STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT dated as of October 18, 2006 among COTTAGE BAKERY, INC., RIVERGATE PARTNERS, L.P., JAMISON PARTNERS, L.P., TERRY R. KNUTSON AND ROSE KNUTSON, AS CO-TRUSTEES OF THE TERRY AND ROSE KNUTSON 2000 FAMILY TRUST UTA 6/21/00, CHURCH...
Exhibit
10.1
dated
as
of October 18, 2006
among
COTTAGE
BAKERY, INC.,
RIVERGATE
PARTNERS, L.P.,
XXXXXXX
PARTNERS, L.P.,
XXXXX
X.
XXXXXXX AND XXXX XXXXXXX, AS CO-TRUSTEES OF THE XXXXX AND XXXX XXXXXXX 2000
FAMILY TRUST UTA 6/21/00,
CHURCH
RESOURCE MINISTRIES,
BETHEL
TABERNACLE (A/K/A BETHEL OPEN BIBLE CHURCH),
XXXXX
X.
XXXXXXX AND XXXX XXXXXXX, AS SELLERS’ GUARANTOR,
RH
FINANCIAL CORPORATION
and
RALCORP
HOLDINGS, INC., AS BUYER’S GUARANTOR
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Page
ARTICLE
I
DEFINITIONS.......................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Definitions...................................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Other
Defined
Terms..................................................................................................................................8
1.3 Construction...............................................................................................................................................9
ARTICLE
II PURCHASE AND
SALE..................................................................................................................10
2.1 Purchase
and Sale of the Purchased
Securities...................................................................................10
2.2 Closing
Date..............................................................................................................................................10
2.3 Transactions
to be Effected at the
Closing..........................................................................................10
2.4 Calculation
and Payment of the Net Asset Value
Adjustment.........................................................11
2.5 Sellers’
Representative............................................................................................................................13
2.6 Escrow
Account.......................................................................................................................................14
ARTICLE
III REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE ACQUIRED
COMPANY..................14
3.1 Organization,
Good Standing, Authority and
Enforceability............................................................14
3.2 Capitalization.............................................................................................................................................15
3.3 No
Conflicts;
Consents...........................................................................................................................16
3.4 Financial
Statements; Acquired Company
Debt.................................................................................16
3.5 Taxes..........................................................................................................................................................17
3.6 Compliance
with Law;
Authorizations..................................................................................................17
3.7 Title
to
Personal
Property.......................................................................................................................18
3.8 Real
Property............................................................................................................................................18
3.9 Intellectual
Property................................................................................................................................19
3.10 Absence
of Certain Changes or
Events.............................................................................................20
3.11 Inventory
and Accounts
Receivable..................................................................................................20
3.12 No
Undisclosed
Liabilities....................................................................................................................21
3.13 Contracts.................................................................................................................................................21
3.14 Litigation.................................................................................................................................................23
3.15 Employee
Benefits.................................................................................................................................23
3.16 Labor
and
Employment
Matters..........................................................................................................25
3.17 Environmental........................................................................................................................................25
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3.18 Insurance................................................................................................................................................26
3.19 Affiliated
Transactions.........................................................................................................................27
3.20 Brokers....................................................................................................................................................28
3.21 Books
and
Records...............................................................................................................................28
3.22 Customers...............................................................................................................................................28
3.23 FDA
Compliance...................................................................................................................................28
3.24 Disclosure..............................................................................................................................................29
ARTICLE
IV REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES RELATING TO
SELLERS...............................29
4.1 Organization
and Good
Standing.........................................................................................................29
4.2 Capitalization...........................................................................................................................................29
4.3 Authority
and
Enforceability................................................................................................................30
4.4 No
Conflicts;
Consents.........................................................................................................................30
4.5 Capacity...................................................................................................................................................30
4.6 No
Orders
or
Actions............................................................................................................................30
4.7 Absence
of Certain Changes or
Events..............................................................................................31
4.8 Additional
Representations by
Rivergate..........................................................................................31
ARTICLE
V
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE
BUYER................................................31
5.1 Organization
and Good
Standing.........................................................................................................32
5.2 Authority
and
Enforceability................................................................................................................32
5.3 No
Conflicts;
Consents.........................................................................................................................32
5.4 No
Orders
or
Actions.............................................................................................................................33
5.5 Purchase
for
Investment........................................................................................................................33
5.6 Availability
of
Funds..............................................................................................................................33
5.7 Brokers......................................................................................................................................................33
5.8 No
Other
Representations.....................................................................................................................33
ARTICLE
VI COVENANTS OF THE ACQUIRED COMPANY AND
SELLERS..........................................33
6.1 Conduct
of
Business..............................................................................................................................33
6.2 Negative
Covenants...............................................................................................................................34
6.3 Access
to
Information............................................................................................................................35
6.4 Resignations............................................................................................................................................35
6.5 Distribution
of Cash and Cash
Equivalents........................................................................................35
6.6 Notification...............................................................................................................................................35
6.7 Competing
Offers; Merger or
Liquidation...........................................................................................36
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ARTICLE
VII COVENANTS OF THE
BUYER..................................................................................................36
7.1 Confidentiality.........................................................................................................................................36
7.2 Employee
Matters...................................................................................................................................37
ARTICLE
VIII COVENANTS OF THE BUYER, THE SELLERS AND THE ACQUIRED
COMPANY......38
8.1 Regulatory
and Other
Approvals.........................................................................................................38
8.2 Public
Announcements..........................................................................................................................39
8.3 Further
Assurances................................................................................................................................39
8.4 Real
Property
Covenants.......................................................................................................................39
ARTICLE
IX CONDITIONS TO
CLOSING.......................................................................................................40
9.1 Conditions
to Obligations of the Buyer and the
Sellers...................................................................40
9.2 Conditions
to Obligation of the
Buyer................................................................................................41
9.3 Conditions
to Obligations of the
Sellers.............................................................................................42
ARTICLE
X
TERMINATION..............................................................................................................................43
10.1 Termination............................................................................................................................................43
10.2 Effect
of
Termination............................................................................................................................44
ARTICLE
XI
INDEMNIFICATION....................................................................................................................44
11.1 Survival..................................................................................................................................................44
11.2 Indemnification
by the
Seller...............................................................................................................45
11.3 Indemnification
by
Buyer....................................................................................................................46
11.4 Indemnification
Procedure for Third Party
Claims...........................................................................47
11.5 Indemnification
Procedures for Non-Third Party
Claims................................................................48
11.6 Calculation
of Indemnity
Payments...................................................................................................48
11.7 Characterization
of Indemnification
Payments................................................................................49
ARTICLE
XII TAX
MATTERS..........................................................................................................................49
12.1 Tax
Indemnification.............................................................................................................................49
12.2 Straddle
Period.....................................................................................................................................49
12.3 Tax
Returns Filed after the Closing
Date.........................................................................................50
12.4 Cooperation
on Tax
Matters..............................................................................................................50
12.5 Certain
Taxes........................................................................................................................................51
12.6 Tax
Refunds..........................................................................................................................................51
12.7 Tax
Proceedings...................................................................................................................................51
12.8 Disputes................................................................................................................................................52
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12.9 Payment
of Management Incentive Plan Tax Benefit
Amount.....................................................52
ARTICLE
XIII POST CLOSING COVENANTS OF THE
SELLER.................................................................52
13.1 Covenant
Not to Compete and
Confidentiality...............................................................................52
13.2 Non-Solicitation/Non-Hire..................................................................................................................53
13.3 Confidentiality......................................................................................................................................54
13.4 Remedy
for
Breach..............................................................................................................................54
ARTICLE
XIV
MISCELLANEOUS....................................................................................................................54
14.1 Notices...................................................................................................................................................54
14.2 Sellers’
Guaranty...................................................................................................................................56
14.3 Buyer
Guaranty.....................................................................................................................................57
14.4 Amendments
and
Waivers..................................................................................................................57
14.5 Expenses................................................................................................................................................58
14.6 Successors
and
Assigns.....................................................................................................................58
14.7 Governing
Law......................................................................................................................................58
14.8 Consent
to
Jurisdiction.......................................................................................................................58
14.9 Counterparts.........................................................................................................................................58
14.10 No
Third
Party
Beneficiaries............................................................................................................59
14.11 Entire
Agreement...............................................................................................................................59
14.12 Captions.............................................................................................................................................59
14.13 Severability........................................................................................................................................59
14.14 Interpretation.....................................................................................................................................59
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iv
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This
STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT is made and entered into as of October 18, 2006 (the
“Agreement”),
by
and among Cottage Bakery, Inc., a California corporation (the “Acquired
Company”),
Rivergate Partners, L.P. (“Rivergate”),
Xxxxxxx Partners, L.P., Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx and Xxxx Xxxxxxx, as Co-Trustees of
the
Xxxxx and Xxxx Xxxxxxx 2000 Family Trust UTA 6/21/00, Church Resource Ministries
and Bethel Tabernacle (a/k/a Bethel Open Bible Church) (each of the foregoing
(other than the Acquired Company) is referred to herein as a “Seller”
and
collectively, the “Sellers”),
Xxxxx
X. Xxxxxxx and Xxxx Xxxxxxx, each an individual of Lodi, California
(collectively referred to as “Sellers’
Guarantor”),
RH
Financial Corporation, a Nevada corporation (the “Buyer”)
and
Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., a Missouri corporation (“Buyer’s
Guarantor”).
WHEREAS,
the Sellers collectively own 4,000 shares of common stock, par value $10.00
per
share, of the Acquired Company (the “Common
Stock”),
which
shares of Common Stock constitute all of the issued and outstanding Equity
Securities (as hereinafter defined) of the Acquired Company; and
WHEREAS,
the Sellers desire to sell such shares of Common Stock (the “Purchased
Securities”)
to the
Buyer, and the Buyer desires to purchase the Purchased Securities from the
Sellers, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of this
Agreement.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing premises and the respective
representations, warranties, covenants and agreements contained herein, and
for
other good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency of which is hereby
acknowledged, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows:
ARTICLE
I
DEFINITIONS
1.1 Definitions.
When used in this Agreement, the following terms shall have the meanings
assigned to them in this Section 1.1.
“Acquired
Company Material Adverse Effect”
means
any change or effect that has had or is reasonably expected to have a materially
adverse effect on the ability of the Sellers or the Acquired Company to
consummate the Contemplated Transactions contemplated by this Agreement, or
a
materially adverse effect on the business, financial condition, properties,
profitability or operations of the Acquired Company, taken as a whole, other
than any such effect or change, caused by (a) general political, economic,
financial, capital market or industry wide conditions, (b) a prospective
change arising out of any adopted legislation, or other enactment by any
Governmental Entity (in the case of (a) and (b) not having a unique or
disproportionate effect on the Acquired Company), (c) the public
announcement of this Agreement or the consummation of the Contemplated
Transactions contemplated by this Agreement, or (d) the Buyer or any of its
Affiliates.
1
“Affiliate”
means,
with respect to any specified Person, any other Person directly or indirectly
controlling, controlled by or under common control with such specified Person;
provided, that for purposes of this definition, “control” (including, with
correlative meanings, the terms “controlled by” and “under common control
with”), as used with respect to any Person, shall mean the possession, directly
or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management
and policies of such Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities,
by contract or otherwise.
“Agreement
of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions” means
that certain Agreement of Purchase and Sale of Real Property and Joint Escrow
Instructions between Rivergate, as Seller, and Buyer (or its Subsidiary), as
purchaser, in the form attached as Exhibit A
hereto.
“Ancillary
Agreements”
means,
collectively, the Escrow Agreement, the Lease Amendment, the Employment
Agreements, the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions
and
any other agreements, instruments and documents delivered at the Closing in
connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
“Authorization”
means
any authorization, approval, consent, certificate, license, permit or franchise
of or from any Governmental Entity or pursuant to any Law.
“Balance
Sheet Date”
means
June 30, 2006.
“Base
Net Asset Value”
means
$18,000,000.
“Benefit
Plan”
means
any employee related plan, program, policy, practice, contract, agreement or
other arrangement providing for compensation, profit sharing, thrift, savings,
bonus, loans, change in control, severance, retention, termination or pension
benefits, retirement or superannuation benefits, deferred compensation,
performance awards, stock or stock related awards, fringe benefits, health,
dental, vision, life, hospitalization, insurance, employment, disability,
vacation, sabbatical, accidental death and dismemberment, workers’ compensation
or supplemental unemployment benefits, or other employee benefits or
remuneration of any kind, whether written or unwritten or otherwise, funded
or
unfunded, including, without limitation, any “employee benefit plan” within the
meaning of Section 3(3) of ERISA.
“Books
and Records”
means
books of account, general, financial, warranty and shipping records, invoices,
customer lists, correspondence, engineering, maintenance, operating and
production records, advertising and promotional materials, credit records of
customers and other documents, records and files, in each case of the Acquired
Company.
“Business
Day”
means
a
day other than a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which banks located in Los
Angeles, California are authorized or required by Law to close.
“Buyer
Material Adverse Effect”
means
any material adverse effect on the ability of the Buyer to perform its
obligations under this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements, as
applicable.
2
“Closing
Amount”
means
the Fixed Purchase Price (i) minus
the
Estimated Negative Net Asset Adjustment (if any) and (ii) minus
any
Indebtedness existing on the Closing Date and (iii) minus
the
Escrow Amount.
“Closing
Date Net Asset Value”
means
total assets, excluding book cash (including investments, marketable securities
and other cash type assets), minus total liabilities, excluding Indebtedness
used to determine the Closing Amount as of the Closing Date, as such amounts
are
set forth on the Closing Date Balance Sheet (as prepared and determined in
accordance with Section
2.4).
“Code”
means
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder.
“Confidentiality
Agreement”
means
that certain Confidentiality Agreement dated as of April 18, 2003, between
RSM EquiCo Capital Markets LLC and Buyer, as extended by that certain letter
agreement dated July 5, 2006.
“Contemplated
Transactions” means
the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary
Agreements.
“Contract”
means
any agreement, contract, commitment, obligation, undertaking or arrangement,
whether written or oral.
“Employee
Supplemental Retention Plan”
means
that certain Employee Supplemental Retention Plan to be adopted by the Acquired
Company in the form attached as Exhibit
B
hereto.
“Employee
Supplemental Plan Tax Benefit Amount”
means
the net present value of the anticipated tax benefit to the Buyer in connection
with its payment of the Employment Supplemental Retention Amount calculated
in
accordance with the methodology set forth in Schedule
7.2(b).
“Employment
Agreements”
means
those certain Employment Agreements between Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. and each
of
the Key Employees, in the forms attached to Exhibit
C
hereto.
“Environmental
Law” means
any
Law that relates to public health and safety and pollution or protection of
the
environment, including without limitation all those relating to the presence,
use, production, reduction, generation, handling, transportation, treatment,
storage, disposal, distribution, labeling, testing, processing, discharge,
release, threatened release, control or cleanup of any Hazardous Materials,
hazardous substances, hazardous wastes or pollutants, as such Laws are enacted
and in effect on or prior to the Closing Date.
“Equity
Securities”
means
(a) shares of capital stock and (b) options, warrants or other rights
convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, directly or indirectly,
or
otherwise entitling any Person to acquire, directly or indirectly, shares of
capital stock.
“ERISA”
means
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.
3
“ERISA
Affiliate”
means
any Subsidiary of the Acquired Company or any other trade or business (whether
or not incorporated) which would be treated as a single employer with the
Acquired Company or any of its Subsidiaries under Section 414 of the
Code.
“Escrow
Agent”
means
X.X. Xxxxxx Trust Company, National Association, a national banking
association.
“Escrow
Agreement”
means
that certain Escrow Agreement, dated as of the Closing Date, among Sellers,
Buyer and the Escrow Agent, substantially in the form attached hereto as
Exhibit
D.
“Estimated
Negative Net Asset Value Adjustment”
means
the amount, if any, by which the Base Net Asset Value exceeds the Estimated
Closing Date Net Asset Value.
“Fixed
Purchase Price”
means
$170,840,000 (a) less
the
Employee Supplemental Retention Amount, (b) less
the
Management Supplemental Retention Amount and (c) plus
the
Employee Supplemental Plan Tax Benefit Amount.
“Governmental
Entity”
means
any entity or body exercising executive, legislative, judicial, regulatory
or
administrative functions of or pertaining to United States federal, state or
local government, including any department, commission, board, agency, bureau,
official or other regulatory, administrative or judicial authority
thereof.
“Hazardous
Materials”
means
any flammable, ignitable, corrosive, reactive, radioactive or explosive
substance or material, hazardous waste, toxic substance or related material
and
any other substance
or
material defined or designated as a hazardous or toxic substance, hazardous
material or hazardous waste by any Law in effect on or prior to the Closing
Date, including but not limited to petroleum and petroleum by-products, PCBs,
and asbestos or asbestos containing materials.
“HSR
Act”
means
the Xxxx-Xxxxx-Xxxxxx Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, as
amended.
“Indebtedness”
of
the
Acquired Company means: (a) debt of the Acquired Company, including
interest and any prepayment penalties thereon, created, issued or incurred
by
the Acquired Company for borrowed money (whether by loan or the issuance and
sale of debt securities or the sale of property to another person subject to
an
understanding or agreement, contingent or otherwise, to repurchase such property
from such person); (b) obligations of the Acquired Company to pay the
deferred purchase or acquisition price of property or services, other than
trade
accounts payable arising, and accrued expenses incurred, in the ordinary course
of business and consistent with the Acquired Company’s trade practices;
(c) payment obligations in respect of letters of credit, bankers’
acceptances or similar instruments issued or accepted by banks and other
financial institutions; (d) capital lease obligations; (e) unfunded
deferred compensation obligations; (f) indebtedness of others guaranteed by
the Acquired Company; and (g) undisputed payables more than thirty (30)
days past due.
“Indemnitee”
means
any Person that is seeking indemnification from an Indemnitor pursuant to the
provisions of this Agreement.
4
“Indemnitor”
means
any party to this Agreement from which any Indemnitee is seeking indemnification
pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.
“Key
Employee”
means
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxxx or Xxxxx X’Xxxxxxx.
“Knowledge
of the Acquired Company”
or
any
similar phrase means all matters that are known to Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxx Xxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx or Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx,
or with respect to those matters which such individual has functional
responsibility, that would reasonably be expected to be known by such individual
as of the date of this Agreement, after a reasonable investigation sufficient
to
express an informed view.
“Knowledge
of the Buyer”
or
any
similar phrase means all matters that are known to, or that would reasonably
be
expected to be known as of the date of this Agreement, after a reasonable
investigation sufficient to express an informed view, by Xxxxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxx
Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx or Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx.
“Knowledge
of Rivergate”
or
any
similar phrase means all matters that are known to, or that would reasonably
be
expected to be known as of the date of this Agreement, after a reasonable
investigation sufficient to express an informed view, by Xxxxx Xxxxxxx or Xxxx
Xxxxxxx.
“Law”
means
any
statute, principle of common law, ordinance, rule or regulation of any
Governmental Entity.
“Lease
Amendment”
means
that certain Lease Amendment, in the form attached as Exhibit
E
hereto.
“Liabilities”
means
liabilities, obligations or commitments of any nature whatsoever whether
asserted or unasserted, known or unknown, absolute or contingent, direct or
indirect, conditional, implied, derivative, joint, several, secondary, accrued
or unaccrued, matured or unmatured or otherwise due or to become due, regardless
of whether such obligation, duty or liability would be required to be disclosed
on a balance sheet prepared in accordance with GAAP and regardless of whether
such liability, obligation or commitment is immediately due and
payable.
“Lien”
means,
with respect to any property or asset, any mortgage, lien, pledge, charge,
claim, option, right of first refusal, restriction on use, voting, transfer
or
receipt of income or other similar restriction, security interest, hypothecation
or any other encumbrance in respect of such property or asset.
“Management
Supplemental Retention Plan”
means
that certain Management Supplemental Retention Plan to be adopted by the
Acquired Company in the form attached as Exhibit
F
hereto.
