Musclepharm Earnings 2020-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020

OR

For the Transition Period from ______ to

Commission File Number – 000-53166

MusclePharm Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(800) 292-3909

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Title of each class

Common Stock, Par Value $0.001 Per Share

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. [  ] Yes [X] No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. [  ] Yes [X] No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. [X] Yes [  ] No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files) Yes [  ] No [X]

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

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). [  ] Yes [X] No

Aggregate market value of the common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrants as of June 30, 2020, the last business day of the most recently completed second fiscal quarter: $1.9 million.

Number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding at March 24, 2021: 33,479,886 (excludes 875,621 shares of common stock held in treasury).

MusclePharm Corporation

Form 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, our business strategy and plans, and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. In particular, we have experienced a slowdown in sales from our retail customers due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and we cannot predict the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business. New risks may emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Note Regarding Trademarks

We have proprietary rights to a number of registered and unregistered trademarks worldwide that we believe are important to our business, including, but not limited to: “MusclePharm” and “FitMiss”. We have, in certain cases, omitted the ®, © and ™ designations for these and other trademarks used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Nevertheless, all rights to such trademarks are reserved. These and other trademarks referenced in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective owners.

MusclePharm Corporation was incorporated in Nevada in 2006. Except as otherwise indicated herein or the context requires otherwise, the terms “MusclePharm,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to MusclePharm Corporation and its subsidiaries. The Company is a scientifically-driven, performance lifestyle company that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes branded sports nutrition products and nutritional supplements. Our portfolio of recognized brands, including MusclePharm^® and FitMiss^®, is marketed and sold in more than 100 countries globally. The Company is headquartered in Calabasas, California and, as of December 31, 2020, had the following wholly-owned subsidiaries, which do not currently have operations: MusclePharm Canada Enterprises Corp., MusclePharm Ireland Limited and MusclePharm Australia Pty Limited.

Products

The MusclePharm brand product portfolio is designed for athletes of all levels and anyone who pursues an active lifestyle. We offer a broad range of performance powders, capsules, tablets and gels that satisfy the needs of enthusiasts and professionals alike. Our products are marketed in multiple performance and active lifestyle distribution channels that reach athletes of all types and demographics. Our goal is to serve the needs of our customers, while fueling the engine of sport for all ages and genders. Our portfolio of products targets every type of fitness enthusiast and professional, from combat sport, weight training, bodybuilding, running, and all team and individual sports, as well as individuals who lead an active lifestyle.

We place considerable emphasis on transparency, high-quality ingredients, innovation and science. Products are placed through rigorous third-party independent testing to ensure safe, quality ingredients to support all levels of athletic ability. Tests performed on products include banned substance testing and protein verification, among others.

Sport Series - Scientifically-advanced, performance-driven sports nutrition items that cover the needs of athletes. This line of award-winning, independently-tested products helps to fuel athletes safely by increasing strength, energy, endurance, recovery and overall athletic performance. Sport Series’ lineup includes products like Combat Protein Powder, a top selling five-protein blend on the market, and the award-winning Combat Crunch Protein Bars.

Essentials Series - To meet the day-in and day-out demands of fitness and sport, the Essentials Series (formerly known as the Core Series) line of supplements exists for athletes to take daily. These products include daily staples for a healthy body, such as BCAA, creatine, glutamine, carnitine, CLA, fish oil, a multi-vitamin and more.

Natural Series - A natural, non-genetically modified organism (“non-GMO”) sports performance line, made for a growing consumer base that seeks organic, vegan and plant-based nutritional product and supplement options. We created the Natural Series with USDA-certified organic ingredients, plant-based protein and natural caffeine sources, in clean and delicious formats, to power all stages of the workout.

FitMiss® - Designed and formulated specifically for the female body, FitMiss sports nutrition products are complementary to any active female’s diet. In seeking a stronger, more balanced foundation, FitMiss ingredients support women in areas of weight management, lean muscle mass, body composition, and general health and wellness.

On-the-Go – As more and more consumers are seeking healthier and convenient snacking options, retailers across multiple channels are capitalizing on this emerging trend by aggressively expanding their assortments to accommodate this demand. The On-the-Go portfolio of ready to eat products includes the award-winning Combat Crunch, Protein Crisp, Organic Protein and Protein Cookie.

Sales and Marketing

Our goal is to position MusclePharm as the “must have” brand for elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts, alike, who are on a journey to holistically better themselves and achieve their maximum potential. Our marketing is focused on our most prominent products and includes brand partnerships, focusing on grass-roots marketing and advertising efforts with retail outlets close to our core audience. Our marketing includes digital marketing, print and media advertising, in store product demonstrations, promotional giveaways, and trade show events. New product innovation is also a key component of driving incremental sales.

Distribution Channels

MusclePharm brands are marketed across major global retail distribution channels – Specialty, International and Food, Drug, and Mass (“FDM”). Our three largest customers which are large global e-commerce and retailers, accounted for approximately 70% of our 2020 net revenue. Our three largest customers accounted for approximately 63% of our 2019 net revenue.

Specialty: This channel is comprised of brick-and-mortar sales and e-commerce. Due to high competition within this market, we continually seek to respond to customer trends and shifts by adjusting the mix of existing product offerings, developing new innovative products and influencing preferences through our marketing.

International: Our international reach touches every relevant market in the world. We seek to further grow our international sales by continuing to offer new products in key markets as well as opening new distribution channels in select regions of the world. We also are evaluating the benefits of developing expanded manufacturing partnerships outside of North America to take advantage of local opportunities.

FDM: This channel is primarily served by our direct sales force, as well as our network of brokers. We believe direct relationships with retail partners provide us an opportunity to expand our distribution into additional discount warehouses and national retailers.

Below is a table of net revenue by our major distribution channel:

Product Research, Development and Quality Control

Customers’ belief in the safety and efficacy of our products is critical. Continued innovation in delivery techniques and ingredients, new product line extensions, and new product offerings are important in order to sustain existing and create new market opportunities, meet consumer demand, and strengthen consumer relationships. To support our research and development efforts, we invest in formulation, processing and packaging development, perform product quality and stability studies, and conduct consumer market research to sample consumer opinions on product concepts, design, packaging, advertising, and marketing campaigns.

We are committed to science and sport being equal in our product development. We believe real-world applications are essential. Our product lines have been developed through a stringent protocol to ensure that all formulations promote quality and safety for our customers. Our quality control team follows detailed supplier selection and certification processes, validation of raw material verification processes, analytical testing, process audits, and other quality control procedures. Our products are also subject to extensive shelf-life stability testing. We also engage third-party laboratories to routinely evaluate and validate our internal testing processes on every MusclePharm product.

We qualify ingredients, suppliers, and facilities by performing site assessments and conducting on-going performance and process reviews. Dedicated quality teams regularly audit and assess manufacturing facilities for compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (“GMPs”), as regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), to ensure our compliance with all MusclePharm, regulatory, and certification standards and requirements. To ensure overall consistency, our quality assurance team adheres to strict written procedures. From the raw ingredient stage to the finished product stage, we monitor and perform quality control checks. Before distributing our products, we place our products under quarantine to test for environmental contaminants and verify that the finished product meets label claims. Once a product has successfully passed quality assurance testing and conforms to specifications for identity, purity, strength, and composition, we then conduct testing with third-party laboratories for added label claim verification.

Multi-level practices are part of our product development process to ensure athletes and our consumers receive what we believe to be the most scientifically innovative and safest products on the market. Post-distribution, we have standard operating procedures in place for investigating and documenting any adverse events or product quality complaints. We are committed to the process of having all of our products certified to be banned-substance-free before they are available to consumers. Informed Choice, a globally recognized leader in sports testing, conducts all of our third-party banned substance testing, ensuring that all MusclePharm products are free of banned substances.

Manufacturing and Distribution

We have relationships with multiple third-party manufacturers. Certain of our vendors supply in excess of 10% of our products. Once a product is manufactured, it is sent to our distribution center in Spring Hill, Tennessee, or shipped directly to the customer. All of the third-party manufacturing facilities that we source from and distribution facilities are designed and operated to meet current GMP standards as promulgated by the FDA.

The manufacturing process performed by our third-party manufacturers generally consists of the following operations: (i) qualifying ingredients for products; (ii) testing of all raw ingredients; (iii) measuring ingredients for inclusion in production; (iv) granulating, blending and grinding ingredients into a mixture with a homogeneous consistency; (v) encapsulating or filling the blended mixture into the appropriate dosage form using either automatic or semiautomatic equipment; and (vi) testing finished products prior to distribution.

We maintain and operate a system that integrates distribution, warehousing, and quality control. This provides real-time lot and quality tracking of raw materials, work in progress and finished goods. We employ a supply chain staff that works with sales, marketing, product development, and quality control personnel to ensure that only products that meet all specifications are produced and released to customers.

Our Competitors

The sports nutrition market is very competitive, and the range of products is diverse and subject to rapid and frequent changes in consumer demand. Competitors use price, shelf space and store placement, brand and product recognition, new product introductions, and raw materials to capture market share. We believe that retailers look to partner with suppliers who demonstrate brand development, market intelligence, customer service, and produce high quality products with proven science. We believe we are competitive in all of these areas.

Our competitors include numerous nutritional companies that are highly fragmented in terms of geographic market coverage, distribution channels, and product categories. In addition, we compete with large pharmaceutical companies and packaged food and beverage companies. Many of these competitors have greater financial and distribution resources available to them than us and some compete through vertical integration. Private label entities have gained a foothold in many nutrition categories and also are direct competitors. Our principal competitors are: Glanbia Performance Nutrition (Optimum Nutrition), Nutrabolt, (Cellucor C4), Dymatize Enterprises LLC, and Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. As many of our competitors are either privately held or divisions within larger organizations, it is difficult to fully gauge their size and relative ranking.

Government Regulation

The formulation, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, advertising, distribution, storage, and sale of each of our product groups are subject to regulation by one or more governmental agencies. The most active of these is the FDA, which regulates our products under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and regulations promulgated thereunder. The FDCA defines the terms “food” and “dietary supplement” and sets forth various requirements that, unless complied with, may constitute adulteration or misbranding of such products. The FDCA has been amended several times with respect to dietary supplements, most recently by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (the “NLEA”) and the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.

FDA regulations relating specifically to foods and dietary supplements for human use are set forth in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These regulations include basic labeling requirements for both foods and dietary supplements. Additionally, FDA regulations require us and our third-party manufacturers to meet relevant good manufacturing practice regulations for the preparation, packaging and storage of our food and dietary supplements. Our business practices and products are also regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) and the Environmental Protection Agency. Our activities, including our direct selling distribution activities, are also regulated by various agencies of the states, localities and foreign countries in which our products are sold.

In foreign markets, prior to commencing operations and initiating or permitting sales of our products in the market, we may be required to obtain an approval, license or certification from the country’s ministry of health or comparable agency. Prior to entering a new market in which a formal approval, license or certificate is required, we work extensively with local consultants and authorities in order to obtain the requisite approvals. We must also comply with product labeling and packaging regulations that vary from country to country. Our failure to comply with these regulations can result in a product being removed from sale in a particular market, either temporarily or permanently.

Intellectual Property

We regard our trademarks and other proprietary rights as valuable assets and believe that protecting our intellectual property is crucial to the continued successful implementation of our business strategy. Since we regard our intellectual property as a crucial element of our business with significant value in the marketing of our products, our policy is to rigorously pursue registrations for all trademarks associated with our products.

We have over 48 trademark applications in the United States, 46 of which are currently registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Our registered trademarks include registrations of our house marks, as well as marks associated with our core product lines.

We also have filed for protection of various marks throughout the world and are committed to a significant long-term strategy to build and protect the MusclePharm brand globally. The “MusclePharm” mark has been granted final trademark registration effective in 37 countries, including the United States.

Seasonality

Our business does not typically experience seasonal variations, but revenue may fluctuate based upon promotions.

Employees

As of December 31, 2020, we had 27 total employees, all of whom were full time. None of the employees are represented by a union. Management considers its relations with our employees to be good and to have been maintained in a normal and customary manner.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 4500 Park Granada, Suite 202 Calabasas, CA 91302 and our telephone number is (800) 292-3909. We were incorporated in the State of Nevada in 2006. Our Internet addresses are www.musclepharm.com and www.musclepharmcorp.com. The information contained on our websites is not incorporated herein.

Available Information

Our corporate website is www.musclepharmcorp.com. We post the following filings as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC: our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as amended. All such filings are available free of charge on the Investor Relations section of our website, or from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Information on our website does not constitute part of this report. Also available on the Investor Relations section of our website are the charters of the committees of our Board, as well as our corporate governance guidelines and code of ethics.

Certain factors may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, in addition to other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our industry is highly competitive, and our failure to compete effectively could adversely affect our market share, financial condition, and future growth.

The sports nutrition market is highly competitive with respect to:

Many of our competitors are larger, more established companies and possess greater financial strength and other resources than we have. We face competition in the supplement market from a number of large nationally known manufacturers, private label brands and many smaller manufacturers.

Our industry is highly regulated. We may in the future incur increased compliance costs and/or incur substantial judgments, fines, legal fees, and other costs.

The manufacturing, packaging, labeling, advertising, distribution, storage and sale of our products are regulated by various federal, state, and local agencies as well as those of each foreign country to which we distribute. Our compliance costs may increase in the future, and those increases could be material. In addition, governmental authorities may commence regulatory or legal proceedings, which could restrict the permissible scope of our product claims or the ability to manufacture and sell our products in the future. For example, the FDA regulates our products to ensure that the products are not adulterated or misbranded. Failure to comply with FDA requirements may result in, among other things, warning or untitled letters, injunctions, product withdrawals, recalls, product seizures, fines, and criminal proceedings.

Our advertising is subject to regulation by the FTC under the Federal Trade Commission Act. In recent years, the FTC has initiated numerous investigations of dietary supplement and weight loss products and companies. Additionally, some states also permit advertising and labeling laws to be enforced by private attorney generals, who may seek relief for consumers, seek class action certifications, seek class wide damages, and product recalls. Any of these types of actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We have a history of losses from operations, there is uncertainty as to when we may become consistently profitable, and our current indebtedness may limit our operating flexibility, which raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Although the Company had a net income of $3.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, we have historically incurred significant losses and experienced negative cash flows. As of December 31, 2020, we had a working capital deficit of $20.1 million, a stockholders’ deficit of $24.4 million and an accumulated deficit of $192.7 million.

As of December 31, 2020, we had outstanding indebtedness of $11.8 million. For details of our indebtedness, see Note 8 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

As a result of our history of losses and financial condition, there is doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon us maintaining profitable operations in the future and/or obtaining the necessary financing to meet our obligations and repay our liabilities when they come due. On an ongoing basis, management evaluates strategies to obtain financing required to fund our expenses and achieve a level of revenue adequate to support our current cost structure. There is no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms or at all, or to generate an adequate level of revenues.

