Solicitation of Proxies Financial Institution agrees not to solicit or cause to be solicited directly, or indirectly, at any time in the future, any proxies from the shareholders of any or all of the Funds in opposition to proxies solicited by management of any Fund, unless a court of competent jurisdiction shall have determined that the conduct of a majority of the Board of the Fund constitutes willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties. This Paragraph will survive the term of this Agreement.
Preparation of Proxy Statement If required by applicable Law in order to consummate the Merger, the Company shall, as soon as practicable following the Acceptance Time, prepare and file with the SEC (after providing the Buyer with a reasonable opportunity to review and comment thereon) a proxy statement relating to the Stockholders’ Meeting (the “Proxy Statement”). The Company shall respond to any comments of the SEC or its staff (after providing the Buyer with a reasonable opportunity to review and comment thereon) and shall cause the Proxy Statement to be mailed to its stockholders as promptly as practicable after the resolution of any such comments. The Company shall promptly notify the Buyer of the receipt of any comments from the SEC and of any request by the SEC for amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement or for additional information and shall supply the Buyer with copies of all correspondence between the Company or any of its representatives, on the one hand, and the SEC, on the other hand, with respect to the Proxy Statement, the Agreement or the transactions contemplated by the Agreement. The Company will cause the Proxy Statement to comply in all material respects with applicable Law, including the applicable provisions of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder. If at any time prior to the Effective Time there shall occur any event, or there shall be discovered any information, that should be set forth in an amendment or supplement to the Proxy Statement so that the Proxy Statement would not include any misstatement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, the party that discovers such information shall promptly notify the other parties hereto and, to the extent required by applicable Law, an appropriate amendment or supplement describing such information shall be filed promptly by the Company with the SEC (after providing the Buyer with a reasonable opportunity to review and comment thereon) and disseminated by the Company to the stockholders of the Company. The Company and its counsel shall permit the Buyer, the Acquisition Sub and their counsel to participate in all communications with the SEC and its staff, including all meetings and telephone conferences, relating to the Proxy Statement, this Agreement or the transactions contemplated by the Agreement.
Preparation of Proxy Statement; Stockholders Meeting As promptly as reasonably practicable following the date of this Agreement, but no later than June 25, 2010, the Company shall prepare and cause to be filed with the SEC a preliminary proxy statement to be sent to the stockholders of the Company relating to the Company’s stockholders meeting (together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Proxy Statement”). The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to finalize the Proxy Statement as promptly as possible after such filing. The Company shall promptly notify Phoenix upon the receipt of any comments from the SEC or any request from the SEC for amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement and shall provide Phoenix with copies of all correspondence between it and its representatives, on the one hand, and the SEC, on the other hand. Phoenix shall have the opportunity to review and approve in its reasonable discretion the proxy statement and all amendments thereto and all correspondence from the Company and its representatives to the SEC related to the Company stockholders meeting (the “Stockholders Meeting”) prior to filing with the SEC. The Company shall, as soon as reasonably practicable following the date the SEC completes review of the Proxy Statement or notifies the Company that it will not review the Proxy Statement, duly call and give notice to the Company stockholders by mailing the definitive Proxy Statement, convene and hold the Stockholders Meeting for the purpose of seeking Company stockholder approval and to solicit such approval from the stockholders. In connection with the Stockholders Meeting, the Company shall, through the Board, recommend to its stockholders that they approve (a) an increase in (i) its authorized shares of Common Stock to 519,000,000 and (ii) its authorized shares of Preferred Stock to 16,000,000, (b) the Amended and Restated Certificate of Designation (Series A-1) and (c) elect four directors to the Board. The Company shall within one (1) Business Day of obtaining such stockholder approvals in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Exchange Agreement and the Investor Rights Agreement, take all requisite actions (including the filing of the Charter Amendment, the Certificate of Designation (Series B) and the Amended and Restated Certificate of Designation (Series A-1) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware) to effect approvals and consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents, including the Exchange Agreement.
