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Preferred Stock
12 Months Ended
May 31, 2014
Preferred Stock  
Preferred Stock

Note J - Preferred Stock

 

Redeemable Preferred Stock

 

On December 30, 2005, through a private placement, the Company issued 350 shares of 4% Non-Voting Series A Preferred Stock (Series A Preferred Stock), along with 1,050,000 warrants for common shares of Company stock as additional consideration, for a cash investment in the amount of $350,000, in connection with the Company's acquisition of FSC. Holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to participate in FSC's partially collateralized bonding programs, subject to continuing satisfaction of underwriting criteria, based upon the bonding capacity of FSC attributable to capital reserves of FSC established with the subscription proceeds (i.e., bonding capacity equal to ten times subscription proceeds) and for so long as the subscriber holds the Series A shares. Holders of the Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive, when and as declared by the board of directors, cumulative preferential cash dividends at a rate of four percent of the $1,000 liquidation preference per annum (equivalent to a fixed annual rate of $40 per share). The Series A Preferred Stock ranks senior to the Company's common stock and pari passu with the Company's Series B Preferred and Series C Preferred Stock with respect to dividend rights and rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company. The holder may redeem the Series A Preferred Stock on or after the seventh anniversary of the Issue Date, if the holder provides a written statement to the Company that it will no longer require surety bonds issued by the Company's insurance subsidiary (FSC) under its partially collateralized bonding programs and, if no such surety bonds are then outstanding, the Company, at the option of the holder, will redeem all or any portion of the Series A Preferred Stock of such holder at a price per share equal to the Series A Preferred Stock Issue Price plus all accrued and unpaid dividends with respect to the shares of the Series A Preferred Stock of such holder to be redeemed. The conditional redemption shall not be available to any holder of Series A Preferred Stock for so long as surety bonds of the Company's insurance subsidiary issued on a partially collateralized basis remain outstanding for the benefit of such holder, and upon redemption, such holder shall no longer be eligible to participate in the partially collateralized bonding programs of the insurance subsidiary. The Company is authorized to issue up to 1,000,000 shares of the Series A Preferred Stock. As of May 31, 2014, the Company has issued 2,675 shares of Series A Preferred Stock in exchange for cash investments in the amount of $2,675,000, of which no shares were issued in fiscal 2014 or 2013.

 

The Company’s outstanding Series A Preferred stock matures on the seventh anniversary of the issuance date and thereafter holders of the Series A Stock are eligible to request that the Company redeem their Series A Shares. As of May 31, 2014, the Company has received requests for redemption of 343 shares of Series A Preferred. The aggregate amount to which the holders requesting redemption are entitled as of May 31, 2014, is $473,410.

 

Under the terms of the Series A Preferred Stock, upon receipt of such a request, the Company’s Board was required to make a good faith determination regarding (A) whether the funds of the Company legally available for redemption of shares of Series A Stock are sufficient to redeem the total number of shares of Series A Stock to be redeemed on such date and (B) whether the amounts otherwise legally available for redemption would, if used to effect the redemption, not result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary. If the Board determines that there is a sufficiency of legally available funds to accomplish the redemption and that the use of such funds to affect the redemption will not result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary, then the redemption shall occur on the Redemption Date. If, however, the Board determines either that there are not sufficient funds legally available to accomplish the redemption or that the use of such funds to effect the redemption will result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary, then (X) the Company shall notify the holders of shares that would otherwise have been redeemed of such fact and the consequences as provided in this paragraph, (Y) the Company will use those funds which are legally available therefor and which would not result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary to redeem the maximum possible number of shares of Series A Stock for which Redemption Notices have been received ratably among the holders of such shares to be redeemed based upon their holdings of such shares, and (Z) thereafter, until such shares are redeemed in full, the dividends accruing and payable on such shares of Series A Stock to be redeemed shall be increased by 2% of the Series A Face Amount, with the amount of such increase (i.e., 2% of the Series A Face Amount) to be satisfied by distributions on each Dividend Payment Date of shares of Common Stock having a value (determined by reference to the average closing price of such Common Stock over the preceding 20 trading days) equal to the amount of such increase. The shares of Series A Stock not redeemed shall remain outstanding and entitled to all the rights and preferences provided herein. At any time thereafter when additional funds of the Company are legally available for the redemption of shares of Series A Stock and such redemption will not result in an impairment of operations of the Insurance Subsidiary, such funds will immediately be used to redeem the balance of the shares of Series A Stock to be redeemed. No dividends or other distributions shall be declared or paid on, nor shall the Company redeem, purchase or acquire any shares of, the Common Stock or any other class or series of Junior Securities or Equal Ranking Preferred of the Company unless the Redemption Price per share of all shares for which Redemption Notices have been given shall have been paid in full, provided that the redemption price of any Equal Ranking Preferred subject to redemption shall be paid on a pari passu basis with the Redemption Price of the Series A Stock subject to redemption in accordance herewith. Until the Redemption Price for each share of Series A Stock elected to be redeemed shall have been paid in full, such share of Series A Stock shall remain outstanding for all purposes and entitle the holder thereof to all the rights and privileges provided herein, and Dividends shall continue to accrue and, if unpaid prior to the date such shares are redeemed, shall be included as part of the Redemption Price.

