Non-Competition Agreements Except as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, none of the Sponsor, directors or executive officers of the Company is subject to a non-competition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer which could materially affect his, her or its ability to be and act in the capacity of shareholder, executive officer or director of the Company, as applicable.
Non-Competition Agreement (a) Executive shall not, during the term of his employment hereunder, be engaged in any other business activity pursued for gain, profit or other pecuniary advantage if such activity interferes in any material respect with Executive's duties and responsibilities hereunder. The foregoing limitations shall not be construed as prohibiting Executive from making personal investments in such form or manner as will neither require his services in the operation or affairs of the companies or enterprises in which such investments are made nor violate the terms of this paragraph 3. In addition, Executive shall not, during the period of his employment by or with the Company, and for a period of two (2) years immediately following the termination of his employment under this Agreement, for any reason whatsoever, other than a termination by the Company without cause or by Executive for Good Reason, directly or indirectly, for himself or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person, company, partnership, corporation or business of whatever nature:
(i) engage, as an officer, director, shareholder, owner, partner, joint venturer, or in a managerial capacity, whether as an employee, independent contractor, consultant or advisor, or as a sales representative, in any business in direct competition with the Company or Metals, within 200 miles of where the Company or any of Metals' subsidiaries conducts business, including any territory serviced by the Company or Metals or any of such subsidiaries (the "Territory");
(ii) call upon any person who is, at that time, within the Territory, an employee of the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) in a managerial capacity for the purpose or with the intent of enticing such employee away from or out of the employ of the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof);
(iii) call upon any person or entity which is, at that time, or which has been, within one (1) year prior to that time, a customer of the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) within the Territory for the purpose of soliciting or selling products or services in direct competition with the Company or Metals within the Territory;
(iv) call upon any prospective acquisition candidate, on Executive's own behalf or on behalf of any competitor, which candidate was, to Executive's actual knowledge after due inquiry, either called upon by the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) or for which the Company or Metals made an acquisition analysis, for the purpose of acquiring such entity. Notwithstanding the above, the foregoing covenant shall not be deemed to prohibit Executive from acquiring as an investment not more than one percent (1%) of the capital stock of a competing business, whose stock is traded on a national securities exchange or on an over-the-counter or similar market.
(b) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to the Company and Metals as a result of a breach of the foregoing covenant, and because of the immediate and irreparable damage that could be caused to the Company and Metals for which they would have no other adequate remedy, Executive agrees that the foregoing covenant may be enforced by Metals or the Company in the event of breach by him, by injunctions and restraining orders.
(c) It is agreed by the parties that the foregoing covenants in this paragraph 3 impose a reasonable restraint on Executive in light of the activities and business of the Company or Metals, as the case may be (including Metals' other subsidiaries) on the date of the execution of this Agreement and the current plans of Metals (including Metals' other subsidiaries); but it is also the intent of the Company and Executive that such covenants be construed and enforced in accordance with the changing activities, business and locations of the Company and Metals, as the case may be (including Metals' other subsidiaries) throughout the term of this covenant, whether before or after the date of termination of the employment of Executive. For example, if, during the term of this Agreement, the Company or Metals, as the case may be (including Metals' other subsidiaries) engages in new and different activities, enters a new business or establishes new locations for its current activities or business in addition to or other than the activities or business enumerated under the Recitals above or the locations currently established therefor, then Executive will be precluded from soliciting the customers or employees of such new activities or business or from such new location and from directly competing with such new business within 200 miles of its then-established operating location(s) through the term of this covenant. It is further agreed by the parties hereto that, in the event that Executive shall cease to be employed hereunder, and shall enter into a business or pursue other activities not in competition with the Company or Metals (including Metals' other subsidiaries), or similar activities or business in locations the operation of which, under such circumstances, does not violate clause (i) of this paragraph 3, and in any event such new business, activities or location are not in violation of this paragraph 3 or of Executive's obligations under this paragraph 3, if any, Executive shall not be chargeable with a violation of this paragraph 3 if the Company or Metals (including Metals' other subsidiaries) shall thereafter enter the same, similar or a competitive (i) business, (ii) course of activities or (iii) location, as applicable.
