EX-99.3 4 brhc10041277_ex99-3.htm EXHIBIT 3
Exhibit 3
 
Janel Corporation
Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan
Stock Option Agreement
(Non-statutory Stock Option)
 
Pursuant to your Stock Option Grant Notice (“Grant Notice”) and this Stock Option Agreement, Janel Corporation (the “Company”) has granted you an option under its Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) to purchase the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock indicated in your Grant Notice at the exercise price indicated in your Grant Notice.  Defined terms not explicitly defined in this Stock Option Agreement but defined in the Plan shall have the same definitions as in the Plan.
 
The details of your option are as follows:
 
1.        Vesting.  Subject to the limitations contained herein, your option will vest as provided in your Grant Notice, provided that vesting will cease upon the termination of your Continuous Service.
 
2.        Number of Shares and Exercise Price.  The number of shares of Common Stock subject to your option and your exercise price per share referenced in your Grant Notice may be adjusted from time to time for Capitalization Adjustments.
 
3.       Exercise prior to Vesting (“Early Exercise”).  If permitted in your Grant Notice (i.e., the “Exercise Schedule” indicates that “Early Exercise” of your option is permitted) and subject to the provisions of your option, you may elect at any time that is both (i) during the period of your Continuous Service and (ii) during the term of your option, to exercise all or part of your option, including the nonvested portion of your option; provided, however, that:
 
(a)       a partial exercise of your option shall be deemed to cover first vested shares of Common Stock and then the earliest vesting installment of unvested shares of Common Stock;
 
(b)        any shares of Common Stock so purchased from installments that have not vested as of the date of exercise shall be subject to the purchase option in favor of the Company as described in the Company’s form of Early Exercise Stock Purchase Agreement;
 
(c)         you shall enter into the Company’s form of Early Exercise Stock Purchase Agreement with a vesting schedule that will result in the same vesting as if no early exercise had occurred; and
 
4.          Method of Payment.  Payment of the exercise price is due in full upon exercise of all or any part of your option.  You may elect to make payment of the exercise price in cash or by check or in any other manner permitted by your Grant Notice.
 
5.          Whole Shares.  You may exercise your option only for whole shares of Common Stock.
 

6.         Securities Law Compliance.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, you may not exercise your option unless the shares of Common Stock issuable upon such exercise are then registered under the Securities Act or, if such shares of Common Stock are not then so registered, the Company has determined that such exercise and issuance would be exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.  The exercise of your option also must comply with other applicable laws and regulations governing your option, and you may not exercise your option if the Company determines that such exercise would not be in material compliance with such laws and regulations.
 
7.          Term.   You may not exercise your option before the commencement or after the expiration of its term.  The term of your option commences on the Date of Grant and expires upon the earliest of the following:
 
(a)          three (3) months after the termination of your Continuous Service for any reason other than your Disability or death, provided that if during any part of such three (3) month period your option is not exercisable solely because of the condition set forth in Section 6, your option shall not expire until the earlier of the Expiration Date or until it shall have been exercisable for an aggregate period of three (3) months after the termination of your Continuous Service;
 
(b)          twelve (12) months after the termination of your Continuous Service due to your Disability;
 
(c)       eighteen (18) months after your death if you die either during your Continuous Service or within three (3) months after your Continuous Service terminates;
 
(d)          the Expiration Date indicated in your Grant Notice; or
 
(e)          the day before the tenth (10th) anniversary of the Date of Grant.
 
8.          Exercise.
 
(a)         You may exercise the vested portion of your option (and the unvested portion of your option if your Grant Notice so permits) during its term by delivering a Notice of Exercise (in a form designated by the Company) together with the exercise price to the Secretary of the Company, or to such other person as the Company may designate, during regular business hours, together with such additional documents as the Company may then require.
 
(b)          By exercising your option you agree that, as a condition to any exercise of your option, the Company may require you to enter into an arrangement providing for the payment by you to the Company of any tax withholding obligation of the Company arising by reason of (1) the exercise of your option, (2) the lapse of any substantial risk of forfeiture to which the shares of Common Stock are subject at the time of exercise, or (3) the disposition of shares of Common Stock acquired upon such exercise.
 
(c)         By exercising your option agree to execute and deliver such other agreements as may be reasonably requested by the Company and/or the underwriter(s) that are consistent with the foregoing or that are necessary to give further effect thereto.  In order to enforce the foregoing covenant, the Company may impose stop-transfer instructions with respect to your shares of Common Stock until the end of such period.
 
