Acceleration of Vesting (a) In the event your employment with Deluxe is terminated by reason of death, Disability (as defined in the Addendum), or Approved Retirement (as defined in the Addendum) any time during the Restricted Period, all of the yet unvested Units will vest and the Units shall become non-forfeitable as of the date of such termination.
(b) Subject to Section 4(c), in the event your employment is terminated during the Restricted Period after the first anniversary of the Award Date by reason of involuntary termination without Cause, a pro rata portion of the next segment of Units scheduled to vest after the termination date (based on the number of completed days between the termination date and the scheduled vesting date immediately prior to the termination date (or the Award Date if there was no such scheduled vesting date) divided by 365) shall vest and become non-forfeitable as of the date of such termination.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision contained in this Agreement that would result in Units vesting in full or in part at a later date, if, in connection with any Change of Control, the acquiring Person, surviving or acquiring corporation or entity, or an Affiliate of such corporation or entity, elects to assume the obligations of Deluxe under this Agreement and to replace the Shares issuable upon settlement of the Units with other equity securities that are listed on a national securities exchange (including by use of American Depository Receipts or any similar method) and are freely transferable under all applicable federal and state securities laws and regulations (“Replacement Equity Securities”), the Units then subject to restriction shall continue to vest as set forth in Section 2, provided, however, the Units shall vest in full and become non-forfeitable if, within twelve months of the date of the Change of Control:
(i) Your employment with the Company is terminated by the Company without Cause,
(ii) Your employment with the Company is terminated by you for Good Reason, or
(iii) Vesting would otherwise occur on any earlier date as provided under this Agreement. In the event of any such Change of Control, the number of Replacement Equity Securities issuable under this Agreement shall be determined by the Committee in accordance with Section 4(c) of the Plan. In the event of any such Change of Control, all references herein to the Shares shall thereafter be deemed to refer to the Replacement Equity Securities, references to Deluxe or the Company shall thereafter be deemed to refer to the issuer of such Replacement Equity Securities, and all other terms of this Agreement shall continue in effect except as and to the extent modified by this subparagraph.
(d) If the Change of Control does not meet the continuation or replacement criteria specified in Section 4(c) above, all Units then subject to restriction shall vest in full immediately and become non-forfeitable upon the Change of Control.
(e) The provisions of this Section 4 shall be subject to Sections 5(b) and 8.
Vesting Acceleration Effective on such termination, the Executive shall receive accelerated vesting equivalent to six (6) months of service beyond the date of Executive’s termination with respect to the shares subject to any grant of restricted stock or stock options (each, an “Equity Grant”) granted to the Executive, regardless of whether granted prior to, coincident with, or after, the Effective Date; provided, however, that in the event such termination occurs within one (1) year following a Change of Control, then one hundred percent (100%) of the remaining shares subject to each such Equity Grant shall become vested in full and the period during which the Executive is permitted to exercise (if applicable) any such Equity Grant shall be extended until the earlier of (i) ten (10) years from the date of grant, or (ii) the expiration date of such Equity Grant (as of the date of grant).
Accelerated Vesting of Equity Awards One hundred percent (100%) of Executive’s then-outstanding and unvested Equity Awards will become vested in full. If, however, an outstanding Equity Award is to vest and/or the amount of the award to vest is to be determined based on the achievement of performance criteria, then the Equity Award will vest as to one hundred percent (100%) of the amount of the Equity Award assuming the performance criteria had been achieved at target levels for the relevant performance period(s).
Acceleration of Options One hundred (100%) percent of the Executive’s outstanding, unvested options, restricted stock and/or equity awards (“Equity Awards”) shall, immediately prior to the consummation of the Change in Control, become fully and immediately vested to the extent not already so provided under the terms of such Equity Awards; provided, however, that if the acquirer in a Change in Control grants Equity Awards having (in the reasonable opinion of the Board) a value at least equal to the value of Executive’s then-unvested Company Equity Awards, then 50% of the Executive’s outstanding, unvested Company Equity Awards shall become fully and immediately vested immediately prior to the consummation of the Change in Control (and the remaining 50% shall terminate upon the consummation of the Change in Control). Notwithstanding any provisions of the stock option plan or stock option agreement pursuant to which any stock options subject to the preceding sentence were granted, the Executive shall be entitled to exercise such Equity Awards until three years from the date of termination of employment or the expiration of the stated period of the Equity Award, whichever period is the shorter.
