Company Board Recommendation (a) Subject to the terms of Section 6.3(b) and Section 6.3(c), the Company Board shall recommend that the holders of Company Shares accept the Offer, tender their Company Shares to Acquisition Sub pursuant to the Offer and, if required by the applicable provisions of Delaware Law, adopt this Agreement (the “Company Board Recommendation”).
(b) Neither the Company Board nor any committee thereof shall (i) fail to make the Company Board Recommendation to the holders of the Company Shares, (ii) withhold, withdraw, amend or modify in a manner adverse to Parent, or publicly propose to withhold, withdraw, amend or modify in a manner adverse to Parent, the Company Board Recommendation, (iii) adopt, approve, recommend, endorse or otherwise declare advisable the adoption of any Acquisition Proposal (it being understood that, only with respect to a tender offer or exchange offer, taking a neutral position or no position (other than in a communication made in compliance with Rule 14d-9(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act) with respect to any Acquisition Proposal shall be considered a breach of this clause (iii)), or (iv) resolve, agree or publicly propose to take any such actions (each such foregoing action or failure to act in clauses (i) through (iv) being referred to herein as an “Company Board Recommendation Change”). Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary set forth in this Agreement, if, at any time prior to the Appointment Time, the Company Board receives a Superior Proposal or there occurs an Intervening Event, the Company Board may effect a Company Board Recommendation Change provided that (i) the Company Board determines in good faith (after consultation with outside legal counsel) that the failure to effect a Company Board Recommendation Change would reasonably be expected to be a breach of its fiduciary duties to the Company Stockholders under applicable Delaware Law, and in the case of a Superior Proposal, the Company Board approves or recommends such Superior Proposal; (ii) the Company has notified Parent in writing that it intends to effect a Company Board Recommendation Change, describing in reasonable detail the reasons, including the material terms and conditions of any such Superior Proposal and a copy of the final form of any related agreements or a description in reasonable detail of such Intervening Event, as the case may be, for such Company Board Recommendation Change (a “Recommendation Change Notice”) (it being understood that the Recommendation Change Notice shall not constitute a Company Board Recommendation Change for purposes of this Agreement); (iii) if requested by Parent, the Company shall have made its Representatives available to discuss and negotiate in good faith with Parent’s Representatives any proposed modifications to the terms and conditions of this Agreement during the three (3) Business Day period following delivery by the Company to Parent of such Recommendation Change Notice; and (iv) if Parent shall have delivered to the Company a written proposal capable of being accepted by the Company to alter the terms or conditions of this Agreement during such three (3) Business Day period, the Company Board shall have determined in good faith (after consultation with outside legal counsel), after considering the terms of such proposal by Parent, that a Company Board Recommendation Change is still necessary in light of such Superior Proposal or Intervening Event in order to comply with its fiduciary duties to the Company Stockholders under applicable Delaware Law. Any material amendment or modification to any Superior Proposal will be deemed to be a new Superior Proposal for purposes of this Section 6.3. The Company shall keep confidential any proposals made by Parent to revise the terms of this Agreement, other than in the event of any amendment to this Agreement and to the extent required to be disclosed in any Company SEC Reports.
(c) Nothing in this Agreement shall prohibit the Company Board from (i) taking and disclosing to the Company Stockholders a position contemplated by Rule 14e-2(a) under the Exchange Act or complying with the provisions of Rule 14d-9 promulgated under the Exchange Act, and (ii) making any disclosure to the Company Stockholders that the Company Board determines in good faith (after consultation with its outside legal counsel) that the failure to make such disclosure would reasonably be expected to be a breach of its fiduciary duties to the Company Stockholders under applicable Delaware Law; provided, however, that in no event shall this Section 6.3(c) affect the obligations of the Company set forth in Sections 6.2 and 6.3; and provided, further, that any such disclosure will be deemed to be a Company Board Recommendation Change unless the Board of Directors publicly reaffirms the Company Board Recommendation within five Business Days of such disclosure.
