General Enterprise Ventures, Inc. - Annual Report: 2009 (Form 10-K)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
[ X ] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO
SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934. For the fiscal year ended December 31,
2009.
[ ] TRANSITION
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.
For the transition period from to
COMMISSION
FILE NO.: 33-55254-38
GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT, INC.
(Exact
name of small business issuer as specified in its charter)
Nevada
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87-0485313
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(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
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(I.R.S.
Employer Identification No.)
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3191 Temple Ave., Suite 250, Pomona,
CA
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91768
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(Address
of principal executive offices)
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(Zip
Code)
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(909)
444-9500
(Registrant's
Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities
registered under Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Securities
registered under Section 12(g) of the Act:
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None
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Common Stock, Par Value $.001
(Title
of Class)
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Indicate
by check mark if registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule
405 of the Securities Act. o Yes xNo
Indicate
by check mark if registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section
13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. o Yes xNo
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be
filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the
preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required
to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days. xYes o No
Indicate
by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of
Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best
of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements
incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this
Form 10-K. o
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated file, an accelerated
filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the
definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller
reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large
accelerated filer o
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Accelerated
filer o
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Non-accelerated
filer o (Do
not check if a smaller reporting company)
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Smaller
reporting company x
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act). oYes
xNo
The
aggregate market value of the registrant's shares of common stock held by
non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2009, based on
$ 0.90 per share, the last price at which the common equity was sold by the
registrant as of that date, was $11,368,018.
As of
December 31, 2009 there were 14,557,653 shares of the issuer's $.001 par
value common stock issued and outstanding.
Documents
incorporated by reference. There are no annual reports to security holders,
proxy information statements, or any prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424 of
the Securities Act of 1933 incorporated herein by reference.
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC.
2009
FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Part I
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Page No.
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Item
1
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Business
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3
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Item
1A
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Risk
Factors
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10
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Item
1B
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Unresolved
Staff Comments
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20
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Item
2
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Properties
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20
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Item
3
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Legal
Proceedings
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21
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Item
4
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Submission
of Matters to a Vote of the Security Holders
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21
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Part II
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||
Item
5
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Market
for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer
Purchases of Equity Securities
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21
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Item
6
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Selected
Financial Data
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22
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Item
7
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Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations
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22
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Item
8
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Financial
Statements and Supplementary Data
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30
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Item
9
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Changes
in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial
Disclosure
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31
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Item
9A (T)
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Controls
and Procedures
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31
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Item
9B
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Triggering
Events That Accelerate or Increase a Direct Financial
Obligation
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32
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Part III
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Item
10
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Directors
and Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
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32
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Item
11
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Executive
Compensation
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34
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Item
12
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Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related
Stockholder Matters
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35
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Item
13
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Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions and Director
Independence
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37
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Item
14
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Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
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39
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Part IV
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Item
15
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Exhibits
and Financial Statement Schedules
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39
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Signatures
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40
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2
FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
In
addition to historical information, this Annual Report contains forward-looking
statements, which are generally identifiable by use of the words "believes,"
"expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans to," "estimates," "projects," or
similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Factors
that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those
discussed in the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations." Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect
management’s opinions only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to
revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking
statements. Readers should carefully review the risk factors described in other
documents General Environmental Management, Inc. files from time to time with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").
PART I
ITEM
1. Description of Business
Company
Background
General
Environmental Management, Inc. formerly, Ultronics Corporation (the "Company")
was incorporated under the laws of Nevada on March 14, 1990. The Company did not
have operations from its inception until February 2005, as it was formed for the
primary purpose of seeking an appropriate merger candidate.
On
February 14, 2005, we acquired all the outstanding shares of General
Environmental Management, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“GEM DE”) in exchange
for 630,481 shares of our class A common stock and as a result, GEM DE became a
wholly owned subsidiary of Ultronics. The acquisition has been treated as a
reverse merger (recapitalization) with GEM DE deemed to be the accounting
acquirer, and Ultronics the legal acquirer. We then changed our parent name to
General Environmental Management, Inc. on March 16, 2005.
Prior to
the merger, GEM DE acquired:
§
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Hazpak
Environmental Services, Inc. (HES),
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§
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the
assets of EnVectra, Inc. (EnV),
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§
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the
assets of Firestone Environmental Services Company (dba Prime
Environmental Services Company), and Firestone Associates, Inc. (dba
Firestone Energy Company), and
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§
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100%
of the membership interest in Pollution Control Industries of California,
LLC.
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Hazpak
(HES) was organized as a partnership in February of 1991 specializing in
packaging hazardous waste for other hazardous waste management companies. In
July of 1992, HES incorporated under the laws of California as Hazpak, Inc. On
August 7, 2002 Hazpak, Inc. changed is name to Hazpak Environmental Services,
Inc. In March 2003, GEM DE acquired HES.
3
On June
23, 2004, we acquired all of the membership interest in Pollution Control
Industries of California, LLC. The primary asset of Pollution Control Industries
of California, LLC was the real property on which a fully permitted, Part B
treatment, storage, disposal facility (TSDF) in Rancho Cordova, California was
located. The facility provides service for other environmental service companies
and allows us to consolidate waste for more cost effective outbound treatment.
Pollution Control Industries of California, LLC changed its name to General
Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova, LLC on June 25, 2004.
On July
18, 2003, we acquired the assets of EnVectra, Inc., which included
internet-based integrated environmental management software now marketed by us
as GEMWare.
On August
1, 2004, we acquired the assets of Prime Environmental Services, Inc. of El
Monte, California which resulted in a significant increase in our revenues and a
presence in the states of Washington and Alaska through Prime’s Seattle office
along with additional clients and revenue in California. All Prime services are
now offered under the “General Environmental Management, Inc.”
name.
Prior to
the acquisition of GEM DE by the Company, GEM DE focused its efforts in the
second half of 2004 on integration of the above noted purchases and on continued
internal growth. During the first quarter of 2005, we adjusted our operations to
achieve greater efficiencies at the TSDF and at our field service
locations.
MTS
Acquisition and Sale
On March
10, 2006, the Company entered into a Agreement with K2M Mobile Treatment
Services, Inc. of Long Beach, California ("K2M"), a privately held company,
pursuant to which the Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding common
stock of K2M. K2M is a California-based provider of mobile wastewater treatment
and vapor recovery services. In consideration of the acquisition of the issued
and outstanding common stock of K2M Company paid $1.5 million in cash to the
stockholders of K2M. As a result of the agreement, K2M became a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the Company. For purposes of accounting for the acquisition of the
business of K2M, the effective date of the agreement was March 1, 2006. On
August 8, 2006 K2M changed its name to GEM Mobile Treatment Services,
Inc.
On August
17, 2009, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement ("MTS Agreement")
with MTS Acquisition Company ("MTS"), a privately held company, pursuant to
which the Company sold all of the issued and outstanding common stock of GEM
Mobile Treatment Services, Inc. (“GEM MTS”).
GEM MTS
was purchased by MTS, a corporation owned by two former senior executives of the
Company. Consideration for the sale was in the form of a promissory
note in the aggregate amount of $5.6 million, the assumption by MTS of
approximately $1.0 million of accounts payable and possible future
royalties. The consideration was immediately assigned by Company to
CVC California, LLC ("CVC"), the Company's senior secured lender. As
the notes are paid to CVC, the Company's indebtedness to CVC will be reduced.
Total reduction in indebtedness to CVC could amount to more than $7
million.
The
promissory note for $5,600,000 bears interest at 8%. On the first day
of each calendar month commencing September 1, 2009 through and including August
1, 2010, accrued interest on the outstanding principal is due and
payable. Thereafter, principal and interest under this Note is
payable in thirty-six (36) consecutive equal monthly installments of principal
and interest of $174,321.50 each, with the first installment due and payable on
September 1, 2010, and with subsequent installments due and payable on the first
day of each calendar month thereafter through and including August 1,
2013.
All or
any portion of the unpaid principal balance of this Note, together with all
accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount being prepaid, may at the
MTS’s option be prepaid in whole or in part, without premium or
penalty.
4
The
Company also entered into a revolving credit agreement with MTS which is
collateralized by accounts receivable. The revolving credit note has
a maximum value of $700,000 and bears interest at the greater of (a) the Prime
Rate as in effect from time to time plus two (2%) percent, or (b) ten (10%)
percent.
Concurrent
with the closing of the sale of GEM MTS, the Company assigned with full recourse
and full representation and warranty of title and ownership the promissory note,
the revolving credit agreement and the revolving credit note to CVC California,
LLC, the Company’s senior lender.
The
Company also entered into a subordinated collateral agreement with GEM MTS in
order to secure potential obligations related to indemnification payments it may
hereafter become obligated to make to MTS in accordance with the MTS
Agreement.
Island
Acquisition
On August
31, 2008, GEM DE entered into an agreement with Island Environmental Services,
Inc. of Pomona, California ("Island"), a privately held company, pursuant to
which GEM DE acquired all of the issued and outstanding common stock of Island,
a California-based provider of hazardous and non-hazardous waste removal and
remediation services to a variety of private and public sector establishments.
In consideration of the acquisition of the issued and outstanding common stock
of Island, the Company paid $2.25 million in cash to the stockholders of Island
and issued $1.25 million in three year promissory notes (“Island Notes”).
Island is
a wholly owned subsidiary of GEM DE and is part of the assets of GEM DE being
sold to the Buyer. However, the Company has assumed the obligation to pay the
balance of the Island Notes.
Acquisition of California Living
Waters Incorporated
CLW
Business Description
History
On
November 6, 2009, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase
Agreement ("CLW Agreement") with United States Environmental
Response, LLC, a California limited liability company pursuant to which the
Company has purchased all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of
California Living Waters, Incorporated ("CLW"), a privately held
company. CLW owns all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of
Santa Clara Waste Water Company (SCWW") a California corporation. CLW's only
operating subsidiary is SCWW.
Management
at the Company has been aware of SCWW for the past three years. The
Company has used SCWW as a vendor for treatment and disposal of certain
non-hazardous waste streams during the past three years. During that
time frame management developed a professional relationship with SCWW’s
ownership. It became apparent to both companies that there was the
potential for a closer relationship where the Company would acquire
SCWW. However there were never any serious discussions until the end
of 2008 as the Company was not in the position to make the
acquisition. In November 2008 the Company and SCWW agreed to pursue
further discussions regarding a potential acquisition and executed a Letter of
Intent (LOI) for the acquisition contingent on financing. Because of
the market collapse in the fourth quarter of 2008 no financing commitments were
received and the LOI was withdrawn. In March of 2009 further
discussions continued with another LOI executed, again contingent on financing
which was not forthcoming and in April 2009 the discussions were abandoned and
the LOI withdrawn. Finally discussions resumed in July and August
2009 culminating in an executed LOI on September 19, 2009 with the transaction
closed on November 13, 2009, primarily due to internal financing.
5
Background
The high
demands on water resources and landfills resulting from increased
industrialization and population growth are problems facing the Southern
California marketplace which SCWW serves and the global community. Santa Clara
Waste Water Company ("SCWW"), was formed in 1959 for the treatment of
non-hazardous wastewater in southern California.
SCWW's
primary processing facility (the "Facility"), is located on a 4.87 acre parcel
in Santa Paula, Ventura County, California and sits 65 miles north of downtown
Los Angeles and approximately 70 miles southwest of California's oil and gas
rich Kern County. The facility has the annual capacity to process 80 million
gallons of domestic, industrial and oil and gas-related wastes generated by
customers located within a 250 mile radius of the Facility. New customers
receive approval after an independent laboratory tests the wastewater for
compatibility with the Facility's treatment protocols. Once approved and
scheduled, every shipment received is tested again prior to unloading to ensure
compliance. Since 2007, the Facility received the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) designation, from the
Federal Environmental Protection Agency making it the sole California disposal
site for "Superfund" non-hazardous wastewater.
SCWW also
owns and operates a 12.7 mile, 10" pipeline (the "Pipeline") that transports
domestic wastewater which has been processed at the Facility to the municipal
wastewater treatment facility located in Oxnard, California.
The Non-Hazardous
Wastewater Business
General
Background
According
to US Department of Commerce statistics the water and wastewater industry is
generally estimated to be around $90 billion to $100 billion per year with the
world market being about five times larger, or around $500 billion annually.
American industry and households produce a growing and significant volume of
non-hazardous wastewater annually, all of which, depending on the effluent
source, is required to be remediated and disposed of in compliance with some
combination of federal, state and local regulation. The Company believes that
SCWW has the required permits, treatment capabilities and staff to manage the
high demands on water resources resulting from increased industrialization and
population growth in the Southern California market.
The
following categorization of wastewaters provides a partial listing of the
breadth of non-hazardous waste streams that exist:
Non-Hazardous Wastewater Accepted
for Treatment by SCWW
• Bilge/Ballast
Water
• Boiler
Blowdowns Water
• Boiler
Sludge Water
• Brine
Water
• Car
Wash Wastewater
• Chemical
Toilet Wastewater
• Clarifier
Wastewater
• Construction
Wastewater
• Cooling
Tower Water
• Cutting/Polishing
Water
• Equipment
Decon Water
• Facility
Cleaning Water
• Filtrate
Water
• Filtration
Media Water
• Floor
Cleaning Water
• Graphite
Wastewater
6
• Grey
Water
• Groundwater
• Heater
Mineral Sediment Water
• Hydroblast
Wastewater
• Hydrocarbon
Water
• Hydrostatic
Test Water
• Injection
Molding Water
• Muddy
Wastewater
• Oilfield
Wastewater
• Oily
Wastewater
• Pipeline
Flush Wastewater
• Process
Water
• Produce
Wash Water
• Rainwater
Runoff
• Scrubber
Wastewater
• Septic
Wastewater
• Site
Decon Water
• Soapy
Waters
• Swimming
Pool Water
• Tank
Bottom Water
• Tank
Cleaning Water
• Truck
Wash Water
• Water
Softener Wastewater
Unacceptable and Hazardous
Wastewater Not Accepted for Treatment by SCWW
•
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Highly
Odorous
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•
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High
Oil/Solvent Content
|
•
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High
Viscosity
|
•
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Sanitary
Sources
|
•
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Biomedical
Sources
|
•
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Plating
Etching Sources
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•
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Surface
preparation Sources
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•
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Alkaline
or acid cleaning Sources
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•
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Metal
Finishing Sources
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•
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Anodizing
operations
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•
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Hazardous
Wastewater
|
The
Domestic Wastewater portion of SCWWs business is the treatment of human waste
which SCWW provides for local area septic tank cleaners and port-a-potty
companies which service Ventura County's largest business sector, the
agricultural industry. SCWW also treats secondary sludge from municipalities and
counties whose own facilities are unable to completely treat this waste
stream.
In
addition, SCWW is the only commercial treatment facility with the requisite
permits to accept industrial wastewater on the central coast of California.
Manufacturing businesses and power plants comprise the majority of the
industrial waste accepted. Oil and gas companies, small business wastewater
generators, and groundwater remediation services, are other businesses that SCWW
provides water treatment services to.
7
SCWW Treatment
Process
SCWW's
treatment encompasses a seven-step process as follows:
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1.
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Customer Registration and Waste
Screening: Customers enter into service contracts with SCWW for the
treatment of their wastewaters. Before accepting a customer, samples of
its wastewater streams are evaluated to determine whether the Facility
will be able to handle the subject non-hazardous
wastewater.
|
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2.
|
Receiving: The Facility
is close to California's major freeway system with easy access and egress
to the Facility's dual-lane, truck unloading bays. Before waste is
unloaded, it is field tested and the quantity being unloaded is measured
for billing purposes.
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3.
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Dewatering Treatment:
The unloaded waste stream undergoes a primary separation process of
mastication, degritting, open pond storage settlement and dewatering that
serves to separate the larger particulate solids contained in the waste
stream from the liquids.
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4.
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Primary Treatment: The
various liquid streams are stored in holding tanks and subjected to
electro-coagulation and ozone treatments to engender further separation of
the solids from the liquids and begin the water purification
process.
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5.
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Secondary Treatment: In
the final separation and purification process, the liquid held in the
holding tanks is piped through (i) a carbon filtration unit, (ii) a 0.5
micron filtration unit and (iii) subjected to ultra-violet
treatment
|
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6.
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Water Shipping: The
resulting effluent meets the federal regulation specified in Federal
Regulation §437 and local discharge limits (established by POTW) and is
shipped via the Pipeline (a single pump, gravity-aided system of
transport), to the City of Oxnard water treatment facility 12.7 miles
away.
|
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7.
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Solids Handling: Given
the waste streams that SCWW currently processes, it generates primarily
(i) drilling mud, (ii) industrial sludge, and (iii) human waste solids.
These solids are trucked to area landfills for ultimate
disposal.
|
Competition
SCWW's
competes regionally as follows:
•
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Domestic
Wastewater: Local septic cleaning and chemical toilet
operators have the choice of using the SCWW Facility or transporting their
wastewaters to the nearest competing facility located 90-plus miles away
at the Los Angeles County's facility. The Company estimates that it has
70-75% of the Ventura County septic and chemical toilet markets.
Regionally, municipalities from as far as San Luis Obispo and as close as
Santa Paula have been utilizing SCWW to treat their secondary digester
sludge.
|
•
|
Industrial
Wastewater: There are a number of competitors in the broad spectrum
of industrial waste treatment business. However, these competing
facilities are located in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. The
industrial business is very specialized and, within it, SCWW competes by
accepting only non-hazardous wastewater, by providing quick off-loading,
and providing its convenient and accessible location to
industrial waste generators along the Central Coast of
California.
|
•
|
Oil & Gas
Wastewater: SCWW was initially developed to be a major service
provider to this segment and continues to service the high oil content,
low viscosity wastes from Los Angeles County north to Kern County. SCWW
provides quicker acceptance and offloading of oil and gas wastewater then
its single local competitor.
|
8
Employees
SCWW
employs 13 persons that handle the operations of the Facility and the Pipeline
and 8 administrative persons who work in the front office handling the sales,
marketing, general and administrative functions. SCWW has no
collective bargaining agreements.
Regulation
Regulation
of companies that treat non-hazardous wastewater streams are subject to far less
onerous regulation than companies involved in the treatment of hazardous wastes.
The following is a brief summary of the regulatory environment in which SCWW
operates:
Federal
Regulation:
•
|
Private
water treatment facilities that discharge to a public municipal water
treatment plant are subject to Federal Regulation §437, which (i) sets
national discharge limits for each chemical contained in the discharge and
(ii) compliance standards for sampling and maintaining
records.
|
State
Regulation:
•
|
Under
Title 14 and Title 17 of the California Code focuses solely on the solids
recovered through the treatment process, how they may be disposed and on
what basis they may and may not be recycled, with the recycling rules
varying sharply depending on:
|
o
|
If
the waste is being recycled for resale, there is no regulation;
or
|
o
|
If
the waste is being given away as compost, there is
regulation.
|
•
|
The
State Water Resources Board monitors the adequacy of rainwater
drainage.
|
Ventura
County:
•
|
The
County Environmental Health Board is the agency charged with supervising
all state regulations governing solid wastes and their
disposal.
|
•
|
The
County Planning Division monitors site land use and issues Conditional Use
Permits.
|
•
|
The
County Air Pollution District monitors nuisance orders under Rule
95.
|
SCWW is
designated as a "critical and
essential public service" by Ventura County. Having just completed
several modernizations to the Facility, SCWW has filed the requisite notice
updates to the County Planning Division, which has issued its Negative
Declaration Document that certifies that the Company has a valid Conditional Use
Permit for its Facility. The Company believes that SCWW is in
compliance with all Federal, State and County regulations affecting SCWW's
business.
Sale
to Luntz Acquisition (Delaware) LLC
On
November 25, 2009, the Company entered into an Agreement with Luntz Acquisition
(Delaware), LLC. (“Buyer”) pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell to
Luntz all of the issued and outstanding stock of the Company's primary operating
subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. a
Delaware corporation, ("GEM DE") for cash (the “Sale”). In
connection with the Sale, the Company agreed : a) to form a Delaware corporation
that shall be wholly-owned by the Company and named GEM NewCo, Inc. (“GEM
NewCo”), b) to form a Delaware limited partnership, the sole limited partner of
which shall be the Company, and the sole general partner of which shall be GEM
NewCo, which limited partnership shall be named GEM Pomona LP (“GEM LP”), c)
effect a merger between GEM LP and GEM DE, whereby GEM LP will be the surviving
entity, d) sell to Luntz the limited partner interests of GEM LP and all of the
outstanding shares of stock of GEM NewCo (the “Purchased Interests”). Luntz
agreed to pay the Company $14 million for the purchased
interests.
On
February 26, 2010, after approval of the transaction by the Company’s
shareholders at a special meeting held on February 19, 2010, the Company
completed the sale of the entities created out of GEM DE. The net
cash proceeds from the transaction were used by the Company to retire senior
debt and other obligations of the Company. The Company used $250,000
to pay its obligations to USER in conjunction with the acquisition of CLW and
SCWW.
9
On
February 26, 2010, after approval of the transaction by the Company’s
shareholders at a special meeting held on February 19, 2010, the Company
completed the sale of the entities created out of GEM DE. The net
cash proceeds from the transaction were used by the Company to retire senior
debt and other obligations of the Company. The Company used $250,000
to pay its obligations to USER in conjunction with the acquisition of CLW and
SCWW.
ITEM
1A. Risk Factors
An
investor in our securities should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties
described below and the other information in this Annual Report on Form
10-K. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business,
operating results and financial condition could be harmed and the value of our
stock could go down.
Business
Risk Factors
The
company has a history of losses and may need additional financing to continue
its operations, and such financing may not be available upon favorable terms, if
at all.
The
Company experienced net losses of $14,952,442 and $7,149,709 for the fiscal
years ended December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, respectively. There
can be no assurances that the Company will be able to operate profitably in the
future. In the event that the Company is not successful in implementing its
business plan, the Company will require additional financing in order to
succeed. There can be no assurance that additional financing will be available
now or in the future on terms that are acceptable to the Company. If adequate
funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, the Company
may be unable to develop or enhance its products and services, take advantage of
future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, all of which could
have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition or
operating results.
We
have a limited operating history on which to evaluate our potential for future
success. This makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risk
of success or failure of our business.
Our short
operating history and results of operations may not give you an accurate
indication of our future results of operations or prospects. You must consider
our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we will
encounter as an early-stage company in a highly competitive market. We may not
be able to successfully address these risks and difficulties, which could
materially harm our business and operating results.
Investors may lose their entire
investment if we fail to reach profitability.
The
Company was incorporated in September 1991 but did not engage in meaningful
business operations until February 2005 when we acquired GEM DE. Our
prospects must be considered in light of the risks, uncertainties, expenses and
difficulties frequently encountered by companies in their early stages of
development. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in accomplishing our
objectives. To date, we have incurred only losses and may continue to incur
losses in the foreseeable future. Our short operating history and results of
operations may not give you an accurate indication of our future results of
operations or prospects. Our business and prospects, in light of the
risks and difficulties we will encounter as an early-stage company in a highly
competitive market. We may not be able to successfully address these risks and
difficulties, which could materially harm our business and operating
results.
10
We
are dependent upon a limited number of customers for a substantial percentage of
our revenues. If we fail to retain these customer relationships, our revenues
could decline.
We derive
a significant portion of our revenues from a relatively small number of
customers. Our largest customer during the year ended December 31, 2009
accounted for approximately 3% of total revenues; for the year ended December
31, 2008 one customer accounted for approximately 14% of total revenues. We
anticipate that we will continue to rely on a limited number of customers for a
substantial portion of our future revenues and we must obtain additional large
orders from customers on an ongoing basis to increase our revenues and grow our
business. In addition, the loss of any significant or well-known customer could
harm our operating results or our reputation.
The
assets of the Company are now pledged under the recent agreements with Secured
Lenders and may prevent the Company from obtaining any additional asset based
financing.
In
conjunction with a secured convertible term note and a secured revolving note,
all unsubordinated assets of the Company and its subsidiaries are secured under
agreements with CVC California, LLC, a subsidiary of the Comvest Group
(sometimes referred to as the “Secured Lenders”). Without any unsecured assets,
the Company could be unable to obtain any future asset based
financing.
The agreements with Secured Lenders
contain terms that could place the Company in default related to the outstanding
borrowings.
The
agreements with the Secured Lenders include terms of default related to the
funds borrowed. These include default due to non-payment, failure to
pay taxes, failure to perform under the agreements, failure to disclose items of
a material nature under certain representations and warranties, attachments to
any secured assets or the indictment of the Company or its executive officers
for any criminal acts. This default could result in the loss of the
business.
The
agreements with the Secured Lenders contain terms where the Secured Lenders can
convert their notes to common shares and exercise warrants for common shares
which could have an adverse affect upon the price of our common
shares.
Secured
Lenders' conversions of indebtedness to common shares and exercise of warrants
at fixed conversion and exercise prices, would: i) dilute the current
shareholders' equity in the Company; ii) limit the Company’s ability to raise
additional equity capital; and iii) depress the price of our common shares
in the market.
