Proxy Voting The Adviser will vote, or make arrangements to have voted, all proxies solicited by or with respect to the issuers of securities in which assets of a Fund may be invested from time to time. Such proxies will be voted in a manner that you deem, in good faith, to be in the best interest of the Fund and in accordance with your proxy voting policy. You agree to provide a copy of your proxy voting policy to the Trust prior to the execution of this Agreement, and any amendments thereto promptly.
No Proxy Solicitations Stockholder will not, and will not permit any entity under Stockholder's control to: (i) solicit proxies or become a "participant" in a "solicitation" (as such terms are defined in Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act) with respect to an Opposing Proposal or otherwise encourage or assist any party in taking or planning any action that would compete with, restrain or otherwise serve to interfere with or inhibit the timely consummation of the Merger in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement; (ii) initiate a Stockholders' vote or action by consent of the Company Stockholders with respect to an Opposing Proposal; or (iii) become a member of a "group" (as such term is used in Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act) with respect to any voting securities of the Company with respect to an Opposing Proposal.
PROSPECTUS AND PROXY STATEMENTS; VOTING 3.1. At least annually, the Trust or its designee shall provide the Company, free of charge, with as many copies of the current prospectus (describing only the Portfolios listed in Schedule A hereto) for the Shares as the Company may reasonably request for distribution to existing Policy owners whose Policies are funded by such Shares. The Trust or its designee shall provide the Company, at the Company's expense, with as many copies of the current prospectus for the Shares as the Company may reasonably request for distribution to prospective purchasers of Policies. If requested by the Company in lieu thereof, the Trust or its designee shall provide such documentation (including a "camera ready" copy of the new prospectus as set in type or, at the request of the Company, as a diskette in the form sent to the financial printer) and other assistance as is reasonably necessary in order for the parties hereto once each year (or more frequently if the prospectus for the Shares is supplemented or amended) to have the prospectus for the Policies and the prospectus for the Shares printed together in one document; the expenses of such printing to be apportioned between (a) the Company and (b) the Trust or its designee in proportion to the number of pages of the Policy and Shares' prospectuses, taking account of other relevant factors affecting the expense of printing, such as covers, columns, graphs and charts; the Trust or its designee to bear the cost of printing the Shares' prospectus portion of such document for distribution to owners of existing Policies funded by the Shares and the Company to bear the expenses of printing the portion of such document relating to the Accounts; provided, however, that the Company shall bear all printing expenses of such combined documents where used for distribution to prospective purchasers or to owners of existing Policies not funded by the Shares. In the event that the Company requests that the Trust or its designee provides the Trust's prospectus in a "camera ready" or diskette format, the Trust shall be responsible for providing the prospectus in the format in which it or MFS is accustomed to formatting prospectuses and shall bear the expense of providing the prospectus in such format (e.g., typesetting expenses), and the Company shall bear the expense of adjusting or changing the format to conform with any of its prospectuses.
3.2. The prospectus for the Shares shall state that the statement of additional information for the Shares is available from the Trust or its designee. The Trust or its designee, at its expense, shall print and provide such statement of additional information to the Company (or a master of such statement suitable for duplication by the Company) for distribution to any owner of a Policy funded by the Shares. The Trust or its designee, at the Company's expense, shall print and provide such statement to the Company (or a master of such statement suitable for duplication by the Company) for distribution to a prospective purchaser who requests such statement or to an owner of a Policy not funded by the Shares.
3.3. The Trust or its designee shall provide the Company free of charge copies, if and to the extent applicable to the Shares, of the Trust's proxy materials, reports to Shareholders and other communications to Shareholders in such quantity as the Company shall reasonably require for distribution to Policy owners.
3.4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 above, or of Article V below, the Company shall pay the expense of printing or providing documents to the extent such cost is considered a distribution expense. Distribution expenses would include by way of illustration, but are not limited to, the printing of the Shares' prospectus or prospectuses for distribution to prospective purchasers or to owners of existing Policies not funded by such Shares.
3.5. The Trust hereby notifies the Company that it may be appropriate to include in the prospectus pursuant to which a Policy is offered disclosure regarding the potential risks of mixed and shared funding.