 

The Company’s Board of Directors determined based on the criteria established under the terms of the Preferred Stocks that there were insufficient funds available for the redemption of Preferred Stocks.

 

On December 30, 2005, through a private placement, the Company issued 3,980 shares of 8% Non-Voting Series B Convertible Preferred Stock (Series B Preferred Stock), along with 19,900,000 warrants for common shares of Company stock as additional consideration, for a cash investment in the amount of $2,985,000; and issued 4,891 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, along with 24,452,996 warrants for common shares of Company stock as additional consideration, for a conversion of $3,667,949 of indebtedness of the Company, in connection with the Company's acquisition of FSC. Holders of the Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to receive, when and as declared by the board of directors, cumulative preferential cash dividends at a rate of eight percent of the $1,000 liquidation preference per annum (equivalent to a fixed annual rate of $80 per share). The Series B Preferred Stock ranks senior to the Company's common stock and pari passu with the Company's Series A Preferred and Series C Preferred Stock with respect to dividend rights and rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company. Each share of the Series B Preferred Stock is convertible at the option of the holder, at any time after the original issue date, into 1,000 fully paid and non-assessable shares of the Company's common stock at a conversion price of $1.00 per common share. The Company may redeem the Series B Preferred Stock at any time after the first anniversary of the Original Issue Date at a price per share equal to the Series B Preferred Stock Face Amount plus all accrued and unpaid dividends with respect to the shares of the Series B Preferred Stock of such holder to be redeemed. To the extent that the Series B Preferred Stock has not been redeemed by the Company, the holder may redeem the Series B Preferred Stock on or after the fifth anniversary of the Original Issue Date at a price per share equal to the Series B Preferred Stock Face Amount plus all accrued and unpaid dividends with respect to the shares of the Series B Preferred Stock of such holder to be redeemed. The Company is authorized to issue up to 10,000 shares of the Series B Preferred Stock. The Company has not issued any additional shares of Series B Preferred Stock during fiscal 2014.

 

The Company’s outstanding Series B Preferred stock matured on December 30, 2010, meaning that the holders of the Series B Stock that had not requested exchange to the Company’s Series C Preferred stock became entitled to request that the Company redeem their Series B Shares. As part of the exchange to Series C Preferred Stock in September 2009, the shares that did not exchange were treated as a liability on the balance sheet. As of May 31, 2014, of the 2,817 shares of Series B Preferred that remained outstanding, the Company has received requests for redemption of 2,219 shares of Series B Preferred. The aggregate amount to which the holders requesting redemption are entitled as of May 31, 2014, is $4,351,502.

