TRANSACTION AGREEMENT dated as of July 4, 2009 between PARIS RE HOLDINGS LIMITED, and PARTNERRE LTD.
Exhibit
2.2
EXECUTION
COPY
dated as
of
July 4,
2009
between
PARIS RE HOLDINGS
LIMITED,
and
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
________________
PAGE
ARTICLE
1
DEFINITIONS
Section
1.01. Definitions
|
2
|
Section
1.02. Other
Definitional and Interpretative Provisions
|
13
|
ARTICLE
2
THE
OFFER
Section
2.01. The
Offer
|
13
|
Section
2.02. Company
Action
|
15
|
Section
2.03. Adjustments
|
17
|
Section
2.04. No
Fractional Shares
|
18
|
Section
2.05. Withholding
Rights
|
18
|
Section
2.06. Tangible Book
Value Per Share Adjustment
|
18
|
Section
2.07. Post-Closing
Dividend Adjustment
|
24
|
ARTICLE
3
THE
MERGER
Section
3.01. Compulsory
Merger
|
25
|
Section
3.02. Treatment of
Company Options and Company RSUs
|
25
|
Section
3.03. Treatment of
Company Warrants
|
27
|
ARTICLE
4
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES
OF THE COMPANY
Section
4.01. Existence and
Power
|
27
|
Section
4.02. Authorization
|
28
|
Section
4.03. Governmental
Authorization
|
29
|
Section
4.04. Non-contravention
|
29
|
Section
4.05. Capitalization
|
30
|
Section
4.06. Subsidiaries
|
31
|
Section
4.07. AMF
Filings
|
32
|
Section
4.08. Financial
Statements
|
33
|
Section
4.09. Tangible Book
Value Per Share
|
33
|
Section
4.10. Disclosure
Documents
|
33
|
Section
4.11. Foreign
Private Issuer; Tier I Exemptive Relief
|
34
|
Section
4.12. Absence
of Certain Changes
|
34
|
Section
4.13. Employee
Benefits; ERISA
|
34
|
i
Section
4.14. Labor
and Employment
|
37
|
Section
4.15. Key
Employees
|
38
|
Section
4.16. Transaction
Expenses
|
38
|
Section
4.17. Opinion
of Financial Advisor
|
39
|
Section
4.18. Takeover
Statutes
|
39
|
Section
4.19. Certain
Company Contractual Matters
|
39
|
Section
4.20. No
Other Representations
|
40
|
ARTICLE
5
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES
OF THE COMPANY AND
OF PARENT
Section
5.01. No
Undisclosed Material Liabilities
|
40
|
Section
5.02. Compliance with
Laws and Court Orders
|
41
|
Section
5.03. Litigation
|
41
|
Section
5.04. Properties
|
42
|
Section
5.05. Intellectual
Property
|
42
|
Section
5.06. Taxes
|
43
|
Section
5.07. Environmental
Matters
|
44
|
Section
5.08. Material
Contracts
|
45
|
Section
5.09. Agreements with
Regulators
|
48
|
Section
5.10. Reserves
|
48
|
Section
5.11. Insurance
Coverage
|
49
|
Section
5.12. Insurance
Matters
|
49
|
Section
5.13. Investments;
Derivatives
|
55
|
ARTICLE
6
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES
OF PARENT
Section
6.01. Existence and
Power
|
56
|
Section
6.02. Authorization
|
56
|
Section
6.03. Governmental
Authorization
|
57
|
Section
6.04. Non-contravention
|
58
|
Section
6.05. Capitalization
|
58
|
Section
6.06. Subsidiaries
|
59
|
Section
6.07. SEC
Filings
|
60
|
Section
6.08. Disclosure
Documents
|
61
|
Section
6.09. Financial
Statements
|
62
|
Section
6.10. Tangible Book
Value Per Share
|
62
|
Section
6.11. Absence
of Certain Changes
|
62
|
Section
6.12. Finders’
Fees
|
62
|
Section
6.13. Opinion
of Financial Advisor
|
62
|
Section
6.14. Taxes
|
63
|
Section
6.15. No
Other Representations
|
63
|
ii
ARTICLE
7
COVENANTS OF
THE COMPANY
Section
7.01. Conduct
of the Company
|
63
|
Section
7.02. Company
Shareholder Approvals; Company Shareholders Meeting
|
69
|
Section
7.03. Swiss
Federal Tax Ruling
|
70
|
Section
7.04. Alternative
Structure in Lieu of the Swiss Federal Tax Ruling
|
71
|
Section
7.05. Access
to Information
|
71
|
Section
7.06. No
Solicitation; Other Offers
|
72
|
Section
7.07. Currency Rate
Hedge
|
75
|
Section
7.08. IFRS
Financial Statements
|
75
|
Section
7.09. Closing
Balance Sheet
|
75
|
ARTICLE
8
COVENANTS
OF PARENT
Section
8.01. Conduct
of Parent
|
76
|
Section
8.02. Formation of
Purchaser
|
77
|
Section
8.03. Obligations of
Purchaser
|
78
|
Section
8.04. Voting
of Shares
|
78
|
Section
8.05. Director and Officer
Liability
|
78
|
Section
8.06. Parent
Shareholder Meeting
|
80
|
Section
8.07. No
Solicitation; Other Offers
|
81
|
Section
8.08. Protection of
Directors and Management
|
82
|
Section
8.09. Composition of
Parent Board
|
83
|
Section
8.10. Stock
Exchange Listing
|
83
|
Section
8.11. Retrocession
Cooperation
|
83
|
Section
8.12. Employment
Matters
|
83
|
Section
8.13. Tax
Matters
|
86
|
ARTICLE
9
ADDITIONAL
AGREEMENTS
Section
9.01. Reasonable Best
Efforts
|
86
|
Section
9.02. Parent
S-4 and Proxy Statement
|
88
|
Section
9.03. Share
Capital Repayment
|
89
|
Section
9.04. Certain
Filings
|
92
|
Section
9.05. Public
Announcements
|
92
|
Section
9.06. Notices
of Certain Events
|
93
|
Section
9.07. Takeover
Statutes
|
94
|
Section
9.08. Cantonal Tax
Ruling
|
94
|
iii
ARTICLE
10
|
TERMINATION
|
Section
10.01. Termination
|
95
|
|
Section
10.02. Effect
of Termination
|
97
|
ARTICLE
11
|
MISCELLANEOUS
|
Section
11.01. Notices
|
98
|
|
Section
11.02. Survival
|
100
|
|
Section
11.03. Amendments and
Waivers
|
100
|
|
Section
11.04. Expenses
|
100
|
|
Section
11.05. Disclosure
Schedule References; Disclosure Document References
|
100
|
|
Section
11.06. Binding Effect; Benefit;
Assignment
|
101
|
|
Section
11.07. Governing
Law
|
102
|
|
Section
11.08. Jurisdiction
|
102
|
|
Section
11.09. WAIVER
OF JURY TRIAL
|
102
|
|
Section
11.10. Counterparts;
Effectiveness
|
102
|
|
Section
11.11. Entire
Agreement
|
103
|
|
Section
11.12. Severability
|
103
|
|
Section
11.13. Specific
Performance
|
103
|
ANNEX
A
|
Offer
Commencement Conditions
|
|
EXHIBIT
A
|
Material
Terms of Offer
|
|
EXHIBIT
B-1
|
Company
Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimate as of March
31, 2009
|
|
EXHIBIT
B-2
|
Parent
Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimate as of March 31,
2009
|
|
EXHIBIT
C
|
Illustrative
Example
|
|
EXHIBIT
D
|
Form
of Merger Agreement
|
|
EXHIBIT
E
|
Form
of Charter Amendment
|
|
EXHIBIT
F
|
Intercompany
Loan
|
iv
TRANSACTION
AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) dated as of July
4, 2009, between PARIS RE Holdings Limited, a Swiss corporation (the “Company”), and PartnerRe Ltd.,
a Bermuda exempted company (“Parent”).
