Covenant Not to Compete (a) Each of Parent and Seller agrees that for a period of 3 years after the Closing Date neither of them nor any of their respective Affiliates shall, directly or indirectly, for himself, herself or itself, or on behalf of any other person, firm, entity or other enterprise, be employed by, be an officer, director or manager of, act as a consultant for, be a partner in, have a proprietary interest in, or loan money to any person, enterprise, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, joint venture or other entity which is directly or indirectly in the business of owning, operating or managing any mobile radiological, EKG, or any other business currently conducted by Seller (the "Applicable Businesses"), now or hereafter competitive with any such Applicable Business of Buyer (including, without limitation, the Business), IHS or any of their respective Affiliates, located in any state in which Buyer, IHS or Seller is currently conducting such business; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall restrict Seller from performing its obligations under any Temporary Excluded Contracts as provided in Section 1.4(c) or restrict Parent or any of its Affiliates from operating or owning any of their existing businesses or investments or renting or leasing any equipment, provided that they do not expand into the foregoing prohibited activities. The restrictions contained in this Section 5.5 (other than the confidentiality provisions) shall not be binding upon any third party purchaser of Parent, or of any assets, stock, division or business unit of Parent or of any Affiliate of Parent.
(b) Seller and Parent represent and warrant that there are no employees, consultants or agents of Parent having expertise in the operation of the Applicable Business or having a relationship with any customers of the Applicable Business. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, the foregoing representation and warranty and all indemnification rights with respect thereto shall not expire until the date that is three (3) years after the date hereof.
(c) Seller and the Parent hereby agree that, for a period of three (3) years following the date hereof, without the express written consent of IHS, none of Seller, the Parent and their respective Affiliates will directly or indirectly, for themselves or on behalf of any other person, firm, entity or other enterprise:
(i) solicit any client, facility or patient who, prior to the date hereof, was a client, facility or patient of Seller with respect to the Applicable Business; or
(ii) hire, entice away or in any other manner persuade any employee, consultant, representative or agent who was an employee, consultant, representative or agent of Seller prior to the date hereof, to alter, modify or terminate their relationship with Buyer or IHS.
(d) The Parent and Seller each acknowledges that the restrictions contained in this Section 5.5 are reasonable and necessary to protect the legitimate business interests of Buyer and IHS and that any violation thereof by either of them would result in irreparable harm to Buyer and IHS, and that damages in the event of such a breach will be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain. Accordingly, the Parent and Seller each agrees that upon the violation by it of any of the restrictions contained in this Section 5.5, Buyer and IHS shall be entitled to obtain from any court of competent jurisdiction a preliminary and permanent injunction as well as any other relief provided at law, equity, under this Agreement or otherwise, without the necessity of posting any bond or other security whatsoever. In the event any of the foregoing restrictions are adjudged unreasonable in any proceeding, then the parties agree that the period of time or the scope of such restrictions (or both) shall be adjusted to such a manner or for such a time (or both) as is adjudged to be reasonable.
(e) The Parent and Seller each acknowledges that the covenants contained in this Section 5.5 are independent covenants and that any failure by the Buyer or IHS to perform its obligations under this Agreement shall not be a defense to enforcement of the covenants contained in this Agreement, including but not limited to a temporary or permanent injunction.
(f) Seller and Parent agree to take any and all actions necessary, including, without limitation, commencement of legal proceedings, to enforce each of the non-competition agreements set forth on Schedule 1.4
(a) hereto upon the request of and in accordance with the instructions of Buyer. Seller and Parent shall not be required to advance or expend any funds in connection with their respective obligations under this subsection (f). Buyer shall indemnify and hold harmless Seller and Parent from any loss, liability, damage, cost and expense, including without limitation, reasonable legal fees and expenses, arising out of taking any such actions at Buyer's request. Buyer acknowledges that Seller intends to terminate all Excluded Contracts (not otherwise terminated); provided that Seller shall not shorten the non-competition provisions of such agreements in effect immediately prior to their termination.
Covenants Not to Compete No Initial Stockholder, employee, officer or director of the Company is subject to any noncompetition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer which could materially affect his ability to be an Initial Stockholder, employee, officer and/or director of the Company.
