SEC Company Response from SONOMA COLLEGE INC (CIK 0001308930) — Mar 24, 2005
SONOMA COLLEGE INC (CIK 0001308930)
Date: March 24, 2005 · CIK: 0001308930 · Accession: 0000930413-05-002029
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File numbers found in text: 333-120671
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<TYPE>CORRESP
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COHEN & CZARNIK LLP
140 Broadway
36th Floor
New York, New York 10005
STEPHEN J. CZARNIK, ESQ.
Direct Dial: (212) 232-8323
Fax: (212) 937-3870
March 24, 2005
VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS AND FACSIMILE
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attention: John Reynolds, Assistant Director
Office of Emerging Growth Companies
Re: Sonoma College, Inc.
Registration Statement on Form SB-2 (Reg. No. 33-120671)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of Sonoma College, Inc., I am submitting this letter in
response to the comment letter of the staff of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "COMMISSION"), dated February 1, 2005, regarding Sonoma
College's registration statement on Form SB-2 (Reg. No. 333-120671), Amendment
No. 1, dated December 27, 2004. Amendment No. 2 to the registration statement
was transmitted via EDGAR yesterday, March 22, 2005, which includes changes made
to the registration statement in response to the staff's comments. I also
enclose five (5) copies of Amendment No. 2 to the registration statement.
This letter recites below each comment of the Commission numbered in
accordance with the comment letter and, following each comment, sets forth our
response.
GENERAL:
1. WE NOTE THAT THERE IS CURRENTLY NO MARKET FOR YOUR COMMON SHARES. GIVEN
THIS, PLEASE REVISE YOUR COVER PAGE TO PROVIDE THAT SELLING SECURITY
HOLDERS WILL SELL THE COMMON STOCK AT A FIXED PRICE, WHICH IS
QUANTIFIED IN YOUR PROSPECTUS, UNTIL YOU'RE THE SHARES ARE QUOTED ON
THE OTC BULLETIN BOARD (OR OTHER SPECIFIED MARKET) AND THEREAFTER AT
PREVAILING MARKET PRICES OR PRIVATELY NEGOTIATED PRICES. SEE ITEM 16 OF
SCHEDULE A TO THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933.
We have revised the cover page of the prospectus to provide that the selling
security holders will sell the common stock at a fixed price, $1.00 per share,
until the shares are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board and thereafter at
prevailing market prices or privately negotiated prices.
<PAGE>
Mr. John Reynolds, Assistant Director
Securities and Exchange Commission
March 24, 2005
Page 2 of 21
2. WE NOTE THAT THE COMPANY COMMENCED A PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF ITS
SECURITIES IN RELIANCE ON REGULATION D COMMENCING IN APRIL 2004. IT
DOES NOT APPEAR THAT THE COMPANY FILED A FORM D IN CONNECTION WITH THIS
OFFERING. PLEASE FILE THE REQUIRED FORM D FOR THE OFFERING.
ADDITIONALLY, PROVIDE US WITH A COPY OF THE FORM D THAT WAS FILED. WE
MAY HAVE FURTHER COMMENT.
The Company filed a Form D on February 22, 2005 with respect to its private
placement commencing in April 2004, a copy is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
3. YOU REFER TO SONOMA COLLEGE, INC. AS THE "COMPANY" IN YOUR PROSPECTUS.
THE TERMS "COMPANY" IS A VAGUE AND ABSTRACT TERM. USE YOUR ACTUAL
COMPANY NAME, A SHORTENED VERSION OF IT, OR THE PRONOUN "WE" OR "US"
THROUGHOUT YOUR DOCUMENT YOU REFER TO YOUR COMPANY.
We have revised the prospectus to use the actual company name, a shortened
version of it, or the pronoun "we" or "us" throughout our document when we refer
to Sonoma College, Inc.