Board Recommendation The Acquiror Company Board, by unanimous written consent, has determined that this Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are advisable and in the best interests of the Acquiror Company’s stockholders and has duly authorized this Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
Change of Recommendation Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, at any time prior to obtaining the Company Stockholder Approval, the Company’s Board of Directors may, if it concludes in good faith (after consultation with its financial advisors and outside legal advisors) that the failure to take such action would be inconsistent with its fiduciary duties under applicable Law, make an Adverse Recommendation Change; provided that prior to any such Adverse Recommendation Change, (A) the Company shall have given Parent and Merger Sub prompt written notice advising them of (x) the decision of the Company’s Board of Directors to take such action and the reasons therefor and (y) in the event the decision relates to an Alternative Transaction Proposal, a summary of the material terms and conditions of the Alternative Transaction Proposal and other information requested to be provided with respect thereto pursuant to this Section 5.4, including the information required to be provided pursuant to Section 5.4(b) and (c), (B) the Company shall have given Parent and Merger Sub three (3) Business Days (the “Notice Period”) after delivery of each such notice to propose revisions to the terms of this Agreement (or make another proposal) and, during the Notice Period, the Company shall, and shall direct its financial advisors and outside legal advisors to, negotiate with Parent in good faith (to the extent Parent desires to negotiate) to make such adjustments in the terms and conditions of this Agreement so that, if applicable, such Alternative Transaction Proposal ceases to constitute (in the judgment of the Company’s Board of Directors, after consultation with its financial advisors and outside legal advisors), a Superior Proposal or, if the Adverse Recommendation Change does not involve an Alternative Transaction Proposal, to make such adjustments in the terms and conditions of this Agreement so that such Adverse Recommendation Change is otherwise not necessary, and (C) the Company’s Board of Directors shall have determined in good faith, after considering the results of such negotiations and giving effect to the proposals made by Parent and Merger Sub, if any, that such Alternative Transaction Proposal, if applicable, continues to constitute a Superior Proposal or that such Adverse Recommendation Change is otherwise still required; provided further that, (1) if during the Notice Period described in clause (B) of this paragraph any revisions are made to the Superior Proposal, if applicable, and the Company’s Board of Directors in its good faith judgment determines (after consultation with its financial advisors and outside legal advisors) that such revisions are material (it being understood that any change in the purchase price or form of consideration in such Superior Proposal shall be deemed a material revision), the Company shall deliver a new written notice to Parent and shall comply with the requirements of this Section 5.4(d) with respect to such new written notice except that the new Notice Period shall be two (2) Business Days instead of three (3) Business Days and (2) in the event the Company’s Board of Directors does not make the determination referred to in clause (C) of this paragraph but thereafter determines to make an Adverse Recommendation Change pursuant to this Section 5.4(d), the procedures referred to in clauses (A), (B) and (C) above shall apply anew and shall also apply to any subsequent withdrawal, amendment or change.
Conclusions and Recommendations Based on our country-by-country analysis, 197 of the AEWA populations are already well-monitored both for population size and trend. Our prioritisation method allowed focusing on the AEWA conservation and management priorities (Priorities 1-2) and to consider cost effectiveness and feasibility (Priorities 3-6). Theoretically, the two- third target of the AEWA Strategic Plan can be just attained by focusing on the development of monitoring activities for Priority 1-5 populations (i.e. leaving out the 168 more widespread Priority 6 populations that would require more species-specific monitoring methods. Most of the Priority 1-5 populations would require improvement of the IWC though regional schemes focusing on the West Asian / East African flyway with possibly three subregional components in the Central Asia, Arabia and Eastern and Southern Africa. In the latter region, improvements in Tanzania and Mozambique are particularly important. In the Black Sea - Mediterranean - Sahelian flyway the focus should be primarily on the Sahel countries and especially on increasing the consistency of annual counts. The quality of monitoring is already better in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions. In the East Atlantic, the ongoing capacity-building activities should continue and the consistency and representativity of site coverage should be further strengthened in most countries. Angola would require a major capacity improvement but primarily for the intra-African migrants on inland wetlands. It is also clear that the targets of the AEWA Strategic Plan cannot be achieved without complementing the IWC with periodic aerial surveys both in Western Africa as well as in Eastern and Southern Africa, by setting up a periodic offshore waterbird monitoring scheme in the Caspian Sea and by focusing in each country on a relatively small number of breeding bird species strategically selected in this report.
