Conduct of the Business (a) Except as (i) set forth in Section 5.2(a) of the Sellers’ Disclosure Schedule or (ii) as is necessary and commercially reasonable in response to a Contagion Event or Contagion Event Measures, subject to Sellers providing Purchaser with advance notice and obtaining Purchaser’s prior written consent in respect of any such action (unless it is not reasonably practicable under the circumstances to provide such prior notice and obtain prior consent, in which case Sellers shall provide notice to Purchaser as soon as reasonably practicable), from the date hereof until the earlier of the Closing Date or the termination of this Agreement, the Sellers shall cause the Bank and the Transferred Subsidiaries to (1) carry on their businesses in the ordinary course of business in all material respects; (2) use commercially reasonable efforts to preserve their present business organizations and relationships; and (3) use commercially reasonable efforts to preserve the rights, franchises, goodwill and relations of their customers, clients and others with whom business relationships exist; provided, that this Section 5.2(a) shall not apply to the Excluded Assets and Liabilities. (b) Except as set forth in Section 5.2(b) of the Sellers’ Disclosure Schedule or to the extent required to effect the Excluded Assets and Liabilities Transfer, from the date hereof until the earlier of the Closing Date or the termination of this Agreement, except as (A) otherwise expressly required by this Agreement, (B) consented to in writing in advance by Purchaser (which consent shall not be unreasonably conditioned, withheld or delayed), or (C) required by applicable Law, Sellers shall cause the Bank and the Transferred Subsidiaries not to: (i) amend the Bank’s or any Transferred Subsidiaries’ Constituent Documents or permit any waiver or grant any consent under their respective Constituent Documents; (ii) (A) merge or consolidate with any other Person, (B) acquire (including by merger, consolidation, or acquisition of stock or assets) any interest in any other Person or any division thereof or any assets, securities or property, other than (x) acquisitions of securities under the Bank’s or an applicable Transferred Subsidiary’s investment portfolio consistent with the Bank’s or an applicable Transferred Subsidiary’s investment policy in effect as of the date hereof, (y) as may be deemed necessary or advisable by it in the exercise of its rights in connection with an Extension of Credit, or (z) acquisitions in the ordinary course of business, or (C) adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, recapitalization, restructuring or other reorganization; -55- purchases of federal funds, borrowings from any Federal Home Loan Bank, sales of certificates of deposit, issuances of commercial papers, entry into repurchase agreements and satisfaction of legal requirements in the exercise of trust powers, in each case, on terms and in amounts consistent with past practice) or (y) for any Excluded Assets and Liabilities, (A) subject any material asset of the Bank or of any Transferred Subsidiary to a Lien or permit, allow or suffer to exist any Lien in respect thereof, other than Permitted Liens; or (B) incur any liability for borrowed money (or guarantee any indebtedness for borrowed money), issue any debt securities, assume, guarantee, endorse or otherwise as an accommodation become responsible for the obligations of any other Person (other than a Transferred Subsidiary); (viii) dispose of any material assets (without limiting Section 5.2(b)(xii), other than Intellectual Property) to any person other than a Transferred Subsidiary, including existing branches of the Bank, except in the ordinary course of business or pursuant to Contracts in force as of the date of this Agreement; (ix) other than as required by the terms of any Benefit Plan existing as of the date hereof, (A) increase the compensation or benefits of any Business Employee, other than the payment of incentive compensation for completed performance periods based upon corporate performance, the performance of such employee and, if applicable, such employee’s business, in each case determined in accordance with the terms of the applicable Benefit Plan and in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (B) enter into any change-in-control, retention, employment, severance, termination or other similar agreement or arrangement with any Business Employee, or increase or commit to increase the change-in-control, severance or termination pay or benefits payable to any Business Employee, (C) pay or award, or commit to pay or award, any bonuses or incentive compensation to any Business Employee other than incentive compensation payments contemplated by clause (A) above, (D) enter into, establish, adopt, terminate or amend any Benefit Plan or any plan, program, arrangement, practice or agreement that would be a Benefit Plan if it were in existence on the date hereof, except for de minimis administrative amendments that would not increase the benefits provided thereunder or the cost thereof to the Bank and the Transferred Subsidiaries, (E) take any action to amend or waive any performance or vesting criteria or accelerate vesting, exercisability or funding under any Benefit Plan, with respect to any Business Employee, (F) hire any Business Employee, other than as permitted under Section 5.10(e), (G) terminate the employment of any Business Employee with the title of Managing Director or above, other than for cause or pay any severance, termination pay or benefits to any employee without obtaining an effective comprehensive general release of claims against the Bank and the Transferred Subsidiaries, (H) transfer the employment of any Business Employee to Sellers or any of their Affiliates (other than the Bank or any Transferred Subsidiary), or transfer the employment of any employee, officer, director, or natural person independent contractor of Sellers or any of their Affiliates (other than the Bank or any Transferred Subsidiary) to the Bank or its Affiliates (other than as permitted under Section 5.10(e)), (I) grant to any Business Employee any right to reimbursement, indemnification, or payment for any Taxes incurred under Section 409A or 4999 of the Code, or (J) recognize any union, labor organization or
Conduct of Business The business of the Company and its Subsidiaries shall not be conducted in violation of any law, ordinance or regulation of any governmental entity, except where such violations would not result, either individually or in the aggregate, in a Material Adverse Effect.
