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EXCHANGE AGREEMENT

 

This EXCHANGE AGREEMENT (the “ Agreement ”), dated as of May ___, 2009, is by and among NutraCea, a California corporation with offices located at 5090 N. 40th Street, Suite 400, Phoenix, Arizona 85018 (the “ Company ”), and _______________ (the “ Holder ”).

 

RECITALS

 

A.           The Company, the Holder and various others entered into that certain Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as October 16, 2008 (as amended and modified by this Agreement and the Other Exchange Agreements (as defined below), the “ Purchase Agreement ”).

 

B.Simultaneously with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, the Company issued and sold to the Holder pursuant to the Registration Statement (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) (i) 3,000 shares of Series D Convertible Preferred Stock (the “ Series D Preferred Stock ”) and (ii) a Series A Warrant (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) initially exercisable for 2,727,273 shares of Common Stock (as defined below).

 

C.           Since the issuance of the Series D Preferred Stock, one or more Triggering Events (as defined in the Certificate of Determination, Preferences and Rights of Series D Convertible Preferred Stock) may have occurred thereunder.

 

D.           The Company has authorized a series of preferred stock entitled the “Series E Convertible Preferred Stock” (the “ Preferred Stock ”), which Preferred Stock shall be convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock, no par value per share (the “ Common Stock ”), in accordance with the terms of the Preferred Stock.  The rights, preferences and other terms and provisions of the Preferred Stock are set forth in the Certificate of Determination, Preferences and Rights of Series E Convertible Preferred Stock in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “ Certificate of Determination ”). As used herein, the term “ Conversion Shares ” shall include all shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of, or as dividends on, the Preferred Stock in accordance with the Certificate of Determination.

 

E.           In exchange for all of the Holder’s shares of Series D Preferred Stock, the Company has authorized the issuance to the Holder of _____ shares of Preferred Stock.

 

F.           In exchange for the Holder’s Series A Warrant, the Company has authorized the issuance to the Holder of a warrant, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B (including all warrants issued in exchange therefor or replacement thereof, the “ Warrant ”), which Warrant shall initially be exercisable for __________ shares of Common Stock (as exercised, the “ Warrant Shares ”), in accordance with the terms thereof.

 

G.           The Preferred Stock, the Conversion Shares, the Warrant and the Warrant Shares are collectively referred to herein as the “ Securities .”

 

 

 


 

 

H.           The exchange of the Holder’s Series D Preferred Stock and Series A Warrant for the Preferred Stock and the Warrant will be made in reliance upon the exemption from registration provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ 1933 Act ”).

 

AGREEMENT

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company and the Holder hereby agree as follows:

 

1.

EXCHANGE OF SERIES D PREFERRED STOCK AND SERIES A WARRANT.

 

(a)            Series D Preferred Stock and Series A Warrant . Subject to the satisfaction (or waiver) of the conditions set forth in Sections 6 and 7 below, the Company shall, pursuant to Section 3(a)(9) of the 1933 Act, exchange (i) all of the Holder’s shares of Series D Preferred Stock for ____ shares of Preferred Stock and (ii) the Holder’s Series A Warrant for the Warrant.

 

(b)            Closing . The closing (the “ Closing ”) of the exchange of the Holder’s Series D Preferred Stock and the Holder’s Series A Warrant shall occur at the offices of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, 77 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 3100, Chicago, Illinois 60601. The date and time of the Closing (the “ Closing Date ”) shall be 10:00 a.m., New York time, on the first (1 st ) Business Day on which the conditions to the Closing set forth in Sections 6 and 7 below are satisfied or waived (or such later date as is mutually agreed to by the Company and the Holder). As used herein “ Business Day ” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in New York, New York are authorized or required by law to remain closed.

 

(c)            Delivery . On the Closing Date, (i) the Holder shall deliver all of its shares of Series D Preferred Stock and its Series A Warrant to the Company and (ii) the Company shall exchange, issue and deliver to the Holder (A) _______ shares of Preferred Stock for such shares of Series D Preferred Stock and (B) the Warrant for such Series A Warrant, in all cases duly executed on behalf of the Company and registered in the name of the Holder.

