As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 22, 2023

Registration No. 333-266755

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

FORM F-3

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

VERSUS SYSTEMS INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

British Columbia, Canada   N/A
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
  (IRS Employer
Identification Number)

 

1558 West Hastings Street

Vancouver BC V6G 3J4 Canada

(604) 639-4457

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 

Matthew Pierce

Versus Systems Inc.
1370 N St Andrews Place
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(310) 242-0228
(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 

Copy to:

M. Ali Panjwani, Esq.
Eric M. Hellige, Esq.
Pryor Cashman LLP
7 Times Square
New York, NY 10036
(21) 421-4100

 

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement. 

 

If the only securities being registered on this form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box. ☐

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box: ☒

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

 

If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. 

 

  Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer  
  Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company  
      Emerging growth company  

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission acting pursuant to said Section 8(a) may determine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state or other jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS   SUBJECT TO COMPLETION    DATED SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

 

414,500 Shares

  

VERSUS SYSTEMS INC.

 

This prospectus relates to the resale, from time to time, by the selling stockholder named herein (the “Selling Stockholder”) of an aggregate of 414,500 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of certain outstanding Series C common share purchase warrants (the “Warrants”).

 

We are not selling any securities under this prospectus and we will not receive proceeds from the sale of the shares of our common stock by the Selling Stockholder. However, we may receive proceeds from the cash exercise of the Warrants, which, if exercised in cash at the current applicable exercise price with respect to all of the 414,500 shares of common stock, would result in gross proceeds to us of approximately $3.2 million.

 

We will pay the expenses of registering the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus, but all selling and other expenses incurred by the Selling Stockholder will be paid by the Selling Stockholder. The Selling Stockholder may sell our shares of common stock offered by this prospectus from time to time on terms to be determined at the time of sale through ordinary brokerage transactions or through any other means described in this prospectus under “Plan of Distribution.” The prices at which the Selling Stockholder may sell shares will be determined by the prevailing market price for our common stock or in negotiated transactions.

 

Our common stock is quoted on The Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “VS.” On September 20, 2023, the last reported sale price for our common stock on Nasdaq was $0.305.

 

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 7 of this prospectus for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

The date of this prospectus is                             , 2023.

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS ii
   
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS iii
   
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY 1
   
RISK FACTORS 7
   
ISSUANCE OF WARRANTS TO THE SELLING STOCKHOLDER 7
   
USE OF PROCEEDS 8
   
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES 8
   
SELLING STOCKHOLDER 10
   
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION 11
   
LEGAL MATTERS 27
   
EXPERTS 27
   
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 28
   
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE 29

 

i

 

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

 

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form F-3 that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). You should read this prospectus and the information and documents incorporated herein by reference carefully. Such documents contain important information you should consider when making your investment decision. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information” and “Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference” in this prospectus.

 

You should rely only on the information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus. Neither we nor the selling stockholder named herein (the “Selling Stockholder”) have authorized anyone to provide you with information different from, or in addition to, that contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the securities offered hereby but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus is current only as of their respective dates or on the date or dates that are specified in those documents. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

 

The Selling Stockholder is not offering to sell or seeking offers to purchase these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. Neither we nor the Selling Stockholder have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the jurisdiction of the United States who come into possession of this prospectus are required to inform themselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to this Offering and the distribution of this prospectus applicable to that jurisdiction.

 

If required, each time the Selling Stockholder offers shares of common stock, we will provide you with, in addition to this prospectus, a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. We may also authorize the Selling Stockholder to use one or more free writing prospectuses to be provided to you that may contain material information relating to that offering. We may also use a prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus to add, update or change any of the information contained in this prospectus or in documents we have incorporated by reference. This prospectus, together with any applicable prospectus supplements, any related free writing prospectuses and the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus, includes all material information relating to this offering. To the extent that any statement that we make in a prospectus supplement is inconsistent with statements made in this prospectus, the statements made in this prospectus will be deemed modified or superseded by those made in a prospectus supplement. Please carefully read both this prospectus and any prospectus supplement together with the additional information described below under the section entitled “Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference” before buying any of the securities offered.

 

Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “our company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Versus Systems Inc. and our subsidiaries.

   

Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this prospectus or incorporated by reference herein concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate is based on information from independent industry and research organizations, other third-party sources (including industry publications, surveys and forecasts), and management estimates. Management estimates are derived from publicly available information released by independent industry analysts and third-party sources, as well as data from our internal research, and are based on assumptions made by us upon reviewing such data and our knowledge of such industry and markets, which we believe to be reasonable. Although we believe the data from these third-party sources is reliable, we have not independently verified any third-party information. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of the future performance of the industry in which we operate and our future performance are necessarily subject to uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

When used in this prospectus, including the documents that we have incorporated by reference, in future filings with the SEC or in press releases or other written or oral communications, statements that are not historical in nature, including those containing words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “continue,” “intend,” “should,” “may” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters, are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)). In particular, statements pertaining to our trends, liquidity and capital resources, among others, contain forward-looking statements. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the following:

 

our prospects, including our future business, revenues, expenses, net income, earnings per share, gross margins, profitability, cash flows, cash position, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations, backlog of orders and revenue, our targeted growth rate, our goals for future revenues and earnings, and our expectations about realizing the revenues in our backlog and in our sales pipeline;

 

the potential impact of COVID-19 on our business and results of operations;

 

the effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations of current and future economic, business, market and regulatory conditions, including the current economic and market conditions and their effects on our customers and their capital spending and ability to finance purchases of our products, services, technologies and systems;

 

the effects of fluctuations in sales on our business, revenues, expenses, net income, earnings per share, margins, profitability, cash flows, capital expenditures, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations;

 

our products, services, technologies and systems, including their quality and performance in absolute terms and as compared to competitive alternatives, their benefits to our customers and their ability to meet our customers’ requirements, and our ability to successfully develop and market new products, services, technologies and systems;

 

our markets, including our market position and our market share;

 

our ability to successfully develop, operate, grow and diversify our operations and businesses;

 

our business plans, strategies, goals and objectives, and our ability to successfully achieve them;

 

the sufficiency of our capital resources, including our cash and cash equivalents, funds generated from operations, availability of borrowings under our credit and financing arrangements and other capital resources, to meet our future working capital, capital expenditure, lease and debt service and business growth needs;

 

the value of our assets and businesses, including the revenues, profits and cash flows they are capable of delivering in the future;

 

the effects on our business operations, financial results, and prospects of business acquisitions, combinations, sales, alliances, ventures and other similar business transactions and relationships;

 

our ability to regain compliance with Nasdaq listing standards;

 

industry trends and customer preferences and the demand for our products, services, technologies and systems; and

 

the nature and intensity of our competition, and our ability to successfully compete in our markets.

 

These statements are necessarily subjective, are based upon our current plans, intentions, objectives, goals, strategies, beliefs, projections and expectations, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements described in or implied by such statements. Actual results may differ materially from expected results described in our forward-looking statements, including with respect to correct measurement and identification of factors affecting our business or the extent of their likely impact, the accuracy and completeness of the publicly-available information with respect to the factors upon which our business strategy is based, or the success of our business. Furthermore, industry forecasts are likely to be inaccurate, especially over long periods of time.

 

Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times by which, our performance or results may be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and management’s belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may cause actual results, our performance or achievements, or industry results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in this prospectus as well as other risks and factors identified from time to time in our SEC filings.

 

iii

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY

 

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. This summary is not complete and does not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in our common stock. We urge you to read this entire prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein carefully, including the financial statements and notes to those financial statements incorporated by reference herein and therein. Please read the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” for more information about important risks that you should consider before investing in our common stock.

 

Our Mission

 

Our mission is to reinvent the way our customers interact with consumers through live events, games, apps and streaming content.

 

Our Company

 

We offer a suite of proprietary business-to-business software tools that drive user engagement through gamification and rewards. These tools allow our partners to offer in-game prizing and rewards, including merchandise, coupons, digital goods, and sweepstakes entries — inside their websites, their venues, or their streaming media content.

 

Our customers, which are mostly sports teams, venues, and advertising agencies, typically use our products as part of their live events or as part of an advertising campaign with the goal of engaging fans, increasing consented first-party data, and increasing sales.

 

End users of our products earn prizes by registering on our system and completing in-content challenges like trivia, polls, or casual mobile games. Players can use our system to play a variety of games and earn a wide range of prize types, including coupons, sweepstakes-style prizes, consumer packaged goods (“CPG”) downloadable content (“DLC”), or web3 prizing. We are continually upgrading our gamification and rewards products, including our in-venue XEO and Filter Fan Cam products for live events, and our new stand-alone “Winfinite” product that can be used by brands, advertising agencies, and content partners to reach potential customers anytime, anywhere, on any device. We also have a growing IP portfolio that creates future licensing and product development opportunities including our recently allowed Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Machine Learning (“ML”) series of patent claims.

 

With the acquisition of Xcite Interactive in June 2021, we acquired a number of key pieces of technology as well as relationships that have helped to drive our engagement and rewards business, including a live events fan engagement business that has partnered with professional sports franchises across the National Football League (“NFL”), the National Basketball Association (“NBA”), the National Hockey League (“NHL”) and others to increase audience engagement using interactive gaming functions like trivia, polling, and casual games that can be played alongside live experiences whether a player is at-home, in a restaurant, or in-venue at the event itself. Our three largest customers in 2023 are the Sacramento Kings, the San Jose Sharks and the New Jersey Devils. The Xcite acquisition also helped us to grow our software licensing business — taking the in-venue fan engagement tools and methods developed by Xcite and its team over decades, and productizing those tools in a scalable way that allows content partners of all types and sizes to engage with fans and customers in measurable, effective ways, collecting consented user data and driving new, incremental sales.

 

We now have three principal stand-alone scalable software products that can be used across a wide variety of applications. Our eXtreme Engagement Online or “XEO” platform is designed primarily for in-venue main-board work in stadiums and arenas. Our Filter Fan Cam (FFC) platform is an Augmented Reality filtering tool that can be used for mobile and in-venue applications. We also have recently launched our stand-alone gaming and prizing product that we call “Winfinite,” which allows brands, media companies, and advertising agencies to reach out to customers directly on their mobile devices, increasing engagement, driving consented user data, and increasing sales both in-store and online via ecommerce channels. We license these three software products to teams, leagues, ad agencies, ecommerce partners, and other content creators — creating a recurring revenue stream that supplements our professional services and advertising revenues. In addition to providing improved consumer engagement with games and features like trivia and polling, XEO, FFC, and Winfinite provide improved analytics and flexibility for our content partners that want to engage directly with fans and future customers in real-time.