Agreement Not to Compete (a) None of Trident and Athens NA or any member of their respective Groups, on the one hand, and Fountain or any member of the Fountain Group, on the other hand, shall, for a period of three (3) years following the Closing Date, establish or acquire any new businesses that involve the sale of products or the provision of services that (i) with respect to Trident or Athens NA or any member of their respective Groups, compete with the Fountain Business or (ii) with respect to Fountain or any member of the Fountain Group compete with the Trident Business or the Athens North American R/SB Business (“Competitive Activities”).
(b) Notwithstanding Section 5.2(a), Trident, Athens NA and Fountain and any member of their respective Groups shall be permitted to continue to conduct their current Businesses and extensions thereof (including any sale of any product or service that otherwise incorporates or uses as a component any of the products that would otherwise constitute Competitive Activities); provided that, for purposes of this Section 5.2, the Trident Retained Business shall be deemed to exclude the Athens North American R/SB Business.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 5.2(a), Trident, Athens NA and Fountain and any member of their respective Groups shall also be permitted to (I) acquire and own any interests in any publicly-traded Persons that engage in Competitive Activities so long as such interests constitute less than 5% of such Person’s voting securities, (II) acquire and own any interests in any Persons not publicly-traded that engage in Competitive Activities so long as such interests constitute less than 10% of such Person’s voting securities, (III) sell or divest any or all of its assets or businesses to any Person that is not an Affiliate, and such Person shall in no way be bound by the restrictions set forth in Section 5.2(a) and (IV) acquire and own any interests in any Persons that engage in Competitive Activities so long as the Competitive Activities of such Person constitute less than 25% of such Person’s consolidated annual net revenues for its most recently completed fiscal year (a “Permitted Acquiree”), and, in the case of clause (IV), each of Trident, Athens NA and Fountain and any member of their respective Groups, as applicable, uses its reasonable best efforts to dispose of the businesses of such Permitted Acquiree in Competitive Activities within twelve (12) months from the closing of such acquisition; provided that such twelve (12) month period shall be extended in the event that a definitive agreement to dispose of such business within such twelve (12) month period has been entered into (x) for three (3) months, to permit the closing of such transaction or (y) for a reasonable period of time, in the event such definitive agreement is terminated as a result of the failure of a closing condition, the failure to obtain antitrust or other regulatory clearance or a breach by the other party to the agreement, to permit Trident, Athens NA or Fountain or such member of their respective Groups, as applicable to seek an alternative disposition transaction.
Noncompetition Covenant The Executive agrees that, during the Term, including any extension thereof, and for a period of one year following the Executive’s termination of employment, other than a termination pursuant to Section 4, the Executive shall not, without the express written consent of the Company:
(a) Be engaged, directly or indirectly, in any county where the Company has an office at the time of Executive’s termination, as a partner, officer, director, employee, consultant, independent contractor, security holder, or owner of any entity engaged in any business activity competitive with that of the Company or its Affiliates; provided, however, nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the Executive from owning or acquiring an interest in any entity engaged in any competitive business activity if such interest does not constitute “control” as defined in 12 C.F.R. Section 303.81(c);
(b) Call upon or solicit, either for the Executive or for any other person or firm that engages in competition with any business operation actively conducted by the Company or any Affiliate during the Term, any customer with whom the Company or any Affiliate directly conducts business during the Term; or interfere with any relationship, contractual or otherwise, between the Company or any Affiliate and any customer with whom the Company or any Affiliate directly conducts business during the Term; or
(c) Induce or solicit any person who is at the date of termination or was during the 12 months preceding termination an employee, officer or agent of the Company or any Affiliate to terminate said relationship. In the event of a breach by the Executive of any covenant set forth in this Section 9, the term of such covenant will be extended by the period of the duration of such breach and such covenant will survive any termination of this Agreement but only for the limited period of such extension. The restrictions on competition provided herein shall be in addition to any restrictions on competition contained in any other agreement between the Company and the Executive and may be enforced by the Company and/or any successor thereto, by an action to recover payments made under this Agreement, an action for injunction, and/or an action for damages. The provisions of this Section 9 constitute an essential element of this Agreement, without which the Company would not have entered into this Agreement. Notwithstanding any other remedy available to the Company at law or at equity, the parties hereto agree that the Company or any successor thereto, will have the right, at any and all times, to seek injunctive relief in order to enforce the terms and conditions of this Section 9. If the scope of any restriction contained in this Section 9 is too broad to permit enforcement of such restriction to its fullest extent, then such restriction will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law, and the Executive hereby consents and agrees that such scope may be judicially modified accordingly in any proceeding brought to enforce such restriction.