Our indebtedness, and history of losses, could have important consequences to us. For example, it could:

In addition, our ability to pay or refinance our debt depends on our successful financial and operating performance, cash flows and capital resources, which in turn depend upon prevailing economic conditions and certain financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, among others:

If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay operating or capital expenditures, sell material assets or operations, seek to obtain additional capital, or restructure our debt.

We may incur additional indebtedness in the future. Our incurrence of additional indebtedness would intensify the risks described above.

Our operating results may fluctuate, which makes them difficult to predict and they may fall short of expectations.

Our operating results may fluctuate due to a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and you should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance. Our quarterly, year-to-date, and annual expenses as a percentage of our revenues may differ significantly from our historical or projected rates. Our operating results in future quarters may not meet expectations.

Each of the following factors, as well as others, may affect our operating results:

Because our business is changing and evolving, our historical operating results may not be useful to you in predicting our future operating results.

If we are unable to retain key management personnel or hire qualified personnel, our ability to manage our business effectively and grow could be negatively impacted.

Over the last few years, the Company has had significant management turnover. Our future success depends in part on our ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain key skilled management personnel and employees for all areas of our organization, particularly sales and marketing. Competition in our industry for qualified employees has been intense. The loss or limitation of the services of any of our key management employees, including as a result of illness, or our inability to hire qualified employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business and operating results could be harmed.

Growth in our business will place significant demands on our management, and our operational and financial infrastructure. To effectively manage growth, we expect that we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and procedures. To accomplish these objectives, we may need to hire additional employees, make certain enhancements to our technology systems, make capital expenditures, and utilize management resources. Failure to implement these measures could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Financing Risks

We will likely be required to raise additional financing to fund our operations.

We will likely be faced with the need to raise additional funds in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, or at all.

Our inventory financing and convertible promissory note agreements contain covenants that limit our ability to incur additional debt and grant liens on assets.

Our convertible promissory note agreement that we have entered into with Mr. Drexler and our inventory financing contain restrictive covenants that limit our ability to, among other things, incur additional debt and grant liens on assets. If we fail to comply with the restrictions in this debt instruments, a default may allow the debtor to accelerate the related debt and to exercise his remedies under the agreement, which includes the right to declare the principal amount of that debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest and other related amounts, immediately due and payable, and to exercise any remedies he may have to foreclose on assets that are subject to liens securing that debt.

For additional details regarding our indebtedness, see Note 8 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Risks Related to Our Capital Stock

Mr. Drexler’s stock ownership gives him the ability to substantially influence the strategic direction of the Company and to direct the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval.

Mr. Ryan Drexler, our Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President, owns approximately 67.2% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, Mr. Drexler is able to substantially influence the strategic direction of the Company and the outcome of matters requiring approval by our stockholders. Mr. Drexler’s interests may not be, at all times, the same as those of our other stockholders, and his control may delay, deter or prevent acts that may be favored by our other stockholders.

We may, in the future, issue additional shares of common stock and/or preferred stock, which would reduce investors’ percent of ownership and may dilute our share value.

Our articles of incorporation, as amended, authorize the issuance of 100,000,000 shares of common stock and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, 33,105,284 shares of our common stock were outstanding, and we did not have any outstanding shares of preferred stock. As of March 24, 2021, 33,479,886 shares of our common stock were outstanding. The future issuance of common stock and preferred stock may result in substantial dilution in the percentage of our common stock held by our then existing stockholders. The issuance of common stock for future services or acquisitions or other corporate actions may have the effect of diluting the value of the shares held by our investors and might have an adverse effect on any trading market for our common stock.

We may issue shares of preferred stock in the future that may adversely impact your rights as holders of our common stock.

Our Board has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of our authorized but undesignated preferred stock, as well as the authority to issue shares of such preferred stock, without further stockholder approval. As a result, our Board could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that would grant to holders preferred rights to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividends before dividends are declared to holders of our common stock, and the right to the redemption of such preferred stock, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of the common stock.

To the extent that we do issue such additional shares of preferred stock, your rights as holders of common stock could be impaired thereby, including, without limitation, dilution of your ownership interests in us. In addition, shares of preferred stock could be issued with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control or make removal of management more difficult, which may not be in your interest as a holder of common stock.

Our common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets, which may have an unfavorable impact on our stock price and liquidity.

Our common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets (“OTC”). The OTC is an automated quotation service operated by OTC Markets, LLC. The quotation of our shares on the OTC may result in a less liquid market available for existing and potential stockholders to trade shares of our common stock, in part because of the inability or unwillingness of certain investors to acquire shares of common stock not traded on a national securities exchange and could depress the trading price of our common stock and have a long-term adverse impact on our ability to raise capital in the future.

Our share price has been and may continue to be volatile.

The market price of our common shares is subject to significant fluctuations in response to a multitude of factors, including variations in our quarterly operating results and financial condition. Factors other than our financial results that may affect our share price include, but are not limited to, market expectations of our performance, market perception or our industry, the activities of our managers, customers, and investors, and the level of perceived growth in the industry in which we participate, general trends in the markets for our products, general economic business and political conditions in the countries and regions in which we conduct our business, and changes in government regulation affecting our business, many of which are not within our control. In addition, like many companies of our size with low trading volume, our stock price may fluctuate significantly for reasons unrelated to our business.

We have ongoing material weaknesses and may in the future fail to maintain effective systems of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, any of which could, among other things, result in significant additional costs being incurred, cause a loss of confidence in our financial reporting, and adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.

We have concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were not effective as of December 31, 2020, due to the existence of material weaknesses in such controls, and we have also concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2020, all as described in Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures,” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Remediation efforts to address the identified weaknesses are just beginning. Continuing costs to remedy these material weaknesses and to address inquiries from regulators may be significant and may require significant time from our management and other personnel, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to remedy the material weaknesses.

The incurrence of significant additional expense, or the requirement that management and other personnel devote significant time to these matters could reduce the time available to execute on our business strategies and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We also cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting will not arise or be identified in the future. If our remediation measures are insufficient to address the identified deficiencies, or if additional deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting are discovered or occur in the future, our consolidated financial statements may contain material misstatements and we could be required to restate our financial results and may be unable to make our filings with the SEC on a timely basis. Moreover, because of the inherent limitations of any control system, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, or at all.

If we are unable to provide reliable and timely financial reports in the future, our business and reputation may be further harmed. Failures in internal controls may negatively affect investor confidence in our management and the accuracy of our financial statements and disclosures or result in adverse publicity and concerns from investors and commercial customers, any of which could have a negative effect on the price of our shares, subject us to regulatory investigations and penalties and/or shareholder litigation, and materially adversely impact our business and financial condition.

Market and Other External Risks

We rely on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our sales, and the loss of or material reduction in purchase volume by any of these customers would adversely affect our sales and operating results.

During 2020, our three largest customers accounted for approximately 70% of our net revenue. Net revenue is equal to our gross revenue less product discounts, customer rebates and incentives. The loss of any of our major customers, a significant reduction in purchases by any major customer, price pressure from any of our major customers or any serious financial difficulty of a major customer may have a material adverse effect on our sales and operating results.

The Company’s retail customers have been and may continue to be affected by outbreaks of disease, such as epidemics or pandemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Company’s retail customers have been and continue to be affected by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting volatility and uncertainty it has caused in the U.S. and international markets. Store closures and social distancing have adversely impacted the Company’s sales to retailers. The COVID-19 pandemic also has the potential to significantly impact our supply chain if the facilities of our third- party manufacturers, the distribution centers where our inventory is managed or the operations of our logistics and other service providers are disrupted, temporarily closed or experience worker shortages. We may also see disruptions or delays in shipments of certain materials or products.

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Company has transitioned the majority of its workforce to a remote working model, which may result in the Company experiencing lower work efficiency and productivity, which in turn may adversely affect the Company’s business. As Company employees work from home and access the Company’s system remotely, the Company may be subject to heightened security risks, including the risks of cyberattacks. Additionally, if any of the Company’s key management or other employees are unable to perform his or her duties for a period of time, including as the result of illness, the Company’s results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected.

The Company cannot reasonably estimate the length or severity of the COVID-19 pandemic or the related responses, or the extent to which the disruption may materially impact the Company’s business, consolidated financial position, consolidated results of operations or consolidated cash flows.

Our failure to respond appropriately to competitive challenges, changing consumer preferences and demand for new products could significantly harm our customer relationships and product sales.

The sports nutrition market is very competitive, and the range of products is diverse and subject to rapid and frequent changes in consumer demand. Our failure to accurately predict product trends could negatively impact our results and cause our revenues to decline. Our success with any product offering (whether new or existing) depends upon a number of factors, including our ability to:

Furthermore, products often have to be promoted heavily in stores or in the media to obtain visibility and consumer acceptance. Acquiring distribution for products is difficult and often expensive due to slotting and other promotional charges mandated by retailers. Products can take substantial periods of time to develop consumer awareness, consumer acceptance and sales volume. Accordingly, some products may fail to gain or maintain sufficient sales volume and as a result may have to be discontinued. In a highly competitive marketplace, it may be difficult to have retailer’s open SKU’s for new products.

Adverse publicity or consumer perception of our products and any similar products distributed by others could harm our reputation and adversely affect our sales.

We are highly dependent upon positive consumer perceptions of the safety and quality of our products as well as similar products distributed by other sports nutrition supplement companies. Consumer perception of sports nutrition supplements and our products in particular can be substantially influenced by scientific research or findings, national media attention and other publicity about product use.

Adverse publicity from these sources regarding the safety, quality, or efficacy of our products or nutritional supplements could seriously harm our reputation and results of operations. The mere publication of news articles or reports asserting that such products may be harmful or questioning their efficacy could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, regardless of whether such news articles or reports are scientifically supported or whether the claimed harmful effects would be present at the dosages recommended for such products.

We may be exposed to material product liability claims, which could increase our costs and adversely affect our reputation and business.

As a marketer and distributor of products designed for human consumption, we could be subject to product liability claims if the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or undesired results. Our products consist of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other ingredients that are classified as dietary supplements and in most cases are not subject to pre-market regulatory approval in the United States or internationally. Previously unknown adverse reactions resulting from human consumption of these ingredients could occur.

We have not had any significant product liability claims filed against us but, in the future, we may be subject to various product liability claims, including due to tampering by unauthorized third parties, product contamination, and claims that our products had inadequate instructions for use, or inadequate warnings concerning possible side effects and interactions with other substances. The cost of defense can be substantially higher than the cost of settlement even when claims are without merit. The high cost to defend or settle product liability claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and our insurance, if any, may not be adequate.

In addition, the perception of our products resulting from a product liability claim also could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our insurance coverage or third-party indemnification rights may not be sufficient to cover our legal claims or other losses that we may incur in the future.

We maintain insurance at what we believe are adequate levels for property, general product liability, product recall, director’s and officer’s liability, and workers’ compensation to protect ourselves against potential loss exposures. In the future, insurance coverage may not be available at adequate levels or on adequate terms to cover potential losses, including on terms that meet our customer’s or manufacturer’s requirements. If insurance coverage is inadequate or unavailable, we may face claims that exceed coverage limits or that are not covered, which could increase our costs and adversely affect our operating results.

Changes in the economies of the markets in which we do business may affect consumer demand for our products.

Consumer spending habits, including spending for our products, are affected by, among other things, prevailing economic conditions, levels of employment, fuel prices, changes in exchange rates, salaries and wages, the availability of consumer credit, consumer confidence and consumer perception of economic conditions. Economic slowdowns in the markets in which we do business and an uncertain economic outlook may adversely affect consumer spending habits, which may result in lower sales of our products in future periods.

In April 2020, we experienced a slowdown in sales to our retail customers, including our largest customer. While this decline was primarily offset by growth in our largest online customer, there can be no assurances that such growth will continue, or that we will have the financial resources to produce the additional quantities required by this customer. A prolonged global or regional economic downturn could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our intellectual property rights are valuable, and any inability to protect them could reduce the value of our products and brand.

We have invested significant resources to protect our brands and trademarks. However, we may be unable or unwilling to strictly enforce our intellectual property rights, including our brands and trademarks, from infringement. Our failure to enforce our intellectual property rights could diminish the value of our brands and product offerings and harm our business and future growth prospects.

We may be subject to intellectual property rights claims, which are costly to defend, could require us to pay damages and could limit our ability to sell some of our products.

Our industry is characterized by vigorous pursuit and protection of intellectual property rights, which has resulted in protracted and expensive litigation for several companies. Third parties may assert claims of misappropriation of trade secrets or infringement of intellectual property rights against us or against our end customers or partners for which we may be liable. Intellectual property lawsuits are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the complexity of the technical issues involved, and we cannot be certain that we would be successful in defending ourselves against intellectual property claims.

Further, many potential litigants have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources than we can to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them. Furthermore, a successful claimant could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages or prevents us from distributing products or performing certain services.

Product returns could negatively impact our operating results and profitability.

We permit the return of damaged or defective products and accept limited amounts of product returns in certain instances. While such returns from established customers have historically been nominal and within management’s expectations and the provisions established, future return rates may differ from those experienced in the past. Any significant increase in damaged or defective products or accepted returns could have a material adverse effect on our operating results for the period or periods in which such returns materialize.

We rely on third-party manufacturers for the production of our products.

We rely on third-party manufacturers to produce products required to meet our quality and market needs, and plan to continue to do so. If our contract manufacturers fail to maintain high manufacturing standards and processes, it could harm our business. In the event of a natural disaster or business failure, including due to bankruptcy of a contract manufacturer, we may not be able to secure a replacement of our products on a timely or cost-effective basis, which could result in delays, additional costs and reduced revenues. Additionally, our third-party manufacturers have been and may continue to be negatively affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A shortage in the supply of key raw materials or price increases could increase our costs or adversely affect our sales.

All of our raw materials for our products are obtained from third-party suppliers. Since all of the ingredients in our products are commonly used, we have not experienced shortages or delays in obtaining raw materials. If circumstances change, shortages could result in materially higher raw material prices or adversely affect our ability to have a product manufactured. Prices for our raw materials can and do fluctuate. Price increases from a supplier would directly affect our profitability if we are not able to pass price increases on to customers. Our inability to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials in a timely manner or a material increase in the price of our raw materials could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, our third-party suppliers have been and may continue to be negatively affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevada corporation laws limit the personal liability of corporate directors and officers and require indemnification under certain circumstances.

Section 78.138(7) of the Nevada Revised Statutes provides that, subject to certain very limited statutory exceptions or unless the articles of incorporation provide for greater individual liability, a director or officer of a Nevada corporation is not individually liable to the corporation or its stockholders for any damages as a result of any act or failure to act in his or her capacity as a director or officer, unless it is proven that the act or failure to act constituted a breach of his or her fiduciary duties as a director or officer and such breach involved intentional misconduct, fraud or a knowing violation of law. We have not included in our articles of incorporation any provision intended to provide for greater liability as contemplated by this statutory provision.