 

Under the terms of the Series B Preferred Stock, upon receipt of such a request, the Company’s Board was required to make a good faith determination regarding (A) whether the funds of the Company legally available for redemption of shares of Series B Stock are sufficient to redeem the total number of shares of Series B Stock to be redeemed on such date and (B) whether the amounts otherwise legally available for redemption would, if used to effect the redemption, not result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary. If the Board determines that there is a sufficiency of legally available funds to accomplish the redemption and that the use of such funds to affect the redemption will not result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary, then the redemption shall occur on the Redemption Date. If, however, the Board determines either that there are not sufficient funds legally available to accomplish the redemption or that the use of such funds to effect the redemption will result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary, then (X) the Company shall notify the holders of shares that would otherwise have been redeemed of such fact and the consequences as provided in this paragraph, (Y) the Company will use those funds which are legally available therefor and which would not result in an impairment of the operations of the Insurance Subsidiary to redeem the maximum possible number of shares of Series B Stock for which Redemption Notices have been received ratably among the holders of such shares to be redeemed based upon their holdings of such shares, and (Z) thereafter, until such shares are redeemed in full, the dividends accruing and payable on such shares of Series B Stock to be redeemed shall be increased by 2% of the Series B Face Amount, with the amount of such increase (i.e., 2% of the Series B Face Amount) to be satisfied by distributions on each Dividend Payment Date of shares of Common Stock having a value (determined by reference to the average closing price of such Common Stock over the preceding 20 trading days) equal to the amount of such increase. The shares of Series B Stock not redeemed shall remain outstanding and entitled to all the rights and preferences provided herein. At any time thereafter when additional funds of the Company are legally available for the redemption of shares of Series B Stock and such redemption will not result in an impairment of operations of the Insurance Subsidiary, such funds will immediately be used to redeem the balance of the shares of Series B Stock to be redeemed. No dividends or other distributions shall be declared or paid on, nor shall the Company redeem, purchase or acquire any shares of, the Common Stock or any other class or series of Junior Securities or Equal Ranking Preferred of the Company unless the Redemption Price per share of all shares for which Redemption Notices have been given shall have been paid in full, provided that the redemption price of any Equal Ranking Preferred subject to redemption shall be paid on a pari passu basis with the Redemption Price of the Series B Stock subject to redemption in accordance herewith. Until the Redemption Price for each share of Series B Stock elected to be redeemed shall have been paid in full, such share of Series B Stock shall remain outstanding for all purposes and entitle the holder thereof to all the rights and privileges provided herein, and Dividends shall continue to accrue and, if unpaid prior to the date such shares are redeemed, shall be included as part of the Redemption Price.

 

The Company’s Board of Directors determined based on the criteria established under the terms of the Series B Preferred Stock that there were insufficient funds available for the redemption of Series B Stock.

 

The Company experienced a loss after accretion of mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred stock, and accrued dividends on mandatorily redeemable preferred stock of $1,925,523 in fiscal 2014 as compared with a loss after accretion of mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred stock, and accrued dividends on mandatorily redeemable preferred stock of $2,031,471 in fiscal 2013.

 

Equity Preferred Stock

 

As a means of alleviating obligations associated with the Company's Series B Preferred Stock, which by its terms matured at the end of 2010, management proposed a recapitalization to assist in stabilizing the financial position of the Company. The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation provides for two classes of capital stock, known as common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Common Stock”), and preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Preferred Stock”). The Company’s Board is authorized by the Certificate of Incorporation to provide for the issuance of the shares of Preferred Stock in series, and by filing a certificate pursuant to the applicable law of the State of Delaware, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in such series and to fix the designations, preferences and rights of the shares of each such series and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof. The Board deemed it advisable to designate a Series C Preferred Stock and fixed and determined the preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions relating to the Series C Preferred Stock as follows:

 

1.                   Designation.  The shares of such series of Preferred Stock are designated “Series C Preferred Stock” (referred to herein as the “Series C Stock”).  The date on which the first share of Series C Stock is issued shall hereinafter be referred to as the “Original Issue Date”.

 

2.                   Authorized Number.  The number of shares constituting the Series C Stock is 10,000.

 

3.                   Ranking.  The Series C Stock ranks, (a) as to dividends and upon Liquidation senior and prior to the Common Stock and all other equity securities to which the Series C ranks prior, with respect to dividends and upon Liquidation (collectively, “Junior Securities”), (b) pari passu with the Corporation’s Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series A Stock”), the Corporation’s Series B Stock, and any other series of Preferred Stock subsequently established by the Board with equal ranking (any such other series of Preferred Stock, together with the Series C Stock, the Series B Stock and Series A Stock are collectively referred to as the “Equal Ranking Preferred”) and (c) junior to any other series of Preferred Stock subsequently established by the Board with senior ranking.  