(d) The covenants in this paragraph 3 are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant. Moreover, in the event any court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that the scope, time or territorial restrictions set forth are unreasonable, then it is the intention of the parties that such restrictions be enforced to the fullest extent which the court deems reasonable, and the Agreement shall thereby be reformed.
(e) All of the covenants in this paragraph 3 shall be construed as an agreement independent of any other provision in this Agreement, and the existence of any claim or cause of action of Executive against the Company or Metals, whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by Metals or the Company of such covenants. It is specifically agreed that the period of two (2) years following termination of employment stated at the beginning of this paragraph 3, during which the agreements and covenants of Executive made in this paragraph 3 shall be effective, shall be computed by excluding from such computation any time during which Executive is in violation of any provision of this paragraph 3.
Non-Competition a. Executive acknowledges and recognizes the highly competitive nature of the businesses of the Company and its affiliates and accordingly agrees as follows:
(1) During the Employment Term and for a period of nine months following the date Executive ceases to be employed by the Company for any reason (the “Restricted Period”), Executive will not, whether on Executive’s own behalf or on behalf of or in conjunction with any person, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation or other business organization, entity or enterprise whatsoever (“Person”), directly or indirectly solicit or assist in soliciting in competition with the Company, the business of any customer of the Company or prospective customer of the Company:
(i) with whom Executive had personal contact or dealings on behalf of the Company during the one year period preceding Executive’s termination of employment;
(ii) with whom employees reporting to Executive have had personal contact or dealings on behalf of the Company during the one year immediately preceding Executive’s termination of employment; or
(iii) for whom Executive had direct or indirect responsibility during the one year immediately preceding Executive’s termination of employment.
(2) During the Restricted Period, Executive will not directly or indirectly:
(i) engage in any coal-related business that competes with the business of the Company or its affiliates (including, without limitation, businesses which the Company or its affiliates have specific plans to conduct in the future and as to which Executive is aware of such planning) in the United States (a “Competitive Business”);
(ii) enter the employ of, or render any services to, any Person (or any division or controlled or controlling affiliate of any Person) who or which engages in a Competitive Business;
(iii) acquire a financial interest in, or otherwise become actively involved with, any Competitive Business, directly or indirectly, as an individual, partner, shareholder, officer, director, principal, agent, trustee or consultant;
(iv) interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, business relationships (whether formed before, on or after the date of this Agreement) between the Company or any of its affiliates and customers, clients, suppliers partners, members or investors of the Company or its affiliates, or
(v) disparage the Company or any of its stockholders, directors, officers, employees or agents.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, Executive may, directly or indirectly own, solely as an investment, securities of any Person engaged in the business of the Company or its affiliates which are publicly traded on a national or regional stock exchange or on the over-the-counter market if Executive (i) is not a controlling person of, or a member of a group which controls, such person and (ii) does not, directly or indirectly, own 5% or more of any class of securities of such Person.
(4) During the Employment Term and, for a period of two years following the date Executive ceases to be employed by the Company, Executive will not, whether on Executive’s own behalf or on behalf of or in conjunction with any Person, directly or indirectly:
(i) solicit or encourage any employee of the Company or its affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliates; or
(ii) hire any such employee who was employed by the Company or its affiliates as of the date of Executive’s termination of employment with the Company or who left the employment of the Company or its affiliates coincident with, or within one year prior to or after, the termination of Executive’s employment with the Company.
(5) During the Restricted Period, Executive will not, directly or indirectly, solicit or encourage to cease to work with the Company or its affiliates any consultant then under contract with the Company or its affiliates.
b. It is expressly understood and agreed that although Executive and the Company consider the restrictions contained in this Section 8 to be reasonable, if a final judicial determination is made by a court of competent jurisdiction that the time or territory or any other restriction contained in this Agreement is an unenforceable restriction against Executive, the provisions of this Agreement shall not be rendered void but shall be deemed amended to apply as to such maximum time and territory and to such maximum extent as such court may judicially determine or indicate to be enforceable. Alternatively, if any court of competent jurisdiction finds that any restriction contained in this Agreement is unenforceable, and such restriction cannot be amended so as to make it enforceable, such finding shall not affect the enforceability of any of the other restrictions contained herein.
