Business of the Company The purpose of the Company is to carry on any lawful business, purpose or activity for which limited liability companies may be formed in accordance with Section 18-106 of the Act.
Conduct of Business of the Company Except as expressly ---------------------------------- contemplated by this Agreement or as set forth on Schedule 6.01 hereto, during the period from the date hereof to the Effective Time, the Company and its subsidiaries will each conduct its operations according to its ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, and the Company and its subsidiaries will each use its reasonable best efforts to (i) preserve intact its business organization, (ii) keep available the services of its officers and employees, other than those officers and employees identified on Schedule 6.01 hereto, and (iii) maintain existing relationships with its lenders, suppliers and others having business relationships with it. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, and except as otherwise contemplated by this Agreement or as set forth on Schedule 6.01 hereto, prior to the Effective Time, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries will, without the prior written consent of Acquisition:
(a) amend or propose to amend any of their respective certificates or articles of incorporation or by-laws;
(b) authorize for issuance, issue, sell, deliver or agree or commit to issue, sell, pledge, encumber, deliver or otherwise dispose of (whether through the issuance or granting of options, warrants, commitments, subscriptions, rights to purchase or otherwise) any stock of any class or any other equity securities or equity equivalents of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or amend in any material respect any of the terms of any such securities outstanding as of the date hereof;
(c) split, combine or reclassify any shares of its capital stock or the capital stock of any of its subsidiaries, declare, set aside or pay any dividend (other than dividends (whether in cash, stock, or property or any combination thereof), if any, paid by wholly-owned subsidiaries to the Company or another wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company) or other distribution in respect of its capital stock or redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire any of its securities or any securities of its subsidiaries or any options, warrants or other rights to acquire any shares of its capital stock or adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation or resolutions providing for or authorizing such liquidation or a dissolution, merger, consolidation, restructuring, recapitalization or other reorganization of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, other than the redemption, repurchase or other acquisition of the equity securities of any subsidiary of the Company which is not wholly-owned by the Company for aggregate consideration not in excess of the book value of such securities;
(i) except as set forth in clause (e), incur any additional indebtedness for borrowed money or issue any debt securities or assume, guarantee or endorse the obligations of any other person except for the obligations of wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; (ii) make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any other person (other than to wholly- owned subsidiaries of the Company and advances to employees for travel or other business related expenses in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices); (iii) pledge or otherwise encumber shares of capital stock of the Company or any of its subsidiaries; (iv) mortgage or pledge any of its material assets, tangible or intangible, or create or suffer to exist any material Lien thereupon; or (v) enter into any contract, agreement, commitment or arrangement to do any of the foregoing;
(e) incur any advances pursuant to that certain Revolving Credit Agreement, dated as of June 18, 1991, among the Company, various subsidiaries of the Company and Xxxxxx (as successor in interest to HCR Partners), as amended (the "Credit Agreement"), other than advances which at any time outstanding do not exceed $3,000,000.
