Operation of the Business During the period from the date of this Agreement to the Closing Date, the Stockholders shall cause the Company to conduct its operations and the Business in the Ordinary Course of Business and in material compliance with all laws applicable to the Company or any of its properties or assets and, to the extent consistent therewith, use its Reasonable Best Efforts to preserve intact its current business organization, keep its physical assets in good working condition, keep available the services of its current officers and employees and preserve its relationships with customers, suppliers and others having business dealings with it to the end that its goodwill and ongoing business shall not be impaired in any material respect. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, prior to the Closing Date, the Company and the Stockholders shall not and shall cause the Company not to, in each case, without the prior written consent of the Buyer (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) and except as otherwise contemplated by this Agreement, incur any funded indebtedness:
(a) issue or sell, or redeem or repurchase, any stock or other securities of the Company or any warrants, options or other rights to acquire any such stock or other securities (except pursuant to the conversion or exercise of outstanding convertible securities, options or warrants outstanding on the date hereof), or amend any of the terms of (including without limitation the vesting of) any such convertible securities or options or warrants;
(b) except as otherwise contemplated under Section 4.4(h), below, split, combine or reclassify any shares of its capital stock; or, except as may be required to enable Stockholders to pay taxes on the Pre-Tax Profits of the Company through the Closing Date, and except as otherwise contemplated under Section 4.4(h), below, declare, set aside or pay any dividend or other distribution (whether in cash, stock or property or any combination thereof) in respect of its capital stock;
(c) except in connection with the Required Financing (hereinafter described), create, incur, assume or guaranty any indebtedness for borrowed money (including obligations in respect of capital leases) except in the Ordinary Course of Business or in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; assume, guarantee, endorse or otherwise become liable or responsible (whether directly, contingently or otherwise) for the obligations of any other person or entity; or make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any other person or entity;
(d) enter into, adopt or amend any Employee Benefit Plan or any employment or severance agreement or arrangement or (except for normal increases in the Ordinary Course of Business for employees who are not Affiliates) increase in any manner the compensation or fringe benefits of, or materially modify the employment terms of, its directors, officers or employees, generally or individually, or pay any bonus or other benefit to its directors, officers or employees;
(e) acquire, sell, lease, license or dispose of any assets or property (including without limitation any shares or other equity interests in or securities of the Company or any corporation, partnership, association or other business organization or division thereof), other than purchases and sales of Inventories and other assets in the Ordinary Course of Business;
(f) except in connection with the Required Financing (hereinafter described), mortgage or pledge any of its property or assets (including without limitation any shares or other equity interests in or securities of the Company or any corporation, partnership, association or other business organization or division thereof), or subject any such property or assets to any Security Interest;
(g) discharge or satisfy any Security Interest or pay any obligation or liability other than in the Ordinary Course of Business;
(h) as at the Closing Date, and after giving effect to the declaration or funding of any dividends or distributions to the Stockholders, whether in cash or in property, (A) the combined stockholders’ equity of both the Company and DiscCo shall be not less than $4,000,000, (B) neither the Company nor DiscCo will have an indebtedness in excess of $100,000, and (C) not less than $500,000 of the combined assets of both the Company and DiscCo will be in the form of cash, cash equivalents or immediately marketable securities which is necessary to cover operating expenses of the Company and DiscCo incurred in the ordinary course of business;
(i) amend the charter, by-laws or other organizational documents of the Company;
(j) change in any material respect its accounting methods, principles or practices, except insofar as may be required by a generally applicable change in GAAP;
(k) enter into, amend, terminate, take or omit to take any action that would constitute a violation of or default under, or waive any rights under, any material Contract or agreement;
(l) institute or settle any Legal Proceeding;
(m) take any action or fail to take any action permitted by this Agreement with the knowledge that such action or failure to take action would result in (i) any of the representations and warranties of the Company set forth in this Agreement becoming untrue in any material respect or (ii) any of the conditions to the Closing set forth in Article V not being satisfied; or
(n) agree in writing or otherwise to take any of the foregoing actions.
