UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(a) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Filed by the Registrant ☒
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☐
Check the appropriate box:
☐ | Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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| Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
☒ | Definitive Proxy Statement |
☐ | Definitive Additional Materials |
☐ | Soliciting Material Pursuant to |
CALYXT, INC.
(Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)
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CALYXT, INC.
2800 Mount Ridge Road
Roseville, Minnesota 55113
Notice of 20212023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
to be held on May 18, 20212, 2023
Dear Stockholder:
You are cordially invited to attend the 20212023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Calyxt, Inc., to be held virtually via live audio webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2021,CLXT2023, on Tuesday, May 18, 20212, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Central Time, for the following purposes:
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2. | To approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of Calyxt, Inc.’s Named Executive Officers; |
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4. | To ratify the appointment by the Audit Committee of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, |
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Stockholders will also act on such other business and matters or proposals as may properly come before the Annual Meeting.
These items of business are more fully described in the Proxy Statement accompanying this Notice.
The record date for the Annual Meeting is March 23, 2021.10, 2023. Only stockholders of record at the close of business on that date are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any adjournment thereof. Calyxt, Inc.’s list of stockholders as of March 23, 202110, 2023, will be available for inspection 10 days prior to the Annual Meeting during ordinary business hours at our corporate headquarters. In addition, the list of stockholders will also be available during the Annual Meeting through the meeting website for those stockholders who choose to attend.
Your vote as a stockholder of Calyxt, Inc. is very important. Each share of stock that you own represents one vote.
By Order of the Board of Directors, | |
/s/ | |
President & Chief Executive Roseville, Minnesota
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Whether or not you expect to attend the online Annual Meeting, please submit voting instructions for your shares promptly by internet at www.proxyvote.com, by telephone at 1-800-690-6903 (toll free) or by mail. Even if you have voted by proxy, you may still vote online if you attend the Annual Meeting. Please note, however, that if your shares are held of record by a broker, bank or other nominee and you wish to vote at the Annual Meeting, you must obtain a proxy issued in your name from that record holder.
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE STOCKHOLDER MEETING TO BE HELD ON MAY 18, 20212, 2023
The Proxy Statement and Annual Report on Form 10-K are available at www.proxyvote.com.
CALYXT, INC.
PROXY STATEMENT FOR 20212023 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE CALYXT, INC. STOCKHOLDER MEETING TO BE HELD ON MAY 18, 20212, 2023
In accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), we have elected to furnish our proxy materials, including this Proxy Statement and our Annual Report on Form 10-K, primarily over the internet rather than in paper form. Instructions on how to access these materials online or how to request a paper copy of the proxy materials may be found in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (“Notice of Internet Availability”), which is being first mailed on or about April 6, 2021March 22, 2023, to all stockholders entitled to receive notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting. We believe that following this rule makes the distribution of proxy materials more efficient and less costly and helps in conserving natural resources.
The proxy materials referred to in the Notice of Internet Availability are both downloadable and printable. If you would prefer to receive proxy materials in printed form by mail or electronically by email on an ongoing basis, please follow the instructions contained in the Notice of Internet Availability.
The Notice of the Calyxt, Inc. 20212023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, this Proxy Statement for the 20212023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and Calyxt, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20202022 are available at www.proxyvote.com. These materials will remain on this website and be accessible to Calyxt, Inc. stockholders through the conclusion of the Annual Meeting at no charge to the stockholder.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING
The Calyxt, Inc. Board of Directors (the “Board”) is providing you with these proxy materials because the Board is soliciting your proxy to vote at the Calyxt, Inc. 20212023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”), including at any adjournments or postponements of the Annual Meeting. The Board requests that you vote on the proposals described in this Proxy Statement. You are invited to attend the Annual Meeting online, but you do not need to attend the Annual Meeting in order to vote your shares. Instead, you may simply vote your shares by proxy by voting online or by telephone as described on the proxy card or voting instruction form or, request a proxy card from us and complete, sign, and return it at your earliest convenience in the postage-prepaid return envelope that will be provided.
Calyxt, Inc. intends to post this Proxy Statement, proxy card, and Annual Report on Form 10-K online at www.proxyvote.com and at https://ir.calyxt.com/sec-filings on or about April 6, 2021.March 22, 2023. We will mail printed copies of the proxy materials to stockholders who request them by following the instructions contained in the Notice of Internet Availability.
In this Proxy Statement, the terms “Calyxt,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Calyxt, Inc. and the term “Cellectis” refers to Cellectis S.A., our majority stockholder. The mailing address of the principal executive offices is Calyxt, Inc., 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113.
Conduct of the Meeting –— Virtual Only
The Annual Meeting will be held virtually on May 18, 20212, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time via live audio webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2021.CLXT2023. There will be no physical meeting location, though we have designed the virtual Annual Meeting to provide substantially the same opportunities to participate as you would have at an in-person meeting.In addition to supporting the health and well-being of all of our employees, stockholders, and other members of the community this year, we believe there are many benefits to a virtual meeting, including expanded access, improved communication, and cost savings for our stockholders and us. We believe that hosting a virtual meeting enables stockholder participation from any location around the world.
To attend the Annual Meeting, you will need the 16-digit control number that is printed in the box marked by the arrow on your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card.
We recommend that you log in at least 15 minutes before the Annual Meeting to ensure that you are logged in when the meeting starts. Online access will begin at 9:45 a.m. Central Time. The Annual Meeting platform is fully supported across browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari) and devices (desktops, laptops, tablets, and cell phones) running the most updated version of applicable software and plugins. Stockholders should ensure that they have a strong internet connection if they intend to attend and/or participate in the Annual Meeting. Attendees should allow plenty of time to log in (at least 15 minutes before the Annual Meeting) and ensure that they can hear streaming audio prior to the start of the Annual Meeting. Information on how to vote online at the Annual Meeting is discussed below.
If you wish to submit a question, please do so during the meeting by logging into the virtual platform at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2021CLXT2023 and follow the instructions within.
Questions pertinent to meeting matters will be answered during the Annual Meeting, subject to time constraints. If we are unable to respond to a stockholder’s properly submitted question due to time constraints, we will respond directly to that stockholder using the contact information provided.
If you encounter any difficulties accessing the virtual meeting during the check-in or meeting time, please call the technical support number that will be posted on the Virtual Stockholder Meeting log in page.
Record Date and Voting Power
Our Board has fixed March 23, 202110, 2023, as the record date for the Annual Meeting. Only stockholders of record at the close of business on the record date will be entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting. On the record date, there were 37,155,88749,544,492 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote. Stockholders are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held as of the record date. There will be no cumulative voting in the election of directors.
Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name
If on March 23, 202110, 2023, your shares were registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Broadridge Corporate Issuer Solutions, Inc., then you are a stockholder of record. As a stockholder of record, you may vote online at the Annual Meeting or vote in advance of the Annual Meeting by proxy. You will need the 16-digit control number that is printed in the box marked by the arrow on your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card to vote online at the Annual Meeting or to submit voting instructions in advance of the Annual Meeting by internet or telephone for your shares to be voted by proxy.
Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, to ensure your vote is counted, we urge you to submit voting instructions by internet or telephone as instructed on your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card or to request a proxy card from us and complete, date, sign, and return the proxy card in the envelope that we will provide to you.
Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank, or Other Agent
If on March 23, 202110, 2023 your shares were held in an account at a brokerage firm, bank, dealer, or other similar organization (as opposed to in your name directly), then you are the beneficial owner of shares held in “street name” and the organization holding your account is considered to be the stockholder of record for purposes of voting at the Annual Meeting. As a beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your broker or other agent regarding how to vote the shares in your account, and such broker or other agent has provided voting instructions for you to use in directing it on how to vote your shares. As a beneficial owner, you are also invited to attend the Annual Meeting. However, as you are not the stockholder of record, you may not vote your shares online at the Annual Meeting unless you request and obtain a valid proxy from your broker or other agent in whose name the shares are held in advance of the Annual Meeting.
Quorum
A quorum of stockholders is necessary to hold a valid meeting. The presence, virtually or by proxy, of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common shares of Calyxt entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. On the record date, there were 37,155,88749,544,492 shares outstanding and entitled to vote. Thus, the holders of 18,577,94424,772,247 shares must be present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting to have a quorum.
Your shares will be counted towards the quorum only if you submit a valid proxy (or one is submitted on your behalf by your broker, bank, or other nominee) or if you vote online at the meeting. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be counted towards the quorum requirement.
If, however, a quorum is not present at the Annual Meeting, either the Chair of the Annual Meeting or a majority of the holders of common stock present virtually or represented by proxy will adjourn the Annual Meeting, without notice other than announcement at
the Annual Meeting, until a quorum is present. At such adjourned meeting at which a quorum is present any business may be transacted which would have been transacted at the original Annual Meeting.
Recommendations of the Board of Directors on Each of the Proposals
There are threefour proposals that will be presented to Calyxt stockholders at the Annual Meeting:
Proposal No. 1 –— Election of Directors.
The Board recommends that you vote FOR the election of each of the seventwo Class I nominees named in this Proxy Statement.
Proposal No. 2 –— Say-on-Pay.
The Board recommends that you vote FOR the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of our Named Executive Officers.
Proposal No. 3 — Say-on-Frequency.
The Board recommends that you vote ONE YEAR, on an advisory basis, for the frequency of future votes to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers.
Proposal No. 4 — Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
The Board recommends that you vote FOR the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2021.
Proposal No. 3 – Approval of the Amendment to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
The Board recommends that you vote FOR the approval of the amendment to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan.2023.
The Board knows of no other matters that will be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting. If any other matters are properly brought before the Annual Meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the accompanying proxy to vote on those matters in accordance with their best judgment.
Required Votes
Pursuant to our amended and restated bylaws (“bylaws”):
nomineesNominees for election as Class I Directors to our Board of Directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. This means that the seventwo nominees receiving the highest number of
affirmative “For” votes will be elected as Class I Directors. Only votes “For” will affect the outcome. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on Proposal No. 1. |
The compensation of our Named Executive Officers will be elected.approved by the affirmative vote of a majority in voting power of the votes cast by the holders of all shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on the matter. Only votes “For” or “Against” will affect the outcome. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on Proposal No. 1.2. Proposal No. 2 is advisory in nature and is not binding on the Board of Directors or the Company.
We will consider our stockholders to have approved the frequency option for the frequency of future votes to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers that receives the highest number of votes. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on Proposal No. 3. Proposal No. 3 is advisory in nature and is not binding on the Board of Directors or the Company.
The appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 20212023 will be ratified by the affirmative “For” vote of a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on this matter. Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on Proposal No. 2.4. Because Proposal No. 24 is a routine matter, it is expected that there would not be any broker non-votes.
the Amendments to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan will be approved by the affirmative “For” vote of a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on this matter. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on Proposal No. 3.
Voting Instructions; Voting of Proxies
You may either vote “For” or “Withhold” authority to vote for each nominee for the Board. With respect to the advisory approval of the compensation of our Named Executive Officers, you may vote “For” or “Against” or “Abstain.” With respect to the advisory approval of the frequency of future votes to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers, you may vote for every “one year,” “two years,” or “three years,” or “Abstain.” With respect to the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm, you may vote “For” or “Against” or “Abstain”. With respect to the approval of the amendment to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan, you may vote “For” or “Against” or “Abstain.”
The procedures for voting are:
Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name
If you are a stockholder of record, you may (1) vote by proxy by using a proxy card that you may request from us, (2) vote by proxy over the internet prior to the meeting, (3) vote over the internet during the meeting, or (4) vote by proxy by telephone prior to the meeting. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote by proxy (via card, Internet,internet, or telephone) to ensure your vote is counted. You may still attend the Annual Meeting and vote if you have already voted by proxy.
You can vote by proxy card by requesting a proxy card from us pursuant to the instructions in the Notice of Internet Availability, and promptly completing and returning your signed proxy card in the envelope that will be provided. You should mail your signed proxy card sufficiently in advance for it to be received by May 15, 2021.1, 2023.
To vote online prior to the Annual Meeting, visit www.proxyvote.com, be sure to have your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card available, and follow the steps outlined on the secure website. You will need the 16-digit control number that is printed in the box marked by the arrow on your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card to vote online. Your vote must be received by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time on May 17, 20211, 2023 to be counted.
To vote by telephone within the United States and Canada, call 1-800-690-6903 (toll free) on a touch tone telephone and follow the instructions provided by the recorded message. You will need the 16-digit control number that is printed in the box marked by the arrow on your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card to vote by telephone. Your vote must be received by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time on May 17, 20211, 2023, to be counted.
To vote online during the Annual Meeting, visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2021,CLXT2023, be sure to have your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card available and follow the instructions given on the secure website. You will need the 16-digit control number that is printed in the box marked by the arrow on your Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card to vote online at the Annual Meeting.
We provide Internetinternet proxy voting to allow you to vote your shares online with procedures designed to ensure the authenticity and correctness of your proxy vote instructions. Please be aware that you must bear any costs associated with your Internetinternet access, such as usage charges from Internetinternet access providers.
Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank, or Other Agent
If you are a beneficial owner of shares registered in the name of your broker, bank, or other agent, you should have received a notice containing voting instructions from that organization rather than from us. Please follow the voting instructions in that notice to ensure that your vote is counted. Alternatively, you may vote over the Internetinternet as instructed by your broker, bank, or other agent. To vote online during the Annual Meeting, you must obtain a valid proxy from your broker, bank, or other agent and follow the instructions included with those proxy materials. You may contact the broker, bank, or other agent in whose name your shares are registered in order to request a proxy form.
Consequences of Not Voting
Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name
If you are a stockholder of record and do not vote by completing your proxy card, through the internet, by telephone or online during the Annual Meeting, your shares will not be voted.
Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank, or Other Agent
A broker non-vote occurs when shares registered in the name of a broker are not voted with respect to a particular proposal because the broker does not have discretionary authority to vote on the matter and has not received voting instructions from its client who beneficially owns those shares. If your broker holds your shares in its name and you do not instruct your broker how to vote, your broker will only have discretion to vote your shares on “routine” matters.
Where a proposal is not “routine,” a broker who has received no instructions from its clients does not have discretion to vote its clients’ uninstructed shares on that proposal. Proposal No. 1 (the election of directors), Proposal No. 2 (say-on-pay) and Proposal No. 3 (the approval of Amendments to the 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan)(say-on-frequency) are considered non-routine matters under applicable rules, and your broker or other nominee will not have discretion to vote on Proposal No. 1, Proposal No. 2 or Proposal No. 3 absent direction from you. Accordingly, there may be broker non-votes on Proposal No. 1 (the election of directors), Proposal No. 2 (say-on-pay) and Proposal No. 3 (the approval of the amendment to the 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan)(say-on-frequency). Proposal No. 24 (the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as ourthe Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2021)2023) is considered a routine matter under applicable rules, and your broker or other nominee may generally vote in its discretion. Accordingly, no broker non-votes are expected to exist in connection with Proposal No. 2.4.
OurThe Company’s bylaws provide that a majority of the shares entitled to vote, present virtually, or represented by proxy, will constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the Annual Meeting. In addition, under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, shares that are voted “abstain” or “withheld” and broker non-votes are counted as present for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting. As a result, broker non-votes and abstentions by stockholders from voting (including brokers holding their clients’ shares of record who cause abstentions to be recorded) will be counted towards determining a quorum is
present. However, because broker non-votes and abstentions are not voted affirmatively or negatively, they will have no effect on the approval of Proposal No. 1, Proposal No. 2, Proposal No. 3 or Proposal No. 3.4 (other than with respect to the determination of whether a quorum is present).
Returning Blank Proxy Card
If you request a proxy card from us and return a signed and dated proxy card or otherwise vote without marking voting selections, your shares will be voted “For” the election of each of the nominees for director, “For” the ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm, and “For” the approval of the amendments to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan.in accordance with management’s recommendations. If any other matter is properly presented at the Annual Meeting, your proxyholder (one of the individuals named on your proxy card) will vote your shares using his or her best judgment.
Expenses of Soliciting Proxies
The Board is soliciting proxies to provide an opportunity for all stockholders to vote, whether or not the stockholders are able to attend the Annual Meeting or an adjournment or postponement thereof. We will pay for the entire cost of soliciting proxies. In addition to these proxy materials, ourthe Company’s directors and employees may also solicit proxies by telephone, or by other means of communication. Directors and employees will not be paid any additional compensation for soliciting proxies. We will also reimburse brokerage firms, banks, and other agents for the cost of forwarding proxy materials to beneficial owners.
Receiving More than One Proxy
If you receive more than one Notice of Internet Availability or more than one set of proxy materials, your shares may be registered in more than one name or in different accounts. Please follow the voting instructions on each Notice of Internet Availability or set of proxy materials that you receive to ensure that all your shares are voted. In particular, eachEach Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card may have a different 16-digit control number printed in the box marked by the arrow.
Revocation of Proxies
Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name
You can revoke your proxy at any time before the final vote at the Annual Meeting. If you are the record holder of your shares, you may revoke your proxy in any one of the following ways:
You may submit another properly completed proxy card with a later date.
You may grant a subsequent proxy by voting again through the internet or by telephone.
You may send a timely written notice that you are revoking your proxy to Calyxt’s General Counsel at 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113.
You may attend the virtual Annual Meeting and vote online by following the instructions posted at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2021.CLXT2023. Simply attending the Annual Meeting will not, by itself, revoke your proxy.
The latest proxy vote is the one that is counted.
Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank, or Other Agent
If your shares are held by your broker, bank, or other agent, as a nominee or agent, you should follow the instructions provided by such broker, bank, or other agent.
Results of Voting at the Annual Meeting
Preliminary voting results will be announced at the Annual Meeting. In addition, final voting results will be published in a current report on Form 8-K that we expect to file within four business days after the Annual Meeting. If final voting results are not available to us in time to file a Form 8-K within four business days after the Annual Meeting, we intend to file a Form 8-K to publish preliminary results and, within four business days after the final results are known to us, file an additional Form 8-K to publish the final results.
Implications of Being an “Emerging Growth Company”
We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and therefore permitted to take advantage of certain reduced public company reporting requirements. As an emerging growth company, we provide in this Proxy Statement the scaled disclosure permitted under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), including the compensation disclosures required of a “smaller reporting company,” as that term is defined in Rule 12b-2 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). In addition, as an emerging growth company, we are not required to conduct votes seeking approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of our named executive officers or the frequency with which such votes must be conducted. We would cease to be an “emerging growth company” upon the earliest to occur of(i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue; (ii) the date we qualify as a “large accelerated filer,” with at least $700 million of public float (iii) the issuance, in any three-year period, by us of more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities held by non-affiliates; and (iv) the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering, or December 31, 2022.
Procedure for Submitting Stockholders Proposals and Director Nominees at the 20222024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
The rules of the SEC permit our stockholders, after timely notice to Calyxt, to present proposals in ourthe Company’s proxy statement for stockholder action where such proposals are consistent with applicable law, constitute a proper matter for stockholder action, and are not properly omitted by Calyxt in accordance with the rules of the SEC. To be timely for our 2022the Company’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, a stockholder’s notice of a proposal must be delivered to or mailed and received by the Secretary of Calyxt at ourthe Company’s principal executive offices, 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113, no later than December 2, 2021. November 23, 2023.
Pursuant to ourthe Company’s bylaws, in order for a proposal to be properly brought before the next annual meeting by a stockholder or for a stockholder’s nominee for director to be considered at such annual meeting, the stockholder must give written notice of such stockholder’s intent to bring a matter before the annual meeting or to nominate the director, which must be received by the Company not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders. In the case of our 2022the Company’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be timely under ourthe Company’s bylaws, a stockholder’s notice must be received not later than February 17, 20222, 2024, nor earlier than January 18, 2022.3, 2024. Each such notice must set forth certain information with respect to the stockholder who intends to bring a proposal before the meeting or to make the nomination, and the director nominee or proposal, as set forth in greater detail in ourthe Company’s bylaws. If we receive notice of a stockholder proposal after February 17, 2022,2, 2024, such proposal also will be considered untimely pursuant to Rules 14a-4 and 14a-5(e) and the persons named in proxies solicited by the Board for this 2021the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders may exercise discretionary voting power with respect to such proposal.
In the event that the date of our 2022the Company’s 2024 Annual Meeting is advanced more than 30 days prior to the anniversary of our 2021the Company’s 2023 Annual Meeting or delayed more than 30 days after such anniversary date, then to be timely such notice must be received by the Company no earlier than 120 days prior to such 20222024 Annual Meeting and no later than the later of 70 days prior to the date of the meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the meeting was first made by the Company.
In addition to satisfying the requirements under the Company’s bylaws, to comply with the universal proxy rules, stockholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than the Company’s nominees must provide notice that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act, which notice must be postmarked or transmitted electronically to us at our principal executive offices no later than March 1, 2024.
If the date of the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is changed by more than 30 calendar days from the anniversary of the Annual Meeting, then notice must be provided by the later of 60 calendar days prior to the date of the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders or the 10th calendar day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is first made.
Copies of Proxy Materials and Corporate Governance Documents
The Notice of 20212023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, this Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting, and ourthe Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K are posted on Calyxt’s website at https://ir.calyxt.com/sec-filings and at www.proxyvote.com.
Our
The Company’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws are filed as an exhibit to ourits most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is posted on ourthe Company’s website at https://ir.calyxt.com/sec-filings.
OurThe Company’s corporate governance guidelines, code of business conduct and ethics, and charters for each of ourthe Company’s standing Board committees are posted on ourthe Company’s website at https://ir.calyxt.com/corporate-governance/governance-documents. Stockholders may receive printed copies of each of these documents without charge by contacting ourthe Company’s Investor Relations Department at Calyxt, Inc., Attn: Investor Relations, 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113, or by calling (651) 683-2807.