3.6. If and to the extent required by law, the Company shall:
(a) solicit voting instructions from Policy owners;
(b) vote the Shares in accordance with instructions received from Policy owners; and
(c) vote the Shares for which no instructions have been received in the same proportion as the Shares of such Portfolio for which instructions have been received from Policy owners; so long as and to the extent that the SEC continues to interpret the 1940 Act to require pass through voting privileges for variable contract owners. The Company will in no way recommend action in connection with or oppose or interfere with the solicitation of proxies for the Shares held for such Policy owners. The Company reserves the right to vote shares held in any segregated asset account in its own right, to the extent permitted by law. Participating Insurance Companies shall be responsible for assuring that each of their separate accounts holding Shares calculates voting privileges in the manner required by the Mixed and Shared Funding Exemptive Order. The Trust and MFS will notify the Company of any changes of interpretations or amendments to the Mixed and Shared Funding Exemptive Order.
Stockholder Meeting (a) The Company will duly call, give notice of, convene and hold a meeting of stockholders (the "Stockholder Meeting") for the purpose of considering the approval of this Agreement and at such meeting call for a vote and cause proxies to be voted in respect of the approval and adoption of this Agreement. The Stockholder Meeting shall be held as soon as practicable following the purchase of Shares pursuant to the Offer, and the Company will, through its Board of Directors, recommend to its stockholders the approval of this Agreement, and shall not withdraw or modify such recommendation. The record date for the Stockholder Meeting shall be a date subsequent to the date Parent or Sub becomes a record holder of Company Common Stock purchased pursuant to the Offer.
(b) The Company shall, at Parent's request, as soon as practicable following the expiration of the Offer, prepare and file a preliminary Proxy Statement with the SEC and shall use its reasonable best efforts to respond to any comments of the SEC or its staff and to cause the Proxy Statement to be mailed to the Company's stockholders as promptly as practicable after responding to all such comments to the satisfaction of the staff. The Company shall notify Parent promptly of the receipt of any comments from the SEC or its staff and of any request by the SEC or its staff for amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement or for additional information and will supply Parent with copies of all correspondence between the Company or any of its representatives, on the one hand, and the SEC or its staff, on the other hand, with respect to the Proxy Statement or the Merger. If at any time prior to the Stockholder Meeting there shall occur any event that should be set forth in an amendment or supplement to the Proxy Statement, the Company shall promptly prepare and mail to its stockholders such an amendment or supplement. The Company shall not mail any Proxy Statement, or any amendment or supplement thereto, to which Parent reasonably objects. Parent shall cooperate with the Company in the preparation of the Proxy Statement or any amendment or supplement thereto, including the supply of any information required to be included in the Proxy Statement regarding Parent or Sub.
(c) Parent agrees to cause all Shares purchased pursuant to the Offer and all other Shares owned by Parent or any subsidiary of Parent to be voted in favor of approval of the Merger.
Preparation of Proxy Statement; Stockholders Meeting As promptly as reasonably practicable following the date of this Agreement, but no later than June 25, 2010, the Company shall prepare and cause to be filed with the SEC a preliminary proxy statement to be sent to the stockholders of the Company relating to the Company’s stockholders meeting (together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Proxy Statement”). The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to finalize the Proxy Statement as promptly as possible after such filing. The Company shall promptly notify Phoenix upon the receipt of any comments from the SEC or any request from the SEC for amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement and shall provide Phoenix with copies of all correspondence between it and its representatives, on the one hand, and the SEC, on the other hand. Phoenix shall have the opportunity to review and approve in its reasonable discretion the proxy statement and all amendments thereto and all correspondence from the Company and its representatives to the SEC related to the Company stockholders meeting (the “Stockholders Meeting”) prior to filing with the SEC. The Company shall, as soon as reasonably practicable following the date the SEC completes review of the Proxy Statement or notifies the Company that it will not review the Proxy Statement, duly call and give notice to the Company stockholders by mailing the definitive Proxy Statement, convene and hold the Stockholders Meeting for the purpose of seeking Company stockholder approval and to solicit such approval from the stockholders. In connection with the Stockholders Meeting, the Company shall, through the Board, recommend to its stockholders that they approve (a) an increase in (i) its authorized shares of Common Stock to 519,000,000 and (ii) its authorized shares of Preferred Stock to 16,000,000, (b) the Amended and Restated Certificate of Designation (Series A-1) and (c) elect four directors to the Board. The Company shall within one (1) Business Day of obtaining such stockholder approvals in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Exchange Agreement and the Investor Rights Agreement, take all requisite actions (including the filing of the Charter Amendment, the Certificate of Designation (Series B) and the Amended and Restated Certificate of Designation (Series A-1) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware) to effect approvals and consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents, including the Exchange Agreement.
