. The options are exercisable at
$1.09 per share and vest as follows: options to purchase
162,812 vested on October 15, 2007; options to purchase 474,880
shares vest in equal monthly amounts of 13,568 over 35 months beginning
November 30, 2007; the remaining options to purchase 13,557
vest on October 15, 2010. On August 31, 2008, Mr. Hertz
resigned from the company, and his unvested options to purchase 352,757
shares of the company’s common stock were
forfeited.
|
|
|
(5)
Consists of options to purchase shares of common stock which vested prior
to Mr. Luce’s resignation on December 19,
2008.
|
Director
Compensation
During
our fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, except as described below, our
non-employee directors did not receive compensation for their services on our
board. We do not pay management directors for board service in
addition to their regular employee compensation. The full board of
directors has the primary responsibility for reviewing and considering any
revisions to director compensation, but may receive suggestions on this matter
from our Chief Executive Officer. Going forward, we intend to
compensate our non-employee directors for their service on our Board with a
combination of cash payments and option grants.
|
Non-Employee
Director Compensation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name
|
|
Fiscal
Year
Ended
September
30,
|
|
Option
Awards
($)
|
|
|
All
Other
Compensation
($)
|
|
|
Total
($)
|
|
|
Jerome
Vaccaro
|
|
2008
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Henry
Harbin
|
|
2008
|
|
|
13,200 |
(1) |
|
|
68,960 |
(2) |
|
|
82,160 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
Jones
|
|
2008
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) As
compensation for his services as a director, on December 19, 2007, we granted
Mr. Harbin options to purchase 20,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise
price of $0.80 per share under our 2006 Stock Incentive Plan. The
options expire on December 19, 2017. The options vest in equal
installments of 5,000 shares on each of June 19, 2008, December 19, 2008, June
19, 2009, and December 19, 2009. The fair value of options was
estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with
the following weighted-average assumptions: grant date fair value of
$0.80; dividend yield of 0; risk free interest rate of 4.0%; expected volatility
of 115% and an expected life of 5 years.
(2) On
April 15, 2008, we entered into a consulting agreement with Mr. Harbin which
expired on December 31, 2008. Pursuant to the agreement, we paid Mr.
Harbin a consulting fee of $24,000 in cash and granted Mr. Harbin options to
purchase 56,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.96 per
share under our 2006 Stock Incentive Plan. The options expire on
April 15, 2018. Option to purchase 14,000 shares vested on the grant
date, options to purchase 37,328 shares vested in eight equal monthly
installments of 4,666 options commencing on April 30, 2008, and the remaining
options to purchase 4,672 shares vested on December 31, 2008. The
fair value of options was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes
option pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions: grant date fair value of $0.96; dividend yield of 0;
risk free interest rate of 3.78%; expected volatility of 172% and an expected
life of 5 years.
Most
recently, on March 17, 2009, we entered into a consulting agreement with Mr.
Harbin which expires on December 31, 2009 pursuant to which Dr. Harbin will be
paid an aggregate of $24,000 as compensation for his consulting
services. In addition, as further compensation, we granted Mr. Harbin
options to purchase 56,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of
$0.40 per share, with the option vesting in equal monthly installments over a
twelve month period commencing on January 1, 2009.
Securities
Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The
following table sets forth certain information regarding our equity compensation
plans as of September 30, 2008.
|
Plan
Category
|
|
Number
of securities to be
issued
upon exercise
of
outstanding options,
warrants
and rights
(a)
|
|
|
Weighted-average
exercise
price of
outstanding
options,
warrants
and rights
(b)
|
|
|
Number
of securities
remaining
available for
future
issuance under
equity
compensation plans
(c)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equity
compensation plans approved by security holders
|
|
|
8,964,567 |
|
|
|
$0.60 |
|
|
|
851,496 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equity
compensation plans not approved by security holders
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
$0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
|
8,964,567 |
|
|
|
$0.60 |
|
|
|
851,496 |
|
TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED
PERSONS, PROMOTERS OR CERTAIN CONTROL PERSONS
Except as
follows, since September 30, 2006, there has not been, nor is there currently
proposed, any transaction or series of similar transactions to which we are or
will be a party:
|
|
·
|
in
which the amount involved exceeds the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the
average of our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal
years; and
|
|
|
·
|
in
which any director, executive officer, other stockholders of more than 5%
of our common stock or any member of their immediate family had or will
have a direct or indirect material
interest.
|
Transactions
with Leonard Brandt
From
August 2000 through February 2003, Leonard J. Brandt, a current director of the
corporation and our former Chief Executive Officer, together with Meyerlen, LLC,
a company in which Mr. Brandt owned a controlling interest, loaned CNS
California a total of approximately $718,900 and purchased warrants to purchase
approximately 945,750 shares of CNS California common stock, pursuant to the
terms of certain Note and Warrant Purchase Agreements. In October 2006, Mr.
Brandt agreed to cancel the promissory notes and convert the loans, including
all outstanding principal and accrued interest thereon, into 1,218,741 shares of
CNS California's Series A-1 Preferred Stock and 255,306 shares of CNS
California's Series A-2 Preferred Stock. At the closing of the merger
transaction on March 7, 2007 pursuant to which CNS California became a wholly
owned subsidiary of ours, the 1,218,741 shares of CNS California's Series A-1
Preferred Stock and 255,306 shares of CNS California's Series A-2 Preferred
Stock converted into an aggregate of 1,474,047 shares of our common
stock.