Acceleration of Equity Awards All: (i) outstanding and unvested options to purchase Common Stock granted to Executive under any equity plan of the Company, (ii) unvested shares of restricted Common Stock awarded to the Executive under any equity plan of the Company, and (iii) other equity and equity equivalent awards then held by the Executive, shall be accelerated in full, and thereafter all such options, shares of restricted Common Stock and other equity awards shall be immediately vested and exercisable for such period of time as provided for by the specific agreements governing each such award, upon Executive’s termination pursuant to Sections 11(b), (c), (e) or (f) hereof.
Accelerated Vesting (a) Immediately prior to the effective date of the Change in Control, the Unvested Shares subject to this option shall automatically become Vested Shares, and this option shall become exercisable for all of the Option Shares. However, the Unvested Shares shall not vest on such an accelerated basis if and to the extent: (i) this option will be assumed by the successor corporation (or parent thereof) or otherwise continued in effect pursuant to the terms of the Change in Control transaction or (ii) this option is to be replaced with a cash incentive program of the successor corporation which preserves the spread existing on the Unvested Shares at the time of the Change in Control (the excess of the Fair Market Value of those Unvested Shares over the Exercise Price payable for such shares) and provides for subsequent payout of that spread no later than the time Optionee would otherwise vest in the Option Shares as set forth in the Grant Notice.
(b) Immediately following the Change in Control, this option shall terminate and cease to be outstanding, except to the extent assumed by the successor corporation (or parent thereof) or otherwise continued in effect pursuant to the terms of the Change in Control transaction.
(c) If this option is assumed in connection with a Change in Control or otherwise continued in effect, then this option shall be appropriately adjusted, upon such Change in Control, to apply to the number and class of securities which would have been issuable to Optionee in consummation of such Change in Control had the option been exercised immediately prior to such Change in Control, and appropriate adjustments shall also be made to the Exercise Price, provided the aggregate Exercise Price shall remain the same. To the extent that the holders of Common Stock receive cash consideration for their Common Stock in consummation of the Change in Control, the successor corporation (or its parent) may, in connection with the assumption of this option, substitute one or more shares of its own common stock with a fair market value equivalent to the cash consideration paid per share of Common Stock in such Change in Control.
(d) This Agreement shall not in any way affect the right of the Corporation to adjust, reclassify, reorganize or otherwise change its capital or business structure or to merge, consolidate, dissolve, liquidate or sell or transfer all or any part of its business or assets.
Vesting of PSUs The PSUs granted pursuant to this Award shall vest, if at all, as follows:
(a) The Committee, in its sole discretion, has established, or within 90 days following the Date of Grant will establish, Performance Goals based on factors consistent with Section 3.1(e)(ii) of the Executive Employment Agreement by and between NIL, NII and the Grantee effective as of January 2, 2020, as amended from time to time (the “Employment Agreement”), which will be measured over a one-year performance period commencing on _____________ and ending on _____________ (such period, the “Performance Period”).
(b) Up to 200% of the Target PSUs subject to this Award are eligible to become earned based upon achievement of the applicable Performance Goals. The Committee shall have sole discretion to determine the level of achievement of the applicable Performance Goals and the percentage of the Target PSUs subject to this Award that shall become earned based on such performance (the “Earned PSUs”). The Committee’s determinations pursuant to the exercise of discretion with respect to all matters described in this paragraph shall be final and binding on the Grantee. The Committee shall make this determination within 60 days following the end of the Performance Period or as soon as administratively practicable thereafter (the “Performance Determination Date”).
(c) If, on the Performance Determination Date or any other applicable date as set forth in this Section 3, the Committee determines that any of the PSUs subject to this Award shall not become Earned PSUs, then any such PSUs that did not become Earned PSUs (and all rights arising from such PSUs and from being a holder thereof) will terminate automatically without any further action by the Company and will be forfeited without further notice and at no cost to the Company.
