Absence of Certain Agreements Neither Parent nor any of its Affiliates has entered into any contract, arrangement or understanding (in each case, whether oral or written), or authorized, committed or agreed to enter into any contract, arrangement or understanding (in each case, whether oral or written), pursuant to which: (a) any stockholder of the Company would be entitled to receive consideration of a different amount or nature than the Merger Consideration or pursuant to which any stockholder of the Company (i) agrees to vote to adopt this Agreement or the Merger or (ii) agrees to vote against any Superior Proposal or (b) any Third Party has agreed to provide, directly or indirectly, equity capital to Parent or the Company to finance in whole or in part the Merger.
Absence of Reliance In signing this Agreement, you are not relying upon any promises or representations made by anyone at or on behalf of the Company.
Absence of Certain Developments Except as expressly contemplated by the Transaction Agreements or as set forth on the attached Developments Schedule, and except as disclosed in the Issuer SEC Reports filed prior to the date of this Agreement, since the date of the Latest Balance Sheet, neither the Issuer nor any Subsidiary has:
(i) issued any notes, bonds or other debt securities or any capital stock or other equity securities or any securities convertible, exchangeable or exercisable into any capital stock or other equity securities;
(ii) borrowed any amount in excess of $250,000 or incurred or become subject to any material liabilities, except current liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of business and liabilities under contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business;
(iii) discharged or satisfied any material Lien or paid any material obligation or liability, other than current liabilities paid in the ordinary course of business;
(iv) declared or made any payment or distribution of cash or other property to its stockholders with respect to its capital stock or other equity securities or purchased or redeemed any shares of its capital stock or other equity securities (including, without limitation, any warrants, options or other rights to acquire its capital stock or other equity securities;
(v) mortgaged or pledged any of its properties or assets or subjected them to any material Lien, except Liens for current property taxes not yet due and payable;
(vi) sold, assigned or transferred any of its tangible assets in excess of $50,000 individually or $250,000 in the aggregate or any interest in any Subsidiary, except in the ordinary course of business, or canceled any material debts or claims;
(vii) sold, assigned, transferred or abandoned any material patents or patent applications, trademarks, service marks, trade names, corporate names, copyrights or copyright registrations, trade secrets or other Intellectual Property Rights, or disclosed any material proprietary confidential information to any Person;
(viii) suffered any material extraordinary losses or waived any rights of material value, whether or not in the ordinary course of business or consistent with past practice;
(ix) made any Investment in or taken steps to incorporate any Subsidiary; or
(x) entered into any other material transaction, other than in the ordinary course of business.
Absence of Changes Since the date of the Company Unaudited Interim Balance Sheet:
(a) there has not been any material adverse change in the business, condition, assets, liabilities, operations, financial performance or prospects of the Acquired Corporations taken as a whole, and no event has occurred that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect on the Acquired Corporations;
(b) there has not been any material loss, damage or destruction to, or any material interruption in the use of, any of the assets of any of the Acquired Corporations (whether or not covered by insurance);
(c) none of the Acquired Corporations has (i) declared, accrued, set aside or paid any dividend or made any other distribution in respect of any shares of capital stock, or (ii) repurchased, redeemed or otherwise reacquired any shares of capital stock or other securities;
(d) none of the Acquired Corporations has sold, issued, granted or authorized the issuance or grant of (i) any capital stock or other security (except for Company Common Stock issued upon the exercise of outstanding Company Options or Company Warrants), (ii) any option, call, warrant or right to acquire any capital stock or any other security (except for Company Options described in Part 2.3(b)(i) of the Company Disclosure Schedule), or (iii) any instrument convertible into or exchangeable for any capital stock or other security;
(e) the Company has not amended or waived any of its rights under, or permitted the acceleration of vesting under, (i) any provision of any of the Company's stock option plans, (ii) any provision of any agreement evidencing any outstanding Company Option or Company Warrant, or (iii) any restricted stock purchase agreement;
(f) except as provided in Part 2.5(f) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, there has been no amendment to the articles of incorporation, bylaws or other charter or organizational documents of any of the Acquired Corporations, and none of the Acquired Corporations has effected or been a party to any merger, consolidation, share exchange, business combination, recapitalization, reclassification of shares, stock split, reverse stock split or similar transaction;
(g) except as provided in Part 2.5(g) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, none of the Acquired Corporations has (i) received any Acquisition Proposal, or (ii) solicited, initiated, encouraged or induced, or provided any nonpublic information to or entered into any discussions with any Person for the purpose of soliciting, initiating, encouraging or inducing, the making or submission of any Acquisition Proposal;
(h) none of the Acquired Corporations has formed any subsidiary or acquired any equity interest or other interest in any other Entity;
(i) none of the Acquired Corporations has made any capital expenditures which exceed $800,000 in the aggregate;
