Document:

f10q1112ex10i_premierbrands.htm

Exhibit 10.1

 

Joint Venture Agreement

 

This Joint Venture Agreement (this "Agreement") datqd October 23, 2012 (the "Effective Date") is entered into by and between First Kontact LLC a Nevda company ("First Kontact") and Premier Brands, Inc., a Wyoming company ("Premier Brands").

 

WITNESETH

 

WHEREAS, Premier Brands is engaged in the business of manufacturing and distributing consumer packaged goods;

 

WHEREAS, First Kontact is engaged in the business of direct sales and marketing including phone sales, telemarketing, online marketing, direct marketing and customer service;

 

WHEREAS, since February 2012, First Kontact has been allowing Premier Brands to use its marketing center located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, for the purpose of marketing, promotion, sales and distribution of consumer packaged goods to convenience stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, mass retail, wholesalers and distributors the United States, in exchange for certain cash and stock compensation (the "Joint Venture"); and

 

WHEREAS, both parties desire to form a written agreement to govern such Joint Venture; and

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, and of the mutual representations, warranties, covenants, and agreements herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:

 

	
1.  

	
SERVICES.

 

First Kontact shall provide or make available to Premier Brands office facilities, human resources, training services, technology and management support as specified in the list attached hereto as Exhibit A, and use its best efforts to market, promote, sell and distribute such certain consumer packaged goods according to the instructions of Premier Brands.

 

	
2.  

	
COMPENSATION. 

 

For the services provided, Premier Brands shall pay First Kontact:

 

(i)    a monthly fee to be determined by both parties each month based upon such month's costs of sales and marketing campaign, within the range of $3,000 to $7,500 per month; and

 

(ii)   200,000 shares of the common stock of Premier Brands per annum (the "Shares"). The Shares shall vest in equal installments over a 12-month period on the last calendar day of each month; provided, however, if this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 4 of this Agreement, First Kontact shall forfeit any and all of the unvested Restricted Shares as of such termination.

 

  

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3.  

	
TERM

 

This Agreement shall be effective for a three (3) years term from the Effective Date, unless sooner terminated in accordance to Section 4 of this Agreement. This agreement shall renew for successive terms of three (3) years if neither party has been apprised of a default under this agreement.

 

	
4.  

	
TERMINATION

 

Either party may terminate this Agreement, with or without cause, by giving the other party thirty (30) days prior written notice.

 

	
5.  

	
FORCE MAJEURE

 

Whenever performance by both parties of any of its obligations is substantially prevented by reason of an act of God, strike, lockout, law regulation or ordinance, war or war conditions, or by reason of any other matter beyond the control of the party, then such performance shall be excused and this Agreement shall be deemed suspended during the continuation of such circumstance.

 

	
6.  

	
DISPUTES

 

If a dispute arises out of or relates to this Agreement (including any dispute as to breach or termination of the Agreement or as to any claim in tort, in equity or pursuant to any statute) a party to the Agreement may not commence any court or arbitration proceedings relating to the dispute unless it has complied with the following procedures (excluding the party seeking urgent interlocutory relief):

 

(i)    A party to this Agreement claiming that a dispute ("the Dispute") has arisen under or in relation to this Agreement must give written notice to the other party to this Agreement specifying the nature of the Dispute.

 

(ii)   On receipt of that notice by that other party, the parties to this contract must endeavour in good faith to resolve the Dispute expeditiously using informal dispute resolution techniques such as mediation, expert evaluation or determination or similar techniques agreed to them.

 

(iii)         If the parties do not agree within ten (10) days of receipt of the notice (or such further period as agreed in writing by them) as to:

 

  a.           the dispute resolution technique and procedures to be adopted;

  b.         the timetable for all steps in those procedures; and

  c.           the selection and compensation of the independent person required for such technique, the dispute shall be submitted to mediation.

 

  

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(iv)    A mediator will enable the parties to mediate and settle the dispute. All discussions in the mediation will be without prejudice and will not be referred to in any later proceedings. The parties will bear their own costs in the mediation and will equally share the mediator's costs.

 

(v)    If the dispute is not resolved under clause (C) within a further 30 days after the appointment of a mediator, any party may then require the dispute to be referred to arbitration. If this clause is invoked:

 

   a.           the arbitration will take place in the State of California; and

   b.          the award in the arbitration will be final and binding on the parties.

 

	
7.  

	
GOVERNING LAW.

 

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of California.

 

	
8.  

	
MODIFICATION

 

This Agreement may be modified or amended only by an agreement in writing signed by both parties hereto.

 

	
9.  