NON-COMPETITION CLAUSE The parties agree that during the term of employment and for a period of up to 12 months after the expiry of the agreed notice period (such 12-month period referred to as the "Restricted Period"), the Executive shall not be entitled to be employed by, directly or indirectly offer services to, start up, lead, be a board member in, have an ownership interest in, participate in or otherwise in any way engage in any business that directly or indirectly competes with the Company or the Group (the "Non-Competition Clause"). In case of summary dismissal, the Restricted Period commences on the date of the summary dismissal. The Company may at the request of the Executive, or at any other time, decide if and to what extent the Non-Competition Clause shall be invoked. The procedure in connection with such a decision shall comply with the mandatory provisions of Chapter 14 A in the WEA including the Company's obligation to provide the Executive with a written statement in this regards. If the Restricted Period is invoked for a shorter period of time, the Compensation to the Executive (see below) is reduced correspondingly. Should the Employer decide not to invoke the Non-Competition Clause, the Executive will not be entitled to such Compensation. If the Non-Competition Clause is invoked, the Executive shall receive compensation during the Restrictive Period equivalent to 100% of the Executive's annual remuneration up to 8 G ("G" means the Basic Amount in the National Insurance Scheme), and then, if applicable, 70% of the annual remuneration exceeding 8G ("Compensation"). The term "remuneration" is to be understood in line with Chapter 14 A in the WEA. The total amount of Compensation will not exceed 12 G. The Compensation is based on the Executive's remuneration the last 12 months preceding the time of the notice and is paid monthly on the Company's payroll date. The Compensation is not included in the basis for holiday pay or pension, and the Executive is not entitled to any bonus or other supplementary benefits from the Company during the period for payment of the Compensation. The Employer will carry out tax deduction and any other mandatory deductions in accordance with applicable law. The Compensation is paid monthly on the Company's payroll date. Deductions shall be made in the Compensation for any income or other remuneration (or similar) that the Executive receives from the Company or accrues from others in the Restricted Period limited to 50% of the Compensation. The Executive shall provide adequate information about the salary from any new employer during the application of the obligations set out herein. If the Executive does not comply with this requirement, the Company may withhold the Compensation until such information is received.
Employment and Non-Competition Agreements The Employment and Non-Competition Agreements described in SECTION 6.2 hereof shall have been duly executed and delivered by all parties thereto and shall be in full force and effect.
Noncompetition Agreements Purchaser shall have executed and delivered to each Seller a Noncompetition Agreement substantially in the form attached hereto as Schedule 6.5(a).
Noncompetition Agreement (a) Employee shall not, during the term of his employment hereunder, be engaged in any other business activity pursued for gain, profit or other pecuniary advantage if such activity interferes with Employee's duties and responsibilities hereunder. The foregoing limitations shall not be construed as prohibiting Employee from making personal investments in such form or manner as will neither require his services in the operation or affairs of the companies or enterprises in which such investments are made nor violate the terms of this paragraph 3. Employee will not, during the period of his employment by or with Employer, and for a period of two (2) years immediately following the termination of his employment under this Agreement, except as provided below, directly or indirectly, for himself or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person, persons, company, partnership, corporation or business of whatever nature:
(i) engage, as an officer, director, shareholder, owner, partner, joint venturer, or in a managerial capacity, whether as an employee, independent contractor, consultant or advisor, or as a sales representative, in any business in direct competition with Employer or the Company within 100 miles of where the Company or any of its subsidiaries conduct business, including any territory serviced by the Company or any of such subsidiaries (the "TERRITORY");
(ii) call upon any person who is, at that time, an employee of Employer or the Company (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) in a sales or managerial capacity for the purpose or with the intent of enticing such employee away from or out of the employ of Employer or the Company (including the respective subsidiaries thereof);
(iii) call upon any person or entity which is, at that time, or which has been, within one (1) year prior to that time, a customer of the Company (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) for the purpose of soliciting or selling products or services in direct competition with the Company; or
(iv) call upon any prospective acquisition candidate, on Employee's own behalf or on behalf of any competitor, which candidate was, to Employee's actual knowledge after due inquiry, either called upon by Employer or the Company (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) or for which Employer or the Company made an acquisition analysis for the purpose of acquiring such entity or all or substantially all of such entity's assets. Notwithstanding the above, the foregoing covenant shall not be deemed to prohibit Employee from acquiring as a passive investment not more than two percent (2%) of the capital stock of a competing business the stock of which is traded on a national securities exchange or on an over-the -counter or similar market.
