Item 1. Description of Business.
Business Development
The Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada on February 2, 2007. We are a development stage company. From our inception through the Reverse Acquisition, we had not generated any revenues, and our operations had been limited to organizational, start-up, and capital formation activities. Prior to the Reverse Acquisition, we had no employees other than our officers, who were also our Directors.
The Company intended to develop various teas and herbal blends.
Following the Reverse Acquisition, on February 14, 2008, we merged with and into our newly formed wholly owned subsidiary, BroadWebAsia, Inc., a Delaware corporation, for the purpose of changing our domicile from Nevada to Delaware and changing our name from ‘‘World of Tea Inc.’’ to ‘‘BroadWebAsia, Inc.’’
Products Prior to the Reverse Acquisition
The Company intended to develop various tea and herbal blends which offer consumers high health and flavor qualities. The Company intended to differentiate its tea products based on four main
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qualities: (i) the taste and aroma qualities of long leaf tea; (ii) the extraction qualities of the novel nylon mesh pyramid tea bag; (iii) luxury packaging design and gift sets; and (iv) the health qualities of its various tea types and blends.
The Company intended to introduce a high quality tea product line, which will offer long leaf tea containing outstanding aroma and taste qualities. The long leaf tea provides outstanding qualities in terms of aroma and taste compared to the regular commodity tea which is commonly sold in food stores. The Company would offer a broad range of gourmet long leaf tea blends, including black tea, green tea, white tea, yellow tea, oolong tea, herbal tea, and fruit tea, which all offer health qualities and favorable taste.
The tea blends would be carefully packaged in special and high quality nylon mesh pyramid tea bags for personal convenience or in loose tea packaging suitable for tea pots. The three-dimensional, pyramidal shape allows more room for long tea leaves to expand while steeping, enabling the full tea flavor to be easily extracted, and because the bags are made of nylon mesh instead of paper, they do not leave undesirable flavors (such as paper) in the tea. Each pyramid tea bag would be individually finished with a string and tag. The consumer would have a clear view of the premium leaf tea as it expands and infuses as it is being brewed. Each pyramid tea bag would have more room for the long tea leaves, thus containing tea leaves sufficient for a full mug instead of a cup.
The Company intended to package its products in a wide range of gift and sample sets. The Company believed that the increasing awareness of high quality tea and its health benefits and the novel design of the Company’s pyramid tea bag and other product packaging would make the Company’s products an ideal gift for holidays and special occasions or for visits of friends and family. The gift sets would offer a wide selection of teas, tea blends, and herbal and fruit infusions. This wide selection would allow people to acquaint a new world of qualities and flavors, which is so different from the regular tea on the food store shelf. The sample sets would be designed to fit also the requirements of the foodservice industry, mainly restaurants and hotels that need a large selection to offer their customers. Luxury gift sets would be offered in various designs and sizes. The luxury high class design would make the products attractive both for the foodservice market (restaurants, tea houses, coffee shops, hotels, catering services, etc.) and the retail market (specialty tea stores, health products stores, food chains, grocery stores, etc.).
The Company intended to explore continuously for tea blends that offer health benefits in order to meet the increasing consumer awareness of the potential effects of tea on health and increasing consumer demand for tea blends that provide such benefits.
The Company intended to develop specifications for its products and retain a professional tea blending and packaging company to develop, manufacture, and package products based on such specifications. The Company had not yet entered into any agreements with any such tea blending and packaging company. The Company might thereafter have developed additional products by engaging consultants having expertise in tea blending. The Company would identify market needs in terms of flavors and preferred blends through its sales force and market surveys, and implement this information in proprietary blends and formulations developed by the consultants it might retain at such time.
Market
The Company intended to focus on consumers in the United Kingdom. Initially, the Company intended to market its products to foodservice businesses in order to establish the Company’s brand name. After the Company’s brand name is established, the Company intended to sell its products to the retail market, focusing initially on specialty tea and health products stores. Once the Company’s positioning in the retail market is established, the Company intended to expand sales to large food chains and other grocery stores, and start selling to other European markets.
Foodservice Market.
Initially, the Company would market its products to foodservice businesses operating in the United Kingdom. Foodservice businesses provide meals for consumption away from home such as in restaurants, fast food, pubs, hotels, and leisure venues. The Company believed that
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luxury restaurants and hotels would find the Company’s products attractive for their customers who look for high quality tea and appreciate the aroma quality of long leaf tea. These customers would also appreciate the novel pyramid-shape packaging that will differentiate the restaurant or hotel from the regular foodservice establishments and may carry the restaurant or hotel name on the packaging aside the Company’s brand name.