5
“Order”
means
any award, injunction, judgment, decree, order, ruling, subpoena or verdict
or
other decision issued, promulgated or entered by or with any Governmental Entity
of competent jurisdiction or by any arbitrator.
“Organizational
Documents”
means,
with respect to any entity, the certificate of incorporation, the articles
of
incorporation, by-laws, articles of organization, partnership agreement, limited
liability company agreement, formation agreement, joint venture agreement or
other similar organizational documents of such entity (in each case, as amended
through the date of this Agreement).
“Permitted
Liens”
means
(a) Liens for Taxes that are not yet delinquent or that may hereafter be
paid without material penalty or that are being contested in good faith,
(b) statutory Liens of landlords and workers’, carriers’, materialmen’s,
suppliers’, warehousemen’s and mechanics’ or other like Liens incurred in the
ordinary course of business, (c) Liens and encroachments, in the case of
real property, which do not materially interfere with the present use of the
properties they affect, (d) Liens that will be released prior to or as of
the Closing, (e) Liens arising under this Agreement or any Ancillary
Agreement and (f) Liens set forth on Schedule 1.1.
“Person”
means
an individual, a corporation (including any non-profit corporation), a
partnership, a limited liability company, a trust, an unincorporated
association, a Governmental Entity or any agency, instrumentality or political
subdivision of a Governmental Entity, or any other entity or body.
“Post-Closing
Tax Period”
means
any taxable period beginning after the Closing Date and, the portion of any
Straddle Period beginning after the Closing Date.
“Pre-Closing
Tax Period”
means
any taxable period ending on or before the Closing Date and the portion of
any
Straddle Period up through and including the Closing Date.
“Pro-Rata
Portion”
of
each
Seller is the percentage of shares of Purchased Securities held by each Seller
as set forth in Section 3.2(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule.
“Purchase
Price”
means
the Fixed Purchase Price (a) plus
the
Management Incentive Plan Tax Benefit Amount, (b) plus
the
Ending Escrow Amount and (c) less
the
Negative Net Asset Adjustment (if any).
“Restricted
Territory”
means
anywhere in the United States or Canada in which the Acquired Company conducts
business as of the Closing Date.
“Seller
Material Adverse Effect”
means,
with respect to a Seller, any material adverse effect on the ability of such
Seller to perform its obligations under this Agreement and the Ancillary
Agreements, as applicable.
“Sellers’
Representative” means
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, an individual, who shall serve as the representative of each
of
the Sellers in accordance with Section 2.5
of this
Agreement.
6
“Straddle
Period”
means
any taxable period beginning on or before the Closing Date which includes (but
does not end on) the Closing Date.
“Subsidiary”
or
“Subsidiaries”
means,
with respect to any Person, any corporation, partnership, limited liability
company, joint venture or other legal entity of any kind of which such Person
(either alone or through or together with one or more of its other
Subsidiaries), owns, directly or indirectly, more than fifty percent (50%)
of
the capital stock or other equity interests the holders of which are
(a) generally entitled to vote for the election of the board of directors
or other governing body of such legal entity or (b) generally entitled to
share in the profits or capital of such legal entity.
“Tax”
or
“Taxes”
means
all federal, state, local and foreign income, profits, franchise, capital gains,
gross receipts, environmental, customs duty, capital stock, severance, stamp,
payroll, sales, gift, employment, unemployment, disability, use, personal and
real property, withholding, excise, production, transfer, alternative minimum,
value added, occupancy, levy, assessment, tariff, duty and other taxes and
any
deficiency, fee and related charge or amount (including any fine, penalty,
interest or other charge related thereto) imposed, assessed or collected by
or
under the authority of any Governmental Entity or payable pursuant to a tax
sharing arrangement or any other Contract relating to the sharing of payment
of
any such tax, levy, assessment, tariff, duty, deficiency or fee.
“Tax
Returns”
means
any return, declaration, report, claim for refund, or information return or
statement relating to Taxes, including any schedule or attachment thereto,
and
including any amendment thereof, including any Short-Year Returns.
“Transfer
Taxes”
means
sales, use, transfer, real property transfer, recording, documentary, stamp,
registration and stock transfer Taxes and any similar Taxes.
“Treasury
Regulations”
means
the federal income Tax regulations promulgated under the Code.
“Trust”
means
an irrevocable trust established by the Buyer or Buyer’s Guarantor pursuant to a
standard form of “rabbi trust” agreement with Trustee which is intended to be a
grantor trust for federal tax purposes, and the principal and earnings of which
(a) shall be used for the exclusive purpose of providing the benefits under
the
Management Supplemental Retention Plan and the Employee Supplemental Retention
Plan or (b) in the event of an insolvency of Buyer or Buyer’s Guarantor or their
Affiliates or other event that would cause the assets of the trust to be made
available to the general creditors of Buyer or Buyer’s Guarantor or their
Affiliates, shall be repaid to the Sellers and shall not be made available
to
any other creditors of Buyer or Buyer’s Guarantor or their
Affiliates.
“Trustee”
means
Vanguard Fiduciary Trust Company or other bank or trust company serving as
trustee of the Trust.
7
1.2 Other
Defined Terms.
The
following terms have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Sections of
the
Agreement set forth below:
Action
|
3.14
|
Acquired
Company
|
Preamble
|
Acquired
Company Benefit Plan
|
3.15
|
Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedule
|
Preamble
to Article III
|
Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedule Supplement
|
6.6(a)
|
Acquired
Company Intellectual Property
|
3.9(d)
|
Acquired
Company Licenses
|
3.9(d)
|
Acquired
Company Owned Intellectual Property
|
3.9(b)
|
Acquisition
|
2.1
|
Affected
Employee
|
7.2(a)
|
Agreement
|
Preamble
|
Applicable
Survival Period
|
11.1(b)
|
Balance
Sheet
|
3.4(a)
|
Buyer
|
Preamble
|
Buyer
Disclosure Schedule
|
Preamble
to Article V
|
Buyer
Guaranty
|
14.3(a)
|
Buyer’s
Guarantor
|
Preamble
|
Buyer
Indemnitees
|
11.2(a)
|
Closing
|
2.2
|
Closing
Date
|
2.2
|
Closing
Date Balance Sheet
|
2.4(b)(i)
|
Common
Stock
|
Recitals
|
Confidential
Information
|
13.3
|
Deductible
|
11.2(d)
|
Dispute
Notice
|
2.4(c)
|
Dispute
Period
|
2.4(c)
|
Employee
Supplemental Retention Amount
|
7.2(b)
|
Ending
Escrow Amount
|
2.6(a)
|
Escrow
Account
|
2.3(a)(ii)
|
Estimated
Closing Date Net Asset Value
|
2.4(a)
|
Financial
Statements
|
3.4(a)
|
GAAP
|
3.4(a)
|
Improvements
|
3.25
|
Indemnifiable
Tax
|
12.7(a)
|
Indemnity
Cap
|
11.2(d)
|
Independent
Accountants
|
2.4(f)
|
Intellectual
Property
|
3.9(a)
|
Interim
Financial Statements
|
3.4(a)
|
Leases
|
3.8(b)
|
Losses
|
11.2(a)
|
Management
Incentive Plan Tax Benefit Amount
|
12.9
|
Management
Supplemental Retention Amount
|
7.2(c)
|
Material
Contracts
|
3.13(c)
|
Material
Customers
|
3.22
|
Negative
Net Asset Adjustment
|
2.4(g)
|
Non-Compete
Period
|
13.1
|
8
Non-Compete
Sellers
|
13.1
|
Notice
of Claim
|
11.4(a)
|
Policies
|
3.18
|
Position
Statement
|
2.4(f)
|
Post-Closing
Delivery
|
2.4(b)
|
Preliminary
Title Report
|
8.4(b)
|
Purchased
Securities
|
Recitals
|
Real
Property
|
4.8
|
Resolution
Period
|
2.4(e)
|
Rivergate
|
Preamble
|
Seller
|
Preamble
|
Seller
Disclosure Schedule
|
Preamble
to Article IV
|
Seller
Disclosure Schedule Supplement
|
6.6(b)
|
Seller
Indemnitees
|
11.3
|
Sellers’
Guarantor
|
Preamble
|
Sellers’
Guaranty
|
14.2(a)
|
Short
Year Returns
|
12.3
|
Survey
|
8.4(c)
|
Tax
Proceeding
|
12.7(a)
|
Third
Party Claim
|
11.4(a)
|
Third
Party Defense
|
11.4(b)
|
Third
Party Licenses
|
3.9(d)
|
Transactional
Reps
|
11.1(a)
|
1.3 Construction.
For the
purposes of this Agreement, except as otherwise expressly provided herein or
unless the context otherwise requires: (a) the meaning assigned to each
term defined herein shall be equally applicable to both the singular and the
plural forms of such term and vice versa, and words denoting either gender
shall
include both genders as the context requires; (b) where a word or phrase is
defined herein, each of its other grammatical forms shall have a corresponding
meaning; (c) the terms “hereof,” “herein,” “hereunder,” “hereby” and
“herewith” and words of similar import shall, unless otherwise stated, be
construed to refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular
provision of this Agreement; (d) when a reference is made in this Agreement
to an Article, Section, paragraph, Exhibit or Schedule, such reference is to
an
Article, Section, paragraph, Exhibit or Schedule to this Agreement unless
otherwise specified; (e) the word “include,” “includes,” and “including”
when used in this Agreement shall be deemed to be followed by the words “without
limitation,” unless otherwise specified; and (f) a reference to any party
to this Agreement or any other agreement or document shall include such party’s
predecessors, successors and permitted assigns.
9
ARTICLE
II
PURCHASE
AND SALE
2.1 Purchase
and Sale of the Purchased Securities.
Upon
the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement, at the Closing,
the
Sellers shall sell and transfer to the Buyer, and the Buyer shall purchase
from
the Sellers, all right, title and interest of the Sellers in all of the Equity
Securities of the Acquired Company. The aggregate purchase price for all of
the
Purchased Securities is the Purchase Price, subject to adjustment as provided
in
Section 2.4
of this
Agreement. The Purchase Price shall be paid as provided in Section 2.3.
The
purchase and sale of the Purchased Securities is referred to in this Agreement
as the “Acquisition.”
2.2 Closing
Date.
The
closing of the Acquisition (the “Closing”)
shall
take place at the offices of Pillsbury Xxxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx LLP, 000 Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, 00xx Xxxxx, Xxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000 at 10:00 a.m. Los
Angeles time on the later of (i) October 31, 2006 or (ii) the
date that is two business days following the termination of the applicable
waiting period under the HSR Act, or (iii) at such other time and place as
the parties may agree. The date on which the Closing occurs is referred to
in
this Agreement as the “Closing
Date.”
Subject
to the provisions of Article
X,
failure
to consummate the purchase and sale provided for in this Agreement on the date
and time and at the place determined pursuant to this Section 2.2
will not
result in the termination of this Agreement and will not relieve any party
of
any obligation under this Agreement. The Closing shall be effective as of 11:59
p.m. on the Closing Date.
2.3 Transactions
to be Effected at the Closing.
(a) At
the
Closing, the Buyer shall:
(i) pay
to
each of the Sellers its Pro-Rata Portion of the Closing Amount by wire transfer
of immediately available funds to the account or accounts designated in writing
to the Buyer by Sellers’ Representative no later than three (3) Business Days
prior to the Closing Date;
(ii) deposit
$17,500,000 (the “Escrow
Amount”)
with
the Escrow Agent by wire transfer of immediately available funds to the account
designated by the Escrow Agent in the Escrow Agreement (the “Escrow
Account”);
and
(iii) deliver
to the Sellers all other documents, instruments or certificates required to
be
delivered by the Buyer at or prior to the Closing pursuant to this
Agreement.
(b) At
the
Closing, each of the Sellers shall:
(i) deliver
to the Buyer a certificate or certificates representing the Purchased Securities
being sold by them hereunder duly endorsed or accompanied by stock powers duly
endorsed in blank, and
10
(ii) deliver,
or cause to be delivered, all other documents, instruments or certificates
required to be delivered by the Sellers at or prior to the Closing pursuant
to
this Agreement.
2.4 Calculation
and Payment of the Net Asset Value Adjustment.
(a) The
parties agree that in lieu of the Sellers’ Representative delivering to the
Buyer a statement setting forth the Sellers’ good faith estimate and calculation
of the Closing Date Net Asset Value (the “Estimated
Closing Date Net Asset Value”),
the
parties agree that the Estimated Closing Date Net Asset Value shall equal the
Base Net Asset Value.
(b) As
promptly as reasonably practicable after the Closing Date, and in any event
not
later than sixty (60) days after the Closing Date, the Buyer shall prepare
and
deliver to the Sellers’ Representative (such delivery, the “Post-Closing
Delivery”):
(i) a
balance
sheet (the “Closing
Date Balance Sheet”)
of the
Acquired Company (without giving effect to the consummation of the Acquisition)
prepared as of the close of business on the Closing Date in accordance with
Schedule 2.4
and with
GAAP and consistently with the preparation of the Balance Sheet; provided,
however,
that if
GAAP permits different treatments of any item, the historical treatment used
by
the Acquired Company (provided it is one of the GAAP treatments) shall be
utilized but in all cases the accounting procedures in Schedule 2.4
shall
govern; and
(ii) a
calculation of the Acquired Company’s Closing Date Net Asset Value.
(c) The
Sellers’ Representative shall have thirty (30) days from the date the Buyer
makes the Post-Closing Delivery (such period, the “Dispute
Period”)
to
notify the Buyer, in writing (such notice, the “Dispute
Notice”),
as to
whether the Sellers’ Representative agrees or disagrees with the Buyer’s
preparation of the Closing Date Balance Sheet and its calculation of the
Acquired Company’s Closing Date Net Asset Value. The Dispute Notice shall set
forth in reasonable detail the reasons why the Sellers’ Representative believes
the Buyer’s preparation of the Closing Date Balance Sheet or calculation of
Closing Date Net Asset Value is incorrect. During the Dispute Period, the
Sellers’ Representative and its representatives shall be permitted to review
(during regular business hours and upon reasonable prior notice) the working
papers of the Buyer and (where applicable) the Buyer’s accountants relating to
the matters set forth in the Post-Closing Delivery.
(d) If
the
Sellers’ Representative fails to deliver a Dispute Notice to the Buyer during
the Dispute Period, the Closing Date Balance Sheet and the Buyer’s calculation
of Closing Date Net Asset Value shall be deemed to be correct and complete
and
final and shall be binding upon the Buyer and the Sellers.
11
(e) If
the
Sellers’ Representative delivers a Dispute Notice to the Buyer during the
Dispute Period, the Buyer and the Sellers’ Representative shall, for a period of
thirty (30) days from the date the Dispute Notice is delivered to the Buyer
(such period, the “Resolution
Period”),
use
their respective good faith efforts to amicably resolve the items in dispute.
Any items so resolved by the parties shall be deemed to be final and correct
as
so resolved and shall be binding upon each of the Buyer and the
Sellers.
(f) If
the
Buyer and the Sellers’ Representative are unable to resolve all of the items in
dispute during the Resolution Period, then either the Buyer, on the one hand,
or
the Sellers’ Representative, on the other hand, may refer the items remaining in
dispute to the Los Angeles office of Deloitte & Touche LLP (the
“Independent
Accountants”).
Such
referral shall be made in writing to the Independent Accountants, a copy of
which shall concurrently be delivered to the non-referring party. The referring
party shall furnish the Independent Accountants, at the time of such referral,
with the Closing Date Balance Sheet, the Buyer’s calculation of Closing Date Net
Asset Value and the Dispute Notice. The parties shall also furnish the
Independent Accountants with such other information and documents as the
Independent Accountants may reasonably request in order for them to resolve
the
items in dispute. The Buyer and the Sellers’ Representative shall each also,
within ten (10) days of the date the items in dispute are referred to the
Independent Accountants, provide the Independent Accountants with a written
notice (a “Position
Statement”)
describing in reasonable detail their respective positions on the items in
dispute (a copy of which will concurrently be delivered to the other party).
If
any party fails to timely deliver its Position Statement to the Independent
Accountants, the Independent Accountants shall resolve the items in dispute
solely upon the basis of the information otherwise provided to them. The
Independent Accountants shall resolve all disputed items in a written
determination to be delivered to the Buyer and the Sellers’ Representative
within thirty (30) days after such matter is referred to them; provided,
however,
that
any delay in delivering such determination shall not invalidate such
determination or deprive the Independent Accountants of jurisdiction to resolve
the items in dispute. The decision of the Independent Accountants as to the
items in dispute shall be final and binding upon the Buyer and the Sellers
and
shall not be subject to judicial review. The fees and expenses of the
Independent Accountants shall be borne by the Sellers’ Representative and Buyer
in inverse proportion as they may prevail on matters resolved by the Independent
Accountants, which proportionate allocations shall also be determined by the
Independent Accountants.
(g) Within
ten (10) days after the final determination of Closing Date Net Asset Value
(whether through failure of the Sellers’ Representative to timely deliver a
Dispute Notice, agreement of the parties, or determination of the Independent
Accountants), if the Closing Date Net Asset Value (as so finally determined)
is
less than the Estimated Closing Date Net Asset Value (the amount of such
difference, the “Negative
Net Asset Adjustment”)
and if
the Negative Net Asset Adjustment is at least $100,000, the Sellers’
Representative (for and on behalf of each Seller, but without any personal
liability whatsoever) shall pay the Buyer an amount equal to the combined
Pro-Rata Portion of the Negative Net Asset Adjustment plus
interest
thereon accruing at a rate of 5.25% per annum,
calculated on the basis of a 365-day year for the actual number of days that
such amount or any part thereof remains unpaid from the Closing Date,
and
each Seller shall reimburse the Sellers’ Representative for his, her or its
Pro-Rata Portion of the Negative Net Asset Adjustment or the Sellers’
Representative may pay such amount out of the account he establishes pursuant
to
Section 2.5(a).
12
2.5 Sellers’
Representative.
(a) Each
Seller hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints the Sellers’ Representative
to act as its exclusive agent and attorney-in-fact to give and receive notices
on behalf of the Sellers (including, without limitation, Dispute Notices) and
in
general to do all things and to perform all acts on each Seller’s behalf as may
be contemplated by this Agreement and the Escrow Agreement (including, without
limitation, the resolution of net asset value adjustment and indemnity claim
disputes). The Sellers shall be bound by all acts of the Sellers’ Representative
taken in connection and conformity with this Agreement and the Escrow Agreement.
The Sellers’ Representative also shall be entitled to establish one or more cash
reserve trust accounts (to be held for the benefit of the Sellers) to reserve
for potential indemnity claims, any potential Negative Asset Value Adjustment,
or any expenses, costs or other amounts (including, without limitation,
attorneys’, accountants’ and other professional fees and costs) as the Sellers’
Representative deems reasonably appropriate or necessary.
(b) This
power of attorney, and all authority hereby conferred, is irrevocable and will
not be terminated by any act of any Seller or by operation of Law, whether
by
the death or incapacity of any Seller or by the occurrence of any other event.
The Sellers’ Representative is acting solely in an agency capacity and will have
no personal liability of any type for any action taken in the capacity of the
Sellers’ Representative in accordance with the terms of this Agreement,
including, without limitation, the compromise, settlement, payment or defense
of
any claim (including, without limitation, expenses and costs associated
therewith) under this Agreement regardless of whether any Seller is the claimant
or the party against whom a claim is being made, other than relating to the
gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Sellers’
Representative.
(c) In
connection with the exercise of his duties, the Sellers’ Representative will be
entitled to consult with and rely upon legal counsel and other professional
advisors, with the costs thereof (and all other out-of-pocket costs reasonably
incurred by the Sellers’ Representative incident to discharging his duties under
this Agreement and the Escrow Agreement) to be allocated among the Sellers
in
accordance with their Pro-Rata Portion (the amount of which may be withheld
from
any payment due to any Seller hereunder) and will have no personal liability
of
any type hereunder for any actions of any type taken in good faith reliance
upon
the advice of such advisors.