W
I T N E S S E T H :
WHEREAS,
the respective boards of directors of the Company and Parent have approved the
acquisition of the Company by Parent on the terms and subject to the conditions
set forth in this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement (as defined
below) and determined that the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby are
in the best interest of the respective Person and its shareholders;
WHEREAS,
on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, Parent will form
Purchaser (as defined below) and cause Purchaser to commence a public exchange
offer having the terms and conditions set forth in Exhibit A hereto (as
it may be amended from time to time as permitted by this Agreement, the “Offer”) to purchase (i) any
and all of the outstanding common bearer shares, CHF 4.51 par value per share,
of the Company (the “Company
Shares”) not owned by Purchaser or any of its Affiliates after giving
effect to the transactions contemplated by the Securities Purchase Agreement (as
defined below) in exchange for 0.300 common shares, US$1.00 par value per share,
of Parent (“Parent
Shares”) per Company Share, subject to adjustment pursuant to Sections
2.06(d) and 2.07 (as so adjusted, the “Per Share Consideration”), and
(ii) any and all warrants to purchase Company Shares (the “Company Warrants”) not owned by
Purchaser after giving effect to the transactions contemplated by the
Securities Purchase Agreement in exchange for 0.167 Parent Shares per Company
Warrant, subject to adjustment pursuant to Sections 2.06(d) (as so adjusted, the
“Per Warrant
Consideration” and, together with the Per Share Consideration, the “Offer
Consideration”);
WHEREAS,
on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, the Company Board
(as defined below) has declared and recommended, and shall convene a meeting of
the Company’s shareholders for the purpose of approving a reduction of the
Company’s share capital in a CHF amount equivalent to USD$3.85 per Company Share
or such lesser amount as may be paid in accordance with Section 9.03 (the “Share Capital
Repayment”);
WHEREAS,
provided Purchaser and its Affiliates owns at least 90% of the outstanding
Company Shares following consummation of the Offer, Parent will cause the
Company to be merged with and into Purchaser, with each outstanding Company
Share not owned by Parent or any of its Affiliates (as defined below) being
exchanged for the right to receive the Per Share
Consideration,
and whereupon the separate existence of the Company shall cease and Purchaser
shall be the surviving company (the “Surviving Company”);
and
WHEREAS,
the parties intend, to the extent permitted by Applicable Law, for the Merger,
together with the other transactions contemplated herein and in the Securities
Purchase Agreement, to qualify as a “reorganization” within the meaning of
Section 368(a) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
(the “Code”).
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and the representations,
warranties, covenants and agreements contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
ARTICLE
1
DEFINITIONS
Section
1.01. Definitions. (a)
As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings:
“Affiliate” means, with respect
to any Person, any other Person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled
by or under common control with such Person; provided that (i) none of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries shall be considered an Affiliate
of any of Parent or any of its Affiliates (other than the Company and its
Subsidiaries), (ii) none of Parent or any of its Affiliates (other than the
Company and its Subsidiaries) shall be considered an Affiliate of the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries, (iii) none of the Sellers and their respective
Affiliates (other than the Company and its Subsidiaries) shall be considered an
Affiliate of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and (iv) no portfolio
company in which any Seller or an Affiliate of a Seller has any investment shall
be considered an Affiliate of such Seller or Affiliate.
“AMF” means the Autorité des
Marchés Financiers.
“Applicable Law” means, with
respect to any Person, any supranational, foreign, federal, state or local law
(statutory, common or otherwise), constitution, treaty, convention, ordinance,
code, rule, regulation, order, permit, injunction, judgment, decree, ruling or
other similar requirement enacted, adopted, promulgated, made mandatory or
applied by a Governmental Authority that is binding upon or applicable to such
Person, as amended unless expressly specified otherwise.
“Applicable SAP” means any
applicable statutory accounting principles prescribed or permitted by an
insurance regulatory authority.
2
“Balance Sheet Date” means
December 31, 2008.
“Business Day” means a day,
other than Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in New York,
Paris or Zurich are authorized or required by Applicable Law to
close.
“CHF” means Swiss Francs, being
the lawful currency of Switzerland.
“Closing” has the meaning set
forth in Section 2.02 of the Securities Purchase Agreement.
“Company Acquisition Proposal”
means, other than the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the
Securities Purchase Agreement, any Third Party offer, proposal or inquiry
relating to, or any Third Party indication of interest in, (i) any acquisition
or purchase of 5% or more of the consolidated assets of the Company and its
Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (ii) any acquisition or purchase of, or, tender
offer (including a self-tender offer) or exchange offer for, its voting
securities, that, if consummated, would result in such Third Party beneficially
owning securities representing 5% or more of its total voting power (or of the
surviving Company entity in such transaction) or the voting power of any of its
Subsidiaries whose assets, individually or in the aggregate, constitute 5% or
more of the consolidated assets of the Company, (iii) a merger, amalgamation,
consolidation, share exchange, business combination, sale of substantially all
the assets, reorganization, recapitalization, liquidation, dissolution or other
similar transaction involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries whose
assets, individually or in the aggregate, constitute 5% or more of the
consolidated assets of the Company or (iv) any other transaction the
consummation of which could reasonably be expected to impede, interfere with,
prevent or materially delay the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or
the Securities Purchase Agreement, or that could reasonably be expected to
dilute materially the benefits to Parent of the transactions contemplated by
this Agreement or the Securities Purchase Agreement.
“Company Disclosure Schedule”
means the disclosure schedule dated the date hereof regarding this Agreement
that has been provided by the Company to Parent.
“Disclosure Schedule” means the
Company Disclosure Schedule or the Parent Disclosure Schedule, as
applicable.
“Environmental Laws” means any
Applicable Law relating to human health and safety, the environment or to
pollutants, contaminants, wastes or chemicals or any toxic, radioactive,
ignitable, corrosive, reactive or otherwise hazardous substances, wastes or
materials.
3
“ERISA” means the U.S. Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.
“ERISA Affiliate” of any entity
means any other entity which, together with such entity, would be treated as a
single employer under Section 414 of the Code.
“FASB” means the Financial
Accounting Standards Board.
“Financial Guaranty Contract”
means the reinsurance of insurance policies that provide guarantees resulting in
credit rating enhancement to debt instruments.
“FINMA” means the Swiss
Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA.
“French Participant” means a
participant in a Company Stock Plan (i) who is or has been subject to French
taxation (i.e., income
tax and/or social security contributions) during the period between (x) the date
of grant of the Company Option and/or the Company RSU and (y) the exercise of
his or her Company Options and/or the vesting of his or her Company RSUs or (ii)
whose Award Document (as defined in the Company Stock Plan) provides that he or
she is considered a French Participant and therefore is subject to the
provisions of the Company Stock Plan applicable to French
Participants.
“GAAP” means generally accepted
accounting principles in the United States.
“General Rules of the AMF”
means the Règlement général de
l’Autorité des marchés
financiers and any instruction, regulation or recommendation enacted, adopted,
promulgated or applied by the AMF.
“Governmental Authority” means
any transnational, domestic or foreign federal, state or local, governmental,
regulatory or administrative (including social security) authority, department,
court, agency or official, including any political subdivision
thereof.
“Hazardous Substances” means
any pollutant, contaminant, waste or chemical or any toxic, radioactive,
ignitable, corrosive, reactive or otherwise hazardous substance, waste or
material, or any substance, waste or material having any constituent elements
displaying any of the foregoing characteristics, including, without limitation,
petroleum, its derivatives, by products and other hydrocarbons, and any
substance, waste or material regulated under any Environmental Law.
4
“HSR Act” means the
Xxxx-Xxxxx-Xxxxxx Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
“IASB” means the International
Accounting Standards Board.
“Intellectual Property” means
(i) trademarks, service marks, brand names, certification marks, trade dress,
domain names and other indications of origin, the goodwill associated with the
foregoing and registrations in any jurisdiction of, and applications in any
jurisdiction to register, the foregoing, including any extension, modification
or renewal of any such registration or application, (ii) inventions and
discoveries, whether patentable or not, in any jurisdiction, patents,
applications for patents (including divisions, continuations, continuations in
part and renewal applications), and any renewals, extensions or reissues
thereof, in any jurisdiction, (iii) Trade Secrets, (iv) writings and other
works, whether copyrightable or not, in any jurisdiction, and any and all
copyright rights, whether registered or not, and registrations or applications
for registration of copyrights in any jurisdiction, and any renewals or
extensions thereof, (v) rights in and to Software, (vi) moral rights, database
rights, design rights, industrial property rights, publicity rights and privacy
rights and (vii) any similar intellectual property or proprietary
rights.
“International Plan” means,
whether written or as a result of Company custom required by applicable law, (x)
any employment, consultancy, severance or similar agreement, plan, arrangement
or policy; (y) any other plan or arrangement providing for compensation,
bonuses, profit-sharing, equity or equity-based compensation or other forms of
incentive or deferred compensation, vacation benefits, insurance (including any
self-insured arrangements), medical, dental, vision or prescription benefits,
disability or sick leave benefits, life insurance, employee assistance program,
workers’ compensation, termination payments, health and safety, working
conditions or professional training programs, employee representation
provisions, supplemental unemployment benefits and post-employment or retirement
benefits (including compensation, pension or insurance benefits); or (z) any
loan, which is sponsored, maintained, administered, contributed to, extended or
arranged by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and covers any current of
former employee, officer, director or independent contractor of the Company,
provided that in each of clauses (x), (y) and (z) such individuals are located
outside of the United States.
“knowledge” means the actual
knowledge, after reasonable inquiry, of the officers of Parent and its
Subsidiaries set forth in Section 1.01 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule or the
officers of the Company and its Subsidiaries set forth in Section 1.01 of the
Company Disclosure Schedule, as the case may be. It is agreed that the actual
knowledge of the individuals listed in the Disclosure Schedules excludes any
knowledge which may be implied, imputed or construed from or on the basis of the
knowledge of any other Person including, without
5
limitation,
professional advisers or any other employee, director or officer of the Company,
Parent or any of their respective Subsidiaries not so listed.
“Lien” means, with respect to
any property or asset, any mortgage, lien, pledge, charge, security interest,
encumbrance or other adverse claim of any kind in respect of such property or
asset. For purposes of this Agreement, a Person shall be deemed to own subject
to a Lien any property or asset that it has acquired or holds subject to the
interest of a vendor or lessor under any conditional sale agreement, capital
lease or other title retention agreement relating to such property or
asset.
