(30 ILCS 750/9-5) (from Ch. 127, par. 2709-5)

Sec. 9-5. Equity Investments. Any equity investment shall:

(a) Be made only if a participating lender or other investor also provides a portion of the financing with respect to the project. The participating lender's or other investor's financing may be in the form of an equity position, convertible debt, convertible preferred stock, loan, letter of credit, guarantee, bond purchase or any other form approved by the Department;

(b) Finance no more than the lesser of 33 1/3% of the total amount of any single project or $250,000 for any single project unless such limitations are waived by the Director upon a finding that such waiver is appropriate to accomplish the purposes of this Article;

(c) Be made only if the Department determines, on the basis of all the information available to it, that the project would not be undertaken unless the equity investment is provided;

(d) Be protected by adequate security on equity investment agreements issued by the Department. Equity investment agreements may be secured by first or second mortgage positions on real or personal property, by royalty payments, by personal notes or guarantees, or by any other security satisfactory to the Department to secure payment of the equity investment;

(e) Be in such principal amount and form, and contain such terms and provisions with respect to the property insurance, repairs, alterations, payment of taxes and assessments, delinquency charges, default remedies, additional security and other matters as the Department shall determine adequate to protect the public interest;

(f) Be made to an eligible small business approved by the Department as responsible and creditworthy;

(g) Be reviewed by the credit review committee established by the Department pursuant to this Article;

(h) Be made only after the Department has made a determination that the loan or investment agreement will cause a project to be undertaken which has the potential to create substantial employment in relation to the principal amount of the loan or investment;

(i) Be made for a small business that has certified the project is a new plant start-up or expansion or a new venture opportunity and is not an area relocation of an existing business from another site within Illinois unless that relocation provides substantial employment growth;

(j) Be made for a small business which agrees: to at all times keep proper books of record and account in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles consistently applied, and agree that the Department is authorized to make or cause to be made, in such manner and at such times as the Department may reasonably require but subject to Section 9-8 of this Act, (i) inspection and audits of any books, records and papers in the custody or control of the small business or others, relating to the small business's financial or business conditions, including without limitation the making of copies thereof and extracts therefrom, and (ii) inspection and appraisals of any of the small business's assets, authorizations to all federal, State and municipal authorities and officials to furnish reports of examinations, records and other information relating to the conditions and affairs of the small business and any information from reports, returns, files and records of such authorities upon written request to the small business by the Department;

(k) Be made only to a small business which agrees that if at any time after the Department has made an equity investment, whatever the reason for such event and whether it shall be voluntary or involuntary or be effected by operation of law or pursuant to any court or any order, rule or regulation of any governmental or non-governmental body the small business shall (a) commence a voluntary case under the federal bankruptcy laws (as now or hereafter in effect), (b) file a petition seeking to take advantage of any other laws, domestic or foreign, relating to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, composition, winding up or adjustment of debts, (c) consent to or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate manner any petition filed against it in an involuntary case under such bankruptcy or similar laws, (d) apply for or consent to, or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate manner, the appointment of, or the taking of possession by, a receiver, custodian, trustee or liquidator of itself or of a substantial part of its property, (e) admit in writing its inability to pay, or generally not be paying, its debts as they become due, (f) make a general assignment for the benefit of creditors; then, and in every such event, in the case of any of the events specified in clauses (a) through (f) above, without any notice to the small business or any other act by the Department, the small business (or an entity acting on its behalf) shall immediately become obligated to purchase or redeem, and the Department shall immediately become obligated to sell or surrender for redemption, all such shares from the Department.

(Source: P.A. 84-1124.)