In
addition, please see the discussion below under the heading “Transaction with Sail Venture
Partners LP (formerly known as Odyssey Venture Partner II, L.P.)” for a
summary of a bridge financing transaction which closed on March 30, 2009, in
which Mr. Brandt participated.
Transaction
with Sail Venture Partners LP (formerly known as Odyssey Venture Partner II,
L.P.)
In May
2005, April 2006 and July 2006, Odyssey Venture Partners II, L.P. of which David
Jones is an affiliate, loaned CNS California an aggregate of approximately
$999,400 and purchased warrants to purchase approximately 523,305 shares of CNS
California common stock, pursuant to the terms of certain Note and Warrant
Purchase Agreements. In October 2006 Odyssey Venture Partners II, L.P. agreed to
cancel the promissory notes and convert the loans, including all outstanding
principal and accrued interest thereon, into 1,693,899 shares of CNS
California's Series A-1 Preferred Stock and 52,907 shares of CNS California's
Series A-2 Preferred Stock. At the closing of the merger transaction on March 7,
2007 pursuant to which CNS California became a wholly owned subsidiary of ours,
the 1,693,899 shares of CNS California's Series A-1 Preferred Stock and 255,306
shares of CNS California's Series A-2 Preferred Stock converted into an
aggregate of 1,949,205 shares of our common stock.
In October 2006, Odyssey
Venture Partner II, L.P. invested $800,000 in CNS California's
mezzanine financing and received 792,080 shares of CNS California's
Series B Preferred Stock and warrants to purchase 475,248 shares of CNS
California's common stock. David B. Jones is one of the two board
members that were designated by the holders of CNS California's Series B
Preferred Stock pursuant to a Voting Agreement entered into in connection with
the mezzanine financing and note conversion transaction. At the closing of the
merger transaction on March 7, 2007 pursuant to which CNS California became a
wholly owned subsidiary of ours, David B. Jones was appointed as a director of
the company.
On March
7, 2007, Odyssey Venture Partners II, L.P. invested an aggregate of $447,000 in
the first closing of our private placement transaction in which we sold
5,840,374 “Investment Units” at $1.20 per Investment Unit to institutional
investors and other high net worth individuals, and received gross proceeds of
approximately $7.0 million. Each Investment Unit consists of one share of our
common stock, and a five year non-callable warrant to purchase three-tenths of
one share of our common stock, at an exercise price of $1.80 per
share. In exchange for its investment, Odyssey Venture Partners II,
L.P. was issued 372,500 shares of our common stock and a warrant to
purchase 111,750 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of
$1.80 per share.
On March
30, 2009, we executed two senior secured convertible promissory notes each in
the principal amount of $250,000 with SAIL Venture Partners, LP (“SAIL”) and
Brandt Ventures, GP (“Brandt”). David Jones, a member of our board
of directors, is one of four managing members of Sail Venture Partners, LLC,
which is the general partner of SAIL. Leonard Brandt, also a member
of our board of directors and our former Chief Executive Officer, is the general
partner of Brandt.
These
notes accrue interest at the rate of 8% per annum and are due and payable upon a
declaration by the note holder(s) requesting repayment, unless sooner converted
into shares of our common stock (as described below), upon the earlier to occur
of: (i) June 30, 2009 or (ii) an Event of Default (as defined in the notes),
which includes the default that occurred as a result of Mr. Brandt no longer
serving as our Chief Executive Officer effective as of April 10,
2009. The notes are secured by a lien on substantially all of our
assets (including all intellectual property). In the event of a
liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company, unless Brandt and/or Sail
informs us otherwise, we shall pay such investor an amount equal to the product
of 250% multiplied by the principal and all accrued but unpaid interest
outstanding on the note.
In concert with an equity financing
transaction of at least $1,500,000 (excluding any and all other debt that is
converted), the principal and all accrued, but unpaid interest outstanding under
the notes shall be automatically converted into the securities issued in the
equity financing by dividing such amount by 90% of the per share price paid by
the investors in such financing.
On May
14, 2009, we entered into a Bridge Note and Warrant Purchase Agreement with
SAIL.
Pursuant
to the Purchase Agreement, on May 14, 2009, SAIL purchased a Secured Promissory
Note in the principal amount of $200,000 from us. In order to induce
SAIL to purchase the note, we issued to SAIL a warrant to purchase up to 100,000
shares of our common stock at a purchase price equal to $0.25 per
share. The warrant expires on the earlier to occur of May 31, 2016 or
a change of control of the company.
The
Purchase Agreement also provides that, at any time on or after June 30, 2009,
and provided that certain conditions are satisfied by us, SAIL will purchase
from us a second Secured Convertible Promissory Note in the principal sum of
$200,000 and will be issued a second warrant identical in terms to the warrant
described above. The aforementioned conditions include our entry into
a term sheet in which investors commit to participate in an equity financing by
us of not less than $2,000,000 (excluding any and all other debt that are to be
converted).