(f) enter into, adopt or (except as may be required by law) amend or terminate any bonus, profit sharing, compensation, severance, termination, stock option, stock appreciation right, restricted stock, performance unit, stock equivalent, stock purchase, pension, retirement, deferred compensation, employment, severance or other employee benefit agreement, trust, plan, fund or other arrangement for the benefit or welfare of any director, officer or employee, or (except for normal increases in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice that, in the aggregate, do not result in a material increase in benefits or compensation expense to the Company or an increase in excess of 5% in the case of any individual (other than compensation based upon the payment of commissions pursuant to commission schedules previously made available to Parent or Acquisition by the Company)) increase in any manner the compensation or fringe benefits of any director, officer or employee or pay any benefit not required by any plan or arrangement in effect as of the date hereof (including, without limitation, the granting of stock appreciation rights or performance units) or enter into any contract, agreement, commitment or arrangement to do any of the foregoing;
(g) acquire, sell, lease or dispose of any assets outside the ordinary course of business or any assets which in the aggregate are material to the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or commit or agree to do any of the above;
(h) except as required by GAAP, change any of the accounting principles or practices used by it;
(i) make any tax election or settle or compromise any income tax liability material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole;
(j) pay, discharge or satisfy any claims, liabilities or obligations (absolute, accrued, asserted or unasserted, contingent or otherwise), other than the payment, discharge or satisfaction in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or in accordance with their terms, of liabilities reflected or reserved against in, or contemplated by, the consolidated financial statements (or the notes thereto) of the Company and its subsidiaries or incurred in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; provided that, in no event shall the Company and its subsidiaries repay any long-term indebtedness except to the extent required by the terms thereof;
(i) acquire (by merger, consolidation, or acquisition of stock or assets) any corporation, partnership or other business organization or division thereof; (ii) enter into or commit to enter into any contract or agreement other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or which requires the payment of amounts in excess of $100,000 or which gives rise to obligations which extend beyond ninety (90) days from the date hereof other than agreements to provide services to customers of the Company or any of its subsidiaries; (iii) authorize any capital expenditures, other than those as to which the Company or its subsidiaries have committed as set forth on Schedule 6.01 hereto, individually in excess of $100,000, or in the aggregate in excess of $1,000,000, except with the consent of Parent (which shall not be unreasonably withheld); or (iv) enter into or amend any contract, agreement, commitment or arrangement with respect to any of the foregoing;
(i) make or enter into any new lease of real property other than any new lease of real property which will replace an existing lease or (ii) extend or amend any existing lease of real property other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or on terms and conditions no less favorable to the Company or the subsidiary than the existing lease;
(m) enter into or commit to enter into any amendment or modification to any contract, agreement or arrangement with any vendor or supplier identified on Schedule 6.01(m) hereto which individually or in the aggregate with all other such amendments and modifications is or could reasonably be expected to be material to such contract, agreement or arrangement;
(n) intentionally take or omit to take, or enter into an agreement to take or agree to omit to take, any action that would result in any of the conditions to the Offer set forth in Annex A attached hereto or the conditions to the Merger set forth in Article VII hereof not being timely satisfied;
(o) release or relinquish any material contractual rights, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(p) settle any pending or threatened material action, suit, claim or proceeding involving the Company or any subsidiary, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and other than any settlements which require only the payment of money not in excess of $50,000 individually or $250,000 in the aggregate;
(q) enter into or commit to enter into any contract, agreement or arrangement or any amendment or modification to any existing contract, agreement or arrangement with Xxxxxx Holdings, Inc. or any affiliate thereof; or
(r) commit or agree in writing or otherwise to take any of the actions described in Sections 6.01(a) through 6.01(q) hereof or any action which would make any of the representations or warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement untrue or incorrect in any material respect as of the date when made or as of the Effective Time, or omit to take or commit or agree to omit to take any action necessary to prevent any such representation or warranty from being untrue or incorrect in any material respect in any respect at any time which would result in any of the conditions set forth in this Agreement not being satisfied.
BUSINESS OF THE PARTNERSHIP The purpose and nature of the business to be conducted by the Partnership is (i) to conduct any business that may be lawfully conducted by a limited partnership organized pursuant to the Act, provided, however, that such business shall be limited to and conducted in such a manner as to permit the General Partner at all times to qualify as a REIT, unless the General Partner otherwise ceases to qualify as a REIT, and in a manner such that the General Partner will not be subject to any taxes under Section 857 or 4981 of the Code, (ii) to enter into any partnership, joint venture, co-ownership or other similar arrangement to engage in any of the foregoing or the ownership of interests in any entity engaged in any of the foregoing and (iii) to do anything necessary or incidental to the foregoing. In connection with the foregoing, and without limiting the General Partner’s right in its sole and absolute discretion to qualify or cease qualifying as a REIT, the Partners acknowledge that the General Partner intends to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and upon such qualification the avoidance of income and excise taxes on the General Partner inures to the benefit of all the Partners and not solely to the General Partner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Limited Partners agree that the General Partner may terminate its status as a REIT under the Code at any time to the full extent permitted under the Charter. The General Partner on behalf of the Partnership shall also be empowered to do any and all acts and things necessary or prudent to ensure that the Partnership will not be classified as a “publicly traded partnership” for purposes of Section 7704 of the Code.