Non-Competition Covenant Employee acknowledges that the covenants set forth in this Section 4.3 are reasonable in scope and essential to the preservation of the Business of the Company (as defined herein). Employee also acknowledges that the enforcement of the covenant set forth in this Section 4.3 will not preclude Employee from being gainfully employed in such manner and to the extent as to provide a standard of living for himself or herself, the members of his or her family and the others dependent upon Employee of at least the level to which Employee and they have become accustomed and may expect. In addition, Employee acknowledges that the Company has obtained an advantage over its competitors as a result of its name, location and reputation that is characterized by near permanent relationships with vendors, customers, principals and other contacts which it has developed at great expense. Furthermore, Employee acknowledges that competition by him or her following the termination or expiration of his or her employment would impair the operation of the Company beyond that which would arise from the competition of an unrelated third party with similar skills. Employee hereby agrees that he or she shall not, during his or her employment and for a period of one (1) year after the end of his or her employment, directly or indirectly, engage in or become directly or indirectly interested in any proprietorship, partnership, firm, trust, company, limited liability company or other entity, other than the Company (whether as owner, partner, trustee, beneficiary, stockholder, member, officer, director, employee, independent contractor, agent, servant, consultant, lessor, lessee or otherwise) that competes with the Company in the Business of the Company in the Restricted Territory (as defined herein), other than owning an interest in a company listed on a recognized stock exchange in an amount which does not exceed five percent (5%) of the outstanding stock of such corporation. For purposes of this Agreement, (i) the term "Business of the Company" shall include all business activities and ventures related to providing telecommunications services or products in which the Company is engaged, plans to engage in the next twelve (12) months following termination of Employee's employment or has engaged in during the prior twelve (12) months, as determined at any time during the employment of the Employee; and (ii) the term "Restricted Territory" means the geographical area consisting of a seventy mile radius surrounding each city (and including such city) in which the Company maintains either an office or a telecommunications facility.
Release and Covenant Not to Xxx Effective as of the Closing, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, each Seller, on behalf of itself and its Affiliates and any Person that owns any share or other equity interest in or of such Seller (the “Releasing Persons”), hereby releases and discharges the Target Companies from and against any and all Actions, obligations, agreements, debts and Liabilities whatsoever, whether known or unknown, both at law and in equity, which such Releasing Person now has, has ever had or may hereafter have against the Target Companies arising on or prior to the Closing Date or on account of or arising out of any matter occurring on or prior to the Closing Date, including any rights to indemnification or reimbursement from a Target Company, whether pursuant to its Organizational Documents, Contract or otherwise, and whether or not relating to claims pending on, or asserted after, the Closing Date. From and after the Closing, each Releasing Person hereby irrevocably covenants to refrain from, directly or indirectly, asserting any Action, or commencing or causing to be commenced, any Action of any kind against the Target Companies or their respective Affiliates, based upon any matter purported to be released hereby. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the releases and restrictions set forth herein shall not apply to any claims a Releasing Person may have against any party other than the Company pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Agreement or any Ancillary Document.
Non-Competition Covenants a. The provisions of this subparagraph a. shall apply both during normal working hours and at all other times including, but not limited to, nights, weekends and vacation time, while Optionee is employed by the Company or any Subsidiary. Optionee shall not directly or indirectly (i) engage in any employment, business, or activity that is competitive with the business of the Company or any Subsidiary, (ii) assist any other person or organization in competing with, or in preparing to engage in competition with, the business of the Company or any Subsidiary. Direct competition shall include, but not be limited to, the design, development, production, promotion or sale of products, software, or services competitive with those of the Company or any Subsidiary. In addition, Optionee shall not directly or indirectly (i) engage in any employment, business, or activity that is competitive with either (A) the proposed business of the Subsidiary that employs Optionee (“Employing Subsidiary”) or (B) any proposed business of any of the Company’s other Subsidiaries (the “Non-Employing Subsidiaries”) of which Optionee has actual knowledge, or (ii) assist any other person or organization in competing with, or in preparing to engage in competition with, either (A) the proposed business of the Employing Subsidiary or (B) any proposed business of any Non-Employing Subsidiary of which Optionee has actual knowledge.
