13. Related Party Transactions

Employment Agreement

On June 29, 2015, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Daniel Solomita, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”).  The employment agreement is for an indefinite term. 

On July 13, 2018, the Company and Mr. Solomita entered into an amendment and restatement of the employment agreement which provided for a long-term incentive grant of 4,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, in tranches of one million shares each, upon the achievement of four performance milestones.  This was modified to provide a grant of 4,000,000 restricted stock units (“RSUs”) covering 4,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock while the performance milestones remained the same. The grant of the restricted stock units became effective upon approval by the Company’s shareholders at the Company’s 2019 annual meeting, of an increase in the number of shares available for grant under the Plan.  Such approval was granted by the Company’s shareholders at the Company’s 2019 annual meeting.

On April 30, 2020, the Company and Mr. Solomita entered into an amendment of Mr. Solomita’s employment agreement.  The amendment clarified the milestones consistent with the shift in the Company’s business from the production of terephthalate to the production of dimethyl terephthalate, another proven monomer of PET plastic that is far simpler to purify. When a milestone becomes probable, the corresponding expense will be valued based on the grant date fair value on April 30, 2020, the date of the last modification of Mr. Solomita’s employment agreement. The closing price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq on April 30, 2020 was $7.74 per share.

During the three-month period ended May 31, 2022, Mr. Solomita met a performance milestone in relation to the signature of a supply agreement with a customer. Accordingly, 1,000,000 performance incentive RSUs with a fair value of $7,740,000 were earned and issuable to Mr. Solomita. This amount was reflected as stock-based compensation expense during the nine-month period ended November 30, 2022 based on the grant date fair value. The 1,000,000 vested RSUs are to be settled annually in shares of the Company’s common stock on October 15 of each year in five equal tranches of 200,000 units, unless Mr. Solomita and the Company elect to defer settlement before such date. On October 14, 2022, Mr. Solomita and the Company agreed to defer by one year the settlement of 400,000 RSUs that were set to settle on October 15, 2022.