Pursuant to our Amended and Restatedthe Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, (“Certificate of Incorporation”), our Board shall consist of not less than five nor more than 11 directors, with the exact number of directors to be determined from time to time solely by resolution adopted by a majority of the Board. Our Board has adopted a resolution fixing the number of directors at seveneight members. Until
Following the first date on which Cellectis and its affiliates no longer beneficially ownowned more than 50% of the outstanding shares of our Common Stock, (the “Effective Date”), allour Board became divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. While our Board is classified, only one class of the directors will be elected to ourat each annual meeting of stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. Our Board annuallyof Directors is designated as follows:
Mr. Philippe Dumont and Mr. Jonathan Fassberg serve as Class I directors, and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders. Atstockholders to be held in 2023;
Ms. Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz, Ms. Kimberly Nelson, and Mr. Christopher Neugent serve as Class II directors, and their terms will expire at the Annual Meeting, directors will be elected to serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2024; and
Mr. Laurent Arthaud, Mr. Michael Carr, and until his or her successor has been electedDr. Yves Ribeill serve as Class III directors, and qualified, or until his or her earlier death, resignation, or removal. From and aftertheir terms will expire at the Effective Date, our Board will transitionannual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2025.
Each director shall serve for a staggered board divided into three classes, with directors serving three-year terms. term ending on the date of the third annual meeting of stockholders next following the annual meeting at which such director was elected.
Directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares of our common stock present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. This means that the seventwo nominees receiving the highest number of affirmative “For” votes will be elected.
Unless otherwise provided by law and subject to the terms of our Stockholders Agreement dated July 25, 2017 with Cellectis (as amended, the “Stockholders Agreement”), any vacancy on the Board, including a vacancy created by an increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled solely by a majority of the directors then in office or by the sole remaining director.
Nominees for Election for a One-Year Term Expiring at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
The individuals listed below, all of whom are currently serving on our Board, are nominated for election this year. In addition to the names of the nominees and their ages provided Any additional directorships resulting from an increase in the table below, additional biographical information fornumber of directors will be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each nominee follows the table.class will consist of one-third of our directors.
Pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, Cellectis has a right to designate as nominees to the Board the greater of three members of the Board or a majority of the directors on the Board, and to designate the chair of the Board and one member to each committee of the Board. Cellectis has designated Mr. Arthaud to serve as its nominee to the Board. Cellectis has reserved its rights under the Stockholders Agreement to make additional designations from time to time.
Nominees for Election for a Three-Year Term Expiring at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
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The individuals listed below, each of whom is currently serving on our Board, are nominated for election this year as Class I directors. The following is a brief biography of each nominee for Class I director and a discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills of each nominee that led the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to recommend that person as a nominee for director, as of the date of this Proxy Statement.
Philippe Dumont, 71, has served as a member of our Board since July 2017. Mr. Dumont retired in December 2012 from Bayer CropScience, where he was employed since May 2002. At Bayer he held the
position of Head of Technology Management, Seeds, and was responsible for supervising globally the Regulatory Affairs and Regulatory Science functions, Stewardship, Public, and Governmental Affairs and Communication impacting GMOs and seeds. Until 2006 Mr. Dumont also supervised the Legal and Intellectual Property functions in the seed business. Mr. Dumont also held the same responsibilities at Aventis Crop Science from December 1998 until April 2002. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Dumont was General Counsel of Rhône-Poulenc Agrochimie. Prior to moving to France in 1987, Mr. Dumont held positions as an associate at Cravath Swaine & Moore (1975-1981), international legal counsel at Gulf Oil Corporation (1981-1983), and as solo practitioner in Washington D.C. from 1983-1986. Mr. Dumont is retired from the New York and District of Columbia Bars and is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1975) and Columbia University (B.A., magna cum laude 1972). Since June 2013, he has been serving as a director of Association Française des Biotechnologies Végétales, responsible for international relations, where he tries to promote public and governmental understanding of new breeding techniques and related regulatory issues. Based on his leadership and regulatory experience in the plant biotechnology industry both in the United States and Europe, we believe Mr. Dumont has the appropriate set of skills to serve as a member of our Board.
Jonathan B. Fassberg, 57, has served as a member of our Board since August 2018. Mr. Fassberg is currently the Vice Chairman of Healthcare Investment Banking at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., a leading investment bank, wealth manager, and a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings. Mr. Fassberg founded The Trout Group in 1996 and was the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Solebury Trout LLC since the Trout Group’s acquisition by Solebury Communications in November 2017 until March 2021. Mr. Fassberg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Based on his deep financial expertise and experience, we believe Mr. Fassberg has the appropriate set of skills to serve as a member of our Board.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” EACH NAMED CLASS I NOMINEE.
The following Class II directors’ terms will continue until the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders and are not submitted for election at the Annual Meeting:
Ms. Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz
Ms. Kimberly Nelson
Mr. Christopher Neugent
The following Class III directors’ terms will continue until the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders and are not submitted for election at the Annual Meeting:
Mr. Laurent Arthaud
Mr. Michael Carr
Dr. Yves Ribeill
DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Board of Directors and Leadership Structure
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Certificate of Incorporation, and bylaws provide the Board flexibility in determining its leadership structure.
The Board may establish the authorized number of directors from time to time by resolution. Immediately prior to the Annual Meeting, our Board consists of eight members, six of whom are independent under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market (the “Nasdaq”).
The Board separates the role of Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. The Board believes it is important to retain its flexibility to allocate the responsibilities of the offices of the Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in any way that is in our best interests at a given point in time. The Board may make a different determination in the future as to the appropriateness of its current policies in connection with the recruitment and succession of the Chair of the Board and/or the Chief Executive Officer.
We provide below biographical information, including age, for each director (other than our director nominees whose biographies appear under “Proposal No. 1 — Election of Directors”).
Yves J. Ribeill, Ph.D., Ph.D.,63, has served as a member of our Board since July 2018 and was appointedcurrently serves as the Executive Chair of the Board of Directors since February 2021. In his capacityDirectors. Dr. Ribeill served on an interim basis as Calyxt’s Executive Chair Dr. Ribeill serves as the Company’sand principal executive officer from February 2021 until a new Chief Executive Officer is appointed. Dr. Ribeill served as Calyxt’sAugust 2021 and interim Chief Executive Officer from August 2018 until October 2018. SinceIn January 2022, he became a Partner at Argobio, a start-up studio based in Paris, France, dedicated to turning cutting-edge innovations into breakthrough biotech companies. From August 2017 to December 2021, he has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Ribogenics, Inc., which is a private biotechnology company working on microbiome re-engineering.mRNA splicing. Dr. Ribeill was also a founder of Scynexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCYX), served as its President from November 1999 until July 2015 and served as its Chief Executive Officer from November 1999 until April 2015. Before his work with Scynexis, Dr. Ribeill served in various positions during the 35 years of his international career with Rhone-Poulenc, Aventis including Discovery Chemistry Group leader for Anti-Viral Research and later in the Central Nervous System Group in France. He also served as Group Leader in the Cardiovascular Group in England. Upon his return to France, Dr. Ribeill served as Director of Chemistry for the Anti-Infective Group. He was involved in all phases of the drug discovery and development effort that resulted in the FDA approval of multiple drugs. He served as a Director of Scynexis, Inc. from November 1999 to March 2016 and has been a director of various other biotechnology companies in Europe and the United States. He is the author of more than 26 publications and 15 patents. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the World Health Organization, Drug for Neglected Diseases and of the Medicine Malaria Venture in Geneva. Dr. Ribeill has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Montpellier
(France). Based on his deep understanding of research and development and his experience with numerous biotechnology companies, we believe Dr. Ribeill has the appropriate skills to serve as a member of our Board.
Michael A. Carr, 54, was appointed as a Director as well as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer effective July 27, 2021. Mr. Carr previously served as the Vice President M&A, Strategy, and Innovation of Darling Ingredients, Inc. (NYSE: DAR), a global developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients and renewable energy since January 2017. Prior to joining Darling Ingredients, Mr. Carr was a partner at BAC Investments, LLC, an established consulting, advisory, and investment firm, from January 2010 through January 2017, Previously, Mr. Carr held multiple positions at American Capital Limited, a global private equity and asset management firm. Mr. Carr has served on the boards of directors for EnviroFlight, a brand of Darling Ingredients (2020-2021), BEST Life and Health Insurance Company (2014-2018), ACG Global (2010 – 2017), and several portfolio companies of American Capital Limited, including United Food Group. Mr. Carr obtained his M.B.A. from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University, and he also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from California State University — Northridge. Mr. Carr is qualified to serve on the Board in light of his deep operational, financial and investment experience and his diverse knowledge across industries.
Laurent Arthaud, 60,was appointed as a Director in July 2020. Mr. Arthaud served as a member of our Board of Directors from July 2017 to May 2019 and has served as a member of Cellectis’ board of directors since 2011. Mr. Arthaud has been designated by Cellectis to serve as its nominee to the Board. Mr. Arthaud has been the Managing Director of Life Sciences and Ecotechnologies for Bpifrance Investissement (formerly CDC Enterprises, a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts) since 2012. He currently serves on the board of directors of Kurma Life Sciences Partners, Adocia, Ribogenics Inc., Aledia, Argobio, Enyo Pharma, and Sparingvision. From 2006 to 2016, he served on the board of directors of Emertec Gestion. From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Arthaud held the position of Deputy CEO at CDC Entreprises, and directed InnoBio, an investment fund managed by Bpifrance Investissement. From 1999 to 2004, he served as Vice President of Aventis Capital, an investment subsidiary of the pharmaceuticals group Aventis, and as President of Pharmavent Partners from 2004 to 2006. Mr. Arthaud is a graduate of the École Polytechnique and the École Nationale de Statistique et d’Administration Économique. We believe Mr. Arthaud’s extensive investment experience in the biotechnology industry qualifies him to serve as a member on our Board.
Philippe Dumont has served as a member of our Board since July 2017. Mr. Dumont retired in December 2012 from Bayer CropScience, where he was employed since May 2002. At Bayer he held the position of Head of Technology Management, Seeds, and was responsible for supervising globally the Regulatory Affairs and Regulatory Science functions, Stewardship, Public, and Governmental Affairs and Communication impacting GMOs and seeds. Until 2006 Mr. Dumont also supervised the Legal and Intellectual Property functions in the seed business. Mr. Dumont also held the same responsibilities at Aventis Crop Science from December 1998 until April 2002. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Dumont was General Counsel of Rhône-Poulenc Agrochimie. Prior to moving to France in 1987, Mr. Dumont held positions as an associate at Cravath Swaine & Moore (1975-1981), international legal counsel at Gulf Oil Corporation (1981-1983), and as solo practitioner in Washington D.C. from 1983-1986. Mr. Dumont is retired from the New York and District of Columbia Bars and is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1975) and Columbia University (B.A., magna cum laude 1972). Since June 2013, he has been serving as a director of Association Française des Biotechnologies Végétales, responsible for international relations, where he tries to promote public and governmental understanding of new breeding techniques and related regulatory issues. Based on his leadership and regulatory experience in the plant biotechnology industry both in the United States and Europe, we believe Mr. Dumont has the appropriate set of skills to serve as a member of our Board.
Jonathan B. Fassberg has served as a member of our Board since August 2018. Mr. Fassberg is currently the Vice Chairman of Healthcare Investment Banking at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., a leading investment bank, wealth manager, and a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings. Mr. Fassberg founded The Trout Group in 1996 and was the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Solebury Trout LLC since the Trout Group’s acquisition by Solebury Communications in November 2017 until March 2021. Mr. Fassberg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Based on his deep financial expertise and experience, we believe Mr. Fassberg has the appropriate set of skills to serve as a member of our Board.
Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz, 47, has served as a member of our Board since July 2017. In July 2017, Ms. Kozicz partnered with Cowen Investment Management to create Cowen Sustainable Investments focused on sustainability in agriculture, energy, and transportation services. Prior to this partnership, Ms. Kozicz held management roles at BlackRock from 2012 to 2017, including Head of US Strategy and Corporate Development as well as investing roles as Portfolio Manager of a private asset portfolio for ABR Reinsurance Ltd., a Bermuda based reinsurance company which Ms. Kozicz helped to set up on behalf of BlackRock. From 2009 to 2012, Ms. Kozicz worked as an equity Portfolio Manager at Caxton Associates. From 2000 to 2009, Ms. Kozicz held multiple positions at Goldman Sachs, including Managing Director, and spent most of her time in the Principal Strategies Group with a focus on investing in the global agricultural sector. During her time at Goldman Sachs, she served as a director on the board of a New York-based federal credit union Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union. She started her career in investment banking in 1996 at Credit Suisse First Boston in its Financial Institutions Group. Ms. Kozicz received a Bachelor of Arts in Math and Economics from Columbia College and her MBA from Columbia Business School. Based on her investment experience in the agriculture industry, we believe Ms. Kozicz has the appropriate set of skills to serve as a member of our Board.
Kimberly K. Nelson, 55, has served as a member of our Board since January 2019. Ms. Nelson has served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SPS Commerce (NASDAQ: SPSC), a provider of cloud-based supply chain management solutions, since November 2007. Ms. Nelson has also served on the Board of Qumu Corporation (NASDAQ: QUMU), a video content management company, from March 2012 until May 2019. Since November 2019, Ms. Nelson has served at the Board of Directors of Teradata, a provider of database and analytics-related software, products, and services. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance from Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, and completed the Executive MBA program at the University of Saint Thomas. Ms. Nelson has provided financial direction at several companies over her 30-year career including Amazon.com, Nestlé USA Inc., and The Pillsbury Company. Based on her strong finance and investor relations experience and her broad experience with premier food and consumer companies, we believe Ms. Nelson has the appropriate set of skills to serve as a member of our Board.
Christopher J. Neugent, 61,has served as a member of our Board since September 2018. Mr. Neugent has served as the Executive Vice President of Strategy of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POST), which is a $6.0 billionconsumer packaged goods holding company, with six operating divisions, since July 2018. Prior to this, he served as President and CEO of Post Consumer Brands, a breakfast cereal manufacturer, from its founding in November 2015 until July 2018. Previously, Mr. NeugentHe held variousa variety of leadership rolespositions at the MOM Brands Company beginning in 2001. He served asfrom 2001-2015, and was its Chairman of the PresidentBoard and Chief Executive Officer of MOM Brands Company beginning in 2008, and also assumedwhen the responsibilities of Chairman of the Board in 2011. Mr. Neugent held these roles untilcompany was sold to Post acquired MOM Brands CompanyHoldings in 2015. Prior to joining MOM Brands in 2001, Mr. Neugent was a Vice President of Marketing at Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo. Mr. NeugentPepsiCo, Inc., where he served in a variety of leadership positions in marketing, sales, and financial roles at Frito-Layfinance from 1989-2001. Mr. Neugent has served on the Board of Welch Foods, Inc. since February 2016.2016 and is Chairman of their Compensation Committee and a member of their Audit Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Artsan A.B. degree in economicsEconomics from Princeton University and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business. We believe Mr. Neugent’s extensive experience as a Chief
Executive Officer in the consumer food products spacebuilding and leading organizations, developing and implementing corporate strategy, and leading business transformations qualifies him to serve as a member of our Board.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” EACH NAMED NOMINEE.
DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Board of Directors and Leadership Structure
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Certificate of Incorporation, and bylaws provide the Board flexibility in determining its leadership structure.
The Board may establish the authorized number of directors from time to time by resolution. Immediately prior to the Annual Meeting, our Board consists of seven members, five of whom are independent under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Market (the “Nasdaq”).
The Board ordinarily separates the role of Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Currently, the Chair of the Board is serving as our principal executive officer on a temporary basis until such time that a new Chief Executive Officer is appointed.
The Board believes it is important to retain its flexibility to allocate the responsibilities of the offices of the Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in any way that is in our best interests at a given point in time. The Board may make a different determination in the future as to the appropriateness of its current policies in connection with the recruitment and succession of the Chair of the Board and/or the Chief Executive Officer.
Director Independence
The Nasdaq listing standards generally require that a majority of the members of a listed company’s Board be independent. In addition, the listing rules generally require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation, and nominating committees be independent. Audit committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act.
Although the Nasdaq listing standards allow a “controlled company,” such as us, to elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, such “controlled company” exemptions do not modify the independence requirements for the audit committee. The controlled company exemptions are discussed further below.
Our Board has undertaken a review of the independence of each of our directors who served in the most recently completed fiscal year and has considered whether any such director has a material relationship with us that could compromise his or her ability to exercise independent judgment in carrying out his or her responsibilities. Based on this evaluation, the Board determined that each of Mr. Dumont, Mr. Fassberg, Ms. Kozicz, Ms. Nelson, and Mr. Neugent, and Dr. Ribeill are independent. Because of his current status as President & Chief Executive Chair and his role as the principal executive officerOfficer of the Company, the Board determined that Dr. RibeillMr. Carr is not independent under the independence provisions of the Nasdaq listing standards and Rule 10A-3. Because of his status as a director of Cellectis, the Board determined that Mr. Arthaud is not independent under the independence provisions of the Nasdaq listing standards and Rule 10A-3. In addition, because of his status as both a director and the Chief Executive Officer of Cellectis, Dr. Choulika, who retired from our Board but served in 2020 until his resignation in July 2020, was not independent under the independence provisions of the Nasdaq listing standards and Rule 10A-3.
In making such independence determinations, our Board considered the relationships that each of the directors has with us and all other facts and circumstances our Board deemed relevant in determining their independence, including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock held by each director.
There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.
Loss of Controlled Company Exemption
Until the Effective Date, Cellectis controlscontrolled a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we arewere a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq listing standards. Under the Nasdaq listing standards a company of which more than 50 percent of the voting power is held by an individual, group, or another company is a “controlled company” and maywere permitted to elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
a majority of the Board consist of independent directors;
that (a) director nominees be selected, or recommended to the Board, either by (i) independent directors constituting a majority of the Board’s independent directors or (ii) a nominations committee composed entirely of independent directors, with a written charter or board resolution, as applicable, addressing the nominations process;process, and
(b) we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.
Our Board has established an Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Compensation Committee, each of which has a written charter that addresses its purpose and responsibilities.
With the exception of Dr. Ribeill and Mr. Arthaud, each of the other nominees for election to the Board at the 2021 Annual Meeting is an independent director under the independence provisions of the Nasdaq listing standards. Accordingly, our Board is currently comprised of a majority of independent directors. However, pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, Cellectis has a right to designate as nominees to the Board the greater of three members of the Board or a majority of the directors on the Board. Currently Cellectis has designated only Mr. Arthaud as its nominee to the Board and has otherwise reserved its rights under the Stockholders Agreement to make additional designations from time to time. In the event that Cellectis exercised its designation rights and designated nominees that were not independent, we would rely on the controlled company exemption to the requirement that a majority of our Board consist of independent directors.
Because Cellectis has designated Mr. Arthaud as a member of each of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, and Dr. Ribeill continues to serve on each of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee while also serving as Executive Chair, we relypreviously relied on the controlled company exemption with respect to the independence requirements for those committees. Pursuant to Nasdaq’s listing standards, we are permitted a phase-in period of one year before we are required to have a fully independent Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Role of the Board in Risk Oversight
The Board is actively involved in the oversight of our risk management process. The Board does not have a standing risk management committee but administers this oversight function directly through the Board as a whole, as well as through its standing committees that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight. In particular, ourOur Audit Committee has the responsibility to consider and discuss our major financial and cybersecurity risk exposures and the steps our management has taken to monitor and control these exposures. Our Compensation Committee assesses and monitors whether our compensation policies and programs have the potential to encourage excessive risk-taking. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee has responsibility to review and assess Calyxt’s
significant environmental, social, and governance issues, risks, and trends. Our Board is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure and other risks not covered by our committees.
The full Board, or the appropriate committee, receives reports on risks facing Calyxt from our principal executive officer or other members of management to enable it to understand our risk identification, risk management, and risk mitigation strategies. We believe that our Board’s leadership structure is consistent with and supports the effective administration of the Board’s risk oversight function.
Effective as of April 15, 2019, Calyxt adopted a formal financial risk management policy and established a financial risk management committee (the “FRC”), which is comprised of members of the corporate leadership team. The financial risk management policy provides a framework for the definition, measurement, and strategies to manage financial risks, including commodity, interest rate, foreign currency, and counterparty credit risks. The FRC regularly reports to the Board on its activities.
Attendance at Meetings
During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020,2022, the Board held 21 meetings.22 meetings and acted by written consent seven times. Members of the Board are expected to regularly attend all meetings of the Board and committees on which they serve. With respect to each of our incumbent director’s period of service, eachEach director attended more than 75 percent of the meetings of the Board and of the committees on which the director served that were held during the last fiscal year and during such director’s period of service.year. The non-management directors meet in conjunction with regular meetings of the Board outside of the presence of management in executive session and the independent members of our Board also meet in executive sessions.
Members of the Board are invited, but not required, to attend each annual meeting of our stockholders. Mr. Dumont,Carr, Mr. Fassberg, and Ms. Nelson and Mr. Neugent attended our 2020 annual meeting2022 Annual Meeting of stockholders,Stockholders, which was held on May 19, 2020.June 1, 2022.
Board Committees
Our Board has established three standing committees: Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Compensation Committee, each of which is described below. Each of our standing committees operate pursuant to charters posted on the Investors section of our website at https://ir.calyxt.com/corporate-governance/governance-documents.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee is composed of Ms. Nelson (Chair), Mr. Dumont, Mr. Fassberg, Ms. Kozicz, and Ms. Kozicz.Nelson (chair). Our Board has determined that Ms. Nelson, Mr. Dumont, Mr. Fassberg, and Ms. Kozicz are independent under the applicable provisions of the Nasdaq listing standards and Rule 10A-3. Each of Ms. Nelson, Mr. Dumont, Mr. Fassberg, and Ms. Kozicz qualifies as an “audit committee financial
expert” as such term is defined in the regulations under the Exchange Act and meets the requirements for financial literacy and financial sophistication required under applicable rules and regulations.
The Audit Committee is responsible for, among other things, the oversight of the integrity of our financial statements and system of internal controls, the qualifications and independence of our independent registered accounting firm, and the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditor. The Audit Committee also has the authority and responsibility to select, determine the compensation of, evaluate and, when appropriate, replace our independent registered public accounting firm. In addition, the Audit Committee will review reports from management, legal counsel, and third parties relating to the status of compliance with laws, regulations, and internal procedures. The Audit Committee is also responsible for reviewing and discussing with management our policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management.