We
depend heavily on our management team and the loss of any or all of the members
of such management team could materially adversely affect our business, results
of operations and our financial condition.
Our
success depends, to a significant extent, upon the efforts, the abilities and
the business experience of Timothy J. Koziol, our chief executive officer, as
well as on these same attributes of our other officers and management team. Loss
of the services of any or all of our management team could materially adversely
affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, and could
cause us to fail to successfully implement our business plan.
There
is intense competition for qualified technical professionals and sales and
marketing personnel, and our failure to attract and retain these people could
affect our ability to respond to rapid technological changes and to increase our
revenues.
Our
future success depends upon our ability to attract and retain qualified
technical professionals and sales and marketing personnel. Competition for
talented personnel, particularly technical professionals, is intense. This
competition could increase the costs of hiring and retaining personnel. We may
not be able to attract, retain, and adequately motivate our personnel or to
integrate new personnel into our operations successfully.
11
Our
industrial waste management services subject us to potential environmental
liability.
Our
business of rendering services in connection with management of waste, including
certain types of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, subjects us to risks of
liability for damages. Such liability could involve, without limitation, claims
for clean-up costs, personal injury or damage to the environment in cases in
which we are held responsible for the release of hazardous materials, and claims
of employees, customers, or third parties for personal injury or property damage
occurring in the course of our operations. We could also be deemed a
responsible party for the cost of cleaning any property which may be
contaminated by hazardous substances generated by us and disposed at such
property or transported by us to a site selected by us, including properties we
own or lease.
If we cannot maintain our government
permits or cannot obtain any required permits, we may not be able to continue or
expand our operations.
Our
business is subject to extensive, evolving, and increasingly stringent federal,
state, and local environmental laws and regulations. Such federal, state, and
local environmental laws and regulations govern our activities regarding the
treatment, storage, recycling, disposal, and transportation of hazardous and
non-hazardous waste. We must obtain and maintain permits, licenses and/or
approvals to conduct these activities in compliance with such laws and
regulations. Failure to obtain and maintain the required permits, licenses
and/or approvals would have a material adverse effect on our operations and
financial condition. If we are unable to maintain our currently held permits,
licenses, and/or approvals or obtain any additional permits, licenses and/or
approvals which may be required as we expand our operations, we may not be able
to continue certain of our operations.
Changes
in environmental regulations and enforcement policies could subject us to
additional liability which could impair our ability to continue certain
operations due to the regulated nature of our operations.
Because
the environmental industry continues to develop rapidly, we cannot predict the
extent to which our operations may be affected by future enforcement policies as
applied to existing laws, by changes to current environmental laws and
regulations, or by the enactment of new environmental laws and regulations. Any
predictions regarding possible liability under such laws are complicated further
by current environmental laws which provide that we could be liable, jointly and
severally, for certain activities of third parties over whom we have limited or
no control.
Environmental
regulation significantly impacts our business.
While our
business has benefited substantially from increased governmental regulation of
hazardous and non-hazardous waste transportation, storage and disposal, the
environmental services industry itself has become the subject of extensive and
evolving regulation by federal, state, provincial and local authorities. We are
required to obtain federal, state, provincial and local permits or approvals for
each of our hazardous waste facilities. Such permits are difficult to obtain
and, in many instances, extensive studies, tests, and public hearings are
required before the approvals can be issued. We have acquired all operating
permits and approvals now required for the current operation of our business,
and have applied for, or are in the process of applying for, all permits and
approvals needed in connection with continued operation and planned expansion or
modifications of our operations.
The most
significant federal environmental laws affecting us are the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), also known as the Superfund
Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act
("TSCA").
12
We make a
continuing effort to anticipate regulatory, political and legal developments
that might affect operations, but are not always able to do so. We cannot
predict the extent to which any environmental legislation or regulation that may
be enacted or enforced in the future may affect our operations.
If our
operations expand, we may be subject to increased litigation which could have a
negative impact on our future financial results.
Our
operations are regulated by numerous laws regarding procedures for waste
treatment, storage, recycling, transportation and disposal activities, all of
which may provide the basis for litigation against us. In recent years, the
waste treatment industry has experienced a significant increase in so-called
"toxic-tort" litigation as those injured by contamination seek to recover for
personal injuries or property damage. We believe that as our operations and
activities expand, there will be a similar increase in the potential for
litigation alleging that we are responsible for contamination or pollution
caused by our normal operations, negligence or other misconduct, or for
accidents which occur in the course of our business activities. Such litigation,
if significant and not adequately insured against, could impair our ability to
fund our operations. Protracted litigation would likely cause us to spend
significant amounts of our time, effort and money. This could prevent our
management from focusing on our operations and expansion.
If we cannot maintain adequate
insurance coverage, we will be unable to continue certain
operations.
Our
business exposes us to various risks, including claims for causing damage to
property and injuries to persons that may involve allegations of negligence or
professional errors or omissions in the performance of our services. Such claims
could be substantial. We believe that our insurance coverage is presently
adequate and similar or higher than the coverage maintained by other companies
in the industry of our size. However, if we are unable to obtain adequate or
required insurance coverage in the future or, if our insurance is not available
at affordable rates, we would violate our permit conditions and other
requirements of the environmental laws, rules and regulations under which we
operate. Such violations would render us unable to continue certain of our
operations. These events would have a material adverse effect on our financial
condition.
Our
success is connected to our ability to maintain our proprietary
technologies.
The steps
taken by us to protect our proprietary technologies may not be adequate to
prevent misappropriation of these technologies by third parties.
Misappropriation of our proprietary technology could have an adverse effect on
our operations and financial condition. Changes to current environmental laws
and regulations also could limit the use of our proprietary
technology.
We
may have difficulty integrating future acquisitions into our existing
operations.
Our
intentions are to acquire existing businesses in our industry. To the extent
that we make such acquisitions, of which there can be no assurance, the
acquisitions will involve the integration of companies that have previously
operated independently from us. We cannot assure that we will be able to fully
integrate the operations of these companies without encountering difficulties or
experiencing the loss of key employees or customers of such companies. In
addition, we cannot assure that the benefits expected from such integration will
be realized.
13
If
environmental regulation or enforcement is relaxed, the demand for our services
will decrease.
The
demand for our services is substantially dependent upon the public's concern
with, the continuation and proliferation of, the laws and regulations governing
the treatment, storage, recycling, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous
waste. A decrease in the level of public concern, the repeal or modification of
these laws, or any significant relaxation of regulations relating to the
treatment, storage, recycling, and disposal of hazardous waste would
significantly reduce the demand for our services and could have a material
adverse effect on our operations and financial condition. We are not aware of
any current federal or state government or agency efforts in which a moratorium
or limitation has been, or will be, placed upon the creation of new hazardous
waste regulations that would have a material adverse effect on us.
Impairment
of goodwill and other intangible assets would result in a decrease in
earnings.
Current
accounting rules require that goodwill and other intangible assets with
indefinite useful lives no longer be amortized, but instead be tested for
impairment at least annually. These rules also require that intangible assets
with definite useful lives be amortized over their respective estimated useful
lives to their estimated residual values, and reviewed for impairment whenever
events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset
may not be recoverable. To the extent such evaluation indicates that the useful
lives of intangible assets are different than originally estimated, the
amortization period is reduced or extended and, accordingly, the quarterly
amortization expense is increased or decreased.
We have
substantial goodwill and other intangible assets, and we may be required to
record a significant charge to earnings in our financial statements during the
period in which any impairment of our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets
is determined. Any impairment charges or changes to the estimated amortization
periods could have a material adverse effect on our financial
results.
Continued
economic downturn could affect our business in a negative manner, more so than
other businesses generally causing our business prospects to
suffer.
Although
environmental compliance cannot be short circuited in any economic environment,
waste, generally, is viewed as trash and considered low on the priority list
when economic conditions bring cut backs in operational spending. Accordingly,
our services may be in less demand during a time of economic downturn and our
business may suffer.
We face substantial competition from
better established companies that may have significantly greater resources which
could lead to reduced sales of our products.
The
market for our services is competitive and is likely to become even more
competitive in the future. Increased competition could result in pricing
pressures, reduced sales, reduced margins or the failure of our services to
achieve or maintain market acceptance, any of which would have a material
adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Many of our current and potential competitors enjoy substantial competitive
advantages, such as:
·
|
greater
name recognition and larger marketing budgets and
resources;
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·
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established
marketing relationships and access to larger customer
bases;
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·
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substantially
greater financial, technical and other resources; and
|
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·
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larger
technical and support staffs.
|
As a
result, they may be able to garner more clients than we can. For the foregoing
reason, we may not be able to compete successfully against our current and
future competitors.
14
The
conversion of our convertible debt, the exercise of our outstanding warrants and
options and the Company's various anti-dilution and price-protection agreements
could cause the market price of our common stock to fall, and may have dilutive
and other effects on our existing stockholders.
The
conversion of our outstanding convertible debentures and the exercise of our
outstanding warrants and options could result in the issuance of up to an
additional 15,916,481 shares of common stock, assuming all outstanding
warrants and options are currently exercisable, and taken with the Company's
various anti-dilution and price-protection agreements, are subject to adjustment
pursuant to certain anti-dilution and price-protection provisions. Such
issuances would reduce the percentage of ownership of our existing common
stockholders and could, among other things, depress the price of our common
stock. This result could detrimentally affect our ability to raise additional
equity capital. In addition, the sale of these additional shares of common stock
may cause the market price of our stock to decrease.
There
are potential liabilities arising out of environmental laws and
regulations.
Although
the Company believes that it generally benefits from increased environmental
regulations and from enforcement of those regulations, increased regulation and
enforcement also create significant risks for the Company. The assessment,
analysis, remediation, transportation, handling and management of hazardous
substances necessarily involve significant risks, including the possibility of
damages or personal injuries caused by the escape of hazardous materials into
the environment, and the possibility of fines, penalties or other regulatory
action. These risks include potentially large civil and criminal liabilities to
customers and to third parties for damages arising from performing services for
customers. See "Environmental Regulation."
All
facets of the Company's business are conducted in the context of a rapidly
developing and changing statutory and regulatory framework. The Company's
operations and services are affected by and subject to regulation by a number of
federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") and
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as applicable state
and local regulatory agencies.
The
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as
amended (the "Superfund Act"), addresses the cleanup of sites at which there has
been a release or threatened release of hazardous substances into the
environment. Increasingly, there are efforts to expand the reach of the
Superfund Act to make hazardous waste management companies responsible for
cleanup costs of Superfund sites not owned or operated by such management
companies by claiming that such management companies are "owners" or "operators"
(as those terms are defined in the Superfund Act) of such sites or that such
management companies arranged for "treatment, transportation or disposal" (as
those terms are defined in the Superfund Act) of hazardous substances to or in
such sites. Several recent court decisions have accepted such claims. Should the
Company be held responsible under the Superfund Act for cleanup costs as a
result of performing services or otherwise, it might be forced to bear
significantly more than its proportional share of such cleanup costs if other
responsible parties do not pay their share. See "Business--Legal
Proceedings."
The
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended in 1984 ("RCRA"), is
the principal federal statute governing hazardous waste generation, treatment,
transportation, storage and disposal. RCRA or EPA approved state programs at
least as stringent govern waste handling activities involving wastes classified
as "hazardous." See "Environmental Regulation-- Federal Regulation of Hazardous
Wastes." Substantial fees and penalties may be imposed under RCRA and similar
state statutes for any violation of such statutes and regulations
thereunder.
There
are potential liabilities involving customers and third parties.
In
performing services for its customers, the Company potentially could be liable
for breach of contract, personal injury, property damage (including
environmental impairment), and negligence, including claims for lack of timely
performance or for failure to deliver the service promised (including improper
or negligent performance or design, failure to meet specifications, and breaches
of express or implied warranties). The damages available to a client, should it
prevail in its claims, are potentially large and could include consequential
damages.
15
Industrial
waste management companies, in connection with work performed for customers,
also potentially face liabilities to third parties from various claims including
claims for property damage or personal injury stemming from a release of
hazardous substances or otherwise. Claims for damage to third parties could
arise in a number of ways, including: through a sudden and accidental release or
discharge of contaminants or pollutants during transportation of wastes or the
performance of services; through the inability, despite reasonable care, of a
remedial plan to contain or correct an ongoing seepage or release of pollutants;
through the inadvertent exacerbation of an existing contamination problem; or
through reliance on reports prepared by such waste management companies.
Personal injury claims could arise contemporaneously with performance of the
work or long after completion of projects as a result of alleged exposure to
toxic or hazardous substances. In addition, increasing numbers of claimants
assert that companies performing environmental remediation should be adjudged
strictly liable for damages even though their services were performed using
reasonable care, on the grounds that such services involved "abnormally
dangerous activities."
Customers
of industrial waste management companies frequently attempt to shift various of
the liabilities arising out of disposal of their wastes or remediation of their
environmental problems to contractors through contractual indemnities. Such
provisions seek to require the contractors to assume liabilities for damage or
personal injury to third parties and property and for environmental fines and
penalties (including potential liabilities for cleanup costs arising under the
Superfund Act). Moreover, the EPA has increasingly constricted the circumstances
under which it will indemnify its contractors against liabilities incurred in
connection with cleanup of Superfund sites. There are other proposals both in
Congress and at the regulatory agencies to further restrict indemnification of
contractors from third party claims.
Although
the Company attempts to investigate thoroughly each other company that it
acquires, there may be liabilities that the Company fails or is unable to
discover, including liabilities arising from non-compliance with environmental
laws by prior owners, and for which the Company, as a successor owner, might be
responsible. The Company seeks to minimize the impact of these liabilities by
obtaining indemnities and warranties from sellers of companies which may be
supported by deferring payment of or by escrowing a portion of the purchase
price. However, these indemnities and warranties, if obtained, may not fully
cover the liabilities due to their limited scope, amounts, or duration, the
financial limitations of the indemnitors or warrantors or other
reasons.
A leak in
the pipeline, connecting SCWW’s Santa Paula site to the
City of Oxnard's disposal system, which is owned and operated by SCWW would
require immediate clean-up resulting in possible fines and even withdrawal of
operating permits.
SCWW owns
and operates a 12.7 mile long 10” pipeline connecting the SCWW Santa Paula site
with the City of Oxnard’s disposal system. If the pipeline leaks it could
result in immediate clean-up costs and possible fines and even withdrawal of
operating permits. The cost for potential clean-up and repair of the
pipeline could be significant. The loss of the operating permit would mean
a significant loss in the operating capabilities of SCWW.
To
the degree that regulators determine certain sold wastes unsuitable for
recycling, it could have an adverse impact on the Company's
profitability.
SCWW
actively seeks to recycle the sold waste material from its treatment process
both for a higher recycle/reuse value of treatment and financial
profitability. If there is a change in regulations that do not allow
certain waste streams to be recycled the financial impact would negatively
impact the Company.
16
Our
ability to raise capital in the future may affect our ability to retire long
term debt.
If our
future earnings and other cash resources are not sufficient to meet our long
term debt obligations, we may need to raise additional capital to meet those
commitments. In conjunction with the acquisition of California Living
Waters, the Company anticipates converting certain notes into a percentage of
the common stock of the Company. This conversion will occur when the
Capital Restructuring Goal is achieved. This means the concurrent
fulfillment of each of the following events: (i) the CLW Seller’s Note shall
have been fully paid on the terms thereof as to all theretofore outstanding
principal, interest, costs and expenses; (ii) Company shall have available, as
properly reflected in Company’s books one million dollars ($1,000,000) in
uncommitted working capital (not including any working capital lines of credit);
and (iii) Company shall have invested into SCWW capital of at least one million
dollars $1,000,000. If the Company is not able to achieve the Capital
Restructuring Goal, the debt will not be converted and interest expense will
remain at the current levels.
General
Risk Factors
Risks
Relating To Our Common Stock
We
do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future.
We
anticipate that we will retain all future earnings and other cash resources for
the future operation and development of our business and we do not intend to
declare or pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Future payment of
cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking
into account many factors, including our operating results, financial condition
and capital requirements. Corporations that pay dividends may be viewed as a
better investment than corporations that do not.
Rules,
including those contained in and issued under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
may make it difficult for us to retain or attract qualified officers and
directors, which could adversely affect our business and our ability to maintain
the listing of our common stock on the OTC Bulletin Board.
We may be
unable to attract and retain qualified officers, directors and members of board
committees required to provide for our effective management as a result of the
recent and currently proposed changes in the rules and regulations which govern
publicly-held companies, including, but not limited to, certifications from
executive officers and requirements for financial experts on boards of
directors. The perceived increased personal risk associated with these recent
changes may deter qualified individuals from accepting these roles. The
enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has resulted in the issuance of a
series of new rules and regulations and the strengthening of existing rules and
regulations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the adoption
of new and more stringent rules by the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Further,
certain of these recent and proposed changes heighten the requirements for board
or committee membership, particularly with respect to an individual’s
independence from the corporation and level of experience in finance and
accounting matters. We may have difficulty attracting and retaining directors
with the requisite qualifications. If we are unable to attract and retain
qualified officers and directors, our business and our ability to maintain the
listing of our shares of Common stock on a national market could be adversely
affected.
17
If
we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able
to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud, which could harm
our brand and operating results.
Effective
internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable and accurate
financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. We have devoted significant
resources and time to comply with the new internal control over financial
reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In addition, Section
404 under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we assess and our
auditors attest to the design and operating effectiveness of our controls over
financial reporting. Our compliance with the annual internal control report
requirement for our first fiscal year will depend on the effectiveness of our
financial reporting and data systems and controls across our operating
subsidiaries. We expect these systems and controls to become increasingly
complex to the extent that we integrate acquisitions and our business grows. To
effectively manage this growth, we will need to continue to improve our
operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and
procedures. We cannot be certain that these measures will ensure that we design,
implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and
reporting in the future. Any failure to implement required new or improved
controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation or operation,
could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our financial
reporting obligations. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to
lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a
negative effect on the trading price of our stock and our access to
capital.
Our
stock could be the subject of short selling and, if this occurs, the market
price of our stock could be adversely affected and, in turn, adversely effect
our ability raise additional capital through the sale of our common
stock.
It is
conceivable that our stock could be subject to the practice of short owned
directly by the seller; rather, the stock is "loaned" for the sale by a
broker-dealer to someone who "shorts" the stock. In most situations, this is a
short-term strategy by a seller, and based upon volume, may at times drive stock
values down. If such shorting occurs in our common stock, there could be a
negative effect on the trading price of our stock. If the trading price of our
common stock decreases, this may negatively impact our ability to raise
additional capital through the sale of our common stock.
If
we fail to remain current on our reporting requirements, we could be removed
from the OTC bulletin board, which would limit the ability of broker-dealers to
sell our securities and the ability of stockholders to sell their securities in
the secondary market.
Companies
trading on the OTC Bulletin Board, such as us, must be reporting issuers under
Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and must be
current in their reports under Section 13, in order to maintain price quotation
privileges on the OTC Bulletin Board. If we fail to remain current on our
reporting requirements, we could be removed from the OTC Bulletin Board. As a
result, the market liquidity for our securities could be severely adversely
affected by limiting the ability of broker-dealers to sell our securities and
the ability of stockholders to sell their securities in the secondary
market.
Our
common stock is subject to the "penny stock" rules of the SEC and the trading
market in our securities is limited, which makes transactions in our stock
cumbersome and may reduce the value of an investment in our stock.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted Rule 15g-9 which establishes the
definition of a "penny stock," for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity
security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an
exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For
any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules
require:
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that
a broker or dealer approve a person's account for transactions in penny
stocks; and
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the
broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the
transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to
be purchased.
|
In order
to approve a person's account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or
dealer must obtain financial information and investment experience objectives of
the person; and make a reasonable determination that the transactions in
penny stocks are suitable for that person and the person has sufficient
knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of valuating the
risks of transactions in penny stocks.
18
The
broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a
disclosure schedule prescribed by the Commission relating to the penny stock
market, which, in highlight form:
·
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sets
forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability
determination; and
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·
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that
the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the
investor prior to the transaction.
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Generally,
brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the
"penny stock" rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose of
our common stock and cause a decline in the market value of our
stock.
Disclosure
also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public
offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the
broker-dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the
securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of
fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent
disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and
information on the limited market in penny stocks.
Anti-takeover
actions and/or provision could prevent or delay a change in
control.
Provisions
of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Nevada law may make it more
difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if so doing would be beneficial
to our stockholders. These include the following:
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Our
board of directors are authorized to issue of up to 100,000,000 shares of
preferred stock and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and
restrictions of those shares without any further vote or action by the
stockholders, which may be used by the board to create voting impediments
or otherwise delay or prevent a change in control or to modify the rights
of holders of our common stock; and
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Limitations
on who may call annual and special meetings of
stockholders.
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We may issue shares of our capital
stock or debt securities to complete a business combination, which would reduce
the equity interest of our stockholders and could cause a change in control of
our ownership.
Our
Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to one billion
(1,000,000,000) shares of common stock, par value $.001 per share, and one
hundred million (100,000,000) shares of preferred stock, par value $.001 per
share. There are approximately nine hundred eighty five million
(985,000,000) authorized but unissued shares of our common stock available for
issuance (after appropriate reservation for the issuance of the shares upon full
exercise of our outstanding stock options). One hundred million (100,000,000)
shares of preferred stock are available for issuance.
The
issuance of additional shares of our common stock or our preferred
stock:
•
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may
significantly reduce the equity interest of investors;
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•
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may
subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if we issue preferred
stock with rights senior to those afforded to our common
stock;
|
•
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will
likely cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of
common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability
to use our net operating loss carry forwards; and
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19
•
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may
adversely affect the market price for our common stock.
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Similarly,
if we issue debt securities, it could result in:
•
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default
and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after a business
combination are insufficient to repay our debt
obligations;
|
•
|
acceleration
of our obligations to repay the indebtedness (even if we make all
principal and interest payments when due) if we breach certain covenants
that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves
without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
|
• |
our
immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the
debt security is payable on demand;
and
|
•
|
our
inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security
contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while
the debt security is outstanding.
|
ITEM
1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not
Applicable
ITEM
2. Description of Property
Facilities
of GEM Delaware
We own an
EPA permitted Part B TSDF in Rancho Cordova, California on 4.5 acres of
land. The real estate is collateral for a secured convertible term
note and a secured non-convertible revolving note with CVC California, LLC. (See
Liquidity)
We also
lease space for a waste transfer facility in Pomona, California comprising
approximately 10,000 square feet of office space, warehouse space and additional
yard space. This lease expires on August 31, 2018.
We lease
space in Kent, Washington for a waste transfer facility, comprising
approximately 12,500 square feet. This lease expires June 30, 2013.
Of the 12,500 square feet leased, we sublease approximately 4,000 square feet on
a six month lease which may be renewed for an additional six
months.
In
Northern California, we lease a waste transfer facility in
Benicia. The lease for the 5,000 square feet of office and warehouse
space expires in April, 2011. In January 2009 the company moved our facility to
Hayward, California and executed a lease for approximately 13,500 square feet of
industrial / warehouse space. The lease expires on December 31,
2012. We subleased the facility in Benecia for the remainder of
the lease.
We lease
office space in Santee, California of approximately 800 square feet on a
month-to-month basis.
20
On
November 25, 2009, the Company entered into an Agreement with Luntz Acquisition
(Delaware), LLC pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell to
Luntz all of the issued and outstanding stock of the GEM Delaware including the
facilities described above. The sale was completed on February 26,
2010.
GEM
Corporate
We
currently lease approximately 4,557 square feet of office space in one building
located in Pomona, California. The lease terminates on December 31, 2010 and
grants the Company the option to renew the lease for two additional one-year
terms.
On
November 13, 2009, the Company’s subsidiary GEM Environmental Management, Inc, a
Nevada corporation, (“GEMEM”) entered into an agreement with United States
Environmental Response, LLC, a California limited liability company (“USER”)
pursuant to which the Company purchased all of the issued and outstanding
capital stock of California Living Waters, Incorporated ("CLW"), a privately
held company. CLW owns all of the issued and outstanding capital
stock of Santa Clara Waste Water Company (“SCWW") a California corporation.
CLW's only operating subsidiary is SCWW.
SCWW's
primary processing facility is located on a 4.87 acre parcel in Santa Paula,
Ventura County, California and sits 65 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and
approximately 70 miles southwest of California's oil and gas rich Kern
County.
ITEM
3. Legal Proceedings
On July
5, 2007, a lawsuit was instituted by Romic Environmental Technologies Corp.
(“RET”) against the Company and four of its senior executives, all of whom were
formerly employed by RET. The lawsuit was brought in the Superior Court of
the State of California, County of Los Angeles. The lawsuit was settled by
the Company in February 2010 with the majority of the settlement payment funded
by insurance.
The
Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary
course of its business. Although occasional adverse decisions or
settlements may occur, the Company believes that the final disposition of such
matters will not have material adverse effect on its financial position, results
of operations or liquidity.