The notes
issued or issuable pursuant to the Purchase Agreement accrue interest at the
rate of 8% per annum and are due and payable, unless sooner converted into
shares of our common stock (as described below), upon the earlier to occur of:
(i) a declaration by SAIL on or after June 30, 2009 or (ii) an Event of Default
as defined in the notes. The note(s) are secured by a lien on
substantially all of our assets (including all intellectual
property). In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up
of the company, unless SAIL informs us otherwise, we shall pay SAIL an amount
equal to the product of 250% multiplied by the principal and all accrued but
unpaid interest outstanding on the note(s).
In the
event we consummates an equity financing transaction of at least $1,500,000
(excluding any and all other debt that is converted), then the principal and all
accrued, but unpaid interest outstanding under the note(s) shall be
automatically converted into the securities issued in the equity financing by
dividing such amount by 85% of the per share price paid by the investors in such
financing.
In
addition, in the event we issue preferred stock that is not part of an equity
financing described above, SAIL may, at its option, convert the principal and
all accrued, but unpaid interest outstanding under the note(s) into preferred
stock by dividing such amount by 85% of the per share price paid by the
purchasers’ of our preferred stock.
On August
26, 2009, the Company completed an equity financing transaction of approximately
$2 million. As a result of the financing, each of the notes described
above that were held by SAIL and Brandt automatically converted into common
stock, with SAIL receiving 1,758,356 shares and Brandt receiving 956,164
shares. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the notes, SAIL was
issued a non-callable five year warrant to purchase 879,178 shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per share and Brandt was issued a
non-callable five year warrant to purchase 478,082 shares of common stock at an
exercise price of $0.30 per share.
In connection with the equity financing
referred to above, on August 26, 2009, SAIL purchased 6 Units for
$324,000. Each Unit consists of 180,000 shares of common stock and a
five year non-callable warrant to purchase an additional 90,000 shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per share. The shares of common
stock and warrants comprising the Units are immediately separable and were
issued separately.
Transaction
with Henry Harbin
Prior to
his appointment as a Director, Dr. Harbin participated in the first closing of
our private placement transaction, pursuant to which we received gross proceeds
of approximately $7.0 million from institutional investors and other high net
worth individuals. Mr. Harbin received 8,334 shares of our common stock and a
warrant to purchase 2,501 shares of our common stock as a result of his
investment in the company.
In
addition, since June 2007, Dr. Harbin has acted as a strategic advisor to the
company, and has advised us on our marketing initiatives. As compensation for
his services as an advisor, on August 8, 2007, we granted Dr. Harbin a
non-qualified option to purchase 24,000 shares of our common stock at an
exercise price of $1.09 per share. Options to purchase 6,000 shares vested on
the date of grant, and the remaining 18,000 shares vested in equal installments
of 2,000 shares on each monthly anniversary of the grant date for a period of
nine months.
Subsequently,
on April 15, 2008, we entered into a consulting agreement which expired on
December 31, 2008 pursuant to which Dr. Harbin was paid an aggregate of $24,000
and was granted options to purchase 56,000 shares of our common stock at an
exercise price of $0.96 per share, with options to purchase 14,000 shares
vesting on the date of grant, options to purchase 37,328 shares vesting in eight
equal monthly installments of 4,666 options commencing on April 30, 2008, and
the remaining options to purchase 4,672 shares vesting on December 31,
2008.
Most
recently, on March 17, 2009, we entered into a consulting agreement with Mr.
Harbin which expires on December 31, 2009 pursuant to which Dr. Harbin will be
paid an aggregate of $24,000 as compensation for his consulting
services. In addition, as further compensation, we granted Mr. Harbin
options to purchase 56,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of
$0.40 per share, with the option vesting in equal monthly installments over a
twelve month period commencing on January 1, 2009.
Transactions
with Daniel Hoffman
On
January 11, 2008, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, Colorado CNS
Response, Inc. and pursuant to the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement, acquired
all of the outstanding common stock of Neuro-Therapy Clinic, PC, a Colorado
professional medical corporation wholly owned by Dr. Hoffman ("NTC") in exchange
for a non-interest bearing note of $300,000 payable in equal monthly
installments over 36 months. At the time of the transaction, NTC was
our largest customer. Upon the completion of the acquisition, Dr.
Hoffman was appointed our Chief Medical Officer. The Stock Purchase
Agreement provides that upon the occurrence of certain events, as defined in the
purchase agreement, Dr. Hoffman has a repurchase option for a period of three
years subsequent to the closing, as well as certain rights of first refusal, in
relation to the assets and liabilities we acquired.
Prior to
his employment with us, Dr. Hoffman participated in our private placement
transaction which closed on May 16, 2007. In the private placement, we received
gross proceeds of approximately $7.8 million from institutional investors and
other high net worth individuals, including $50,000 from Dr. Hoffman. In
exchange for his investment, Dr. Hoffman was issued 41,667 shares of our common
stock, and a fully-vested five year non-callable warrant to purchase 12,501
shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $1.80 per share.
In
addition, Dr. Hoffman has acted as a consultant to the corporation on various
matters since 2003. Prior to August of 2006, Dr. Hoffman was compensated for his
services through the issuance of options to purchase an aggregate of 119,013
shares of our common stock at $0.12 per share, and through the issuance of
56,377 shares of our common stock. Subsequent to August of 2006, Dr. Hoffman has
received cash payments of $63,750 in consideration for his services to us, as
well as an option to purchase 814,062 shares of our common stock at an exercise
price of $1.09 per share.
