form14a.htm
UNITED
STATES
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SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
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Washington,
D.C. 20549
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SCHEDULE
14A
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(Rule
14a-101)
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Proxy
Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )
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Filed
by the Registrant x
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Filed
by a Party other than the Registrant o
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Check
the appropriate box:
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x
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Preliminary
Proxy Statement
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Confidential,
for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule
14a-6(e)(2))
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o
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Definitive
Proxy Statement
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o
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Definitive
Additional Materials
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o
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Soliciting
Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12
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Aspyra,
Inc.
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(Name
of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
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(Name
of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the
Registrant)
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Payment
of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
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x
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No
fee required.
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o
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Fee
computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and
0-11.
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(1)
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Title
of each class of securities to which transaction
applies:
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(2)
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Aggregate
number of securities to which transaction applies:
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(3)
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Per
unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to
Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (set forth the amount on which the filing fee is
calculated and state how it was determined):
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(4)
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Proposed
maximum aggregate value of transaction:
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(5)
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Total
fee paid:
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o
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Fee
paid previously with preliminary materials.
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o
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Check
box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule
0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid
previously. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number,
or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.
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(1)
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Amount
Previously Paid:
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(2)
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Form,
Schedule or Registration Statement No.:
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(3)
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Filing
Party:
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(4)
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Date
Filed:
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Aspyra, Inc.
26115-A
Mureau Road
Calabasas,
CA 91302
April ,
2009
Dear
Shareholder:
We
cordially invite you to attend our 2009 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be
held at 10:00 a.m., Pacific Time, on Friday, June 11, 2009, at the
Company’s offices at 26115-A Mureau Road, Calabasas, California
91302.
Enclosed
are the Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement and a proxy card relating to
the Annual Meeting which we urge you to read carefully. Also enclosed is the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2008.
Please
use this opportunity to take part in our affairs by voting on the business to
come before the Annual Meeting. If you are a record holder of our Common Stock
at the close of business on May 1, 2009 you are eligible to vote on these
matters, either by attending the Annual Meeting in person or by proxy. It is
important that your shares be voted, whether or not you plan to attend the
Annual Meeting, to ensure the presence of a quorum. Therefore, please complete, date,
sign, and return the accompanying proxy card in the enclosed postage-paid
envelope. Properly executed proxy cards received by the Company prior to
the Annual Meeting will be voted in accordance with the instructions indicated
on such cards. Because mail delays occur frequently, it is important that the
enclosed proxy card be returned well in advance of the Annual Meeting.
Submitting the proxy card does NOT deprive you of your right to attend the
Annual Meeting and vote your shares in person for the matters acted on at the
Annual Meeting.
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Very
truly yours,
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By:
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/s/ John
Mutch |
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John
Mutch
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Chairman
of the Board
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ASPYRA,
INC.
26115-A
Mureau Road
Calabasas,
CA 91302
NOTICE
OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
To
Be Held June 11, 2009
To the
Shareholders of
Aspyra, Inc.
Notice is
hereby given that the 2009 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Aspyra, Inc.
(the “Company” or “Aspyra”) will be held at the Company’s offices at 26115-A
Mureau Road, Calabasas, California 91302, on Friday, June 11, 2009, at
10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, for the following purposes:
1.
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To
elect eight (8) directors to our Board of Directors to serve until
the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders and until their successors are
elected and qualified. The following individuals are the nominees for
election as director:
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John
Mutch
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Lawrence
S. Schmid
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Robert
S. Fogerson, Jr.
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Norman
R. Cohen
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James
Zierick
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C.
Ian Sym-Smith
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Jeffrey
Tumbleson
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Rodney
W. Schutt
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2.
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To
approve the potential issuance of up to 9,129,033 shares of the Company’s
Common Stock (issuable upon the conversion of $1,000,000 principal amount
convertible promissory notes and the exercise of warrants for 5,903,226
shares of Common Stock) at a price below the current book value issued in
connection with a private placement conducted in
February 2009.
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3.
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To
approve an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Articles of
Incorporation in order to increase the total number of authorized shares
of Common Stock from 40,000,000 shares to 75,000,000
shares.
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4.
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To
ratify the appointment of BDO Seidman, LLP as the Company’s independent
registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2009.
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5.
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To
amend the Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan to increase the aggregate
number of shares that may be issued pursuant to the Company’s 2005 Equity
Incentive Plan from 1,290,875 to 3,040,875.
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6.
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To
consider and transact such other business as may properly be brought
before the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement
thereof.
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These
proposals are more fully described in the accompanying Proxy Statement.
Financial and other information concerning the Company is contained in the
enclosed Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2008. We urge you to read these materials
carefully.
Pursuant to
rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, you may access a copy
of the proxy materials and the Company's annual report on Form 10-K at
www.aspyra.com.
Only
shareholders of record at the close of business on May 1, 2009, the Record
Date, are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any
continuation, adjournment or postponement thereof. A list of shareholders
eligible to vote at the Annual Meeting will be available for your review during
Aspyra’s regular business hours at its headquarters in Calabasas, California for
at least 10 days prior to the Annual Meeting for any purpose related to the
Annual Meeting.
This
Proxy Statement and the accompanying proxy card are first being mailed to our
shareholders on or about May 8, 2009.
Whether
or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, to ensure that your
shares are represented at the Annual Meeting, we encourage you to submit your
proxy by mail in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. Returning your proxy does
not deprive you of your right to attend the Annual Meeting and to vote your
shares in person. You may revoke your proxy in the manner described in the Proxy
Statement at any time before it has been voted at the Annual
Meeting.
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By
Order of the Board of Directors,
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By:
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/s/ |
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Anahita
Villafane
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Chief
Financial Officer and Secretary
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Calabasas,
California
April ,
2009
ASPYRA,
INC.
26115-A
Mureau Road
Calabasas,
California 91302
2009
ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
To
be Held June 11, 2009
PROXY
STATEMENT
GENERAL
INFORMATION
This
Proxy Statement and the enclosed form of proxy card are being sent or given to
shareholders of Aspyra, Inc., a California corporation (the “Company” or
“Aspyra”), in connection with the solicitation of proxies by Aspyra’s management
on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company for use at the 2009 Annual
Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”) to be held on Friday,
June 11, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Company’s offices at
26115-A Mureau Road, Calabasas, California 91302. The Annual Report on
Form 10-K to the shareholders of the Company for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2008, including its financial statements and information
concerning the Company, is enclosed with this mailing. This Proxy Statement and
the accompanying proxy card are first being mailed to our shareholders on or
about May 8, 2009.
Method
of Voting
Shareholders
can vote by proxy or by attending the Annual Meeting and voting in person. A
proxy card is enclosed. If you vote by means of the proxy card, the proxy card
must be completed, signed and dated by you or your authorized representative.
The completed proxy card may be returned in the postage-paid envelope provided
or by facsimile to attention Corporate Secretary at (818) 880-4398. Rodney W.
Schutt and Anahita Villafane, the designated proxy holders, are members of the
Company’s management. If you hold Common Stock in “street name,” you must
instruct your broker or nominee as to how to vote such shares.
Solicitation
and Voting of Proxies
If a
proxy card is properly signed, dated and returned and is not revoked, the shares
represented by the proxy card will be voted at the Annual Meeting in accordance
with the shareholder’s instructions indicated on the proxy card. If no
instructions are indicated on the proxy card, the shares will be voted “FOR”
each of the nominees named herein for election as directors, “FOR” Proposal
No. 2 approving the potential issuance of shares of Common Stock below book
value in connection with the conversion or exercise of outstanding Company
promissory notes and warrants, “FOR” Proposal No. 3 to amend the Company’s
Articles of Incorporation to increase the authorized number of shares of Common
Stock, “FOR” Proposal No. 4 for ratification of the appointment of BDO Seidman,
LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the
fiscal year ending December 31, 2009, “FOR” Proposal No. 5 to amend the
Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan to increase the aggregate number of shares
that may be issued pursuant to the Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan from
1,290,875 to 3,040,875, and in accordance with the recommendations of the Board
of Directors upon such other business as may properly come before such meeting
(including any proposal to adjourn the Annual Meeting) or any and all
continuations, postponements or adjournments thereof. If cumulative voting
rights are exercised with respect to the election of directors at the Annual
Meeting, then the holders of properly executed and returned proxies will be
entitled to cumulate and allocate the votes represented by proxies held by such
holders in a manner that will result in the approval of the maximum number of
directors from the nominees selected by the Board.
In the
event that sufficient votes in favor of the proposals are not received by the
date of the Annual Meeting, the persons named as proxies may propose one or more
adjournments of the Annual Meeting to permit further solicitations of proxies.
Any such adjournment would require the affirmative vote of the majority of the
shares present in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and
entitled to vote.
This
solicitation is made on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company, and its
cost (including preparing and mailing of the notice, this Proxy Statement and
the form of proxy) will be paid by the Company. The Company will also make
arrangements with brokerage houses and other custodians, nominees and
fiduciaries to send the proxy materials to their principals and will reimburse
them for their reasonable expenses in so doing. To the extent necessary in order
to assure sufficient representation at the Meeting, officers and regular
employees of the Company may solicit the return of proxies by mail, telephone,
telegram and personal interview. No compensation in addition to regular salary
and benefits will be paid to any such officer or regular employee for such
solicitation.
Revocation
of Proxy
A
shareholder giving a proxy has the power to revoke it at any time before it is
exercised by giving written notice of revocation to the Secretary of the
Company, by executing a subsequent proxy card, or by attending the Annual
Meeting and voting in person. If you have instructed your broker to vote your
shares, you must follow directions received from your broker to change those
instructions. Subject to any such revocation, all shares represented by properly
executed proxy cards will be voted in accordance with the specifications on the
enclosed proxy card.
Record
Date
The close
of business on May 1, 2009 has been fixed as the record date (the “Record
Date”) for the determination of shareholders entitled to notice of and to vote
at the Annual Meeting and any postponements or adjournments thereof. As of the
Record Date, we estimate that there will be 12,437,150 shares of the Company’s
Common Stock outstanding and entitled to vote and 330 shareholders of record.
There are no outstanding securities of the Company other than the Common Stock
entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.
Quorum
In order
to conduct business at the Annual Meeting, a quorum must be present. A majority
of the shares of Common Stock entitled to vote, present in person or represented
by proxy, will constitute a quorum at the Annual Meeting. We will treat shares
of Common Stock represented by a properly signed and returned proxy card,
including abstentions and broker non-votes, as present at the Annual Meeting for
the purposes of determining the existence of a quorum. Each share of Common
Stock issued and outstanding on the Record Date is entitled to one vote on any
matter presented for consideration and action by the shareholders at the Annual
Meeting, subject, in the case of election of directors, to the cumulative voting
provisions described below.
Voting
Requirements
Directors
are elected by a plurality of the votes cast in person or by proxy at the Annual
Meeting. This means that the eight individuals
nominated for election to the Board who receive the most votes will be elected.
In voting for directors of the Company, each shareholder has the right to
cumulate votes and give one candidate a number of votes equal to the number of
directors to be elected, multiplied by the number of votes to which the shares
are entitled, or to distribute the votes on the same principle among as many
candidates as the shareholder chooses. The candidates receiving the highest
number of votes, up to the number of directors to be elected, shall be elected.
For a shareholder to exercise cumulative voting rights, such shareholder must
give notice of his or her intent to cumulate votes prior to the vote at the
Annual Meeting. Instructions for allocation may be marked on the proxy card in
the space provided opposite each nominee’s name and, if the proxy card is
properly marked, the persons acting under the proxy will give notice of the
shareholder’s intent to vote cumulatively. Unless a contrary instruction is
properly marked on the proxy card, the persons acting under the proxy will
cumulatively vote so as to maximize the probability that each nominee will be
elected.
Approval
of Proposal No. 2 regarding the potential issuance of up to 9,129,033
shares of the Company’s Common Stock below book value under notes and warrants
previously issued in our February 2009 private placement will require the
affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our Common Stock represented at
the Annual Meeting in person or by proxy and entitled to vote. Abstentions and
broker non-votes on this proposal will have the same effect as a vote “AGAINST”
this proposal for purposes of determining whether it has been approved, and thus
will affect the outcome of the vote.
Approval
of Proposal No. 3 to amend the Company’s Amended and Restated Articles of
Incorporation to increase the authorized number of shares of the Company’s
Common Stock will require the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of
the outstanding shares of Common Stock. Abstentions and broker non-votes on this
proposal will have the same effect as a vote “AGAINST” this proposal for
purposes of determining whether it has been approved, and thus will affect the
outcome of the vote.
Approval
of Proposal No. 4 regarding the ratification of the appointment of BDO
Seidman, LLP as Aspyra’s independent registered public accounting firm for the
fiscal year ending December 31, 2009 and approval of any other proposals to
be brought before the Annual Meeting will each require the affirmative vote of a
majority of the shares of Common Stock entitled to vote that are present in
person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and voting on the proposal,
which affirmative votes must also constitute at least a majority of the required
quorum. Abstentions will have the same effect as a vote “AGAINST” these
proposals but broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on
these proposals.
Approval
of Proposal No. 5 to amend the Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan to increase
the aggregate number of shares that may be issued pursuant to the Company’s 2005
Equity Incentive Plan from 1,290,875 to 3,040,875 will require the affirmative
vote of a majority of the shares of Common Stock entitled to vote that are
present in person or represented by the proxy at the Annual Meeting and voting
on the proposal, which affirmative votes must also constitute at least a
majority of the required quorum. Abstentions and broker non-votes on this
proposal will have the same effect as a vote "AGAINST" this proposal for purpose
of determining whether it has been approved, and thus will affect the outcome of
the vote.