Preparation of the Proxy Statement; Stockholders Meeting (a) If, after the Acceptance Time, the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the outstanding shares of Company Common Stock at a meeting of the holders of Company Common Stock is required under the MGCL in order to consummate the Merger (the “Company Stockholder Approval”), then:
(i) As promptly as practicable after the later of the Acceptance Time or the expiration of any subsequent offering period provided in accordance with Rule 14d-11 under the Exchange Act, the Company shall file with the SEC the Proxy Statement to be sent to the stockholders of the Company relating to the Company Stockholders Meeting. The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the SEC to clear the Proxy Statement as promptly as practicable after such filing (including by responding to comments of the SEC). Parent shall furnish all information as may be reasonably requested by the Company in connection with any such action and the preparation, filing and distribution of the Proxy Statement.
(ii) As promptly as practicable after the clearance of the Proxy Statement by the SEC, the Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the Proxy Statement to be mailed to its stockholders. No filing of, or amendment or supplement to, the Proxy Statement will be made by the Company without providing Parent with a reasonable opportunity to review and comment thereon.
(iii) The Company shall notify Parent promptly of the receipt of any comments from the SEC or the staff of the SEC and of any request by the SEC or the staff of the SEC for amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement or for additional information and shall supply Parent with copies of all correspondence between it or any of its Representatives, on the one hand, and the SEC or its staff, on the other hand, with respect to the Proxy Statement or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(b) If, after the Acceptance Time, the Company Stockholder Approval is required under the MGCL in order to consummate the Merger, then:
(i) As soon as practicable following the clearance of the Proxy Statement by the SEC, the Company shall duly call, give notice of, convene and hold a meeting of its stockholders (the “Company Stockholders Meeting”) for the purpose of seeking the Company Stockholder Approval.
(ii) Unless the Company has effected an Adverse Recommendation Change, the Company shall, through the Company Board, make the Board Recommendation to the extent related to the Merger, and shall include such Board Recommendation in the Proxy Statement, and use its reasonable best efforts to (x) solicit from its stockholders proxies in favor of the adoption of this Agreement, and (y) take all other action necessary or advisable to secure the Company Stockholder Approval.
(c) If, after the Acceptance Time, the Company Stockholder Approval is required under the MGCL in order to consummate the Merger, nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to relieve the Company of its obligation to submit the Merger to its stockholders for a vote on the approval thereof. The Company agrees that, unless this Agreement shall have been terminated in accordance with ARTICLE 9, its obligations to hold the Company Stockholder Meeting after the Acceptance Time pursuant to this Section 7.02(c) shall not be affected by the commencement, public proposal, public disclosure or communication to the Company of any Superior Proposal or by any Adverse Recommendation Change.
Shareholder Meeting (a) The first sentence of Section 6.2(a) of the Merger Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read as follows: “As promptly as practicable following the effectiveness of the Form S-4 (subject to any extension reasonably necessary to comply with applicable Law, including amending any disclosure document to be delivered to holders of Xxxxx Common Shares or Mercury Common Stock in connection with the Amendment or otherwise acting to address any oral or written comments made by the SEC), Mercury shall, in consultation with Xxxxx, in accordance with applicable Law and the Mercury Organizational Documents, (i) establish a record date for, duly call and give notice of a meeting of the holders of Mercury Voting Common Stock (the “Mercury Shareholder Meeting”) at which meeting Mercury shall seek the Required Mercury Vote, which record date shall be no later than ten (10) days after the date on which the Form S-4 is declared effective under the Securities Act, and (ii) convene and hold the Mercury Shareholder Meeting.”
