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 x
Filed
by a Party other than the Registrant ¨
Check the appropriate box:
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Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
x |
Definitive Proxy Statement |
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Definitive Additional Materials |
¨ |
Soliciting Material under § 240.14a-12 |
RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.
(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement,
if other than the Registrant)
Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):
x |
No Fee Required |
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Fee paid previously with preliminary materials |
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Fee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11. |
RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.
(310) 477-0354
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
To Be Held on November 14, 2023
TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.:
You are cordially invited to attend the Annual
Meeting of Stockholders of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company” or “our”), to be
held on November 14, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. Pacific time, at 15260 Ventura Boulevard, 20th Floor, Sherman Oaks, California
91403.
At the Annual Meeting, stockholders will be asked
to consider and act upon the following matters:
| 1. | Electing six members to our board of directors; |
| 2. | Ratifying the appointment of Weinberg & Company, P.A. as our independent accountants for the fiscal year ending June 30,
2024; |
| 3. | Voting on a non-binding advisory resolution to approve our executive compensation; |
| 4. | Transacting other business properly presented at the meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof. |
Our board of directors has fixed September 27,
2023 as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting and any postponement
or adjournment thereof, and only stockholders of record at the close of business on that date are entitled to notice and to vote at the
Annual Meeting. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting will be available at the Annual Meeting and at the offices
of the Company for 10 days prior to the Annual Meeting.
We hope that you will use this opportunity to take
an active part in the affairs of the Company by voting on the business to come before the Annual Meeting, either by executing and returning
the enclosed Proxy Card or by casting your vote in person at the Annual Meeting.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR SHARES BE REPRESENTED
AT THE ANNUAL MEETING REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF SHARES YOU HOLD. YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING IN PERSON, BUT WHETHER
OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND, PLEASE COMPLETE, DATE, SIGN AND RETURN THE ACCOMPANYING PROXY CARD IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. IF YOU DO ATTEND
THE ANNUAL MEETING, YOU MAY, IF YOU PREFER, REVOKE YOUR PROXY AND VOTE YOUR SHARES IN PERSON.
October 12, 2023 |
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By Order of the Board of Directors
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John Regazzi
Lead Independent Director
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Table of Contents
RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.
PROXY STATEMENT FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 14, 2023
INTRODUCTION
This Proxy Statement is furnished in connection
with the solicitation of proxies by the board of directors of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (we, us or our), for
use at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held on November 14, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time, or the Annual Meeting,
at 15260 Ventura Boulevard, 20th Floor, Sherman Oaks, California 91403. Accompanying this Proxy Statement is our board of directors’
Proxy for the Annual Meeting, which you may use to indicate your vote as to the proposals described in this Proxy Statement.
We
will bear the expense of this solicitation of proxies. Solicitations will be made only by use of the mail except that, if deemed desirable,
officers and regular employees of our company may solicit proxies by telephone, electronic mail or personal calls. We have engaged
a proxy solicitation firm on terms and at costs reasonably acceptable to our board of directors. Brokerage houses, custodians, nominees
and fiduciaries will be requested to forward the proxy soliciting material to the beneficial owners of the stock held of record by those
persons and we will reimburse them for their reasonable expenses incurred in this regard.
The purpose of the Annual Meeting and the matters
to be acted upon are set forth in the attached Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, our board
of directors knows of no other business that may be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting. All proxies which are properly
completed, signed and returned to us prior to the Annual Meeting and which have not been revoked will be voted in favor of the proposals
described in this Proxy Statement unless otherwise directed. A stockholder may revoke its proxy at any time before it is voted either
by filing with our Secretary, at our mailing address, a written notice of revocation or a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or
by attending the Annual Meeting and expressing a desire to vote its shares in person, provided that if a stockholder holds its shares
in street name, such stockholder may vote its shares in person at the Annual Meeting only if it obtains a proxy, executed in its favor,
from the record holder. If any other business properly comes before the Annual Meeting, votes will be cast pursuant to those proxies in
respect of any other business in accordance with the judgment of the persons acting under those proxies.
In November 2019, we became a fully remote
company. Accordingly, we do not currently have principal executive offices. Our mailing address is 10624 E. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614,
Henderson, NV 89052. It is anticipated that the mailing to stockholders of this Proxy Statement and the enclosed proxy will commence on
or about October 16, 2023.
OUTSTANDING SECURITIES AND VOTING RIGHTS
The close of business on September 27, 2023,
has been fixed as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any postponement
or adjournment thereof. As of the record date, we had outstanding 29,624,085 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. Our common
stock is our only outstanding voting security. As of the record date, we had 44 holders of record of our common stock.
A
holder of common stock is entitled to cast one vote for each share held on the record date on all matters to be considered at the Annual
Meeting. The nominees for director who receive a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of our common stock, in person or by
proxy at the meeting, will be elected. Approval of the proposal to ratify the appointment of Weinberg & Company, P.A., as our
independent accountants for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, and approval of the advisory vote on the resolution approving the
compensation of our executives as disclosed in the compensation tables and related narrative disclosure herein, requires the favorable
vote of a majority of shares voted at the Annual Meeting or by proxy.
A quorum, which is a majority of the outstanding
shares as of September 27, 2023, must be present to hold the Annual Meeting. A quorum is calculated based on the number of shares
represented by the stockholders attending in person and by their proxy holders. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be included in the
determination of shares present at the Annual Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. Abstentions will be counted toward the tabulation
of votes cast on proposals submitted to stockholders and will have the same effect as negative votes, while broker non-votes will not
be counted as votes cast for or against these matters or deemed present or represented for determining whether stockholders have approved
a proposal. Broker non-votes occur when a broker holding customer securities in street name has not received voting instructions from
the customer on certain “non-routine” matters, such as director elections, and, therefore, is barred by the rules of
the applicable securities exchange from exercising discretionary authority to vote those securities. Brokers may vote their clients’
shares on routine matters, such as the ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm.
Your
vote is important. If your shares are registered in your name, you are a stockholder of record. If your shares are in the name
of your broker or bank, your shares are held in street name. We encourage you to vote by proxy so that your shares will be represented
and voted at the Annual Meeting even if you cannot attend. All stockholders can vote by written proxy card. Your submission of the enclosed
proxy will not limit your right to vote at the Annual Meeting if you later decide to attend in person. If you are a stockholder of record,
you may revoke your proxy at any time before the Annual Meeting either by filing with our Secretary, at our mailing address, a written
notice of revocation or a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and expressing a desire to vote
your shares in person, provided that if your shares are held in street name, you must obtain a proxy, executed in your favor, from the
holder of record in order to be able to vote at the Annual Meeting. All shares entitled to vote and represented by properly executed proxies
received prior to the Annual Meeting, and not revoked, will be voted at the Annual Meeting in accordance with the instructions indicated
on those proxies. If no instructions are indicated on a properly executed proxy, the shares represented by that proxy will be voted as
recommended by our board of directors.
PROPOSAL NO. 1
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Proposal No. 1 is the election of six directors
to hold office for a period of one year or until their respective successors have been duly elected and qualified. Our Amended and Restated
Bylaws provide that the number of the directors of our company shall be not less than one nor more than nine, as fixed from time-to-time
by resolution of our board of directors. On February 8, 2022, our board of directors fixed the number of directors at six effective
as of February 8, 2022.
Unless otherwise instructed, the proxy holders
will vote the proxies received by them for the nominees named below. If any nominee is unwilling to serve as a director at the time of
the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be voted for such other nominee(s) as shall be designated by the then current board of directors
to fill any vacancy. We have no reason to believe that any nominee will be unable or unwilling to serve if elected as a director.
Our board of directors proposes the election of
the following nominees as directors:
Barbara J. Cooperman
General Merrill McPeak
Jeremy Murphy
Roy W. Olivier
John J. Regazzi
Kenneth L. Gayron
If elected, the foregoing six nominees are expected to serve until
the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders.
Required Vote
Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes
of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. You may vote
either FOR all the nominees, FOR any one of the nominees, WITHHOLD your vote from all the nominees or WITHHOLD your vote from any one
of the nominees. Votes that are withheld will not be included in the vote tally for the election of directors. If your shares are held
in “street name” by a broker, bank or other nominee, your broker, bank or other nominee does not have authority to vote your
unvoted shares held by the firm for the election of directors. As a result, any shares not voted by you will be treated as a broker non-vote.
Such broker non-votes will have no effect on the results of this vote.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS
YOU VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF THE NOMINEES LISTED ABOVE.
The principal occupation and certain other information
about the nominees and certain executive officers are set forth on the following pages.
CURRENT DIRECTORS/DIRECTOR NOMINEES
The following table sets forth the name, age, position
and date of appointment of each of our directors and each persons nominated to become a director, as applicable, as of September 27,
2023.