Abstentions. A shareholder
may withhold authority to vote for one or more nominees for director and may
abstain from one or more of the other matters to be voted on at the Annual
Meeting. If you return a properly executed proxy card marked ABSTAIN with
respect to a particular proposal or marked WITHHELD with respect to one or more
director nominees, then the shares represented by that proxy card will be
counted as present at the Annual Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum,
but those shares will not be voted at the Annual Meeting with respect to such
proposal or nominee. Shares for which authority is withheld will have no effect
on the voting for the election of directors (which requires a plurality of the
votes cast). However, shares that a shareholder abstains from voting will be
included in the total of votes cast and have the same effect as a vote AGAINST
Proposals No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5.
Broker
Non-Votes. If your shares are held by a broker, the broker
will vote your shares for you if you provide instructions to your broker on how
to vote. You should follow the directions provided by your broker regarding how
to instruct your broker to vote your shares. “Broker non-votes” are shares held
by a broker or other nominee that are represented at the Annual Meeting, but
with respect to which the broker or nominee has not received instructions from
the beneficial owner of the shares to vote on the particular proposal and does
not have discretionary voting power on the proposal. Brokers holding shares of
record for beneficial owners generally are entitled to exercise their discretion
to follow the recommendation of the Board of Directors and vote in favor of
Proposals No. 1 (election of directors) and No. 4 (ratification of
auditors), but do not have the discretion to vote on Proposal No. 2,
No. 3, or No. 5 included in this Proxy Statement unless they receive other
instructions from their customers. Broker non-votes will be counted for purposes
of determining the presence or absence of a quorum at the Annual Meeting but
will not be counted for purposes of determining the number of shares represented
and voting with respect to a proposal. Accordingly, broker non-votes will have
no effect on voting on the election of directors or on the ratification of the
independent registered public accounting firm. However, broker non-votes will
have the effect of a vote AGAINST Proposal No. 2 regarding the potential
issuance of shares of our Common Stock, Proposal No. 3 regarding amendment
of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation and Proposal No. 5 regarding amending
the Company's 2005 Equity Incentive Plan.
Voting Shares in Person that are
Held Through Brokers. If your shares are held of record by your broker,
bank or another nominee and you wish to vote those shares in person at the
Annual Meeting, you must obtain from the nominee holding your shares a properly
executed legal proxy identifying you as an Aspyra shareholder, authorizing you
to act on behalf of the nominee at the Annual Meeting and identifying the number
of shares with respect to which the authorization is granted.
Procedures
for Shareholder Nominations
The
Company’s Bylaws provide that a shareholder may nominate candidates for the
Board of Directors at an Annual Meeting. Shareholders seeking to nominate a
candidate for election as director at an Annual Meeting must provide timely
advance written notice to our Corporate Secretary. To be timely for the 2010
Annual Meeting, a shareholder’s notice must be delivered to or mailed and
received by the Corporate Secretary of Aspyra at our principal executive offices
(at 26115-A Mureau Road, Calabasas, California 91302) within a reasonable amount
of time prior to the first mailing of the Proxy Statement. The requesting
shareholder should provide sufficient biographical information about the
proposed candidate to satisfy the requirements of the Securities and Exchange
Commission for inclusion in the Proxy Statement and to permit the Board of
Directors to evaluate the proposed candidate in light of the criteria described
under the caption “Nominating Procedures and Criteria.” The request should also
provide the full name, address and telephone number of the requesting
shareholder and sufficient information to verify that the requesting shareholder
is eligible to vote at the Annual Meeting. Additional information and
certifications by the requesting shareholder and the proposed candidate may be
required before the Board of Directors can make its evaluation.
Other
Business
If any
other matters besides the proposals described in this Proxy Statement are
promptly presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting, the persons named as
proxy holders will have discretion to vote on these other matters according to
their best judgment to the same extent as the person delivering the proxy card
would be entitled to vote. At the date this Proxy Statement went to press, we
did not anticipate any other matter would be raised at the Annual
Meeting.
PROPOSAL
NO. 1
ELECTION
OF DIRECTORS
The
Bylaws of the Company provide that the Company’s Board of Directors shall
consist of not less than three nor more than nine directors, as determined by
the Company’s Board of Directors, each to hold office for a term of one year and
until a successor shall be duly elected and qualified. The present number of
directors constituting the entire Board is eight.
A board
of eight directors is to be elected at the Annual Meeting. Unless otherwise
instructed, the proxy holders will vote the proxies received by them for the
Company’s eight nominees named below, all of whom are presently directors of the
Company. In the event that any nominee of the Company is unable or declines to
serve as a director at the time of the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be voted
for any nominee who shall be designated by the present Board of Directors to
fill the vacancy. In the event that additional persons are nominated for
election as directors, the proxy holders intend to vote all proxies received by
them in accordance with cumulative voting as will assure the election of as many
of the nominees listed below as possible, and, in such event, the specific
nominees to be voted for will be determined by the proxy holders. The Company is
not aware of any nominee who will be unable or will decline to serve as a
director. The term of office of each person elected as a director will continue
until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until a successor has been
elected and qualified. The candidates for the Board of Directors receiving the
eight highest vote totals will be elected to serve as members of the Board of
Directors. There are no family relationships among directors or executive
officers of the Company.
Background
information concerning our present directors, each of whom is also a director
nominee is as follows:
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Director
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Name of Nominee
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Age
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Since
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Principal Occupation
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John
Mutch
(3)
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52
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2007
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Managing
Partner, MV Advisors II, LLC
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Lawrence
S. Schmid (1)(2)
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67
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1991
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President &
Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Directions
International, Inc.
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Robert
S. Fogerson, Jr. (2)
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56
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1992
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General
Manager, ViroMED Labcorp
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Norman
R. Cohen (1)(3)
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72
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2003
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Retired
Attorney
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James
Zierick
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52
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2007
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President
and Chief Executive Officer of Nirvanix
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C.
Ian
Sym-Smith
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78
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2005
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Former
Chairman, StorCOMM, Inc.
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Jeffrey
Tumbleson
(1)
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41
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2008
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Vice
President of Information Technology, Outpatient Imaging Affiliates,
LLC
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Rodney
W.
Schutt
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44
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2008
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Chief
Executive Officer, Aspyra,
Inc.
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_____________________
(1)
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Member
of the Audit Committee
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(2)
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Member
of the Compensation Committee
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(3)
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Member
of the Nominating Committee
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John Mutch
has served as a director of Aspyra since August 2007. He is
currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Symark International and a
managing partner of MV Advisors, LLC, a strategic block investment firm he
founded in June 2006. MV Advisors provides focused investment and strategic
guidance to small and mid-cap technology companies. Prior to founding MV
Advisors, Mr. Mutch was the President and CEO of Peregrine Systems. In
March 2003, Mr. Mutch was appointed to the Peregrine Board of Directors by
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and assisted the company in its bankruptcy work out.
Mr. Mutch became President and CEO in August 2003 and successfully
restructured the company, culminating in the sale of Peregrine to Hewlett
Packard in December of 2005. From September 1999 through August 2002,
Mr. Mutch served as President and CEO and a director of HNC Software Inc.,
an enterprise analytics software provider. Mr. Mutch also spent seven years
at Microsoft in a variety of executive sales and marketing positions.
Mr. Mutch is currently a director at Adaptec, Inc., Agylisys, Inc. and
Edgar On Line. Mr. Mutch was a director at Overland Storage, Inc. from
February 2002 through July 2004 and Brio Software from September 2002 until
December 2003. He earned a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School
of Business and a B.S. from Cornell University where he serves on the advisory
board for the undergraduate school of business.
Lawrence S.
Schmid has served as a director of Aspyra since November 1991. Since
November 1990, Mr. Schmid has served as the President and Chief
Executive Officer of Strategic Directions International, Inc., a management
consulting firm specializing in technology companies. Mr. Schmid received a
BSME from General Motors Institute and a M.B.A. from the Graduate School of
Management at the University of California Los Angeles.
Robert S.
Fogerson, Jr. has served as a director of Aspyra since
May 1992. Since January 1998, Mr. Fogerson has served as the
general manager of ViroMED Labcorp, a laboratory providing clinical testing
services. Mr. Fogerson had previously served in various capacities at
PharmChem Laboratories since 1975. Mr. Fogerson received a B.A. from
Stanford University.
Norman R.
Cohen has served as a director of Aspyra since October 2003.
Mr. Cohen is a retired attorney. Prior to his retirement in June 2003,
Mr. Cohen had been in private practice for more than 40 years, primarily in
the areas of corporate and securities law. Mr. Cohen received a B.S. in
Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an LL.B
from the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania.
James
Zierick has served as director of Aspyra since
September 2007. Since January 2009, Mr. Zierick has been
President and Chief Executive Officer of Nirvanix, a company in the storage
delivery business. Mr. Zierick was Aspyra’s interim Chief Executive Officer from
February 2008 to November 2008. In 2007, Mr. Zierick served
as Chief Executive Officer of Logicalapps, a provider of embedded controls
software for enterprise applications. From 2004 to 2006,
Mr. Zierick was Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations for
Peregrine Systems, where he led 350 person sales, alliance, customer support and
professional services organization. From 1989 to 2003,
Mr. Zierick was a partner with McKinsey & Company, where he helped
lead the company’s Southern California technology and operational effectiveness
practices. Mr. Zierick earned a M.B.A. from Dartmouth College, Amos Tuck
School of Business, a B.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth College, Thayer School
of Engineering, and a B.A. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth
College.
C. Ian
Sym-Smith has served as a director of Aspyra since November 2005 and
was previously Chairman of the Board of Directors of StorCOMM, Inc. from
April 1997 until November 2005 and as a director of
StorCOMM, Inc. since February 1996. Mr. Sym-Smith has served as a
director of several private and public companies. Mr. Sym-Smith received
his B.S. in electrical engineering from the College of Technology in Birmingham,
England, and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
Jeffrey
Tumbleson has served as a director of Aspyra since
January 2008. Since December 2004, Mr. Tumbleson has
served as Vice President of Information Technology of Outpatient Imaging
Affiliates, LLC, a company which partners with local healthcare providers to
develop, own and operate outpatient diagnostic imaging and positron emission
tomography centers. From November 2002 to December 2004,
Mr. Tumbleson was owner and President of JT Consulting, a consulting
company providing information technology related services for the healthcare
industry. From January 2001 to November 2002, Mr. Tumbleson was
Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Spheris Inc., a provider of
clinical documentation technology and services to health systems, hospitals and
group practices throughout the United States. Mr. Tumbleson received a B.A.
and a B.S. from the University of Kansas.
Rodney W.
Schutt has served as a director of Aspyra since
November 2008. Prior to becoming the Chief Executive Officer at
Aspyra, Mr. Schutt served, between July 2007 and July 2008, as the Chief
Operating Officer for Luminetx, a provider of bioscience technologies based in
Memphis, TN. Prior to his position with Luminetx, between August 2004
and May 2007, Mr. Schutt served as Vice President of Business Development and
Global Commercial Operations for Smith and Nephew Orthopaedics, a public medical
device company, and prior to this held various positions at GE Healthcare. Mr.
Schutt holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration from Marion
College.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF EACH OF
THE
NOMINEES
FOR DIRECTOR NAMED ABOVE.
CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE
Corporate
Governance Principles
Pursuant
to California law and the Company’s Bylaws, the Company’s business, property and
affairs are managed under the direction of the Board of Directors. Thus, the
Board of Directors is the ultimate decision-making body of the Company except
with respect to those matters reserved for the shareholders.
The Board
of Directors selects the senior management team, which is charged with the
day-to-day operations of the Company’s business. Members of the Board of
Directors are kept informed of the Company’s business through discussions with
the Chief Executive Officer and other senior officers, by reviewing materials
requested by them or otherwise provided to them and by participating in meetings
of the Board of Directors and its committees. Having selected the senior
management team, the Board of Directors acts as an advisor and counselor to
senior management, monitors its performance and proposes or makes changes to the
senior management team when it deems necessary or appropriate.
The Board
affirmatively determines the independence of each director and nominee for
election as a director in accordance with guidelines it has adopted, which
include all elements of independence set forth in Rule 10A-3 and Regulation
S-K under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and in Section 803A of the
NYSE Alternext US Company Guide for smaller reporting companies. These
guidelines help ensure that the Board and its committees are independent from
management and that the interests of the Board and management align with the
interests of the shareholders. Based on these standards, the Board has
determined that each of the Company’s directors, other than Mr. Schutt and
Mr. Sym-Smith, is “independent” under the standards described
above.
Board
Meetings and Committees
During
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, the Board of Directors held a
total of five meetings.
Compensation Committee. The
Board of Directors of the Company has established a Compensation Committee for
the purpose of reviewing and making recommendations concerning compensation
plans and salaries of officers and other key personnel. The Compensation
Committee has not adopted a charter. The Compensation Committee, as an ongoing
responsibility, periodically reviews industry related surveys of other companies
similar in size and complexity to the Company to determine reasonable salary
ranges and incentive compensation for its managers and key employees. The
members of the Compensation Committee are Lawrence S. Schmid and Robert S.
Fogerson, Jr. All members of the Compensation Committee are
independent. The Compensation Committee met once during the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2008.
Audit Committee. The Board of
Directors of the Company has also established an Audit Committee for the purpose
of meeting with the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm and
to review the scope of the audit, internal accounting controls, any change in
accounting principles, significant audit adjustments, audit disclosures and
related matters. The members of the Audit Committee are Lawrence S. Schmid,
Norman R. Cohen, and Jeffrey Tumbleson. The Board has determined that
Mr. Schmid qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined
under the rules of the SEC. The Board has determined that all three members
of the Audit Committee are “independent” as that term is defined by
Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and by the listing
standards of the NYSE Alternext US for smaller reporting companies under the
Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S-K.