The Audit Committee held sixfour meetings during 2020.2022.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is composed of Dr. Ribeill (Chair), Mr. Arthaud, Mr. Fassberg, Ms. Kozicz (chair), and Ms. Kozicz.Dr. Ribeill. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for, among other
things, matters of corporate governance and matters relating to the practices, policies, and procedures of our Board, identifying and recommending candidates for election to our Board and each committee of our Board, and reviewing, at least annually, our corporate governance principles. As a “controlled company,” we are not required to have director nominations selected by a nominations committee comprised solelySee “Loss of independent directors.Controlled Company Exemption” above.
The policy of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is to identify director candidates, including nominees submitted by stockholders, based on criteria established by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and approved by the Board, which includes the criteria set forth in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee considers not only the director candidate’s qualities, performance, and professional responsibilities, but also the current composition of the Board and the challenges and needs of the Board at that time. In addition, the Stockholders Agreement provides Cellectis with certain rights relating to the composition of our Board. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Transactions — Relationship with Cellectis—Cellectis — Stockholders Agreement.” The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider candidates for Board membership suggested by its members and other Board members, as well as management and stockholders. Stockholders who wish to recommend a prospective nominee should follow the procedures set forth in Section 2.05 of our bylaws. Stockholders should also review the section entitled “Procedures for Submitting Director Nominations and Stockholder Proposals.” The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will evaluate stockholder-recommended nominees in the same manner as other nominees, other than those designated pursuant to the Stockholders’ Agreement. All director nominees at the Annual Meeting were elected at the Calyxt 20202022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders except for Mr. Arthaud, who was designated by Cellectis and appointed by the Board in July 2020 upon the retirement of Dr. Choulika.Stockholders.
Calyxt does not have a specific policy on diversity of the Board. Instead, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Board evaluate nominees in the context of the Board as a whole, with the objective of selecting nominees that will contributecontribute to a diversity of viewpoints that will enhance the quality of the Board’s deliberations and decisions.decisions. Such diversity may be reflected in a mix of different knowledge, experience, skills, expertise, backgrounds, and other characteristics.characteristics. Calyxt is proud to have a diverse Board, including with respect to gender. We provide below disclosure regarding the diversity of our Board.
Board Diversity Matrix (As of March 1, 2023) | ||||||||
Female | Male | Non-Binary | Did Not Disclose Gender | |||||
Total Number of Directors | 8 | |||||||
Part I: General Identity | ||||||||
Directors | 2 | 5 | — | 1 | ||||
Part II: Demographic Background | ||||||||
Black or African American | — | — | — | — | ||||
Hispanic or Latino | — | — | — | — | ||||
Asian | — | — | — | — | ||||
Native American or Alaska Native | — | — | — | — | ||||
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | — | — | — | — | ||||
White (not of Hispanic or Latinx origin) | 2 | 5 | — | — | ||||
Two or More Races or Ethnicities | — | — | — | — | ||||
LGBTQ+ | — | |||||||
Did Not Disclose Demographic Background | — | — | — | 1 |
The Nominating and Governance Committee held threetwo meetings during 2020.2022.
Compensation Committee
The Compensation Committee is composed of Mr. Neugent (Chair), Mr. Arthaud, Mr. Dumont, Mr. Neugent (chair), and Dr. Ribeill. The Compensation Committee is responsible for, among other things, reviewing and approving our overall compensation philosophy and overseeing the administration of related compensation benefit programs, policies,
and practices. The Compensation Committee is also responsible for annually reviewing and approving the corporate goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and other executive officers and evaluating their performance in light of these goals, reviewing the compensation of our executive officers and other appropriate officers, and administering our incentive and equity-based compensation plans. Executive compensation is recommended by the Compensation Committee and set by the Board. In performing this function, the Compensation Committee and the Board rely on the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer to provide information regarding the executive officers, their roles and responsibilities, and the general performance of the Company and the various business units. The Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and General Counsel, as well as members of Calyxt’s human resources team, provide support, take directions from, and bring suggestions to the Compensation Committee and the Board. The Chief Executive Officer also suggests performance measures and targets for each of the executive officers under our cash bonus program. The final decisions regarding salaries, bonuses (including measures, targets, and amounts to be paid), equity grants, and other compensation matters related to executive officers are made by the Board. No executive officer has any role in director compensation. The Compensation Committee
may delegate all or a portion of duties and responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Compensation Committee. As a “controlled company,” we are not required to have a compensation committee comprised entirelySee “Loss of independent directors.Controlled Company Exemption” above.
TheIn fiscal year 2022, the Compensation Committee has engaged Vareo Advisors, LLC as its consultant for executive and non-executive compensation. The Compensation Committee determined that Vareo Advisors, LLC is free of conflicts of interest.interest under applicable Nasdaq and SEC rules. The consultant reports directly to the Compensation Committee and works with the Compensation Committee, the Board, and management to, among other things, provide advice regarding compensation structures and programs in general and competitive compensation data.
The Compensation Committee held six meetings during 2020.2022.
Corporate Governance Guidelines
Our Board has adopted written Corporate Governance Guidelines that serve as a framework for our Board and its committees. These guidelines cover a number of areas including the size and composition of the Board, membership criteria for the Board and director qualifications, director responsibilities, board agenda, the responsibilities of the Chair of the Board, and the Chief Executive Officer, the appointment of a presiding director, meetings of non-management directors, the role of committees of the Board, access of directors to management and independent advisors, third-party communications, director compensation, director orientation and continuing education, management evaluation and succession and annual performance evaluations.
The Corporate Governance Guidelines are reviewed at least annually by our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and changes are recommended to our Board, as warranted.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted the Calyxt Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which is applicable to all our employees, executive officers, and directors. Any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and any waivers of its requirements will be disclosed on our website or in filings under the Exchange Act, as required by the applicable rules and exchange requirements.
Policies Prohibiting Employee, Officer, and Director Hedging and Pledging
Calyxt’s insider trading policy prohibits our directors, executive officers, employees, and their related persons from purchasing our securities on margin or holding our securities in margin accounts or otherwise pledging our securities, and also prohibits any hedging transactions (including, transactions involving options, warrants, puts, calls, prepaid variable forward contracts, equity swaps, collars, and exchange funds or other derivatives) that are designed to hedge or speculate on any change in the market value of equity securities of Calyxt.
Stockholder Communications
Stockholders may contact our Board about bona fide issues or questions about Calyxt by sending a letter to the following address: Calyxt, Inc., 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113, Attention: Board of Directors. Each communication should specify the applicable addressee or addressees to be contacted, the general topic of the communication, and the number of shares of our stock that are owned of record (if a record holder) or beneficially. If a stockholder wishes to contact the independent members of the Board, the stockholder should address such communication to the attention of the “Independent Directors” at the address above. Our General Counsel will initially receive and process communications before forwarding them to the addressee, and generally will not forward a communication that is unrelated to the duties and responsibilities of the Board, including a communication the General Counsel determines to be primarily commercial in nature, is related to an improper or irrelevant topic, or is a request for general information about us or our products or services.
RATIFICATION OF SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Appointment of Ernst & Young LLP
Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2015. The Audit Committee has approved the engagement of EY to perform audit and audit-related services with respect to the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021, and the Board has directed that management submit the selection of EY as Calyxt’s independent registered public accounting firm for ratification by the stockholders at the Annual Meeting as part of this Proposal 2. The Audit Committee’s selection process includes consideration of the following factors: continuity of experience with our business, internal controls, and technical accounting experience; independence; history of and reputation for thoroughness, accuracy, excellence, and integrity; and reasonableness of fees. In the event the stockholders do not ratify the reappointment of EY, the Audit Committee will reconsider the selection.
Representatives of EY will be present at the Annual Meeting. They will be given an opportunity to make a statement, if they desire to do so, and they will be available to respond to appropriate questions after the meeting.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RAtification of THE Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
RELATIONSHIP WITH INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Pre-Approval of Accounting Services
The Audit Committee has established a policy regarding pre-approval of audit and permissible non-audit services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm. Under that policy, the Audit Committee must approve the services to be rendered and fees to be charged by our independent registered public accounting firm. Unless a type of service has received general pre-approval, it will require specific pre-approval of the Audit Committee if it is to be provided by the independent auditor. The Audit Committee may establish pre-approval fee limits for all services to be provided by the independent accountant. The Audit Committee must then approve, in advance, any services or fees exceeding those pre-approved levels, subject to the de minimis exception set forth in Section 10A(i)(1)(B) of the Exchange Act. The Audit Committee pre-approved all services and fees charged by Ernst & Young LLP to the Company in 2020.
The Audit Committee has delegated to its Chair the authority to grant separate pre-approvals of services and fees in accordance with the pre-approval policy. The Audit Committee may further delegate pre-approval authority from time to time to one or more of its other members in its discretion.
Fees Billed by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2019
The following table presents aggregate fees (including related expenses) for services rendered by Ernst & Young LLP in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
|
| Year Ended December 31, |
| |||||
|
| 2020 |
|
| 2019 |
| ||
Audit Fees |
| $ | 370,000 |
|
| $ | 442,714 |
|
Audit-Related Fees |
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
Tax Fees |
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
All Other Fees |
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
Total |
| $ | 370,000 |
|
| $ | 442,714 |
|
This report of the Audit Committee is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, in accordance with the SEC’s rules, will not be deemed to be part of or incorporated by reference by any general statement incorporating by reference this Proxy Statement into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) or under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), except to the extent that we specifically incorporate this information by reference, and will not otherwise be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” under either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The principal purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board in its general oversight of our accounting practices, system of internal controls, audit processes, and financial reporting processes. The Audit Committee is responsible for appointing and retaining our independent auditor and approving the audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditor. The Audit Committee’s function is more fully described in its charter.
Our management is responsible for preparing our financial statements and ensuring they are complete and accurate and prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. EY, our independent registered public accounting firm for 2020, was responsible for performing an independent audit of our consolidated financial statements and expressing an opinion on the conformity of those financial statements with generally accepted accounting principles.
The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 with management and with our independent auditor, EY. These audited financial statements are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 (“Annual Report”).
The Audit Committee has also discussed with EY the matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) and the SEC.
The Audit Committee also has received and reviewed the written disclosures and the letter from EY required by applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding EY’s communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence and has discussed with EY its independence from us.
Based on the review and discussions described above, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the audited financial statements be included in the Annual Report for filing with the SEC.
THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
Ms. Kimberly K. Nelson (Chair)
Mr. Philippe Dumont
Mr. Jonathan B. Fassberg
Ms. Ana Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz
APPROVAL OF THE AMENDMENT TO THE CALYXT, INC. 2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN
General
We are requesting that our stockholders approve an amendment (the “Amendment”) to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), which was established effective June 14, 2017. The Amendment has been approved and adopted by our Board, subject to approval by our stockholders, and is now being submitted for stockholder approval, with an effective date of May 18, 2021. The key terms of the Amendment are described in additional detail below.
The Amendment does not increase the number of shares available for grant under the Plan, so there will be no additional dilution if the Amendment is approved by our stockholders. For additional information about the outstanding awards and shares available for issuance under the Plan see the table under the header “Equity Compensation Plan Information” below.
Changes to the Plan Pursuant to the Amendment
We are requesting that our stockholders approve the Amendment, which would result in the following differences from the Plan, as currently in effect:
The Amendment removes terms, conditions, definitions, and requirements relating to the qualified performance-based exception to Section 162(m) of the Code, which exception is no longer available for new awards under the Plan due to tax reform legislation;
The Amendment includes a specific limit on the maximum aggregate number of shares that may be issued under the Plan upon the exercise of incentive stock options (see “Authorized Shares and Award Limits” below);
The Amendment places an aggregate limit of $1,000,000 on all compensation payable to non-employee directors in any calendar year (including cash and equity) and a $2,000,000 aggregate limit on all compensation payable to non-employee directors serving as executive chair; and
The Amendment incorporates certain other technical revisions in response to changes in the law and other clarifying changes.
Summary of Material Terms of the Plan (as Amended by the Amendment)
The actual text of the Plan, as amended by the Amendment, is attached as Appendix A to this Proxy Statement. The following description of the Plan is only a summary of its principal terms and provisions and is qualified by reference to the actual text as set forth in Appendix A to this Proxy Statement.
Purpose
The purpose of the Plan is to attract and retain the best available personnel for positions of substantial responsibility, to provide additional incentives to participants, and to promote the success of our business.
Plan Term
The Plan is scheduled to expire ten years following its original effective date of June 14, 2017. The term will expire sooner if, prior to the end of the ten-year term or any extension period, the maximum number of shares available for issuance under the Plan has been issued or our Board terminates the Plan.
Eligibility
Employees, consultants, non-employee directors (and director nominees) and any other individuals who provide services to us or any of our affiliates are eligible to receive awards under the Plan, if permitted by applicable laws or accounting and tax rules and regulations. As of March 23, 2021, there were 58 employees, 5 consultants, 7 non-employee directors, and 6 other service providers eligible to participate in the Plan. The basis for participation in the Plan is being eligible and being selected by the Administrator to receive a grant thereunder.
Authorized Shares and Award Limits
Subject to adjustment, 4,900,000 shares of our common stock were originally available for awards to be granted under the Plan (other than substitute awards; that is, awards that are granted in assumption of, or in substitution for, an outstanding award previously granted by a company or other business acquired by us or with which we combine). The total number of shares available for issuance under the Plan (the “Overall Share Limit”) has been and will continue to be increased on the first day of each Company fiscal year following the effective date of the Company’s initial public offering in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 4,900,000 shares, (ii) 5 percent of outstanding shares on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year, or (iii) such number of shares as determined by the Board in its discretion. As of March 23, 2021, the Overall Share Limit (after taking into account the evergreen refresh for the last four years) was 11,233,263.
Subject to adjustment, the maximum number of shares of our common stock actually issued or transferred by us upon the exercise of incentive stock options is 11,233,263 shares (which matches the Overall Share Limit as of March 23, 2021), which incentive stock option limit will be increased on the first year of each fiscal year beginning in 2022 by 4,900,000 shares, but which will not exceed, in any event, the Overall Share Limit.
Subject to adjustment, the maximum number of shares of our common stock that may be granted to any single individual during any calendar year is as follows: (i) stock options and SARs that relate to no more than 490,000 shares of our common stock; (ii) restricted stock and RSUs that relate to no more than 490,000 shares of our common stock; (iii) performance awards denominated in shares and other share-based awards that relate to no more than 490,000 shares of our common stock; (iv) deferred awards denominated in shares that relate to no more than 490,000 shares of our common stock; (v) deferred awards denominated in cash that relate to no more than $5,000,000; and (vi) performance awards denominated in cash and other cash-based awards that relate to no more than $5,000,000, provided that no participant may receive awards that relate to more than 490,000 shares of our common stock during the fiscal year of any participant’s initial year of service with the Company. An individual who is a non-employee director may not be granted compensation for such service in any one calendar year having an aggregate maximum grant date fair value in excess of $1,000,000; provided an individual who serves as executive chair and is a non-employee director may not be granted compensation for such service in any one calendar year having an aggregate maximum grant date fair value in excess of $2,000,000.
If an award is forfeited, expires, terminates, or otherwise lapses or is settled for cash, the shares covered by such award will again be available for issuance under the Plan. However, any shares that are retained by us upon exercise of an award to satisfy (i) the exercise or purchase price for such award or (ii) any withholding taxes due with respect to such award and shares issued under the Plan and later repurchased by us shall not be available for future grants under the Plan.
Administration
The Board or, to the extent authority is delegated by the Board, its Compensation Committee or other committee will administer the Plan. The Board or, to the extent authority is delegated by the Board, its Compensation Committee or other committee (in either event, the “Administrator”) will administer the Plan and have the authority to do the following items (among others):
determine the fair market value of the common stock;
select the participants to whom awards may be granted;
approve forms of agreements, amend, or modify outstanding awards or award agreements;
correct any defect, supply any omission, and reconcile any inconsistency in the Plan or any award, in the manner and to the extent it will deem desirable to carry the Plan into effect;
establish, amend, suspend or waive rules and regulations and appoint agents, trustees, brokers, depositories, and advisors and determine such terms of their engagement as it will deem appropriate;
construe and interpret the terms of the plan, any award agreement and any agreement related to any award; and
make any other determination and take any other action that it deems necessary or desirable to administer the Plan.
To the extent not inconsistent with applicable law, the Administrator may delegate to one or more of our officers the authority to grant certain awards under the Plan.
Types of Awards
The Plan provides for grants of incentive and non-qualified stock options, SARs, restricted stock, RSUs, performance awards, deferred awards, other share-based awards, and other cash-based awards as described below:
Stock Options. A stock option is a contractual right to purchase shares at a future date at a specified exercise price. The per share exercise price of a stock option (except in the case of substitute awards) will be determined by the Administrator at the time of grant but may not be less than the fair market value of a share of our common stock on the grant date. The Administrator will determine the date on which each stock option becomes vested and exercisable and the expiration date of each option. No stock option will be exercisable more than ten years from the grant date, except that the Administrator may generally provide for an extension of such ten-year term in the event the exercise of the option would be prohibited by law on the expiration date. Stock options that are intended to qualify as incentive stock options must meet the requirements of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code.
SARs. A SAR represents a contractual right to receive, in cash or shares, an amount equal to the appreciation of one share of our common stock from the grant date over the exercise or hurdle price of such SAR. The per share exercise price of a SAR (except in the case of substitute awards) will be determined by the Administrator but may not be less than the fair market value of a share of our common stock on the grant date. The Administrator will determine the date on which each SAR may be exercised or settled and the expiration date of each SAR. However, no SAR will be exercisable more than ten years from the grant date.
Restricted Stock. Restricted stock is an award of shares of our common stock that are subject to restrictions on transfer and a substantial risk of forfeiture.
RSUs. An RSU represents a contractual right to receive the value of a share of our common stock at a future date, subject to specified vesting and other restrictions.
Performance Awards. Performance awards, which may be denominated in cash or shares, will be earned upon the satisfaction of performance conditions specified by the Administrator. The performance conditions may include, but not be limited to, the following: return measures (including total shareholder return; return on equity; return on assets or net assets; return on risk-weighted assets; and return on capital (including return on total capital or return on invested capital)); revenues (including total revenue; gross revenue; net revenue; and net sales); income/earnings measures (including earnings per share; earnings or loss (including earnings before or after interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization); gross income; net income; operating income (before or after taxes); pre-or after-tax income or loss (before or after allocation of corporate overhead and bonus); pre- or after-tax operating income; net earnings; net income or loss (before or after taxes); operating margin; gross margin; and adjusted net income); expense measures (including expenses; operating efficiencies; and improvement in or attainment of expense levels or working capital levels (including cash and accounts receivable)); cash flow measures (including cash flow or cash flow per share (before or after dividends); and cash flow return on investment); share price measures (including share price; appreciation in and/or maintenance of share price; and market capitalization); strategic objectives (including market share; debt reduction; customer growth; employee satisfaction; research and development achievements; mergers and acquisitions; management retention; dynamic market response; expense reduction initiatives; reductions in costs; risk management; regulatory compliance and achievements; recruiting and maintaining personnel; and business quality); and other measures (including economic value-added models or equivalent metrics; economic profit added; gross profits; economic profit; comparisons with various stock market indices; financial ratios (including those measuring liquidity, activity, profitability or leverage); cost of capital or assets under management; and financing and other capital raising transactions (including sales of the Company’s equity or debt securities; factoring transactions; sales or licenses of the Company’s assets, including its intellectual property, whether in a particular jurisdiction or territory or globally; or through partnering transactions)). These performance criteria may be measured on an absolute (e.g., plan or budget) or relative basis, may be established on a corporate-wide basis or with respect to one or more business units, divisions, subsidiaries, or business segments, may be based on a ratio or separate calculation of any performance criteria and may be made relative to an index or one or more of the performance goals themselves.
Deferred Awards. The Administrator is authorized to grant awards denominated in a right to receive shares of our common stock or cash on a deferred basis.
Other Share-Based Awards. The Administrator is authorized to grant other share-based awards, which may be denominated in shares of our common stock or factors that may influence the value of our shares.
Other Cash-Based Awards. The Administrator is authorized to grant other cash-based awards either independently or as an element of or supplement to any other award under the Plan.
Adjustments
In the event that the Administrator determines that, as result of any stock split, reverse stock split, stock dividend, combination, consolidation, recapitalization (including a recapitalization through a large nonrecurring cash dividend) or reclassification of the shares, repurchase, exchange or subdivision of the Shares or other securities of the Company, a rights offering, a reorganization,
merger, spin-off, split-up, change in corporate structure or other similar occurrence, in each case excluding any triggering event, an adjustment is appropriate to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the Plan, the Administrator will, subject to compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, adjust equitably any or all of
the number, type and class of shares or other stock or securities available for future awards and covered by each outstanding award;
the grant, purchase, exercise, or hurdle price covered by each such outstanding award; and
any repurchase price per share applicable to shares issued pursuant to any award, or, if deemed appropriate, will make a provision for a cash payment to the holder of an outstanding award.
In addition, the Administrator may adjust the terms and conditions of, and the criteria included in, outstanding awards in recognition of events affecting the Company or the financial statements of the Company, or changes in applicable laws, regulations, or accounting principles, whenever the Administrator determines that such adjustments are appropriate in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the Plan.
No Repricing
Except as provided the Plan’s adjustment provisions, no action will directly or indirectly, through cancellation and regrant or any other method, reduce, or have the effect of reducing, the exercise or hurdle price of any award established at the time of grant thereof without approval of our stockholders.
Termination of Service and Corporate Transactions
The Administrator will determine the effect of a termination of employment or service on outstanding awards, including whether the awards will vest, become exercisable, settle, or be forfeited. In the event of a dissolution or liquidation of the Company or a triggering event, except as otherwise provided in the applicable award agreement, the Administrator may provide for:
assumption or substitution with equivalent awards of outstanding awards under the Plan by us (if we are the surviving corporation) or by the surviving corporation or its parent or subsidiary;
termination of outstanding awards under the Plan in exchange for a payment of cash, securities and/or other property equal to the excess of the fair market value of the portion of the awards stock that is vested and exercisable immediately prior to the consummation of the corporate transaction over the per share exercise price;
any combination of assumption, substitution, or termination of outstanding awards under the Plan as described above; provided that outstanding awards of stock options and SARs may be cancelled without consideration if the fair market value on the date of the event is greater than the exercise or hurdle price of such award; or
acceleration of the vesting (including the lapse of any restrictions, with any performance criteria or conditions deemed met at target) and exercisability of outstanding award in full prior to the date of the corporate transaction and the expiration of awards not timely exercised by the date determined by the Administrator.