(d) One-third of the Earned PSUs shall become vested on each of the first three anniversaries of the Date of Grant if the Grantee remains continuously employed by NIL and/or NII from the Date of Grant through the applicable vesting date; provided that any Earned PSUs scheduled to vest prior to the Performance Determination Date shall instead vest upon the Performance Determination Date; provided further, that if the preceding calculation results in any fractional shares, such fractional shares shall be rounded down to the next whole number of shares, with the remainder of shares due to be paid in the third annual instalment.
(e) In the event of a Change in Control of NIL (as defined in the Employment Agreement), notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Employment Agreement, all of the Earned PSUs subject to this Award that remain unvested shall become vested as of the date of such Change in Control if the Grantee remains continuously employed by NIL and/or NII from the Date of Grant through the date of such Change in Control; provided that, if such Change in Control of NIL occurs prior to the Performance Determination Date, the Earned PSUs shall be deemed to equal 100% of the Target PSUs.
(f) In the event of the Grantee’s Termination due to the Grantee’s death or Disability (as defined in the Employment Agreement), all of the Earned PSUs subject to this Award that remain unvested shall become vested as of the date of such Termination; provided that, if the date of such Termination occurs prior to the conclusion of the Performance Period, then the Grantee shall forfeit all PSUs subject to this Award, and if the date of such Termination occurs after the conclusion of the Performance Period but prior to the Performance Determination Date, then the number of Earned PSUs shall be determined based on actual performance.
(g) In the event of the Grantee’s Termination either due to the Grantee’s Constructive Termination Without Cause or by the Company Without Cause (each as defined in the Employment Agreement), all of the Earned PSUs subject to this Award that remain unvested shall become vested as of the date of such Termination; provided that, if the date of such Termination occurs prior to the conclusion of the Performance Period, then the Grantee shall forfeit all PSUs subject to this Award, and if the date of such Termination occurs after the conclusion of the Performance Period but prior to the Performance Determination Date, then the number of Earned PSUs shall be determined based on actual performance.
(h) Anything herein notwithstanding, in the event of the Grantee’s Termination by the Company for Cause or by the written voluntary resignation of the Grantee (each as defined or contemplated, as applicable, in the Employment Agreement), the Grantee shall forfeit any PSUs subject to this Award that remain unvested as of the date of such Termination.
Committee Discretion to Accelerate Vesting Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committee may, in its sole discretion, provide for accelerated vesting of the RSUs at any time and for any reason.
Option Acceleration One hundred percent (100%) of the shares subject to all outstanding options granted to the Employee by the Company (the “Options”) prior to the date of such termination shall immediately become vested and exercisable in full upon such termination. Following such acceleration, the Options shall continue to be subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s stock option plans and the applicable option agreements between the Employee and the Company.
Equity Vesting All of the then-unvested shares subject to each of the Executive’s then-outstanding equity awards will immediately vest and, in the case of options and stock appreciation rights, will become exercisable (for avoidance of doubt, no more than 100% of the shares subject to the then-outstanding portion of an equity award may vest and become exercisable under this provision). In the case of equity awards with performance-based vesting, all performance goals and other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at the greater of actual performance or 100% of target levels. Unless otherwise required under the next following two sentences or, with respect to awards subject to Section 409A of the Code, under Section 5(b) below, any restricted stock units, performance shares, performance units, and/or similar full value awards that vest under this paragraph will be settled on the 61st day following the CIC Qualified Termination. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Executive’s Qualified Termination occurs prior to a Change in Control, then any unvested portion of the Executive’s then-outstanding equity awards will remain outstanding for 3 months or the occurrence of a Change in Control (whichever is earlier) so that any additional benefits due on a CIC Qualified Termination can be provided if a Change in Control occurs within 3 months following the Qualified Termination (provided that in no event will the Executive’s stock options or similar equity awards remain outstanding beyond the equity award’s maximum term to expiration). In such case, if no Change in Control occurs within 3 months following a Qualified Termination, any unvested portion of the Executive’s equity awards automatically will be forfeited permanently on the 3-month anniversary of the Qualified Termination without having vested.