“Liquidity Agreement” means an
agreement made among the Company, Parent and the individual mentioned in the
acceptance form to the Liquidity Agreement, which provides certain holders of
Company Options the opportunity to exchange the Company Shares (or shares of
Purchaser) delivered to such beneficiary in connection with such Company Options
for Parent Shares.
“Market Value” means, as of any
date of determination, the average closing price of the Parent Shares on the New
York Stock Exchange for the 20 trading days immediately prior to such
date.
“Material Adverse Effect”
means, with respect to any Person, any change, state of facts, event, occurrence
or circumstance, that, individually or when taken together, has a material
adverse effect on (i) the financial condition, business, assets or results of
operations of such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, excluding any
effect resulting from (A) changes in the financial or securities markets or
general economic, regulatory or political conditions in the United States of
America, France, Switzerland, Bermuda or any other market in which such Person
or its Subsidiary operates not having a materially disproportionate effect on
such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to other
participants primarily in the reinsurance industry, (B) changes or conditions
generally affecting the reinsurance industry not having a materially
disproportionate effect on such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole,
relative to other participants primarily in the reinsurance industry, (C) acts
of war, sabotage or terrorism not having a materially disproportionate effect on
such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to other
participants primarily in the reinsurance industry, (D) any failure by such
Person and its Subsidiaries to meet any internal or published budgets,
projections, forecasts or predictions of financial performance for any period
(it being understood that this clause (D) shall not prevent a party from
asserting that any fact, change, event, occurrence, circumstance or effect that
may have contributed to such failure independently constitutes or contributes to
a Material Adverse Effect), (E) changes or conditions resulting in liabilities
under reinsurance contracts, including any effects resulting from any
earthquake, hurricane, tornado, windstorm, terrorist act, act of war or other
natural or man-made disaster, (F) any change or
6
announcement
of a potential change in such Person’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ credit or
claims paying rating or the ratings of any of its or its Subsidiaries’
businesses or securities (it being understood that this clause (F) shall not
prevent a party from asserting that any fact, change, event, occurrence,
circumstance or effect that may have contributed to such change or potential
change independently constitutes or contributes to a Material Adverse Effect),
(G) a change in the trading prices or volume of such Person’s capital stock (it
being understood that this clause (G) shall not prevent a party from asserting
that any fact, change, event, occurrence, circumstance or effect that may have
contributed to such change independently constitutes or contributes to a
Material Adverse Effect), (H) the execution, delivery and announcement of this
Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby, including any loss or adverse change in, the
relationship of such Person or any of its Subsidiaries with its customers,
officers, employees, agents, suppliers, financing sources, business partners or
regulators, (I) changes of Applicable Law, GAAP or of SAP, including accounting
and financial reporting pronouncements by the IASB, the SEC, the NAIC and FASB
not having a materially disproportionate effect on such Person and its
Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to other participants primarily in the
reinsurance industry and (J) any action or failure to act required to be taken
by a Person pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, or (ii) such Person’s
ability to consummate the Closing.
“NAIC” means the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners.
“Non-French Participant” means
a participant in a Company Stock Plan who is not a French
Participant.
“1933 Act” means the Securities
Act of 1933.
“1934 Act” means the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934.
“Parent Acquisition Proposal”
means any Third Party offer, proposal or inquiry relating to, or any Third Party
indication of interest in, (i) any acquisition or purchase of 50% or more of the
consolidated assets of Parent and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (ii) any
acquisition or purchase of, or, tender offer (including a self-tender offer) or
exchange offer for, its voting securities, that, if consummated, would result in
such Third Party beneficially owning securities representing 50% or more of its
total voting power (or of the surviving Parent entity in such transaction),
(iii) a merger, amalgamation, consolidation, share exchange, business
combination, sale of substantially all the assets, reorganization,
recapitalization, liquidation, dissolution or other similar transaction
involving Parent or any of its Subsidiaries whose assets, individually or in the
aggregate, constitute 50% or more of the consolidated assets of Parent or (iv)
any other transaction the consummation of which could reasonably be
7
expected
to impede, interfere with, prevent or materially delay the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase
Agreement.
“Parent Disclosure Schedule”
means the disclosure schedule dated the date hereof regarding this Agreement
that has been provided by Parent to the Company.
“PBGC” means the U.S. Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
“Permitted Lien” means (i)
statutory liens securing payments not yet due and payable, (ii) such
imperfections or irregularities of title, claims, liens, charges, security
interests or encumbrances as are not material in amount or do not materially
affect the use of the properties or assets subject thereto or affected thereby
or otherwise materially impair business operations at such properties, (iii)
restrictions on transfer imposed by Applicable Law (other than due to the
failure to comply with such Applicable Law), (iv) assets pledged or transferred
to secure reinsurance or retrocession obligations or (v) statutory
deposits.
“Person” means an individual,
corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, trust or other
entity or organization, including a government or political subdivision or an
agency or instrumentality thereof.
“Purchase” has the meaning set
forth in the recitals of the Securities Purchase Agreement.
“Purchaser” means, (i) in the
event that the Cantonal Tax Ruling with respect to GmbH Purchaser is obtained
within the period specified in Section 8.02 and Parent has not exercised its
right to form Bermuda Purchaser (as described in Section 8.02), GmbH Purchaser;
(ii) in the event that the Cantonal Tax Ruling with respect to GmbH Purchaser is
not obtained within the period specified in Section 8.02 and Parent has not
exercised its right to form Bermuda Purchaser (as described in Section 8.02), AG
Purchaser; or (iii) in the event Parent has exercised its right to form Bermuda
Purchaser (as described in Section 8.02), for purposes of the Offer and Article
2 of this Agreement, Bermuda Purchaser, for purposes of the Merger and Article 3
of this Agreement, GmbH Purchaser, and for all other purposes of this Agreement,
Bermuda Purchaser and GmbH Purchaser, collectively.
“SEC” means the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
“Securities Purchase Agreement”
means the Securities Purchase Agreement dated as of the date hereof among the
Company, Parent and the Sellers named therein.
8
“Seller” has the meaning set
forth in the recitals of the Securities Purchase Agreement.
“Software” means computer
software, whether in source code or object code form, and all associated
documentation.
“Subsidiary” means, with
respect to any Person, any entity of which securities or other ownership
interests having ordinary voting power to elect a majority of the board of
directors or other persons performing similar functions are at any time directly
or indirectly owned by such Person.
“Swiss Cartel Act” means the
Swiss Federal Act on Cartels and Other Restraints of Competition and its
implementing ordinances.
“Tax” means (i) any tax,
governmental fee or other like assessment or charge of any kind whatsoever
(including, but not limited to, withholding on amounts paid to or by any Person,
such as social security contributions), together with any interest, penalty,
addition to tax or additional amount imposed by any Governmental Authority (a
“Taxing Authority”)
responsible for the imposition of any such tax (domestic or foreign), and any
liability for any of the foregoing as transferee and (ii) liability of any
Person for the payment of any amount of the type described in clause (i) as a
result of being or having been before the Closing a member of an affiliated,
consolidated, combined or unitary group, or a party to any agreement or
arrangement, as a result of which liability of such Person to a Taxing Authority
is determined or taken into account with reference to the activities of any
other Person.
“Tax Return” means all returns
and reports relating to Taxes (including claims for refund, elections,
declarations, disclosures, schedules, estimates and information returns), and
including any amendment thereof, required to be supplied to a Taxing
Authority.
“Technology” means (i)
computers, firmware, middleware, servers, workstations, routers, hubs, switches,
data communications lines and all other similar equipment and (ii) Software and
all associated documentation.
“Third Party” means any Person,
including as defined in Section 13(d) of the 1934 Act, other than Parent or any
of its Affiliates.
“Title IV Plan” means any US
Employee Plan subject to Title IV of ERISA.
“Trade Secrets” means trade
secrets and confidential information and rights in any jurisdiction to limit the
use or disclosure thereof by any Person.
9
“US Employee Plan” means,
whether or not written, any (w) “employee benefit plan”, as defined in Section
3(3) of ERISA; (x) any employment, consultancy, severance, change in control or
similar service agreement, plan, arrangement or policy; (y) any other plan or
arrangement providing for compensation, bonuses, profit-sharing, equity or
equity-based compensation or other forms of incentive or deferred compensation,
vacation benefits, insurance (including any self-insured arrangements), medical,
dental, vision or prescription benefits, disability or sick leave benefits, life
insurance, employee assistance program, workers’ compensation, supplemental
unemployment benefits and post- employment or retirement benefits (including
compensation, pension or insurance benefits); or (z) any loan; in each case
which is sponsored, maintained, administered, contributed to, extended or
arranged by the Company or any Affiliate and covers any current of former
employee, director or independent contractor of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries who is or was employed or providing services within the United
States or with respect to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries has any
liability with respect to such individuals; provided that any
International Plan shall not constitute a US Employee Plan.
“WARN Act” means the U.S.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and any foreign, state or
local equivalent.