JOINT SETTLEMENT RECOMMENDATION 2. Staff conducted an investigation of the Respondent’s activities. The investigation disclosed that the Respondent had engaged in activity for which the Respondent could be penalized on the exercise of the discretion of the Hearing Panel pursuant to s. 24.1 of By-law No. 1.
3. Staff and the Respondent recommend settlement of the matters disclosed by the investigation in accordance with the terms and conditions set out below. The Respondent agrees to the settlement on the basis of the facts set out in Part IV herein and consents to the making of an Order in the form attached as Schedule “A”.
4. Staff and the Respondent agree that the terms of this Settlement Agreement, including the attached Schedule “A”, will be released to the public only if and when the Settlement Agreement is accepted by the Hearing Panel.
Company Stockholder Approval The Company Stockholder Approval shall have been obtained.
Company Stockholders Meeting (a) The Company shall take all action necessary under all applicable Law to call, give notice of and hold a meeting of the holders of Company Common Stock (the “Company Stockholders’ Meeting”) for the purpose of obtaining the Requisite Stockholder Approval. The Company Stockholders’ Meeting shall be held (on a date selected by the Company and Parent) as promptly as practicable after the commencement of the mailing of the Proxy Statement to the Company’s stockholders. The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that all proxies solicited in connection with the Company Stockholders’ Meeting are solicited in compliance with all applicable Law. Parent shall cause all shares of Company Common Stock owned by Parent or Merger Sub, if any, to be voted in favor of the adoption of this Agreement.
(b) Subject to Section 6.2(d), (i) the Proxy Statement shall include a statement to the effect that the board of directors of the Company (A) has unanimously determined and believes that the Merger is advisable and fair to and in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders, (ii) has unanimously approved and adopted this Agreement and unanimously approved the Transactions, including the Merger, in accordance with the requirements of the DGCL, and (iii) unanimously recommends that the Company’s stockholders vote to adopt this Agreement at the Company Stockholders’ Meeting. The unanimous determination that the Merger is advisable and fair to and in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders and the unanimous recommendation of the Company’s board of directors that the Company’s stockholders vote to adopt this Agreement are collectively referred to as the “Company Board Recommendation”. The Proxy Statement shall include the opinion of the financial advisors referred to in Section 3.29.
(c) Neither the board of directors of the Company nor any committee thereof shall, except if the terms, conditions and requirements of Section 6.2(d) have been satisfied: (i) withdraw or modify in a manner adverse to Parent or Merger Sub the Company Board Recommendation; (ii) recommend the approval, acceptance or adoption of, or approve, endorse, accept or adopt, any Acquisition Proposal; (iii) approve or recommend, or cause or permit any Company Entity to execute or enter into, any letter of intent, memorandum of understanding, agreement in principle, merger agreement, acquisition agreement, option agreement, joint venture agreement, partnership agreement or other similar document or Contract constituting or relating directly or indirectly to, or that contemplates or is intended or could reasonably be expected to result directly or indirectly in, an Acquisition Transaction, other than a confidentiality agreement referred to in clause (iv)(B) of Section 5.3(b); or (iv) resolve, agree or publicly propose to, or permit any Company Entity or any Representative of any Company Entity to agree or publicly propose to, take any of the actions referred to in this Section 6.2(c).