 

We are able to provide our customers with improved fan engagement, data, and increased product sales by not only reaching out to those fans that are in-venue on game day, but also to those watching at home on TV, or other devices. With XEO, FFC, and Winfinite, fans can interact with teams, their favorite influencers, or their favorite brands, while competing for prizes and rewards anytime, no matter where they are. The Versus engagement and rewards model now extends beyond college and professional sports to awards shows, reality TV, or even streaming content on platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. We have also worked with event sponsors, conventions, theme parks and restaurants to drive engagement and sales.

 

1

 

 

We believe our products provide real benefit for three key target groups: content providers, brands and agencies, and fans/players/customers. By providing interactivity and in-content rewards, content providers see more frequent sessions and longer session times from their users and viewers. Consumer brands offering sponsorships and in-content prizes or rewards within our interactive experiences see improved brand recall and brand affinity, as well as prolonged and increased interest from players and consumers who view their goods as a positive “win” within their viewing experience. Customers are more likely to share their data and make repeat purchases both in-venue and online via ecommerce when brands use this gamification and rewards model. Players, viewers, and consumers who interact alongside their favorite content, especially players who play for real-world rewards, show an increased desire to interact with such content, which increases the value of the content as a supplier of prizing opportunities, of the brands that offer the prizes, and of the experience itself as an interactive and desirable challenge for players and viewers.

 

We monetize our gamification and rewards products in a number of ways including: Licensing the technology to our partners for events, campaigns, or seasons; adding a Cost Per Click (“CPC”), or Cost Per Action (“CPA”), “performance marketing” element that scales with each game played, each reward redeemed, or each new registered user added. We can also charge our partners for professional services like developing bespoke game elements or creating custom data reports.

 

Our Products and Services

 

We provide the following products and services to our partners and customers:

 

Professional Services: Integration, Customization, and ProductionOur patented platform can be integrated into games and interactive media through a number of methods including web-frames, and Software Development Kits (SDKs), including SDKs for iOS, Android, Unity, C++ and others. We have worked with partners such as HP to develop bespoke instances of our rewards platform, as we did with their OMEN Rewards system available inside HP OMEN and Pavilion gaming desktop and laptops. We also offer professional design, development and platform integration services to content partners who seek more bespoke solutions. A majority of our professional sports team partners, and some of our advertising partners, use some degree of customization in the application of our engagement platforms. We also offer live-event production services, and sweepstakes/prizing support to assist with the implementation of our products.

 

Analytics and support for in-venue products XEO and FFC. Our in-venue fan engagement products are used at a variety of live-event and other entertainment focused properties like stadiums and arenas, but they can also be used at conferences, theme parks, and restaurants to increase audience and customer engagement. Content partners, including professional sports teams, can use XEO and FFC in conjunction with their existing video screens, “jumbotrons”, “halo boards”, “main boards”, as well as branded apps to reach potential customers with games and interactive experiences that enhance the live event.

 

Support and Analytics for Winfinite, our Click-Play-Win Product. Winfinite is a Click-Play-Win interactive advertising tool that increases awareness, affinity, data, and incremental sales. It allows content creators, marketers, agencies, and other advertisers to increase customer acquisition and loyalty through a combination of games and rewards. Our customers use Click Play Win to create interactive advertisements that offer coupons and rewards. The product is compatible with a number of digital platforms and can be integrated into customers’ existing advertising campaigns. Click-Play-Win is designed to increase customer transactions and also increase the collection of zero-party data, which is first-party data that is consensually provided by consumers directly to advertisers. Consumers are incented to provide their data inside Winfinite as they register to play games for prizes and rewards that may include coupons, real-world goods and services, sweepstakes entries, and digital goods including downloadable content for games, digital collectibles, and web3 products.

 

Advertising services. In connection with the placement or licensing of our engagement and rewards platforms, we market our services to brand partners to place their products, discounts, or coupons into Versus-enabled content so that users, viewers and players can earn those rewards for their in-game or in-app behavior. When providing those services, we typically charge the brand only when a player attempts to win one of the brand’s proffered prizes, or when a new customer has registered and consented to be contacted by the brand in the future. However, in certain cases we may also charge on a CPC, CPE or a CPA model.

 

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Corporate History and Structure

 

Versus Systems Inc., a corporation formed under the laws of British Columbia, was formed by way of an amalgamation under the name McAdam Resources, Inc. in the Province of Ontario on December 1, 1988 and subsequently extra-provincially registered in British Columbia on February 2, 1989. We changed our name to Boulder Mining Corporation on May 9, 1995 in Ontario and on September 21, 1996 in British Columbia. We continued into British Columbia on January 2, 2007 and concurrently changed our name to Opal Energy Corp. We changed our name to Versus Systems Inc. on June 30, 2016, and concurrently ceased or divested our mining related business and began operating our current software platform business.

 

In June 2021, we completed the acquisition of multimedia, production, and interactive gaming company Xcite Interactive, a provider of online audience engagement through its owned and operated XEO technology platform. We now provide products and services to multiple professional sports franchises across Major League Baseball, the NHL, the NBA and the NFL to drive in-stadium audience engagement as well as a software licensing business to drive audience engagement.

 

We operate through our majority-owned subsidiary, Versus LLC, a Nevada limited liability company that was organized on August 21, 2013, and through our wholly owned subsidiary, Xcite Interactive Inc, a Delaware corporation that was reorganized as such on April 1, 2019.

 

Our principal executive offices in Canada are located at 1558 Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6G 3J4 Canada, and our telephone number at that address is (604) 639-4457. Our principal executive offices in the United States are located at 1370 N. St Andrews Place, Los Angeles, CA 90028, and our telephone number at that address is (424) 226-8588. Our website address is www.versussystems.com. The information on or accessed through our website is not incorporated in this prospectus. The SEC maintains an Internet site (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issues that file electronically with the SEC.

 

The following chart reflects our organizational structure (including the jurisdiction of formation or incorporation of the various entities):

 

Name of Subsidiary  Country of Incorporation  Proportion of
Ownership
Interest
 
Versus Systems (Holdco), Inc.  United States of America   81.9%
Versus Systems UK, Ltd  United Kingdom   81.9%
Versus, LLC  United States of America   81.9%
Xcite Interactive, Inc.  United States of America   100%

 

Recent Developments

 

Our common shares are presently quoted on Nasdaq under the symbol “VS”. The bid price of our common shares has recently closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement and on January 23, 2023 and July 25, 2023 we received notifications of noncompliance from Nasdaq. In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), we will be afforded until January 22, 2024 to regain compliance with the bid price requirement. In order to regain compliance, the bid price of our common shares must close at a price of at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive trading days. If we are not in compliance by January 22, 2024, or by the date of any additional extension that may be granted by Nasdaq, Nasdaq will provide notice that our common shares will be subject to delisting.

 

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Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Foreign Private Issuer

 

Emerging Growth Company

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in their periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for its securities and the prices of its securities may be more volatile.

 

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We do not intend to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with certain other public companies difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

 

An issuer will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which it has a total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion or is deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of its common equity that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of its most recently completed second fiscal quarter; and (ii) the date on which it has issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

Foreign Private Issuer

 

We currently are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the rules under the Exchange Act and, as such, we are permitted to follow the corporate governance practices of our home country, Canada, in lieu of the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq applicable to U.S. domestic companies. As a result, our shareholders may not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of U.S. domestic companies that are subject to Nasdaq corporate governance requirements. As a foreign private issuer, we are also subject to reduced disclosure requirements and are exempt from certain provisions of the U.S. securities rules and regulations applicable to U.S. domestic issuers such as the rules regulating solicitation of proxies and certain insider reporting and short-swing profit rules. However, in our annual assessment of our foreign private issuer status on June 30, 2023, we determined that we no longer meet the requirements of a foreign private issuer.  As a result, we are now permitted to follow the corporate governance practices of our home country and to avail our company of the reduced disclosure requirements and applicable exemptions from U.S. securities rules and regulations only through December 31, 2023. Effective on January 1, 2024, we must transition to U.S. domestic reporting status and become subject to the reporting requirements of a domestic U.S. issuer.

 

Risks Associated with Our Business

 

Our ability to execute our business strategy is subject to numerous risks, as more fully described in the section captioned “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary. You should read these risks before you invest in our securities. In particular, risks associated with our business include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

We may not have sufficient capital to fund our ongoing operations, effectively pursue our strategy or sustain our growth initiatives.

 

We have a relatively limited operating history and limited revenues to date and thus are subject to risks of business development and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

We are an early, commercial-stage company with a limited operating history.

 

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As we have incurred recurring losses and negative operating cash flows since our inception, and there is no assurance that we will be able to continue as a going concern absent additional financing, which we may not be able to obtain on favorable terms or at all.

 

If our products and services fail to achieve and sustain market acceptance, we will not generate expected revenue and our business may not succeed.

 

Our recent organization changes and cost cutting measures may not be successful.

 

We are a holding company and depend upon our subsidiaries for our cash flows.

 

Future acquisitions or strategic investments could disrupt our business and harm our business, results of operations or financial condition.

 

We will require additional funding for our growth plans, and such funding may result in a dilution of your investment.

 

If we fail to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement for our common shares, our common shares will be subject to delisting by Nasdaq.

 

Changes in our relationships with our most significant customers, including the loss or reduction in business, could have an adverse impact on us.

 

Our operations are significantly dependent on changes in public and customer tastes and discretionary spending patterns. Our inability to successfully anticipate customer preferences or to gain popularity for games may negatively impact our profitability.

 

If we fail to keep up with industry trends or technological developments, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

 

If we cannot continue to develop, acquire, market and offer new products and services or enhancements to existing products and services that meet customer requirements, our operating results could suffer.

 

We make significant investments in new products and services that may not achieve expected returns.

 

If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

 

Our insurance coverage may not adequately protect us against all future risks, which may adversely affect our business and prospects.

 

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

 

Public health epidemics or outbreaks, such as COVID-19, could materially and adversely impact our business.

 

Our business may be harmed if our licensing partners, or other third parties with whom we do business, act in ways that put our brand at risk.

 

If we fail to keep our existing users highly engaged, to acquire new users, to successfully implement an award-prizes model for our user community, our business, profitability and prospects may be adversely affected.

 

Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights may undermine our competitive position.