Name | |
Age | |
Position | |
Date of Appointment |
Barbara J. Cooperman(1) | |
68 | |
Director | |
February 8, 2022 |
Gen. Merrill McPeak (1) (2) (3) | |
87 | |
Director | |
November 5, 2010 |
Roy W. Olivier | |
64 | |
President and Chief Executive Officer, and Director | |
March 29, 2021 |
John J. Regazzi(1) (4) | |
75 | |
Lead Independent Director | |
June 22, 2015 |
Jeremy Murphy | |
40 | |
Director Nominee | |
|
Kenneth L. Gayron | |
50 | |
Director Nominee | |
|
| (1) | Member of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. |
| (2) | Chairman of the Compensation Committee. |
| (3) | Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee. |
| (4) | Chairman of the Audit Committee. |
Barbara J. Cooperman – Director
Ms. Cooperman was appointed to our board of
directors on February 8, 2022. Ms. Cooperman is an accomplished executive with general management background, P&L responsibility,
and world-class marketing specialty in both B2B and B2C sectors. She has more than 20 years’ governance experience on boards including
early-stage and privately held companies, nonprofits, industry associations, as well as executive leadership teams. She is known for being
strategic and is a highly regarded leader skilled at developing vision and guiding organizations through growth stages and periods of
reinvention. With 20+ years in the C-suite, Ms. Cooperman has significant experience advising our board of directors on a wide range
of issues such as unlocking brand value, strategic plans, M&A, and corporate social responsibility. Most recently, Ms. Cooperman
was the global CMO at Kroll, a leader in cyber security and risk consulting, and Kroll Ontrack, a leader in ediscovery and data recovery.
Joining as the firm came out of bankruptcy, she restored worldwide gold standard brand reputations, created go-to-market strategy for
the high-growth cyber security practice, and managed corporate and crisis communications through the successful sale of both companies
and several high-stakes matters. Kroll Ontrack was sold in 2016 and Kroll in 2018, both at highly attractive valuations. Prior to her
role as Chief Marketing Officer at Kroll, Inc., Ms. Cooperman worked for 12 years at Reed Elsevier, where she served as the
Global Chief Marketing Officer for LexisNexis and Elsevier. Our board of directors concluded that Ms. Cooperman should serve as a
director in light of her extensive industry knowledge, marketing and operating expertise, and governance experience.
General Merrill McPeak – Director
Gen. McPeak was appointed to our board of directors
on November 5, 2010. He is President of McPeak and Associates, a company he founded in 1995. From 1990 until his retirement from
active military service in late-1994, he was chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. During this period, he was the senior officer responsible
for organization, training and equipage of a combined active duty, National Guard, Reserve and civilian work force of over 850,000
people serving at 1,300 locations in the United States and abroad. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and the other service
chiefs were military advisors to the Secretary of Defense and the President. Gen. McPeak has served on the board of directors of several
publicly traded companies, including long service with Trans World Airlines, Inc. and with the test and measurement company, Tektronix, Inc.
He was for many years Chairman of the Board of ECC International Corp., until that company was acquired by Cubic Corporation. Currently,
Gen. McPeak is a director of Iovance Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq:IOVA). Gen. McPeak was a founding investor, director and chairman of Ethicspoint, Inc.,
a software-as-a-service provider of secure, confidential employee reporting systems, that was acquired by private equity at a return making
it one of Oregon’s most successful business startups in decades. Our board of directors concluded that Gen. McPeak should serve
as a director in light of his demonstrated leadership abilities and years of experience serving on the boards of directors of numerous
publicly traded corporations.
Roy W. Olivier – President and Chief Executive Officer,
and Director
Mr. Olivier was named Interim Chief Executive
Officer and President on March 29, 2021 and was formally appointed as Chief Executive Officer and President on October 4, 2021.
Mr. Olivier has been a member of our board of directors since January 2018. Before joining our company, Mr. Olivier served
as CEO of ARI Network Services, a leading provider of SaaS tools and marketing services, growing the business from less than 80 employees
to over 1,200 and increasing revenues from under $15 million to over $100 million through accelerated organic growth and acquisitions.
Earlier in his career, he served as VP of Sales and Marketing for ProQuest Media Solutions (now Snap-on Inc.) and held executive and senior
management positions at multiple companies across the telecommunications and computer industries including Multicom Publishing, Tandy
Corporation, BusinessLand and PacTel.
John J. Regazzi – Lead Independent Director
Mr. Regazzi
was appointed to our board of directors on June 22, 2015, and served as Chairman of the Board from August 20, 2015 through March 29,
2021, when he was designated Lead Independent Director. Mr. Regazzi is an information services and IT industry innovator, with more
than four decades of experience. He is currently managing director of Akoya Capital Partners, a sector-focused private investment firm,
where for the last few years he has served as its professional information services sector leader. He has also been a professor at
the Long Island University’s College of Education, Information and Technology since 2005, and has served as dean of LIU’s
College of Information and Computer Science. Before joining Akoya Capital Partners, Mr. Regazzi served for several years as
CEO of Elsevier Inc. and managing director of the NYSE-listed Reed Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher and information
services company for journal and related scientific, technical and medical content. At Reed Elsevier, he oversaw its expansive electronic
publishing portfolio, with a program staff of 3,000 and revenues exceeding $1 billion. He was previously CEO of Engineering Information,
which he helped turn around before being acquired by Reed Elsevier. As a recognized industry thought leader, Mr. Regazzi has designed,
launched, and managed some of the most innovative and well-known information services in the professional communities, including the Engineering
Village, Science Direct, Scirus and Scopus, as well as numerous other electronic information services dating back to the early days
of the online and CD-ROM industries. Mr. Regazzi has served on a variety of corporate and industry boards, including the British
Standards Institute Group and the American Institute of Physics, and served as chairman of the board of National Technical Information
Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He currently serves as chairman of DiSTI and Convergered Security Solutions (CSS),
both Akoya portfolio companies. Mr. Regazzi earned his B.S. from St. Johns University, M.A. from University of Iowa, M.S. from Columbia
University, and Ph.D. in Information Science from Rutgers University. Our board of directors concluded that Mr. Regazzi should serve
as a director in light of his extensive experience in the information services industry.
Jeremy Murphy – Director Nominee
Mr. Murphy
is the current COO & President at ClickTripz, the leading contextual ad network for the travel industry, which each month
delivers tens of millions of travel-intenders to the world’s largest travel websites. At ClickTripz, Mr. Murphy has orchestrated
pioneering new b2b software from ideation to roll-out, including the first AI-powered conversational advertisement trained to be an expert
on each advertiser’s product offering by leveraging state-of-the-art document indexing and language models. Previously, he co-founded
TheSuitest, a hotel data-analytics platform featured in the NYTimes, The Today Show and elsewhere for using natural language processing
to compare and quantify hotel accommodations. TheSuitest was successfully acquired by ClickTripz in 2015. Prior to his current role, Mr. Murphy
had significant experience in various crucial positions at prominent financial institutions. Mr. Murphy was an analyst in the Investment
Management Division of Goldman Sachs & Co. as part of a team responsible for nearly $10 billion in assets. Mr. Murphy later
worked as a risk manager and analyst for the investment arm of the Gulf Bank of Kuwait and its controlling shareholder. Our board of directors
determined that Mr. Murphy would make a beneficial addition to our board of directors in light of his AI experience, software expertise
and analytics background.
Kenneth L. Gayron – Director Nominee
Mr. Gayron
serves as the Chief Financial Officer and EVP of Avid Technology. Mr. Gayron previously served as the Interim CEO and CFO at Numerex
Corp., where he successfully managed a public turnaround of Numerex’s business model. This culminated in a successful merger with
Sierra Wireless which was approved by over 99% of public shareholders. As a result, Mr. Gayron delivered a 15% shareholder
return over the two-year period. Mr. Gayron was also responsible for Numerex’s Global Financial Organization, including accounting,
SEC reporting, financial planning, tax, treasury, capital markets and investor relations. Prior to Numerex, Mr. Gayron served as
the Chief Financial Officer at Osmotica Pharmaceutical Corp. During his three-year tenure, he drove 300% improvement in profitability
and created $300 million in enterprise value. Mr. Gayron also lead a strategic M&A exit with the CEO which resulted in a $650
million valuation. Mr. Gayron began his career as the VP Finance and Treasurer at Sensus. Mr. Gayron then became the Treasurer
at Nuance Communications. Mr. Gayron received his MBA in finance from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management and his
Bachelor of Science in finance from Boston College. Our board of directors determined that Mr. Gayron would make a beneficial
addition to our board of directors in light of his software development expertise and finance background. Mr. Gayron was nominated
as a director mutually acceptable to Peter Derycz, Bristol Investment Fund, Ltd. and Bristol Capital Advisors, LLC and Paul Kessler
(collectively, the “Investor Group”) and our board of direcotrs in accordance with the requirements of that the Cooperation
Agreement dated September 15, 2023 we entered into with the Investor Group.
OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The following table sets forth the name, age, position
and date of appointment of each of our other executive officers as of September 27, 2023.
Name | |
Age | |
Position | |
Date of Appointment |
Scott Ahlberg | |
60 | |
Chief Operating Officer | |
July 1, 2007 |
Shane Hunt | |
46 | |
Chief Revenue Officer | |
May 18, 2022 |
William Nurthen | |
50 | |
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary | |
October 4, 2021 |
Scott Ahlberg – Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Ahlberg has effectively served as the
Chief Operating Officer since July 1, 2007, and has many years of experience in content and startup businesses. Mr. Ahlberg
started with Dynamic Information (EbscoDoc) in the 1980s, then went on to be Executive Vice President at Infotrieve, Inc. After leaving
Infotrieve in 2005 Mr. Ahlberg provided consulting services to ventures in professional networking and medical podcasting. He joined
Reprints Desk, Inc. (“Reprints Desk”) in 2006. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, operational innovation,
copyright and content licensing, and quality management. Mr. Ahlberg has degrees from Stanford University (B.A., 1984) and the University
of London (M.A., 1990).