The Audit
Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.
The Board initially adopted a charter for the Audit Committee in
March 2000, and later amended the charter in June 2000. The
current copy of the charter for the Audit Committee is available to security
holders on the Company’s website at www.aspyra.com. The Audit
Committee recommends the engagement of BDO Seidman, LLP as the Company’s
independent registered public accounting firm.
Nominating Committee. In
April 2007, the Company established
a Nominating Committee which consists of John Mutch and Norman R. Cohen, both of
whom are independent directors. The Nominating Committee has not yet
adopted a formal charter. The Committee is responsible for nominating
the slate of the directors which are then approved by the entire Board of
independent directors. All members of the Nominating Committee are
independent. The Nominating Committee met twice during the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2008.
Nominating
Procedures and Criteria
Once the
Nominating Committee makes its recommendation, the entire Board of independent
directors considers and approves nominees for election to the Board of
Directors. In addition to the candidates proposed by the Board of Directors, the
Board of Directors considers candidates for director suggested by shareholders,
provided such recommendations are made in accordance with the procedures set
forth in the Bylaws and described under “Shareholder Proposals.” Shareholder
nominations that meet the criteria outlined below will receive the same
consideration that the Board of Director’s nominees receive.
Essential
criteria for all candidates considered by the Board of Directors include the
following: integrity and ethical behavior, maturity, management experience and
expertise, independence and diversity of thought and broad business or
professional experience, an understanding of business, financial affairs and the
complexities of business organizations.
In
evaluating candidates for certain Board positions, the Board of Directors
evaluates additional criteria, including the following: financial or accounting
expertise, industry expertise, marketing, business and other experience relevant
to public companies of a size comparable to the Company, and experience in
investment banking, commercial lending or other financing
activities.
In
selecting nominees for the Board of Directors, the Board of Directors evaluates
the general and specialized criteria set forth above, identifying the relevant
specialized criteria prior to commencement of the recruitment
process. If the candidate is a candidate for re-election, the Board
considers previous performance and generally considers the candidate’s ability
to contribute to the success of the Company.
The Board
of Directors’ nominees for the Annual Meeting have been recommended by the
independent members of the Board of Directors.
Shareholders
did not propose any candidates for election at the Annual Meeting.
Shareholder
Communications with Directors
You may
communicate with each chairman of our Board Committees, or with our independent
directors as a group by writing to such persons c/o Aspyra, Inc., 26115-A
Mureau Road, Calabasas, California 91302, Attention Board of
Directors.
Each
communication should also specify the applicable addressee or addressees to be
contacted as well as the general topic of the communication. We will initially
receive and process communications before forwarding them to the addressee. We
generally will not forward to the directors a shareholder communication that we
determine to be primarily commercial in nature or that relates to an improper or
irrelevant topic, or that requests general information about the Company.
Additionally, the Board has requested that certain items that are unrelated to
the duties and responsibilities of the Board should be excluded, such as junk
mail and mass mailings, product complaints, product inquiries, new product
suggestions, résumés and other forms of job inquiries, and surveys. In addition,
material that is unduly hostile, threatening, illegal or similarly unsuitable
will be excluded, with the provision that any communication that is filtered out
must be made available to any outside director upon request.
Board
Attendance at the Annual Meeting
The
Company has not adopted a formal policy on members of the Board of Directors
attendance at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders, although all members of the
Board of Directors are invited and encouraged to attend in order to facilitate
shareholder communication. All members of the Board of Directors attended the
Company’s 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Code
of Ethics
The
Company has adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to each of our directors,
officers and employees. The Code of Ethics was previously filed as an
exhibit to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2005. We will provide to any person without
charge, a copy of our Code of Ethics upon written request to the attention of
the Company’s Secretary at the address of the Company’s principal executive
offices.
Compensation
of Directors
Directors
who are not officers or employees of the Company receive an annual retainer of
$3,000, committee chairman receive an annual retainer of $4,000, and a grant of
20,000 non-qualified stock options upon their election or reelection to the
board. In addition, independent directors are paid fees of $2,500 per meeting
and are reimbursed for their reasonable expenses for attending such meetings. We
also reimburse the reasonable expenses of our directors incurred in connection
with attendance at meetings of the Board of Directors and its committees. At
present, there are six independent directors, John Mutch, Lawrence S. Schmid,
Robert S. Fogerson, Jr., Norman R. Cohen, James Zierick, and Jeffrey
Tumbleson, who are not officers and/or employees of the Company. The
following table sets forth information concerning the compensation of our
non-employee directors during 2008.
Name
(a)
|
|
Fees Earned
or Paid in
Cash ($)
(b)
|
|
|
Stock
Awards ($)
(c)
|
|
|
Option
Awards ($)
(d)(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation ($)
(e)
|
|
|
Non-Qualified
Deferred
Compensation
Earnings ($)
(f)
|
|
|
All Other
Compensation ($)
(g)
|
|
|
Total ($)
(j)
|
|
John
Mutch (2)
|
|
|
75,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
(4 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
75,000 |
|
Lawrence
S.
Schmid
|
|
|
15,500 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
(5 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
15,500 |
|
Robert
S. Fogerson, Jr.
|
|
|
15,500 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
(6 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
15,500 |
|
Norman
R. Cohen
|
|
|
14,500 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
(7 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
14,500 |
|
James
Zierick(3)
|
|
|
14,500 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
(8 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
14,500 |
|
C.
Ian Sym-Smith
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
(9 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
Jeffrey
Tumbleson
|
|
|
13,500 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
49,812 |
|
|
|
(10 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
63,312 |
|
______________________
|
(1)
|
A discussion of the methods used
in calculation of these values may be found in Footnote 8 to the
consolidated financial statements which is in our annual report on
Form 10-K. Reflects the dollar amount recognized for financial
statement reporting purposes with respect to the fiscal year computed in
accordance with SFAS 123(R), excluding the forfeiture
assumption.
|
|
(2)
|
The compensation for
Mr. Mutch includes fees paid to MV Advisors II, LLC, a consulting
firm of which Mr. Mutch is the sole member and Managing
Partner. In June 2008, the Company renewed its agreement
with MV Advisors. Under the agreement, MV Advisors will provide
strategic consulting services to the Company and will receive an annual
fee of $75,000, payable in non-refundable quarterly advances, offset by
the amount of any retainer or meeting fees paid to Mr. Mutch for his
board service. In addition, MV Advisors will be paid a success
fee based upon the value of certain customer contracts secured by the
Company as a result of the efforts of MV Advisors. MV Advisors will also
be granted rights to purchase certain offerings of future Company equity
securities. In his capacity as a consultant to the Company
through MV Advisors, Mr. Mutch was also awarded a non-qualified stock
option under the Company’s 2005 Stock Incentive Plan exercisable for
240,000 shares of the Company’s Common
Stock.
|
|
(3)
|
The compensation for
Mr. Zierick does not include fees paid for consulting fees when Mr.
Zierick served as Interim Chief Executive officer from February 2008 to
November 2008, which are reported under Executive Compensation
below.
|
|
(4)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Mutch at 2008 fiscal year end are
250,000.
|
|
(5)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Schmid at 2008 fiscal year end are
30,000.
|
|
(6)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Fogerson at 2008 fiscal year end are
30,000.
|
|
(7)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Cohen at 2008 fiscal year end are
30,000.
|
|
(8)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Zierick at 2008 fiscal year end are
235,000.
|
|
(9)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Sym-Smith at 2008 fiscal year end are
20,000.
|
(10)
|
The aggregate number of option
awards outstanding for Mr. Tumbleson at 2008 fiscal year end are
50,000.
|
EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
Set forth
below is information regarding our current executive officers.
Name
|
|
Age
|
|
Position
|
Rodney
W.
Schutt
|
|
44
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer
|
Anahita
Villafane
|
|
38
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer and Secretary
|
Ademola
Lawal
|
|
33
|
|
Chief
Operating Officer
|
James
R.
Helms
|
|
64
|
|
Vice
President of Strategic Analysis
|
Robert
Pruter
|
|
44
|
|
Senior
Vice President, Sales and
Marketing
|
For
biographical information regarding Mr. Schutt, who also serves as a
director of the Company, please refer to his profile set forth above under
“Proposal No. 1 — Election of Directors.”
Anahita
Villafane has served as the Chief
Financial Officer of Aspyra since June 2005 and secretary since
November 2005. Ms. Villafane also served as Aspyra’s controller and
Chief Accounting Officer from April 2000 to June 2005. Prior to
April 2000, Ms. Villafane was an audit manager with BDO Seidman, LLP
since 1996. Ms. Villafane received a B.S. in Accounting from California
State University at Northridge, and is a Certified Public
Accountant.
Ademola Lawal
has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Aspyra since April
2009. Mr. Lawal also served as Aspyra’s Vice President of Strategy
and Business Development from June 2008 to April 2009. Prior to
Aspyra, he spent six years at GE Healthcare where he was a Director of
Service. Mr. Lawal earned his Six Sigma Black Belt certification at
GE Healthcare. Prior to GE, he was at KPMG Consulting where he conducted various
reorganization, valuation and benchmarking projects. Mr. Lawal holds an
MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science from the University
of Virginia with concentration in Accounting and Management Information Systems.
He is a Certified Public Accountant.
James R.
Helms has
served as the Vice President of Strategic Analysis since April
2009. Mr. Helms also served as Chief Operations Officer of Aspyra
from October 1982 to April 2009 and secretary from 1983 to
November 2005. Mr. Helms also served as a director from 1987 until
November 2005. Previously, Mr. Helms was an independent information
systems consultant for more than five years.
Robert
Pruter has
served as the Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing since April
2008. Prior to Aspyra, Mr. Pruter was National Sales Director for
AGFA Healthcare. Prior to joining AGFA, Mr. Pruter was Western
Regional Sales Director for Merge eFilm and RIS Logic, Inc. where he was
responsible for managing the sales activities for RIS, PACS, Billing and
Dictation products. Mr. Pruter received a B.A. in Economics from University
of California, Los Angeles.
EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION
Summary
Compensation Table
The
following table shows the compensation paid over the past two fiscal years ended
December 31, 2008 and 2007 with respect to: (i) the person who served
as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer during the 2008 fiscal year,
(ii) the two other most highly compensated executive officers or
individuals in addition to the Chief Executive Officer, serving at the end of
the last fiscal year whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 in the last
fiscal year and (iii) two additional individuals who would have qualified
under (ii) but for the fact that the individual was not serving as an
executive officer at the end of the 2008 fiscal year.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(H)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(A)
Name and Principal Position
|
|
(B)
Year
|
|
(C)
Salary($)
|
|
(D)
Bonus($)
|
|
(E)
Stock
Awards
|
|
(F)
Option
Award(s) ($)(2)
|
|
(G)
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation ($)
|
|
Nonqualified
Deferred
Compensation
Earnings ($)
|
|
(I)
All Other
Compensation (3)
|
|
(J)
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rodney
W.
Schutt
|
|
2008
|
|
28,558
|
|
12,489
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
41,047
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer
|
|
2007
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ademola
Lawal
|
|
2008
|
|
104,306
|
|
31,302
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
1,607
|
|
137,215
|
|
Chief
Operating Officer
|
|
2007
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert
Pruter
|
|
2008
|
|
112,561
|
|
41,795
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
8,303
|
|
162,659
|
|
Senior
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
|
|
2007
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
James
R.
Helms
|
|
2008
|
|
156,192
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
21,697
|
|
177,889
|
|
Chief
Operations Officer
|
|
2007
|
|
155,597
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
17,465
|
|
173,062
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bruce
M.
Miller
|
|
2008
|
|
193,232
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
17,391
|
|
210,623
|
|
Former
Chief Technology Officer(1)
|
|
2007
|
|
192,495
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
14,112
|
|
206,607
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
James
Zierick
Former
Interim Chief Executive Officer (4)
|
`
|
2008
|
|
127,500
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
127,500
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
--
|
|
_______________________
(1)
|
|
Mr. Miller’s
employment as Chief Technology Officer was terminated effective April 1,
2009. The Company and Mr. Miller entered into a Separation
Agreement and General Release pursuant to which (i) Mr. Miller shall
provide consulting services to the Company for an initial period of ninety
business days (ii) receive severance equal to fifteen months of his base
salary in effect as of April 1, 2009, to be paid in equal bi-weekly
installments over twenty-two and one-half
months;
|
|
|
(iii)
the Company shall pay COBRA benefits to Mr. Miller and his spouse for up
to eighteen months; (iv) the Company shall accelerate the vesting of
options exercisable for 10,000 of the Company’s Common Stock previously
granted to Mr. Miller pursuant to the Company’s 2005 Stock Incentive Plan;
and (v) the Company and Mr. Miller will release each other from all claims
arising from Mr. Miller’s employment with the Company, subject to certain
exceptions.
|
|
|
|
(2)
|
|
A
discussion of the methods used in calculation of these values may be found
in Footnote 8 to the consolidated financial
statements which is in our annual report on Form 10-K.
Reflects the dollar amount recognized for financial statement reporting
purposes with respect to the fiscal year computed in accordance with SFAS
123(R), excluding the forfeiture assumption.
|
|
|
|
(3)
|
|
Amounts
shown in Column (I) consist of premiums paid for medical, life and
disability insurance and Company matching contributions under the
Company’s 401(k) profit-sharing plan.
|
|
|
|
(4)
|
|
Mr.