Prospectuses, Reports to Shareholders and Proxy Statements; Voting 3.1. The Fund or its designee shall provide the Company with as many printed copies of the Fund's current prospectus and statement of additional information as the Company may reasonably request. If requested by the Company, in lieu of providing printed copies the Fund shall provide camera-ready film or computer diskettes containing the Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, and such other assistance as is reasonably necessary in order for the Company once each year (or more frequently if the prospectus and/or statement of additional information for the Fund is amended during the year) to have the prospectus for the Contracts and the Fund's prospectus printed together in one document, and to have the statement of additional information for the Fund and the statement of additional information for the Contracts printed together in one document. Alternatively, the Company may print the Fund's prospectus and/or its statement of additional information in combination with other fund companies' prospectuses and statements of additional information.
3.2. Except as provided in this Section 3.2, all expenses of preparing, setting in type, printing and distributing Fund prospectuses and statements of additional information shall be the expense of the Company. For prospectuses and statements of additional information provided by the Company to its Contract owners who currently own shares of one or more Portfolios ("Existing Contract Owners"), in order to update disclosure as required by the 1933 Act and/or the 1940 Act, the cost of printing shall be borne by the Fund. If the Company chooses to receive camera-ready film or computer diskettes in lieu of receiving printed copies of the Fund's prospectus, the Fund shall bear the cost of typesetting to provide the Fund's prospectus to the Company in the format in which the Fund is accustomed to formatting prospectuses, and the Company shall bear the expense of adjusting or changing the format to conform with any of its prospectuses. In such event, the Fund will reimburse the Company in an amount equal to the product of "x" and "y", where "x" is the number of such prospectuses distributed to Existing Contract Owners and "y" is the Fund's per unit cost of printing the Fund's prospectus. The same procedures shall be followed with respect to the Fund's statement of additional information. The Company agrees to provide the Fund or its designee with such information as may be reasonably requested by the Fund to assure that the Fund's expenses do not include the costs of printing, typesetting or distributing any prospectuses or statements of additional information other than the costs of printing those prospectuses or statements of additional information actually distributed to Existing Contract Owners.
PROSPECTUS AND PROXY STATEMENTS; VOTING 3.1. At least annually, the Trust or its designee shall provide the Company, free of charge, with as many copies of the current prospectus (describing only the Portfolios listed in Schedule A hereto) for the Shares as the Company may reasonably request for distribution to existing Policy owners whose Policies are funded by such Shares. The Trust or its designee shall provide the Company, at the Company's expense, with as many copies of the current prospectus for the Shares as the Company may reasonably request for distribution to prospective purchasers of Policies. If requested by the Company in lieu thereof, the Trust or its designee shall provide such documentation (including a "camera ready" copy of the new prospectus as set in type or, at the request of the Company, as a diskette in the form sent to the financial printer) and other assistance as is reasonably necessary in order for the parties hereto once each year (or more frequently if the prospectus for the Shares is supplemented or amended) to have the prospectus for the Policies and the prospectus for the Shares printed together in one document; the expenses of such printing to be apportioned between (a) the Company and (b) the Trust or its designee in proportion to the number of pages of the Policy and Shares' prospectuses, taking account of other relevant factors affecting the expense of printing, such as covers, columns, graphs and charts; the Trust or its designee to bear the cost of printing the Shares' prospectus portion of such document for distribution to owners of existing Policies funded by the Shares and the Company to bear the expenses of printing the portion of such document relating to the Accounts; provided, however, that the Company shall bear all printing expenses of such combined documents where used for distribution to prospective purchasers or to owners of existing Policies not funded by the Shares. In the event that the Company requests that the Trust or its designee provides the Trust's prospectus in a "camera ready" or diskette format, the Trust shall be responsible for providing the prospectus in the format in which it or MFS is accustomed to formatting prospectuses and shall bear the expense of providing the prospectus in such format (e.g., typesetting expenses), and the Company shall bear the expense of adjusting or changing the format to conform with any of its prospectuses.
