S-8 1 ea159393-s8_airindustries.htm REGISTRATION STATEMENT

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2022

Registration No. 333-______

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

Air Industries Group

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Nevada   80-0948413

(State or Other Jurisdiction of 

Incorporation or Organization)

  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

 

1460 Fifth Avenue, Bay Shore, New York 11706

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

2022 Equity Incentive Plan

(Full Title of the Plan)

 

Luciano Melluzzo

President and Chief Executive Officer

Air Industries Group

1460 Fifth Avenue

Bay Shore, New York 11706

(631) 968-5000

(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number,

Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 

Copy to:

 

Vincent J. McGill, Esq.

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

1345 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10105

(516) 220-6569

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer  Accelerated filer 
Non-accelerated filer   Smaller reporting company 
  Emerging growth company 

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART I

 

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

 

The documents containing the information specified in this Part 1 will be delivered to the participants holding the equity awards covered by this registration statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) as required by Rule 428(b)(1) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). These documents, are not required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) as part of this Registration Statement.

 

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PART II

 

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

 

Air Industries Group (the “Registrant”) hereby incorporates by reference in this Registration Statement the following documents filed with the Commission:

 

(a)The Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed on March 25, 2022;

 

(b)Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); January 20, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); February 1, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); February 3, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); February 7, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); February 9, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); March 2, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); March 7, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); March 28, 2022 (Item 4.01); April 11, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); April 27, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); April 28, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01); April 29, 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01) and May 2 , 2022 (Items 7.01 and 9.01);

 

(c)Definitive Proxy Statement filed on Schedule 14A on May 3, 2022;

 

(d)All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), since December 31, 2021; and

 

(e)The description of the Registrant’s Common Stock contained in its Registration Statement on Form 10 filed with the Commission on October 2, 2012, and any other amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

 

All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date hereof (excluding any portions of such documents that are furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of a current report on Form 8-K and any exhibits included with such Items), prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities offered hereby then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents; provided, however, that documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with Commission rules shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement.

 

Any statement contained in this Registration Statement or in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes that statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

 

Item 4. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

Not applicable.

 

Item 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL

 

Not applicable.

 

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Item 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

 

Section 78.138 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (“NRS”) provides that a director or officer will not be individually liable unless it is proven that (i) the director's or officer's acts or omissions constituted a breach of his or her fiduciary duties, and (ii) such breach involved intentional misconduct, fraud or a knowing violation of the law.

  

Article 9 of our Articles of Incorporation (“Limitation on Liability”) provides as follows:

 

“Unless otherwise provided by law, a director or officer is not individually liable to the Corporation or its stockholders or creditors for any damages as a result of any act or failure to act in his individual capacity as a director or officer unless it is proven that his act or failure to act constituted a breach of his fiduciary duties as a director or officer and his breach of those duties involved intentional misconduct, fraud, or a knowing violation of law. If the NRS is amended to further eliminate or limit or authorize corporate action to further eliminate or limit the liability of directors or officers, the liability of directors and officers of the corporation shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the NRS as so amended from time to time. Neither any amendment nor repeal of this Article, nor the adoption of any provision of these Articles of Incorporation inconsistent with this Article, shall eliminate, reduce or otherwise adversely affect any limitation on the personal liability of a director or officer of the corporation existing at the time of such amendment, repeal or adoption of such an inconsistent provision.”

 

Section 78.7502 of the NRS permits a company to indemnify its directors and officers against expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred in connection with a threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding if the officer or director (i) is not liable pursuant to NRS 78.138 or (ii) acted in good faith and in a manner the officer or director reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and, if a criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the conduct of the officer or director was unlawful.

 

Section 78.751 of NRS permits a Nevada company to indemnify its officers and directors against expenses incurred by them in defending a civil or criminal action, suit or proceeding as they are incurred and in advance of final disposition thereof, upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the officer or director to repay the amount if it is ultimately determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that such officer or director is not entitled to be indemnified by the company. Section 78.751 of NRS further permits the company to grant its directors and officers additional rights of indemnification under its articles of incorporation or bylaws or otherwise.

 

Section 78.752 of NRS provides that a Nevada company may purchase and maintain insurance or make other financial arrangements on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the company, or is or was serving at the request of the company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another company, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, for any liability asserted against him and liability and expenses incurred by him in his capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not the company has the authority to indemnify him against such liability and expenses.