Zierick served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from February 2008 to
November 2008.
|
Compensation
to our executive officers consists of salary, cash bonus, tax-deferred profit
sharing, medical and life insurance benefits, and equity compensation pursuant
to our 2005 Equity Incentive Plan and our 1997 Stock Option
Plan. Certain of our executive officers also have additional benefits
regarding severance or a change of control of the Company. The Compensation
Committee of the Board of Directors (i) reviews and approves corporate
goals and objectives relevant to compensation of the executive officers,
(ii) evaluates the performance of the executive officers in light of those
goals and objectives, (iii) determines and approves the compensation level
of the executive officers based on this evaluation, and (iv) makes
recommendations to the Board with respect to cash incentive compensation plans
and equity incentive plans. The Committee also reviews and recommends
to the Board any new compensation or retirement plans and administers the
Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan and our 1997 Stock Option
Plan.
The
Compensation Committee is responsible for administering a management incentive
bonus plan that is predicated on the pre-tax profitability of the overall
company. Bonus pool funds will be allocated according to two criteria:
(i) 50% of the pool should be awarded to the participants according to
salary percentage and (ii) the remaining 50% will be allocated according to
the accomplishment of individual goals set for each plan participant. The
Compensation Committee of Aspyra also is responsible for administering the
Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan and 1997 Stock Option Plan and such grants
under these plans are at the discretion of the committee, as described in more
detail below.
Aspyra
has adopted a profit sharing plan pursuant to which income tax is deferred on
amounts contributed by employees under Section 401(k) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which we refer to as the Code. All
employees, over the age of 21, are eligible to participate in the plan after the
completion of six months of service. Aspyra contributes, on a matching
basis, 25% of the employee’s contribution up to 4%. Aspyra’s contribution
becomes vested at the rate of 20% for each full year of employment. Both
the employee’s and Aspyra’s contributions are subject to aggregate annual limits
under the Code.
Employment
Agreements, Termination of Employment and Change-in-Control
Agreements
Other
than Mr. Schutt, we currently have no employment agreements with any of our
executive officers, nor any compensatory plans or arrangements resulting from
the resignation, retirement or any other termination of any of our executive
officers, from a change-in-control of the Company, or from a change in any
executive officer’s responsibilities following a change-in-control.
The
Company and Rodney W. Schutt entered into an employment agreement effective
November 17, 2008 setting forth the terms of Mr. Schutt’s services as Chief
Executive Officer. Under the agreement, Mr. Schutts’s compensation
will be $225,000 per year payable in accordance with the Company’s payroll
practices. Additionally, the Company also agreed to award
an incentive stock option to Mr. Schutt exercisable for 375,000 shares of Aspyra
common stock, at an exercise price equal to the closing market price of the
Company’s common stock. The options will vest at a rate of 25% annually
beginning one year after grant date until fully vested or, if earlier, the
termination of Mr. Schutt’s services as CEO. The options will have a
five year term. The Company will also provide Mr. Schutt with housing
accommodations, rental car reimbursement and travel reimbursement of four
airfare per month for a period of six months as well as relocation expense
reimbursement up to a maximum of $20,000. Pursuant to the agreement,
the Company will provide reimbursement of the cost of Mr. Schutt realtor
commission up to a maximum of 6% on the sale of his home payable ratably over a
period of six months or, if earlier, the termination of Mr. Schutt’s
service as Chief Executive Officer.Mr. Schutt will also receive insurance
benefits paid for by Aspyra and employer contributions to his 401(k) plan
account as provided for in Aspyra’s 401(k) profit sharing
plan.
On April
1, 2009, the Company and Mr. Miller entered into a Separation Agreement and
General Release (“Separation Agreement”) pursuant to which Mr. Miller agreed
that, due to management restructuring which resulted in the elimination of the
position of Chief Technology Officer, his employment with the Company would
terminate effective April 1, 2009. The following is brief summary of
the material terms of the Separation Agreement with Mr. Miller: (i) Mr. Miller
shall provide consulting services to the Company for an initial period of ninety
business days (ii) receive severance equal to fifteen months of his base salary
in effect as of April 1, 2009, to be paid in equal bi-weekly installments over
twenty-two and one-half months; (iii) the Company shall pay COBRA benefits to
Mr. Miller and his spouse for up to eighteen months; (iv) the Company shall
accelerate the vesting of options exercisable for 10,000 of the Company’s Common
Stock previously granted to Mr. Miller pursuant to the Company’s 2005 Stock
Incentive Plan; and (v) the Company and Mr. Miller will release each other from
all claims arising from Mr. Miller’s employment with the Company, subject to
certain exceptions.
Outstanding
Equity Awards At 2008 Fiscal Year End
The
following table sets forth information concerning unexercised options, granted
as equity incentive awards, held by each of our Named Executive Officers.
Options shown in this table were granted between 2003 and 2006. There
have been no stock awards granted to any Named Executive Officer. As
such, these columns are omitted from this table.
Name
(a)
|
|
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable (1)
(b)
|
|
|
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
(c)
|
|
|
Equity Incentive
Plan Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned
Options (#)
(d)
|
|
|
Option
Exercise
Price ($)
(e)
|
|
Option
Expiration
Date
(f)
|
Ademola
Lawal
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
150,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0.70 |
|
06/26/2013
|
Robert
Pruter
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
125,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
0.36 |
|
04/23/2013
|
James
R. Helms
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
1.51 |
|
02/24/2009
|
|
|
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
1.76 |
|
08/11/2011
|
Bruce
M. Miller
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
1.66 |
|
02/24/2009
|
|
|
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
1.76 |
|
08/11/2011
|
____________________
(1)
|
Options which are not fully
vested vest 25% annually on the anniversary of the option grant
date.
|
Equity
Incentive Plan Information
The
Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2005 Plan”) was adopted by the Board
on August 2, 2005 and approved by shareholders at the Annual Meeting held
on November 21, 2005. The 2005 Plan replaced the Company’s former 1997
Stock Option Plan (the “1997 Plan”) and incorporated 290,875 remaining unissued
options from the 1997 Plan. Awards under the 2005 Plan may be granted to any of
our employees, directors or consultants or those of our affiliates. As of
March 30, 2009, there were approximately 69 full-time employees and 8
non-employee directors eligible to participate in the 2005 Plan. An incentive
stock option may be granted under the 2005 Plan only to a person who, at the
time of the grant, is an employee of the Company or a related corporation. The
2005 Plan is administered by the Board or a committee of the Board.
Under the
2005 Plan, the Company may award to eligible participants incentive stock
options (ISO), non-statutory stock options; stock awards (both restricted stock
awards and restricted stock unit awards); and stock appreciation rights. As of
April 17, 2009 there were 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock subject to
outstanding awards under the 2005 Plan and 290,875 available for future awards
under the 2005 Plan. In the case of awards intended to qualify as
“performance-based compensation” within the meaning of
Section 162(m) of the Code, the measures established by the 2005 Plan
administrator must be qualifying performance criteria.
The 2005
Plan provides that in the event of a merger with or into another corporation or
our “change in control,” including the sale of all or substantially all of our
assets, and certain other events, our Board or the Compensation Committee may,
in its discretion, provide for the assumption or substitution of, or adjustment
to, each outstanding award, accelerate the vesting of options and stock
appreciation rights, and terminate any restrictions on stock awards or cash
awards or provide for the cancellation of awards in exchange for a cash payment
to the participant.
During
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, we granted 275,000 options to
Named Executive Officers.
The
following table sets forth information as to stock options granted under the
2005 Plan and 1997 Plan, and the net value received from the exercise of options
(market value of stock on the date of exercise, less the exercise price) by each
executive officer whose aggregate remuneration is set forth above.
Aggregated
Option/SAR Exercises in Last Fiscal Year
|
|
|
|
|
(d)
|
(e)
|
(a)
Name
|
(b)
Shares Acquired
on Exercise (#)
|
|
(c)
Value Realized ($)
|
|
Number of Securities
Underlying Unexercised
Options/SARs at
FY-End (#)
Exercisable/Unexercisable
|
Value of Unexercised
In-the-Money
Options/SARs at
FY-End ($)
Exercisable/Unexercisable
|
Ademola
Lawal
|
0
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
0/
150,000
|
0/
0
|
Robert
Pruter
|
0
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
0/125,000
|
0/
0
|
James
R. Helms
|
0
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
5,000/
5,000
|
0/
0
|
Bruce
M. Miller
|
0
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
5,000/
5,000
|
0/
0
|
Equity
Compensation Plan Information
Plan category
|
Number of securities to be
issued upon exercise of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights
(a)
|
|
Weighted-average exercise
price of outstanding options,
warrants and other rights
(b)
|
|
Number of securities
remaining available for
future issuance under equity
compensation plans
(excluding securities
reflected in column (a))
(c)
|
Equity
compensation plans approved by security holders
|
1,290,875
|
|
$
|
1.28
|
|
290,875
|
Equity
compensation plans not approved by security holders
|
1,750,000
|
|
|
|
1,750,000
|
Total
|
3,040,875
|
|
$
|
1.28
|
|
2,005,875
|
SECURITY
OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The
following table sets forth certain information known to the Company regarding
beneficial ownership of Aspyra’s Common Stock as of April 16, 2008 of
(i) each present director or nominee for director, (ii) each Named
Executive Officer, (iii) all officers and directors as a group, and
(iv) each beneficial owner of more than five percent of Aspyra’s Common
Stock. Information as to beneficial owners who are not officers or directors of
Aspyra is based on publicly available information as of the record
date.
Beneficial
ownership of shares is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC
and generally includes any shares over which a person exercises sole or shared
voting or investment power. Except in cases where community property laws apply
or as indicated in the footnotes to this table, we believe that each shareholder
identified in the table possesses sole voting and investment power over all
shares of Common Stock shown as beneficially owned by the shareholder. Shares of
Common Stock subject to options that are currently exercisable or exercisable
within 60 days of April 16, 2008, are considered outstanding and
beneficially owned by the person holding the options for the purpose of
computing the percentage ownership of that person but are not treated as
outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other
person. Unless otherwise indicated below, the address of each individual listed
below is c/o Aspyra, Inc., 26115-A Mureau Road, Calabasas, California
91302.
The
percentages for each person or group shown in the table below are based on
12,437,150 shares issued and outstanding as of April 17, 2009, plus the
additional shares that such person or group is deemed to beneficially own as set
forth in the table. The table below shows the number of shares and percentage
beneficially owned both prior to and after giving effect to the approval of
Proposal No. 2 and the issuance of additional shares under the Notes and
Warrants sold in our February 2009 Private Placement. An aggregate maximum
of 9,129,033 shares are issuable upon conversion or exercise of all Notes and
Warrants issued in the Private Placement, assuming that the shareholders approve
both Proposal No. 2 and Proposal No. 3 at the Annual Meeting
(consisting of 3,225,807 shares issuable upon conversion of all Notes, and
5,903,226 shares issuable upon exercise of all Warrants). The Notes and Warrants
issued in the Private Placement provide that they cannot be converted or
exercised, as applicable, to the extent such conversion or exercise would result
in the holder and its affiliates beneficially owning more than 9.99% of our
outstanding Common Stock on the date of such conversion or exercise. The number
and percentage of Common Stock deemed beneficially owned and shown in the column
prior to the approval of Proposals No. 2 and 3 is limited
accordingly.
|
|
Common Shares
Beneficially Owned Prior to
Approval of Proposals 2 & 3
|
|
Common Shares
Beneficially Owned Assuming
Approval of Proposals 2
|
|
Name
|
|
Number of
Shares
|
|
Percent of
Class
|
|
Number of
Shares
|
|
Percent of
Class
|
|
James
R. Helms (1)
|
|
116,800
|
|
*
|
%
|
116,800
|
|
*
|
|
Bruce
M. Miller (2)
|
|
362,000
|
|
2.87
|
%
|
362,000
|
|
1.65
|
%
|
Robert
Pruter (3)
|
|
35,250
|
|
*
|
|
35,250
|
|
*
|
|
Ademola
Lawal (4)
|
|
—
|
|
*
|
|
—
|
|
*
|
|
John
Mutch (5)
|
|
136,677
|
|
1.09
|
%
|
136,677
|
|
*
|
|
Lawrence
S. Schmid (6)
|
|
33,333
|
|
*
|
|
33,333
|
|
*
|
|
Robert
S. Fogerson, Jr.(7)
|
|
29,833
|
|
*
|
|
29,833
|
|
*
|
|
Norman
R. Cohen (8)
|
|
8,333
|
|
*
|
|
8,333
|
|
*
|
|
James
Zierick (9)
|
|
228,333
|
|
1.80
|
%
|
228,333
|
|
1.05
|
%
|
C.