Transactions
with John Pappajohn
On June
12, 2009, we entered into a Bridge Note and Warrant Purchase Agreement with Mr.
John Pappajohn (“Pappajohn”).
Pursuant
to the Purchase Agreement, on June 12, 2009, Pappajohn purchased a Secured
Convertible Promissory Note in the principal amount of $1,000,000 from
us. In order to induce Pappajohn to purchase the note, we issued to
Pappajohn a warrant to purchase up to 3,333,333 shares of our common stock at a
purchase price equal to $0.30 per share. The warrant expires on June
30, 2016.
The note
issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement provides that the principal amount of
$1,000,000 together with a single Premium Payment of $90,000 which is due and
payable, unless sooner converted into shares of our common stock (as described
below), upon the earlier to occur of: (i) a declaration by Pappajohn on or after
June 30, 2010 or (ii) an Event of Default as defined in the note. The
note is secured by a lien on substantially all of our assets
(including all intellectual property). In the event of a liquidation,
dissolution or winding up of the company, unless Pappajohn informs us otherwise,
we shall pay Pappajohn an amount equal to the product of 250% multiplied by the
then outstanding principal amount of the note and the Premium
Payment.
In the
event we consummate an equity financing transaction of at least $1,500,000
(excluding any and all other debt that is converted), the then outstanding
principal amount of the note (but excluding the Premium Payment, which will be
repaid in cash at the time of such equity financing) shall be automatically
converted into the securities issued in the equity financing by dividing such
amount by the per share price paid by the investors in such
financing.
On August
26, 2009, the Company completed an equity financing transaction of approximately
$2 million. As a result of the financing, the note described above
held by Mr. Pappajohn automatically converted into common stock, with Mr.
Pappajohn receiving 3,333,334 shares. In addition, pursuant to the
terms of the note, Mr. Pappajohn received a five year non-callable warrant to
purchase 1,666,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per
share.
In connection with the equity financing
referred to above, on August 26, 2009, Mr. Pappajohn invested an additional
$1,000,000 in the Company. In exchange for his investment, the
Company issued an additional 3,333,3334 shares of common stock to Mr. Pappajohn
and a five year non-callable warrant to purchase 1,666,667 shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per share.
Transactions
With Promoters And Control Persons
Prior to
our merger with CNS California, which closed on March 7, 2007, Strativation,
Inc. (now called CNS Response, Inc.) existed as a "shell company" with nominal
assets whose sole business was to identify, evaluate and investigate various
companies to acquire or with which to merge.
Shares
for Debt Agreement
Prior to
our merger with CNS California, on January 11, 2007, we entered into a Shares
For Debt Agreement with Richardson & Patel LLP ("R&P"), our former legal
counsel, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and R&P agreed to accept
645,846 restricted shares of our common stock (the "Shares") as full and
complete settlement of a portion of the total outstanding debt in the amount of
$261,202 that we owed to R&P for legal services (the "Partial Debt"). On
January 15, 2007, the company and R&P agreed to amend and restate the Shares
for Debt Agreement to increase the number of Shares to be issued in settlement
of such Partial Debt to 656,103 restricted shares of our common stock, which
then represented 75.5% of our issued and outstanding common stock.
Registration
Rights Agreement
On
January 11, 2007, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement in connection
with the above referenced Shares For Debt Agreement with R&P and various
other stockholders of the Corporation signatory thereto ("Majority
Stockholders") in connection with the shares of the company acquired pursuant to
the Shares For Debt Agreement and certain other transactions that took place on
or around July 18, 2006. On January 15, 2007, the company and the Majority
Stockholders agreed to amend and restate the Registration Rights Agreement to
provide registration rights to the Majority Stockholders for up to 767,101
shares of our common stock held or to be acquired by them.
Merger
Agreement
On
January 16, 2007, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with CNS
Response, Inc., a California corporation (or CNS California), and CNS Merger
Corporation, a California corporation and our wholly-owned subsidiary that was
formed to facilitate the acquisition of CNS California. On March 7, 2007, the
merger with CNS California closed, CNS California became our wholly-owned
subsidiary, and we changed our name from Strativation, Inc. to CNS Response,
Inc.. At the Effective Time of the Merger (as defined in the Merger Agreement,
as amended on February 23, 2007), MergerCo was merged with and into CNS
California, the separate existence of MergerCo ceased, and CNS California
continued as the surviving corporation at the subsidiary level. We issued an
aggregate of 17,744,625 shares of our common stock to the stockholders of CNS
California in exchange for 100% ownership of CNS California. Additionally, we
assumed an aggregate of 8,407,517 options to purchase shares of common stock and
warrants to purchase shares of common stock on the same terms and conditions as
previously issued by CNS California. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, our
former sole director and executive officer, Silas Phillips, resigned as a
director and executive officer of our company effective as of the closing of the
merger, and the directors and officers of CNS California were appointed to serve
as directors and officer of our company. Except for the Merger Agreement, as
amended, and the transactions contemplated by that agreement, neither CNS
California, nor the directors and officers of CNS California serving prior to
the consummation of the Merger, nor any of their associates, had any material
relationship with us, or any of our directors and officers, or any of our
associates prior to the merger. Following the merger, the business conducted by
the company is the business conducted by CNS California.