(b) The first sentence of Section 6.2(b) of the Merger Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read as follows: “As promptly as practicable following the effectiveness of the Form S-4 (subject to any extension reasonably necessary to comply with the DLLCA, the Xxxxx LLC Agreement and applicable Law, including amending any disclosure document to be delivered to holders of Xxxxx Common Shares or Mercury Common Stock in connection with the Amendment or otherwise acting to address any oral or written comments made by the SEC), Xxxxx shall, in consultation with Mercury, in accordance with applicable Law and the Xxxxx LLC Agreement, (i) establish a record date for, duly call and give notice of a meeting of the holders of Xxxxx Common Shares (the “Xxxxx Shareholder Meeting”) at which meeting Xxxxx shall seek the Required Xxxxx Vote, which record date shall be no later than ten (10) days after the date on which the Form S-4 is declared effective under the Securities Act, and (ii) convene and hold the Xxxxx Shareholder Meeting.”
(c) The following is hereby added as a new Section 6.2(d) of the Merger Agreement:
(d) Unless otherwise agreed to by Mercury and Xxxxx, the Mercury Shareholder Meeting shall be convened on August 20, 2014, and, without conducting any business, shall be adjourned until 11:00 a.m. eastern time on October 6, 2014 (subject to any adjournment or postponement thereof in accordance with Section 6.2(a)), which new date, time and place shall be announced at the Mercury Shareholder Meeting before adjournment. Unless otherwise agreed to by Mercury and Xxxxx, the Xxxxx Shareholder Meeting shall be convened on August 20, 2014, and, without conducting any business, shall be adjourned until 9:00 a.m. eastern time on October 6, 2014 (subject to any adjournment or postponement thereof in accordance with Section 6.2(b)), which new date, time and place shall be announced at the Xxxxx Shareholder Meeting before adjournment.” Unless otherwise agreed to by Mercury and Xxxxx, the record date for the Mercury Shareholder Meeting and the Xxxxx Shareholder Meeting shall continue to be July 18, 2014 (subject to any change required by applicable Law, the Mercury Organizational Documents or the Xxxxx LLC Agreement, as applicable or to address any oral or written comments made by the SEC).
Stockholder Meeting; Proxy Material Subject to the provisions of Section 5.04, the Company shall cause the Company Stockholder Meeting to be duly called and held as soon as reasonably practicable for the purpose of voting on the approval and adoption of this Agreement and the Merger unless a vote of stockholders of the Company is not required by New York Law. Subject to the provisions of Section 5.04, the Directors of the Company shall recommend approval and adoption of this Agreement and the Merger by the Company's stockholders at the Company Stockholder Meeting, and will include such recommendation in the Company Proxy Statement; provided, however, that, consistent with its fiduciary duties set forth in Section 5.04, the Board of Directors of the Company shall be permitted to (i) not recommend to the Company's stockholders that they give the Company Stockholder Approval or (ii) withdraw or modify in a manner adverse to Buyer and Merger Subsidiary its recommendation to the Company's stockholders that they give the Company Stockholder Approval, but in each of cases (i) and (ii) only if and to the extent that the Company has complied with Section 5.04 and this Section 5.02 and a Superior Proposal (as defined below) is pending at the time the Company's Board of Directors determines to take any such action or inaction. The Company will (i) in connection with the Company Stockholder Meeting, promptly prepare and file with the SEC, use commercially reasonable efforts to have cleared by the SEC as promptly as practicable and thereafter mail to its stockholders as promptly as practicable the Company Proxy Statement and all other proxy materials for such Company Stockholder Meeting and (ii) unless, to the extent permitted by the second sentence of this Section 5.02, and subject to Section 5.04, the Board of Directors shall not recommend to the Company's stockholders that they give the Company Stockholder Approval or shall have withdrawn or modified in a manner adverse to Buyer its recommendation, use commercially reasonable efforts to solicit proxies in favor of the approval of this Agreement and the Merger, provided that the obligation of the Company to cause the Company Proxy Statement and the proxy to be mailed to the Company's stockholders is subject to the Board of Directors of the Company having received from Jefferies & Co., Inc. confirmation of its opinion referred to in Section 3.02 as of the date scheduled for mailing of the Company Proxy Statement if the Board of Directors requests such a confirmation. For purposes of this Agreement, "Superior Proposal" means any bona fide Acquisition Proposal, on terms that the Board of Directors of the Company determines in its reasonable good faith judgment are more favorable to the Company's stockholders taken as a whole than the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and with respect to which the Company's Board of Directors determines, in its reasonable good faith judgment, after consultation with its financial advisors, the Person making such Acquisition Proposal has the financial means to consummate such Acquisition Proposal. For purposes of this Agreement, "Acquisition Proposal" means any offer or proposal for a merger, consolidation or tender or exchange offer or other business combination involving the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company or the acquisition of any substantial debt or equity interest in, or a substantial portion of the assets of, the Company or of any Company Subsidiary, other than the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