Ian Sym-Smith
|
|
1,753,133
|
(10)
|
13.69
|
%
|
2,428,133
|
(11)
|
11.07
|
%
|
Jeffrey
Tumbleson (12)
|
|
16,665
|
|
*
|
|
16,665
|
|
*
|
|
All Executive Officers and
Directors as a Group (11 persons) (15)
|
|
2,720,357
|
|
20.51
|
%
|
3,395,357
|
|
15.54
|
%
|
Bradford
G. Peters (13)
|
|
2,641,680
|
(14)
|
20.05
|
%
|
2,641,680
|
|
11.85
|
%
|
Bicknell
Family Holding Co. LLC (16)
|
|
1,380,371
|
(17)
|
9.99
|
%
|
8,145,454
|
(18)
|
37.77
|
%
|
Potomac
Capital Management LLC (19)
|
|
1,401,000
|
|
11.26
|
%
|
1,401,000
|
|
6.50
|
%
|
James
Shawn Chalmers (20)
|
|
1,277,594
|
(21)
|
9.99
|
%
|
4,137,387
|
(22)
|
19.18
|
%
|
* Indicates
less than 1.0%
|
|
|
(1)
|
|
Includes
5,000 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Helms but excludes 5,000 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held
by Mr. Helms.
|
(2)
|
|
Includes
10,000 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Miller.
|
|
|
|
(3)
|
|
Includes
31,250 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Pruter but excludes 93,750 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held
by Mr. Pruter.
|
|
|
|
(4)
|
|
Excludes
150,000 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable
stock options held by Mr. Lawal.
|
|
|
|
(5)
|
|
Includes
136,677 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Mutch, but excludes 113,323 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held
by Mr. Mutch. Mr. Mutch’s address is c/o MV Advisors LLC, 420
Stevens Avenue, Suite 270, Solana Beach, CA 92075.
|
|
|
|
(6)
|
|
Includes
8,333 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Schmid, but excludes 11,667 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held
by Mr. Schmid. Mr. Schmid’s address is c/o Strategic Directions
International, Inc., 6242 Westchester Parkway, Suite 100, Los
Angeles, CA 90045.
|
|
|
|
(7)
|
|
Includes
8,333 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Fogerson but excludes 11,667 shares
of Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options
held by Mr. Fogerson. Mr. Fogerson’s address is 2111 Austrian
Pine Lane, Minnetonka, MN 55305.
|
|
|
|
(8)
|
|
Includes
8,333 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Cohen but excludes 11,667 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held
by Mr. Cohen.
|
|
|
|
(9)
|
|
Includes
228,333 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Zierick but excludes 6,667 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held
by Mr. Zierick.
|
|
|
|
(10)
|
|
Includes
371,969 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options, shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of notes, and
warrants and options and warrants that may be exercisable within 60 days
of April 17, 2009. Does not include (i) 11,667 shares of Common Stock
under currently non-exercisable stock options held by Mr. Sym-Smith
(ii) 241,935 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of a
Purchaser Note and (iii) 433,065 shares issuable upon exercise of
Purchaser Warrants. The Note and Warrants owned by the selling stockholder
provide that they cannot be converted or exercised, as applicable, to the
extent such conversion or exercise, as applicable, would result in the
holder and its affiliates beneficially owning more than 9.99% of our
outstanding common stock on the date of such conversion or exercise, as
applicable. The number and percentage of common stock deemed beneficially
owned is limited accordingly.
|
|
|
|
(11)
|
|
Represents
amounts shown prior to shareholder approval of Proposal No. 2, plus
(i) 241,935 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of a Note
and (ii) 433,065 shares issuable upon exercise of a Warrant issued to
Mr. Sym-Smith in the Private Placement.
|
|
|
|
(12)
|
|
Includes
16,665 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options and options that may be exercisable within 60 days of
April 17, 2009 held by Mr. Tumbleson but excludes 33,335 shares
of Common Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options
held by Mr. Tumbleson. Mr. Tumbleson’s address is
2107 Ipswitch Ct, Thompson’s Station, TN 37179.
|
|
|
|
(13)
|
|
Bradford
G. Peters was a director of the Company from November 2005 to
January 2008.
|
|
|
|
(14)
|
|
Includes
371,969 shares of Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock
options, shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of notes, and
warrants and options and warrants that may be exercisable within 60 days
of April 17, 2009. The Note and Warrants owned by Mr. Peters
provide that they cannot be converted or exercised, as applicable, to the
extent such conversion or exercise, as applicable, would result in the
holder and its affiliates beneficially owning more than 9.99% of our
outstanding common stock on the date of such conversion or exercise, as
applicable. The number and percentage of common stock deemed beneficially
owned is limited accordingly. Mr. Peters’ address is 21 Grove Lane,
Greenwich, CT 06831.
|
(15)
|
|
Number
of shares shown prior to approval of Proposal 2 includes 829,893 shares of
Common Stock issuable under currently exercisable stock options, shares of
Common Stock issuable upon exercise of notes, warrants and options that
may be exercisable within 60 days of April 17, 2009 held by all
officers and directors as a group but excludes 463,743 shares of Common
Stock issuable under currently non-exercisable stock options held by such
individuals as a group. Number of shares shown assuming Proposal 2 is
approved includes 675,000 shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding
,Notes and Warrants issued to Mr. Sym-Smith in the Private
Placement.
|
|
|
|
(16)
|
|
Martin
C. Bicknell is the manager of Bicknell Family Holding Co., LLC and in
accordance with Rule 13d-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, may be deemed a control person, with voting and investment
power (directly or with others), of the securities of the Company owned by
Bicknell Family Holding Co., LLC. Mr. Bicknell disclaims beneficial
ownership of these securities. The selling stockholder has informed us
that it is not a broker-dealer or affiliate of a broker-dealer Bicknell
Family Holding Co., LLC’s address is 7400 College Blvd., Suite 205,
Overland Park, Kansas 66210.
|
|
|
|
(17)
|
|
The
holder owns a Note in the amount of $1,250,000, convertible into 2,272,727
shares of common stock at a conversion price of $0.55 per share, and
Warrants to purchase 2,272,727 shares of common stock. The Note and
Warrants owned by the holder provide that they cannot be converted or
exercised, as applicable, to the extent such conversion or exercise, as
applicable, would result in the holder and its affiliates beneficially
owning more than 9.99% of our outstanding common stock on the date of such
conversion or exercise, as applicable. The number and percentage of common
stock deemed beneficially owned is limited accordingly.
|
|
|
|
(18)
|
|
Represents
amounts subsequent to shareholder approval of Proposal No. 2, plus
(i) 1,290,323 shares issuable upon exercise of a Note and
(ii) 2,309,677 shares issuable upon exercise of a Warrant issued to
the holder in the Private Placement.
|
|
|
|
(19)
|
|
Potomac
Capital Management LLC’s address is 825 Third Avenue, 33rd Floor, New
York, NY 10022. Based on information contained in Schedule 13G filed with
the SEC on September 17, 2007 by Potomac Capital Management LLC,
Potomac Capital Management Inc. and Paul J. Solit as joint filers. Paul J.
Solit is the Managing Member of Potomac Capital Management LLC and
President of Potomac Capital Management Inc. All of the joint filers state
that they have shared voting and shared dispositive power over 1,480,000
shares. The joint filers state that they own an aggregate of 1,480,000
shares of Common Stock.
|
|
|
|
(20)
|
|
Mr. James
Shawn Chalmers’ address is 705 South 10th Street, Blue Springs, Missouri
64015. Based on information contained in Schedule 13D filed with the
SEC on April 3, 2008 by Mr. Chalmers. Mr. Chalmers states
that he does not own any Common Stock directly but he is (i) the sole
director and President and majority shareholder of J&S
Ventures, Inc.; (ii) the sole manager and holder of 75% of the
membership interests of Orion Capital Investments, LLC; and (iii) the
sole trustee and sole beneficiary of the J. Shawn Chalmers Revocable Trust
dated August 13, 1996.
|
|
|
|
(21)
|
|
Includes
926,023 shares of common stock and an additional 351,571 shares of common
stock issuable upon exercise of Warrants or conversion of a Note. The Note
and Warrants owned by the selling stockholder provide that they cannot be
converted or exercised, as applicable, to the extent such conversion or
exercise, as applicable, would result in the holder and its affiliates
beneficially owning more than 9.99% of our outstanding common stock on the
date of such conversion or exercise, as applicable. The number and
percentage of common stock deemed beneficially owned is limited
accordingly.
|
|
|
|
(22)
|
|
Represents
amounts subsequent to shareholder approval of Proposal No. 2, plus
(i) 564,516 shares issuable upon exercise of a Note and
(ii) 1,010,484 shares issuable upon exercise of a Warrant issued to
the holder in the Private
Placement.
|
CERTAIN
RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Transactions
with Directors and Executive Officers
In
connection with the Private Placement described below under Proposal No. 2,
C. Ian Sym-Smith, a director of the Company, purchased a new convertible
Note in the principal amount of $75,000. In connection with the
Private Placement and the purchase of new Notes Mr. Sym-Smith was issued a
Warrant corresponding to his new Note and exercisable for additional shares of
the Company’s Common Stock. The terms of the Note and Warrant issued
to Mr. Sym-Smith in connection with the Private Placement are described
below under Proposal 2.
Consulting
Agreement with MV Advisors II, LLC
On June,
26, 2008, the Company renewed its consulting agreement with MV Advisors II, LLC
(“MV Advisors”), a consulting firm of which Mr. John Mutch, the Company’s
Chairman of the Board, is the sole member and Managing Partner. Under the
agreement, MV Advisors provides strategic consulting services to the Company and
receives an annual fee of $75,000, payable in non-refundable quarterly advances,
offset by the amount of any retainer or meeting fees that Mr. Mutch is
eligible to receive for his Board service. In addition, MV Advisors will
be paid a success fee, payable for up to 6 years, equal to 5% of the value of
certain customer contracts secured by the Company as a result of the efforts of
MV Advisors. MV Advisors was also granted rights to purchase at least $250,000
of certain future offerings of Company equity securities. The consulting
agreement has an initial term of one year commencing with Mr. Mutch’s
becoming a director of the Company and will automatically renew for successive
one year terms unless either party notifies the other of its intent not to renew
the agreement. In his capacity as a consultant to the Company through MV
Advisors, Mr. Mutch was also awarded a non-qualified stock option under the
Company’s 2005 Stock Incentive Plan exercisable for 240,000 shares of the
Company’s Common Stock, vesting in equal monthly installments over three years,
subject to full acceleration upon a change in control of the Company and also
upon certain terminations of Mr. Mutch’s services.
Placement
Agent Services by Great American Investors, Inc.
One of
our current directors and a director nominee, Jeffrey Tumbleson, is the brother
of the managing director of Great American Investors, Inc. (“GAI”). As
disclosed below under Proposal No. 2 concerning the issuance of Common
Stock in connection with our 2009 Private Placement, we engaged GAI as placement
agent for the Private Placement, and in consideration for their
services in that transaction, we paid GAI $40,000, together with a Warrant to
purchase 129,032 shares of our Common Stock. The Warrant issued to GAI has the
same terms as other Warrants issued to the Purchasers in the Private Placement
and their terms are described more fully below under Proposal No. 2. GAI
also acted as placement agent for three private placements of the Company’s
securities in November 2005, May 2006, and March 2008 and in
connection with those three prior transactions we paid GAI fees in the amount of
$150,000 in 2005, $315,000 in 2006, and a note in the amount of $210,000 in
2008.
Indemnification;
Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance
On
November 22, 2005, the Company completed its merger with
StorCOMM, Inc., pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of
Reorganization, dated August 16, 2005 (the “Merger Agreement”). Under the
terms of the Merger Agreement, Aspyra agreed that it will indemnify and hold
harmless, and provide advancement of expenses to, all past and present
directors, officers and employees of StorCOMM and its subsidiaries, including
Messrs. Peters, Sym-Smith, Elliott and Peterson, to the same extent these
directors, officers and employees were indemnified or had the right to
advancement of expenses as of the date of the Merger Agreement by StorCOMM
pursuant to StorCOMM’s Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and indemnification
agreements, in existence on the date of the Merger Agreement with any of the
directors, officers and employees of StorCOMM and its subsidiaries for acts or
omissions occurring at or prior to the date of the merger, including for acts or
omissions occurring in connection with the approval of the Merger Agreement and
the consummation of the merger.
Sections
204(a)(10), 204(a)(11), 204.5 and 317 of the California General Corporation Law
(“CGCL”) permit a corporation to indemnify its directors, officers, employees
and other agents in terms sufficiently broad to permit indemnification
(including reimbursement for expenses) under certain circumstances for
liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933. The Company’s Articles of
Incorporation provide that the liability of directors for monetary damages shall
be eliminated to the fullest extent permitted under California law. In addition,
Aspyra’s Articles of Incorporation provide that Aspyra is authorized to provide
indemnification of agents, including directors, officers, employees and other
agents (as defined in Section 317 of the CGCL) for breach of duty to Aspyra
and its shareholders through Bylaw provisions or through agreements with the
agents, or both, in excess of the indemnification otherwise permitted by
Section 317 of the CGCL, subject only to the applicable limits set forth in
Section 204 of the CGCL.
Aspyra’s
Bylaws provide that, to the maximum extent permitted by the CGCL, Aspyra may
indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party
to any proceeding by reason of the fact that such person was an agent of Aspyra,
against expenses, judgments, fines, settlements and other amounts actually and
reasonably incurred in connection with such proceeding. Aspyra may advance
expenses incurred in defending any proceeding prior to the final disposition of
such proceeding to the maximum extent permitted by the CGCL.
The above
discussion of the CGCL and Aspyra’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws is not
intended to be exhaustive and is qualified in its entirety by such statutes,
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.
Indemnification
for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to Aspyra’s
directors, officers and controlling persons under the foregoing provisions, or
otherwise. Aspyra has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC this
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and
is, therefore, unenforceable.
Section 317(i) of
the CGCL further provides that a corporation may purchase and maintain insurance
on behalf of any agent, including any director, officer, employee or other agent
of the corporation. Aspyra’s Bylaws permit Aspyra to secure insurance on behalf
of any officer, director, employee or other agent of Aspyra. Aspyra has obtained
policies of insurance under which, subject to the limitations of such policies,
coverage is provided to Aspyra’s directors and officers against loss arising
from claims made by reason of breach of fiduciary duty or other wrongful acts as
a director or officer.
Aspyra
has entered into agreements to indemnify its directors and executive officers in
addition to the indemnification provided for in its Articles of Incorporation
and Bylaws. These agreements, among other things, provide for indemnification of
Aspyra’s directors and executive officers for expenses, judgments, fines and
settlement amounts incurred by any of these people in any action or proceeding
arising out of his or her services as a director or executive officer or at
Aspyra’s request. Aspyra believes that these provisions and agreements are
necessary to attract and retain qualified people as directors and executive
officers.