In addition, Section 78.7502(3) of the Nevada Revised Statutes provides that to the extent a director or officer of a Nevada corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of certain actions, suits or proceedings (which may include certain stockholder derivative actions), the corporation shall indemnify such director or officer against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such director or officer in connection therewith.

None.

In the normal course of business or otherwise, we may become involved in legal proceedings. We will accrue a liability for such matters when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. When only a range of possible loss can be established, the most probable amount in the range is accrued. If no amount within this range is a better estimate than any other amount within the range, the minimum amount in the range is accrued. The accrual for a litigation loss contingency might include, for example, estimates of potential damages, outside legal fees and other directly related costs expected to be incurred.

The Company provides disclosures for material contingencies when there is a reasonable possibility that a loss or an additional loss may be incurred. In assessing whether a loss is a reasonable possibility, the Company may consider the following factors, among others: the nature of the litigation, claim or assessment, available information, opinions or views of legal counsel and other advisors, and the experience gained from similar cases.

As of December 31, 2020, we were involved in the following material legal proceedings described below. These are not the only legal proceedings in which we are involved. We are involved in additional legal proceedings in the ordinary course of our business and otherwise.

ThermoLife International

In January 2016, ThermoLife International LLC (“ThermoLife”), a supplier of nitrates to MusclePharm, filed a complaint against us in Arizona state court. ThermoLife alleged that we failed to meet minimum purchase requirements contained in the parties’ supply agreement. In March 2016, we filed counterclaims alleging that ThermoLife’s products were defective. Through orders issued in September and November 2019, the court dismissed MusclePharm’s counterclaims and found that the Company was liable to ThermoLife for failing to meet its minimum purchase requirements.

The court held a bench trial on the issue of damages in October 2019, and on December 4, 2019, the court entered judgment in favor of ThermoLife and against the Company in the amount of $1.6 million, comprised of $0.9 million in damages, interest in the amount of $0.3 million and attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $0.4 million. The Company recorded $1.6 million in accrued expenses in 2018. As of December 31, 2020, the total amount accrued, including interest, was $1.8 million. In the interim, the Company filed an appeal and posted bonds in the total amount of $0.6 million in order to stay execution on the judgment pending appeal. Of the $0.6 million, $0.25 million (including fees) was paid by Mr. Drexler on behalf of the Company. See Note 8 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information. The balance of $0.35 million was secured by a personal guaranty from Mr. Drexler, while the associated fees of $12,500 were paid by the Company. The appeal has been fully briefed and is awaiting a decision.

For both the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, interest expense recognized on the awarded damages was $89,000.

The Company intends to continue to vigorously pursue its defenses on appeal.

White Winston Select Asset Fund Series MP-18, LLC et al., v MusclePharm Corp., et al., (Nev. Dist. Ct.; Cal. Superior Court; Colorado Dist. Ct.; Mass. Super. Ct.)

On August 21, 2018, White Winston Select Asset Fund Series MP-18, LLC and White Winston Select Asset Fund, LLC (together “White Winston”) initiated a derivative action against MusclePharm and its directors (collectively the “director defendants”). White Winston alleges that the director defendants breached their fiduciary duties by improperly approving the refinancing of three promissory notes issued by MusclePharm to Drexler (the “Amended Note”) in exchange for $18.0 million in loans. White Winston alleges that this refinancing improperly diluted their economic and voting power and constituted an improper distribution in violation of Nevada law. In its complaint, White Winston sought the appointment of a receiver over MusclePharm, a permanent injunction against the exercise of Drexler’s conversion right under the Amended Note, and other unspecified monetary damages. On September 13, 2018, White Winston filed an amended complaint, which added a former MusclePharm executive, as a plaintiff (together with White Winston, the “White Winston Plaintiffs”). On December 9, 2019, the White Winston Plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint, in which they added allegations relating to the resignation of MusclePharm’s auditor, Plante & Moran PLLC (“Plante Moran”). MusclePharm has moved to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint. That motion has not yet been fully briefed.

Along with its complaint, White Winston also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) and preliminary injunction enjoining the exercise of Drexler’s conversion right under the Amended Note. On August 23, 2018, the Nevada district court issued an ex-parte TRO. On September 14, 2018, the court let the TRO expire and denied White Winston’s request for a preliminary injunction, finding, among other things, that White Winston did not show a likelihood of success on the merits of the underlying action and failed to establish irreparable harm. Following the court’s decision, MusclePharm filed a motion seeking to recoup the legal fees and costs it incurred in responding to the preliminary injunction motion. On October 31, 2019, the court awarded MusclePharm $56,000 in fees and costs. White Winston has appealed that award.

Due to the uncertainty associated with determining our liability, if any, and due to our inability to ascertain with any reasonable degree of likelihood, as of the date of this report, the outcome of the trial, the Company has not recorded an estimate for its potential liability.

On June 17, 2019, White Winston moved for the appointment of a temporary receiver over MusclePharm, citing Plante Moran’s resignation. The court granted White Winston’s request to hold an evidentiary hearing on the motion, but subsequently stayed the action pending the parties’ attempts to resolve their dispute. Although the parties have been unable to reach a resolution, the litigation has not yet resumed. On July 30, 2019, White Winston filed an action in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles, seeking access to MusclePharm’s books and records and requesting the appointment of an independent auditor for the company. On February 25, 2021, the court ordered MusclePharm to produce certain documents, denied White Winston’s request for an auditor, and ordered MusclePharm to pay a $1,500 penalty.

MusclePharm is evaluating the court’s order and considering its appellate avenues.

IRS Audit

On April 6, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) selected our 2014 Federal Income Tax Return for audit. As a result of the audit, the IRS proposed certain adjustments with respect to the tax reporting of our former executives’ 2014 restricted stock grants. Due to our current and historical loss position, the proposed adjustments would have no material impact on our Federal income tax. On October 5, 2016, the IRS commenced an audit of our employment and withholding tax liability for 2014. The IRS contends that we inaccurately reported the value of the restricted stock grants and improperly failed to provide for employment taxes and Federal tax withholding on these grants. In addition, the IRS is proposing certain penalties associated with our filings. On April 4, 2017, we received a “30-day letter” from the IRS asserting back taxes and penalties of approximately $5.3 million, of which $4.4 million related to withholding taxes, specifically, income withholding and Social Security taxes, and $0.9 million related to penalties. Additionally, the IRS asserts that we owe information reporting penalties of approximately $2.0 million.

Our counsel has submitted a formal protest to the IRS disputing on several grounds all of the proposed adjustments and penalties on our behalf, and we have been pursuing this matter vigorously through the IRS appeal process. An Appeals Conference was held with the IRS in Denver, Colorado on July 31, 2019. At the Conference, the Company made substantial arguments challenging the IRS’s claims for employment taxes and penalties. On December 16, 2019, a further Appeals Conference was held with the IRS by telephone. At the telephone conference, the Appeals Officer confirmed that he agreed with the Company’s argument that the failure to deposit penalties should be conceded by the IRS. The failure to deposit penalties total about $2.0 million. Thus, with this concession, the IRS’s claims have been reduced from approximately $7.3 million to about $5.3 million.

The remaining issue in dispute in this matter involves the fair market value of restricted stock units in the Company granted to certain of its former officers (the “Former Officers”) under Internal Revenue Code § 83. The Company and the IRS disagree as to the value of the restricted stock on the date of the grants, i.e., October 1, 2014. The Company and the IRS have exchanged expert valuation reports on the fair market value of the stock and have had extensive negotiations on this issue. The parties, however, have not been able to reach an agreement with respect to the value of the stock. The IRS has also made parallel claims regarding the restricted stock units against the Former Officers of the Company. The IRS has asserted that the Former Officers received ordinary income from the stock grants, and that they owe additional personal income taxes based on the fair market value of the stock. The Former Officers’ cases, unlike the Company’s case, are pending before the United States Tax Court. In the Tax Court litigation, the Former Officers are challenging the IRS’s determinations regarding the fair market value of the restricted stock grants on October 1, 2014. The Former Officers have separate counsel from the Company. The same IRS Appeals Officer and Revenue Agents assigned to the Company’s case are also involved in the cases for the Former Officers. Throughout the proceedings, the Company has argued to the IRS that it is the Former Officers who are directly and principally liable for the amount of any tax due, and not the Company. The Former Officers cases were scheduled for trial in Tax Court on March 9, 2020. The trial of the cases was continued by the Court on February 4, 2020. The basis for the continuance was that the IRS and the Former Officers had made progress toward a settlement of the valuation issue involving the grants of the restricted stock. The outcome of these settlement negotiations will be relevant to the Company’s case.

The Company is closely monitoring the settlement discussions between the IRS and the Former Officers. The Tax Court ordered the Former Officers to file status reports regarding progress of their settlement negotiations with the IRS on or before February 28, 2021. The IRS and the Former Officers filed status reports with the Tax Court on February 26, 2021. After receiving the status reports, the Tax Court issued an order directing the parties to file further status reports on or before July 9, 2021. The Tax Court has not set a trial dates in the cases of the Former Officers.

Due to the uncertainty associated with determining our liability for the asserted taxes and penalties, if any, and to our inability to ascertain with any reasonable degree of likelihood, as of the date of this report, the outcome of the IRS appeals process, we have not recorded an estimate for its potential liability, if any, associated with these taxes.

During the time period of the IRS audit and Appeals Office consideration of the Company’s case, the Company and the IRS signed a series of consents to extend the statutes of limitations for assessment for both the employment tax and corporation income tax of the Corporation for 2014. The Company’s records show that the last consents that the Company signed extended the statutes of limitations for employment tax and corporation income tax for 2014 through and including December 15, 2020. The Company has no record of any consents being signed by the Company and the IRS extending the statutes of limitations beyond December 15, 2020. Based on these facts, the Company believes that the statutes of limitations for assessment of additional employment tax and corporation income tax against the Corporation for 2014 expired on December 15, 2020. The Company does not know whether the IRS agrees with the Corporation’s statements regarding the current status of the statutes of limitations described herein.

On August 22, 2018, Richard Estalella filed an action against us and two other defendants in the Colorado District Court for the County of Denver, seeking damages arising out of the IRS’s assertion of tax liability and penalties relating to the 2014 restricted stock grants. We have answered Estalella’s complaint, asserted counterclaims against Estalella for his failure to ensure that all withholding taxes were paid in connection with the 2014 restricted stock grants, and filed cross-claims against two valuation firms named in the action (as well as their principals) for failing to properly value the 2014 restricted stock grants for tax purposes. Trial in the matter has been scheduled for February 7, 2022. There are no amounts accrued related to this matter.

The Company will continue to vigorously litigate the matter.

None.

Our common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets, which is operated by the OTC Markets Group, under the symbol “MSLP.” Our transfer agent is EQ Shareowner Services, which is located at 1110 Center Point Curve, Suite 101, Mendota Heights, MN 55120.

Holders of Record

As of March 24, 2021, the closing price of our common stock was $0.56, as provided by the OTC Markets, and we had 33,479,886 shares of common stock outstanding, held by approximately 327 holders of record of our common stock. The number of holders does not include individuals or entities who beneficially own shares but whose shares are held of record by a broker or clearing agency but does include each such broker or clearing agency as one record holder.

Unregistered Sale of Securities

There was no unregistered sale of securities during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

The Securities Enforcement and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990

The Securities Enforcement and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990 requires additional disclosure and documentation related to the market for penny stock and for trades in any stock defined as a penny stock. Unless we can trade at over $5.00 per share on the bid, it is more likely than not that our securities, for some period of time, would be defined under that Act as a “penny stock.” As a result, those who trade in our securities may be required to provide additional information related to their eligibility to trade our shares. These requirements present a substantial burden on any person or brokerage firm that plans to trade our securities and could thereby make it unlikely that any liquid trading market would ever result in our securities so long as the provisions of this Act are applicable to our securities.

Any broker-dealer engaged by the purchaser for the purpose of selling his or her shares in us will be subject to Rules 15g-1 through 15g-10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Rather than creating a need to comply with those rules, some broker-dealers will refuse to attempt to sell penny stock.

The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC, which:

The broker-dealer also must provide, prior to effecting any transaction in a penny stock, to the customer:

In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules; the broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written acknowledgment of the receipt of a risk disclosure statement, a written agreement to transactions involving penny stocks, and a signed and dated copy of a written suitability statement. These disclosure requirements will have the effect of reducing the trading activity in the secondary market for our stock because it will be subject to these penny stock rules. Therefore, stockholders may have difficulty selling their securities.

Dividend Policy

We have never declared dividends on our common stock, and currently do not plan to declare dividends on shares of our common stock in the foreseeable future. We expect to retain our future earnings, if any, for use in the operation and expansion of our business. Subject to the foregoing, the payment of cash dividends in the future, if any, will be at the discretion of our Board and will depend upon such factors as restrictions in debt agreements, earnings levels, capital requirements, our overall financial condition and any other factors deemed relevant by our Board.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed below. See “Forward Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Except as otherwise indicated herein, the terms “MusclePharm,” “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to MusclePharm Corporation and its subsidiaries.

Overview

MusclePharm is a scientifically-driven, performance lifestyle company that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes branded sports nutrition products and nutritional supplements. We offer a broad range of performance powders, capsules, tablets, gels and on-the-go ready to eat snacks that satisfy the needs of enthusiasts and professionals alike. Our portfolio of recognized brands, MusclePharm® and FitMiss®, is marketed and sold in more than 100 countries globally. The Company is headquartered in Calabasas, California and, as of December 31, 2020, had the following wholly-owned subsidiaries which do not currently have operations: MusclePharm Canada Enterprises Corp., MusclePharm Ireland Limited and MusclePharm Australia Pty Limited.

Our offerings are clinically developed through a six-stage research process, and all of our manufactured products are rigorously vetted for banned substances by the leading quality assurance program, Informed-Choice. While we initially drove growth in the Specialty retail channel, in recent years we have expanded our focus to drive sales and retailer growth across leading e-commerce, Food Drug & Mass (“FDM”), and Club retail channels, including Amazon, Costco, Kroger, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and many others. Our primary distribution channels are Specialty, International and FDM.

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared using the accrual method of accounting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the settlement of liabilities in the normal course of business.