Condition of the Business (a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that Seller is not making any representations or warranties whatsoever, express or implied, beyond those expressly given by Seller in Article V hereof (as modified by the Seller Schedules as supplemented or amended), and Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that, except for the representations and warranties contained therein, the Purchased Assets and the Business are being transferred on a “where is” and, as to condition, “as is” basis. Any claims Purchaser may have for breach of representation or warranty shall be based solely on the representations and warranties of Seller set forth in Article V hereof (as modified by the Seller Schedules as supplemented or amended). Purchaser further represents that neither Seller nor any of its Affiliates nor any other Person has made any representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding Seller, the Purchased Assets, the Business or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or as to the accuracy or completeness of any information not expressly set forth in this Agreement and neither Purchaser nor any of its Affiliates has relied on any such express or implied representation or warranty. Purchaser further agrees that none of Seller, any of its Affiliates or any other Person will have or be subject to any liability to Purchaser or any other Person resulting from the distribution to Purchaser or its representatives or Purchaser’s use of, any such information, including any confidential memoranda distributed on behalf of Seller relating to the Business or other publications or data room information provided to Purchaser or its representatives, or any other document or information in any form provided to Purchaser or its representatives in connection with the sale of the Business and the transactions contemplated hereby. Purchaser acknowledges that it has conducted to its satisfaction, its own independent investigation of the Business and, in making the determination to proceed with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, Purchaser has relied on the results of its own independent investigation.
The Business The parties acknowledge that the Company is engaged in the development, marketing and sale of certain proprietary technologies, processes and related products in the areas of chemical detection, technical processes, and technical/business services, and that the Company may also from time to time become or may intend to become engaged in other business endeavors (individually and collectively, the "BUSINESS"). The Company shall be deemed to intend to become engaged in a business endeavor if it has devoted or expended any significant resources, either financial or human resources, towards the proposed endeavor, either in planning or implementing the undertaking of such planned endeavor.
Operation of the Company’s Business (a) Except (i) as set forth in Section 4.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (ii) as expressly permitted by or required in accordance this Agreement, (iii) as required by applicable Law, (iv) in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, to the extent reasonably necessary, (A) to protect the health and safety of the Company’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ employees, (B) to respond to third party supply or service disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or (C) as required by any applicable Law, directive or guideline from any Governmental Body arising out of, or otherwise related to, the COVID-19 pandemic (including any response to COVID-19), or (v) as may be consented to in writing by Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned), during the Pre-Closing Period: each of the Company and its Subsidiaries shall conduct its business and operations in the Ordinary Course of Business and in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws and the requirements of all Contracts that constitute Company Material Contracts.
(b) Except (i) as expressly permitted by this Agreement, (ii) as set forth in Section 4.2(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (iii) as required by applicable Law or (iv) with the prior written consent of Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned), at all times during the Pre-Closing Period, the Company shall not, nor shall it cause or permit any of its Subsidiaries to, do any of the following:
(i) declare, accrue, set aside or pay any dividend or make any other distribution in respect of any shares of its capital stock or repurchase, redeem or otherwise reacquire, directly or indirectly, any shares of its capital stock or other securities (except in connection with the payment of the exercise price and/or withholding Taxes incurred upon the exercise, settlement or vesting of any award granted under the Company Plan in accordance with the terms of such award in effect on the date of this Agreement);
(ii) sell, issue, grant, pledge or otherwise dispose of or encumber or authorize any of the foregoing with respect to: (A) any capital stock or other security of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (except for shares of outstanding Company Common Stock issued upon the valid exercise of Company Options); (B) any option, warrant or right to acquire any capital stock or any other security, other than option grants or restricted stock unit awards granted to employees and service providers in the Ordinary Course of Business which are included in the calculation of the Company Outstanding Shares; or (C) any instrument convertible into or exchangeable for any capital stock or other security of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries;
(iii) except as required to give effect to anything in contemplation of the Closing, amend any of its or its Subsidiaries’ Organizational Documents, or effect or be a party to any merger, consolidation, share exchange, business combination, recapitalization, reclassification of shares, stock split, reverse stock split or similar transaction except, for the avoidance of doubt, the Contemplated Transactions;
