AMENDED AND RESTATED] INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT
Exhibit 10.1
[AMENDED AND RESTATED] INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT
[AMENDED AND RESTATED INDEMNIFICATION] AGREEMENT, dated as of [__________], between Aircastle
Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of Bermuda with its registered office located at
Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxx, 0 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 00, Xxxxxxx (the “Company”), and
___________(“Indemnitee”).
[WHEREAS, this Amended and Restated Indemnification Agreement amends and restates in its
entirety the Indemnification Agreement, dated as of [________], between the Company and
Indemnitee;]
(a) | Change in Control: shall be deemed to have occurred if (i) any “person” (as such term is used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), other than a trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or a corporation owned directly or indirectly by the shareholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of shares of the Company, becomes the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under said Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing 20% or more of the total voting power represented by the Company’s then outstanding Voting Securities, or (ii) during any period of two consecutive years, individuals who at the beginning of such period constitute the Board of Directors of the Company and any new director whose election by the Board of Directors or nomination for election by the Company’s shareholders was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the directors then still in office who either were directors at the beginning of the period or whose election or nomination for election was previously so approved, cease for any reason to constitute a majority thereof, or (iii) the shareholders of the Company approve an amalgamation, scheme of arrangement, merger or consolidation of the Company with any other corporation, other than an amalgamation, scheme of arrangement, merger or consolidation which would result in the Voting Securities of the Company outstanding |
immediately prior thereto continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into Voting Securities of the surviving entity) at least 80% of the total voting power represented by the Voting Securities of the Company or such surviving entity outstanding immediately after such amalgamation, scheme of arrangement, merger or consolidation, or the shareholders of the Company approve a plan of complete liquidation of the Company or an agreement for the sale or disposition by the Company of (in one transaction or a series of transactions) all or substantially all the Company’s assets. | |||
(b) | Claim: means any threatened, asserted, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, or appeal thereof, or any inquiry or investigation, whether instituted by (or in the right of) the Company or any governmental agency or any other person or entity, in which Indemnitee was, is, may be or will be involved as a party, witness or otherwise, whether formal or informal, that Indemnitee in good faith believes might lead to the institution of any such action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, investigative or other, including any arbitration or other alternative dispute resolution mechanism. | ||
(c) | ERISA: means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. | ||
(d) | Expenses: include attorneys’ fees and all other direct or indirect costs, expenses and obligations, including judgments, fines, penalties, interest, appeal bonds, amounts paid in settlement with the approval of the Company, and counsel fees and disbursements (including, without limitation, experts’ fees, court costs, retainers, transcript fees, duplicating, printing and binding costs, as well as telecommunications, postage and courier charges, and any premium, security for and other costs relating to any costs bond, supersedes bond or other appeal bond or its equivalent) paid or incurred in connection with investigating, prosecuting, defending, being a witness in or participating in (including on appeal), or preparing to investigate, prosecute, defend, be a witness in or participate in, any Claim relating to any Indemnifiable Event, and shall include (without limitation) all attorneys’ fees and all other expenses incurred by or on behalf of an Indemnitee in connection with preparing and submitting any requests or statements for indemnification, advancement or any other right provided by this Agreement (including, without limitation, such fees or expenses incurred in connection with legal proceedings contemplated by Section 2(d) hereof).. “Expenses” shall also include reasonable compensation for time spent by Indemnitee, for which Indemnitee is not compensated by the Company or any affiliate or third party and provided that Indemnitee is not in the employment of or providing services for compensation to the Company or any affiliate. | ||