COVER PAGE:
4. WE NOTE THAT THE CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RISK FACTORS AND THE LEGEND
REQUIRED BY ITEM 501(a)(7) FOLLOWING THE CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RISK
FACTORS SECTION ON THE COVER PAGE ARE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. ALL
CAPITAL LETTERS IMPEDE THE READABILITY OF THE DISCLOSURE. INSTEAD ALL
OF THE CAPITAL LETTERS, USE BOLD FACT TYPE OR ITALICS TO HIGHLIGHT THE
INFORMATION.
We have revised the prospectus accordingly; although the italics do not show up
in the EDGAR version.
5. PLEASE REVISE TO DELETE YOUR STATEMENT THAT YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR COMMON
STOCK WILL TRADE ON THE OTC BULLETIN BOARD. YOU MAY ADDRESS THIS
INFORMATION IN A LATER PART OF YOUR PROSPECTUS.
We have deleted the statement in the prospectus that we anticipate that our
common stock will trade on the OTC Bulletin Board.
6. WE NOTE YOUR CROSS REFERENCE TO THE "PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION" SECTION.
REVISE THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT TO DELETE THE USE OF CROSS-REFERENCES
FROM THE FOREPART OF THE PROSPECTUS EXCEPT FOR THE CROSS-REFERENCE TO
THE RISK FACTORS ON THE COVER PAGE.
We have removed the cross references from the forepart of the prospectus except
for the cross-reference to the risk factors on the cover page.
OUTSIDE BACK COVER PAGE OF PROSPECTUS:
7. PLEASE REMOVE THE STATEMENT "[T]HE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS
PROSPECTUS IS CORRECT ONLY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PROSPECTUS".
We have removed the statement from the prospectus.
8. PLEASE INCLUDE THE DATE OF THE DEALER PROSPECTUS DELIVERY OBLIGATION.
SEE ITEM 502(b) OF REGULATION S-B.
We included the date of the dealer prospectus delivery obligation, June 11,
2005.
<PAGE>
Mr. John Reynolds, Assistant Director
Securities and Exchange Commission
March 24, 2005
Page 3 of 21
SUMMARY:
9. WE NOTE THAT YOUR INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH IN THIS SECTION IS IN ALL
CAPITAL LETTERS. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IMPEDES THE READABILITY OF THE
DISCLOSURE. INSTEAD OF ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, USE BOLD FACE TYPE OR
ITALICS TO HIGHLIGHT THE INFORMATION. REVISE THROUGHOUT THE PROSPECTUS
AS NECESSARY. SPECIFICALLY REVISE THE RISK FACTOR SUBHEADINGS.
We have revised the prospectus throughout to substitute italics for all capital
letters; although the italics do not show up in the EDGAR version.
10. WE NOTE THAT THE COMPANY RECENTLY HAD A NET LOSS FOR ITS FISCAL YEAR
END OF 2004. PLEASE PROVIDE A BALANCED PRESENTATION AT THE BEGINNING OF
THE SUMMARY THAT INCLUDES THIS INFORMATION.
We have revised the prospectus to include the following:
"While we experienced increased revenues in each current period as compared to
the comparable period of the preceding year, we incurred net losses in the six
months ended December 31, 2004 and the year ended June 30, 2004 of $809,314
(unaudited) and $235,832, respectively as we continued to implement our growth
plans. The following table summarizes these results. . ."
11. PLEASE INCLUDE A SUMMARY FINANCIAL TABLE.
We have revised the prospectus to include the following:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
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YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, SIX MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31,
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2004 2003 2004 2003
---- ---- ---- ----
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(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
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<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Revenues $ 1,618,731 $ 1,588,102 $ 842,843 $ 778,830
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net (Loss) Income $ (235,832) $ 39,035 $ (809, 314) $ 34,590
=========
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Net (Loss) Income Per Common Share, Basic $ (0.0) $ 0.0 $(.01) $0.0
and Diluted ======= ===== ====== ====
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
RISK FACTORS:
12. PLEASE AVOID THE GENERIC CONCLUSION YOU REACH IN MOST OF YOUR RISK
FACTOR SUBHEADINGS AND NARRATIVES THAT THE RISK WILL ADVERSELY AFFECT
YOUR BUSINESS OR MAY HARM OR HURT YOUR BUSINESS. INSTEAD, REPLACE THIS
LANGUAGE WITH SPECIFIC DISCLOSURE OF HOW YOUR BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS
WOULD BE AFFECTED.