Shane Hunt – Chief Revenue Officer
Mr. Hunt provides leadership resulting in
the acquisition and development of healthy long-term relationships with the Company’s cloud-based software customers and ensures
the daily satisfaction of users across R&D-driven organizations in life sciences, technology and academia worldwide. Mr. Hunt
has nearly 20 years of industry experience and was co-founder of 4 Research Solutions Inc., a boutique information industry start-up that
the Company acquired in 2012. Mr. Hunt attended California State University, Chico for his undergraduate and graduate studies in
Psychology.
William Nurthen – Chief Financial Officer and Secretary
Mr. Nurthen was appointed as Chief Financial
Officer and Secretary on October 4, 2021. He brings more than twenty years of experience which includes financial leadership roles
at both publicly traded and private companies across multiple industries. Prior to joining Research Solutions, Mr. Nurthen served
in Chief Financial Officer roles for Endeavor Business Media, a B2B media publisher, and ARI Network Services, Inc. (formerly on
the Nasdaq), a SaaS marketing company. Mr. Nurthen has also held prior CFO roles in investment banking, biotechnology, and information
technology. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor
of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.
FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING OUR BOARD
OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Meetings.
Our board of directors held five meetings during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. Each director then serving attended 75% or
more of the aggregate of all of the meetings of our board of directors and all of the meetings held by all committees of our board of
directors on which such director served in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. While directors periodically attend annual stockholder
meetings, we have not established a specific policy with respect to members of our board of directors attending annual stockholder meetings.
Mr. Derycz and Mr. Olivier attended our Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on November 17, 2022.
Committees.
Our board of directors currently has the following standing committees: Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance
Committee. Our Audit Committee held four meetings, our Compensation Committee held five meetings and our Nominating and Governance Committee
held one meeting during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.
Our
Audit Committee currently consists of Mr. Regazzi (Chairman), Gen. McPeak and Ms. Cooperman. Our board of directors has determined
that Mr. Regazzi is an audit committee financial expert, as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K, and that each member
of our Audit Committee is able to read and understand fundamental financial statements and has substantial business experience that results
in such member’s financial sophistication. Accordingly, our board of directors believes that each member of our Audit Committee
has sufficient knowledge and experience necessary to fulfill such member’s duties and obligations on our Audit Committee. The primary
purposes of our Audit Committee are to assist our board of directors in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee the accounting and financial
reporting processes of our company and audits of our financial statements, including (i) reviewing the scope of the audit and all
non-audit services to be performed by our independent accountant and the fees incurred by us in connection therewith, (ii) reviewing
the results of such audit, including the independent accountant’s opinion and letter of comment to management and management’s
response thereto, (iii) reviewing with our independent accountants our internal accounting principles, policies and practices and
financial reporting, (iv) engaging our independent accountants and (v) reviewing our quarterly and annual financial statements
prior to public issuance. The role and responsibilities of our Audit Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter
adopted by our board of directors on September 18, 2015, which is available on our website located at www.researchsolutions.com.
Our
Compensation Committee currently consists of Gen. McPeak (Chairman), Mr. Regazzi and Ms. Cooperman. The primary purposes of
our Compensation Committee are to assist our board of directors in fulfilling its responsibility to determine the compensation of our
executive officers and to approve and evaluate the compensation policies and programs of our company, including (i) reviewing the
compensation packages of executive officers and making recommendations to our board of directors for said compensation packages, (ii) reviewing
and approving proposed stock incentive grants and (iii) providing our board of directors with recommendations regarding bonus plans,
if any. The role and responsibilities of our Compensation Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by
our board of directors on September 18, 2015, which is available on our website located at www.researchsolutions.com.
The policies underlying our Compensation Committee’s
compensation decisions are designed to attract and retain the best-qualified management personnel available. We routinely compensate our
executive officers through salaries. At our discretion, we may reward executive officers and employees through bonus programs based on
profitability and other objectively measurable performance factors. Additionally, we use stock options, restricted stock awards and other
incentive awards to compensate our executives and other key employees to align the interests of our executive officers with the interests
of our stockholders. In establishing executive compensation, our Compensation Committee evaluates compensation paid to similar officers
employed at other companies of similar size in the same industry and the individual performance of each officer as it impacts our overall
performance with particular focus on an individual’s contribution to the realization of operating profits and the achievement of
strategic business goals. Our Compensation Committee further attempts to rationalize a particular executive’s compensation with
that of other executive officers of our company in an effort to distribute compensation fairly among the executive officers. Although
the components of executive compensation (salary, bonus and incentive grants) are reviewed separately, compensation decisions are made
based on a review of total compensation.
Our
Nominating and Governance Committee currently consists of Gen. McPeak (Chairman), Mr. Regazzi and Ms. Cooperman. The primary
purposes of our Nominating and Governance Committee are to (i) identify individuals qualified to become members of our board of
directors and recommend to our board of directors the nominees for the next annual meeting of our stockholders and candidates to fill
vacancies on our board of directors, (ii) recommend to our board of directors the directors to be appointed to committees of our
board of directors and (iii) oversee the effectiveness of our corporate governance in accordance with regulatory guidelines and
any other guidelines we establish, including evaluations of members of executive management, our board of directors and its committees.
The role and responsibilities of our Nominating and Governance Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted
by our board of directors on October 15, 2012, which is available on our website located at www.researchsolutions.com.
Director
Nomination Process. Our Nominating and Governance Committee’s methods for identifying candidates for election to our
board of directors (other than those proposed by our stockholders, as discussed below) include the solicitation of ideas for possible
candidates from a number of sources - members of our board of directors; our executives; individuals personally known to the members of
our board of directors; and other research. Our Nominating and Governance Committee may also, from time-to-time, retain one or more third-party
search firms to identify suitable candidates.
A stockholder of our company may nominate one or
more persons for election as a director at an annual meeting of stockholders if the stockholder complies with the notice, information
and consent provisions contained in our Amended and Restated Bylaws. In addition, the notice must be made in writing and set forth as
to each proposed nominee who is not an incumbent director (i) their name, age, business address and, if known, residence address,
(ii) their principal occupation or employment, (iii) the number of shares of stock of our company beneficially owned, (iv) a
description of all arrangements or understandings between the stockholder and each nominee and any other person pursuant to which the
nominations are to be made and (v) any other information concerning the nominee that must be disclosed respecting nominees in proxy
solicitations pursuant to Rule 14(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The recommendation
should be addressed to our Secretary.
Among other matters, our Nominating and Governance
Committee:
| 1. | Reviews the desired experience, mix of skills and other qualities to assure appropriate board of directors composition, taking into
account the current members of our board of directors and the specific needs of our company and our board of directors; |
| 2. | Conducts candidate searches, interviews prospective candidates and conducts programs to introduce candidates to our management and
operations, and confirms the appropriate level of interest of such candidates; |
| 3. | Recommends qualified candidates who bring the background, knowledge, experience, independence, skill sets and expertise that would
strengthen and increase the diversity of our board of directors; and |
| 4. | Conducts appropriate inquiries into the background and qualifications of potential nominees. |
Although the Nominating and Governance Committee
does not have a formal diversity policy and does not follow any ratio or formula with respect to diversity in order to determine the appropriate
composition of our board of directors, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the full board of directors are committed to creating
a board of directors with diversity, including diversity of expertise, experience, background and gender, and are committed to identifying,
recruiting and advancing candidates offering such diversity in future searches.
Based on the foregoing, our Nominating and Governance
Committee recommended for nomination and our board of directors nominated, Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak, Mr. Olivier and Mr. Regazzi
for re-election, and Mr. Murphy and Mr. Gayron for election, as directors on our board of directors, subject to stockholder
approval, for a one-year term ending on or around the date of the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders.
Board
Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight. Mr. Regazzi serves as our Lead Independent Director and Mr. Olivier
serves as our Chief Executive Officer and President. We believe that separating the roles of Lead Independent Director and Chief Executive
Officer enhances our corporate governance practices and better enables management and our board of directors to focus on growth to maximize
stockholder value. Our board of directors plays an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing management of
our risks and strategic direction. Our board of directors regularly reviews information regarding our liquidity and operations, as well
as the risks associated with each. Our Compensation Committee is responsible for overseeing the management of risks relating to our executive
compensation plans and arrangements. Our Audit Committee oversees the process by which our senior management and relevant employees assess
and manage our exposure to, and management of, financial risks. Our Nominating and Governance Committee also manages risks associated
with the independence of members of our board of directors and potential conflicts of interest. While each committee is responsible for
evaluating certain risks and overseeing the management of such risks, the entire board of directors is regularly informed about such risks.
Board
Diversity. Our Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for reviewing with our board of directors, on an annual basis,
the appropriate characteristics, skills and experience required for our board of directors as a whole and its individual members.
As required by Nasdaq Rule 5606 as approved
by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2021, we are providing additional information about the gender and demographic
diversity of our directors in the format required by such rule. The information in the matrix below is based solely on information provided
by our directors about their gender and demographic self-identification. Directors who did not answer or indicated that they preferred
not to answer a question are shown as “did not disclose gender” or “did not disclose demographic background” below.
Board Diversity Matrix for Research Solutions, Inc.
As of September 27, 2023 |
|
Total Number of Directors |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Part I: Gender Identity |
Female |
Male |
Non-Binary |
Did Not
Disclose
Gender |
Directors |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
Part II: Demographic Background |
African American or Black |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Alaskan Native or American Indian |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Asian |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Hispanic or Latinx |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
White |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
Two or More Races or Ethnicities |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
LGBTQ+ |
0 |
Did Not Disclose Demographic Background |
0 |
Policy
on Trading, Pledging and Hedging of Company Stock. Our Insider Trading Policy prohibits our executive officers, the non-employee members
of our board of directors and certain other employees from engaging in selling any of our securities that they do not own at the time
of the sale (referred to as a “short sale”) and buying or selling puts, calls, other derivative securities of the Company
or any derivative securities that provide the economic equivalent of ownership of any of our securities or an opportunity, direct or indirect,
to profit from any change in the value of our securities or engaging in any other hedging transaction with respect to our securities.