 

4.                   Dividends.

 

(a)                 Dividend Accrual and Payment.  The holders of the Series C Stock shall be entitled to receive, in preference to the holders of Junior Securities, dividends (“Dividends”) on each outstanding share of Series C Stock at the rate of 8% per annum of the sum of (i) the Series C Face Amount plus (ii) an amount equal to any accrued, but unpaid, dividends on such Series C Stock, including for this purpose the exchanged Series B Amount outstanding with respect to such Series C Stock.  For purposes hereof, the “Series B Amount” means an amount equal to the dividend that would have accrued on such Series C Stock held by such holder from and after the Series B Original Issue Date applicable to such share of Series C Stock, through the Original Issue Date as if such Series C Stock had been issued on such Series B Original Issue Date, less all amounts thereof distributed by the Corporation with respect to such Series C Stock.  Dividends shall be payable quarterly in arrears on each January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 following the Original Issue Date, or, if any such date is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, then on the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday (each a “Dividend Payment Date”), as declared by the Board and, if not paid on the Dividend Payment Date, shall accrue.  Amounts available for payment of Dividends (including for this purpose the Series B Amount) shall be allocated and paid with respect to the shares of Series C Preferred and any other Equal Ranking Preferred, first, among the shares of Equal Ranking Preferred pro rata in accordance with the amounts of dividends accruing with respect to such shares at the current Dividend Payment Date, and, then, any additional amounts available for distribution in accordance with the accrued, but unpaid, dividends (and the Series B Amount then outstanding) at each prior Dividend Payment Date, in reverse chronological order, with respect to all shares of the Equal Ranking Preferred then outstanding in accordance with amounts accrued, but unpaid.  For purposes hereof, the term “Series B Original Issue Date” shall mean, with respect to any share of Series C Stock issued by the Corporation in exchange for a share of Series B Stock, the date on which the Corporation originally issued such share of Series B Stock. 

 

The Recapitalization consisted of the exchange of Series B Shares for a combination of Series C Shares and Common Stock. For each Series B Share, the participating holder received (i) one Series C Share and (ii) 2,000 shares of JFG Common Stock (for no additional consideration).

 

For the year ended May 31, 2010, 6,805 shares of Series B Stock were surrendered and exchanged for 6,805 shares of Series C Stock.  This exchange amounted to $6,269,051 of carrying value of Series B stock being exchanged for Series C and Common Stock. 13,609,872 shares of Common Stock were issued to the Series C Stock holders at the rate of 2,000 Common shares for each exchanged Series B Stock, with the related cost associated with the Common issuance offsetting the Series C carrying value by $265,120. The shares were valued at approximately $.01948 per share based on the average quoted closing price of the Company's stock for the 20-day period proceeding the date of the transaction. Series C stock may be redeemed by the Company but does not have a fixed maturity date and, thus, is classified as permanent equity. For the year ending May 31, 2014, 2,817 shares of Series B Stock had not been exchanged.

 

The accrual of dividends on the equity preferred stock resulted in a charge to common stockholders’ equity and a credit to the equity of equity preferred stock of $990,788 in fiscal 2014 as compared with a charge to common stockholders’ equity of $915,335 in fiscal 2013.

 

Dividend Preference and Accretion

 

The Series A Shares are entitled to receive cumulative dividends at the compounding rate of 4.00% per annum.

 

The Series B Shares have an 8.0% per annum compounding dividend preference, are convertible into Common Shares of JFG at the option of the holders at a conversion price of $1.00 per Share (as adjusted for dilution) and, to the extent not converted, must be redeemed by the Corporation at any time after December 31, 2010 at the option of the holder.  Any such redemption is subject to legal constraints, such as the availability of capital or surplus out of which to pay the redemption, and to a determination by the Board of Directors that the redemption will not impair the operations of First Surety Corporation.