(iv) form any Subsidiary or acquire any equity interest or other interest in any other Entity or enter into a joint venture with any other Entity;
(A) lend money to any Person (except for the advancement of expenses to employees, directors and consultants in the Ordinary Course of Business), (B) incur or guarantee any indebtedness for borrowed money, (C) guarantee any debt securities of others, or (D) other than the incurrence or payment of any Transaction Expenses, make any capital expenditure in excess of the budgeted capital expenditure amounts set forth in the Company operating budget delivered to Parent concurrently with the execution of this Agreement (the “Company Budget”);
(vi) other than as required by applicable Law or the terms of any Company Benefit Plan as in effect on the date of this Agreement: (A) adopt, terminate, establish or enter into any Company Benefit Plan; (B) cause or permit any Company Benefit Plan to be amended in any material respect; (C) pay any bonus or make any profit-sharing or similar payment to, or increase the amount of the wages, salary, commissions, benefits or other compensation or remuneration payable to, any of its directors, officers or employees, other than increases in base salary and annual cash bonus opportunities and payments made in the Ordinary Course of Business consistent with past practice and which do not exceed, in the aggregate, the amounts specifically budgeted therefore in the Company Budget; (D) increase the severance or change of control benefits offered to any current or new employees, directors or consultants; (E) hire any (x) officer or (y) employee whose annual base salary is or is expected to be more than $250,000 per year or (F) terminate or give notice of termination to any officer other than for cause;
(vii) recognize any labor union or labor organization, except as otherwise required by applicable Law and after prior written consent of Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned);
(viii) enter into any material transaction other than in the Ordinary Course of Business;
(ix) acquire any material asset or sell, lease or otherwise irrevocably dispose of any of its assets or properties, or grant any Encumbrance with respect to such assets or properties, except in the Ordinary Course of Business;
(x) sell, assign, transfer, license, sublicense or otherwise dispose of any Company IP (other than pursuant to non-exclusive licenses in the Ordinary Course of Business);
(xi) make, change or revoke any material Tax election, fail to pay any income or other material Tax as such Tax becomes due and payable, file any amendment making any material change to any Tax Return, settle or compromise any income or other material Tax liability or submit any voluntary disclosure application, enter into any Tax allocation, sharing, indemnification or other similar agreement or arrangement (other than customary commercial contracts entered into in the Ordinary Course of Business the principal subject matter of which is not Taxes), request or consent to any extension or waiver of any limitation period with respect to any claim or assessment for any income or other material Taxes (other than pursuant to an extension of time to file any Tax Return granted in the Ordinary Course of Business of not more than seven (7) months), or adopt or change any material accounting method in respect of Taxes;
(xii) enter into, materially amend or terminate any Company Material Contract;
(xiii) other than as required by Law or GAAP, take any action to change accounting policies or procedures;
(xiv) initiate or settle any Legal Proceeding
(xv) enter into or amend a Contract that would reasonably be expected to prevent or materially impede, interfere with, hinder or delay the consummation of the Contemplated Transactions; or
(xvi) agree, resolve or commit to do any of the foregoing.
(c) Nothing contained in this Agreement shall give Parent, directly or indirectly, the right to control or direct the operations of the Company prior to the Effective Time. Prior to the Effective Time, the Company shall exercise, consistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, complete unilateral control and supervision over its business operations. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Agreement, no consent of Parent shall be required with respect to any matter set forth in this Section 4.2 or elsewhere in this Agreement to the extent that the requirement of such consent could violate any applicable Laws.
Outside Businesses Subject to the provisions of Section 6.3, any Covered Person, the Sponsor, the Delaware Trustee and the Property Trustee may engage in or possess an interest in other business ventures of any nature or description, independently or with others, similar or dissimilar to the activities of the Trust, and the Trust and the Holders of Securities shall have no rights by virtue of this Trust Agreement in and to such independent ventures or the income or profits derived therefrom, and the pursuit of any such venture, even if competitive with the activities of the Trust, shall not be deemed wrongful or improper. No Covered Person, the Sponsor, the Delaware Trustee or the Property Trustee shall be obligated to present any particular investment or other opportunity to the Trust even if such opportunity is of a character that, if presented to the Trust, could be taken by the Trust, and any Covered Person, the Sponsor, the Delaware Trustee and the Property Trustee shall have the right to take for its own account (individually or as a partner or fiduciary) or to recommend to others any such particular investment or other opportunity. Any Covered Person, the Delaware Trustee and the Property Trustee may engage or be interested in any financial or other transaction with the Sponsor or any Affiliate of the Sponsor, or may act as depositary for, trustee or agent for, or act on any committee or body of holders of, securities or other obligations of the Sponsor or its Affiliates.
MANAGEMENT OF THE BUSINESS Pursuant to Section 00-00-000 of the Act, and as stated in its Articles, the Company’s day to day affairs are managed by the Member. The Member is responsible for the daily operations of the business.