As
of the date of this proxy statement, none of our executive officers or non-employee directors have previously engaged
in any hedging or pledging transaction involving our securities.
Shareholder
Communications. Holders of our securities can send communications to our board of directors via email to auditcommittee@reprintsdesk.com
or by telephoning the Chief Financial Officer at our main telephone number, who will then relay the communications to our board of
directors.
DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Our board of directors currently consists of four
members: Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak, Mr. Regazzi and Mr. Olivier. Each director serves until our next annual meeting or
until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak and
Mr. Regazzi are independent directors as that term is defined in the applicable rules for companies traded on The Nasdaq Stock
Market. Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak and Mr. Regazzi are each members of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating
and Governance Committee of our board of directors, and each of them meets Nasdaq’s independence standards for members of such committees.
Our board of directors has also determined that Mr. Murphy and Mr. Gayron would each qualify as an independent director as that
term is defined in the applicable rules for companies traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market.
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT
The Audit Committee of our board of directors has
furnished the following report:
Our Audit Committee currently operates under a
revised written charter that was approved by our board of directors effective September 18, 2015. For the fiscal year ended June 30,
2023, our Audit Committee has performed, or has confirmed that our board of directors has performed, the duties of our Audit Committee,
which is responsible for providing objective oversight of our internal controls and financial reporting process.
In fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial
statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, our Audit Committee:
| · | Reviewed and discussed the audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2023 with management and Weinberg &
Company, P.A., or the Auditors, our independent auditors; |
| · | Discussed with the Auditors the matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission; and |
| · | Received written disclosures and the letter from the Auditors required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board regarding the Auditors’ communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence, and has discussed with
the Auditors their independence. |
Members of the Audit Committee rely, without independent
verification, on the information provided to them and on the representations made by management and the Auditors. Accordingly, the Audit
Committee’s oversight does not provide an independent basis to determine that management has maintained appropriate accounting and
financial reporting principles or appropriate internal controls and procedures designed to assure compliance with accounting standards
and applicable laws and regulations. Furthermore, the Audit Committee’s considerations and discussions referred to above do not
assure that the audits of the Company’s consolidated financial statements have been carried out in accordance with generally accepted
auditing standards, that the consolidated financial statements are presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles
or that the Company’s Auditors are in fact “independent.”
Based on our Audit Committee’s review of
our audited financial statements and discussions with management and the Auditors, our Audit Committee approved the inclusion of the audited
financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2023, for filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
|
AUDIT COMMITTEE |
|
|
|
John J. Regazzi |
|
Barbara J. Cooperman |
|
General Merrill McPeak |
The information in this Audit Committee Report
shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material,” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission
or to be subject to Regulation 14A or 14C as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or to the liabilities of Section 18
of the Exchange Act.
PROPOSAL NO. 2
INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
Proposal No. 2 is the ratification of the
firm of Weinberg & Company, P.A., or Weinberg, as our independent accountants for the year ending June 30, 2024. Our Audit
Committee recommended and our board of directors has selected, subject to ratification by a majority vote of the stockholders in person
or by proxy at the Annual Meeting, Weinberg as our independent public accountant for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.
Representatives of Weinberg are expected to be present telephonically at the Annual Meeting and will have the opportunity to make a statement
if they desire to do so. In addition, at the Annual Meeting, representatives of Weinberg are expected to be available to respond to appropriate
questions posed by our stockholders.
While there is no legal requirement that this proposal
be submitted to stockholders, it will be submitted at the Annual Meeting nonetheless, as our board of directors believes that the selection
of auditors to audit our consolidated financial statements is of sufficient importance to seek stockholder approval. If the majority of
our stockholders present and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting do not ratify the appointment of Weinberg as our auditors for the
current fiscal year, Weinberg will continue to serve as our auditors for the current fiscal year, and our Audit Committee will engage
in deliberations to determine whether it is in our best interest to continue Weinberg’s engagement as our auditors for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 2025.
Weinberg is our principal independent public accounting
firm. All audit work was performed by the full-time employees of Weinberg. Our Audit Committee approves in advance all services performed
by Weinberg, has considered whether the provision of non-audit services is compatible with maintaining Weinberg’s independence,
and has approved such services.
The following table presents the aggregate fees
for professional audit services and other services rendered by Weinberg in the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022.
| |
Year Ended June 30, 2023 | | |
Year Ended June 30, 2022 | |
Audit Fees | |
$ | 130,407 | | |
$ | 132,865 | |
Audit Related Fees | |
| — | | |
| — | |
Tax Fees | |
| 37,800 | | |
| 30,146 | |
All Other Fees | |
| — | | |
| — | |
Total | |
$ | 168,207 | | |
$ | 163,011 | |
Audit
Fees consist of amounts billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual consolidated financial statements
included in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, and reviews of our interim consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, including amendments thereto.
Audit-Related
Fees consist of fees billed for professional services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review
of our consolidated financial statements but are not reported under “Audit Fees.”
Tax
Fees consist of fees for professional services for tax compliance activities, including the preparation of federal and state
tax returns and related compliance matters.
All
Other Fees consists of amounts billed for services other than those noted above.
OUR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS YOU VOTE “FOR” RATIFYING THE APPOINTMENT OF WEINBERG & COMPANY,
P.A. AS OUR INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS.
PROPOSAL NO. 3
ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), we are including in this Proxy Statement and will present for a vote at the
Annual Meeting, a non-binding advisory resolution to approve the compensation of our executives, as described in this Proxy Statement,
pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC. Proposal No. 3, commonly known as a “say on pay” vote,
gives stockholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse the compensation of our executives as disclosed in this Proxy Statement.
This proposal will be presented at the Annual Meeting as a resolution in substantially the following form:
RESOLVED, that the stockholders approve the compensation of
the Company’s executives, as disclosed in the compensation tables and related narrative disclosure in the Company’s proxy
statement for the Annual Meeting.
This vote will not be binding on our board of directors
and may not be construed as overruling a decision by our board of directors or creating or implying any change to the fiduciary duties
of our board of directors. The vote will not affect any compensation previously paid or awarded to any executive. Our Compensation Committee
and our board of directors may, however, take into account the outcome of the vote when considering future executive compensation arrangements.
The purpose of our compensation programs is to
attract and retain experienced, highly qualified executives critical to our long-term success and enhancement of stockholder value.
Based on the results of a separate non-binding
advisory shareholder vote on the frequency of future shareholder advisory votes regarding the compensation program for our named executive
officers, commonly referred to as a "say on frequency" vote, held at our Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on November 12,
2019, our board of directors determined that we will hold our say on pay vote annually until the next required say on frequency vote.
We are holding our say on pay vote at this Annual Meeting. Our next say on frequency vote will occur no later than 2025.
Required Vote
Endorsement of the compensation of our executive
officers will require the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our common stock present or represented and entitled to vote
at the Annual Meeting with respect to such proposal.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR”
THE RESOLUTION APPROVING THE COMPENSATION OF OUR EXECUTIVES.
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Summary Compensation Table
The following table summarizes all compensation
for the last two fiscal years awarded to, earned by, or paid to our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and our two
most highly compensated executive officers other than our CEO who were serving as executive officers at the end of our last completed
fiscal year, whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 during such fiscal year ends.
Name and
principle position | |
Fiscal Year | | |
Salary ($) | | |
Bonus ($) | | |
Stock awards ($) |
| |
All other compensation ($) | | |
Total ($) | |
Peter Victor Derycz | |
| 2023 | | |
| 371,520 | | |
| 68,220 | | |
| 67,200 |
(1) | |
| 8,097 | | |
| 515,037 | |
Executive Chairman | |
| 2022 | | |
| 371,760 | | |
| 124,000 | | |
| 125,862 |
(2) | |
| 18,205 | | |
| 639,827 | |
| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |
| |
| | | |
| | |
Roy W. Olivier | |
| 2023 | | |
| 400,000 | | |
| 105,600 | | |
| 857,000 |
(3) (4) | |
| 17,734 | | |
| 1,380,334 | |
President and Chief Executive Officer, and Director | |
| 2022 | | |
| 371,520 | | |
| — | | |
| 142,999 |
(5) | |
| 9,520 | | |
| 524,039 | |
| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |
| |
| | | |
| | |
William Nurthen | |
| 2023 | | |
| 310,000 | | |
| 76,000 | | |
| 468,926 |
(6) (7) | |
| 19,058 | | |
| 873,984 | |
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary | |
| 2022 | | |
| 214,092 | | |
| 70,500 | | |
| 284,000 |
(8) | |
| 13,460 | | |
| 582,052 | |
| (1) | Represents the grant date fair value of 34,639 shares of restricted stock granted on August 19, 2022.
The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over
a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. |
| (2) | Represents the grant date fair value of 30,061 shares of restricted stock granted on August 5, 2021,
7,078 shares of restricted stock granted on December 2, 2021, 7,381 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2022,
and 8,289 shares of restricted stock granted on May 10, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our
common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains
subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. |
| (3) | Represents the grant date fair value of 79,897 shares of restricted stock granted on August 19, 2022.