The Company intended to sell its products to foodservice businesses through distributors specialized in this industry. The Company intended to identify distributors who do not carry tea in their product line or are not satisfied with their tea supplier due to a limited product line, non-exclusivity or any other reason that does not allow the distributor to enjoy a competitive advantage. The Company intended to attract these distributors by offering a wide product line with novel items, an option to add the customer’s own label on the product packaging, and a limited exclusivity for their territory.
Additionally, the Company intended initially to approach key prospective clients, such as luxury restaurants and hotels, in order to push the Company’s products and generate initial sales for the distributors. In addition, the Company intended to approach foodservice chains, such as hotel chains, restaurant chains, tea & coffee shop chains, etc. The Company intended to reach into a frame agreement at the chain level, and let the distributor take care of the branch level.
Website Users.
The Company would also establish a website to sell its tea products directly to consumers. Ultimately, the Company considered the consumer market as its primary target market. The Company intended to generate sales to private consumers through its planned website, which would include an on-line catalog enabling customers to submit orders from the website. Private consumers would be able to send on-line payments, while commercial customers will be billed according to any commercial agreement that they may enter into with the Company.
Attracting prospective customers to the website would take place through web marketing activities. Marketing efforts would take place through advertising in search engines and on-line directories as well as participation in blogs, talkbacks, and discussion groups. The website would include an informative section regarding specialty tea and its health benefits that would attract consumers who are interested in such information.
Once prospective customers reach the website, the Company intended to attract and retain clients through a loyalty program as the primary marketing tool, which would occasionally send discount coupons to the program members in order to encourage their purchasing. The loyalty program would manage three membership levels: silver membership for sporadic customers, gold membership for routine customers, and platinum membership for intensive customers. The program would encourage new members to register by offering them free sample kits with multiple blends. Registered members would receive by e-mail discount coupons for their next purchases. Members who purchase through the website on a regular basis would receive by e-mail discount coupons for increasing their purchases and for trying new blends.
The Company intended to retain a web development firm, which would be responsible for developing and maintaining the Company’s website, and an internet service provider, which would provide hosting services.
Marketing Strategy.
The Company’s marketing strategy would rely on the following guidelines:
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Brand recognition. Developing a brand name was the Company’s key objective, which was a key factor in the Company’s competitiveness and consequently in pricing and gross margin.
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Health oriented positioning. The growing market segment of health oriented consumers who acknowledge the health benefits of tea and herbal infusions is the Company’s primary target market. The health benefits orientation of the Company’s product line would have been a key differentiator in the general tea market.
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High class design. High end packaging adds a perceived value to the product. The Company intended to put special effort into designing high class packaging that would increase attractiveness to the foodservice market and shelf visibility in the retail market.
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The tea bags would be individually boxed, in well designed miniature boxes, wrapped inside in aluminum foil to preserve freshness and exteriorly in clear cellophane to portray richness. In addition, the Company intended to promote the nylon mesh pyramid tea bag as a main competitive advantage compared to the regular paper tea bag.
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Distribution channels. Maximizing the market potential requires assistance of distribution channels that specialize in each market segment, e.g. foodservices, specialty tea stores, health stores, grocery stores, etc. The Company intended to establish a distribution infrastructure that would gradually engage distributors and wholesalers to cover all market segments and all geographical markets nationwide. Initially the president of the Company would make all efforts to open up these doors, and if and when the Company generated sales, it would look to hire an employee to continue leading the sales process.
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Direct marketing. Direct sales to consumers are important to maintain relationships and understand the market needs and trends, as well as to generate high margin revenues. The Company intended to engage in direct sales and direct marketing to consumers through its website. The website would be both informative on the tea industry as well as include shared experiences of satisfied customers of the Company. We intended to market our website by placing banner advertising on health related sites in the UK. We would consider advertising free shipments of tea and in this manner will attract visitors to our site. Once at our website, visitors would have to register with their name and address in order to receive a free sample of our product. We would ship the product to customers with a brochure on our offerings. The brochure would be a high end, colorful booklet showing our offerings. We would include our phone number in order to take orders from customers.
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Additional Potential Markets
Retail Market.
The Company intended, if and when it establishes its brand name, to market its products to the retail market, focusing initially on specialty tea and health products stores. Sales to the specialty retail market will be developed through dedicated distributors. The Company would provide its retail customers with selling aids such as dedicated stands, catalogs, and posters. The Company’s website would include an electronic map and directions to all stores selling the Company’s products. If and when sales of the Company’s products reached a substantial volume, the Company intended to start advertising in the media in order to expedite sales growth, strengthen the brand name, and encourage consumers to request that their retailer begin carrying the Company’s products.