Pursuant
to the terms of the Merger Agreement, we paid an advisory fee of $475,000 to
Richardson & Patel, LLP, our former legal counsel and a principal
shareholder, immediately upon the closing of the merger.
AUDIT RELATED
MATTERS
Report
of Board of Directors On Audit Committee Functions
We do not
have an Audit Committee. For the fiscal year ended September 30,
2008, the Company's board of directors has performed the duties of an Audit
Committee and is responsible for providing objective oversight of the Company's
internal controls and financial reporting process.
In
fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial statements for fiscal year
2008, the board of directors:
|
|
·
|
Reviewed
and discussed the audited financial statements for the year ended
September 30, 2008 with management and Cacciamatta Accountancy Corporation
(the “Auditors”), the Company’s independent auditors;
and
|
|
|
·
|
Received
written disclosures and the letter from the Auditors regarding its
independence as required by Independence Standards Board Standard No.
1. The Board discussed with the Auditors their
independence.
|
In
fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial statements for fiscal year
2008, the board of directors discussed with the Auditors the matters required to
be discussed by Statement on Auditing Standards No. 61 relating to the conduct
of the audit.
Based on
the board of directors’ review of the audited financial statements and
discussions with management and the Auditors, the board of directors approved
the inclusion of the audited financial statements in the Corporation’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2008 for filing with the
SEC.
The board
of directors also considered the status of pending litigation and other areas of
oversight relating to the financial reporting and audit process that the Board
determined appropriate.
The board
of directors has considered whether the provision of non-audit services is
compatible with maintaining the principal accountant’s
independence.
The
information in this Report of board of directors shall not be deemed to be
“soliciting material,” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange
Commission or to be subject to Regulation 14A or 14C as promulgated by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the
Exchange Act.
| |
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
Leonard
Brandt
David
Jones
Jerome
Vaccaro
Henry
Harbin
|
Services
Provided by the Independent Auditors
Our board of directors plans to appoint
Cacciamatta Accountancy Corporation as the independent registered public
accounting firm to audit our financial statements for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2009. We do not expect representatives of Cacciamatta Accountancy
Corporation to be
present at the Annual Meeting. If they do attend, they will be available to
respond to appropriate questions and will be given an opportunity to make a
statement if they so desire.
Pre-Approval
Policies and Procedures
Our board
of directors does not have an Audit Committee. The functions customarily
delegated to an Audit Committee are performed by our full board of directors.
Our Audit Committee, which consists of our entire board of directors, is
directly responsible for interviewing and retaining our independent accountant,
considering the accounting firm’s independence and effectiveness, and
pre-approving the engagement fees and other compensation to be paid to, and the
services to be conducted by, the independent accountant. During each of the
fiscal years ended September 30, 2008 and September 30, 2007, respectively, our
board of directors pre-approved 100% of the services described
below.
Fees
Paid to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Audit
Fees
The
aggregate fees billed for professional services rendered by Cacciamatta
Accountancy Corporation for professional services rendered for the audit of our
annual financial statements and review of the financial statements included in
our quarterly reports or services that are normally provided by the accountant
in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for fiscal
years 2008 and 2007 were $102,500 and $137,000, respectively.
Audit-Related
Fees
Cacciamatta
Accountancy Corporation billed us an aggregate of approximately $0 and $0 in
fees for assurance and related services related to the performance of the audit
or review of our financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30,
2008 and September 30, 2007, respectively.
Tax
Fees
The
aggregate fees to be billed by Cacciamatta Accountancy Corporation for
professional services rendered for tax compliance, tax advice, and tax planning
during our fiscal years ending September 30, 2008 and September 30, 2007 were $0
and $0, respectively.
All
Other Fees
None.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF
CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND
MANAGEMENT
The
following table presents information regarding the beneficial ownership of our
common stock as of August 31, 2009 by
|
|
·
|
each
of the named executive officers listed in the summary compensation
table;
|
|
|
·
|
each
of our directors and director
nominees;
|
|
|
·
|
all
of our directors and executive officers as a group;
and
|
|
|
·
|
each
shareholder known to us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our
common stock.
|
Beneficial
ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and generally
includes voting or investment power with respect to securities. Unless otherwise
indicated below, to our knowledge, the persons and entities named in the table
have sole voting and sole investment power with respect to all shares
beneficially owned, subject to community property laws where applicable. Shares
of our common stock subject to options and warrants from the Company that
are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of August 31, 2009 are
deemed to be outstanding and to be beneficially owned by the person holding the
options for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person but
are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage
ownership of any other person.
The
information presented in this table is based on 41,781,129 shares of our
common stock outstanding on August 31, 2009. Unless otherwise
indicated, the address of each of the executive officers and directors and 5% or
more shareholders named below is c/o CNS Response, Inc., 2755 Bristol St., Suite
285, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
|
|
|
Number
of Shares
Beneficially
Owned
|
|
|
Name
of Beneficial Owner
|
|
Number
|
|
|
Percentage
of
Shares
Outstanding
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Named
Executive Officers and Directors:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
George
Carpenter
Chief
Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board (1)
|
|
|
504,605 |
|
|
|
1.2 |
% |
|
David
B. Jones(2)
Director
|
|
|
8,696,055 |
|
|
|
19.8 |
% |
|
Dr.
Jerome Vaccaro
Director
(3)
|
|
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
* |
|
|
Dr.