We have revised the risk factor subheadings and narratives of the prospectus to
include specific disclosures of how our business and operations would be
affected.
<PAGE>
Mr. John Reynolds, Assistant Director
Securities and Exchange Commission
March 24, 2005
Page 4 of 21
13. WE NOTE THAT THE NARRATIVE IN RISK FACTOR ONE AND OTHER RISK FACTORS IS
LONG AND TECHNICAL. SOME OF THE INFORMATION COULD BE DISCUSSED IN OTHER
PARTS OF THE PROSPECTUS, SUCH AS THE BUSINESS SECTION. PLEASE REVISE
RISK FACTOR ONE AND OTHER SIMILAR RISK FACTORS ACCORDINGLY.
We have revised the risk factors to delete long and technical discussions which
are included within the business section of the prospectus.
14. YOU SHOULD PRESENT AS RISK FACTORS ONLY THOSE FACTORS THAT REPRESENT A
MATERIAL RISK TO INVESTORS IN THIS OFFERING. DO NOT INCLUDE RISK
FACTORS THAT COULD APPLY TO ANY ISSUER OR TO ANY OTHER OFFERING. SOME
OF YOUR RISK FACTORS SEEM TO FIT INTO THIS CATEGORY AND YOU SHOULD
REVISE TO CITE A PARTICULAR RISK, OR REMOVE THEM. EACH FACTOR MUST ALSO
EXPLAIN HOW IT APPLIES TO YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR OFFERING. FOR EXAMPLE,
PLEASE SEE RISK FACTORS 11, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 AND 26.
We have revised the risk factors of the prospectus to only include those factors
that represent a material risk to investors in this offering. We have removed
risk factors 11, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, and 26 from the prospectus.
15. PLEASE REVISE THE LAST RISK FACTOR SO THAT THE RISK FACTOR SUBHEADING
IS THE SAME RISK DISCUSSED IN THE NARRATIVE. IT IS UNCLEAR FROM YOUR
RISK FACTOR NARRATIVE HOW BEING QUOTED ON THE OVER-THE-COUNTER
ELECTRONIC BUTTON BOARD MAY CAUSE DIFFICULTY IN TRADING OF THE COMMON
STOCK.
We have revised the last risk factor subheading to "You may experience
difficulty in trading our common stock because of penny stock regulations which
may limit a shareholder's ability to buy and sell our common stock."
16. PLEASE INCLUDE A RISK FACTOR REGARDING THE COMPANY'S NET LOSSES FROM
OPERATIONS. SEE ITEM 503(c)(1) OF REGULATION S-B.
We have added the following risk factor in the prospectus:
"WE HAVE NOT RECORDED AN ANNUAL OPERATING PROFIT SINCE OUR FISCAL YEAR ENDED
JUNE 30, 2003. CONTINUING LOSSES MAY EXHAUST OUR CAPITAL RESOURCES AND FORCE US
TO DISCONTINUE OPERATIONS.
Our last recorded annual operating profit was for the 2003 fiscal year. From
June 30, 2004 through December 31, 2004, we incurred losses of $809,314. We
cannot be sure that we will achieve profitability in 2005 or thereafter."
17. PLEASE INCLUDE A RISK FACTOR REGARDING THE LACK OF A MARKET FOR YOUR
COMMON STOCK. SEE ITEM 503(c)(1) OF REGULATION S-B.
We have added the following risk factor:
BECAUSE THERE IS NOT NOW AND MAY NEVER BE A PUBLIC MARKET FOR OUR COMMON STOCK,
INVESTORS MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY IN SELLING THEIR SHARES.