A triggering event as defined in the plan includes (i) a sale, transfer or disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets other than to (A) a corporation or other entity of which at least a majority of its combined voting power is owned directly or indirectly by the Company, (B) a corporation or other entity owned directly or indirectly by the holders of capital stock of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of our common stock, or (C) an Excluded Entity (as defined in subsection (ii) below); or (ii) any merger, consolidation or other business combination transaction of the Company with or into another corporation, entity or person, other than a transaction with or into another corporation, entity or person in which the holders of at least a majority of the shares of voting capital stock of the Company outstanding immediately prior to such transaction continue to hold (either by such shares remaining outstanding in the continuing entity or by their being converted into shares of voting capital stock of the surviving entity) a majority of the total voting power represented by the shares of voting capital stock of the Company (or the surviving entity) outstanding immediately after such transaction (an “Excluded Entity”); or (iii) any direct or indirect purchase or other acquisition by any person or group, other than a parent company or another person that is controlled by a parent company, of more than 50% of the total outstanding equity interests in or voting securities of the Company, excluding any transaction that is determined by the Board in its reasonable discretion to be a bona fide capital raising transaction.
Amendment and Termination
Our Board may amend, alter, suspend, discontinue, or terminate the Plan, but, subject to certain exceptions, no amendment or termination that would materially and adversely affect the rights of any participant under any outstanding award shall be made without
his or her consent. The Administrator may also amend, alter, suspend, discontinue, or terminate, or waive any conditions or rights under, any outstanding award. However, subject to the adjustment provision and corporate transaction provision, any such action by the Administrator that would materially adversely affect the rights of a holder of an outstanding award may not be taken without the holder’s consent, subject to certain exceptions. The Company will also seek, to the extent necessary and desirable to comply with applicable laws, the approval of holders of capital stock with respect to any amendment of the Plan.
New Plan Benefits
It is not possible to determine the specific amounts and types of awards that may be awarded in the future under the Plan because the grant and actual settlement of awards under the Plan are subject to the discretion of the Administrator.
Existing Plan Benefits
Since its inception, the following option and RSU grants have been made under the Plan to the persons and categories of persons identified below:
Name and Position |
| Number of Shares Subject to Stock Options Granted |
| Number of RSUs Granted (1) |
James A. Blome |
| 500,000 |
| 396,667 |
William F. Koschak |
| 316,000 |
| 103,000 |
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. |
| 204,000 |
| 16,500 |
Executive Officers as a Group |
| 1,227,000 |
| 595,167 |
Non-Executive Directors as a Group |
| 257,600 |
| 83,400 |
Non-Executive Officer Employees as a Group |
| 2,404,858 |
| 828,570 |
|
|
The closing price per share of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, as reported on the Nasdaq Stock Market on March 23, 2021 was $7.10.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences
The following is a brief summary of certain of the Federal income tax consequences of certain transactions under the Plan based on Federal income tax laws in effect. This summary, which is presented for the information of stockholders considering how to vote on this proposal and not for Plan participants, is not intended to be complete and does not describe Federal taxes other than income taxes (such as Medicare and Social Security taxes), or state, local or foreign tax consequences.
Tax Consequences to Participants
RSUs, Performance Awards, Deferred Awards and Cash-Based Awards. No income generally will be recognized upon the grant of RSUs, performance awards, deferred awards, or cash-based awards. Upon payment in respect of such awards, the recipient generally will be required to include as taxable ordinary income in the year of receipt an amount equal to the amount of cash received and the fair market value of any unrestricted shares received (reduced by any amount paid by the recipient).
Restricted Stock. The recipient of restricted stock generally will be subject to tax at ordinary income rates on the fair market value of the restricted stock (reduced by any amount paid by the recipient) at such time as the restricted stock is no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. However, a recipient who so elects under Section 83(b) of the Code within 30 days of the date of transfer of the shares will have taxable ordinary income on the date of transfer of the shares equal to the excess of the fair market value of such shares over any purchase price.
Nonqualified Stock Options and SARs. In general:
no income will be recognized by a grantee at the time a non-qualified stock option or SAR is granted; and
at the time of exercise of a non-qualified stock option or SAR, ordinary income will be recognized by the grantee in an amount equal to, in the case of a non-qualified stock option, the difference between the option price paid for the shares and the fair market value of the unrestricted shares on the date of exercise and, in the case of a SAR, the amount of cash received, and the fair market value of any unrestricted shares received.
Incentive Stock Options. No income generally will be recognized by an optionee upon the grant or exercise of an “incentive stock option” as defined in Section 422 of the Code, but the exercise may give rise to alternative minimum tax. If shares are issued to the optionee pursuant to the exercise of an incentive stock option, and if no disqualifying disposition of such shares is made by such optionee within two years after the date of grant or within one year after the transfer of such shares to the optionee, then upon sale of such shares, any amount realized in excess of the option price will be taxed to the optionee as a long-term capital gain and any loss sustained will be a long-term capital loss.
If shares acquired upon the exercise of an incentive stock option are disposed of prior to the expiration of either holding period described above, the optionee generally will recognize ordinary income in the year of disposition in an amount equal to the excess (if any) of the fair market value of such shares at the time of exercise (or, if less, the amount realized on the disposition of such shares if a sale or exchange) over the exercise price paid for such shares. Any further gain (or loss) realized by the participant generally will be taxed as short-term or long-term capital gain (or loss) depending on the holding period.
Tax Consequences to the Company and its Subsidiaries
To the extent that a participant recognizes ordinary income in the circumstances described above, the Company or the subsidiary for which the participant performs services will be entitled to a corresponding deduction provided that, among other things, it is not disallowed by the $1 million limitation on certain executive compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code.
Vote Required
The Amendment to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan will be approved by the affirmative “For” vote of a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on this matter. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote on Proposal No. 3.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE APPROVAL of THE AMENDMENT TO THE CALYXT, INC. 2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
The following table sets forth certain information related to our compensation plans under which shares of our common stock are authorized for issuance as of December 31, 2020:
Plan Category | (A) 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 1 |
| 4,621,173 |
| $ | 10.30 | 2 |
| 3,938,285 | 3 |
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders |
| - |
|
| - |
|
| - |
|
Total |
| 4,621,173 |
| $ | 10.30 |
|
| 3,938,285 |
|
1 Includes the Plan and the Calyxt, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan (the “2014 Plan”).
2 Represents the weighted average exercise price of options outstanding under the Plan and the 2014 Plan.
3 Of these shares, none are available for future issuance from the 2014 Plan and 3,938,285 remain available for future issuance from the Plan. All these shares are available for issuance other than upon exercise of options, warrants, or rights.
The following table sets forth information concerning our current executive officers:officers, other than Michael A. Carr, whose information is set forth above under “Directors and Corporate Governance — Board of Directors and Leadership Structure”:
Name | Age | Position | ||||
|
| 54 | President & Chief Executive | |||
William F. Koschak |
| 54 | Chief Financial Officer | |||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. |
| 45 | Chief Technology Officer | |||
Debra Frimerman |
| 43 | General Counsel and Corporate Secretary |
Yves J. Ribeill, Ph.D., has served as a member of our Board since July 2018 and was appointed as the Executive Chair of the Board of Directors since February 2021. In his capacity as Executive Chair, Dr. Ribeill serves as the Company’s principal executive officer until a new Chief Executive Officer is appointed. Dr. Ribeill served as Calyxt’s interim Chief Executive Officer from August 2018 until October 2018. For more information on Dr. Ribeill, see the section “Proposal No. 1 – Election of Directors” included within this document.
William F. Koschak has served as our Chief Financial Officer since January 2019. Mr. Koschak previously served as the Vice President, Finance of the Brain Therapies business unit of Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT), a global medical technology company, from June 2017 through January 2019. As Vice President, Finance of the Brain Therapies business unit, Mr. Koschak had responsibility for matters including financial and strategic planning for the $2.5 billion in revenue global brain therapies business unit, as well as acquisitions and operational excellence. During this time, Mr. Koschak also served as Interim Vice President and General Manager, Brain Modulation from May 2018 through October 2018. As the interim General Manager of Brain Modulation, he led all aspects of the global Brain Modulation business with a focus on the development of products for medical devices to treat the effects of Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. Prior to joining Medtronic plc, Mr. Koschak served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Young America Holdings, LLC, a privately held digital services firm, beginning in December 2014. Mr. Koschak also held various finance positions including Vice President, Finance for Convenience and Foodservice and Vice President, Financial Reporting at General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS), where he was employed from May 2005 until December 2014. Prior to General Mills, Mr. Koschak was an audit partner at KPMG LLP. Mr. Koschak is a board member of 1st Financial Bank USA and Second Harvest Heartland, the second largest food bank in the United States. Mr. Koschak is a graduate of Augsburg College.
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Technology Officer since May 2019. Prior to joining Calyxt, Dr. Frey served as the Vice President of Science and Innovation from March of 2018 to April of 2019 at WISErg Corporation, a company fusing biological science and engineering into a solution that converts landfill-bound food into premium sustainable agricultural inputs. Dr. Frey was responsible for WISErg’s science and technology vision, strateg,ystrategy and execution as well as being responsible for aligning science and innovation initiatives regarding existing and new product research and development. Prior to joining WISErg Corporation, Dr. Frey held various roles at Monsanto from January of 2006 to March of 2018, where he developed improved varieties of corn, improved efficiencies in the introgression of traits into elite germplasm, improved molecular assays to enhance the use of breeding while reducing the need for field testing, and led Monsanto’s global Dicot transformation center as well as their controlled environment facilities. Dr. Frey received his B.S. in Horticulture from Penn State University, M.S. in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Ph.D. in the Plant Biology and Biotechnology Program at the University of Delaware and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago –— Booth School of Business.
Debra Frimermanhas served as our General Counsel since February 2019 and also our Corporate Secretary since March 2019. From February 2012 until joining Calyxt, Ms. Frimerman held multiple roles in the legal department at Syngenta, a global agribusiness company. Ms. Frimerman’s most recent role at Syngenta was Associate General Counsel for Syngenta North America where she led the U.S. seeds legal department, which included responsibility for global seed licensing transactions. Prior to Syngenta, Ms. Frimerman practiced law at Stoel Rives LLP and Lindquist & Vennum PLLP focusing on mergers and acquisitions, securities, commercial transactions, and general corporate matters. Ms. Frimerman holds a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
Named Executive Officers
This Compensation Discussion and Analysis provides information regarding our compensation programs for its principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and each of its other executive officers serving at the end of the 2022 fiscal year (collectively, the “NEOs”), who are identified below:
NEO | Position | |
Michael A. Carr | President & Chief Executive Officer | |
William F. Koschak | Chief Financial Officer | |
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | Chief Technology Officer | |
Debra Frimerman | General Counsel and Corporate Secretary |
Compensation Philosophy and Objectives
Calyxt’s compensation program is designed to recognize the level of responsibility of an executive within Calyxt, taking into account the NEO’s role and expected leadership within our organization, and to encourage and reward decisions and actions that have a positive impact on our overall performance.
Calyxt’s compensation philosophy is based upon the following objectives:
to reward our executives for their outstanding performance and business results;
to emphasize the enhancement of shareholder value;
to value the executive’s unique skills and competencies;
to attract, retain and motivate qualified executives; and
to provide a competitive compensation structure in the life sciences market based on select market survey data.
Overview of Compensation Process
The Compensation Committee administers Calyxt’s compensation program. The Compensation Committee is responsible for, among other things, reviewing and approving our overall compensation philosophy and overseeing the administration of related compensation benefit programs, policies, and practices. The Compensation Committee is also responsible for annually reviewing and approving the corporate goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and other NEOs and evaluating their performance in light of these goals, reviewing the compensation of NEOs, and administering our incentive and equity-based compensation plans. Executive compensation is recommended by the Compensation Committee and set by the Board. In performing this function, the Compensation Committee and the Board rely on the Chief Executive Officer to provide information regarding the other NEOs, their roles and responsibilities, and the general performance of Calyxt. The Chief Executive Officer also suggests performance measures and targets for each of the executive officers under our short-term cash incentive program. The final decisions regarding salaries, bonuses (including measures, targets, and amounts to be paid), equity grants, and other compensation matters related to executive officers are made by the Board. None of the NEOs (including the Chief Executive Officer) has a role in determining his or her own compensation.
Compensation Consultant
In fiscal 2022, the Compensation Committee engaged Vareo Advisors, LLC to serve as its compensation consultant. The compensation consultant has periodically been engaged to assist the Compensation Committee
with evaluation of our compensation program to review, comment and make recommendations on executive compensation matters, to help select appropriate market data for compensation determinations, to assist in executive compensation disclosures, and to provide updates on regulatory changes in compensation-related issues and other developments and trends in executive compensation. The Compensation Committee determined that Vareo Advisors, LLC is free of conflicts of interest under applicable Nasdaq and SEC rules. The compensation consultant reported directly to the Compensation Committee and works with the Compensation Committee, the Board, and management to, among other things, provide advice regarding compensation structures and programs in general and competitive compensation data.
Elements of Compensation
Our compensation program has three primary elements: a base salary, an annual cash incentive, and incentive equity awards. In addition, we also offer Our executives the ability to participate in a 401(k) plan and health and welfare programs. Calyxt pays the cost of executives’ insurance premiums for medical and dental plans.
Our Compensation Committee has not adopted any policies for allocating compensation between long- term and currently paid-out compensation, between cash and non-cash compensation or among different forms of non-cash compensation.
Base Salary
Calyxt pays base salaries to recognize and reward each named executive officer’s unique value and skills, competencies and experience in light of the executive’s position. The Compensation Committee and the Board consider a variety of factors such as market survey data, a subjective assessment of the nature and scope of the NEO’s responsibilities, each NEO’s unique value and historical contributions, historical increases, internal equity considerations, and the experience of the NEO in setting base salaries. The NEOs were entitled to base salaries at the following annual rates during 2022:
2022 Base Salary Rate
Name | ($) | |||
Michael A. Carr | 500,000 | |||
William F. Koschak | 340,000 | |||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | 300,000 | |||
Debra Frimerman | 321,000 |
Calyxt did not modify the base salary rates of any NEOs for 2022.
Annual Cash Incentive
Annual cash incentive awards are used to reward and motivate NEOs for achieving key financial and operational objectives. The annual incentive bonus awards are generally payable based on our performance and, in some cases, the level of individual contributions to that performance.
On May 3, 2022, Calyxt established the 2022 Short Term Incentive Plan (“STIP”), which provides performance-based cash awards for certain of our executives, subject to a maximum limit of 200% of the executive’s target bonus level. Under the STIP, the eligible executives (including the NEOs) will receive a performance bonus opportunity based on a percentage of the individual’s annual base salary, with Calyxt performance objectives and individual performance objectives established by the Board, and each comprising 50% of the bonus determination for executive officers other than the Chief Executive Officer. The achievement against Calyxt performance objectives comprises 100% of the bonus determination for the Chief Executive Officer. To be eligible to receive a bonus under the STIP, a participant in the plan must be employed by Calyxt as of both December 31, 2022 and the payment date, unless otherwise provided in a written agreement between Calyxt and the participant, and bonuses are subject to clawback to the extent required or permitted by law.
STIP Targets
Name | Bonus Target (as a Percentage of Base Salary) (%) | 2022 Bonus Target ($) | ||||||
Michael A. Carr | 100 | % | 500,000 | |||||
William F. Koschak | 45 | % | 153,000 | |||||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | 45 | % | 135,000 | |||||
Debra Frimerman | 40 | % | 128,400 |
Company Objectives (100% for Chief Executive Officer and 50% for non-Chief Executive Officer Plan Participants)
The portion of bonus attributable to Company Objectives is weighted as follows: 40% Collaboration (Measure 1), 20% Cash Balance (Measure 2) and 40% Innovation (Measure 3). Each Measure 1-3 will be determined by the Compensation Committee.
With respect to the Company Objectives, the STIP provides the Compensation Committee with the authority to determine whether (and by what amount) the actual result used to calculate the achievement of a Measure should be adjusted to account for extraordinary events or circumstances (including, without limitation, overall financial market performance factors relative to assumptions used in establishing target Measures), or should otherwise be adjusted in order to be consistent with the purpose or intent of the 2022 annual performance bonus program. The following are the performance targets and corresponding potential payouts for each of the three measures used in the STIP for 2022:
Multiplier/ Achievement Level | Measure 1 Collaboration | Measure 2 Cash Balance | Measure 3 Innovation | |||
50% | Signed BioFactory Collaboration(s) AND Licensing Deal(s), collectively having NPV of $40mm | Cash Balance at 12/31/22 sufficient to fund 6 months of operations | BioFactory Pilot Plant Fully Operational with Full Analytics | |||
100% | Signed BioFactory Collaboration(s) AND Licensing Deal(s), collectively having NPV of $75mm | Cash Balance at 12/31/22 sufficient to fund 12 months of operations | AI/ML Advancement to include Pathway Discovery and Vector Creation at a 25% improvement over baseline. Use of Lab Analytics (LC) in validating targets cumulating in AI/ML with Predictive Capabilities | |||
200% | Signed BioFactory Collaboration(s) AND Licensing Deal(s), collectively having NPV of $100mm | Cash Balance at 12/31/22 sufficient to fund 18 months of operations | First BioFactory Infrastructure Partner Announced OR Scaling Production in Calyxt System | |||
Weighting of Company Objectives | 40% | 20% | 40% |
Individual Objectives (50% for non-Chief Executive Officer Plan Participants)
The Compensation Committee will determine, in its discretion, the level of achievement of the goals identified below and the overall achievement of the Individual Objectives, with a multiplier of 0.7x at a minimum level of achievement, 1x at a target level of achievement and 2x at a maximum level of achievement. Achievement at less than the minimum level determined by the Compensation Committee will result in no bonus being earned for that particular goal or for the Individual Objectives as determined by the Compensation Committee.
Specific individual measures will be determined by the Compensation Committee drawn from the categories identified below, together with individual weighting of such Individual Objectives:
Internal & External Communications Achievement / Advancement
Financial Reporting Achievement / Advancement
Information Technology Achievement / Advancement
Research and Development Achievement / Advancement
Safety & Compliance Achievement / Advancement
Leadership Achievement / Advancement
Risk Management Achievement / Advancement
Intellectual Property Achievement / Advancement
Business Development Achievement / Advancement
2022 STIP Results
Given the Company’s cash position, the Compensation Committee determined that payment under the 2022 STIP would not be consistent with the purpose or the intent of the 2022 STIP. Therefore, no STIP amounts were earned or paid to the NEOs for 2022 given that the goal for the cash balance metric was not met.
Incentive Equity Awards
Calyxt uses the grant of equity awards under Calyxt, Inc.’s 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (as amended, effective May 18, 2021) (the “Omnibus Plan”) to provide long-term incentive compensation opportunities intended to align the NEOs’ interests with those of Calyxt Stockholders, and to attract, retain and reward NEOs. Our equity program generally consists of a mix of three types of equity awards: stock option awards (“options”), restricted stock units (“RSUs”), and performance stock units (“PSUs”).
On March 24, 2022, Calyxt granted equity awards to certain of our employees, including the NEOs, pursuant to the Omnibus Plan. The amount of the awards was determined based on ownership percentage of Calyxt, on a fully diluted basis, by role based on general practice for similar roles in early stage technology companies. The number of options, RSUs and PSUs granted to each NEO is set forth below:
Name | Options(1) | RSUs(2) | PSUs(3) | |||||||||
Michael A. Carr | 490,000 | 368,000 | 205,000 | |||||||||
William F. Koschak | 250,000 | 219,700 | 100,000 | |||||||||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | 250,000 | 205,650 | 100,000 | |||||||||
Debra Frimerman | 250,000 | 200,450 | 100,000 |
(1) | The options have a term of ten years from the grant date, and will vest 25% on the first, second, third and fourth anniversaries of the grant date. |
(2) | Certain of the RSUs granted vested in full on January 1, 2023, and the remaining RSUs will vest 1/3 on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the grant date. |
(3) | The PSUs have a three-year performance period of 2022, 2023, and 2024. Vesting and settlement of the PSUs will occur each year based on achievement of objectives approved by the Board for the applicable year; provided that, upon a change in control, the performance period shall be truncated, and the PSUs will vest and settle based on performance through such date, as determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board and otherwise in accordance with the Omnibus Plan and the applicable award agreements. The PSU objectives for 2022 match the target performance goals under the STIP, described above. However, the Compensation Committee determined that the 2022 PSUs would be earned at 100% of target given the Company’s execution of its strategic objectives during 2022. |
Other Compensation and Benefits
Health and Welfare and Retirement Benefits
NEOs are generally eligible to participate in the same health and welfare programs and 401(k) plan as other employees and receive company matching contributions under the 401(k) plan. The monthly medical and dental benefit plan premiums of NEO’s are fully paid by Calyxt.
Perquisites
Calyxt generally does not offer any additional perquisites to NEOs. However, our Chief Executive Officer is entitled to receive commuter expense reimbursements of up to $40,000 per calendar year for documented reasonable and customary expenses incurred by him in connection with commuting from his place of residence to our headquarters.
Post-Employment Compensation
Calyxt has entered into employment agreements with certain NEOs, which provide for certain post-employment compensation including severance. Calyxt also maintains a 2021 Executive Severance Plan, as amended, in which certain NEOs participate via voluntary participation agreements. These post-employment benefits are described in additional detail in “Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control” below.
Other Considerations
Compensation Risk Assessment
From time to time, our Compensation Committee oversees a risk assessment of our compensation arrangements. The last review was conducted in December 2021 and, through discussions with management and our compensation consultant, the Compensation Committee determined that our policies and practices of compensating its employees, including executive officers, are not reasonably likely to have material risk for the company.