 

2.

HOLDER’S REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.

 

Holder represents and warrants to the Company that:

 

(a)            Organization; Authority . The Holder is an entity duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its organization with the requisite power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Exchange Documents (as defined below) to which it is a party and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder.

 

(b)            Validity; Enforcement . This Agreement has been duly and validly authorized, executed and delivered on behalf of the Holder and constitutes the legal, valid and binding obligations of the Holder enforceable against the Holder in accordance with their respective terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation and other similar laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of applicable creditors’ rights and remedies.

 

 

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(c)            No Conflicts . The execution, delivery and performance by the Holder of this Agreement and the consummation by the Holder of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby will not (i) result in a violation of the organizational documents of the Holder or (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any agreement, indenture or instrument to which the Holder is a party, or (iii) result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment  or decree (including federal and state securities laws) applicable to the Holder, except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above, for such conflicts, defaults, rights or violations which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the ability of the Holder to perform its obligations hereunder.

 

(d)            Residency . The Holder is a resident of that jurisdiction specified below its address on the Schedule of Buyers attached to the Purchase Agreement.

 

(e)            Own Account . The Holder is acquiring the Securities as principal for its own account and not with a view to or for distributing or reselling such Securities or any part thereof in violation of the 1933 Act or any applicable state securities law, has no present intention of distributing any of such Securities in violation of the 1933 Act or any applicable state securities law, and has no direct or indirect arrangement or understandings with any other persons to distribute or regarding the distribution of such Securities in violation of the 1933 Act or any applicable state securities law (this representation and warranty shall not limit the Holder’s right to sell the Securities in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws); provided , however , that by making the representations herein, the Holder does not agree, or make any representation or warranty, to hold any of the Securities for any minimum or other specific term and reserves the right to dispose of the Securities at any time in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws. The Holder is acquiring the Securities hereunder in the ordinary course of its business. The Holder shall notify the Company in writing of any transfers by the Holder of any of the Preferred Stock or the Warrant and such notification shall contain the name and address of the transferee.

 

(f)            Experience of the Holder . The Holder, either alone or together with its advisors and representatives, has such knowledge, sophistication and experience in business and financial matters so as to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective acquisition of the Securities, and has so evaluated the merits and risks of such acquisition. The Holder is able to bear the economic risk of an acquisition of the Securities and, at the present time, is able to afford a complete loss of such acquisition. The representations contained in this Section 2(f), however, shall not modify, amend or affect the Holder’s right to rely on the Company’s representations and warranties contained herein or any representations and warranties contained in any other Exchange Document or any other document or instrument executed and/or delivered in connection with this Agreement or the consummation of the transaction contemplated hereby.

 

(g)            Holder Status . At the time the Holder was offered the Securities, it met, and as of the date hereof it meets, the definition of “institutional investor,” “accredited investor” or other similar term forth on Exhibit 2(g) that is applicable to it based on the state in which the Holder is located. The Holder is not required to be registered as a broker-dealer under Section 15 of the 1934 Act.

 

 

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(h)            Ownership . The Holder does not as of the date hereof, and will not immediately following the Closing, own 10% or more of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock (calculated based on the assumption that all Equivalents (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) owned by the Holder, whether or not presently exercisable or convertible, have been fully exercised or converted (as the case may be) but taking into account any limitations on exercise or conversion (including “blockers”) contained therein).

 

3.

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY.

 

The Company represents and warrants to the Holder that:

 

(a)            Organization and Qualification; Subsidiaries . Each of the Company and each of its “ Subsidiaries ” (which for purposes of this Agreement means any Person in which the Company, directly or indirectly, owns capital stock or holds an equity or similar interest) are entities duly organized and validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which they are formed, and have the requisite power and authorization to own their properties and to carry on their business as now being conducted and as presently proposed to be conducted. Each of the Company and its Subsidiaries is duly qualified as a foreign entity to do business and is in good standing in every jurisdiction in which its ownership of property or the nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification necessary, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not have a Material Adverse Effect. As used in this Agreement, “ Material Adverse Effect ” means any material adverse effect on (i) the business, properties, assets, liabilities, operations (including results thereof), condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (ii) the legality, validity or enforceability of the transactions contemplated hereby or in the other Exchange Documents or (iii) the authority or ability of the Company to perform any of its obligations under any of the Exchange Documents. Other than the Subsidiaries, there is no Person in which the Company, directly or indirectly, owns capital stock or holds an equity or similar interest.  Except as set forth in Section 3(a) of the disclosure letter delivered by the Company to the Holder concurrently with the execution of this Agreement (the “ Disclosure Letter ”), the Company has no Subsidiaries.