The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over
a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. |
| (4) | Represents the grant date fair value of 500,000 shares of restricted stock granted on November 1,
2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).
The grant date fair value was computed using the Monte Carlo simulations on a binomial model with the assistance of a valuation specialist
with a derived service period ranging from 1.43 to 2.59 years. |
| (5) | Represents the grant date fair value of 18,939 shares of restricted stock granted on August 5, 2021,
14,155 shares of restricted stock granted on December 2, 2021, 14,762 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2022,
and 16,578 shares of restricted stock granted on May 10, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of
our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and
remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. |
| (6) | Represents the grant date fair value of 24,601 shares of restricted stock granted on August 19, 2022.
The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over
a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. |
| (7) | Represents the grant date fair value of 300,000 shares of restricted stock granted on November 1,
2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).
The grant date fair value was computed using the Monte Carlo simulations on a binomial model with the assistance of a valuation specialist
with a derived service period ranging from 1.43 to 2.59 years. |
| (8) | Represents the grant date fair value of 100,000 shares of restricted stock granted on October 4, 2021, 5,476 shares of restricted
stock granted on February 8, 2022, and 6,150 shares of restricted stock granted on May 10, 2022. The grant date fair value was
estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. Of this amount, 100,000 shares of the restricted stock vests
over a four-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The
remaining 11,626 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject
to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. |
Employment Agreements
Peter Victor Derycz
On March 29, 2021, we entered into an amended
and restated executive employment agreement with Mr. Derycz. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Derycz
agreed to serve as our Executive Chairman on an at-will basis. Mr. Derycz’s employment was terminated without cause on September 15,
2023. Mr. Derycz will receive an amount equal to his current base salary and bonus payable through the end of the term in the form
of salary continuation, and all of his outstanding incentive awards became fully vested upon his termination without cause.
The agreement contains provisions that prohibit
Mr. Derycz from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also
contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Derycz of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions
related to our business that are created by him during his employment.
Roy W. Olivier
On March 29, 2021, we entered into an executive
employment agreement with Mr. Olivier. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Olivier agreed to serve as
our Interim Chief Executive Officer and President on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ended on September 21, 2021, and
it was amended and restated on October 4, 2021 to formally appoint Mr. Oliver as Chief Executive Officer and President. The
agreement provides for a base salary of at least $371,520 per year, subject to annual review and adjustment by our board of directors,
and participation in an executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors. No part of Mr. Olivier’s salary is allocated
to his duties as a director of our company.
The amended and restated agreement contains provisions
that prohibit Mr. Olivier from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The
agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Olivier of our confidential information and assign ownership to
us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with
or without cause. Mr. Olivier will be eligible to receive an amount equal to his then-current base salary payable and group medical
benefits for a period equal to the lesser of (i) eighteen (18) months or (ii) or the end of the term if his amended and restated
agreement, if he is terminated without cause. In addition, he is eligible to receive a pro-rata bonus for the fiscal year of termination.
Mr. Olivier may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon two weeks’ advance written notice.
William Nurthen
On October 4, 2021, we entered into an executive
employment agreement with Mr. Nurthen which has an indefinite period. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Nurthen
has agreed to serve as our Chief Financial Officer on an at-will basis. The agreement provides for a base salary of $284,000 per year,
subject to annual review by our President and/or Chief Executive Officer and adjustment by the Compensation Committee, and participation
in an executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors.
The agreement contains provisions that prohibit
Mr. Nurthen from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward for employees and
two years afterward for customers. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Nurthen of our confidential
information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate
the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. Nurthen will be eligible to receive (i) an amount equal to twelve (12)
months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation, (ii) a pro-rata bonus for the then-current fiscal
year, (iii) acceleration of all outstanding unvested options or restricted stock as of the effective date of termination, and (iv) continuation
of health and welfare benefits for 12 months if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Nurthen may terminate the agreement at any time,
with or without reason, upon thirty (30) days’ advance written notice.
Scott Ahlberg
On July 1, 2013, we entered into an executive
employment agreement with Mr. Ahlberg which was subsequently amended effective June 30, 2023. Under the terms of the executive
employment agreement, Mr. Ahlberg has agreed to serve as Chief Operating Officer on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ends
on June 30 of each year, subject to automatic renewal for subsequent one-year periods unless Reprints Desk provides written notice
of non-renewal to Mr. Ahlberg at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the then-current term, and subject to earlier
termination in accordance with the other provisions of Mr. Ahlberg’s executive employment agreement. The agreement provides
for a base salary of $240,400 per year, subject to review and adjustment in accordance with our established procedures for adjusting
salaries for similarly situated employees, and participation in an executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors.
The agreement contains provisions that prohibit
Mr. Ahlberg from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement
also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Ahlberg of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions
related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause.
Mr. Ahlberg will be eligible to receive an amount equal to six (6) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form
of salary continuation if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Ahlberg may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason,
upon four weeks’ advance written notice.
Shane Hunt
On
November 1, 2012, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Mr. Hunt which was subsequently amended on June 30,
2022. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, as amended, Mr. Hunt has agreed to serve as Chief Revenue Officer on
an at-will basis. The term of the agreement is indefinite unless terminated by either party subject to the provisions of the employment
agreement. The agreement provides for a base salary of $225,000 per year, subject to review and adjustment in accordance with our
established procedures for adjusting salaries for similarly situated employees, and participation in a bonus plan based upon company sales
and retention, and executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors.
The agreement contains provisions that prohibit
Mr. Hunt from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also
contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Hunt of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions
related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause.
Mr. Hunt will be eligible to receive an amount equal to six (6) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of
salary continuation if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Hunt may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason,
upon two weeks’ advance written notice.
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End
The following table sets forth
information regarding stock options, warrants and other stock awards (restricted stock) for each named executive officer as of June 30,
2023.
| |
Number of | | |
Number of | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| |
| |
securities | | |
securities | | |
| | |
| | |
Stock Awards: | | |
Stock Awards: | |
| |
underlying | | |
underlying | | |
Option/ | | |
Option/ | | |
Number of | | |
Market value of | |
| |
unexercised | | |
unexercised | | |
Warrant | | |
Warrant | | |
shares of stock | | |
shares of stock | |
| |
options/warrants | | |
options/warrants | | |
exercise | | |
expiration | | |
that have not | | |
that have not | |
Name | |
exercisable (#) | | |
unexercisable (#) | | |
price ($) | | |
date (1) | | |
vested (#) | | |
vested ($) | |
Peter Victor Derycz | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 606 | (2) | |
$ | 1,292 | (3) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 1,038 | (4) | |
$ | 2,583 | (5) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 2,500 | (6) | |
$ | 5,425 | (7) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 10,020 | (8) | |
$ | 26,454 | (9) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 2,949 | (10) | |
$ | 6,459 | (11) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 3,691 | (12) | |
$ | 7,750 | (13) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 4,835 | (14) | |
$ | 9,042 | (15) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 34,639 | (18) | |
| 67,200 | (19) |
Roy W. Olivier | |
| 50,000 | | |
| — | | |
$ | 2.40 | | |
| 11/13/2028 | | |
| — | | |
| — | |
| |
| 50,000 | | |
| — | | |
$ | 3.13 | | |
| 11/12/2029 | | |
| — | | |
| — | |
| |
| 50,000 | | |
| — | | |
$ | 2.13 | | |
| 11/17/2030 | | |
| — | | |
| — | |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 6,313 | (8) | |
$ | 16,666 | (9) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 5,898 | (10) | |
$ | 12,916 | (11) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 7,381 | (12) | |
$ | 15,500 | (13) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 9,671 | (14) | |
$ | 18,084 | (15) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 79,897 | (18) | |
| 155,000 | (19) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 500,000 | (20) | |
| 702,000 | (21) |
William Nurthen | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 56,250 | (16) | |
$ | 146,813 | (17) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 2,738 | (12) | |
$ | 5,750 | (13) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 3,588 | (14) | |
$ | 6,709 | (15) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 24,601 | (18) | |
$ | 47,726 | (19) |
| |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| 300,000 | (20) | |
$ | 421,200 | (21) |
| (1) | Stock options expire ten years from the grant date. |
| (2) | The restricted stock was granted on November 17, 2020 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (3) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.13 on November 17, 2020. |
| (4) | The restricted stock was granted on February 9, 2021 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (5) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.49 on February 9, 2021. |
| (6) | The restricted stock was granted on May 11, 2021 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (7) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.17 on May 11, 2021. |
| (8) | The restricted stock was granted on August 5, 2021 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (9) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.64 on August, 2021. |
| (10) | The restricted stock was granted on December 2, 2021 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (11) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.19 on December 2, 2021. |
| (12) | The restricted stock was granted on February 8, 2022 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (13) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.10 on February 8, 2022. |
| (14) | The restricted stock was granted on May 10, 2022 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (15) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $1.87 on May 10, 2022. |
| (16) | The restricted stock was granted on October 4, 2021 and vest over a four-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (17) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock
of $2.61 on October 4, 2021. |
| (18) | The restricted stock was granted on August 19, 2022 and vest over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period. |
| (19) | Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $1.94 on August 19, 2022. |
| (20) | The restricted stock was granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance
with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). |
| (21) | Based on fair value computed using the Monte Carlo simulations on a binomial model with the assistance of a valuation specialist with
a derived service period ranging from 1.43 to 2.59 years. |
Pay Versus Performance
As required by Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, which was adopted by the SEC in 2022, the Company
is providing the following information regarding the relationship between “compensation actually paid” (“CAP”)
to our principal executive officer (“PEO”) and Non-PEO NEOs and certain financial performance of the Company for the fiscal
years listed below.