(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in Section 6.2(c), at any time prior to the adoption of this Agreement by the Requisite Stockholder Approval, the board of directors of the Company may withdraw or modify the Company Board Recommendation, refuse to reaffirm the Company Board Recommendation, refuse to publicly state that the Merger and this Agreement are in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders, refuse to issue a press release announcing its opposition to an Acquisition Proposal or recommend a Superior Proposal (each of the foregoing being referred to as a “Recommendation Change”), but only if: (A) an unsolicited, bona fide, written Acquisition Proposal is made to the Company and is not withdrawn; (B) such Acquisition Proposal did not result directly or indirectly from a breach of or any action inconsistent with any of the provisions set forth in Section 5.3 or Section 6.2 of this Agreement or in the Confidentiality Agreement; (C) the Company’s board of directors determines in good faith, after having consulted with its independent financial advisors and outside legal counsel, that such Acquisition Proposal constitutes a Superior Offer; (D) the Company’s board of directors determines in good faith, after having consulted with the Company’s outside legal counsel, that, in light of such Superior Offer, the failure to make a Recommendation Change would constitute a breach by the Company’s board of directors of its fiduciary obligations to the Company’s stockholders under applicable Delaware law; (E) at least three business days prior to making a Recommendation Change pursuant to this Section 6.2(d), the Company’s board of directors delivers to Parent a written notice (a “Recommendation Change Notice”) (1) stating that the Company has received a Superior Offer that did not result directly or indirectly from a breach of or any action inconsistent with any of the provisions set forth in Section 5.3 or Section 6.2 of this Agreement or in the Confidentiality Agreement, (2) stating the Company’s board of directors’ intention to make a Recommendation Change as a result of such Superior Offer and describing the nature of such intended Recommendation Change, (3) specifying the material terms and conditions of such Superior Offer, including the identity of the Person making such Superior Offer, and (4) attaching copies of the most current and complete draft of any Contract relating to such Superior Offer; and (F) throughout the period between the delivery of such Recommendation Change Notice and any Recommendation Change, the Company engages (to the extent requested by Parent) in good faith negotiations with Parent to amend this Agreement and if such negotiations result in the transaction with Parent being in the best interests of the Company stockholders, the Company and its Representatives shall comply with Section 6.2(c). For purposes of this Section 6.2(d), any materially change in the form of or material decrease in the amount of, the consideration payable in connection with a Superior Offer, and any other materially change to any of the terms of a Superior Offer (including any change that would make it a Superior Offer as compared to this Agreement as modified by any changes negotiated pursuant to clause (F) of this Section 6.2(d)), will be deemed to be a new Superior Offer (or other Acquisition Proposal), requiring a new Recommendation Change Notice and a new advance notice period. The Company agrees to keep confidential, and not to disclose to the public or to any Person, any and all information regarding any negotiations that take place pursuant to clause (F) of this Section 6.2(d) (including the existence and terms of any proposal made on behalf of Parent or the Company during such negotiations), except to the extent such disclosure is required by applicable law or the rules and regulations of any applicable United States Government to which the Company is subject or submits.
(e) The Company’s obligation to call, give notice of and hold the Company Stockholders’ Meeting in accordance with Section 6.2(a) shall not be limited or otherwise affected by the making, commencement, disclosure, announcement or submission of any Superior Offer or other Acquisition Proposal or by any Recommendation Change. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company agrees that (i) unless this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Section 9.1, the Company shall not submit any Acquisition Proposal to a vote of its stockholders and (ii) the Company shall not (without Parent’s prior written consent) adjourn, postpone or cancel (or propose to adjourn, postpone or cancel) the Company Stockholders’ Meeting, except to the extent required to obtain the Requisite Stockholder Approval.
(f) Nothing in this Agreement shall prohibit the board of directors of the Company from taking and disclosing to the Company’s stockholders a position contemplated by Rule 14e-2(a) and Rule 14d-9 under the Exchange Act; provided, however, that the taking or disclosing of such position may constitute a Recommendation Change for purposes of this Agreement.
Stockholder Approval The Company Stockholder Approval shall have been obtained.