(b) Each
of the following terms is defined in the Section set forth opposite such
term:
Term
|
Section
|
Accounting
Referee
|
2.06
|
Additional
Cantonal Tax Ruling
|
9.08
|
Adjustment
Amount
|
2.06
|
Adjustment
Determination Date
|
2.06
|
Administrator
|
5.12
|
Adverse
Company Recommendation Change
|
7.06
|
Adverse
Parent Recommendation Change
|
8.07
|
AG
Purchaser
|
8.02
|
Agent
|
5.12
|
Agreement
|
Preamble
|
APIC
|
7.03
|
April
Confidentiality Agreement
|
7.05
|
Bermuda
Purchaser
|
8.02
|
Burdensome
Condition
|
9.01
|
Cantonal
Tax Ruling
|
9.08
|
CERCLA
|
5.07
|
Charter
Amendment
|
4.02
|
Closing
Balance Sheet
|
7.09
|
Code
|
Recitals
|
Company
|
Preamble
|
10
Term
|
Section
|
Company
Employees
|
8.12
|
Company
AMF Documents
|
4.07
|
Company
Board
|
2.02
|
Company
Board Recommendation
|
4.02
|
Company
Disclosure Documents
|
4.10
|
Company
Financial Advisor
|
4.17
|
Company
Financial Statements
|
4.08
|
Company
Options
|
4.05
|
Company
RSU
|
3.02
|
Company
Securities
|
4.05
|
Company
Shareholder Approvals
|
4.02
|
Company
Shareholders Meeting
|
7.02
|
Company
Shares
|
Recitals
|
Company
Stock Plan
|
3.02
|
Company
Subsidiary Securities
|
4.06
|
Company
Warrants
|
Recitals
|
Confidentiality
Agreements
|
7.05
|
Converted
Warrant
|
3.02
|
D&O
Insurance
|
8.05
|
Deferred
Delivery Date
|
2.06
|
Effective
Time
|
3.01
|
e-mail
|
11.01
|
Final
Offer Recommendation
|
2.02
|
Foreign
Antitrust Laws
|
4.03
|
40%
Differential Book Value Per Share Decline
|
2.06
|
GmbH
Purchaser
|
8.02
|
IFRS
|
4.08
|
Indemnified
Person
|
8.05
|
Independent
Auditor
|
7.08
|
Independent
Directors
|
2.02
|
Independent
Expert
|
2.02
|
Initial
Offer Recommendation
|
4.02
|
Insurance
Entities
|
5.12
|
Investment
Assets
|
5.13
|
Leased
Real Property
|
5.04
|
Material
Contract.
|
5.08
|
May
Confidentiality Agreement
|
7.05
|
Measurement
Date
|
2.06
|
Merger
|
3.01
|
Merger
Ratio
|
3.02
|
NYSE
|
8.10
|
OFAC
|
5.02
|
Offer
|
Recitals
|
11
Term
|
Section
|
Offer
Consideration
|
Recitals
|
Offer
Documents
|
2.01
|
Offer
Filing Date
|
2.01
|
Outstanding
Shares
|
2.06
|
Parent
|
Preamble
|
Parent
Board
|
6.02
|
Parent
Board Recommendation
|
6.02
|
Parent
Financial Statements
|
6.09
|
Parent
Option
|
3.02
|
Parent
RSU
|
3.02
|
Parent
SEC Documents
|
6.07
|
Parent
Securities
|
6.05
|
Parent
Shareholder Approvals
|
6.02
|
Parent
Shareholder Meeting
|
8.06
|
Parent
Shares
|
Recitals
|
Parent
Subsidiary Securities
|
6.06
|
Parent
Termination Fee
|
10.02
|
Per
Share Consideration
|
Recitals
|
Per
Warrant Consideration
|
Recitals
|
Policies
|
5.12
|
Proxy
Statement
|
9.02
|
Purchaser
Option
|
3.02
|
Purchaser
Shares
|
3.02
|
Real
Property Schedule
|
5.04
|
Reinsurance
Agreements
|
5.12
|
Reply
Document
|
2.02
|
Representatives
|
7.06
|
Retention
Period
|
8.12
|
S-4
|
9.02
|
Sanctions
|
5.02
|
SCR
Pre-Conditions
|
9.03
|
SCR
Intercompany Loan
|
9.03
|
SCR
Step Plan
|
9.03
|
Share
Capital Repayment
|
Recitals
|
Statutory
Statements
|
5.12
|
Superior
Proposal
|
7.06
|
Surviving
Company
|
Recitals
|
Swiss
Federal Tax Ruling
|
7.03
|
Tangible
Book Value Per Share
|
2.06
|
Tangible
Book Value Per Share Differential
|
2.06
|
Tangible
Book Value Per Share Estimate
|
2.06
|
Tangible
Book Value Per Share Statement
|
2.06
|
UNSC
|
5.02
|
12
Term
|
Section
|
Zug
Tax Administration
|
9.08
|
Section
1.02. Other Definitional and
Interpretative Provisions. The words “hereof”, “herein” and “hereunder”
and words of like import used in this Agreement shall refer to this Agreement as
a whole and not to any particular provision of this Agreement. The captions
herein are included for convenience of reference only and shall be ignored in
the construction or interpretation hereof. References to Articles, Sections,
Annexes, Exhibits and Schedules are to Articles, Sections, Annexes, Exhibits and
Schedules of this Agreement unless otherwise specified. All Annexes, Exhibits
and Schedules annexed hereto or referred to herein are hereby incorporated in
and made a part of this Agreement as if set forth in full herein. Any
capitalized terms used in any Annexes, Exhibit or Schedule but not otherwise
defined therein, shall have the meaning as defined in this Agreement. Any
singular term in this Agreement shall be deemed to include the plural, and any
plural term the singular. Whenever the words “include”, “includes” or
“including” are used in this Agreement, they shall be deemed to be followed by
the words “without limitation”, whether or not they are in fact followed by
those words or words of like import. “Writing”, “written” and comparable terms
refer to printing, typing and other means of reproducing words (including
electronic media) in a visible form. References to any statute shall be deemed
to refer to such statute as amended from time to time and to any rules or
regulations promulgated thereunder. References to any agreement or contract are
to that agreement or contract as amended, modified or supplemented from time to
time in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof; provided that with respect to
any agreement or contract listed on any schedules hereto, all such amendments,
modifications or supplements must also be listed in the appropriate schedule.
References to any Person include the successors and permitted assigns of that
Person. References from or through any date mean, unless otherwise specified,
from and including or through and including, respectively. References to “law”,
“laws” or to a particular statute or law shall be deemed also to include any and
all Applicable Law.
ARTICLE
2
THE
OFFER
Section
2.01. The Offer. (a)
Provided that (i) this Agreement shall not have been terminated in accordance
with Section 10.01 and (ii) none of the events set forth in Annex A hereto shall
exist or have occurred and be continuing (each of which events Parent expressly
reserves the right to waive in its sole discretion), as promptly as practicable
after the Closing, Purchaser shall file the Offer with the AMF on terms that can
be declared compliant by the AMF. The date on which Purchaser files the Offer is
referred to as the “Offer
Filing Date”.
13
(b) Purchaser
expressly reserves the right prior to the Offer Filing Date to make any change
in the terms or conditions of the Offer; provided that, without the
prior written consent of the Company, Purchaser shall not:
(i) decrease
the Per Share Consideration or the Per Warrant Consideration;
(ii) change
the form of consideration to be paid in the Offer;
(iii) decrease
the number of Company Shares or Company Warrants sought in the
Offer;
(iv) extend or
otherwise change the expiration date of the Offer except as otherwise provided
herein; or
(v) otherwise
amend, modify or supplement any terms of the Offer in a manner adverse to the
holders of the Company Shares or Company Warrants.
(c) The Offer
shall be conducted in accordance with the General Rules of the AMF applicable to
a simplified share exchange offer (offre publique d’échange simplifiée).
Additionally, the Offer will expire in accordance with the offer timetable agreed
to by the AMF. Notwithstanding the foregoing, without the consent of the
Company, and in accordance with the General Rules of the AMF, Purchaser shall
have the right to extend the Offer (i) from time to time if, at the scheduled or
extended expiration date of the Offer, either (A) the S-4 has not been declared
effective by the SEC upon a request therefor, there is a stop order suspending
the effectiveness of the S-4 or proceedings for that purpose have been initiated
or threatened by the SEC or (B) the Parent Shares have not been approved for
listing on a European Union stock exchange selected by Parent pursuant to
Section 8.10, and (ii) for any period required by any rule, regulation,
interpretation or position of the AMF or the staff thereof applicable to the
Offer or any period otherwise required by Applicable Law.
(d) Subject
to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, Purchaser shall, and
Parent shall cause it to, accept for payment and pay for, as promptly as
practicable after the expiration of the Offer and in accordance with the General
Rules of the AMF, all Company Shares and Company Warrants validly tendered and
not withdrawn pursuant to the Offer.