ITEM
4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of the Security
Holders
None.
PART II
ITEM
5. Market for Common Equity and Restated Stockholder
Matters
On
February 14, 2007, the Company completed the reverse split of the outstanding
common stock, par value $.001 per share, by a ratio of 1-for-30. All share and
per share calculations and disclosures in this report have been retro-actively
adjusted to reflect this reverse split as if it occurred at the beginning of the
earliest period presented. GEM’s Common Stock, 0.001 par value, trades on the
over the counter bulletin board maintained by the FINRA under the symbol
“GEVI.OB" The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the
range of high and low closing bid prices for GEM’s Common Stock as reported by
the FINRA composite feed or
other qualified inter-dealer quotation medium and obtained
from the National Quotation Bureau, LLC. The reported bid quotations
reflect inter-dealer prices without retail markup, markdown or
commissions, and may not necessarily represent actual
transactions.
21
Period
2009
|
High
|
Low
|
2009
First Quarter
|
0.75
|
0.55
|
2009
Second Quarter
|
0.99
|
0.35
|
2009
Third Quarter
|
0.90
|
0.30
|
2009
Fourth Quarter
|
0.60
|
0.21
|
Period
2008
|
High
|
Low
|
2008
First Quarter
|
1.99
|
1.31
|
2008
Second Quarter
|
1.99
|
1.02
|
2008
Third Quarter
|
1.15
|
0.88
|
2008
Fourth Quarter
|
1.05
|
0.32
|
NUMBER
OF HOLDERS OF COMMON STOCK
As of
December 31, 2009, we had approximately 722 holders of our common stock. The
number of record holders was determined from the records of our transfer agent
and does not include beneficial owners of common stock whose shares are held in
the names of various security brokers, dealers, and registered clearing
agencies. The transfer agent of our common stock is Colonial Stock Transfer
Company, Inc., 66 Exchange Place, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111.
Dividends
We have
never paid any dividends, and we have no present intention of paying dividends
in the foreseeable future. Our policy for the time being is to retain earnings
and utilize the funds for operations and growth. The Board of
Directors based on our earnings, financial condition, capital requirements and
other existing conditions will determine future dividend policies.
Equity
Compensation Plan Information
For
information with reference to equity compensation arrangements, reference is
made to Note 11 of the Notes to Financial Statements contained elsewhere in this
report.
ITEM
6. Selected Financial Data
None
ITEM
7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation
In addition to historical information, this
Annual Report contains forward-looking statements, which are generally
identifiable by use of the words "believes," "expects," "intends,"
"anticipates," "plans to," "estimates," "projects," or similar expressions.
These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in
these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such
a difference include, but are
not limited to, those discussed in the section entitled
"Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations." Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect
management’s opinions only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to
revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking
statements. Readers should carefully review the risk factors described in
other documents GEM files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC").
22
Overview
Ultronics
Corporation (“Ultronics”) was a non-operating company formed for the purpose of
evaluating opportunities to acquire an operating company. On February
14, 2005 Ultronics acquired General Environmental Management, Inc. through a
reverse merger between Ultronics Acquisition Corp., (“UAC”) a wholly owned
subsidiary of Ultronics and General Environmental Management, Inc., a Delaware
corporation (“GEM DE”), whereby GEM DE was the surviving entity.
The
acquisition was accounted for as a reverse merger (recapitalization) with GEM DE
deemed to be the accounting acquirer, and Ultronics Corporation the legal
acquirer. Accordingly, the historical financial information presented
in the financial statements is that of GEM DE as adjusted to give effect to any
difference in the par value of the issuer’s and the accounting acquirer stock
with an offset to capital in excess of par value. The basis of the
assets, liabilities and retained earnings of GEM DE, the accounting acquirer,
have been carried over in the recapitalization. Subsequent to the
acquisition, Ultronics changed its name to General Environmental Management,
Inc. GEM DE is a fully integrated environmental service firm structured to
provide EHS compliance services, field services, transportation, off-site
treatment, and on-site treatment services. Through its services GEM
DE assists clients in meeting regulatory requirements for the disposal of
hazardous and non-hazardous waste. GEM DE provides its clients with
access to GEMWare, an internet based software program that allows clients to
maintain oversight of their waste from the time it leaves their physical control
until final disposition by recycling, destruction, or landfill. The
GEM DE business model is to grow both organically and through
acquisitions.
During
2003 and 2004 GEM DE acquired the assets of Envectra, Inc., Prime Environmental
Services, Inc. (Prime) and 100% of the membership interest in Pollution Control
Industries of California, LLC, now named General Environmental Management of
Rancho Cordova, LLC. The assets of Envectra, Inc. included an
internet based integrated environmental management software now marketed by the
Company as GEMWare. The acquisition of the assets of Prime resulted
in a significant increase in the revenue stream of the company and a presence in
the Washington State and Alaska markets through Prime’s Seattle
office. The primary asset of Pollution Control Industries of
California, LLC was a fully permitted Part B Treatment Storage Disposal Facility
(TSDF) in Rancho Cordova, California. The facility provides waste
management services to field service companies and allows the Company to bulk
and consolidate waste into larger more cost effective containers for outbound
disposal.
During
2006, GEM DE entered into an agreement with K2M Mobile Treatment Services, Inc.
of Long Beach, California ("K2M"), a privately held company, pursuant to which
GEM DE acquired all of the issued and outstanding common stock of K2M. K2M is a
California-based provider of mobile wastewater treatment and vapor recovery
services. Subsequent to the acquisition in March 2006, K2M opened a vapor
recovery service division in Houston, Texas. On August 8, 2006 K2M changed its
name to GEM Mobile Treatment Services, Inc. (“GEM MTS”).
On
August 31, 2008, GEM DE entered into an agreement with Island Environmental
Services, Inc. ("Island"), a privately held company, pursuant to which the
Company acquired all of the issued and outstanding common stock of Island, a
California-based provider of hazardous and non-hazardous waste removal and
remediation services to a variety of private and public sector
establishments.
On
August 17, 2009, GEM DE divested the assets of GEM Mobile Treatment Services,
Inc. (“GEM MTS”). GEM MTS was sold to MTS Acquisition Company, Inc., a holding
company, and will be owned and operated by a former senior executive of GEM DE
and a former senior executive of GEM MTS. Consideration of the sale was in the
form of promissory notes in the aggregate amount of $5.6 million, the assignment
of approximately $1.0 million of accounts payable and possible future royalties.
The consideration was immediately assigned to CVC California, LLC, (“CVC”) the
Company’s senior secured lender. As the notes are paid to CVC, the Company’s
indebtedness to CVC will be reduced.
On
November 13, 2009, the Company’s subsidiary GEM Environmental Management, Inc, a
Nevada corporation, (“GEMEM”) entered into an agreement (the "USER Agreement")
with United States Environmental Response, LLC, a California limited liability
company (“USER”) pursuant to which the Company has purchased all of the issued
and outstanding capital stock of California Living Waters, Incorporated ("CLW"),
a privately held company. CLW owns all of the issued and outstanding
capital stock of Santa Clara Waste Water Company (“SCWW") a California
corporation. CLW's only operating subsidiary is SCWW.
23
SCWW,
located in Ventura County, California, is a waste water management company that
operates a 12.7 mile pipeline from its facility to the City of Oxnard water
reclamation center. In consideration for the sale, the Company issued six
promissory notes (individually a "Note" and collectively, the "Notes") in the
aggregate principal amount of $9,003,000, and warrants to purchase 425,000
shares of the Company's common stock. The Notes bear interest at 6.5 per cent
per annum. Two of the Notes, totaling $3,778,000 are convertible into a total of
15% of the Company's common stock on a fully diluted basis.
On
November 25, 2009, the Company entered into an Agreement with Luntz Acquisition
(Delaware), LLC. (“Buyer”) pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell to
Luntz all of the issued and outstanding stock of the Company's primary operating
subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. a
Delaware corporation, ("GEM DE") for cash (the “Sale”). In
connection with the Sale, the Company agreed : a) to form a Delaware corporation
that shall be wholly-owned by the Company and named GEM NewCo, Inc. (“GEM
NewCo”), b) to form a Delaware limited partnership, the sole limited partner of
which shall be the Company, and the sole general partner of which shall be GEM
NewCo, which limited partnership shall be named GEM Pomona LP (“GEM LP”), c)
effect a merger between GEM LP and GEM DE, whereby GEM LP will be the surviving
entity, d) sell to Luntz the limited partner interests of GEM LP and all of the
outstanding shares of stock of GEM NewCo (the “Purchased Interests”). Luntz
agreed to pay the Company $14 million for the purchased
interests.
On
February 26, 2010, after approval of the transaction by the Company’s
shareholders at a special meeting held on February 19, 2010, the Company
completed the sale of the entities created out of GEM DE. The net
cash proceeds from the transaction were used by the Company to retire senior
debt and other obligations of the Company. The Company used $250,000
to pay its obligations to USER in conjunction with the acquisition of CLW and
SCWW.
Plan
of Operation
The
Company will continue to operate in the environmental services sector after the
Sale. However our primary focus and point for development will center on the
SCWW treatment facility and the treatment of non-hazardous waste water.
SCWW has been treating non-hazardous waste water for the oil and gas industry,
industrial clients, and domestic waste generators for 50 years. Current
clients that generate non-hazardous waste for SCWW also have a wider range of
waste streams that SCWW currently services, including solids, tank bottoms and
drilling muds, and hazardous waste streams. We will continue to provide
the full range of services to SCWW’s clientele that SCWW currently
offers.
The
Company will also research technological opportunities in the waste-to-energy
(W-T-E) marketplace as a further resource for our non-hazardous waste water
treatment facilities. A W-T-E solution for managing the treating waste
provides a significant advantage for generators of the waste, the environment,
and the Company.
The
Company will continue to develop SCWW as the foundation of our core business in
the non-hazardous waste water treatment sector. We intend to do this
through internal growth by offering SCWW’s integrated solution for generators of
non-hazardous waste water and by making strategic acquisitions of non-hazardous
waste water treatment companies.
24
Year
Ended December 31, 2009 as Compared to the Year Ended December 31,
2008
Discontinued
Operations
On
February 26, 2010, the Company completed the sale of GEM DE and its operating
subsidiaries. On August 17, 2009, GEM DE divested the assets of GEM
Mobile Treatment Services, Inc. Based on the completion of this
divestiture subsequent to year end, the revenues and expenses of all of the GEM
DE entities have been classified as discontinued operations and the assets and
liabilities of GEM DE also have been classified as discontinued. The
revenues and expenses in the accompanying financial statements reflect only the
operations of CLW (and its operating subsidiary SCWW) for the two months ended
December 31, 2009 and the operations of GEM Nevada, the corporate parent, for
the twelve months ended December 31, 2009.
Revenues
Total
revenues are presented in the income statement for only the continuing business
(i.e., CLW and its only operating subsidiary SCWW) for the two months in 2009
subsequent to acquisition. Total revenues for 2009 were $880,758. Revenues for
the two months were slightly below the 2008 levels for the same
period.
Cost
of Revenues
Cost of
revenues are presented in the income statement for only the continuing business
(i.e., CLW and its only operating subsidiary SCWW) for the two months in 2009
subsequent to acquisition. Cost of revenues for 2009 were $894,455 or 101.5% of
revenue for the two months. It is anticipated that in a normal year that cost of
sales will be approximately 65% of revenue (which represents the historical
average for the latest 24 month period for SCWW).
Operating
Expenses
Operating
expenses for only the continuing business (i.e., CLW and its only operating
subsidiary SCWW) for the two months subsequent to acquisition were $576,881 or
65% of revenue. It is anticipated that in a normal year operating expenses will
be approximately 25% of revenue (which represents the historical average for the
latest 24 month period for SCWW). Operating expenses for GEM Nevada were
$583,686 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009. Total operating expense
for 2009 were $1,160,557 or 131.8% of revenue.
Depreciation
and amortization expenses are included in operating expenses, and represent only
the expenses of CLW (and its only operating subsidiary SCWW) for the
two months subsequent to acquisition. Depreciation and amortization for 2009 was
$153,448 or 17% of revenue.
Interest
and Financing Costs
Interest and
financing costs for the year ended December 31, 2009 were $5,316,250, or
604% of revenue. Interest costs are primarily attributable to GEM Nevada and
consist of:
a)
interest on the line of credit and short and long term borrowings of $1,324,052;
b) interest on advances from related parties of $154,673; and c) amortization of
deferred finance fees and amortization of valuation discounts generated from
beneficial conversion features related to the fair value of warrants and
conversion features of long term debt of $3,816,035.
Other
Non-operating Income
The
Company had other non-operating income for the year ended December 31, 2009 of
$29,032 or 0.3% of revenue.
25
Net
Loss
The net
loss for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 was $14,952,442 or 1,698% of
revenue. The net loss from continuing operations of $7,561,689 was primarily
attributable to the operating and interest expenses detailed above as well as a
loss on extinguishment of debt of $4,039,358 which was offset by a gain on
derivative financial instruments of $2,998,369. The balance of the net loss of
$7,390,753 was from discontinued operations.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
Cash
Our
primary source of liquidity is cash provided by operating, investing, and
financing activities. Net cash used in operations for the year ended
December 31, 2009 was $967,637 as compared to $1,586,386 for the same period in
2008.
Liquidity
The
accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that
the company will continue as a going concern. The Company incurred a
net loss of $14,952,442 and used cash in operations and discontinued operations
of $967,637 during the year ended December 31, 2009. Continuing operations used
cash of $6,534,584 and discontinued operations provided cash of
$5,566,947. As of December 31, 2009 the Company had current
liabilities exceeding current assets by $21,080,137 primarily because of the
reclassification of long term debt to current resulting from covenant provisions
under the ComVest notes and had a stockholders’ deficiency of $15,787,835. These
matters raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a
going concern.
Management
completed a plan in February 2010 to divest certain parts of the business in
order to satisfy obligations of its senior lender. In conjunction
with that strategy, the assets of GEM MobileTreatment Services (GEM MTS) were
sold on August 17, 2009. GEM MTS was sold to MTS Acquisition Company, Inc., a
holding company, and will be owned and operated by two former senior executives
of GEM. Consideration for the sale was in the form of promissory notes in
the aggregate amount of $5.6 million, the assignment of approximately $1.0
million of accounts payable and possible future royalties. The
consideration was immediately assigned to CVC California, LLC, ("CVC") GEM's
senior secured lender. As the notes are paid to CVC, GEM's
indebtedness to CVC will be reduced. In conjunction with this
transaction, all sources of cash from this entity have been classified in
discontinued operations.
On
November 25, 2009, the Company entered into an Agreement with Luntz Acquisition
(Delaware), LLC. (“Buyer”) pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell to
Luntz all of the issued and outstanding stock of the Company's primary operating
subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. a
Delaware corporation, ("GEM DE") for cash (the “Sale”). . Luntz
agreed to pay the Company $14 million for the purchased
interests. On February 26, 2010, after approval of the transaction by
the Company’s shareholders at a special meeting held on February 19, 2010, the
Company completed the sale of the entities created out of GEM DE. The
net cash proceeds from the transaction were used by the Company to retire senior
debt and other obligations of the Company (See Notes 4 and 16).
On
November 13, 2009, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase
Agreement with United States Environmental Response, LLC, a
California limited liability company pursuant to which we purchased all of the
issued and outstanding capital stock of California Living Waters, Incorporated
("CLW"), a privately held company. CLW owns all of the issued and
outstanding capital stock of Santa Clara Waste Water Company (SCWW") a
California corporation. SCWW, located in Ventura County, California, is a waste
water management company that operates a 12.7 mile pipeline from its
facility to the City of Oxnard' water reclamation center.
26
The
Company’s current source of cash is earnings from the CLW operation and proceeds
from the sale of its previous operating entities. The Company will
continue to explore other sources of capital to expand and fund its current
operations.
Cash
Flows for the Year Ended December 31, 2009
Operating
activities for the year ended December 31, 2009 used $967,637 in cash. The net
assets of the discontinued operations produced $5,566,947 in cash from
operations. The net loss of $14,952,442 included a number of non-cash items
incurred by the Company including expenses of $767,042 representing the fair
value of vested options, $2,755,580 representing amortization of discount on
financing agreements, $458,476 representing shares and warrants issued for
services, $109,324 representing amortization of note discounts, $8,464,724
representing a loss on extinguishment, a change in the fair value of derivative
liabilities of $2,998,369 and extinguishment of derivative liabilities of
$5,033,366.
The
Company used cash for investment in plant, property and equipment totaling
approximately $385,222 for the year ended December 31, 2009. Capital
expenditures increased due to the acquisition of equipment at Santa Clara Waste
Water. Financing activities produced $1,049,306 for the year ended December 31,
2009 resulting primarily from borrowings from the senior lender.
These
activities resulted in a $466,891 increase in cash balances for year ended
December 31, 2009.
Stockholder
Matters
The
Company held its annual meeting of shareholders on June 19, 2009 to elect the
directors and approve Weinberg & Co. P.A. as the independent certified
public accountants of the Company.
The
Company held a special meeting of shareholders on February 19, 2010 and approved
the purchase agreement dated as of November 25, 2009, by and between the
Company and Luntz Acquisition (Delaware) LLC.
Critical
Accounting Policies
Estimates
The
preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make
estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and
expenses. The following are the areas that we believe require the
greatest amount of estimates in the preparation of our financial statements:
allowances for doubtful accounts, impairment testing, accruals for disposal
costs for waste received at our TSDF, and the assumptions used in our option
pricing models. Prior to the filing of this Annual Report on Form
10-K, the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors reviewed these critical
accounting policies and estimates and discussed them with our
management.
Allowance
for doubtful accounts
We
establish an allowance for doubtful accounts to provide for accounts receivable
that may not be collectible. In establishing the allowance for
doubtful accounts, we analyze specific past due accounts and analyze historical
trends in bad debts. In addition, we take into account current
economic conditions. Actual accounts receivable written off in
subsequent periods can differ materially from the allowance for doubtful
accounts provided.
27
Impairment
of Long-Lived Assets
Statement
of Financial Accounting Standards No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or
Disposal of Long-Lived Assets”, established guidelines regarding when impairment
losses on long-lived assets, which include property and equipment, should be
recognized and how impairment losses should be measured. This
statement also provides a single accounting model for long-lived assets to be
disposed of and significantly changes the criteria that would have to be met to
classify an asset as held-for-sale. The Company periodically reviews,
at least annually, such assets for possible impairment and expected losses. If
any losses are determined to exist they are recorded in the period when such
impairment is determined
Revenue
Recognition
The
Company recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists,
delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the price is fixed or
determinable, and collection is reasonably assured.
The
Company is a fully integrated environmental service firm structured to provide
field services, technical services, transportation, off-site treatment, on-site
treatment services, and environmental health and safety (“EHS”) compliance
services. Through our services, we assist clients in meeting
regulatory requirements from the designing stage to the waste disposition stage.
The technicians who provide these services are billed at negotiated rates.
Transportation is provided to a regulated disposal site or the Company’s
regulated consolidation site. The Company provides comprehensive
services including documentation and logistics. These services are billed and
revenue recognized when the service is performed and completed. When the service
is billed, client costs are accumulated and accrued.
Our field
services consist primarily of handling, packaging, and transporting a wide
variety of liquid and solid wastes of varying amounts. We provide the fully
trained labor and materials to properly package hazardous and non-hazardous
waste according to requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Department of Transportation. Small quantities of laboratory chemicals are
segregated according to hazard class and packaged into appropriate containers or
drums. Packaged waste is profiled for acceptance at a client’s selected
treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF) and tracked electronically
through our systems. Once approved by the TSDF, we provide for the
transportation of the waste utilizing tractor-trailers or bobtail trucks. The
time between picking up the waste and transfer to an approved TSDF is usually
less than 10 days. The Company recognizes revenue for waste picked up
and received waste at the time pick up or receipt occurs and recognizes the
estimated cost of disposal in the same period. For the Company’s TSDF located in
Rancho Cordova, CA, costs to dispose of waste materials located at the Company’s
facilities are included in accrued disposal costs. Due to the limited
size of the facility, waste is held for only a short time before transfer to a
final treatment, disposal or recycling facility.
Recent
Accounting Pronouncements
In June
2009, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on accounting standards
codification and the hierarchy of generally accepted accounting principles
(“GAAP") effective for interim and annual reporting periods ending after
September 15, 2009. The FASB accounting standards codification (“ASC,
“Codification”) has become the source of authoritative accounting principles
recognized by the FASB to be applied by nongovernmental entities in the
preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. All existing
accounting standard documents are superseded by the Codification and any
accounting literature not included in the Codification will not be
authoritative. However, rules and interpretive releases of the SEC issued under
the authority of federal securities laws will continue to be sources of
authoritative GAAP for SEC registrants. Beginning with the
quarter ending September 30, 2009, all references made by the Company to GAAP in
its condensed consolidated financial statements use the Codification numbering
system. The Codification does not change or alter existing GAAP and, therefore,
it does not have an impact on our financial position, results of operations and
cash flows.
28
In
June 2009, the FASB made an updated the principle for the consolidation of
variable interest entities. Among other things, the update replaces the
calculation for determining which entities, if any, have a controlling financial
interest in a variable interest entity (VIE) from a quantitative based risks and
rewards calculation, to a qualitative approach that focuses on identifying which
entities have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact
the VIE’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the VIE or
the right to receive benefits from the VIE. The update also requires ongoing
assessments as to whether an entity is the primary beneficiary of a VIE
(previously, reconsideration was only required upon the occurrence of specific
events), modifies the presentation of consolidated VIE assets and liabilities,
and requires additional disclosures about a company’s involvement in VIE’s. This
update will be effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15,
2009. The Company does not currently believe that the adoption of this update
will have any effect on its consolidated financial position and results of
operations.
In
October 2009, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on revenue recognition that
will become effective for us beginning July 1, 2010, with earlier adoption
permitted. Under the new guidance on arrangements that include software
elements, tangible products that have software components that are essential to
the functionality of the tangible product will no longer be within the scope of
the software revenue recognition guidance, and software-enabled products will
now be subject to other relevant revenue recognition guidance. Additionally, the
FASB issued authoritative guidance on revenue arrangements with multiple
deliverables that are outside the scope of the software revenue recognition
guidance. Under the new guidance, when vendor specific objective evidence or
third party evidence for deliverables in an arrangement cannot be determined, a
best estimate of the selling price is required to separate deliverables and
allocate arrangement consideration using the relative selling price method. The
new guidance includes new disclosure requirements on how the application of the
relative selling price method affects the timing and amount of revenue
recognition. We believe the adoption of this new guidance will
not have a material impact on our financial statements.
Other
recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB (including its Emerging
Issues Task Force), the AICPA, and the SEC did not or are not believed by
management to have a material impact on the Company's present or future
consolidated financial statements.
29
ITEM
8. Financial Statements
Report
of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
|
F-1
|
Consolidated
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2009 and 2008
|
F-2
|
Consolidated
Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2009 and
2008
|
F-3
|
Consolidated
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Deficiency for the Years
Ended December 31, 2009 and 2008
|
F-4
|
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2009 and
2008
|
F-6
|
Notes
to the Consolidated Financial Statements
|
F-7
|
30
REPORT
OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACOUNTING FIRM
The Board
of Directors
General
Environmental Management Inc.
We have
audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of General Environmental
Management Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2009 and
2008, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders'
deficiency and cash flows for the years then ended. These
consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's
management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We
conducted our audits in accordance with standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require
that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the consolidated financial statements are free of material
misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we
engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial
reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over
financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are
appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an
opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in
the consolidated financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall consolidated financial statement
presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
In our
opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly,
in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of General
Environmental Management Inc. and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 2009 and 2008,
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the years then
ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America.
The
accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the
Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the
consolidated financial statements, the Company has incurred recurring losses
from operations since its inception and has a stockholders’ deficiency at
December 31, 2009. These matters raise substantial doubt about the Company’s
ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these
matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do
not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this
uncertainty.
As
discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company
changed the method in which it accounts for determining if certain instruments
(or embedded features) are indexed to its own stock effective January 1,
2009.