(d) Any
payment received by the Sellers’ Representative on behalf of a Seller in respect
of his, her or its Purchased Securities, as the case may be, pursuant to this
Agreement and the Escrow Agreement shall be distributed to such Seller, as
the
case may be, within ten (10) Business Days after receipt thereof by the Sellers’
Representative, but in all cases subject to any reasonable reserves as
contemplated in Section 2.5(a).
(e) Each
Seller agrees jointly and severally, to indemnify, defend and hold the Sellers’
Representative harmless from and against any and all claims, losses,
liabilities, damages and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable
attorneys’ fees and costs) which he may suffer or sustain as a result of any
action taken in good faith hereunder or under the Escrow Agreement.
13
2.6 Escrow
Account.
Subject
to the terms and conditions of the Escrow Agreement,
on the
date fifteen (15) months after the Closing Date, the Escrow Agent shall pay
90% of the remaining Escrow Amount net of any Losses set forth in any unresolved
Notice of Claim(s) held in the Escrow Account on such date to the Sellers’
Representative (for and on behalf of each of the Sellers), in immediately
available funds. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Escrow Agreement,
on
the date eighteen (18) months after the Closing Date, the Escrow Agent
shall pay the remaining Escrow Amount net of any Losses set forth in any
unresolved Notice of Claim(s) held in the Escrow Account on such date, to the
Sellers’ Representative (for and on behalf of each of the Sellers), in
immediately available funds. Thereafter, amounts subject to any unresolved
Notice of Claim(s) shall be distributed to the party entitled thereto promptly
upon the final resolution of such Notice of Claim in accordance with the Escrow
Agreement. The aggregate amount of funds released to the Sellers’ Representative
out of the Escrow Account are referred to herein as the “Ending
Escrow Amount,”
and
the
Sellers’ Representative shall distribute all such funds to the Sellers in
accordance with Section
2.5.
ARTICLE
III
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF THE ACQUIRED COMPANY
The
Acquired Company represents and warrants to the Buyer that each statement
contained in this Article III
is true
and correct as of the date hereof and the same shall be true on the Closing
Date
(subject to any Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule Supplement or other notice
provided in accordance with Section
6.6),
except
as set forth in the disclosure schedule accompanying this Agreement, which
is
attached to this Agreement and is designated therein as being the “Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedule” (the “Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedule”).
The
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule has been arranged in sections corresponding
to the Sections of this Article
III.
Each
section of the Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule shall be deemed to
incorporate by reference all information disclosed in any other section of
the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule to the extent that the information
disclosed is in sufficient detail so that it is reasonably apparent from a
reading of the disclosure that such disclosure is applicable to such other
section.
3.1 Organization,
Good Standing, Authority and Enforceability.
(a) The
Acquired Company is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good
standing under the Laws of the State of California, has all requisite power
to
own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its business as now being
conducted, and is duly qualified to do business and is in good standing as
a
foreign corporation in each jurisdiction in which it owns or leases property
or
conducts any business so as to require such qualification, except where the
failure to be so qualified would not reasonably be expected to have an Acquired
Company Material Adverse Effect or would not result in the imposition of a
material fine, penalty or expense.
(b) Sellers
have delivered to Buyer’s Guarantor complete and correct Organizational
Documents of the Acquired Company, as currently in effect and complete and
correct copies of the Acquired Company’s minutes of its meetings of its board of
directors and shareholders since its inception. The Acquired Company is not
in
default of or in violation of any provisions of its Organizational
Documents.
14
(c) Section 3.1(c)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a complete and accurate
list of the Acquired Company’s directors and officers.
(d) Except
as
set forth on Section 3.1(d)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules, the Acquired Company has not conducted
business under any other name other than Cottage Bakery, Inc.
3.2 Capitalization.
(a) The
authorized capital stock of the Acquired Company consists of 5,000 shares of
Common Stock par value $10.00 per share, of which 4,000 shares of Common Stock
are issued and outstanding and held of record by the Sellers as set forth in
Section 3.2(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule. All of the outstanding shares of Common
Stock have been duly authorized, validly issued and fully paid, and are
nonassessable.
(b) Other
than the Purchased Securities, the Acquired Company does not have, and on the
Closing Date will not have, outstanding any shares of Common Stock or any other
Equity Securities.
(c) (i) There
are no existing rights, calls, or commitments of any character relating to
the
Purchased Securities or other Equity Securities of the Acquired Company, and
(ii) except as set forth in the Organizational Documents of the Acquired
Company, no Person has any right of first refusal, pre-emptive right,
subscription right or similar right with respect to any shares of Common Stock
or other Equity Securities of the Acquired Company.
(d) Other
than Cottage Bakery Retail, Inc., a California corporation, and The Xxxxxxxxx,
Inc., a California corporation, the Acquired Company has never had any
Subsidiaries. Cottage Bakery Retail, Inc. ceased business operations in July
2004. The Xxxxxxxxx, Inc. was spun-off by the Acquired Company on November
30,
2001. Other than the Sellers, the Sellers’ Guarantors or the aforementioned
Subsidiaries, the Acquired Company has never had any Affiliates.
(e) Sellers
are, and on the Closing Date will be, the record owners and holders of the
Equity Securities, free and clear of all Liens.
(f) The
Acquired Company does not own or have any Contract to acquire, any Equity
Securities or other securities of any Person or any direct or indirect equity
ownership in any trust in any other business, other than ownership of less
than
one percent (1%) of the outstanding stock of any publicly-traded
corporation.
15
3.3 No
Conflicts; Consents.
(a) Except
as
set forth on Section 3.3(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, the execution and delivery of this
Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements by the Sellers do not, and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby (in each case, with or
without the giving of notice or lapse of time, or both) will not,
(i) violate the provisions of any of the Organizational Documents or any
resolution adopted by the board of directors or the shareholders of the Acquired
Company, (ii) assuming compliance by the Acquired Company with the matters
referred to in Section 3.3(b),
violate
or conflict with or result in a material violation of any Law, Authorization
or
Order applicable to the Acquired Company on the date hereof, (iii) give any
Governmental Entity or give any other Person the right to terminate the
Contemplated Transactions or to exercise any remedy or relief under any Law,
Authorization or Order to which the Acquired Company or any of the assets are
subject, (iv) result in the creation of any Liens (other than any Permitted
Lien) upon any of the assets owned or used by the Acquired Company,
(v) contravene or conflict with in any material respect, or would not
result in a material violation or breach of any provision of or give any Person
the right to accelerate the maturity or performance of, or to cancel, terminate
or modify any Material Contract, or (vi) give any Governmental Entity the
right to revoke, withdraw, suspend, cancel, terminate or modify, any
Authorizations that are held by the Acquired Company and that are related to
the
business of or any assets owned or used by the Acquired Company or necessary
to
conduct the Acquired Company’s business in substantially the same manner as
previously conducted, except where such action by a Governmental Entity would
not result in the imposition of a material fine, penalty or
expense.
(b) Except
as
set forth in Section 3.3(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, no Authorization or Order of,
registration, declaration or filing with, or notice to any Governmental Entity
is required by the Acquired Company in connection with the execution and
delivery of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements and the consummation
of
the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, except for such
Authorizations, Orders, declarations, filings and notices the failure to obtain
which would not reasonably be expected to have an Acquired Company Material
Adverse Effect or would not result in the imposition of a material fine, penalty
or expense.
3.4 Financial
Statements; Acquired
Company Debt.
(a) True
and
complete copies of (i) the audited balance sheet of the Acquired Company as
of June 30, 2003, 2004 and 2005, together with statements of income,
changes in shareholder equity and cash flows for the fiscal year then ended
and
(ii) the audited balance sheet of the Acquired Company as of June 30,
2006 (the “Balance
Sheet”),
together with statements of income, changes in shareholder equity and cash
flows
for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, are included in Section 3.4(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule (the “Financial
Statements”).
Together the Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with United
States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”)
applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved (except as may
be
indicated in the notes thereto) and on such basis fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, cash flows, changes in Equity Securities
and
results of operations of the Acquired Company as of the respective dates thereof
and for the respective periods indicated. True and complete copies of unaudited
balance sheets of the Acquired Company as of August 31, 2006, together with
statements of income for the fiscal period then ended are included in
Section
3.4(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule (the “Interim
Financial Statements”).
The
Interim Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the Acquired
Company’s accounting principles applied on a consistent basis through the period
involved and present in all material respects the financial condition and
results of operations of the Acquired Company as of the respective date for
the
period involved.
16
(b) Except
as
set forth on Section 3.4(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, the Acquired Company does not have any
Indebtedness as of the date hereof. At the Closing Date, the Acquired Company
will not have any Indebtedness.
3.5 Taxes.
(a) All
material Tax Returns required to have been filed through and including the
date
hereof by the Acquired Company have been filed, and each such Tax Return is
true, correct and complete in all material respects. All Taxes shown on such
Tax
Returns as due have been paid by or on behalf of the filing entity or
entities.
(b) Except
as
set forth on Section 3.5(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, there is no audit currently pending
against the Acquired Company in respect of any Taxes.
There
are no material Liens on any of the assets of the Acquired Company that arose
in
connection with any failure (or alleged failure) to pay any Tax, other than
Liens for Taxes not yet due and payable.
(c) The
Acquired Company has withheld and paid all material Taxes required to have
been
withheld and paid in connection with amounts paid or owing to any third
party.
(d) The
Acquired Company has not waived any statute of limitations in respect of any
taxable year or other period relating to any Taxes or agreed to any extension
of
time with respect to a Tax assessment or deficiency.
(e) The
Acquired Company is not a party to any Tax allocation or sharing
agreement.
3.6 Compliance
with Law; Authorizations.
(a) The
Acquired Company is, and at all times has been, in compliance in all material
respects with all Laws to which it is or was subject, except for any
noncompliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, (i) prohibit
or
materially impair the ability of the Acquired Company to consummate the
Contemplated Transactions hereunder or (ii) result in a material fine or penalty
or (iii) require by Law compliance activity at material expense to the Acquired
Company.
(b) The
Acquired Company owns, holds, possesses or lawfully uses in the operation of
its
business all Authorizations which are necessary for the conduct of such business
as currently conducted or for the ownership and use of the assets owned, used
or
held for use by the Acquired Company except for the absence of which would
not
be expected to result in any material fine, penalty or expense. Such
Authorizations are final, valid, in full force and effect and, to the Knowledge
of the Acquired Company, are not subject to review or appeal or subject to
any
pending or threatened legal proceeding.
17
(c) The
Acquired Company has not and its Affiliates on behalf of the Company have not,
directly or indirectly made, authorized or received any payment contribution
or
gift of money, property or services in violation of applicable Law (i) as a
kickback or bribe to any Person or (ii) to any political organization or
the holder of, or any aspirant to, any elective or appointive office of any
Governmental Entity.
3.7 Title
to Personal Property.
(a) The
Acquired Company has good title to, or a valid interest in, all tangible
personal property used in the conduct of the business of the Acquired Company,
free and clear of all Liens (other than Permitted Liens), except for any such
property disposed of since the date hereof in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practice. To the Knowledge of the Acquired Company, all
such tangible personal property currently in use by the Acquired Company,
considering their age and years of service, is structurally sound; in good
operating condition and repair, ordinary wear and tear excepted; and maintained
in all material respects in accordance with normal
industry
practice. The personal property owned, used or held for use by Acquired Company
is sufficient for the continued conduct of the Acquired Company’s business after
Closing in substantially the same manner as conducted prior to Closing. After
the Closing, as a result of the Contemplated Transactions, the Buyer will own
or
will have a valid right to use (through its ownership of the Acquired Company
and the Real Property) all of the personal property and assets necessary to
operate the Acquired Company and its business in substantially the same manner
as currently conducted.
(b) This
Section 3.7
does not
relate to (i) real property or any interest therein, such items being the
subject of Section 3.8,
or
(ii) to Intellectual Property, such items being the subject of Section 3.9.
3.8 Real
Property.
(a) Section 3.8(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules contains a complete and accurate list
of
all real property used or held for use by the Acquired Company. To the Knowledge
of the Acquired Company, on or prior to the date hereof, all certificates of
occupancy, permits, licenses, approvals and other authorizations required in
connection with the present operation of the business of the Acquired Company
on
the Real Property have been lawfully issued to Rivergate and/or the Acquired
Company and are, as of the date hereof, in full force and effect, and to the
Knowledge of the Acquired Company, Rivergate and the Acquired Company are in
material compliance with all applicable zoning ordinances, regulations and
permits and all of the Real Property has adequate access to public roads and
utilities.
(b) Section 3.8(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules contains a complete and accurate list
of
all leases and subleases of the real property under which the Acquired Company
is either lessor or lessee (collectively, the “Leases”).
The
Seller has delivered or made available to Buyer’s Guarantor or its counsel a
true and complete copy of every Lease. To the Knowledge of the Acquired Company,
the Acquired Company is not in default in the performance, observance or
fulfillment of any material obligation, covenant or condition contained in
any
Lease (with or without the giving of notice or lapse of time, or both). The
Leases are valid and binding agreements which are enforceable in accordance
with
their respective terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by
(i) bankruptcy, insolvency,
18
reorganization,
moratorium or other similar laws affecting or relating to creditors’ rights
generally, and (ii) the availability of injunctive relief and other
equitable remedies. No event has occurred or circumstances exist (to the
Knowledge of the Acquired Company with respect to actions of the other party)
that (with or without the giving of notice or lapse of time, or both) will
contravene, conflict with or result in a material violation or breach or give
the other party the right to declare default in the performance, observance
or
fulfillment of any obligations, exercises or conditions contained in any
Lease.
(c) The
Real
Property is in suitable condition for the conduct of the business of the
Acquired Company as currently conducted. Upon consummation of the transactions
contemplated by the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow
Instructions, the Buyer will have a valid right to use all of the Real Property
necessary to operate the Acquired Company and its business in substantially
the
same manner as presently conducted.
(d) The
Acquired Company does not own any real property and has not owned, leased or
used any real property other than as set forth on Section 3.8(d)
the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules.
(e) Neither
the Acquired Company nor any of the Sellers have received any written notice
of
any condemnation or eminent domain proceedings, lawsuits or administrative
actions related to the Real Property that could reasonably be expected to
materially, adversely affect the current use, occupancy, transferability or
value of the Real Property.
(f) Except
for the Acquired Company, there are no adverse parties in possession of the
Real
Property or of any part thereof.
(g) To
the
Knowledge of the Acquired Company, all utilities necessary to service the Real
Property and to conduct the business of the Acquired Company as now conducted
at
the Real Property, are connected to the Real Property and available to
Rivergate.
(h) The
Acquired Company has not received written notice (i) of any public plans or
proposals for changes in zoning, road grade, access or other municipal
improvements which would materially adversely affect the Real Property and
(ii)
that any ordinance authorizing improvements, the costs of which might be
assessed against the Buyer or the Real Property, is pending.
(i) The
representations and warranties contained in Sections 3.6(a)
and (b), 3.8, 3.14 and 3.17
are the
Acquired Company’s sole representations and warranties with respect to Real
Property and interests therein.
3.9 Intellectual
Property.
(a) “Intellectual
Property”
means
trade secrets, inventions, know-how, formulae and processes, patents (including
all reissues, divisions, continuations and extensions thereof), patent
applications, trademarks, trademark registrations, trademark applications,
tradedress rights, service marks, service xxxx registrations, service xxxx
applications, copyrights, copyright registrations, copyright applications,
domain names, fictitious business names and trade names, customer lists,
software, data processing technology, manufacturing processes and product
formulations and recipes.
19
(b) Section 3.9(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a list that includes all
material Intellectual Property owned by the Acquired Company (the “Acquired
Company Owned Intellectual Property”)
that
is registered or the subject of an application for registration.
(c) The
“Material
Intellectual Property”
is
the
Intellectual Property that is necessary for the operation of the Acquired
Company’s business in substantially the same manner as presently conducted. The
Acquired Company (i) is the owner of all right, title, and interest or
(ii) has a valid right to use, each of the Material Intellectual
Property.
(d) Section
3.9(d)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a list of any Contract
(i) pursuant to which any third party is authorized to use any Acquired
Company Owned Intellectual Property (the “Acquired
Company Licenses”)
and/or
(ii) pursuant to which the Acquired Company is licensed to use Intellectual
Property owned by a third party and which is material to the business of the
Acquired Company (the “Third
Party Licenses,”
and
together with the Acquired Company Owned Intellectual Property, the
“Acquired
Company Intellectual Property”).
The
Acquired Company is not in default in the performance, observance or fulfillment
of any obligation, covenant or condition contained in any Acquired Company
License or Third Party License, except where such default would not reasonably
be expected to have an Acquired Company Material Adverse Effect or would not
result in the imposition of a material fine, penalty or expense.
(e) As
of the
date hereof: (i) there are no claims pending or threatened in writing against
the Acquired Company alleging that its business as now conducted infringes
or
otherwise violates the Intellectual Property rights of any Person; and
(ii) to the Knowledge of the Acquired Company, no other Person is
infringing or otherwise violating any Acquired Company Owned Intellectual
Property.
(f) The
Acquired Company has taken reasonable measures, as appropriate, to maintain
and
protect the proprietary nature of the Acquired Company Intellectual Property,
and to maintain the secrecy of the trade secrets that the Acquired Company
or
any of its Subsidiaries uses.
(g) The
representations and warranties contained in this Section 3.9
are the
Acquired Company’s sole representations and warranties with respect to
intellectual property matters.
3.10 Absence
of Certain Changes or Events
.
Since
the Balance Sheet Date to the date of this Agreement, no event has occurred
that
has had an Acquired Company Material Adverse Effect and the Acquired Company
has
not taken any of the actions specified in Section 6.2.
3.11 Inventory
and Accounts Receivable.
(a) To
the
Knowledge of the Acquired Company, the Acquired Company is not expected to
experience, in the foreseeable future, any material difficulty in obtaining,
in
the desired quantity and quality, the raw materials, supplies or component
products required for the production or sale of its products.
20
(b) The
inventory of the Acquired Company reflected in the Balance Sheet and/or the
Closing Date Balance Sheet, consists (or will consist as the case may be) of
a
quantity and quality useable and saleable in the ordinary course of business,
except for obsolete items and items of below standard quality, all of which
have
been written off or written down to net realizable value in the Balance Sheet
or
on the accounting records of the Acquired Company as of the Closing Date, as
the
case may be. The quantities of each item of inventory are not excessive, but
are
reasonable in the ordinary course of business.
(c) All
accounts receivable of the Acquired Company reflected in the Balance Sheet
and
all accounts receivable of the Acquired Company that have arisen since the
Balance Sheet Date (except such accounts receivable as have been collected
since
such dates) are valid and enforceable claims, and the goods and services sold
and delivered that gave rise to such accounts were actually sold and delivered
by the Acquired Company in the ordinary course of business. Section 3.11
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule contains a true and complete aging of
each of the accounts receivable of the Acquired Company as of the Balance Sheet
Date, which is true and correct in all respects.
3.12 No
Undisclosed Liabilities.
The
Acquired Company does not have any Liabilities except (i) to the extent set
forth or provided for in the Financial Statements or the notes thereto,
(ii) as set forth on the Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule,
(iii) for non-material Liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of
business since the Balance Sheet Date, or (iv) for Liabilities under
Contracts that do not arise out of or result from a breach by the Acquired
Company, except for such Liabilities that would not individually or in the
aggregate reasonably be expected to have an Acquired Company Material Adverse
Effect.