During the fourth quarter of 2019, management implemented the following measures to improve gross profit:

As a result of these measures, as well as a reduction in protein prices, the Company realized increased gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2019, a trend which continued throughout 2020. In April 2020, the Company experienced a slowdown in sales from its retail customers, including its largest customer. This decline was partially offset by a growth in sales to its largest online customers, although there can be no assurances that such growth will continue, or that the Company will have the financial resources to produce the additional quantities required by these customers. In 2020, the Company also negotiated lower costs of goods sold with our co-manufacturers. Management believes reductions in operating costs and continued focus on gross profit will allow us to ultimately achieve sustained profitability; however, the Company can give no assurances that this will occur. In particular, fluctuations in the cost of protein may have a material impact on the Company’s profitability, as well as the ability of our third-party manufacturers to meet our customer’s demands. To manage cash flow, the Company has entered into multiple financing arrangements. For additional information, see Note 8 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Our results of operations are affected by economic conditions, including macroeconomic conditions and levels of business confidence. There continues to be significant volatility and economic uncertainty in many markets and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has increased that level of volatility and uncertainty and has created economic disruption. We are actively managing our business to respond to the impact. There were no adjustments recorded in the financial statements that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties.

COVID-19

Our results of operations are affected by economic conditions, including macroeconomic conditions and levels of business confidence. There continues to be significant volatility and economic uncertainty in many markets and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has increased that level of volatility and uncertainty and has created economic disruption.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led federal and certain state and local governmental authorities to issue stay-at-home orders, proclamations and/or directives aimed at minimizing the spread of the infection. It is uncertain how long certain of these measures will last or whether additional proclamations and/or directives may be issued in the future.

The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operations is unknown and will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak, new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, and any additional preventative and protective actions that governments, or the Company, may direct, which may result in an extended period of continued business disruption, reduced customer traffic and reduced operations. Any resulting financial impact cannot be reasonably estimated at this time but may have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

While revenue, net is down for 2020 compared to 2019, there are multiple factors contributing to this decline. Our revenue for 2020 is down primarily as a result of a reduction in promotional discounts, resulting in lower sales volume with certain customers, and to a lesser degree, due to the impact of COVID-19, resulting in a decline in our Specialty, International, and Food, Drug, and Mass (“FDM”) sales. Management continues to monitor the business environment for any significant changes that could impact the Company’s operations. The Company has taken proactive steps to manage costs and discretionary spending, such as remote working and reducing facility related expense.

Outlook

As we continue to execute our growth strategy and focus on our core products, we believe that we can, over time, continue to improve our operating margins and expense structure. In addition, we have implemented plans focused on cost containment, customer profitability, product and pricing controls that we believe will improve our gross margin and reduce our losses.

We expect that our advertising and promotion expense will continue to decrease as we focus on reducing our expenses and shifting our promotional costs, in part, from general branding and product awareness to acquiring customers and driving sales from existing customers. We expect that our discounts and allowances will continue to decrease, both overall and as a percentage of revenue, as we further reduce certain discretionary promotional activity that does not result in a commensurate increase in revenues. In addition, we expect our gross margin to increase in future periods due to a decrease in protein prices which began in the fourth quarter of 2019, although protein prices will continue to fluctuate.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2020 to the Year Ended December 31, 2019

The following table presents our operating results as a percentage of revenue, net for the periods presented:

Revenue, net

We derive our revenue through the sales of our various branded sports nutrition products and nutritional supplements. Revenue is recognized when control of a promised good is transferred to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for the good. This usually occurs when finished goods are delivered to the Company’s customers or when finished goods are picked up by a customer or a customer’s carrier.

Net revenue reflects the transaction prices for contracts, which includes goods shipped at selling list prices reduced by variable consideration. We record sales incentives as a direct reduction of revenue for various discounts provided to our customers, consisting primarily of promotional related credits. We accrue for sales discounts over the period they are earned. Sales discounts are a significant part of our marketing plan to our customers as they help drive increased sales and brand awareness with end users through promotions that we support through our distributors and re-sellers.

MusclePharm brands are marketed across major global retail distribution channels – Specialty, International, and Food, Drug, and Mass (“FDM”). Below is a table of net revenue by our major distribution channel:

Net revenue decreased $15.2 million, or 19%, to $64.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $79.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Net revenue from our international customers decreased by $4.8 million, or 21%, year over year, primarily due to a general shift to domestic and online marketing. Net revenue from FDM decreased $1.2 million, or 6%, and net revenue from Specialty lines decreased $9.2 million, or 26%, year over year. The decrease in Specialty was primarily due to lower sales volumes due to a reduction in discounts offered to these customers, including one of our largest e-commerce customers, whose revenues declined by 76% for 2020, as compared to 2019. During 2020, we increased our sales price to select customers, including certain large customers, reduced expenditures on partnership advertising, online impressions and click advertising with our online customers, while also reducing end-aisle and front of the store promotions with our retail customers, contributing to the revenue decline. Finally, we continue to monitor the profitability of each customer, and in the event that customers have negative or low margins, sales activities with such customers are reduced.

Discounts and sales allowances decreased to 22% of gross revenue, or $17.7 million, for the year ended December 31, 2020 from 25% of gross revenue, or $26.9 million for 2019. Discounts and sales allowances fluctuate based on customer mix and changes in discretionary promotional activity. We will continue to monitor our discounts and reduce where practical in order to continue to meet our gross margin expectations.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, our three largest customers accounted for approximately 70% of our net revenue. During the year ended December 31, 2019, our three largest customers accounted for approximately 63% of our net revenue.

Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin

Cost of revenue for MusclePharm products is directly related to the production, manufacturing, and freight-in of the related products purchased from third-party contract manufacturers. We use contract manufacturers to drop ship products directly to our customers, as well as ship product to our warehouse in Tennessee, which is operated by a third-party logistics provider.

Our gross profit fluctuates due to several factors, including sales incentives, new product introductions and upgrades to existing product lines, changes in customer and product mixes, the mix of product demand, shipment volumes, our product costs, pricing, and inventory write-downs. Cost of revenue will continue to fluctuate, primarily due to changes in protein prices, which prices are impacted, in part, by our ability to negotiate better pricing with our manufacturers. Protein prices increased for most of 2019, before declining at the end of the year.

Costs of revenue decreased 37% to $44.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $71.0 million for 2019. This decrease was due, in part, to lower revenues, with gross revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020 decreasing 19% compared to the same period in 2019. In addition, during 2020 there was a significant decrease in protein prices compared to the prior year period, further contributing to lower costs of revenue. Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2020 increased $10.9 million to $19.6 million compared to $8.7 million for the same period in 2019. Gross profit was 30% of revenue, net for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 11% for the same period in 2019. Positively impacting the gross profit percentage was a decrease of 3% in promotional discounts, as a percentage of revenue, net, and a decrease in protein prices for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, further contributing to the gross profit percentage increase.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 were $17.0 million, compared to $23.8 million in 2019. Our operating expenses were 26% and 30% of net revenue for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. We continue to focus on reducing our operating expenses in response to our continued losses, including as discussed in “—Outlook.” Changes to operating expenses in 2020 were as follows:

Advertising and Promotion

Our advertising and promotion expenses consist primarily of digital, print and media advertising, promotional giveaways, in store product demonstrations, and in store product displays and trade show events.

Advertising and promotion expense decreased $2.0 million or 80% to $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, or 1% of net revenue, compared to $2.5 million, or 3% of net revenue, for 2019. The decrease was primarily due to reduced club demonstrations and sports marketing, print and online advertising and reduced giveaways.

The reductions in 2020 were made in an effort to reduce overall spending as we shift our promotional costs, in part, from general branding and product awareness to acquiring customers and driving sales from existing customers.

Salaries and Benefits

Salaries and benefits consist primarily of salaries, bonuses, benefits and stock-based compensation paid or provided to our employees.

Salaries and benefits continued to decrease primarily due to headcount reductions and terminations, including certain higher salaried employees. This decrease was offset, in part, by an increase in consulting fees to assist us in preparing our delinquent annual and quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings for 2018, 2019 and the first three quarters of 2020.

Salaries and benefits decreased by $1.5 million or 19% to $6.4 million, or 10% of net revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $7.9 million, or 10% of revenue, for 2019.

Selling, General and Administrative

Our selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of depreciation and amortization, information technology equipment and network costs, facilities related expenses, director’s fees, which include both cash and stock-based compensation, insurance, rental expenses related to equipment leases, supplies, legal settlement costs, broker fees and other corporate expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by 27% to $7.1 million, or 11% of net revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $9.8 million, or 12% of net revenue, for the same period in 2019. The decrease was primarily due to lower freight costs, due in part to a reduction in shipping rates for most of 2020, together with reduced travel expenses, depreciation, research and development, office expenses and other general expenses. These reductions are in line with the Company’s cost reduction strategy.

Professional Fees

Professional fees consist primarily of legal fees, accounting and audit fees, consulting fees and investor relations costs. Professional fees decreased 23% to $2.8 million, or 4% of net revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $3.6 million, or 5% of net revenue, for the same period in 2019.

The decrease was primarily due to reduced legal fees of $1.6 million as the Company has made progress on winding down various legal matters. These reduced legal fees have been offset in part by increased accounting fees, resulting from the additional audit work performed which relate to the restated financial statements filed with the SEC on August 25, 2020, and the filing of the first three quarters of 2020 on November 24, 2020.

To the extent our ongoing legal matters are reduced, we expect to see a further decline in legal costs for specific settlement activities. We intend to continue to invest in strengthening our governance, internal controls, and process improvements, which is expected to require support from third-party service providers.

Settlement of obligations

We recorded settlement expenses of $0.1 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Gain on settlement of payables

On September 25, 2020, we entered into a settlement agreement with Nutrablend, a manufacturer of MusclePharm products, pursuant to which we agreed to pay approximately $3.1 million in monthly payments from September 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.

On December 16, 2020, we entered into a settlement agreement with Excelsior Nutrition, a manufacturer of MusclePharm products, pursuant to which we agreed to pay approximately $4.8 million in monthly payments beginning January 5, 2020 and thereafter until the settlement amount is paid in full.

We recorded $1.7 million as a gain on the settlement of these liabilities, the result of the imputation of interest due to the long-term nature of the payouts.

Interest and other expense, net

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, “Interest and other expense, net” consisted of the following (in thousands):

“Other” includes sublease income and gain on disposal of fixed assets.

Interest and other expense, net for the year ended December 31, 2020 decreased 72% to $1.0 million, compared to 2019. The decrease was primarily due to the Refinanced Convertible Note (as defined below), of which the principal balance of $18.0 million was converted to common stock in September 2019, and the reversal in 2020 of interest recorded in 2019 on past due balances with Excelsior Nutrition and Nutrablend, which were both settled in 2020, with no interest due.

Provision for income taxes

Provision for income taxes consists primarily of federal and state income taxes in the U.S. and income taxes in foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. Due to uncertainty, as to the realization of benefits from our deferred tax assets, including net operating loss carryforwards, research and development and other tax credits, we have a full valuation allowance reserved against such assets. We expect to maintain this full valuation allowance at least in the near term.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company has historically incurred significant losses and experienced negative cash flows since inception. However, the Company generated net income of $3.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had cash of $2.0 million, an increase of $0.5 million from the December 31, 2019 balance of $1.5 million. This increase is due to cash provided by investing activities of $0.2 million and cash provided by financing activities of $1.1 million, offset by cash used in operating activities of $0.9 million.

The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon us maintaining profitable operations in the future and/or obtaining the necessary financing to meet our obligations and repay our liabilities when they come due. Management is on an ongoing basis evaluating strategies to obtain financing to fund our expenses and achieve a level of revenue adequate to support our current cost structure. Financing strategies may include, but are not limited to, private placements of capital stock, debt borrowings, partnerships and/or collaborations. There is no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms or at all or to generate an adequate level of revenues.

During the fourth quarter of 2019, management implemented the following measures to improve gross margin:

As a result of these measures, as well as a reduction in protein prices, the Company realized increased gross margins in the fourth quarter of 2019, a trend which continued throughout 2020. In April 2020, the Company experienced a slowdown in sales from its retail customers, including its largest customer. This decline was partially offset by a growth in sales to its largest online customers, although there can be no assurances that such growth will continue, or that the Company will have the financial resources to produce the additional quantities required by these customers.

Management believes reductions in operating costs, and continued focus on gross margin, primarily pricing controls and a reduction in product discounts and promotional activity with the Company’s customers, will allow us to ultimately achieve sustained profitability, however, we can give no assurances that this will occur. In particular, fluctuations in the cost of protein may have a material impact on the Company’s profitability, as well as the ability of our third-party manufacturers to meet our customer’s demands.

Cash Flows

Our net consolidated cash flows are as follows (in thousands):

Operating Activities

Our cash used in operating activities is driven primarily by inventory purchases, personnel-related expenditures, manufacturing costs, professional fees (including legal and accounting fees), and other general expenses such as rent and maintenance expenses. Our cash flows from operating activities is expected to continue to be affected principally by results of operations and the extent to which we increase spending on personnel expenditures, sales and marketing activities, and our working capital requirements.

Our operating cash outflows improved $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, due to a decrease in net cash used in operating activities to $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to a net cash used of $6.5 million for 2019.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, net cash used in operating activities of $0.9 million primarily relates to net income of $3.2 million, adjusted for non-cash charges, which resulted in a source of cash of $2.4 million. This was offset, in part, by a net change in net operating assets and liabilities, which resulted in a use of cash of $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Included in the change in net operating assets and liabilities was a decrease in our accounts payable and accrued liabilities balance of $4.7 million and an increase in our accounts receivable balance of $2.9 million, partially offset by a decrease in our inventory balance of $3.8 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, the net cash used in operating activities of $6.5 million primarily relates to net loss of $18.9 million, adjusted for non-cash charges, which resulted in a use of cash of $16.9 million, and a net change in net operating assets and liabilities, which resulted in a source of cash of $10.4 million. Included in the change in net operating assets and liabilities was a decrease in our inventory balance of $8.9 million and a decrease in our accounts receivable balance of $1.4 million.

Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities was $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, which relates primarily to proceeds from disposal of property and equipment of $0.2 million.

Cash used in investing activities was $13,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 for the purchases of property and equipment.

Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities was $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to net borrowings from our secured borrowing arrangement of $2.7 million, receipt of the Paycheck Protection Program loan of $1.0 million, net payments on our line of credit of $2.2 million.

Cash provided by financing activities was $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to net borrowings from our line of credit of $2.7 million and net borrowings from our secured borrowing arrangement of $3.2 million.

To manage cash flow, we have entered into numerous financing arrangement outlined below.

Indebtedness Agreements

Related-Party Refinanced Convertible Note

On November 3, 2017, the Company entered into the refinancing with Mr. Ryan Drexler, the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President (the “Refinancing”). As part of the Refinancing, the Company issued to Mr. Drexler an amended and restated convertible secured promissory note (the “Refinanced Convertible Note”) in the original principal amount of $18.0 million, which amended and restated (i) a convertible secured promissory note dated as of December 7, 2015, amended as of January 14, 2017, in the original principal amount of $6.0 million with an interest rate of 8% prior to the amendment and 10% following the amendment (the “2015 Convertible Note”), (ii) a convertible secured promissory note dated as of November 8, 2016, in the original principal amount of $11.0 million with an interest rate of 10% (the “2016 Convertible Note”) , and (iii) a secured demand promissory note dated as of July 27, 2017, in the original principal amount of $1.0 million with an interest rate of 15% (the “2017 Note” and, together with the 2015 Convertible Note and the 2016 Convertible Note, collectively, the “Prior Notes”). The due date of the 2015 Convertible Note and the 2016 Convertible Note was November 8, 2017. The 2017 Note was due on demand.