(e) As
promptly as practicable after the Closing, Parent and Purchaser shall cause a
presenting bank (banque
présentatrice) to file with the AMF the offer letter (lettre d’offre) and the offer
document (la note
d’information) and shall publish a press release in accordance with the
General Rules of the AMF (together, as amended from time to time, the “Offer Documents”).
The
14
Company
and its counsel shall be given a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on
the Offer Documents and amendments thereto each time before any such document is
filed with the AMF, and Parent and Purchaser shall give reasonable and good
faith consideration to any comments made by the Company and its counsel. Parent
and Purchaser shall provide the Company and its counsel with (i) any comments or
other communications, whether written or oral, that Parent, Purchaser or their
counsel may receive from time to time from the AMF or its staff with respect to
the Offer Documents promptly after receipt of those comments or other
communications and (ii) a reasonable opportunity to participate in Parent’s and
Purchaser’s response to those comments and to provide comments on that response
(to which reasonable and good faith consideration shall be given), including by
participating with Parent, Purchaser and their counsel in any discussions with
the AMF. Public distribution of the AMF approved Offer Documents shall occur no
later than the second trading day following issuance by the AMF of the statement
of compliance (déclaration
de conformité),
and Purchaser and Parent shall use their reasonable best efforts to obtain such statement
as promptly as practicable following the Closing. The AMF approved Offer
Documents shall be made available free of charge at the office of Parent and the
sponsoring institutions and a summary of the Offer shall be published in at
least one daily newspaper with nationwide circulation in France that covers
economic and financial news.
(f) Other
than as provided in the SEC Relief (as defined in the Securities Purchase
Agreement), Parent and Purchaser shall conduct the Offer in compliance with the
1933 Act, the 1934 Act and the respective rules promulgated
thereunder.
Section
2.02. Company Action.
(a) The Company represents that the board of directors of the Company (the
“Company Board”), at a
meeting duly called and held, has unanimously made the Initial Offer
Recommendation. The Company has been advised that all of its directors and
executive officers who own Company Shares intend to tender such shares pursuant
to the Offer. The Company shall promptly furnish Parent with such information
and such assistance as Parent may reasonably request in connection with the
Offer.
(b) Promptly
following the date hereof, the Company shall appoint an independent expert from
the list of individuals set forth on Section 2.02(b) of the Company Disclosure
Schedule (the “Independent
Expert”) to prepare a report pursuant to Article 261-1-1 of the General
Rules of the AMF.
(c) As soon
as practicable after the Offer Filing Date and no later than five trading days
following the publication by the AMF of the statement of compliance (déclaration de conformité),
the Company shall (i) convene a meeting of the Company Board for the purpose of
seeking, subject to Section 7.06(b), a recommendation in accordance with Article
231-16 of the General Rules of the
15
AMF that
is consistent with the Initial Offer Recommendation (the “Final Offer Recommendation”) and (ii) file
with the AMF the draft reply document (la note en réponse) (as amended from
time to time, the “Reply
Document”), which shall include, amongst
others, the report of the Independent Expert and shall contain, subject to
Section 7.06(b), the Final Offer Recommendation, if any. Parent, Purchaser and
their counsel shall be given a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on
the Reply Document and amendments thereto each time before such document is
filed with the AMF, and the Company shall give reasonable and good faith
consideration to any comments made by Parent, Purchaser and their counsel. The
Company shall provide Parent, Purchaser and their counsel with (x) any comments
or other communications, whether written or oral, that the Company or its
counsel may receive from time to time from the AMF or its staff with respect to
the Reply Document promptly after receipt of those comments or other
communications and (y) a reasonable opportunity to participate in the Company’s
response to those comments and to provide comments on that response (to which
reasonable and good faith consideration shall be given), including by
participating with the Company and its counsel in any discussions with the
AMF.
(d)
(i)
Following the Closing and until the Effective Time, Purchaser shall, and Parent
shall cause Purchaser to, use its reasonable best efforts to cause directors on
the Company Board on the date of this Agreement that are not Affiliates or
associates (as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the 0000 Xxx) of any Seller to
constitute at least one-third of the directors on the Company Board (such
directors, the “Independent
Directors”).
(ii) If any
Independent Director is unable or unwilling to serve due to death, disability,
resignation or any other reason, the remaining Independent Director(s) shall be
entitled to nominate another individual (provided that such person is
not an employee of the Company, Parent or any of their respective Subsidiaries
and is “independent” (as defined in the Company’s organizational regulations
dated as of May 7, 2007) of each of the Company and Parent) to fill the vacancy,
and Purchaser shall take all action reasonably necessary to cause the election
of such individual, including nominating such individual to be elected as a
director to the Company Board, calling an extraordinary general meeting or
holding an ordinary general meeting within a reasonable period thereafter and
voting, or causing to be voted, all Company Shares beneficially owned by it or
any of its Affiliates in favor of the election of such individual. Any such
individual so elected as a director of the Company Board shall be deemed to be
an Independent Director for purposes of this Agreement.
(iii) If no
Independent Director then remains, the other directors on the Company Board
shall nominate individuals representing at least one-third of the directors on
the Company Board (provided that each such
person is not an employee of the Company, Parent or any of their
16
respective
Subsidiaries and is “independent” (as defined in the Company’s organizational
regulations dated as of May 7, 2007) of each of the Company and Parent) to fill
the vacancies, and Purchaser shall take all action reasonably necessary to cause
the election of such individuals, including nominating such individuals to be
elected as directors to the Company Board, calling an extraordinary general
meeting or holding an ordinary general meeting within a reasonable period
thereafter and voting, or causing to be voted, all Company Shares beneficially
owned by it or any of its Affiliates in favor of the election of such
individuals. Any such individuals so elected as directors of the Company Board
shall be deemed to be an Independent Director for purposes of this
Agreement.
(iv)
Following the Closing and until the Effective Time, the approval of a majority
of the Independent Directors shall be required to authorize (and such
authorization shall constitute the authorization of the Company Board and no
other action on the part of the Company, including any action by any other
director of the Company, shall be required to authorize) any termination of this
Agreement by the Company, any amendment of this Agreement requiring action by
the Company Board, any extension of time for performance of any obligation or
action hereunder by Parent or Purchaser and any waiver of compliance with any of
the agreements or conditions contained herein for the benefit of the Company.
The Independent Directors shall have the authority to retain counsel (which may
include current counsel to the Company) at the expense of the Company for the
purpose of fulfilling their obligations hereunder.
Section
2.03. Adjustments. If,
during the period between the date of this Agreement and the Effective
Time,
(i) any
change in the outstanding capital shares of the Company or Parent shall occur,
including by reason of any reclassification, recapitalization, share split or
combination, exchange or readjustment of shares, or any share dividend thereon
with a record date during such period, but excluding any change that results
from (A) any exercise of options or other equity awards to purchase Company
Shares or Parent Shares, as applicable, granted under the Company’s or Parent’s
share option or compensation plans or arrangements, and any issuance of options,
other equity awards or shares pursuant to any such plans or arrangements subject
to and in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, (B) any exercise or
conversion of any Company Securities (including Company Warrants) or Parent
Securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, Company Shares or Parent
Shares, as applicable, that are outstanding as of the date hereof, (C) any bona fide issuance of Company
Securities or Parent Securities subject to and in accordance with
17
the terms
of this Agreement in which Parent or the Company receives fair value for such
shares (as determined in good faith by the board of directors of Parent or the
Company, as applicable), (D) the issuance of Parent Shares, Parent Options,
Parent RSUs and Converted Options in the Purchase, the Offer or the Merger or
(E) any other action effected with the prior written consent of the other party,
or
(ii)
Parent or the Company shall declare, subject to and in accordance with the terms
of this Agreement, a cash dividend with a record date during such period other
than (A) quarterly cash dividends paid by Parent consistent with past practice
and having customary record and payment dates and (B) the Share Capital
Repayment,
the Per
Share Consideration, Per Warrant Consideration and any other amounts payable
pursuant to this Agreement shall be appropriately adjusted to provide to the
holders of Company Shares or Company Warrants the same economic effect as
contemplated by this Agreement prior to such event.
Section
2.04. No Fractional
Shares. No fractional Parent Shares shall be issued in the Offer or the
Merger. All fractional Parent Shares that a holder of Company Shares or Company
Warrants would otherwise be entitled to receive as a result of the Offer or the
Merger shall be aggregated and if a fractional share results from such
aggregation, the number of Parent Shares to be issued shall be rounded to the
nearest whole Parent Share (with 0.50 being rounded upward).
Section
2.05. Withholding
Rights. Notwithstanding any provision contained herein to the contrary,
either of Purchaser or Parent shall be entitled to deduct and withhold from the
Offer Consideration, any amounts payable pursuant to the Merger or otherwise
payable to any Person pursuant to this Agreement such amounts as it is required
to deduct and withhold with respect to the making of such payment under any
provision of applicable tax law. If Purchaser or Parent, as the case may be, so
withholds amounts, such amounts shall be treated for all purposes of this
Agreement as having been paid to the holder of the Company Shares or Company
Warrants in respect of which Purchaser or Parent, as the case may be, made such
deduction and withholding.