3.13 Contracts.
(a) Section 3.13(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule contains a complete and accurate list,
and
Sellers have delivered or made available to Buyer’s Guarantor true and complete
copies (with the exception of certain exhibits or schedules thereto), or written
descriptions if not in writing, of the following Contracts to which the Acquired
Company is a party and that are currently in effect:
(i) each
Contract that involves performance of services, or delivery of goods or
materials by the Acquired Company of an amount or value in excess of
$50,000;
(ii) each
Contract that involves the performance of services or delivery of goods or
materials to the Acquired Company of an amount in excess of
$50,000;
(iii) each
Contract that is presently expected to result in a loss upon completion or
performance thereof in an amount in excess of $50,000;
(iv) each
licensing Contract with respect to Intellectual Property assets that are
material to the business of the Acquired Company, including agreements with
current or former employees or consultants or Contracts regarding the
appropriation or the nondisclosure of the Intellectual Property
Assets;
21
(v) each
collective bargaining agreement to or with any labor union or other employee
representative of a group of employees and any Contract with any employee,
officer or director of the Acquired Company in the nature of a compensation
or
employment arrangement;
(vi) each
joint venture, partnership, and other Contract (however named) involving a
sharing of profits, losses, costs, or liabilities by the Acquired Company with
any other Person;
(vii) each
Contract containing covenants that restrict the business activity of the
Acquired Company or limit the freedom of the Acquired Company to compete with
any Person;
(viii) each
Contract providing for payments to or by any Person based on sales, purchases,
or profits, other than direct payments for goods;
(ix) each
Contract for capital expenditures with a remaining balance to be paid in excess
of $50,000;
(x) all
documents creating any existing Indebtedness of the Acquired
Company;
(xi) any
Contract (or group of related Contracts with the same party) that includes
provisions regarding minimum volumes or volume discounts having a value in
excess of $50,000 per year;
(xii) any
Contract pursuant to which a rebate, discount, bonus, commission (including
but
not limited to broker or distributor Contracts) or other payment with respect
to
the sale of any product of the Acquired Company that cannot be terminated by
the
Acquired Company without penalty upon thirty (30) days notice;
(xiii) any
Contract involving any Seller and the Acquired Company or relating to any Seller
and any Equity Securities;
(xiv) each
power of attorney on behalf of the Acquired Company;
(xv) each
amendment, supplement, and modification (whether oral or written) in respect
of
any of the foregoing; and
(xvi) each
written warranty, guaranty, and or other similar undertaking with respect to
Contractual performance extended by the Acquired Company other than in the
ordinary course of business (such as continuing guarantees customarily provided
to the Acquired Company’s customers in connection with the sale of food
products).
22
(b) Section 3.13(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule contains a true and complete list of
all material Contracts binding on the Acquired Company, with any officer,
director or Affiliate of the Acquired Company; in each case a true and complete
copy of such written Contract or a true and complete summary of such oral
Contract has been delivered or made available to Buyer’s Guarantor
heretofore.
(c) Each
Contract required to be listed in Section 3.13(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule (collectively, the “Material
Contracts”)
is a
valid and binding agreement and enforceable against the Acquired Company, and
to
the Knowledge of the Acquired Company, enforceable against the other party
thereto, in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be
limited by (i) bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other
similar laws affecting or relating to creditors’ rights generally, and
(ii) the availability of injunctive relief and other equitable remedies. No
event has occurred or circumstances exist (to the Knowledge of the Acquired
Company with respect to actions of the other party) that (with or without the
giving of notice or lapse of time, or both) will result in a violation or breach
of or give the other party the right to declare default in the material
performance, observance or fulfillment of any obligation, covenant or condition
contained in any Material Contract.
(d) This
Section 3.13
does not
relate to Leases, such items being the subject of Section 3.8,
or to
Acquired Company Licenses or Third Party Licenses, such items being the subject
of Section 3.9.
3.14 Litigation.
(a) Except
as
set forth on Section
3.14(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, as of the date hereof, there is no action,
suit or proceeding, claim, arbitration, litigation or formal investigation
by
any Governmental Entity (each, an “Action”)
pending or threatened in writing. To the Knowledge of the Acquired Company,
no
event has occurred or circumstances exist that would likely give rise to or
serve as a basis for the commencement of any Action against the Acquired Company
or any of the properties, assets or business of the Acquired
Company.
(b) There
are
no Actions pending or threatened in writing that may challenge or have the
effect of delaying, making illegal or otherwise interfering with any of the
Contemplated Transactions.
3.15 Employee
Benefits.
(a) Section 3.15(a)(i)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a list of each material Acquired
Company Benefit Plan. For purposes of this Agreement, an “Acquired
Company Benefit Plan”
means
any Benefit Plan that is maintained or contributed to by the Acquired Company
for the benefit of the Affected Employees. Except as set forth in Section 3.15(a)(ii)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, each Acquired Company Benefit Plan has
been established and administered in all material respects in accordance with
its terms and in compliance with the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code
and other applicable Laws, and each Acquired Company Benefit Plan intended
to
qualify under section 401(a) of the Code is the subject of a favorable
determination or opinion letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as to
its
qualified status and no event has occurred and no condition exists which would
be reasonably likely to result in the revocation of any such determination
or
opinion.
23
(b) With
respect to each Acquired Company Benefit Plan, the Acquired Company has made
available to the Buyer copies of (i) the most recent annual report on
Form 5500 required to have been filed for each Acquired Company Benefit
Plan, including all schedules thereto; (ii) the most recent determination
or opinion letter, if any, from the IRS for any Acquired Company Benefit Plan
that is intended to qualify under Section 401(a) of the Code and each trust
intended to qualify under Section 501(a) of the Code; (iii) the plan
documents and summary plan descriptions; and (iv) any related trust
agreements, insurance contracts, insurance policies or other documents of any
funding arrangements.
(c) Neither
the Acquired Company, any of the Acquired Company’s Subsidiaries nor any of
their respective ERISA Affiliates has ever maintained, participated in or
contributed to (or been obligated to contribute to) (i) an Acquired Company
Benefit Plan subject to Section 412 of the Code or Title IV of ERISA,
(ii) a “multiemployer plan” (as defined in Section 4001(a)(3) of
ERISA), or (iii) a “multiple employer plan” as defined in ERISA or the
Code. No Acquired Company Benefit Plan is funded by, associated with or related
to a “voluntary employee’s beneficiary association” within the meaning of
Section 501(c)(9) of the Code.
(d) There
are
no legal proceedings pending or threatened in writing on behalf of or against
any Acquired Company Benefit Plan, the assets of any trust under any Acquired
Company Benefit Plan, or the plan sponsor, plan administrator or, any fiduciary
of any Acquired Company Benefit Plan (in the fiduciary’s capacity as such),
other than routine claims for benefits that have been or are being handled
through an administrative claims procedure.
(e) No
Acquired Company Benefit Plan that is a “welfare benefit plan” within the
meaning of Section 3(1) of ERISA provides benefits to former employees of
the Acquired Company or its ERISA Affiliates, other than pursuant to
Section 4980B of the Code or any similar legal requirements.
(f) All
contributions, premiums and other payments required to have been made with
respect to any Acquired Company Benefit Plan have been timely made, accrued
or
reserved for in all material respects.
(g) Except
as
set forth in Section 3.15(g)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule or as contemplated by this Agreement,
neither the execution or delivery of this Agreement nor the consummation of
the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement will (i) result in any payment
or benefit becoming due or payable, or required to be provided, to any director,
employee or independent contractor of the Acquired Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, (ii) increase the amount or value of any benefit or
compensation otherwise payable or required to be provided to any such director,
employee or independent contractor, or (iii) result in the acceleration of
the time of payment, vesting or funding of any such benefit or
compensation.
24
(h) There
has
been no “Prohibited transaction” as such term is defined in Section 406 of
ERISA and Section 4957 of the Code with respect to any Acquired Company
Benefit Plan, which would result in Liability for the Acquired
Company.
3.16 Labor
and Employment Matters.
(a) Section 3.16(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a list of (i) each full,
part time and hourly employees of the Acquired Company as of the date of this
Agreement, which delineates each such employee’s (A) date of hire,
(B) title or job description, (C) the base salary, bonus and
commission opportunity in effect for the current fiscal year, (D) accrued
and unused vacation, sick and other paid time off and (E) current leave
status (if applicable) and (ii) each consultant or other independent
contractor to the Acquired Company who currently renders services to the
Acquired Company (other than Persons who are retained through temporary agencies
for periods of less than ninety (90) days).
(b) The
Acquired Company is not a party to any written employment agreement. The
Acquired Company is not a party or subject to any labor union or collective
bargaining Contract. There are no pending labor disputes, work stoppages,
requests for representation, pickets, work slow-downs due to labor disagreements
or any actions or arbitrations which involve the labor or employment relations
of the Acquired Company.
(c) To
the
Knowledge of the Acquired Company, no officer, employee or director of the
Acquired Company is a party, or is otherwise bound by, any Contract, including
any confidentiality, non-competition or proprietary rights agreement, between
such officer, employee or director and any other person, including any Seller
or
the Acquired Company that in any way adversely affects: (i) the performance
of his duties as an officer, employee or director of the Acquired Company,
or
(ii) the ability of the Acquired Company to conduct its
business.
3.17 Environmental.
Except
as set forth on Section 3.17
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule:
(a) No
Hazardous Material (i) has been released, placed, stored, generated, used,
manufactured, treated, deposited, spilled, discharged, released or disposed
of
on, under or into the air at any Real Property currently owned or leased by
the
Acquired Company or is presently located on or under any Real Property (or
any
property adjoining or adjacent to any Real Property) in violation of any Law,
(ii) is presently maintained, used, generated, or permitted to remain in
place by the Acquired Company in violation of any Law or (iii) is required
by any Governmental Entity pursuant to any Law to be removed, treated or
remediated by the Acquired Company, given the nature of its present condition,
location, material or maintenance, except in the case of clauses (i) - (iii)
as
would not result in the imposition of a material fine, penalty or
expense.
(b) No
written notice, citation, summons, directive or order has been received by
the
Acquired Company and no penalty has been assessed (which have not been paid
or
satisfied) and the Acquired Company has not received any written notice of
any
pending or threatened investigation or review by any Governmental Entity, with
respect to (i) any alleged material violation by the Acquired Company of
any Law or (ii) any alleged material failure by the Acquired Company to
have any environmental permit, certificate, license, approval, registration
or
authorization required in connection with its business or properties, or
(iii) any use, possession, generation, treatment, storage, recycling,
transportation, release or disposal by or on behalf of the Acquired Company
of
any Hazardous Material.
25
(c) The
Acquired Company has not received any written request for information, notice
of
claim, demand or notification that indicates that it may be a “potentially
responsible party” with respect to any investigation or remediation of any
threatened or actual release of any Hazardous Material.
(d) No
written notice has been received by the Acquired Company with respect to the
listing or proposed listing of any property currently or previously owned,
operated or leased by the Acquired Company or any of its Subsidiaries on the
National Priorities List promulgated pursuant to CERCLA or CERCLIS.
(e) Section 3.17(e)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule lists all environmental reports, studies,
evaluations, analyses and similar documents, prepared within the five (5) year
period prior to the date hereof, commissioned by or for the Acquired Company
or
Rivergate, or in the possession of the Acquired Company or Rivergate and related
primarily to compliance with Environmental Laws or the presence of or release
of
any Hazardous Materials on the Real Property used by the Acquired Company and
the Acquired Company has provided or made available to Buyer’s Guarantor copies
of the same.
(f) The
Acquired Company is, and at all times has been, in compliance in all material
respects with all Environmental Laws to which it is or was subject, except
for
any noncompliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, (i) prohibit
or materially impair the ability of the Acquired Company to consummate the
Contemplated Transactions hereunder or (ii) result in a material fine or penalty
or (iii) require by Law compliance activity at material expense to the Acquired
Company.
3.18 Insurance.
(a) Section 3.18
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a list of each material
insurance policy (including all endorsements, amendments and modifications
thereto) maintained by the Acquired Company which covers the Acquired Company
or
the Real Property or the business, property or assets or any director, officer
or employee of the Acquired Company (the “Policies”).
Such
Policies are in full force and effect in all material respects and the Acquired
Company is not in default with respect to its obligations under any such Policy
in such a manner that would negatively impact the ability of the Acquired
Company to seek recovery under any such policy.
(b) Acquired
Company has delivered or made available to Buyer’s Guarantor:
(i) true
and
complete copies of all policies of insurance (including all endorsements,
amendments and modifications thereto) to which the Acquired Company is a party
and under which the Acquired Company, or any director of the Acquired Company,
is or has been covered at any time within the five (5) years preceding the
date
of this Agreement;
26
(ii) all
obligations of the Acquired Company to third parties with respect to insurance
and have identified the policy under which such coverage is provided;
and
(iii) any
arrangements or Contract for the transfer or sharing of any risk by the Acquired
Company other than a policy of insurance.
(c) All
insurance maintained by the Acquired Company during the five most recent fiscal
years of the Acquired Company provides a guaranteed coverage on an occurrence
basis.
(d) With
respect to all insurance policies maintained by the Acquired Company as of
the
date hereof, the Acquired Company has paid all premiums due, and has otherwise
performed all of their material respective obligations, under each policy to
which the Acquired Company is a party or that provides coverage to the Acquired
Company or director thereof. All of the Acquired Company’s current insurance
policies shall remain in full force and effect after consummation of the
Contemplated Transactions. No such insurance policy provides for retro-premium
adjustments. The Acquired Company has not made any materially false statements
in or omitted any material facts from applications for such
insurance.
(e) With
respect to insurance policies maintained by the Acquired Company as of the
date
hereof, the Sellers have not received (i) any refusal of coverage or any
notice that a defense will be afforded with reservation of rights, or
(ii) any notice of cancellation or any other indication that any insurance
policy is no longer in full force or effect or will not be renewed or that
the
issuer of a policy is not willing or able to perform its obligations there
under.
(f) The
Acquired Company has given notice to the insurer of all claims or occurrences
that may be insured under the policies of insurance maintained by the Acquired
Company as of the date hereof.
3.19 Affiliated
Transactions.
(a) Except
as
set forth in Section 3.19
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, none of the Sellers nor any Affiliate
of
any Seller nor any officer, director, stockholder or Key Employee of the
Acquired Company or any of its Affiliates has in the past five years, directly
or indirectly, held (i) an interest in any Person that (A) furnishes
or sells, or proposes to furnish or sell, services or products that are
furnished or sold by the Acquired Company or (B) purchases from or sells or
furnishes to, or proposes to purchase from or sell or furnish to, the Acquired
Company any goods or services or (ii) a beneficial interest in any Contract
to which the Acquired Company is a party or by which the Acquired Company or
any
of its assets are bound or affected.
(b) No
Seller, nor any director, officer, nor employee of the Acquired Company has
outstanding any loan or other payment obligation of any kind owed to the
Acquired Company of an amount in excess of $10,000, all of which amounts will
be
repaid on or prior to the Closing. The Acquired Company has no outstanding
loan
or other payment obligation of any kind (other than ordinary wages, salary
and
benefit obligations or except as otherwise provided pursuant to the Contemplated
Transaction) to any Seller, director, officer or employee of the Acquired
Company of an amount in excess of $10,000, all of which amounts will be repaid
on or prior to the Closing.
27
3.20 Brokers.
No
broker, finder or investment banker is entitled to any brokerage, finder’s,
investment banker’s or other fee or commission in connection with the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Ancillary Agreements based
upon arrangements made by or on behalf of any of the Acquired Company or Sellers
that will give rise to any payment obligation or other Liability on the part
of
Buyer or its Affiliates (including the Acquired Company after
Closing).
3.21 Books
and Records.
The
Organizational Documents of the Acquired Company, all of which have been made
available to Buyer, are complete and correct in all material respects. The
minute books of the Acquired Company contain accurate and complete records
of
all meetings held of, and material corporate action taken by, the stockholders
and the board of directors, and no meeting of any such stockholders or board
of
directors has been held for which minutes have not been prepared and are not
contained in such minute books. At the Closing, all of those books and records
will be in the possession of the Acquired Company.
3.22 Customers.
Section 3.22
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a list the Acquired Company’s
ten (10) largest customers based on gross sales for the fiscal twelve months
ended June 30, 2006 (“Material
Customers”).
Except as set forth in Section
3.22
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, to the Knowledge of the Acquired Company
(a) no Material Customer has terminated, expects to terminate or is actively
considering termination of its current business with the Acquired Company and
(b) no Material Customer is currently undertaking a category review of the
types
of food products the Acquired Company produces or has proposed that the Acquired
Company take a reduction in the price of goods sold to such Material Customer,
except in the case of clause (a) or (b) where such event is caused by
(i) general political, economic, financial, capital market or industry wide
conditions, (ii) a prospective change arising out of any adopted
legislation, or other enactment by any Governmental Entity (in the case of
(i)
and (ii) not having a unique or disproportionate effect on the Acquired
Company), (iii) the public announcement of this Agreement or the
consummation of the Contemplated Transactions contemplated by this Agreement,
or
(iv) the Buyer or any of its Affiliates. To the Knowledge of the Acquired
Company, no Material Customer could be reasonably expected to terminate or
materially reduce its current business with the Acquired Company by reason
of
the Contemplated Transactions other than by the Buyer’s or its Affiliates’
involvement therein.
3.23 FDA
Compliance.
Except
as set forth in Section 3.23
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules:
(a) The
Acquired Company is not in receipt of notice of, whether written or oral, nor
is
it subject to, any adverse inspection, finding of deficiency, finding of
non-compliance, compelled or voluntary recall, investigation, penalty, fine,
sanction, assessment, audit, request for corrective or remedial action, or
other
compliance or enforcement action, in each case relating to the products made,
developed, under development, stored, sold by or to, or used by the Acquired
Company ("Products"),
by
the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA")
or any
other federal, state, local or foreign authority having or asserting
responsibility for the regulation of food products; and
28
(b) To
the
Knowledge of the Acquired Company, the Acquired Company is in compliance in
all
material respects with the labeling requirements of the FDA relating to every
Product currently sold by the Acquired Company and, the Acquired Company is
in
compliance in all material respects with all applicable regulations and
requirements of the FDA and other similar Governmental Entities relating to
every Product including, but not limited to, any requirements for investigating
customer complaints and inquiries, labeling requirements and protocols, shipping
requirements, bioterrorism registrations, record keeping and reporting
requirements, monitoring requirements, packaging or repackaging requirements,
laboratory controls, sterility requirements, production related record keeping
and reporting requirements, inventory controls, and storage and warehousing
procedures.
3.24 Disclosure.
No
representation or warranty in this Agreement and no statement in the Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedules attached hereto omits to state a material fact
necessary to make the statements herein or therein, in light of the
circumstances in which they were made, not misleading.
ARTICLE
IV
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES RELATING TO SELLERS
Each
Seller severally represents and warrants to the Buyer that each statement
contained in this Article IV
to the
extent it relates to such Seller is true and correct as of the date hereof
and
the same shall be true on the Closing Date (subject to any Seller Disclosure
Schedule Supplement or other notice provided in accordance with Section
6.6),
except
as set forth in the disclosure schedule accompanying this Agreement (with
specific reference to the representations or warranties in this Article
IV
to which
the information relates), which is attached to this Agreement and is designated
therein as being the “Seller Disclosure Schedule” (the “Seller
Disclosure Schedule”).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the representations and warranties made under
Section 4.8 below are made solely by Rivergate.
4.1 Organization
and Good Standing.
Seller
is
duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its
state of organization.
4.2 Capitalization.
(a) Seller
is
the record and beneficial owner of, and holds good and valid title to, the
Purchased Securities indicated as owned by it in Section 3.2
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule.
(b) Upon
transfer of the Purchased Securities owned by the Seller to the Buyer in
accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Buyer will receive title to
such Purchased Securities, free and clear of Liens (other than Liens created
through the Buyer).
29
(c) The
Seller is not a party to or bound by any Contract to pledge, sell or otherwise
dispose of or redeem, purchase, or otherwise acquire any Capital Stock or any
other security of the Company or any other security exercisable or exchangeable
for or convertible into any Capital Stock or other security of the Company.
Except for this Agreement, the Seller is not a party to any option, warrant
or
other right to subscribed for or purchase or Contract with respect to any
Capital Stock or other security of the Company or any security, exchangeable
or
exercisable into or for any Capital Stock or any other Security of the Company.
The Seller is not a party to any voting agreement, stock appreciation, phantom
stock, profit participation or other similar arrangement with respect to the
Company.
4.3 Authority
and Enforceability.
