ZEST Ecoark Holdings Inc

The following constitutes the Schedule 13D filed by the undersigned (the “Schedule 13D”).

This statement relates to the common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Shares”), of Ecoark Holdings, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Issuer”). The address of the principal executive offices of the Issuer is 303 Pearl Parkway, Suite 200, San Antonio, TX 78215.

Each of the foregoing is referred to as a “Reporting Person” and collectively as the “Reporting Persons.” Each of the Reporting Persons is party to that certain Joint Filing Agreement, attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1. Accordingly, the Reporting Persons are hereby filing a joint Schedule 13D.

Set forth on Schedule A annexed hereto (“Schedule A”) is the name and present principal occupation or employment, principal business address and citizenship of the executive officers and directors of AAI. To the best of the Reporting Persons’ knowledge, except as otherwise set forth herein, none of the persons listed in Schedule A beneficially owns any securities of the Issuer or is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding required to be disclosed herein.

Set forth on Schedule B annexed hereto (“Schedule B”) is the name and present principal occupation or employment, principal business address and citizenship of the executive officers and directors of Ault Lending. To the best of the Reporting Persons’ knowledge, except as otherwise set forth herein, none of the persons listed in Schedule B beneficially owns any securities of the Issuer or is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding required to be disclosed herein.

(b)       The principal business address of AAI is 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 240, Las Vegas, Nevada 89141. The principal business address of Ault Lending is 940 South Coast Drive, Suite 200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.  The principal business address of Mr. Ault is c/o AAI, 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 240, Las Vegas, Nevada 89141. The principal business address of Mr. Nisser is c/o AAI, 100 Park Avenue, Suite 1658, New York, NY 10017.

(c)        AAI is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact. Through its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, Ault Alliance owns and operates a data center at which it mines Bitcoin and provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including a metaverse platform, oil exploration, crane services, defense/aerospace, industrial, automotive, medical/biopharma, consumer electronics, hotel operations and textiles. The principal business of Ault Lending is extending credit to select entrepreneurial businesses. The principal occupation of Mr. Ault is serving as the Executive Chairman of AAI. The principal occupation of Mr. Nisser is serving as the President and General Counsel of AAI. 

(d)       No Reporting Person nor any person listed in Schedules A or B has, during the last five years, been convicted in a criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations or similar misdemeanors).

(e)       No Reporting Person nor any person listed in Schedules A or B has, during the last five years, been party to a civil proceeding of a judicial or administrative body of competent jurisdiction and as a result of such proceeding was or is subject to a judgment, decree or final order enjoining future violations of, or prohibiting or mandating activities subject to, federal or state securities laws or finding any violation with respect to such laws.

(f)       AAI is organized under the laws of the State of Delaware. Ault Lending is organized under the laws of the State of California. Mr. Ault is a citizen of the United States of America. Mr. Nisser is a citizen of Sweden. The citizenship of the persons listed in Schedules A and B is set forth therein.

The 882 shares of Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock currently owned by Ault Lending were purchased from the Issuer for $8.82 million with working capital. The Shares owned by Ault Lending were acquired upon the conversion of shares of Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock as well as received as payment of dividends on the shares of Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock.

The shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock owned by AAI, as well as the shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock owned by Messrs. Ault and Nisser, were issued to them in exchange for shares of common stock of BitNile.com, Inc. owned by AAI and Messrs. Ault and Nisser, respectively, pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement dated February 8, 2023. Such arrangements are discussed in further detail in the second and third paragraphs of Item 6 and are incorporated herein by reference. The consideration exchanged for the shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock owned by Messrs. Ault and Nisser is valued at $325 and $150, respectively (based on the initial purchase price of the shares of common stock of BitNile.com, Inc.).