SECTION 16(A) BENEFICIAL
OWNERSHIP REPORTING COMPLIANCE
Section 16(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires the Company’s directors and
executive officers, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of
the Company’s equity securities, to file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and the NYSE Alternext reports of ownership and changes in ownership
of Common Stock and other equity securities of the Company. Officers, directors
and greater than 10% shareholders are required by SEC regulation to furnish the
Company with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.
To the
Company’s knowledge, based solely on a review of the copies of such reports
furnished to the Company and written representations that no other reports were
required, during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, all
Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to its officers,
directors and greater than ten percent beneficial owners were complied with
except for one Form 4 filing which was not timely filed. The Form 4
has since been filed.
AUDIT
COMMITTEE REPORT
The Audit
Committee of the Board is responsible for providing independent, objective
oversight of the Company’s accounting functions and internal controls. The Audit
Committee is currently composed of three directors, each of whom meets the
independence and experience requirements under the NYSE Alternext rules and
the independence requirements of the SEC. The Audit Committee operates under a
written charter adopted by the Board of Directors.
Management
is responsible for the preparation of the Company’s financial statements and
financial reporting process including its system of internal controls. The
independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for performing an
independent audit of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in
accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States) and expressing an opinion on whether the Company’s financial
statements present fairly, in all material respects, the Company’s financial
position and results of operations for the periods presented in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The Audit
Committee’s responsibility is to monitor and oversee these processes. In
fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, the Audit Committee has reviewed and
discussed with management and the independent registered public accounting firm
the audited financial statements that have been included in our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.
The Audit
Committee has discussed with the independent registered public accounting firm
the matters required to be discussed by Statement on Auditing Standard
No. 61, Communication with Audit Committees, as amended. In addition, the
Audit Committee has reviewed with the independent registered public accounting
firm their independence from the Company and its management including the
written disclosure and the letter provided to the Audit Committee as required by
Independence Standards Board Standard No. 1, Independence Discussions with
Audit Committees.
Based
upon the Audit Committee’s review and discussions with management and the
independent registered public accounting firm, the Audit Committee recommended
to the Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors has approved, the
inclusion of the audited financial statements in the Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the 2008 fiscal year for filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The Audit Committee has recommended the selection of BDO
Seidman, LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2009, subject to approval by the shareholders at
the Annual Meeting.
SUBMITTED
BY THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF
THE BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
Lawrence
S. Schmid
Norman R.
Cohen
Jeffrey
Tumbleson
The
Report of the Audit Committee shall not be deemed incorporated by reference by
any general statement incorporating by reference this Proxy Statement into any
filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, except to the extent that the Company
specifically incorporates this information by reference, and shall not otherwise
be deemed filed under such Acts.
PROPOSAL
NO. 2
APPROVAL
OF POTENTIAL ISSUANCES OF
SHARES
OF COMMON STOCK UNDER CONVERTIBLE NOTES AND WARRANTS
Introduction
On
February 12, 2009 (the “Closing Date”), the Company closed a private placement
transaction (the “Private Placement”) with eight accredited investors (the
“Purchasers”) in which the Company issued and sold to the Purchasers $1,000,000
in principal amount of secured convertible notes (the “Notes”) together with
warrants to purchase an additional 5,774,194 shares of the Company’s Common
Stock (“Purchaser Warrants”). In addition, we issued Great American Investors,
Inc., the placement agent for the Private Placement, warrants (the “Broker
Warrants”, and together with the Purchaser Warrants, the “Warrants”) to purchase
129,032 shares of the Company’s Common Stock with the same terms and conditions
as the Purchaser Warrants. The Notes are convertible into shares of the
Company’s Common Stock at a conversion price of $0.31 per share (the “Conversion
Price”), subject to adjustment in the event of stock splits, stock dividends,
and similar transactions. The Notes were to mature on March 26, 2010
and bear interest at the rate of 12% per annum compounded on each July 15
and January 15, which rate is subject to increase to 24% per annum (or the
maximum lawful rate) if the Company defaults under the Notes. In
April 2009, the purchasers extended the maturity date of the notes to August 26,
2010. Each Purchaser received Warrants with an exercise price of
$0.31 per share equal to the difference between (A) the sum of (i) the total
number of conversion shares which would have been issuable upon full conversion
of the Note determined by dividing the aggregate number principal amount of the
Notes by an assumed conversion rate of $0.25 (such quotient is referred to as
the “Assumed Note Conversion Shares”), plus (ii) 125% of the Assumed Note
Conversion Shares, and (B) the number of conversion shares which are issuable
upon conversion of the entire original principal amount of the Notes based on
the actual conversion price of $0.31, which terminate on the third anniversary
of the warrant issuance. The terms of the Notes and Warrants are described in
greater detail below in the section entitled “Terms of the
Transaction.”
At the
current Conversion Price, the Notes, including current principal and all accrued
interest through their maturity date, would be convertible into 3,225,807 shares
of the Company’s Common Stock. The Warrants, if exercised in full at
their current exercise price, would be exercisable for an additional 5,903,226
shares of the Company’s Common Stock. Accordingly, the Notes and
Warrants together are currently convertible or exercisable for an aggregate of
9,129,033 shares, or approximately 73% of the shares of the Company’s Common
Stock currently issued and outstanding. However, we are not obligated to issue
shares in excess of 19.9% of our issued and outstanding shares (the “Issuance
Cap”) unless and until any required shareholder approvals with respect to
applicable issuances of shares under the Notes and Warrants are obtained. The
rules of the NYSE Alternext US requires shareholder approval of the
issuance of shares in excess of the Issuance Cap at a price less than the
greater of book or market value, as discussed below. Accordingly, at the present
time, in the absence of shareholder approval, the Notes and Warrants together
are convertible or exercisable at the Purchasers’ discretion only into 2,474,993
shares of Common Stock, or 19.9% of our issued and outstanding shares in the
absence of a shareholder vote.
In
connection with the Private Placement, we agreed with the Purchasers, that,
among other things, we would obtain, within 120 days after the Closing Date, the
approval of our shareholders for the issuance and/or potential issuance of all
shares of Common Stock which may be issued pursuant to the conversion of the
Notes and the exercise of the Warrants in excess of 19.99% of our Common Stock
in connection with the Private Placement. Failure to obtain such
shareholder approval would constitute an event of default under the Notes. An
event of default under the Notes would allow the holders to declare all amounts
under the Notes immediately due and payable, and the interest rate on the
principal balance of the Note would increase from 12% to 24% per annum (or the
maximum lawful rate).
Accordingly,
we are now seeking shareholder approval with respect to potential issuances of
shares under the Notes and the Warrants as well as Proposal No. 3 regarding
the amendment of our Articles of Incorporation. In the event that this Proposal
No. 2 is not approved by the shareholders, we will be in default under the
Notes. If an event of default under the Notes were to occur, the holders of the
Notes could declare all amounts under the Notes immediately due and payable, and
the interest on the principal under the Notes will increase
substantially.
Why
the Company Needs Shareholder Approval
We are
seeking shareholder approval in order to comply with the NYSE Alternext US
rules and to fulfill an obligation under our agreement with the Purchasers
to seek any required shareholder approvals with respect to applicable issuances
of shares of our Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Notes and exercise
of the Warrants.
NYSE
Alternext US Rule 713 requires shareholder approval for the issuance of
securities (other than in a public offering) at a price per share less than the
greater of the book or market value of a company’s stock, where the amount of
securities being issued represents 20% or more of an issuer’s outstanding Common
Stock. Although the Conversion Price of the Notes was above the market value per
share of our Common Stock as of the Closing Date, the Conversion Price is less
than the book value of the shares as of such date. Accordingly, the issuance of
shares in excess of the Issuance Cap under the Notes and the Warrants requires
shareholder approval.
We are
seeking shareholder approval so that we can avoid an event of default under the
Notes and avoid an obligation of ours that would arise to pay increased interest
on the Notes. If any required shareholder approvals are not obtained, we would
be obligated to pay interest at a significantly higher rate (24% or the maximum
lawful rate, as opposed to 12%) on the Notes principal, which will increase our
borrowing costs and indebtedness and potentially materially impair the Company’s
operations and financial position. In addition, an event of default under the
Notes would allow the holders to declare all amounts under the Notes immediately
due and payable. This would require us to use our limited working capital and/or
raise additional funds. If we fail to make required payments, the holders of the
Notes could, subject to the rights of Western Commercial Bank, the holder of the
first position lien on our assets, take title to and sell all of our assets in
satisfaction of principal and interest then owing under the
Notes.
General. On
February 12, 2009, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the
“Purchase Agreement”) by and among the Company, Jay Weil as collateral agent,
and the Purchasers named in the Purchase Agreement for the private placement of
Notes in the principal amount of $1,000,000 and corresponding Purchaser Warrants
to purchase and additional 5,774,194 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at
$0.31 per share. The proceeds from the Private Placement are to be used, and in
accordance with the Purchase Agreement, may only be used, for the Company’s
working capital purposes, including the payment of the Company’s current
liabilities as of the Closing Date. The Private Placement closed, and the Notes
and Purchaser Warrants were issued on February 12, 2009. Pursuant to the
terms of the Purchase Agreement, we agreed to obtain, within 120 days after the
Closing Date, shareholder approval for the issuance and/or potential issuance of
all shares of Common Stock which may be issued pursuant to the conversion of the
Notes and the exercise of the Purchaser Warrants in excess of 19.99% of our
Common Stock in connection with the Private Placement, in accordance with the
NYSE Alternext US rule described above. Failure to obtain such
shareholder approval would constitute an event of default under the Notes,
allowing the holders to declare all amounts under the Notes immediately due and
payable, and increasing the interest rate on the Notes from 12% to 24% (or the
maximum lawful rate).
The Notes and
Warrants. The Notes accrue interest at a rate of 12% per
annum, subject to adjustment, compounded on each July 15 and
January 15. The Notes mature on August 26, 2010, and the Notes are
convertible into shares of Common Stock at the Conversion Price of $0.31,
subject to certain adjustments. At the current Conversion Price, the Notes would
be convertible into an aggregate of 3,225,807 shares of our Common Stock, or
approximately 26% of the shares currently issued and
outstanding. Each Purchaser received Purchaser Warrants at $0.31 per
share equal to the difference between (A) the sum of (i) the total number of
conversion shares which would have been issuable upon full conversion of the
Note determined by dividing the aggregate number principal amount of the Notes
by an assumed conversion rate of $0.25 (such quotient is referred to as the
“Assumed Note Conversion Shares”), plus (ii) 125% of the Assumed Note Conversion
Shares, and (B) the number of conversion shares which are issuable upon
conversion of the entire original principal amount of the Notes based on the
actual conversion price of $0.31, which terminate on the third anniversary of
the warrant issuance. In addition, we issued Great American Investors, Inc.,
placement agent for the Private Placement, warrants (the “Broker Warrants”, and
together with the Purchaser Warrants, the “Warrants”) to purchase 129,032 shares
of our Common Stock, with the same terms and conditions as the Warrant issued to
the Purchasers. The Warrants, if exercised in full at their current exercise
price, would be exercisable for an additional 5,903,226 shares of the Company’s
Common Stock. Accordingly, the Notes and Warrants together are
currently convertible or exercisable for an aggregate of 9,129,033 shares, or
approximately 73% of the shares of the Company’s Common Stock currently issued
and outstanding. Nevertheless, because of the Issuance Cap, the Notes and
Warrants are convertible or exercisable at the Purchasers’ discretion only into
2,474,993 shares of Common Stock, or 19.9% of our issued and outstanding
shares.
Events of
default under the Notes include our failure to secure any required shareholder
approval necessary for the issuance of more than 19.9% of our currently
outstanding shares of Common Stock, failure to pay when due any principal,
interest or late charges on the Notes, certain defaults on our indebtedness,
certain events of bankruptcy and our breach or failure to perform in respect of
representations and obligations under the Notes. Upon the occurrence of an event
of default, our obligations under the Note may become due and payable in
accordance with the terms thereof.
Security Interest. Pursuant
to a security agreement entered into in connection with the Purchase Agreement
(the “Security Agreement”), the obligations under the Purchaser Notes are
secured by a security interest in substantially all of the Company’s assets in
favor of the Purchasers, subordinate only to the security interest held in the
Company’s assets by Western Commercial Bank.
Preemptive
Rights. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company
also granted to each Purchaser, for a period of one year after the Closing Date,
the right to purchase, pro rata, all (or any part) of any equity securities or
options, rights or warrants for equity securities of the Company, subject to
certain exemptions (“New Securities”) that the Company may, from time to time
during such period, propose to sell or issue. Each Purchaser’s pro
rata share of the New Securities (its “Pro Rata Amount”) for purposes of this
preemptive right, is equal to the ratio of (i) the sum of the number of
shares of Common Stock then held by the Purchasers plus the number of shares
issuable to the Purchaser assuming the entire principal amount of all of the
Notes held by the Purchaser are converted into Common Stock and all of the
Warrants held by the Purchaser are exercised in accordance with their respective
terms (the “Purchaser Shares”) to (ii) the sum of (A) the total number
of shares of the Common Stock held all Purchasers as of the date of such
determination, plus (B) the total number of Purchaser Shares
held by all Purchasers.
Interests of Certain
Shareholders. The Purchasers under the Purchase Agreement included J.
Shawn Chalmers and Bicknell Family Holding Co, LLC, who were issued Notes in the
amount of $175,000 and $400,000, respectively. Mr. Chalmers and
Bicknell Family Holding Co, LLC each currently beneficially own 9.99% of our
outstanding Common Stock (including the exercisable portion of the Warrant
issued to them). The Purchasers also included C. Ian Sym-Smith, a current
director and director nominee, who was issued a Note in the amount of
$75,000.
