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 the Business Pending the Closing (a) Except as otherwise expressly contemplated by this Agreement or with the prior written consent of the Purchaser, the Sellers shall, and shall cause the Company to:
Condition of the Business Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that Sellers are not making any representations or warranties whatsoever, express or implied, beyond those expressly given by Sellers in Article III hereof (as modified by the Sellers’ Disclosure Schedule), and Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that, except for the representations and warranties contained therein, the Purchased Assets and the Business are being transferred on a “where is” and, as to condition, “as is” basis. Any claims Purchaser may have for breach of representation or warranty shall be based solely on the representations and warranties of Sellers set forth in Article III hereof (as modified by the Sellers’ Disclosure Schedule hereto as supplemented or amended). Purchaser further represents that neither Sellers nor any of their Affiliates nor any other Person has made any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of any information regarding Sellers or any of their Affiliates, the Business or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement not expressly set forth in this Agreement, and none of Sellers, any of their Affiliates or any other Person will have or be subject to any liability to Purchaser or any other Person resulting from the distribution to Purchaser or its representatives or Purchaser’s use of, any such information, including any confidential memoranda distributed on behalf of Sellers relating to the Business or other publications or data room information provided to Purchaser or its representatives, or any other document or information in any form provided to Purchaser or its representatives in connection with the sale of the Business and the transactions contemplated hereby. Purchaser acknowledges that it has conducted to its satisfaction, its own independent investigation of the Business and, in making the determination to proceed with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement Purchaser has relied on the results of its own independent investigation.
Conduct of Business Pending Closing Between the date of this Agreement and the Funding and Consummation Date, the Company will, except as set forth on Schedule 7.2:
Conduct of Business by Parent Pending the Merger Parent and Acquisition Sub covenant and agree with the Company that between the date hereof and the Effective Time or the date, if any, on which this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 8.1, Parent and Acquisition Sub:
Conduct of Business of the 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 and the Effective Time, the Company (which for the purposes of this Section 6.1 shall include the Company and each of its Subsidiaries) agrees, except to the extent that Parent shall otherwise consent in writing (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), to carry on its business and to cause each of its Subsidiaries to carry on its business in the usual, regular and ordinary course in substantially the same manner as heretofore conducted, and to use and cause each of its Subsidiaries to use all commercially reasonable efforts consistent with past practices and policies to preserve intact its present business organizations, keep available the services of its present officers and employees and preserve its relationships with customers, suppliers, distributors, licensors, licensees, and others having business dealings with the Company or any such Subsidiaries, to the end that the goodwill and ongoing businesses of Company and each of its Subsidiaries be unimpaired at the Effective Time. Except as expressly provided for by this Agreement, the Company shall not, and shall not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, prior to the Effective Time or earlier termination of this Agreement pursuant to its terms, without the prior written consent of Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed):
Conduct of Business by the Company Pending the Merger The Company agrees that, from the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Effective Time and termination of this Agreement pursuant to Article VIII, except as (x) required by applicable Law, (y) set forth in Section 5.01 of the Company Disclosure Schedule or (z) expressly required or permitted by this Agreement, unless Parent shall otherwise consent in writing (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), (i) the businesses of the Group Companies shall be conducted in the ordinary course of business and in a manner consistent with past practice; and (ii) the Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to preserve intact the assets and the business organization of the Group Companies in all material respects, to keep available the services of the current officers and key employees of the Group Companies and to maintain in all material respects the current relationships of the Group Companies with existing customers, suppliers and other persons with which any Group Companies has material business relations as of the date hereof. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing paragraph, from the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Effective Time and termination of this Agreement pursuant to Article VIII, except as (x) required by applicable Law, (y) set forth in Section 5.01 of the Company Disclosure Schedule or (z) expressly contemplated or permitted by this Agreement, the Company shall not and shall not permit any other Group Company to, directly or indirectly, do or propose to do any of the following without the prior written consent of Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed):
Conduct of Business Pending the Closing From and after the execution and delivery of this Agreement and until the Closing Date, except as otherwise provided by the prior written consent or approval of the Buyer:
Conduct of Business by the Company Pending the Closing The Company agrees that, between the date of this Agreement and the Effective Time, except as set forth in Section 6.01 of the Company Disclosure Schedule or as expressly contemplated by any other provision of this Agreement, unless Parent shall otherwise agree in writing, (x) the respective businesses of the Company and the Company Subsidiaries shall be conducted only in, and the Company and the Company Subsidiaries shall not take any action except in, the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (y) the Company shall use all reasonable efforts to keep available the services of such of the current officers, significant employees and consultants of the Company and the Company Subsidiaries and to preserve the current relationships of the Company and the Company Subsidiaries with such of the corporate partners, customers, suppliers and other persons with which the Company or any Company Subsidiary has significant business relations in order to preserve substantially intact its business organization. By way of amplification and not limitation, except as set forth in Section 6.01 of the Company Disclosure Schedule or as expressly contemplated by any other provision of this Agreement, neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary shall, between the date of this Agreement and the Effective Time, directly or indirectly, do, or agree to do, any of the following without the prior written consent of Parent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed:
Title to Properties and Related Matters (a) Except as set forth on Schedule 3.10(a), the Company has good and valid title to all material personal property, tangible or intangible, which the Company purports to own, including the properties reflected on the Balance Sheet or acquired after the date thereof (other than properties and assets sold or otherwise disposed of in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practice since June 30, 1999), free and clear of any claims, liens, pledges, security interests or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever (other than (i) purchase money security interests and common law vendor's liens, in each case for goods purchased on open account in the ordinary course of business and having a fair market value of less than $5,000 in each individual case), (ii) liens for Taxes not yet due and payable, and (iii) such imperfections of title and encumbrances, if any, that are not material in character, amount or extent and that do not materially detract from the value, or materially interfere with the use of, the property subject thereto or affected thereby.