The Reporting Persons purchased the Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock based on such Reporting Persons’ belief that the Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock, when purchased, were undervalued and represented an attractive investment opportunity. Going forward, depending upon overall market conditions, other investment opportunities available to the Reporting Persons, and the availability of Shares at prices that would make the purchase or sale of Shares desirable, the Reporting Persons may endeavor to increase or, eventually, decrease its position in the Issuer through, among other things, the purchase or sale of Shares on the open market or in private transactions or otherwise, on such terms and at such times as such Reporting Persons may deem advisable.

In March 2023, the Board of Directors of the Issuer and AAI agreed to certain arrangements with regard to the Issuer’s Board composition and other matters. Such arrangements are discussed in further detail in the penultimate paragraph of Item 6 and are incorporated herein by reference.

Mr. Nisser is the President and a director of the Issuer. Except for any plans or proposals that Mr. Nisser may have or any actions he may take in his capacity as an officer and/or director of the Issuer, the Reporting Persons do not have any present plan or proposal which would relate to or result in any of the matters set forth in subparagraphs (a) - (j) of Item 4 of Schedule 13D except as set forth herein or such as would occur upon or in connection with completion of, or following, any of the actions discussed herein. The Reporting Persons intend to review their investment in the Issuer on a continuing basis. Depending on various factors including, without limitation, the Issuer’s financial position, the Reporting Persons’ investment strategies, the price levels of the Shares, conditions in the securities markets and general economic and industry conditions, the Reporting Persons may in the future take such actions with respect to their investment in the Issuer as they deem appropriate including, without limitation, purchasing additional securities of the Issuer, selling some or all of their securities, engaging in short selling of or any hedging or similar transaction with respect to the securities of the Issuer, or changing their intention with respect to any and all matters referred to in Item 4.

The aggregate percentage of Shares reported owned by each Reporting Person herein is based upon 37,666,772 Shares outstanding, which is the total number of Shares outstanding as of March 6, 2023, as reported by the Issuer to the Reporting Persons.

Percentage: 19.9%

Percentage: 4.99%

Percentage: 19.9%

Percentage: 4.99%

The filing of this Schedule 13D shall not be deemed an admission that the Reporting Persons are, for purposes of Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the beneficial owners of any securities of the Issuer that he or it does not directly own. Each of the Reporting Persons specifically disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities reported herein that he or it does not directly own.

On June 8, 2022, Ault Lending entered into a securities purchase agreement with the Issuer pursuant to which the Issuer sold the Ault Lending 1,200 shares of Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock, 102,881 Shares and a warrant, as amended, to purchase Shares (the “Warrant”) for a total purchase price of $12,000,000. Pursuant to the certificate of designations for the Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock, as amended, each share of Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock has a stated value of $10,833.33 and is convertible into Shares at a conversion price equal to the lesser of (1) $1.00 and (2) the higher of (A) 80% of the 10-day daily volume weighted average price and (B) $0.25. The Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock may not be converted if such conversion would result in Ault Lending beneficially owning more than 4.99% of the total number of Shares of the Issuer outstanding at the time of conversion. In addition, until such time as the transaction, including the issuance of all such possible Shares upon conversion of the Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock is approved by the Issuer’s shareholders, Ault Lending is prohibited from converting the Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock into more than 19.9% of the total number of Shares of the Issuer outstanding as of June 8, 2022. The Warrant was canceled by the parties, effective November 14, 2022.

On February 10, 2023, AAI entered into a Share Exchange Agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Issuer pursuant to which AAI agreed to sell to the Issuer all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of AAI’s subsidiary, BitNile.com, Inc. (“BitNile.com”), of which approximately 86% was owned by AAI, and the remaining 14% was owned by minority shareholders (the “Minority Shareholders”), as well as the securities of Earnity, Inc. (“Earnity”) beneficially owned by BitNile.com, which represented approximately 19.9% of the outstanding equity securities of Earnity as of the date of the Agreement (the “Transaction”).