Seller
has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into this Agreement
and
to perform its obligations under this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements
to
which it is a party. The execution and delivery of this Agreement performance
of
its obligations under this Agreement and (to the extent applicable) the
Ancillary Agreements to which it is a party have been duly authorized by all
necessary corporate action on the part of Seller. This Agreement has been duly
executed and delivered by Seller and, assuming due authorization, execution
and
delivery by the Buyer, constitutes the valid and binding obligation of Seller,
enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, except as such
enforceability may be limited by (a) bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws affecting or relating to
creditors’ rights generally, and (b) the availability of injunctive relief
and other equitable remedies.
4.4 No
Conflicts; Consents.
(a) The
execution and delivery of this Agreement by Seller does not, and the
consummation of the Acquisition of the Purchased Securities owned by Seller
will
not, (i) violate the provisions of any of the Organizational Documents of
Seller, (ii) violate any Contract (without the giving of notice, lapse of
time or both) to which Seller is a party, or (iii) assuming compliance with
the matters referred to in Section 4.4(b),
violate
any Order or any material provision of any Law Authorization applicable to
Seller on the date hereof.
(b) Except
as
set forth in Section 3.3(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule, no Authorization or Order of,
registration, declaration or filing with, or notice to any Governmental Entity
is required by Seller in connection with the execution and delivery of this
Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement to which it is a party or the performance
of Seller’s obligation under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement to which
it is a party.
4.5 Capacity.
Each
Seller has the capacity and financial capability to comply with and perform
all
of such Seller’s covenants and obligations under this Agreement and the
Ancillary Agreements to which it is a party.
4.6 No
Orders or Actions.
Seller
is not subject to any Order that will have an adverse effect on such Seller’s
ability to comply with or perform any of the Seller’s covenants or obligations
under this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which it is a party. There
is no Action pending and no Person has threatened, in writing or otherwise,
to
commence any Action that will have an adverse effect on the ability of the
Seller to comply with or perform any of Seller’s covenants or obligations under
this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which it is a party. To the
Seller’s knowledge, no event has occurred and no claim, dispute or other
condition or circumstance that might give rise to or serve as a basis for the
commencement of any such Action.
30
4.7 Absence
of Certain Changes or Events.
Since
the Balance Sheet Date to the date of this Agreement, no event has occurred
that
has had or is reasonably expected to have a Seller Material Adverse Effect
and
the Sellers have not taken any of the actions specified in Section 6.2
on
behalf of the Acquired Company.
4.8 Additional
Representations by Rivergate.
(a) Section 3.8(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules contains a complete and accurate list
of
all real property owned by Rivergate and used or held for use by the Acquired
Company (“Real
Property”).
Rivergate has good and marketable title to the Real Property, free and clear
of
all Liens other than Permitted Liens.
(b) Section 4.8(b)
of the
Seller Disclosure Schedule sets forth an accurate legal description of each
parcel of Real Property. To the Knowledge of Rivergate, all Property Documents
(as defined in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions)
submitted to Buyer or the Buyer’s Guarantor for Buyer’s approval pursuant to the
Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions are true, correct
and complete copies thereof as of the date of submission thereof.
(c) To
the
Knowledge of Rivergate, except as set forth in Section
4.8(c)
of the
Seller Disclosure Schedule, there are no management, service, supply or
maintenance contracts affecting the Real Property to which Rivergate is a party
which shall affect the Property on or following the closing of the transactions
contemplated by the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow
Instructions. There are no leases, licenses or rights to occupancy of the Real
Property other than the Lease. Rivergate or the Acquired Company has delivered
or made available to Buyer’s Guarantor copies of the deeds and other instruments
(as recorded) by which Rivergate acquired such Real Property and copies of all
title insurance policies, abstracts and surveys in the possession of Rivergate
and relating to such Real Property.
(d) Rivergate
is not a “foreign person” within the meaning of Section 1445 of the
Code.
(e) Rivergate
has not authorized any broker or finder to act on its behalf in connection
with
the sale and purchase of the Real Property pursuant to the Agreement of Purchase
and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions and Rivergate has not dealt with any
broker or finder purporting to act on behalf of Rivergate or
otherwise.
ARTICLE
V
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF THE BUYER
The
Buyer
represents and warrants to each of the Sellers and the Acquired Company that
each statement contained in this Article V
is true
and correct as of the date hereof and the same shall be true on the Closing
Date, except as set forth in the disclosure schedule accompanying this
Agreement, which is attached to this Agreement and is designated therein as
being the “buyer disclosure schedule” (the
31
“Buyer
Disclosure Schedule”).
The
Buyer Disclosure Schedule has been arranged in sections corresponding to the
Sections of this Article
V.
Each
section of the Buyer Disclosure Schedule shall be deemed to incorporate by
reference all information disclosed in any other section of the Buyer Disclosure
Schedule to the extent that it is reasonably apparent from a reading of the
disclosure that such disclosure is applicable to such other
section.
5.1 Organization
and Good Standing.
The
Buyer is a corporation or other legal entity duly organized, validly existing
and in good standing under the Laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation
or
formation, has all requisite power to own, lease and operate its properties
and
to carry on its business as now being conducted, and is duly qualified to do
business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation in each jurisdiction
in which it owns or leases property or conducts any business so as to require
such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would not
reasonably be expected to have a Buyer Material Adverse Effect.
5.2 Authority
and Enforceability.
The
Buyer has the requisite power and authority to enter into this Agreement and
each of the Ancillary Agreements and to consummate the transactions contemplated
hereby and thereby. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and each of
the
Ancillary Agreements and the consummation of the transactions contemplated
hereby and thereby have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the
part
of the Buyer. This Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Buyer
and when delivered, each of the Ancillary Agreements will be duly executed
and
delivered by the Buyer. Assuming due authorization, execution and delivery
by
the Seller, this Agreement constitutes, and when executed each of the Ancillary
Agreements will constitute, the valid and binding obligation of the Buyer,
enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, except as such
enforceability may be limited by (i) bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws affecting or relating to
creditors’ rights generally, and (ii) the availability of injunctive relief
and other equitable remedies.
5.3 No
Conflicts; Consents.
(a) The
execution and delivery of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements by the
Buyer do not, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby
and
thereby (in each case, with or without the giving of notice or lapse of time,
or
both) will not, (i) violate the provisions of any Organizational Document
of the Buyer, (ii) violate or constitute a default under any Contract to
which the Buyer is a party, or (iii) to the Knowledge of the Buyer, violate
or conflict with any material provision of any Law, Authorization or Order
applicable to the Buyer on the date hereof. To the Knowledge of the Buyer as
of
the date hereof, no Material Customer could be reasonably expected to terminate
or materially reduce its current business with the Acquired Company by reason
of
the Contemplated Transactions.
(b) No
Authorization, Order of, registration, declaration or filing with, or notice
to
any Governmental Entity is required by the Buyer in connection with the
execution and delivery of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby.
32
5.4 No
Orders or Actions.
The
Buyer is not subject to any Order that will have an adverse effect on the
Buyer’s ability to comply with or perform any of the Buyer’s covenants or
obligations under this Agreement. There is no Action pending and no Person
has
threatened, in writing or otherwise, to commence any Action that will have
an
adverse effect on the ability of the Buyer to comply with or perform any of
the
Buyer’s covenants or obligations under this Agreement or any Ancillary
Agreement. To the Knowledge of the Buyer, no event has occurred and no claim,
dispute or other condition or circumstance that might give rise to or serve
as a
basis for the commencement of any such Action.
5.5 Purchase
for Investment.
The
Purchased Securities purchased by the Buyer pursuant to this Agreement are
being
acquired for investment only and not with a view to any public distribution
thereof, and the Buyer shall not offer to sell or otherwise dispose of, the
Purchased Securities so acquired by it in violation of any of the registration
requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
5.6 Availability
of Funds.
The
Buyer has sufficient access to cash or borrowings to the extent necessary for
the Buyer to perform its obligations under this Agreement and the Ancillary
Agreements and to pay all fees and expenses related to the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby.
5.7 Brokers.
No
broker, finder or investment banker is entitled to any brokerage, finder’s,
investment banker’s or other fee or commission in connection with the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements based
upon arrangements made by or on behalf of the Buyer or any Affiliate of the
Buyer that will give rise to any payment obligation or other Liability on the
part of Seller or its Affiliates.
5.8 No
Other Representations.
The
Buyer acknowledges and agrees that, except as expressly set forth in this
Agreement or in any certificate contemplated hereby and delivered by the
Acquired Company or the Ancillary Agreements in connection herewith, neither
the
Acquired Company nor any of the Sellers has made or is making any representation
or warranty whatsoever, express or implied, including any representation as
to
the merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
ARTICLE
VI
COVENANTS
OF THE ACQUIRED COMPANY AND SELLERS
6.1 Conduct
of Business.
During
the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier
of
the termination of this Agreement or the Closing Date, except (i) as
otherwise contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement,
(ii) with the prior written consent of the Buyer (which consent shall not
be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) or (iii) as required by
applicable Law, the Acquired Company shall use its commercially reasonable
efforts to (a) carry on the business of the Acquired Company in the
ordinary course consistent with its past practice, (b) comply in all
material respects with all Legal Requirements, (c) preserve intact the
Acquired Company’s goodwill and material business relationships with customers,
suppliers, distributors and others having business dealings with it, and
(d) keep available the services of the Acquired Company officers and Key
Employees
33
6.2 Negative
Covenants.
During
the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier
of
the termination of this Agreement or the Closing Date, except (i) as
otherwise contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement,
(ii) with the prior written consent of the Buyer (which consent shall not
be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) or (iii) as required by
applicable Law, the Acquired Company shall not do any of the
following:
(a) sell,
lease or make any other disposition of any material property or assets used
or
held for use by the Acquired Company, except in the ordinary course of
business;
(b) except
in
the ordinary course of business (i) enter into any collective bargaining
agreement with any labor organization or union, (ii) enter into any
employment, severance or similar Contract with any employee (iii) increase
any bonus, salary or other rate of compensation to any employee;
(c) except
in
the ordinary course of business, enter into any Contract that would be required
to be listed as a Material Contract if such Contract were in effect on the
date
hereof or amend, modify, cancel or waive any rights under any such Contract
other than in the ordinary course of business;
(d) mortgage,
pledge or subject to Liens, other than Permitted Liens, any material assets
or
properties of the Acquired Company except pursuant to existing
Contracts;
(e) amend
its
Organizational Documents;
(f) except
as
provided in Section 6.5,
issue,
amend or cause to be created a Lien with respect to, its Equity
Securities;
(g) make
any
changes in its accounting methods, principles or practices;
(h) change
its method of Tax accounting or settle any claim relating to Taxes;
(i) except
in
the ordinary course of business, enter into or terminate any license,
distributorship, dealer or sales representative, joint venture, or credit or
similar agreement;
(j) cancel
or
waive any claim or right with a value to the Acquired Company in excess of
$50,000;
(k) guaranty
the repayment of indebtedness of another person;
(l) incur
any
capital expenditures in excess of the amount budgeted therefor; or
(m) agree,
whether in writing or otherwise, to do any of the foregoing.
34
6.3 Access
to Information.
Prior
to the Closing, the Acquired Company shall afford to the Buyer and its
accountants, counsel and other representatives full access, upon reasonable
notice during normal business hours, to the personnel, properties, books,
Contracts and records of the Acquired Company as Buyer may reasonably request;
provided, however, that such access does not unreasonably disrupt the normal
operations of the Acquired Company; provided, further, that any such access
shall be conducted at the Buyer’s expense and the Buyer shall not have access to
individual performance or evaluation records, medical histories or other
information that in the written opinion of the Acquired Company’s legal counsel
could reasonably be expected to subject Seller or the Acquired Company to risk
of liability and the Buyer shall not be entitled to conduct any invasive
sampling or testing with respect to the properties of any Person; provided,
further, that such access shall comply with applicable Law.
6.4 Resignations.
On the
Closing Date, the Acquired Company shall cause to be delivered to the Buyer
duly
signed resignations, effective immediately upon the Closing, of all directors
of
their position as a director (and, if requested by the Buyer in writing at
least
ten (10) Business Days prior to Closing, of officers of their position as
an officer) of the Acquired Company; provided, however, that no such resignation
by any individual shall be a resignation from employment with the Acquired
Company, if such individual is so employed.
6.5 Distribution
of Cash
and Cash Equivalents.
On or
prior to the Closing Date, the Acquired Company shall make a distribution to
the
Sellers of all cash and cash equivalents of the Acquired Company, including
investments of the Acquired Company held in brokerage accounts.
6.6 Notification.
(a) The
Sellers shall cause the Acquired Company to promptly notify the Buyer in writing
of the existence or happening of any event or occurrence which
(i) constitutes or results in a breach by the Acquired Company of, or a
failure by the Acquired Company to comply with any agreement or covenant in
this
Agreement applicable to it in any material respect or (ii) should be
included in the Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule in order to make the
representations and warranties set forth in Article
III
true and
correct in all material respects as of the Closing Date (each such additional
written disclosure, an “Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedule Supplement”),
it
being understood and agreed that the delivery of such information shall not
in
any manner constitute a waiver by the Buyer of any of the conditions precedent
to the Closing hereunder or any of the Buyer’s remedies hereunder; provided,
however,
that in
determining whether there is a breach of any representation or warranty
contained in Article
III
for
purposes of the indemnification to be provided by the Sellers pursuant to
Article
XI,
such
representation or warranty shall be qualified by any information provided
pursuant to this Section 6.6;
provided that such information: (A) identifies only events or developments
not materially adverse to the Acquired Company occurring after the date hereof
in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices or (B) if
the fact, events or occurrence identified in the information has been consented
to in writing by the Buyer;
(b) Each
Seller shall promptly notify the Buyer in writing of the existence or happening
of any event or occurrence which (i) constitutes or results in a breach by
the Acquired Company of, or a failure by the Acquired Company to comply with
any
agreement or
35
covenant
in this Agreement applicable to it or (ii) should be included in the Seller
Disclosure Schedule in order to make the representations and warranties of
such Seller set forth in Article
IV
true and
correct in all material respects as of the Closing Date (each such additional
written disclosure, a “Seller
Disclosure Schedule Supplement”),
it
being understood and agreed that the delivery of such information shall not
in
any manner constitute a waiver by the Buyer of any of the conditions precedent
to the Closing hereunder or any of the Buyer’s remedies hereunder; provided,
however, that in determining whether there is a breach of any representation
or
warranty contained in Article IV
for
purposes of the indemnification to be provided by Seller pursuant to
Article XI,
such
representation or warranty shall be qualified by any information provided
pursuant to this Section 6.6;
provided that such information: (A) identifies only events or developments
not materially adverse to the Acquired Company occurring after the date hereof
in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices or (B) if
the fact, events or occurrence identified in the information has been consented
to in writing by the Buyer.
6.7
Competing Ofers; Merger or Liquidation. From and after the date
hereof and until the earlier of (i) the Closing Date or (ii) the
termination of this Agreement:
(a) neither
the Acquired Company nor any Seller shall directly or indirectly, through any
officer, director, employee, agent, partner or otherwise, solicit, initiate,
consider, encourage or participate in discussions, or negotiations with, or
encourage the submissions of bids, offers or proposals by (or commence
negotiations with or provide any information to), any Person with respect to
an
acquisition of the Acquired Company or any interest therein or any of its
assets, other than by the Buyer, and neither the Acquired Company nor Seller
shall engage any broker, financial advisor or other consultant on a basis which
might provide such broker, financial advisor or consultant with an incentive
to
initiate or encourage proposals or offers from other parties with respect to
the
Acquired Company or any of its assets;
(b) neither
the Acquired Company nor any Seller shall directly or indirectly, through any
officer, director, agent or otherwise, engage in negotiations concerning any
such transaction with, or provide information to, any Person other than the
Buyer and its representatives, with a view to engaging, or preparing to engage,
that Person with respect to any matters referenced in this Section 6.7;
(c) the
Acquired Company shall not commence any proceeding to merge or consolidate
or
obligate itself to do so; and
(d) the
Acquired Company shall advise the Buyer of the terms of any written offer or
proposal that it receives regarding the acquisition of the Acquired Company
or
any of its assets.
ARTICLE
VII
COVENANTS
OF THE BUYER
7.1 Confidentiality.
The
Buyer acknowledges that the information being provided to it in connection
with
the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the
Ancillary Agreements are subject to the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement,
the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference and shall continue
in
full force and effect and survive the Closing, except that the non-disclosure
and
36
non-use
obligations of the Buyer under the Confidentiality Agreement shall terminate
at
the Closing with respect to information to the extent related to the Acquired
Company. If this Agreement is, for any reason, terminated prior to the Closing,
the Confidentiality Agreement shall nonetheless continue in full force and
effect in accordance with its terms.
7.2 Employee
Matters.
(a) Affected
Employees.
For the
purposes of this Agreement, “Affected
Employee”
means
each individual who is employed by the Acquired Company on the Closing Date,
including any such individuals on approved leave of absence (including maternity
and paternity leave, vacation, sick leave, short term or long term disability,
military leave, jury duty and death leave). For a three
(3) year period immediately following the Closing Date, the Buyer shall
cause the Acquired Company to provide each Affected Employee with terms and
conditions of employment, including base wage or base salary and bonus
opportunities and Benefit Plans (listed on Section
3.15(a)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedules) that are substantially the same as those
in effect immediately prior to the Closing Date. Provided the Acquired Company’s
pre-tax income for that fiscal year is no less than $7,500,000, for each of
2007, 2008 and 2009, the Buyer shall cause the Acquired Company to contribute
to
the Acquired Company’s 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan as a profit sharing
contribution no less than the lesser of (i) 10% of compensation (as defined
in the plan) or (ii) the maximum amount that may be contributed to the plan
as a profit sharing contribution subject to the limits of the plan and
applicable Law; provided, however, that the contribution on behalf of “highly
compensated employees,” as defined for purposes of the tax-qualified retirement
plan rules, may be made to a non-qualified deferred compensation plan if
necessary to avoid a violation of the tax-qualified plan rules applicable to
the
Acquired Company’s 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan for any of such years, subject to
the requirements set forth in Schedule
7.2(a).
On or
after the Closing Date, Buyer shall cause the Acquired Company to provide credit
to the Affected Employees for all periods of service with the Acquired Company
prior to the Closing for all purposes under any benefit plans or policies
maintained by the Buyer or any of its Subsidiaries for the benefit of the
Affected Employees except to the extent such service credit would result in
the
duplication of benefit accrual for the same period of service. In connection
with coverage of each of the Affected Employees under any of the welfare benefit
plans made available by the Buyer or any of its Subsidiaries, the Buyer agrees
(A) to cause each such plan to waive any applicable preexisting condition,
waiting periods and actively at work requirements, and (B) to cause each
such plan to honor any expenses incurred by such Affected Employees and their
beneficiaries under similar plans of the Acquired Company during the portion
of
the applicable plan year prior to the date on which such Affected Employees
commences participation in the Buyer or Subsidiary welfare benefit plans for
purposes of satisfying applicable deductible, co-insurance and maximum
out-of-pocket expenses. In the event of any conflict between the terms and
conditions of this Section 7.2(a)
and the
terms and conditions of any Employment Agreement, the terms and conditions
of
the Employment Agreement shall prevail.
37
(b) Employee
Supplemental Retention Plan.
On or
prior to the Closing Date, the Buyer shall deposit with the Trustee by wire
transfer of immediately available funds to the account designated by the Trustee
in accordance with the Trust an amount designated by the Acquired Company no
later than five (5) Business Days prior to the Closing Date (the “Employee
Supplemental Retention Amount”),
which
amount shall be distributed in accordance with the Employee Supplemental
Retention Plan to be adopted by the Acquired Company on or prior to the Closing
Date subject to and effective as of the Closing. Within two (2) Business Days
after the designation of the Employee Supplemental Retention Amount by the
Acquired Company, the Buyer shall provide the Acquired Company with written
notice of the Employee Supplemental Plan Tax Benefit Amount calculated in
accordance with the methodology set forth in Schedule
7.2(b).
(c) Management
Supplemental Retention Plan.