(b) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to Employer or the Company as a result of a breach of the foregoing covenant, and because of the immediate and irreparable damage that could be caused to Employer or the Company for which they would have no other adequate remedy, Employee agrees that the foregoing covenant may be enforced by Employer or the Company in the event of breach or threatened breach by Employee, by injunctions, restraining orders and other appropriate equitable relief.
(c) It is agreed by the parties that the foregoing covenants in this paragraph 3 impose a reasonable restraint on Employee in light of the activities and business of the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries) on the date of the execution of this Agreement and the current plans of the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries); but it is also the intent of the Company and Employee that such covenants be construed and enforced in accordance with the changing activities, business and locations of the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries) throughout the term of this covenant, whether before or after the date of termination of the employment of Employee. For example, if, during the term of this Agreement, the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries) engages in new and different activities, enters a new business or establishes new locations for its current activities or business in addition to or other than the activities or business enumerated under the Recitals above or the locations currently established therefor, then Employee will be precluded from soliciting the customers or Employees of such new activities or business or from such new location and from directly competing with such new business within 100 miles of its then-established operating location(s) through the term of this covenant. It is further agreed by the parties hereto that, in the event that Employee shall cease to be employed hereunder, and shall enter into a business or pursue other activities not in competition with the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries), or similar activities or business in locations the operation of which, under such circumstances, does not violate clause (i) of paragraph 3(a), Employee shall not be chargeable with a violation of this paragraph 3 if the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries) shall thereafter enter the same, similar or a competitive (i) business, (ii) course of activities or (iii) location, as applicable.
(d) The covenants in this paragraph 3 are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant. Moreover, in the event any court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that the scope, time or territorial restrictions set forth herein are unreasonable, then it is the intention of the parties that such restrictions be enforced to the fullest extent which the court deems reasonable, and this Agreement shall thereby be reformed.
(e) All of the covenants in this paragraph 3 shall be construed as an agreement independent of any other provision in this Agreement, and the existence of any claim or cause of action of Employee against Employer or the Company, whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by Employer or the Company of such covenants. It is specifically agreed that the period of two (2) years following termination of employment stated at the beginning of this paragraph 3, during which the agreements and covenants of Employee made in this paragraph 3 shall be effective, shall be computed by excluding from such computation any time during which Employee is in violation of any provision of this paragraph 3.
Non Competition Confidentiality (a) Executive agrees and acknowledges that reasonable limits on his ability to engage in activities which are competitive with the Company are warranted in order to protect the Company's trade secrets and proprietary information and are warranted in order to protect the Company in developing and maintaining its reputation, good will and status in the marketplace. In that regard, during the 60 months following the Termination Date (the "Continuation Period"), the Executive will not directly or indirectly, on Executive's own behalf or in the service of or on behalf of any other individual or entity, either as a proprietor, employee, agent, independent contractor, consultant, director, officer, partner or stockholder (other than a stockholder of a corporation listed on a national securities exchange or whose stock is regularly traded in the over-the-counter market, provided that the Executive at no time owns, directly or indirectly, in excess of 5% of the outstanding stock of any class of any such corporation):
(i) participate or engage in any activities or business developing, manufacturing, marketing or distributing any products or services offered by the Company as of the Effective Time (as defined in the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 14, 2000, by and among the Parent, Silversmith Acquisition Corp. and the Company), or any products or services offered by the Company subsequent to the Effective Time and in which the Executive actively participated, recognizing that the Company offers products and services globally ("Competitive Activities"), including, without limitation, (A) selling goods or rendering services of the type (or similar to the type) sold or rendered by the Company, whether by means of electronic, traditional or other form of commerce; (B) soliciting any person or entity that is a current or prospective customer or has been a customer, in each case, of the Company, while the Executive has been employed by the Company (provided that it shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement if the Executive solicits such customers for goods or services unrelated to the Competitive Activities) and (C) assisting any person in any way to do, or attempt to do, anything prohibited by clauses (A) or (B) above; or
(ii) solicit (other than pursuant to general, non-targeted advertisements) any employee of the Company, who was an employee at or prior to the Effective Time, to leave the employment of the Company.
