Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Debt and Interest

v3.3.1.900
Debt and Interest
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Debt and Interest
8. Debt and Interest
 
Debt
 
Long-term debt to Israel Discount Bank (“IDB”) and National Securities Corporation (“NSC”) consists of the following as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014:
 
 
 
As of December 31,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
($ in thousands)
 
2015
 
2014
 
Interest Rate
 
Maturity
 
IDB Note
 
$
14,009
 
$
14,009
 
 
2.25
%
 
Feb - 2017
 
NSC Note
 
 
10,000
 
 
-
 
 
8.00
%
 
Mar - 2018
 
Total notes payable, long-term
 
 
24,009
 
 
14,009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Less: Discount on notes payable
 
 
835
 
 
6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total notes payable, long-term, net
 
$
23,174
 
$
14,003
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IDB Note
 
On February 13, 2014, the Company executed a promissory note in favor of IDB in the amount of $15.0 million (the “IDB Note”). The Company borrowed $14 million against this note and used it to repay its prior loan from Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. The Company may request revolving advances under the IDB Note in a minimum amount of $100,000 (or the remaining amount of the undrawn balance under the IDB Note if such amount is less than $100,000). All amounts advanced under the IDB Note are due in full at the earlier of: (i) February 27, 2017, as extended or (ii) on the IDB’s election following the occurrence and continuation of an event of default. The unpaid principal amount of each advance shall bear interest at a rate per annum equal to the rate payable on the Company’s money market account plus a margin of 150 basis points. The interest rate at December 31, 2015 was 2.25%. The IDB Note contains various representations and warranties customary for financings of this type.
 
The obligations of the Company under the IDB Note are collateralized by a security interest in, a general lien upon, and a right of set-off against the Company’s money market account of $15.0 million pursuant to the Assignment and Pledge of Money Market Account, dated as of February 13, 2014 (the “Pledge Agreement”). Pursuant to the Pledge Agreement, the Bank may, after the occurrence and continuation of an event of default under the IDB Note, recover from the money market account all amounts outstanding under the IDB Note. The Pledge Agreement contains various representations, warranties, and covenants customary for pledge agreements of this type.  
 
The Company will default on the IDB Note if, among other things, it fails to pay outstanding principal or interest when due. Following the occurrence of an event of default under the IDB Note, the Bank may: (i) declare the entire outstanding principal balance of the IDB Note, together with all accrued interest and other sums due under the IDB Note, to be immediately due and payable; (ii) exercise its right of setoff against any money, funds, credits or other property of any nature in possession of, under control or custody of, or on deposit with IDB; (iii) terminate the commitments of IDB; and (iv) liquidate the money market account to reduce the Company’s obligations to IDB.
 
Effective March 31, 2015, the Company extended the maturity date of the IDB Note to February 27, 2017. At December 31, 2015, the Company had $14.0 million outstanding under its promissory note with IDB. The Company applied the 10% cash flow test pursuant to ASC 470 to calculate the difference between the present value of the amended IDB Note’s cash flows and the present value of the original remaining cash flow and concluded that the results didn't exceed the 10% factor, the debt modification is not considered substantially different and did not apply extinguishment accounting, rather accounting for the modification on a prospective basis pursuant to ASC 470. The Company only pays interest on the IDB Note through maturity.
 
NSC Note
 
In March 2015, the Company closed a private placement of a promissory note for $10 million through National Securities Corporation’s NSC Biotech Venture Fund I, LLC (the “NSC Note”). The Company’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and the Company’s Executive Vice President, Strategic Development, are Co-Portfolio Managers and Partners of Opus Point Partners Management, LLC (“OPPM”), which owns approximately 4.7% of National Holding’s Corporation, Inc. the parent of National Securities Inc. The Company used the proceeds from the NSC Note to acquire medical technologies and products. The NSC Note matures in 36 months, provided that during the first 24 months the Company can extend the maturity date by six months. No principal amount is due for the first 24 months (or the first 30 months if the maturity date is extended). Thereafter, the NSC Note will be repaid at the rate of 1/12 of the principal amount per month for a period of 12 months. Interest on the note is 8% payable quarterly during the first 24 months (or the first 30 months if the note is extended) and monthly during the last 12 months. National Securities Corporation (“NSC”), a wholly owned subsidiary of National Holdings, Inc., acted as the sole placement agent for the NSC Note. The Company paid NSC a fee of $0.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2015, in connection with the NSC Note. At December 31, 2015, the Company recorded the fee as a discount to notes payable, long-term on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and amortized it over the life of the NSC Note. The effective interest rate on the NSC Note was approximately 14.0%.
 