Interest rate on the $18.0 million Refinanced Convertible Note was 12% per annum, and interest payments were due on the last day of each quarter. At the Company’s option (as determined by its independent directors), the Company could repay up to one-sixth of any interest payment by either adding such amount to the principal amount of the note or by converting such interest amount into an equivalent amount of the Company’s common stock. Any interest not paid when due would be capitalized and added to the principal amount of the Refinanced Convertible Note and bear interest on the applicable interest payment date along with all other unpaid principal, capitalized interest, and other capitalized obligations. Both the principal and the interest under the Refinanced Convertible Note were due on December 31, 2019, unless converted earlier. Mr. Drexler could convert the outstanding principal and accrued interest into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price of $1.11 per share at any time. The Company could prepay the Refinanced Convertible Note by giving Mr. Drexler between 15- and 60-days’ notice depending upon the specific circumstances, subject to Mr. Drexler’s conversion right.

The Refinanced Convertible Note contained customary events of default, including, among others, the failure by the Company to make a payment of principal or interest when due. Following an event of default, interest would accrue at the rate of 14% per annum. In addition, following an event of default, any conversion, redemption, payment or prepayment of the Refinanced Convertible Note would be at a premium of 105%. The Refinanced Convertible Note also contained customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the Refinanced Convertible Note.

As part of the Refinancing, the Company and Mr. Drexler entered into a restructuring agreement (the “Restructuring Agreement”) pursuant to which the parties agreed to amend and restate the security agreement resulting in a Third Amended and Restated Security Agreement (the “Amended Security Agreement”) in which the Prior Notes were secured by all of the assets and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries whether tangible or intangible. Pursuant to the Restructuring Agreement, the Company agreed to pay, on the effective date of the Refinancing, all outstanding interest on the Prior Notes through November 8, 2017 and certain fees and expenses incurred by Mr. Drexler in connection with the Restructuring.

On September 16, 2019, Mr. Ryan Drexler delivered a notice to the Company and its independent directors of his election to convert, effective as of September 16, 2019 (the “Notice Date”), $18.0 million of the amount outstanding under that certain Amended and Restated Convertible Secured Promissory Note, dated as of November 8, 2017 (the “Note”), issued by the Company to Mr. Drexler, into shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), at a conversion price of $1.11 per share, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Note (the “Partial Conversion”). As of the Notice Date, the total amount outstanding under the Note (including principal and accrued and unpaid interest) was equal to $19.3 million. Pursuant to the terms of the Note, the Company instructed the transfer agent to issue to Mr. Drexler 16,216,216 shares (the “Shares”) of its Common Stock in respect of the Partial Conversion.

On October 4, 2019, the Company entered into a secured revolving promissory note (the “Revolving Note”) with Mr. Drexler. Under the terms of the Revolving Note, the Company can borrow up to $3.0 million. The Revolving Note bears interest at the rate of 12% annually. The use of funds will be solely for the purchase of whey protein to be used in the manufacturing of MusclePharm products. The Company may prepay the Revolving Note by giving Mr. Drexler one days’ written notice. The Revolving Note contains customary events of default, including, among others, the failure by the Company to make a payment of principal or interest when due. Following an event of default, Mr. Drexler is entitled to accelerate the entire indebtedness under the Revolving Note. The Revolving Note also contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts. In connection with the Revolving Note, the Company and Mr. Drexler entered into a security agreement dated October 4, 2019, pursuant to which the Revolving Note is secured by all of the assets and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries whether tangible or intangible.

On December 27, 2019, the Company entered into a collateral receipt and security agreement with Mr. Drexler, pursuant to which Mr. Drexler agreed to post bond relating to the judgment ruled against the Company in connection with the litigation between the Company and ThermoLife International LLC (“ThermoLife”), pending the appeal. The amount paid by Mr. Drexler on behalf of the Company, including fees, was $0.3 million.

On August 21, 2020, the Company entered into a refinancing agreement with Mr. Ryan Drexler, the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President (the “2020 Refinancing”), with an effective date of July 1, 2020. As part of the 2020 Refinancing, the Company issued to Mr. Drexler an amended and restated convertible secured promissory note (the 2020 “Refinanced Convertible Note”) in the original principal amount of $2,735,199, which amended and restated (i) a convertible secured promissory note dated as of November 8, 2017, $1,134,483 of which was outstanding as of July 1, 2020 (ii) a collateral receipt and security agreement with Mr. Drexler dated as of December 27, 2019, $252,500 of which was outstanding as of July 1, 2020, and (iii) a secured revolving promissory note dated as of October 4, 2019, $1,348,216 of which was outstanding as of July 1, 2020. The $2.7 million 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum.

The 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note. The 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note is subordinated to certain other indebtedness of the Company held by Prestige Capital Corporation (“Prestige”) and Crossroads Financial Group, LLC (“Crossroads”). The Company may prepay the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note by giving Mr. Drexler between 15- and 60-days’ notice depending upon the specific circumstances, subject to Mr. Drexler’s conversion right. Mr. Drexler may convert the outstanding principal and accrued interest into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price equal to or greater than (i) the closing price per share of the common stock on the last business day immediately preceding November 1, 2020 or (ii) $0.17.

All outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest under the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note were due and payable on November 1, 2020. The Note was in default on that date and the Company agreed with Mr. Drexler to amend the 2020 Refinancing by the end of November 2020. Interest accrued but unpaid, totaling $26,000 was capitalized on the due date and added to the principal amount of the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note.

On November 29, 2020, the Company entered into a refinancing agreement with Mr. Ryan Drexler, (the “November 2020 Refinancing”), in which the Company issued to Mr. Drexler an amended and restated convertible secured promissory note (the November 2020 “Convertible Note”) in the original principal amount of $2,871,967, which amended and restated a convertible secured promissory note dated as of August 21, 2020. The $2.9 million November 2020 Convertible Note bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum. Unless earlier converted or repaid, all outstanding principal and any accrued but unpaid interest under the November 2020 Convertible Note shall be due and payable on July 1, 2021. Any interest not paid when due shall be capitalized and added to the principal amount of the November 2020 Convertible Note and bear interest on the applicable interest payment date along with all other unpaid principal, capitalized interest, and other capitalized obligations.

Mr. Drexler may, at any time, and from time to time, upon written notice to the Company, convert the outstanding principal and accrued interest into shares of Common Stock, at a conversion price of $0.23 per share. At the election of the Company, one-sixth of the interest may be paid in kind (“PIK Interest”) by adding such amount to the principal amount of the note, or through the issuance of shares of the Company’s common stock to Mr. Drexler. The PIK Interest is convertible to common stock at the closing price per share on the last business day of each calendar quarter. In no event will the conversion price of such PIK Interest be less than $0.10. The Company may prepay the Note by giving Mr. Drexler between 15- and 60-days’ notice depending upon the specific circumstances, subject to Mr. Drexler’s conversion right. The Company intends to pay all interest due on the Convertible Note to Mr. Drexler at the end of each calendar quarter.

The November 2020 Convertible Note contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the November 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note. The November 2020 Convertible Note is subordinated to certain other indebtedness of the Company held by Prestige Capital Corporation (“Prestige”) and Crossroads Financial Group, LLC (“Crossroads”).

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, interest expense related to the related party convertible secured promissory notes was $0.3 million and $1.7 million, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, interest paid in cash to Mr. Drexler was $31,000 and $0.8 million, respectively.

Related Party Secured Revolving Promissory Note

On October 15, 2020, the Company entered into a secured revolving promissory note (the “Revolving Note”) with Mr. Drexler. Under the terms of the Revolving Note, the Company can borrow up to $3.0 million. The Revolving Note bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum. The use of funds will be used for the purchase of whey protein and other general corporate purposes. Both the outstanding principal, if any, and all accrued interest under the Revolving Note are due on March 31, 2021. The Company may prepay the Revolving Note by giving Mr. Drexler one days’ advance written notice. The Revolving Note contains customary events of default, including, among others, the failure by the Company to make a payment of principal or interest when due. Following an event of default, Mr. Drexler is entitled to accelerate the entire indebtedness under the Revolving Note. The Revolving Note also contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the Revolving Note. The Revolving Note is subordinated to certain other indebtedness of the Company held by Prestige and Crossroads. In connection with the Revolving Note, the Company and Mr. Drexler entered into a fifth amended and restated security agreement dated October 15, 2020 (the “Security Agreement”) pursuant to which the Revolving Note is secured by all of the assets and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries whether tangible or intangible.

As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding balance on the revolving note was $0.7 million. During the year ended December 31, 2020, interest paid in cash to Mr. Drexler was $24,000.

Line of Credit - Inventory Financing

On October 6, 2017, the Company entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (“Security Agreement”) with Crossroads. Pursuant to the Security Agreement, the Company may borrow up to 70% of its Inventory Cost or up to 75% of Net Orderly Liquidation Value (each as defined in the Security Agreement), up to a maximum amount of $3.0 million at an interest rate of 1.5% per month, subject to a minimum monthly fee of $22,500. Subsequent to the end of 2017, the maximum amount was increased to $4.0 million. The term of the Security Agreement automatically extends in one-year increments, unless earlier terminated pursuant to the terms of the Security Agreement. The Security Agreement contains customary events of default, including, among others, the failure to make payments on amounts owed when due, default under any other material agreement or the departure of Mr. Drexler. The Security Agreement also contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens, incur debt, and transfer assets. Under the Security Agreement, the Company agreed to grant Crossroads a security interest in all of the Company’s present and future accounts, chattel paper, goods (including inventory and equipment), instruments, investment property, documents, general intangibles, intangibles, letter of credit rights, commercial tort claims, deposit accounts, supporting obligations, documents, records and the proceeds thereof. The Security Agreement has second priority lien on the Company’s assets and is subordinated to the Company’s indebtedness held by Prestige.

During the year, the Company made payments of $3 million to Crossroads and had no outstanding liability as of December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2019, we owed Crossroads $3.0 million, and the amount is included in “Line of credit” in the consolidated balance sheets.

On April 1, 2019, the Company and Crossroads amended the terms of the agreement. The agreement was extended until March 31, 2020, the rate was modified to 1.33% per month, and the amount the Company can borrow was increased from $3.0 million to $4.0 million.

On February 26, 2020, the Company and Crossroads further amended the terms of the agreement. The agreement was extended until April 1, 2021 and the amount the Company can borrow was decreased from $4.0 million to $3.0 million.

On October 30, 2020, the Company paid off the loan, including an early termination fee of $0.1 million.

Secured Borrowing Arrangement

In January 2016, the Company entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement (the “Purchase and Sale Agreement”) with Prestige, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and assign and Prestige agreed to buy and accept, certain accounts receivable owed to the Company (“Accounts”). Under the terms of the Purchase and Sale Agreement, upon the receipt and acceptance of each assignment of Accounts, Prestige will pay the Company 80% of the net face amount of the assigned Accounts, up to a maximum total borrowing of $12.5 million subject to sufficient amounts of accounts receivable to secure the loan. The remaining 20% will be paid to the Company upon collection of the assigned Accounts, less any chargebacks (including chargebacks for any customer amounts that remain outstanding for over 90 days), disputes, or other amounts due to Prestige. Prestige’s purchase of the assigned Accounts from the Company will be at a discount fee which varies from 0.7% to 4%, based on the number of days outstanding from the assignment of Accounts to collection of the assigned Accounts. In addition, the Company granted Prestige a continuing security interest in and first priority lien upon all accounts receivable, inventory, fixed assets, general intangibles, and other assets. Prestige will have no recourse against the Company if payments are not made due to the insolvency of an account debtor within 90 days of invoice date, with the exception of international and certain domestic customers.

At December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had outstanding borrowings of approximately $7.1 million and $4.4 million, respectively.

On April 10, 2019, the Company and Prestige amended the terms of the agreement. The agreement was extended until April 1, 2020. Thereafter the agreement shall renew itself automatically for one (1) year periods unless either party receives written notice of cancellation from the other, at minimum, thirty (30) days prior to the expiration date.

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company assigned to Prestige, accounts with an aggregate face amount of approximately $58.0 million and $55.1 million, respectively, for which Prestige paid to the Company approximately $46.4 million and $44.1 million, respectively, in cash. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, $43.7 million and $40.9 million, respectively, was repaid to Prestige, including fees and interest.

Paycheck Protection Program Loan

Due to economic uncertainty as a result of the ongoing pandemic (COVID-19), on May 14, 2020, the Company received an aggregate principal amount of $964,910 pursuant to the borrowing arrangement (“Note”) with Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC (“HSBF”) and agreed to pay the principal amount plus interest at a 1% fixed interest rate per year, on the unpaid principal balance. The Note includes forgiveness provisions in accordance with the requirements of the Paycheck Protection Program, Section 1106 of the CARES Act.

The Note is expected to mature on May 16, 2022. Payments were due by November 16, 2020 (the “Deferment Period”) and interest was accrued during the Deferment Period. However, the Flexibility Act, which was signed into law on June 5, 2020, extended the Deferment Period to the date that the forgiven amount is remitted by the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to HSBF. The Company is in the process of filling out the forgiveness application form. As of December 31, 2020, the Company owed approximately $1.0 million (principal plus accrued interest), and the amount is recorded in “Other long-term liabilities” in the consolidated balance sheets.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2020.

Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA

In addition to disclosing financial results calculated in accordance with GAAP, this Form 10-K discloses Adjusted EBITDA, which is net loss adjusted for stock-based compensation, gain on settlement of accounts payable, (gain) loss on disposal of property and equipment, amortization of prepaid sponsorship fees, interest and other expense, net, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, provision for doubtful accounts, and (benefit) provision for income taxes.

Management uses Adjusted EBITDA as a supplement to GAAP measures to further evaluate period-to-period operating performance, as well as the Company’s ability to meet future working capital requirements. The exclusion of non-cash charges, including stock-based compensation and depreciation and amortization, gain on settlement of payables and impairment of assets, is useful in measuring the Company’s cash available for operations and performance of the Company. Management believes these non-GAAP measures will provide investors with important additional perspectives in evaluating the Company’s ongoing business performance.