Conduct of Business of Parent Except as set forth in Section 6.2 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule, during the period from the date of this Agreement to the Effective Time (unless the Company shall otherwise agree in writing and except as otherwise contemplated by this Agreement), Parent will conduct its operations according to its ordinary and usual course of business consistent with past practice and shall use all reasonable efforts to preserve intact its current business organizations, keep available the service of its current officers and employees, maintain its material Permits and Contracts and preserve its relationships with customers, suppliers and others having business dealings with it. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, and except as otherwise contemplated by this Agreement or as set forth in Section 6.2 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule, Parent will not, without the prior written consent of the Company (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld):
(i) issue, sell, grant, dispose of, pledge or otherwise encumber, or authorize or propose the issuance, sale, disposition or pledge or other encumbrance of (A) any additional shares of capital stock of any class (including the shares of Parent Common Stock), or any securities or rights convertible into, exchangeable for, or evidencing the right to subscribe for any shares of capital stock, or any rights, warrants, options, calls, commitments or any other agreements of any character to purchase or acquire any shares of capital stock or any securities or rights convertible into, exchangeable for, or evidencing the right to subscribe for, any shares of capital stock or (B) any other securities in respect of, in lieu of, or in substitution for, shares of Parent Common Stock outstanding on the date hereof;
(ii) redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire, or propose to redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire, any of its outstanding shares of Parent Common Stock;
(iii) split, combine, subdivide or reclassify any shares of Parent Common Stock or declare, set aside for payment or pay any dividend, or make any other actual, constructive or deemed distribution in respect of any capital stock of Parent or otherwise make any payments to stockholders in their capacity as such, other than the declaration and payment of regular quarterly cash dividends on the Parent Common Stock in an amount no greater than $.72 per share per annum and in accordance with past dividend policy and other than the declaration and payment of dividends on Parent Preferred Stock pursuant to Parent's Certificate of Incorporation as in effect on the date hereof and except for dividends by a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Parent;
(iv) adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, merger, consolidation, restructuring, recapitalization or other reorganization of Parent or any of the Parent Subsidiaries (other than the Merger), except for Parent Subsidiaries which are not material to the assets, liabilities, financial condition or results of operations of Parent and the Parent Subsidiaries taken as a whole;
(v) adopt any amendments to its Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws or alter through merger, liquidation, reorganization, restructuring or in any other fashion the corporate structure or ownership of any direct or indirect subsidiary of Parent, except for Parent Subsidiaries which are not material to the assets, liabilities, financial condition or results of operations of Parent and the Parent Subsidiaries taken as a whole;
(vi) make, or permit any Parent Subsidiary to make, any material acquisition, by means of merger, consolidation or otherwise, or material disposition, of assets or securities;
(vii) other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, incur, or permit any Parent Subsidiary to incur, any material indebtedness for borrowed money or guarantee any such indebtedness or make any material loans, advances or capital contributions to, or material investments in, any other person other than Parent or any Parent Subsidiary;
(viii) change any method of accounting or accounting practice by Parent or any Parent Subsidiary, except for any such required change in GAAP or applicable statutory accounting principles;
(ix) permit any Parent Insurance Subsidiary to materially change its investment guidelines or policies and approved programs or transactions or conduct transactions in investments except in material compliance with the investment guidelines and policies of such Parent Insurance Subsidiary and all applicable insurance Laws;
(x) enter, or permit any Parent Insurance Subsidiary to enter, into any material reinsurance, coinsurance or similar Contract, whether as reinsurer or reinsured, except in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(xi) (x) take, or agree or commit to take, or permit any Parent Subsidiary to take, or agree or commit to take, any action that would make any representation and warranty of Parent hereunder inaccurate in any material respect at the Effective Time (except for representations and warranties which speak as of a particular date, which need be accurate only as of such date), (y) omit, or agree or commit to omit, or permit any Parent Subsidiary to omit, or agree or commit to omit, to take any action necessary to prevent any such representation or warranty from being inaccurate in any material respect at the Effective Time (except for representations and warranties which speak as of a particular date, which need be accurate only as of such date), provided however that Parent shall be permitted to take or omit to take such action which can be cured, and in fact is cured, at or prior to the Effective Time or (z) take, or agree or commit to take, or permit any Parent Subsidiary to take, or agree or commit to take, any action that would result in, or is reasonably likely to result in, any of the conditions of the Merger set forth in Article VII not being satisfied; or
(xii) authorize, recommend, propose or announce an intention to do any of the foregoing, or enter into any contract, agreement, commitment or arrangement to do any of the foregoing.