(e) | Indemnifiable Amounts: means (i) any and all liabilities, Expenses, damages, judgments, fines, penalties, ERISA excise taxes and amounts paid in settlement (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such liabilities, Expenses, damages, judgments, fines, penalties, ERISA excise taxes or amounts paid in settlement) arising out of or resulting from any Claim relating to an Indemnifiable Event, (ii) any liability pursuant to a loan guaranty or otherwise, for any indebtedness of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company, including, without limitation, any indebtedness which the Company or any subsidiary of the Company has assumed or taken subject to, and (iii) any liabilities which an Indemnitee incurs as a result of acting on behalf of the Company (whether as a fiduciary or otherwise) in connection with the operation, administration or maintenance of an employee benefit plan or any related trust or funding mechanism (whether such liabilities are in the form of excise taxes assessed by the United States Internal Revenue Service, penalties assessed by the Department of Labor, restitutions to such a plan or trust or other funding mechanism or to a participant or beneficiary of such plan, trust or other funding mechanism, or otherwise). | ||
(f) | Indemnifiable Event: means any event or occurrence, whether occurring before, on or after the date of this Agreement, related to the fact that Indemnitee is or was a director and/or |
officer or fiduciary of the Company, or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee, manager, member, partner, tax matter partner, trustee, agent or fiduciary of another company, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, employee benefit plan, trust, agent, fiduciary or other entity or enterprise, or by reason of anything done or not done by Indemnitee in any such capacity (in all cases whether or not Indemnitee is acting or serving in any such capacity or has such status at the time any Indemnifiable Amount is incurred for which indemnification, advancement or any other right can be provided by this Agreement). References to “serving at the request of the Company” shall include, but not be limited to, any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company or any other entity which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director officer, employee or agent with respect to any employee benefit plan, employee pension trust, or any similar entity, or any participants or beneficiaries thereof, including as a deemed fiduciary thereto. | |||
(g) | Independent Legal Counsel: means an attorney or firm of attorneys, selected in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 hereof, who is experienced in matters of corporate law and who shall not have otherwise performed services for the Company or Indemnitee within the last five years (other than with respect to matters concerning the rights of Indemnitee under this Agreement, or of other indemnitees under similar indemnity agreements). | ||
(h) | Reviewing Party: means any appropriate person or body consisting of a member or members of the Company’s Board of Directors or any other person or body appointed by the Board who is not a party to the particular Claim for which Indemnitee is seeking indemnification, or Independent Legal Counsel. | ||
(i) | Voting Securities: means any securities of the Company which vote generally in the election of directors. |
(a) Subject to clause 11 and applicable law, in the event Indemnitee was, is or becomes a
party to or witness or other participant in, or is threatened to be made a party to or witness or
other participant in, a Claim by reason of (or arising in part out of) an Indemnifiable Event, the
Company shall indemnify Indemnitee, or cause Indemnitee to be indemnified, to the fullest extent
permitted by law as soon as practicable but in any event no later than thirty days after written
demand is presented to the Company, and hold Indemnitee harmless against any and all Indemnifiable
Amounts.
(b) If so requested by Indemnitee, the Company shall advance, or cause to be advanced (within
two business days of such request), any and all Expenses incurred by Indemnitee (an “Expense
Advance”). The Company shall, in accordance with such request (but without duplication), either
(i) pay, or cause to be paid, such Expenses on behalf of Indemnitee, or (ii) reimburse, or cause
the reimbursement of, Indemnitee for such Expenses. Indemnitee’s right to an Expense Advance is
absolute and shall not be subject to any prior determination by the Reviewing Party that the
Indemnitee has satisfied any applicable standard of conduct for indemnification or to any prior
determination with regard to Indemnitee’s ability to carry out any reimbursement obligations. The
right to advances under this paragraph (b) shall in all events continue until the final disposition
of any proceeding, claim or action, including any appeal.