 

Our business is highly dependent on the proper functioning and improvement of our information technology systems and infrastructure. Our business and operating results may be harmed by service disruptions, or by our failure to timely and effectively scale up and adjust our existing technology and infrastructure.

 

5

 

 

The Offering

 

Securities offered by the Selling Stockholder:   414,500 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding Series C common share purchase warrants (the “Warrants”).
     
Common stock outstanding:   10,714,171 shares
     
Common stock to be outstanding after the offering assuming the exercise of all Warrants:   11,128,671 shares
     
Use of Proceeds:   We will not receive any proceeds from the sale by the Selling Stockholder of the shares of common stock being offered by this prospectus. However, we may receive proceeds from the cash exercise of the Warrants, which, if exercised in cash at the current exercise price with respect to all Warrants, would result in gross proceeds to us of approximately $3.2 million. The proceeds from such Warrant exercises, if any, will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.
     
Risk Factors:   Investing in our securities is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the information set forth in the “Risk Factors” section on page 7 before deciding to invest in our securities.
     
Trading Symbol:   Our common stock is currently quoted on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the trading symbol “VS”.

 

The shares of common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 10,714,171 shares outstanding as of September 20, 2023, assumes the exercise of all of the Warrants and excludes the following:

 

  997,035 common shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants, at September 20, 2023 with a weighted average exercise price of $22.86 per share;

 

  493,562 common shares reserved for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding stock options at September 20, 2023 with a weighted average exercise price of $9.79 per share issued pursuant to our 2017 Stock Option Plan; and

 

  9,197 common shares issuable upon conversion of outstanding Versus Systems (Holdco) shares.

 

6

 

 

RISK FACTORS

 

An investment in our securities involves a number of risks. Before deciding to invest in our securities, you should carefully consider the risks described below and discussed under the section captioned “Risk Factors” contained in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 and our Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the six-month period ended June 30, 2023 included in our Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K filed with the SEC on August 14, 2023, which are incorporated by reference in this prospectus, the information and documents incorporated by reference herein, and in any prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus that we have authorized for use in connection with an offering. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow could be harmed. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, resulting in a loss of all or part of your investment. The risks described in the documents referenced above are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business.

 

ISSUANCE OF WARRANTS TO THE SELLING STOCKHOLDER

 

On July 13, 2022, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with the Selling Stockholder pursuant to which we sold to the Selling Stockholder, in a registered direct offering, an aggregate of 140,000 common shares and 136,333 pre-funded warrants, each to purchase one common share (the “Pre-funded Warrants”), at a purchase price of $7.80 per common share and $7.7985 per Pre-funded Warrant for aggregate gross proceeds to us of approximately $2,155,195.50, before deducting fees to the placement agent and other estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

The Pre-funded Warrants were exercisable by the Selling Stockholder immediately upon issuance at an exercise price of $0.0001 per share, and were to expire only when exercised in full. The exercise price and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of the Pre-funded Warrants was subject to an adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events, including, but not limited to, stock splits or dividends, business combinations, sale of assets, similar recapitalization transactions, or other similar transactions. The exercisability of the Pre-funded Warrants was limited if, upon exercise, the Selling Stockholder and its affiliates would beneficially own more than 4.99% of our outstanding common shares. As of July 29, 2022, all of the Pre-funded Warrants had been exercised in full.

 

Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, in a concurrent private placement, on July 18, 2022, we sold to the Selling Stockholder the Warrants pursuant to which the Selling Stockholder may purchase up to an aggregate of 414,500 common shares. The Warrants are exercisable at an exercise price of $7.80 per share, subject to certain adjustments, and expire on January 18, 2028. A holder of Warrants will have the right to exercise the Warrants on a “cashless” basis if there is no effective registration statement registering the resale of the common shares underlying the Warrants. Subject to limited exceptions, a holder of Warrants will not have the right to exercise any portion of its Warrants if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own in excess of 4.99% of the number of common shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise, provided that the holder may increase or decrease the beneficial ownership limitation up to 9.99%. Any increase in the beneficial ownership limitation shall not be effective until 61 days following notice of such change to our company. Except as otherwise provided in the Warrants or by virtue of such holder’s ownership of common shares, the holders of the Warrants do not have the rights or privileges of holders of common shares, including any voting rights, until they exercise their Warrants.

 

The Warrants have not been registered under the Securities Act nor listed on any stock exchange. However, pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, we agreed to file the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part providing for the resale by the Selling Stockholder of the common shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants.

 

7

 

 

USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We are not selling any securities under this prospectus and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the common stock offered by this prospectus by the Selling Stockholder. However, we may receive proceeds from the cash exercise of the Warrants, which, if exercised in cash at the current exercise price with respect to all Warrants, would result in gross proceeds to us of approximately $3.2 million. The proceeds from such Warrant exercises, if any, will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. We cannot predict when or whether the Warrants will be exercised, and it is possible that some or all of the Warrants may expire unexercised. For information about the Selling Stockholder, see “Selling Stockholder.”

 

The Selling Stockholder will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses incurred by the Selling Stockholder for brokerage or legal services or any other expenses incurred by the Selling Stockholder in disposing of the shares of common stock offered hereby. We will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the shares of common stock covered by this prospectus, including all registration and filing fees and fees and expenses of our counsel and accountants.

 

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

Description of Share Capital

 

Our authorized share capital consists of an unlimited number of common shares and an unlimited number of Class A Shares, each without par value. At September 20, 2023, we had 10,714,171 issued and outstanding common shares and 338 Class A Shares.

 

The following description of our share capital and provisions of our articles and Notice of Articles are summaries of material terms and provisions and are qualified by reference to our articles and Notice of Articles, copies of which have been filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

 

Common Shares

 

The holders of our common shares are entitled to one vote for each share held at any meeting of shareholders. Subject to the rights of the holders of preferred shares, if any are authorized and outstanding, the holders of common shares are entitled to receive dividends when declared by the directors out of funds or assets properly available for the payment of dividends, in such amount and in such form as the directors may from time to time determine, provided however that such dividends shall not be paid if doing so would reduce the value of our net assets to less than the total redemption amount of all issued preferred shares (if any) In the event of our dissolution, liquidation or winding-up and subject to the prior rights of the holders of the preferred shares, holders of common shares will be entitled to share equally in our remaining property and assets, if any, subject to the right of the holders of preferred shares, as a class, to receive, before any distribution of any part of our assets among the holders of common shares, the redemption amount in respect of such preferred shares, being that amount as determined by our directors at the time of the issuance of such preferred shares.

 

Class A Shares

 

We are authorized to issue an unlimited number of Class A Shares. The Class A Shares do not have any special rights or restrictions attached. As of September 20, 2023, there were 338 Class A Shares issued and outstanding.

 

Warrants

 

At September 20, 2023, we had outstanding warrants, including the Warrants, to purchase an aggregate of 1,411,535 common shares with an exercise price range from $0.90 per share to $112.50 per share. These warrants have expiration dates ranging from January 20, 2026 to February 2, 2028.

 

Number of Share
Purchase Warrants
   Exercise Price (USD$)    Expiry Date
  112,491     $ 112.50     January 20, 2026
  331,044     $ 28.80     February 28, 2027
  220,500     $ 1.25     December 6, 2027
  158,000     $ 1.10     December 9, 2027
  414,500     $ 7.80     January 18, 2028
  175,000     $ 0.90     February 2, 2028
  1,411,535              

  

Pursuant to the terms of such warrants, the exercise price of such warrants is subject to adjustment in the event of stock splits, combinations or the like of our common shares.

 

8

 

 

Options

 

Pursuant to our 2017 Stock Option Plan, we may grant stock options to our officers, directors, employees and consultants. Our 2017 Stock Option Plan is a rolling stock option plan whereby we can issue a number of options to purchase up to 15% of our issued and outstanding common shares. Options have a maximum term of ten years and vesting is determined by our board of directors.

 

During the period ended June 30, 2023, we granted stock options to purchase 400,000 common shares and we recorded share-based compensation of $(1,156,217) as a result of options forfeited due to our corporate restructuring during the period. As of September 20, 2023, we had outstanding stock options under our 2017 Stock Option Plan to purchase an aggregate of 493,562 common shares with a weighted average exercise price of $9.79 per share.

 

Listing

 

Our common shares are listed on Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “VS.”

 

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

The U.S. transfer agent and registrar for our common shares is Computershare, Inc., located at 8742 Lucent Boulevard, Suite 300, Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80129. The telephone number of Computershare, Inc. at such address is (303) 262-0705.

 

9

 

 

SELLING STOCKHOLDER

 

The table below sets forth, as of September 20, 2023, the following information regarding the Selling Stockholder:

 

  the number of common shares owned by the Selling Stockholder prior to this offering, without regard to any beneficial ownership limitations contained in the Warrants;

 

  the number of common shares to be offered by the Selling Stockholder in this offering;

 

  the number of common shares to be owned by the Selling Stockholder assuming the sale of all of the common shares covered by this prospectus; and

 

  the percentage of our issued and outstanding common shares to be owned by the Selling Stockholder assuming the sale of all of the common shares covered by this prospectus based on the number of common shares issued and outstanding as of September 20, 2023.

 

Except as described above, the number of common shares beneficially owned by the Selling Stockholder has been determined in accordance with Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act and includes, for such purpose, common shares that the Selling Stockholder has the right to acquire within 60 days of September 20, 2023.

 

The common shares that may be offered by the Selling Stockholder hereunder will be acquired by the Selling Stockholder upon the exercise by the Selling Stockholder of the Warrants that are held by the Selling Stockholder and that were previously issued in a private transaction by our company. A description of the private transaction in which we issued the Warrants is set forth under the caption “Issuance of Warrants to the Selling Shareholder.”

 

All information with respect to the common share ownership of the Selling Stockholder has been furnished by or on behalf of the Selling Stockholder. We believe, based on information supplied by the Selling Stockholder, that except as may otherwise be indicated in the footnotes to the table below, the Selling Stockholder has sole voting and dispositive power with respect to the common shares reported as beneficially owned by it. Because the Selling Stockholder may sell some or all of the common shares beneficially owned by it and covered by this prospectus, and because there are currently no agreements, arrangements or understandings with respect to the sale of any of the common shares, no estimate can be given as to the number of common shares available for resale hereby that will be held by the Selling Stockholder upon termination of this offering. In addition, the Selling Stockholder may have sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of, or may sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of, at any time and from time to time, the common shares it beneficially owns in transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act after the date on which it provided the information set forth in the table below. We have, therefore, assumed for the purposes of the following table, that the Selling Stockholder will sell all of the common shares owned beneficially by it that are covered by this prospectus, but will not sell any other common shares, if any, that it presently owns. The Selling Stockholder has not held any position or office, or otherwise had a material relationship, with us or any of our subsidiaries within the past three years other than as a result of the ownership of our common shares or other securities.

