SEC Company Response from Ameritek Ventures, Inc. (ATVK) (CIK 0001530185) (ATVK) — Nov 8, 2011
Ameritek Ventures, Inc. (ATVK) (CIK 0001530185)
Date: Nov. 8, 2011 · CIK: 0001530185 · Accession: 0001530185-11-000004
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-176909
Referenced dates: October 14, 2011
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm ATVROCKN A Nevada Corporation _________________________________________________________________________________ 1813 Winners Cup Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89117 Telephone: (702) 334-4008 November 2, 2011 VIA EDGAR TRANSMISSION AND EMAIL U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Corporate Finance 100 F Street, N.E., Mail Stop 3030 Washington, D.C. 20549 Attn: Mr. Donald E. Field Facsimile: 703-813-6967 Re: ATVROCKN Registration Statement on Form S-1 Filed September 19, 2011 File No. 333-176909 Dear Mr. Field: On behalf of ATVROCKN (the “Company”), the undersigned hereby submits a response to certain questions raised by the staff of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Staff”) in its letter of comments dated October 14, 2011 (the “Comment Letter”) relating to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 originally filed on September 19, 2011. Set forth below is the Company’s responses to the Staff’s comments. The Company’s responses are numbered to correspond to the Staff’s comments. For your convenience, each of the Staff’s comments contained in the Comment Letter has been restated below in its entirety, with the Company’s response set forth immediately under such comment. General 1. We note that the selling securityholder acquired the shares to be registered recently for the same price for which the shares are initially being offered, and, upon conversion, the shares would represent approximately 86% and 100% of the company's outstanding shares of common stock and outstanding shares of common stock held by non-affiliates, respectively. As a result, we note that the offering appears to be an indirect primary offering. Given the nature and size of the offering, please advise regarding your basis for determining that the offering is appropriately characterized as an offering that is eligible to be made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i) of the Securities Act of 1933. Alternatively, identify Legal Beagle Services as an underwriter on the cover page and throughout (not "may be deemed to be an underwriter") and include a fixed sales price to the public for the duration of the offering. In addition, please make conforming changes throughout the prospectus (e.g. Calculation of Registration Fee table, The Offering, Plan of Distribution, etc.). Response: We respectfully note the Staff’s comment, and we submit that the following facts and circumstances which leads us to our conclusion that the offering by Legal Beagle Services (the “Selling Shareholder”) pursuant to the Registration Statement is a secondary offering eligible to be made under Rule 415(a)(1)(i). The Staff’s primary guidance for analyzing whether a transaction is a primary or secondary offering is set forth in the Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations, Interpretive Response 612.09 (the “Interpretation”), provides that: “It is important to identify whether a purported secondary offering is really a primary offering, i.e., the selling shareholders are actually underwriters selling on behalf of an issuer. Underwriter status may involve additional disclosure, including an acknowledgment of the seller’s prospectus delivery requirements. In an offering involving Rule 415 or Form S-3, if the offering is deemed to be on behalf of the issuer, the Rule and Form in some cases will be unavailable (e.g., because of the Form S-3 “public float” test for a primary offering, or because Rule 415(a)(1)(i) is available for secondary offerings, but primary offerings must meet the requirements of one of the other subsections of Rule 415). The question of whether an offering styled a secondary one is really on behalf of the issuer is a difficult factual one, not merely a question of who receives the proceeds. Consideration should be given to how long the selling shareholders have held the shares, the circumstances under which they received them, their relationship to the issuer, the amount of shares involved, whether the sellers are in the business of underwriting securities, and finally, whether under all the circumstances it appears that the seller is acting as a conduit for the issuer.” [emphasis added] Here follows our analysis of each of the items set forth in the last sentence of Interpretation 612.09 in the discussion below. a. How long the selling shareholders have held the shares and the circumstances under which they received them On May 31, 2011, the Company issued 1,250,000 shares of its Series A Convertible Preferred stock to the Selling Shareholder in exchange for cash of $12,500. Had these shares not been sold to the Selling Shareholder, the Company would not have had sufficient funds to design for the mold which was used to produce its first product. Although the Series A Convertible Preferred stock can be converted to approximately 86% of the common stock, the Company’s Articles of Designation for this Series of Preferred stock does not allow any conversion to exceed 4.9% ownership in the Company. Further, the Company respectfully submits that the