Year | |
Summary
Compensation
Table Total
for PEO | | |
Compensation
Actually Paid
to PEO(1) | | |
Average
Summary
Compensation
Table Total for
Non-PEO
NEO(2) | | |
Average
Compensation
Actually paid
to Non-PEO
NEOs(3) | | |
Value of
Initial Fixed
$100
Investment
Based on
Total
Shareholder
Return(4) | | |
Net Income
(Loss)(5) | |
2023 | |
$ | 1,380,334 | | |
$ | 1,300,501 | | |
$ | 694,511 | | |
$ | 591,466 | | |
$ | 62.24 | | |
$ | 571,623 | |
2022 | |
$ | 524,039 | | |
$ | 524,039 | | |
$ | 610,940 | | |
$ | 546,982 | | |
$ | 71.33 | | |
$ | (1,632,384 | ) |
| (1) | The dollar amounts reported represent the amount of “compensation actually paid”,
as computed in accordance with SEC rules. The dollar amounts do not reflect the actual amount of compensation earned by or paid during
the applicable year. In accordance with SEC rules, the following adjustments were made to total compensation to determine the compensation
actually paid: |
Year | |
Reported Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO | | |
Reported Value of Equity Awards (a) | | |
Equity Award Adjustments (b) | | |
Compensation Actually Paid to PEO | |
2023 | |
$ | 1,380,334 | | |
$ | 857,000 | | |
$ | 777,167 | | |
$ | 1,300,501 | |
2022 | |
$ | 524,039 | | |
$ | 142,999 | | |
$ | 142,999 | | |
$ | 524,039 | |
| (a) | The grant date fair value of equity awards represents the total of the amounts reported in the
“Stock awards” and “Option awards” columns in the Summary Compensation Table for the applicable year. |
| (b) | The equity award adjustments for each applicable year include the addition (or subtraction,
as applicable) of the following: (i) the year-end fair value of any equity awards granted in the applicable year that are outstanding
and unvested as of the end of the year; (ii) the amount of change as of the end of the applicable year (from the end of the prior
fiscal year) in fair value of any awards granted in prior years that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the applicable year;
(iii) for awards that are granted and vest in same applicable year, the fair value as of the vesting date; (iv) for awards granted
in prior years that vest in the applicable year, the amount equal to the change as of the vesting date (from the end of the prior fiscal
year) in fair value; (v) for awards granted in prior years that are determined to fail to meet the applicable vesting conditions
during the applicable year, a deduction for the amount equal to the fair value at the end of the prior fiscal year; and (vi) the
dollar value of any dividends or other earnings paid on stock or option awards in the applicable year prior to the vesting date that are
not otherwise reflected in the fair value of such award or included in any other component of total compensation for the applicable year.
The valuation assumptions used to calculate fair values did not materially differ from those disclosed at the time of grant. The amounts
deducted or added in calculating the equity award adjustments are as follows: |
Year | |
Year End Fair
Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted
During the Year | | |
Year over Year
Change in Fair
Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted in
Prior Years | | |
Fair Value as
of Vesting
Date of
Equity
Awards
Granted and
Vested in the
Year | | |
Year over Year
Change in Fair
Value of Equity
Awards
Granted in
Prior Years that
Vested in the
Year | | |
Total Equity
Award
Adjustments | |
2023 | |
$ | 857,000 | | |
$ | (79,833 | ) | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | 777,167 | |
2022 | |
$ | 142,999 | | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | 142,999 | |
| (2) | The dollar amounts reported represent the average of the amounts reported for the Company’s
named executive officers (NEOs) as a group (excluding our CEO) in the “Total” column of the Summary Compensation Table in
each applicable year. |
| (3) | The dollar amounts reported represent the average amount of “compensation actually paid” to the NEOs as a group (excluding
our CEO), as computed in accordance with SEC rules. The dollar amounts do not reflect the actual average amount of compensation earned
by or paid to the NEOs as a group (excluding our CEO) during the applicable year. In accordance with the SEC rules, the following adjustments
were made to average total compensation for the NEOs as a group (excluding our CEO) for each year to determine the compensation actually
paid, using the same methodology described above in Note 1: |
Year | |
Average Reported
Summary Compensation
Table Total for Non-
PEO NEOs | | |
Average Reported Value
of Equity Awards | | |
Average
Equity Award
Adjustments
(a) | | |
Average
Compensation
Actually Paid
to Non-PEO
NEOs | |
2023 | |
$ | 694,511 | | |
$ | 268,063 | | |
$ | 165,018 | | |
$ | 591,466 | |
2022 | |
$ | 610,940 | | |
$ | 204,931 | | |
$ | 140,973 | | |
$ | 546,982 | |
| (a) | The amounts deducted or added in calculating the total average equity award adjustments are as follows: |
Year | |
Average Year
End Fair Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted
During the Year | | |
Year over Year
Average Change in
Fair Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted in
Prior Years | | |
Average Fair
Value as of
Vesting Date
of Equity
Awards
Granted and
Vested in the
Year | | |
Year over Year
Average
Change in Fair
Value of Equity
Awards
Granted in
Prior Years that
Vested in the
Year | | |
Total
Average
Equity
Award
Adjustments | |
2023 | |
$ | 268,063 | | |
$ | (109,227 | ) | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | 6,182 | | |
$ | 165,018 | |
2022 | |
$ | 204,931 | | |
$ | (50,033 | ) | |
$ | 0 | | |
$ | (13,925 | ) | |
$ | 140,973 | |
| (4) | Cumulative total stockholder return is calculated
by dividing the sum of the cumulative amount of dividends for the measurement period, assuming dividend reinvestment, and the difference
between the Company’s share price at the end and the beginning of the measurement period, by the Company’s share price at
the beginning of the measurement period. Represents the value on the last trading day of each of 2023 and 2022 of an investment
of $100 in our common stock on the last trading day of 2021. |
| (5) | The dollar amounts reported represent the amount of net income (loss) reflected in our audited
financial statements for the applicable year. |
Analysis of Information Presented in the Pay versus Performance
Table
The Company’s executive compensation program
reflects a variable pay-for-performance philosophy. While the Company utilizes several performance measures to align executive compensation
with Company performance, all of those Company measures are not presented in the Pay versus Performance table. Moreover, the Company generally
seeks to incentivize long-term performance, and therefore does not specifically align the Company’s performance measures with compensation
that is actually paid (as computed in accordance with SEC rules) for a particular year. In accordance with SEC rules, the Company is providing
the following narrative disclosure regarding the relationships between information presented in the Pay versus Performance table.
Compensation
Actually Paid and Cumulative Total Stockholder Return
During fiscal 2022 and 2023, compensation actually
paid to our PEO increased from $524,039 in fiscal year 2022 to $1,300,501 in fiscal year 2023 for Mr. Olivier, and average compensation
actually paid to our named executive officers other than our PEO increased from $546,982 in fiscal year 2022 to $591,466 in fiscal year
2023. Over the same period, the value of an investment of $100 in our common stock on the last trading day of 2021 decreased by $33.76
to $62.24 during fiscal year 2022, and increased by $9.09 to $71.33 during fiscal year 2023, for a total decrease over fiscal year 2022
and 2023 of $28.67.
Compensation
Actually Paid and Net Loss/Income
During fiscal 2022 and 2023, compensation actually
paid to our PEO increased from $524,039 in fiscal year 2022 to $1,300,501 in fiscal year 2023 for Mr. Olivier, and average compensation
actually paid to our named executive officers other than our PEO increased from $546,982 in fiscal year 2022 to $591,466 in fiscal year
2023. Over the same period, our net loss increased by $1,347,295 during fiscal year 2022 (from a net loss in fiscal 2021 of $285,089 to
a net loss in fiscal 2022 of $1,632,384), but decreased by $2,204,007 during fiscal 2023 (from a net loss in fiscal year 2022 of $1,632,384
to a net income in fiscal year 2023 of $571,632).
Director Compensation
The following table presents information regarding
compensation awarded or paid to our directors for our fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 for the services rendered by them
to the Company in all capacities.
| |
| |
Fees | | |
Warrant | | |
| |
| |
| |
earned | | |
and | | |
| |
| |
| |
or paid | | |
Option | | |
| |
| |
Fiscal | |
in cash | | |
Awards | | |
| |
Name | |
Year | |
($) | | |
($) | | |
Total ($) | |
John Regazzi (1) | |
2023 | |
| 36,000 | | |
| 55,500 | | |
| 91,500 | |
| |
2022 | |
| 18,000 | | |
| 104,000 | | |
| 122,000 | |
Gen. Merrill McPeak (2) | |
2023 | |
| 18,000 | | |
| 55,500 | | |
| 73,500 | |
| |
2022 | |
| 18,000 | | |
| 52,000 | | |
| 70,000 | |
Eugene Robin (3) | |
2023 | |
| 18,000 | | |
| 55,500 | | |
| 73,500 | |
| |
2022 | |
| 18,000 | | |
| 52,000 | | |
| 70,000 | |
Barbara J. Cooperman (4) | |
2023 | |
| 18,000 | | |
| 55,500 | | |
| 73,500 | |
| |
2022 | |
| 7,079 | | |
| 40,318 | | |
| 47,397 | |
| (1) | Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2023 consists of options to purchase 50,000 shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $2.15 per share, 100,000 shares of common stock at $2.10 per share, 100,000 shares of common stock at an
exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options
to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.40 per share, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock
at an exercise price of $1.20, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to
purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.70 per share, options to purchase 16,000 shares of common stock at
an exercise price of $0.80 per share and options to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share. |
| (2) | Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2023 consists
of options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15 per share, 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise
price of $2.10 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase
50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise
price of $2.40 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.20 per share, options to purchase
75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise
price of $0.70 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share, options to purchase
50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, and options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise
price of $1.15 per share. |
| (3) | Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2023 consists
of options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock
at an exercise price of $2.10 per share and options to purchase 31,250 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.43 per share. |
| (4) | Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2023 consists
of options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15, options to purchase 38,767 shares of common stock
at an exercise price of $2.10 per share. |
In fiscal 2023 our non-employee Lead Independent
Director received $36,000 and options to purchase 50,000 shares of our common stock for attending meetings and serving on our board of
directors. In fiscal 2022 our non-employee Lead Independent Director received $18,000 and options to purchase 100,000 shares of our common
stock for attending meetings and serving on our board of directors In fiscal 2023 and 2022, other non-employee directors of our company
received $18,000 and options to purchase 50,000 shares of our common stock, for attending meetings and serving on our board of directors.