	
ENTIRE AGREEMENT

 

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior understandings or agreements, oral and written, or any nature whatsoever. By entering into this Agreement the parties acknowledge that they are not relying upon any statements or representations made prior to or contemporaneous with the execution of this Agreement.

 

  

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N WITNESS WHEREOF, the parites have caused their respective signature pages to this Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first written above.

 

	
PREMIER BRANDS INC.

	 
	 	 	 
	 	/s/ Jorge S. Olson	 
	

By:   

	Jorge S. Olson	 
	 	
President

	 
	 	 	 
	
FIRST KONTACT LLC

	 
	 	 
	 	/s/ Juan Gutierrez	 
	By: 	
Juan Gutierrez

	 
	 	COO 	 

 

  

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Exhibit A

 

Office Facility

-Office Space

-2 Conference Rooms

-3 Training Rooms

-Phones

-Computers

-Headsets

-Office Supplies

 

Human Resources

-3 Security guards

-Marketing team of 6 people

-Payroll and withholdings

-HR Director

-HR Manager

-HR Training

-HR Software

-Employee training

-Employee monitoring

 

TRAINING Services

-Sales training

-Software training

-Operations manual

 

Technology

-Custom Wholesale Distribution CRM

-Project Manager

-PBX

-T1 lines

-Auto dialers

-Complete IT department

 

Management Support

-Expertise from sales and marketing staff

-Support from COO

-Support from General ManagerUnassociated Document

Exhibit 10.14

 

ADDENDUM TO

THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED MANAGING BROKER-DEALER AGREEMENT

DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2013

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS, on or around February 28, 2013, GWG Holdings, Inc., (hereinafter "GWG") and Arque Capital, Ltd., (hereinafter "Arque") entered into the Third Amended and Restated Managing Broker-Dealer Agreement (hereinafter "Agreement"); and

 

WHEREAS, in that agreement GWG and Arque contemplated that the parties would later enter into a key accounts/national accounts and wholesale agreement.

 

NOW THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties, intending to be legally bound, agree as follows:

 

1.            Except as set forth in this Addendum: (i) all terms and conditions of the Agreement remain in full force and effect, including but not limited to the representations, warranties and covenants and indemnity and contribution provisions set forth in the Agreement and (ii) in the event of any conflict inconsistency or disagreement between the terms of the Agreement and this Addendum, the terms of this Addendum shall control and (iii) all capitalized terms not otherwise expressly defined in this Addendum shall have the same meanings ascribed to such capitalized terms in the Agreement.

 

2.             Definitions.

 

	
(a)            

	
Key Accounts/National Accounts. National Accounts shall mean those broker-dealers and/or registered investment advisers that Arque is authorized to cover and attempt to bring directly into the selling group for the $250MM GWG Renewable Secured Debentures ("RSD") offering;

 

	
(b)            

	
Arque Wholesale Members. Arque Wholesale Members shall mean those Broker Dealers and Registered Investment Advisors introduced into the GWG RSD selling group by Arque and accepted by GWG, as well as their affiliated registered representatives ("RRs") and investment advisor representatives ("IARs"), who are serviced by external and internal wholesalers employed by and are under the direct supervision of Arque's Institutional Services Division.

 

	
(c)            

	
GWG Wholesale. GWG's external and internal wholesale team members who are employees of or independent contractors associated with GWG.

 

3.           Pursuant to Section 7.6 of the Agreement, GWG and Arque agree as follows:

 

	
(a)            

	
As long as the Agreement or amendment thereto is in place, for all new National Accountrelationships introduced by Arque and accepted by GWG, Arque's Managing Broker Dealer Fee shall be equal to One Hundred Basis Points (100 bps) of, all GWG RSD sales generated from such National Accounts who become Arque Wholesale Members. Such Managing Broker Dealer Fees shall be payable as stipulated in the Agreement. In addition, beginning March 1, 2013, the parties agree that Arque shall receive a Managing Broker Dealer Fee of One Hundred Basis Points (100 bps) of any GWG RSD sales generated from Arque's retail division. At GWG's option, GWG's external and internal wholesale team will continue to cover Arque's retail RRs/IARs, although Arque's external and internal wholesale team is ready and willing to cover and support Arque's retail RRs/IARs if GWG should desire. All other compensation relating to Arque's Managing Broker Dealer Fee shall be paid in accordance with Section 7 of the Agreement.