Selling Shareholder purchased the shares for investment purposes and did not acquire its securities with the purpose or intent of effecting a distribution in violation of the Securities Act. b. The selling shareholders’ relationship to the issuer The Selling Shareholder is not related to any officer, director or other shareholder of the Company. Further, the Selling Shareholder is not an officer or director of the Company. There are no arrangements or understandings between any of the Company’s officer/directors and the Selling Shareholder on any matters, which includes the disposition of the stock owned by the Selling Shareholer. The Company does not expect the Selling Shareholder will have potential access to material non-public information. The Company does not expect that the Selling Shareholder will be active in the market for the Company’s stock unless it is confident that any such activity is in full compliance with applicable law. In addition, and as discussed below, the Company respectfully notes that the Staff has previously allowed sales by affiliates of an issuer through secondary offerings on Form S-3, even in circumstances where such affiliates owned significantly more than one-third of the issuer’s public float. c. The amount of shares involved The Company acknowledges the Staff’s concern with respect to the amount of convertible common share of the proposed offering being registered for resale relative to the number of shares held by non-affiliates. We respectfully submit Interpretation H.20, regarding the use of Form S-3 to effect a secondary offering, this Interpretation states: “A number of persons have asked whether Form S-3 is available for secondary offerings to be made by affiliates of the issuer. The concern was that because the seller was an affiliate, the Division staff might consider the secondary offering a sale on behalf of the issuer and, in reality, a primary offering requiring the affiliate-registrant to meet the more stringent Form S-3 standards applicable to primary offerings by issuers. The Division staff had indicated, however, that secondary sales by affiliates may be made under General Instruction I.B.3. to Form S-3 relating to secondary offerings, even in cases where the affiliate owns more than 50% of the issuer’s securities, unless the facts clearly indicate that the affiliate is acting as an underwriter on behalf of the issuer.” [emphasis added] This interpretive position appears to indicate that a Securityholder of well in excess of one-third of the public float can effect a valid secondary offering of its shares unless other facts, beyond the mere level of ownership, indicate that the affiliate is acting as a conduit for the issuer. As detailed below, Company respectfully advises the Staff that the Selling Shareholder is not acting as an underwriter or conduit for the Company. d. Whether the selling shareholder is in the business of underwriting securities The Company respectfully advises the Staff that the Selling Shareholder is not in the business of underwriting securities, but rather it is a private investor that purchased securities in the Company for their own account. In addition, the Selling Shareholder has represented to the Company that the shares were purchased for its own account for investment purposes only and not with an intention to distribute in violation of the Securities Act. There is no factual basis that demonstrates that those representations and warranties are untrue. We note that the Selling Shareholder is not a registered broker-dealer, has never served as an underwriter in any offering of securities, in the past has utilized an underwriter to dispose of certain of its shares of the Company and will not be compensated in connection with the offering under the Registration Statement (other than retaining all of the proceeds of the offering). Thus we respectfully submit that the Selling Shareholder should not be construed as an underwriter. e. Whether under all the circumstances it appears that the seller is acting as a conduit for the issuer The Staff has recognized that affiliates of an issuer are not necessarily conduits for the Issuer. In the Staff’s Interpretation D.38, the Staff responded regarding whether affiliates of the issuer may rely on Rule 415(a)(1)(i) to register secondary offerings. The response states, in relevant part, that: “Aside from parents and subsidiaries, affiliates of issuers are not necessarily treated as being the alter egos of the issuers. Under appropriate circumstances, affiliates may make offerings which are deemed to be genuine secondaries.” As stated above, the characteristics of the Selling Shareholder are not consistent with offerings in which the selling shareholder is acting like an underwriter or as a conduit for the issuer. In addition, as the Selling Shareholder is not in the business of underwriting securities and all of the proceeds of the offering under the Registration Statement will be retained by the Selling Shareholder, the Company believes that the offering the Company seeks to register is a valid secondary offering. Conclusion For the reasons stated above, the Company respectfully requests that the Staff permit the offering by the Selling Shareholder pursuant to the Registration Statement as a secondary offering, eligible to be made on a shelf basis under Rule 415(a)(1)(i). To the second part of the first comment, we have revised the document to identify the Selling Shareholder as an underwriter and we included a fixed sales price for the duration of the offering. 