 

 

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(b)            Authorization; Enforcement; Validity . The Company has the requisite power and authority to enter into and, except as set forth in Section 3(b) of the Disclosure Letter, perform its obligations under this Agreement and the other Exchange Documents and to issue the Securities in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and the other Exchange Documents by the Company, and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including, without limitation, the issuance of the Preferred Stock and the reservation for issuance and issuance of the Conversion Shares issuable upon conversion of, or as dividends on, the Preferred Stock, the issuance of the Warrant and the reservation for issuance and issuance of the Warrant Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrant) have been duly authorized by the Company’s board of directors and no further filing, consent or authorization is required by the Company, its board of directors or its stockholders or other governing body or regulatory authority. This Agreement and the other Exchange Documents to which the Company is a party have been (or upon delivery will have been) duly executed and delivered by the Company and when delivered in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof, will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation or similar laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of applicable creditors’ rights and remedies and except as rights to indemnification and to contribution may be limited by federal or state securities law. “ Exchange Documents ” means, collectively, this Agreement, the Warrant, the Certificate of Determination, the Irrevocable Transfer Agent Instructions (as defined below) and each of the other agreements and instruments entered into by the parties hereto in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. Except as set forth in Section 3(b) of the Disclosure Letter, the Company has no reason to believe that it will be unable to comply with any of its obligations under any of the Exchange Documents (including, without limitation, as a result of application of Section 500 or Section 501 of the California Corporations Code).

 

(c)            Issuance of Securities . The issuance of the Preferred Stock and the Warrant is duly authorized and, when issued in accordance with the terms of the Exchange Documents, shall be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free from all taxes, liens, charges and other encumbrances imposed by the Company. As of the Closing, the Company shall have reserved from its duly authorized capital stock not less than 133% of the sum of (i) the maximum number of Conversion Shares issuable upon conversion of the Preferred Stock (assuming for purposes hereof that the Preferred Stock is convertible at the initial Conversion Price (as defined in the Certificate of Determination) and without taking into account any limitations on the conversion of the Preferred Stock set forth in the Certificate of Determination) and (ii) the maximum number of Warrant Shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrant (without regard to any limitations on the exercise of the Warrant set forth therein). Upon (i) conversion of the Preferred Stock in accordance with the Certificate of Determination, (ii) issuance as dividends on the Preferred Stock in accordance with the Certificate of Determination or (iii) exercise of the Warrant in accordance with the Warrant (as the case may be), the Conversion Shares and the Warrant Shares, as applicable, when issued, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free from all preemptive or similar rights, taxes, liens, charges and other encumbrances imposed by the Company, with the holders being entitled to all rights accorded to a holder of Common Stock. The offer, exchange and issuance of the Securities is exempt from registration under the 1933 Act pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) thereof.  Upon issuance in accordance with the terms of the Exchange Documents, the Securities will be freely tradable without restriction.  Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the Warrant Shares will be freely tradable without restriction so long as such Warrant Shares are exercised pursuant to a cashless exercise as provided in the Warrant.

