SEC Comment Letter for Charlie's Holdings, Inc. (CHUC) (CIK 0001134765) (CHUC) — Jan 6, 2005
Charlie's Holdings, Inc. (CHUC) (CIK 0001134765)
Date: Jan. 6, 2005 · CIK: 0001134765 · Accession: 0000000000-05-001139
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-121063
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<DOCUMENT> <TYPE>LETTER <SEQUENCE>1 <FILENAME>filename1.txt <TEXT> Mail Stop 3-09 January 6, 2005 Sanford D. Greenberg Chief Executive Officer VitaCube Systems Holdings, Inc. 480 South Holly Street Denver, CO 80246 Re: VitaCube Systems Holdings, Inc. Registration Statement on Form SB-2 File No. 333-121063 Dear Mr. Greenberg: We have reviewed your filing and have the following comments. Where indicated, we think you should revise your documents in response to these comments. If you disagree, we will consider your explanation as to why our comment is inapplicable or a revision is unnecessary. Please be as detailed as necessary in your explanation. In some of our comments, we may ask you to provide us with supplemental information so we may better understand your disclosure. After reviewing this information, we may or may not raise additional comments. Please understand that the purpose of our review process is to assist you in your compliance with the applicable disclosure requirements and to enhance the overall disclosure in your filing. We look forward to working with you in these respects. We welcome any questions you may have about our comments or on any other aspect of our review. Feel free to call us at the telephone numbers listed at the end of this letter. Form SB-2 Registration Fee Table and Second Prospectus Cover Page (for warrants only) 1. We refer to footnote 5 of the Fee Calculation Table where you indicate in connection with the sale of units you are granting to certain stockholders 250,000 Class A public warrants and 250,000 Class B public warrants in consideration of their agreements to not sell their securities for 12 months from completion of this offering. It appears that you are registering the issuance of the securities rather than the resale of such securities. We are concerned because if the offering of the securities was conducted privately, then the distribution of the securities must also be completed privately. As such, registering the issuance of the securities is inappropriate. Rather, you should register the resale of the securities and include all the information required by Item 507 of Regulation S-B relating to selling shareholder disclosure. Please revise your prospectus cover page relating to the warrants only and provide in the alternate prospectus pages the information required by Item 507 of Regulation S-B. Please also supplementally explain to us the facts and circumstances under which you determined to issue the securities that are being issued to certain securityholders. 2. In addition, please provide us with an analysis as to whether it is appropriate to register these securities for resale pursuant to this registration statement as it is unclear whether you have completed your private placement offering. 3. We note your disclosure that your warrants are exercisable at any time after 45 days from the effective date of your offering of the units or such earlier date as the public warrant becomes separately traded. In that regard, it appears you may need to update your prospectus to keep it current for the benefit of those holders who may exercise their warrants. Therefore, it appears you should provide the appropriate Rule 415 undertakings in Part II of your registration statement. In addition, although Form SB-2 does not contain a space to indicate that the securities are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, please revise to include this disclosure. 4. Please tell us when you intend to first distribute a prospectus and when you intend to provide pricing information. Please note that if you intend to distribute a preliminary prospectus prior to pricing, your document should disclose the formula or other disclosure containing the relationship between the price of your common stock and the offering price of the units. 5. We note your disclosure throughout this document of a 1-for-5 reverse stock split of your common stock expected to be consummated on December 8, 2004. Please revise your document to indicate if the reverse stock has occurred or not. Prospectus Cover Page (for units offering) 6. Please limit your cover page to the information required by Item 501 of Regulation S-B and only to one page. For example, your first paragraph appears to contain too many details. You should limit the information contained in the first paragraph to the title, amount of securities, the offering price of the securities and the components of the unit. Please note that in describing the components of the unit, the information should not repeat the details regarding the terms of the warrants already provided in your Summary section. In addition, please remove the third paragraph to an appropriate place in your document. Graphical Reference 7. We note your reference to "Pictures of Several Professional Athlete Endorsers and Some of Our Products." Please provide us proofs of all graphic, visual or photographic information you will provide in the printed prospectus. Please note we may have comments regarding this material. 8. Please also consider whether the use of testimonials is appropriate for inclusion in the registration statement. We are concerned the use of testimonials may be inappropriate for inclusion as a prospectus is intended to sell securities of a company rather than the specific products of a company. In this regard, we are concerned that the testimonials may lead an investor to emphasize information concerning the products rather than the securities you are offering for sale. Please provide us with a detailed explanation as to why you believe inclusion of testimonials is appropriate for use in the prospectus. Please further note that if you retain the testimonials, you must file a signed consent of the persons making the testimonials to the inclusion of the testimonials as presented in the filing. Prospectus Summary, page 1 9. We note that the disclosure contained in the sections entitled "Our Business", "Our Business Strategy" and "Our Competitive Strengths" are repetitious. Please revise your summary to eliminate the redundancy. The Offering, page 4 10. We note the disclosure you provide under the heading "Risk Factors" in this section. Please relocate this disclosure to page 1 of the summary where you discuss the key aspects of your business under the heading "Our Business." In addition, please note that in its current form, the enumerated risks you disclose is difficult to read. For the benefit of investors, please provide the enumerated risks in bullet format. Risk Factors, page 8 11. Please include a risk factor that discusses your charter and bylaw provisions and how such provisions would prevent a change of control in management. In the alternative, advise us as to why you do not believe a risk factor is necessary. 