 

    Shares Owned Prior to
the Offering
    Number of Shares     Shares Owned After
the Offering
 
Name   Number     Percent (1)     Offered     Number     Percent (1)  
Armistice Capital, LLC (2)     414,500       3.7 %     414,500            -          -  

 

(1) The percentages in the table have been calculated on the basis of treating as outstanding for a particular person, all shares of our capital stock outstanding on September 20, 2023. On September 20, 2023, there were 10,714,171 of our common shares outstanding. To calculate a stockholder’s percentage of beneficial ownership, we include in the numerator and denominator the common shares outstanding and all common shares issuable to that person in the event of the exercise of outstanding options and warrants that are exercisable within 60 days of September 20, 2023.

 

(2) The securities are directly held by Armistice Capital Master Fund Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Master Fund”), and may be deemed to be beneficially owned by: (i) Armistice Capital, LLC (“Armistice Capital”), as the investment manager of the Master Fund; and (ii) Steven Boyd, as the Managing Member of Armistice Capital.  The warrants are subject to a beneficial ownership limitation of 4.99%, which such limitation restricts the Selling Stockholder from exercising that portion of the warrants that would result in the Selling Stockholder and its affiliates owning, after exercise, a number of shares of common stock in excess of the beneficial ownership limitation. The address of Armistice Capital Master Fund Ltd. is c/o Armistice Capital, LLC, 510 Madison Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10022.

 

(3) The number of shares beneficially owned is based on 414,500 common shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. The beneficial ownership reflected in the table is subject to a beneficial ownership limitation of 4.99%, which does not permit any holder of the Warrants to exercise any portion of the Warrants that would cause such holder, together with certain of such holder’s affiliates, to own, after exercise, a number of common shares in excess of the beneficial ownership limitation. The amounts and percentages in the table give effect to the beneficial ownership limitation.

 

10

 

 

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

 

The Selling Shareholder and any of its pledgees, donees, assignees and successors-in-interest may, from time to time, sell any or all of its common shares being offered under this prospectus on any stock exchange, market or trading facility on which our common shares is traded or in private transactions. These sales may be at fixed or negotiated prices. The Selling Stockholder may use any one or more of the following methods when disposing of the common shares:

 

  ordinary brokerage transactions and transactions in which the broker-dealer solicits purchasers;

 

  block trades in which the broker-dealer will attempt to sell the shares as agent but may position and resell a portion of the block as principal to facilitate the transaction;

 

  purchases by a broker-dealer as principal and resales by the broker-dealer for its account;

 

  an exchange distribution in accordance with the rules of the applicable exchange;

 

  privately negotiated transactions;

 

  to cover short sales made after the date that the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part is declared effective by the SEC;

 

  broker-dealers may agree with the Selling Stockholder to sell a specified number of such shares at a stipulated price per share;

 

  a combination of any of these methods of sale; and

 

  any other method permitted pursuant to applicable law.

 

The shares may also be sold under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, or any other exemption from registration under the Securities Act, if available for the Selling Stockholder, rather than under this prospectus. The Selling Stockholder has the sole and absolute discretion not to accept any purchase offer or make any sale of shares if it deems the purchase price to be unsatisfactory at any particular time.

 

The Selling Stockholder may pledge its common shares to its broker under the margin provisions of customer agreements. If the Selling Stockholder defaults on a margin loan, the broker may, from time to time, offer and sell the pledged shares.

 

Broker-dealers engaged by the Selling Stockholder may arrange for other broker-dealers to participate in sales. Broker-dealers may receive commissions or discounts from the Selling Stockholder (or, if any broker-dealer acts as agent for the purchaser of shares, from the purchaser) in amounts to be negotiated, which commissions as to a particular broker or dealer may be in excess of customary commissions to the extent permitted by applicable law.

 

If sales of shares offered under this prospectus are made to broker-dealers as principals, we would be required to file a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. In the post-effective amendment, we would be required to disclose the names of any participating broker-dealers and the compensation arrangements relating to such sales.

 

11

 

 

The Selling Stockholder and any broker-dealers or agents that are involved in selling the shares offered under this prospectus may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of the Securities Act in connection with these sales. Commissions received by these broker-dealers or agents and any profit on the resale of the shares purchased by them may be deemed to be underwriting commissions or discounts under the Securities Act. Any broker-dealers or agents that are deemed to be underwriters may not sell common shares offered under this prospectus unless and until we set forth the names of the underwriters and the material details of their underwriting arrangements in a supplement to this prospectus or, if required, in a replacement prospectus included in a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

 

The Selling Stockholder and any other persons participating in the sale or distribution of the shares offered under this prospectus will be subject to applicable provisions of the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations under that act, including Regulation M. These provisions may restrict activities of, and limit the timing of purchases and sales of any of the shares by, the Selling Stockholder or any other person. Furthermore, under Regulation M, persons engaged in a distribution of securities are prohibited from simultaneously engaging in market making and other activities with respect to those securities for a specified period of time prior to the commencement of such distributions, subject to specified exceptions or exemptions. All of these limitations may affect the marketability of the shares.

 

If any of the shares offered for sale pursuant to this prospectus are transferred other than pursuant to a sale under this prospectus, then subsequent holders could not use this prospectus until a post-effective amendment or prospectus supplement is filed, naming such holders. We offer no assurance as to whether the Selling Stockholder will sell all or any portion of the shares offered under this prospectus.

 

We agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to keep the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part effective at all times until the Selling Stockholder no longer owns any Warrants or common shares issuable upon the exercise thereof. The shares will be sold only through registered or licensed brokers or dealers if required under applicable state securities laws. In addition, in certain states, the common shares covered hereby may not be sold unless they have been registered or qualified for sale in the applicable state or an exemption from the registration or qualification requirement is available and is complied with.

 

12

 

 

Memorandum and Articles of Association

 

Key Provisions of our Notice of Articles and Articles and the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia)

 

The following is a summary of certain key provisions of our notice of articles and articles and certain related sections of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the “BCBCA”). This is only a summary and is not intended to be exhaustive. For further information please refer to the full version of our notice of articles and to our articles attached as exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 29, 2023.

 

Stated Objects or Purposes

 

Our articles do not contain stated objects or purposes and do not place any limitations on the business that we may carry on.

 

Directors

 

Power to vote on matters in which a director is materially interested.    Under the BCBCA a director who has a material interest in a contract or transaction, whether made or proposed, that is material to us, must disclose such interest to us, subject to certain exceptions such as if the contract or transaction: (i) is an arrangement by way of security granted by us for money loaned to, or obligations undertaken by, the director for our benefit or for one of our affiliates’ benefit; (ii) relates to an indemnity or insurance permitted under the BCBCA; (iii) relates to the remuneration of the director in his or her capacity as director, officer, employee or agent of our company or of one of our affiliates; (iv) relates to a loan to our company while the director is the guarantor of some or all of the loan; or (v) is with a corporation that is affiliated to us while the director is also a director or senior officer of that corporation or an affiliate of that corporation.

 

A director who holds such disclosable interest in respect of any material contract or transaction into which we have entered or propose to enter may be required to absent himself or herself from the meeting while discussions and voting with respect to the matter are taking place. Directors are also required to comply with certain other relevant provisions of the BCBCA regarding conflicts of interest.

 

Directors’ power to determine the remuneration of directors. The remuneration of our directors is determined by our directors subject to our articles. The remuneration may be in addition to any salary or other remuneration paid to any of our employees (including executive officers) who are also directors.

 

Number of shares required to be owned by a director. Neither our articles nor the BCBCA provide that a director is required to hold any of our shares as a qualification for holding his or her office. Our board of directors has discretion to prescribe minimum share ownership requirements for directors.

 

Shareholder Meetings

 

Subject to applicable stock exchange requirements, we must hold a general meeting of our shareholders at least once every year at a time and place determined by our board of directors, provided that the meeting must not be held later than 15 months after the preceding annual general meeting. A meeting of our shareholders may be held anywhere in or outside British Columbia.

 

A notice to convene a meeting, specifying the date, time and location of the meeting, and, where a meeting is to consider special business, the general nature of the special business must be sent to each shareholder entitled to attend the meeting and to each director not less than 21 days prior to the meeting for so long as we are a public company. The accidental omission to send notice of any meeting of shareholders to, or the non-receipt of any notice by, any person entitled to notice does not invalidate any proceedings at that meeting.

 

Subject to the special rights and restrictions attached to the shares or any class or series of shares, the quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of shareholders is two shareholders, or one or more proxyholder(s) representing two shareholders, or one member and a proxyholder representing another shareholder. If there is only one shareholder, the quorum is one person present and being, or representing by proxy, such shareholder.

 

13

 

 

Shareholder Proposals and Advance Notice Procedures

 

Under the BCBCA, qualified shareholders holding at least one percent (1%) of our issued voting shares or whose shares have a fair market value in excess of CAD$2,000 may make proposals for matters to be considered at the annual general meeting of shareholders. Such proposals must be sent to us at least 3 months before the anniversary of our previous year’s annual general meeting by delivering a timely written notice in proper form to our registered office in accordance with the requirements of the BCBCA. The notice must include information on the business the shareholder intends to bring before the meeting in the prescribed form. To be a qualified shareholder, a shareholder must currently be and have been a registered or beneficial owner of at least one share of the company for at least two years before the date of signing the proposal.

 

We have included certain advance notice provisions with respect to the election of our directors in our articles. The advance notice provisions are intended to: (i) facilitate orderly and efficient annual general meetings or, where the need arises, special meetings; (ii) ensure that all shareholders receive adequate notice of board nominations and sufficient information with respect to all nominees; and (iii) allow shareholders to register an informed vote. Only persons who are nominated in accordance with the advance notice provisions will be eligible for election as directors at any annual general meeting of shareholders, or at any special meeting of shareholders if one of the purposes for which the special meeting was called was the election of directors.

 

Under the advance notice provisions, a shareholder wishing to nominate a director would be required to provide us notice, in the prescribed form, within the prescribed time periods. These time periods include, (i) in the case of an annual general meeting of shareholders (including annual general and special meetings), not less than 30 nor more than 65 days prior to the date of the annual general meeting of shareholders; provided, that if the first public announcement of the date of the annual general meeting of shareholders (the “Notice Date”), is less than 40 days before the meeting date, notice by the nominating shareholder may be made not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the Notice Date; and (ii) in the case of a special meeting (which is not also an annual general meeting) of shareholders called for any purpose which includes electing directors, not later than the close of business on the 15th day following the Notice Date.