On or
prior to the Closing Date, the Buyer shall deposit with the Trustee by wire
transfer of immediately available funds to the account designated by the Trustee
in accordance with the Trust an amount designated by the Acquired Company no
later than five (5) Business Days prior to the Closing Date (the “Management
Supplemental Retention Amount”),
which
amount shall be distributed in accordance with the Management Supplemental
Retention Plan to be adopted by the Acquired Company on or prior to the Closing
Date subject to and effective as of the Closing.
(d) Remedy
for Breach.
The
Buyer acknowledges and agrees that in the event of a breach by the Buyer of
any
of the provisions of this Section
7.2,
monetary damages shall not constitute a sufficient remedy. Consequently, in
the
event of any such breach, the Sellers, Sellers’ Representative and/or their
respective successors or assigns shall be entitled to, in addition to the other
rights and remedies existing in their favor, specific performance and/or
injunctive or other relief in order to enforce or prevent any violations of
the
provisions hereof from any court of competent jurisdiction, in each case without
the requirement of posting a bond or proving actual damages.
ARTICLE
VIII
COVENANTS
OF THE BUYER, THE SELLERS AND THE ACQUIRED COMPANY
8.1 Regulatory
and Other Approvals.
Prior
to the Closing, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement,
the Buyer and the Acquired Company will (a) take all commercially
reasonable steps necessary or desirable, and proceed diligently and in good
faith and use all commercially reasonable efforts, as promptly as practicable
to
obtain all consents, approvals or actions of, to make all filings with and
to
give all notices to Governmental Entities or any other Person required to
consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Ancillary Agreements,
including, without limitation, those required under the HSR Act (b) provide
such other information and communications to such Governmental Entities or
other
Persons as such Governmental Entities or other Persons may reasonably request
and (c) cooperate with each other as promptly as practicable in obtaining
all consents, approvals or actions of, making all filings with and giving all
notices to Governmental Entities or other Persons required to consummate the
transactions contemplated hereby and by the Ancillary Agreements. In addition,
no party hereto shall take any action after the date hereof that could
reasonably be expected to delay the obtaining of, or result in not obtaining,
any permission, approval or consent from any Governmental Entity or other Person
required to be obtained prior to Closing. Nothing contained in this Agreement
shall require the Acquired Company or any Seller to pay any consideration to
any
other Person (other than nominal filing and application fees to Governmental
Entities) from whom any such approvals, authorizations, consents, orders,
licenses, permits, qualifications, exemptions or waivers are
requested.
38
8.2 Public
Announcements.
During
the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier
of
the termination of this Agreement or the Closing Date, no party hereto shall,
nor shall any of their respective Affiliates, without the approval of the other
parties, issue any press releases or otherwise make any public statements with
respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except as may be
required by applicable Law or by obligations pursuant to any listing agreement
with any national securities exchange or stock market, in which case the party
required to make the release or announcement shall allow the other party
reasonable time to comment on such release or announcement in advance of such
issuance; provided, however, that each of the parties may make internal
announcements to their respective employees or limited or general partners
that
are consistent with the parties’ prior public disclosures regarding the
Acquisition, and the Acquired Company may communicate with its suppliers and
customers in a manner consistent with the parties’ prior public disclosures
regarding the Acquisition.
8.3 Further
Assurances.
Each
party hereto shall execute such documents and other instruments and take such
further actions as may reasonably be required or desirable to carry out the
provisions hereof and consummate the Acquisition. Upon the terms and subject
to
the conditions hereof, each party hereto shall use its commercially reasonable
efforts (subject, in the case of the Sellers, to Section 8.1)
to
(a) take or cause to be taken all actions, and to do or cause to be done
all other things, necessary, proper or advisable to consummate the Acquisition
as promptly as practicable, and (b) obtain in a timely manner all necessary
waivers, consents and approvals and to effect all necessary registrations and
filings. The obligations of Sellers under this Section 8.3 shall be solely
with respect to such Seller and not with respect to any other entity, including,
without limitation, the Acquired Company.
8.4 Real
Property Covenants.
(a) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow
Instructions and subject to the representations and warranties of the Acquired
Company and Rivergate herein and therein, Buyer shall not be deemed to have
voluntarily and knowingly waived its right to object to any information
contained in any Property Documents identified in Exhibit H of the Agreement
of
Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions (which Exhibit H may be modified
from time to time prior to the execution Agreement of Purchase and Sale and
Joint Escrow Instructions) if within five (5) Business Days after the later
of
(i) the date of this Agreement or (ii) Buyer’s or Buyer’s Guarantor’s receipt of
such Property Documents, Buyer shall have notified the Acquired Company in
writing as to whether it objects to any information contained in any such
Property Documents; provided, however Buyer has reviewed Property Documents
listed as items 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 15 in Exhibit H, and except as set
forth in Sections 8.5(b) and (c) below, Buyer voluntarily and knowingly waives
its right to object to any information disclosed in such Property Documents
subject to the representations and warranties of the Acquired Company and
Rivergate set forth in this Agreement and the Agreement of Purchase and Sale
and
Joint Escrow Instructions. Additionally, Buyer does not require any action
by
Rivergate or the Acquired Company with respect to the parking discrepancy
identified in the Buyer’s counsel’s letter dated October 9, 2006, addressed to
the Acquired Company’s counsel.
39
(b) On
or
before the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement of Purchase
and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions, Rivergate shall cause to be removed
from
the exceptions to title those exceptions listed as Items No. 6, 8, 9, 16 and
17
in that certain Preliminary Title Report dated August 22, 2006 prepared by
Fidelity National Title Insurance Company (the “Preliminary
Title Report”).
(c) Seller
shall cause the title policy to be issued pursuant to the Agreement
of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions
to
include a CLTA 103.1 or 103.3 endorsements for the following easements:
Exception No. 3 of the Preliminary Title Report (private underground utility
easement designated as “C” on that
certain ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey dated September 29, 2006, as revised on
October 16, 2006, prepared by Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx, Inc,
(the
“Survey”)
lying
under the most southwesterly building on the Real Property, and the public
utility easement designated as “B” on the Survey, situated within or adjacent to
the 60’ easement reserved for future street) and Exception No. 11 of the
Preliminary Title Report (public utility easement designated as “F” on the
Survey) located along and partially under the southeasterly portion of an
existing building.
ARTICLE
IX
CONDITIONS
TO CLOSING
9.1 Conditions
to Obligations of the Buyer and the Sellers.
The
obligations of the Buyer and the Sellers to consummate the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement are subject to the satisfaction on or prior
to
the Closing Date of the following conditions:
(a) All
Authorizations and Orders of, declarations and filings with, and notices to
any
Governmental Entity, required to permit the consummation of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement shall have been obtained or made and shall be
in
full force and effect, and all applicable waiting periods (including any
extensions thereof) required under the HSR Act shall have expired or been
terminated.
(b) No
temporary restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction or other Order
preventing the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
shall be in effect. No Law shall have been enacted or shall be deemed applicable
to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement which makes the consummation
of such transactions illegal.
(c) A
release
pursuant to terms and conditions mutually acceptable to the Buyer and the
Acquired Company of the guaranty of the Acquired Company described in
Section 3.4(b)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule.
40
9.2 Conditions
to Obligation of the Buyer.
The
obligation of the Buyer to consummate the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement is subject to the satisfaction (or waiver by the Buyer in its sole
discretion) of the following further conditions:
(a) Each
of
the representations and warranties of the Acquired Company set forth in this
Agreement without giving effect to materiality or Acquired Company Material
Adverse Effect qualifications shall be in all material respects true and correct
at and as of the Closing Date as if made at and as of the Closing Date and
each
of such representations and warranties that is not so qualified shall be true
and correct in all material respects at and as of the Closing Date as if made
at
and as of the Closing Date (in each case, without giving effect to any Acquired
Company Disclosure Schedule Supplement), except (i) to the extent that
such representations and warranties refer specifically to an earlier date,
in
which case such representations and warranties shall have been true and correct
as of such earlier date, and (ii) for changes contemplated by Section 6.6.
(b) Each
of
the representations and warranties of the Sellers set forth in this Agreement
without giving effect to materiality or Seller Material Adverse Effect
qualifications shall be true and correct in all material respects at and as
of
the Closing Date as if made at and as of the Closing Date and each of such
representations and warranties that is not so qualified shall be true and
correct in all material respects at and as of the Closing Date as if made at
and
as of the Closing Date (in each case, without giving effect to the Seller
Disclosure Schedule Supplement), except (i) to the extent that such
representations and warranties refer specifically to an earlier date, in which
case such representations and warranties shall have been true and correct as
of
such earlier date, (ii) for changes contemplated by Section 6.6.
(c) The
Acquired Company shall have performed or complied in all material respects
with
its obligations and covenants required by this Agreement to be performed or
complied with at or prior to the Closing Date.
(d) The
Sellers shall have performed or complied in all material respects with their
obligations and covenants required by this Agreement to be performed or complied
with at or prior to the Closing Date.
(e) The
Buyer
shall have received a certificate dated the Closing Date signed by an officer
of
the Acquired Company to the effect that (i) the conditions set forth in
Section 9.2(a)
and
9.2(c)
have
been satisfied and (ii) no Acquired Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred
since the date of this Agreement.
(f) The
Buyer
shall have received a certificate dated the Closing Date signed by the Sellers’
Representative to the effect that (i) the conditions set forth in Section 9.3(b)
and 9.3(d)
have
been satisfied with respect to Sellers and (ii) no Seller Material Adverse
Effect has occurred since the date of this Agreement.
(g) The
Sellers and the Acquired Company shall have entered into the Escrow
Agreement.
(h) Rivergate
and the Acquired Company shall have entered into the Lease
Amendment.
41
(i) Rivergate
shall have entered into the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow
Instructions.
(j) Each
of
the Key Employees shall have entered into his respective Employment
Agreement.
(k) The
Sellers shall have delivered to the Buyer all executed agreements and other
documents required to be delivered by the Seller to the Buyer pursuant to
Section 2.3(b).
(l) The
Acquired Company shall have delivered to the Buyer an opinion dated as of the
Closing Date of legal counsel to the Acquired Company covering the matters
addressed in Exhibit
G
hereto,
subject to appropriate assumptions, qualifications, limitations and exceptions.
(m) The
Sellers shall have obtained and delivered to Buyer an ALTA survey and title
commitment for title insurance from a title company reasonably acceptable to
Buyer related to the Real Property reflecting no Liens other than Permitted
Liens.
(n) Each
Seller shall deliver to Buyer a release executed by each Seller in the form
attached hereto as Exhibit
H.
(o) The
Buyer
or the Buyer’s Guarantor shall have received all Organizational Documents of the
Acquired Company in the possession of the Acquired Company or the
Sellers.
(p) The
Sellers shall have obtained and delivered to Buyer a certificate of status
of
the Acquired Company from the Secretary of State of California.
(q) The
Sellers shall have delivered to Buyer the resignations set forth in Section 6.4
of this
Agreement.
(r) The
creditors of the Acquired Company shall have released all Liens associated
with
any of the Acquired Company’s Indebtedness to be paid at Closing or shall have
executed and delivered payoff letters reasonably acceptable to Buyer evidencing
the release of their respective Liens upon satisfaction of each creditor’s
portion of Indebtedness.
9.3 Conditions
to Obligations of the Sellers.
The
obligation of each of the Sellers to consummate the transactions contemplated
by
this Agreement is subject to the satisfaction (or waiver by such Seller in
its
sole discretion) of the following further conditions:
(a) Each
of
the representations and warranties of the Buyer set forth in this Agreement
that
is qualified by materiality shall be true and correct at and as of the Closing
Date as if made at and as of the Closing Date and each of such representations
and warranties that is not so qualified shall be true and correct in all
material respects at and as of the Closing Date as if made at and as of the
Closing Date, except to the extent that such representations and warranties
refer specifically to an earlier date, in which case such representations and
warranties shall have been true and correct as of such earlier
date.
42
(b) The
Buyer
shall have performed or complied in all material respects with all obligations
and covenants required by this Agreement to be performed or complied with at
or
prior to the Closing Date.
(c) The
Sellers shall have received a certificate dated the Closing Date signed on
behalf of the Buyer by an officer of the Buyer to the effect that the conditions
set forth in Section 9.3(a)
and
9.3(b)
have
been satisfied.
(d) The
Buyer
shall have entered into the Escrow Agreement.
(e) The
Acquired Company shall have entered into the Employment Agreements with each
Key
Employee that is a party thereto.
(f) The
Acquired Company shall have entered into the Lease Amendment.
(g) Buyer
(or
one of its Subsidiaries) shall have entered into the Agreement of Purchase
and
Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions.
(h) The
Buyer
shall have delivered all agreements, funds and other documents required to
be
delivered by the Buyer pursuant to Sections 2.3(a)
and
7.2.
ARTICLE
X
TERMINATION
10.1 Termination.
(a) This
Agreement may be terminated and the transactions contemplated hereby may be
abandoned at any time prior to the Closing:
(i) by
mutual
written consent of the Buyer and the Sellers;
(ii) by
the
Sellers’ Representative or the Buyer if the Closing does not occur on or before
November 30, 2006; provided,
however,
that
the right to terminate this Agreement under this clause (ii) shall not be
available to any party whose breach of a representation, warranty, covenant
or
agreement under this Agreement has been the cause of or resulted in the failure
of the Closing to occur on or before such date;
(iii) by
the
Buyer (provided that the Buyer is not in material breach of any of its
representations, warranties, covenants or other agreements contained herein)
if
the Acquired Company or any Seller is in material breach of any representation
in this Agreement and such breach is not cured within ten (10) Business Days
of
receipt of written notice thereof given to Sellers’ Representative.
(iv) by
the
Sellers’ Representative (provided that none of the Sellers is in material breach
of any of its representations, warranties, covenants or other agreements
contained herein) if the Buyer is in material breach of any representation
in
this Agreement and such breach is not cured within ten (10) Business Days of
receipt of written notice thereof given to Buyer;
43
(v) by
the
Buyer or the Sellers’ Representative if a Governmental Entity shall have issued
an Order or taken any other action, in any case having the effect of permanently
restraining, enjoining or otherwise prohibiting the transactions contemplated
by
this Agreement, which Order or other action is final and
non-appealable.
(b) The
party
desiring to terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 10.1(a)(ii),
(iii),
(iv) or
(v)
shall
give written notice of such termination to the other party hereto.
10.2 Effect
of Termination.
In the
event of termination of this Agreement as provided in Section 10.1,
this
Agreement shall immediately become void and there shall be no liability or
obligation on the part of the Buyer, the Acquired Company or the Sellers or
their respective officers, directors, stockholders or Affiliates, except that
the provisions of this Section 10.2
and
Sections
7.1
(Confidentiality), 8.2
(Public
Announcements) and Article XIV
of this
Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and survive any termination
of
this Agreement; provided however, that if this Agreement is terminated by a
party because of the material breach of this Agreement by the other party or
because one or more of the conditions to the terminating party’s obligations
under this Agreement is not satisfied as a result of the other party’s failure
to comply with its obligations under this Agreement, the terminating party’s
right to pursue all legal recourse will survive such termination
unimpaired.
ARTICLE
XI
INDEMNIFICATION
11.1 Survival.
(a) All
representations and warranties contained in this Agreement, the Ancillary
Agreements or in any Schedule, Exhibit or certificate delivered pursuant to
this
Agreement or the Ancillary Agreements shall survive the Closing for a period
of
eighteen (18) months following the Closing Date (except for claims in
respect thereof pending at such time, which shall survive until finally resolved
or settled); provided,
however,
that
(i) the representations and warranties set forth in Sections 3.1,
3.2,
3.3,
3.5,
4.8(a)
and
4.8(b)
and
Article IV
(the
“Transactional
Reps”)
shall
survive for the applicable statute of limitations, and (ii) the
representations and warranties set forth in Sections 3.9
and
3.17
shall
survive for four (4) years from the Closing Date or the expiration of the
applicable statute of limitations, whichever occurs first.
(b) The
period for which a representation or warranty survives the Closing is referred
to herein as the “Applicable
Survival Period.”
In
the
event notice of claim for indemnification under Section 11.2
or
11.3
is given
within the Applicable Survival Period, the representation or warranty that
is
the subject of such indemnification claim shall survive with respect to such
claim only until such claim is finally resolved.
44
11.2 Indemnification
by the Seller.
(a) Subject
to the limitations set forth herein, each of the Non-Compete Sellers shall
indemnify and defend the Buyer and its Affiliates and their respective
stockholders, members, managers, officers, directors, employees, agents,
successors and assigns (the “Buyer
Indemnitees”)
against, and shall hold the Buyer Indemnitees harmless from, any loss,
liability, claim, charge, action, suit, proceeding, assessed interest, penalty,
damage, or expense, including costs of defense and reasonable attorneys’ fees
(collectively, “Losses”),
resulting from, arising out of, or incurred by the Buyer Indemnitee in
connection with, or otherwise with respect to (i) any breach of any
representation, warranty, covenant, any certificate delivered in connection
with
the Closing or agreement of the Acquired Company contained in this Agreement,
(ii) the operation of the business of The Xxxxxxxxx, Inc. or Cottage Bakery
Retail, Inc. prior to Closing, to the extent such operation results in a claim,
demand, action, suit or proceeding by a third party against any Buyer Indemnitee
or (iii) the matters disclosed in Section
3.15(a)(ii)
of the
Acquired Company Disclosure Schedule.
(b) Subject
to the limitations set forth herein, each Seller shall indemnify and defend
the
Buyer Indemnitees against, and shall hold the Buyer Indemnitees harmless from,
any Losses resulting from, arising out of, or incurred by the Buyer Indemnitee
in connection with, or otherwise with respect to (i) any breach of any
representation or warranty of such Seller contained in Article IV
(other
than Section
4.8)
of this
Agreement or in any certificate delivered in connection herewith to the extent
relating to any representation or warranty of such Seller contained in
Article IV
(other
than Section
4.8)
of this
Agreement and (ii) any breach of any covenant or agreement of such Seller
contained in Article VI
of this
Agreement or in any certificate delivered in connection herewith to the extent
relating to any breach of any covenant or agreement of Seller contained in
Article VI
of this
Agreement.
(c) Subject
to the limitations set forth herein, Rivergate shall indemnify and defend the
Buyer Indemnitees against, and shall hold the Buyer Indemnitees harmless from,
any Losses resulting from, arising out of, or incurred by the Buyer Indemnitee
in connection with, or otherwise with respect to any breach of any
representation, warranty, covenant or agreement of Rivergate contained in the
Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions or breach of any
representation or warranty of Rivergate in Section
4.8
of this
Agreement.
(d) The
Sellers shall not be liable for any Loss or Losses pursuant to Section
11.2(a)(i),
11.2(b)
or
11.2(c)
with
respect to breaches of representations and warranties (i) unless the claim
for such Loss or Losses is brought within the Applicable Survival Period,
(ii) unless the claim for such Loss or Losses is first recovered from the
Escrow Amount, and (iii) unless and until the aggregate amount of all
Losses incurred by the Buyer Indemnitees exceeds $1,000,000 (the “Deductible”),
and
then only to the extent that such Losses exceed the Deductible; provided,
however,
that
the cumulative indemnification and defense or any other obligation of the
Sellers under this Article XI
shall in
no event exceed $60,000,000 (the “Indemnity
Cap”);
provided further for the avoidance of doubt, that the Deductible and Indemnity
Cap shall not apply with respect to (A) any breaches of representations,
warranties, covenants or agreements contained in Sections 3.1,
3.2,
3.3,
3.5,
4.8(a),
4.8(b)
and
Articles XII
and
XIII,
or (B)
the breach by Rivergate of its obligation to consummate the transactions
contemplated by the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and Joint Escrow Instructions
or (C) the breach by Rivergate of its obligations under Section
8.4(b) or (c)
of this
Agreement.
45
(e) No
Seller
shall have any Liability or obligation to any Buyer Indemnitee whatsoever,
and
no claim shall be asserted against any Seller, for indemnification under
Section 11.2(a)
for any
individual claim for a Loss in excess of such Seller’s Pro Rata Portion of
(i) such Loss or (ii) if the recovery of any Loss is limited by the
Indemnity Cap, such Loss as limited.
