NQO AGREEMENT
EXHIBIT 10.13
NQO AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT, entered into as of the Grant Date (as defined in paragraph 1), by and between
the Participant and Xxxxxxx Cable, Inc. (the “Company”);
WITNESSETH THAT:
WHEREAS, the Company maintains the Xxxxxxx Cable, Inc. Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”),
which is incorporated into and forms a part of this Agreement, and the Participant has been
selected by the committee administering the Plan (the “Committee”) to receive a Non-Qualified Stock
Option Award under the Plan;
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED, by and between the Company and the Participant, as follows:
1. Terms of Award. The following terms used in this Agreement shall have the meanings
set forth in this paragraph 1:
(a) | The “Participant” is . | |
(b) | The “Grant Date” is . | |
(c) | The number of “Covered Shares” is shares of Stock. | |
(d) | The “Exercise Price” is $ per share. |
Other terms used in this Agreement are defined pursuant to paragraph 17 or elsewhere in this
Agreement.
2. Award and Exercise Price. This Agreement specifies the terms of the option (the
“Option”) granted to the Participant to purchase the number of Covered Shares of Stock at the
Exercise Price per share as set forth in paragraph 1. The Option is not intended to constitute an
“incentive stock option” as that term is used in Code section 422.
3. Date of Exercise. Subject to the limitations of this Agreement, each Installment
of Covered Shares of the Option shall be exercisable on and after the Vesting Date for such
Installment as described in the following schedule (but only if the Date of Termination has not
occurred before the Vesting Date):
VESTING DATE | ||
APPLICABLE TO | ||
INSTALLMENT | INSTALLMENT | |
1/3 of Covered
Shares
|
One-Year Anniversary of the Grant Date | |
1/3 of Covered
Shares
|
Two-Year Anniversary of the Grant Date | |
1/3 of Covered
Shares
|
Three-Year Anniversary of the Grant Date |
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this paragraph 3, the Option shall become fully vested
and exercisable upon the Date of Termination, if the Date of Termination occurs by reason of the
Participant’s death or Disability.
The Option may be exercised on or after the Date of Termination only as to that portion of the
Covered Shares for which it was exercisable immediately prior to (or became exercisable on) the
Date of Termination.
4. Expiration. The Option shall not be exercisable after the Company’s close of
business on the last business day that occurs prior to the Expiration Date. The “Expiration Date”
shall be the earliest to occur of:
(a) | the ten-year anniversary of the Grant Date; | |
(b) | if the Date of Termination occurs by reason of death or Disability, the one-year anniversary of such Date of Termination; or | |
(c) | if the Date of Termination occurs for reasons other than death or Disability, the 90-day anniversary of such Date of Termination. |
5. Method of Option Exercise. Subject to the terms of this Agreement and the Plan,
the Option may be exercised in whole or in part by filing a written notice with the Secretary of
the Company at its corporate headquarters prior to the Company’s close of business on the last
business day that occurs prior to the Expiration Date. Such notice shall specify the number of
shares of Stock which the Participant elects to purchase, and shall be accompanied by payment of
the Exercise Price for such shares of Stock indicated by the Participant’s election. Payment shall
be by cash or by check payable to the Company. Except as otherwise provided by the Committee
before the Option is exercised: (i) all or a portion of the Exercise Price may be paid by the
Participant by delivery of shares of Stock owned by the Participant and acceptable to the Committee
having an aggregate Fair Market Value (valued as of the date of exercise) that is equal to the
amount of cash that would otherwise be required; and (ii) the Participant may pay the Exercise
Price by authorizing a third party to sell shares of Stock (or a sufficient portion of the shares)
acquired upon exercise of the Option and remit to the Company a sufficient portion of the sale
proceeds to pay the entire Exercise Price and any tax withholding resulting from such exercise.
Except as otherwise provided by the Committee, payments made with shares of Stock in accordance
with clause (i) above shall be limited to shares held by the Participant for not less than six
months prior to the payment date. The Option shall not be exercisable if and to the extent the
Company determines that such exercise would violate applicable state or Federal securities laws or
the rules and regulations of any securities exchange on which the Stock is traded. If the Company
makes such a determination, it shall use all reasonable efforts to obtain compliance with such
laws,
rules and regulations. In making any determination hereunder, the Company may rely on the
opinion of counsel for the Company.
6. Withholding. All deliveries and distributions under this Agreement are subject to
withholding of all applicable taxes. At the election of the Participant, and subject to such rules
and limitations as may be established by the Committee from time to time, such withholding
obligations may be satisfied through the surrender of shares of Stock (i) which the Participant
already owns, or (ii) to which the Participant is otherwise entitled under the Plan; provided,
however, that shares described in this clause (ii) may be used to satisfy not more than the
Company’s minimum statutory withholding obligation (based on minimum statutory withholding rates
for Federal and state tax purposes, including payroll taxes, that are applicable to such
supplemental taxable income).
7. Transferability. The Option is not transferable other than as designated by the
Participant by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and during the Participant’s life,
may be exercised only by the Participant.