Section
2.06. Tangible Book Value Per
Share Adjustment. (a) Tangible Book Value Per Share
Estimates. (i) No later than three Business Days after the date (such date, the
“Measurement Date”) on
which all conditions set forth in Article 8 of the Securities Purchase Agreement
are satisfied or waived (other than those conditions that by their nature cannot
be satisfied until or immediately prior to the Closing), each of Parent and the
Company shall prepare and deliver to the other party an officer’s certificate
(executed by the Chief Financial Officer of Parent or the Company, as
applicable), certifying as to its estimate of its Tangible Book Value Per Share
as of the Measurement Date (each, a “Tangible Book
18
Value Per Share Estimate”) as
shown on the accompanying statement of Tangible Book Value Per
Share (the “Tangible Book Value
Per Share Statement”) attached to such
certificate. Each party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share Statement shall
set forth such party’s calculation of (x) its Tangible Book Value Per Share as
of March 31, 2009, (y) its Tangible Book Value Per Share as of the most recent
quarter end prior to the Measurement Date and (z) its Tangible Book Value Per
Share as of the Measurement Date, and shall include only those categories of
assets and liabilities and line items included in, and calculated and be in a
form consistent with, the statement of Tangible Book Value Per Share of the
Company and Parent, as applicable, as of March 31, 2009 included as Exhibit B-1 and Exhibit B-2,
respectively, hereto. Each party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share Statement
shall be accompanied with (I) a reconciliation of the material changes to such
party’s consolidated common tangible shareholders’ equity since the date of its
most recent quarterly or annual balance sheet filed with the SEC or the AMF, as
applicable, to the Measurement Date, reflecting adjustments, among other things,
for material changes or estimated changes in valuation of its investment
portfolio, exchange rates, loss notifications or loss developments, catastrophe
losses and accrued income, together with supporting calculations for each
material adjustment, and (II) a reconciliation between the number of such
party’s Outstanding Shares as of March 31, 2009 and the Measurement Date. The
“Tangible Book Value Per
Share” means, with respect to any Person as of any date, a fraction, the
numerator of which is the excess, if any, of (A) such Person’s consolidated
assets (excluding goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets, after
consideration of applicable Taxes, if any) over (B) such Person’s consolidated
liabilities (after consideration of applicable Taxes, if any), in each case, as
of the Measurement Date, calculated in accordance with GAAP, in the case of
Parent, or IFRS, in the case of the Company, consistently applied with prior
periods, and the denominator of which is the number of such Persons’ Outstanding
Shares as of such date. “Outstanding Shares” means,
subject to Section 2.06(f), (x) with respect to the Company as of any date, the
number of Company Shares outstanding as of such date as determined in conformity
with the calculation of “Number of Shares” in the Company’s “Tangible book value
per share (Primary)” calculation described in the Company’s press release dated
May 13, 2009 and (y) with respect to Parent as of any date, the number of Parent
Shares outstanding as of such date as determined in a manner consistent with the
calculation of “Basic common shares outstanding” set forth in Parent’s Financial
Supplement filed with its Form 8-K on April 4, 2009.
(ii)
Notwithstanding Section 2.06(a)(i), if an earthquake, hurricane, tornado,
windstorm, terrorist act, act of war or other natural or man-made disaster or
catastrophe event in each case of significant severity and magnitude shall have
occurred within 30 days prior to the Measurement Date that in the good faith,
reasonable judgment of either party could result (either alone or in combination
with one or more other
19
events)
in an adjustment to the Per Share Consideration and Per Warrant Consideration
pursuant to Section 2.06(d), such party shall have the right, by delivering
written notice thereof to the other party at any time on or prior to the
Measurement Date to designate a date no more than 30 days after the Measurement
Date as the latest date on which the Tangible Book Value Estimate, the Tangible
Book Value Statement and the other supporting information described in Section
2.06(a)(i) shall be delivered (in lieu of the third Business Day after the
Measurement Date) (such deferred date, the “Deferred Delivery Date”);
provided that if in
accordance with the foregoing both parties elect to designate a Deferred
Delivery Date, the Deferred Delivery Date shall be the latest date selected by
either party. For the avoidance of doubt, notwithstanding the designation of a
Deferred Delivery Date, the calculations of Tangible Book Value Per Share
Estimates shall set forth the estimate of the relevant Tangible Book Value Per
Share as of the Measurement Date.
(b) Reasonable Best Efforts.
Following the time that both Tangible Book Value Per Share
Estimates have been delivered, Parent and the Company shall review the other
party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimate and Tangible Book Value Per Share
Statement and use their reasonable best efforts to reach agreement on each
party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share, including giving full access to all
relevant information, with due consideration being given to privilege issues and
techniques for resolving them. If Parent and the Company agree on the
calculation of a party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share, then such party’s
Tangible Book Value Per Share as so agreed shall become final and binding
between the parties.
(c) Submission to Accounting
Referee. (i) If the parties are unable to agree on either or both
of the parties’ Tangible Book Value Per Shares within three Business Days after
the date that the Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimates have both been
delivered and a party reasonably believes that the items remaining in dispute
would result in an increase or decrease to the Adjustment Amount or would bear
on whether a party would have the right to terminate the Agreement pursuant to
Section 2.06(e), then such party shall have the right to refer the determination
of such Tangible Book Value Per Share(s) to Ernst & Young LLP in the first
instance, or if Ernst & Young LLP is unavailable, then
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, or if PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is unavailable,
then KPMG LLP (the entity so selected, the “Accounting Referee”); provided that if any party’s
Tangible Book Value Per Share that has not been agreed pursuant to Section
2.06(b) is not referred to the Accounting Referee within five Business Days
following the date that the Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimates have both
been delivered, such party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share shall be deemed equal
to such party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimate (as adjusted to give
effect to those items as to which the parties have been able to agree pursuant
to Section 2.06(b)), and such Tangible Book Value Per Share shall
20
be final
and binding upon the parties. If one or both of the parties’ Tangible Book Value
Per Share Estimates are referred to the Accounting Referee, each of Parent and
the Company will, at a mutually agreed time within three Business Days following
such date, simultaneously submit to the Accounting Referee its final proposal
(with copies thereof simultaneously delivered to the other party) with respect
to each Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimate in dispute (which proposal shall
specify for each Tangible Book Value Per Share Estimate in dispute, the items as
to which the parties have been able to agree pursuant to Section 2.06(b) and
such party’s proposal as to the items in dispute). Parent and the Company shall
cooperate and assist the Accounting Referee in their review of the disputed
items and the calculation(s) of the Tangible Book Value Per Share(s), including
giving full access to all relevant information, with due consideration being
given to privilege issues and techniques for resolving them. The Accounting
Referee shall have the right, upon reasonable notice, to request that the
parties make an oral presentation to the Accounting Referee regarding the items
in dispute so long as each party shall be afforded a full and equal opportunity
to be heard but without prolonging the date by which the Accounting Referee’s
determination shall be made in accordance with the following sentence. Within 10
Business Days of the submission of such final proposals in accordance with the
second sentence of this clause 2.06(c), the Accounting Referee will select, with
respect to each Book Value Per Share Estimate in dispute, one of the two
proposals (with no compromise or split decisions being allowed) as being the
most representative of the applicable party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share, and
the proposal so selected shall be final and binding between the parties. In
making such determination, the Accounting Referee shall consider only those
items or amounts as to which the parties have been unable to agree pursuant to
Section 2.06(b), and the proposal of the party so selected by the Accounting
Referee shall represent the resolution as to all remaining items or amounts in
their entirety.
(ii) The
fees and expenses of the Accounting Referee shall be borne by:
(A) if
the Company and Parent both agree that an adjustment to the Per Share
Consideration and Per Warrant Consideration is required pursuant to Section
2.06(d) and the only issue in dispute is the amount of such adjustment, (1) by
Parent if (x) the absolute value of the difference between the Adjustment Amount
finally determined and the Adjustment Amount that would be calculated based
solely on Parent’s final proposal(s) to the Accounting Referee is greater than
(y) the absolute value of the difference between the Adjustment Amount finally
determined and the Adjustment Amount that would be calculated based on the
Company’s final proposal(s) to the Accounting Referee and (2) by the Company if
the difference in clause (1)(x) is less than the
21
difference
in clause (1)(y) and (3) otherwise equally by Parent and the Company;
and
(B) if the
Company and Parent disagree as to whether an adjustment to the Per Share
Consideration and Per Warrant Consideration is required pursuant to Section
2.06(d), then (1) if the Accounting Referee’s final determination results in an
adjustment to the Per Share Consideration and Per Warrant Consideration, by the
party whose final proposal(s) would have resulted in no adjustment being made or
(2) if the Accounting Referee’s final determination does not result in an
adjustment to the Per Share Consideration and Per Warrant Consideration, by the
party whose final proposal(s) would have resulted in an adjustment being
made.
(d) Adjustment to Per Share
Consideration and Per Warrant Consideration. (i) On the date that each of
the Tangible Book Value Per Shares of the Company and
Parent have become final and binding on the parties in accordance with Section
2.06(b) or (c) (such date, the “Adjustment Determination Date”), the Per
Share Consideration and the Per Warrant Consideration shall be
adjusted, to the extent applicable, in accordance with Section
2.06(d)(ii).
