Vesting Acceleration Effective on such termination, the Executive shall receive accelerated vesting equivalent to six (6) months of service beyond the date of Executive’s termination with respect to the shares subject to any grant of restricted stock or stock options (each, an “Equity Grant”) granted to the Executive, regardless of whether granted prior to, coincident with, or after, the Effective Date; provided, however, that in the event such termination occurs within one (1) year following a Change of Control, then one hundred percent (100%) of the remaining shares subject to each such Equity Grant shall become vested in full and the period during which the Executive is permitted to exercise (if applicable) any such Equity Grant shall be extended until the earlier of (i) ten (10) years from the date of grant, or (ii) the expiration date of such Equity Grant (as of the date of grant).
Option Vesting Options shall vest as follows: --------------
(a) 100% of the Options shall vest on the 1st anniversary of the Grant Date;
(b) In the event of any change in control, merger or consolidation between the Company and any other entity (other than one in which the stockholders of the Company prior to such transaction receive, in exchange for their Company shares, stock of the surviving corporation and such stock constitutes more than 50% of the outstanding stock of the surviving corporation following such transaction), or any sale by the Company of all or substantially all of its assets, all Options then held by the Director that have not theretofore vested shall vest five days prior to the earlier of (i) the record date, if any, for such transaction and (ii) the closing date of such transaction, both subject to Section 4(a).
Accelerated Vesting (a) Immediately prior to the effective date of the Change in Control, the Unvested Shares subject to this option shall automatically become Vested Shares, and this option shall become exercisable for all of the Option Shares. However, the Unvested Shares shall not vest on such an accelerated basis if and to the extent: (i) this option will be assumed by the successor corporation (or parent thereof) or otherwise continued in effect pursuant to the terms of the Change in Control transaction or (ii) this option is to be replaced with a cash incentive program of the successor corporation which preserves the spread existing on the Unvested Shares at the time of the Change in Control (the excess of the Fair Market Value of those Unvested Shares over the Exercise Price payable for such shares) and provides for subsequent payout of that spread no later than the time Optionee would otherwise vest in the Option Shares as set forth in the Grant Notice.
(b) Immediately following the Change in Control, this option shall terminate and cease to be outstanding, except to the extent assumed by the successor corporation (or parent thereof) or otherwise continued in effect pursuant to the terms of the Change in Control transaction.
(c) If this option is assumed in connection with a Change in Control or otherwise continued in effect, then this option shall be appropriately adjusted, upon such Change in Control, to apply to the number and class of securities which would have been issuable to Optionee in consummation of such Change in Control had the option been exercised immediately prior to such Change in Control, and appropriate adjustments shall also be made to the Exercise Price, provided the aggregate Exercise Price shall remain the same. To the extent that the holders of Common Stock receive cash consideration for their Common Stock in consummation of the Change in Control, the successor corporation (or its parent) may, in connection with the assumption of this option, substitute one or more shares of its own common stock with a fair market value equivalent to the cash consideration paid per share of Common Stock in such Change in Control.
(d) This Agreement shall not in any way affect the right of the Corporation to adjust, reclassify, reorganize or otherwise change its capital or business structure or to merge, consolidate, dissolve, liquidate or sell or transfer all or any part of its business or assets.
Option Acceleration One hundred percent (100%) of the shares subject to all outstanding options granted to the Employee by the Company (the “Options”) prior to the date of such termination shall immediately become vested and exercisable in full upon such termination. Following such acceleration, the Options shall continue to be subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s stock option plans and the applicable option agreements between the Employee and the Company.
Accelerated Vesting of Equity Awards One hundred percent (100%) of Executive’s then-outstanding and unvested Equity Awards will become vested in full. If, however, an outstanding Equity Award is to vest and/or the amount of the award to vest is to be determined based on the achievement of performance criteria, then the Equity Award will vest as to one hundred percent (100%) of the amount of the Equity Award assuming the performance criteria had been achieved at target levels for the relevant performance period(s).
Committee Discretion to Accelerate Vesting Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committee may, in its sole discretion, provide for accelerated vesting of the RSUs at any time and for any reason.
Acceleration of Vesting (a) In the event your employment with Deluxe is terminated by reason of death, Disability (as defined in the Addendum), or Approved Retirement (as defined in the Addendum) any time during the Restricted Period, all of the yet unvested Units will vest and the Units shall become non-forfeitable as of the date of such termination.