 

  

  

  

 

	
 (b)

	
Further, pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Addendum, Arque shall have authorityand responsibility to wholesale to ONLY Arque Wholesale Members. For the purposes of this Addendum, "wholesale" as used in the sentence above shall mean the acts of (1) educating RRs and IARs on the RSD, the life settlement asset class, and GWG's business model, (2) supporting RR and IAR sales activities to their clients, (3) maintaining relationships with and supporting Arque Wholesale Member owners and due diligence officers, (4) supporting Arque Wholesale Member compliance events, and (5) providing any other reasonable support as related to GWG's RSD product as requested by Arque Wholesale Members. For RSD sales generated from Arque Wholesale Members, Arque shall be paid a wholesale commission (hereinafter "Wholesale Commission") equal to Fifty Basis Points (50 bps).

 

	
 (c)

	
Prior to making any key accounts/national accounts sales calls, Arque shall clear available broker dealers/RIAs by requesting prior written approval from GWG. Once prior written approval is granted, such National Account shall be covered under this Addendum. Pursuant to the terms of this clause, Arque would like written approval to approach the following initial list of broker dealers/RIAs:

 

	 	
(a)

	
Wedbush Securities

 

	 	
(b)

	
Crowell, Weedon & Co.

 

	 	
(c)

	
Omega One (conglomerate of RIAs in control of/with access to about $2 billion in assets.)

 

	 	
(d)

	
Lucia Securities

 

	
  (d)

	
Unless otherwise agreed to by GWG, any right to pursue broker-dealers or RIAs identified tobe covered by Arque under this Addendum shall be lost in the event Arque is unable to get a selling agreement signed by such broker dealer or RIA within nine months of last written acceptance by GWG.

 

	
  (e)

	
GWG Wholesale shall be the "official" external face and product experts for Arque Wholesale Members who are serviced by Arque's wholesale team.

 

	
  (f)

	
GWG Wholesale's internal wholesalers would be the coordination and support mechanism for all Arque Wholesale Members' needs.

 

	
  (g)

	
In exchange for being the product expert and support mechanism for Arque Wholesale Members, GWG's external and internal wholesale team shall be paid by Arque a total fee equal to Fifteen Basis Points (15 bps) of the Wholesale Commission. The allocation as to how much to pay GWG's external and internal wholesale team shall be determined exclusively by GWG.

 

	
  (h)

	
GWG will reimburse Arque for reasonable Travel & Entertainment expenses incurred by its external wholesalers to service Arque Wholesale Members as indicated in 3(b) above.

 

	
  (i)

	
This Addendum shall have a one (1) year term, renewable by mutual consent of the parties. In the event this Addendum is terminated, Arque Wholesale shall continue to receive its Wholesale Commissions for a period of one (1) year following the termination of this Addendum.

 

  

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 (j)

	
Excepting Matthew Paine and Jason Plucinak who shall each receive 100% courtesy net payout payout on any GWG RSD wholesale commissions received and paid out through Argue, all other GWG personnel associated with Argue shall be accorded a 90% net payout rate on any GWG RSD wholesale commissions received and paid out through Argue. All GWG personnel, including Matthew Paine and Jason Plucinak, shall receive standard Argue grid net payout against non-wholesale commission generated from the sale of any other securities that they sell through Argue, including but not limited to the sales of GWG's RSD to retail and other clients.

 

	
 (k)

	
For all GWG personnel associated with Argue, GWG shall pay any and all of the following: (1) E&O annual insurance premiums (whether charged monthly, quarterly, or annually), (2) fidelity bond premium (3) Email compliance service fees, (3) State and other regulatory registrations fees, (4) FINRA and SIPC fees, including but not limited to one-time FINRA beginning sign on fees, FINRA/SIPC monthly assessment (.5% of all gross production) (5) "Artisan" commission calculation fees, and (6) all other fees and expenses directly related to the GWG wholesale responsibilities, including but not limited to legal and audit costs if any. As information, these are fees charged to all registered reps and IARs at Argue. Argue shall cover all costs mentioned here for its own external and internal wholesalers, who are part of Arque's Institutional Services Division.

 

If the foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding between GWG and Argue, please so indicate in the space provided below for that purpose, and return one of the signed copies of this letter agreement to GWG in the envelope provided for this purpose, whereupon this letter agreement shall constitute a binding agreement between us.

 

	 	 	Very truly yours,	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	GWG HOLDINGS, INC.	 
	 	 	a Delaware corporation	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	By:  	/s/ John R. Sabes	 
	 	 	 	John R. Sabes CFO	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	AGREED AND ACCEPTED:	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	
ARQUE CAPITAL, LTD.

a California Corporation

	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	By:	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 
Michael C. Ning, President & CEO

	 	 	 	 

 

 

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