 

 

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(d)            No Conflicts . Except as set forth in Section 3(d) of the Disclosure Letter, the execution, delivery and performance of the Exchange Documents by the Company and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including, without limitation, the issuance of the Preferred Stock, the Warrant, the Conversion Shares and Warrant Shares and the reservation for issuance of the Conversion Shares and Warrant Shares) will not (i) result in a violation of the Articles of Incorporation (as defined below) or other organizational documents of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or Bylaws (as defined below) of the Company, (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any agreement, indenture or instrument to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a party, or (iii) subject to the making of the Required Filings (as defined below) by the Company, result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment or decree (including foreign, federal and state securities laws and regulations and the rules and regulations of the OTC Bulletin Board (the “Principal Market ”)) applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or by which any property or asset of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is bound or affected except, in the case of clause (ii) or (iii) above, to the extent such violations that could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(e)            Consents .  The Company is not required to obtain any consent, authorization or order of, or make any filing or registration with, any court, governmental agency or any regulatory or self-regulatory agency or any other Person (as defined below) (including, without limitation, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) in order for it to execute, deliver or perform any of its obligations under or contemplated by the Exchange Documents, in each case, in accordance with the terms hereof or thereof, other than (i) the filing with the SEC of the 8-K Filing (as defined below), (ii) such filings as are required to be made under applicable state securities laws (clauses (i) and (ii) are collectively referred to as the “ Required Filings ”) and (iii) as set forth in Section 3(e) of the Disclosure Letter. All consents, authorizations, orders, filings and registrations which the Company is required to obtain on or before the Closing Date pursuant to the preceding sentence have been obtained or effected on or prior to the Closing Date, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries are aware of any facts or circumstances which might prevent the Company from obtaining or effecting any of the registration, application or filings pursuant to the preceding sentence. Required Filings to be made after the Closing Date shall be made in compliance with the terms of this Agreement and applicable federal and state securities laws. Except as set forth in Section 3(e) of the Disclosure Letter, the Company is not in violation of the requirements of the Principal Market and has no knowledge of any facts or circumstances which could reasonably lead to delisting or suspension of the Common Stock in the foreseeable future.

 

(f)            Acknowledgment Regarding Holder’s Exchange of Securities . The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Holder is acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length purchaser with respect to the Exchange Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby and that the Holder is not (i) an officer or director of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (ii) an “affiliate” (as defined in Rule 144 promulgated under the 1933 Act) of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or (iii) to its knowledge, a “beneficial owner” of more than 10% of the shares of Common Stock (as defined for purposes of Rule 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ 1934 Act ”)). The Company further acknowledges that the Holder is not acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Exchange Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and any advice given by the Holder or any of its representatives or agents in connection with the Exchange Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby is merely incidental to the Holder’s acquisition of the Securities. The Company further represents to the Holder that the Company’s decision to enter into the Exchange Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation by the Company and its representatives.

 

 

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(g)           Placement Agent’s Fees . Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has engaged any placement agent or other agent in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. The Company shall be responsible for the payment of any placement agent’s fees, financial advisory fees or broker’s commissions owed to any Person pursuant to any other agreements entered into by the Company relating to or arising out of the transactions contemplated hereby. The Holder shall have no obligation with respect to any fees or with respect to any claims (other than such fees or commissions owed by the Holder pursuant to agreements entered into by the Holder, which fees or commissions shall be the sole responsibility of the Holder) made by or on behalf of other Persons for fees or the type contemplated in this Section that may be due in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Exchange Documents.

 

(h)           No Integrated Offering . None of the Company, the Subsidiaries or any of their affiliates, nor any Person acting on their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would cause this offering of the Securities (together with any other offering pursuant to the Other Exchange Agreements) to require approval of stockholders of the Company under any applicable stockholder approval provisions, including, without limitation, under the rules and regulations of any exchange or automated quotation system on which any of the securities of the Company are listed or designated. None of the Company, its Subsidiaries, their affiliates nor any Person acting on their behalf will take any action or steps referred to in the preceding sentence that would cause the offering of any of the Securities to be integrated with other offerings.

 

(i)            Dilutive Effect . The Company understands and acknowledges that the number of Conversion Shares and Warrant Shares will increase in certain circumstances. The Company further acknowledges that its obligation to issue the Conversion Shares upon conversion of the Preferred Stock and the Warrant Shares upon exercise of the Warrant in accordance with this Agreement, the Certificate of Determination and the Warrant is absolute and unconditional regardless of the dilutive effect that such issuance may have on the ownership interests of other stockholders of the Company.