(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Executive may remain a director at those companies for which Executive is a director as of the Effective Time, and may engage in any activities or businesses for which the Company has given permission in writing, which shall not be unreasonably withheld (or delayed) following the expiration of three years from the date the Offer is consummated, provided Executive's engaging in such activities or business would not have a material adverse impact on any of the Company's lines of businesses.
(i) The Executive shall not, without the written consent of the Company, disclose to any other person or use, whether directly or indirectly, any Confidential Information (as hereinafter defined) relating to or used by the Company, whether in written, oral or other form. "Confidential Information" shall mean information about the Company, and its clients and customers that is not disclosed by the Company for financial reporting purposes and that was learned by the Executive in the course of employment with the Company, including (without limitation) any proprietary knowledge, product and service designs, trade secrets, manuals, technical information and plans, contracts, systems, procedures, databases, electronic files, disks and printouts, correspondence, internal reports, personnel files, information about Company employees relating to their education, experience, skills, abilities, compensation and benefits, and inter-personal relationships with suppliers to and customers of Company, sales and advertising material, business plans, marketing plans, financial data (including without limitation the revenues, costs or profits associated with services), customer and industry lists, customer information, customer lists coupled with product or service pricing, customer contracts, supplier contacts and other contact information, pricing policies, supplies, agents, risk analyses, engineering information and computer screen designs and computer input and output specifications, inclusive of any pertinent documentation, techniques, processes, technical information and know how. The Executive acknowledges that such Confidential Information is specialized, unique in nature and of great value to the Company, and that such information gives the Company a competitive advantage. The Executive's obligations under this Section 10(c) shall survive the termination of the Continuation Period.
Confidentiality; Non-Competition (a) Executive agrees that he will not, at any time during or after the Term, make use of or divulge to any other person, firm or corporation any trade or business secret, process, method or means, or any other confidential information concerning the business or policies of the Company, which he may have learned in connection with his employment. For purposes of this Agreement, a "trade or business secret, process, method or means, or any other confidential information" shall mean and include written information reasonably treated as confidential or as a trade secret by the Company. Executive's obligation under this Section 4.3 (a) shall not apply to any information which (i) is known publicly; (ii) is in the public domain or hereafter enters the public domain without the fault of Executive; (iii) is known to Executive prior to his receipt of such information from the Company, as evidenced by written records of Executive or (iv) is hereafter disclosed to Executive by a third party not under an obligation of confidence to the Company. Executive agrees not to remove from the premises of the Company, except as an employee of the Company in pursuit of the business of the Company or except as specifically permitted in writing by the Company, any document or other object containing or reflecting any such confidential information. Executive recognizes that all such documents and objects, whether developed by him or by someone else, will be the sole exclusive property of the Company. Upon termination of his employment hereunder, Executive shall forthwith deliver to the Company all such confidential information, including without limitation all lists of customers, correspondence, accounts, records and any other documents or property made or held by him or under his control in relation to the business or affairs of the Company, and no copy of any such confidential information shall be retained by him.
(b) If Executive's employment is terminated for any reason other than for Cause, Executive shall not for a period of one year from the date of such termination, directly or indirectly, whether as an employee, consultant, independent contractor, partner, or joint venturer, (i) perform any services for a competitor which has material operations which directly compete with the Company in the sale of any products sold by the Company at the time of the termination of Executive's employment; (ii) solicit or induce, or in any manner attempt to solicit or induce, any person employed by, or as agent of, the Company to terminate such person's contract of employment or agency, as the case may be, with the Company or (iii) divert, or attempt to divert, any person, concern, or entity from doing business with the Company, nor will he attempt to induce any such person, concern or entity to cease being a customer or supplier of the Company. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, this Section 4.3(b) shall not prevent Executive from acquiring securities representing not more than 5% of the outstanding voting securities of any publicly held corporation.
No Existing Non-Competition Agreements No Insider is subject to any non-competition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer which could materially affect his ability to be an employee, officer and/or director of the Company, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement.
