EXHIBIT 5.1
Published on December 15, 2020
Exhibit 5.1
650 Town Center Drive, 20th Floor | ||
Costa Mesa, California 92626-1925 | ||
Tel: +1.714.540.1235 Fax: +1.714.755.8290 | ||
www.lw.com | ||
FIRM / AFFILIATE OFFICES | ||
Beijing | Moscow | |
Boston | Munich | |
Brussels | New York | |
Century City | Orange County | |
Chicago | Paris | |
Dubai | Riyadh | |
Düsseldorf | San Diego | |
December 15, 2020 | Frankfurt | San Francisco |
Hamburg | Seoul | |
Cryoport, Inc. | Hong Kong | Shanghai |
112 Westwood Place, Suite 350 | Houston | Silicon Valley |
Brentwood, TN 37027 | London | Singapore |
Los Angeles | Tokyo | |
Madrid | Washington, D.C. | |
Milan |
Re: | Registration Statement on Form S-3 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have acted as special counsel to Cryoport, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), in connection with its filing on the date hereof with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) of a registration statement on Form S-3 (as amended, the “Registration Statement”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), including (a) a base prospectus (the “Base Prospectus”), which provides that it will be supplemented by one or more prospectus supplements (each such prospectus supplement, together with the Base Prospectus, a “Primary Prospectus”), relating to the registration for issue and sale by the Company of (i) shares of the Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share (“Common Stock”), (ii) shares of one or more series of the Company’s preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share (“Preferred Stock”), (iii) one or more series of the Company’s debt securities (collectively, “Debt Securities”) to be issued under an indenture to be entered into between the Company, as issuer, and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (a form of which is included as Exhibit 4.20 to the Registration Statement) and one or more board resolutions, supplements thereto or officer’s certificates thereunder (such indenture, together with the applicable board resolution, supplement or officer’s certificate pertaining to the applicable series of Debt Securities, the “Applicable Indenture”), (iv) depositary shares (“Depositary Shares”), (v) warrants (“Warrants”), (vi) purchase contracts (“Purchase Contracts”), and (vii) units (“Units”) and (b) a prospectus (the “Resale Prospectus”) relating to the registration for offer and sale from time to time by certain securityholders of the Company of (i) up to 675,536 shares of Common Stock (“Selling Securityholder Shares”), (ii) up to $115,000,000 aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 3.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2025 (“Notes”) issued pursuant to an indenture (the “Notes Indenture”), dated May 26, 2020, by and between the Company and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee, (iii) shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of the Notes (“Note Conversion Shares”) and (iv) up to 6,474,135 shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of shares of the Company’s 4.0% Series C Convertible Preferred Stock (“Preferred Conversion Shares”). The Common Stock, Preferred Stock, Debt Securities, Depositary Shares, Warrants, Purchase Contracts, Units, Selling Securityholder Shares, Notes, Note Conversion Shares and Preferred Conversion Shares are referred to herein collectively as the “Securities.”
December 15, 2020
Page 2
This opinion is being furnished in connection with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Act, and no opinion is expressed herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement or related applicable Primary Prospectus or Resale Prospectus, other than as expressly stated herein with respect to the issue of the Securities.
As such counsel, we have examined such matters of fact and questions of law as we have considered appropriate for purposes of this letter. With your consent, we have relied upon certificates and other assurances of officers of the Company and others as to factual matters without having independently verified such factual matters. We are opining herein as to the internal laws of the State of New York, and we express no opinion with respect to the applicability thereto, or the effect thereon, of the laws of any other jurisdiction or as to any matters of municipal law or the laws of any local agencies within any state. Various issues pertaining to Nevada law, including (i) the validity of the Common Stock, Preferred Stock, Selling Securityholder Shares, Note Conversion Shares and Preferred Conversion Shares and (ii) the due authorization of the Securities by the Company, are addressed in the opinion of Snell & Wilmer L.L.P., which has been separately provided to you. We express no opinion with respect to those matters herein, and to the extent elements of those opinions are necessary to the conclusions expressed herein, we have, with your consent, assumed such elements.