Henry Harbin
Director
(4)
|
|
|
152,502 |
|
|
|
* |
|
|
Daniel
Hoffman
President
and Chief Medical Officer (5)
|
|
|
755,814 |
|
|
|
1.8 |
% |
|
Horace
Hertz (6)
|
|
|
298,492 |
|
|
|
* |
|
|
Brad
Luce (7)
|
|
|
17,187 |
|
|
|
* |
|
|
John
Pappajohn (8)
|
|
|
12,333,335 |
|
|
|
26.0 |
% |
|
Tommy
Thompson
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
Leonard
Brandt (9)
Director
|
|
|
11,054,894 |
|
|
|
25.2 |
% |
|
Executive
Officers and Directors as a group (10 persons) (10)
|
|
|
33,832,883 |
|
|
|
63.2 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5%
Stockholders:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sail
Venture Partners LP (2)
|
|
|
8,696,055 |
|
|
|
19.8 |
% |
|
Heartland
Advisors, Inc. (11)
|
|
|
2,340,000 |
|
|
|
5.5 |
% |
|
Brian
MacDonald (12)
|
|
|
2,256,396 |
|
|
|
5.3 |
% |
___________________________
|
(1)
|
Consists
of options to acquire 484,421 shares of common stock issuable upon the
exercise of vested and exercisable options.
|
|
(2)
|
Consists
of (a) 6,471,067 shares of Common Stock and (b) 2,224,988 shares of Common
Stock issuable upon the exercise of vested and exercisable warrants held
by Sail Venture Partners, LP. Sail Venture Partners, LLC is the
general partner of Sail Venture Partners, L.P.. The unanimous
vote of the managing members of Sail Venture Partners, LLC (who are Walter
Schindler, Alan Sellers, Thomas Cain, and David B. Jones), is required to
voting and make investment decisions over the shares held by this selling
stockholder. The address of Sail Venture Partners, L.P. is 600
Anton Blvd., Suite 1010, Costa Mesa, CA
92626.
|
|
(3)
|
Consists
of options to acquire 20,000 shares of common stock issuable upon the
exercise of vested and exercisable
options.
|
|
(4)
|
Consists
of (a) 8,333 shares of common stock, (b) 2,501 shares of common stock
issuable upon the exercise of warrants to purchase common stock and (c)
options to acquire 141,667 shares of common stock issuable upon the
exercise of vested and exercisable
options.
|
|
(5)
|
Consists
of (a) 98,544 shares of common stock, which includes 500 shares held by
Mr. Hoffman’s daughter (b) options to acquire 644,769 shares of common
stock issuable upon the exercise of vested and exercisable options, and
(c) warrants to acquire 12,501 shares of common
stock.
|
|
(6)
|
Consists
of options to acquire 298,492 shares of common stock issuable upon the
exercise of vested and exercisable
options.
|
|
(7)
|
Consists
of options to acquire 17,187 shares of common stock issuable upon the
exercise of vested and exercisable options.
|
|
|
|
|
(8)
|
Consists
of (a) 6,666,668 shares of common stock and (b) 5,666,667 shares of common
stock issuable upon the exercise of vested and exercisable warrants to
purchase common stock. The address of John Pappajohn is 2166
Financial Center, Des Moines, IA 50309.
|
|
|
|
|
(9)
|
Consists
of (a) 8,890,795 shares of common stock (including 540,000 shares owned by
Mr. Brandt's children and 956,164 shares held by Brandt Ventures), (b)
1,079,728 shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of warrants to
purchase common stock (including warrants to purchase 478,082 shares of
common stock held by Brandt Ventures) and (c) 1,084,371 shares
reserved for issuance upon exercise of options to purchase common stock
held by Mr. Brandt.
|
|
(10)
|
Consists
of 22,135,407 shares of common stock and 11,650,204 shares of common stock
issuable upon the exercise of vested and exercisable options and
warrants.
|
|
(11)
|
Consists
of 1,800,000 shares of common stock and 540,000 shares reserved for
issuance upon exercise of warrants to purchase common
stock. Heartland Group Value Fund is affiliated with Hartland
Investor Services, LLC, a registered broker/dealer and member of
NASD. Heartland Group Value Fund purchased or otherwise
acquired its shares in the ordinary course of business and, at the time of
such purchase/acquisition, had no agreements or understandings, directly
or indirectly, with any person, to distribute the securities to be
resold. Mr.Paul T. Beste, Vice President & Secretary of
Heartland Group Inc., exercises voting and investment authority over the
shares held by this selling stockholder. The address of the
selling stockholder is c/o Brown Brothers Harriman, 140 Broadway St., New
York, NY 10005.
|
|
(12)
|
Consists
of 1,242,375 shares of common stock and 1,014,021 shares of common stock
issuable upon the exercise of vested and exercisable options to purchase
common stock. The address of Brian MacDonald is 4007 Beard Ave.
South, Minneapolis, MN 55410.
|
OTHER
MATTERS
Section
16(A) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section
16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires our directors
and executive officers and the holders of more than 10% of our common stock to
file with the Securities and Exchange Commission initial reports of ownership
and reports of changes in ownership of our equity securities. Based solely on
our review of the copies of the forms received by us and written representations
from certain reporting persons that they have complied with the relevant filing
requirements, we believe that, during the year ended September 30, 2008, all of
our executive officers, directors and the holders of 10% or more of our common
stock complied with all Section 16(a) filing requirements, except for Henry
Harbin who did not timely file a Form 3 and a Form 4 to report one transaction,
and Brad Luce, who did not timely file a Form 4 to report one
transaction.