12. We note your disclosure on page 24 under the heading "Dilution" that purchasers of this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value of the common stock from the public offering price, without ascribing any value to the Class A and Class B public warrants included in a unit. Please include a separate risk factor that discusses the risk you have described in your Dilution section. "We have a history of operating losses and a significant accumulated deficit . . . .," page 8 13. We note your disclosure that you intend to incur significant expenses in seeking to expand your sales. Please quantify the amount of expenses you expect to incur in the next 12 to 18 months. Please also provide similar disclosure in your Liquidity and Capital Resources section. "Because our working capital requirements have been and will continue to be . . . .," page 8 14. Each risk factor should discuss one risk. We note that the discussion in the last sentence of this risk appear to be discussing two separate risks. More specifically, the separate risk that if you issued additional capital, the dilution consequences of such an issuance; and the separate risk of debt financing, which may involve unfavorable financial terms or significant restrictive covenants. Please revise this section such that each risk factor is presented separately. "Our failure to recruit, maintain and motivate a large base of productive . . . .," page 9 15. Please explain the reasons why you anticipate your independent distributor organization will be headed by a small number of key independent distributors who will be responsible for a disproportionate amount of your revenues. Please also indicate if this is the current situation. "A change in the amount of compensation paid to our independent distributors . . . .," page 9 16. We note your disclosure that you expect that one of your significant expenses will be payment of compensation to your independent distributors. Please disclose the percentage that such expenses represented of your total revenues since you switched to using independent distributors to sell your products. 17. We note your statement that changes to your independent distributor compensation changes may make it difficult for you to recruit and retain qualified and motivated independent distributors. Please indicate whether you intend to make such changes in the near future. If so, please indicate the approximate timeframe of when you expect to make such changes as well describe the expected changes to the extent you can. "We are not in a position to exert the same level of influence or control over our . . . .," page 9 18. If historically violations by your independent distributors of applicable laws or policies and procedures have negatively affected your products, operations and business reputation, please revise to disclose this information. "Our direct selling program through independent distributors could be found not. . . .," page 10 19. Please indicate if you have historically experienced an adverse judicial determination with respect to direct selling program that had a material adverse effect on your sales efforts. 20. You indicate that proceedings related to direct selling program not directly involving you but that which challenge the legality of direct selling systems could have a material adverse effect on your sales efforts and lead to lower revenues. You also state that direct selling programs of some other companies have been successfully challenged in the past. Please briefly describe these challenges and how they have affected direct selling companies. "We are dependent on a limited number of independent suppliers and . . . .," page 12 21. You should identify any third parties that you substantially rely on for the supply or manufacturers of your products. To the extent you are, please revise this risk factor to address your reliance on such parties. In addition, if you have agreements with such individuals, please describe the material terms of the agreement in the discussion of your Business and file the agreement as an exhibit to your registration statement. If you believe you are not substantially dependent on your supply or manufacturing agreements, provide us with a supplemental analysis supporting your determination. 22. Please indicate if these parties currently meet your supply and manufacturing requirements. Additionally, if difficulties in obtaining needed supplies have ever caused a material delay or disruption to your business, please discuss. "We face significant competition from existing suppliers of products similar to ours," page 12 23. Please revise your disclosure in this risk factor and elsewhere where applicable to identify those products which your key competitors currently have or are developing and how you expect your competitors intend to compete with your products. "Adverse publicity associated with our products, ingredients or direct selling . . . .," page 13 24. Please revise to describe the type of negative publicity the industry or you have received. "We have primarily used one individual to formulate all of our products, and the . . . .," page 14 25. Please indicate if you maintain any consulting or other formal agreement with Dr. William Wheeler. In addition, please describe the material terms of this agreement in an appropriate place of your document and file the agreement as an exhibit. To the extent you have no such agreement, please indicate the reasons why you have not entered into an agreement given your stated reliance on him. 26. You state in this risk factor that Dr. Wheeler formulates nutritional products which may compete with your products. Please revise to indicate whether any products currently compete with your products. "A slower growth rate in the nutritional supplemental industry could lessen our . . . .," page 15 27. Please provide us with copies of the sources that support your statement that the trend of significantly slower rate of growth in your industry was reversed in 2003. Please also identify the source in your risk factor and elsewhere in the document where you make similar remarks. "An active trading market for our securities may not be developed or sustained . . . .," page 16 28. Please revise this risk factor to reflect the idea that your common stock is subject to the penny stock rules, which generally have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity for your stock. 29. To illustrate the limited market for your common stock, please disclose the average daily trading volume over the most recent 30 day period and the number of holders of your common stock as of a recent date. "The representative has limited experience as a managing underwriter, which may . . . .," page 17 30. To better illustrate the risk you described in this risk factor, please disclose how long your managing underwriter has been in the business of underwriting securities, and how many firm commitment underwritings the representative has undertaken. "Certain events could result in dilution of your ownership of our common stock . . . .," page 17 31. Please disclose the number of shares of common stock authorized but currently unissued. "The Class A and Class B public warrants may be redeemed on short notice . . . .," page 17 32. Please revise your disclosure to indicate whether you may call any of the warrants for redemption during a time when you do not have an effective registration statement for the exercise of the warrants. We do not pay cash dividends," page 18 33. Please be advised that so far as the risk to investors is concerned, this risk states that you will not pay dividends, which is not a risk by itself to investors. Clearly state that readers should not rely on an investment in your company if they require dividend income and an income to them would only come from any rise in the market price of your stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable. Management`s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, page 28 34. Please include a description, in qualitative and quantitative terms, of any known trends or transactions that you reasonably expect will have a material impact on your results of operations and your expectation of whether the present trend of net losses will continue. See Item 303(b)(1) of Regulation S-B. 35. Please discuss the uncertainty regarding the substantial doubt regarding the company`s ability to continue as a going concern and the expected effects of this uncertainty on operations and financial position. Results of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2004, page 30 36. Please revise your discussion to include the specific product or products and the percentage that each product represented of your net sales for the period you have provided in this section. Please also make similar changes to the other periods you discuss in your Results of Operations section. Results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2003, page