Grocery Stores.
If and when the Company’s position in the retail market was established, the Company intended to market its products to the large food chains, other grocery stores, and other mass retailers.
International Sales.
The Company intended to market its activities to other countries within and without the European Union, commencing in 2009. The Company intended to reach such markets through the following marketing strategy: (1) focus on the European market through national distributors; (2) establish a business partnership with market leaders in food retail, which enjoy a nationwide distribution network, but currently have no tea product line; and (3) design product lines adapted to local European markets’ standards and preferences.
In 2009, the Company intended to start international marketing activities in the European Union by establishing a distribution infrastructure based on having a national distributor in each country. The Company would offer its distributors and business partners dedicated products and blends adapted to their local market. The Company would support its distributors and business partners in their local market to identify consumer preferences typical to their country or region. The distributor would have a full responsibility for such distributor’s market, including local marketing activities. In addition, the Company intended to establish a business partnership with leading providers to food retailers who operate a national distribution force and do not have a tea product line in their offering.
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Planned Operations
Sourcing, Production, and Packaging.
The Company intended to outsource all sourcing, production, and packaging activities to third parties. The Company has not entered into any agreements with such third parties.
Initially the Company intended to retain a United Kingdom packager/blender in order to minimize the Company’s set-up costs. Many tea blending and packaging companies in the United Kingdom offer numerous blends of various teas, herbs, and fruits. The Company intended to design its product portfolio initially based on the existing blender’s offering. Since there are no production set-up costs, the Company expected to manage flexible on-demand sourcing with no quantity commitments, unless a cost reduction is gained. The Company expected to start working with such a blender on a quarterly production cycle basis and gradually move to a monthly production cycle basis when quantities increase in order to reduce inventory costs. If and when the Company established operations and generates adequate revenues, the Company intended to search for a lower cost blending and packaging provider in China, India, Sri Lanka, and other countries located in East Asia.
Once the packaging design is ready to produce, the Company expected that its blending and packaging provider would take the operational responsibility for the packaging based on its economy-of-scale and provide the Company packaged products. Since packaging production requires a set-up cost, the Company would have to order minimum quantities of each package in order to keep the packaging cost low. The Company intended to reach an arrangement with its blender that all packaging costs will be included in the product cost. Such an arrangement would probably require the Company to submit minimum quantity commitments.
Distribution and Order Fulfillment.
The Company intended to retain distributors specializing in each of its target market segments, e.g. foodservices, specialty tea stores, health stores, grocery stores, etc. The Company intended to outsource all logistics activities to a third-party logistics (TPL) provider, which would take the responsibility for order fulfillment by shipping products from the blender’s storage to the Company’s distributors. The Company has not entered into any agreements with any such third-party logistics provider.
The Company expected that inventory would be kept at the blender’s warehouse, which would manage minimum quantity in order to avoid shortage. If the blender did not provide storage services, the Company would engage with a TPL provider that will take this responsibility.
The Company intended to fully rely on its TPL provider for shipping products to the Company’s future distributors and for coordinating with the distributor’s warehouse for time of arrival. The Company intended to take the responsibility for order intake from the distributors and forwarding the orders to the blender for arranging the product shipment and to the TPL provider for fulfillment under the Company’s monitoring.
For consumer orders taken through the Company’s website, the Company also intended to engage with a TPL provider, but expects that the Royal Mail (ParcelForce) would offer the most attractive shipping cost. In any case, consumer order fulfillment would be prepared by the blender’s warehouse based on orders taken and forwarded by the Company. If and when the Company developed international sales, international orders would be shipped by an international TPL provider directly from the blender to the national distributor.
Competition and Competitive Advantage
The tea industry is highly fragmented and competitive. The Company was competing directly or indirectly with the following companies: Tetley, Lipton, PG tips, Typhoo Tea, and others. Many of our competitors have a substantially greater market presence, name recognition, financial distribution, marketing, and other resources than we had.
The Company intended to achieve a competitive advantage by differentiating its products from those of its competitors based on three primary qualities: (i) tea product line based on long leaf tea, which is more tasteful and enjoyable; (ii) novel, large, pyramid-shaped tea bags made of silken nylon
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mesh that allow enveloping the long leaf tea, while avoiding the side taste that accompanies the regular small paper tea bags; and (iii) selection of tea and herbal blends that provide health benefits.
Governmental Regulations
We may be subject to a variety of laws and regulations relating to, among other things, product safety/restrictions. We believe that we were in compliance with such laws and have no liabilities thereunder.