Weinberg
& Company, P.A.
|
Los
Angeles, California
April 9,
2010
F-1
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS
DECEMBER
31, 2009 AND 2008
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
ASSETS
|
||||||||
CURRENT
ASSETS:
|
||||||||
Cash
|
$
|
466,891
|
$
|
-
|
||||
Accounts
receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $
10,000
|
974,340
|
|||||||
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets
|
56,196
|
-
|
||||||
Total
Current Assets
|
1,497,427
|
-
|
||||||
Property
and equipment – net of accumulated depreciation of $
153,448
|
12,662,494
|
-
|
||||||
Restricted
cash
|
900,122
|
899,784
|
||||||
Permits
and franchises
|
1,455,534
|
-
|
||||||
Deferred
financing fees
|
158,898
|
-
|
||||||
Deposits
|
184,920
|
-
|
||||||
Assets
of GEM Delaware held for sale
|
2,922,639
|
6,559,888
|
||||||
Assets
of MTS held for sale
|
-
|
3,019,039
|
||||||
Due
from buyer - MTS
|
1,089,341
|
-
|
||||||
TOTAL
ASSETS
|
$
|
20,871,375
|
$
|
10,478,711
|
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’
DEFICIENCY
|
||||||||
CURRENT
LIABILITIES:
|
||||||||
Accounts
payable
|
$
|
2,176,801
|
$
|
564,637
|
||||
Accrued
expenses
|
1,277,662
|
31,438
|
||||||
Payable
to related entities
|
765,628
|
706,868
|
||||||
Current
portion of financing agreement
|
12,461,780
|
10,366,544
|
||||||
Current
portion of long term obligations
|
4,822,719
|
1,239,604
|
||||||
Current
portion of acquisition notes payable
|
1,072,974
|
-
|
||||||
TotaCurrent
Liabilities
|
22,577,564
|
12,909,091
|
||||||
LONG-TERM
LIABILITIES :
|
||||||||
Long
term obligations, net of current portion
|
3,238,420
|
500,000
|
||||||
Acquisition
Notes Payable, net of current portion
|
7,921,674
|
-
|
||||||
Derivative
liabilities
|
2,921,552
|
-
|
||||||
Total
Long-Term Liabilities
|
14,081,646
|
500,000
|
||||||
STOCKHOLDERS’
DEFICIENCY
|
||||||||
Common
stock, $.001 par value, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 14,557,653 and
12,691,409 shares issued and outstanding, respectively
|
14,570
|
12,692
|
||||||
Additional
paid in capital
|
54,721,872
|
53,585,035
|
||||||
Accumulated
deficit
|
(70,524,277)
|
(56,528,107)
|
||||||
Total
Stockholders' Deficiency
|
(15,787,835)
|
(2,930,380)
|
||||||
TOTAL
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIENCY
|
$
|
20,871,375
|
$
|
10,478,711
|
See
accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
F-2
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For
the years ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
REVENUES
|
$
|
880,758
|
$
|
-
|
||||
COST
OF REVENUES
|
894,455
|
-
|
||||||
GROSS
LOSS
|
(13,697)
|
-
|
||||||
OPERATING
EXPENSES
|
1,160,557
|
1,705,806
|
||||||
OPERATING
LOSS
|
(1,174,254)
|
(1,705,806)
|
||||||
OTHER
INCOME (EXPENSE):
|
||||||||
Interest
income
|
1,776
|
-
|
||||||
Interest
and financing costs
|
(5,316,250)
|
(3,988,274)
|
||||||
Gain
on derivative financial instruments
|
2,998,369
|
-
|
||||||
Loss
on extinguishment of debt
|
(4,039,358)
|
-
|
||||||
Loss
on disposal of fixed assets
|
(2,940)
|
-
|
||||||
Other
non-operating income (expense)
|
(29,032)
|
-
|
||||||
LOSS
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS
|
(7,561,689)
|
(5,694,080)
|
||||||
LOSS
FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS
|
(7,390,753)
|
(1,455,629)
|
||||||
NET
LOSS
|
$
|
(14,952,442)
|
$
|
(7,149,709)
|
||||
Net
loss per common share, basic and diluted:
|
||||||||
Continuing
operations
|
$
|
(.55)
|
$
|
(.45)
|
||||
Discontinued
operations
|
(.54)
|
(.12)
|
||||||
Net loss
|
$
|
(1.09)
|
$
|
(.57)
|
||||
Weighted
average shares of common stock outstanding, basic and
diluted
|
13,653,295
|
12,578,104
|
See
accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements
F-3
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS DEFICIENCY
FOR
THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2009 AND 2008
Preferred
Stock
|
Additional
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common
Stock
|
Series
B
|
Paid-in
|
Accumulated
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares
|
Amount
|
Shares
|
Amount
|
Capital
|
Deficit
|
Total
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Balance,
January 1, 2008
|
12,473,885
|
$
|
12,474
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
50,151,615
|
$
|
(49,378,398
|
) |
$
|
785,691
|
||||||||||||||
Issuance
of stock to related party for extension of debt
|
200,000
|
200
|
-
|
-
|
219,800
|
-
|
220,000
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of warrants to related party for extension of debt, financial
and advisory services
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
459,887
|
-
|
459,887
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued
for financing
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1,674,036
|
-
|
1,674,036
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Fair value
of warrants issued for
services
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
99,675
|
-
|
99,675
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of stock on exercise of warrants
|
5,000
|
5
|
-
|
-
|
2,995
|
-
|
3,000
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of common stock for services
|
12,524
|
13
|
-
|
-
|
13,137
|
-
|
13,150
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of extension of warrants
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
128,333
|
-
|
128,333
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Stock
compensation cost for value of vested options
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
835,557
|
-
|
835,557
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Net
loss for year 2008
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(7,149,709
|
) |
(7,149,709
|
)
|
||||||||||||||||||
Balance,
December 31, 2008
|
12,691,409
|
12,692
|
-
|
-
|
53,585,035
|
(56,528,107
|
) |
(2,930,380
|
)
|
Cumulative
effect of change in accounting principle – January 1,2009 reclassification
of embedded feature of equity-linked financial instruments to derivative
liabilities
|
(1,674,036)
|
956,271
|
(717,765)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock
compensation cost for value of vested options
|
767,042
|
767,042
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued for services
|
458,476
|
458,476
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of shares on exercise of warrants and options
|
6,500
|
6
|
3,931
|
3,937
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of shares on conversion of debt
|
1,009,744
|
1,022
|
639,456
|
640,478
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of shares issued to secured lender
|
600,000
|
600
|
449,400
|
450,000
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued on conversion of
interest
|
231,140
|
231,140
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of shares issued for services
|
250,000
|
250
|
114,750
|
115,000
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued in connection with
acquisition
|
146,678
|
146,678
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
Loss
|
(14,952,442)
|
(14,952,442)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance,
December 31, 2009
|
14,557,653
|
$
|
14,570
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
54,721,872
|
$
|
(70,524,277
|
)
|
$
|
(15,787,835)
|
See
accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements
F-4
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
Years
Ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
OPERATING
ACTIVITIES
|
||||||||
Net
loss
|
$
|
(14,952,442)
|
$
|
(7,149,709
|
)
|
|||
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to cash
|
||||||||
used
in operating activities:
|
||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
184,417
|
1,226,178
|
||||||
Amortization
of discount on notes
|
2,755,580
|
388,285
|
||||||
Amortization
of valuation discount to related party
|
109,324
|
-
|
||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued to related party for
|
||||||||
financing
services
|
57,405
|
|||||||
Fair
value of extension of warrants
|
128,333
|
|||||||
Fair
value of vested options
|
767,042
|
835,557
|
||||||
Fair
value of shares and warrants issued for services
|
458,476
|
112,826
|
||||||
Fair
value of common stock issued for services
|
115,000
|
-
|
||||||
Costs
to induce conversion of notes payable
|
157,196
|
-
|
||||||
Costs
to induce conversion of accrued interest to common stock
|
231,140
|
-
|
||||||
Change
in fair value of derivative liabilities
|
(2,998,369)
|
-
|
||||||
Extinguishment
of derivative liabilities
|
4,039,358
|
-
|
||||||
Accrued
interest on notes payable
|
237,604
|
36,897
|
||||||
Amortization
of discount on convertible debt
|
2,439,863
|
|||||||
Amortization
of deferred financing fees
|
3,956
|
458,259
|
||||||
Changes
in assets and liabilities:
|
||||||||
Accounts
Receivable
|
356,883
|
-
|
||||||
Prepaid
and other current assets
|
29,165
|
-
|
||||||
Decrease
in deposits and restricted cash
|
(5,550)
|
-
|
||||||
Increase
(Decrease) in accounts payable
|
780,113
|
-
|
||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued to modify debt
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Accrued
interest on notes payable
|
156,692
|
-
|
||||||
Accrued
expenses and other liabilities
|
1,039,831
|
-
|
||||||
NET
CASH USED IN CONTINUING OPERATIONS
|
(6,534,584)
|
(1,466,106)
|
||||||
NET
CASH PROVIDED BY CHANGE IN NET ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF DISCONTINUED
OPERATIONS
|
5,566,947
|
(120,280)
|
||||||
NET
CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES
|
(967,637)
|
(1.586.386)
|
||||||
INVESTING
ACTIVITIES:
|
||||||||
Acquisitions
including (net of) cash received
|
492,193
|
(2,218,559)
|
||||||
Additions
to property and equipment
|
(106,971)
|
(478,583)
|
||||||
NET
CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES
|
385,222
|
(2,697,142)
|
||||||
FINANCING
ACTIVITIES
|
||||||||
Net
advances from (repayment of) Laurus notes
|
-
|
(6,413,605)
|
||||||
Net
advances from notes payable – financing agreement
|
946,455
|
11,642,908
|
||||||
Advances
on letters of credit
|
90,000
|
-
|
||||||
Payments
on deferred fees
|
(147,607)
|
|||||||
Payments
on notes payable
|
(61,086)
|
(1,289,964)
|
||||||
Issuance
of notes payable to related parties
|
472,500
|
|||||||
Payments
on capital leases
|
(554,567)
|
|||||||
Payments
on investor notes payable
|
(37,500)
|
(67,500)
|
||||||
Proceeds
from issuance of common stock
|
-
|
|||||||
Proceeds
from exercise of warrants
|
3,937
|
3,000
|
||||||
Advances
from related parties
|
107,500
|
59,765
|
||||||
NET
CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES
|
1,049,306
|
3,704,930
|
||||||
INCREASE
(DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
|
466,891
|
(578,598)
|
||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at beginning of year
|
-
|
954,581
|
||||||
CASH
AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF YEAR
|
$
|
466,891
|
$
|
375,983
|
(continued)
F-5
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (continued)
Years
Ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION: | ||||||||
Cash
paid for:
|
||||||||
Interest expense | $ | 1,166,551 | $ |
1,159,526
|
||||
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF NON-CASH INVESTING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES : | ||||||||
Fair
value of warrants issued to related party for extension of
debt
|
$
|
$
|
222,500
|
|||||
Fair
value of shares issued to related party for extension of
debt
|
220,000
|
|||||||
Acquisition
of leased equipment and capital lease obligations
|
1,658,066
|
|||||||
Valuation
of warrants allocated to deferred fees
|
179,982
|
|||||||
Conversion
of related party debt to common stock
|
314,756
|
-
|
||||||
Conversion
of notes payable and accrued interest to common stock
|
108,526
|
-
|
||||||
Conversion
of fees due to related party to common stock
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Issuance
of note payable on acquisition
|
1,250,000
|
|||||||
Value
of warrants and beneficial conversion feature on notes
|
1,674,035
|
|||||||
Closing
fees due to related party included as deferred financing
fees
|
250,000
|
|||||||
Fair
value of warrants and valuation discount after
modification
|
8,826,697
|
-
|
||||||
Reclassification of net assets of GEM MTS held for sale to amount due from MTS | 1,089,341 | |||||||
Cumulative
effect of adoption of accounting principle and establishment of derivative
liability on:
|
||||||||
Notes
payable
|
1,408,828
|
-
|
||||||
Stockholders’
deficiency
|
717,763
|
-
|
See
accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements
F-6
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES
TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR
THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2009 AND 2008
1. ORGANIZATION
AND PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES
ORGANIZATION
AND DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
Ultronics
Corporation ( “the Company”) was incorporated in the state
of Nevada on March 14, 1990 to serve as a vehicle to effect a merger, exchange
of capital stock, asset acquisition or other business combination with a
domestic or foreign private business. On February 14, 2005 the
Company acquired all of the outstanding shares of General Environmental
Management, Inc (“GEM”), a Delaware Corporation. The acquisition was
accounted for as a reverse merger (recapitalization) with GEM deemed to be the
accounting acquirer, and Ultronics Corporation the legal
acquirer. Subsequent to the acquisition, the Company changed its name
to General Environmental Management, Inc.
GEM is a
fully integrated environmental service firm structured to provide EHS compliance
services, field services, transportation, off-site treatment, and on-site
treatment services. Through its services GEM assists clients in
meeting regulatory requirements for the disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous
waste.
GOING
CONCERN
The
accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the
Company will continue as a going concern. The Company incurred a net loss of
$14,952,442 and utilized cash in operating activities of $967,637 during the
year ended December 31, 2009, and as of December 31, 2009 the Company had
current liabilities exceeding current assets by $21,080,137 and a stockholders’
deficiency of $15,787,835. These matters raise substantial
doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The
Company is also in default of certain of its note payable
obligations.
Management
is executing a plan to divest certain parts of the business in order to satisfy
obligations of its senior lender. In conjunction with that strategy,
the assets of GEM Mobile Treatment Services (GEM MTS) on August 17, 2009 GEM MTS
was sold to MTS Acquisition Company, Inc., a holding company, and will be owned
and operated by two former senior executives of GEM. Consideration for the
sale was in the form of promissory notes in the aggregate amount of $5.6
million, the assignment of approximately $1.0 million of accounts payable and
possible future royalties. The consideration was immediately assigned
to CVC California, LLC, ("CVC") GEM's senior secured lender. As the
notes are paid to CVC, GEM's indebtedness to CVC will be reduced. Total
reduction in indebtedness to CVC could amount to more than $7 million (See Note
4).
On
November 25, 2009, the Company entered into an Agreement with Luntz Acquisition
(Delaware), LLC. (“Buyer”) pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell to
Luntz all of the issued and outstanding stock of the Company's primary operating
subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. a
Delaware corporation, ("GEM DE") for cash (the “Sale”). Luntz agreed
to pay the Company $14 million for the purchased interests. On
February 26, 2010, after approval of the transaction by the Company’s
shareholders at a special meeting held on February 19, 2010, the Company
completed the sale of the entities created out of GEM DE. The net
cash proceeds from the transaction were used by the Company to retire senior
debt and other obligations of the Company (See Notes 4 and
16).
The
Company will continue to operate in the environmental services sector after the
Sale. However our primary focus and point for development will center on the
SCWW treatment facility and the treatment of non-hazardous waste water.
SCWW has been treating non-hazardous waste water for the oil and gas industry,
industrial clients, and domestic waste generators for 50 years. Current
clients that generate non-hazardous waste for SCWW also have a wider range of
waste streams that SCWW currently services, including solids, tank bottoms and
drilling muds, and hazardous waste streams. We will continue to provide
the full range of services to SCWW’s clientele that SCWW currently
offers.
F-7
The
Company will also research technological opportunities in the waste-to-energy
(W-T-E) marketplace as a further resource for our non-hazardous waste water
treatment facilities. A W-T-E solution for managing the treating waste
provides a significant advantage for generators of the waste, the environment,
and the Company.
The
Company will continue to develop SCWW as the foundation of our core business in
the non-hazardous waste water treatment sector. We intend to do this
through internal growth by offering SCWW’s integrated solution for generators of
non-hazardous waste water and by making strategic acquisitions of non-hazardous
waste water treatment companies.
2.
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(a) Principles
of Consolidation
The
consolidated financial statements include the accounts of General Environmental
Management, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and it’s wholly owned subsidiaries,
General Environmental Management, Inc., a Delaware corporation, GEM Mobile
Treatment Services, Inc., a California corporation, Island Environmental
Services, Inc., a California corporation, General Environmental
Management of Rancho Cordova, LLC and California Living Waters Inc.
Inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
(b) Use
of estimates
The
preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America requires the Company’s
management to make certain estimates and assumptions. These estimates
and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and
disclosure of the contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial
statements. These estimates and assumptions will also affect the
reported amounts of certain revenues and expenses during the reporting
period. Actual results could differ materially based on any changes
in the estimates and assumptions that the Company uses in the preparation of its
financial statements that are reviewed no less than annually. Actual
results could differ materially from these estimates and assumptions due to
changes in environmental-related regulations or future operational plans, and
the inherent imprecision associated with estimating such future
matters.
(c)
Revenue Recognition
The
Company recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists,
delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the price is fixed or
determinable, and collection is reasonably assured.
The
Company is a fully integrated environmental service firm structured to provide
field services, technical services, transportation, off-site treatment, on-site
treatment services, and environmental health and safety (“EHS”) compliance
services. Through our services, we assist clients in meeting
regulatory requirements from the designing stage to the waste disposition stage.
The technicians who provide these services are billed at negotiated rates, or
the service is bundled into a service package. These services are
billed and revenue recognized when the service is performed and completed. When
the service is billed, client costs are accumulated and accrued.
F-8
Our field
services consist primarily of handling, packaging, and transporting a wide
variety of liquid and solid wastes of varying amounts. We provide the fully
trained labor and materials to properly package hazardous and non-hazardous
waste according to requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Department of Transportation. Small quantities of laboratory chemicals are
segregated according to hazard class and packaged into appropriate containers or
drums. Packaged waste is profiled for acceptance at a client’s selected
treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF) and tracked electronically
through our systems. Once approved by the TSDF, we provide for the
transportation of the waste utilizing tractor-trailers or bobtail trucks. The
time between picking up the waste and transfer to an approved TSDF is usually
less than 10 days. The Company recognizes revenue for waste picked up
and received waste at the time pick up or receipt occurs and recognizes the
estimated cost of disposal in the same period. For the Company’s TSDF located in
Rancho Cordova, CA, costs to dispose of waste materials located at the Company’s
facilities are included in accrued disposal costs. Due to the limited
size of the facility, waste is held for only a short time before transfer to a
final treatment, disposal or recycling facility.
The
Company's business activities also include providing wastewater treatment for
companies and haulers in Ventura County, California, and in adjacent counties.
The Company recognizes revenue at the time its customers unload untreated
wastewater at the Company's facility. Concurrent with the recognition of
revenue, the Company records the estimated costs to treat and dispose of the
wastewater on hand.
(d)
Concentration of Credit Risk
The
Company’s financial instruments that are exposed to concentrations of credit
risk consist principally of cash and trade receivables. The Company
places its cash in what it believes to be credit-worthy financial
institutions. However, cash balances have exceeded FDIC insured
levels at various times. The Company has not experienced any losses
in such accounts and believes it is not exposed to any significant risk in
cash.
The
Company’s trade receivables result primarily from removal or transportation of
waste, and the concentration of credit risk is limited to a broad customer base
located throughout the Western United States.
During
the year ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, one customer accounted for 3% and 14%
of revenues, respectively. As of December 31, 2009 and 2008, one
customer accounted for 11% and 24% of accounts receivable,
respectively.
(e) Fair Value of Financial
Instruments
Fair
Value Measurements are adopted by the Company based on the authoritative
guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board , with the
exception of the application of the statement to non-recurring, non-financial
assets and liabilities as permitted. The adoption based on the authoritative
guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board did not have a
material impact on the Company's fair value measurements. Based on the
authoritative guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board
defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid
to transfer a liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the
asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the
measurement date. FASB authoritative guidance establishes a fair value
hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value into three
broad levels as follows:
Level 1-
Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2-
Inputs, other than the quoted prices in active markets that are observable
either directly or indirectly. Level 3- Unobservable inputs based on the
Company's assumptions.
FASB
issued authoritative guidance that requires the use of observable market data if
such data is available without undue cost and effort.
F-9
The
following table presents certain investments and liabilities of the Company’s
financial assets measured and recorded at fair value on the Company’s condensed
consolidated balance sheets on a recurring basis and their level within the fair
value hierarchy for the year ended December 31, 2009
(unaudited):
Level 1
|
Level 2
|
Level 3
|
Total
|
|||||||||||||
Fair
value of warrants and embedded derivatives
|
- | - | $ | 2,921,552 | $ | 2,921,522 |
See Notes
8 and 11 for more information on these financial instruments.
(f) Derivative
Financial Instruments
The
Company evaluates all of its financial instruments to determine if such
instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded
derivatives. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as
liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value
and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value
reported in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. For
stock-based derivative financial instruments, the Company uses the Black-Scholes
option pricing model to value the derivative instruments at inception and on
subsequent valuation dates. The classification of derivative
instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as
liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting
period. Derivative instrument liabilities are classified in the
balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash
settlement of the derivative instrument could be required within 12 months of
the balance sheet date.
(g)
Cash
Cash in
bank and short term investments with maturities fewer than thirty days are
recorded as cash balances.
(h) Trade
Receivables
Trade
receivables are recorded at net realizable value consisting of the carrying
amount less an allowance for uncollectible accounts, as needed.
The
Company uses the allowance method to account for uncollectible trade receivable
balances. Under the allowance method, if needed, an estimate of uncollectible
customer balances is made based upon specific account balances that are
considered uncollectible. Factors used to establish an allowance include the
credit quality of the customer and whether the balance is
significant.
(i)
Property and Equipment
Property
and equipment is stated at cost. Depreciation is computed using the
straight line method based on the estimated useful lives of the assets,
generally as follows:
Transportation
|
5
Years
|
Equipment
|
5 –
7 Years
|
Furniture
and fixtures
|
5 –
7 Years
|
Building
and Improvements
|
20
- 40 Years
|
Leasehold
improvements are amortized over the shorter of the useful lives of the related
assets, or the lease term. In accordance with the Company’s operating permit for
the fully permitted Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility in Rancho Cordova,
California , the Company is liable for certain costs involving the ultimate
closure of the facility. These expenses include costs of
decommissioning, remediation, and incremental direct administration costs to
close the facility. Current accounting guidance requires that the fair value of
a liability for an asset retirement obligation be recognized in the period in
which it is incurred and capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the
long-lived asset. When a liability is initially recorded, the Company
capitalizes the cost by increasing the carrying value of the related facility
(long-lived asset). Over time, the liability is accreted to its
present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the
useful life of the facility. Upon settlement of the liability, a gain
or loss will be recorded. The Company recorded asset retirement
liabilities of $2,013 in 2009 and $2,013 in 2008.
F-10
(j) Permits
and Franchises
The
Company accounts for intangible assets including permits and franchises pursuant
to the guidance of Financial Accounting Standards Board. In accordance with this
guidance, intangibles with definite lives continue to be amortized on a
straight-line basis over the lesser of their estimated useful lives or
contractual terms. Intangibles with indefinite lives are evaluated at
least annually for impairment by comparing the asset’s estimated fair values
with its carrying value, based on cash flow methodology. If any
losses are determined to exist they are recorded in the period when such
impairment is determined. Based upon management’s assessment, there are no
indicators of impairment of its permits and franchises at December 31, 2009 and
December 31, 2008.
(k)
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The
Company periodically reviews, at least annually, such assets for possible
impairment and expected losses. If any losses are determined to exist they are
recorded in the period when such impairment is determined. Based upon
management’s assessment, there are no indicators of impairment of its long lived
assets at December 31, 2009 or 2008.
(l) Deferred
Rent
Certain
of the Company’s operating leases contain predetermined fixed increases in the
minimum rental rate during the initial lease term and/or rent holiday periods.
For these leases, the Company recognizes the related rental expense on a
straight-line basis beginning on the date the property is
delivered. The difference between the amount charged to expense and
the rent paid is recorded as deferred rent, and included in current
liabilities.
(m)
Income Taxes
The
Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method whereby
deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the tax
consequences of temporary differences by applying statutory tax rates applicable
to future years to the difference between the financial statement carrying
amounts and the tax bases of certain assets and liabilities. Changes
in deferred tax assets and liabilities include the impact of any tax rate
changes enacted during the year.
(n)
Stock Compensation Costs
The
Company periodically issues stock options and warrants to employees and
non-employees in capital raising transactions, for services and for financing
costs. Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date, based
on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as expense over the requisite
service period. Options vest and expire according to terms
established at the grant date.
(o) Net
Loss per Share
Statement
of Financial Accounting Standards No. 128, "Earnings per Share", requires
presentation of basic earnings per share ("Basic EPS") and diluted earnings per
share ("Diluted EPS"). Basic income (loss) per share is computed by
dividing income (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average
number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted
earnings per share gives effect to all dilutive potential common shares
outstanding during the period.
F-11
These
potentially dilutive securities were not included in the calculation of loss per
share for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 because the Company
incurred a loss during such periods and thus their effect would have been
anti-dilutive. Accordingly, basic and diluted loss per share is the
same for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008.
At
December 31, 2009 and 2008, potentially dilutive securities consisted of
convertible preferred stock, outstanding common stock purchase warrants,
convertible debt and stock options to acquire an aggregate of 15,256,481 shares
and 16,497,553 shares, respectively.
(p)
Change in accounting principle
On
January 1, 2009, the Company adopted authoritative guidance issued by the FASB
which affects the accounting for warrants and many convertible
instruments. The Company determined the warrants and convertible debt
issued in 2008 and 2009 contained re-set provisions that preclude them from
being indexed to the Company’s own stock. As a result, the warrants
and conversion feature previously classified in equity were reclassified to
derivative liabilities (see Note 10).
