Public Announcements; Confidentiality (a) Unless otherwise required by applicable Law or by the rules of the Stock Exchange, each Party and Hall shall not, and each Party and Hall shall cause its Affiliates, agents, representatives, and professionals not to, make any disclosure or public announcements or otherwise communicate with any news media without the prior written consent of Seller and Purchaser in respect of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including price and terms); provided, however, that this restriction shall not apply to any disclosures that Purchaser or its Affiliates or their agents or representatives reasonably determine are required to be included in the Filings or in any offering memorandum or similar document for any equity or debt financing of Purchaser or any of its Affiliates. If such disclosure is required by applicable Law, such Party or Hall (as applicable) shall promptly notify Seller and Purchaser in writing and shall disclose only that portion of such information which such Party or Hall is legally required to be disclosed; provided, however, that such Party or Hall shall promptly notify Seller and Purchaser in writing so that Seller or Purchaser shall be able to seek to obtain, an appropriate protective Order or other reasonable assurance that confidential treatment will be accorded such information. The Confidentiality Agreement, to which an Affiliate of Purchaser and Seller are parties, dated February 15, 2017 (the “Confidentiality Agreement”), shall terminate as of Closing.
(b) From and after the Closing, each of Seller and Hall shall, and shall cause their respective Affiliates, agents, representatives, and professionals to, hold in confidence (and not disclose or provide access to any other Person) and not use, any and all confidential or proprietary information, whether written or oral, concerning the Business, except to the extent that Seller or Hall can show that such information: (i) is generally available to and known by the public through no fault of Seller or any of their respective Affiliates or representatives; or (ii) was lawfully acquired by Seller and Hall or any of their respective Affiliates or representatives from and after the Closing from sources unrelated to Purchaser or Seller which are not prohibited from disclosing such information by a legal, contractual or fiduciary obligation. If Seller or any of its respective Affiliates or representatives is compelled to disclose any information by judicial or administrative process or by other requirements of Law, Seller or Hall shall promptly notify Purchaser in writing and shall disclose only that portion of such information which Seller or Hall is advised by its counsel in writing is legally required to be disclosed; provided, however, that Seller shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain, and immediately notify Purchaser in writing so that Purchaser shall be able to seek to obtain, an appropriate protective Order or other reasonable assurance that confidential treatment will be accorded such information.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CONFIDENTIALITY 7.1 No party shall make (or in the case of the Company, permit any other Member of the Company’s Group or in the case of a Shareholder, permit any of its Associates to make) any announcement or press release concerning the subject matter of this agreement, save as required under the AIM Rules and in accordance with the AIM Nomad Rules or under the Listing Rules of the London Stock Exchange.
7.2 Save as required in connection with Admission, each party undertakes to the others that it shall use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that any information of a secret or confidential nature received by it from any other party (“Confidential Information”) shall be treated as confidential by it and its officers, employees, advisers, representatives and agents and shall not be disclosed to any third party.
7.3 Nothing in this clause prevents any announcement being made or any Confidential Information being disclosed:
(a) with the written approval of the other parties, which in the case of any announcement shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed; or
(b) to the extent required by law or by the London Stock Exchange or any other competent regulatory body, but a party required to disclose any Confidential Information or make any announcement shall promptly notify the other parties where practicable and lawful to do so, before disclosure occurs and co-operate with the other parties regarding the timing and content of such disclosure or announcement or other action which the other parties may reasonably elect to take to challenge the validity of such requirement.
7.4 Nothing in this clause prevents disclosure of Confidential Information by any party:
(a) to the extent that the information is in or comes into the public domain (which includes the summary of the terms of this agreement in the admission document to be published by the Company in connection with Admission) other than as a result of a breach of any undertaking or duty of confidentiality by that party;
(b) to that party’s professional advisers, auditors or bankers, but before any disclosure to any such person, the relevant party shall procure that he is made aware of the terms of this clause and shall use its reasonable endeavours to procure that such person adheres to those terms as if he were bound by the provisions of this clause; or
(c) received in good faith by the recipient from a third party that is not knowingly used or disclosed to others by the recipient party in breach of this clause.
7.5 The Shareholder shall, and shall procure that each of its Associates shall, provide all reasonable cooperation and information which the Company may reasonably require and comply with all other requests which the Company may reasonably make in connection with any announcement which the Company is required to make pursuant to the AIM Rules as a result of any transaction or other relationship entered into between the Company’s Group and any Member of the Shareholder’s Group.
7.6 The Shareholder acknowledges that all directors of the Company owe fiduciary duties to the Company and shall be obliged to act and vote on all matters pertaining to the Board in what they perceive to promote the success of the Company.