b. The provisions of this subparagraph b. shall apply during Optionee’s employment with the Company or any Subsidiary and for a period of twelve months after Optionee ceases to be employed by the Company or any Subsidiary. Optionee shall not directly or indirectly solicit to conduct any Competitive Business with, or conduct any Competitive Business with, any (i) then-current customer of the Employing Subsidiary or (ii) any person that has been a customer of the Employing Subsidiary within the six months prior to the time of Optionee’s separation from employment. The phrase “Competitive Business” means the line(s) of business(es) conducted by the Employing Subsidiary.
c. The provisions of this subparagraph c. shall apply during Optionee’s employment with the Company or any Subsidiary and for a period of 12 months after Optionee’s separation from employment. Optionee shall not directly or indirectly solicit to hire, or cause to be hired, any employee of the Company or any Subsidiary as an employee or agent of, or consultant to, any business enterprise that Optionee is associated with.
d. Each non-competition covenant of Optionee contained in the preceding provisions of this Paragraph 10 (the “non-competition covenant”) shall be construed as an agreement independent of any other provision of this Agreement and the existence of any claim or cause of action of Optionee against the Company or any Subsidiary, whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by the Company or any Subsidiary of such non-competition covenant.
e. The Company and Optionee have in good faith used their best efforts to make each non-competition covenant contained in the preceding provisions of this Paragraph 10 reasonable in both scope and in duration. It is not anticipated, nor is it intended, by either party to this Agreement that any court or other tribunal having jurisdiction over the matter will find it necessary to reform any non-competition covenant to make it reasonable in both scope and in duration, or otherwise. If any non-competition covenant is deemed by a tribunal having jurisdiction over the matter to be unlawful or unenforceable, such provision will be deemed severable from this Agreement and such provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and be enforceable. Furthermore, in lieu of such unlawful or unenforceable provision, there shall be added automatically as part of this Agreement a provision as similar in terms as may be possible and be enforceable.
f. Optionee is agreeing to the provisions of this Paragraph 10 in consideration of the grant of this Option. The provisions of this Paragraph 10 shall be valid and enforceable by the Company and its Subsidiaries, regardless of whether or not any of this Option granted hereunder actually becomes exercisable, or whether or not Optionee actually exercises any rights under this Option. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between any provision of this Paragraph 10 and any similar or analogous provision of any other agreement (either currently in effect or that may be entered into in the future) between Optionee, on the one hand, and the Company or any Subsidiary, on the other hand, whichever provision is most favorable to the Company or such Subsidiary shall govern.
Post Termination Covenants During the term of Employee’s employment hereunder and for 12 months (“the Designated Period”) after termination of Employee’s employment hereunder, Employee will not (a) anywhere within any county in which any of the Companies conducts business, engage, directly or indirectly, alone or as a shareholder (other than as a holder of less than 1% of the common stock of any publicly traded corporation), partner, officer, director, employee, consultant or advisor, or otherwise in any way participate in or become associated with, any other business organization that is engaged or becomes engaged in any business that provides the same or any substantially similar services or products offered by any of the Companies during the term of Employee’s employment or at the time of Employee’s termination or that any of the Companies has notified Employee at any time prior to the time of such termination that it proposes to conduct and for which any of the Companies have, prior to the time of such termination, expended substantial resources (the “Designated Industry”), (b) solicit any employee of any of the Companies to leave its employ for alternative employment, or hire or offer employment to any person to whom Employee actually knows any of the Companies has offered employment, (c) solicit, or attempt to divert or otherwise interfere with the relationship with, any customers or suppliers of the Companies, and (d) disparage the Companies or any of their officers, directors or employees. Employee acknowledges that the provisions of this Section 9 are essential to protect the business and goodwill of the Companies. Employee will continue to be bound by the provisions of this Section §9 until their expiration and shall not be entitled to any compensation from CURO with respect thereto except as provided above. If at any time the provisions of this Section 9 shall be determined to be invalid or unenforceable by reason of being vague or unreasonable as to area, duration or scope of activity, this Section 9 shall be considered divisible and shall become and be immediately amended to only such area, duration and scope of activity as shall be determined to be reasonable and enforceable by the court or other body having jurisdiction over the matter; and Employee agrees that this Section 9 as so amended shall be valid and binding as though any invalid or unenforceable provision had not been included herein. Employee hereby acknowledges that he has agreed to be bound by the provisions of this Section 9 in consideration for the compensation, severance and other benefits to be provided by CURO to Employee pursuant to the terms of this Agreement.