Company Stockholder Meeting The Company shall cause a meeting of its stockholders (the “Company Stockholder Meeting”) to be duly called and held as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within 40 days after the date of mailing of the Proxy Statement (with the record date and meeting date for the Company Stockholder Meeting to be selected with the reasonable consent of Parent), for the purpose of voting on the approval and adoption of this Agreement and the Merger; provided that the Company may postpone or adjourn the Company Stockholder Meeting (i) with the consent of Parent, (ii) for the absence of a quorum or (iii) (A) to allow reasonable additional time for any supplemental or amended disclosure which the Company has determined in good faith (after consultation with outside counsel) is necessary under Applicable Law to be disseminated and reviewed by the Company’s stockholders prior to the Company Stockholder Meeting or (B) once for a period not to exceed fifteen days, for additional solicitation of votes in order to obtain the Company Stockholder Approval. The Company shall comply with all Applicable Laws that are applicable to the Company Stockholder Meeting and, unless the Board of Directors shall have effected an Adverse Recommendation Change pursuant to, and in accordance with the terms of, Section 6.03, the Board of Directors (acting on the recommendation of the Special Committee) shall (A) include the Company Recommendation in the Proxy Statement and Schedule 13E-3 and (B) use its reasonable best efforts to obtain the Company Stockholder Approval. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, unless this Agreement has been terminated in accordance with Section 10.01, this Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated hereby shall be submitted to the Company’s stockholders at the Company Stockholder Meeting whether or not an Adverse Recommendation Change shall have occurred.
Parent Stockholders’ Meeting (a) Promptly as reasonably practicable after the resolution of SEC staff comments and the filing of the Definitive Proxy Statement, Parent shall take all action necessary under applicable Law to call, give notice of and hold a meeting of the holders of Parent Common Stock for the purpose of seeking approval of (i) the issuance of Parent Common Stock or other securities of Parent that represent (or are convertible into) more than twenty percent (20%) of the shares of Parent Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the Merger to the holders of Company Capital Stock, Company Options and Company Warrants in connection with the Contemplated Transactions and the change of control of Parent resulting from the Contemplated Transactions, in each case pursuant to the Nasdaq rules; (ii) in accordance with Section 14A of the Exchange Act and the applicable SEC rules issued thereunder, seeking advisory approval of a proposal to Parent’s stockholders for a non-binding, advisory vote to approve certain compensation that may become payable to Parent’s named executive officers in connection with the completion of the Merger, if applicable; and (iii) any other proposals the Parties deem necessary or desirable to consummate the Contemplated Transactions (the matters contemplated by this Section 5.3(a)(i) are collectively referred to as the “Parent Stockholder Matters,” and the matters contemplated by this Section 5.3(a)(ii) and (iii) are collectively referred to herein as, the “Other Parent Stockholder Matters,” and such meeting, the “Parent Stockholders’ Meeting”).
(b) The Parent Stockholders’ Meeting shall be held as promptly as practicable after the filing of the Definitive Proxy Statement with the SEC. Parent shall take reasonable measures to ensure that all proxies solicited in connection with the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting are solicited in compliance with all applicable Laws. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if on the date of the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting, or a date preceding the date on which the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting is scheduled, Parent reasonably believes that (i) it will not receive proxies sufficient to obtain the Required Parent Stockholder Vote, whether or not a quorum would be present, or (ii) it will not have sufficient shares of Parent Common Stock represented (whether in person or by proxy) to constitute a quorum necessary to conduct the business of the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting, Parent may make one or more successive postponements or adjournments of the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting as long as the date of the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting is not postponed or adjourned more than an aggregate of sixty (60) calendar days in connection with any postponements or adjournments.
(c) Parent agrees that, subject to Section 5.3(d): (i) the Parent Board shall recommend that the holders of Parent Common Stock vote to approve the Parent Stockholder Matters and the Other Parent Stockholder Matters, (ii) the Proxy Statement shall include a statement to the effect that the Parent Board recommends that Parent’s stockholders vote to approve the Parent Stockholder Matters and the Other Parent Stockholder Matters (the recommendation of the Parent Board with respect to the Parent Stockholder Matters being referred to as the “Parent Board Recommendation”); and (iii) the Parent Board Recommendation shall not be withheld, amended, withdrawn or modified (and the Parent Board shall not publicly propose to withhold, amend, withdraw or modify the Parent Board Recommendation) in a manner adverse to the Company (the actions set forth in the foregoing clause (iii), collectively, a “Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change”).