Non-Company Business Except with the prior written consent of the Board, Executive will not during the term of Executive’s employment with the Company undertake or engage in any other employment, occupation or business enterprise, other than ones in which Executive is a passive investor. Executive may engage in civic and not-for-profit activities so long as such activities do not materially interfere with the performance of Executive’s duties hereunder.
Businesses Borrower is presently engaged directly or through its Subsidiaries in the business of oil and gas acquisition, exploration, development and production.
Capitalization of the Company and its Subsidiaries (a) The authorized stock of the Company consists of 14,984,490 shares of Class A common stock, par value $.01 per share (the "Shares"), of which, as of September 30, 2000, 5,681,156 Shares were issued and outstanding, and 15,510 shares of Series A-1 convertible preferred stock, par value $.01 per share (the "Convertible Preferred Stock"), of which, as of September 30, 2000, 14,511 shares were outstanding. All of the outstanding Shares have been validly issued and are fully paid and nonassessable, and free of preemptive rights granted by the Company. As of September 30, 2000, (i) 1,515,338 were reserved for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding Company Stock Options issued pursuant to the Option Plans and other stock option plans, or agreements to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party, (ii) 967,448 Shares were reserved for issuance upon the conversion of the outstanding Convertible Preferred Stock, and (iii) 123,370 Shares were reserved for issuance upon the exercise of the outstanding Warrants. Except as set forth in Section 3.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, since September 30, 2000, no shares of the Company's stock have been issued other than pursuant to Company Stock Options or other stock-based employee benefit plans of the Company and no options to acquire Shares have been granted other than pursuant to the Option Plans. Except as set forth above and in Section 3.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, as of the date hereof, there are issued, reserved for issuance, or outstanding (i) no shares of stock or other voting securities of the Company, (ii) no securities of the Company or its subsidiaries convertible into or exchangeable for shares of stock or voting securities of the Company, (iii) no options or other rights to acquire from the Company or its subsidiaries and, except for the Series B Preferred Stock issuable upon exercise of the Option or as described in Section 3.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, no obligations of the Company or its subsidiaries to issue any stock, voting securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for stock or voting securities of the Company, (iv) no bonds, debentures, notes or other indebtedness or obligations of the Company or any of its subsidiaries entitling the holders thereof to have the right to vote (or which are convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, securities entitling the holders thereof to have the right to vote) with the stockholders of the Company or any of its subsidiaries on any matter, and (v) no equity equivalent interests in the ownership or earnings of the Company or its subsidiaries or other similar rights (collectively "Company Securities"). As of the date hereof, except as set forth in Section 3.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, there are no outstanding obligations of the Company or its subsidiaries (absolute, contingent or otherwise) to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any Company Securities. There are no Shares outstanding subject to rights of first refusal of the Company, nor are there any pre-emptive rights granted by the Company with respect to any Shares. Other than this Agreement, there are no stockholder agreements, voting trusts or other agreements or understandings to which the Company is a party or by which it is bound relating to the voting or, except as set forth in Section 3.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, registration of any shares of stock of the Company.
(b) Except as set forth in Section 3.2(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, all of the outstanding stock of the Company's subsidiaries is owned by the Company, directly or indirectly, free and clear of any Lien (as defined below). There are no securities of the Company or its subsidiaries convertible into or exchangeable for, no options or other rights to acquire from the Company or its subsidiaries and no other contract, understanding, arrangement or obligation (whether or not contingent) providing for the issuance or sale, directly or indirectly, of any stock or other ownership interests in, or any other securities, of any subsidiary of, the Company. Except as set forth in Section 3.2(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, there are no outstanding contractual obligations of the Company or its subsidiaries to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any outstanding shares of capital stock or other ownership interests in any subsidiary of the Company. For purposes of this Agreement, "Lien" means, with respect to any asset (including without limitation any security), any mortgage, lien, pledge, charge, security interest or encumbrance of any kind in respect of such asset (including any restrictions on the right to vote or sell the same except as may be provided as a matter of law).