Operation of the Company’s Business (a) During the Pre-Closing Period:
(i) the Company shall ensure that each of the Company Entities conducts its business and operations: (A) in the ordinary course and in accordance with past practices; and (B) in material compliance with all applicable Laws and with the requirements of all Contracts of Company Entities that constitute Material Contracts;
(ii) the Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that each of the Company Entities preserves intact its current business organization, keeps available the services of its current officers and other key employees and maintains its relations and goodwill with all suppliers, customers, landlords, creditors, licensors, licensees, distributors, resellers, employees and other Persons having material business relationships with the respective Company Entities;
(iii) the Company shall promptly notify Parent in writing of (A) any notice from any Person alleging that the Consent of such Person is or may be required in connection with any of the Transactions and (B) any Legal Proceeding commenced, or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened against, relating to, involving or otherwise affecting any of the Company Entities that relates to the Merger or any of the other Transactions;
(iv) use commercially reasonable efforts to keep in full force all insurance policies referred to in Section 3.26 (other than any such policies that are immediately replaced with substantially similar policies), provided that if it is unable to do so, it shall notify Parent at least 20 days before such policies terminate or otherwise lapse; and
(v) the Company shall (to the extent requested by Parent and permitted under applicable Law) cause the officers and other key employees of the Company Entities to freely communicate (without limitation) with Parent regarding the Company Entities’ results of operations and material developments.
(b) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, during the Pre-Closing Period, except as set forth in Schedule 5.2(b) or with Parent’s prior written consent and except as permitted by Section 6.2(d), the Company (A) shall not, and (B) shall not permit any of the other Company Entities to:
(i) amend its certificate of incorporation or bylaws or comparable organizational documents or create any new Subsidiaries;
(ii) issue, sell, deliver or agree or commit to issue, sell or deliver (whether through the issuance or granting of options, warrants, commitments, subscriptions, rights to purchase or otherwise) any security of any Company Entity, except for the issuance and sale of shares of Company Common Stock pursuant to Company Equity Awards outstanding as of the date of this Agreement upon the exercise or vesting thereof, as applicable;
(iii) directly or indirectly acquire, repurchase or redeem any security of any Company Entity, except in connection with Tax withholdings and exercise price settlements upon the exercise, vesting or issuance of shares under Company Equity Awards;
(iv) (A) split, combine, subdivide or reclassify any shares of capital stock, or (B) declare, set aside or pay any dividend or other distribution (whether in cash, shares or property or any combination thereof) in respect of any shares of capital stock, or make any other actual, constructive or deemed distribution in respect of the shares of capital stock, except for cash dividends made by any direct or indirect wholly-owned Subsidiary of the Company to the Company or one of its wholly-owned Subsidiaries;
(v) propose or adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, merger, consolidation, restructuring, recapitalization or other reorganization of any Company Entity, except for this Agreement and the Transactions;
(vi) (A) redeem, repurchase, prepay, defease, cancel, incur, create, assume or otherwise acquire or modify in any material respect any long-term or short-term debt for borrowed monies or issue or sell any debt securities or calls, options, warrants or other rights to acquire any debt securities of any Company Entity or enter into any agreement having the economic effect of any of the foregoing, except for (1) debt incurred in the ordinary course of business under letters of credit, lines of credit or other credit facilities or arrangements in effect on the date hereof, (2) loans or advances between the Company and any direct or indirect Subsidiaries, or between any direct or indirect Subsidiaries of the Company in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices, and (3) the issuance of credit to new customers for the purchase of products or services of the Company Entities in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices, (B) assume, guarantee, endorse or otherwise become liable or responsible (whether directly, contingently or otherwise) for the obligations of any other Person, except with respect to obligations of direct or indirect wholly-owned Subsidiaries of the Company in place on the date of this Agreement, (C) make any loans, advances (other than any retainer for legal services) or capital contributions to or investments in any other Person (other than the Company or any direct or indirect wholly-owned Subsidiaries), except for travel advances or business expenses in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice to employees of the Company Entities, or (D) mortgage or pledge any asset owned or used by any Company Entity, or create or suffer to exist any Encumbrance thereupon (other than Permitted Encumbrances), except pursuant to the terms of any letters of credit, lines of credit or other credit facilities or arrangements, in effect on the date hereof;
