EXHIBIT 10.2.9 WCI Steel, Inc.
0000 Xxxx Xxxxxx, XX
Xxxxxx, XX 00000-0000
As of March 10, 1997
Xx. Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
000 Xxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxx, XX 00000
Re: Net Worth Appreciation Participation Agreement
Dear Xx. Xxxxx:
In connection with your employment by WCI Steel, Inc.
("Company"), you have received a Net Worth Appreciation
Participation Agreement ("Agreement"). In connection with the
Company's going private and refinancing transaction
("Transaction"), you have received a certain payment under your
Agreement which resulted in your Account, as defined in the
Agreement, having a negative balance. In consideration for the
Company's willingness to eliminate the negative balance in your
Account, you and the Company have agreed to amend and restate the
Agreement as follows:
1) On April 1, 1999 provided that you continue to be
continuously employed by the Company from the date hereof through
that date, you shall receive a credit of three percent (3%), and
on each of April 1, 2000 and April 1, 2001, you shall receive an
additional credit of one percent (1%), provided that you are
continuously employed by the Company to such date, for a maximum
credit, if you remain employed by the Company continuously
through April 1, 2001 of five percent (5%) ("Maximum Credit").
You shall not receive credit for any partial year of employment,
unless your employment terminates due to death or total
disability. If your death or disability occurs before April 1,
1999, you shall be vested in a credit of three percent (3%) and
if your death or disability occurs on or after April 1, 1999, you
shall be deemed to be vested in that percentage earned through
the text succeeding April 1st. (up to said Maximum Credit of
five percent).
2) Cumulative Net Income Participation Benefit - There is
hereby established for your benefit an unfunded, unsecured,
deferred compensation account (the"Account") to which there shall
be credited an amount equal to the product of a) the total
percentage credited to you under paragraph 1 (a maximum of five
percent) multiplied by (b) the Cumulative Net Income (as
defined). The Cumulative Net Income is the amount, if any, of
the cumulative consolidated net income of the Company available
to its Common Stock, from December 1, 1996 through the
Measurement Date (as defined). In connection with this
Agreement, you agree to provide 30 days prior written notice of
your intention to voluntarily terminate your employment or
retire. In the event you voluntarily leave the Company's employ,
the Measurement Date for purposes of measuring compensation under
this Agreement shall be the end of the Company's fiscal quarter
in which the 30-day notice period ends. In the event your
employment is terminated involuntarily by the Company, the
Measurement Date of the termination of your employment shall be
the end of the fiscal quarter immediately preceding the
termination of your employment. In computing Cumulative Net
Income, no deduction, net of tax benefit, shall be taken for
benefits payable under this Agreement or similar Net Worth
Appreciation Participation Agreements. There shall be deducted
from Cumulative Net Income for each period any amount paid as
dividends on the Common Stock of the Company during such period.
If there is no positive Cumulative Net Income, no deferred
compensation shall be due you under this Agreement. The
determination of the independent public accountants for the
Company as to the Cumulative Net Income, made in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied,
shall be conclusive. If your employment shall be terminated for
Cause (as defined) at any time, you shall not receive any future
payments under this Agreement. For purposes of this provision,
termination shall be deemed to be for "Cause" only if the grounds
therefor are one or more of the following: (a) material conduct
contrary to the best interests of WCI, (b) continuing refusal or
inability to perform the duties of your position (other than for
reasons of disability), or (c) illegal conduct having a material
impact on WCI.
3) Dividend Participation - If while you are employed by the
Company, the Company shall pay any cash dividend on its Common
Stock, or pay management fees to The Renco Group, Inc. ("Renco"),
or other affiliates of Renco in excess of one million, two
hundred thousand dollars per year, then the Company shall make a
cash payment to you equal to the total amount of the cash
dividend and excess management fees multiplied by your Maximum
Credit.