8. Heirs and Successors. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the
benefit of, the Company and its successors and assigns, and upon any person acquiring, whether by
merger, consolidation, purchase of assets or otherwise, all or substantially all of the Company’s
assets and business. If any rights exercisable by the Participant or benefits distributable to the
Participant under this Agreement have not been exercised or distributed, respectively, at the time
of the Participant’s death, such rights shall be exercisable by the Designated Beneficiary, and
such benefits shall be distributed to the Designated Beneficiary, in accordance with the provisions
of this Agreement and the Plan. The “Designated Beneficiary” shall be the beneficiary or
beneficiaries designated by the Participant in a writing filed with the Committee in such form and
at such time as the Committee shall require. If a deceased Participant fails to designate a
beneficiary, or if the Designated Beneficiary does not survive the Participant, any rights that
would have been exercisable by the Participant and any benefits distributable to the Participant
shall be exercised by or distributed to the legal representative of the estate of the Participant.
If a deceased Participant designates a beneficiary and the Designated Beneficiary survives the
Participant but dies before the Designated Beneficiary’s exercise of all rights under this
Agreement or before the complete distribution of benefits to the Designated Beneficiary under this
Agreement, then any rights that would have been exercisable by the Designated Beneficiary shall be
exercised by the legal representative of the estate of the Designated Beneficiary, and any benefits
distributable to the Designated Beneficiary shall be distributed to the legal representative of the
estate of the Designated Beneficiary.
9. Administration. The authority to manage and control the operation and
administration of this Agreement shall be vested in the Committee, and the Committee shall have all
powers with respect to this Agreement as it has with respect to the Plan. Any interpretation of
the Agreement by the Committee and any decision made by it with respect to the Agreement is final
and binding on all persons.
10. Plan Governs. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the
terms of this Agreement shall be subject to the terms of the Plan, a copy of which
may be obtained by the Participant from the office of the Secretary of the Company; and this
Agreement is subject to all interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations promulgated by the
Committee from time to time pursuant to the Plan.
11. Fractional Shares. In lieu of issuing a fraction of a share of Stock resulting
from any exercise of the Option, resulting from an adjustment of the Option pursuant to paragraph
4.2(f) of the Plan or otherwise, the Company will be entitled to pay to the Participant an amount
equal to the fair market value of such fractional share.
12. Not An Employment Contract. The Option will not confer on the Participant any
right with respect to continuance of employment or other service with the Company or any
Subsidiary, nor will it interfere in any way with any right the Company or any Subsidiary would
otherwise have to terminate or modify the terms of such Participant’s employment or other service
at any time.
13. Notices. Any written notices provided for in this Agreement or the Plan shall be
in writing and shall be deemed sufficiently given if either hand delivered or if sent by fax or
overnight courier, or by postage paid first class mail. Notices sent by mail shall be deemed
received three business days after mailing but in no event later than the date of actual receipt.
Notices shall be directed, if to the Participant, at the Participant’s address indicated by the
Company’s records, or if to the Company, at the Company’s principal executive office.
14. Fractional Shares. In lieu of issuing a fraction of a share of Stock resulting
from any exercise of the Option, resulting from an adjustment of the Option pursuant to paragraph
4.2(f) of the Plan or otherwise, the Company will be entitled to pay to the Participant an amount
equal to the fair market value of such fractional share.
15. No Rights As Shareholder. The Participant shall not have any rights of a
shareholder with respect to the shares subject to the Option, until a stock certificate has been
duly issued following exercise of the Option as provided herein.
16. Amendment. This Agreement may be amended in accordance with the provisions of the
Plan, and may otherwise be amended by written agreement of the Participant and the Company without
the consent of any other person.
17. Definitions. For purposes of this Agreement, the terms used in this Agreement
shall be subject to the following:
(a) | Date of Termination. The term “Date of Termination” means the first day occurring on or after the Grant Date on which the Participant is not employed by the Company or any Subsidiary, regardless of the reason for the termination of employment; provided that a termination of employment shall not be deemed to occur by reason of a transfer of the Participant between the Company and a Subsidiary or between two Subsidiaries; and further provided that the Participant’s employment shall not be considered terminated while the Participant is on a leave of absence from the Company or a Subsidiary approved by the Participant’s employer. If, as a result of a sale or other transaction, the Participant’s employer ceases to be a Subsidiary (and the Participant’s employer is or becomes an entity that is separate from the Company), and the Participant is not, at the end of the 30-day period following the transaction, employed by the |
Company or an entity that is then a Subsidiary, then the occurrence of such transaction shall be treated as the Participant’s Date of Termination caused by the Participant being discharged by the employer. |
(b) | Disability. The Participant shall be considered to have a “Disability” during the period in which the Participant is unable, by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment, to engage in any substantial gainful activity, which condition, in the opinion of a physician selected by the Committee, is expected to have a duration of not less than 120 days. |
(c) | Plan Definitions. Except where the context clearly implies or indicates the contrary, a word, term, or phrase used in the Plan is similarly used in this Agreement. |
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Participant has executed this Agreement, and the Company has caused
these presents to be executed in its name and on its behalf, all as of the Grant Date.
Participant | ||||
Xxxxxxx Cable, Inc. | ||||
By: | ||||