Subject to the foregoing and the other matters set forth herein, it is our opinion that, as of the date hereof:
1. When the Applicable Indenture has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and when the specific terms of a particular series of Debt Securities have been duly established in accordance with the terms of the Applicable Indenture and authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and such Debt Securities have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered against payment therefor in accordance with the terms of the Applicable Indenture and in the manner contemplated by the applicable Primary Prospectus and by such corporate action, such Debt Securities will be the legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
2. When the applicable deposit agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and when the specific terms of a particular issuance of Depositary Shares have been duly established in accordance with the terms of the applicable deposit agreement and authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and such Depositary Shares have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered against payment therefor in accordance with the terms of the applicable deposit agreement and in the manner contemplated by the applicable Primary Prospectus and by such corporate action (assuming the underlying securities have been validly issued and deposited with the depositary), such Depositary Shares will be the legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
December 15, 2020
Page 3
3. When the applicable warrant agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and when the specific terms of a particular issuance of Warrants have been duly established in accordance with the terms of the applicable warrant agreement and authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and such Warrants have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered against payment therefor in accordance with the terms of the applicable warrant agreement and in the manner contemplated by the applicable Primary Prospectus and by such corporate action (assuming the securities issuable upon exercise of such Warrants have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance by all necessary corporate action), such Warrants will be the legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
4. When the applicable purchase contract agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and when the specific terms of a particular issue of Purchase Contracts have been duly authorized in accordance with the terms of the applicable purchase contract agreement and authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and such Purchase Contracts have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered against payment therefor in accordance with the terms of the applicable purchase contract agreement and in the manner contemplated by the applicable Primary Prospectus and by such corporate action (assuming the securities issuable under such Purchase Contracts have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance by all necessary corporate action), such Purchase Contracts will be the legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
5. When the applicable unit agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and when the specific terms of a particular issuance of Units have been duly authorized in accordance with the terms of the applicable unit agreement and authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and such Units have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered against payment therefor in accordance with the terms of the applicable unit agreement and in the manner contemplated by the applicable Primary Prospectus and by such corporate action (assuming the securities issuable upon exercise of such Units have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance by all necessary corporate action), such Units will be the legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
6. The Notes are legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
December 15, 2020
Page 4
Our opinions are subject to: (i) the effect of bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, preference, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting the rights and remedies of creditors; (ii) the effect of general principles of equity, whether considered in a proceeding in equity or at law (including the possible unavailability of specific performance or injunctive relief), concepts of materiality, reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing, and the discretion of the court before which a proceeding is brought; (iii) the invalidity under certain circumstances under law or court decisions of provisions providing for the indemnification of or contribution to a party with respect to a liability where such indemnification or contribution is contrary to public policy; and (iv) we express no opinion as to (a) any provision for liquidated damages, default interest, late charges, monetary penalties, make-whole premiums or other economic remedies to the extent such provisions are deemed to constitute a penalty, (b) consents to, or restrictions upon, governing law, jurisdiction, venue, arbitration, remedies, or judicial relief, (c) waivers of rights or defenses, (d) any provision requiring the payment of attorneys’ fees, where such payment is contrary to law or public policy, (e) any provision permitting, upon acceleration of any Debt Securities or the Notes, collection of that portion of the stated principal amount thereof which might be determined to constitute unearned interest thereon, (f) the creation, validity, attachment, perfection, or priority of any lien or security interest, (g) advance waivers of claims, defenses, rights granted by law, or notice, opportunity for hearing, evidentiary requirements, statutes of limitation, trial by jury or at law, or other procedural rights, (h) waivers of broadly or vaguely stated rights, (i) provisions for exclusivity, election or cumulation of rights or remedies, (j) provisions authorizing or validating conclusive or discretionary determinations, (k) grants of setoff rights, (l) proxies, powers and trusts, (m) provisions prohibiting, restricting, or requiring consent to assignment or transfer of any right or property, (n) any provision to the extent it requires that a claim with respect to a security denominated in other than U.S. dollars (or a judgment in respect of such a claim) be converted into U.S. dollars at a rate of exchange at a particular date, to the extent applicable law otherwise provides, and (o) the severability, if invalid, of provisions to the foregoing effect.
With your consent, we have assumed (a) that each of the Debt Securities, Depositary Shares, Warrants, Purchase Contracts and Units and the Applicable Indenture, deposit agreements, warrant agreements, purchase contract agreements and unit agreements governing such Securities (collectively, the “Documents”) will be governed by the internal laws of the State of New York, (b) that each of the Documents, the Notes Indenture and the Notes have been or will be duly authorized, executed and delivered by the parties thereto, (c) that each of the Documents, the Notes Indenture and the Notes constitute or will constitute legally valid and binding obligations of the parties thereto other than the Company, enforceable against each of them in accordance with their respective terms, and (d) that the status of each of the Documents, the Notes Indenture and the Notes as legally valid and binding obligations of the parties will not be affected by any (i) breaches of, or defaults under, agreements or instruments, (ii) violations of statutes, rules, regulations or court or governmental orders, or (iii) failures to obtain required consents, approvals or authorizations from, or to make required registrations, declarations or filings with, governmental authorities.
December 15, 2020
Page 5
This opinion is for your benefit in connection with the Registration Statement and may be relied upon by you and by persons entitled to rely upon it pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Act. We consent to your filing this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the references to our firm contained in the Primary Prospectus and the Resale Prospectus under the headings “Legal Matters.” In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.
Very truly yours, | |
/s/ Latham & Watkins LLP |