 

The Series C Shares issued in the Recapitalization have the same 8.0% per annum compounding dividend preference and carry over from the Series B Shares the same accrued but unpaid dividends. While dividends had never been declared on the Series B shares, they had been accrued, increasing the dividend preference and the redemption price and liquidity preference of such shares and increasing the liability represented thereby based upon the Series B Shares fixed maturity date. The accrued (but undeclared) dividends associated with the Series C exchange amounted to $2,295,624 and are included in the total amount exchanged for Series C Shares. Unlike the Series B Shares with their fixed maturity date, the Series C Shares are permanent equity, with accruing dividends only increasing the preference amount that must be satisfied before junior securities may participate in dividends or on liquidation. Accordingly, the effect of the accrual of dividends with respect to the Series C Shares on the Company’s balance sheet is to increase the aggregate claim of the Series C Shares on the equity of the corporation and to increase the deficit in common equity, while having no effect on the net equity of the corporation as a whole. The entitlement of the Series C Shares to a priority in relation to junior securities with respect to dividends and on liquidation does not create an obligation to the Company and therefore no liability is recorded until the dividends are declared by the Board of the Company. The Series C Shares are pari passu with the Corporation’s Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Shares (to the extent any remain outstanding following the Recapitalization) and no dividends or other distributions will be paid upon Common Shares or any other class of Shares that is junior in priority to the Series C Preferred while dividends are in arrears. In addition, the Series C Shares are convertible into Common Shares of JFG at the option of the holders at a conversion price of $0.10 per Share. The Series C Shares may be redeemed by the Corporation, at its option, when it is in a financial position to do so.

 

Holders of over 70% of the outstanding Series B Preferred Shares elected to participate in the recapitalization. The shares of Series B Preferred Shareholders that chose not to convert are listed in the Liabilities section of the Balance Sheet, and therefore the accretion and dividends associated with the Series B stock after November 30, 2009 are deductions from net income. Dividends on Series B mandatorily redeemable preferred stock deducted from net income amounted to $411,583 for the year ended May 31, 2014. The remaining Series B shares not converted were accreted from carrying value to the face amount for the 5 year period from the date of issuance. Series C stock has no accretion. There were no shares of Series B Stock surrendered or exchanged in the year ended May 31, 2014.

 

During the year ended May 31, 2012, two holders of Series A stock released all of their outstanding bonds held with FSC. These shares of Series A Preferred Shareholders are listed in the liability section of the Balance Sheet as of May 31, 2014, in the amount of $1,542,922, which consists of the fully accreted $1,126,000 face value of stock and $416,922 in dividends payable. The dividends associated with these shares of Series A stock for the year ended May 31, 2014, is a deduction from net income in the amount of $60,204. There was no current accretion on these shares of Series A stock.

 

As of May 31, 2014 the Company has chosen to defer payment of dividends on Series A Preferred Stock with such accrued and unpaid dividends amounting to $862,060 through May 31, 2014. These dividends are included in the amounts reported on the face of the balance sheet for each classification of Series A stock.

 

As of May 31, 2014 the Company has chosen to defer payment of dividends on Series B and Series C Preferred Stock with such accrued and unpaid dividends amounting to $2,587,568 and $6,205,305 through May 31, 2014, respectively. These dividend are included in the amounts reported on the face of the balance sheet for each respective classification if stock.

 

Accounting Treatment

 

U.S. GAAP requires that an entity classify as liabilities certain financial instruments with characteristics of both liabilities and equity. The Company's Series A and B preferred stock each have mandatory redemption features that subject the Company to the analysis of equity versus liability. Both Series A and B have features that embody a conditional obligation to redeem the instrument upon events not certain to occur and accordingly, are not classified as liabilities until such events are certain to occur. With respect to the Series A Preferred Stock, such condition is contingent upon the holder having no further need for surety bonds issued by the Company's insurance subsidiary (FSC) under its partially collateralized bonding programs and, having no such surety bonds then outstanding. With respect to the Series B Preferred Stock, if the stock provides an option to the holder to convert to common shares at a rate equivalent to fair value, then the financial instruments are not mandatorily redeemable during the period in which the holder can convert the shares into common shares. Accordingly, the Company has determined that only the Series A preferred stocks held by principals with outstanding surety bonds should not be classified as liabilities. However, in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Issued Topic No. D- 98, SEC Staff Announcement, "Classification and Measurement of Redeemable Securities", a company that issues preferred shares that are conditionally redeemable is required to account for the conditionally redeemable preferred shares in accordance with Accounting Series Release 268, which states that the shares are to be reflected on the Company's balance sheet between total liabilities and stockholders' equity as temporary equity.