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APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION TO EFFECT A REVERSE STOCK SPLIT.
Our Board has adopted and is submitting for shareholder vote three amendments to our Certificate that would grant to our Board the discretion to effect a reverse split of all outstanding shares of our common stock, if the Board deems that it is in our and our shareholders’ best interests, at a ratio of (i) one-for-five, (ii) one-for-eight or (iii) any amount in between one-for-five and one-for-eight (any of which we refer to as a “Reverse Stock Split”). Until one year from the Annual Meeting, our Board will have the sole discretion to elect, as it determines to be in the best interests of Cocrystal and our shareholders, whether or not to effect a Reverse Stock Split, and if so, at which of the approved exchange ratios. If our Board elects to implement one of the Reverse Stock Splits, the Board would abandon the remaining approved Reverse Stock Splits without need for any further shareholder action. Our Board believes that approval of a proposal granting this discretion to the Board, rather than approval of an immediate Reverse Stock Split at a specified ratio, would provide the Board with maximum flexibility to react to current market conditions and to therefore achieve the purposes of the Reverse Stock Split, if implemented, and to act in the best interests of Cocrystal and our shareholders.
To effect the reverse stock split, our Board would authorize our management to file a Certificate of Amendment to our Certificate with the Delaware Secretary of State. If our Board elects to implement one of the approved Reverse Stock Splits, the number of issued and outstanding shares of our common stock would be reduced in accordance with the ratio for the selected Reverse Stock Splits. The par value of our common stock would remain unchanged, and the number of our authorized shares of common stock would be decreased to 200,000,000 shares. Our Board may elect not to implement any of the approved Reverse Stock Splits at its sole discretion, even if all of the proposed Reverse Stock Splits are approved by our shareholders. You may elect to vote in favor of each of the proposed ratios, some of the proposed ratios or none of the proposed ratios. The proposed form of amendment to our Certificate to implement the Reverse Stock Split is attached to this Proxy Statement as Annex B .
Purpose of the Reverse Stock Split
The Board believes that a Reverse Stock Split is desirable for a number of reasons, including:
Increase in Eligible Institutional and Other Investors. We believe a Reverse Stock Split may increase the price of our common stock or potentially decrease its volatility, and thus may allow a broader range of institutional investors with the ability to invest in our stock. For example, many funds and institutions have investment guidelines and policies that prohibit them from investing in stocks whose price is below a certain threshold. We believe that increased institutional investor interest in the Company and our common stock will potentially increase the overall market for our common stock.
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Increase Analyst and Broker Interest. We believe a Reverse Stock Split would help increase analyst and broker-dealer interest in our common stock as many brokerage and investment advisory firms’ policies can discourage analysts, advisors, and broker/dealers from following or recommending companies with low stock prices. Because of the trading volatility and lack of liquidity often associated with lower-priced stocks, many brokerage houses have adopted investment guidelines and policies and practices that either prohibit or discourage them from investing or trading such stocks or recommending them to their clients and customers. Some of those guidelines, policies and practices may also function to make the processing of trades in lower-priced stocks economically unattractive to broker-dealers. While we recognize we may remain a “penny stock” under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission because a penny stock trades at less than $5.00, we think the increase from the Reverse Stock Split will position us better if our business continues to increase as we expect. Additionally, because brokers’ commissions and dealer mark-ups/mark-downs on transactions in lower-priced stocks generally represent a higher percentage of the stock price than commissions and mark-ups/mark-downs on higher-priced stocks, the current average price per share of our common stock can result in shareholders or potential shareholders paying transaction costs representing a higher percentage of the total share value than would otherwise be the case if the share price were substantially higher.
Move Cocrystal Closer to Listing on Nasdaq. Our common stock is currently quoted on the OTCQB under the symbol “COCP”. On the record date, the last sale price of our common stock was $1.21 per share. We would like to eventually apply for listing on Nasdaq. By potentially increasing our stock price, the Reverse Stock Split would potentially increase our minimum bid or share price required for the initial listing requirements for The Nasdaq Stock Market.
Risks of the Reverse Stock Split
The Reverse Stock Split may not increase our market capitalization, which would prevent us from realizing some of the anticipated benefits of the Reverse Stock Split. The market price of our common stock is based on a number of factors which may be unrelated to the number of shares outstanding. These factors may include our performance, general economic and market conditions and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. The market price per share may not rise, or it may remain constant in proportion to the reduction in the number shares outstanding before the Reverse Stock Split. Accordingly, the total market capitalization of our common stock after the Reverse Stock Split may be lower than the total market capitalization before the Reverse Stock Split. In the future, the market price of common stock following the Reverse Stock Split may not equal or exceed the market price prior to the Reverse Stock Split.
Effects of the Reverse Stock Split
Reduction of Shares Held by Individual Shareholders . After the effective date of the Reverse Stock Split, each common shareholder will own fewer shares of our common stock. However, the Reverse Stock Split will affect all of our common shareholders uniformly and will not affect any common shareholder’s percentage ownership interests in us, except to the extent that the Reverse Stock Split results in any of our shareholders owning a fractional share as described below. As discussed further below, we will pay cash in lieu of fractional shares. The number of shareholders of record will not be affected by the Reverse Stock Split (except to the extent that any shareholder holds only a fractional share interest and receives cash for such interest after the Reverse Stock Split). However, if the Reverse Stock Split is approved, it will increase the number of shareholders who own “odd lots” of less than 100 shares of our common stock. Brokerage commissions and other costs of transactions in odd lots may be higher than the costs of transactions of more than 100 shares of common stock.
Reduction in Total Outstanding Shares. The proposed Reverse Stock Split will reduce the total number of outstanding shares of common stock by a factor based on the ratio of the split. The following table shows the number of shares of our common stock outstanding both before the Reverse Stock Split and after the Reverse Stock Split:
Shares of Common Stock
Outstanding Before the
Reverse Stock Split
Shares of Common Stock
Outstanding After the
Reverse Stock Split
One-for-five split
693,136,573
138,627,314
One-for-eight split
693,136,573
86,642,071
If the Reverse Stock Split is between the two numbers in the table above, the number of outstanding shares will be proportionately reduced.
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