(q)
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In June
2009, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on accounting standards
codification and the hierarchy of generally accepted accounting principles
(“GAAP") effective for interim and annual reporting periods ending after
September 15, 2009. The FASB accounting standards codification (“ASC,
“Codification”) has become the source of authoritative accounting principles
recognized by the FASB to be applied by nongovernmental entities in the
preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. All existing
accounting standard documents are superseded by the Codification and any
accounting literature not included in the Codification will not be
authoritative. However, rules and interpretive releases of the SEC issued under
the authority of federal securities laws will continue to be sources of
authoritative GAAP for SEC registrants. Beginning with the
quarter ending September 30, 2009, all references made by the Company to GAAP in
its condensed consolidated financial statements use the Codification numbering
system. The Codification does not change or alter existing GAAP and, therefore,
it does not have an impact on our financial position, results of operations and
cash flows.
In
June 2009, the FASB updated the accounting principle for the
consolidation of variable interest entities. Among other things, the
update replaces the calculation for determining which entities, if any, have a
controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity (VIE) from a
quantitative based risks and rewards calculation, to a qualitative approach that
focuses on identifying which entities have the power to direct the activities
that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance and the obligation
to absorb losses of the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the VIE. The
update also requires ongoing assessments as to whether an entity is the primary
beneficiary of a VIE (previously, reconsideration was only required upon the
occurrence of specific events), modifies the presentation of consolidated VIE
assets and liabilities, and requires additional disclosures about a company’s
involvement in VIE’s. This update will be effective for fiscal years beginning
after November 15, 2009. The Company does not currently believe that the
adoption of this update will have any effect on its consolidated financial
position and results of operations.
F-12
In
October 2009, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on revenue recognition that
will become effective for us beginning July 1, 2010, with earlier adoption
permitted. Under the new guidance on arrangements that include software
elements, tangible products that have software components that are essential to
the functionality of the tangible product will no longer be within the scope of
the software revenue recognition guidance, and software-enabled products will
now be subject to other relevant revenue recognition guidance. Additionally, the
FASB issued authoritative guidance on revenue arrangements with multiple
deliverables that are outside the scope of the software revenue recognition
guidance. Under the new guidance, when vendor specific objective evidence or
third party evidence for deliverables in an arrangement cannot be determined, a
best estimate of the selling price is required to separate deliverables and
allocate arrangement consideration using the relative selling price method. The
new guidance includes new disclosure requirements on how the application of the
relative selling price method affects the timing and amount of revenue
recognition. We believe the adoption of this new guidance will
not have a material impact on our financial statements.
Other
recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB (including its Emerging
Issues Task Force), the AICPA, and the SEC did not or are not believed by
management to have a material impact on the Company's present or future
consolidated financial statements.
3.
ACQUISITION
On
November 13, 2009, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase
Agreement with United States Environmental Response, LLC, a
California limited liability company pursuant to which we purchased all of the
issued and outstanding capital stock of California Living Waters, Incorporated
("CLW"), a privately held company. CLW owns all of the issued and
outstanding capital stock of Santa Clara Waste Water Company (SCWW") a
California corporation. SCWW, located in Ventura County, California, is a waste
water management company that operates a 12.7 mile pipeline from its
facility to the City of Oxnard' water reclamation center The
Agreement is subject to a rescission if the Company does not pay certain
indebtedness to its senior lender by close of business on March 12, 2010. On
February 26, 2010 the Company paid its indebtedness to the senior lender and
satisfied its obligations related to this rescission (see Note 16).
In
consideration for the sale, GEM issued six promissory notes in the aggregate
principal amount of $9,003,000, and warrants to purchase 425,000 shares of GEM's
common stock valued at $146,678 based upon a black scholes valuation model. The
Notes bear interest at 6.5 per cent per annum. Two of the Notes, totaling
$3,778,000 are convertible into a total of 15% of GEM's common stock on a fully
diluted basis upon the occurrence of certain future events (see Note
10). The acquisition was accounted for as a purchase. As
such, the results of SCWW operations have been included in the consolidated
financial statements since November 13, 2009. The components of the purchase
price and the allocation of the purchase price are as follows:
Purchase
Price
|
||||
Issuance
of Notes Payable
|
$
|
9,003,000
|
||
Fair
Value of Warrants Issued
|
146,678
|
|||
Total
Purchase Price
|
9,149,678
|
|||
Purchase
price allocation
|
||||
Fair
value of net assets acquired
|
$
|
7,218,360
|
||
Excess
purchase price – allocated to acquired pipeline
|
1,931,318
|
|||
Total
purchase price allocation
|
9,149,678
|
The
Company allocated the excess of net assets acquired to acquired pipeline and
permits based upon a preliminary valuation. The Company has not yet finalized
the purchase price allocation which may change upon the completion of a final
analysis of assets and liabilities.
F-13
The
following sets out the pro forma operating results for the year ended December
31, 2009 and 2008 for the Company had the acquisition occurred as of January 1,
2008:
Pro
Forma
(Unaudited)
Years
ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Net
sales
|
$
|
6,172,625
|
$
|
7,615,880
|
||||
Cost
of sales
|
4,544,928
|
4,593,040
|
||||||
Gross
profit
|
1,627,697
|
3,022,840
|
||||||
Operating
expenses
|
2,148,816
|
3,697,990
|
||||||
Operating
loss
|
(521,119)
|
(675,150)
|
||||||
Other
income (expense):
|
||||||||
Interest
income
|
2,189
|
-
|
||||||
Interest
expense and financing costs
|
(5,695,736)
|
(4,510,156)
|
||||||
Gain
on derivative financial instruments
|
2,998,369
|
-
|
||||||
Loss
on extinguishment of debt
|
(4,039,358)
|
-
|
||||||
Loss
on disposal of fixed assets
|
(308,069)
|
-
|
||||||
Other
non-operating income (expense)
|
(28,971)
|
5,256
|
||||||
Loss
from operations
|
(7,592,695)
|
(5,180,050)
|
||||||
Loss
from discontinued operations
|
(7,390,753)
|
(1,455,629)
|
||||||
Provision
on income taxes
|
-
|
(205,612)
|
||||||
Net
Loss
|
$
|
(14,983,448)
|
$
|
(6,841,291)
|
||||
Loss per weighted average share, basic and diluted: |
|
|||||||
Continuing operations | $ | (.55 | ) | $ | (.43 | ) | ||
Discontinued operations | $ | (.54 | ) | $ | (.11 | ) | ||
(1.09 | ) | (.54 | ) |
4. DISCONTINUED
OPERATIONS
Sale of GEM Mobile
Treatment
On August
17, 2009, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase
Agreement ("Agreement") with MTS Acquisition Company ("MTS"), a
privately held company, pursuant to which the Company sold all of the issued and
outstanding common stock of GEM Mobile Treatment Services, Inc. (“GEM MTS”). GEM
MTS is a provider of mobile wastewater treatment and vapor recovery
services with locations in California and Texas.
GEM MTS
was purchased by MTS, a corporation owned by two former senior executives of the
Company. Consideration for the sale was in the form of a promissory
note in the aggregate amount of $5.6 million, the assumption by MTS of
approximately $1.0 million of accounts payable and possible future
royalties. The consideration was immediately assigned by Company to
CVC California, LLC, ("CVC") GEM's senior secured lender. As the
notes are paid to CVC, GEM's indebtedness to CVC will be reduced. At the time of
the sale, the net assets of MTS were $1,089,341.
F-14
The
promissory note for $5,600,000 bears interest at 8%. On the first day
of each calendar month commencing September 1, 2009 through and including August
1, 2010, accrued interest on the outstanding principal is due and
payable. Thereafter, principal and interest under this Note is
payable in thirty-six (36) consecutive equal monthly installments of principal
and interest of $174,321.50 each, with the first installment due and payable on
September 1, 2010, and with subsequent installments due and payable on the first
day of each calendar month thereafter through and including August 1, 2013. All
or any portion of the unpaid principal balance of this note, together with all
accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount being prepaid, may at the
MTS’s option be prepaid in whole or in part, without premium or penalty. The
Note is secured by liens on substantially all of assets and properties of
MTS.
Concurrent
with the closing of the sale of GEM MTS, the Company assigned with full recourse
and full representation and warranty of title and ownership the promissory note
to the Company’s senior lender (See Note 7). The Company also entered into a
subordinated collateral agreement with GEM MTS in order to secure potential
obligations related to indemnification payments it may hereafter become
obligated to make to MTS in accordance with the Agreement.
The
transaction resulted in the Company receiving $4,510,659 excess of consideration
($5.6 million note) over the $1,089,341 of net assets to be disposed. The
Company analyzed the current accounting guidance and determined that the gain
included in this transaction should not be recognized in the current
period. In making this decision the Company determined
that the buyers initial investment did not qualify for recognition of profit by
the full accrual method as the company did not receive sufficient cash proceeds
upon the consummation of the transaction, and collection of the amounts due
are uncertain. Under this method the note receivable has not
been recorded, and no profit will be recognized until cash payments by the buyer
exceed the sellers cost of the assets. The transaction will be
reassessed in the future to determine if it has met the criteria for the full
accrual method, and at that time any unrecognized income will be recognized in
the income statement. The Company has reflected the $1,089,341 of net assets of
MTS sold at the date of the transaction as due from buyer as of December 31,2009
as no payment on the note have been received.
The
Company has reclassified its December 31, 2008 balance sheet to segregate the
net assets of Gem Mobile Treatment Services, Inc. Components of the net assets
as of that date are as follows:
December
31, 2008
|
||||
Current
assets
|
$
|
1,822,860
|
||
Property
and Equipment – net of accumulated depreciation
|
1,952,410
|
|||
Goodwill
and Intangibles
|
1,121,794
|
|||
Other
assets
|
46,443
|
|||
TOTAL
ASSETS
|
4,943,507
|
|||
Current
liabilities
|
1,019,278
|
|||
Long-term
liabilities
|
905,190
|
|||
TOTAL
LIABILITIES
|
1,924,468
|
|||
ASSETS
OF MTS HELD FOR SALE
|
$
|
3,019,039
|
Sale of General
Environmental Management Inc.
On
November 25, 2009, the Company entered into an Agreement with Luntz Acquisition
(Delaware), LLC. (“Buyer”) pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell to
Luntz all of the issued and outstanding stock of the Company's primary operating
subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc.) Luntz agreed to pay the
Company $14 million for the purchased interests. On February 26,
2010, after approval of the transaction by the Company’s shareholders at a
special meeting held on February 19, 2010, the Company completed the sale. The
Company has classified the assets and liabilities
of General Environmental Management Inc. as “Net Assets
held for Sale” as of December 31, 2009, and reclassified the prior year
financial statements to conform to the current year presentation.
F-15
A summary
of the assets and liabilities of General Environmental Management Inc. as of
December 31, 2009 and 2008 are as follows:
Year
ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Current
assets
|
$
|
2,453,085
|
5,820,155
|
|||||
Property
and Equipment – net of accumulated depreciation
|
4,901,641
|
5,830,799
|
||||||
Goodwill
and Intangibles
|
612,615
|
689,106
|
||||||
Other
assets
|
561,433
|
1,058,193
|
||||||
TOTAL
ASSETS
|
8,528,774
|
13,398,253
|
||||||
Current
liabilities
|
4,928,153
|
5,956,012
|
||||||
Long-term
liabilities
|
677,982
|
882,353
|
||||||
TOTAL
LIABILITIES
|
5,606,135
|
6,838,365
|
||||||
ASSETS
OF GEM DELAWARE HELD FOR SALE
|
$
|
2,922,639
|
$
|
6,559,888
|
The
operating results of these discontinued operations for the years ended December
31, 2009 and 2008 were as follows:
Year
ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Net
sales
|
$
|
23,244,336
|
34,864,714
|
|||||
Cost
of sales
|
21,944,809
|
28,981,325
|
||||||
Gross
profit (Loss)
|
1,299,527
|
5,883,389
|
||||||
Operating
expenses
|
8,538,039
|
6,691,549
|
||||||
Operating
loss
|
(7,238,512)
|
(808,160)
|
||||||
Other
income (expense):
|
||||||||
Interest
income
|
134,003
|
17,569
|
||||||
Interest
expense and financing costs
|
(387,457)
|
(706,768)
|
||||||
Gain
on disposal of fixed assets
|
66,050
|
-
|
||||||
Other
non-operating income
|
35,163
|
41,730
|
||||||
Loss
from discontinued operations
|
$
|
(7,390,753)
|
$
|
(1,455,629)
|
F-16
5.
PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Property
and Equipment consists of the following as of December 31, 2009 and
2008:
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Land
|
$
|
3,225,000
|
$
|
-
|
||||
Vehicles
|
90,776
|
-
|
||||||
Machinery
and equipment
|
818,606
|
-
|
||||||
Land
improvements
|
310,131
|
-
|
||||||
Plant
and pipeline
|
8,308,929
|
-
|
||||||
Construction
in progress
|
62,500
|
-
|
||||||
12,815,942
|
-
|
|||||||
Less
accumulated depreciation and amortization
|
153,448
|
-
|
||||||
Property
and equipment net of accumulated depreciation and
amortization
|
$
|
12,662,494
|
$
|
-
|
All
property and equipment existing at December 31, 2008 has been reclassified to
net assets net for
sale. During 2009, property and equipment with a cost of $4,630,642 and
accumulated depreciation of, $1,223,946 was sold as part of the sales to MTS
(see Note 4). Subsequent to December 31, 2009, property and equipment with cost
$7,897,399 and accumulated depreciation of all $2,995,757 was sold as
part of the sale to Luntz and has been reflected on the accompanying balance
sheet as the Net Assets held for sale (see Note 4).
The
Company recorded depreciation expense of $153,448 for the year ended December
31, 2009. The Company recorded depreciation expense on the property
and equipment related to its discontinued operations of $1,366,777 and
$1,062,960 which is in included in net loss from discontinued operations for the
years ending December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
6. PERMITS
AND FRANCHISES
The
Company acquired certain permit rights for construction of a pipeline as part of
its acquisition of SCWW. The permits allow the pipeline to connect to the City
of Oxnard water works system and have a five year life, although they are
renewable indefinitely, in five year increments, at minimal costs. The
franchises are related to the use of the pipeline and have a 20 year life. The
total value of the permits and franchises are being amortized over a remaining
contractual life of the franchise agreements of 12 years commencing at the date
of acquisition.
Amortization
of the permits and franchises for the next five years is expected to be as
follows:
Years
ending December 31,
|
||||
2010
|
$ | 160,904 | ||
2011
|
160,904 | |||
2012
|
160,904 | |||
2013
|
160,904 | |||
2014
|
160,904 | |||
Thereafter
|
651,014 | |||
$ | 1,455,534 |
F-17
7.
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
The
Company has entered into several transactions with General Pacific Partners
(“GPP”), a company operated by a prior member of the Board of Directors of the
Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. of
Delaware. GPP owns 5% of the Company’s common stock at December 31,
2009.
During
February and March 2008, General Pacific Partners made two unsecured advances to
the Company totaling $472,500. The proceeds were used for working capital
purposes. The rate of interest on the advances is 10% per annum. The funds were
originally due six months from the date of issuance. On June 30, 2008, the
maturity date was extended an additional six months to February 14, 2009 and
March 19, 2009. In connection with the note extension the Company issued (i)
200,000 shares of its common stock valued at $220,000 and, (ii) a warrant to
purchase up to 225,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $0.60 for a
period of seven (7) years. The Company valued the warrants at $222,500 using a
Black - Scholes option pricing model. For the Black - Scholes
calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of
4.78 %, expected volatility of 75.88 % and an expected term for the warrants of
7 years. The value of the common shares of $220,000 and value of the
warrants of $222,500 has been reflected by the Company as a valuation discount
at issuance and offset to the face amount of the Notes. The Valuation
discount is being amortized to interest expense over the life of the loan based
upon the effective interest method. Finance costs for the year ended December
31, 2009 includes $109,324 for amortization of this discount. The valuation
discount was fully amortized at September 30, 2009. On February 13,
2009 the maturity date was extended until March 31, 2010. As of December 31,
2009, $534,129 remained outstanding (including accrued interest of
$61,719).
In 2008,
GPP provided services related to the financing completed with CVC California,
LLC. Pursuant to these services the Company agreed to pay GPP $250,000. The cash
paid has been reflected as part of deferred financing fees on the accompanying
balance sheet at December 31 2009 and December 31, 2008. During the year ended
December 31, 2009, GPP agreed to convert $150,000 of the cash owed to them and
$164,756 incurred for other fees and costs into 524,594 shares of the Company’s
common stock in settlement for amounts due. The balance due to GPP as
of December 31, 2009 is $100,000.
During the
year ended December 31, 2009 a related individual made an unsecured
advance with no formal terms of repayment to the Company totaling $115,000. The
proceeds were used for working capital purposes. During the year ended December
31, 2009 the Company made payments on the advance totaling $7,500. At December
31, 2009 the balance due on the advance was $107,500.
Letter of Credit
Services
On July
1, 2008 the Company entered into an agreement with GPP wherein GPP would provide
letters of credit to support projects contracted to GEM. The fees under the
agreement consisted of (i) a commitment fee of 2% of the value of the letter of
credit, (ii) interest at a rate to be negotiated, and (iii) a seven year warrant
to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at $0.60 per
share.
Software
Support
In 2008,
the Company entered into a three year agreement with Lapis Solutions, LLC,
(Lapis) a company managed by a prior member of the Board of Directors of the
Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. of
Delaware, wherein Lapis would provide support and development services for the
Company’s proprietary software GEMWARE. Service costs related to the agreement
total $10,800 per month. As of December 31, 2008, $92,555 of such fees had been
prepaid to Lapis and included in the accompanying balance sheet as part of
prepaid expenses. During 2009, the Company made further advances of
$224,454 to Lapis. At December 31, 2009, the Company determined that
the total paid to Lapis no longer had continuing value to the Company given the
divestiture of its recycling management business and recorded a charge
of $317,009.
F-18
Related Party Lease
Agreement
During
the third quarter ended September 30, 2007, the Company entered into a lease for
$180,846 of equipment with current investors of the Company. The
lease transaction was organized by General Pacific Partners, a related party,
with these investors. The lease has been classified as a capital
lease and included in property and equipment (See note 5) and requires payments
of $4,000 per month beginning August 1, 2007 through 2012. As an
inducement to enter into the lease, the Company issued the leasing entity
100,000 two year warrants to purchase common stock at $1.20. These warrants were
valued at $187,128 using the Black - Scholes valuation model and such cost is
being amortized to expense over the life of the lease. For the Black
- Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free
interest rate of 4.78 %, expected volatility of 56.60 % and an expected term for
the warrants of 2 years. As of December 31, 2009, there was $20,000
of accrued payments due under these leases.
8.
SECURED FINANCING AGREEMENTS
During
the period 2008 through 2009, the Company entered into a series of financings
with CVC California, LLC (“CVC”).
The
amounts due under these financings at December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008
are as follows:
December
31,
|
December
31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Secured
Notes from CVC California
|
$
|
14,658,365
|
$
|
13,547,909
|
||||
Valuation
Discount
|
(2,196,585
|
)
|
(3,181,365
|
)
|
||||
$
|
12,461,780
|
$
|
10,366,544
|
Note Agreements with CVC
California
On
September 4, 2008 General Environmental Management, Inc. (the “Company”) entered
into a series of agreements with CVC California, LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company (“CVC”), each dated as of August 31, 2008, whereby the Company
issued to CVC (i) a secured convertible term note ("Note") in the principal
amount of $6.5 million and (ii) a secured non-convertible revolving credit note
("Revolving Note") of up to $7.0 million; (iii) 6 year warrants to
purchase 1,350,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $0.60 per share;
(iv) 6 year warrants to purchase 1,350,000 shares of our common stock at a price
of $1.19 per share; and, (v) 6 year warrants to purchase 300,000 shares of our
common stock at a price of $2.25 per share. The principal
amount of the Note carried an interest rate of nine and one half percent,
subject to adjustment, with interest initially payable monthly commencing
October 1, 2008. The Note further provided that commencing on April 1, 2009, the
Company was to make monthly principal payments in the amount of $135,416 through
August 31, 2011. Although the stated principal amount of the Term Loan was
$6,500,000, the Lender was only required to fund $5,000,000, with the difference
being treated as a discount to the note.
F-19
(i). The
principal amount of the Note and accrued interest thereon was initially
convertible into shares of our common stock at a price of $3.00 per
share, subject to anti-dilution adjustments. Under the terms of the Note, the
monthly principal payment amount of approximately $135,416 plus the monthly
interest payment (together, the "Monthly Payment"), was payable in
either cash or, if certain criteria are met, including the effectiveness of a
current registration statement covering the shares of our common stock into
which the Note is convertible, through the issuance of our common stock. The
Company has agreed to register all of the shares that are issuable upon
conversion of the Note and exercise of warrants. As of December 31, 2008 the
Company had an outstanding balance of $6,500,000 under the note.
(ii). The
revolving note allowed the Company to borrow a maximum amount of $7,000,000,
based on a borrowing base of 90% of all eligible receivables, which are
primarily accounts receivables under 90 days. The interest rate on this line of
credit is in the amount of prime plus 2.0%, but in no event less than 7% per
annum. The Revolving Note was secured by all assets of the Company and is
subject to the same security agreement as discussed below. The note is due
August 31, 2011. As of December 31, 2008 the Company had an outstanding balance
of $7,047,909 (including accrued interest) under the revolving note. This note
was subsequently exchanged and modified during 2009 as discussed
below.
The
Company was subject to various negative covenants with respect to the Revolving
Credit and Term Loan Agreement (the "Agreement") with CVC California, LLC (the
"Lender").
However,
during the year the Company was not in compliance with certain covenants. The
Agreement provided that upon the occurrence of any Event of Default, and at all
times thereafter during the continuance thereof: (a) the Notes, and any and all
other Obligations, shall, at the Lender’s option become immediately due and
payable, both as to principal, interest and other charges, (b) all outstanding
Obligations under the Notes, and all other outstanding Obligations, shall bear
interest at the default rates of interest provided in certain promissory Notes
(the "Notes"), (c) the Lender may file suit against the Company on the Notes and
against the Company and the Subsidiaries under the other Loan Documents and/or
seek specific performance or injunctive relief thereunder (whether or not a
remedy exists at law or is adequate), (d) the Lender shall have the right, in
accordance with the Security Documents, to exercise any and all remedies in
respect of such or all of the Collateral as the Lender may determine in its
discretion (without any requirement of marshalling of assets or other such
requirement, all of which are hereby waived by the Company), and (e) the
Revolving Credit Commitment shall, at the Lender’s option, be immediately
terminated or reduced, and the Lender shall be under no further obligation to
consider making any further Advances.
The Company
had discussions with CVC to obtain a waiver of the Default and continued to
operate in the normal course of business and receive advances under the
Revolving Credit Commitment facility. On June 1, 2009, the Company
and CVC entered into an Amendment to the Agreement to modify the terms of the
agreement and relieve the events of default. CVC waived the Events
of Default consisting of the non-payment by the Company of the
principal installments due under the Term Note on May 1, 2009 and June 1, 2009,
and further waived the Events of Default consisting of the failure of
the Company to comply with Section 6.18 of the Loan Agreement for the periods
ended December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2009, and waived all rights to collect the
increased interest chargeable under the Notes by reason of the foregoing Events
of Default. The Company is currently in default, as such the entire
note has been shown as current in the accompanying balance sheet as of December
31, 2009.
The
Company paid a fee in consideration of the waivers and amendments which
consisted of issuing to CVC, (a) 600,000 shares of its Common Stock
valued at $450,000, and (b) issuing to CVC a promissory note in the
principal amount of $164,000, bearing interest at the rate of 7% per annum
(which interest shall be payable monthly in arrears on the first day of each
calendar month commencing June 1, 2009) and maturing in full on August 31,
2011.
On
September 4, 2009, the Company entered into a series of agreements with CVC that
amended these agreements, including an Amended and Restated Revolving Credit and
Term Loan Agreement, an Amended and Restated Revolving Credit Note, an Amended
and Restated Convertible Term Note, a new Term Note, and Amended and Restated
Warrants to purchase shares of the Company's common stock. Pursuant to the
Amended and Restated Revolving Credit and Term Loan Agreement, (the "Amended
Agreement") dated as of September 4, 2009 the Company issued to
CVC:
F-20
(i) an
Amended and Restated secured convertible term note (“ Convertible Note”) in the
principal amount of $6,314,700. The principal amount of the Convertible Note
bears an interest rate of fourteen percent, subject to adjustment, with interest
payable monthly commencing November 1, 2009. The principal of the convertible
Note is payable on demand or, in the absence of demand, (i) in seven (7) equal
monthly installments of $138,000 each, due and payable on the first day of each
calendar month commencing December 1, 2009 and continuing through and including
June 1, 2010, and (ii) a final installment due and payable on June 30, 2010
in an amount equal to the entire remaining principal balance of this
note. In the event of a prepayment of the Convertible Note, the
Company must pay a prepayment premium in an amount equal to (a) two (2%) percent of the
principal amount being prepaid if the prepayment is made on or prior to February
28, 2010, and (b) one (1%) percent of the principal amount being prepaid if such
prepayment is made subsequent to February 28, 2010 and prior to August 1, 2011,
unless the prepayment is made with the proceeds received from the sale of
any business unit or units of the Company. The balance of the note
outstanding at December 31, 2009 was $6,314,700.