4) Payment of Deferred Compensation Balances - Payment to you
of deferred compensation balances earned under this Agreement
shall be made in forty (40) equal quarterly installments, without
interest, commencing three (3) months after the Trigger Date (as
defined) and at three (3) month intervals thereafter. The
Trigger Date shall be the earlier of your sixty second birthday,
or the completion of twenty continuous years of employment with
the Company. If you remain employed by the Company after the
commencement of payments under the Agreement, and continue to
have earnings or losses under the Agreement, the amount of the
quarterly payment due you shall be recomputed on an annual basis
in the first fiscal quarter of each fiscal year to reflect the
balance of your Account at the end of the previous fiscal year
divided by 40 (i.e., a rolling ten year payment schedule). In the
event of your permanent disability, rendering you unable to
engage in your customary employment, payments measured and paid
as described above, if it has not already
commenced, will commence. The period during which the payments
will be made is herein called the "Payment Period". In the event
of your death, your estate or beneficiaries shall receive a
payment, within 90 days of your death, equal to the present value
of the balance of your Account as determined under Section 2
above computed using a) 40 equal quarterly installments if
payments to you have not begun or the remaining Payment Period if
payments have previously started and b) the discount rate used
for computing the present value of
annuitized benefits under the provision of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 and the regulation thereunder as the same may be
amended from time to time.
5) Sale of Company's Stock or Assets - If, while you shall be
employed by the Company, Renco sells an interest in the Company
or if the Company sells substantially all of its assets, to a
person who is not an affiliate of Xxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx, then, upon
the closing of such sale, your Maximum Credit shall be deemed to
be vested, and you shall be entitled to receive a payment equal
to your Maximum Credit (5%) of the Net Proceeds (as defined) of
the sale available for the Company's Common Stock, in kind, on
the same terms and conditions as the Company or its shareholders
is being paid. Net Proceeds, for purposes hereof, shall mean the
amount of the proceeds of the sale after deducting all expenses
of the sale, all applicable taxes owed by the Company, all
liabilities retained by the seller and all amounts to which
holders of preferred stock are entitled. Upon the sale of all or
substantially all of the Company's Assets or Common Stock, and
except for such payment, neither you nor this Company shall have
any further rights or liabilities hereunder.
6) Condition Precedent - During the Payment Period, you shall
comply with the following provisions as a condition precedent to
your right to receive payments:
(a) For the purposes hereof, all confidential information
about the business and affairs of the Company (including, without
limitation, business plans, product design and specifications,
financial, engineering, and marketing information and information
about costs, manufacturing methods, names of suppliers and
customers) constitute "Company Confidential Information". You
further acknowledge that for some period, you have been a senior
officer or manager of the Company. You further acknowledge that
you have in the past had, and will continue to have, access to
and knowledge of Company Confidential Information, and that
improper use or revelation of same by you during or after the
termination of your employment by the Company could cause serious
injury to the business of the Company. Accordingly, you agree
that you will forever keep secret and inviolate all Company
Confidential Information which shall have come or shall hereafter
come into your possession, and that you will not use the same for
your own private benefit, or directly or indirectly for the
benefit of others, and that you will not disclose such Company
Confidential Information to any other person.
(b) You agree that, as long as you are entitled to any
part of the payment, you will not, directly or indirectly,
whether as employee, consultant, proprietor, partner, controlling
shareholder or other capacity engage in the production,
marketing, sale or financing activities of any entity involved in
the production or sale of flat rolled steel products that
competes with the Company. Should you engage in any activity
proscribed by the preceding sentence then the Company's
obligation to you to make the payment (or any unpaid part
thereof) shall automatically and permanently cease, and you shall
be deemed to have irrevocably released your right to same.
7) Notice - Any notices to be sent pursuant hereto shall be
sent by hand, certified or registered mail or overnight service
to you, at the address indicated below and to the Company, The
Renco Group, Inc., 00 Xxxxxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx
00000, to the attention of Xxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx, or to any other
address which any of us may designate by notice in writing.
8) General - Your rights under this Agreement may not be
assigned, transferred, pledged or hypothecated without the prior
approval of the Company, except that, upon your death, your
interest in the Account will vest in your estate or heirs and
that during your lifetime, you may assign your interest to a
revocable or irrevocable trust for the primary benefit of your
spouse or any lineal descendant of your or your spouse's
grandparents. This Amendment sets forth the entire understanding
of you and the Company concerning this subject matter, supersedes
all other terms contained in the Agreement, which other terms are
hereby agreed to be void and of no effect. Any further
additions, deletions or modifications of the Agreement shall only
be made in writing signed by you and the Company.
Please confirm that the foregoing correctly sets forth our full
agreement with respect to your Net Worth Appreciation
Participation Agreement by signing and returning the enclosed
copy of this letter.
Very truly yours,
/S/ XXX XXXX XXXXXXX
Xxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx
Chairman of the Board
Confirmed and Agreed to:
/S/ XXXXXX X. XXXXX
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
000 Xxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxx, XX 00000