(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, if at any time prior to the approval of the Parent Stockholder Matters at the Parent Stockholders’ Meeting by the Required Parent Stockholder Vote:
(i) if Parent has received a written Acquisition Proposal (which Acquisition Proposal did not arise out of a material breach of Section 4.4) from any Person that has not been withdrawn and after consultation with outside legal counsel, the Parent Board shall have determined, in good faith, that such Acquisition Proposal is a Superior Offer, (x) the Parent Board may make a Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change or (y) Parent may terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 9.1(j) to enter into a Permitted Alternative Agreement with respect to such Superior Offer, if and only if all of the following apply: (A) the Parent Board determines in good faith, after consultation with Parent’s outside legal counsel, that the failure to do so would be reasonably likely to be inconsistent with the fiduciary duties of the Parent Board to Parent’s stockholders under applicable Law; (B) Parent shall have given the Company prior written notice of its intention to consider making a Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change or terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 9.1(j) at least three (3) Business Days prior to making any such Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change or termination (a “Determination Notice”) (which notice shall not constitute a Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change); and (C) (1) Parent shall have provided to the Company a summary of the material terms and conditions of the Acquisition Proposal in accordance with Section 4.4(b), (2) Parent shall have given the Company the three (3) Business Days after the Determination Notice to propose revisions to the terms of this Agreement or make another proposal and shall have made its Representatives reasonably available to negotiate in good faith with the Company (to the extent the Company desires to negotiate) with respect to such proposed revisions or other proposal, if any, and (3) after considering the results of any such negotiations and giving effect to the proposals made by the Company, if any, after consultation with outside legal counsel, the Parent Board shall have determined, in good faith, that such Acquisition Proposal is a Superior Offer and that the failure to make the Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change or terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 9.1(j) would be reasonably likely to be inconsistent with the fiduciary duties of the Parent Board to Parent’s stockholders under applicable Law. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Section 5.3(d)(i) shall also apply to any material change to the facts and circumstances relating to such Acquisition Proposal and require a new Determination Notice, except that the references to three (3) Business Days shall be deemed to be two (2) Business Days.
(ii) other than in connection with an Acquisition Proposal, the Parent Board may make a Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change in response to a Parent Change in Circumstance, if and only if: (A) the Parent Board determines in good faith, after consultation with Parent’s outside legal counsel, that the failure to do so would be reasonably likely to be inconsistent with the fiduciary duties of the Parent Board to Parent’s stockholders under applicable Law; (B) Parent shall have given the Company a Determination Notice at least three (3) Business Days prior to making any such Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change; and (C) (1) Parent shall have specified the Parent Change in Circumstance in reasonable detail, (2) Parent shall have given the Company the three (3) Business Days after the Determination Notice to propose revisions to the terms of this Agreement or make another proposal, and shall have made its Representatives reasonably available to negotiate in good faith with the Company (to the extent the Company desires to do so) with respect to such proposed revisions or other proposal, if any, and (3) after considering the results of any such negotiations and giving effect to the proposals made by the Company, if any, after consultation with outside legal counsel, the Parent Board shall have determined, in good faith, that the failure to make the Parent Board Adverse Recommendation Change in response to such Parent Change in Circumstance would be reasonably likely to be inconsistent with the fiduciary duties of the Parent Board to Parent’s stockholders under applicable Law. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Section 5.3(d)(ii) shall also apply to any material change to the facts and circumstances relating to such Parent Change in Circumstance and require a new Determination Notice, except that the references to three (3) Business Days shall be deemed to be two (2) Business Days.
(e) Nothing contained in this Agreement shall prohibit Parent or the Parent Board from (i) complying with Rules 14d-9 and 14e-2(a) promulgated under the Exchange Act, (ii) issuing a “stop, look and listen” communication or similar communication of the type contemplated by Section 14d-9(f) under the Exchange Act or (iii) otherwise making any disclosure to Parent’s stockholders; provided however, that in the case of the foregoing clause (iii) the Parent Board determines in good faith, after consultation with its outside legal counsel, that failure to make such disclosure could be reasonably likely to be inconsistent with applicable Law, including its fiduciary duties under applicable Law.