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9.          Transferability.  Your option is not transferable, except by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and is exercisable during your life only by you.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, by delivering written notice to the Company, in a form satisfactory to the Company, you may designate a third party who, in the event of your death, shall thereafter be entitled to exercise your option.
 
10.         Change In Control.
 
(a)          If a Change in Control occurs and as of the effective time of such Change in Control your Continuous Service terminates due to an involuntary termination (not including death or Disability) without Cause or due to a voluntary termination with Good Reason, then, as of the date of termination of Continuous Service, the vesting and exercisability of your option shall be accelerated in full.
 
(b)          “Cause” means the occurrence of any one or more of the following:  (i) your commission of any crime involving fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude; (ii) your attempted commission of or participation in a fraud or act of dishonesty against the Company that results in (or might have reasonably resulted in) material harm to the business of the Company; (iii) your intentional, material violation of any contract or agreement between you and the Company or any statutory duty you owe to the Company; or (iv) your conduct that constitutes gross insubordination, incompetence or habitual neglect of duties and that results in (or might have reasonably resulted in) material harm to the business of the Company; provided, however, that the action or conduct described in clauses (iii) and (iv) above will constitute “Cause” only if such action or conduct continues after the Company has provided you with written notice thereof and thirty (30) days to cure the same.
 
(c)          “Good Reason” means that one or more of the following are undertaken by the Company without your express written consent:  (i) the assignment to you of any duties or responsibilities that results in a material diminution in your function as in effect immediately prior to the effective date of the Change in Control; provided, however, that a change in your title or reporting relationships shall not provide the basis for a voluntary termination with Good Reason; (ii) a material reduction by the Company in your annual base salary, as in effect on the effective date of the Change in Control or as increased thereafter; provided, however, that Good Reason shall not be deemed to have occurred in the event of a reduction in your annual base salary that is pursuant to a salary reduction program affecting substantially all of the employees of the Company and that does not adversely affect you to a greater extent than other similarly situated employees; (iii) any failure by the Company to continue in effect any benefit plan or program, including incentive plans or plans with respect to the receipt of securities of the Company, in which you were participating immediately prior to the effective date of the Change in Control (hereinafter referred to as “Benefit Plans”), or the taking of any action by the Company that would adversely affect your participation in or reduce your benefits under the Benefit Plans or deprive you of any fringe benefit that you enjoyed immediately prior to the effective date of the Change in Control; provided, however, that Good Reason shall not be deemed to have occurred if the Company provides for your participation in benefit plans and programs that, taken as a whole, are comparable to the Benefit Plans; (iv) a relocation of your business office to a location more than fifty (50) miles from the location at which you performed your duties as of the effective date of the Change in Control, except for required travel by you on the Company’s business to an extent substantially consistent with your business travel obligations prior to the effective date of the Change in Control; or (v) a material breach by the Company of any provision of the Plan or the Option Agreement or any other material agreement between you and the Company concerning the terms and conditions of your employment.
 
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11.        Option not a Service Contract.  Your option is not an employment or service contract, and nothing in your option shall be deemed to create in any way whatsoever any obligation on your part to continue in the employ of the Company or an Affiliate, or of the Company or an Affiliate to continue your employment.  In addition, nothing in your option shall obligate the Company or an Affiliate, their respective stockholders, Boards of Directors, Officers or Employees to continue any relationship that you might have as a Director or Consultant for the Company or an Affiliate.
 
12.         Withholding Obligations.
 
(a)        At the time you exercise your option, in whole or in part, or at any time thereafter as requested by the Company, you hereby authorize withholding from payroll and any other amounts payable to you, and otherwise agree to make adequate provision for (including by means of a “cashless exercise” pursuant to a program developed under Regulation T as promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board to the extent permitted by the Company), any sums required to satisfy the federal, state, local and foreign tax withholding obligations of the Company or an Affiliate, if any, which arise in connection with the exercise of your option.
 
(b)       Upon your request and subject to approval by the Company, in its sole discretion, and compliance with any applicable legal conditions or restrictions, the Company may withhold from fully vested shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable to you upon the exercise of your option a number of whole shares of Common Stock having a Fair Market Value, determined by the Company as of the date of exercise, not in excess of the minimum amount of tax required to be withheld by law (or such lower amount as may be necessary to avoid variable award accounting).  If the date of determination of any tax withholding obligation is deferred to a date later than the date of exercise of your option, share withholding pursuant to the preceding sentence shall not be permitted unless you make a proper and timely election under Section 83(b) of the Code, covering the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock acquired upon such exercise with respect to which such determination is otherwise deferred, to accelerate the determination of such tax withholding obligation to the date of exercise of your option.  Notwithstanding the filing of such election, shares of Common Stock shall be withheld solely from fully vested shares of Common Stock determined as of the date of exercise of your option that are otherwise issuable to you upon such exercise.  Any adverse consequences to you arising in connection with such share withholding procedure shall be your sole responsibility.
 