HANDLING OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION The Company agrees to undertake the following in relation to IHiS’ Confidential Information: to maintain the same in confidence and to use it only for the Purpose and for no other purpose; not to make any commercial use thereof; not to use the same for the benefit of itself or of any third party other than pursuant to a further agreement with IHiS; not to use the same for the purpose of guiding or conducting a search of any information, materials or sources, whether or not available to the public, for any purpose whatsoever, including without limitation, for the purpose of demonstrating that any information falls within one of the exceptions in Clause 1.1(b); not to copy, reproduce, reverse engineer or reduce to writing any part thereof except as may be reasonably necessary for the Purpose and that any copies, reproductions or reductions to writing so made shall be the property of IHiS; not to disclose the Confidential Information whether to its employees or to third parties except in confidence to such of its Representatives who have been informed of the confidential nature thereof and who need to know the same for the Purpose and that: such Representatives are contractually obliged (whether by their contracts of employment or service, or otherwise) not to disclose the same or to use the same otherwise than for the Purpose; and the Company shall enforce such obligations at its expense, and to such extent as may be required by IHiS, in the event of a breach thereof that relates to IHiS' Confidential Information; to ensure the compliance to this NDA (including sub-clauses (a) to (f) above) on the part of its Representatives to whom Confidential Information is disclosed; and to apply to the Confidential Information no lesser security measures and degree of care than those which the Company applies to its own confidential or proprietary information of similar nature, but in no event less than reasonable care, and which the Company warrants as being adequate protection of such information from unauthorised disclosure, copying or use. The Company, as the principal party, shall be responsible and held liable for any breach of this NDA by any of its Representatives. If the Company is uncertain as to whether any information is Confidential Information, the Company shall treat the information as if it was Confidential Information, unless otherwise agreed by IHiS in writing. The Company shall immediately notify IHiS of any unauthorised disclosure or use of the Confidential Information of which the Company becomes aware and will take all steps which IHiS may require in relation to such unauthorised disclosure or use, or to prevent further unauthorised disclosure or use. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall be entitled to make any disclosure of the Confidential Information as required by law, but shall give IHiS not less than TWO (2) business days' notice of such disclosure and shall consult with IHiS prior to such disclosure with a view to avoiding such disclosure, if legally possible.
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY ISO-NE and NYISO are authorized and agree to exchange and share such information as is required for the Coordination Committee to perform its duties and for the Parties to fulfill their obligations under this Agreement. Any Party that receives Confidential Information or Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (“CEII”) pursuant to this Article 6 (the “Receiving Party”) shall treat such information as confidential subject to the terms and conditions set forth in Section 6.5 of this Agreement.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 14.4.1 This Clause shall be without prejudice to the Confidentiality Agreement dated 10 November 2011, which shall continue notwithstanding this Agreement.
14.4.2 The existence, subject matter and contents of this Agreement are confidential, and subject to Clause 14.4.4, each Party is prohibited from disclosing all or any part of this Agreement, or even its existence, at any time (including after the Closing Date).
14.4.3 Subject to Clauses 14.4.4 and 14.4.5:
(i) each Party shall treat as strictly confidential and not disclose or use any information obtained in connection with the negotiations relating to the Transaction; and
(ii) the Purchaser shall treat as strictly confidential and not disclose or use any information relating to the business and financial affairs (including future plans and targets) of the Seller and the Seller’s Affiliated Companies.
14.4.4 Clauses 14.4.2 and 14.4.3 shall not prohibit disclosure or use of any information if and to the extent that:
(i) the disclosure or use is necessary in order to allow any Party to comply with any legal requirement to make any announcement or to provide information to any public authority or Stock Exchange;
(ii) the disclosure or use is required for the purposes of any judicial or arbitration proceedings arising out of or in connection with this Agreement;
(iii) the disclosure is made to professional advisers of any Party on condition that such professional advisers undertake to comply with the provisions of Clauses 14.4.2 and 14.4.3 in respect of such information as if they were a party to this Agreement;
(iv) the information is or becomes publicly available (other than as a result of any breach of the Confidentiality Agreement or this Agreement);
(v) the information becomes available to the Party bound by this Clause 14.4 from a source which is not bound by any obligation of confidentiality in relation to such information (as can be demonstrated by such Party’s written records and other reasonable evidence); or
(vi) the other Party has given prior written approval to the disclosure or use, it being understood, however, that any Party that intends to disclose information pursuant to this Clause 14.4.4 shall to the extent not prohibited by applicable laws [***] Certain information has been omitted and filed separately with the Commission. Confidential treatment has been requested with respect to omitted portions. or regulations, prior to making such disclosure, consult with the other Party on the form, content and timing of such disclosure.
14.4.5 On or shortly after the date of this Agreement, the Seller and the Purchaser shall be allowed to issue a press statement announcing the Transaction, substantially in the form as the drafts attached as Schedule 14.4.5.