The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA is net income (loss). The non-GAAP financial measure of Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss). Adjusted EBITDA is not a presentation made in accordance with GAAP and has important limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because Adjusted EBITDA excludes some, but not all, items that affect net income (loss) and is defined differently by different companies, our definition of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Set forth below are reconciliations of our reported GAAP net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands):

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP and form the basis for the following discussion and analysis on critical accounting policies and estimates. The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on a regular basis. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from these estimates and those differences could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Revenue Recognition

Our revenue represents sales of finished goods inventory and is recognized when control of the promised goods is transferred to the Company’s customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. The reserves for trade promotions and product discounts, including sales incentives, are established based on our best estimate of the amounts necessary to settle future and existing credits for product sold as of the balance sheet date.

All such costs are netted against sales. These costs include end-aisle or other in-store displays, contractual advertising fees and product discounts, and other customer specific promotional activity. We provide reimbursement to our customers for such amounts as credits against amounts owed. To determine the appropriate timing of recognition of consideration payable to a customer, all consideration payable to our customers is reflected in the transaction price at inception and reassessed routinely.

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, our revenue is recorded net of discounts, and to a lesser degree, sales returns, where discounts for each year totaled $17.4 million and $26.9 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, total discounts accounted for 21% and 25% of gross revenue, respectively.

Leases

A lease is defined as a contract, or part of a contract, that conveys the right to control the use of identified assets for a period of time in exchange for consideration. An entity controls the use when it has a right to obtain substantially all of the benefits from the use of the identified asset and has the right to direct the use of the asset. The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at contract inception. For all classes of underlying assets, the Company includes both the lease and non-lease components as a single component and accounts for it as a lease. Lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date.

MusclePharm calculates and uses the rate implicit in the lease if the information is readily available, or if not available, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate in determining the present value of lease payments. Lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets are based on the lease liability, subject to adjustments, such as lease incentives. The ROU assets also include any lease payments made at or before the commencement date. MusclePharm excludes variable lease payments in measuring lease assets and lease liabilities, other than those that depend on an index or a rate or are in substance fixed payments.

MusclePharm’s lease terms include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that such options will be exercised. Operating leases are included in “Operating lease right-of-use assets,” “Operating lease liability, current” and “Operating lease liability, long-term” on the consolidated balance sheets. Finance leases are included in “Property and equipment, net,” “Accrued and other liabilities” and “Other long-term liabilities” on the consolidated balance sheets.

Advertising and Promotion

Our advertising and promotion expenses consist primarily of digital, print and media advertising, athletic endorsements and sponsorships, promotional giveaways, trade show events and various partnering activities with our trading partners, and are expensed as incurred. For major trade shows, the expenses are recognized within a calendar year over the period in which we recognize revenue associated with sales generated at the trade show. Some of the contracts provide for contingent payments to endorsers or athletes based upon specific achievement in their sports, such as winning a championship. We record expense for these payments if and when the endorser achieves the specific achievement.

Contingencies

The Company records loss contingencies when management determines that the outcome of future events is probable of occurring and when the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Gain contingencies are recognized in the consolidated financial statements when they are realized. The determination of an accrual for a loss contingency is based on management’s judgment and estimates with respect to the likely outcome of the matter. Liabilities are recorded or adjusted when events or circumstances cause these judgments or estimates to change.

The Company provides disclosures for material contingencies when there is a reasonable possibility that a loss or an additional loss may be incurred. In assessing whether a loss is a reasonable possibility, the Company may consider the following factors, among others: the nature of the litigation, claim or assessment, available information, opinions or views of legal counsel and other advisors, and the experience gained from similar cases.

See additional information in “Note 9. Commitment and Contingencies.”

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements or changes in accounting pronouncements that are of significance, or potential significance, to us.

The Company qualifies as a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of SEC Regulation S-K and is not required to provide the information required by this Item.

See the consolidated financial statements set forth on the “Index to Financial Statements” on Page 56 of this Form 10-K, which consolidated financial statements are incorporated by reference into this Item 8.

None.

Background.

In February 2019, management was made aware, as part of the year-end sales cut-off testing procedures performed during the Company’s 2018 annual audit, by its then independent auditors, Plante & Moran, PLLC, that sales transactions may have been recognized as revenue prematurely which could have a material impact on revenue recognition for the year ended December 31, 2018. Upon such notification, management reviewed the Company’s revenue recognition reporting system, practices and underlying documents supporting the appropriateness of revenue under the Company’s previously established accounting policies for each quarterly period in the year ended December 31, 2018. In addition to the 2018 year-end period, management initially concluded that a potential material misstatement in revenue recognition was isolated to the previously issued quarterly financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Audit Committee Investigation

In March 2019, following management’s presentation of their initial assessment of the revenue recognition issue, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors engaged independent legal counsel and a forensic accountant to conduct an investigation and to work with management to determine the potential impact on accounting for revenues. The investigation included the review of management’s initial assessment, interviews with key personnel, correspondence, and document review, among other procedures. In April 2019, as a result of the findings of the Audit Committee’s investigation to date, the Company determined that certain of its employees had engaged in deliberate inappropriate conduct, which resulted in revenue being intentionally recorded in periods prior to the criteria for revenue recognition under GAAP being satisfied. Further, the investigation discovered that revenue had been prematurely recorded in prior periods as well as the periods initially identified by management.

The investigation revealed that certain customer orders had been invoiced, triggering revenue recognition, prior to the actual shipment leaving the Company’s control. Such orders from customers had been marked as fulfilled in the Company’s enterprise reporting platform (“ERP”), thereby triggering the generation of an invoice and the recognition of revenue, in advance of shipments from both the Company’s distribution center in Tennessee and for orders that were drop-shipped directly to key customers from certain contract manufacturers. In addition, it was discovered during the investigation that certain orders had been moved to third-party locations at the respective cut-off periods and not actually shipped to the end customer until after the cut-off period resulting in the premature issuance of invoices to customers and recognition of revenue.

As a result of the Audit Committee’s investigation, certain employees were terminated, and others received written reprimands related to their conduct as a result of their behavior. In connection with the improprieties identified during the investigation resulting in the restatement of previously reported financial statements, the Company identified control deficiencies in its internal control over financial reporting that constitute material weaknesses.

The investigatory adjustments are further described in Note 16, “Changes and Correction of Errors in Previously Reported Consolidated Financial Statements” located in Item 8 of the 2019 Form 10-K.

Other Adjustments Resulting from Reconsidering Previously Issued Financial Statements

As a result of issues identified during the Audit Committee investigation, management reconsidered the Company’s previously issued consolidated financial statements and as a result, additional corrections to the Company’s previously issued consolidated financial statements for each of the quarterly reporting periods ended September 30, 2018 and for the year ended December 31, 2017 were identified. These errors, for each period presented below, were primarily due to the following:

Other adjustments include but are not limited to the following; purchase price variances, accrual for legal fees, payroll tax adjustment on restricted stock, rebate receivable and recognizing revenue on a net versus gross basis. Accumulated deficit has been adjusted to reflect changes to net loss, for each period restated.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The principal executive officer and principal financial officer have evaluated the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020. Based on this evaluation, they concluded that because of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting discussed below, the disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as required under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Management of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process affected by the Company’s management to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the Company’s financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP.

In designing and evaluating our internal controls and procedures, our management recognized that internal controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only a reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the internal controls and procedures are met. In addition, any evaluation of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting in future periods is subject to risk that those internal controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The Company’s management assessed the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, it used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) of the Treadway Commission’s 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on its assessment, as well as factors identified during the Audit Committee investigation and subsequent audit process, management has concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 was not effective due to the existence of the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting described below.

Material Weaknesses Identified in connection with the Audit Committee Investigation

Based on the principal findings of the investigation conducted by the Audit Committee, management has concluded that it did not maintain an appropriate control environment, inclusive of structure and responsibility including proper segregation of duties, and risk assessment and monitoring activities which led to revenue recognition and “tone at the top” concerns and which constituted the following material weaknesses:

Material Weaknesses Resulting from Reconsidering Previously Issued Financial Statements

As described above, management reconsidered the Company’s previously issued financial statements resulting in corrections to our unaudited consolidated financial statements for each of the quarterly periods ended September 30, 2018 and our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017, which are contained in Note 16, “Changes and Correction of Errors in Previously Reported Consolidated Financial Statements” located in Item 8 of the 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on August 25, 2020.

Material Weaknesses

We have identified the following material weaknesses in connection with these issues:

Control Environment and Control Activities

The Company Does Not Maintain Adequate Internal Control Documentation and Testing Procedures

Remediation

Our remedial actions to date and remediation plans to be undertaken in response to the findings of the Audit Committee’s investigation and the material weaknesses on internal control over financial reporting and our conclusions reached in evaluating the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, are described below.

The Company terminated certain employees directly responsible in the deliberate inappropriate conduct and other employees received written reprimands as a result of their behavior.

The Company has implemented internal controls and procedures to conduct enhanced revenue recognition cutoff testing on a quarterly basis.

The Company has commenced a series of compliance outreach and training for its sales and operations departments relating to potential improper customer transactions identified by the internal investigation. These trainings will also include a review of the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the “Code of Conduct”) and the Employee Complaints & Whistleblower Policy (the “Whistleblower Policy”).

The Company is implementing Company-wide training sessions. These sessions will focus on a number of areas related to sensitivity training/tonal concerns, including increased promotion and training around the Code of Conduct and the Whistleblower Policy. The Company will design and implement a more formalized compliance program with the goal of sustaining a culture of compliance.

The Company implemented a senior leadership reorganization pursuant to which, among other things, the Company retained an experienced Chief Financial Officer with public company reporting expertise, hired a controller with fifteen years of assurance experience as a member of two Big 4 multinational accounting firms, as well as engaging third-party accounting personnel with the requisite skill set to strengthen the financial reporting structure and internal control over financial reporting. The Company has recently engaged a senior operations consultant, with over twenty years of industry knowledgeable, to work closely with the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

The Company has implemented a disclosure committee to assist the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer in preparing the disclosures required under the Securities Exchange Committee (SEC) rules and to help ensure that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are properly implemented.

As part of the senior leadership reorganization referred to above, the Company engaged an outside firm which is in the process of revamping our internal control documentation and testing. In addition, the Company will continue to review the qualifications of our internal financial organization to ensure our personnel have the appropriate technical and SOX related expertise.

The Company has enhanced its Whistleblower Policy by including our Audit Committee Chair in the investigation, documentation, and resolution process.

We are committed to continuing to improve our internal control processes related to these matters and will continue to review our financial reporting controls and procedures. As we continue to evaluate and work to improve our internal control over financial reporting, we may take additional measures to address deficiencies or modify certain of the remediation measures described above.

We expect that our remediation efforts, including design and implementation, will continue through fiscal year 2021, with the goal to fully remediate all remaining material weaknesses by year-end. . In particular, as noted above, the Company has implemented enhanced controls regarding sales cut-off, as well as customer discounts. In addition, the Company’s inventory balance has decreased significantly, and the Company’s inventory is maintained and controlled by third-part manufacturers, or the Company’s warehouse which is now operated by a third-party logistics provider.

Due to the considerable time and effort management of the Company undertook in order to bring its delinquent filings current, which was completed on November 24, 2020, and despite ongoing remediation efforts through the first quarter of 2021, the Company was not able to complete a majority of its remediation efforts during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Notwithstanding the material weaknesses described in this Item 9A, our management has concluded that the consolidated financial statements and related financial information included in this Form 10-K presents fairly, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented in conformity with GAAP. Management’s position is based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to:

None.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

The names of our directors and executive officers, their ages and certain other information about them are set forth below. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

RYAN DREXLER – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ryan Drexler was appointed to serve as our Chief Executive Officer and President on November 18, 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Drexler served as our Interim Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors since March 15, 2016. Mr. Drexler has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors since August 26, 2015. Mr. Drexler is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Consac, LLC (“Consac”), a privately-held firm that invests in the securities of publicly-traded and venture-stage companies. Previously, Mr. Drexler served as President of Country Life Vitamins, a family-owned nutritional supplements and natural products company that he joined in 1993. In addition to developing strategic objectives and overseeing acquisitions for Country Life, Mr. Drexler created new brands that include the BioChem family of sports and fitness nutrition products. Mr. Drexler negotiated and led the process which resulted in the sale of Country Life in 2007 to the Japanese conglomerate Kikkoman Corp. Mr. Drexler graduated from Northeastern University, where he earned a B.A. in political science. Because of his experience in running and developing nutritional supplement companies, we believe that Mr. Drexler is well qualified to serve on our Board of Directors.

ALLEN SCIARILLO – CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Allen Sciarillo was appointed to serve as Chief Financial Officer on April 20, 2020. Before joining the Company, Mr. Sciarillo served as Director of Finance of The Crypto Company, a public company in the blockchain sector, from July 2018 to December 2019. Before that, he served as Regional Chief Financial Officer of Electro Rent Corporation, a provider of rental, leasing and sales of electronic test and measurement equipment, from February 2015 to March 2019. He previously served as Controller of Electro Rent from April 2006 to February 2015. Mr. Sciarillo earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from California State University, Northridge. In connection with his appointment, it is expected that Mr. Sciarillo will enter into the Company’s standard form of indemnification agreement, the form of which has been filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 27, 2012. The Company expects that it will enter into an employment agreement with Mr. Sciarillo. The Company will file an amendment to its Form 8-K disclosing the terms of any such employment agreement within four business days after it has been finalized. Because of his extensive financial reporting and operational accounting experience in various senior management positions at public and private companies, we believe that Mr. Sciarillo is well qualified to serve on our Board of Directors.

JOHN J. DESMOND – DIRECTOR

John J. Desmond joined our Board of Directors as an independent director in July 2017 and serves as chair of the Audit Committee, a member of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee, and a member of the Compensation Committee. Previously, Mr. Desmond was Partner-in-Charge of the Long Island (New York) office of Grant Thornton LLP from 1988 through his retirement from the firm in 2015, having served over 40 years in the public accounting profession. At Grant Thornton LLP, Mr. Desmond’s experience included among other things, serving as lead audit partner for many public and privately-held global companies. Mr. Desmond was elected by the U.S. Partners of Grant Thornton LLP to their Partnership Board from 2001 through 2013. The Partnership Board was responsible for oversight of many of the firm’s activities including strategic planning, the performance of the senior leadership team and financial performance. Mr. Desmond currently serves on the Board of Directors of The First of Long Island (Nasdaq: FLIC) and its wholly owned bank subsidiary, The First National Bank of Long Island, and has been a director since October 2016. Mr. Desmond also serves or has served as a Board member of a number of not-for-profit entities. Mr. Desmond holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from St. John’s University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Because of his significant experience in corporate governance, banking, strategic planning, business leadership, organizational management and business operations, accounting and financial reporting, finance, mergers and acquisitions, legal and regulatory, we believe that Mr. Desmond is well qualified to serve on our Board of Directors.