Employees
We had no employees other than our executive officers. All functions including development, strategy, negotiations, and administration were being provided by our executive officers on a voluntary basis.
Certain Risks and Uncertainties Regarding our Business Prior to the Reverse Acquisition.
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Risks to our business prior to the Reverse Acquisition include but are not limited to those set forth below. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects for growth would likely have suffered. As a result, investors could lose all or part of their investments. Moreover, our business following the Reverse Acquisition is subject to a variety of other risks and uncertainties, which are set forth in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 12, 2008.
Risk Factors Relating to Our Company Prior to the Reverse Acquisition
1. We were a development stage company with no operating history and may never be able to effectuate our business plan or achieve any revenues or profitability; at this stage of our business, even with our good faith efforts, potential investors have a high probability of losing their entire investment.
We were subject to all of the risks inherent in the establishment of a new business enterprise. Our Company was established on February 2, 2007. Although we had begun initial investigations into the tea industry, we may not be able to successfully effectuate our business. There could be no assurance that we would ever achieve any revenues or profitability. The revenue and income potential of our proposed business and operations was unproven, and the lack of operating history made it difficult to evaluate the future prospects of our business. We had not generated any revenues prior to the Reverse Acquisition. Accordingly, our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered in establishing a new business, and we were a highly speculative venture involving significant financial risk.
2.
We expected losses in the future because we have no revenue to offset losses.
As we had no current revenue, we were expecting losses over the next 12 months because we did not yet have any revenues to offset the expenses associated with the development and implementation of our business plan. We could not guarantee that we would ever be successful in generating revenues in the future. We recognize that if we were unable to generate revenues, we would not be able to earn profits or continue operations. We had no history upon which to base any assumption as to the likelihood that we would prove successful, and we could provide investors with no assurance that we would generate any operating revenues or ever achieve profitable operations.
3. We received an audit qualification opinion from our registered independent auditors, indicating their inability to obtain a discussion or evaluation from one of our outside legal counsel pertaining to any pending or threatened litigation.
One of our outside legal counsel prior to the Reverse Acquisition failed to respond to our request that he provide a letter to our registered independent auditors regarding material litigation, claims, and assessments, as well as pending or threatened litigation, claims, and assessments with
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respect to which such outside counsel may have been engaged. Due to such failure, our registered independent auditors were unable to obtain a discussion or evaluation from such outside legal counsel pertaining to any pending or threatened litigation and, accordingly, have qualified their audit report by excepting the effects of any adjustments as might have been determined to be necessary had they been able to obtain such discussion or evaluation.
4.
We received a going concern opinion from our registered independent auditors, indicating the possibility that we may not be able to continue to operate.
We had not yet established an ongoing source of revenues. Furthermore, we anticipated generating losses for the next 12 months. These factors raised substantial doubt that we would be able to continue operations as a going concern, and our registered independent auditors included an explanatory paragraph regarding this uncertainty in their report on our financial statements for the period February 2, 2007, (inception) to December 31, 2007. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our generating cash flow sufficient to fund operations and reducing operating expenses. Our business strategy may not be successful in addressing these issues. If we cannot continue as a going concern, our stockholders may lose their entire investment in us.
5.
We planned to rely on third parties to develop, produce, package, sell, and market our products, which may place us at a competitive disadvantage.
We had no products or operations. We intended to retain third-party firms for the following purposes: we would locate and enter into agreements with one or more professional tea blending and packaging companies to develop our tea products and thereafter to produce our products; we would also locate and enter into agreements with distributors for the sale of our products and with third party logistics providers to provide order fulfillment services; and we would also locate and enter into an agreement with a web developer for the purpose of developing our website for direct sales of our products to consumers.
As a result, we expected to be dependent on any such third-party firms that we might engage. There was no assurance that we would be able to enter into contracts with any such third parties on terms that are favorable to us. If the third party breached the contract or did not have the ability, for financial or other reasons, to perform its obligations, we might not have been able to implement our business plan. Our reliance on third parties might have placed us at a competitive disadvantage.
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We depended upon our key personnel and they would be difficult to replace.
We believed that our success would depend on the continued employment of our senior management team. If one or more members of our senior management team were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, our business would suffer. As we grow, we may expand our employee base to manage such growth. Competition for personnel, particularly for senior management personnel and employees with technical and sales expertise, is intense. The success of our business is dependent upon retaining and hiring suitable personnel.
7.
If we were unable to obtain additional funding, our business operations would be harmed. Even if we did obtain additional financing, our existing stockholders could suffer substantial dilution.