The NSC Note was amended and restated on July 29, 2015 to provide that any time a Fortress subsidiary receives from the Company any proceeds from the NSC Note, the Company may, in its sole discretion, cause the Fortress Company to issue to NSC Biotech Venture Fund I LLC a new promissory note (the “Amended NSC Note”) on identical terms as the NSC Note, giving effect to the passage of time with respect to maturity. The Amended NSC Note will equal the dollar amount of the Fortress Company’s share of the NSC Note and reduce the Company’s obligations under the NSC Note by such amount. The Company will guarantee the Amended NSC Note until the Fortress Company either completes an initial public offering of its securities or raises sufficient equity capital so that it has cash equal to five times the Amended NSC Note. As of December 31, 2015, the Company transferred $2.8 million and $3.0 million, including debt discount, of the NSC Note to Checkpoint and Avenue, respectively, representing Checkpoint’s and Avenue’s pro rata share of the NSC Note. The Company applied the 10% cash flow test pursuant to ASC 470 to calculate the difference between the present value of the amended NSC’s Note’s cash flows and the present value of the original remaining cash flow and concluded that the results didn't exceed the 10% factor, the debt modification is not considered substantially different and did not apply extinguishment accounting, rather accounting for the modification on a prospective basis pursuant to ASC 470.
 
In connection with the transfer of NSC Note proceeds to a Fortress Company, NSC will receive a warrant to purchase the Fortress Company’s stock equal to 25% of the NSC Note proceeds transferred to that Fortress Company divided by the lowest price at which the Fortress Company sells its equity in its first third party financing. The warrants issued will have a term of 10 years and an exercise price equal to the par value of the Fortress Company’s common stock.
 
On October 30, 2015, Checkpoint granted 139,592 warrants to NSC after an initial closing of the Offering on September 30, 2015. The warrants are immediately vested with a ten-year term, and are exercisable at $0.0001 per share. The warrant upon issuance in October 2015, was valued at approximately $0.6 million. The initial fair value of $0.2 million was recorded as debt discount and will be amortized over the remaining life of the note. The incremental fair value at the time of issuance of $0.4 million was recorded as change in fair value of subsidiary’s warrant liabilities on the Consolidated Statement of Operations. Upon the grant of the warrant, the Company no longer guaranteed Checkpoint’s NSC Note.
 
On October 31, 2015, Avenue recorded approximately $114,000 of debt discount related to the Contingently Issuable Warrants issued in connection with NSC Note, based on its fair value (see Note 5). The debt discount will be amortized over the life of the note.
 