(c) Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, Indemnitee shall not be
entitled to indemnification or advancement of Expenses pursuant to this Agreement in connection
with any Claim initiated by Indemnitee unless (i) the Company has joined in or Company’s Board of
Directors has authorized or consented to the initiation of such Claim or (ii) the Claim is one to
enforce Indemnitee’s rights under this Agreement.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) the indemnification obligations of the Company under
Section 2(a) shall be subject to the condition that the Reviewing Party shall not have determined
(in a written legal opinion, in any case in which the Independent Legal Counsel referred to in
Section 3 hereof is involved) that
Indemnitee would not be permitted to be indemnified under
applicable law, and (ii) the obligation of the Company to make an Expense Advance pursuant to
Section 2(b) shall be subject to the condition that, if, when and to the extent that
the Reviewing Party determines that Indemnitee would not be permitted to be so indemnified
under applicable law, the Company shall be entitled to be reimbursed by Indemnitee (who hereby
agrees to reimburse the Company) for all such amounts theretofore paid (it being understood and
agreed that the foregoing agreement by Indemnitee shall be deemed to satisfy any requirement that
Indemnitee provide the Company with an undertaking to repay any Expense Advance if it is ultimately
determined that the Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification under applicable law);
provided, however, that if Indemnitee has commenced or thereafter commences legal
proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to secure a determination that Indemnitee should
be indemnified under applicable law, any determination made by the Reviewing Party that Indemnitee
would not be permitted to be indemnified under applicable law shall not be binding and Indemnitee
shall not be required to reimburse the Company for any Expense Advance until a final judicial
determination is made with respect thereto (as to which all rights of appeal therefrom have been
exhausted or lapsed). Indemnitee’s undertaking to repay such Expense Advances shall be unsecured
and interest-free. If there has not been a Change in Control, the Reviewing Party shall be
selected by the Company’s Board of Directors, and if there has been such a Change in Control, the
Reviewing Party shall be the Independent Legal Counsel referred to in Section 3 hereof. If there
has been no determination by the Reviewing Party within thirty days after written demand is
presented to the Company or if the Reviewing Party determines that Indemnitee would not be
permitted to be indemnified in whole or in part under applicable law, Indemnitee shall have the
right to commence litigation in the Supreme Court of Bermuda or any court in the State of Delaware
having subject matter jurisdiction thereof and in which venue is proper seeking an initial
determination by the court or challenging any such determination by the Reviewing Party or any
aspect thereof, including the legal or factual bases therefor, and the Company hereby consents to
service of process and to appear in any such proceeding. Any determination by the Reviewing Party
otherwise shall be conclusive and binding on the Company and Indemnitee. If there has been no
determination by the Reviewing Party within ninety days after written demand is presented to the
Company, then the requisite determination that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification hereunder
shall be deemed to have been made.
(e) The Company acknowledges that a settlement or other disposition short of final judicial
determination may be successful if it permits a party to avoid expense, delay, distraction,
disruption and uncertainty. In the event that any action, claim or proceeding to which Indemnitee
is a party is resolved in any manner other than by adverse judgment against Indemnitee (including,
without limitation, settlement with or without payment of money) it shall be presumed that
Indemnitee has been successful on the merits or otherwise in such action, suit or proceeding.
Anyone seeking to overcome this presumption shall have the burden of proof and the burden of
persuasion, by clear and convincing evidence. The termination of any proceeding or any claim,
issue or matter therein, by judgment, order, settlement (with or without court approval),
conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contender or its equivalent, shall not (except as otherwise
expressly provided in this Agreement) of itself adversely affect the right of Indemnitee to
indemnification or create a presumption that Indemnitee did not act in good faith and in a manner
which Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in (or not opposed to) the best interests of the Company
and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, that Indemnitee had reasonable cause to believe that
his conduct was unlawful.
Memorandum of
Association now or hereafter in effect and/or (ii) recovery under any directors’ and officers’
liability insurance policies maintained by the Company, regardless of whether Indemnitee ultimately
is determined to be entitled to such indemnification, Expense Advance or insurance recovery, as the
case may be; provided that Indemnitee
shall be required to reimburse such Expenses in the event that a final judicial determination
is made (as to which all rights of appeal therefrom have been exhausted or lapsed) that such action
brought by Indemnitee, or the defense by Indemnitee of an action brought by the Company or any
other person, as applicable, was frivolous or in bad faith.
Indemnitee is or
could have been a party unless such settlement solely involves the payment of money and includes a
complete and unconditional release of Indemnitee from all liability on all claims that are the
subject matter of such Claim. Neither the Company nor Indemnitee shall unreasonably withhold,
condition or delay its or his or her consent to any proposed settlement; provided that
Indemnitee may withhold consent to any settlement that does not provide a
complete and unconditional release of Indemnitee. In no event shall Indemnitee be required
to waive, prejudice or limit attorney-client privilege or work-product protection or other
applicable privilege or protection.
24. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in
accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware applicable to contracts made and to be performed
in such state without giving effect to the principles of conflicts of laws.
AIRCASTLE LIMITED |
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By: | ||||
Name: | ||||
Title: | ||||
INDEMNITEE |
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