Summary Compensation Table
The following table sets forth total compensation for the years ended December 31, 20202022, December 31, 2021 and December 31, 20192020, as applicable, for our named executive officers for 2020 (“NEOs”), who are James A. Blome (Chief Executive Officer), William F. Koschak (Chief Financial Officer) and Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. (Chief Technology Officer).each Calyxt NEO.
Name and Principal Position |
| Fiscal Year |
| Salary ($) |
|
| Bonus ($)(2) |
|
| Stock Awards ($)(3) |
|
| Option Awards ($)(4) |
|
| All Other Compensation ($)(5) |
|
| Total ($) |
| ||||||
James A. Blome |
| 2020 |
| $ | 635,000 |
|
| $ | 259,556 |
|
| $ | - |
|
| $ | 543,609 |
|
| $ | 13,014 |
|
| $ | 1,451,179 |
|
Chief Executive Officer |
| 2019 |
|
| 635,000 |
|
|
| 876,250 |
|
|
| 1,800,669 |
|
|
| 1,109,607 |
|
|
| 66,823 |
|
|
| 4,488,349 |
|
William F. Koschak |
| 2020 |
|
| 329,000 |
|
|
| 133,713 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 341,697 |
|
|
| 18,751 |
|
|
| 823,161 |
|
Chief Financial Officer |
| 2019 |
|
| 315,077 |
|
|
| 330,000 |
|
|
| 600,100 |
|
|
| 1,700,196 |
|
|
| 14,076 |
|
|
| 2,959,449 |
|
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D (1) |
| 2020 |
|
| 279,538 |
|
|
| 113,193 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 248,507 |
|
|
| 34,026 |
|
|
| 675,264 |
|
Chief Technology Officer |
| 2019 |
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
Name and Principal Position | Fiscal Year | Salary ($) | Bonus ($)(2) | Stock Awards ($)(3) | Option Awards ($)(4) | Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation ($)(5) | All Other Compensation ($)(6) | Total ($) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael A. Carr(1) | 2022 | 500,000 | — | 495,923 | 474,522 | — | 43,561 | 1,514,006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
President and Chief Executive Officer | 2021 | 216,984 | 450,000 | 1,346,500 | 503,306 | — | 17,124 | 2,533,914 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
William F. Koschak | 2022 | 340,000 | — | 292,952 | 241,935 | — | 16,742 | 891,629 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer | 2021 | 338,000 | — | 144,900 | 144,635 | — | 16,225 | 643,760 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 329,000 | — | 341,697 | 133,713 | 18,751 | 823,161 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Travis J. Frey | 2022 | 300,000 | — | 275,109 | 242,138 | — | 14,760 | 832,007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Technology Officer | 2021 | 295,263 | — | 132,825 | 133,509 | — | 14,464 | 576,061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 279,538 | — | — | 248,507 | 113,193 | 34,026 | 675,264 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Debra Frimerman | 2022 | 321,000 | — | 268,505 | 242,085 | — | 13,076 | 844,666 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | 2021 | 312,078 | — | 152,950 | 150,198 | — | 13,076 | 628,302 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 285,313 | — | — | 248,314 | 102,142 | 14,983 | 650,752 |
(1) |
|
(2) |
|
(3) | This column reflects the fair value of |
(4) | This column reflects the fair value of options granted in |
(5) |
|
(6) | Mr. |
Grants of Plan-Based Awards
The following table sets forth certain information regarding grants of awards made to our NEOs during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Name | Grant Date | Estimated Possible Payouts under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards | Estimated Future Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards | All Other Stock Award: Number of Shares of Stock or Units (#) | All Other Option Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Options (#) | Exercise or Base Price of Option Awards ($/Sh) | Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards ($)(1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Threshold ($) | Target ($) | Maximum ($) | Threshold (#)(2) | Target (#) | Maximum (#) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael A. Carr | 3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 490,000 | $ | 1.27 | $ | 474,522 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 368,000 | — | — | $ | 467,360 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | 205,000 | 205,000 | — | — | — | $ | 28,563 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 250,000 | $ | 500,000 | $ | 1,000,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William F. Koschak | 3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 250,000 | $ | 1.27 | $ | 241,935 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 219,700 | — | — | $ | 279,019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | 100,000 | 100,000 | — | — | — | $ | 13,933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 76,500 | $ | 153,000 | $ | 306,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Travis J. Frey | 3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 250,000 | $ | 1.27 | $ | 242,138 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 205,650 | — | — | $ | 261,176 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | 100,000 | 100,000 | — | — | — | $ | 13,933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 67,500 | $ | 135,000 | $ | 270,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Debra Frimerman | 3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 250,000 | $ | 1.27 | $ | 242,085 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 200,450 | — | — | $ | 254,572 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/24/22 | — | — | — | — | 100,000 | 100,000 | — | — | — | $ | 13,933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 64,200 | $ | 128,400 | $ | 256,800 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
(1) | The values in this column reflect the grant date fair value for each award in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. |
(2) | The PSU awards granted on March 24, 2022 do not have a threshold level. |
Outstanding Equity Awards at 20202022 Fiscal Year-End
The following table sets forth certain information regarding outstanding equity awards of our NEOs as of December 31, 2020.2022. The market value of the shares in the following table is the fair value of such shares as of December 31, 2020.2022.
|
| Option Awards |
| Stock Awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| Issued Date |
| Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable |
|
| Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable |
|
| Option Exercise Price ($) |
|
| Option Expiration Date |
| Issued Date |
| Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested (#) |
|
| Market Value of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested ($) (7) |
|
| Equity Incentive Plan Awards; Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested (#) (6) |
|
| Equity Incentive Plan Awards; Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested ($) (7) |
|
| |||||||
James A. Blome |
| Aug. 4, 2020 (1) |
|
| - |
|
|
| 175,000 |
|
| $ | 4.55 |
|
| August 4, 2030 |
| June 28, 2019 |
|
| 42,500 |
| (4) | $ | 179,350 |
|
|
| 166,667 |
|
| $ | 703,335 |
|
|
Chief Executive Officer |
| June 28, 2019 (2) |
|
| 18,750 |
|
|
| 106,250 |
|
|
| 12.48 |
|
| June 28, 2029 |
| Sept. 17, 2018 |
|
| 63,000 |
| (5) |
| 265,860 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Oct. 8, 2018 (3) |
|
| 60,000 |
|
|
| 140,000 |
|
|
| 14.24 |
|
| Oct. 8, 2028 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
William F. Koschak |
| Aug. 4, 2020 (1) |
|
| - |
|
|
| 110,000 |
|
|
| 4.55 |
|
| August 4, 2030 |
| June 28, 2019 |
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 85,000 |
|
|
| 358,700 |
|
|
Chief Financial Officer |
| Feb. 8, 2019 (2) |
|
| 27,000 |
|
|
| 153,000 |
|
|
| 13.01 |
|
| February 8, 2029 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D |
| Aug. 4, 2020 (1) |
|
| - |
|
|
| 80,000 |
|
|
| 4.55 |
|
| August 4, 2030 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chief Technology Officer |
| May 20, 2019 (2) |
|
| 15,000 |
|
|
| 85,000 |
|
|
| 14.72 |
|
| May 20, 2029 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Option Awards | ||||||||||||||||
Number of Securities Underlying | Grant Date | Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable | Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable | Option Exercise Price ($) | Option Expiration Date | |||||||||||
Name | ||||||||||||||||
Michael A. Carr | March 24, 2022(1) | — | 490,000 | 1.27 | March 24, 2032 | |||||||||||
President and Chief Executive Officer | July 27, 2021(2) | 66,666 | 133,334 | 3.65 | July 27, 2031 | |||||||||||
William F. Koschak | March 24, 2022(1) | — | 250,000 | 1.27 | March 24, 2032 | |||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer | March 12, 2021(2) | 8,666 | 17,334 | 8.05 | March 12, 2031 | |||||||||||
August 4, 2020(2) | 73,332 | 36,668 | 4.55 | August 4, 2030 | ||||||||||||
February 8, 2019(3) | 108,000 | 72,000 | 13.01 | February 8, 2029 | ||||||||||||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | March 24, 2022(1) | — | 250,000 | 1.27 | March 24, 2032 | |||||||||||
Chief Technology Officer | March 12, 2021(2) | 8,000 | 16,000 | 8.05 | March 12, 2031 | |||||||||||
August 4, 2020(2) | 53,332 | 26,668 | 4.55 | August 4, 2030 | ||||||||||||
May 20, 2019(3) | 55,000 | 45,000 | 14.72 | May 20, 2029 | ||||||||||||
Debra Frimerman | March 24, 2022(1) | — | 250,000 | 1.27 | March 24, 2032 | |||||||||||
General Counsel and | March 12, 2021(2) | 9,000 | 18,000 | 8.05 | March 12, 2031 | |||||||||||
Corporate Secretary | August 4, 2020(2) | 53,332 | 26,668 | 4.55 | August 4, 2030 | |||||||||||
May 13, 2019(3) | 55,000 | 45,000 | 15.28 | May 13, 2029 |
Stock Awards | ||||||||||||||||||
Name | Grant Date | Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested (#) | Market Value of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested ($)(7) | Equity Incentive Plan Awards; Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested (#) | Equity Incentive Plan Awards; Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested ($)(7) | |||||||||||||
Michael A. Carr | March 24, 2022(4) | 368,000 | 54,464 | 205,000 | 30,340 | |||||||||||||
President and Chief Executive Officer | July 27, 2021(5) | 33,334 | 4,933 | 600,000 | 88,800 | |||||||||||||
William F. Koschak | March 24, 2022(4) | 219,700 | 32,516 | 100,000 | 14,800 | |||||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer | March 12, 2021(5) | 12,000 | 1,776 | — | — | |||||||||||||
June 28, 2019(6) | — | — | 85,000 | — | ||||||||||||||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | March 24, 2022(4) | 205,650 | 30,436 | 100,000 | 14,800 | |||||||||||||
Chief Technology Officer | March 12, 2021(5) | 11,000 | 1,628 | — | — | |||||||||||||
Debra Frimerman | March 24, 2022(4) | 200,450 | 29,667 | 100,000 | 14,800 | |||||||||||||
General Counsel and | March 12, 2021(5) | 12,667 | 1,875 | — | — | |||||||||||||
Corporate Secretary | June 28, 2019(6) | — | — | 60,000 | — |
(1) | The stock option grant vesting schedule is as follows: 25% of the total number of stock options vest on the first, second, third, and fourth anniversaries of the grant date. |
(2) | The stock option grant vesting schedule is as follows: (i) 33.3% of the total number of stock options vest on the first |
| The stock option grant vesting schedule is as follows: (i) 15% of the total number of stock options vest on the first anniversary of the grant date; (ii) 10% of the total number of stock options vest on the second anniversary of the grant date and (iii) 5% of the total number of stock options vest on the last day of the next 15 quarters. |
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(5) |
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period. The |
(6) | The performance conditions in these PSUs |
(7) | Value of unvested RSUs and PSUs are based on |
Option Exercises and Stock Vested
The following table sets forth information with respect to stock options that were exercised, and Calyxt RSUs that vested, during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Option Awards | Stock Awards | |||||||||||||||
Name | Number of Shares Acquired on Exercise (#) | Value Realized on Exercise ($) | Number of Shares Acquired on Vesting (#) | Value Realized on Vesting ($) | ||||||||||||
Michael A. Carr | — | — | 16,666 | 3,742 | ||||||||||||
William F. Koschak | — | — | 6,000 | 7,260 | ||||||||||||
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. | — | — | 5,500 | 6,655 | ||||||||||||
Debra Frimerman | — | — | 6,333 | 7,663 |
Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control
Agreements with Named Executive Officers
The following provides a discussion of the employment agreements between Calyxt, Inc. and each ofNEO.
Michael A. Carr
On July 13, 2021, Mr. Carr entered into an offer letter agreement with Calyxt, Inc. (the “Carr Agreement”). Pursuant to the Carr Agreement, Mr. Carr joined Calyxt on July 27, 2021, as our NEOs. Each of these agreements provides for President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Carr’s employment is at-will employment and may be terminated at any time for any reason, subject to the terms of our 2021 Executive Severance Plan (the “Severance Plan”), as modified by Mr. Carr’s Participation Agreement with respect thereto, as described below.
Mr. Carr is or without cause,was entitled to receive the following compensation and benefits in connection with his service as President and Chief Executive Officer of Calyxt, Inc.:
an annual base salary of $500,000;
a one-time new-hire bonus of $450,000;
a one-time equity award of (i) stock options for the purchase of 200,000 shares of Calyxt Common Stock and (ii) 50,000 RSUs, which, in each case, subject to certain severance benefits as providedwill vest in equal installments on the respective agreements.
James A. Blome
We were party to an employment agreement with our Chief Executive Officer, James A. Blome, dated as of September 17, 2018. Pursuant to his employment agreement, the termfirst three anniversaries of Mr. Blome’s employment beganCarr’s start date;
a one-time inducement award to be granted outside of our existing equity compensation plans in accordance with Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules of PSUs to acquire up to 600,000 shares of Calyxt Common Stock, which will vest based on October 1, 2018our achievement for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days of specified trading price levels;
during a three-year performance period following the grant date (300,000 shares for a $12.00 price level, an additional 150,000 shares for a $15.00 price level and ended on February 19, 2021 upon termination without cause, as defined therein.
Pursuantan additional 150,000 shares for a $20.00 price level) and otherwise have terms substantially similar to Mr. Blome’s employment agreement, his initial base salary was established at $635,000 and remained in effect for 2020. He was also eligiblethose of PSUs issued under the Omnibus Plan;
eligibility to receive an annual cash performance bonus under our existing short-term incentive plan with a 2021 annual target value of 75%100% of his base salary (prorated for the number of days of employment during 2021), based on histhe achievement of individual and/or company performance goals, as determined by the Compensation CommitteeBoard;
eligibility under the Severance Plan, as amended by Mr. Carr’s participation agreement, to receive upon termination of employment by Mr. Carr for Good Reason (as defined in the Board. Mr. Blome’sSeverance Plan) or by Calyxt for any reason other than Cause (as defined in the Severance Plan, but modified to be subject to a notice and cure period with respect to non-willful performance deficiencies) severance benefits equal to 12 months (24 months, if occurring during a Change-in-Control Period (as defined in the Severance Plan)) of base salary and hisa prorated portion (the full amount, if occurring during a Change-in-Control Period) of Mr. Carr’s target cash incentive bonus percentage were subjectfor the applicable year;
eligibility for certain travel, temporary living, and relocation benefits for up to periodic review. three years from Mr. Carr’s start date; and
participation in the benefit plans and programs of Calyxt in which similarly situated employees of Calyxt participate, as may be in effect from time to time, and accrual of 20 days of vacation per year.
On July 13, 2021, the Board and the independent directors of the Board approved the Calyxt, Inc. 2021 Employee Inducement Incentive Plan (the “Inducement Plan”) and reserved 600,000 shares of Calyxt Common Stock for issuance upon vesting of the PSUs granted to Mr. Carr on July 27, 2021. The Inducement Plan’s terms are substantially similar to the terms of the Omnibus Plan. The Inducement Plan was adopted without Calyxt Stockholder approval pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. The PSUs granted to Mr. Carr on July 27, 2021, constitute an inducement material to Mr. Carr’s entering into employment with Calyxt within the meaning of Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules.
Mr. Blome’sCarr is the only participant in the Inducement Plan, and the PSUs granted in connection with the commencement of Mr. Carr’s employment are the only awards that will be granted under the Inducement Plan. The PSUs will vest if Calyxt Common Stock remains above three specified price levels for 30 calendar days over the three-year performance period. The PSUs will be settled in unrestricted shares of Calyxt Common Stock on the vesting date.
Mr. Carr has also entered into a customary non-competition, non-solicitation, confidentiality and inventions agreement provided that for each calendar year during whichand our standard indemnification agreement.
William Koschak
On December 21, 2018 Mr. Blome is employed byKoschak entered into an offer letter agreement with Calyxt he was eligible to receive an annual performance award comprised of 50,000 RSUs and 125,000 stock options. The annual equity awards he received were subject(the “Koschak Agreement”). Pursuant to the achievement of performance metrics, the annual RSU awards vested in accordance with the vesting schedule described above for the September 2018 RSUs, and the annual stock option awards vested in accordance with our equity incentive plan.Koschak Agreement, Mr. Blome received his 2020 annual performance award comprised of 175,000 stock options on August 4, 2020. All unvested stock options, RSUs, and PSUs were forfeited by Mr. Blome upon his termination.
Mr. Blome was entitled to compensation and benefits as part of his termination without cause, and in the first quarter of 2021 we recorded approximately $2.3 million of cash expense for separation-related payments. The cash payments to Mr. Blome will be made over a period of 24 months from the date his separation agreement is executed, which was March 8, 2021. Mr. Blome is entitled to receive a pro-rata portion of his annual performance bonus, calculated as the maximum annual performance bonus target amount. Mr. Blome’s employment agreement also includes customary non-solicitation, non-compete, intellectual property, and confidentiality provisions.
William F. Koschak
We are party to an employment agreement with our Chief Financial Officer, William F. Koschak dated as of December 19, 2018. Pursuant to his employment agreement, the term of Mr. Koschak’s employment beganjoined Calyxt on January 7, 2019, as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Koschak is or was entitled to receive the following compensation and will end upon the terminationbenefits in connection with his service as Chief Financial Officer of Mr. Koschak’s employment due to his death, permanent disability, or resignation or a termination by us with or without cause, as defined in Mr. Koschak’s employment agreement.Calyxt:
Mr. Koschak’s current
an annual base salary is $340,000. He is also eligibleof $320,000;
a one-time sign-on bonus of $180,000;
a one-time sign-on equity award of 30,000 stock options;
eligibility to receive an annual cash performance bonus with a target value ofan amount equal to up to 45% of hisMr. Koschak’s base salary and a multiplier on the annual target of 0.7 to 1.5x (prorated for the number of days of his employment during 2019), based on his achievement of individual and/or companyCalyxt performance goals as determined by the Board. Mr. Koschak’s base salary and his target bonus percentage are subject to periodic review. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Koschak was also entitled to Board;
a stock optionone-time equity award to purchase 180,000of 150,000 shares of Calyxt Common Stock pursuant to our common stock,existing equity incentive plan; and
participation in the benefit plans and programs of Calyxt in which was granted on February 8, 2019. On June 28,2019, Mr.substantially all of our employees participate, as may be in effect from time to time, and accrual of 20 days of vacation per year as well as a one-time grant of 5 days of vacation to be used prior to January 7, 2020.
The Koschak received 85,000 PSUs. Additionally, Mr. Koschak received 110,000 stock options on August 4, 2020.
If we terminateAgreement also provides for severance benefits in the event that Mr. Koschak’s employment is terminated by Calyxt without cause, heCause, in which case Mr. Koschak will be entitled to accrued base salary and other accrued amounts, as well asreceive a pro ratapro-rata portion of his annual performance bonus. If Mr.
The Koschak voluntary terminates his employment or his employment terminates due to death or disability, he will be entitled only to accrued base salary and other accrued amounts.
Mr. Koschak’s offer letterAgreement also includedincludes customary non-solicitation, non-compete, intellectual property and confidentiality provisions.
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D.
We are party toOn May 13, 2019, Dr. Frey entered into an employmentoffer letter agreement with our Chief Technology Officer, Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. dated as of May 13, 2019.Calyxt (the “Frey Agreement”). Pursuant to his employment agreement, the term ofFrey Agreement, Dr. Frey’s employment beganFrey joined Calyxt on May 20, 2019, as its Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Frey is or was entitled to receive the following compensation and will end upon the terminationbenefits in connection with his service as Chief Technology Officer of Dr. Frey’s employment due to his death, permanent disability, or resignation or a termination by us with or without cause, as defined in Dr. Frey’s employment agreement.Calyxt:
Dr. Frey’s currentan annual base salary is $300,000. He is also eligibleof $300,000;
a one-time sign-on equity award of 100,000 stock options, which will be granted, subject to the approval of the Board; and
eligibility to receive an annual cash performance bonus in cash with a target value ofan amount equal to up to 45% of hisDr. Frey’s base salary and a multiplier on the annual target of 0.7 to 1.5x (prorated for the number of days of his employment during 2019), based on his achievement of individual and/or companyCalyxt performance goals as determined by the Board. Under his
Dr. Frey’s offer letter also included customary non-solicitation, non-compete, intellectual property, and confidentiality provisions.
Debra Frimerman
On January 21, 2019, Ms. Frimerman entered into an offer letter agreement with Calyxt (the “Frimerman Agreement”). Pursuant to the Frimerman Agreement, Ms. Frimerman joined Calyxt on February 11, 2019, as its General Counsel & Corporate Secretary. Ms. Frimerman’s employment agreement Dr. Freyprovides for at-will employment and may be terminated at any time, with or without cause, subject to certain severance benefits described below. Ms. Frimerman is or was also entitled to receive the following compensation and benefits in connection with her service as General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Calyxt:
an annual base salary of $321,000;
a one-time sign-on equity award of 100,000 stock option awardoptions; and
eligibility to purchase 100,000 sharesreceive an annual cash performance bonus with an amount equal to up to 40% of our common stock, which was grantedMs. Frimerman’s base salary and a multiplier on May 20, 2019. Additionally, Dr. Frey received 80,000 stock optionsthe annual target of 0.7 to 1.5x (prorated for the number of days of her employment during 2019), based on August 4, 2020.her achievement of individual and/or Calyxt performance goals as determined by the Board.
Under hisher employment agreement, if Dr. Frey’sMs. Frimerman’s employment is terminated by usCalyxt without cause (as defined in hisher employment agreement), heshe is eligible to receive a pro rata annual performance bonus and 612 months of base salary paid in installments. WeCalyxt may condition any severance pay to Dr. FreyMs. Frimerman upon Dr. Freyher entering into a full release of claims in favor of us.Calyxt. If Dr. Frey voluntaryMs. Frimerman voluntarily terminates hisher employment or hisher employment terminates due to death or disability, heshe will be entitled only to accrued base salary and other accrued amounts. Ms. Frimerman is eligible to participate in the Severance Plan, which would supersede the applicable terms of her employment agreement, if she executes a Severance Plan participation agreement.
Dr. Frey’s offer letterMs. Frimerman’s employment agreement also included customary non-solicitation, non-compete, intellectual property, and confidentiality provisions.