Hercules Debt Agreement
 
In August 2012, the Company entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (“Hercules”) pursuant to which the Company issued Hercules a $15 million note (the “Hercules Note”) and received net proceeds of $ 14.7 million. The loan bore interest at a rate per annum equal to the greater of (i) 9.25% or (ii) 9.25% plus the sum of the prevailing prime rate minus 3.25%. The loan was to mature on March 1, 2016. The loan required interest-only payments for the initial 12 months and thereafter requires repayment of the principal balance with interest in 30 monthly installments. The Company had the option to extend the interest-only period for an additional six months, contingent upon the Company’s achievement of certain clinical development milestones. In connection with the Loan Agreement, the Company granted first priority liens and the loan was collateralized by substantially all of the Company’s assets (exclusive of intellectual property). The Loan Agreement also contains representations and warranties by the Company and Hercules and indemnification provisions in favor of Hercules and customary covenants (including limitations on other indebtedness, liens, acquisitions, investments and dividends, but no financial covenants), and events of default (including payment defaults, breaches of covenants following any applicable cure period, a material impairment in the perfection or priority of Hercules’ security interest or in the collateral, and events relating to bankruptcy or insolvency). Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, Hercules had the right to participate, in an amount of up to $2,000,000, in subsequent private placements of our equity securities at the same terms and conditions, including price, as purchases by other investors. In connection with the Loan Agreement, the Company issued to Hercules a fully-vested, seven-year warrant (the “Warrant”) to purchase 73,009 shares of its Common Stock at an exercise price of $5.65 per share and granted to Hercules certain “piggyback” registration rights with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrant.
 
The fair value of the Warrant was calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions: volatility of 87.2%, an expected term equal to the contractual seven-year life of the Warrant, a risk-free interest rate of 1.1% and no dividend yield. The Company recorded the fair value of the Warrant of approximately $323,000 as equity and as a discount to the carrying value of the loan. Also, upon full repayment or maturity of the loan, Hercules is due a payment of 2.65% of the loan, or $398,000, which is recorded as a discount to the loan and as a long-term liability. Additionally, the Company incurred fees related to the Loan Agreement and reimbursed Hercules for costs incurred by them related to the loan aggregating $218,000 and which is reflected as a discount to the carrying value of the loan. The Company amortized these loan discounts totaling $939,000 to interest expense over the term of the loan using the effective interest rate method, which approximates 12.3%.
 
On February 13, 2014, the Company repaid the Hercules Note in full.  Early Payment of the Hercules Note was $14.0 million, consisting of principal of $13.2 million, end of term charge of $ 0.4 million, a prepayment fee of $0.3 million and interest of $0.1 million.
 
Interest Expense
 
Interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $1.5 million, $1.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, interest expense related to the Hercules Note was nil, $0.9 million and $1.8 million, respectively, including nil, $0.4 million and $0.4 million related to accretion of the debt discount, and nil, $43,000, and $20,000 related to the amortization of financing costs, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2015, interest expense incurred on the IDB Note was $0.3 million, and $5,000 related to amortization of financing costs. For the year ended December 31, 2014, interest expense incurred on the IDB Note was $0.3 million, and $4,000 related to amortization of financing costs. For the year ended December 31, 2015, interest expense incurred on the NSC Note was $0.7 million, and $0.3 million related to amortization of financing costs.
 
The following table shows the details of interest expense for all debt arrangements during the periods presented. Interest expense includes contractual interest and amortization of the debt discount and amortization of fees represents fees associated with loan transaction costs, amortized over the life of the loan:
 
 
 
For the Years Ended December 31,
 
($ in thousands)
 
2015
 
2014
 
2013
 
IDB Note
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest
 
$
314
 
$
292
 
$
-
 
Accretion of debt discount
 
 
5
 
 
4
 
 
-
 
Total IDB Note
 
 
319
 
 
296
 
 
-
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NSC Debt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest
 
 
690
 
 
-
 
 
-
 
Accretion of debt discount
 
 
309
 
 
-
 
 
-
 
Total NSC Debt
 
 
999
 
 
-
 
 
-
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ovamed Manufacturing Agreement
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest
 
 
166
 
 
154
 
 
136
 
Total Ovamed
 
 
166
 
 
154
 
 
136
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hercules Debt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest (1)
 
 
-
 
 
845
 
 
1,767
 
Amortization of fees
 
 
-
 
 
43
 
 
20
 
Total Hercules Debt
 
 
-
 
 
888
 
 
1,787
 
Total Interest Expense
 
$
1,484
 
$
1,338
 
$
1,923
 
 
(1)
Interest expense related to the Company’s loan with Hercules was $0.8 million and $1.7 million, including $0.4 million and $0.3 million related to accretion of the debt discount for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 respectively.