On March 6, 2023, the Transaction closed and the Issuer acquired BitNile.com and its ownership in Earnity. As consideration for the acquisition, the Issuer issued 8,637.5 shares of newly designated Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of the Issuer to AAI (the “Series B Preferred”) and 1,362.5 shares of newly designated Series C Convertible Preferred Stock of the Issuer to the Minority Shareholders (the “Series C Preferred,” and together with the Series B Preferred, the “Preferred Stock”). The Series B Preferred and the Series C Preferred each have a stated value of $10,000 per share (the “Stated Value”), for a combined stated value of the Preferred Stock issued by the Issuer of $100,000,000, and subject to adjustment, are convertible into an aggregate of 400,000,000 Shares of the Issuer, which pursuant to the Agreement, represents approximately 92.4% of the Issuer’s outstanding Shares on a fully-diluted basis. The Preferred Stock is not convertible until one day after the record date for shareholder approval of the Agreement, as amended, pursuant to which the Preferred Stock was issued. In addition, the Series C Convertible Preferred Stock may not be converted if such conversion would result in the Reporting Person beneficially owning more than 4.99% of the total number of Shares of the Issuer outstanding at the time of conversion. Further, pending approval of the transaction by the Issuer’s shareholders, the Preferred Stock combined are subject to a 19.9% beneficial ownership limitation (together with other securities beneficially owned). The Agreement provides that the Issuer will seek shareholder approval (the “Shareholder Approval”) following the closing.

Pursuant to the Certificates of Designations of the Rights, Preferences and Limitations of the Series B Preferred and the Series C Preferred (collectively, the “Preferred Stock Certificates”), each share of Preferred Stock is convertible into a number of Shares determined by dividing the Stated Value by $0.25 (the “Conversion Price”), or 40,000 Shares. The Conversion Price will be subject to certain adjustments, including potential downward adjustment if the Issuer closes a qualified financing resulting in at least $25,000,000 in gross proceeds at a price per share that is lower than the Conversion Price then in effect. The holders of Preferred Stock will be entitled to receive dividends at a rate of 5% of the Stated Value per annum from issuance until the 10-year anniversary of issuance (the “Dividend Term”). During the first two years of the Dividend Term, dividends will be payable in additional shares of Preferred Stock rather than cash, and thereafter dividends will be payable in either additional shares of Preferred Stock or cash as each holder may elect. If the Issuer fails to make a dividend payment as required by the Preferred Stock Certificates, the dividend rate will be increased to 12% for as long as such default remains ongoing and uncured. Each share of Preferred Stock will also have an $11,000 liquidation preference in the event of a liquidation, change of control event, dissolution or winding up of the Issuer, and will rank senior to all other capital stock of the Issuer with respect thereto, except that the Series B Preferred and Series C Preferred shall rank pari passu. Each share of Preferred Stock will be entitled to vote with the Shares as set forth in the Preferred Stock Certificates, provided, however, that until Shareholder Approval, the Preferred Stock combined voting power is subject to a 19.9% limitation (together with other securities beneficially owned). Other than certain rights granted to AAI relating to amendments or waiver of various negative covenants, the terms, rights, preferences and limitations of the Preferred Stock Certificates are essentially identical.

AAI is entitled to appoint three members to the board of directors of the Issuer (the “Board”), and following Shareholder Approval, a majority of the Board. The Agreement also provides the holders of Preferred Stock with most favored nations rights in the event the Issuer offers securities with more favorable terms than the Preferred Stock for as long as the Preferred Stock remains outstanding.

On March 10, 2023, the Reporting Persons entered into a Joint Filing Agreement in which the Reporting Persons agreed to the joint filing on behalf of each of them of statements on Schedule 13D with respect to the securities of the Issuer. A copy of this agreement is attached as an exhibit hereto and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7.   Material to be Filed as Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of his knowledge and belief, each of the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Dated:       March 10, 2023

SCHEDULE A

Officers and Directors of Ault Alliance, Inc.

SCHEDULE B

Officers and Directors of Ault Lending, LLC

SCHEDULE C

Transactions in the Shares of Common Stock During the Last Sixty Days

Ault Lending, LLC

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