3.2. The prospectus for the Shares shall state that the statement of additional information for the Shares is available from the Trust or its designee. The Trust or its designee, at its expense, shall print and provide such statement of additional information to the Company (or a master of such statement suitable for duplication by the Company) for distribution to any owner of a Policy funded by the Shares. The Trust or its designee, at the Company's expense, shall print and provide such statement to the Company (or a master of such statement suitable for duplication by the Company) for distribution to a prospective purchaser who requests such statement or to an owner of a Policy not funded by the Shares.
3.3. The Trust or its designee shall provide the Company free of charge copies, if and to the extent applicable to the Shares, of the Trust's proxy materials, reports to Shareholders and other communications to Shareholders in such quantity as the Company shall reasonably require for distribution to Policy owners.
3.4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 above, or of Article V below, the Company shall pay the expense of printing or providing documents to the extent such cost is considered a distribution expense. Distribution expenses would include by way of illustration, but are not limited to, the printing of the Shares' prospectus or prospectuses for distribution to prospective purchasers or to owners of existing Policies not funded by such Shares.
3.5. The Trust hereby notifies the Company that it may be appropriate to include in the prospectus pursuant to which a Policy is offered disclosure regarding the potential risks of mixed and shared funding.
3.6. If and to the extent required by law, the Company shall:
(a) solicit voting instructions from Policy owners;
(b) vote the Shares in accordance with instructions received from Policy owners; and
(c) vote the Shares for which no instructions have been received in the same proportion as the Shares of such Portfolio for which instructions have been received from Policy owners; so long as and to the extent that the SEC continues to interpret the 1940 Act to require pass through voting privileges for variable contract owners. The Company will in no way recommend action in connection with or oppose or interfere with the solicitation of proxies for the Shares held for such Policy owners. The Company reserves the right to vote shares held in any segregated asset account in its own right, to the extent permitted by law. Participating Insurance Companies shall be responsible for assuring that each of their separate accounts holding Shares calculates voting privileges in the manner required by the Mixed and Shared Funding Exemptive Order. The Trust and MFS will notify the Company of any changes of interpretations or amendments to the Mixed and Shared Funding Exemptive Order.
Prospectuses and Proxy Statements; Voting 3.1. The Underwriter shall provide the Company with as many copies of the Fund's current prospectus (describing only the Designated Portfolios listed on Schedule B) as the Company may reasonably request. If requested by the Company in lieu thereof, the Fund shall provide such documentation (including a final copy of the new prospectus on computer diskette or other electronic means at the Fund's expense) and other assistance as is reasonably necessary in order for the Company once each year (or more frequently if the prospectus for a Designated Portfolio is amended) to have the prospectus for the Contracts and the prospectus for the Designated Portfolios printed together in one document. Expenses with respect to the foregoing shall be borne as provided under Article V.
3.2. The Fund's prospectus shall state that the current Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") for the Fund is available from the Fund and the Fund shall provide a copy of such SAI to any owner of a Contract who requests such SAI and to the Company in such quantities as the Company may reasonably request. Expenses with respect to the foregoing shall be borne as provided under Article V.
3.3. The Fund shall provide the Company with copies of its proxy material, reports to shareholders, and other communications to shareholders of the Designated Portfolios in such quantity as the Company shall reasonably require for distributing to Contract owners. Expenses with respect to the foregoing shall be borne as provided under Article V.
3.4. The Company shall:
(i) solicit voting instructions from Contract owners;
(ii) vote the shares of each Designated Portfolio in accordance with instructions received from Contract owners; and
(iii) vote shares of each Designated Portfolio for which no instructions have been received in the same proportion as fund shares of such Designated Portfolio for which instructions have been received, so long as and to the extent that the SEC continues to interpret the 1940 Act to require pass-through voting privileges for variable contract owners or to the extent otherwise required by law. The Company reserves the right to vote shares of each Designated Portfolio held in any segregated asset account in its own right, to the extent permitted by law.
