Conduct of the Company From the date of this Agreement until the Closing or the earlier termination of this Agreement in accordance with Article 8 (the “Pre-Closing Period”), except as (i) expressly required or expressly contemplated by this Agreement, (ii) set forth in Section 5.01 of the Company Letter, (iii) required by applicable Law or (iv) consented to in advance in writing by Parent or Buyer (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), the Company shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, (A) conduct its business in all material respects in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (B) use its reasonable best efforts to preserve intact in all material respects its business organization and material business relationships with suppliers, vendors, Governmental Authorities, Customers and other Persons with which the Company has material business relationships and keep available the services of its present officers and key employees and (C) use commercially reasonable efforts to undertake the actions enumerated in Section 5.01-1 of the Company Letter; provided, that none of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to (or shall without Parent’s or Buyer’s prior consent, not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) make any payments to its business relationship counterparties, beyond that paid in the ordinary course of business in order to maintain such business relationships. In addition to and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, during the Pre-Closing Period, except as (w) expressly required or expressly contemplated by this Agreement, (x) set forth in Section 5.01 of the Company Letter, (y) required by applicable Law or (z) consented to in advance in writing by Parent or Buyer (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), the Company shall not, and shall cause its Subsidiaries not to:
Conduct of the Company’s Business The Company covenants and agrees that, prior to the Effective Time, unless Parent shall otherwise consent in writing or as otherwise expressly contemplated by this Agreement:
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:
Conduct of Parent From the date hereof until the Effective Time, Parent and its Subsidiaries shall conduct their business in the ordinary course consistent with past practice and shall use their reasonable best efforts to preserve intact their business organizations and relationships with third parties. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except with the prior written consent of the Company or as contemplated by this Agreement, from the date hereof until the Effective Time Parent shall not, and shall not permit any of its Subsidiaries to:
Conduct Pending the Closing Acquirer, Target and the Shareholder covenant that between the date of this Agreement and the Closing as to each of them:
Conduct of Business Prior to Closing Except as otherwise expressly required or contemplated by this Agreement or applicable Law, or with the prior written consent of the Investor, between the date of this Agreement and the Closing, the Company shall, and the Company shall cause each Company Subsidiary to:
Conduct of Business Prior to the Closing From the date hereof until the Closing, except as otherwise provided in this Agreement or consented to in writing by Buyer (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), Seller shall, and shall cause the Company to, (x) conduct the business of the Company in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; and (y) use reasonable best efforts to maintain and preserve intact the current organization, business and franchise of the Company and to preserve the rights, franchises, goodwill and relationships of its employees, customers, lenders, suppliers, regulators and others having business relationships with the Company. Without limiting the foregoing, from the date hereof until the Closing Date, Seller shall:
Incorporation and Good Standing of the Company and its Subsidiaries The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the law of its jurisdiction of incorporation with full power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and assets and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is duly qualified to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which its ownership, leasing or operation of its properties or assets or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified does not amount to a material liability or disability to the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, and has full power and authority to execute and perform its obligations under the Transaction Documents; each subsidiary of the Company is duly organized and validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization and is duly qualified to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which its ownership, leasing or operation of its properties or assets or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified does not amount to a material liability or disability to the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, and each has full power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and assets and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of each of the Company’s subsidiaries have been duly authorized and are fully paid and nonassessable and, except as otherwise set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (including the equity interests in the Company’s subsidiaries that have been pledged to lenders under the Company’s secured indebtedness disclosed in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus), such shares held by the Company are owned beneficially by the Company free and clear of any security interests, liens, encumbrances, equities or claims.
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):