Common use of Successors; Assignment; Amendments; Waivers Clause in Contracts

Successors; Assignment; Amendments; Waivers. (a) No TRA Holder may assign this Agreement to any person without the prior written consent of the Corporate Taxpayer; provided, however, that (i) to the extent Spark HoldCo Units are transferred in accordance with the terms of the Spark HoldCo LLC Agreement, the transferring TRA Holder shall have the option to assign to the transferee of such Spark HoldCo Units the transferring TRA Holder’s rights under this Agreement with respect to such transferred Spark HoldCo Units as long as such transferee has executed and delivered, or, in connection with such transfer, executes and delivers, a joinder to this Agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Corporate Taxpayer, agreeing to become a “TRA Holder” for all purposes of this Agreement, except as otherwise provided in such joinder, and (ii) any and all payments payable or that may become payable to a TRA Holder pursuant to this Agreement (A) that do not arise from an Exchange and (B) that, once an Exchange has occurred, arise with respect to the Exchanged Spark HoldCo Units, may be assigned to any Person or Persons as long as any such Person has executed and delivered, or, in connection with such assignment, executes and delivers, a joinder to this Agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Corporate Taxpayer, agreeing to be bound by Section 7.12 and acknowledging specifically the terms of Section 7.6(b). For the avoidance of doubt, if a TRA Holder transfers Spark HoldCo Units but does not assign to the transferee of such Spark HoldCo Units the rights of such TRA Holder under this Agreement with respect to such transferred Spark HoldCo Units, such TRA Holder shall continue to be entitled to receive the Tax Benefit Payments, if any, due hereunder with respect to, including any Tax Benefit Payments arising in respect of a subsequent Exchange of, such Spark HoldCo Units. (b) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 7.6, no transferee described in clause (i) of the first sentence of Section 7.6(a) shall have the right to enforce the provisions of Section 2.3, Section 4.2, or Section 6.2 of this Agreement, and no assignee described in clause (ii) of the first sentence of Section 7.6(a) shall have any rights under this Agreement except for the right to enforce its right to receive payments under this Agreement. (c) No provision of this Agreement may be amended unless such amendment is approved in writing by each of the Corporate Taxpayer and Spark HoldCo and by TRA Holders who would be entitled to receive at least two-thirds of the Early Termination Payments payable to all TRA Holders hereunder if the Corporate Taxpayer had exercised its right of early termination on the date of the most recent Exchange prior to such amendment (excluding, for purposes of this sentence, all payments made to any TRA Holder pursuant to this Agreement since the date of such most recent Exchange); provided, however, that no such amendment shall be effective if such amendment would have a disproportionate effect on the payments certain TRA Holders will or may receive under this Agreement unless all such disproportionately affected TRA Holders consent in writing to such amendment. No provision of this Agreement may be waived unless such waiver is in writing and signed by the party against whom the waiver is to be effective. (d) Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, all of the terms and provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon, shall inure to the benefit of and shall be enforceable by the parties hereto and their respective successors, assigns, heirs, executors, administrators and legal representatives. the Corporate Taxpayer shall cause any direct or indirect successor (whether by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Corporate Taxpayer, by written agreement, expressly to assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Corporate Taxpayer would be required to perform if no such succession had taken place. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, in the event a TRA Holder transfers his Spark HoldCo Units to a Permitted Transferee (as defined in the Spark HoldCo LLC Agreement), such TRA Holder shall have the right, on behalf of such transferee, to enforce the provisions of Section 2.3, Section 4.2 or Section 6.2 with respect to such transferred Spark HoldCo Units.