(vii) except as may be required by applicable Law or the terms of this Agreement or of any Company Employee Plan as in effect on the date of this Agreement, (A) enter into, adopt, amend (including acceleration of vesting), modify or terminate any bonus, profit sharing, incentive, compensation, severance, retention, termination, option, appreciation right, performance unit, stock equivalent, share purchase agreement, pension, retirement, deferred compensation, employment, change in control, pension, retirement, collective bargaining or other employee benefit agreement, trust, plan, fund or other arrangement for the compensation, benefit or welfare of any Company Associate, (B) increase the compensation payable or to become payable to any Company Associate, pay or agree to pay any special bonus or special remuneration to any Company Associate, or pay or agree to pay any benefit not required by any Company Employee Plan as in effect as of the date hereof, except in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice with respect to any Company Associate who is not a member of the board of directors or officer, (C) hire any employee with an annual base salary in excess of $100,000 or at the level of Vice President, (D) grant or pay any severance or termination pay to (or amend any such existing arrangement with) any current or former member of the board of directors, officer, employee or independent contractor of any Company Entity, except in the ordinary course of business with respect to any employee or independent contractor who is not a member of the board of directors or officer, (E) increase benefits payable under any existing severance or termination pay policies or similar employment agreements, or (F) accelerate the vesting or payment of, or fund or in any other way secure the payment, compensation or benefits under, any Company Employee Plan to the extent not required by the terms of this Agreement or such Company Employee Plan as in effect on the date of this Agreement;
(viii) commence any Legal Proceeding or settle any pending or threatened Legal Proceeding, except for the settlement of any Legal Proceeding solely for money damages not in excess of $250,000 in the aggregate and as would not be reasonably likely to have any adverse impact on any other Legal Proceeding;
(ix) except as may be required as a result of a change in applicable Law or in GAAP, make any material change in any of the accounting methods, principles or practices used by it or change an annual accounting period;
(x) (A) make or change any material Tax election, (B) settle or compromise any material federal, state, local or foreign income Tax liability, (C) consent to any extension or waiver of any limitation period with respect to any claim or assessment for material Taxes, (D) change any annual Tax accounting period or method of Tax accounting, (E) file any materially amended Tax Return, (F) enter into any closing agreement with respect to any Tax or (G) surrender any right to claim a material Tax refund;
(xi) (A) acquire (by merger, consolidation or acquisition of stock or assets or otherwise) any other Entity or any material equity interest therein, (B) sell or otherwise dispose of, lease or license any properties or assets of any Company Entity (other than in the ordinary course of business), which are material to the Company Entities, taken as a whole, (C) acquire, lease or license any material right or other asset from any Person (other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice);
(xii) make any capital expenditures in excess of $50,000 individually or $200,000 in the aggregate;
(xiii) make any material changes or modifications to any investment or risk management policy or other similar policies (including with respect to hedging), or any cash management policy;
(xiv) other than in the ordinary course of business, enter into, or amend in any material respect, terminate or fail to renew, any Material Contract;
(xv) change any of its product return policies, product maintenance polices, service policies, product modification or upgrade policies in any material respect;
(xvi) enter into any material transaction with any of its Affiliates (other than a Company Entity) other than pursuant to written arrangements in effect on the date of this Agreement and excluding any employment, compensation or similar arrangements otherwise expressly permitted pursuant to this Section 5.2(b);
(xvii) abandon or permit to lapse any right to any material patent or patent application;
(xviii) take any action that is intended or is reasonably likely to result in the conditions set forth in Sections 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 (except after compliance with Section 6.2(d)), 7.5, 7.7, 7.11, 7.12, 7.13, 7.15 and 7.16 not being satisfied; or
(xix) agree or commit to take any of the actions described in clauses above in this Section 5.2(b).
