Net Working Capital At least three (3) business days prior to the Closing Date, Sellers shall deliver to Buyer a certificate (the “Estimated NWC Certificate”), including a consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of the Closing Date, prepared in accordance with the accounting principles, methods, practices, estimates, judgments and assumptions applied in the preparation of the Company’s financial statements, consistently applied (the “Accounting Principles”), which shall include (a) the Sellers’ good faith estimate (such estimate is referred to as the “Estimated Net Working Capital Amount”) of the “Net Working Capital Amount.” As used herein, “Net Working Capital Amount” means the Net Working Capital of the Company as of 11:59 p.m. EST on the day immediately preceding the Closing Date. “Net Working Capital” means the result of (i) all cash of the Company minus (ii) all current liabilities (excluding the Existing Indebtedness) of the Company, in each case determined in accordance with the Accounting Principles. The Purchase Price at Closing shall be increased by the Estimated Net Working Capital Amount. No later than ninety (90) days following the Closing Date, Buyer shall prepare and deliver to Sellers (i) a consolidated balance sheet of the Company dated at the Closing Date, which shall be prepared in accordance with the Accounting Principles and (ii) a reasonably detailed statement (the “Final NWC Certificate”) setting forth Buyer’s calculations of the Net Working Capital Amount. If Sellers have any objections to the Final NWC Certificate, Sellers shall deliver to Buyer a statement setting forth its objections thereto (an “Objections Statement”), provided that the only bases for objections shall be (i) non-compliance with the standards set forth above for preparation of the Final NWC Certificate, or as set forth in the definition of Net Working Capital, and (ii) mathematical errors. If an Objections Statement is not delivered to Buyer within thirty (30) days after delivery of the Final NWC Certificate, the Final NWC Certificate shall be final, binding and non-appealable by the parties hereto. Sellers and Buyer shall negotiate in good faith to resolve any objections set forth in the Objections Statement (and all such discussions related thereto shall, unless otherwise agreed by Buyer and Sellers, be governed by Rule 408 of the Federal Rules of Evidence (and any applicable similar state rule)), but if they do not reach a final resolution within thirty (30) days after the delivery of the Objections Statement, Sellers and Buyer may submit such dispute to one of the “Big Four” accounting firms other than Ernst & Young LLP or PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, or, in the event that any such auditor is unable to accept such appointment, to any other nationally recognized independent accounting firm mutually acceptable to Buyer and Sellers (the “Independent Auditor”). Each party shall be afforded an opportunity to present to the Independent Auditor material relating to the disputed issues and to discuss the determination with the Independent Auditor. The Independent Auditor shall act as an auditor and not as an arbitrator and shall resolve matters in dispute and adjust and establish any disputed adjustment of the Net Working Capital Amount to reflect such resolution, provided that the Independent Auditor shall not assign a value to any item or amount in dispute greater than the greatest value for such item or amount assigned by Sellers, on the one hand, or Buyer, on the other hand, or less than the smallest value for such item or amount assigned by Sellers, on the one hand, or Buyer, on the other hand. It is the intent of Buyer and Sellers that the process set forth in this Section 11(F) and the activities of the Independent Auditor in connection herewith are not intended to be and, in fact, are not arbitration and that no formal arbitration rules shall be followed (including rules with respect to procedures and discovery). Sellers and Buyer shall use their commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Independent Auditor to resolve all such disagreements as promptly as practicable. The resolution of the dispute by the Independent Auditor shall be final, binding and non-appealable on the parties hereto. The Final NWC Certificate shall be modified if necessary to reflect such determination. The fees and expenses of the Independent Auditor shall be allocated for payment by Buyer, on the one hand, and/or Sellers, on the other hand, based upon the percentage which the portion of the contested amount not awarded to each party bears to the amount actually contested by such party, as determined by the Independent Auditor. If the Net Working Capital Amount as finally determined pursuant to the dispute resolution procedures described above is greater than the Estimated Net Working Capital Amount shown on the Estimated NWC Certificate, then Buyer shall pay to Sellers cash equal to the amount by which the Net Working Capital Amount exceeds the Estimated Net Working Capital Amount. If the Net Working Capital Amount as finally determined pursuant to the dispute resolution procedures described above is less than the Estimated Net Working Capital Amount shown on the Estimated NWC Certificate, then Sellers shall pay to Buyer cash equal to the amount by which the Estimated Net Working Capital Amount exceeds the Net Working Capital Amount.