14.4.6 Without prejudice to Clause 14.4.5, no announcement in connection with the existence or the subject matter of this Agreement (including any announcement to the Target Company’s employees, customers or suppliers) shall be made without the prior written consent of all Parties (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), and the Parties shall consult with each other concerning the means by which the Target Company’s employees, customers and suppliers, and others having dealings with the Target Company, shall be informed of this Agreement. The Purchaser shall have the right to be present when any such communication is made.
14.4.7 The Parties shall take all necessary actions to ensure that no accidental or unauthorised disclosure of the existence or contents of this Agreement occurs.
Release of Confidential Information No Party shall release or disclose Confidential Information to any other person, except to its Affiliates (limited by FERC Standards of Conduct requirements), subcontractors, employees, consultants, or to parties who may be considering providing financing to or equity participation with Developer, or to potential purchasers or assignees of a Party, on a need-to-know basis in connection with this Agreement, unless such person has first been advised of the confidentiality provisions of this Article 22 and has agreed to comply with such provisions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Party providing Confidential Information to any person shall remain primarily responsible for any release of Confidential Information in contravention of this Article 22.
Access, Information and Confidentiality (a) From the date of this Agreement, until the date when the Investor no longer beneficially owns at least fifty percent (50%) or more of all of the Purchased Shares (a “Qualifying Ownership Interest”), subject to applicable law or regulatory requirements, the Company will use reasonable efforts to afford the Investor and its representatives (including employees of the Investor, and counsel, accountants, investment advisors and other professionals retained by the Investor) such access during normal business hours to its and the Company Subsidiaries’ books, records, properties and personnel and to such other information as the Investor may reasonably request.
(b) Each party to this Agreement will hold, and will cause its respective subsidiaries and their directors, officers, employees, agents, consultants, and advisors to hold, in strict confidence, unless disclosure to a Governmental Entity (and, solely with respect to the Company, the Bankruptcy Court) is necessary or appropriate in connection with any necessary regulatory approval or unless compelled to disclose by judicial or administrative process or by other requirement of law or the applicable requirements of any Governmental Entity (and, solely with respect to the Company, the Bankruptcy Court), all nonpublic records, books, contracts, instruments, computer data and other data and information (collectively, “Information”) concerning the other party hereto furnished to it by such other party or its representatives pursuant to this Agreement (except to the extent that such Information can be shown to have been (1) previously known by such party on a nonconfidential basis, (2) in the public domain through no fault of such party, or (3) later lawfully acquired from other sources by the party to which it was furnished), and neither party hereto shall release or disclose such Information to any other person, except its auditors, attorneys, financial advisors, other consultants, and advisors and, to the extent permitted above, to bank regulatory authorities. Prior to any disclosure of Information permitted by the prior sentence, the party proposing to disclose such Information shall, to the extent legally permissible, provide notice to the other party so that the other party may, at its own expense, seek an protective order or other appropriate remedy and/or waive compliance with the provisions of this Section 3.2(b). If such protective order or other remedy is denied, the party proposing to disclose such Information shall (x) furnish only that portion of the Information that, based upon the advice of counsel, is necessary to be disclosed in connection with such necessary regulatory approval or is compelled to be disclosed by such judicial or administrative process or by such other requirement of law or such applicable requirements and (y) use its reasonable best efforts to obtain assurances that confidential treatment will be accorded to the Information.
Access to Information; Confidentiality (a) Upon reasonable advance written notice, subject to applicable logistical restrictions or limitations as a result of COVID-19 or any COVID-19 Measures and solely for purposes of furthering the Merger Transactions, the Company shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, afford to Parent, Merger Sub and their respective representatives reasonable access during normal business hours during the period from the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Effective Time or the valid termination of this Agreement pursuant to Article VII, to all their respective properties, assets, books, contracts, commitments, personnel and records and, during such period, the Company shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, furnish promptly to Parent: (i) a copy of each report, schedule, registration statement and other document filed or received by it during such period pursuant to the requirements of federal or state securities Laws and (ii) all other information concerning its business, properties and personnel as Parent or Merger Sub may reasonably request (including Tax Returns filed and those in preparation and the workpapers of its auditors). Nothing herein (including, for the avoidance of doubt, this Section 5.2(a) and Section 5.2(b)) shall require the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to provide such access or information to the extent that such action (A) would reasonably be expected to result in a waiver of attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine or similar privilege, (B) specifically relates to the evaluation, deliberation or minutes of the Company Board (or any committee or subcommittee thereof) related to the Merger Transactions, the strategic and financial alternatives process leading thereto, or any information or materials provided to the Company Board (or any committee or subcommittee thereof) in connection therewith or (C) would reasonably be expected to violate any applicable Law or any confidentiality obligation owing to a third party so long as the Company shall promptly notify Parent of any such confidentiality obligations or access restrictions and use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the consent of such third party to provide such information and otherwise provide such access to Parent, if requested and (b) generally describe the type of information that cannot be disclosed to Parent (to the extent not prohibited by law or the underlying document). No investigation pursuant to this Section 5.2 shall affect any representation or warranty in this Agreement of any party hereto or any condition to the obligations of the parties hereto. All requests for access pursuant to this Section 5.2 must be directed to the Chief Financial Officer of the Company or another person designated in writing by the Company. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Parent and Merger Sub shall not, and shall cause their respective representatives not to, contact any partner, licensor, licensee, customer or supplier of the Company in connection with the Offer, the Merger or any of the other Merger Transactions without the Company’s prior written consent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), and Parent and Merger Sub acknowledge and agree that any such contact shall be arranged by and with a representative of the Company participating.