Executive Severance Plan
Calyxt maintains the 2021 Executive Severance Plan, as amended on January 13, 2023 (the “Executive Severance Plan”) for certain key management employees who agree to participate. The Executive Severance Plan provides plan participants with certain severance benefits upon termination of the plan participant’s employment with Calyxt. Mr. Carr, Mr. Koschak, and Dr. Frey are participants in the Executive Severance Plan. Ms. Frimerman is eligible to become a participant in the Executive Severance Plan by executing a plan participation agreement. Until such time as Ms. Frimerman may become a participant under the Executive Severance Plan, upon a qualifying termination Ms. Frimerman will be entitled to receive severance benefits under her employment agreement as described above.
The Executive Severance Plan provides plan participants with severance benefits upon termination of the plan participant’s employment by the plan participant for Good Reason or by Calyxt for any reason other than for Cause or other than the plan participant’s death or Disability (each as defined in the Executive Severance Plan).
Under the terms of the Executive Severance Plan, plan participants are entitled to the following compensation (“Severance Benefits”) upon such a qualifying termination:
An amount equal to the plan participant’s base salary for a period of (i) 12 months, for the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel and any other chief executive, and (ii) 6 months, for Senior Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents or other participants, beginning on the plan participant’s date of termination, each a “Severance Coverage Period;” and
A pro-rated portion of the plan participant’s target incentive bonus under our annual cash incentive plan for the applicable year, pro-rated for the number of days elapsed in the applicable year.
Plan participants are also entitled to any unpaid amounts earned under the annual cash incentive plan for the preceding year, based upon actual performance and, in certain circumstances, continuing medical and dental benefits. Severance Benefits will generally be paid in substantially equal installments over the applicable Severance Coverage Period.
Stock option awards held by plan participants shall be exercisable as to the vested portion for a period of 90 days following the plan participant’s qualifying termination or the stated expiration date, whichever is earlier, so long as the qualifying termination does not occur during a period of 27 months beginning three months before the effective date of a change-in-control (the “Change-in-Control Period”). If a qualifying termination occurs during a Change-in-Control Period, (i) all time-based vesting conditions applicable to Calyxt equity or equity-based awards held by the plan participant will lapse and such awards will be immediately vested, and (ii) all performance-based vesting conditions applicable to outstanding equity awards will be deemed satisfied at a level reasonably determined by the compensation committee of the Board based on actual performance (unless otherwise specified in the plan participant’s participation agreement). In addition, with respect to Mr. Carr, if a qualifying termination occurs during a Change-in-Control Period, Mr. Carr’s Severance Benefits are increased to 24 months of base salary and the full amount of his target cash incentive bonus for the applicable year.
2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan
Calyxt maintains the 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended on May 18, 2021. Employees, consultants, non-employee directors (and director nominees) and any other individuals who provide services to us or any of our affiliates are eligible to receive awards under the Omnibus Plan, if permitted by applicable laws or accounting and tax rules and regulations.
In the event of a dissolution or liquidation of Calyxt or a triggering event, except as otherwise provided in the applicable award agreement, the plan administrator may provide for:
assumption or substitution with equivalent awards of outstanding awards under the Plan by Calyxt (if Calyxt is the surviving corporation) or by the surviving corporation or its parent or subsidiary;
termination of outstanding awards under the Omnibus Plan in exchange for a payment of cash, securities and/or other property equal to the excess of the fair market value of the portion of the awards stock that is vested and exercisable immediately prior to the consummation of the corporate transaction over the per share exercise price;
any combination of assumption, substitution, or termination of outstanding awards under the Omnibus Plan as described above; provided that outstanding awards of stock options and SARs may be cancelled without consideration if the fair market value on the date of the event is greater than the exercise or hurdle price of such award; or
acceleration of the vesting (including the lapse of any restrictions, with any performance criteria or conditions deemed met at target) and exercisability of outstanding award in full prior to the date of the corporate transaction and the expiration of awards not timely exercised by the date determined by the plan administrator.
A triggering event as defined in the plan includes (i) a sale, transfer or disposition of all or substantially all of Calyxt’s assets other than to (A) a corporation or other entity of which at least a majority of its combined voting power is owned directly or indirectly by Calyxt, (B) a corporation or other entity owned directly or indirectly by the holders of capital stock of Calyxt in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of Calyxt Common Stock, or (C) an Excluded Entity (as defined in subsection (ii) below); or (ii) any merger, consolidation or other business combination transaction of Calyxt with or into another corporation, entity or person, other than a transaction with or into another corporation, entity or person in which the holders of at least a majority of the shares of voting capital stock of Calyxt outstanding immediately prior to such transaction continue to hold (either by such shares remaining outstanding in the continuing entity or by their being converted into shares of voting capital stock of the surviving entity) a majority of the total voting power represented by the shares of voting capital stock of Calyxt (or the surviving entity) outstanding immediately after such transaction (an “Excluded Entity”); or (iii) any direct or indirect purchase or other acquisition by any person or group, other than a parent company or another person that is controlled by a parent company, of more than 50% of the total outstanding equity interests in or voting securities of Calyxt, excluding any transaction that is determined by the Board in its reasonable discretion to be a bona fide capital raising transaction.
The RSU and option awards granted to NEOs under the Omnibus Plan provide that in the event that a triggering event occurs during the vesting period, an additional 25% of the total number of RSUs or shares underlying the options shall immediately vest. In addition, these awards provide that 100% of the total number of RSUs or shares underlying the options shall vest in the event of the termination of the NEO’s employment without cause within 12 months following a triggering event or resignation of the NEO for “good reason” following a triggering event. The PSUs granted to NEOs under the Omnibus Plan that remain outstanding provide that, upon a change in control, the performance period shall be truncated, and the PSUs will vest and settle based on performance through such date, as determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board and otherwise in accordance with the Omnibus Plan and the applicable PSU agreement.
2021 Employee Inducement Incentive Plan
In July 2021, Calyxt adopted the Inducement Plan, pursuant to which shares of Calyxt Common Stock are issuable upon the settlement of PSUs granted to Mr. Michael A. Carr in July 2021 as a material inducement to accept employment as our President and Chief Executive Officer.
The Inducement Plan mirrors the Omnibus Plan with regard to impacts of a dissolution or liquidation of Calyxt or a triggering event. Mr. Carr’s award agreement under the Inducement Plan provides that in the event of a triggering event (as defined in the Inducement Plan) during the performance period, 25 percent of the total PSUs will immediately vest to the extent not already vested.
The table below quantifies the payments and benefits potentially payable to each NEO upon a change in control or certain employment terminations as described above, assuming a termination date of December 31, 2022 and a fair market value of a share of Class A Common Stock of $0.14, which is the average closing price per share of Calyxt Common Stock on Nasdaq over the last five trading days in the period ending December 31, 2022.
Name | Death/ Disability ($) | Retirement ($) | Change of Control Without Termination ($) | Qualifying Termination (no Change in Control) ($) | Qualifying Termination (in Connection with a Change of Control) | |||||||||||||||
Michael A. Carr | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cash Severance | — | — | — | 1,000,000 | 1,500,000 | |||||||||||||||
Equity Payout | — | — | 63,747 | — | 105,887 | |||||||||||||||
Other Benefits | 50,000 | — | — | 33,133 | 33,133 | |||||||||||||||
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TOTAL | 50,000 | — | 63,747 | 1,033,133 | 1,639,020 | |||||||||||||||
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William F. Koschak | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cash Severance | — | — | — | 493,000 | 493,000 | |||||||||||||||
Equity Payout | — | — | 22,110 | — | 46,438 | |||||||||||||||
Other Benefits | 50,000 | — | — | 25,829 | 25,829 | |||||||||||||||
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TOTAL | 50,000 | — | 22,110 | 518,829 | 565,267 | |||||||||||||||
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Travis Frey, Ph.D. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cash Severance | — | — | — | 435,000 | 435,000 | |||||||||||||||
Equity Payout | — | — | 21,583 | — | 44,331 | |||||||||||||||
Other Benefits | 50,000 | — | — | 16,567 | 16,567 | |||||||||||||||
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TOTAL | 50,000 | — | 21,583 | 451,567 | 495,898 | |||||||||||||||
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Debra Frimerman | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cash Severance | — | — | — | 449,400 | 449,400 | |||||||||||||||
Equity Payout | — | — | 21,459 | — | 43,836 | |||||||||||||||
Other Benefits | 50,000 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
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TOTAL | 50,000 | — | 21,459 | 449,400 | 493,236 | |||||||||||||||
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Chief Executive Officer Pay Ratio
For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, the ratio of the annual total compensation of Mr. Carr, our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO Compensation”), to the median of the annual total compensation of all of our employees and those of our consolidated subsidiaries other than our Chief Executive Officer (“Median Annual Compensation”) was 17.3 to 1. This ratio is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K using the data and assumptions summarized below. In this summary, Calyxt refers to the employee who received such Median Annual Compensation as the “Median Employee.” For purposes of this disclosure, the date used to identify the Median Employee was December 31, 2022 (the “Determination Date”).
CEO Compensation for purposes of this disclosure was $1,514,006 and matches the total compensation reported for Mr. Carr under the Summary Compensation Table for the 2022 fiscal year. For purposes of this disclosure, Median Annual Compensation was $87,763, and was calculated by totaling for Median Employee all applicable elements of compensation for the 2022 fiscal year in accordance with Item 402(c)(2)(x) of Regulation S-K.
To identify the Median Employee, Calyxt first determined its employee population as of the Determination Date. Calyxt had 48 employees, representing all full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees of Calyxt and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the Determination Date. Calyxt then measured compensation for the period beginning on January 1, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2022 for these employees. This compensation measurement was calculated by totaling, for each employee, W-2 compensation as shown in our payroll and human resources records for fiscal year 2022.
PAY VERSUS PERFORMANCE DISCLOSURE
Pay Versus Performance Table
PAY VERSUS PERFORMANCE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year (a) | Summary Compensation Table (SCT) Total for Carr (b-1)(1)(3) | Compensation Actually Paid (CAP) to Carr (c-1)(1)(2)(3) | SCT Total for Ribeill (b-2)(1)(3) | CAP to Ribeill (c-2)(1)(2)(3) | SCT Total for Blome (b-3)(1)(3) | CAP to Blome (c-3)(1)(2)(3) | Average SCT Total for Non-PEO Named Executive Officers (NEOs) (d)(1)(3) | Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOs (e)(1)(2)(3) | Value of Initial Fixed $100 Investment Based On: | Net Income (h) ($ in 000s) | Company- Selected Measure: Cash Balance (i)(5) ($ in 000s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total Shareholder Return (f)(4) | Peer Group Total Shareholder Return (g)(4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022 | $ | 1,514,006 | $ | (322,674 | ) | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 856,101 | $ | 157,879 | $ | 2.11 | $ | 105.56 | $ | (16,891 | ) | $ | 3,526 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | $ | 2,533,914 | $ | 1,741,874 | $ | 594,230 | $ | 340,947 | $ | 670,298 | $ | (1,033,259 | ) | $ | 636,031 | $ | 168,800 | $ | 30.39 | $ | 134.57 | $ | (29,199 | ) | $ | 14,421 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 1,455,288 | $ | 233,378 | $ | 749,213 | $ | 409,943 | $ | 60.20 | $ | 118.36 | $ | (44,836 | ) | $ | 29,987 |
(1) | James A. Blome served as our principal executive officer (“PEO”) for all of 2020 and from January 1, 2021 through February 18, 2021. Yves Ribeill served as our PEO from February 19, 2021 until July 26, 2021. Michael Carr served as our PEO from July 27, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and for all of 2022. For 2020, our non-PEO named executive officers (“NEOs”) included William Koschak and Travis Frey. For 2021, our non-PEO NEOs included William Koschak and Debra Frimerman. For 2022, our non-PEO NEOs included William Koschak, Travis Frey and Debra Frimerman. |
(2) | For each of 2022, 2021 and 2020, the values included in this column for the compensation actually paid to each of Michael Carr, Yves Ribeill and James Blome and the average compensation actually paid to our |
Non-PEO NEOs reflect the following adjustments to the values included in column (b-1), (b-2), (b-3) and column (d), respectively: |
Michael Carr | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO (column (b-1)) | $ | 1,514,006 | $ | 2,533,914 | ||||
- SCT “Stock Awards” column value | $ | (495,923 | ) | $ | (1,346,500 | ) | ||
- SCT “Option Awards” column value | $ | (474,522 | ) | $ | (503,306 | ) | ||
+ year-end fair value of equity awards granted in the covered year that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | 93,977 | $ | 1,057,766 | ||||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | (841,789 | ) | $ | — | |||
- vesting date fair value of equity awards granted and vested in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that vested in the covered year | $ | (118,423 | ) | $ | — | |||
- fair value as of prior-year end of equity awards granted in prior years that failed to vest in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
+ dollar value of dividends/earnings paid on equity awards in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Compensation Actually Paid to Michael Carr (column (c-1)) | $ | (322,674 | ) | $ | 1,741,874 |
Yves Ribeill | 2021 | |||
Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO (column (b-2)) | $ | 594,230 | ||
- SCT “Stock Awards” column value | $ | (515,077 | ) | |
- SCT “Option Awards” column value | $ | (29,153 | ) | |
+ year-end fair value of equity awards granted in the covered year that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | 200,668 | ||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | (28,762 | ) | |
+ vesting date fair value of equity awards granted and vested in the covered year | $ | 122,231 | ||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that vested in the covered year | $ | (3,190 | ) | |
- fair value as of prior-year end of equity awards granted in prior years that failed to vest in the covered year | $ | — | ||
+ dollar value of dividends/earnings paid on equity awards in the covered year | $ | — | ||
Compensation Actually Paid to Yves Ribeill (column (c-2)) | $ | 340,947 |
James A. Blome | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||
Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO (column (b-3)) | $ | 670,298 | $ | 1,455,288 | ||||
- SCT “Stock Awards” column value | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
- SCT “Option Awards” column value | $ | — | $ | (543,609 | ) | |||
+ year-end fair value of equity awards granted in the covered year that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | — | $ | 463,750 | ||||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | — | $ | (987,708 | ) | |||
+ vesting date fair value of equity awards granted and vested in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that vested in the covered year | $ | — | $ | (154,343 | ) | |||
- fair value as of prior-year end of equity awards granted in prior years that failed to vest in the covered year | $ | (1,703,557 | ) | $ | — | |||
+ dollar value of dividends/earnings paid on equity awards in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Compensation Actually Paid to James Blome (column (c-3)) | $ | (1,033,259 | ) | $ | 233,378 |
AVERAGE FOR NON-PEO NEOS | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||
Average SCT Total for Non-PEO NEOs | $ | 856,101 | $ | 636,031 | $ | 749,213 | ||||||
- SCT “Stock Awards” column value | $ | (278,855 | ) | $ | (148,925 | ) | $ | — | ||||
- SCT “Option Awards” column value | $ | (242,053 | ) | $ | (147,417 | ) | $ | (295,102 | ) | |||
+ year-end fair value of equity awards granted in the covered year that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | 50,806 | $ | 66,965 | $ | 251,750 | ||||||
- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that are outstanding and unvested as of the covered year-end | $ | (110,790 | ) | $ | (263,461 | ) | $ | (275,923 | ) | |||
+ vesting date fair value of equity awards granted and vested in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
+/- year-over-year change in fair value of equity awards granted in prior years that vested in the covered year | $ | (59,088 | ) | $ | 25,607 | $ | (19,995 | ) | ||||
- fair value as of prior-year end of equity awards granted in prior years that failed to vest in the covered year | $ | (58,242 | ) | $ | — | $ | — | |||||
+ dollar value of dividends/earnings paid on equity awards in the covered year | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
+ excess fair value for equity award modifications | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOs (column (e)) | $ | 157,879 | $ | 168,800 | $ | 409,943 |
(3) | This column reflects the fair value and changes in fair value of RSUs as described in the tables in this proxy statement, based on the stock price on the date of grant or other measurement date as calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. This column also reflects the fair value and changes in fair value of PSUs as described in the tables in this proxy statement. The PSUs have been valued based on the probable outcome of the performance conditions as of the last day of the fiscal year. For PSUs granted to Michael Carr in 2021 and James Blome, William Koschak, and Debra Frimerman in 2019, the changes in fair market value subsequent to grant date have estimated using the grant date fair value and adjusting that amount for changes in the stock price from that date to the measurement date for this table. The amounts do not correspond to the actual value that will be realized by the NEOs. |
(4) | For each of 2022, 2021 and 2020, total shareholder return for the Company and the peer group was calculated as the yearly percentage change in cumulative total shareholder return based on a deemed fixed investment of $100 at market close on December 31, 2019, assuming dividend reinvestment. For purposes of this pay versus performance disclosure, our peer group is the Russell 2000 Index (the “Peer Group”).Because fiscal years are presented in the table in reverse chronical order (from top to bottom), the table should be read from bottom to top for purposes of understanding cumulative returns over time. |
(5) | Cash Balance is defined as cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short term investments as reported in the Company’s audited consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020. |
Pay Versus Performance Relationship Descriptions
The following graphical comparisons provide descriptions of the relationships between certain figures included in the Pay Versus Performance table for each of 2022, 2021, and 2020, including: (a) a comparison between our cumulative total shareholder return and the total shareholder return of the Peer Group; and (b) comparisons between (i) the compensation actually paid to the PEOs and the average compensation actually paid to our non-PEO NEOs and (ii) each of the performance measures set forth in columns (f), (h) and (i) of the Pay Versus Performance table.
Tabular List
The following table lists the three financial and non-financial performance measures that we believe represent the most important performance measures we use to link compensation actually paid to our NEOs for fiscal 2022 to our performance:
Cash Balance |
Innovation |
Collaboration |
For additional details about the performance measures, see the section entitled “Executive Compensation — Elements of Compensation” of this proxy statement.
The following table sets forth the amount of compensation we paid to ourCalyxt’s directors during ourCalyxt’s fiscal year 2020. Our directors each receive a2022. The Board determined there will be no cash stipend of $50,000 per yearstipends paid for Board service and each committee chair also receives an additional $15,000 of cash compensation for service as a committee chair in that year. Cash compensation is pro-rated based upon the date a director joins the Board.2022. Directors also receive equity compensation upon joining the Board. As of December 31, 2020, there was no annual equity awardBoard and each year for Board service, but directorstheir service. Directors received grants of stock option awardsoptions in 20202022 for service in amounts determined by the Board. Mr. Arthaud elected not to not receive compensation for his Board service during the portion of 2020 during which he served.2022. Mr. Carr does not receive any additional compensation for his Board service.
Name |
| Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) |
|
| Stock Awards ($)(1) |
|
| Option Awards ($)(1) |
|
| All Other Compensation ($) |
|
| Total ($) |
| |||||
Laurent Arthaud (2) |
| $ | - |
|
| $ | - |
|
| $ | - |
|
| $ | - |
|
| $ | - |
|
André Choulika, Ph. D.(2) |
|
| 25,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 25,000 |
|
Philippe Dumont (3) |
|
| 50,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 15,532 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 65,532 |
|
Jonathan B. Fassberg(3) |
|
| 50,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 15,532 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 65,532 |
|
Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz (3) |
|
| 50,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 15,532 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 65,532 |
|
Kimberly K. Nelson (4) |
|
| 65,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 23,298 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 88,298 |
|
Christopher J. Neugent(4) |
|
| 65,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 23,298 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 88,298 |
|
Yves J. Ribeill, Ph.D.(5) |
|
| 65,000 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 77,659 |
|
|
| - |
|
|
| 142,659 |
|
Name | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) | Stock Awards ($)(1) | Option Awards ($)(2) | All Other Compensation ($) | Total ($) | |||||||||||||||
Laurent Arthaud | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||||
Michael Carr(3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Philippe Dumont(4) | — | — | 7,430 | — | 7,430 | |||||||||||||||
Jonathan B. Fassberg(4) | — | — | 7,430 | — | 7,430 | |||||||||||||||
Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz(5) | — | — | 7,930 | — | 7,930 | |||||||||||||||
Kimberly K. Nelson(6) | — | — | 8,430 | — | 8,430 | |||||||||||||||
Christopher J. Neugent(7) | — | — | 8,271 | — | 8,271 | |||||||||||||||
Yves J. Ribeill, Ph.D.(8) | — | — | 10,725 | — | 10,725 |
(1) | No RSU awards were granted to Calyxt’s non-employee directors in 2022. As of December 31, 2022, Mr. Fassberg held 5,880 RSUs and Mr. Neugent held 5,880 RSUs. |
(2) | This column reflects the fair value of stock options granted in |
|
|
| Mr. Dumont and Mr. Fassberg |
| Ms. |
|
|
(7) | Mr. Neugent was granted options to purchase 36,400 shares of common stock on June 13, 2022. |
(8) | Dr. Ribeill was granted options to purchase 47,200 shares of common stock on June 13, 2022. |
As of December 31, 2020, our directors held restricted stock units (RSUs) for the following number of shares of our common stock: (i) Mr. Dumont, 7,840 shares, (ii) Mr. Fassberg, 13,720 shares, (iii) Ms. Kozicz, 7,840 shares, (iv) Ms. Nelson, zero shares, (v) Mr. Neugent, 13,720 shares, and (vi) Dr. Ribeill, zero shares.
As of December 31, 2020, our directors held stock options for the following number of shares of our common stock: (i) Dr. Choulika, 536,805 shares, (ii) Mr. Dumont, 41,900 shares, (iii) Mr. Fassberg, 39,400 shares, (iv) Ms. Kozicz, 39,400 shares, (v) Ms. Nelson, 62,500 shares, (vi) Mr. Neugent, 41,900 shares, and (vii) Dr. Ribeill, 212,500 shares.
COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INTERLOCKS AND INSIDER PARTICIPATION
During 2020,2022, the following directors served as a member of our Compensation Committee: Dr. Ribeill (Chair), Mr. Arthaud, Mr. FassbergDumont, Mr. Neugent (chair), and Ms. Kozicz. NoDr. Ribeill. During 2022, no member of our Compensation Committee was an officer or employee of Calyxt during 2020 orCalyxt. Other than Dr. Ribeill, no member of our Compensation Committee was formerly an officer of Calyxt, except thatthe Company. Dr. Ribeill served as our interim Chief Executive Officer from August 2018 until October 2018.2018 and as Executive Chair from February 2021 until August 2021. During 2020,2022, none of our executive officers served as a member of the Compensation Committee (or other committee performing similar functions) or as a director of any other entity of which an executive officer served on ourthe Board or ourthe Compensation Committee. None of the directors who served on our Compensation Committee during 20202022 has any relationship requiring disclosure under this caption under SEC rules.