Conduct of Businesses (i) Prior to the Effective Time, except as may be set forth in the RELP Disclosure Letter or the AIP Disclosure Letter or as contemplated by this Agreement, unless the other party has consented in writing thereto, AIP and RELP:
Conduct of Business by Company During the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to its terms or the Effective Time, Company and each of its subsidiaries shall, except to the extent that Parent shall otherwise consent in writing, carry on its business in the usual, regular and ordinary course, in substantially the same manner as heretofore conducted and in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, pay its debts and Taxes when due subject to good faith disputes over such debts or Taxes, pay or perform other material obligations when due, and use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with past practices and policies to (i) preserve intact its present business organization, (ii) keep available the services of its present officers and employees and (iii) preserve its relationships with customers, suppliers, licensors, licensees, and others with which it has business dealings. In addition, during that period Company will promptly notify Parent of any material event involving its business or operations consistent with the agreements contained herein. In addition, except as permitted by the terms of this Agreement, and except as contemplated by this Agreement or provided in Part 4.1 of the Company Disclosure Letter, without the prior written consent of Parent, during the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to its terms or the Effective Time, Company shall not do any of the following and shall not permit its subsidiaries to do any of the following:
Conduct of Business of Company During the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the termination of this Agreement or the Effective Time, the Company agrees (except to the extent expressly contemplated by this Agreement), to carry on its and its Subsidiaries' business in the ordinary course in substantially the same manner as heretofore conducted, to pay and to cause its Subsidiaries to pay debts and Taxes when due subject to good faith disputes over such debts or taxes, to pay or perform other material obligations when due, and to use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with past practice and policies to preserve intact its and its Subsidiaries' present business organizations, use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with past practice to keep available the services of its and its Subsidiaries' present officers and key employees and use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with past practice to preserve its and its Subsidiaries' relationships with customers, suppliers, distributors, licensors, licensees, and others having business dealings with it or its Subsidiaries, to the end that its and its Subsidiaries' goodwill and ongoing businesses shall be unimpaired at the Effective Time. The Company agrees to promptly notify Parent of any material event or occurrence not in the ordinary course of its or its Subsidiaries' business, and of any event which could reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, during the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the termination of this Agreement or the Effective Time, the Company shall not do, cause or permit any of the following actions, or allow, cause or permit any of its Subsidiaries to do, cause or permit any of the following actions:
Interim Conduct of Business (a) Except (i) as contemplated or permitted by this Agreement, (ii) as set forth in Section 6.1(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, or (iii) as approved by Parent (which approval will not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), at all times during the period commencing with the execution and delivery of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier to occur of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Article IX and the Acceptance Time, each of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries shall (A) carry on its business in the usual, regular and ordinary course in substantially the same manner as heretofore conducted, and (B) use its reasonable best efforts, consistent with past practices and policies, to keep available the services of the current officers, key employees and consultants of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries, and preserve the current relationships of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries with customers, suppliers and other Persons with whom the Company or any of its Subsidiaries has significant business relations as is reasonably necessary to preserve substantially intact its business organization.
Conduct of Business by Parent (a) From and after the date hereof and prior to the earlier of the Effective Time and the Termination Date, and except (i) as may be required by applicable Law, (ii) as may be consented to in writing by the Company (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned), (iii) as may be contemplated or required by this Agreement or (iv) as set forth in Section 5.2 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule, Parent covenants and agrees with the Company that the business of Parent and its Subsidiaries shall be conducted in, and such entities shall not take any action except in, the ordinary course of business, and Parent and its Subsidiaries shall use their reasonable best efforts to (A) keep available the services of current officers, key employees and consultants of Parent and each of its Subsidiaries, (B) preserve Parent’s business organization intact and maintain its existing relations and goodwill with customers, suppliers, distributors, creditors and lessors, (C) maintain insurance policies or replacement or revised policies in such amounts and against such risks and losses of Parent and its Subsidiaries as are currently in effect and (D) comply in all material respects with all applicable Laws; provided, however, that no action by Parent or its Subsidiaries with respect to matters specifically addressed by any provision of Section 5.2(b) shall be deemed a breach of this sentence unless such action would constitute a breach of such other provision.
Conduct of Business of Parent Except as contemplated by this Agreement, from the date of this Agreement until the Effective Time, Parent will not do, and will not permit any of its subsidiaries to do, any of the following without the prior written consent of the Company (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed):
Conduct of Business; Regulatory Permits Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is in violation of any term of or in default under its Certificate of Incorporation, any certificate of designation, preferences or rights of any other outstanding series of preferred stock of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or Bylaws or their organizational charter, certificate of formation, memorandum of association, articles of association, Certificate of Incorporation or certificate of incorporation or bylaws, respectively. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is in violation of any judgment, decree or order or any statute, ordinance, rule or regulation applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries will conduct its business in violation of any of the foregoing, except in all cases for possible violations which could not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company is not in violation of any of the rules, regulations or requirements of the Principal Market and has no knowledge of any facts or circumstances that could reasonably lead to delisting or suspension of the Common Stock by the Principal Market in the foreseeable future. During the two years prior to the date hereof, (i) the Common Stock has been listed or designated for quotation on the Principal Market, (ii) trading in the Common Stock has not been suspended by the SEC or the Principal Market and (iii) the Company has received no communication, written or oral, from the SEC or the Principal Market regarding the suspension or delisting of the Common Stock from the Principal Market. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries possess all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate regulatory authorities necessary to conduct their respective businesses, except where the failure to possess such certificates, authorizations or permits would not have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect, and neither the Company nor any such Subsidiary has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such certificate, authorization or permit. There is no agreement, commitment, judgment, injunction, order or decree binding upon the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a party which has or would reasonably be expected to have the effect of prohibiting or materially impairing any business practice of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, any acquisition of property by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or the conduct of business by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries as currently conducted other than such effects, individually or in the aggregate, which have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect on the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.
Conduct of Business in Normal Course Seller shall carry on its business and activities diligently and in substantially the same manner as it previously has been carried on, and shall not make or institute any unusual or novel methods of purchase, sale, lease, management, accounting or operation that will vary materially from the methods used by Seller as of the date of this Agreement.