Solicitation
Of Proxies
It is
expected that the solicitation of Proxies will be by mail. The cost
of solicitation by management will be borne by the Company. The
Company will reimburse brokerage firms and other persons representing beneficial
owners of shares for their reasonable disbursements in forwarding solicitation
material to such beneficial owners. Proxies may also be solicited by
certain of our directors and officers, without additional compensation,
personally or by mail, telephone, telegram or otherwise. To date, we
have spent $25,000 in connection with the solicitation of security holders and
we estimate that the total amount to be spent in connection with such activities
will be $75,000.
Annual
Report On Form 10-K
THE
COMPANY’S ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K, WHICH HAS BEEN FILED WITH THE SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2008, WILL BE MADE
AVAILABLE TO STOCKHOLDERS WITHOUT CHARGE UPON WRITTEN REQUEST TO CNS RESPONSE,
INC., 2755 BRISTOL ST., SUITE 285, COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA 92626 ATTN: GEORGE
CARPENTER.
| |
ON
BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
/s/
George Carpenter
George
Carpenter, Chairman of the Board and
Chief
Executive Officer
|
2755
Bristol St. Suite 285
Costa
Mesa, CA 92626
September
__, 2009
APPENDIX
I
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION CONCERNING PERSONS WHO MAY ASSIST IN THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES BY
THE COMPANY
Our board of directors (other than
Leonard Brandt) and our named executive officers may assist the Company in
soliciting proxies for our Annual Meeting. Under the rules of the
Securities and Exchange Commission they are considered to be “participants” in
the Company’s solicitation of proxies for that meeting. We have
included the name of each of these persons in the sections of the proxy
statement entitled “CNS Annual Stockholder Meeting” and “Information Regarding
the board of directors and Committees and Company Management.” In the
discussion below, we refer to these persons as “Company
Representatives.”
Information regarding the principal
occupations and other matters regarding these Company Representatives who are
our directors and director nominees is set forth in the section of the proxy
statement entitled “CNS Annual Stockholder Meeting”. Information regarding the
principal occupations and other matters regarding these Company Representatives
who are our executive officers is set forth in the section of the proxy
statement entitled “Information Regarding the board of directors and Committees
and Company Management.” The principal business address for each
Company Representative is c/o CNS Response, Inc., 2755 Bristol Street, Suite
285, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
The number of shares of the Company’s
common stock directly or indirectly beneficially owned as of August 31, 2009 by
each of the Company Representatives is set forth in the section of the proxy
statement entitled “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and
Management.” Except as may be disclosed in such section, none of the
Company Representatives owns any of the Company’s securities of record but not
beneficially.
Information
Regarding Transactions in the Company’s Securities by Participants
The following table sets
forth all purchases or sales of securities of the Company by the Company
Representatives since August 31, 2007. Unless otherwise
indicated, all transactions were in the public market or pursuant to our equity
compensation plans and none of the purchase price or market value of those
shares is represented by funds borrowed or otherwise obtained for the purpose of
acquiring or holding such securities.
|
Name
|
|
Date
|
|
Title
of Security
|
|
Amount
Purchased/Sold
|
|
John
Pappajohn
|
|
08/26/2009
|
|
Common
stock and warrant to purchase common stock
|
|
(1)
|
|
David
Jones
|
|
08/26/2009
|
|
Common
stock and warrant to purchase common stock
|
|
(2)
|
|
John
Pappajohn
|
|
08/26/2009
|
|
Common
stock and warrant to purchase common stock
|
|
(3)
|
|
David
Jones
|
|
08/26/2009
|
|
Common
stock and warrant to purchase common stock
|
|
(4)
|
|
John
Pappajohn
|
|
06/12/2009
|
|
Warrant
to purchase common stock
|
|
3,333,333(5)
|
|
David
Jones
|
|
05/14/2009
|
|
Warrant
to purchase common stock
|
|
100,000(6)
|
|
David
Jones
|
|
03/30/2009
|
|
Convertible
promissory note
|
|
*(7)
|
|
Henry
Harbin
|
|
03/17/2009
|
|
Option
to purchase common stock
|
|
56,000
|
|
Henry
Harbin
|
|
04/15/2008
|
|
Option
to purchase common stock
|
|
56,000
|
|
Henry
Harbin
|
|
12/19/2007
|
|
Option
to purchase common stock
|
|
20,000
|
|
George
Carpenter
|
|
10/01/2007
|
|
Option
to purchase common stock
|
|
435,181
|
|
George
Carpenter
|
|
10/01/2007
|
|
Option
to purchase common stock
|
|
533,694
|
______________________________
|
(1)
|
On
August 26, 2009, the Company completed an equity financing transaction of
approximately $2 million. Mr. Pappajohn invested $1,000,000 in
the Company’s equity financing. In exchange for his investment,
the Company issued 3,333,3334 shares of common stock to Mr. Pappajohn and
a five year non-callable warrant to purchase 1,666,667 shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per share. As of the date
of this proxy statement, the warrant has not been exercised as to any
shares.