(b) Subject to Section 4(c), in the event your employment is terminated during the Restricted Period after the first anniversary of the Award Date by reason of involuntary termination without Cause, a pro rata portion of the next segment of Units scheduled to vest after the termination date (based on the number of completed days between the termination date and the scheduled vesting date immediately prior to the termination date (or the Award Date if there was no such scheduled vesting date) divided by 365) shall vest and become non-forfeitable as of the date of such termination.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision contained in this Agreement that would result in Units vesting in full or in part at a later date, if, in connection with any Change of Control, the acquiring Person, surviving or acquiring corporation or entity, or an Affiliate of such corporation or entity, elects to assume the obligations of Deluxe under this Agreement and to replace the Shares issuable upon settlement of the Units with other equity securities that are listed on a national securities exchange (including by use of American Depository Receipts or any similar method) and are freely transferable under all applicable federal and state securities laws and regulations (“Replacement Equity Securities”), the Units then subject to restriction shall continue to vest as set forth in Section 2, provided, however, the Units shall vest in full and become non-forfeitable if, within twelve months of the date of the Change of Control:
(i) Your employment with the Company is terminated by the Company without Cause,
(ii) Your employment with the Company is terminated by you for Good Reason, or
(iii) Vesting would otherwise occur on any earlier date as provided under this Agreement. In the event of any such Change of Control, the number of Replacement Equity Securities issuable under this Agreement shall be determined by the Committee in accordance with Section 4(c) of the Plan. In the event of any such Change of Control, all references herein to the Shares shall thereafter be deemed to refer to the Replacement Equity Securities, references to Deluxe or the Company shall thereafter be deemed to refer to the issuer of such Replacement Equity Securities, and all other terms of this Agreement shall continue in effect except as and to the extent modified by this subparagraph.
(d) If the Change of Control does not meet the continuation or replacement criteria specified in Section 4(c) above, all Units then subject to restriction shall vest in full immediately and become non-forfeitable upon the Change of Control.
(e) The provisions of this Section 4 shall be subject to Sections 5(b) and 8.
Equity Vesting All of the then-unvested shares subject to each of the Executive’s then-outstanding equity awards will immediately vest and, in the case of options and stock appreciation rights, will become exercisable (for avoidance of doubt, no more than 100% of the shares subject to the then-outstanding portion of an equity award may vest and become exercisable under this provision). In the case of equity awards with performance-based vesting, all performance goals and other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at the greater of actual performance or 100% of target levels. Unless otherwise required under the next following two sentences or, with respect to awards subject to Section 409A of the Code, under Section 5(b) below, any restricted stock units, performance shares, performance units, and/or similar full value awards that vest under this paragraph will be settled on the 61st day following the CIC Qualified Termination. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Executive’s Qualified Termination occurs prior to a Change in Control, then any unvested portion of the Executive’s then-outstanding equity awards will remain outstanding for 3 months or the occurrence of a Change in Control (whichever is earlier) so that any additional benefits due on a CIC Qualified Termination can be provided if a Change in Control occurs within 3 months following the Qualified Termination (provided that in no event will the Executive’s stock options or similar equity awards remain outstanding beyond the equity award’s maximum term to expiration). In such case, if no Change in Control occurs within 3 months following a Qualified Termination, any unvested portion of the Executive’s equity awards automatically will be forfeited permanently on the 3-month anniversary of the Qualified Termination without having vested.
Special Acceleration of Option (a) In the event of a Change in Control, this option, to the extent outstanding at that time but not otherwise fully exercisable, shall automatically accelerate so that this option shall, immediately prior to the effective date of the Change in Control, become exercisable for all of the Option Shares at the time subject to this option and may be exercised for any or all of those Option Shares as fully-vested shares of Common Stock. No such acceleration of this option, however, shall occur if and to the extent: (i) this option is, in connection with the Change in Control, assumed or otherwise continued in full force and effect by the successor corporation (or parent thereof) pursuant to the terms of the Change in Control or (ii) this option is replaced with a cash incentive program of the successor corporation which preserves the spread existing at the time of the Change in Control on the Option Shares for which this option is not otherwise at that time exercisable (the excess of the Fair Market Value of those Option Shares over the aggregate Exercise Price payable for such shares) and provides for subsequent pay-out in accordance with the same option exercise schedule set forth in the Grant Notice.
(b) Immediately following the consummation of the Change in Control, this option shall terminate and cease to be outstanding, except to the extent assumed by the successor corporation (or parent thereof) or otherwise expressly continued in full force and effect pursuant to the terms of the Change in Control.
(c) If this option is assumed in connection with a Change in Control, then this option shall be appropriately adjusted, immediately after such Change in Control, to apply to the number and class of securities which would have been issuable to Optionee in consummation of such Change in Control had the option been exercised immediately prior to such Change in Control, and appropriate adjustments shall also be made to the Exercise Price, provided the aggregate Exercise Price shall remain the same.
(d) This Agreement shall not in any way affect the right of the Corporation to adjust, reclassify, reorganize or otherwise change its capital or business structure or to merge, consolidate, dissolve, liquidate or sell or transfer all or any part of its business or assets.
Stock Vesting Unless otherwise approved by the Board of Directors, all stock options and other stock equivalents issued after the date of this Agreement to employees, directors, consultants and other service providers shall be subject to vesting as follows: (a) twenty-five percent (25%) of such stock shall vest at the end of the first year following the earlier of the date of issuance or such person’s services commencement date with the Company, and (b) seventy-five percent (75%) of such stock shall vest over the remaining three (3) years.