We expect to compensate our non-employee directors with a combination of cash and options to purchase our common stock going forward.
Compensation payable to non-employee directors may be adjusted from time to time, as approved by our board of directors.
Indemnification of Directors and Executive Officers and Limitation
of Liability
We are a Nevada Corporation. The Nevada Revised
Statutes and certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Bylaws under certain circumstances provide for indemnification of our officers,
directors and controlling persons against liabilities which they may incur in such capacities. A summary of the circumstances in which
such indemnification is provided for is contained herein, but this description is qualified in its entirety by reference to our Amended
and Restated Bylaws and to the statutory provisions.
In general, any officer, director, employee or
agent may be indemnified against expenses, fines, settlements or judgments arising in connection with a legal proceeding to which such
person is a party, if that person’s actions were in good faith, were believed to be in our best interest, and were not unlawful.
Unless such person is successful upon the merits in such an action, indemnification may be awarded only after a determination by independent
decision of our board of directors, by legal counsel, or by a vote of our stockholders, that the applicable standard of conduct was met
by the person to be indemnified.
The circumstances under which indemnification is
granted in connection with an action brought on our behalf is generally the same as those set forth above; however, with respect to such
actions, indemnification is granted only with respect to expenses actually incurred in connection with the defense or settlement of the
action. In such actions, the person to be indemnified must have acted in good faith and in a manner believed to have been in our best
interest, and have not been adjudged liable for negligence or misconduct.
Indemnification may also be granted pursuant to
the terms of agreements which may be entered in the future or pursuant to a vote of stockholders or directors. The Nevada Revised Statutes
also grant us the power to purchase and maintain insurance which protects our officers and directors against any liabilities incurred
in connection with their service in such a position, and such a policy may be obtained by us.
We have also entered into separate indemnification
agreements with our directors and executive officers.
A stockholder’s investment may be adversely
affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers as required by these indemnification
provisions. At present, there is no pending litigation or proceeding involving any of our directors, officers or employees regarding which
indemnification by us is sought, nor are we aware of any threatened litigation that may result in claims for indemnification.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have
been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, this indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is
therefore unenforceable.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF
CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table sets forth
certain information, as of September 27, 2023, with respect to the holdings of (1) each person who is the beneficial owner of
more than five percent of our common stock, (2) each of our directors, (3) each named executive officer, and (4) all
of our directors and executive officers as a group.
Beneficial ownership of the
common stock is determined in accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and includes any shares of common
stock over which a person exercises sole or shared voting or investment powers, or of which a person has a right to acquire ownership
at any time within 60 days of September 27, 2023. Except as otherwise indicated, and subject to applicable community property
laws, the persons named in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock held by them. The
address of each director and officer is c/o Research Solutions, Inc., 10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614, Henderson, NV 89052. Applicable percentage
ownership in the following table is based on 29,624,085 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 27, 2023 plus, for each
person, any securities that person has the right to acquire within 60 days of September 27, 2023.
| |
Shares | | |
| |
| |
Beneficially | | |
Percentage | |
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner | |
Owned | | |
of Shares | |
Greater than 5% Shareholder: | |
| | | |
| | |
Cove Street Capital, LLC 525 South Douglas Street, Suite 225 El Segundo, CA 90245 | |
| 3,557,847 | | |
| 12.0 | % |
Richard H. Witmer, Jr. 16 Fort Hills Lane Greenwich, CT 06831 | |
| 2,608,448 | | |
| 8.8 | % |
Directors and Executive Officers: | |
| | | |
| | |
Peter Victor Derycz | |
| 3,321,322 | | |
| 11.2 | % |
Roy W. Olivier (2) | |
| 856,641 | | |
| 2.9 | % |
William Nurthen (3) | |
| 421,068 | | |
| 1.4 | % |
Scott Ahlberg (4) | |
| 596,516 | | |
| 2.0 | % |
Shane Hunt (5) | |
| 528,449 | | |
| 1.8 | % |
John Regazzi (6) | |
| 1,143,500 | | |
| 3.7 | % |
Gen. Merrill McPeak (7) | |
| 884,608 | | |
| 2.9 | % |
Barbara Cooperman (8) | |
| 88,767 | | |
| * | % |
All Directors and Executive Officers as a group (8 persons) (9) | |
| 7,840,871 | | |
| 24.9 | % |
* Less than 1%
| (1) | As a member of Cove Street Capital, LLC, Jeffrey Bronchick may be deemed the beneficial owner of the shares
of common stock held by Cove Street Capital, LLC. |
| (2) | Includes shares underlying options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.40
per share, and options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares
of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, and 609,159 shares of unvested restricted stock. Of this amount, 109,159 shares
of the restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting
conditions are not met. The remaining 500,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan,
as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). |
| (3) | Includes 387,177 shares of unvested restricted stock. Of this amount, 56,250 shares of the restricted
stock vests over a four-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are
not met. 30,927 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject
to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The remaining 300,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1,
2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). |
| (4) | Includes 197,479 shares of unvested restricted stock. Of this amount 47,479 shares of the restricted stock
vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.
The remaining 150,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards
to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). |
| (5) | Includes shares underlying options to purchase 7,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.00
per share, options to purchase 12,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.20 per share, options to purchase 10,000 shares
of common stock at an exercise price of $1.59 per share, options to purchase 20,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.50
per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.49 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares
of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.50
per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.99 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares
of common stock at an exercise price of $2.45 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13
per share, options to purchase 7,333 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.49 per share, options to purchase 6,667 shares
of common stock at an exercise price of $2.17 per share, options to purchase 5,515 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.64
per share, and 315,544 shares of unvested restricted stock. Of this amount, 15,544 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three-year
period, with one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The remaining 300,000
shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management
in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). |
| (6) | Includes shares underlying options to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock at $1.10 per share, options
to purchase 16,000 shares of common stock at $0.80 per share, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at $0.70 per share, options
to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock
at an exercise price of $1.20 per share, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.40 per share, and
options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share
and options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15 per share. |
| (7) | Includes options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15 per share, options
to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at
an exercise price of $1.10 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.70 per share, options
to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at
an exercise price of $1.20 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.40 per share, options
to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at
an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share and options
to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15. |
| (8) | Includes shares underlying options to purchase 38,767 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10
per share and options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15. |
| (9) | Includes shares underlying options to purchase 1,901,782 shares of common stock. |
Equity Compensation Plan Information
In December 2007, we
established the 2007 Equity Compensation Plan (the “2007 Plan”) and in November 2017 we established the 2017 Omnibus
Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”), collectively (the “Plans”). The Plans were approved by our board of directors
and stockholders. The purpose of the Plans is to grant stock and options to purchase our common stock, and other incentive awards, to
our employees, directors and key consultants. On November 10, 2016, the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued
pursuant to awards granted under the 2007 Plan increased from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000. On November 21, 2017, the Company’s stockholders
approved the adoption of the 2017 Plan (previously adopted by our board of directors on September 14, 2017), which authorized a maximum
of 1,874,513 shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2017 Plan. On November 17, 2020, the
Company's stockholders approved an increase in the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted
under the 2017 Plan from 2,374,513 to 3,374,513. On November 17, 2021, the Company's stockholders approved an increase in the maximum
number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2017 Plan from 3,374,513 to 6,874,513. Upon adoption
of the 2017 Plan, we ceased granting incentive awards under the 2007 Plan and commenced granting incentive awards under the 2017 Plan.