 

(j)            Application of Takeover Protections; Rights Agreement . The Company and its board of directors have taken all necessary action, if any, in order to render inapplicable any control share acquisition, business combination, poison pill (including any distribution under a rights agreement) or other similar anti-takeover provision under the Articles of Incorporation or other organizational documents or the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or otherwise which is or could become applicable to the Holder as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including, without limitation, the Company’s issuance of the Securities and the Holder’s ownership of the Securities. The Company and its board of directors have taken all necessary action, if any, in order to render inapplicable any stockholder rights plan or similar arrangement relating to accumulations of beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock or a change in control of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.

 

 

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(k)            SEC Documents; Financial Statements . Except as set forth in Section 3(k) of the Disclosure Letter, during the two (2) years prior to the date hereof, the Company has timely filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by it with the SEC pursuant to the reporting requirements of the 1934 Act (all of the foregoing filed prior to the date hereof and all exhibits included therein and financial statements, notes and schedules thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein being referred to herein as the “ SEC Documents ”). The Company has delivered to the Holder or its representatives true, correct and complete copies of each of the SEC Documents not available on the EDGAR system. Except as set forth in Section 3(k) of the Disclosure Letter, as of their respective dates, the SEC Documents complied in all material respects with the requirements of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder applicable to the SEC Documents, and none of the SEC Documents, at the time they were filed with the SEC, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. Except as set forth in Section 3(k) of the Disclosure Letter, as of their respective dates, the financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Documents complied as to form in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the published rules and regulations of the SEC with respect thereto as in effect as of the time of filing. Except as set forth in Section 3(k) of the Disclosure Letter, such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied, during the periods involved (except (i) as may be otherwise indicated in such financial statements or the notes thereto, or (ii) in the case of unaudited interim statements, to the extent they may exclude footnotes or may be condensed or summary statements) and fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the Company as of the dates thereof and the results of its operations and cash flows for the periods then ended (subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments which will not be material, either individually or in the aggregate). No other information provided by or on behalf of the Company to the Holder which is not included in the SEC Documents contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading, in the light of the circumstance under which they are or were made.

 

 

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(l)            Absence of Certain Changes . Since the date of the Company’s most recent audited or reviewed financial statements contained in the Form 10-K, except as disclosed in subsequent SEC Documents filed prior to the date hereof, there has been no material adverse change and no material adverse development in the business, assets, liabilities, properties, operations (including results thereof), condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.  Since the date of the Company’s most recent audited financial statements contained in the Form 10-K, except as disclosed in a subsequent SEC Documents filed prior to the date hereof, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has (i) declared or paid any dividends other than by Subsidiaries to the Company, (ii) sold any material assets, individually or in the aggregate, outside of the ordinary course of business or (iii) made any material capital expenditures, individually or in the aggregate. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has taken any steps to seek protection pursuant to any law or statute relating to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, liquidation or winding up, nor does the Company or any Subsidiary have any knowledge or reason to believe that any of their respective creditors intend to initiate involuntary bankruptcy proceedings or any actual knowledge of any fact which would reasonably lead a creditor to do so. The Company and its Subsidiaries, individually and on a consolidated basis, are not as of the date hereof, and after giving effect to the transactions contemplated hereby to occur at the Closing, will not be Insolvent (as defined below). For purposes of this Agreement, “ Insolvent ” means, on a consolidated basis, (i) the present fair saleable value of the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ assets is less than the amount required to pay the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ total Indebtedness (as defined below), (ii) the Company and its Subsidiaries are unable to pay their debts and liabilities, subordinated, contingent or otherwise, as such debts and liabilities become absolute and matured or (iii) the Company and its Subsidiaries intend to incur or believe that they will incur debts that would be beyond their ability to pay as such debts mature. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has engaged in business or in any transaction, and is not about to engage in business or in any transaction, for which the Company’s or such Subsidiary’s remaining assets constitute unreasonably small capital. For purposes of this Agreement: (x) “ Indebtedness ” of any Person means, without duplication (A) all indebtedness for borrowed money, (B) all obligations issued, undertaken or assumed as the deferred purchase pric


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