(f) In
addition to the limitations set forth in Sections 11.2(d)
and
11.2(e),
the
Acquired Company and the Sellers shall not be obligated to indemnify the Buyer
Indemnitees with respect to (i) any indirect, special or incidental damages
or
loss of profits to the extent they constitute consequential damages; (ii) any
other consequential damages, except those arising out of the breach of any
representation or warranty set forth in Sections
3.8, 3.17 and 4.8;
(iii) any matter to the extent such matter is reserved as a Liability or
otherwise accounted for in the final determination of the Closing Date Net
Asset
Value, or (iv) any covenant or condition waived by the Buyer in writing on
or prior to the Closing.
(g) Any
Claims or causes of actions that Buyer has against any Seller in the nature
of
fraud shall not be subject to the limitations set
forth
in Article XI.
(h) Solely
for purposes of calculating the amount of Losses incurred arising out of or
relating to any breach of a representation or warranty (and not for purposes
of
determining whether or not a breach has occurred), the references to “Acquired
Company Material Adverse Effect,” “Seller Material Adverse Effect;” or “Buyer
Material Adverse Effect” or any other materially qualifications (or correlative
terms), including as expressed in accounting concepts, shall be
disregarded.
(i) The
Buyer
acknowledges and agrees that, should the Closing occur, except for fraud of
the
Sellers or breaches by the Sellers of the Transactional Reps, the
sole
and exclusive remedy of the Buyer Indemnitees with respect to any and all
matters arising out of, relating to or connected with this Agreement, the
Ancillary Agreements, the Acquired Company and its Subsidiaries and their
respective assets and liabilities, the Acquisition and the Purchased Securities
(excluding the Employment Agreement, Articles XII
and
XIII
hereof
and the availability of equitable or injunctive relief) shall be pursuant to
the
indemnification provisions set forth in this Article XI.
11.3 Indemnification
by Buyer.
The
Buyer shall indemnify and defend each of the Sellers, each of their Affiliates
and their respective stockholders, members, managers, officers, directors,
employees, agents, successors and assigns (the “Seller
Indemnitees”)
against, and shall hold the Seller Indemnitees harmless from, any Loss resulting
from, arising out of, or incurred by the Seller Indemnitees in connection with,
or otherwise with respect to (a) any breach of any representation, warranty,
covenant or certificate delivered in connection with the Closing or agreement
of
the Buyer contained in this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements or
(b)
the operation of the business of the Acquired Company after Closing, to the
extent that such operation results in a claim, demand, action, suit or
proceeding by a third party against any Seller Indemnitee, including, but not
limited to, any claim, demand, action, suit or proceeding asserted or brought
by
any Affected Employee with respect to Buyer’s breach of Section 7.2 of this
Agreement. The Sellers acknowledge and agree that, should the Closing occur,
the
sole and exclusive remedy of the Seller Indemnitees with respect to any and
all
matters arising out of, relating to or connected with this Agreement, the
Ancillary Agreements, and the Acquisition shall be pursuant to the
indemnification provisions set forth in this Article XI.
46
11.4 Indemnification
Procedure for Third Party Claims.
(a) In
the
event that any claim or demand, or other circumstance or state of facts is
known
to give rise to any claim or demand, for which an Indemnitor may be liable
to an
Indemnitee hereunder is asserted or sought to be collected by a third party
(a
“Third
Party Claim”),
the
Indemnitee shall as soon as practicable notify the Indemnitor in writing of
such
Third Party Claim (a “Notice
of Claim”).
Failure or delay in notifying the Indemnitor will not relieve the Indemnitor
of
any Liability it may have to the Indemnitee, except and only to the extent
that
such failure or delay causes actual harm to the Indemnitor with respect to
such
Third Party Claim. The Notice of Claim shall (i) state that the Indemnitee
has paid or properly accrued Losses or anticipates that it will incur liability
for Losses for which such Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification pursuant
to
this Agreement, and (ii) specify in reasonable detail each individual item
of Loss included in the amount so stated, the date (if any) such item was paid
or properly accrued, the basis for any anticipated liability and the nature
of
the misrepresentation, breach of warranty, breach of covenant, breach of
agreement or other claim to which each such item is related and the computation
of the amount to which such Indemnitee claims to be entitled hereunder. The
Indemnitee shall enclose with the Notice of Claim a copy of all papers served
with respect to such Third Party Claim, if any, and any other documents
evidencing such Third Party Claim.
(b) The
Indemnitor will have thirty (30) days from the date on which the Indemnitor
received the Notice of Claim to notify the Indemnitee that the Indemnitor
desires to assume the defense or prosecution of such Third Party Claim and
any
litigation resulting therefrom with counsel of its choice (subject to approval
by the Indemnitee which will not be unreasonably withheld) and at its sole
cost
and expense (a “Third
Party Defense”).
If
the Indemnitor assumes the Third Party Defense in accordance herewith,
(i) the Indemnitee may retain separate co-counsel at its sole cost and
expense and participate in the defense of the Third Party Claim but the
Indemnitor shall control the investigation, defense and settlement thereof
using
legal counsel reasonably satisfactory to Indemnitee, (ii) the Indemnitee
will not file any papers or consent to the entry of any judgment or enter into
any settlement with respect to the Third Party Claim without the prior written
consent of the Indemnitor and (iii) the Indemnitor will not consent to the
entry of any judgment or enter into any settlement or waiver with respect to
the
Third Party Claim without the consent of Indemnitee which consent shall not
be
unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. The parties will use commercially
reasonable efforts to minimize Losses from Third Party Claims and will act
in
good faith in responding to, defending against, settling or otherwise dealing
with such claims. The parties will also cooperate in any such defense and give
each other reasonable access to all information relevant thereto. Whether or
not
the Indemnitor has assumed the Third Party Defense, such Indemnitor will not
be
obligated to indemnify the Indemnitee hereunder for any settlement entered
into
or any judgment that was consented to without the Indemnitor’s prior written
consent.
47
(c) If
the
Indemnitor does not assume the Third Party Defense within thirty (30) days
of receipt of the Notice of Claim, the Indemnitee will be entitled to assume
the
Third Party Defense, at the cost and expense of the Indemnitor (or, if it is
finally determined that the Indemnitee incurred a Loss with respect to the
matter in question for which the Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification
pursuant to Section 11.2
or 11.3,
as
applicable, at the expense of the Indemnitee) upon delivery of notice to such
effect to the Indemnitor; provided,
however,
that
the (i) Indemnitor shall have the right to participate in the Third Party
Defense at its sole cost and expense, but the Indemnitee shall control the
investigation, defense and settlement thereof; and (ii) the Indemnitor may
at any time thereafter assume the Third Party Defense using counsel reasonably
satisfactory to Indemnitee, in which event the Indemnitor shall bear the
reasonable fees, costs and expenses of the Indemnitee’s counsel incurred prior
to the assumption by the Indemnitor of the Third Party Defense; (iii) the
Indemnitee shall not consent to the entry of any judgment or enter into any
settlement with respect to any Third Party Claim so defended without the consent
of the Indemnitor, which consent may not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned
or delayed and (iv) the assumption of the Third Party Defense by the Indemnitee
shall not constitute a waiver of any right of such Indemnitee to indemnification
pursuant to
Section 11.2 or 11.3.
If the
Indemnitee assumes the defense of any such Claim, the Indemnitee shall keep
the
Indemnitor reasonably informed of the progress of any such defense.
11.5 Indemnification
Procedures for Non-Third Party Claims.
The
Indemnitee will notify the Indemnitor in writing promptly of its discovery
of
any matter (the failure to give such notice shall not limit the Indemnitor’s
liability owed to Indemnitee unless but only to the extent such failure or
delay
causes actual harm to the Indemnitor with respect to the matter) that does
not
involve a Third Party Claim, such notice to contain the information set forth
in
the following sentence. The Notice of Claim shall (i) state that the
Indemnitee has paid or properly accrued Losses or anticipates that it will
incur
liability for Losses for which such Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification
pursuant to this Agreement, and (ii) specify in reasonable detail each
individual item of Loss included in the amount so stated, the date such item
was
paid or properly accrued, the basis for any anticipated liability and the nature
of the misrepresentation, breach of warranty, breach of covenant, breach of
agreement or other claim to which each such item is related and the computation
of the amount to which such Indemnitee claims to be entitled hereunder. In
the
event that the Indemnitor does not notify the Indemnitee that it disputes such
claim within thirty (30) days from receipt of such Notice of Claim, the
Indemnitor will be deemed to have acknowledged liability for such claim and
the
Escrow Agent or Indemnitor, as the case may be, shall promptly pay such claim.
The Indemnitee will reasonably cooperate and assist the Indemnitor in
determining the validity of any claim for indemnity by the Indemnitee and in
otherwise resolving such matters. Such assistance and cooperation will include
providing reasonable access to and copies of information, records and documents
relating to such matters, furnishing employees to assist in the investigation,
defense and resolution of such matters and providing legal and business
assistance with respect to such matters.
11.6 Calculation
of Indemnity Payments.
(a) The
Indemnitee agrees to use its commercially reasonable efforts to pursue and
collect on any recovery available under any insurance policies. The amount
of
Losses payable under this Article XI
by the
Indemnitor shall be reduced by any and all amounts
48
recovered
by the Indemnitee under applicable insurance policies (net of any retroactive
premium increases) or from any other Person responsible therefor and the Buyer
(on behalf of itself and each of the Buyer Indemnitees) and each of the Seller
(each on behalf of itself and each of the applicable Seller Indemnitees) hereby
waives any subrogation rights under the applicable insurance policies with
respect to such recovered amounts. If the Indemnitee receives any amounts under
applicable insurance policies or from any other Person responsible for any
Losses, subsequent to an indemnification payment by the Indemnitor, then such
Indemnitee shall promptly reimburse the Indemnitor for any payment made or
expense incurred by such Indemnitor in connection with providing such
indemnification up to the amount received by the Indemnitee, net of any expenses
incurred by such Indemnitee in collecting such amount.
(b) The
amount of Losses incurred by an Indemnitee shall be reduced to take account
of
any net Tax benefit actually realized by the Indemnitee arising from the
incurrence or payment of any such indemnified amount under this Article
XI
or
Article
XII.
(c) Each
Person seeking indemnification hereunder shall use its commercially reasonable
efforts to mitigate any Losses that he, she or it asserts under this
Article
XI or
Article
XII.
11.7 Characterization
of Indemnification Payments.
Except
as otherwise required by applicable law, the parties shall treat any
indemnification payment made hereunder as an adjustment to the Purchase
Price.
ARTICLE
XII
TAX
MATTERS
The
following provisions shall govern the allocation of responsibility as between
the Buyer and the Sellers for certain tax matters following the Closing
Date:
12.1 Tax
Indemnification.
The
Sellers shall indemnify the Buyer and its Affiliates and hold them harmless
from
and against any Losses attributable to all Taxes (or the non-payment thereof)
of
the Acquired Company for all Pre-Closing Tax Periods. The Buyer shall indemnify
and hold the Sellers harmless from and against any Losses attributable to all
Taxes (or the non-payment thereof) of the Acquired Company for all Post-Closing
Tax Periods. The Sellers shall reimburse the Buyer for any Taxes of the Acquired
Company which are the responsibility of the Sellers pursuant to this
Section 12.1
within
fifteen (15) Business Days after payment of such Taxes by the Buyer or the
Acquired Company. The Buyer shall reimburse the Sellers for any Taxes of the
Acquired Company which are the responsibility of the Buyer pursuant to this
Section 12.1
within
fifteen (15) Business Days after payment of such Taxes by the
Sellers.
12.2 Straddle
Period.
In
the
case of any Straddle Period, the amount of any Taxes for the portion of the
Straddle Period included in the Pre-Closing Tax Period shall be determined
as
follows: (a) any Taxes based on or measured by income or receipts of the
Acquired Company for the Pre-Closing Tax Period shall be determined based on
an
interim closing of the books as of the close of business on the Closing Date
and
(b) the amount of other Taxes of the Acquired Company for the Pre-Closing
Tax Period shall be deemed to be the amount of
49
such
Tax
for the entire taxable period multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which
is
the number of days included in the portion of the Straddle Period ending on
the
Closing Date and the denominator of which is the number of days in such Straddle
Period. No later than fifteen (15) Business Days prior to the due date of
any Tax Return with respect to a Straddle Period, the Sellers shall pay to
the
Acquired Company the amount of Taxes shown due which are attributable to the
pre-Closing portion of the Straddle Period.
12.3 Tax
Returns Filed after the Closing Date.
The
Sellers’
Representative shall prepare or cause to be prepared and file or cause to be
filed all Tax Returns for the Acquired Company due after the Closing Date
relating to periods ending on or prior to the Closing Date, including the
short-year tax returns for the period from July 1, 2006, through the Closing
Date (the “Short
Year Returns”)
and
for Straddle Periods, which are required to be filed after the Closing Date.
The
Tax Returns for periods which end on or before the Closing Date or for any
Straddle Period shall be prepared in a manner consistent with past practice
of
the Acquired Company, unless a contrary treatment is required by an intervening
change in the applicable Law. The Buyer
and
the Sellers agree to report all transactions not in the ordinary course of
business that occur on the Closing Date after the Buyer’s purchase of the
Purchased Securities on the Buyer’s U.S. federal Tax Return to the extent
permitted by Section 1.1502-76(b)(1)(ii)(B) of the Treasury Regulations. In
respect of the Short Year Returns and Tax Returns of the Acquired Company for
Straddle Periods, the Sellers’ Representative shall provide the Buyer with such
Tax Returns (or, in the case of Tax Returns required to be filed on behalf
of an
Affiliated Group of which the Acquired Company is a member, a pro forma Tax
Return that is prepared with respect to the Acquired Company on a separate
company basis) no later than twenty (20) days prior to the due date therefore,
for the Buyer’s review, comment, and approval, such approval not to be
unreasonably withheld or delayed. Concurrent with the Buyer’s approval of such
Tax Returns, the Buyer shall complete and executed Form 2848, Power of Attorney,
authorizing the Sellers’ Representative to execute such Tax Returns on behalf of
the Acquired Company. The
Sellers shall pay and discharge all Taxes shown to be due by the Acquired
Company on Tax Returns (or, in the case of pro forma Tax Returns prepared with
respect to the Acquired Company on a separate company basis, the amount of
tax
shown to be due on such pro forma Tax Return) filed
for
all Pre-Closing Tax Periods. The Buyer shall pay and discharge all Taxes shown
to be due by the Acquired Company on Tax Returns (or in the case of pro forma
Tax Returns prepared with respect to the Acquired company on a separate company
basis) filed for all Post-Closing Tax Periods. Notwithstanding anything to
the
contrary in this Agreement, the Sellers shall not file, or permit the Acquired
Company to file, any amended Tax Return relating to the Acquired Company (or
otherwise change such Tax Returns or make an election) with respect to any
Pre-Closing Tax Periods without the written consent of the Buyer if such
amendment adversely affects the Buyer or the Acquired Company, unless required
to do so by Law. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement,
the
Buyer shall not file, or permit the Acquired Company to file, any amended Tax
Return related to the Acquired Company or any Subsidiary (or otherwise change
such Tax Returns or make an election) with respect to Pre-Closing Tax Periods,
without the written consent of the Sellers, unless required to do so by
Law.
12.4 Cooperation
on Tax Matters.
Buyer
and Sellers’ Representative agree to furnish or cause to be furnished to each
other, and each at their own expense, as promptly as practicable, such
information (including access to books and records) and assistance, including
making employees available on a mutually convenient basis to provide additional
information and explanations of any material provided, relating to the Acquired
Company as is reasonably necessary for the preparation and filing of any Tax
Return and
any
audit, litigation or other proceeding with respect to Taxes.
50
12.5 Certain
Taxes.
The
Buyer, on the one hand, and the Sellers, on the other hand, shall each pay
one
half all Transfer Taxes, if any, arising out of or in connection with the
transactions effected pursuant to this Agreement. The Buyer shall file all
necessary documentation and Tax Returns with respect to such Transfer Taxes,
if
any, with the reasonable cooperation of the Sellers.
12.6 Tax
Refunds.
Any
refund of Taxes received (or utilized against Taxes due for Post- Closing Tax
Periods) by the Acquired Company after the Closing Date shall be retained by
the
Acquired Company, provided, however, that in the event the Acquired Company
shall receive a refund of Taxes after the Closing Date (or utilize such refund
as a credit against Taxes due for Post-Closing Tax Periods) with respect to
a
Tax Return of the Acquired Company relating to a Pre-Closing Taxable Period
(other than a refund or credit arising by reason of a carryback of any time
incurred after the Closing Date), then the amount of such refund, net of Taxes
payable by the Acquired Company on receipt thereof, shall be reimbursed by
the
Acquired Company to the Sellers within ten (10) Business Days after the
Acquired Company’s receipt of such refund or the filing of any Tax Return under
which such refund is utilized as a credit.
12.7 Tax
Proceedings.
(a) In
the
event that any audit or examination shall be instituted or any deficiency
asserted or assessment made, or any administrative or court proceeding commenced
by the Internal Revenue Service or any other taxing authority (a “Tax
Proceeding”)
with
respect to any Pre-Closing Taxable Period for which the Sellers have liability
pursuant to Section 12.1
(the
“Indemnifiable
Tax”),
the
Buyer shall promptly cause written notice of the Tax Proceeding to be forwarded
to the Sellers.
(b) The
Sellers shall have the right to elect, at their sole option and expense, to
represent the interests of the Acquired Company in the Tax Proceeding and
collect, settle or pay any amount due or owed by the Acquired Company with
respect to any Indemnifiable Tax or to file any claim for refund with counsel
of
their choice, reasonably satisfactory to the Buyer. In the event the Sellers
elect to represent the Acquired Company in the Tax Proceeding, the Sellers
shall
within five (5) Business Days (or sooner, if the nature of the Tax
Proceeding so requires) notify the Buyer of its intent to do so and the Buyer
shall cause the Acquired Company to appoint the Sellers or one of the Sellers,
as selected by the Sellers, as attorney in fact with the exclusive authority
to
represent the Acquired Company in the Tax Proceeding. The Buyer shall
(i) cooperate fully with the Sellers and their counsel in the defense
against or compromise of any claim in any Tax Proceeding and (ii) have
(x) the right to participate fully in the Tax Proceeding, including through
separate counsel of its own choosing at its sole cost and expense, (y) the
right to receive reasonable advance notice from the Sellers of any meetings,
hearings, or proceedings, and (z) the right, if possible, to review in
advance and comment on any pleadings, briefs, or other documents to be filed.
The Sellers may consent to any judgment or enter into any settlement, closing
or
other agreement with respect to any Tax Proceeding without the prior consent
of
the Buyer provided that the Sellers provide the Buyer with reasonable assurances
that the Sellers shall pay any Indemnifiable Tax related thereto.
51
(c) If
the
Sellers elect not to represent the Acquired Company in the Tax Proceeding or
fail to timely notify the Buyer of their election as provided herein or contest
their obligation to indemnify the Buyer, then the Buyer may represent the
interest of the Acquired Company in any Tax Proceeding in any manner that it
reasonably may deem appropriate and except in the case of a successful contest
by the Sellers of any obligation to indemnify the Buyer, the Sellers shall
(i) be obligated to indemnify the Buyer to the extent provided in
Section 12.1
and
(ii) cooperate fully with the Buyer and its counsel in the defense against
or compromise of any claim in any Tax Proceeding.
12.8 Disputes.
In
the
event that a dispute arises between the Sellers and the Buyer as to the amount
of Taxes or indemnification or any matter relating to Taxes attributable to
the
Acquired Company, the Buyer and the Sellers shall attempt in good faith to
resolve such dispute, and any agreed upon amount shall be paid to the
appropriate party. If such dispute is not resolved within thirty (30) days,
the
Buyer and the Sellers shall submit the dispute to the Independent Accountants
for resolution, which resolution shall be final, conclusive and binding on
the
parties. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the fees
and expenses of the Independent Accounts in resolving this dispute shall be
borne equally by the Sellers and the Buyer.