<PAGE>
Mr. John Reynolds, Assistant Director
Securities and Exchange Commission
March 24, 2005
Page 5 of 21
Our common stock is currently not quoted on any market. No market may ever
develop for our common stock, or if developed, may not be sustained in the
future. Accordingly, our shares should be considered totally illiquid, which
inhibits investors' ability to sell their shares.
18. THE RISK FACTOR SUBHEADINGS SHOULD STATE THE MATERIAL RISK IN A CLEAR
AND CONCISE MANNER. IN THIS REGARD, THE SUBHEADING SHOULD DISCLOSE THE
CONSEQUENCES TO THE INVESTOR OR TO SONOMA COLLEGE, SHOULD THE RISK
MATERIALIZE. PLEASE REVISE YOUR RISK FACTOR SUBHEADINGS ACCORDINGLY, AS
APPLICABLE.
Please see the response to comment number 17.
19. PLEASE REVISE TO ELIMINATE PARENTHETICAL PHRASES THROUGHOUT YOUR
DOCUMENT. IF THE INFORMATION IN THE PARENTHETICAL PHRASE IS IMPORTANT
ENOUGH TO BE INCLUDED IN THE DISCLOSURE, REVISE THE SENTENCE OR INCLUDE
THE INFORMATION IN ITS OWN SENTENCE.
We have revised the prospectus to eliminate any unnecessary parentheticals.
20. WE NOTE YOUR USE OF AN IMBEDDED LIST IN THE RISK FACTORS SECTION.
REVISE THE PROSPECTUS TO DELETE THE USE OF ALL IMBEDDED LISTS. RATHER
THAN INCLUDE THESE LISTS IN PARAGRAPH FORM, BREAK THEM OUT INTO BULLET
POINTS, WITH ONE BULLET POINT FOR EACH ITEM LISTED.
We have revised the prospectus to include imbedded lists as bullet points.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
21. PLEASE REMOVE THE WORD "WILL" FROM THE PARAGRAPH IDENTIFYING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.
We have removed the word "will" from the paragraph identifying forward-looking
statements.
SELLING SECURITY HOLDERS:
22. WE NOTE THE STATEMENT IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH THAT "[T]HEREFORE, NO
ESTIMATE CAN BE GIVEN AS TO THE NUMBER OF SHARES OF COMMON STOCK THAT
WILL BE SOLD PURSUANT TO THIS PROSPECTUS OR THE NUMBER OF SHARES THAT
WILL BE OWNED BY THE SELLING SHAREHOLDERS UPON TERMINATION OF THE
OFFERING MADE HEREBY". THIS STATEMENT APPEARS TO CONFLICT WITH THE
REQUIRED INFORMATION PURSUANT TO ITEM 507 OF REGULATION S-B. PLEASE
ADVISE OR REVISE.
We have revised the table of selling shareholders to designate that portions of
the table assume that all of the shares of common stock being registered
pursuant to the prospectus will be sold.
<PAGE>
Mr. John Reynolds, Assistant Director
Securities and Exchange Commission
March 24, 2005
Page 6 of 21
23. FOR EACH SELLING STOCKHOLDER THAT IS LISTED AS A COMPANY OR ENTITY,
PLEASE PROVIDE THE NAME(S) OF THE NATURAL PERSONS WITH VOTING OR
DISPOSITIVE CONTROL OVER SUCH COMPANY OR ENTITY.
For each selling stockholder that is listed as a company or entity, we have
revised the prospectus to include footnotes to the selling shareholder list
which provides the name(s) of the natural persons with voting or dispositive
control over such company or entity.
24. PLEASE REVISE THE SELLING SHAREHOLDERS TABLE TO LIST THE SELLING
SHAREHOLDERS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
We have revised the selling shareholders table in the prospectus to list the
selling shareholders in alphabetical order.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS:
25. WE NOTE THE STATEMENT THAT "[W]E ARE NOT CURRENTLY A PARTY TO ANY
MATERIAL LEGAL ACTION EXCEPT THOSE DESCRIBED BELOW". NO LEGAL ACTIONS
ARE DESCRIBED BELOW. PLEASE REVISE.
We have revised the prospectus to delete the reference to "e