Brokers. We paid to Great
American Investors, Inc., the placement agent for the private placement,
fee in the amount of $40,000, a non-refundable due diligence fee of $5,000, and
a Warrant to purchase 129,032 shares of our Common Stock (the “Broker
Warrants”). We also agreed to reimburse the placement agent’s expenses up to
$12,500. The Broker Warrants have the same terms as the Purchaser
Warrants. One of our current directors and a director nominee, Jeffrey Tumbleson
is the brother of the managing director of Great American Investors, Inc.,
which also acted as placement agent for three private placements of the
Company’s securities in November 2005, May 2006, and March
2008.
Further
Information. The terms of the Private Placement, the Notes,
the Warrants and other transaction documents are complex and only briefly
summarized above. For further information on the Private Placement and the
rights of the Purchasers, please refer to the descriptions contained in the
Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on
February 19, 2009, and the transaction documents filed as exhibits to such
report. The discussion herein is qualified in its entirety by reference to such
filed transaction documents.
Effect
of Proposal on Current Shareholders
If this
Proposal No. 2 is adopted, up to a maximum of 9,129,033 shares of Common
Stock (without regard to any Issuance Cap) would be issuable upon conversion of
the Notes and exercise of the Warrants by the Purchasers. As a result, the
issuance of shares upon a future conversion of the Notes or exercise of the
Warrants would result in significantly greater dilution to our shareholders,
particularly those shareholders who did not participate in the Private
Placement, and afford them a smaller percentage interest in the voting power,
liquidation value and aggregate book value of the Company. Additionally, the
sale or any resale of the Common Stock issued upon conversion of the Notes and
the exercise of the Warrants sold in the Private Placement could cause the
market price of our Common Stock to decline.
THE
BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE “FOR” THE APPROVAL OF POTENTIAL ISSUANCES OF
SHARES OF COMMON STOCK UNDER THE COMPANY’S CONVERTIBLE NOTES AND
WARRANTS.
APPROVAL
OF CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT TO AMENDED AND RESTATED ARTICLES
OF
INCORPORATION
TO INCREASE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED SHARES OF COMMON STOCK
The Board
is requesting shareholder approval of an amendment (the “Amendment”) to our
Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (the “Articles”) in order to
increase the authorized number of shares of our Common Stock from 40,000,000
shares to 75,000,000 shares. The Board of Directors has approved the Amendment,
subject to the ratification of the shareholders, and recommends that the
shareholders approve the Amendment.
Outstanding
Shares and Purpose of the Proposal
Our
Articles of Incorporation currently authorizes us to issue a maximum of
40,000,000 shares of Common Stock and 500,000 shares of Preferred Stock. As of
April 17, 2009 there were 12,437,150 shares of Common Stock and no shares
of Preferred Stock issued and outstanding. In addition, as of the same date, the
Board has reserved 1,290,875 shares for issuance under our stock option and
stock purchase plans. As described above under Proposal 2, under the
terms of the Notes and the Warrants issued to the Purchasers in the Private
Placement, up to 3,225,807 shares of the Company’s Common Stock are issuable
upon conversion of the Notes and up to an additional 5,903,226 shares of our
Common Stock are issuable upon exercise of all Warrants. As a result, up to
9,129,033 shares of Common Stock are issuable as a result of the Private
Placement, assuming that the shareholders approval Proposal No. 2 above in
connection with such issuance. In addition, we have reserved for
issuance up to 10,923,919 shares of Common Stock upon conversion of notes and
exercise of warrants issued in our private placement completed in March 2008.
Accordingly, an aggregate of 33,780,977 shares of the Company’s Common Stock are
currently either issued and outstanding or reserved for issuance. The Board
believes that the increase in authorized common shares would provide the Company
greater flexibility with respect to the Company’s capital structure for purposes
including additional equity financings and stock based acquisitions.
Effective
Date of Amendment
If the
Amendment is adopted, it will become effective upon filing of a Certificate of
Amendment to our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation with the
Secretary of State of the State of California. If approved,
Section (a) of Article III of our Amended and Restated Articles
of Incorporation will be amended to read in its entirety as
follows:
“The
corporation is authorized to issue two classes of shares, designated ‘Common
Stock’ and ‘Preferred Stock.’ The total number of shares which the corporation
is authorized to issue is 75,500,000. The number of shares of Preferred Stock
which the corporation is authorized to issue is 500,000. The number of shares of
Common Stock which the corporation is authorized to issue is
75,000,000.”
The form
of Certificate of Amendment to be filed with the Secretary of State of the State
of California is set forth as Appendix A to this Proxy Statement.
Effects
of Approving or Rejecting the Proposal
If this
proposal is approved, the additional shares of Common Stock will have the same
rights as the presently authorized shares, including the right to cast one vote
per share of Common Stock. Although the authorization of additional shares would
not, in itself, have any effect on the rights of any holder of our Common Stock,
the future issuance of additional shares of Common Stock (other than by way of a
stock split or dividend) would have the effect of diluting the voting rights and
could have the effect of diluting earnings per share and book value per share of
existing shareholders.
At
present, other than in connection with the exercise of the Notes and Warrants
issued in the Private Placement, the Board of Directors has no other plans to
issue the additional shares of Common Stock authorized by the Amendment.
However, it is possible that some of these additional shares could be used in
the future for various other purposes without further shareholder approval,
except as such approval may be required in particular cases by our charter
documents, applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange or other
system on which our securities may then be listed. These purposes may include:
raising capital, providing equity incentives to employees, officers or
directors, establishing strategic relationships with other companies, expanding
the company’s business or product lines through the acquisition of other
businesses or products, and other purposes.
We could
also use the additional shares of Common Stock that would become available for
issuance if the Amendment were adopted to oppose a hostile takeover attempt or
to delay or prevent changes in control or management of the Company. Although
this proposal to increase the authorized Common Stock has not been prompted by
the threat of any hostile takeover attempt (nor is the Board currently aware of
any such attempts directed at the Company), nevertheless, shareholders should be
aware that approval of proposal could facilitate future efforts by us to deter
or prevent changes in control of the Company, including transactions in which
the Company might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current
market prices.
Vote
Required
The
affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of
Common Stock will be required to approve the authorization of the Board of
Directors to increase the authorized Common Stock by amendment of the Company’s
Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation. As a result, abstentions and
broker non-votes, if any, will have the same effect as a vote against this
proposal. Brokers may have the authority to vote on this proposal when they have
not received instructions from the beneficial owner. Holders of shares of our
Common Stock do not have appraisal rights under California law or under the
governing documents of the Company in connection with this
solicitation.
THE
BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE “FOR” THE APPROVAL OF THE AMENDMENT OF THE
COMPANY’S ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION TO INCREASE THE AUTHORIZED NUMBER OF SHARES
OF COMMON STOCK.
PROPOSAL
NO. 4
RATIFICATION
OF APPOINTMENT OF BDO SEIDMAN, LLP
The Audit
Committee of the Board of Directors has selected BDO Seidman, LLP, independent
registered public accounting firm, to serve as the Company’s auditors for the
fiscal year ending December 31, 2009. BDO Seidman, LLP has served as the
Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for its last fourteen
fiscal years.
A
representative of BDO Seidman, LLP is expected to be available at the meeting of
shareholders to respond to appropriate questions and will be given the
opportunity to make a statement if he or she desires to do so. The Board of
Directors recommends the ratification of its selection of BDO Seidman, LLP to
serve as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the
fiscal year ending December 31, 2009.
The
affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the shares of Aspyra’s Common
Stock, present in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and
entitled to vote, is required to approve the proposal to ratify the appointment
of BDO Seidman, LLP as Aspyra’s independent registered public accounting firm
for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009.
Audit
Fees
The
aggregate fees billed for fiscal years 2008 and 2007 for each of the following
categories of services are as follows, all of which was attributable to BDO
Seidman, LLP:
|
|
2008
|
|
|
2007
|
|
Audit
fees (1)
|
|
$ |
260,587 |
|
|
$ |
287,679 |
|
Audit-related
fees (2)
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Tax
fees (3)
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
All
other fees (4)
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Total
|
|
$ |
260,587 |
|
|
$ |
287,679 |
|
The
categories in the above table have the definitions assigned under Item 9 of
Schedule 14A promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and
with respect to Aspyra’s 2008 and 2007 fiscal years, these categories include in
particular the following components:
(1)
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|
“Audit
fees” includes fees for audit services principally related to the year-end
examination and the quarterly reviews of Aspyra’s consolidated financial
statements, consultation on matters that arise during a review or audit,
and SEC filings.
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|
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(2)
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“Audit
related fees” includes fees, which are for consulting services. The
principal auditors did not provide any consulting services for the years
ended December 31, 2008 and 2007.
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(3)
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“Tax
fees” includes fees for tax compliance and advice. The principal auditors
did not provide any tax services for the years ended December 31,
2008 and 2007.
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(4)
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“All
other fees” includes fees for training on the requirements of
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The principal auditors
did not provide any other services for the years ended December 31,
2008 and 2007.
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An
accounting firm other than BDO Seidman, LLP provides the majority of
Aspyra’s tax services.
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Audit
Committee Pre-Approval Policy
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The Audit
Committee’s policy is to pre-approve all audit and non-audit services, and the
related fees, provided to Aspyra by its Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm, or subsequently approve non-audit services in those circumstances where a
subsequent approval is necessary and permissible under the Exchange Act or the
rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, all of the
services relating to the fees described in the table above were approved by the
Audit Committee.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR THE PROPOSAL TO RATIFY THE
APPOINTMENT OF BDO SEIDMAN, LLP AS ASPYRA’S INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2009.
PROPOSAL
NO. 5
APPROVAL
OF AMENDMENT TO THE COMPANY’S 2005 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN TO INCREASE THE
AGGREGATE NUMBER OF SHARES THAT MAY BE ISSUED PURSUANT TO THE COMPANY’S 2005
EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN FROM 1,290,875 TO 3,040,875
There is
being submitted to the shareholders for approval at the Annual Meeting, the
approval of amendment to the Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan, a copy of
which is included as Appendix B to this Proxy Statement, to increase the
aggregate number of shares that may be issued pursuant to the Company’s 2005
Equity Incentive Plan from 1,290,875 to 3,040,875. The Board approved the
amendment because it believes that the Company needs additional shares available
for issuance as equity-based compensation.
We believe that stock and option grants
play an important role in providing officers, directors and employees with an
incentive and inducement to contribute fully to the growth and development of
the Company because of the opportunity to acquire a proprietary interest in the
Company.
Those
officers, directors, employees and consultants receiving stock and option grants
will receive, for nominal consideration, the opportunity to profit from any rise
in the market value of the common stock. This will dilute the equity interest of
the Company's other shareholders.
FEDERAL
INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE STOCK AND OPTION GRANTS PURSUANT TO THE AMDNEMENT
TO THE 2005 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
Incentive Stock Options.
For federal income tax purposes, the holder of an incentive stock option
receives no taxable income at the time of the grant or exercise of the incentive
stock option. If such person retains the common stock for a period of at least
two years after the option is granted and one year after the option is
exercised, any gain upon the subsequent sale of the common stock will be taxed
as a long-term capital gain. A participant who disposes of shares acquired by
exercise of an incentive stock option prior to the expiration of two years after
the option is granted or one year after the option is exercised will realize
ordinary income as of the exercise date equal to the difference between the
exercise price and fair market value of the share on the exercise date. Any
additional gain or loss recognized upon any later disposition of the shares
would be capital gain or loss. The difference between the option exercise price
and the fair market value of the shares on the exercise date of an incentive
stock option is an adjustment in computing the holder’s alternative minimum
taxable income and may be subject to an alternative minimum tax which is paid if
such tax exceeds the regular tax for the year.
Nonstatutory Stock
Options. A participant who receives a nonstatutory stock
option with an exercise price equal to or greater than the fair market value of
the stock on the grant date generally will not realize taxable income on the
grant of such option, but will realize ordinary income at the time of exercise
of the option equal to the difference between the option exercise price and the
fair market value of the shares on the date of exercise. Any additional gain or
loss recognized upon any later disposition of shares would be capital gain or
loss. Any taxable income recognized in connection with an option exercise by an
employee or former employee of the company is subject to tax withholding by
us.
Stock Awards.
Stock awards will generally be taxed in the same manner as nonstatutory
stock options. However, a restricted stock award is subject to a “substantial
risk of forfeiture” within the meaning of Section 83 of the Code to the
extent the award will be forfeited in the event that the participant ceases to
provide services to us. As a result of this substantial risk of forfeiture, the
participant will not recognize ordinary income at the time of grant. Instead,
the participant will recognize ordinary income on the dates when the stock is no
longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, or when the stock becomes
transferable, if earlier. The participant’s ordinary income is measured as the
difference between the amount paid for the stock, if any, and the fair market
value of the stock on the date the stock is no longer subject to
forfeiture.
The
participant may accelerate his or her recognition of ordinary income, if any,
and begin his or her capital gains holding period by timely filing (i.e., within
thirty days of the award) an election pursuant to Section 83(b) of the
Code. In such event, the ordinary income recognized, if any, is measured as the
difference between the amount paid for the stock, if any, and the fair market
value of the stock on the date of award, and the capital gain holding period
commences on such date. The ordinary income recognized by an employee or former
employee will be subject to tax withholding by us. If the stock award consists
of stock units, no taxable income is reportable when stock units are granted to
a participant or upon vesting. Upon settlement, the participant will recognize
ordinary income in an amount equal to the value of the payment received pursuant
to the stock units.