 

These provisions could have the effect of delaying until the next shareholder meeting the nomination of certain persons for director that are favored by the holders of a majority of our outstanding voting securities.

 

Limitation of Liability and Indemnification

 

Under the BCBCA, a company may indemnify: (i) a current or former director or officer of that company; (ii) a current or former director or officer of another corporation if, at the time such individual held such office, the corporation was an affiliate of the company, or if such individual held such office at the company’s request; or (iii) an individual who, at the request of the company, held, or holds, an equivalent position in another entity, against all judgments, penalties or fines awarded or imposed in, or an amount paid in settlement of, an eligible proceeding. An “eligible proceeding” means a proceeding (including any legal proceeding or investigative action, whether current, threatened, pending or completed) in which an eligible party or any of the heirs and personal or other legal representatives of the eligible party, by reason of the eligible party being or having been a director or officer of, or holding or having held a position equivalent to that of a director or officer of, the company or an associated corporation is or may be joined as a party, or is or may be liable for or in respect of a judgment, penalty or fine in, or expenses related to, the proceeding, unless: (i) the individual did not act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of such company or the other entity, as the case may be; or (ii) in the case of a proceeding other than a civil proceeding, the individual did not have reasonable grounds for believing that the individual’s conduct was lawful. A company cannot indemnify an indemnifiable person if it is prohibited from doing so under its articles or by applicable law. A company may pay, as they are incurred in advance of the final disposition of an eligible proceeding, the costs, charges and expenses (including legal and other fees, but not including judgments, penalties, fines or amounts paid in settlement of a proceeding) actually and reasonably incurred by an indemnifiable person in respect of that proceeding only if the indemnifiable person has provided an undertaking that, if it is ultimately determined that the payment of expenses was prohibited, the indemnifiable person will repay any amounts advanced. Subject to the aforementioned prohibitions on indemnification, a company must, after the final disposition of an eligible proceeding, pay the expenses actually and reasonably incurred by an indemnifiable person in respect of such eligible proceeding if such indemnifiable person has not been reimbursed for such expenses, and was wholly successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the outcome of such eligible proceeding or was substantially successful on the merits in the outcome of such eligible proceeding. On application from us or from an indemnifiable person, a court may make any order the court considers appropriate in respect of an eligible proceeding, including the indemnification of penalties imposed or expenses incurred in any such proceedings and the enforcement of an indemnification agreement. As permitted by the BCBCA, our articles require us to indemnify our directors, former directors or alternate directors (and such individual’s respective heirs and legal representatives) and permit us to indemnify any person to the extent permitted by the BCBCA.

 

14

 

 

Ownership and Exchange Controls

 

There is no limitation imposed by Canadian law or by our articles on the right of a non-resident to hold or vote our common shares, other than discussed below.

 

Competition Act

 

Limitations on the ability to acquire and hold our common shares may be imposed by the Competition Act (Canada). This legislation permits the Commissioner of Competition, or Commissioner, to review any acquisition or establishment, directly or indirectly, including through the acquisition of shares, of control over or of a significant interest in us. This legislation grants the Commissioner jurisdiction, for up to one year after the acquisition has been substantially completed, to challenge this type of acquisition by seeking a remedial order, including an order to prohibit the acquisition or require divestitures, from the Canadian Competition Tribunal, which may be granted where the Competition Tribunal finds that the acquisition substantially prevents or lessens, or is likely to substantially prevent or lessen, competition.

 

This legislation also requires any person or persons who intend to acquire more than 20% of our voting shares or, if such person or persons already own more than 20% of our voting shares prior to the acquisition, more than 50% of our voting shares, to file a notification with the Canadian Competition Bureau if certain financial thresholds are exceeded. Where a notification is required, unless an exemption is available, the legislation prohibits completion of the acquisition until the expiration of the applicable statutory waiting period, unless the Commissioner either waives or terminates such waiting period or issues an advance ruling certificate. The Commissioner’s review of a notifiable transaction for substantive competition law considerations may take longer than the statutory waiting period.

 

Investment Canada Act

 

The Investment Canada Act requires each “non Canadian” (as defined in the Investment Canada Act) who acquires “control” of an existing “Canadian business,” to file a notification in prescribed form with the responsible federal government department or departments not later than 30 days after closing, provided the acquisition of control is not a reviewable transaction under the Investment Canada Act. Subject to certain exemptions, a transaction that is reviewable under the Investment Canada Act may not be implemented until an application for review has been filed and the responsible Minister of the federal cabinet has determined that the investment is likely to be of “net benefit to Canada” taking into account certain factors set out in the Investment Canada Act. Under the Investment Canada Act, an investment in our common shares by a non-Canadian who is a World Trade Organization member country investor that is not a state-owned enterprise, including a United States investor would be reviewable only if it were an investment to acquire control of us pursuant to the Investment Canada Act and our enterprise value (as determined pursuant to the Investment Canada Act and its regulations) was equal to or greater than C$1.287 billion (as of January 1, 2023). The enterprise value threshold for “trade agreement investors” that are not state-owned enterprises is C$1.931 billion (as of January 1, 2023).

 

The Investment Canada Act contains various rules to determine if there has been an acquisition of control. Generally, for purposes of determining whether an investor has acquired control of a corporation by acquiring shares, the following general rules apply, subject to certain exceptions: the acquisition of a majority of the voting interests or a majority of the undivided ownership interests in the voting shares of the corporation is deemed to be acquisition of control of that corporation; the acquisition of less than a majority, but one-third or more, of the voting shares of a corporation or of an equivalent undivided ownership interest in the voting shares of the corporation is presumed to be acquisition of control of that corporation unless it can be established that, on the acquisition, the corporation is not controlled in fact by the acquirer through the ownership of voting shares; and the acquisition of less than one third of the voting shares of a corporation or of an equivalent undivided ownership interest in the voting shares of the corporation is deemed not to be acquisition of control of that corporation.

 

Under the national security review regime in the Investment Canada Act, review on a discretionary basis may also be undertaken by the federal government with respect to a much broader range of investments by a non-Canadian to “acquire control of a Canadian business […] or acquire, in whole or part, or to establish an entity carrying on all or any part of its operations in Canada.” No financial threshold applies to a national security review. The relevant test is whether such investment by a non-Canadian could be “injurious to national security.” Review on national security grounds is at the discretion of the responsible ministers and may occur on a pre- or post-closing basis.

 

Certain transactions relating to our common shares will generally be exempt from the Investment Canada Act, subject to the federal government’s prerogative to conduct a national security review, including:

 

the acquisition of our common shares by a person in the ordinary course of that person’s business as a trader or dealer in securities;

 

the acquisition of control of us in connection with the realization of security granted for a loan or other financial assistance and not for any purpose related to the provisions of the Investment Canada Act if the acquisition is subject to approval under Canadian legislation relating to certain financial institutions; and

 

the acquisition of control of us by reason of an amalgamation, merger, consolidation or corporate reorganization following which the ultimate direct or indirect control in fact of us, through ownership of our common shares, remains unchanged.

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Comparison of Shareholder Rights

 

We are a corporation governed by the BCBCA. The following discussion summarizes material differences between the rights of holders of our common shares and the rights of holders of the common share of a typical corporation incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware, which result from differences in governing documents and the laws of British Columbia and Delaware. This summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to the DGCL, the BCBCA, and our articles.

 

    Delaware   British Columbia
Stockholder/Shareholder Approval of Business Combinations; Fundamental Changes  

Under the DGCL, certain fundamental changes such as amendments to the certificate of incorporation, a merger, consolidation, sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of the property of a corporation not in the usual and regular course of the corporation’s business, or a dissolution of the corporation, are generally required to be approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding stock entitled to vote on the matter, unless the certificate of incorporation requires a higher percentage.

 

However, under the DGCL, mergers in which less than 20% of a corporation’s stock outstanding immediately prior to the effective date of the merger is issued generally do not require stockholder approval. In certain situations, the approval of a business combination may require approval by a certain number of the holders of a class or series of shares. In addition, Section 251(h) of the DGCL provides that stockholders of a constituent corporation need not vote to approve a merger if: (i) the merger agreement permits or requires the merger to be effected under Section 251(h) and provides that the merger shall be effected as soon as practicable following the tender offer or exchange offer, (ii) a corporation consummates a tender or exchange offer for any and all of the outstanding stock of such constituent corporation that would otherwise be entitled to vote to approve the merger, (iii) following the consummation of the offer, the stock accepted for purchase or exchanges plus the stock owned by the consummating corporation equals at least the percentage of stock that would be required to adopt the agreement of merger under the DGCL, (iv) the corporation consummating the offer merges with or into such constituent corporation and (v) each outstanding share of each class or series of stock of the constituent corporation that was the subject of and not irrevocably accepted for purchase or exchange in the offer is to be converted in the merger into, or the right to receive, the same consideration to be paid for the shares of such class or series of stock of the constituent corporation irrevocably purchased or exchanged in such offer.

 

Under the BCBCA and our articles, certain changes to our authorized share structure and the change of our name maybe approved by a resolution of the directors of our company. Under the BCBCA and our articles, certain extraordinary company alterations, such as to continuances, into or out of province, certain amalgamations, sales, leases or other dispositions of all or substantially all of the undertaking of a company (other than in the ordinary course of business), liquidations, dissolutions, and certain arrangements are required to be approved by ordinary or special resolution as applicable.

 

An ordinary resolution is a resolution (i) passed at a shareholders’ meeting by a simple majority, or (ii) passed, after being submitted to all of the shareholders, by being consented to in writing by shareholders who, in the aggregate, hold shares carrying at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the resolution.

 

A special resolution is a resolution (i) passed by not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by the shareholders who voted in respect of the resolution at a meeting duly called and held for that purpose or (ii) passed by being consented to in writing by all shareholders entitled to vote on the resolution.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
    The DGCL does not contain a procedure comparable to a plan of arrangement under BCBCA.  

Holders of common shares vote together at all meetings of shareholders except meetings at which only holders of a particular class are entitled to vote.

 

Under the BCBCA, an action that prejudices or interferes with a right or special right attached to issued shares of a class or series of shares must be approved by a special separate resolution of the holders of the class or series of shares being affected.