(c) During the Pre-Closing Period, the Company shall promptly notify Parent in writing of any event, condition, fact or circumstance that would make the timely satisfaction of any of the conditions set forth in ARTICLE 7 impossible or unlikely or that has had or could reasonably be expected to have or result in a Material Adverse Effect. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company shall promptly advise Parent in writing of any Legal Proceeding or material claim commenced or, to the Company’s Knowledge, threatened against or with respect to any of the Company Entities. No notification given to Parent pursuant to this Section 5.2(c) or any information or knowledge obtained pursuant to Section 5.1 shall limit or otherwise affect any of the representations, warranties, covenants or obligations of the Company contained in this Agreement or any of the remedies available to Parent under this Agreement.
(d) During the Pre-Closing Period, the Company shall promptly notify Parent in writing if the Company has the right to exercise any right or option to repurchase shares of its capital stock from any Company Associate or other Person upon termination of such Person’s service to any of the Company Entities. The Company shall not exercise any such repurchase right except to the extent directed by Parent in writing.
Capitalization of the Company and its Subsidiaries The Company's authorized capital stock consists solely of (a) 20,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.05 par value per share ("Company Common Stock"), and (b) 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $1.00 par value per share ("Company Preferred Stock"). As of October 31, 1997, (i) 3,891,981 shares of Company Common Stock were issued and outstanding, (ii) 201,385 shares of Company Common Stock were issuable upon the exercise of outstanding options, an additional 230,749 shares of Company Common Stock were issuable upon the exercise of options that are not currently outstanding but are reserved for issuance upon the designation of optionees by the Board of Directors of the Company and 154,175 shares of Company Common Stock were issuable upon the exercise or conversion of outstanding warrants or convertible securities granted or issuable (on a contingent basis or otherwise) by the Company, and (iii) no shares of Company Preferred Stock were issued and outstanding. Since October 31, 1997, except as disclosed in Section 4.4 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, the Company has not issued any shares of its capital stock except upon the exercise of such options, warrants or convertible securities. Each outstanding share of capital stock of the Company and each Subsidiary is duly authorized and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free of any preemptive rights. As of the date hereof, other than as set forth above, in the Company SEC Documents (as defined in Section 4.7) or in Section 4.4 to the Company Disclosure Schedule, there are no outstanding shares of capital stock or subscriptions, options, warrants, puts, calls, agreements, understandings, claims or other commitments or rights of any type relating to the issuance, sale or transfer by the Company or either Subsidiary of any securities of the Company or either Subsidiary, nor are there outstanding any securities which are convertible into or exchangeable for any shares of capital stock of the Company or either Subsidiary; and neither the Company nor either Subsidiary has any obligation of any kind to issue any additional securities or to pay for securities of the Company or either Subsidiary or any predecessor. The Company has no outstanding bonds, debentures, notes or other similar obligations the holders of which have the right to vote generally with holders of Company Common Stock.
Return of the Company’s Property If Executive’s employment is terminated for any reason, the Company shall have the right, at its option, to require Executive to vacate his or her offices prior to or on the effective date of termination and to cease all activities on the Company’s behalf. Upon the termination of his or her employment in any manner, as a condition to the Executive’s receipt of any post-termination benefits described in this Agreement, Executive shall immediately surrender to the Company all lists, books and records of, or in connection with, the Company’s business, and all other property belonging to the Company, it being distinctly understood that all such lists, books and records, and other documents, are the property of the Company. Executive shall deliver to the Company a signed statement certifying compliance with this Section 4(j) prior to the receipt of any post-termination benefits described in this Agreement.