Stock Appreciation
Rights. No taxable income is reportable when a stock
appreciation right with an exercise price equal to or greater than the fair
market value of the stock on the date of grant which is exercisable only for
stock is granted to a participant or upon vesting. Upon exercise, the
participant will recognize ordinary income in an amount equal to the fair market
value of any shares received. Any additional gain or loss recognized upon any
later disposition of the shares would be capital gain or loss.
Cash Awards. Upon
receipt of cash, the recipient will have taxable ordinary income, in the year of
receipt, equal to the cash received. Any cash received by an employee or former
employee will be subject to tax withholding by us.
Tax Effect for Us.
Unless limited by Section 162(m) or Section 280G of the
Code, we generally will be entitled to a tax deduction in connection with an
award under the 2005 Plan in an amount equal to the ordinary income realized by
a participant at the time the participant recognizes such income (for example,
upon the exercise of a nonstatutory stock option).
Section 162(m) Limits.
Section 162(m) of the Code places a limit of $1 million on the
amount of compensation that we may deduct in any one year with respect to each
of our five most highly paid executive officers. Certain performance-based
compensation is not subject to the deduction limit. The 2005 Plan is qualified
such that awards under the Plan may constitute performance-based compensation
not subject to Section 162(m) of the Code. One of the requirements for
equity compensation plans is that there must be a limit to the number of shares
granted to any one individual under the plan. Accordingly, the 2005 Plan
provides that the maximum number of shares for which awards may be made to any
employee, in any calendar year, is 200,000, except that in connection with his
or her initial service, an awardee may be granted awards covering up to an
additional 500,000 shares. The maximum amount payable pursuant to that portion
of a cash award granted under the 2005 Plan for any fiscal year to any employee
that is intended to satisfy the requirements for “performance-based
compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code may not exceed
2,000,000.
Section 280G
Limits. Section 280G of the Code limits the amount of
certain compensation payable upon a change in control of CCA, so-called
“parachute payments.” If stock options or other awards vest upon a change in
control, or if other payments contingent upon such a change in control are made,
the vesting or payment may in whole or in part result in a nondeductible
parachute payment. In addition, the recipient of the parachute payment would be
subject to a 20% excise tax that we would be required to withhold in addition to
federal income tax.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS VOTING 'FOR' APPROVING THE AMENDMENT TO INCREASE
THE AGGREAGTE NUMBER OF SHARES THAT MAY BE ISSUED PURSUANT TO THE
COMPANY’S 2005 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN FROM 1,290,875 TO
3,040,875
SHAREHOLDER
PROPOSALS FOR 2010 ANNUAL MEETING
Under
certain circumstances, shareholders are entitled to present proposals at
shareholder meetings.
SEC
rules provide that any shareholder proposal to be included in the Proxy
Statement for the Company’s 2010 Annual Meeting must be received by the Company
at its principal executive offices prior to January 13, 2009, in a form
that complies with applicable regulations. If the date of the 2010 Annual
Meeting is advanced or delayed more than 30 days from the date of the 2009
Annual Meeting, shareholder proposals intended to be included in the Proxy
Statement for the 2010 Annual Meeting must be received by us within a reasonable
time before the Company begins to print and mail the Proxy Statement for the
2010 Annual Meeting. Upon any determination that the date of the 2010 Annual
Meeting will be advanced or delayed by more than 30 days from the date of
the 2009 Annual Meeting, the Company will disclose the change in the earliest
practicable Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
SEC
rules also govern a company’s ability to use discretionary proxy authority
with respect to shareholder proposals that were not submitted by the
shareholders in time to be included in the Proxy Statement. In the event a
shareholder proposal is not submitted to the Company prior to January 13,
2009, the proxies solicited by the Board for the 2010 Annual Meeting will confer
authority on the proxy holders to vote the shares in accordance with the
recommendations of the Board if the proposal is presented at the 2010 Annual
Meeting without any discussion of the proposal in the Proxy Statement for such
meeting. If the date of the 2010 Annual Meeting is advanced or delayed more than
30 days from the date of the 2009 Annual Meeting, then the shareholder proposal
must not have been submitted to the Company within a reasonable time before the
Company mails the Proxy Statement for the 2010 Annual Meeting.
Shareholder
nominations for the 2010 Annual Meeting must be submitted in accordance with the
procedures described under the caption “Procedures for Shareholder
Nominations.”
AVAILABILITY
OF 2008 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
The
Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and with the NYSE
Alternext US, an Annual Report on Form 10-K under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008. The Annual report
on Form 10-K is available on the Company’s website at www.aspyra.com or on
the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Upon written request, the
Company will furnish any shareholder a copy of the Annual Report on
Form 10-K including the financial statements and schedules, without charge.
Any such written request may be addressed to: Corporate Secretary of the Company
at 26115-A Mureau Road, Calabasas, California, 91302.
HOUSEHOLDING
OF ANNUAL MEETING MATERIALS
In
December 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new
rules that permit us to send a single set of Annual Reports and Proxy
Statements to any household at which two or more shareholders reside if we
believe they are members of the same family, unless we have received contrary
instructions from one or more of such shareholders. Each shareholder will
continue to receive a separate proxy card. Upon request to the Company’s
Corporate Secretary, at the address of our principal executive offices or by
phone at (818) 880-6700, you may revoke your decision to household, and we will
promptly deliver a separate copy of the Annual Report or Proxy Statement, as
applicable, to you at the shared address within 30 days of your request. In
addition, shareholders sharing an address can request delivery of a single copy
of Annual Reports or Proxy Statements if they are receiving multiple copies of
Annual Reports or Proxy Statements upon request to the Chief Corporate
Secretary, at the address of our principal executive offices or by phone at
(818) 880-6700.
A number
of brokerage firms have already instituted householding. If your family has
multiple accounts of our stock, you may have received householding notification
from your broker. Please contact your broker directly if you have questions,
require additional copies of the Proxy Statement or annual report, or wish to
revoke your decision to household, and thereby receive multiple
reports.
OTHER
MATTERS
Our Board
of Directors knows of no other business which will be presented at the Annual
Meeting. If any other business is properly brought before the Annual Meeting, it
is intended that proxies in the enclosed form will be voted in respect thereof
in accordance with the judgments of the proxy holders.
It is
important that the proxies be returned promptly and that your shares are
represented. Shareholders are urged to mark, date, execute and promptly return
the accompanying proxy card in the enclosed envelope.
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By
Order of the Board of Directors,
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By:
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/s/
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Anahita
Villafane
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Chief Financial Officer
and Secretary
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Appendix
A
CERTIFICATE
OF AMENDMENT
OF
ARTICLES
OF INCORPORATION
OF
ASPYRA,
INC.,
a
California corporation
Rodney W.
Schutt and Anahita Villafane hereby certify that:
1. They are the Chief Executive Officer
and Secretary, respectively, of Aspyra, Inc., a California corporation (the
“Corporation”).
2. The Articles of Incorporation shall be
amended at Paragraph (a) of Article III such that Paragraph
(a) of Article III now reads in full as follows:
“(a) The corporation is authorized to issue
two classes of shares designated “Preferred Stock” and ‘Common Stock,”
respectively. The number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is
500,000, and the number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is
75,000,000.”
3. The foregoing amendment of the Articles
of Incorporation has been duly approved by the Board of
Directors.
4. The foregoing amendment of the Articles
of Incorporation has been duly approved by the required vote of the shareholders
in accordance with Section 902 of the California General Corporation
Law. The total number of outstanding shares of Common Stock of the
Corporation is 12,437,150. The number of shares voting in favor of
the amendment equaled or exceeded the vote required. The percentage
vote required was more than 50% of the total number of outstanding shares of
Common Stock.
The
undersigned further declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State
of California that the matters set forth in this certificate are true and
correct of their own knowledge.
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Rodney
W. Schutt, Chief Executive Officer
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Date: June ,
2009
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Anahita
Villafane, Secretary
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Appendix
B
Amendment
No. 1 to Aspyra, Inc. (formerly known as Creative Computer Applications,
Inc.)
2005
Equity Incentive Plan
This
Amendment No. 1 (“Amendment”) to the Aspyra, Inc. (formerly known as Creative
Computer Applications, Inc.) 2005 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) hereby
effects the following amendments to the Plan.
1.
Section 3(a)(i) of the Plan is deleted in its entirety and replaced by the
following which shall be inserted in lieu thereof:
“The
maximum aggregate number of Shares that may be issued under the Plan is
3,040,875. Such limitation shall consist of (A) the number of Shares
available for issuance, as of the effective date of the Plan, under the Prior
Plan, plus (B) those Shares that are issuable upon exercise of options
granted pursuant to the Prior Plan that expire or become unexercisable for any
reason without having been exercised in full after the effective date of the
Plan, plus (C) an additional increase of 1,000,000 Shares to be approved by
the Company’s shareholders on the effective date of the Plan, plus (D) an
additional increase of 1,750,000 Shares to be approved by the Company’s
shareholders on the effective date of Amendment No. to the Plan. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, the maximum aggregate number of Shares that may be issued under
the Plan through Incentive Stock Options is 3,040,875 Shares. The limitations of
this Section 3(a)(i) shall be subject to the adjustments provided for
in Section 15 of the Plan.”
All other
terms of the Plan shall remain the same.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company, by its duly authorized officer, has executed this
Amendment to the Plan, effective as of _______, 2009.
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ASPYRA, INC.
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By:
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/s/ |
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Its:
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ASPYRA,
INC
PROXY
THIS
PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The
undersigned, a shareholder of Aspyra, Inc., a California corporation,
hereby appoints RODNEY W. SCHUTT and ANAHITA VILLAFANE, or either of them, the
proxies of the undersigned, each with the power to appoint his substitute, and
hereby authorizes them to represent and to vote for the undersigned all the
Aspyra, Inc. Common Shares held of record on May 1, 2009 by the
undersigned at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on June 11,
2009 or any adjournment or postponement thereof as follows on the reverse side
of this proxy card:
THIS
PROXY WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED OR IF NO CONTRARY DIRECTION IS INDICATED WILL BE
VOTED FOR EACH OF THE PROPOSALS ON THE REVERSE SIDE HEREOF AND FOR SUCH OTHER
MATTERS AS MAY PROPERLY COME BEFORE THE MEETING AS SAID PROXIES DEEM
ADVISABLE.
(Continued
and to be signed on the reverse side)
ANNUAL
MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS OF
ASPYRA,
INC.
June 11,
2009
Please
date, sign and mail
your
proxy card in the
envelope
provided as soon
as
possible.
Please
detach along perforated line and mail in the envelope
provided.
PLEASE
SIGN, DATE AND RETURN PROMPTLY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. PLEASE MARK YOUR VOTE
IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS SHOWN HERE x
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FOR
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AGAINST
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ABSTAIN
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1.
Election of Directors:
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NOMINEES:
¡ John
Mutch
¡ Lawrence
S.
Schmid
¡ Robert
S.
Fogerson, Jr.
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2.
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To
approve the potential issuance of up to 9,129,033 shares of the Company’s
Common Stock at a price below the current book value issued in connection
with a private placement of convertible notes and warrants conducted in
February 2009
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o
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o
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o
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¡ Norman R.
Cohen
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o
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FOR
ALL NOMINEES
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¡ James
Zierick
¡ C. Ian
Sym-Smith
¡
Jeffrey
Tumbleson
¡ Rodney W.
Schutt
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3.
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To
approve an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Articles of
Incorporation in order to increase the total number of authorized shares
of Common Stock from 40,000,000 shares to 75,000,000
shares
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o
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o
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o
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o
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WITHHOLD
AUTHORITY
FOR
ALL NOMINEES
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4.
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To
ratify the appointment of BDO Seidman, LLP as Aspyra’s Independent
Registered Public Accounting Firm for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2009
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o
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o
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o
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5.
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To
amend the Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan to increase the aggregate
number of shares that may be issued pursuant to the Company’s 2005 Equity
Incentive Plan from 1,290,875 to 3,040,875
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o
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o
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o
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o
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FOR
ALL EXCEPT
(See
instructions below)
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6.
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In
their discretion, the proxyholders are authorized to transact such other
business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any
continuation, postponements or adjournments thereof.
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The
Board of Directors recommends a vote “FOR” the election of each of the
nominees, “FOR” the approval of potential issuances of our Common Stock in
connection with the February 2009 private placement, “FOR” the
amendment of the Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of
authorized shares of Common Stock from 40,000,000 to 75,000,000, “FOR” the
amendment to the Company's 2005 Equity Incentive Plan and “FOR”
ratification of the selection of BDO Seidman, LLP as the Company’s
independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2009. All
proposals to be acted upon are proposals of the Board of Directors. If any other business is
properly presented at the Meeting, including, among other things,
consideration of a motion to adjourn the meeting to another time or place
in order to solicit additional proxies in favor of the recommendations of
the Board of Directors, this proxy shall be voted by the proxyholders in
accordance with the recommendations of a majority of the Board of
Directors. At the date the Proxy Statement went to press, we did
not anticipate any other matters would be raised at the
Meeting.
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INSTRUCTION:
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To
withhold authority to vote for any individual nominee(s), mark “FOR ALL EXCEPT” and
fill in the circle next to each nominee you wish to withhold, as shown
here: l
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PLEASE
MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED
ENVELOPE.
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WILL
ATTEND
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To
change the address on your account, please check the box at right and
indicate your new address in the address space above. Please note that
changes to the registered name(s) on the account may not be submitted
via this method.
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If
you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, please mark the WILL ATTEND
box
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o
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o
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Signature
of Shareholder
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Date:
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Signature
of Shareholder
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Date:
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Note:
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Please
sign exactly as your name or names appear on this proxy. When shares are
held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor,
administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as
such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by
duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a
partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized
person.
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32