Company Shareholders Meeting (a) The Company shall take all action necessary under all applicable Legal Requirements to call, give notice of, convene and hold a meeting of the holders of Company Common Stock to consider, act upon and vote upon the approval of this Agreement and of the Merger (the "Company Shareholders' Meeting"). The Company Shareholders' Meeting will be held as promptly as practicable and in any event within 45 days after the Form S-4 Registration Statement is declared effective under the Securities Act. The Company shall ensure that the Company Shareholders' Meeting is called, noticed, convened, held and conducted, and that all proxies solicited in connection with the Company Shareholders' Meeting are solicited, in compliance with all applicable Legal Requirements. The Company's obligation to call, give notice of, convene and hold the Company Shareholders' Meeting in accordance with this Section 5.2(a) shall not be limited or otherwise affected by the withdrawal, amendment or modification of the recommendation of the board of directors of the Company with respect to the Merger, except as is required by applicable law.
(b) Subject to Section 5.2(c): (i) the board of directors of the Company shall unanimously recommend that the Company's shareholders vote in favor of and approve this Agreement and the Merger at the Company Shareholders' Meeting; (ii) the Joint Proxy Statement shall include a statement to the effect that the board of directors of the Company has unanimously recommended that the Company's shareholders vote in favor of and approve this Agreement and the Merger at the Company Shareholders' Meeting; and (iii) neither the board of directors of the Company nor any committee thereof shall withdraw, amend or modify, or propose or resolve to withdraw, amend or modify, in a manner adverse to Parent, the unanimous recommendation of the board of directors of the Company that the Company's shareholders vote in favor of and approve this Agreement and the Merger. For purposes of this Agreement, said recommendation of the board of directors of the Company shall be deemed to have been modified in a manner adverse to Parent if said recommendation shall no longer be unanimous.
(c) Nothing in Section 5.2(b) shall prevent the board of directors of the Company from withdrawing, amending or modifying its unanimous recommendation in favor of the Merger at any time prior to the approval of this Agreement by the Required Company Shareholder Vote if (i) a Superior Offer is made to the Company and is not withdrawn, (ii) neither the Company nor any of its Representatives shall have violated any of the restrictions set forth in Section 4.4, and (iii) the board of directors of the Company concludes in good faith, after consultation with its outside counsel, including discussion of applicable legal standards
Company Stockholder Meeting The Company shall cause a meeting of its stockholders (the “Company Stockholder Meeting”) to be duly called and held as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within 40 days after the date of mailing of the Proxy Statement (with the record date and meeting date for the Company Stockholder Meeting to be selected with the reasonable consent of Parent), for the purpose of voting on the approval and adoption of this Agreement and the Merger; provided that the Company may postpone or adjourn the Company Stockholder Meeting (i) with the consent of Parent, (ii) for the absence of a quorum or (iii) (A) to allow reasonable additional time for any supplemental or amended disclosure which the Company has determined in good faith (after consultation with outside counsel) is necessary under Applicable Law to be disseminated and reviewed by the Company’s stockholders prior to the Company Stockholder Meeting or (B) once for a period not to exceed fifteen days, for additional solicitation of votes in order to obtain the Company Stockholder Approval. The Company shall comply with all Applicable Laws that are applicable to the Company Stockholder Meeting and, unless the Board of Directors shall have effected an Adverse Recommendation Change pursuant to, and in accordance with the terms of, Section 6.03, the Board of Directors (acting on the recommendation of the Special Committee) shall (A) include the Company Recommendation in the Proxy Statement and Schedule 13E-3 and (B) use its reasonable best efforts to obtain the Company Stockholder Approval. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, unless this Agreement has been terminated in accordance with Section 10.01, this Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated hereby shall be submitted to the Company’s stockholders at the Company Stockholder Meeting whether or not an Adverse Recommendation Change shall have occurred.