By the Corporation The Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless, to the extent permitted by law, each Holder, such Holder’s officers, directors, managers, employees, partners, stockholders, members, trustees, Affiliates, agents and representatives, and each Person who controls such Holder (within the meaning of the Securities Act) (the “Holder Indemnified Parties”) against all losses, claims, actions, damages, liabilities and expenses (including with respect to actions or proceedings, whether commenced or threatened, and including reasonable attorney fees and expenses) caused by, resulting from, arising out of, based upon or related to any of the following statements, omissions or violations (each a “Violation”) by the Corporation: (i) any untrue or alleged untrue statement of material fact contained in (A) any registration statement, prospectus, preliminary prospectus or Free-Writing Prospectus, or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or (B) any application or other document or communication (in this Section 7, collectively called an “application”) executed by or on behalf of the Corporation or based upon written information furnished by or on behalf of the Corporation filed in any jurisdiction in order to qualify any securities covered by such registration under the securities laws thereof, (ii) any omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading or (iii) any violation or alleged violation by the Corporation of the Securities Act or any other similar federal or state securities laws or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder applicable to the Corporation and relating to action or inaction required of the Corporation in connection with any such registration, qualification or compliance. In addition, the Corporation will reimburse such Holder Indemnified Party for any legal or any other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending any such losses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Corporation shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such losses result from, arise out of, are based upon, or relate to an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement, or omission or alleged omission, made in such registration statement, any such prospectus, preliminary prospectus or Free-Writing Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, or in any application, in reliance upon, and in conformity with, written information prepared and furnished in writing to the Corporation by such Holder Indemnified Party expressly for use therein or by such Holder Indemnified Party’s failure to deliver a copy of the registration statement or prospectus or any amendments or supplements thereto after the Corporation has furnished such Holder Indemnified Party with a sufficient number of copies of the same. In connection with an underwritten offering, the Corporation shall indemnify such underwriters, their officers and directors, and each Person who controls such underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided above with respect to the indemnification of the Holder Indemnified Parties.
No Control of the Company’s Business Nothing contained in this Agreement is intended to give Parent, directly or indirectly, the right to control or direct the Company’s or its subsidiaries’ operations prior to the Effective Time. Prior to the Effective Time, the Company shall exercise, consistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, complete control and supervision over its and its subsidiaries’ operations.
Conduct of the Company’s Business During the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the Effective Time and the date nominees of Parent or Subsidiary constitute a majority of the members of the board of trustees of the Company (such earlier time, the “Control Time”), except either as consented to in writing (including by email or other electronic transmission) by Parent in response to a written or oral request therefore from the Company (which response shall not be unreasonably delayed), the Company shall, and shall cause its subsidiaries to, conduct its and their business in the ordinary course and use commercially reasonable efforts to conduct its and their business relationships with third parties and to keep available the services of their present officers and employees, provided that it does not require additional compensation, and preserve its and their relationships with customers, suppliers and others having business dealings with the Company and its subsidiaries, and to maintain the Company’s qualification as a REIT, in each case subject to the terms of or contemplated by this Agreement. In addition, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except as expressly permitted in this Agreement, from the date hereof until the Control Time, the Company shall not, and shall cause its subsidiaries not to:
(a) (i) authorize, declare or pay any dividends on or make other distributions in respect of any of its stock (except for dividends by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company to its parent and except for distributions necessary for the Company to maintain its REIT qualification, avoid the incurrence of any taxes under Section 857 of the Code, avoid the imposition of any excise taxes under Section 4981 of the Code, or avoid the need to make one or more extraordinary or disproportionately larger distributions to meet any of the three preceding objectives), (ii) split, combine or reclassify any of its stock or issue or authorize or propose the issuance of any other securities or (iii) repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any shares of stock of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any other securities thereof or any rights, warrants or options to acquire any such shares or other securities;
(b) except in accordance with the Share Option Agreement, issue, deliver, sell, pledge or encumber, or authorize or propose the issuance, delivery, sale, pledge or encumbrance of, any shares of its beneficial interests, stock or any other security;
(c) amend or propose to amend its declaration of trust, certificate of incorporation or bylaws (or similar organizational documents);
(d) (i) acquire or agree to acquire any material assets (including securities) outside the ordinary course or merge or consolidate with any person or engage in any similar transaction or (ii) make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any other person, other than to the Company or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and other than loans to auto dealers in the ordinary course of business which would, when originated, qualify as Eligible Receivables under the Warehouse Line;
(e) sell, lease, license, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of its assets or any interest therein, other than in the ordinary course (including the disposition of any assets acquired as a result of a foreclosure), or adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, merger, consolidation, restructuring or other reorganization;
(f) incur or suffer to exist any indebtedness for borrowed money or guarantee any such indebtedness, guarantee any debt of others, enter into any “keep-well” or other agreement to maintain any financial statement condition of another person or enter into any arrangement having the economic effect of any of the foregoing, except for borrowings under the Warehouse Line;
(g) make or rescind any Tax election or settle or compromise any Tax liability of the Company or any of its subsidiaries;
(h) make or agree to make any capital expenditures other than in amounts of less than $75,000 in the aggregate;
(i) pay, discharge, settle or satisfy any Claim (whether absolute, accrued, asserted or unasserted, contingent or otherwise), other than the payment, discharge, settlement or satisfaction, in the ordinary course of business or in accordance with their terms, of Claims whether recognized or disclosed in the most recent financial statements (or the notes thereto) of the Company included in the Company Filed SEC Documents or incurred since the date of such financial statements in the ordinary course of business except for cash payments (x) paid by any insurer or person other than the Company and any subsidiary of the Company, plus (y) an amount paid by the Company or any subsidiary of the Company not exceeding $100,000 per Claim, liability or obligation or $500,000 for all Claims in the aggregate.