 

Article 10 of our Articles of Incorporation (“Indemnification”) provides as follows:

 

“Every person who was or is a party to, or is threatened to be made a party to, or is involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by the reason of the fact that he or she, or a person with whom he or she is a legal representative, is or was a director or officer of the Corporation, or who is serving at the request of the Corporation as a director or officer of another corporation, or is a representative in a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall be indemnified and held harmless to the fullest extent legally permissible under the laws of the State of Nevada from time to time against all expenses, liability and loss (including attorneys' fees, judgments, fines, and amounts paid or to be paid in a settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by him or her in connection therewith. The right of indemnification shall be a contract right which may be enforced in any manner desired by such person. The expenses of officers and directors incurred in defending a civil suit or proceeding must be paid by the Corporation as incurred and in advance of the final disposition of the action, suit, or proceeding, under receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the director or officer to repay the amount if it is ultimately determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified by the Corporation. Such right of indemnification shall not be exclusive of any other right of such directors, officers or representatives may have or hereafter acquire, and, without limiting the generality of such statement, they shall be entitled to their respective rights of indemnification under any bylaw agreement, vote of stockholders, provision of law, or otherwise, as well as their rights under this article.

 

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Without limiting the application of the foregoing, the Board of Directors may adopt bylaws from time to time with respect to indemnification, to provide at all times the fullest indemnification permitted by the laws of the State of Nevada, and may cause the corporation to purchase or maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director or officer of the corporation or who is serving at the request of the corporation as an officer, director or representative of any other entity or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred in any such capacity or arising out of such status, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person.

 

Any repeal or modification of the above provisions of this Article, approved by the stockholders of the corporation shall be prospective only, and shall not adversely affect any limitation on the liability of a director or officer of the corporation existing as of the time of such repeal or modification. In the event of any conflict between the above indemnification provisions, and any other Article of the Articles, the terms and provisions of this Article shall control.”

 

The Company maintains a director and officer insurance policy on behalf of any person who is or was a director or officer of the Company. Under such insurance policy, the directors and officers of the Company are insured, within the limits and subject to the limitations of the policy, against certain expenses in connection with the defense of certain claims, actions, suits or proceedings, and certain liabilities which might be imposed as a result of such claims, actions, suits or proceedings, which may be brought against them by reason of being or having been such directors or officers.

 

 Insofar as indemnification by us for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers or persons controlling the company pursuant to provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws, or otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification by such director, officer or controlling person of us in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being offered, we will, unless in the opinion of our counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by us is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

Item 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED

 

Not applicable.

  

Item 8. EXHIBITS

 

Exhibit No.   Description
     
5.1⃰   Opinion of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
     
10.1⃰   2022 Equity Incentive Plan
     
23.1⃰   Consent of Rotenberg Meril Solomon Bertiger & Guttilla, P.C., independent registered public accounting firm
     
23.2⃰   Consent of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).
     
107⃰   Filing Fee Table

 

Filed herewith

 

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Item 9. UNDERTAKINGS

 

(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

 

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

 

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

 

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement;

 

(iii) To include any material information with respect to the Plan not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement;

 

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

 

(2)   That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

(3)   To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

 

(b)   The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

(c)   Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Bay Shore, New York, on May 6, 2022.

 

  AIR INDUSTRIES GROUP

 

  By: /s/ Luciano Melluzzo
    Luciano Melluzzo
   

President and Chief Executive Officer

(principal executive officer)

     
  By: /s/ Michael E. Recca
    Michael E. Recca
   

Chief Financial Officer

(principal financial and accounting officer)

 

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each individual whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Luciano Melluzzo and Michael E. Recca, jointly and severally, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact, each with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for him or her, and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and all documents in connection therewith, with the Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, and hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or their or his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons on May 6, 2022 in the capacities indicated.

 

Signature   Capacity
     
/s/ Luciano Melluzzo  

President and CEO (principal executive officer)

Luciano Melluzzo     
     
/s/ Michael E. Recca   Chief Financial Officer
Michael E. Recca    (principal financial and accounting officer)
     
/s/ Michael N. Taglich   Chairman of the Board
Michael N. Taglich   
     
/s/ Michael Porcelain   Director
Michael Porcelain  
     
/s/ Robert F. Taglich   Director
Robert F. Taglich  
     
/s/ David J. Buonanno   Director
David  J. Buonanno  
     
/s/ Peter Rettaliata   Director
Peter Rettaliata  
     
/s/ Michael Brand   Director
Michael Brand  

 

 

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