The
principal amount of the Convertible Note and accrued interest thereon is
convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at a price of $0.60 per
share, subject to anti-dilution adjustments. The Company has agreed to register
all of the shares that are issuable upon conversion of the Convertible
Note.
(ii) an
Amended and Restated Secured Non-convertible Revolving Credit Note in
the principal amount of up to $1.7 million (the " Revolving
Note"). The principal amount of the Revolving Note bears interest at
the rate of 10% per annum and is payable on demand (or, in the absence of
demand, on August 31, 2011, or sooner by reason of an Event of Default or other
mandatory prepayment event. The balance of the note outstanding at December 31,
2009 was $1,700,000.
The
Amended and restated Secured Non-convertible Revolving Credit Note was amended
on November 25, 2009 with an Overadvance Note in the amount of $1,190,357.The
principal amount of the Overadvance Note bears interest at the rate of 15% per
annum and is payable on demand or, in the absence of demand, on August 31, 2011,
or sooner by reason of an Event of Default or other mandatory prepayment
event. The balance of the Overadvance Note outstanding at December
31, 2009 was $1,043,665.
Subsequent
to December 31, 2009, the balance of the Convertible Note and the Amended and
Restated Secured Non-convertible Revolving Credit Note was paid
off. See Note 16.
(iii) a
Term Note (“Term Note ”) in the principal amount of $5.6 million. The
principal amount of the Term Note bears interest at the rate of 8% per annum and
is payable as follows: on the first day of each calendar month commencing
October 1, 2009 through and including August 1, 2010, accrued Interest on the
outstanding principal shall be due and payable. Thereafter, principal
and interest is payable in thirty-six (36) consecutive equal monthly
installments of principal and interest of $174,321.50 each, with the first
installment due and payable on September 1, 2010, and with subsequent
installments due and payable on the first day of each calendar month thereafter
through and including August 1, 2013. There is no pre-payment penalty
in the event of a pre-payment. The balance of the Term Note outstanding at
December 31, 2009 was $5,600,000. The Company is currently in default, as such
in the entire note has been shown as current.
On August
17, 2009, the Company had entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with MTS
Acquisition Company ("MTS"), pursuant to which the Company sold all of the
issued and outstanding common stock of GEM Mobile Treatment Services, Inc. (“GEM
MTS”). Consideration for the sale of GEM MTS was in the form of a promissory
note (“the MTS Note") in the aggregate amount of $5.6 million, (payable on the
same dates and terms as the Term Note), the assignment of approximately
$1.0 million of accounts payable and possible future royalties. The
consideration was immediately assigned to CVC. As the MTS Note is
paid to CVC by MTS, the Company's indebtedness to CVC will be reduced
.
F-21
(iv) an
Amended and Restated Warrant to purchase Two Million Seven Hundred
Thousand (2,700,000) fully paid and non-assessable shares (the “Warrant Shares”)
of the Company’s common stock, for cash at a price of $0.01 per share at any
time and from time to time from and after the date hereof and until 5:00 p.m.
(Pacific time) on August 31, 2014.
CVC shall
also have the right and option, exercisable effective at any time
upon or after the consummation of a Sale of the Company’s revenue-generating
business units, or upon and after the occurrence and during the continuance of
an Event of Default or any other event or circumstance which causes, effects or
requires any payment in full under the Loan Agreement and until the Expiration
Date, to require the Company to redeem and purchase any or all Warrant Shares or
rights to purchase Warrant Shares hereunder, for a cash purchase price of $0.75
per Warrant Share or per right to purchase a Warrant Share hereunder, such
option purchase price to be subject to adjustment from time to time in respect
of certain events. The total value of the put if all shares are
redeemed would be $2,025,000.
The
Convertible Note and the Revolving Note, are secured by all of our assets and
the assets of our direct subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc.
(Delaware) and its direct subsidiaries, General Environmental Management of
Rancho Cordova LLC, a California Limited Liability Company (including the real
property owned by General Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova LLC),
Island Environmental Services, Inc. as well as by a pledge of the equity
interests of General Environmental Management, Inc. (Delaware), General
Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova LLC, and Island Environmental
Services, Inc.
The
Amended Agreement also provided that in the event that and at such time as the
Company or any of its subsidiaries or stockholders enters into a binding
agreement with respect to any sale of all or any material portion of the
Company’s assets or the sale of a majority of the outstanding capital stock or
(if sooner) on that date which is thirty (30) days prior to any payment or
required payment in full of the outstanding obligations to CVC, CVC shall have
the right and option, exercisable effective at any time upon or after the
consummation of such sale or payment, or upon and after the occurrence and
during the continuance of an event of default, as defined in the Amended
Agreement and the ancillary documents, to require the Company to redeem and
purchase any or all warrant shares or rights to purchase warrant shares
hereunder, for a cash purchase price of $0.75 per warrant share.
The
Company incurred expenses of approximately $75,000 to various professional
firms as reimbursement for CVC's due diligence and legal fees and expenses
incurred in connection with the transaction.
The
Company has also agreed to continue to pursue the Company’s plan to restructure
its operations by offering for sale the Company’s revenue-generating business
units at prices and on terms and conditions reasonably acceptable to the Company
and CVC.
Valuation Discount and
Modification of Debt
In
connection with the initial CVC financing during 2008, the Company paid closing
fees of $405,000 and issued warrants to acquire an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares
of our common stock as described above to CVC. The Company calculated that the
fair value of the warrants issued was $1,674,036, based upon the relative value
of the Black Scholes valuation of the warrants and the underlying debt
amount. For the Black Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no
dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of 4.78%, expected volatility of
78.57% and an expected term for the warrants of 7 years. The closing fees of
$405,000 paid to CVC, the relative value of the warrants of $1,674,036 and the
$1,500,000 discount on issuance was reflected by the Company as a valuation
discount at issuance and offset to the face amount of the Notes. The Valuation
discount is being amortized to interest expense over the life of the loan based
upon the effective interest method. The Company amortized $397,671 of
note discount during the period ended December 31, 2008, resulting in valuation
discount of $3,181,365 at December 31, 2008.
F-22
Concurrent
with the cumulative adjustment as discussed in Note 11, the Company further
recorded valuation discount of $1,408,828 at January 1, 2009. During the period
January 1, 2009 through June 1, 2009, the Company amortized $717,220 of the note
discount, leaving an unamortized note discount of 3,872,973 as of June 1,
2009.
As
discussed above, on June 1, 2009, the Company and CVC entered into an Amendment
to the Agreement to modify the terms of the agreement and relieve the events of
default. The Company analyzed the current accounting guidance and
determined that the modifications constituted a substantial modification of debt
terms, and thus, has considered the old loan and derivative liabilities to be
extinguished and a new loan and derivative liabilities were
incurred. As such, the balance of the valuation discount of
$3,872,973 and the fair value of derivative liabilities of $2,299,622 (gain)
that existed on June 1, 2009 before modification, the value of the 600,000
shares valued at $450,000 and the issuance by the Company of a $164,000
promissory note were considered as debt modification expense, resulting in an
aggregate charge of $2,181,351 at June 1, 2009 relating to the net loss on
extinguishment of debt.
Concurrent
with the accounting for the issuance of the new debt after the extinguishment on
June 1, 2009, the Company reflected a new valuation discount of $5,165,720 based
upon the fair value of the derivative liability and warrants (see Note 11).
During the period June 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009, the Company amortized
$191,323 of the new note discount, leaving an unamortized note discount of
$4,974,397 as of June 30, 2009.
The
Company further amortized $382,646 of this discount during the period July 1,
2009 to September 4, 2009.
As
discussed above, on September 4, 2009, the Company and CVC entered into a
further Amendment to the Agreement to modify the terms of the agreement and
relieve the events of default. The Company analyzed the current
accounting guidance and determined that the modifications constituted a
substantial modification of debt terms, and thus, has considered the old loan
and derivative liabilities to be extinguished and a new loan and derivative
liabilities to be incurred. As such, the balance of the valuation
discount of $4,591,751 and the fair value of derivative liabilities
of $2,733,744 (gain) that existed on September 4, 2009 before modification were
considered as debt modification expense, resulting in an aggregate charge of
$1,858,007 at September 4, 2009 relating to the net loss on
extinguishment of debt.
Concurrent
with the accounting for the issuance of the new debt after the extinguishment on
September 4, 2009, the Company reflected a new valuation discount of $3,660,977
based upon the fair value of the derivative liability and warrants (see Note
10). During the period September 4, 2009 through December 31, 2009, the Company
amortized $1,464,392 of the new note discount, leaving an unamortized note
discount of $2,196,585 as of December 31, 2009.
9.
ACQUISITION NOTES PAYABLE
On
November 6, 2009, Company entered into a Stock Purchase
Agreement ("CLW Agreement") with United States Environmental
Response, LLC, a California limited liability company pursuant to which the
Company has purchased all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of
California Living Waters, Incorporated ("CLW"), a privately held
company. . In consideration for the sale, the Company issued six
promissory notes (individually a "CLW Note" and collectively, the "CLW Notes")
in the aggregate principal amount of $9,003,000 as follows:
$2,000,000
CLW the Seller's Note-- Payment of the outstanding principal of the CLW the
Seller’s Note is due and payable in four (4) installments as follows: (A) Two
Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) in November, 2009, (B) Five Hundred
Thousand Dollars ($500,000) and accrued interest on June 30 2010; (C) One
Million Dollars ($1,000,000) and accrued interest on January 1, 2011 (D) the
balance of all residual principal and accrued interest on March 31, 2011. The
balance of the Note at December 31, 2009 was $2,000,000.
F-23
$1,700,000
CLW Note One-- Payment of the outstanding principal of CLW Note One is due and
payable in 120 installments commencing on December 1, 2009 and continuing on the
first day of each calendar month through November 1,
2019. Installments are payable in the following amounts (subject
to the other terms of this Note): (A) the amount of principal and accrued
interest payable in the first one hundred nineteen (119) Installments shall be
equal Installments of principal and interest, calculated on the basis of a
30-year amortization of this Note and (B) the one hundred twentieth (120th)
Installment shall be a final, “balloon” payment. The balance of the Note at
December 31, 2009 was $1,696,917.
$1,100,000
CLW Note Two-- Payment of the outstanding principal of this CLW Note Two is due
and payable in sixty (60) installments commencing on December 1, 2009 and
continuing on the first day of each calendar month through November 1, 2014.
Installments are payable in the following amounts (subject to the other terms of
this Note): (A) the amount of principal and accrued interest payable in the
first fifty-nine (59) Installments shall be equal Installments of principal and
interest, calculated on the basis of a 30-year amortization of this Note; and
(B) the final, “balloon” payment on November 1, 2014. The balance of
the Note at December 31, 2009 was 1,095,501.
$425,000
CLW Note Three-- Payment of the outstanding principal of the CLW Note is due and
payable in 120 installments commencing on December 1, 2009 and continuing on the
first day of each calendar month through November 1,
2019. Installments are payable in the following amounts (subject to
the other terms of this Note): (A) the amount of principal and accrued interest
payable in the first one hundred nineteen (119) Installments shall be equal
Installments of principal and interest, calculated on the basis of a 30-year
amortization of this Note and (B) the one hundred twentieth (120th) Installment
shall be a final, “balloon”. CLW Note Three is convertible at any time in full
or in part (but if in part, then only in principal increments of $100,000 or an
integral multiple thereof) into shares of common stock of Company at the
conversion rate of Four Dollars ($4.00) per share, subject to adjustment. The
balance of the Note at December 31, 2009 was $424,230.
$1,600,000
CLW Note Four-- Payment of the outstanding principal of the CLW Note Four is due
and payable in 41 installments commencing on July 1, 2010 and continuing on the
first day of each calendar month through November 1, 2013. Installments are
payable in the following amounts (subject to the other terms of this Note):
(A) the amount of principal and accrued interest payable in the first forty
Installments shall be equal Installments of principal and interest, calculated
on the basis of a 30-year amortization of this Note, provided that the first
Installment shall also include all interest accrued during the first
seven months from the date of this Note; Four and (B) the final, “balloon”,
Installment shall be in the amount of all then-outstanding principal, interest
and other amounts then outstanding. Note Four is convertible into 5% of the
common stock of Company on a fully diluted basis until Company achieves a
Capital Restructuring Goal. Capital Restructuring Goal means the concurrent
fulfillment of each of the following events: (i) the CLW Seller’s Note shall
have been fully paid on the terms thereof as to all theretofore outstanding
principal, interest, costs and expenses; (ii) Company shall have available, as
properly reflected in Company’s books one million dollars ($1,000,000) in
uncommitted working capital (not including any working capital lines of credit);
and (iii) Company shall have invested into SCWW capital of at least one million
dollars $1,000,000. The balance of the Note at December 31, 2009 was
$1,600,000.
$2,178,000
CLW Note Five-- Payment of the outstanding principal of the CLW Note Five is due
and payable in 41 installments commencing on July 1, 2010 and continuing on the
first day of each calendar month through November 1, 2013. Installments are
payable in the following amounts (subject to the other terms of this Note):
(A) the amount of principal and accrued interest payable in the first forty
Installments shall be equal Installments of principal and interest, calculated
on the basis of a 30-year amortization of this Note, provided that the first
Installment shall also include all interest accrued during the first
seven months from the date of this Note; Four and (B) the final, “balloon”,
Installment shall be in the amount of all then-outstanding principal, interest
and other amounts then outstanding. Note Four is convertible into 10% of the
common stock of Company on a fully diluted basis until Company achieves the
Capital Restructuring Goal.The balance at December 31, 2009 was
$2,178,000.
F-24
Future
annual maturities under these notes payable are as follows at December 31,
2009:
Year
Ended December 31,
|
||||
|
||||
2010
|
$ | 1,072,975 | ||
2011
|
1,101,131 | |||
2012
|
107,904 | |||
2013
|
115,130 | |||
2014
|
124,461 | |||
Thereafter
|
6,473,047 | |||
$ | 8,994,648 |
10.
LONG TERM OBLIGATIONS
Long term
obligations consist of the following at December 31, 2009 and 2008:
December 31,
|
December
31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
(a)
Notes Payable, National Bank of California
|
$ | 4,175,187 | $ | - | ||||
(b)
Notes Payable, Island Acquisition
|
1,250,000 | 1,250,000 | ||||||
(c)
Notes Payable, Investors
|
521,251 | 489,605 | ||||||
(d)
Note payable, Wiker Trust
|
279,306 | - | ||||||
(e)
Note payable, Agua de Oro 2
|
47,969 | - | ||||||
(f)
Equipment Note payable, OMNI Bank
|
19,442 | - | ||||||
(g) Note
payable, Individual
|
27,900 | - | ||||||
(h) Subordinated
notes payable
|
1,800,000 | - | ||||||
Total
Notes Payable
|
8,121,055 | 1,739,605 | ||||||
Less
Note discount
|
59,916 | - | ||||||
Less
current portion
|
4,822,719 | 1,239,605 | ||||||
Notes
payable, net of current portion
|
$ | 3,238,420 | $ | 500,000 |
F-25
(a) Notes
payable to National Bank of California consists of the following
at December 31, 2009
(i)
Note payable, National Bank of California 1
|
$ | 1,779,060 | ||
(ii)
Note payable, National Bank of California 2
|
1,701,137 | |||
(iii)
Note payable, National Bank of California 3
|
58,741 | |||
(iv)
Note payable, National Bank of California 4
|
145,982 | |||
(v)
Note payable , National Bank of California 5
|
490,267 | |||
Total
|
$ | 4,175,187 |
(i) Note
payable to National Bank of California, 80% guaranteed by the USDA and various
related parties of the Company, bears interest at Prime plus 1%, and is payable
over 20 years. (i) Note payable to National Bank of California, 80% guaranteed
by the USDA and various related parties of the Company, bears interest at Prime
plus 1%, and is payable over 20 years. The loan is secured by a first lien on
all assets and commercial real estate of the Company, including the pipeline,
and is due in 2026.
(ii) Note
payable National Bank of California, 80% guaranteed by the USDA and various
related parties of the Company, bears interest at Prime plus 1%, and is payable
over 20 years. The loan is secured by a first lien on all assets and commercial
real estate of the Company’s California Living Water Subsidiary, including the
pipeline, and is due in 2026.
(iii)
Note payable to National Bank of California, 80% guaranteed by the USDA and
various insiders of the Company, bears interest at Prime plus 1%, and is payable
over 5 years. The loan is secured by a first lien on all assets and commercial
real estate of the Company’s California Living Water Subsidiary, and is due in
2011.
(iv) Note
payable to National Bank of California, guaranteed by various related parties of
the Company, interest at Prime plus 2%, payable over five years. This loan is
secured by equipment and is cross collateralized to all other notes with
National Bank of California.
(v) Note
payable to National Bank of California, secured primarily by accounts
receivable, bearing interest at Prime plus 2%. The note is due on
March 5, 2010.
The above
loans are subject to certain covenants with the senior lender, National Bank of
California. The affirmative covenants apply to the financial results
of the Company’s subsidiary, SCWW, and include certain ratio requirements such
as current ratio, Debt / Worth ratio and debt service. At December
31, 2009, SCWW was not in compliance with certain of these covenants, and as
such, the notes are in default. The company is currently in discussions to
resolve the default, and has classified the notes as current in the accompanying
December 31, 2009 balance sheet.
(b) On
August 31, 2008, the Company entered into a stock purchase agreement with Island
Environmental. As part of the consideration for the purchase, the Company issued
two three year promissory notes totaling $1.25 million. The first
note is payable to the former owners in the amount of $1,062,500. The
second note is payable to NCF Charitable Trust in the amount of
$187,500. The notes bear interest at eight percent (8%) with the
entire balance of interest and principal payable August 31, 2011. In
conjunction with the revision to the agreements with CVC described in Note 7 an
amendment to these notes was executed that all interest payments and principal
payments due pursuant to the notes were deferred until August 31,
2011.
(c)
During the period March 4, 2004 through June 22, 2004, the Company entered into
a Loan and Security Agreement with several investors to provide the funding
necessary for the purchase of the Transfer Storage Disposal Facility (TSDF)
located in Rancho Cordova, California. The notes were secured by
the TSDF, carried an interest rate of eight percent (8%) per annum, and
principal and interest are convertible at $30.00 per share into common
stock. In addition, the note holders were issued warrants to purchase
common stock. The notes were initially due June 30, 2009,
but were extended to September 30, 2011. As of December 31,
2008, notes payable of $422,500 plus accrued interest of $67,105 remained
outstanding.
F-26
On July
1, 2009 three note holders entered into new promissory note agreements that
replaced in full the principal of the Loan and Security Agreement dated June 1,
2004. The notes are unsecured and carry an interest rate of ten percent (10%)
per annum. The principal of the notes is due December 31, 2010.
On August
1, 2009 accrued interest of $168,528 was converted into
485,150 shares of common stock. As an incentive to convert the accrued interest
into shares of the Company's common stock, the Board of Directors awarded
663,814 fully vested warrants to purchase common stock of the Company
to the three convertible note holders. The warrants are exercisable at
$0.52 per share and have a forty (40) month term. The value of these warrants
was calculated at $231,140 and included in the statement of operations for the
year ending December 31, 2009 as a cost to induce conversion. For the
Black Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free
interest rate of 1.72 % and expected volatility of 104.54 %. As of December 31, 2009,
notes payable of $500,000 and accrued interest of $21,252 remained
outstanding.
(d) The
Wiker Trust obligation is interest only, bearing interest at 7.75% per annum,
due August 1, 2012. This is an unsecured note that is subordinated to the
National Bank of California notes.
(e) An
unsecured four-year note, bearing interest at 15%, payable in monthly
installments of $6,130, including interest. This note is subordinated to the
National Bank of California notes.
(f) Note
payable relating to the purchase of equipment. The note bears interest at 10.88%
per annum, payable in 36 monthly installments of principal and interest at
$2,456. This obligation is subordinated at the National Bank of California
notes.
(g) An
unsecured four-year note, bearing interest at 15%, payable in monthly
installments of $6,130, including interest. This note is subordinated to the
National Bank of California notes.
(h) The
Company has two notes payable that are subordinated to the notes
payable to National Bank of California. The subordinated Notes
Payable consists of the following at December 31, 2009:
(i)
Note payable, Wiker Trust
|
$ | 800,000 | ||
(ii)
Note payable, US Environmental Response
|
1,000,000 | |||
Total
|
$ | 1,800,000 |
(i) The
Wiker Trust obligation is interest only, bearing interest at 7.75% per annum,
due August 1, 2012. This is an unsecured note that is subordinated to the
National Bank of California notes. The Wiker Trust is a charitable remainder
trust who made the initial loan to the Company in order to fund the acquisition
of SCWW in 2004. The CEO of SCWW is a trustee of the Wiker
Trust.
(ii) The
United States Environmental Response (“USER”) note, formerly held by
Aqua de Oro, is a four year note, bearing interest at 7.75%, payable in monthly
installments of $6,458 for 7 years, with all remaining principal and interest
due on July 31, 2011. The CEO of SCWW is the President of USER. The balance due
represents funds paid by Company to the court appointed disbursing agent for the
benefit of approved creditors. This is an unsecured note that is subordinated to
the National Bank of California notes and all debts allowed in the Company's
bankruptcy reorganization.
F-27
Future
annual maturities under these notes payable are as follows at December 31,
2009:
Year
Ended December 31,
|
||||
2010
|
$ | 4,822,719 | ||
2011
|
1,873,130 | |||
2012
|
66,000 | |||
2013
|
66,000 | |||
2014
|
43,206 | |||
Thereafter
|
1,190,085 | |||
$ | 8,061,140 |
11.
DERIVATIVE LIABILITIES
In June 2008, the FASB finalized its
guidance on “Determining Whether an Instrument (or Embedded Feature) is indexed
to an Entity’s Own Stock.” This guidance instruments which do not have fixed
settlement provisions are deemed to be derivative instruments. The
conversion feature of the Company’s Secured Financing Agreements (described in
Note 7), and the related warrants, do not have fixed settlement provisions
because their conversion and exercise prices, respectively, may be lowered if
the Company issues securities at lower prices in the future. The
Company was required to include the reset provisions in order to protect the
note holders from the potential dilution associated with future financings. In
accordance with current guidance, the conversion feature of the notes was
separated from the host contract (i.e., the notes) and recognized as an embedded
derivative instrument. Both the conversion feature of the notes and
the warrants have been re-characterized as derivative
liabilities. Current guidance requires that the fair value of these
liabilities be re-measured at the end of every reporting period with the change
in value reported in the statement of operations.
The
derivative liabilities were valued using a probability weighted
Black-Scholes-Merton valuation technique with the following weighted average
assumptions:
December
31,
2009
|
September
4,
2009
|
June
1,
2009
|
December
31,
2008
|
|||||||||||||
Conversion
feature:
|
||||||||||||||||
Risk-free
interest rate
|
.40 | % | .42 | % | 1.14 | % | 1.66 | % | ||||||||
Expected
volatility
|
137.57 | % | 115.22 | % | 88.02 | % | 78.66 | % | ||||||||
Expected
life (in years)
|
0.75 | 0.83 | 2.25 | 2.67 | ||||||||||||
Expected
dividend yield
|
0.0 | % | 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % | 0.00 | % | ||||||||
Warrants:
|
||||||||||||||||
Risk-free
interest rate
|
- | - | 2.66 | % | 4.78 | % | ||||||||||
Expected
volatility
|
- | - | 88.02 | % | 78.66 | % | ||||||||||
Expected
life (in years)
|
- | - | 5.25 | 5.67 | ||||||||||||
Expected
dividend yield
|
- | - | 0.00 | % | 0.00 | % | ||||||||||
Fair
Value:
|
||||||||||||||||
Conversion
feature
|
$ | 896,542 | $ | 1,635,977 | $ | 3,637,437 | $ | 624,385 | ||||||||
Warrants
|
2,025,000 | 2,025,000 | 1,528,283 | 1,502,205 | ||||||||||||
$ | 2,921,542 | $ | 3,660,977 | $ | 5,165,720 | $ | 2,126,590 | |||||||||
F-28
The risk-free interest rate was based
on rates established by the Federal Reserve. The expected volatility
is based on the Company’s historical volatility for its common
stock. The expected life of the conversion feature of the notes was
based on the term of the notes and the expected life of the warrants was
determined by the expiration date of the warrants. The expected
dividend yield was based on the fact that the Company has not paid dividends to
common shareholders in the past and does not expect to pay dividends to common
shareholders in the future.
The value
of the 2.7 million warrants at September 4, 2009 and December 31, 2009 was based
on the put option price of $0.75 per warrant share (see Note 7).
