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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 4, 2020

Registration No. 333-239182

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Pre-Effective Amendment No.1 to
FORM S-3
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

GREAT AJAX CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Maryland
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)

47-1271842
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

9400 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Suite 131
Beaverton, OR 97005
503-505-5670
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Lawrence Mendelsohn
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
9400 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Suite 131
Beaverton, OR 97005
503-505-5670
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Please send copies of all communications to:
Anna T. Pinedo, Esq.
Brian D. Hirshberg, Esq.
Mayer Brown LLP
1221 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Telephone: (212) 506-2500

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after the effective date of this registration statement.

If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box: ☐

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box: ☒

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering: ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering: ☐

If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box: ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box: ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☐

Accelerated filer ☒

Non-accelerated filer ☐

Smaller reporting company ☐
Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of Securities Act. ☐

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment that specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Great Ajax Corp. is filing this Amendment No. 1 (the “Amendment”) to its Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-239182) (the “Registration Statement”) as an exhibits-only filing to file Exhibit 23.1 and restate the list of exhibits set forth in Part II of the Registration Statement. Accordingly, this Amendment consists only of the facing page, this explanatory note, Part II of the Registration Statement, including the signature page and the exhibit index, and the filed exhibit. The prospectus is unchanged and has been omitted.

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 14.

Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The following table sets forth the costs and expenses payable by us in connection with the sale and distribution of the securities being registered. All of the amounts shown are estimates:

	Amount to be paid
SEC registration fee		$	24,484.17
Printing expenses			5,000*
Legal fees and expenses			50,000*
Accounting fees and expenses			15,000*
Miscellaneous			—
Total		$	94,484.17

Estimates.

Item 15.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to include in its charter a provision limiting the liability of its directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money damages except for liability resulting from (a) actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (b) active and deliberate dishonesty that is established by a final judgment and is material to the cause of action. Our charter contains a provision which eliminates our directors’ and officers’ liability to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law.

Maryland law requires a Maryland corporation (unless its charter provides otherwise, which our charter does not) to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made or threatened to be made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to indemnify its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made or threatened to be made a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that: (a) the act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and (i) was committed in bad faith or (ii) was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty; (b) the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services; or (c) in the case of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful. However, if the proceeding was one by or in the right of the corporation, under Maryland law, indemnification may not be made in respect of any proceeding in which the director shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation, and in addition, a director may not be indemnified in respect of any proceeding charging improper personal benefit to the director, whether or not involving action in the director’s official capacity, in which the director was adjudged to be liable on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received, unless in either case a court orders indemnification and then only for expenses. In addition, Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon the corporation’s receipt of (a) a written affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good-faith belief that he or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the corporation and (b) a written undertaking by him or her or on his or her behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the corporation if it is ultimately determined that the standard of conduct was not met.

Our charter authorizes us, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, to obligate ourselves and our bylaws obligate us, to indemnify any present or former director or officer or any individual who, while a director or officer of our company and at our request, serves or has served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, member or manager of another corporation, real estate investment trust, limited liability

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company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise and who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity from and against any claim or liability to which that individual may become subject or which that individual may incur by reason of his or her service in any of the foregoing capacities and to pay or reimburse his or her reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding. Our charter and bylaws also permit us to indemnify and advance expenses to any individual who served a predecessor of our company in any of the capacities described above and any employees or agents of our company or a predecessor of our company.

We have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our executive officers and directors whereby we indemnify such executive officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by Maryland law against all expenses and liabilities, subject to limited exceptions. These indemnification agreements also provide that upon an application for indemnity by an executive officer or director to a court of appropriate jurisdiction, such court may order us to indemnify such executive officer or director.

In addition, our directors and officers are indemnified for specified liabilities and expenses pursuant to the limited partnership agreement of our Operating Partnership.

Insofar as the foregoing provisions permit indemnification of directors, officers or persons controlling us for liability arising under the Securities Act, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC this indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

Item 16.

Exhibits.

The list of exhibits immediately preceding the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

Item 17.

Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

(1)

To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

(i)

To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii)

To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

(iii)

To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii) and (a)(1)(iii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement.

(2)

That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities

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offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3)

To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(4)

That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:

(i)

Each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and

(ii)

Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5) or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii) or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which the prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date.

(5)

That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

(i)

Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

(ii)

Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;

(iii)

The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

(iv)

Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

(b)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

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(c)

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

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EXHIBIT INDEX

	Exhibit Number			Description of Exhibit
	1.1*			Form of Underwriting Agreement.
	3.1			Articles of Amendment and Restatement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-11 confidentially submitted to the SEC on September 23, 2014 (File No. 333-00787)).
	3.2			Articles Supplementary to the Articles of Amendment and Restatement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 7, 2020).
	3.3			Articles Supplementary to the Articles of Amendment and Restatement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 8, 2020).
	3.4			Articles of Amendment to the Articles Supplementary (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 8, 2020).
	3.5			Amended and Restated Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-11 confidentially submitted to the SEC on September 23, 2014 (File No. 333-00787)).
	4.1**			Form of Series A Warrant.
	4.2**			Form of Series B Warrant.
	10.1			Form of Securities Purchase Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 6, 2020).
	10.2**			Amendment No. 1 and Joinder to Securities Purchase Agreement, dated June 3, 2020, by and among Great Ajax Corp., Great Ajax Operating Partnership LP, Thetis Asset Management LLC and the Purchasers named therein.
	10.3			Securities Purchase Agreement, dated May 7, 2020, by and among Great Ajax Corp., Great Ajax Operating Partnership LP, Thetis Asset Management LLC and the Purchasers named therein (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 8, 2020).
	10.4			Form of Registration Rights Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 6, 2020).
	10.5**			Amendment No. 1 and Joinder to Registration Rights Agreement, dated June 3, 2020, by and among Great Ajax Corp. and the Purchasers set forth on the signature pages thereto.
	10.6			Registration Rights Agreement, dated May 7, 2020, by and among Great Ajax Corp., Great Ajax Operating Partnership LP, Thetis Asset Management LLC and the Purchasers named therein (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 8, 2020).
	5.1**			Opinion of Mayer Brown LLP as to the validity of the securities registered hereunder.
	8.1**			Opinion of Mayer Brown LLP regarding certain tax matters.
	23.1***			Consent of Moss Adams LLP.
	23.2**			Consent of Mayer Brown LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).
	23.3**			Consent of Mayer Brown LLP (included in Exhibit 8.1)
	24.1**			Power of Attorney (included on the signature page hereto).

To be filed by an amendment or as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated by reference herein.

Previously filed.

***

Filed herewith.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Beaverton, Oregon on August 4, 2020.

GREAT AJAX CORP.

By:

/s/ Lawrence Mendelsohn

Lawrence Mendelsohn
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Name	Capacity	Date
/s/ Lawrence Mendelsohn Lawrence Mendelsohn	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer)	August 4, 2020
/s/ Mary Doyle Mary Doyle	Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer and principal accounting officer)	August 4, 2020
* Russell Schaub	President and Director	August 4, 2020
* Steven L. Begleiter	Director	August 4, 2020
* John C. Condas	Director	August 4, 2020
* Paul Friedman	Director	August 4, 2020
* Jonathan Bradford Handley, Jr.	Director	August 4, 2020
* J. Kirk Ogren, Jr.	Director	August 4, 2020

* Attorney-in-fact

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