2. We note throughout the prospectus that you refer to the registered preferred stock as "Series A Callable and Convertible Preferred," "convertible preferred," "preferred shares," "Series A convertible preferred shares," and "Series A Preferred." Please revise to define the registered preferred stock after the term's initial use and then to consistently refer to such defined term throughout the prospectus. Response: Our Articles of Designation filed with the Nevada Secretary of State classify these shares as “Series A Convertible Preferred Stock.” We have revised the entire document to reflect this term. 3. We note the reference date of August 31, 2011 used throughout the prospectus. Please revise the associated disclosure, as applicable, to provide the information as of a more recent date. Response: The reference date has been updated to the date our amendment was signed, with the exception of financial information that ended August 31, 2011. Registration Statement Cover Page 4. Please revise your "Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number" to be 3714. Response: We have revised our "Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number to 3714. 5. Please provide an explanation for the inclusion of footnote 5 to the "Calculation of Registration Fee" table since the filing of this registration statement was your initial filing. Response: We respectfully note the Staff’s comment. It was an error on our part to include footnote 5 in this initial filing. Footnote 5 has been deleted. Prospectus Cover Page 6. Please revise the prospectus cover page to more clearly distinguish between the offerings being conducted by the company and the selling securityholder. For example, the first paragraph indicates that the selling securityholder is offering 500,000 shares of your common stock which conflicts with your disclosure elsewhere in the prospectus. The terms and conditions of each offering should be clarified. Refer to Item 501(b) of Regulation S-K. Please also revise the prospectus throughout accordingly. Response: We have revised the first paragraph of the Prospectus Cover Page to state that we are registering up to 500,000 shares, for sale to investors by us at a price of $0.01 per share. 7. We note your disclosure in the third paragraph that the "offering will terminate when all 500,000 shares are sold or if not all of the shares are sold, the offering will close on December 31, 2011, unless we terminate it earlier." Please revise to clarify whether or not there may be extensions to the offering period. If there may be extensions to the offering period revise to state the duration of such extensions. Refer to Item 501(b)(8)(iii) of Regulation S-K. Please also revise the prospectus throughout accordingly. Response: We have added disclosure to clarify that management reserves the right to extend the offering for six months. 8. We note your disclosure in the second sentence of the fourth paragraph that "[you] will not receive any of the proceeds from the shares of common stock sold by the selling shareholders." Please revise to clarify that you will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of preferred or common stock by the selling securityholder. Please also revise the prospectus throughout accordingly. Response: We have revised to clarify that we will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of preferred or common stock by the selling securityholder. 9. We note that the disclosure in the fifth paragraph related to the "penny stock" rules is focused on your common stock. To the extent applicable, please revise to also address your preferred stock. Please also revise the last sentence of this paragraph to clarify that your preferred stock is not traded on NASDAQ or any recognized stock exchange. Please also revise the prospectus throughout accordingly. Response: We have revised our disclosure to include the our preferred stock. 10. We note your disclosure in the sixth paragraph that you intend to apply for quotation of your common stock on the OTC Bulletin Board after the closing of the offering. Please revise the summary to clarify that there is no trading market for your preferred stock or common stock, you intend to apply for quotation of your common stock on the OTC Bulletin Board, you will require the assistance of a market-maker to apply for quotation and there is no guarantee that a market-maker will agree to assist you. Please also revise to indicate, if true, that you have no current plans to apply to have your preferred stock listed or quoted on any exchange or inter-dealer quotation system. Refer to Item 501(b)(4) of Regulation S-K. Please also revise the prospectus throughout accordingly. Response: We have updated our disclosure to include we will require the assistance of a market-maker to apply for quotation and there is no guarantee that a market-maker will agree to assist us. Further, no current plans to apply to have our preferred stock listed or quoted on any exchange or inter-dealer quotation system. 11. We note your cross-reference to the Risk Factors section included after the sixth paragraph. Please revise to highlight this cross-reference in prominent type or another manner. Refer to Item 501 (b)(5) of Regulation S-K. Response: We have highlighted the Risk Factors cross-referen