The change was implemented in the first
quarter of 2009 and is reported as a cumulative change in accounting
principles. The cumulative effect on the accounting for the
conversion feature of the note and the warrants on January 1, 2009 are as
follows:
Additional
|
Accumulated
|
Derivative
|
Convertible
|
|||||||||||||
Derivative
Instrument:
|
Paid-in
Capital
|
Deficit
|
Liability
|
Note
|
||||||||||||
Conversion
feature
|
$ | - | $ | 393,875 | $ | 624,385 | $ | (1,018,261 | ) | |||||||
Warrants
|
$ | (1,674,036 | ) | $ | 562,398 | $ | 1,502,205 | $ | (390,567 | ) | ||||||
$ | (1,674,036 | ) | $ | 956,273 | $ | 2,126,590 | $ | (1,408,828 | ) |
The
warrants were originally recorded at their relative fair value as an increase in
additional paid-in capital. The change in the accumulated deficit includes gains
resulting from decreases in the fair value of the derivative liabilities through
December 31, 2009. The derivative liability amounts reflect the fair
value of each derivative instrument as of the January 1, 2009 date of
implementation. The convertible note amount represents the discount
recorded upon adoption of the accounting. This discount will be
recognized on a monthly basis through the maturity date of the
notes.
As of
December 31, 2009, the derivative liabilities amounted to
$2,921,552.
12.
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Common Stock for
Services
On
October 9, 2008, a consultant to the Company agreed to convert $13,150 in fees
into 12,524 shares of common stock based upon the fair value of the stock at the
date of the agreement.
F-29
During
the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company issued 250,000 shares of its
common stock valued at $115,000 based upon the trading price at that date of the
agreement for consulting services.
Issuance of Common Stock on
Exercise of Stock Options and Warrants
On March
27, 2009 one employee exercised 250 options granted under the Company’s 2007
Employee Stock Option Plan resulting in net proceeds to the Company of $187. On
May 15, 2009 one stockholder exercised 6,250 warrants granted by the Company
resulting in net proceeds to the Company of $3,750.
Issuance of Common Stock on
Conversion of Debt
During
the year ended December 31, 2009, GPP (a related entity – see Note 7) agreed to
convert $150,000 of amounts owed to them and $164,756 incurred for other fees
and costs into 524,594 shares of the Company’s common stock in settlement for
amounts due. On August 1, 2009 accrued interest due under
certain investor notes of $168,528 was converted into 485,150 shares
of common stock (See Note 10).
As the
trading price of the common shares issued on the date of settlement exceeded the
amount of liabilities settled, the Company recognized additional interest
expense of $157,193 which has been reflected as an expense in the accompanying
statement of operations.
13.
STOCK OPTIONS AND WARRANTS
Stock
Options
Prior to
acquisition by the Company, General Environmental Management, Inc. of Delaware’s
Board of Directors approved and implemented the 2005 Stock Option Plan (the
“2005 Plan”). The plan authorized option grants to employees and
other persons closely associated with the Company for the purchase of up to
88,117 shares.
On March
28, 2007 the Board of Directors approved and implemented the 2007 Stock Option
Plan (the “2007 Plan”). The plan authorized option grants to
employees and other persons closely associated with the Company for the purchase
of up to 5,500,000 shares.
The
Company issues stock options to employees, directors and consultants under the
2007 Stock Option Plan. Employee and Non-employee options vest
according to the terms of the specific grant and expire 8 years from date of
grant. Stock option activity for the years ended December 31, 2009
and 2008 was as follows:
Weighted
Avg.
|
||||||||
Options
|
Exercise
Price
|
|||||||
Options
outstanding, January 1, 2008
|
5,000,193
|
$
|
1.64
|
|||||
Options
granted
|
173,000
|
1.35
|
||||||
Options
exercised
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Options
cancelled
|
(385,853
|
)
|
1.44
|
|||||
Options,
December 31, 2008
|
4,787,340
|
1.65
|
||||||
Options
granted
|
604,500
|
0.75
|
||||||
Options
exercised
|
(250
|
)
|
0.75
|
|||||
Options
cancelled
|
(1,991,435
|
)
|
1.57
|
|||||
Options
outstanding, December 31, 2009
|
3,400,155
|
$
|
1.54
|
|||||
Options
exercisable, December 31, 2009
|
2,850,776
|
$
|
1.60
|
F-30
During
the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, the Company reflected $767,042 and
$835,557, respectively, as the fair value of the vested stock compensation. As
of December 31, 2009, the value of the remaining compensation to be recognized
of $402,509 will be amortized as compensation expense over the next 27 months as
the options vest. The options had no intrinsic value at December 31,
2009.
Options outstanding at
December 31, 2009 and the related weighted average exercise price and
remaining life information is as follows:
Range
of
exercise
prices
|
Total
options
outstanding
|
Weighted
average
remaining
life
in years
|
Total
weighted
average
exercise
price
|
Options
exercisable
|
Exercisable
weighted
average
exercise
price
|
||||||||||||||||
$ | 48.00 |
134
|
3.17
|
$
|
48.00
|
134
|
$
|
48.00
|
|||||||||||||
39.00 |
9,335
|
3.33
|
39.00
|
9,335
|
39.00
|
||||||||||||||||
35.10 |
117
|
3.58
|
35.10
|
117
|
35.10
|
||||||||||||||||
30.00 |
19,229
|
3.83
|
30.00
|
19,229
|
30.00
|
||||||||||||||||
25.80 |
-
|
-
|
25.80
|
-
|
25.80
|
||||||||||||||||
6.60 |
1,535
|
4.58
|
6.60
|
1,305
|
6.60
|
||||||||||||||||
2.50 |
262,000
|
7.83
|
2.50
|
196,484
|
2.50
|
||||||||||||||||
1.99 |
6,000
|
8.33
|
1.99
|
3,750
|
1.99
|
||||||||||||||||
1.70 |
214,000
|
8.00
|
1.70
|
159,617
|
1.70
|
||||||||||||||||
1.19 |
2,373,375
|
8.08
|
1.19
|
2,227,880
|
1.19
|
||||||||||||||||
1.10 |
56,498
|
7.25
|
1.10
|
28,494
|
1.10
|
||||||||||||||||
1.05 |
23,810
|
8.83
|
1.05
|
14,615
|
1.05
|
||||||||||||||||
0.75 |
434,122
|
8.58
|
0.75
|
189,816
|
0.75
|
||||||||||||||||
$ | 0.75 - $48.00 |
3,400,155
|
7.58
|
$
|
1.25
|
2,850,776
|
$
|
1.25
|
Warrants
During
2009, the Company issued warrants to acquire 1,234,200 shares of its common
stock to related entities valued in the aggregate at $458,476 as
follows:
On
January 7, 2009 the Board of Directors awarded 70,000 fully vested warrants to a
non-employee director serving on the Board of Directors. The warrants are
exercisable at $0.75 per share and have a 7 year life as noted per the Company’s
board approval. The value of these warrants was calculated at $37,743 and
included in the statement of operations for the year ending December 31,
2009. For the Black Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no
dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of 1.66% and expected volatility of
78.66 %.
On
September 2, 2009 the Board of Directors awarded 880,250 fully vested warrants
to purchase common stock of the Company to three former Vice
Presidents. A portion of the warrants are exercisable at $1.19 per share, a
portion exercisable at $0.75 per share with the balance exercisable at $1.70 per
share. All warrants have a five (5) year term. The value of these warrants was
calculated at $235,543 and included in the statement of operations for the year
ending December 31, 2009. For the Black Scholes calculation, the
Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of 2.33 % and
expected volatility of 115.22%.
F-31
On June
30, 2009, the Company’s board of directors approved the grant of warrants to
GPP, a related party, for its continued advisory services. The board
approved issuance of warrants to purchase up to 185,000 of the Company’s shares
at an exercise price of $0.60, with a term of 4 years (48
months). The value of these warrants was calculated at $117,541 and
included in the statement of operations for the year ending December 31,
2009. For the Black Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no
dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of 2.33 % and expected volatility of
115.22%.
The
Company’s board of directors also approved the issuance of warrants to a
consultant to purchase up to 50,000 of the Company’s shares at $0.60, with a
term of 4 years (48 months). The warrants were granted for research
services provided to the Company. The value of
these warrants was calculated at $31,768 and included in the statement of
operations for the year ending December 31, 2009. For the Black
Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest
rate of 2.33 % and expected volatility of 115.22%.
On
January 1, 2009, the Company’s board of directors approved the grant of warrants
to GPP, a related party, for agreeing to open a letter of credit facility on
behalf of the Company. The board approved the issuance of warrants to
purchase up to 48,950 of the Company’s shares at an exercise price of $0.60,
with a term of 7 years (84 months). The value of these warrants was calculated
at $35,881 and included in the statement of operations for the year ending
December 31, 2009. For the Black Scholes calculation, the Company
assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of 2.33 % and expected
volatility of 115.22%.
On
December 31, 2008 the Board of Directors awarded 187,500 fully vested warrants
to purchase common stock of the Company to a former Vice President. A portion of
the warrants are exercisable at $1.19 per share with the balance exercisable at
$1.70 per share. All warrants have a five (5) year term. The value of these
warrants was calculated at $70,625 and included in the statement of operations
for the year ending December 31, 2008. For the Black Scholes
calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of
4.78 % and expected volatility of 78.66 %.
Previously
issued warrants to acquire 242,137 shares of common stock at $.060 per share
were set to expire on December 31, 2008. On December 31, 2008, the
company extended the life of these warrants an additional 6.75
years. These warrants were valued at $128,333 using the Black -
Scholes valuation model, and such cost was recognized as an additional finance
cost during the year ended December 31, 2008. For the Black -
Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest
rate of 4.78%, expected volatility of 78.66% and an expected term for the
warrants of 6.75 years.
Warrants
|
Range
of
Exercise
Prices
|
Intrinsic
Value
|
||||||||||
Warrants
outstanding, January 1, 2008
|
5,981,635
|
$
|
0.60-$120.00
|
-
|
||||||||
Warrants
granted
|
3,762,000
|
$
|
0.60-$2.25
|
-
|
||||||||
Warrants
exercised
|
(5,000
|
)
|
$
|
0.60
|
-
|
|||||||
Warrants
expired
|
(210,741
|
)
|
$
|
1.20-$120.00
|
-
|
|||||||
Warrants
outstanding, December 31, 2008
|
9,527,894
|
$
|
0.60-$37.50
|
$
|
451,813
|
|||||||
Warrants
granted
|
2,274,064
|
$
|
0.52-$4.00
|
-
|
||||||||
Warrants
exercised
|
(6,250
|
)
|
0.60
|
-
|
||||||||
Warrants
expired
|
(1,384,282
|
)
|
$
|
0.60-$37.50
|
-
|
|||||||
Warrants
outstanding, December 31, 2009
|
10,411,426
|
$
|
0.52-$37.50
|
$
|
-
|
F-32
Warrants
outstanding at December 31, 2009 and the related weighted average exercise price
and remaining life information is as follows:
Range
of
exercise
prices
|
Total
warrants
outstanding
|
Weighted
average
remaining
life in
years
|
Total
weighted
average
exercise
price
|
Warrants
exercisable
|
Exercisable
weighted
average
exercise
price
|
|||||||||||||||||
$
|
37.50
|
667
|
0.33
|
$
|
37.50
|
667
|
$
|
37.50
|
||||||||||||||
26.10
|
125,072
|
3.17
|
26.10
|
125,072
|
26.10
|
|||||||||||||||||
4.00
|
425,000
|
9.83
|
4.00
|
425,000
|
4.00
|
|||||||||||||||||
2.75
|
330,909
|
4.83
|
2.75
|
330,909
|
2.75
|
|||||||||||||||||
1.70
|
170,250
|
4.53
|
1.70
|
170,250
|
1.70
|
|||||||||||||||||
1.38
|
661,818
|
4.83
|
1.38
|
661,818
|
1.38
|
|||||||||||||||||
1.20
|
312,770
|
1.75
|
1.20
|
312,770
|
1.20
|
|||||||||||||||||
1.19
|
2,422,500
|
4.38
|
1.19
|
2,422,500
|
1.19
|
|||||||||||||||||
1.05
|
35,000
|
8.58
|
1.05
|
35,000
|
1.05
|
|||||||||||||||||
0.75
|
130,000
|
5.47
|
0.75
|
130,000
|
0.75
|
|||||||||||||||||
0.70
|
1,350,000
|
4.67
|
0.70
|
1,350,000
|
0.70
|
|||||||||||||||||
0.60
|
3,783,626
|
4.56
|
0.60
|
3,783,626
|
0.60
|
|||||||||||||||||
0.52
|
663,814
|
2.92
|
0.52
|
663,814
|
0.52
|
|||||||||||||||||
$
|
0.52 - 37.50 |
10,411,426
|
4.19 | 1.35 |
10,411,426
|
1.35 |
The warrants had no intrinsic value at
December 31, 2009.
14.
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
ENVIRONMENTAL
The
Company is regulated as a hazardous waste transporter and TSDF operator and is
subject to various stringent federal, state, and local environmental laws and
regulations relating to pollution, protection of public health and the
environment, and occupational safety and health. The Company is
subject to periodic inspection by the Department of Toxic Substance Control,
DOT, and EPA. The Company has not been subject to any contingencies pursuant to
any environmental law or regulation. Although compliance with these laws and
regulations may affect the costs of the Company’s operations, compliance costs
to date have not been material.
ASSET
RETIREMENT COSTS AND OBLIGATIONS
In
accordance with its Part B operating permit, the Company is liable for certain
costs involving the ultimate closure of its facilities. These
expenses include costs of decommissioning, remediation, and incremental direct
administration costs of closing the facilities.
F-33
Upon
acquisition of General Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova, LLC in June
2004, the Company continued that subsidiary’s implementation of SFAS No. 143,
“Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations,” which addresses financial
accounting and reporting obligations associated with the retirement of tangible
long-lived assets and the related asset retirement costs. The
statement which became effective January 1, 2003, requires that a fair value of
a liability for an asset retirement obligation be recognized in the period in
which it is incurred and capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long
lived asset. When a liability is initially recorded, the entity
capitalizes the cost by increasing the carrying value of the related long lived
asset. Over time, the liability is accreted to its present value each
period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the useful life of the
related asset. On an annual basis the liability to fulfill the
retirement obligation is required to be reviewed and adjusted if
necessary. Management’s review of the liability in 2007 determined no
adjustment was necessary.
The
Company determined the estimated obligation, based on current requirements and
proposed regulatory changes and is intended to approximate fair
value. The estimate of fair value is based on the best available
information, including the results of present value techniques. Once
the retirement costs were determined, the Company inflated those costs to the
expected time of payments and discounts the expected future costs back to
present value. The costs have been inflated in current dollars until
the expected time of payment using an inflation rate of 2.5 percent and have
discounted these costs to present value using a credit-adjusted risk-free
interest rate of 5.5 percent. The accretion of the liability, based
on the effective interest method, and amortization of the property and
equipment, recognized over the estimated life of the location, will be included
in the operating costs and expenses. The discount rate, which is
based on the rates for the United States Treasury bonds, and the inflation rate
is reviewed by the Company on an annual basis.
Upon
acquisition of the Part B permit and facility, the Company’s share of
obligation, was a present value liability of $35,846 and a net increase to plant
and equipment of $35,846.
In the
State of California, the environmental regulatory agencies overseeing the
Company’s operations require the Company to provide assurance that funds will be
available for these costs. The Company has a cash deposit of $900,122 to cover
the ultimate cost of closure at its facility and is reflected as restricted cash
in the accompanying balance sheet.
LEGAL
PROCEEDINGS
On July
5, 2007, a lawsuit was instituted by Romic Environmental Technologies Corp.
(“RET”) against the Company and four of its senior executives, all of whom were
formerly employed by RET. The lawsuit was brought in the Superior Court of
the State of California, County of Los Angeles. The lawsuit was settled by
the Company in February 2010 with the majority of the settlement payment funded
by insurance.
The
Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary
course of its business. Although occasional adverse decisions or
settlements may occur, the Company believes that the final disposition of such
matters will not have material adverse effect on its financial position, results
of operations or liquidity.
OTHER
CONTINGENCIES
The
Company is subject to various regulatory requirements, including the procurement
of requisite licenses and permits at its facilities and for its vehicles and
drivers. These licenses and permits, without which the Company’s
operations would be adversely affected, are subject to periodic
renewal. The Company anticipates that, once a license or permit is
issued with respect to a facility, the license or permit will be renewed at the
end of its term if the facility’s operations are in compliance with the
applicable regulatory requirements.
F-34
Under the
Company’s insurance programs, coverage is obtained for catastrophic exposures,
as well as those risks required to be insured by law or contract. The
Company retains a certain amount of risk through per occurrence deductibles on
its insurance policies.
15.
INCOME TAXES
The
Company's net deferred tax assets (using a federal corporate income rate of 34%)
consisted of the following at December 31;
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Deferred
tax asset, net operating loss
|
$
|
19,411,281
|
$
|
14,184,661
|
||||
Less
valuation allowance
|
(19,411,281
|
)
|
(14,184,661
|
)
|
||||
Net
deferred tax asset
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
As of
December 31, 2009, the Company had federal net operating loss carry forwards of
approximately $58,132,991 expiring in various years through 2025, which can be
used to offset future taxable income, if any. No deferred asset benefit for
these operating losses has been recognized in the financial statements
due to the uncertainty as to their realizability in future
periods.
As a
result of the Company's significant operating loss carryforward and the
corresponding valuation allowance, no income tax expense (benefit) has been
recorded at December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008.
Reconciliation
of the effective income tax rate to the United States statutory income tax rate
for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 is as follows:
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Tax
expense at U.S. statutory income tax rate
|
(34.0)
|
%
|
(34.0)
|
%
|
||||
Increase
in the valuation allowance
|
34.0
|
34.0
|
||||||
Effective
rate
|
-
|
-
|
Effective
January 1, 2007, the Company adopted a new accounting
requirement to Account for Uncertainty in Income Taxes. The interpretation
addresses the determination of whether tax benefits claimed or expected to be
claimed on a tax return should be recorded in the financial statements. Under
the new accounting requirements, we may recognize the tax benefit from an
uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position
will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the
technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial
statements from such a position should be measured based on the largest benefit
that has a greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate
settlement. The new requirements also provides guidance on
derecognition, classification, interest and penalties on income taxes,
accounting in interim periods and requires increased disclosures. At the date of
adoption, and as of December 31, 2009, the Company did not have a
liability for unrecognized tax uncertainties.
The
Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various
states. The Company is subject to U.S. federal or state income tax examinations
by tax authorities for years after 2002. During the periods open to examination,
the Company has net operating loss and tax credit carry forwards for U.S.
federal and state tax purposes that have attributes from closed periods. Since
these NOLs and tax credit carry forwards may be utilized
in future periods, they remain subject to examination.
F-35
The
Company’s policy is to record interest and penalties on uncertain tax provisions
as income tax expense. As of December 31, 2009 the Company has no accrued
interest or penalties related to uncertain tax positions.
16.
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
On
November 25, 2009, General Environmental Management, Inc., a Nevada corporation
(“Company”) entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement ("Purchase Agreement") with
Luntz Acquisition (Delaware), LLC, ("Luntz") a subsidiary of PSC Environmental
Services, LLC (“PSC”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell General
Environmental Management, Inc. (DE) and its subsidiaries (“GEM DE”), which
include five service centers, the TSDF of GEM Rancho Cordova LLC, and the Island
Environmental Services business. Consideration for the sale would be cash in the
aggregate amount of $14 million and the assumption by Luntz of approximately
$1.1 million of long term lease obligations. The final purchase price would be
subject to an adjustment based on the computation of net working capital at
closing. PSC is a leading provider of industrial cleaning, environmental,
remediation, and transportation services. GEM DE, a subsidiary of the Company,
is a full-service hazardous waste management and environmental services firm
with locations in the western United States. On February 19, 2010, at
a Special Meeting, stockholders approved the Purchase Agreement dated as of
November 25, 2009, by and between the Company and Luntz. On February 26,
2010, the Company completed the sale of GEM DE and its
subsidiaries.
Luntz
retained $1.089 million for the one year period following the closing, to assure
payment of certain of the Company’s indemnification obligations, if any, arising
under the Purchase Agreement and the related ancillary
agreements. The purchase price was further reduced by $1.8
million based on the computation of net working capital at closing.
Also in
conjunction with the closing and the Amended and Restated Warrant to Purchase
Shares of Common Stock, CVC of California, The Company's senior lender,
exercised its put option related to its warrant for 2,700,000 shares for a cash
purchase price of $0.75 per Warrant Share or $2,000,000. At closing,
CVC was paid $500,000 and issued 3,750,000 shares of the Company’s common stock
to satisfy the put option. Also in conjunction with the CVC
agreement, General Pacific Partners agreed to convert $575,000 of its related
party indebtedness into 1,437,500 shares of the Company’s common
stock.
The
following unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet was prepared from the
Company’s consolidated financial statements and gives effect to the sale of the
Company’s stock in its wholly owned subsidiary, GEM DE to Luntz as if the sale
had been completed at December 31, 2009. The first adjustment column
(A) represents the sale of GEM DE and related expenses. The second
adjustment column (B) represents the application of net proceeds from the sale
including payments to the senior lender.
F-36
General
Environmental Management, Inc.
Unaudited
Pro Forma Consolidated Balance Sheet
As
of December 31, 2009
December 31,
2009
|
Adjustment
for
Sale
of
GEM
DE
|
Adjustment
for
Application
of
Proceeds
|
Adjusted
December
31,
2009
|
||||||||||||||
ASSETS
|
|||||||||||||||||
Current
assets:
|
|||||||||||||||||
Cash
|
$ | 466,891 | $ | 11,110,285 | $ | (10,283,332 | ) | $ | 1,293,844 |
(a)
|
|||||||
Accounts
receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts
|
974,340 | - | - | 974,340 | |||||||||||||
Prepaid
expenses and current other assets
|
56,196 | - | - | 56,196 | |||||||||||||
Total
current assets
|
1,497,427 | 11,110,285 | (10,283,332 | ) | 2,324,380 | ||||||||||||
Property
and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation
|
12,662,494 | - | - | 12,662,494 | |||||||||||||
OTHER
ASSETS
|
|||||||||||||||||
Restricted
cash
|
900,122 | - | - | 900,122 | |||||||||||||
Intangibles,
net
|
1,455,534 | - | - | 1,455,534 | |||||||||||||
Deposits
|
184,920 | - | - | 184,920 | |||||||||||||
Deferred
financing fees
|
158,898 | - | - | 158,898 | |||||||||||||
Assets
of GM Delaware held for sale
|
2,922,639 | (2,922,639 | ) | - | - | ||||||||||||
Due
from buyer - MTS
|
1,089,341 | - | - | 1,089,341 | |||||||||||||
TOTAL
ASSETS
|
$ | 20,871,375 | $ | 8,187,646 | $ | 10,283,332 | $ | 18,775,689 | |||||||||
Liabilities
and Stockholders’ Deficiency
|
|||||||||||||||||
Current
liabilities:
|
|||||||||||||||||
Accounts
Payable
|
$ | 2,176,801 | 600,000 | - | 2,776,801 |
(b)
|
|||||||||||
Payable
to related entities
|
765,628 | - | (572,500 | ) | 193,128 |
(c)
|
|||||||||||
Accrued
expenses
|
1,277,662 | - | - | 1,277,662 | |||||||||||||
Current
portion of financing agreement
|
12,461,780 | (6,861,780 | ) | 5,600,000 | |||||||||||||
Current
portion of long-term obligations
|
4,822,719 | - | - | 4,822,719 | |||||||||||||
Current
portion of Acquisitions Notes Payable
|
1,072,974 | - | - | 1,072,974 | |||||||||||||
Total
current liabilities
|
22,577,564 | 600,000 | (7,434,280 | ) | 15,743,284 |
F-37
LONG
– TERM LIABILITIES
|
|||||||||||||||||
Long
term obligations, net of current portion
|
3,238,420 | - | - | 3,238,420 | |||||||||||||
Acquisition
Notes Payable, net of current portion
|
7,921,674 | - | - | 7,921,674 | |||||||||||||
Derivative
liabilities
|
2,921,552 | - | (2,921,552 | ) | - |
(d)
|
|||||||||||
Total
long-term liabilities
|
14,081,646 | - | (2,921,552 | ) | 11,160,094 | ||||||||||||
Stockholders’
equity (deficiency)
|
|||||||||||||||||
Common
stock, $.001 par value, 200,000,00 shares authorized 14,557,653 shares
issued and outstanding
|
14,570 | - | - | 14,570 | |||||||||||||
Additional
paid-in capital
|
54,721,872 | - | - | 54,721,872 | |||||||||||||
Accumulated
deficit
|
(70,524,277 | ) | 7,587,646 | 72,500 | (62,864,131 | ) |
(e)
|
||||||||||
Total
stockholders’ equity (deficiency)
|
(15,787,835 | ) | 7,587,646 | 72,500 | (8,127,689 | ) | |||||||||||
Total
liabilities and stockholders’ deficiency
|
$ | 20,871,375 | $ | 8,187,646 | $ | (10,283,332 | ) | $ | 18,775,689 |
Descriptions
of Pro Forma adjustments:
(a)
Cash
proceeds from the sale ($11.14 million) are $14.0 million less $1.80 million
which is the estimated amount needed to fund the working capital
deficit related to the companies being sold, $0.6 million for transaction costs
and $1.09 million being held by Buyer for estimated income tax
liabilities resulting from the sale ($0.425 million), a lease payment holdback
($0.089 million) and potential contingencies post sale ($0.575
million).