MICHAEL HELLER – DIRECTOR

Michel Heller joined our Board of Directors as an independent director in January 2021 and is chair of the Compensation Committee, a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Heller is Principal of Talent Resources Holdings since January 2020, a global digital marketing agency recognized as a leader in developing and producing influencer based social media campaigns, providing holistic marketing solutions to brands and full service, social platform management to talent and businesses. Mr. Heller was the founder and has been Chief Executive Officer of Talent Resources since January 2005. Mr. Heller holds a B.A. degree in Gallatin School of Individualized Study from New York University, and a J.D. in Entertainment Law from the Cardozo School of Law. Because of his significant marketing perspective and experience with expanding brand awareness, we believe that Mr. Heller is well qualified to serve on our Board of Directors.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Our Board of Directors established a Code of Conduct applicable to our officers and employees. The Code of Conduct is accessible on our website at www.musclepharmcorp.com. If we make any substantive amendments to the Code of Conduct or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Conduct to our officers, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website or in a current report on Form 8-K.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE OVERVIEW

Our business, assets and operations are managed under the direction of our Board of Directors. Members of our Board of Directors are kept informed of our business through discussions with our Chief Executive Officer, our external counsel, members of management and other Company employees as well as our independent auditors, and by reviewing materials provided to them and participating in meetings of the Board of Directors and its committees.

Our corporate governance program features the following:

BOARD COMMITTEES

Our Board of Directors has established an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee, Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and, each of which have the composition and responsibilities described below. Members serve on these committees until their resignations or until otherwise determined by our Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has further determined that Messrs. Desmond and Heller, chair and member, respectively, of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, are each an “Audit Committee Financial Expert,” as such term is defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC, by virtue of their relevant experience listed in their respective biographical summaries provided above in the section entitled “Executive Officers and Directors.” Each of our committees have a written charter. Current copies of the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee are available on our website at ir.musclepharmcorp.com/governance-documents. As necessary, the Board of Directors may establish special committees to address issues not directly under the governance of the established committees.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee reviews the work of our internal accounting and audit processes and the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The Audit Committee has sole authority for the appointment, and oversight of our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and to approve any significant non-audit relationship with the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The Audit Committee is also responsible for preparing the report required by the rules of the SEC to be included in our annual proxy statement. The Audit Committee is currently comprised of Mr. Desmond and Mr. Heller. Mr. Bush was a member of the Audit Committee until his resignation on December 31, 2020. The Company’s Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Desmond is an “Audit Committee financial expert” within the meaning of Item 407 of Regulation S-K. Additionally, Mr. Desmond serves as chair of the Audit Committee. Each of Messrs. Desmond and Heller are independent for Audit Committee purposes, as determined under Exchange Act rules. Mr. Desmond joined the Audit Committee in July 2017; Mr. Heller joined the Audit Committee in January 2021. During 2020, the Audit Committee held four meetings.

Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee approves our goals and objectives relevant to compensation, stays informed as to market levels of compensation and, based on evaluations submitted by management, recommends to our Board of Directors compensation levels and systems for the Board of Directors and our officers that correspond to our goals and objectives. The Compensation Committee also produces an annual report on executive compensation for inclusion in our proxy statement. The Compensation Committee is currently comprised of Mr. Heller, as chair, and Mr. Desmond, as a member. Mr. Desmond joined the Compensation Committee in July 2017 and Mr. Heller joined in January 2021. Mr. Bush was the chair of the Compensation Committee until his resignation on December 31, 2020. During 2020, the Compensation Committee held one meeting.

Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee

The Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for recommending to our Board of Directors individuals to be nominated as directors and committee members. This includes evaluation of new candidates as well as evaluation of current directors. In evaluating the current directors, the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee conducted a thorough self-evaluation process, which included the use of questionnaires and a third-party expert that interviewed each of the directors and provided an analysis of the results of the interviews to the committee. This committee is also responsible for developing and recommending to the Board of Directors our corporate governance guidelines, as well as reviewing and recommending revisions to the guidelines on a regular basis. The Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee is currently comprised of Mr. Desmond as a member and Mr. Heller, as the chair. Mr. Bush was the chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee until his resignation on December 31, 2020. During 2020, the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee held no meetings.

Board of Directors Role in Risk Management

The Board of Directors oversees an enterprise-wide approach to risk management, designed to support the achievement of organizational objectives, including strategic objectives, to improve long-term organizational performance and enhance stockholder value. Risk management includes not only understanding company specific risks and the steps management implements to manage those risks, but also the level of risk acceptable and appropriate for us. Management is responsible for establishing our business strategy, identifying and assessing the related risks and implementing appropriate risk management practices. Our Board of Directors reviews our business strategy and management’s assessment of the related risk and discusses with management the appropriate level of risk for us. For example, the Board of Directors meets with management at least quarterly to review, advise and direct management with respect to strategic business risks, risks related to our new product development and financial risks, among others. The Board of Directors also delegates oversight to Board committees to oversee selected elements of risk.

The Audit Committee oversees financial risk exposures, including monitoring the integrity of our financial statements, internal controls over financial reporting, and the independence of our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The Audit Committee reviews periodic internal controls and related assessments from our finance department. The Audit Committee also assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibility with respect to compliance matters and meets at least quarterly with our finance department, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and internal or external legal counsel to discuss risks related to our financial reporting function. In addition, the Audit Committee ensures that our business is conducted with the highest standards of ethical conduct in compliance with applicable laws and regulations by monitoring our Code of Business Conduct and our Corporate Compliance Hotline, and the Audit Committee discusses other risk assessment and our risk management policies periodically with management.

The Compensation Committee participates in the design of the compensation program and helps create incentives that do not encourage a level of risk-taking behavior that is inconsistent with our business strategy.

The Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee oversees governance-related risks by working with management to establish corporate governance guidelines applicable to us, and making recommendations regarding director nominees, the determination of director independence, Board of Directors leadership structure and membership on Board committees.

Overview

We are eligible to take advantage of the rules applicable to a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in the Exchange Act, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. As a “smaller reporting company” we are permitted, and have opted, to comply with the scaled back executive compensation disclosure rules applicable to a “smaller reporting company” under the Exchange Act. Only three individuals served as executive officers, as defined in Rule 3b-7 under the Exchange Act, during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. The following discussion relates to the compensation of those executive officers, who we refer to as our “named executive officers” or “NEOs” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, our NEOs were:

Mr. Casutto resigned from all his current roles with the Company on May 1, 2020.

Our executive compensation program is designed to attract, motivate and retain talented executives that will drive Company growth and create long-term shareholder value. The Compensation Committee oversees and administers our executive compensation program, with input and recommendations from our Chief Executive Officer.

Elements of Executive Compensation

Our executive compensation program has three main components: base salary, cash bonuses and incentive equity awards. Our named executive officers also receive employee benefits that are made available to our salaried employees generally, are eligible to receive certain compensation and benefits in connection with a change in control or termination of employment, and receive certain perquisites, in each case, as described below.

Base Salary

The Compensation Committee determines the initial base salary for each of our named executive officers and each year determines whether to approve any base salary adjustments based upon the Company’s performance, the named executive officer’s individual performance, changes in duties and responsibilities of the named executive officer and the recommendations of our Chief Executive Officer (other than with respect to his own base salary). For 2020, our named executive officers’ base salaries were as follows:

Cash Bonuses

Pursuant to their employment agreements, each of our named executive officers was eligible to earn a cash bonus, with a target amount established by the Compensation Committee, based on the achievement of specified performance goals. For 2020, there was no target bonuses for Mr. Casutto. Mr. Drexler was eligible to receive cash bonuses of up to $250,000 based on the achievement of specified performance goals. For 2020, Mr. Sciarillo earned a cash bonus of $50,000. Messrs. Drexler and Casutto earned no cash bonuses, as set out in the amounts set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table” below.

Incentive Equity Awards

Incentive equity awards granted by the Company have historically been in the form of restricted stock awards. The Company also has granted stock options from time to time. The Compensation Committee believes that equity-based awards can be an effective retention tool that also align our executives’ interests with those of our stockholders. In 2020, none of our named executive officers were granted equity-based awards.

Employment Agreements

We maintained employment agreements with Messrs. Drexler, Sciarillo and Casutto that include certain severance and change in control payments. These agreements are described under “Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table” below.

Employee Benefit Plans and Perquisites

We maintain a 401(k) Savings/Retirement Plan for eligible employees of the Company and certain affiliates, including our named executive officers. The 401(k) Plan permits eligible employees to defer up to the maximum dollar amount allowed by law. The employee’s elective deferrals are immediately vested upon contribution to the 401(k) Plan. We currently make discretionary matching contributions to the 401(k) Plan in an amount equal to 100% of each eligible employee’s deferrals up to 4% of his or her qualifying compensation, subject to a total employer contribution maximum of $19,000 and limits imposed by applicable law. We do not maintain any other defined benefit, defined contribution or deferred compensation plans for our employees.

Our named executive officers are eligible to participate in all of our employee benefit plans, such as medical, dental, vision, group life and disability insurance, in each case on the same basis as other employees, subject to applicable law. We also provide vacation and other paid holidays to all employees, including our executive officers. In addition, we provide certain highly-compensated employees, including our named executive officers, with life insurance and supplemental long-term disability coverage. We also provide certain perquisites, as described and quantified in the Summary Compensation Table below under “All Other Compensation.”

Summary Compensation Table

The following summary compensation tables sets forth all compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to our named executive officers for 2020 and 2019, in respect of their employment with the Company.

Amounts under All Other Compensation for 2019 include the following:

Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table

As used below, the terms “without cause,” “good reason,” “qualifying sale,” “aggregate purchase price,” “performance bonus,” “cash-based incentives,” and “change in control” are defined in the applicable agreements.

Mr. Drexler. Mr. Drexler is party to an employment agreement with the Company, which was entered into as of February 11, 2016 and has subsequently been amended and restated, most recently effective as of February 1, 2019. Subject to earlier termination as provided therein, the term of his agreement runs through February 1, 2021 and automatically renews for successive one-year terms thereafter, unless either party provides at least three months’ written notice of its or his intention not to renew. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Drexler was entitled to a base salary of $700,000 for 2019, which was increased to $750,000 per year effective January 1, 2020, in each case, subject to increase by the board. For 2019, Mr. Drexler was eligible to receive cash-based incentives of up to $250,000 based on the achievement of specified performance goals. There was no specified performance goal in 2020. Under his amended and restated employment agreement, Mr. Drexler is also eligible to receive additional cash-based incentives of up to $350,000, based on the achievement of specified performance goals.

Concurrently with entering into the amended and restated employment agreement in February 2018, Mr. Drexler and the Company entered into a transaction bonus agreement, which provides that, upon the occurrence of a qualifying sale, and provided that at the time of the qualifying sale Mr. Drexler is an owner of at least 20% of the shares of the Company, Mr. Drexler will be entitled to a transaction bonus equal to 10% of the aggregate purchase price if such price is in excess of $50 million. Mr. Drexler is entitled to this transaction bonus regardless of whether the qualifying transaction occurs during his employment or at any time thereafter.

If Mr. Drexler’s employment is terminated for any reason, each equity award granted to him will fully vest and he will be entitled to any unpaid performance bonus or cash-based incentives (as described above), to the extent earned as of the date of such termination, in addition to any amounts required by law or Company policy. In addition, if Mr. Drexler’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or by Mr. Drexler for good reason prior to (but not in connection with) a qualifying sale, Mr. Drexler will be entitled to receive (i) 12 months of base salary continuation, (ii) up to 12 months of Company-subsidized COBRA premiums, and (iii) a lump sum payment of the performance bonus for the year his employment terminates. If Mr. Drexler’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or by Mr. Drexler for good reason within 12 months following (or prior to, but in connection with or anticipation of) a qualifying sale, Mr. Drexler will be entitled to receive, in lieu of the amounts described in the preceding sentence, (i) a lump sum payment equal to 200% of his annual base salary, (ii) up to 18 months’ of Company-subsidized COBRA, and (iii) a lump sum payment equal to 200% of the performance bonus for the year his employment terminates. The severance payable to Mr. Drexler on a termination of his employment by the Company without cause or by Mr. Drexler for good reason is subject to his execution (and non-revocation) of a release of claims in favor of the Company.

Under the employment agreement, Mr. Drexler agreed to certain restrictions on solicitation of employees, which continue for 12 months following the termination of his employment, if his employment is terminated due to disability, by him for good reason or by the Company with or without cause, due to expiration of the employment period by notice of non-renewal or due to termination of his employment upon a notice of termination. The employment agreement also contains restrictions with respect to disclosure of the Company’s confidential information.

Mr. Casutto. Mr. Casutto was party to an employment agreement with the Company, which was entered into as of July 15, 2015 and was amended and restated as of January 1, 2018. The original term of the employment agreement ended on December 31, 2018 and was extended to December 31, 2019. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Casutto was entitled to a base salary of $400,000 per year. In addition, Mr. Casutto was eligible to receive cash bonuses based on performance criteria to be adopted by the Compensation Committee, with a potential bonus pool of up to $350,000 per year. Under his employment agreement, he was entitled to a monthly vehicle allowance of $1,000 and a miscellaneous expense allowance of up to $5,000 per year.

If Mr. Casutto’s employment is terminated without cause or he resigns for good reason, he would be entitled to receive (i) base salary continuation for the lesser of 12 months and the remainder of the term of the employment agreement, (ii) a bonus equal to the greater of 25% of his target bonus for the year (or 50%, if the termination of employment occurs between July 1 and December 31 of the year) and the bonus for the year of termination of employment, as determined by the Compensation Committee at its discretion, and (iii) reimbursement of COBRA premiums for up to 12 months. In addition, unless otherwise provided in an equity award agreement, all equity awards held by Mr. Casutto would vest in full. All severance payable to Mr. Casutto under his employment agreement is subject to his execution (and non-revocation) of a release of claims in favor of the Company.

Under the employment agreement, Mr. Casutto agreed to certain restrictions on competition and solicitation, which continue for 12 months following the termination of his employment. The employment agreement also contained restrictions with respect to disclosure of the Company’s confidential information.

On May 1, 2020, Mr. Casutto resigned from all of his current roles with the Company. In connection with Mr. Casutto’s resignation from the Company, the Company and Mr. Casutto entered into a Separation and Release Agreement (the “Separation Agreement”), dated May 1, 2020. In lieu of any severance or other amounts under his employment agreement, the Agreement provides that the Company will pay Mr. Casutto an aggregate of $100,000 (the equivalent of three months base salary), with payments of $16,667 made every two weeks, beginning on May 15, 2020 and ending on July 17, 2020. The Separation Agreement includes customary provisions contained in agreements of this nature including, mutual non-disparagement and a general release of any and all claims.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Year End

As of December 31, 2020, there were no outstanding equity awards made to our named executive officers.