(j) except in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practices, none of the Acquired Corporations has (i) entered into or permitted any of the assets owned or used by it to become bound by any Material Contract (as defined in Section 2.10), or (ii) amended or prematurely terminated, or waived any material right or remedy under, any Material Contract;
(k) none of the Acquired Corporations has (i) acquired, leased or licensed any material right or other material asset from any other Person, (ii) sold or otherwise disposed of, or leased or licensed, any material right or other material asset to any other Person, or (iii) waived or relinquished any right, except for rights or other assets acquired, leased, licensed or disposed of in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practices;
(l) none of the Acquired Corporations has written off as uncollectible, or established any extraordinary reserve with respect to, any account receivable or other indebtedness in excess of $25,000 with respect to any single matter, or in excess of $50,000 in the aggregate;
(m) except as set forth on Part 2.5 (m) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, none of the Acquired Corporations has made any pledge of any of its assets or otherwise permitted any of its assets to become subject to any Encumbrance, except for pledges of immaterial assets made in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practices;
(n) except as set forth in Part 2.5(n) of the Company Disclosure Schedule and except for intercompany indebtedness among the Acquired Corporations and relocation and travel advances referred to in Section 2.8(b), none of the Acquired Corporations has (i) lent money to any Person, or (ii) incurred or guaranteed any indebtedness for borrowed money;
(o) except as provided in Part 2.5(o) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, none of the Acquired Corporations has (i) established or adopted any Plan (as defined in Section 2.16(a)), (ii) caused or permitted any Plan to be amended in any material respect, or (iii) paid any bonus or made any profit-sharing or similar payment to, or materially increased the amount of the wages, salary, commissions, fringe benefits or other compensation or remuneration payable to, any of its directors, officers or employees;
(p) none of the Acquired Corporations has changed any of its methods of accounting or accounting practices in any respect;
(q) none of the Acquired Corporations has made any material election with respect to Taxes;
(r) except as set forth in Part 2.5(r) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, none of the Acquired Corporations has commenced or settled any Legal Proceeding;
(s) none of the Acquired Corporations has entered into any material transaction or taken any other material action that has had, or could reasonably be expected to have, a Material Adverse Effect on the Acquired Corporations; and
(t) except as set forth in Part 2.5(t) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, none of the Acquired Corporations has agreed or committed to take any of the actions referred to in clauses "(c)" through "(s)" above.
Absence of Certain Changes Since the date of the Company’s most recent audited financial statements contained in a Form 10-K, there has been no material adverse change and no material adverse development in the business, assets, liabilities, properties, operations (including results thereof), condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. Since the date of the Company’s most recent audited financial statements contained in a Form 10-K, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has (i) declared or paid any dividends, (ii) sold any assets, individually or in the aggregate, outside of the ordinary course of business or (iii) made any capital expenditures, individually or in the aggregate, outside of the ordinary course of business. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has taken any steps to seek protection pursuant to any law or statute relating to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, liquidation or winding up, nor does the Company or any Subsidiary have any knowledge or reason to believe that any of their respective creditors intend to initiate involuntary bankruptcy proceedings or any actual knowledge of any fact which would reasonably lead a creditor to do so. The Company and its Subsidiaries, individually and on a consolidated basis, are not as of the date hereof, and after giving effect to the transactions contemplated hereby to occur at the Closing, will not be Insolvent (as defined below). For purposes of this Section 3(l), “Insolvent” means, (i) with respect to the Company and its Subsidiaries, on a consolidated basis, (A) the present fair saleable value of the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ assets is less than the amount required to pay the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ total Indebtedness (as defined below), (B) the Company and its Subsidiaries are unable to pay their debts and liabilities, subordinated, contingent or otherwise, as such debts and liabilities become absolute and matured or (C) the Company and its Subsidiaries intend to incur or believe that they will incur debts that would be beyond their ability to pay as such debts mature; and (ii) with respect to the Company and each Subsidiary, individually, (A) the present fair saleable value of the Company’s or such Subsidiary’s (as the case may be) assets is less than the amount required to pay its respective total Indebtedness, (B) the Company or such Subsidiary (as the case may be) is unable to pay its respective debts and liabilities, subordinated, contingent or otherwise, as such debts and liabilities become absolute and matured or (C) the Company or such Subsidiary (as the case may be) intends to incur or believes that it will incur debts that would be beyond its respective ability to pay as such debts mature. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has engaged in any business or in any transaction, and is not about to engage in any business or in any transaction, for which the Company’s or such Subsidiary’s remaining assets constitute unreasonably small capital with which to conduct the business in which it is engaged as such business is now conducted and is proposed to be conducted.