(b)
Transaction costs related to the sale
(c
) Conversion of related party debt to equity required by the senior
lender as a condition to closing
(d) To
remove the derivative liability related to the conversion feature of the retired
convertible note
(e) The
net change to equity consists of $2.07 million of lender obligations and related
party debt converted to equity offset by a $2.0 million
expense
generated by a put exercised by the senior lender related to the
sale.
F-38
ITEM 9. Changes in and Disagreements
with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None
ITEM
9A (T). Controls and Procedures
Evaluation
of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We
maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that
information required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports is recorded,
processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the
Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and that such information
is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow for timely
decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the
disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and
procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only
reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management
is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of
possible controls and procedures. Our disclosure controls and procedures were
designed to provide reasonable assurance that the controls and procedures would
meet their objectives.
As
required by SEC Rule 13a-15(b), we carried out an evaluation, under the
supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief
Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the
design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of
the period covered by this report. Based on the foregoing, our Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and
procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Management’s
Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Internal
control over financial reporting refers to the process designed by, or under the
supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and
effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide
reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles, and includes those policies and
procedures that:
(1) Pertain
to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly
reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;
(2) Provide
reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit
preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made
only in accordance with authorization of our management and
directors; and
(3) Provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisitions, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect
on the financial statements.
31
Internal
control over financial reporting cannot provide absolute assurance of achieving
financial reporting objectives because of its inherent limitations. Internal
control over financial reporting is a process that involves human diligence and
compliance and is subject to lapses in judgment and breakdowns resulting from
human failures. Internal control over financial reporting also can be
circumvented by collusion or improper management override. Because of such
limitations, there is a risk that material misstatements may not be prevented or
detected on a timely basis by internal control over financial reporting.
However, these inherent limitations are known features of the financial
reporting process. Therefore, it is possible to design into the process
safeguards to reduce, though not eliminate, this risk. Management is responsible
for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial
reporting for the Company.
Management
has used the framework set forth in the report entitled Internal Control-Integrated
Framework published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission, known as COSO, to evaluate the effectiveness of our
internal control over financial reporting. Based on this assessment, management
has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective
as of December 31, 2008.
This
Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our independent
registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial
reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting was not subject to
attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to
temporary rules of the SEC that permit us to provide only management’s report in
this Annual Report.
There has
been no change in our internal controls over financial reporting during our most
recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.
ITEM
9B. Triggering Events That Accelerate or Increase a Direct Financial
Obligation
None
PART III
ITEM
10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate
Governance
Our
directors serve until the next annual meeting and until their successors are
elected and qualified. Our officers are appointed to serve for one year until
the meeting of the board of directors following the annual meeting of
stockholders and until their successors have been elected and qualified. There
are no family relationships between any of our directors or
officers.
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
Timothy
J. Koziol
|
56
|
Chief
Executive Officer, Chairman
|
Brett
M. Clark
|
58
|
Chief
Financial Officer, Executive Vice President of Finance and
Director
|
James
P. Stapleton
|
50
|
Director
|
William
J. Mitzel
|
52
|
President,
Chief Operating Officer
|
Douglas
B. Edwards
|
53
|
Executive
Vice President and Director
|
Timothy J.
Koziol. Mr. Koziol joined GEM in January 2002 and now serves
as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Koziol implemented
accounting controls and systems to monitor the day-to-day financial position of
GEM, changed operational policies to improve efficiencies, and implemented new
sales and marketing programs to increase revenue. Prior to joining GEM, Mr.
Koziol was a principal of Fortress Funding, Inc., an asset based lending
company, where he was responsible for business development and
underwriting. Mr. Koziol was also a principal in Global Vantage,
Ltd., an investment banking firm located in Newport Beach, CA. Prior
to his work in the financial services industry, Mr. Koziol managed a marketing
consulting firm for national and regional clients. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton
College in Speech Communications and a Masters of Arts (Magma Cum
Laude) from the Wheaton Graduate School in Mass Communications.
32
James P. Stapleton
is currently a consultant and advisor to small public companies. From May 2004
through July 2007 Mr. Stapleton was the Chief Financial Officer of Bionovo
(NASDAQ BNVI). Mr. Stapleton served as GEM.DE's Chief Financial Officer from
November 2003 through April 2004, and is no longer employed by GEM.DE or the
Company. He serves on GEM's Board of Directors. From 1996
through 2002 Mr. Stapleton was employed in a variety of positions for Auxilio,
Inc. (OTC BB AUXO) and Prosoft Training (NASDAQ POSO),
including Corporate Secretary, Vice President Investor relations,
Chief Financial Officer, and other positions. Mr. Stapleton was Chief
Financial Officer of BioTek Solutions, Inc. from 1995 through February
1996.
Brett M. Clark. Mr.
Clark joined GEM in June 2005 as the Chief Financial Officer. From January 2005
to June 2005, he provided consulting services to the Company related to
financial and accounting matters. From June 2005 to December 2006,
Mr. Clark served the Company as Vice President Finance and Chief Financial
Officer. In December 2006 and continuing to the present, he was
promoted to Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial
Officer. From January 2003 through November of 2004 Mr. Clark was the
Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for Day Runner, Inc., a
privately held consumer products distribution company where he was responsible
for the restructuring of the finance, information technology, and accounting
functions in the company’s turnaround. Mr. Clark has been the Chief
Financial Officer for Tru Circle Corporation (2000 – 2002), Adams Rite
Aerospace, Inc. (1997 – 2000) and Chapman University. Prior to these
companies, Mr. Clark was Group Controller for Fleetwood Enterprises, a publicly
traded Fortune 500 manufacturing company and Corporate Controller and Assistant
Secretary for Air Cal, Inc., a publicly traded airline. Prior to work in
publicly traded firms and private enterprises, Mr. Clark worked for Deloitte
& Touche, a “Big 4” CPA firm. He has a Bachelor of Science in
Accounting from the University of Southern California and became a CPA in the
State of California in 1975.
William J.
Mitzel. Mr. Mitzel was formerly Vice President of Sales and
operations at Teris, a Texas-based environmental services company, which was
acquired by Clean Harbors, Inc. While at Teris, Mr. Mitzel was
responsible for the oversight of Teris’ Western Region operations and managed
the sales and service for this 13 state region. From 2000 through
2005 he worked at Romic Environmental Technologies Corporation, serving as
President until October 2005 at which point he was elected as Chairman of the
Board. Mr. Mitzel founded Safari Environmental Management Company in
1997 which he sold to U.S. Liquids. He worked as Regional Vice
President for Rollins Environmental Inc from 1992 – 1997 and grew revenue from
$38M to $98M in that period. While as Regional Vice President at
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. from 1986 – 1992 he built the revenue from $20M
to $40M. He has a BA in Biology from Occidental College.
Douglas B.
Edwards. Mr. Edwards has been the Chief Executive Officer of
SCWW since 2004. Prior to becoming the President and CEO of SCWW, Mr. Edwards
was the Rector (President and Senior Priest) of St. Ambrose Episcopal Parish in
Claremont, California from 1990 through 2005. He has over twenty years
experience in financial and business management. He attended Claremont McKenna
College and St. Clare's Hall, Oxford. He obtained a Masters of Divinity from The
General Theological Seminary in New York and a Doctorate of Ministry at the
Graduate Theological Foundation in Indiana in 1997.
CODE
OF ETHICS
We have
adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to all of our directors, officers and
employees, including our principal executive officer and principal financial
officer. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item
10 of Form 8-K regarding an amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of our
Code of Ethics by filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC, disclosing
such information.
AUDIT
COMMITTEE
The Audit
Committee, which held 3 meetings during fiscal year 2009, recommends the
selection of independent public accountants, reviews the scope of approach to
audit work, meets with and reviews the activities of the Company's
internal accountants and the independent public accountants, makes
recommendations to management or to the Board of Directors as to any changes to
such practices and procedures deemed necessary from time to time to comply with
applicable auditing rules, regulations and practices, and reviews all Form 10-K
Annual and 10-Q interim reports.
33
The Audit
Committee consists of James Stapleton and is an "Audit Committee" for the
purposes of Section 3(a)(58) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Audit
Committee has one "audit committee financial expert" as defined by Item 401(e)
of Regulation S-B under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, James Stapleton, is
"independent" as that term is defined in the rules of the NASDAQ stock
market.
ITEM
11. Executive Compensation
The
following table summarizes the compensation earned by or paid to our principal
executive officer, principal financial officer, a highly compensated executive
officer, other highly compensated individuals who are not executive officers and
a Director; all who served during the fiscal year ended December 31,
2009.
The total
compensation for the three fiscal years ended December 31, 2009 of Timothy J.
Koziol, our Chief Executive Officer, Brett M. Clark, our Chief Financial
Officer, William J. Mitzel, our President and James Stapleton, our Director is
set forth below in the following Summary Compensation Table.
Annual
Compensation
|
Long-Term
Awards
|
Compensation
Payouts
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name
&
Principal
Position
|
Year
|
Salary
($)(1)
|
Bonus
($)
|
Other
Annual
Compensation
($)
|
Restricted
Stock
Award(s)
|
Securities
Underlying
Options/
SARs
|
LTIP
Payouts
|
All
Other Compensation
($)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Timothy
J. Koziol
|
2009
|
253,577
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
100,000(2)
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief
Executive Officer
|
2008
|
303,308
|
25,000
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
2007
|
249,279
|
17,500
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
1,425,000(3)
|
-0-
|
82,810-
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Brett
M. Clark
|
2009
|
201,750
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
100,000(4)
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief
Financial Officer
|
2008
|
213,000
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
2007
|
210,000
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
1,175,000(5)
|
-0-
|
85,085
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
William
J. Mitzel
|
2009
|
147,346
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
100,000(6)
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
President
|
2008
|
156,000
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
2007
|
156,000
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
450,000(7)
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
James
P. Stapleton
|
2009
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
70,000(8)
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Director
|
2008
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
2007
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
35,000
(9)
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
(1)
|
The
compensation described in this table does not include medical, group life
insurance or other benefits received by the named executive officers that
are available generally to all of our salaried employees, and may not
include certain perquisites and other personal benefits received by the
named executive officers that do not exceed the lesser of $50,000 or ten
percent (10%) of any such officer's salary and bonus disclosed in the
table.
|
(2)
|
Includes
100,000 incentive stock options exercisable at $0.75 per
share.
|
(3)
|
Includes
750,000 incentive options exercisable at $1.19 per share, 25,000 incentive
stock options exercisable at $1.70 and 650,000 warrants, exercisable at
$1.19 per share.
|
(4)
|
Includes
100,000 incentive stock options exercisable at $0.75 per
share.
|
(5)
|
Includes
600,000 incentive stock options, exercisable at $1.19 per share, 75,000
incentive stock options exercisable at $1.70 per share and 500,000
warrants, exercisable at $1.19 per share.
|
(6)
|
Includes
100,000 incentive stock options, exercisable at $0.75 per
share.
|
(7)
|
Includes
100,000 incentive stock options, exercisable at $1.70 per share and
350,000 incentive stock options exercisable at $1.19 per
share.
|
(8)
|
Includes
70,000 warrants exercisable at $0.75 per share.
|
(9)
|
Includes
35,000 warrants exercisable at $1.19 per
share.
|
There
were no option exercises by our executive officers during fiscal
2009.
34
ITEM
12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and
Management and Related Stockholder Matters
SECURITY
OWNERSHIP
The
following table sets forth those stockholders who beneficially own 5% or more of
the common stock of the Company, the common stock ownership of the directors and
executive officers, and the stock ownership of the directors and executive
officers as a group:
No.
of
|
%
of Stock
|
|||||||
Shares
|
Outstanding
|
|||||||
Name
and Address
|
Owned
|
(1)
|
||||||
Kevin
P. O’Connell(2)
|
||||||||
660
Newport Center Drive, Suite 720
|
||||||||
Newport
Beach, CA 92660
|
1,342,483
|
(3)
|
9.22.
|
%
|
||||
Timothy
J. Koziol
|
||||||||
3191
Temple Ave., Suite 250
|
||||||||
Pomona
CA 91768
|
1,435,623
|
(4)
|
9.86
|
%
|
||||
Douglas
B. Edwards
|
||||||||
3191
Temple Ave., Suite 250
|
||||||||
Pomona
CA 91768
|
284,750
|
(5)
|
2.51
|
%
|
||||
James
Stapleton
|
||||||||
3191
Temple Ave., Suite 250
|
||||||||
Pomona
CA 91768
|
114,392
|
(6)
|
0.79
|
%
|
||||
Brett
M. Clark
|
||||||||
3191
Temple Ave., Suite 250
|
||||||||
Pomona
CA 91768
|
1,169,163
|
(7)
|
8.03
|
%
|
||||
William
J. Mitzel
|
||||||||
3191
Temple Ave., Suite 250
|
||||||||
Pomona
CA 91768
|
446,875
|
(8)
|
3.07
|
%
|
||||
Laurus
Capital Management, LLC
|
||||||||
825
Third Avenue, 14th Floor
|
1,099,994
|
(9)
|
7.56
|
%
|
||||
New
York, NY 10022
|
||||||||
CVC
California LLC
|
4,804,900
|
(10)
|
33.01
|
%
|
||||
1
N Clemente # 300
West
Palm Beach, FL 33401
|
||||||||
Directors
and Officers as a Group (5 persons)
|
3,450,803
|
23.70
|
%
|
35
(1)
|
Based
upon 14,557,653 shares outstanding.
|
(2)
|
Kevin
P. O’Connell is the Managing Member of Billington Brown Acceptance, LLC,
Revete MAK, LLC, Revete Capital Partners LLC, Lapis Solutions, LLC and
General Pacific Partners, LLC.
|
(3)
|
Includes
1,140,525 warrants to purchase common stock at $0.60, 168,250 warrants to
purchase common stock at $1.19 and 26,250 warrants to purchase common
stock at $1.05.
|
(4)
|
Includes
703,125 options to purchase common stock at $1.19 per share, 18,746
options to purchase common stock at $1.70 per share, 43,750 options to
purchase common stock at $0.75 per share and 6,667 options to purchase
common stock at $30.00 per share. Includes 650,000 warrants to purchase
common stock at $1.19.
|
(5)
|
Includes
284,750 warrants to purchase common stock at $4 per
share.
|
(6)
|
Includes
35,000 warrants to purchase common stock at $1.19 per share and 70,000
warrants to purchase common stock at $0.75 per
share.
|
(7)
|
Includes
562,500 options to purchase common stock at $1.19 per share, 56,246
options to purchase common stock at $1.70 per share, 43,750 options to
purchase common stock at $0.75 per share and 6,667 options to purchase
common stock at $39.00 per share. Includes 500,000 warrants to purchase
common stock at $1.19.
|
(8)
|
Includes
328,125 options to purchase common stock at $1.19 per share, 75,000
options to purchase common stock at $1.70 per share, and 43,750 options to
purchase common stock at $0.75 per
share.
|
(9)
|
Laurus
Capital Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Laurus
Capital”), serves as the investment manager of Laurus Master
Fund, LTD., Valens U.S. SPV I, LLC and Valens Offshore SPV I, LTD
(together, the “Laurus Funds”) and possesses the sole power to vote and
the sole power to direct the disposition of all securities of the Company
held by the Laurus Funds, which, as of the date hereof, constitute an
aggregate of 1,099,994 shares upon exercise of warrants. Mr.
Eugene Grin and Mr. David Grin, through other entities, are the
controlling principals of Laurus Capital. Laurus Capital, Mr. Eugene Grin
and Mr. David Grin each disclaim beneficial ownership of such shares,
except to the extent of its of his pecuniary interest therein, if
any.
|
(10)
|
Includes
1,350,000 warrants to purchase common stock at $0.60 per share and
1,350,000 warrants to purchase common stock at $0.70 and 2,104,900 shares
of common stock issuable on conversion of debt. Mr. Gary Jaggard is the
controlling principal of CVC California, LLC. Mr. Gary Jaggard disclaims
beneficial ownership of such shares, except to the extent of his pecuniary
interest therein, if any.
|
EQUITY
COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION
The
following table provides information with respect to the equity securities that
are authorized for issuance under our compensation plans as of December 31,
2009:
Plan
Category
|
Number
of Securities
to
be issued upon exercise
of
outstanding options,
warrants
and rights
|
Weighted-average
exercise
price of
outstanding
options,
warrants
and rights
|
Number
of securities
remaining
available
for
future issuance
under
equity
compensation
plans
(excluding
securities
reflected
in column (a))
|
Equity
compensation plans approved by security holders
|
3,400,155
|
$1.54
|
2,187,962
|
36
On
February 14, 2007, the Company completed the reverse split of the outstanding
common stock, par value $0.001 per share, by a ratio of 1-for-30. All
share and per share calculations and option shares have been retro-actively
adjusted to reflect this reverse split as if it occurred at the beginning of the
earliest period presented.
Prior to
acquisition by the Company, General Environmental Management, Inc. of Delaware’s
Board of Directors approved and implemented the 2005 Stock Option Plan (“The
2005 Plan”). The Plan authorized option grants to employees and other persons
closely associated with the Company for the purchase of up to 88,117
shares.
During
2006, the Board of Directors of General Environmental Management, Inc. granted
to employees a total of 12,587 options and cancelled 1,537
options. The exercise price for the options was the market value of
the stock at the date of the grant.
During
2009, 2008 and 2007, the Board of Directors cancelled 1,852, 10,854 and 24,779
options respectively.
On March
28, 2007 the Board of Directors approved and implemented the 2007 Stock Option
Plan (the “2007 Plan”). The plan authorized option grants to
employees and other persons closely associated with the Company for the purchase
of up to 5,500,000 shares. During 2007 the Stock Option Committee
granted a total of 5,233,268 options, had exercises of 100 options, and
cancelled 289,188. The exercise price of the options was the market
value of the stock at the date of the grant.
During
the year ended December 31, 2008 the Stock Option Committee granted a total of
173,000 options and cancelled 384,001 options.
During
the year ended December 31, 2009 the Stock Option Committee granted a total of
604,500 options, had an exercise of 250 options and cancelled 1,966,656
options.
The
weighted average exercise price of the options at December 31, 2009 was $1.54
per share.
ITEM
13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and
Director Independence
The
Company has entered into several transactions with General Pacific Partners
(“GPP”), a company operated by a prior member of the Board of Directors of the
Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. of
Delaware. GPP owns 5% of the Company’s common stock at December 31,
2009.
37
During
February and March 2008, General Pacific Partners made two unsecured advances to
the Company totaling $472,500. The proceeds were used for working capital
purposes. The rate of interest on the advances is 10% per annum. The funds were
originally due six months from the date of issuance. On June 30, 2008, the
maturity date was extended an additional six months to February 14, 2009 and
March 19, 2009. In connection with the note extension the Company issued (i)
200,000 shares of its common stock valued at $220,000 and, (ii) a warrant to
purchase up to 225,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $0.60 for a
period of seven (7) years. The Company valued the warrants at $222,500 using a
Black - Scholes option pricing model. For the Black - Scholes
calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free interest rate of
4.78 %, expected volatility of 75.88 % and an expected term for the warrants of
7 years. The value of the common shares of $220,000 and value of the
warrants of $222,500 has been reflected by the Company as a valuation discount
at issuance and offset to the face amount of the Notes. The Valuation
discount is being amortized to interest expense over the life of the loan based
upon the effective interest method. Finance costs for the year ended December
31, 2009 includes $109,324 for amortization of this discount. The valuation
discount was fully amortized at September 30, 2009. On February 13,
2009 the maturity date was extended until March 31, 2010. As of December 31,
2009, $534,129 remained outstanding (including accrued interest of
$61,719).
In 2008,
GPP provided services related to the financing completed with CVC California,
LLC. Pursuant to these services the Company agreed to pay GPP $250,000. The cash
paid has been reflected as part of deferred financing fees on the accompanying
balance sheet at December 31 2009 and December 31, 2008. During the year ended
December 31, 2009, GPP agreed to convert $150,000 of the cash owed to them and
$164,756 incurred for other fees and costs into 524,594 shares of the Company’s
common stock in settlement for amounts due. The balance due to GPP as
of December 31, 2009 is $100,000.
During the
year ended December 31, 2009 a related individual made an unsecured
advance with no formal terms of repayment to the Company totaling $115,000. The
proceeds were used for working capital purposes. During the year ended December
31, 2009 the Company made payments on the advance totaling $7,500. At December
31, 2009 the balance due on the advance was $107,500.
Letter of Credit
Services
On July
1, 2008 the Company entered into an agreement with GPP wherein GPP would provide
letters of credit to support projects contracted to GEM. The fees under the
agreement consisted of (i) a commitment fee of 2% of the value of the letter of
credit, (ii) interest at a rate to be negotiated, and (iii) a seven year warrant
to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at $0.60 per
share.
Software
Support
In 2008,
the Company entered into a three year agreement with Lapis Solutions, LLC,
(Lapis) a company managed by a prior member of the Board of Directors of the
Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, General Environmental Management, Inc. of
Delaware, wherein Lapis would provide support and development services for the
Company’s proprietary software GEMWARE. Service costs related to the agreement
total $10,800 per month. As of December 31, 2008, $92,555 of such fees had been
prepaid to Lapis and included in the accompanying balance sheet as part of
prepaid expenses. During 2009, the Company made further advances of
$224,454 to Lapis. At December 31, 2009, the Company determined that
the total paid to Lapis no longer had continuing value to the Company given the
divestiture of its recycling management business and recorded a charge
of $317,009.
Related Party Lease
Agreement
During
the third quarter ended September 30, 2007, the Company entered into a lease for
$180,846 of equipment with current investors of the Company. The
lease transaction was organized by General Pacific Partners, a related party,
with these investors. The lease has been classified as a capital
lease and included in property and equipment (See note 5) and requires payments
of $4,000 per month beginning August 1, 2007 through 2012. As an
inducement to enter into the lease, the Company issued the leasing entity
100,000 two year warrants to purchase common stock at $1.20. These warrants were
valued at $187,128 using the Black - Scholes valuation model and such cost is
being amortized to expense over the life of the lease. For the Black
- Scholes calculation, the Company assumed no dividend yield, a risk free
interest rate of 4.78 %, expected volatility of 56.60 % and an expected term for
the warrants of 2 years. As of December 31, 2009, there was $20,000
of accrued payments due under these leases.
38
ITEM
14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
Independent
Auditor Fees
Fees for
professional services provided by GEM’s independent auditors, Weinberg &
Company, for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 are as
follows:
Fees
|
2009
|
2008
|
||||||
Audit
fees
|
193,210
|
152,490
|
||||||
Audit
related fees
|
57,571
|
40,042
|
||||||
Tax
fees
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||
All
other fees
|
-0-
|
-0-
|
||||||
Total
fees
|
250,781
|
192,532
|
Audit
fees consist of fees related to GEM’s year end financial statements and review
of GEM’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Audit related fees
principally include audits in connection with the acquisition completed during
2009.
It is the
policy of GEM’s audit committee to approve all engagements of GEM’s independent
auditors to render audit or non-audit services prior to the initiation of such
services.
PART IV
ITEM
15. Exhibits, Financial Statements Schedules
The
following are exhibits filed as part of GEM's Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2009:
EXHIBIT
NUMBER
|
DESCRIPTION
|
|
2.1
|
Articles
of Incorporation of the Registrant *
|
|
3.1
|
Articles
of Amendment of Articles of Incorporation of the Registrant
*
|
|
3.2
|
Bylaws
of the Registrant *
|
|
31.1
|
CEO
Certification **
|
|
31.2
|
CFO
Certification **
|
|
32.1
|
CEO
Certification **
|
|
32.2
|
CFO
Certification **
|
* Previously
Filed
** Filed
Herewith
Reports
on Form 8-K
(1) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated September 24,2008
(2) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated June 4, 2009
(3) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated September 8, 2009
(4) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated September 11, 2009
(5) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated November 18, 2009
(6) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated December 3, 2009
(7) As
filed with the commission on Form 8K dated December 23, 2009
39
SIGNATURES
In
accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant has caused
this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized.
GENERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC
|
|||
Dated:
April 15, 2010
|
By:
|
/s/ Timothy
J. Koziol
|
|
Timothy
J. Koziol
President,
CEO and
Chairman
of the Board of Directors
|
Dated:
April 15, 2010
|
By:
|
/s/ Brett
M. Clark
|
|
Brett
M. Clark
Executive
Vice President Finance,
Chief
Financial Officer
|
40