Negative Covenants of the Company Except as otherwise required or expressly contemplated by this Agreement or consented to in writing by Buyer, the Company will not and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, from the date hereof until the Effective Time:
(a) split, combine, or reclassify any shares of its capital stock or make any other changes in its equity capital structure;
(b) purchase, redeem, or otherwise acquire, directly or indirectly, any shares of its capital stock or any options, rights, or warrants to purchase any such capital stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any such capital stock;
(c) declare, set aside, or pay any dividend or make any other distribution in respect of shares of its capital stock;
(d) amend its charter, bylaws, or similar organizational documents;
(e) issue any shares of its capital stock or any options, rights, or warrants to purchase any such capital stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any such capital stock, except for issuances of shares of Company Common Stock upon the exercise of any options or of any Rights under the Rights Agreement, or designate any class or series of capital stock from its authorized but undesignated preferred stock;
(f) purchase any capital assets or make any capital expenditures (except as set forth in the Company's current capital expenditures budget, a copy of which has been delivered to Buyer) in excess of $250,000 in the aggregate, purchase any business, purchase any stock of any corporation, or merge or consolidate with any person;
(g) sell, lease, license, encumber or otherwise dispose of any assets or properties, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, which sales, leases, licenses, encumbrances or other dispositions of assets other than inventory, in any event, are not material to the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole;
(h) incur, assume, or guarantee any indebtedness for money borrowed other than (i) borrowings incurred for working capital purposes under the Company's existing revolving credit facility or (ii) intercompany indebtedness;
(i) enter into any new Benefit Plan or program or severance or employment agreement, modify in any respect any existing Benefit Plan or program (except as required by law) or any existing employment or severance agreement, or, except as required under existing agreements or in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, grant any increases in compensation or benefits of any Company Employee, officer or director;
(j) enter into any collective bargaining agreement or enter into any substantive negotiations with respect to any collective bargaining agreement, except as required by law;
(k) change or modify in any material respect any existing accounting method, principle, or practice, other than as required by GAAP;
(l) enter into any new Company Material Contract (other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice), or modify in any respect adverse to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries any existing Company Material Contract;
(m) fund or take any action to cause a rabbi trust to be funded;
(n) agree to pay R. Xxxxx Xxxxxx a transaction bonus of more than $5,000;
(o) except as expressly provided in the amendment thereto dated May 30, 2001, change, modify or commence a new phase pursuant to the Company Stock Purchase Plan;
(p) (i) pay, discharge, settle or satisfy any material claims against the Company or its Subsidiaries (including claims of shareholders), liabilities or obligations (whether absolute, accrued, contingent or otherwise), other than (x) the payment, discharge, settlement or satisfaction of such claim, liability or obligation in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (y) modifications, refinancings or renewals of existing indebtedness as permitted by the terms thereof as in effect on the date of this Agreement, or (z) the payment, discharge, settlement or satisfaction of claims, liabilities or obligations reflected or reserved against in the most recent audited financial statements (or the notes thereto) of the Company included in the Company SEC Reports (for amounts not in excess of such reserves) or incurred since the date of such financial statements in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, or (ii) waive, release, grant or transfer any right of material value, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(q) enter into any agreement with any of their respective affiliates (other than wholly owned Subsidiaries of the Company);
(r) (i) relinquish, waive or release any material contractual or other right or claim of the Company or its Subsidiaries, or (ii) knowingly dispose of or permit to lapse any rights in any material Company Proprietary Rights or knowingly disclose to any person not an employee of, or consultant or adviser to, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of the Company or otherwise knowingly dispose of any trade secret, process or knowhow not a matter of public knowledge prior to the date of this Agreement, except pursuant to judicial order or process or commercially reasonable disclosures in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or pursuant to any existing contract or agreement;
(s) except pursuant to the fiduciary duties of the Board of Directors of the Company as set forth in Sections 7.01(a) and (b), or as expressly permitted pursuant to Sections 7.02 or 9.01, take any action or omit to take any action that would or is reasonably likely to (i) result in any of the conditions to the Merger set forth in Article VIII not being satisfied, or (ii) prevent, materially delay or materially impede the consummation of the Merger; or
(t) enter into any commitment to do any of the foregoing.