 

Subject to applicable securities laws, which may impose certain “Issuer bid” or tender offer requirements, under the BCBCA, arrangements with shareholders, creditors and other persons are permitted and a company may make any proposal it considers appropriate “despite any other provision” of the BCBCA. In general, a plan of arrangement is approved by a company’s board of directors and then submitted to a court for approval. It is customary and, at times, required, for a company in such circumstances to apply to a court initially for an interim order governing various procedural matters prior to calling any security holder meeting to consider the proposed arrangement. Plans of arrangement involving shareholders must be approved by a special resolution of shareholders, including holders of shares not normally entitled to vote. The court may, in respect of an arrangement proposed with persons other than shareholders and creditors, require that those persons approve the arrangement in the manner and to the extent required by the court. The court determines, among other things, to whom notice shall be given and whether, and in what manner, approval of any person is to be obtained and also determines whether any shareholders may dissent from the proposed arrangement and receive payment of the fair value of their shares. Following compliance with the procedural steps contemplated in any such interim order (including as to obtaining security holder approval), the court would conduct a final hearing, which would, among other things, assess the fairness of the arrangement and approve or reject the proposed arrangement.

 

The BCBCA does not contain a provision comparable to Section 251(h) of the DGCL.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
Special Vote Required for Combinations with Interested Stockholders/
Shareholders
 

Section 203 of the DGCL provides (in general) that a corporation may not engage in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the time of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder. The prohibition on business combinations with interested stockholders does not apply in some cases, including if: (i) the board of directors of the corporation, prior to the time of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, approves (a) the business combination or (b) the transaction in which the stockholder becomes an interested stockholder; (ii) upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced; or (iii) the board of directors and the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder approve the business combination on or after the time of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder.

 

For the purpose of Section 203, the DGCL, subject to specified exceptions, generally defines an interested stockholder to include any person who, together with that person’s affiliates or associates, (i) owns 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation (including any rights to acquire stock pursuant to an option, warrant, agreement, arrangement or understanding, or upon the exercise of conversion or exchange rights, and stock with respect to which the person has voting rights only), or (ii) is an affiliate or associate of the corporation and owned 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation at any time within the previous three years.

  The BCBCA does not contain a provision comparable to Section 203 of the DGCL with respect to business combinations.
         
Appraisal Rights; Rights to Dissent   Under the DGCL, a stockholder of a corporation participating in some types of major corporate transactions may, under varying circumstances, be entitled to appraisal rights pursuant to which the stockholder may receive cash in the amount of the fair market value of his or her shares in lieu of the consideration he or she would otherwise receive in the transaction.   The BCBCA provides that shareholders of a company are entitled to exercise dissent rights in respect of certain matters and to be paid the fair value of their shares in connection therewith. The dissent right is applicable where the company resolves to (i) alter its articles to alter the restrictions on the powers of the company or on the business it is permitted to carry on; (ii) approve certain amalgamations; (iii) approve an arrangement, where the terms of the arrangement or court orders relating thereto permit dissent; (iv) sell, lease or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its undertaking; or (v) continue the company into another jurisdiction.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
    For example, a stockholder is entitled to appraisal rights in the case of a merger or consolidation if the shareholder is required to accept in exchange for the shares anything other than: (i) shares of stock of the corporation surviving or resulting from the merger or consolidation, or depository receipts in respect thereof; (ii) shares of any other corporation, or depository receipts in respect thereof, that on the effective date of the merger or consolidation will be either listed on a national securities exchange or held of record by more than 2,000 shareholders; (iii) cash instead of fractional shares of the corporation or fractional depository receipts of the corporation; or (iv) any combination of the shares of stock, depository receipts and cash instead of the fractional shares or fractional depository receipts.  

Dissent may also be permitted if authorized by resolution. A court may also make an order permitting a shareholder to dissent in certain circumstances.

         
Compulsory Acquisition   Under the DGCL, mergers in which one corporation owns 90% or more of each class of stock of a second corporation may be completed without the vote of the second corporation’s board of directors or shareholders.   The BCBCA provides that if, within 4 months after the making of an offer to acquire shares, or any class of shares, of a company, the offer is accepted by the holders of not less than 90% of the shares (other than the shares held by the offeror or an affiliate of the offeror) of any class of shares to which the offer relates, the offeror is entitled, upon giving proper notice within 5 months after the date of the offer, to acquire (on the same terms on which the offeror acquired shares from those holders of shares who accepted the offer) the shares held by those holders of shares of that class who did not accept the offer. Offerees may apply to the court, within 2 months of receiving notice, and the court may set a different price or terms of payment and may make any consequential orders or directions as it considers appropriate.
         
Stockholder/Shareholder Consent to Action Without Meeting   Under the DGCL, unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation, any action that can be taken at a meeting of the stockholders may be taken without a meeting if written consent to the action is signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes necessary to authorize or take the action at a meeting of the stockholders.   Although it is not customary for public companies to do so, under the BCBCA, shareholder action without a meeting may be taken by a consent resolution of shareholders provided that it satisfies the thresholds for approval in a company’s articles, the BCBCA and the regulations thereunder. A consent resolution is as valid and effective as if it was a resolution passed at a meeting of shareholders.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
Special Meetings of Stockholders/ Shareholders   Under the DGCL, a special meeting of shareholders may be called by the board of directors or by such persons authorized in the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws.   Under the BCBCA, the holders of not less than 5% of the issued shares of a company that carry the right to vote at a general meeting may requisition that the directors call a meeting of shareholders for the purpose of transacting any business that may be transacted at a general meeting. Upon receiving a requisition that complies with the technical requirements set out in the BCBCA, the directors must, subject to certain limited exceptions, call a meeting of shareholders to be held not more than 4 months after receiving the requisition. If the directors do not call such a meeting within 21 days after receiving the requisition, the requisitioning shareholders or any of them holding in aggregate not less than 2.5% of the issued shares of the company that carry the right to vote at general meetings may call the meeting.
         
Distributions and Dividends; Repurchases and Redemptions  

Under the DGCL, subject to any restrictions contained in the certificate of incorporation, a corporation may pay dividends out of capital surplus or, if there is no surplus, out of net profits for the current and/or the preceding fiscal year in which the dividend is declared, as long as the amount of capital of the corporation following the declaration and payment of the dividend is not less than the aggregate amount of the capital represented by issued and outstanding shares having a preference upon the distribution of assets. Surplus is defined in the DGCL as the excess of the net assets over capital, as such capital may be adjusted by the board.

 

A Delaware corporation may purchase or redeem shares of any class except when its capital is impaired or would be impaired by the purchase or redemption. A corporation may, however, purchase or redeem out of capital shares that are entitled upon any distribution of its assets to a preference over another class or series of its shares if the shares are to be retired and the capital reduced.

 

Under the BCBCA, a company may pay a dividend in money or other property unless there are reasonable grounds for believing that the company is insolvent, or the payment of the dividend would render the company insolvent.

 

The BCBCA provides that no special rights or restrictions attached to a series of any class of shares confers on the series a priority in respect of dividends or return of capital over any other series of shares of the same class.

 

Under the BCBCA, the purchase or other acquisition by a company of its shares is generally subject to solvency tests similar to those applicable to the payment of dividends (as set out above). Our company is permitted, under its articles, to acquire any of its shares, subject to the special rights and restrictions attached to such class or series of shares and the approval of its board of directors.

 

Under the BCBCA, subject to solvency tests similar to those applicable to the payment of dividends (as set out above), a company may redeem, on the terms and in the manner provided in its articles, any of its shares that has a right of redemption attached to it. Our common shares are not subject to a right of redemption.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
Vacancies on Board of Director   Under the DGCL, a vacancy or a newly created directorship may be filled by a majority of the directors then in office, although less than a quorum, or by the sole remaining director, unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws. Any newly elected director usually holds office for the remainder of the full term expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders at which the term of the class of directors to which the newly elected director has been elected expires.  

Under the BCBCA and our articles, a vacancy among the directors created by the removal of a director may be filled by the shareholders at the meeting at which the director is removed or, if not filled by the shareholders at such meeting, by the shareholders or by the remaining directors. In the case of a casual vacancy, the remaining directors may fill the vacancy.

 

Under the BCBCA, directors may increase the size of the board of directors by one third of the number of current directors who were elected or appointed as directors at an annual general meeting of shareholders. Under the BCBCA and our articles, if as a result of one or more vacancies, the number of directors in office falls below the number required for a quorum, the remaining directors may appoint as directors the number of individuals that, when added to the number of remaining directors, will constitute a quorum and/or call a shareholders’ meeting to fill any or all vacancies among directors and to conduct such other business that may be dealt with at that meeting, but must not take any other action until a quorum is obtained.

         
Constitution and Residency Of Directors   The DGCL does not have residency requirements, but a corporation may prescribe qualifications for directors under its certificate of incorporation or bylaws.   The BCBCA does not place any residency restrictions on the boards of directors.
         
Removal of Directors; Terms of Directors   Under the DGCL, except in the case of a corporation with a classified board or with cumulative voting, any director or the entire board may be removed, with or without cause, by the holders of a majority of the shares entitled to vote at an election of directors.  

Our articles allow for the removal of a director by special resolution of the shareholders.

 

According to our articles, all directors cease to hold office immediately before the election or appointment of directors at every annual general meeting, but are eligible for re-election or re- appointment.

         
Inspection of Books and Records   Under the DGCL, any holder of record of stock or a person who is the beneficial owner of shares of such stock held either in a voting trust or by a nominee on behalf of such person may inspect the corporation’s books and records for a proper purpose.  

Under the BCBCA, directors and shareholders may, without charge, inspect the records of a company. Former shareholders, to the extent permitted under our articles, and former directors may also inspect certain of the records, free of charge, but only those records pertaining to the times that they were shareholders or directors.

 

Public companies must allow all persons to inspect certain records of the company free of charge.

         
Amendment of Governing Documents  

Under the DGCL, a certificate of incorporation may be amended if: (i) the board of directors adopts a resolution setting forth the proposed amendment, declares the advisability of the amendment and directs that it be submitted to a vote at a meeting of shareholders; provided that unless required by the certificate of incorporation, no meeting or vote is required to adopt an amendment for certain specified changes; and (ii) the holders of a majority of shares of stock entitled to vote on the matter approve the amendment, unless the certificate of incorporation requires the vote of a greater number of shares.