The shares of our common stock underlying cancelled and forfeited awards issued under the 2017 Plan may again become available for grant
under the 2017 Plan. Cancelled and forfeited awards issued under the 2007 Plan that were cancelled or forfeited prior to November 21,
2017 became available for grant under the 2007 Plan. As of June 30, 2023, there were 1,495,927 shares available for grant under the
2017 Plan, and no shares were available for grant under the 2007 Plan. All incentive stock award grants prior to the adoption of the 2017
Plan on November 21, 2017 were made under the 2007 Plan, and all incentive stock award grants after the adoption of the 2017 Plan
on November 21, 2017 were made under the 2017 Plan. The following table provides information as of June 30, 2022 with respect
to the Plans, which are the only compensation plans under which our equity securities are, or have been, authorized for issuance.
| |
| | |
| | |
Number of securities | |
| |
| | |
| | |
remaining available | |
| |
| | |
| | |
for future issuance | |
| |
Number of securities to be | | |
Weighted average | | |
under equity | |
| |
issued upon exercise of | | |
exercise price of | | |
compensation plans | |
| |
outstanding options, | | |
outstanding options, | | |
(excluding securities | |
Plan category | |
warrants and rights | | |
warrants and rights | | |
reflected in column (a)) | |
| |
(a) | | |
(b) | | |
(c) | |
Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders (2007 Equity Compensation Plan, and 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan) | |
| 2,909,574 | | |
$ | 1.87 | | |
| 1,495,927 | |
Equity compensation plans not approved by stockholders | |
| — | | |
| — | | |
| — | |
Total | |
| 2,909,574 | | |
| | | |
| 1,495,927 | |
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Other than the transactions
described herein, since July 1, 2021, there has not been, nor is there currently proposed, any transaction or series of similar transactions
to which we were or will be a party in which the amount involved exceeds the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of
our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years; and in which any director, executive officer, shareholder
who beneficially owns more than 5% of our common stock or any member of their immediate family had or will have a direct or indirect material
interest.
COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 16(A) OF
THE EXCHANGE ACT
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires
our officers, directors, and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports
of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and to furnish the Company with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.
Our review of copies of the Section 16(a) reports filed to report transactions occurring during the fiscal year ended June 30,
2023 indicates that all filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors, and greater than ten percent beneficial owners
were complied with except as follows: Mr. Derycz failed to timely file one Form 4 reporting one transaction; Gen. McPeak failed
to timely file one Form 4 reporting one transaction; and Mr. Ahlberg failed to timely file three Form 4s reporting six
transactions.
STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS
In order for a stockholder proposal to be considered
for inclusion in our Proxy Statement for our 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, the written proposal must be received by us no later
than June 18, 2024, and should contain the information required by our Amended and Restated Bylaws. If the date of next year’s
annual meeting is moved more than 30 days before or after November 14, 2024, the first anniversary of this year’s Annual Meeting,
the deadline for inclusion of proposals in our Proxy Statement is instead a reasonable time before we begin to print and mail our proxy
materials for next year’s meeting. Any proposals will also need to comply with Rule 14a-8 of the rules and regulations
promulgated under the Exchange Act regarding the inclusion of stockholder proposals in company sponsored proxy materials. Proposals should
be addressed to our Secretary at our mailing address.
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 no later than September 15, 2024. Proposals and the required
notice should be addressed to our Secretary at our mailing address.
If you intend to present a proposal at our 2024
annual meeting of stockholders and the proposal is not intended to be included in our Proxy Statement relating to that meeting, you must
give us advance notice of the proposal in accordance with our Amended and Restated Bylaws. Pursuant to our Amended and Restated Bylaws,
in order for a stockholder proposal to be deemed properly presented in these circumstances, a stockholder must deliver notice of the proposal
to our Secretary, at our mailing address, from and after July 17, 2024 through August 16, 2024. However, if the date of our
2024 annual meeting of stockholders is more than 30 days before or after November 14, 2024, the first anniversary of this year’s
Annual Meeting, stockholders must give us notice of any stockholder proposals after the 120th day prior to next year’s
annual meeting and before the 90th day prior to next year’s annual meeting, or, if later, the 10th day following
the day on which we first make public announcement of the date of next year’s annual meeting. If a stockholder does not provide
us with notice of a stockholder proposal in accordance with the deadlines described above, the stockholder will not be permitted to present
the proposal to the stockholders for a vote at the meeting. If the stockholder does not also comply with the requirements of Rule 14a-4(c)(2) under
the Exchange Act of 1934, we may exercise discretionary voting authority under proxies that we solicit to vote in accordance with our
best judgment on any such stockholder proposal or nomination.
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO SECURITY HOLDERS
SHARING AN ADDRESS
We are delivering this Proxy Statement and an annual
report to all stockholders of record as of the record date. Stockholders residing in the same household who hold their shares in the name
of a bank, broker or other holder of record may receive only one Proxy Statement and annual report if previously notified by their bank,
broker or other holder. This process, by which only one proxy statement and annual report, as the case may be, is delivered to multiple
security holders sharing an address, unless contrary instructions are received from one or more of the security holders, is called “householding.”
Householding may provide convenience for stockholders and cost savings for companies. Once begun, householding may continue unless instructions
to the contrary are received from one or more of the stockholders within the household.
Street name stockholders in a single household
who received only one copy of the Proxy Statement or annual report may request to receive separate copies in the future by following the
instructions provided on the voting instruction form sent to them by their bank, broker or other holder of record. Similarly, street name
stockholders who are receiving multiple copies may request that only a single set of materials be sent to them in the future by checking
the appropriate box on the voting instruction form. Otherwise, street name stockholders should contact their bank, broker or other holder.
Copies of this Proxy Statement and our annual report
are available promptly by calling (310) 477-0354, or by writing to Research Solutions, Inc., 10624 S. Eastern Ave., Suite A-614,
Henderson, NV 89052. If you are receiving multiple copies of this Proxy Statement, you also may request orally or in writing to receive
a single copy of this Proxy Statement by calling (310) 477-0354, or writing to Research Solutions, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations,
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Suite A-614, Henderson, NV 89052.
OTHER MATTERS
Our board of directors is not aware of any matter
to be acted upon at the Annual Meeting other than described in this Proxy Statement. Unless otherwise directed, all shares represented
by the persons named in the accompanying proxy will be voted in favor of the proposals described in this Proxy Statement. If any other
matter properly comes before the meeting, however, the proxy holders will vote thereon in accordance with their best judgment
RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. 10624 S. EASTERN AVE., STE. A-614 HENDERSON,
NV 89052 SCAN TO VIEW MATERIALS & VOTE VOTE BY INTERNET - 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. ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF FUTURE PROXY MATERIALS If you would like to reduce the costs incurred
by our company in mailing proxy materials, you can consent to receiving all future proxy statements, proxy cards and annual reports electronically
via e-mail or the Internet. To sign up for electronic delivery, please follow the instructions above to vote using the Internet and, when
prompted, indicate that you agree to receive or access proxy materials electronically in future years. 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: D91951-P81484 KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS THIS PROXY CARD
IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED. DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. For Withhold For AllTo withhold authority
to vote for any individual All All Except nominee(s), mark "For All Except" and write the THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS
A VOTE “FOR” number(s) of the nominee(s) on the line below. ALL NOMINEES LISTED IN PROPOSAL 1, AND “FOR” PROPOSALS
2 AND 3. ! ! ! 1. TO ELECT THE FOLLOWING SIX NOMINEES AS DIRECTORS: 01) BARBARA J. COOPERMAN 04) JEREMY MURPHY 02) KENNETH L. GAYRON 05)
ROY W. OLIVER 03) GENERAL MERRILL MCPEAK 06) JOHN REGAZZI The undersigned hereby confer(s) upon the Proxies and each of them discretionary
authority with respect to the election of directors in the event that any of the above nominees is unable or unwilling to serve. 2. TO
RATIFY THE APPOINTMENT OF WEINBERG & COMPANY, P.A., AS THE INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS OF THE COMPANY. 3. TO HOLD AN ADVISORY VOTE
APPROVING THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION ENDORSING OUR EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION: “RESOLVED, THAT THE STOCKHOLDERS APPROVE THE COMPENSATION
OF THE COMPANY’S EXECUTIVES, AS DISCLOSED IN THE COMPENSATION TABLES AND RELATED NARRATIVE DISCLOSURE IN THE COMPANY’S PROXY
STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING.” THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. The undersigned
revokes any other proxy to vote at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders and hereby ratifies and confirms all that the Proxies, and each
of them, may lawfully do by virtue hereof. With respect to matters not known at the time of the solicitation hereof, said Proxies are
authorized to vote in accordance with their best judgment. The undersigned acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Notice of Annual Meeting
of Stockholders and accompanying Proxy Statement dated October 12, 2023 relating to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Yes No For Against
Abstain ! ! ! ! ! ! Please indicate if you plan to attend this meeting. ! ! Note: Please sign exactly as your name or names appear(s)
on this proxy. When shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian,
please give full title as such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized officer, giving full
title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person. Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX] Date
Signature (Joint Owners) Date
Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for
the Annual Meeting: The Notice and Proxy Statement and Form 10-K are available at www.proxyvote.com. D91952-P81484 RESEARCH SOLUTIONS,
INC. Proxy for Annual Meeting of Stockholders November 14, 2023 11:00 A.M. THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RESEARCH
SOLUTIONS, INC. The undersigned, a stockholder of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), hereby appoints
ROY W. OLIVER and WILLIAM NURTHEN or either of them, the proxies of the undersigned (the “Proxies”), each with full power
of substitution, to attend, vote and act for the undersigned at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company, to be held on November
14, 2023 at 11:00 A.M., and any postponements or adjournments thereof, and in connection herewith to vote and represent all of the shares
of the Company which the undersigned would be entitled to vote as follows: This proxy will be voted in accordance with the instructions
set forth on the reverse side. Where a vote is not specified, the proxies will vote the shares represented by the proxy “FOR”
all nominees listed in Proposal 1, “FOR” Proposals 2 and 3, and as said proxy shall deem advisable on such other business
as may come before the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, unless otherwise directed. (Continued and to be signed on the reverse side)
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