12.9 Payment
of Management Incentive Plan Tax Benefit Amount.
No
later than fifteen (15) Business Days after the end of each fiscal quarter
of
the Buyer in which a tax benefit is realized by, or utilized against Taxes
due,
for the Acquired Company, Buyer or its Affiliates with respect to a payment
has
been made under the Management Supplemental Retention Plan, the Buyer shall
(a)
prepare and deliver to the Sellers’ Representative a statement setting forth in
sufficient detail its calculation of the actual amount of the tax benefit
realized by, or utilized against Taxes due, for the Acquired Company, Buyer
or
its Affiliates with respect to such payment (the “Management
Incentive Plan Tax Benefit Amount”)
and
(b) pay to the Sellers’ Representative the Management Incentive Plan Tax Benefit
Amount by wire transfer of immediately available funds to an account or accounts
designated from time to time by the Sellers’ Representative. The Management
Incentive Plan Tax Benefit Amount shall be disbursed by the Sellers’
Representative to the Sellers in accordance with Section
2.5(d).
Buyer
agrees to furnish to the Sellers’ Representative as promptly as practicable,
such information (including access to books and records) and assistance,
including making employees available on a mutually convenient basis to provide
additional information and explanations of any material provided, relating
to
the Buyer, Acquired Company and their Affiliates as is reasonably requested
by
the Sellers’ Representative necessary or appropriate to determine the
calculation of the Management Incentive Plan Tax Benefit Amount.
ARTICLE
XIII
POST
CLOSING COVENANTS
OF THE SELLER
13.1 Covenant
Not to Compete and
Confidentiality.
Each of the Sellers excluding Church Resource Ministries and Bethel Tabernacle
(a/k/a Bethel Open Bible Church) (the “Non-Compete
Sellers”)
understands that the Buyer would not have entered into this Agreement absent
the
provisions of this Article XIII. For the period beginning on the Closing Date
and ending on the fifth anniversary of the date Xxxxx Xxxxxxx ceases to be
employed by the Acquired Company (the “Non-Compete
Period”),
each
Non-Compete Seller severally agrees that such Non-Compete Seller shall
not:
52
(a) engage
(whether as an owner, operator, investor, manager, employee, officer, director,
consultant, advisor, representative or otherwise), in the Restricted Territory,
directly
or indirectly in any business that develops, produces, manufactures, markets,
promotes or sells the following bakery products including: (i) frozen dough
for breads, pastries, doughnuts, bagels, cookies and other baked goods; and
(ii) partially baked and frozen (or par baked) goods, including breads,
rolls, bagels, pastries, doughnuts, cookies, cupcakes and muffins (the products
described in Section 13.1(a)(i) and (ii) are collectively referred to as the
“Competitive
Products”);
provided, however, that ownership of less than five percent (5%) of the
outstanding stock of any publicly-traded corporation shall not be deemed to
be
engaging solely by reason thereof in any of its businesses.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, no Non-Compete Seller shall be prohibited from
(A) owning, operating, investing in or otherwise working for a retail bakery
that sells fresh baked items that are sold on-site to customers provided such
retail bakery is not located within a retail grocery store; or (B) after the
first anniversary of the Closing Date, being employed by a grocery retailer
in
an executive, management, operations, purchasing or buying function so long
as
not engaged in the sale of Competitive Products to other grocery
retailers. If
the
final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction declares that any term
or
provision of this Section 13.1
is
invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree that the court making the
determination of invalidity or unenforceability shall have the power to reduce
the scope, duration, or area of the term or provision, to delete specific words
or phrases, or to replace any invalid or unenforceable term or provision with
a
term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to
expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision,
and
this Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified after the expiration of
the
time with which the judgment may be appealed;
(b) induce
or
attempt to induce any customer, supplier, lender or other business relation
of
the Acquired Company or any subsidiary of the Acquired Company to cease doing
business with the Acquired Company or any of its Affiliates; or
(c) disparage
the Acquired Company or any Affiliate of the Acquired Company or of the
directors, officers or employees of the Acquired Company or any of its
Affiliates.
13.2 Non-Solicitation/Non-Hire.
Each Non-Compete Seller severally agrees that during the Non-Compete Period,
he
shall not: (a) directly or indirectly, contact, approach or solicit for the
purposes of offering employment to any Person employed by the Acquired Company
at any time after the date hereof and prior to the Closing Date or during the
five year period following the Closing Date, or (b) hire (whether as an
employee, consultant, agent, independent contractor or otherwise) any of the
Key
Employees (other than Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx or Xxxxx Xxxxxxx), without
the prior written consent of the Buyer’s Guarantor. The term “indirectly” as
used in this Section 13.2
with
respect to a Person is intended to mean any acts authorized or directed by
or on
behalf of such Person or any Person controlled by such Person.
53
13.3 Confidentiality.
Each Seller severally agrees to (a) treat and hold as confidential any
confidential or proprietary information concerning the business and affairs
of
the Acquired Company that is not or does not become generally available to
the
public or is known or becomes known to others not bound by a duty of
confidentiality other than as a result of a disclosure in violation of this
Agreement (the “Confidential
Information”),
(b)
refrain from using any of the Confidential Information except in connection
with
this Agreement or as necessary or appropriate in making any filing or obtaining
any consent or approval in connection with the Contemplated Transactions, and
(c) deliver promptly to Buyer or destroy, at the request and option of Buyer,
all tangible embodiments (and all copies) of the Confidential Information which
are in Seller’s possession or under Seller’s control. In the event that a
Non-Compete Seller is requested or required (by oral question or request for
information or documents in any legal proceeding, interrogatory, subpoena,
civil
investigative demand, or similar process) to disclose any Confidential
Information, such Non-Compete Seller shall notify Buyer promptly of the request
or requirement so that Buyer may seek an appropriate protective order or waive
compliance with the provisions of this Section 13.3.
If, in
the absence of a protective order or the receipt of a waiver hereunder, such
Non-Compete Seller is, on the written advice of counsel, compelled to so
disclose any Confidential Information, such Non-Compete Seller may disclose
the
Confidential Information as so required; provided that such Non-Compete Seller
shall use his best efforts to obtain, at the request of Buyer an order or other
assurance that confidential treatment shall be accorded to such portion of
the
Confidential Information required to be disclosed as Buyer shall
designate.
13.4 Remedy
for Breach.
Each Non-Compete Seller acknowledges and agrees that in the event of a
breach by Non-Compete Seller of any of the provisions of this Article
XIII,
monetary damages shall not constitute a sufficient remedy. Consequently, in
the
event of any such breach, the Acquired Company, Buyer and/or their respective
successors or assigns shall be entitled to, in addition to the other rights
and
remedies existing in their favor, specific performance and/or injunctive or
other relief in order to enforce or prevent any violations of the provisions
hereof from any court of competent jurisdiction, in each case without the
requirement of posting a bond or proving actual damages.
ARTICLE
XIV
MISCELLANEOUS
14.1 Notices.
Any
notice, request, demand, waiver, consent, approval or other communication which
is required or permitted hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed
given: (a) on the date established by the sender as having been delivered
personally, (b) on the date delivered by a private courier as established
by the sender by evidence obtained from the courier, (c) on the date sent
by facsimile, with confirmation of transmission, if sent during normal business
hours of the recipient, if not, then on the next Business Day, or (d) on
the fifth Business Day after the date mailed, by certified or registered mail,
return receipt requested, postage prepaid. Such communications, to be valid,
must be addressed as follows:
54
If
to the
Buyer, to:
Ralcorp
Holdings, Inc.
000
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxx
0000
Xx.
Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 00000
Attn:
CEO
Facsimile:
(000) 000-0000
With
a
required copy to:
Ralcorp
Holdings, Inc.
000
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxx
0000
Xx.
Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 00000
Attn:
General Counsel
Facsimile:
(000) 000-0000
If
to Acquired Company, to:
Cottage
Bakery, Inc.
00
X.
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxx 00000
Attn: Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, President
Facsimile: (000) 000-0000
With
a
required copy to:
Pillsbury
Xxxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx LLP
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000
Xxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000
Attn: Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx, Esq.
Facsimile: (000) 000-0000
If
to any
of the Sellers, to:
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxx
0000
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxx 00000
Facsimile:
(000) 000-0000
55
With
a
required copy to:
Pillsbury
Xxxxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx LLP
000
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000
Xxx
Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000
Attn:
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx, Esq.
Facsimile:
(000) 000-0000
or
to
such other address or to the attention of such Person or Persons as the
recipient party has specified by prior written notice to the sending party
(or
in the case of counsel, to such other readily ascertainable business address
as
such counsel may hereafter maintain). If more than one method for sending notice
as set forth above is used, the earliest notice date established as set forth
above shall control.
14.2 Sellers’
Guaranty.
(a) Sellers’
Guarantor irrevocably and unconditionally guarantees the prompt, complete and
punctual performance, compliance and payment of the obligations of any Seller
under Section
2.3(b),
Section
2.4,
Article
XI
and
Article
XII
of this
Agreement. Sellers’ Guarantor further agrees that its obligations under the
Agreement shall not be affected by any event, condition or circumstances
whatsoever (with or without notice to, or knowledge of, Sellers, Sellers’
Representative or Sellers’ Guarantor) including without limitation any which
constitutes, or might be construed to constitute, a legal or equitable discharge
of the Sellers for their obligations under the Agreement or of Seller’ Guarantor
of its guaranty hereunder. In furtherance of the foregoing and without limiting
the generality thereof, Sellers’ Guarantor agrees that (i) its guaranty
hereunder (this “Sellers’
Guaranty”)
is a
guaranty of payment and performance when due and not collectability;
(ii) this Sellers’ Guaranty is a primary obligation of Sellers’ Guarantor
and not merely a contract or surety; and (iii) payment or performance by
Sellers’ Guarantor of a portion, but not all of the obligations under this
Agreement shall in no way limit, affect, modify or abridge any liability of
Sellers’ Guarantor for any portion of the obligations which have not been paid
or performed.
(b) Sellers’
Guarantor waives all diligence, presentment, protest and demand, and also notice
of dishonor, demand, protest and nonpayment. No failure by the Buyer or Buyer
Guarantor to assert any right or pursue any remedy with respect to the Sellers
or under this Seller Guaranty shall relieve Sellers’ Guarantor from its
obligations hereunder; provided, however, that notwithstanding anything to
the
contrary herein, the obligation of the Sellers’ Guarantor under the Sellers’
Guaranty is subject to the Buyer or other Buyer Idemnitee first recovering
any
claim for a Loss or Losses or other amounts from the Escrow
Account.
(c) Sellers’
Guarantor agrees that this Sellers’ Guaranty shall not be diminished or affected
in any way, by any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, liquidation or
similar proceeding with respect to the Sellers or by dissolution of the Sellers.
This Sellers’ Guaranty shall continue in full force and effect, notwithstanding
any merger, consolidation, sale of assets or any other similar transaction
by
the Seller or Sellers’ Guarantor.
56
(d) Sellers’
Guarantor further agrees to pay all reasonable costs and expenses, including
without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees at any time paid or incurred by
or on behalf of the Buyer in enforcing this Sellers’ Guaranty.
14.3 Buyer
Guaranty.
(a) Buyer
Guarantor irrevocably and unconditionally guarantees the prompt, complete and
punctual performance, compliance and payment of all of the obligations of the
Buyer including but not limited to Buyer’s obligations under Article XI
of this
Agreement. Buyer Guarantor further agrees that its obligations under the
Agreement shall not be affected by any event, condition or circumstances
whatsoever (with or without notice to, or knowledge of Buyer or Buyer Guarantor)
including without limitation any which constitutes, or might be construed to
constitute, a legal or equitable discharge of the Buyer for its obligations
under the Agreement or of Buyer Guarantor of its guaranty hereunder. In
furtherance of the foregoing and without limiting the generality thereof, Buyer
Guarantor agrees that (i) its guaranty hereunder (this “Buyer
Guaranty”)
is a
guaranty of payment and performance when due and not collectability;
(ii) this Buyer Guaranty is a primary obligation of Buyer Guarantor and not
merely a contract or surety; and (iii) payment or performance by Buyer
Guarantor of a portion, but not all of the obligations under this Agreement
shall in no way limit, affect, modify or abridge any liability of Buyer
Guarantor for any portion of the obligations which have not been paid or
performed.
(b) Buyer
Guarantor waives all diligence, presentment, protest and demand, and also notice
of dishonor, demand, protest and nonpayment. No failure by the Sellers, Seller
Representative or Sellers’ Guarantor to assert any right or pursue any remedy
with respect to the Buyer or under this Buyer Guaranty shall relieve Buyer
Guarantor from its obligations hereunder.
(c) Buyer
Guarantor agrees that this Buyer Guaranty shall not be diminished or affected
in
any way, by any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, liquidation or similar
proceeding with respect to the Buyer or by dissolution of the Buyer. This Buyer
Guaranty shall continue in full force and effect, notwithstanding any merger,
consolidation, sale of assets or any other similar transaction by the Buyer
or
Buyer Guarantor.
(d) Buyer
Guarantor further agrees to pay all reasonable costs and expenses, including
without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees at any time paid or incurred by
or on behalf of the Sellers or the Sellers’ Representative in enforcing this
Buyer Guaranty.
14.4 Amendments
and Waivers.
(a) Any
provision of this Agreement may be amended or waived if, and only if, such
amendment or waiver is in writing and is signed, in the case of an amendment,
by
each party to this Agreement, or in the case of a waiver, by the party against
whom the waiver is to be effective.
(b) No
failure or delay by any party in exercising any right or privilege hereunder
shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise
thereof preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any
other right, power or privilege.
57
14.5 Expenses.
Except
as
otherwise provided in this Agreement, each party shall bear its own costs and
expenses in connection with this Agreement, the Ancillary Agreements and the
transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, including all legal, accounting,
financial advisory, consulting and all other fees and expenses of third parties,
whether or not the Acquisition is consummated; provided, however, in the event
of the termination of this Agreement, the Ancillary Agreements or the
Contemplated Transactions, the obligation of each party to pay its own expenses
will be subject to any rights of such party arising from a breach of this
Agreement or Ancillary Agreement by another party.
14.6 Successors
and Assigns.
This
Agreement may not be assigned by either party hereto without the prior written
consent of the other party; provided, however, that, without such consent,
the
Buyer may transfer or assign, in whole or in part or from time to time, to
one
or more of its Affiliates, the right to purchase all or a portion of the
Purchased Securities, but no such transfer or assignment will relieve the Buyer
of its obligations hereunder. Subject to the foregoing, all of the terms and
provisions of this Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon
the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns.
14.7 Governing
Law.
This
Agreement and the exhibits and schedules hereto shall be governed by and
interpreted and enforced in accordance with the Laws of the State of California,
without giving effect to any choice of Law or conflict of Laws rules or
provisions (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction) that
would cause the application of the Laws of any jurisdiction other than the
State
of California.
14.8 Consent
to Jurisdiction.
Each
party hereto irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of any state
or
Federal court located within the County of San Xxxxxxx in the State of
California for the purposes of any suit, action or other proceeding arising
out
of this Agreement or any transaction contemplated hereby, and agrees to commence
any such action, suit or proceeding only in such courts. Each party further
agrees that service of any process, summons, notice or document by U.S.
registered mail to such party’s respective address set forth herein shall be
effective service of process for any such action, suit or proceeding. Each
party
irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue
of
any action, suit or proceeding arising out of this Agreement or the transactions
contemplated hereby in such courts, and hereby irrevocably and unconditionally
waives and agrees not to plead or claim in any such court that any such action,
suit or proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient
forum.
14.9 Counterparts.
This
Agreement may be executed in counterparts, and any party hereto may execute
any
such counterpart, each of which when executed and delivered shall be deemed
to
be an original and all of which counterparts taken together shall constitute
but
one and the same instrument. This Agreement shall become effective when each
party hereto shall have received a counterpart hereof signed by the other party
hereto. The parties agree that the delivery of this Agreement, and the delivery
of the Ancillary Agreements and any other agreements and documents at the
Closing, may be effected by means of an exchange of facsimile
signatures.
58
14.10 No
Third Party Beneficiaries.
No
provision of this Agreement is intended to confer upon any Person other than
the
parties hereto any rights or remedies hereunder.
14.11 Entire
Agreement.
This
Agreement, the Ancillary Agreements, the Schedules and the other documents,
instruments and agreements specifically referred to herein or therein or
delivered pursuant hereto or thereto set forth the entire understanding of
the
parties hereto with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
All Schedules referred to herein are intended to be and hereby are specifically
made a part of this Agreement. Any and all previous agreements and
understandings between or among the parties regarding the subject matter hereof,
whether written or oral, are superseded by this Agreement, except for the
Confidentiality Agreement which shall continue in full force and effect in
accordance with its terms.
14.12 Captions.
All
captions contained in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only,
do
not form a part of this Agreement and shall not affect in any way the meaning
or
interpretation of this Agreement.
14.13 Severability.
Any
provision of this Agreement which is invalid or unenforceable in any
jurisdiction shall be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity or
unenforceability without invalidating or rendering unenforceable the remaining
provisions hereof, and any such invalidity or unenforceability in any
jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in
any
other
jurisdiction.
14.14 Interpretation.
The
parties hereto have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of
this
Agreement,
and any
rule of construction or interpretation otherwise requiring this Agreement to
be
construed or interpreted against any party by virtue of the authorship of this
Agreement shall not apply to the construction and interpretation
hereof.
(signature
pages follow)
59
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly
executed by their respective authorized officers as of the date first above
written.
BUYER:
RH
FINANCIAL CORPORATION
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X.
Xxxx
Name:
Xxxxx X. Xxxx
Title:
Chief Executive Officer
BUYER
GUARANTOR:
RALCORP
HOLDINGS, INC.
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X.
Xxxx
Name:
Xxxxx X. Xxxx
Title:
Co-Chief Executive Officer & President
ACQUIRED
COMPANY:
COTTAGE
BAKERY, INC.
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X.
Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxxx
X.
Xxxxxxx
Title: President
SELLERS:
XXXXX
X. XXXXXXX AND XXXX XXXXXXX, AS CO-TRUSTEES OF THE XXXXX AND XXXX XXXXXXX 2000
FAMILY TRUST UTA 6/21/00
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X.
Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxxx
X.
Xxxxxxx
Title: Co-Trustee
By:
/s/ Xxxx Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
Title: Co-Trustee
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly
executed by their respective authorized officers as of the date first above
written.
CHURCH
RESOURCE MINISTRIES:
By:
/s/ Xxxxxx X.
Xxxxxx
Name:
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Title:
Vice President Finance
BETHEL
TABERNACLE
(A/K/A
BETHEL OPEN BIBLE CHURCH):
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X.
Xxxx
Name:
Xxxxx X. Xxxx
Title:
CFO / Treasurer
RIVERGATE
PARTNERS, L.P.:
By:
|
Xxxxx
X. Xxxxxxx and Xxxx Xxxxxxx, as Co-Trustees of the Xxxxx and Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
2000 Family Trust UTA 6/21/00
|
Its:
General
Partner
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X.
Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxxx
X.
Xxxxxxx
Title: Co-Trustee
By:
/s/ Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
Title: Co-Trustee
2
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly
executed by their respective authorized officers as of the date first above
written.
XXXXXXX
PARTNERS, L.P.:
By:
|
Xxxxx
X. Xxxxxxx and Xxxx Xxxxxxx, as Co-Trustees of the Xxxxx and Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
2000 Family Trust UTA 6/21/00
|
Its:
General
Partner
By:
/s/ Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxxx
X.
Xxxxxxx
Title: Co-Trustee
By:
/s/ Xxxx Xxxxxxx
Name: Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
Title: Co-Trustee
SELLERS’
GUARANTOR:
/s/
Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Xxxxx
X.
Xxxxxxx
/s/ Xxxx
Xxxxxxx
Xxxx Xxxxxxx
3