 

Under the BCBCA, a company may amend its articles or notice of articles by (i) the type of resolution specified in the BCBCA, (ii) if the BCBCA does not specify a type of resolution, then by the type specified in the company’s articles, or (iii) if the company’s articles do not specify a type of resolution, then by special resolution. The BCBCA permits many substantive changes to a company’s articles (such as a change in the company’s authorized share structure or a change in the special rights or restrictions that may be attached to a certain class or series of shares) to be changed by the resolution specified in that company’s articles.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
   

If a class vote on the amendment is required by the DGCL, a majority of the outstanding stock of the class is required, unless a greater proportion is specified in the certificate of incorporation or by other provisions of the DGCL.

 

Under the DGCL, the board of directors may amend a corporation’s bylaws if so authorized in the certificate of incorporation. The shareholders of a Delaware corporation also have the power to amend bylaws.

 

Our articles provide that certain changes to our share structure, including certain alteration to our notice of articles and articles as permitted by the BCBCA be done by way of a directors’ resolution. The Company may, by special resolution of shareholders, create or alter special rights and restrictions attached to a series or class of shares. If a right or special right attached to a class or series of shares would be prejudiced or interfered with by such an alteration, the BCBCA requires that holders of such class or series of shares must approve the alteration by a special resolution.

         
Indemnification of Directors and Officers   Under the DGCL, subject to specified limitations in the case of derivative suits brought by a corporation’s stockholders in its name, a corporation may indemnify any person who is made a party to any action, suit or proceeding on account of being a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation (or was serving at the request of the corporation in such capacity for another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise) against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with the action, suit or proceeding, provided that there is a determination that: (i) the individual acted in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation; and (ii) in a criminal action or proceeding, the individual had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.   Under the BCBCA, a company may indemnify: (i) a current or former director or officer of that company; or (ii) a current or former director or officer of another corporation if, at the time such individual held such office, the corporation was an affiliate of the company, or if such individual held such office at the company’s request, against all costs, charges and expenses, including an amount paid to settle an action or satisfy a judgment actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in respect of any legal proceeding or investigative action (whether current, threatened, pending or completed) in which he or she is involved because of that person’s position as an indemnifiable person, unless: (i) the individual did not act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of such company or the other entity, as the case may be; or (ii) in the case of a proceeding other than a civil proceeding, the individual did not have reasonable grounds for believing that the individual’s conduct was lawful. A company cannot indemnify an indemnifiable person if it is prohibited from doing so under its articles. In addition, a company must not indemnify an indemnifiable person in proceedings brought against the indemnifiable person by or on behalf of the company or an associated company. A company may pay, as they are incurred in advance of the final disposition of an eligible proceeding, the expenses actually and reasonably incurred by an indemnifiable person in respect of that proceeding only if the indemnifiable person has provided an undertaking that, if it is ultimately determined that the payment of expenses was prohibited, the indemnifiable person will repay any amounts advanced. Subject to the aforementioned prohibitions on indemnification, a company must, after the final disposition of an eligible proceeding, pay the expenses actually and reasonably incurred by an indemnifiable person in respect of such eligible proceeding if such indemnifiable person has not been reimbursed for such expenses, and was wholly successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the outcome of such eligible proceeding or was substantially successful on the merits in the outcome of such eligible proceeding. On application from us or from an indemnifiable person, a court may make any order the court considers appropriate in respect of an eligible proceeding, including the indemnification of penalties imposed or expenses incurred in any such proceedings and the enforcement of an indemnification agreement.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
   

Without court approval, however, no indemnification may be made in respect of any derivative action in which an individual is adjudged liable to the corporation, except to the extent the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity. 

 

The DGCL requires indemnification of directors and officers for expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably relating to a successful defense on the merits or otherwise of a derivative or third-party action.

 

Under the DGCL, a corporation may advance expenses relating to the defense of any proceeding to directors and officers upon the receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the individual to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified.

  As permitted by the BCBCA, our articles require us to indemnify our directors, officers, former directors or officers (and such individual’s respective heirs and legal representatives) and permit us to indemnify any person to the extent permitted by the BCBCA.
         
Limited Liability of Directors   The DGCL permits the adoption of a provision in a corporation’s certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the monetary liability of a director to a corporation or its shareholders by reason of a director’s breach of the fiduciary duty of care. The DGCL does not permit any limitation of the liability of a director for: (i) breaching the duty of loyalty to the corporation or its shareholders; (ii) acts or omissions not in good faith; (iii) engaging in intentional misconduct or a known violation of law; (iv) obtaining an improper personal benefit from the corporation; or (v) paying a dividend or approving a stock repurchase that was illegal under applicable law.   Under the BCBCA, a director or officer of a company must (i) act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the company; (ii) exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent individual would exercise in comparable circumstances; (iii) act in accordance with the BCBCA and the regulations thereunder; and (iv) subject to (i) to (iii), act in accordance with the articles of the company. These statutory duties are in addition to other duties under common law and equity.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
        No provision in a contract or the articles of a company may relieve a director or officer of a company from the above duties. Under the BCBCA, a director is not liable for certain acts if the director has otherwise complied with his or her duties and relied, in good faith, on (i) financial statements of the company represented to the director by an officer of the company or in a written report of the auditor of the company to fairly reflect the financial position of the company, (ii) a written report of a lawyer, accountant, engineer, appraiser or other person whose profession lends credibility to a statement made by that person, (iii) a statement of fact represented to the director by an officer of the company to be correct, or (iv) any record, information or representation that the court considers provides reasonable grounds for the actions of the director, whether or not that record was forged, fraudulently made or inaccurate or that information or representation was fraudulently made or inaccurate. Further, a director is not liable if the director did not know and could not reasonably have known that the act done by the director or authorized by the resolution voted for or consented to by the director was contrary to the BCBCA.
         
Stockholder/Shareholder Lawsuits   Under the DGCL, a stockholder may bring a derivative action on behalf of the corporation to enforce the rights of the corporation; provided, however, that under Delaware case law, the plaintiff generally must be a stockholder not only at the time of the transaction which the subject of the suit, but through the duration of the derivative suit. Delaware law also requires that the derivative plaintiff make a demand on the directors of the corporation to assert the corporate claim before the suit may be prosecuted by the derivative plaintiff, unless such demand would be futile. An individual also may commence a class action suit on behalf of himself or herself and other similarly situated stockholders where the requirements for maintaining a class action have been met.  

Under the BCBCA, a shareholder (including a beneficial shareholder) or director of a company and any person who, in the discretion of the court, is an appropriate person to make an application to court to prosecute or defend an action on behalf of a company (a derivative action) may, with judicial leave: (i) bring an action in the name and on behalf of the company to enforce a right, duty or obligation owed to the company that could be enforced by the company itself or to obtain damages for any breach of such right, duty or obligation or (ii) defend, in the name and on behalf of the company, a legal proceeding brought against the company.

 

Under the BCBCA, the court may grant leave if: (i) the complainant has made reasonable efforts to cause the directors of the company to prosecute or defend the action; (ii) notice of the application for leave has been given to the company and any other person that the court may order; (iii) the complainant is acting in good faith; and (iv) it appears to the court to be in the interests of the company for the action to be prosecuted or defended.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
        Under the BCBCA, upon the final disposition of a derivative action, the court may make any order it determines to be appropriate. In addition, under the BCBCA, a court may order a company to pay the complainant’s interim costs, including legal fees and disbursements. However, the complainant may be held accountable for the costs on final disposition of the action.
         
Oppression Remedy   Although the DGCL imposes upon directors and officers fiduciary duties of loyalty (i.e., a duty to act in a manner believed to be in the best interest of the corporation and its stockholders) and care, there is no remedy under the DGCL that is comparable to the BCBCA’s oppression remedy.  

The BCBCA’s oppression remedy enables a court to make an order (interim or final) to rectify the matters complained of if the court is satisfied upon application by a shareholder (as defined below) that the affairs of the company are being conducted or that the powers of the directors are being or have been exercised in a manner that is oppressive, or that some action of the company or shareholders has been or is threatened to be taken which is unfairly prejudicial, in each case to one or more shareholders. The application must be brought in a timely manner. A “shareholder” for the purposes of the oppression remedy includes legal and beneficial owners of shares as well as any other person whom the court considers appropriate.

 

The oppression remedy provides the court with extremely broad and flexible jurisdiction to intervene in corporate affairs to protect shareholders.

         
Blank Check Preferred Stock/Shares  

Under the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation of a corporation may give the board the right to issue new classes of preferred shares with voting, conversion, dividend distribution, and other rights to be determined by the board at the time of issuance, which could prevent a takeover attempt and thereby preclude shareholders from realizing a potential premium over the market value of their shares.

 

In addition, the DGCL does not prohibit a corporation from adopting a shareholder rights plan, or “poison pill,” which could prevent a takeover attempt and also preclude shareholders from realizing a potential premium over the market value of their shares.

  Under the BCBCA, once a class of preferred shares has been created, the board of directors may be authorized, without shareholder approval, but subject to the provisions of the articles and BCBCA, to determine the maximum number of shares of each series and create an identifying name for each series. The Company may, by special resolution, attach such special rights or restrictions, including dividend, liquidation and voting rights, as our board of directors may determine, and such special rights or restrictions, including dividend, liquidation and voting rights, may be superior to those of the common shares. A right or special right attached to issued shares must not be prejudiced or interfered with unless the shareholders holding shares of the class or series of shares to which the right or special right is attached consent by a special separate resolution of those shareholders. Under the BCBCA, each share of a series of shares must have the same special rights or restrictions as are attached to every other share of that series of shares. In addition, the special rights or restrictions attached to shares of a series of shares must be consistent with the special rights or restrictions attached to the class of shares of which the series of shares is part.

 

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    Delaware   British Columbia
        The BCBCA does not prohibit a corporation from adopting a shareholder rights plan, or “poison pill,” which could prevent a takeover attempt and also preclude shareholders from realizing a potential premium over the market value of their shares.
         
Advance Notification Requirements for Proposals of Stockholders/ Shareholders  

Delaware corporations typically have provisions in their bylaws that require a stockholder proposing a nominee for election to the board of directors or other proposals at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders to provide notice of any such proposals to the secretary of the corporation in advance of the meeting for any such proposal to be brought before the meeting of the stockholders. In addition, advance notice bylaws frequently require the stockholder nominating a person for election to the board of directors to provide information about the nominee, such as his or her age, address, employment and beneficial ownership of shares of the corporation’s capital stock. The stockholder may also be required to disclose, among other things, his or her name, share ownership and agreement, arrangement or understanding with respect to such nomination.