(ii) If the
Tangible Book Value Per Share Differential is in excess of 15%, effective as of
the Adjustment Determination Date:
(A) if the
percentage decline of Parent’s Tangible Book Value Per Share from March 31, 2009
to the Measurement Date is less than the percentage decline of Company’s
Tangible Book Value Per Share during such corresponding period, then the Per
Share Consideration and the Per Warrant Consideration shall each be decreased by
the Adjustment Amount; and
(B) if the
percentage decline of the Company’s Tangible Book Value Per Share from March 31,
2009 to the Measurement Date is less than percentage decline of Parent’s
Tangible Book Value Per Share during such corresponding period, then the Per
Share and the Per Warrant Consideration shall each be increased by the
Adjustment Amount.
(e) Pre-Closing Termination
Rights. (i) If the Tangible Book Value Per Share Differential
determined on the Adjustment Determination Date is in excess of 40% (a “40% Differential Book Value Per Share
Decline”), then, in addition to the adjustments contemplated by Section
2.06(d):
22
(A) if the
percentage decline of Parent’s Tangible Book Value Per Share from March 31, 2009
to the Measurement Date is less than the percentage decline of Company’s
Tangible Book Value Per Share during the corresponding period, then Parent shall
have the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 10.01(a)(iii)(A);
and
(B) if the
percentage decline of the Company’s Tangible Book Value Per Share from March 31,
2009 to the Measurement Date is less than the percentage decline of Parent’s
Tangible Book Value Per Share during the corresponding period, then the Company
shall have the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section
10.01(a)(iv)(C).
(f) Adjustment Amount
Calculations. For purposes of this Section
2.06:
(i) “Adjustment Amount” means the
product of (A) the excess (expressed as a decimal), if any, of the Tangible Book
Value Per Share Differential over 15%, times (B) 100, times (C) 0.004; provided that in no event
shall the Adjustment Amount be in excess of 0.10.
(ii) “Tangible Book Value Per Share
Differential” means the absolute value of the difference, expressed as a
percentage, between the percentage decline in the Company’s Tangible Book Value
Per Share from March 31, 2009 to the Measurement Date over the percentage
decline of Parent’s Tangible Book Value Per Share during the same
period.
(iii) The
Company’s and Parent’s Tangible Book Value Per Shares at March 31, 2009 shall be
equal to the Tangible Book Value Per Shares of the Company and Parent set forth
on Exhibit B-1
and Exhibit B-
2,
respectively, and the Company’s and Parent’s Tangible Book Value Per Shares at the
Measurement Date shall be equal to the Tangible Book Value Per Shares of the
Company and Parent as finally determined pursuant to Sections 2.06(b) and (c),
as the case may be.
(iv) If the
Company or Parent has experienced an increase in Tangible Book Value Per Share
from March 31, 2009 to the Measurement Date, such Person shall be deemed to have
experienced no decrease in its Tangible Book Value Per Share.
(v) Each
party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share shall be appropriately adjusted for any
stock split, combinations, stock dividends, recapitalizations or similar events
occurring after March 31, 2009 and on or prior to the Measurement Date in order
to eliminate the effect of any such events in the determination of the relative
change in such party’s
23
Tangible
Book Value Per Share from March 31, 2009 to the Measurement Date.
(vi) For
purposes of calculating each party’s Tangible Book Value Per Share, (x) any
issuance of Company Securities or Parent Securities after March 31, 2009 shall
be disregarded (in both the numerator and denominator of the calculation
thereof), other than (A) any issuance in connection with the exercise of options
or other equity awards to purchase Company Shares or Parent Shares, as
applicable, granted under the Company’s or Parent’s share option or compensation
plans or arrangements, and any issuance of options, other equity awards or
shares pursuant to any such plans or arrangements subject to and in accordance
with the terms of this Agreement, (B) any issuance upon the exercise or
conversion of any Company Securities or Parent Securities convertible into, or
exchangeable for, Company Shares or Parent Shares, as applicable, that are
outstanding on the date hereof and (C) any issuance under Parent’s existing
Forward Sale Agreement, dated October 2005, as amended, in connection with the
forward sale of approximately 3.4 million Parent Shares to an affiliate of
Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as in effect on the date hereof, and (y) the
effects of any accrual for, payment of, or hedging transaction in respect of,
the Share Capital Repayment shall be disregarded. For the avoidance of doubt,
any dividend paid or accrued by Parent between March 31, 2009 and the
Measurement Date shall have the effect of reducing Parent’s Tangible Book Value
Per Share as of the Measurement Date.
(vii) Set forth
on Exhibit C
are illustrative examples of the adjustment contemplated by this Section
2.06.
Section
2.07. Post-Closing Dividend
Adjustment. If Parent shall declare a cash dividend or other cash
distribution on the Parent Shares with a record date on or after the Closing
Date (as defined in the Securities Purchase Agreement) and prior to the earliest
date on which shareholders of the Company have the right to receive payment for
Company Shares tendered in the Offer, then the Per Share Consideration shall be
adjusted upwards by an amount equal to (a) the U.S. dollar amount of such
dividend or distribution paid by Parent with respect to a Parent Share times (b) the Per Share
Consideration (after giving effect to any prior adjustment) divided by (c) the Market
Value (with the 20-day trading period set forth in the definition thereof
decreased to five trading days) of a Parent Share as of the record date with
respect to such cash dividend or other cash distribution.
24
ARTICLE
3
THE MERGER
Section
3.01. Compulsory
Merger. Provided that this Agreement shall not have been terminated in
accordance with Section 10.01, as soon as practicable after Purchaser and its
Affiliates own at least 90% of the outstanding Company Shares, the parties
hereto shall take all necessary and appropriate action, including seeking and
the Company recommending the approval of the shareholders of the Company, to
cause a merger (the “Merger”) of the Company with
and into Purchaser, with each outstanding Company Share not owned by Parent, any
of its Affiliates, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries being exchanged for
the right to receive the Per Share Consideration, and whereupon the separate
existence of the Company shall cease and Purchaser shall be the Surviving
Company. The parties hereto agree that Purchaser and the Company shall, as soon
as practicable after Purchaser and its Affiliates own at least 90% of the
outstanding Company Shares, enter into and execute, and the Merger shall be
effected in accordance with, a merger agreement substantially in the form
attached hereto as Exhibit D. The time
at which the Merger is effective is referred to as the “Effective Time”.
Section
3.02. Treatment of Company
Options and Company RSUs. (a) Company Options Held by French
Participants. With respect to Company Options held by French
Participants, each Company Option granted under an equity compensation plan of
the Company (in each case, as it may be amended or modified, a “Company Stock Plan”), whether
vested or unvested, that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time
shall cease to represent a right to acquire Company Shares and shall be
converted, at the Effective Time, into an option to purchase shares of Purchaser
(a “Purchaser Option”)
on the same contractual terms and conditions (including date of grant) as were
applicable under such Company Option (but taking into account any changes
thereto, including any acceleration thereof, provided for in the relevant
Company Stock Plan, or in the related award document by reason of the
transactions contemplated hereby, including any adjustment of the corresponding
rights in order to reflect the Share Capital Repayment as may be required by the
mandatory provisions set forth by French law). The number of shares of Purchaser
(the “Purchaser Shares”) subject to each such
Purchaser Option shall be equal to the number of Company Shares subject
to each such Company Option multiplied by the product of
(x) the fair market value of one Company Share divided by (y) the fair
market value of one Purchaser Share at the Effective Time (the “Merger Ratio”) and such
Purchaser Option shall have an exercise price per share (rounded up to the
nearest one-hundredth of a dollar) equal to the per share exercise price
specified in such Company Option divided by the Merger Ratio.
Each holder of a Company Option who is a French Participant shall be offered the
opportunity to benefit from the Liquidity Agreement.
25
(b) Company Options Held by Non-French
Participants. With respect to Company Options held by
non-French Participants, each Company Option granted under a Company Stock Plan,
whether vested or unvested, that is outstanding immediately prior to the
Effective Time shall cease to represent a right to acquire Company Shares and
shall be converted, at the Effective Time, into an option to purchase Parent
Shares (a “Parent
Option”) on the same contractual terms and conditions (including date of
grant) as were applicable under such Company Option (but taking into account any
changes thereto, including any acceleration thereof, provided for in the
relevant Company Stock Plan, or in the related award document by reason of the
transactions contemplated hereby, including any adjustment of the corresponding
rights in order to reflect the Share Capital Repayment as may be required by the
mandatory provisions set forth by French law). The number of Parent Shares
subject to each such Parent Option shall be equal to the number of Company
Shares subject to each such Company Option multiplied by the Per Share
Consideration, rounded up (except to the extent prohibited by Applicable Law),
if necessary, to the nearest whole Parent Share, and such Parent Option shall
have an exercise price per share (rounded up to the nearest one-hundredth of a
dollar) equal to the per share exercise price specified in such Company Option
divided by the Per
Share Consideration; provided that in the case of any Company Option to which
Section 421 of the
Code applies as of the Effective Time (after taking into account the effect of
any accelerated vesting thereof, if applicable) by reason of its qualification
under Section 422 of the Code, the exercise price, the number of Parent Shares
subject to such option and the terms and conditions of exercise of such option
shall be determined in a manner consistent with the requirements of Section
424(a) of the Code.