Release and Covenant Not to Sue 7.1. As of the Settlement Effective Date, the Plan (subject to Independent Fiduciary approval as required by Section 2.1) and the Class Members (and their respective heirs, beneficiaries, executors, administrators, estates, past and present partners, officers, directors, agents, attorneys, predecessors, successors, and assigns), on their own behalf and on behalf of the Plan, shall fully, finally, and forever settle, release, relinquish, waive, and discharge all Released Parties from the Released Claims, whether or not such Class Members have received or will receive a monetary benefit from the Settlement, whether or not such Class Members have actually received the Settlement Notice, whether or not such Class Members have filed an objection to the Settlement or to any application by Class Counsel for an award of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, and whether or not the objections or claims for distribution of such Class Members have been approved or allowed.
7.2. As of the Settlement Effective Date, the Class Representatives, the Class Members and the Plan (subject to Independent Fiduciary approval as required by Section 2.1), expressly agree that they, acting individually or together, or in combination with others, shall not sue or seek to institute, maintain, prosecute, argue, or assert in any action or proceeding (including but not limited to an IRS determination letter proceeding, a Department of Labor proceeding, an arbitration or a proceeding before any state insurance or other department or commission), any cause of action, demand, or claim on the basis of, connected with, or arising out of any of the Released Claims. Nothing herein shall preclude any action to enforce the terms of this Settlement Agreement in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Settlement Agreement.
7.3. Class Counsel, the Class Representatives, Class Members, or the Plan may hereafter discover facts in addition to or different from those that they know or believe to be true with respect to the Released Claims. Such facts, if known by them, might have affected the decision to settle with the Released Parties, or the decision to release, relinquish, waive, and discharge the Released Claims, or the decision of a Class Member not to object to the Settlement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, each Class Member and the Plan shall expressly, upon the entry of the Final Order, be deemed to have, and, by operation of the Final Order, shall have fully, finally, and forever settled, released, relinquished, waived, and discharged any and all Released Claims. The Class Representatives, Class Members and the Plan acknowledge and shall be deemed by operation of the Final Order to have acknowledged that the foregoing waiver was bargained for separately and is a key element of the Settlement embodied in this Settlement Agreement of which this release is a part.
7.4. Each Class Representative, each Class Member, and the Plan hereby stipulate and agree with respect to any and all Released Claims that, upon entry of the Final Order, the Class Members shall be conclusively deemed to, and by operation of the Final Order shall, settle, release, relinquish, waive, and discharge any and all rights or benefits they may now have, or in the future may have, under any law relating to the releases of unknown claims pertaining specifically to Section 1542 of the California Civil Code, which provides: A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party. Also, the Class Representatives, Class Members and the Plan shall, upon entry of the Final Order with respect to the Released Claims, waive any and all provisions, rights and benefits conferred by any law or of any State or territory within the United States or any foreign country, or any principle of common law, which is similar, comparable or equivalent in substance to Section 1542 of the California Civil Code.
Employee Covenants Employee agrees and covenants:
(A) to treat all Confidential Information as strictly confidential;
(B) not to directly or indirectly disclose, publish, communicate, or make available Confidential Information, or allow it to be disclosed, published, communicated, or made available, in whole or part, to any entity or person whatsoever (including other employees of Company not having a need to know and authority to know and use the Confidential Information in connection with the Business and, in any event, not to anyone outside of the direct employ of Company except as required in the performance of any of Employee’s authorized employment duties to Company or with the prior consent of an authorized officer acting on behalf of Company in each instance (and then, such disclosure shall be made only within the limits and to the extent of such duties or consent); and
(C) not to access or use any Confidential Information, and not to copy any documents, records, files, media, or other resources containing any Confidential Information, or remove any such documents, records, files, media, or other resources from the premises or control of Company except as required in the performance any of the Employee’s authorized employment duties to Company or with the prior consent of an authorized officer acting on behalf of Company in each instance (and then, such disclosure shall be made only within the limits and to the extent of such duties or consent). Employee understands and acknowledges that Employee’s obligations under this Agreement regarding any particular Confidential Information begin immediately and shall continue during and after Employee’s employment by Company until the Confidential Information has become public knowledge other than as a result of Employee’s breach of this Agreement or a breach by those acting in concert with Employee or on Employee’s behalf.