3.5. The Fund reserves the right, upon prior written notice to the Company (given at the earliest practicable time), to take all actions, including but not limited to, the dissolution, termination, merger and sale of all assets of the Fund or any Designated Portfolio upon the sole authorization of the Board, to the extent permitted by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the 1940 Act.
3.6. Participating Insurance Companies shall be responsible for assuring that each of their separate accounts participating in a Designated Portfolio calculates voting privileges as required by the Mixed and Shared Funding Exemptive Order and consistent with any reasonable standards that the Fund may adopt and provide in writing.
3.7. It is understood and agreed that, except with respect to information regarding the Fund, the Underwriter, the Adviser or Designated Portfolios provided in writing by the Fund, the Underwriter or the Adviser, none of the Fund, the Underwriter or the Adviser is responsible for the content of the prospectus or statement of additional information for the Contracts.
Proxy Statements, Etc Promptly after the sending or filing thereof, copies of all proxy statements, financial statements and reports which Borrower or General Partner sends to its respective shareholders, and copies of all regular, periodic and special reports, and all registration statements, which Borrower or General Partner files with the SEC or any Governmental Authority which may be substituted therefor, or with any national securities exchange;
Proxies, etc At any meeting of Holders, any Holder entitled to vote thereat may vote by proxy, provided, that no proxy shall be voted at any meeting unless it shall have been placed on file with the Administrative Trustees, or with such other officer or agent of the Trust as the Administrative Trustees may direct, for verification prior to the time at which such vote shall be taken. Pursuant to a resolution of the Property Trustee, proxies may be solicited in the name of the Property Trustee or one or more officers of the Property Trustee. Only Holders of record shall be entitled to vote. When Trust Securities are held jointly by several Persons, any one of them may vote at any meeting in person or by proxy in respect of such Trust Securities, but if more than one of them shall be present at such meeting in person or by proxy, and such joint owners or their proxies so present disagree as to any vote to be cast, such vote shall not be received in respect of such Trust Securities. A proxy purporting to be executed by or on behalf of a Holder shall be deemed valid unless challenged at or prior to its exercise, and the burden of proving invalidity shall rest on the challenger. No proxy shall be valid more than three years after its date of execution.
Offer Documents; Proxy Statement The Offer Documents, as filed pursuant to Section 1.1, will not, at the time such Offer Documents are filed with the SEC or are first published, sent or given to stockholders, as the case may be, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated or incorporated by reference therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The information supplied by Parent for inclusion in the Proxy Statement shall not, on the date the Proxy Statement is first mailed to stockholders, at the time of the Stockholders Meeting (as defined in Section 6.1) or at the Effective Time, contain any statement which, at such time and in light of the circumstances under which it shall be made, is false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or shall omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not false or misleading or necessary to correct any statement in any earlier communication with respect to the solicitation of proxies for the Stockholders Meeting which has become false or misleading. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Parent and Purchaser make no representation or warranty with respect to any information supplied by the Company or any of its representatives which is contained in or incorporated by reference in any of the foregoing documents or the Offer Documents. The Offer Documents, as amended and supplemented, will comply in all material respects as to form with the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
No Proxy Solicitations Stockholder will not, and will not permit any entity under Stockholder's control to: (i) solicit proxies or become a "participant" in a "solicitation" (as such terms are defined in Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act) with respect to an Opposing Proposal or otherwise encourage or assist any party in taking or planning any action that would compete with, restrain or otherwise serve to interfere with or inhibit the timely consummation of the Merger in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement; (ii) initiate a Stockholders' vote or action by consent of the Company Stockholders with respect to an Opposing Proposal; or (iii) become a member of a "group" (as such term is used in Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act) with respect to any voting securities of the Company with respect to an Opposing Proposal.