 

For other proposals, the proposing stockholder is often required by the bylaws to provide a description of the proposal and any other information relating to such stockholder or beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf that proposal is being made, required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitation of proxies for the proposal and pursuant to and in accordance with the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

Under the BCBCA, qualified shareholders holding at least one percent (1%) of our issued voting shares or whose shares have a fair market value in excess of CAD$2,000 in the aggregate may make proposals for matters to be considered at the annual general meeting of shareholders. Such proposals must be sent to us in advance of any proposed meeting by delivering a timely written notice in proper form to our registered office in accordance with the requirements of the BCBCA. The notice must include information on the business the shareholder intends to bring before the meeting in the prescribed form. To be a qualified shareholder, a shareholder must currently be and have been a registered or beneficial owner of at least one share of the company for at least two years before the date of signing the proposal.

 

If the proposal and a written statement in support of the proposal (if any) are submitted at least three months before the anniversary date of the previous annual general meeting and the proposal and written statement (if any) meet other specified requirements, then the company must either set out the proposal, including the names and mailing addresses of the submitting person and supporters and the written statement (if any), in the proxy circular of the company or attach the proposal and written statement thereto.

 

In certain circumstances, the company may refuse to process a proposal.

 

We have included Advance Notice Provisions (as defined in the “Description of Share Capital” section above) in our articles. Under the Advance Notice Provisions, a shareholder wishing to nominate a director would be required to provide us with notice, in the prescribed form, within the prescribed time periods.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

 

Certain legal matters in connection with the securities offered hereby will be passed upon on behalf of our company by Pryor Cashman LLP with respect to U.S. legal matters and by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP with respect to Canadian legal matters.

 

EXPERTS

 

Our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 incorporated by reference into this prospectus have been so included in reliance upon the report of Ramirez Jimenez International CPAs, independent registered public accountants, upon the authority of the said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

Our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020 incorporated by reference into this prospectus have been so included in reliance upon the report of Davidson & Company LLP, independent registered public accountants, upon the authority of the said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

EXPENSES

 

The following table sets forth the expenses expected to be incurred by us in connection with the issuance and distribution of the Securities registered hereby, all of which expenses, except for the Securities and Exchange Commission registration fee, are estimates:

 

Description  Amount 
SEC Filing Fee  $230.55 
Printing Expenses   500.00 
Accounting Fees and Expenses   10,000.00 
Legal Fees and Expenses   10,000.00 
Miscellaneous   4,269.45 
Total  $25,000.00 

 

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ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL LIABILITIES

 

We are incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia. Some of our directors and officers, and some of the experts named in this prospectus, are residents of Canada or otherwise reside outside of the United States, and all or a substantial portion of their assets, and all or a substantial portion of our assets, are located outside of the United States. We have appointed an agent for service of process in the United States, but it may be difficult for shareholders who reside in the United States to effect service within the United States upon those directors, officers and experts who are not residents of the United States. It may also be difficult for shareholders who reside in the United States to realize in the United States upon judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon our civil liability and the civil liability of our directors, officers and experts under the United States federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that U.S. investors will be able to enforce against us, members of our board of directors, officers or certain experts named herein who are residents of Canada or other countries outside the United States, any judgments in civil and commercial matters, including judgments under the federal securities laws.

 

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

 

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form F-3 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities being offered by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information in the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and the exhibits to such registration statement. For further information with respect to us and the securities offered by this prospectus, we refer you to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and the exhibits to such registration statement. Statements contained in this prospectus as to the contents of any contract or any other document are not necessarily complete, and in each instance, we refer you to the copy of the contract or other document filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Each of these statements is qualified in all respects by this reference.

 

The registration statement of which this prospectus is a part is available at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You may also request a copy of these filings, at no cost, by writing us at 1370 N St Andrews Place, Los Angeles, CA 90028, Attention: Secretary or telephoning us at (310) 242-0228.

 

We are subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and, in accordance with this law, file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. These periodic reports, proxy statements and other information are available at the SEC’s website referred to above. We also maintain a website at www.versussystems.com. You may access these materials free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Information contained on our website is not a part of this prospectus and the inclusion of our website address in this prospectus is an inactive textual reference only.

 

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INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

 

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” information we have filed with the SEC into this prospectus. This means that we can disclose important information to you by referring to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is an important part of this prospectus, and the information we file subsequently with the SEC will automatically update and supersede the information in this prospectus. The information that we incorporate by reference in this prospectus is deemed to be a part of this prospectus. This prospectus incorporates by reference the documents listed below that we have previously filed with the SEC:

 

Our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 29, 2023;

 

Our Reports of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K furnished to the SEC on March 29, 2023, May 15, 2023, and August 14, 2023; and

 

The description of our common shares contained in our Registration Statement on Form F-3 filed with the SEC on March 24, 2022 and any amendments thereto filed to update the description.

 

The documents incorporated herein by reference contain meaningful and material information relating to us, and you should review all information contained in this prospectus and the documents incorporated herein by reference.

 

In addition, this prospectus shall also be deemed to incorporate by reference all subsequent annual reports filed on Form 20-F, Form 40-F or Form 10-K, and all subsequent filings on Forms 10-Q and 8-K (if any) filed by us pursuant to the U.S. Exchange Act prior to the termination of the offering made by this prospectus. We may also incorporate by reference into this prospectus any Form 6-K that is submitted to the SEC after the date of the filing of the registration statement of which this Prospectus forms a part and before the date of termination of this offering. Any such Form 6-K that we intend to so incorporate shall state in such form that it is being incorporated by reference into this prospectus. The documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference contain meaningful and material information relating to us, and you should review all information contained in this prospectus and the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference.

 

Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for the purposes of this prospectus, to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not constitute a part of this prospectus, except as so modified or superseded. The modifying or superseding statement need not state that it has modified or superseded a prior statement or include any other information set forth in the document that it modifies or supersedes. The making of such a modifying or superseding statement shall not be deemed an admission for any purposes that the modified or superseded statement, when made, constituted a misrepresentation, an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission to state a material fact that is required to be stated or that is necessary to make a statement not misleading in light of the circumstances in which it was made.

 

Documents which we incorporate by reference are available from us without charge, excluding all exhibits, unless we have specifically incorporated by reference an exhibit in this prospectus. You may obtain documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus by requesting them in writing or by telephone from us at:

 

Versus Systems Inc.
Attention: Corporate Secretary
1370 N St Andrews Place
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(310) 242-0228

 

Statements contained in this prospectus supplement as to the contents of any contract or other documents are not necessarily complete, and in each instance you are referred to the copy of the contract or other document filed as an exhibit to the registration statement or incorporated herein, each such statement being qualified in all respects by such reference and the exhibits and schedules thereto.

 

29

 

 

414,500 Shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VERSUS SYSTEMS INC.

 

Common Stock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROSPECTUS

 

 

 

  

 

 

                   , 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART II

 

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

 

Item 15. Indemnification of Directors and Officers

 

Indemnification of directors and officers

 

Sections 159 to 164 of the BCBCA authorize companies to indemnify past and present directors, officers and certain other individuals for the liabilities incurred in connection with their services as such (including costs, expenses and settlement payments) unless such individual did not act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the company and, in the case of a criminal or administrative proceeding, if such individual did not have reasonable grounds for believing his or her conduct was lawful. In the case of a suit by or on behalf of the corporation, a court must approve the indemnification.

 

Our articles require us to indemnify directors and officers to the extent required by law.

 

We have entered into agreements with our directors and certain officers, or an Indemnitee, to indemnify the Indemnitee, to the fullest extent permitted by law and subject to certain limitations, against all liabilities, costs, charges and expenses reasonably incurred by an Indemnitee in an action or proceeding to which the Indemnitee was made a party by reason of the Indemnitee being an officer or director of (i) our company or (ii) an organization of which we are a shareholder or creditor if the Indemnitee serves such organization at our request.

 

We maintain insurance policies relating to certain liabilities that our directors and officers may incur in such capacity.

 

We have the power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was one of our directors or officers, or is or was serving at our request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other business against any liability asserted against the person or incurred by the person in any of these capacities, or arising out of the person’s fulfilling one of these capacities, and related expenses, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify the person against the claim under the provisions of the NRS. We do not currently maintain director and officer liability insurance on behalf of our director and officers; however, we intend to so purchase and maintain such insurance when economically feasible.

 

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Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

 

(a)

 

  (3) Exhibits:

 

4.1**   Form of Series C Common Share Purchase Warrant issued on July 28, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.4 of the Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K furnished on July 15, 2022)
5.1*   Opinion of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
23.1*   Consent of Davidson & Company LLP
23.2*   Consent of Ramirez Jimenez International CPAs
23.3*   Consent of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24.1**   Power of Attorney (included on signature page)
107**   Filing Fee Table

 

* Filed herewith.
** Previously filed.

 

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Item 17. Undertakings

 

(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

 

  (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

 

  (i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

 

  (ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post- effective amendment thereof) that, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in the volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

 

  (iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

 

providedhowever, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii), and (a)(1)(iii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is a part of the registration statement.

 

  (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

  (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered that remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

 

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  (4) That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser:

 

  (i) each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and

 

  (ii) each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by Section 10(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date.

 

  (5) That, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

  (i) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

II-4

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of Versus Systems Inc. has signed this Amendment No. 1 to registration statement on September 22, 2023.

 

  VERSUS SYSTEMS INC.
   
  By: /s/ Matthew Pierce
    Matthew Pierce
   

Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Name   Position   Date
         
/s/ Matthew Pierce   Chairman and Chief Executive Officer   September 22, 2023
Matthew Pierce   (Principal Executive Officer)    
         
/s/ Craig Finster   Chief Financial Officer   September 22, 2023
Craig Finster   (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)    
         
*   Director   September 22, 2023
Keyvan Peymani        
         
*   Director   September 22, 2023
Brian Tingle        
         
*   Director   September 22, 2023
Michelle Gahagan        
         
*   Director   September 22, 2023
Paul Vlasic        
         
*   Director   September 22, 2023
Jennifer Prince        
         
*   Director   September 22, 2023
Shannon Pruitt        

 

*By: /s/ Matthew Pierce  
  Matthew Pierce,
Attorney-in-Fact
 

 

II-5

 

 

Signature of Authorized U.S. Representative of Registrant

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of Versus Systems Inc. has signed this registration statement on September 22, 2023.

 

  By: /s/ Matthew Pierce
  Name:  Matthew Pierce
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

 

II-6