PROPOSAL NO. 2 — APPROVAL, ON AN ADVISORY BASIS, OF THE COMPENSATION OF OUR NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
As required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Section 14A of the Exchange Act, the Company is asking stockholders to cast a nonbinding, advisory vote to approve the compensation of its named executive officers, as disclosed pursuant to SEC rules, the executive compensation tables and related compensation disclosures included in this Proxy Statement. The advisory resolution below, commonly known as a “say-on-pay” proposal, gives stockholders the opportunity to express their views about the compensation the Company pays to its named executive officers, as described in this Proxy Statement.
The resolution is required by Section 14A of the Exchange Act. The resolution is not intended to indicate your approval of the matters disclosed under the heading “Risks Related to Compensation Policies and Practices” or future “golden parachute” payments. We will seek shareholder approval of any “golden parachute” payments at the time of any transaction triggering those payments to the extent required by applicable law.
Calyxt’s compensation program is designed to recognize the level of responsibility of an executive within Calyxt, taking into account the NEO’s role and expected leadership within Calyxt’s organization, and to encourage and reward decisions and actions that have a positive impact on Calyxt’s overall performance. Before you vote, please review the section captioned “Executive Compensation” above, which section describes the Company’s named executive officer pay programs and the rationale behind the decisions made by the Board and Compensation Committee.
You may vote “FOR” or “AGAINST” the resolution or “ABSTAIN” from voting on the resolution. The result of the say-on-pay proposal will not be binding on the Company or the Board; however, the Board values the views of its stockholders.
We ask you to vote “FOR” the following resolution which will be presented by the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting:
“RESOLVED, that the stockholders of Calyxt, Inc. approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the named executive officers, as disclosed in the Company’s Proxy Statement for the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.”
If no voting specification is made on a properly returned or voted proxy card, the proxies named on the proxy card will vote “FOR” the approval, on a nonbinding, advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed in this Proxy Statement and described in this say-on-pay proposal.
THE BOARD RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE APPROVAL, ON A NONBINDING, ADVISORY BASIS, OF THE COMPENSATION OF THE COMPANY’S NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AS DISCLOSED IN THIS PROXY STATEMENT.
PROPOSAL NO. 3 — APPROVAL, ON AN ADVISORY BASIS, OF THE FREQUENCY OF FUTURE VOTES TO APPROVE THE COMPENSATION OF OUR NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
As required pursuant to Section 14A of the Securities Exchange Act, we are providing our stockholders with the opportunity to vote to approve on an advisory basis the frequency of future stockholders advisory votes to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers.
Stockholders are being asked to vote on whether future stockholders advisory votes to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers should occur every one, two or three years. You will also have the choice to abstain from voting on this proposal.
We believe that a one year frequency is consistent with the Company’s approach to compensation. We believe an annual advisory vote gives the Board and the Compensation Committee the opportunity to annually evaluate compensation decisions in light of ongoing stockholder feedback.
THE BOARD UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR THE OPTION OF “ONE YEAR” AS THE FREQUENCY FOR WHICH STOCKHOLDERS ARE TO PROVIDE FUTURE ADVISORY VOTES TO APPROVE THE COMPENSATION OF OUR NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS.
PROPOSAL NO. 4 — RATIFICATION OF SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Appointment of Ernst & Young LLP
Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2015. The Audit Committee has approved the engagement of EY to perform audit and audit-related services with respect to the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, and the Board has directed that management submit the selection of EY as Calyxt’s independent registered public accounting firm for ratification by the stockholders at the Annual Meeting as part of this Proposal 4. The Audit Committee’s selection process includes consideration of the following factors: continuity of experience with our business, internal controls, and technical accounting experience; independence; history of and reputation for thoroughness, accuracy, excellence, and integrity; and reasonableness of fees. In the event the stockholders do not ratify the reappointment of EY, the Audit Committee will reconsider the selection.
Representatives of EY will be present at the Annual Meeting. They will be given an opportunity to make a statement, if they desire to do so, and they will be available to respond to appropriate questions after the meeting.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM.
RELATIONSHIP WITH INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Pre-Approval of Accounting Services
The Audit Committee has established a policy regarding pre-approval of audit and permissible non-audit services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm. Under that policy, the Audit Committee must approve the services to be rendered and fees to be charged by our independent registered public accounting firm. Unless a type of service has received general pre-approval, it will require specific pre-approval of the Audit Committee if it is to be provided by the independent auditor. The Audit Committee may establish pre-approval fee limits for all services to be provided by the independent accountant. The Audit Committee must then approve, in advance, any services or fees exceeding those pre-approved levels, subject to the de minimis exception set forth in Section 10A(i)(1)(B) of the Exchange Act. The Audit Committee pre-approved all services and fees charged by Ernst & Young LLP to the Company in 2022 and 2021.
The Audit Committee has delegated to its Chair the authority to grant separate pre-approvals of services and fees in accordance with the pre-approval policy. The Audit Committee may further delegate pre-approval authority from time to time to one or more of its other members in its discretion.
Fees Billed by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2021
The following table presents aggregate fees (including related expenses) for services rendered by Ernst & Young LLP in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
Audit Fees | $ | 270,000 | $ | 280,000 | ||||
Audit-Related Fees | — | 5,500 | ||||||
Tax Fees | — | — | ||||||
All Other Fees | 140,225 | (1) | 139,800 | (2) | ||||
|
|
|
| |||||
Total | $ | 410,225 | $ | 425,300 | ||||
|
|
|
|
(1) | Represents work performed primarily in association with the Company’s February 2022 underwritten public offering of shares of Common Stock and warrants to purchase Common Stock, the issuances of Common Stock under its Open Market Sale AgreementSM with Jefferies LLC, its filing of a Form S-3 registration statement, and the adoption of the lease accounting standard. |
(2) | Represents work performed primarily in association with the Company’s issuances of Common Stock under the Company’s Open Market Sale AgreementSM with Jefferies LLC and other public company matters. |
This report of the Audit Committee is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, in accordance with the SEC’s rules, will not be deemed to be part of or incorporated by reference by any general statement incorporating by reference this Proxy Statement into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) or under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), except to the extent that we specifically incorporate this information by reference, and will not otherwise be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” under either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The principal purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board in its general oversight of our accounting practices, system of internal controls, audit processes, and financial reporting processes. The Audit Committee is responsible for appointing and retaining our independent auditor and approving the audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditor. The Audit Committee’s function is more fully described in its charter.
Our management is responsible for preparing our financial statements and ensuring they are complete and accurate and prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. EY, our independent registered public accounting firm for 2022, was responsible for performing an independent audit of our consolidated financial statements and expressing an opinion on the conformity of those financial statements with generally accepted accounting principles.
The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, with management and with our independent auditor, EY. These audited financial statements are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 (“Annual Report”).
The Audit Committee has also discussed with EY the matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) and the SEC.
The Audit Committee also has received and reviewed the written disclosures and the letter from EY required by applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding EY’s communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence and has discussed with EY its independence from us.
Based on the review and discussions described above, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the audited financial statements be included in the Annual Report for filing with the SEC.
THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
Ms. Kimberly K. Nelson (Chair)
Mr. Philippe Dumont
Mr. Jonathan B. Fassberg
Ms. Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table sets forth certain information regarding beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 23, 202110, 2023, for:
each person whom we know to own beneficially more than 5% of our common stock;
each director and named executive officer individually; and
all directors and executive officers as a group.
In accordance with the rules of the SEC, beneficial ownership includes voting or investment power with respect to securities and includes the shares that may be acquired within 60 days of the date for which information is presented. Shares that may be acquired within 60 days are deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of the person holding such rights but are not outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage of any other person. The percentage of beneficial ownership for the following table is based on 37,155,88749,544,492 shares of Calyxt common stock outstanding as of March 23, 2021.10, 2023.
Unless otherwise indicated, the address for each listed director and named executive officer is c/o Calyxt, 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113. The address of Cellectis is 8, rue de la Croix Jarry, 75013, Paris, France.
|
| Calyxt Common Stock Beneficially Owned |
| |||||
Name of Beneficial Owner |
| Number of Shares |
|
| Percentage of Class |
| ||
5% Beneficial Owners: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cellectis S.A. (1) |
|
| 23,963,175 |
|
|
| 64.5 | % |
FMR LLC(2) |
|
| 2,997,035 |
|
|
| 8.1 | % |
Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. (3) |
|
| 2,275,265 |
|
|
| 6.1 | % |
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc.(3) |
|
| 2,275,265 |
|
|
| 6.1 | % |
Calyxt Common Stock Beneficially Owned | ||||||||
Name of Beneficial Owner† | Number of Shares | Percentage of Class | ||||||
5% Beneficial Owners: | ||||||||
Cellectis S.A.(1) | 23,963,175 | 48.4 | % | |||||
Armistice Capital Master Fund Ltd.(2) | 7,760,000 | 15.7 | % |
|
| Calyxt Common Stock Beneficially Owned |
| |||||
Name of Beneficial Owner † |
| Number of Shares |
|
| Percentage of Class |
| ||
Directors and Named Executive Officers: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Laurent Arthaud |
|
| - |
|
| * |
| |
Philippe Dumont (4) |
|
| 29,510 |
|
| * |
| |
Jonathan B. Fassberg(5) |
|
| 18,650 |
|
| * |
| |
Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz (6) |
|
| 30,635 |
|
| * |
| |
Kimberly K. Nelson(7) |
|
| 16,500 |
|
| * |
| |
Christopher J. Neugent(8) |
|
| 18,650 |
|
| * |
| |
Yves J. Ribeill, Ph.D.(9) |
|
| 212,280 |
|
| * |
| |
James A. Blome(10) |
|
| 158,843 |
|
| * |
| |
Travis J. Frey, Ph.D. (11) |
|
| 27,900 |
|
| * |
| |
William F. Koschak(12) |
|
| 45,000 |
|
| * |
| |
Directors and current executive officers as a group (11 persons ) (13) |
|
| 582,968 |
|
| 1.6% |
|
Calyxt Common Stock Beneficially Owned | ||||||||
Name of Beneficial Owner† | Number of Shares | Percentage of Class | ||||||
Directors and Named Executive Officers: | ||||||||
Laurent Arthaud | — | * | ||||||
Philippe Dumont(3) | 75,512 | * | ||||||
Jonathan B. Fassberg(4) | 60,827 | * | ||||||
Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz(5) | 72,832 | * | ||||||
Kimberly K. Nelson(6) | 63,185 | * | ||||||
Christopher J. Neugent(7) | 86,612 | * | ||||||
Yves J. Ribeill, Ph.D.(8) | 311,057 | * | ||||||
Michael A. Carr(9) | 443,301 | * | ||||||
William F. Koschak(10) | 431,388 | * | ||||||
Travis J. Frey(11) | 326,335 | * | ||||||
Debra Frimerman(12) | 323,421 | * | ||||||
Directors and current executive officers as a group (11 persons)(13) | 2,194,470 | 4.4 | % |
† | As of March |
* | Represents beneficial |
(1) | Based upon an Amendment No. |
(2) |
|
|
|
| Includes |
| Includes |
| Includes |
| Includes |
| Includes |
| Includes |
|
|
| Includes |
(10) | Includes 270,164 shares of Calyxt Common Stock that Mr. Koschak has the right to acquire upon the exercise of stock options within 60 days of March 10, 2023, and 39,333 RSUs expected to lapse within 60 days of March 10, 2023. |
(11) | Includes 191,832 shares of Calyxt Common Stock that Dr. Frey has the right to acquire upon the exercise of stock options within 60 days of March |
(12) | Includes |
(13) | Calyxt, Inc. amounts include |
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors and officers and persons who own more than 10% of our common stock to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC, and to furnish us with copies of the reports. Specific due dates for these reports are prescribed by SEC rules and we are required to report in this Proxy Statement any failure by directors, officers, or 10% holders to file such reports on a timely basis. Based on our review of such reports and written representations from our directors and officers, we believe that all such filing requirements were timely met during 2020, except for: (i) Mr. Dumont was late in filing a Form 4 relating to sales of shares on April 2, 2020, July 2, 2020, and August 14, 2020; (ii) Ms. Kozicz-Stankiewicz was late in filing a Form 4 relating to sales of shares on April 2, 2020 and July 2, 2020; (iii) Mr. Blome was late in filing a Form 4 relating to the sale of shares on June 29, 2020 and July 1, 2020; (iv) Dr. Choulika was late in filing a Form 4 relating to the sale of shares on July 1, 2020; and (v) each of our directors and officers except for Mr. Arthaud were late in filing a Form 4 to report a stock option grant on August 4, 2020.
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
In addition to the named executive officer and director compensation arrangements discussed in “Executive Compensation” above, we describe below transactions and series of similar transactions since the beginning of our 20202022 fiscal year and currently proposed transactions, to which we were a party or will be a party, in which:
the amounts involved exceeded or will exceed $120,000; and
any of our directors, executive officers, or beneficial holders of more than 5% of any class of our capital stock had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.
Other than as described below, there have not been, nor are there any currently proposed, transactions or series of similar transactions meeting these criteria to which we have been or will be a party other than compensation arrangements, which are described where required under “Executive Compensation.”
Relationship with Cellectis
Prior to the completion of our initial public offering, we were a wholly owned subsidiary of Cellectis. As of March 23, 2021,10, 2023, Cellectis owned approximately 64.5%48.4% of our common stock.
On October 16, 2020, Cellectis purchased 1,250,000 shares of our common stock at a purchase price of $4.00 per share in a follow-on offering, for a value of $5,000,000. Cellectis purchased the shares on the same terms as the institutional investors who participated in the follow-on offering.
IPO Framework Documents
In connection with our initial public offering, we and Cellectis entered into certain agreements that relate to our relationship with Cellectis and provide a framework for our ongoing relationship. The material agreements are filed as exhibits to Amendment No 1. to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 4, 2021.3, 2023. The discussions below are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of such agreements.
Management Services Agreement
We are party to a management services agreement dated January 1, 2016, that we entered into with Cellectis and Cellectis, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cellectis, pursuant to which Cellectis and Cellectis, Inc. provide certain services to us, including certain general management, finance, investor relations, communication, legal, intellectual property, human resources and information technology services. In consideration for such services, we pay certain fees, consisting of reimbursement of all costs and expenses reasonably incurred by Cellectis and Cellectis, Inc. in connection with the provision of such services, payment of a mark-up, ranging between zero and 10%, corresponding to a percentage of certain of the costs and expenses, and reimbursement of certain subcontracting costs and expenses.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we2022, no payments were made payments to Cellectis for services provided under ourthe management services agreement of approximately $0.3 million, which exclude direct re-invoicing and royalties paid to Cellectis.agreement.
Stockholders Agreement
As of December 31, 2020,2022, Cellectis owned 64.7%49.1% of our outstanding shares of common stock. Pursuant to our stockholders’ agreement, Cellectis will have certain contractual rights for so long as it beneficially owns at least 50 percent of the then outstanding shares of our common stock, including approval rights over a significant number of key aspects of our operations and management. In addition, though their rights are diminished compared to when they own more than 50 percent of our then outstanding common stock, Cellectis will also maintainmaintains certain significant rights, including a right to nominate a majority of our board of directors, as long as it beneficially owns at least 15 percent of the then outstanding shares of our common stock. As a result, Cellectis controls the direction of our business, and the concentrated ownership of our common stock and the contractual rights described above will prevent stockholders from influencing significant decisions.
License Agreement with Cellectis
Through our perpetual license agreement with Cellectis, we have (i) access to intellectual property that broadly covers the use of engineered nucleases for plant gene editing, (ii) exclusive sublicense rights (subject to existing
non-exclusive sublicenses to third parties) to intellectual property exclusively licensed to Cellectis from the University of Minnesota in the field of researching, developing, and commercializing agricultural and food products, and (iii) a non-exclusive license to use the TALEN trademark in
connection with our use of licensed products under the agreement. In consideration for the license from Cellectis, we are required to pay to Cellectis, on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis, a royalty of three percent of net sales less certain items as defined, including costs for grain and seed of any products that are covered by the patents licensed from Cellectis. In addition, we are required to pay Cellectis 30 percent of revenue we receive for sublicensing our rights under the agreement to third parties. Our payment obligations to Cellectis will expire upon the expiration of the last-to-expire valid claim of the patents licensed to us by Cellectis.
During the year ended December 31, 2020,2022, Calyxt incurred expenses related to the stated license agreements with Cellectis in the amount of $0.2 million.
Lease Guarantee and Indemnification
Cellectis has guaranteed the lease agreement for Calyxt’s headquarters. Cellectis’ guarantee of Calyxt’s obligations under the lease will terminate at the end of the second consecutive calendar year in which Calyxt’s tangible net worth exceeds $300 million. Calyxt agreed to indemnify Cellectis for any obligations incurred by Cellectis under its guaranty of the obligations under the lease, effective upon Cellectis’ ownership falling to 50 percent or less of Calyxt’s outstanding common stock. This indemnification obligation was triggered in October 2022.
Indemnification Agreements
Our Board has adopted a policy to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and officers. Such indemnification agreements and our Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws will require us, subject to certain exceptions, to indemnify and hold harmless our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.
Policy Concerning Related Person Transactions
We maintain a written related person transaction approval policy, for the review of any transaction, arrangement, or relationship in which we are a participant, if the amount involved exceeds $100,000 and one of our executive officers, directors, director nominees, or beneficial holders of more than 5% of our total equity (or their immediate family members), each of whom we refer to as a related person, has a direct or indirect material interest. This policy was not in effect when we entered into the management, stockholders, or license agreements with Cellectis described above.
Each of the agreements between us and Cellectis that were entered into in connection with our initial public offering, and any transactions contemplated thereby, were and will be deemed approved under and not subject to the terms of such policy. Any future amendment to such agreements would be subject to our related person transaction approval policy. If a related person, other than Cellectis and its affiliates, proposes to enter into such a transaction, arrangement, or relationship, which we refer to as a related person transaction, the related person must report the proposed related person transaction to the General Counsel, who will present the proposed related party transaction to the Audit Committee. The policy calls for the proposed related person transaction to be reviewed and, if deemed appropriate, approved by the Audit Committee. If the proposed related person transaction involves related persons constituting a majority of the members of the Audit Committee, such review will be undertaken by the disinterested members of the board who are also independent directors (each such body, as applicable, referred to as the “Committee” for the purpose of this paragraph).
In approving or rejecting such proposed transactions, the Committee will be required to consider relevant facts and circumstances. The Committee will approve only those transactions that, considering known circumstances,
are deemed to be in our best interests. In the event thatIf any member of the Committee is not a disinterested person with respect to the related person transaction under review, that member will be excluded from the review and approval or rejection of such related person transaction; provided, however, that such Committee member may be counted in determining the presence of a quorum at the meeting of the Committee at which such transaction is considered. If we become aware of an existing related person transaction which has not been approved under the policy, the matter will be referred to the Committee. The Committee will evaluate all options available, including ratification, revision, or termination of such transaction.
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO STOCKHOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS
A number of brokers with account holders who are Calyxt, Inc. stockholders will be “householding” our proxy materials. A single Notice of Internet Availability or, if requested, set of proxy materials or Annual Report may be delivered to multiple stockholders sharing an address unless contrary instructions have been received from the affected stockholders. Once you have received notice from your broker that they will be “householding” communications to your address, “householding” will continue until you are notified otherwise or until you revoke your consent. If, at any time, you no longer wish to participate in “householding” and would prefer to receive a separate Notice of Internet Availability and/or separate proxy statement and Annual Report, please notify your broker and direct your written request to Calyxt, Inc., 2800 Mount Ridge Road, Roseville, MN 55113, Attn: Secretary, or call (651) 683-2807. The Company undertakes to deliver promptly to a stockholder upon such written or oral request a separate Notice of Internet Availability, and, if requested, set of proxy materials or Annual Report. Stockholders who currently receive multiple copies of the proxy materials at their address and would like to request “householding” of their communications should contact their broker.
The Board of Directors knows of no other matters that will be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting. If any other matters are properly brought before the Annual Meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the accompanying proxy to vote on such matters in accordance with their best judgment.
By Order of the Board of Directors
By Order of the Board of Directors |
/s/ Michael A. Carr |
President & Chief Executive Officer |
Roseville, Minnesota |
Dated: March 22, 2023
BROADRIDGE CORPORATE ISSUER SOLUTIONS C/O CALYXT, INC. P.O. BOX 1342 BRENTWOOD, NY 11717 |
VOTE BY INTERNET Before The Meeting - Go to www.proxyvote.com or scan the QR Barcode above Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and for electronic delivery of information up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form. During The Meeting - Go to www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2023 You may attend the meeting via the Internet and vote during the meeting. Have the information that is printed in the box marked by the arrow available and follow the instructions. VOTE BY PHONE - 1-800-690-6903 Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions. VOTE BY MAIL Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717. |
TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS BELOW IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS FOLLOWS:
V04974-P91498 KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS
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DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY
THIS PROXY CARD IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED.
CALYXT, INC. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dated: April 6, 2021
CALYXT, INC.
2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN
(As AMENDED, EFFECTIVE MAY 18, 2021)
1.Purposes of the Plan. The purposes of this Omnibus Incentive Plan are to attract and retain the best available personnel for positions of substantial responsibility, to provide additional incentive to Employees and Consultants, and to promote the success of the Company’s business.