Absence of Change Since the Statement Date, none of the Group Companies has declared or paid any dividend on its shares or registered capital, and since the Statement Date, except as contemplated by the Principal Agreements and disclosed in the Disclosure Schedule:
(a) each of the Group Companies has (i) conducted its business in the ordinary course consistent with past practice, (ii) used its best efforts to preserve its business, (iii) collected accounts receivable and paid accounts payable and similar obligations in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, and (iv) not engaged in any new line of business or entered into any agreement, transaction or activity or made any commitment except those in the ordinary course of business;
(b) none of the Group Companies has entered into any transaction in an amount in excess of RMB5,000,000 other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(c) there has been no material adverse change in or affecting the business, financial condition, results, operations or prospects of any of the Group Companies;
(d) there has been no damage to, destruction or loss of physical property (whether or not covered by insurance) materially affecting the business, financial condition, results, operations or prospects of any Group Company;
(e) there has been no waiver of any material right or claim of any Group Company, or the cancellation of any material debt or claim held by any Group Company;
(f) there has been no sale, assignment, exclusive license, Encumbrance upon or transfer of any tangible or intangible assets (including without limitation, Intellectual Property) of any Group Companies other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(g) there has been no satisfaction or discharge of any Encumbrance or payment of any obligation by any of the Group Companies, except such satisfaction, discharge or payment made in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice that is not material to the assets, properties, financial condition, operating results or business of any Group Company;
(h) there has been no waiver, material change, amendment to or termination of a Material Contract or arrangement by which any of the Group Companies (or any of its assets or properties) is bound or subject, except for changes or amendments which are expressly provided for by the Principal Agreements;
(i) there has not been any incurrence, commitment to incur, assumption or guarantee by any of the Group Companies of any indebtedness other than in the ordinary course of business (such as working capital loans) and in amounts in excess of RMB5,000,000 and on terms consistent with past practice;
(j) there has not been the creation or other incurrence of any material Encumbrance on any asset of any Group Company other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(k) there has not been any loan or advance to, guarantee for the benefit of, or investment in, any Person (including but not limited to any of the employees, officers or directors, or any members of their immediate families, of any Group Company) by any Group Company except for loans, pledges or guarantees made by a Group Company to another Group Company in the ordinary course of business and in accordance with Applicable law;
(l) there has not been any resignation of or termination of the employment relationship of any Key Employee;
(m) there has not been any capital expenditures made by any Group Company that aggregate in excess of RMB75,000,000;
(n) there has not been any change in the nature or organization of, or any material change in the scope of, the business of any Group Company or disposal of the whole or its undertaking or property or substantial part thereof;
(o) there has not been any material acquisition or formation of any Subsidiary, any branch companies, any equity interest in any Person or the whole or any substantial part of the undertaking, assets or business of any other Person or entering into any joint venture or partnership with any other Person, by any Group Company;
(p) there has not been any sale, transfer, lease, or pledge of all or substantially all of the assets by any of the Group Companies, or entry into any consolidation, amalgamation, scheme of arrangement or merger of any Group Company with or into any other Person or other corporate reorganization;
(q) there has not been any sale, transfer, pledge or otherwise disposition of share capital or registered capital of any Group Company;
(r) there has not been any issuances of Common Shares or Preferred Shares and there were options exercisable for 21,060,606 Commons Shares outstanding; and
(s) there has not been any agreement or commitment by any Group Company to do any of the things described in this Section 3.9.
Absence of Certain Commercial Practices Except as described on Schedule 4.27, neither the Company nor any Seller has made any payment (directly or by secret commissions, discounts, compensation or other payments) or given any gifts to another business concern, to an agent or employee of another business concern or of any governmental entity (domestic or foreign) or to a political party or candidate for political office (domestic or foreign), to obtain or retain business for the Company or to receive favorable or preferential treatment, except for gifts and entertainment given to representatives of customers or potential customers of sufficiently limited value and in a form (other than cash) that would not be construed as a bribe or payoff.
Absence of Claims Each Shareholder has no knowledge of any causes of action or other claims that could have been or in the future might be asserted by such Shareholder against the Company or any of its predecessors, successors, assigns, directors, employees, agents or representatives arising out of facts or circumstances occurring at any time on or prior to the date hereof and in any way relating to any duty or obligation of the Company or any Shareholder.