We expected to require additional funds to implement the business plan we had prior to the Reverse Acquisition. We anticipated that we will require a minimum of $305,000 to fund our planned activities for the next 12 months. Our inability to raise the required capital would restrict our ability to grow and might have reduced our ability to continue to conduct our business operations. If we were unable to obtain necessary financing, we would likely be required to curtail our development plans, which could have caused us to become dormant. Any additional equity financing might have involved substantial dilution to our then existing stockholders.
8.
We may not have been able to compete with current and potential competitors, some of whom had greater resources and experience than we did.
The tea industry is intensely competitive. We did not have the resources to compete with our existing competitors or with any new competitors. We competed with many providers of tea products
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which had significantly greater personnel, financial, and managerial resources than we did. This competition from other companies with greater resources and reputations may have resulted in our failure to maintain or expand our business.
9. Our executive officers owned a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, and other stockholders may not have been able to influence control of the company or decision making by management of the company.
Immediately prior to the Reverse Acquisition, our executive officers owned, in the aggregate, 52.6% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, our executive officers had substantial control over all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval including the following matters: election of our Board of Directors; removal of any of our Directors; amendment of our Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; and adoption of measures that could delay or prevent a change in control or impede a merger, takeover, or other business combination involving us. Our other stockholders may have found that the corporate decisions influenced by our executive officers were inconsistent with the interests of other stockholders. In addition, our other stockholders may not have been able to change the Directors and officers, and were accordingly subject to the risk that management could not manage the affairs of the company as well as other candidates for such positions might be able.
Risks Relating to Our Common Shares Prior to the Reverse Acquisition
10. We may, in the future, have issued additional common shares, which would reduce investors’ percent of ownership and might have diluted our share value.
Our Articles of Incorporation authorized the issuance of 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of which 3,800,000 shares were issued and outstanding, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, of which no shares were issued and outstanding. The future issuance of common stock may have resulted in substantial dilution in the percentage of our common stock held by our then existing stockholders. We may have valued any common stock issued in the future on an arbitrary basis. The issuance of common stock for future services or acquisitions or other corporate actions may have had the effect of diluting the value of the shares held by our investors, and might have had an adverse effect on any trading market for our common stock.
11. Our common shares were subject to the ‘‘Penny Stock’’ Rules of the SEC and the trading market in our securities was limited, which made transactions in our stock cumbersome and may have reduced the value of an investment in our stock.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted Rule 15g-9 which establishes the definition of a ‘‘penny stock,’’ for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require:
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that a broker or dealer approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks; and
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the broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to be purchased.
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In order to approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must:
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obtain financial information and investment experience objectives of the person; and
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make a reasonable determination that the transactions in penny stocks are suitable for that person and the person has sufficient knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of transactions in penny stocks.
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The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the Commission relating to the penny stock market, which, in highlight form:
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sets forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability determination; and
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that the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the investor prior to the transaction.
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Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the ‘‘penny stock’’ rules. This may have made it more difficult for investors to dispose of our common stock and caused a decline in the market value of our stock.
Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.
12. There was no current active trading market for our securities and if an active trading market did not develop, purchasers of our securities would have difficulty selling their shares.
Our common stock had been eligible to be traded on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board since November 20, 2007, under the ticker symbol WLTE. There has been no active trading in the Company’s securities and an active trading market in our securities may not develop or, if developed, may not be sustained. If for any reason our common stock were delisted from the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, or an active public trading market does not otherwise develop, holders of our common stock would have difficulty selling their common stock should they desire to do so.
13. Because we did not intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock, our stockholders would not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them.
We intended to retain any future earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business. We did not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Unless we paid dividends, our stockholders would not be able to receive a return on their shares unless the value of such shares appreciated and they sold them. There was no assurance that stockholders would be able to sell shares when desired.
14. We may have issued shares of preferred stock in the future that may adversely impact the rights of holders of our common stock.
Our Articles of Incorporation authorized us to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of ‘‘blank check’’ preferred stock. Accordingly, our Board of Directors had the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred shares, as well as the authority to issue such shares, without further stockholder approval. As a result, our Board of Directors could have authorized the issuance of a series of preferred stock that would grant to holders preferred rights to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividends before dividends are declared to holders of our common stock, and the right to the redemption of such preferred shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of the common stock. To the extent that we might have issued such additional shares of preferred stock, the rights of holders of our common stock could have been impaired thereby, including, without limitation, dilution of their ownership interests in us. In addition, shares of preferred stock could have been issued with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control or make removal of management more difficult, which may not be in the interest of holders of our common stock.