2.Definitions. As used herein, the following definitions shall apply:
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vote FOR the nominees listed in Proposal 1, FOR Proposal 2, 1 YEAR for Proposal 3 and FOR Proposal 4. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. | Election of Directors: To elect 2 Class I directors for a three-year term and until their successors have been elected and qualified. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For | Withhold | For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1a. Mr. Philippe Dumont | ☐ | ☐ | 4. | Ratification of the |
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(i)a sale, transfer or disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets other than to (A) a corporation or other entity of which at least a majority of its combined voting power is owned directly or indirectly by the Company, (B) a corporation or other entity owned directly or indirectly by the holders of capital stock of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of Common Stock, or (C) an Excluded Entity (as defined in subsection (ii) below); or
(ii)any merger, consolidation or other business combination transaction of the Company with or into another corporation, entity or person, other than a transaction with or into another corporation, entity or person in which the holders of at least a majority of the shares of voting capital stock of the Company outstanding immediately prior to such transaction continue to hold (either by such shares remaining outstanding in the continuing entity or by their being converted into shares of voting capital stock of the surviving entity) a majority of the total voting power represented by the shares of voting capital stock of the Company (or the surviving entity) outstanding immediately after such transaction (an “Excluded Entity”); or
(iii)any direct or indirect purchase or other acquisition by any Person or “group” (as defined in or under Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act), other than a Current Parent or another Person that is controlled by a Current Parent, of more than fifty percent (50%) of the total outstanding equity interests in or voting securities of the Company, excluding any transaction that is determined by the Board in its reasonable discretion to be a bona fide capital raising transaction.
Notwithstanding anything stated herein, a transaction shall not constitute a Triggering Event if its sole purpose is to change the state of the Company’s incorporation, or to create a holding company that will be owned in substantially the same proportions by the persons who hold the Company’s securities immediately before such transaction.
3.Eligibility.
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4.Administration of the Plan.
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(i)to determine the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock in accordance with Section 2(u) above; provided that such determination shall be applied consistently with respect to Participants under the Plan;
(ii)to select the Employees and Consultants to whom Awards may from time to time be granted;
(iii)to determine the type or types of Awards (including Substitute Awards) to be granted to each Participant under the Plan;
(iv)to determine the number of Shares to be covered by each Award;
(v)to approve the form(s) of agreement(s) and other related documents used under the Plan;
(vi)to determine the terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, of any Award granted hereunder, which terms and conditions include but are not limited to the exercise or purchase price, the time or times when Awards may
be exercised (which may be based on performance criteria), the circumstances (if any) when vesting shall be accelerated or forfeiture restrictions shall be waived, and any restriction or limitation regarding any Award;
(vii)to amend any outstanding Award or agreement related to any Award, including any amendment adjusting vesting (e.g., in connection with a change in the terms or conditions under which such person is providing services to the Company); provided that no amendment shall be made that would materially and adversely affect the rights of any Participant without his or her consent, as determined in the sole discretion of the Board;
(viii)to determine whether and under what circumstances an Award may be settled and exercised in cash, Shares, other Awards, other property, net settlement or any combination thereof, or cancelled, forfeited or suspended, and the method or methods by which Awards may be settled, exercised, cancelled, forfeited or suspended;
(ix)to determine whether, to what extent and under what circumstances cash, Shares, other Awards, other property and other amounts payable with respect to an Award under the Plan shall be deferred either automatically or at the election of the holder thereof or of the Administrator;
(x)to grant Awards to, or to modify the terms of any outstanding Award Agreement or any agreement related to any Award held by, Participants who are foreign nationals or employed outside of the United States with such terms and conditions as the Administrator deems necessary or appropriate to accommodate differences in local law, tax policy or custom which deviate from the terms and conditions set forth in this Plan to the extent necessary or appropriate to accommodate such differences;
(xi)to correct any defect, supply any omission and reconcile any inconsistency in the Plan or any Award, in the manner and to the extent it shall deem desirable to carry the Plan into effect;
(xii)to establish, amend, suspend or waive such rules and regulations and appoint such agents, trustees, brokers, depositories and advisors and determine such terms of their engagement as it shall deem appropriate for the proper administration of the Plan and due compliance with Applicable Laws or accounting or tax rules and regulations;
(xiii)to make any other determination and take any other action that the Administrator deems necessary or desirable for the administration of the Plan and due compliance with Applicable Laws or accounting or tax rules and regulations; and
(xiv)to construe and interpret the terms of the Plan, any Award Agreement, and any agreement related to any Award, which constructions, interpretations and decisions shall be final and binding on all Participants.
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5.Stock Subject to the Plan.
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6.Limitation on Grants to Participants.
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For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2. | To approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the company’s Named Executive Officers. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Year | 2 Years | 3 Years | Abstain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3. | To approve, on an advisory basis, the frequency of future votes to approve the compensation of the company’s Named Executive Officers. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Please sign your name exactly as it appears hereon. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, trustee or guardian, please add your title as such. When signing as joint tenants, all parties in the joint tenancy must sign. If a signer is a |
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Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX] | Date | Signature (Joint Owners) | Date |
7.Term of Plan. The Plan was originally adopted by the Board of Directors and approved by the shareholders of the Company on June 14, 2017 (the “Effective Date”), and subsequently amended effective as of May 18, 2021. It shall continue in effect for a term of ten (10) years from the Effective Date unless sooner terminated under Section 20 below. No Award shall be granted under the Plan after the earliest to occur of (i) the 10-year anniversary of the Effective Date; provided that to the extent permitted by the listing rules of any stock exchange on which the Company is listed, such 10-year term may be extended indefinitely so long as the maximum number of Shares available for issuance under the Plan have not been issued; (ii) the maximum number of Shares available for issuance under the Plan have been issued; or (iii) the Board terminates the Plan in accordance with Section 20. However, unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan or in an applicable Award Agreement, any Award theretofore granted may extend beyond such date, and the authority of the Administrator to amend, alter, adjust, suspend, discontinue or terminate any such Award, or to waive any conditions or rights under any such Award, and the authority of the Board to amend the Plan, shall extend beyond such date.
8.Options.
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(i)In the case of an Incentive Stock Option
(A)granted to an Employee who at the time of grant is a Ten Percent Holder, the per Share exercise price shall be no less than one hundred and ten percent (110%) of the Fair Market Value on the date of grant; and
(B)granted to any other Employee, the per Share exercise price shall be no less than one hundred percent (100%) of the Fair Market Value on the date of grant, except in the case of Substitute Awards.
(ii)In the case of a Nonstatutory Stock Option, the per Share exercise price shall be such price as is determined by the Administrator; provided that, if the per Share exercise price is less than one hundred percent (100%) of the Fair Market Value on the date of grant, it shall otherwise comply with all Applicable Laws, including Section 409A of the Code.
(iii)Notwithstanding the foregoing, Options may be granted with a per Share exercise price other than as required above pursuant to a merger or other corporate transaction.
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9.SARs.
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10.Restricted Stock and RSUs. The Administrator is authorized to grant Awards of Restricted Stock and RSUs to Participants with the following terms and conditions and with such additional terms and conditions, in either case not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as the Administrator shall determine:
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11.Performance Awards. The Administrator is authorized to grant Performance Awards to Participants with the following terms and conditions and with such additional terms and conditions, in either case not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as the Administrator shall determine:
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(i)return measures (including, but not limited to, total shareholder return; return on equity; return on assets or net assets; return on risk-weighted assets; and return on capital (including return on total capital or return on invested capital));
(ii)revenues (including, but not limited to, total revenue; gross revenue; net revenue; and net sales);
(iii)income/earnings measures (including, but not limited to, earnings per share; earnings or loss (including earnings before or after interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization); gross income; net income; operating income (before or after taxes); pre-or after-tax income or loss (before or after allocation of corporate overhead and bonus); pre- or after-tax operating income; net earnings; net income or loss (before or after taxes); operating margin; gross margin; and adjusted net income);
(iv)expense measures (including, but not limited to, expenses; operating efficiencies; and improvement in or attainment of expense levels or working capital levels (including cash and accounts receivable));
(v)cash flow measures (including, but not limited to, cash flow or cash flow per share (before or after dividends); and cash flow return on investment);
(vi)share price measures (including, but not limited to, share price; appreciation in and/or maintenance of share price; and market capitalization);
(vii)strategic objectives (including, but not limited to, market share; debt reduction; customer growth; employee satisfaction; research and development achievements; mergers and acquisitions; management retention; dynamic market response; expense reduction initiatives; reductions in costs; risk management; regulatory compliance and achievements; recruiting and maintaining personnel; and business quality); and
(viii)other measures (including, but not limited to, economic value-added models or equivalent metrics; economic profit added; gross profits; economic profit; comparisons with various stock market indices; financial ratios (including those measuring liquidity, activity, profitability or leverage); cost of capital or assets under management; and financing and other capital raising transactions (including sales of the Company’s equity or debt securities; factoring transactions; sales or licenses of the Company’s assets, including its intellectual property, whether in a particular jurisdiction or territory or globally; or through partnering transactions)).
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12.Deferred Awards. The Administrator is authorized, subject to limitations under Applicable Laws, to grant to Participants Deferred Awards, which may be a right to receive Shares or cash under the Plan (either independently or as an element of or supplement to any other Award under the Plan), including, as may be required by any Applicable Laws or determined by the Administrator, in lieu of any annual bonus that may be payable to a Participant under any applicable bonus plan or arrangement. The Administrator shall determine the terms and conditions of such Deferred Awards, including, without limitation, the method of converting the amount of annual bonus into a Deferred Award, if applicable, and the form, vesting, settlement, forfeiture and cancellation provisions or any other criteria, if any, applicable to such Deferred Awards. Shares underlying a Share-denominated Deferred Award, which is subject to a vesting schedule or other conditions or criteria, including forfeiture or cancellation provisions, set by the Administrator shall not be issued until on or following the date that those conditions and criteria have been satisfied. Deferred Awards shall be subject to such restrictions as the Administrator may impose (including any limitation on the right to vote a Share underlying a Deferred Award or the right to receive any dividend, dividend equivalent or other right), which restrictions may lapse separately or in combination at such time or times, in such installments or otherwise, as the Administrator may deem appropriate. The Administrator may determine the form or forms (including cash, Shares, other Awards, other property or any combination thereof) in which payment of the amount owing upon settlement of any Deferred Award may be made.
13.Other Cash-Based Awards and Other Share-Based Awards. The Administrator is authorized, subject to limitations under Applicable Laws, to grant to Participants Other Cash-Based Awards (either independently or as an element of or supplement to any other Award under the Plan) and Other Share-Based Awards. The Administrator shall determine the terms and conditions of such Awards. Shares delivered pursuant to an Award in the nature of a purchase right granted under this Section 13 shall be purchased for such consideration, paid for at such times, by such methods and in such forms, including cash, Shares, other Awards, other property, net settlement, broker-assisted Cashless Exercise or any combination thereof, as the Administrator shall determine; provided that the purchase price therefore shall not be less than the Fair Market Value of such Shares on the date of grant of such right.
14.Exercise of Awards.
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(i)General Provisions. If the Participant (or other person entitled to exercise the Award) does not exercise the Award to the extent so entitled within the time specified below, the Award shall terminate and the Shares underlying the unexercised portion of the Award shall revert to the Plan. In no event may any Award be exercised after the expiration of the Award term as set forth in the Award Agreement (and subject to Sections 8(a) and 9(a) above).
(ii)Termination other than Upon Disability, Death or for Cause.In the event of termination of a Participant’s Continuous Service Status other than under the circumstances set forth in subsections (iii) through (v) below, such Participant may exercise any outstanding Award at any time within three (3) months following such termination to the extent the Participant was vested in the Shares underlying the Award as of the date of such termination.
(iii)Disability of Participant.In the event of termination of a Participant’s Continuous Service Status as a result of his or her Disability, such Participant may exercise any outstanding Award at any time within six (6) months following such termination to the extent the Participant was vested in the Shares underlying the Award as of the date of such termination.
(iv)Death of Participant.In the event of the death of a Participant during the period of Continuous Service Status since the date of grant of any outstanding Award, or within three (3) months following termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service Status, the Award may be exercised by the Participant’s estate, or by a person who acquired the right to exercise the Award by bequest or inheritance, at any time within nine (9) months following the date of death or, if earlier, the date the Award’s Continuous Service Status terminated, but only to the extent the Participant was vested in the Shares underlying the Award as of the date of death.
(v)Termination for Cause.In the event of termination of a Participant’s Continuous Service Status for Cause, any outstanding Award (including any vested portion thereof) held by such Participant shall immediately terminate in its entirety upon first notification to the Participant of termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service Status for Cause. If a Participant’s Continuous Service Status is suspended pending an investigation of whether the Participant’s Continuous
Service Status will be terminated for Cause, all the Participant’s rights under any Award, including the right to exercise the Award, shall be suspended during the investigation period. Nothing in this Section 14(f)(v) shall in any way limit the Company’s right to purchase unvested Shares issued upon exercise of an Award as set forth in the applicable Award Agreement.
15.Taxes.
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16.Non-Transferability of Awards.
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17.Adjustments Upon Changes in Capitalization, Merger or Certain Other Transactions.
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(i)a dissolution or liquidation of the Company or
(ii)a Triggering Event, then:
each outstanding Award shall either be (A) assumed or an equivalent award shall be substituted by such Successor Corporation, or (B) terminated in exchange for a payment of cash, securities and/or other property equal to the excess of the Fair Market Value of the portion of the Award Stock that is vested and exercisable immediately prior to the consummation of the corporate transaction over the per Share exercise price thereof, or (C) any combination of (A) and (B) that is approved by the Administrator; provided that, in the case of an Option or SAR Award, such Award may be cancelled without consideration if the Fair Market Value on the date of the event is greater than the exercise or hurdle price of such Award. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event such Successor Corporation does not agree to such assumption, substitution or exchange, each such Award shall terminate upon the consummation of the corporate transaction.
Unless a Participant’s applicable Award Agreement, employment agreement or other applicable written agreement provides otherwise, if a Triggering Event, dissolution or liquidation occurs and any outstanding Award held by the Participant is to be terminated (in whole or in part) pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the Administrator may accelerate the vesting and exercisability of each such Award in his sole discretion such that the Award shall become vested and exercisable in full prior to the consummation of the corporate transaction at such time and on such conditions as the Administrator shall determine. The Administrator shall notify the Participant that the Award shall terminate at least five (5) days prior to the date upon which the Award terminates.
18.Time of Granting Options. The date of grant of an Award shall, for all purposes, be the date on which the Administrator makes the determination granting such Award, or such later date as is determined by the Administrator; provided that in the case of any Incentive Stock Option, the grant date shall be the later of the date on which the Administrator makes the determination granting such Incentive Stock Option or the date of commencement of the Participant’s employment relationship with the Company.
19.General Provisions Applicable to Awards.
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20.Amendment and Terminations.
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21.Conditions Upon Issuance of Shares. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan or any agreement entered into by the Company pursuant to the Plan, the Company shall not be obligated, and shall have no liability for failure, to issue or deliver any Shares under the Plan unless such issuance or delivery would comply with the Applicable Laws, with such compliance determined by the Company in consultation with its legal counsel. As a condition to the exercise of any Award, the Company may require the person exercising the Award to represent and warrant at the time of any such exercise or purchase that the Shares are being purchased only for investment and without any present intention to sell or distribute such Shares if, in the opinion of counsel for the Company, such a representation is required by Applicable Laws. Shares issued upon exercise of Awards prior to the date, if ever, on which the Common Stock becomes a Listed Security shall be subject to a right of first refusal in favor of the Company pursuant to which the Participant shall be required to offer Shares to the Company before selling or transferring them to any third party on such terms and subject to such conditions as is reflected in the applicable Award Agreement.
22.Beneficiaries. Unless stated otherwise in an Award Agreement, a Participant may designate one or more beneficiaries with respect to an Award by timely filing the prescribed form with the Company. A beneficiary designation may be changed by filing the prescribed form with the Company at any time before the Participant’s death. If no beneficiary was designated or if no designated beneficiary survives the Participant, then after a Participant’s death any vested Award(s) shall be transferred or distributed to the Participant’s estate.
23.Addenda. The Administrator may approve such addenda to the Plan as it may consider necessary or appropriate for the purpose of granting Awards to Employees or Consultants, which Awards may contain such terms and conditions as the Administrator deems necessary or appropriate to accommodate differences in local law, tax policy or custom, which, if so required under Applicable Laws, may deviate from the terms and conditions set forth in this Plan. The terms of any such addenda shall supersede the terms of the Plan
to the extent necessary to accommodate such differences but shall not otherwise affect the terms of the Plan as in effect for any other purpose.
24.Cancellation or “Clawback” of Awards. The Administrator shall have full authority to implement any policies and procedures necessary to comply with Section 10D of the Exchange Act and any rules promulgated thereunder and any other regulatory regimes. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Administrator may, to the extent permitted by Applicable Laws or by any applicable Company policy or arrangement, and shall, to the extent required, cancel or require reimbursement of any Awards granted to the Participant or any Shares issued or cash received upon vesting, exercise or settlement of any such Awards or sale of Shares underlying such Awards.
25.Restrictive Covenants. The Administrator may impose restrictions on any Award with respect to non-competition, confidentiality and other restrictive covenants as it deems necessary or appropriate in its sole discretion.
26.Compliance with Section 409A and Section 457A of the Code. To the extent applicable, it is intended that this Plan and any grants made hereunder comply with the provisions of Section 409A and Section 457A of the Code. This Plan and any grants made hereunder shall be administered in a manner consistent with this intent, and any provision that would cause this Plan or any grant made hereunder to fail to satisfy Section 409A and Section 457A of the Code shall have no force and effect until amended to comply with Section 409A and Section 457A of the Code (which amendment may be retroactive to the extent permitted by Section 409A and Section 457A of the Code and may be made by the Company without the consent of Participants). If, at the time of a Participant’s separation from service (within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code), (a) the Participant will be a specified employee (within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code and using the identification methodology selected by the Company from time to time) and (b) the Company makes a good faith determination that an amount payable hereunder constitutes deferred compensation (within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code) the payment of which is required to be delayed pursuant to the six-month delay rule set forth in Section 409A of the Code in order to avoid taxes or penalties under Section 409A of the Code, then the Company will not pay such amount on the otherwise scheduled payment date but will instead pay it, without interest, on the tenth business day of the seventh month after such separation from service. Any reference in this Plan to Section 409A and Section 457A of the Code shall also include any proposed, temporary or final regulations, or any other guidance, promulgated with respect to such section by the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service.
27.Successors and Assigns. The terms of the Plan shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Company and any successor entity, including any successor entity contemplated by Section 17.
28.Data Privacy. By participating in the Plan, the Participant consents to the holding and processing of personal information provided by the Participant to the Company or any subsidiary, trustee or third-party service provider, for all purposes relating to the operation of the Plan. These include, but are not limited to:
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29.Governing Law. The Plan and each Award Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without application of the conflicts of law principles thereof.
30.Waiver of Jury Trial. EACH PARTICIPANT WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LITIGATION BASED ON, ARISING OUT OF, UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE PLAN.
31.Dispute Resolution. Any dispute or claim arising out of, under or in connection with the Plan or any Award Agreement shall be submitted to arbitration in Delaware and shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of, but not necessarily under the auspices of, the American Arbitration Association rules in force when the notice of arbitration is submitted. The arbitration shall be conducted before an arbitration tribunal comprised of three individuals, one selected by the Company, one selected by the Participant, and the third selected by the first two. The Participant and the Company agree that such arbitration will be confidential and no details, descriptions, settlements or other facts concerning such arbitration shall be disclosed or released to any third party without the specific written consent of the other party, unless required by law or court order or in connection with enforcement of any decision in such arbitration. Any damages awarded in such arbitration shall be limited to the contract measure of damages, and shall not include punitive damages.
32.Other Acknowledgments. Notwithstanding anything in this Plan or an Award Agreement to the contrary, nothing in this Plan or in an Award Agreement prevents a Participant from providing, without prior notice to the Company, information to governmental authorities regarding possible legal violations or otherwise testifying or participating in any investigation or proceeding by any governmental authorities regarding possible legal violations, and for purpose of clarity a Participant is not prohibited from providing information voluntarily to the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 21F of the Exchange Act
VOTE BY INTERNET Before The Meeting - Go to www.proxyvote.com Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and for electronic delivery of information up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form. During The Meeting - Go to www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CLXT2021 You may attend the meeting via the Internet and vote during the meeting. Have the information that is printed in the box marked by the arrow available and follow the instructions. VOTE BY PHONE - 1-800-690-6903 Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions. VOTE BY MAIL Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717. CALYXT, INC. C/O PROXY SERVICES P.O. BOX 9142 FARMINGDALE, NY 11735 D46889-P50944 CALYXT, INC. Proposals - The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR all the nominees listed, FOR Proposal 2, and FOR Proposal 3. 1.Election of Directors: To elect 7 directors for one year and until their successors have been elected and qualified. Withhold For ! ! 1a.Dr. Yves Ribeill For Against Abstain 1b.Mr. Laurent Arthuad ! ! ! ! ! 2.Ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. ! ! 1c.Mr. Philippe Dumont ! ! ! ! ! 1d.Mr. Jonathan Fassberg 3.Approval of the Amendment to the Calyxt, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan. ! ! 1e.Ms. Anna Ewa Kozicz-Stankiewicz ! ! 1f.Ms. Kimberly Nelson ! ! 1g.Mr. Christopher Neugent Please sign your name exactly as it appears hereon. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, trustee or guardian, please add your title as such. When signing as joint tenants, all parties in the joint tenancy must sign. If a signer is a corporation, please sign in full corporate name by duly authorized officer.
Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting:
The Notice and Proxy Statement, Annual Report and Form 10-K are available at www.proxyvote.com. D46890-P50944
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V04975-P91498
Calyxt, Inc.
THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
May 18, 2021 2, 2023
The undersigned hereby appoints Yves Ribeill,Michael A. Carr, William Koschak and Debra Frimerman, or any of them, each with the power of substitution, to represent and vote the shares of the undersigned, with all the powers which the undersigned would possess if personally present, at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Calyxt, Inc. to be held on May 18, 20212, 2023 or at any postponement or adjournment thereof.
Shares represented by this Proxy will be voted as directed by the stockholder. If no such directions are indicated, the Proxies will have authority to vote FOR the election ofin accordance with the Board of Directors, FOR Proposal 2, and FOR Proposal 3. Directors’ recommendations.
PLEASE MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THIS PROXY CARD PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED REPLY ENVELOPE
CONTINUED AND TO BE SIGNED ON REVERSE SIDE