(c)       You may not exercise your option unless the tax withholding obligations of the Company and/or any Affiliate are satisfied.  Accordingly, you may not be able to exercise your option when desired even though your option is vested, and the Company shall have no obligation to issue a certificate for such shares of Common Stock or release such shares of Common Stock from any escrow provided for herein unless such obligations are satisfied.
 
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13.         Notices.  Any notices provided for in your option or the Plan shall be given in writing and shall be deemed effectively given upon receipt or, in the case of notices delivered by mail by the Company to you, five (5) days after deposit in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to you at the last address you provided to the Company.
 
14.         Governing Plan Document.  Your option is subject to all the provisions of the Plan, the provisions of which are hereby made a part of your option, and is further subject to all interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations, which may from time to time be promulgated and adopted pursuant to the Plan.  In the event of any conflict between the provisions of your option and those of the Plan, the provisions of the Plan shall control.
 
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Janel Corporation
Stock Option Grant Notice
(Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan)
 
Janel Corporation (the “Company”), pursuant to its Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), hereby grants to Optionholder an option to purchase the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock set forth below.  This option is subject to all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein and in the Stock Option Agreement, the Plan and the Notice of Exercise, all of which are attached hereto and incorporated herein in their entirety.
 
Optionholder:
John Joseph Gonzalez          
Date of Grant:
October 1, 2021          
Vesting Commencement Date:
October 1, 2021          
Number of Shares Subject to Option:
2,500          
Exercise Price (Per Share):
$23.00          
Total Exercise Price:
$57,500          
Expiration Date:
October 1, 2031          

Type of Grant:  ☒  Non-statutory Stock Option
 
Exercise Schedule:  ☒  Same as Vesting Schedule  ☐  Early Exercise Permitted
 
Vesting Schedule:
October 1, 2022
834 shares
 
October 1, 2023
833 shares
 
October 1, 2024
833 shares

Payment:  By one or a combination of the following items (described in the Stock Option Agreement):
 
 
By cash or check
 
 
Pursuant to a Regulation T Program if the Shares are publicly traded
 
 
By delivery of already-owned shares if the Shares are publicly traded
 
Additional Terms/Acknowledgements: The undersigned Optionholder acknowledges receipt of, and understands and agrees to, this Stock Option Grant Notice, the Stock Option Agreement and the Plan.  Optionholder further acknowledges that as of the Date of Grant, this Stock Option Grant Notice, the Stock Option Agreement and the Plan set forth the entire understanding between Optionholder and the Company regarding the acquisition of stock in the Company and supersede all prior oral and written agreements on that subject with the exception of (i) options previously granted and delivered to Optionholder under the Plan, and (ii) the following agreements only:
 
Other Agreements:
 
   


Janel Corporation
Optionholder:
       
By:
 
/s/
   
/s/
 
Signature
 
Signature
       
Title:
Principal Financial Officer
Date:
 
       
Date:
October 1, 2021
   

Attachments:  Stock Option Agreement, Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan and Notice of Exercise
 
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NOTICE OF EXERCISE
 
TO:  Janel Corporation
 
 
Date of Exercise:
 
Ladies and Gentlemen:
 

This constitutes notice under my stock option that I elect to purchase the number of shares for the price set forth below.
 
Stock option dated:
 
Number of shares as to which option is exercised:
 
Certificates to be issued in name of:
 
Total exercise price:
$
Cash payment delivered herewith:
$
Value of ________ shares of common stock
delivered herewith1:
$

By this exercise, I agree (i) to provide such additional documents as you may require pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan and (ii) to provide for the payment by me to you (in the manner designated by you) of your withholding obligation, if any, relating to the exercise of this option.
 
I hereby make the following certifications and representations with respect to the number of shares of Common Stock of the Company listed above (the “Shares”), which are being acquired by me for my own account upon exercise of the Option as set forth above:
 
 
Very truly yours,
   
   


1     
Shares must meet the public trading requirements set forth in the option.  Shares must be valued in accordance with the terms of the option being exercised, must have been owned for the minimum period required in the option, and must be owned free and clear of any liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests.  Certificates must be endorsed or accompanied by an executed assignment separate from certificate.