No Undisclosed Liabilities; Absence of Changes Except ---------------------------------------------- as and to the extent publicly disclosed by the Company in the Company SEC Reports or as set forth in Section 2.8 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has any liabilities or obligations of any nature, whether or not accrued, contingent or otherwise, that would be required by generally accepted accounting principles to be reflected on a consolidated balance sheet of the Company (including the notes thereto), other than liabilities and obligations which, individually or in the aggregate, will not have a Material Adverse Effect on the Company. Except as publicly disclosed by the Company in the Company SEC Reports or as set forth in Section 2.8 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, since September 30, 1998, there have been no events, changes or effects with respect to the Company or its subsidiaries that have had or reasonably would be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect on the Company. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except as and to the extent publicly disclosed by the Company in the Company SEC Reports or as set forth in Section 2.8 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, since September 30, 1998, the Company and its subsidiaries have conducted their respective businesses in all material respects only in, and have not engaged in any material transaction other than according to, the ordinary and usual course of such businesses consistent with past practices, and there has not been any (i) change in the financial condition, properties, business or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, except for those changes that, individually or in the aggregate, have not had and are not reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect on the Company; (ii) material damage, destruction or other casualty loss with respect to any material asset or property owned, leased or otherwise used by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, not covered by insurance; (iii) declaration, setting aside or payment of any dividend or other distribution in respect of the capital stock of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (other than wholly-owned subsidiaries) or any repurchase, redemption or other acquisition by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of any outstanding shares of capital stock or other securities of, or other ownership interests in, the Company or any of its subsidiaries; (iv) amendment of any material term of any outstanding security of the Company or any of its subsidiaries; (v) incurrence, assumption or guarantee by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of any indebtedness for borrowed money other than in the ordinary course of business and in amounts and on terms consistent with past practices; (vi) creation or assumption by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of any Lien on any material asset other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices; (vii) loan, advance or capital contributions made by the Company or any of its subsidiaries to, or investment in, any person other than (x) loans or advances to employees in connection with business- related travel, (y) loans made to employees consistent with past practices that are not in the aggregate in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000), and (z) loans, advances or capital contributions to or investments in wholly-owned subsidiaries, and in each case made in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices; (viii) transaction or commitment made, or any contract or agreement entered into, by the Company or any of its subsidiaries relating to its assets or business (including the acquisition or disposition of any assets) or any relinquishment by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of any contract, agreement or other right, in either case, material to the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, other than transactions and commitments in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices and those contemplated by this Agreement; (ix) labor dispute, other than routine individual grievances, or any activity or proceeding by a labor union or representative thereof to organize any employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any lockouts, strikes, slowdowns, work stoppages or threats thereof by or with respect to such employees; or (x) change by the Company or any of its subsidiaries in its accounting principles, practices or methods. Since September 30, 1998, except as disclosed in the Company SEC Reports filed prior to the date hereof or increases in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices, there has not been any increase in the compensation payable or that could become payable by the Company or any of its subsidiaries to (a) officers of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or (b) any employee of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries whose annual cash compensation is One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) or more.
Absence of Certain Changes and Events Except as set forth on Schedule 3.14, since the date of the Interim Financial Statements, and, to the extent not fully reflected in the Interim Financial Statements, since the date of the Year End Financial Statements, the Company has conducted its business only in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices, and there has not been any:
(a) change in the Company’s authorized or issued capital stock or the ownership thereof; grant of any stock option or right to purchase shares of capital stock of the Company; issuance of any security convertible into such capital stock; grant of any registration rights; purchase, redemption, retirement, or other acquisition by the Company of any shares of any such capital stock;
(b) amendment to the Organizational Documents of the Company;
(c) acquisition of any stock or business of, or merger or consolidation with, another Person, or any action with respect to liquidating, dissolving, recapitalizing, reorganizing or otherwise winding up the Company’s business;
(d) payment or increase by the Company of any bonuses, salaries, or other compensation to any stockholder, director, officer, or employee (except, with respect to non-executive employees, in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice) or entry into any new, or material amendment of any existing, employment, consulting, independent contractor, severance, change of control or similar Contract;
(e) adoption of any profit sharing, bonus, deferred compensation, savings, insurance, pension, retirement, or other employee benefit plan;
(f) damage to or destruction or loss of any asset or property of the Company, whether or not covered by insurance, which has had, or would reasonably be expected to have, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company;
(g) sale (other than sales of Inventory in the ordinary course of business), lease, license, distribution or other disposition of any material asset(s) or property of the Company, or any waiver, release, transfer or assignment of any right of material value, or any mortgage, pledge, or imposition of any lien or other Encumbrance on any material asset(s) or property of the Company except as noted on Schedule 3.6 or except as explicitly permitted under Section 6.2 or required under any other provision of this Agreement;
(h) entry into any Contract or other agreement providing for payments by the Company in an aggregate amount exceeding $25,000 that is not terminable by the Company, without penalty, upon sixty (60) days notice, with the exception of agreements for the purchase of fuel entered into by the Company in the ordinary course of its business and consistent with past practice;
(i) any capital expenditure in excess of $25,000;
(j) change in any annual accounting period or accounting methods used by the Company;
(k) any modification, termination or amendment to a Material Contract or waiver of any right or claim thereunder;
(l) loss of use of any Company Intellectual Property Assets;
(m) change in methods, practices, principles or timing regarding the purchase of inventory or the payment or accrual of operating expenses, including accounts payable; or
(n) entry into any Contract, whether oral or written, by the Company to do any of the foregoing.