(b) To the extent Parent requests further information or investigation of the basis of any potential violations of Law, including Customs & Trade Laws, and Anti-Bribery Laws, the Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, cooperate with such request and make available any personnel or experts engaged by the Company or its Subsidiaries necessary to accommodate such request.
(c) The Company shall (i) notify Parent in writing as promptly as reasonably practicable after learning of any Legal Proceeding by any Person initiated against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened against the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective representatives in their capacity as such (a “New Litigation Claim”); (ii) notify Parent of ongoing material developments in any New Litigation Claim and any Legal Proceeding that was existing prior to the date hereof and (iii) consult in good faith with Parent regarding the conduct of the defense of any New Litigation Claim and any Legal Proceeding that was existing prior to the date hereof. With respect to any New Litigation Claim against the Company or its directors or officers relating to this Agreement or the Merger Transactions, the Company shall consult with Parent and give Parent the opportunity to participate in the defense and settlement of any such litigation, and no such settlement shall be agreed to without Parent’s prior written consent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, delayed or
Confidentiality of Proprietary Information Employee agrees, during or after the term of this employment, not to reveal confidential information, or trade secrets to any person, firm, corporation, or entity. Should Employee reveal or threaten to reveal this information, the Company shall be entitled to an injunction restraining the Employee from disclosing same, or from rendering any services to any entity to whom said information has been or is threatened to be disclosed. The right to secure an injunction is not exclusive, and the Company may pursue any other remedies it has against the Employee for a breach or threatened breach of this condition, including the recovery of damages from the Employee.
Confidentiality; Public Announcements (i). The Parties undertake with each other that they shall treat as strictly confidential all information received or obtained by them or their employees, agents or advisers in connection with the entry into or the performance of this Agreement including information relating to the provisions of this Agreement, the negotiations leading up to this Agreement, the subject matter of this Agreement, and the business or affairs of any other Party and subject to the provisions of this section that they will not at any time hereafter make use of or disclose or divulge to any Person any such information and shall use all reasonable efforts to prevent the publication or disclosure of any such information.
(ii). The restrictions contained in this section shall not: (A) apply to any disclosure which, pursuant to relevant Laws and rules, any Governmental Authority requires any Party to make (including the disclosure required to be made to any Governmental Authority in any Party’s application for consent or approval for transactions contemplated hereunder), provided that written consent as to the form and content (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld) of the other Party has been obtained prior to any disclosure of information in public announcement involving such other Party; (B) restrict or prohibit any Party in or from making any disclosure to any professional adviser for the purposes of obtaining necessary professional advice; provided such Party shall procure that such professional adviser observes the confidentiality obligation set forth in this section; (C) apply to any disclosure from the Purchaser to its parent and any of its Affiliates and their respective directors, officers and employees; and (D) apply to information which was in the public domain or otherwise known to the relevant Party before it was furnished to it by another Party hereto or, after it was furnished to that Party, entered the public domain otherwise than as a result of a breach by that Party of this this section or a breach of a confidentiality obligation by the disclosing Party, where the breach was known to that Party.
(iii). No Party shall make, nor shall cause to be made, any press release or public announcement in respect of this Agreement, the identity of the parties to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated thereby or otherwise communicate with any news media without the prior written consent of the other Party, unless otherwise required by Law or applicable stock exchange regulation (and then only after consultation with the other Party), and the Parties shall cooperate as to the timing and contents of any such press release, public announcement or communication. In the event that any Party or any of its agents, representatives, Affiliates, employees, officers or directors becomes legally compelled to disclose any such confidential information, such Party shall provide the other Party with prompt written notice of such requirement so that such other Party may seek a protective order or other remedy, or provide a written consent as to the form and content of the disclosure (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld) of the other Party prior to any such disclosure of confidential information. In the event that such protective order or other remedy is not obtained, or such other Party waive compliance with this this section, the Party legally compelled to disclose such confidential information shall furnish only that portion of such confidential information which is legally required to be provided and exercise all reasonable efforts to obtain assurances that confidential treatment will be accorded such information.