|
|
(2)
|
On
August 26, 2009, SAIL Venture Partners, LP (“SAIL”) invested $324,000 in
the Company’s equity financing. In exchange for its investment,
the Company issued 1,080,000 shares of common stock to SAIL and a five
year non-callable warrant to purchase 540,000 shares of common stock at an
exercise price of $0.30 per share. Sail Venture Partners, LLC
is the general partner of SAIL, and Mr. Jones is one of four managing
members of Sail Venture Partners, LLC who unanimously make voting and
investment decisions in relation to the securities held by
SAIL. As of the date of this proxy statement, the warrant has
not been exercised as to any shares.
|
|
|
|
|
(3)
|
As
a result of the Company completing an equity financing of approximately $2
million on August 26, 2009, the note described below in footnote (5) held
by Mr. Pappajohn automatically converted into common stock, with Mr.
Pappajohn receiving 3,333,334 shares. In addition, pursuant to
the terms of the note, Mr. Pappajohn received a five year non-callable
warrant to purchase 1,666,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price
of $0.30 per share. As of the date of this proxy statement, the
warrant has not been exercised as to any shares.
|
|
|
|
|
(4)
|
As
a result of the Company completing an equity financing of approximately $2
million on August 26, 2009, the notes described below in footnotes (6) and
(7) held by SAIL automatically converted into common stock, with SAIL
receiving an aggregate of 1,758,356 shares. In addition,
pursuant to the terms of the notes, SAIL received five year non-callable
warrants to purchase an aggregate of 879,178 shares of common stock at an
exercise price of $0.30 per share. As of the date of this proxy
statement, the warrants have not been exercised as to any
shares.
|
|
|
|
|
(5)
|
This
warrant was issued in connection with Mr. Pappajohn’s purchase of a
Secured Convertible Promissory Note from the Company in the principal
amount of $1,000,000. The exercise price of the warrant is
$0.30 per share and the warrant expires on June 30, 2016. As of
the date of this proxy statement, the warrant has not been exercised as to
any shares. The amount indicated does not include shares of
common stock issuable upon conversion of the Secured Convertible
Promissory Note. In the event the Company completes an equity
financing transaction of at least $1,500,000 (excluding any and all notes
and other liabilities or indebtedness which are converted), the
then-outstanding principal amount will automatically convert into the
securities issued in such financing at the per share price paid by the
investors in such financing. On August 26, 2009, the Company
completed an equity financing of approximately $2 million, and this note
was converted in shares of common stock. Please see footnote
(3) above.
|
|
|
|
|
(6)
|
This
warrant was issued in connection with the purchase by SAIL of a Secured
Convertible Promissory Note from the Company in the principal amount of
$200,000. The exercise price of the warrant is $0.25 per share
and the warrant expires on May 31, 2016. As of the date of this
proxy statement, the warrant has not been exercised as to any
shares. The amount indicated does not include shares of common
stock issuable upon conversion of the Secured Convertible Promissory
Note. In the event the Company completes an equity financing
transaction of at least $1,500,000 (excluding any and all notes and other
liabilities or indebtedness which are converted), the
then-outstanding principal amount will automatically convert into the
securities issued in such financing at 85% of the per share price paid by
the investors in such financing. If the Company issues
preferred stock not part of such a financing, SAIL has the option to
convert the principal and all accrued, but unpaid interest outstanding
into preferred stock issued in such financing at 85% of the per share
price paid by the investors for the preferred stock. On August
26, 2009, the Company completed an equity financing of approximately $2
million, and this note was converted in shares of common
stock. Please see footnote (4) above.
|
|
|
|
|
(7)
|
The
amount indicated does not include shares of common stock issuable upon
conversion of the Secured Convertible Promissory Note. In the
event the Company completes an equity financing transaction of at least
$1,500,000 (excluding any and all notes and other liabilities or
indebtedness which are converted), the then-outstanding principal
amount will automatically convert into the securities issued in such
financing at 90% of the per share price paid by the investors in such
financing. On August 26, 2009, the Company completed an equity
financing of approximately $2 million, and this note was converted in
shares of common stock. Please see footnote (4)
above.
|
|
|
|
Miscellaneous
Information Regarding Participants
Except as described elsewhere in the
proxy statement, there have been no transactions or series of similar
transactions during the past year, nor is there any currently proposed
transaction or series of similar transactions, (i) to which the Company was
or is to be a party, (ii) in which the amount involved exceeds $120,000 and
(iii) in which (A) any Company Representative or any of such person’s
associates, (B) any security holder known to the Company to own of record
or beneficially more than 5% of the Company’s voting securities, or (C) any
member of the immediate family of any person specified in (A) or
(B) had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.
Except as described elsewhere in the
proxy statement, to our knowledge, no Company Representative or any of his
associates has entered into any arrangement or understanding with any person
with respect to any future employment with the Company or its affiliates or any
future transactions to which the Company or any of its affiliates will or may be
a party.
Except as described elsewhere in the
proxy statement, no Company Representative has any substantial interest, direct
or indirect, by security holdings or otherwise, in any matter to be acted upon
at the Annual Meeting (and no other person who is a party to an arrangement or
understanding pursuant to which a nominee for election as director is proposed
to be elected, has any such interest).
During the past ten years, no Company
Representative has been convicted in a criminal proceeding (excluding traffic
violations or similar misdemeanors.