Director Compensation

Non-Employee Director Compensation Arrangements

During the year ended December 31, 2020, Mr. Bush and Mr. Desmond earned annual cash retainer fees of $140,000 and $100,000, respectively. Our non-employee directors also received an additional cash payment to compensate them for taxes payable in respect of their restricted share grants, described below. There were no restricted shares issued to the directors in 2020, however the directors earned an additional cash fee of $60,000 each, in lieu of equity awards.

All cash retainers are prorated for partial years of service. We pay annual cash retainer fees to our non-employee directors quarterly. We also reimburse our non-employee directors for their travel and out of pocket expenses. Members of the Board of Directors who also are our employees do not receive any compensation for their service as directors. Our directors do not receive Board meeting fees. For 2020, our non-employee directors received additional cash payments to compensate them for taxes payable in respect of their restricted share awards.

On December 31, 2020, William Bush submitted his resignation from the Board of Directors of MusclePharm Corporation and all committees on which he served, effective the date thereof.

2020 Director Compensation.

The table below sets forth the compensation paid to each non-employee member of the Board of Directors during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Messrs. Drexler, Sciarillo and Casutto received no additional compensation for their service as a director, and, consequently, are not included in this table. The compensation received by Messrs. Drexler, Sciarillo and Casutto in respect of their employment is set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table” above.

The following table sets forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock by (i) each current director and (ii) each named executive officer, as of March 24, 2021.

EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION

In 2015, we adopted the MusclePharm Corporation 2015 Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The 2015 Plan was approved by our stockholders. The following table sets forth the number and weighted-average exercise price of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights, and the number of securities remaining available for future issuance under all of our equity compensation plans, at December 31, 2020:

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Related-Party Refinanced Convertible Note

On November 3, 2017, the Company entered into the refinancing with Mr. Ryan Drexler, the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President (the “Refinancing”). As part of the Refinancing, the Company issued to Mr. Drexler an amended and restated convertible secured promissory note (the “Refinanced Convertible Note”) in the original principal amount of $18.0 million, which amended and restated (i) a convertible secured promissory note dated as of December 7, 2015, amended as of January 14, 2017, in the original principal amount of $6.0 million with an interest rate of 8% prior to the amendment and 10% following the amendment (the “2015 Convertible Note”), (ii) a convertible secured promissory note dated as of November 8, 2016, in the original principal amount of $11.0 million with an interest rate of 10% (the “2016 Convertible Note”) , and (iii) a secured demand promissory note dated as of July 27, 2017, in the original principal amount of $1.0 million with an interest rate of 15% (the “2017 Note”, and together with the 2015 Convertible Note and the 2016 Convertible Note, collectively, the “Prior Notes”). The due date of the 2015 Convertible Note and the 2016 Convertible Note was November 8, 2017. The 2017 Note was due on demand.

Interest rate on the $18.0 million Refinanced Convertible Note was 12% per annum, and interest payments were due on the last day of each quarter. At the Company’s option (as determined by its independent directors), the Company could repay up to one-sixth of any interest payment by either adding such amount to the principal amount of the note or by converting such interest amount into an equivalent amount of the Company’s common stock. Any interest not paid when due would be capitalized and added to the principal amount of the Refinanced Convertible Note and bear interest on the applicable interest payment date along with all other unpaid principal, capitalized interest, and other capitalized obligations. Both the principal and the interest under the Refinanced Convertible Note were due on December 31, 2019, unless converted earlier. Mr. Drexler could convert the outstanding principal and accrued interest into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price of $1.11 per share at any time. The Company could prepay the Refinanced Convertible Note by giving Mr. Drexler between 15- and 60-days’ notice depending upon the specific circumstances, subject to Mr. Drexler’s conversion right.

The Refinanced Convertible Note contained customary events of default, including, among others, the failure by the Company to make a payment of principal or interest when due. Following an event of default, interest would accrue at the rate of 14% per annum. In addition, following an event of default, any conversion, redemption, payment or prepayment of the Refinanced Convertible Note would be at a premium of 105%. The Refinanced Convertible Note also contained customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the Refinanced Convertible Note.

As part of the Refinancing, the Company and Mr. Drexler entered into a restructuring agreement (the “Restructuring Agreement”) pursuant to which the parties agreed to amend and restate the security agreement resulting in a Third Amended and Restated Security Agreement (the “Amended Security Agreement”) in which the Prior Notes were secured by all of the assets and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries whether tangible or intangible. Pursuant to the Restructuring Agreement, the Company agreed to pay, on the effective date of the Refinancing, all outstanding interest on the Prior Notes through November 8, 2017 and certain fees and expenses incurred by Mr. Drexler in connection with the Restructuring.

On September 16, 2019, Mr. Ryan Drexler delivered a notice to the Company and its independent directors of his election to convert, effective as of September 16, 2019 (the “Notice Date”), $18.0 million of the amount outstanding under that certain Amended and Restated Convertible Secured Promissory Note, dated as of November 8, 2017 (the “Note”), issued by the Company to Mr. Drexler, into shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), at a conversion price of $1.11 per share, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Note (the “Partial Conversion”). As of the Notice Date, the total amount outstanding under the Note (including principal and accrued and unpaid interest) was equal to $19.3 million. Pursuant to the terms of the Note, the Company instructed the transfer agent to issue to Mr. Drexler 16,216,216 shares (the “Shares”) of its Common Stock in respect of the Partial Conversion.

On October 4, 2019, the Company entered into a secured revolving promissory note (the “Revolving Note”) with Mr. Drexler. Under the terms of the Revolving Note, the Company can borrow up to $3.0 million. The Revolving Note bears interest at the rate of 12% annually. The use of funds will be solely for the purchase of whey protein to be used in the manufacturing of MusclePharm products. The Company may prepay the Revolving Note by giving Mr. Drexler one days’ written notice. The Revolving Note contains customary events of default, including, among others, the failure by the Company to make a payment of principal or interest when due. Following an event of default, Mr. Drexler is entitled to accelerate the entire indebtedness under the Revolving Note. The Revolving Note also contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts. In connection with the Revolving Note, the Company and Mr. Drexler entered into a security agreement dated October 4, 2019, pursuant to which the Revolving Note is secured by all of the assets and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries whether tangible or intangible.

On December 27, 2019, the Company entered into a collateral receipt and security agreement with Mr. Drexler, pursuant to which Mr. Drexler agreed to post bond relating to the judgment ruled against the Company in connection with the litigation between the Company and ThermoLife International LLC (“ThermoLife”), pending the appeal. The amount paid by Mr. Drexler on behalf of the Company, including fees, was $0.3 million.

On August 21, 2020, the Company entered into a refinancing agreement with Mr. Ryan Drexler, the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President (the “2020 Refinancing”), with an effective date of July 1, 2020. As part of the 2020 Refinancing, the Company issued to Mr. Drexler an amended and restated convertible secured promissory note (the 2020 “Refinanced Convertible Note”) in the original principal amount of $2,735,199, which amended and restated (i) a convertible secured promissory note dated as of November 8, 2017, $1,134,483 of which was outstanding as of July 1, 2020 (ii) a collateral receipt and security agreement with Mr. Drexler dated as of December 27, 2019, $252,500 of which was outstanding as of July 1, 2020, and (iii) a secured revolving promissory note dated as of October 4, 2019, $1,348,216 of which was outstanding as of July 1, 2020. The $2.7 million 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum.

The 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note. The 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note is subordinated to certain other indebtedness of the Company held by Prestige Capital Corporation (“Prestige”) and Crossroads Financial Group, LLC (“Crossroads”). The Company may prepay the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note by giving Mr. Drexler between 15- and 60-days’ notice depending upon the specific circumstances, subject to Mr. Drexler’s conversion right. Mr. Drexler may convert the outstanding principal and accrued interest into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price equal to or greater than (i) the closing price per share of the common stock on the last business day immediately preceding November 1, 2020 or (ii) $0.17. All outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest under the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note were due and payable on November 1, 2020. The Note was in default on that date and the Company agreed with Mr. Drexler to amend the 2020 Refinancing by the end of November 2020. Interest accrued but unpaid, totaling $26,000 was capitalized on the due date and added to the principal amount of the 2020 Refinanced Convertible Note.

On November 29, 2020, the Company entered into a refinancing agreement with Mr. Ryan Drexler, (the “November 2020 Refinancing”), in which the Company issued to Mr. Drexler a convertible secured promissory note (the November 2020 “Convertible Note”) in the original principal amount of $2,871,967, which amended and restated a convertible secured promissory note dated as of August 21, 2020. The $2.9 million November 2020 Convertible Note bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum. Unless earlier converted or repaid, all outstanding principal and any accrued but unpaid interest under the November 2020 Convertible Note shall be due and payable on July 1, 2021. Any interest not paid when due shall be capitalized and added to the principal amount of the Convertible Note and bear interest on the applicable interest payment date along with all other unpaid principal, capitalized interest, and other capitalized obligations.

Mr. Drexler may, at any time, and from time to time, upon written notice to the Company, convert the outstanding principal and accrued interest into shares of Common Stock, at a conversion price of $0.23 per share. At the election of the Company, one-sixth of the interest may be paid in kind (“PIK Interest”) by adding such amount to the principal amount of the note, or through the issuance of shares of the Company’s common stock to Mr. Drexler. The PIK Interest is convertible to common stock at the closing price per share on the last business day of each calendar quarter. In no event will the conversion price of such PIK Interest be less than $0.10. The Company may prepay the Note by giving Mr. Drexler between 15- and 60-days’ notice depending upon the specific circumstances, subject to Mr. Drexler’s conversion right. The Company intends to pay all interest due on the Convertible Note to Mr. Drexler at the end of each calendar quarter.

The November 2020 Convertible Note contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the November 2020 Convertible Note. The November 2020 Convertible Note is subordinated to certain other indebtedness of the Company held by Prestige Capital Corporation (“Prestige”) and Crossroads Financial Group, LLC (“Crossroads”).

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, interest expense related to the related party convertible secured promissory notes was $0.3 million and $1.7 million, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, interest paid in cash to Mr. Drexler was $31,000 and $0.8 million, respectively.

Related Party Secured Revolving Promissory Note

On October 15, 2020, the Company entered into a secured revolving promissory note (the “Revolving Note”) with Mr. Drexler. Under the terms of the Revolving Note, the Company can borrow up to $3.0 million. The Revolving Note bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum. The use of funds will be used for the purchase of whey protein and other general corporate purposes. Both the outstanding principal, if any, and all accrued interest under the Revolving Note are due on March 31, 2021. The Company may prepay the Revolving Note by giving Mr. Drexler one days’ advance written notice. The Revolving Note contains customary events of default, including, among others, the failure by the Company to make a payment of principal or interest when due. Following an event of default, Mr. Drexler is entitled to accelerate the entire indebtedness under the Revolving Note. The Revolving Note also contains customary restrictions on the ability of the Company to, among other things, grant liens or incur indebtedness other than certain obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business. The restrictions are also subject to certain additional qualifications and carveouts, as set forth in the Revolving Note. The Revolving Note is subordinated to certain other indebtedness of the Company held by Prestige and Crossroads. In connection with the Revolving Note, the Company and Mr. Drexler entered into a fifth amended and restated security agreement dated October 15, 2020 (the “Security Agreement”) pursuant to which the Revolving Note is secured by all of the assets and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries whether tangible or intangible.

As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding balance on the revolving note was $0.7 million. During the year ended December 31, 2020, interest paid in cash to Mr. Drexler was $24,000.

Review, Approval or Ratification of Transactions with Related Parties

We have a written related person transactions policy that our executive officers, directors, nominees for election as a director, beneficial owners of more than 5% of our common stock, and any members of the immediate family of and any entity affiliated with any of the foregoing persons, are not permitted to enter into a material related person transaction with us without the review and approval of our Audit Committee, or a committee composed solely of independent directors in the event it is inappropriate for our Audit Committee to review such transaction due to a conflict of interest. The policy provides that any request for us to enter into a transaction with an executive officer, director, nominee for election as a director, beneficial owner of more than 5% of our common stock or with any of their immediate family members or affiliates, in which the amount involved exceeds $120,000 will be presented to our Audit Committee for review, consideration and approval.

In approving or rejecting any such proposal, we expect that our Audit Committee will consider the relevant facts and circumstances available and deemed relevant to the Audit Committee, including, but not limited to, whether the transaction is on terms no less favorable than terms generally available to an unaffiliated third party under the same or similar circumstances and the extent of the related persons interest in the transaction.

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

The rules of Nasdaq generally require that a majority of the members of a listed company’s Board of Directors be independent. In addition, the listing rules generally require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation, and governance committees be independent. Although we are an over-the-counter listed company, we have nevertheless opted under our Corporate Governance Guidelines to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance rules requiring director independence. The Board of Directors has determined that all of the Company’s directors, other than Mr. Drexler, are each independent director as such term is defined in Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5605(a)(2). Additionally, we have Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance, and Audit committees comprised solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. In order to be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10A-3, a member of an audit committee of a listed company may not, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the Board of Directors, or any other board committee: accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory, or other compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries; or be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of its subsidiaries.

Our Board of Directors has determined that none of our non-employee directors has a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors is independent as that term is defined under the rules of Nasdaq. Our Board of Directors has also determined that directors who comprise our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee satisfy the independence standards for those committees established by applicable SEC rules, Nasdaq rules and applicable rules of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Fees Paid to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm⁽¹⁾

The following table shows fees and expenses that we paid (or accrued) for professional services rendered by SingerLewak LLP for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:

Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies

Before an Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm is engaged by us or our subsidiaries to render audit or non-audit services, the Audit Committee shall pre-approve the engagement. Audit Committee pre-approval of audit and non-audit services will not be required if the engagement for the services is entered into pursuant to pre-approval policies and procedures established by the Audit Committee regarding our engagement of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, provided the policies and procedures are detailed as to the particular service, the Audit Committee is informed of each service provided and such policies and procedures do not include delegation of the Audit Committees responsibilities under the Exchange Act to our management.

The Audit Committee may delegate to one or more designated members of the Audit Committee the authority to grant pre-approvals, provided such approvals are presented to the Audit Committee at a subsequent meeting. If the Audit Committee elects to establish pre-approval policies and procedures regarding non-audit services, the Audit Committee must be informed of each non-audit service provided by the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

Audit Committee pre-approval of non-audit services (other than review and attest services) also will not be required if such services fall within available exceptions established by the SEC. All non-audit services provided by the Company’s independent auditors during fiscal years 2020 and 2019, were pre-approved by the Audit Committee in accordance with the pre-approval policy described above.

The list of the consolidated financial statements and report of the independent registered public accounting firm set forth on the Index to Financial Statements on Page 56 of this Form 10-K and are required by this Item are included in Part II, Item 8.

No financial statement schedules are applicable to this filing.

The list of Exhibits required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K is provided in the Exhibit Index on pages 52 to 54 of this Form 10-K, which is incorporated herein by reference.