(j) (i) modify, amend or terminate any material contract, (ii) waive, release or assign any material rights or claims, (iii) waive the benefits of, or agree to modify in any manner, any confidentiality, standstill or similar agreement, or fail to enforce any such agreement to the fullest extent practicable, including by seeking injunctive relief and specific performance or (iv) except, with respect to this clause (iv), in the ordinary course of business, enter into any material contracts or transactions;
(i) increase the compensation or benefits of any director, trustee, officer or employee, except for, in the cases of non-officer employees, increases in the ordinary course that are consistent with past practice, (ii) adopt any material amendment to a Benefit Plan, (iii) enter into, amend or modify any employment, consulting, severance, termination or similar agreement with any director, trustee, officer or employee, (iv) accelerate the payment of compensation or benefits to any director, officer or employee, (v) take any action to fund or in any other way secure the payment of compensation or benefits under any Benefit Plan or compensation agreement or arrangement; or change any actuarial or other assumption used to calculate funding obligations with respect to any pension plan or change the timing or manner in which contributions to any pension plan are made or the basis on which such contributions are determined or (vi) take any action that could give rise to severance benefits payable to any officer, trustee, director, or employee of the Company or any subsidiary as a result of consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; provided that nothing in this paragraph (k) shall preclude the payment by the Company of accrued, but unpaid bonuses to employees for 2004 and retroactive salary adjustments in each case as set forth in Section 6.1(k) of the Company Disclosure Schedule;
(l) take any action to exempt or make not subject to or to otherwise waive or cause to be inapplicable (x) the provisions of any Takeover Statute or (y) Section 7.2 of the Declaration of Trust, in each case to any individual or entity (other than Parent or its subsidiaries), or any action taken thereby, which individual, entity or action would have otherwise been subject to the restrictive provisions thereof and not exempt therefrom;
(m) take any action to delist the Shares from Nasdaq;
(n) make any material change to its methods of accounting in effect on the date hereof, except as required by changes in GAAP as concurred with by the Company’s independent auditors, or change its fiscal year;
(o) enter into any transaction with any of its affiliates other than pursuant to arrangements in effect on the date hereof which have been disclosed to Parent;
(p) accelerate the collection of receivables or defer the payment of payables, or modify the payment terms of any receivables or payables, in each case, other than in the ordinary course of business;
(q) securitize, or create any financing arrangements in the nature of a collateralized debt obligation with respect to, any accounts receivable, loans or other assets;
(r) amend or modify the existing agreement between Company and Company Financial Advisor; or
(s) authorize any of, or commit or agree to take any of, the foregoing actions or any action that would result in a breach of any representation, warranty or agreement of the Company contained in this Agreement as of the date when made or as of any future date or would result in any of the conditions to the Merger not being satisfied or in a material delay in the satisfaction of such conditions.
Business of Company The Company is formed for the object and purpose of, and the nature of the business to be conducted and promoted by the Company is, to engage in any lawful act or activity for which limited liability companies may be formed under the New York Code and to engage in any and all activities necessary or incidental to the foregoing.