(c) RSUs Held by All
Participants. With respect to both French Participants and
non-French Participants, unless otherwise agreed by the parties and individual
French Participants, at the Effective Time, each right of any kind, contingent
or accrued, to receive Company Shares and each award of any kind consisting of,
based on or relating to Company Shares granted under a Company Stock Plan
(including restricted stock units (“actions gratuites”)), which
is unvested, other than Company Options (each, a “Company RSU”), and is
outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall cease to represent a
right or award with respect to Company Shares and shall be converted, at the
Effective Time, into a right or award with respect to Parent Shares (a “Parent RSU”) benefiting from
protection for dividends and distributions in accordance with past practice of
Parent and otherwise on the same contractual terms and conditions (including
date of grant) as were applicable under Company RSUs (but taking into account
any changes thereto, including any acceleration thereof, provided for in the
relevant Company Stock Plan or in the related award document by reason of the
transactions contemplated hereby). The number of Parent Shares subject to each
such Parent RSU shall be equal to the number of
26
Company
Shares subject to the Company RSU multiplied by the Per Share
Consideration, rounded up (except to the extent prohibited by Applicable Law) if
necessary to the nearest whole Parent Share.
Section
3.03. Treatment of Company
Warrants. At the Effective Time, (a) except as set forth in clause (b)
below, each Company Warrant, whether or not exercisable or vested, which is
outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall cease to represent a
right to acquire Company Shares and shall be converted, at the Effective Time,
into a right to acquire Parent Shares (a “Converted Warrant”), on the
same contractual terms and conditions as were in effect immediately prior to the
Effective Time under the terms of the Company Warrant or other related agreement
or award pursuant to which such Company Warrant was granted. The number of
Parent Shares subject to each such Converted Warrant shall be equal to the
number of Company Shares subject to each such Company Warrant immediately prior
to the Effective Time multiplied by the Per Share
Consideration, rounded up (except to the extent prohibited by Applicable Law) if
necessary to the nearest whole Parent Share, and such Converted Warrant shall
have an exercise price per share (rounded up to the nearest one-hundredth of a
dollar) equal to the per share exercise price of each such Company Warrant in
effect immediately prior to the Effective Time divided by the Per Share
Consideration (as adjusted, if applicable, to give effect to the payment of the Share
Capital Repayment), and (b) each Company Warrant held by Purchaser, Parent or
any of their Affiliates shall be cancelled and cease to be outstanding.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any Company Warrant that is treated as a
compensatory stock option under Applicable Law will be subject to Section
3.02(b).
ARTICLE
4
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY
Subject
to Section 11.05, except as disclosed in any Company AMF Document filed after
December 31, 2008 and before the date of this Agreement for which an English
translation thereof has been made available to Parent prior to the date hereof
or as set forth in the Company Disclosure Schedule, the Company represents and
warrants to Parent that:
Section
4.01. Existence and
Power. The Company is a stock corporation duly organized and validly
existing under the laws of Switzerland and has all organizational powers and all
material governmental licenses, authorizations, permits, consents and approvals
required to carry on its business as now conducted. The Company is duly
qualified to do business as a foreign stock corporation in each jurisdiction
where such qualification is necessary, except for those jurisdictions where
failure to be so qualified would not reasonably be expected to be material to
the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
27
The
Company has heretofore made available to Parent true and complete copies of the
articles of incorporation and bylaws of the Company as currently in
effect.
Section
4.02. Authorization.
(a) The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and
the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby are
within the Company’s organizational powers and, except for (x) the issuance by
the Company Board of the Final Offer Recommendation in accordance with Section
2.02(c) and (y) the approval of the Company’s shareholders (and Company Board
actions, if any, necessary to implement such approvals in furtherance of the
Company Board’s approval of the execution, delivery and performance of this
Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby) in
connection with (i) the consummation of the Merger (if required by Applicable
Law), (ii) the payment of the Share Capital Repayment, (iii) the appointment of
the Parent Designated Directors (as defined in the Securities Purchase
Agreement) to the Company Board subject to and effective upon the Closing and
(iv) the amendment to the Company’s articles of incorporation (the “Charter Amendment”) in the
form attached as Exhibit E hereto,
have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Company.
This Agreement constitutes a valid and binding agreement of the Company
enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms (subject to
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization,
moratorium and other laws affecting creditors’ rights generally and general
principles of equity).
(b) At a
meeting duly called and held, the Company Board has (i) unanimously determined
that this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby are fair to and in
the best interest of the Company and its shareholders, (ii) unanimously
approved, adopted and declared advisable this Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby, including payment of the Share Capital Repayment, (iii)
unanimously recommended that, if the Offer was filed with the AMF as of the date
of such meeting in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in Exhibit
A hereto, the Company’s shareholders accept the Offer and tender their Company
Shares and Company Warrants in the Offer (the “Initial Offer Recommendation”) and, if
the Merger was to be approved on the date of such meeting in
accordance with the terms of the draft merger agreement attached as Exhibit D hereto,
adopt and approve the Merger (such recommendation, together with the Offer
Recommendation, the “Company
Board Recommendation”) and (iv)
authorized the appointment of one of the individuals set forth on Section
2.02(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule as the Independent Expert in
connection with the Offer pursuant to Article 261-I1 of the General Rules of the
AMF.
(c) The
affirmative vote of (i) a majority of the outstanding Company Shares represented
at the applicable Company Shareholders Meeting in favor of (A) the
resolution and payment of the Share Capital Repayment, (B) the
28
appointment
of the Parent Designated Directors (as defined in the Securities Purchase
Agreement) to the Company Board subject to and effective upon the Closing and
(C) the Charter Amendment (each, a “Company Shareholder Approval” and, collectively,
the “Company Shareholder
Approvals”) and (ii) at least a 90% of all
outstanding Company Shares in favor of the Merger are the only votes or
approvals of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Company
necessary to approve this Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement.
Section
4.03. Governmental
Authorization. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of
this Agreement and the consummation by the Company of the transactions
contemplated hereby and by the Securities Purchase Agreement require no action
by or in respect of, or filing with or notifications to, any Governmental
Authority, other than (i) compliance with any applicable requirements of the HSR
Act, (ii) compliance with any applicable requirements of antitrust or other
competition laws of jurisdictions other than the United States or investment
laws relating to foreign ownership, including applicable European Commission
antitrust laws and the Swiss Cartel Act (“Foreign Antitrust Laws”),
(iii) compliance with any applicable requirements of the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act,
the General Rules of the AMF and the Euronext Paris non-harmonized market rules,
and any other federal, state or non-U.S. securities laws and (iv) the approval
(if any) of, or notifications (if any) to, the Delaware Insurance Commissioner,
the California Insurance Commissioner, FINMA, the French Comité des entreprises d’assurance, the Canadian
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Singapore Monetary
Authority and the Bermuda Monetary Authority except, in each case, for any
actions or filings the absence of which would not reasonably be expected to (A)
impair the ability of the Company and its Subsidiaries to timely consummate the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement or (B) be material to the Company
and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
Section
4.04.
Non-contravention. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company
of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby
and by the Securities Purchase Agreement do not and will not (i) contravene,
conflict with, or result in any violation or breach of any provision of the
articles of incorporation or bylaws or other similar organizational documents of
the Company, (ii) assuming compliance with the matters referred to in Section
4.03, contravene, conflict with, or result in a violation or breach of any
provision of any Applicable Law, (iii) assuming compliance with the matters
referred to in Section 4.03, require any consent or other action by any Person
under, constitute a default, or an event that, with or without notice or lapse
of time or both, would constitute a default, under, or cause or permit the
termination, cancellation, acceleration or other change of any right or
obligation or the loss of any benefit to which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is entitled under any provision of any agreement or other
instrument binding upon the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any license,
franchise,
29
permit,
certificate, approval or other similar authorization affecting, or relating in
any way to, the assets or business of the Company and its Subsidiaries or (iv)
result in the creation or imposition of any Lien on any asset of the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries, with only such exceptions, in the case of each of
clauses (ii) through (iv), as would not reasonably be expected to be material to
the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
Section
4.05. Capitalization.
(a) The ordinary share capital of the Company amounts to CHF 385,972,749.91 and
is divided into 85,581,541 Company Shares. As of June 30, 2009 (i) 4,952,912
Company Shares were held in treasury, (ii) 8,487,750 Company Shares were subject
to outstanding Company Warrants (of which Company Warrants to purchase an
aggregate of 8,487,750 Company Shares were exercisable), (iii) 1,904,315 Company
Shares were subject to outstanding Company Options (of which Company Options to
purchase an aggregate of 1,904,315 Company Shares were exercisable) and (iv)
1,276,747 Company Shares were subject to outstanding Company RSUs. All
outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company have been, and all shares
that may be issued pursuant to any employee stock option or other compensation
plan or arrangement or warrant will be, when issued in accordance with the
respective terms thereof, duly authorized and validly issued, fully paid and
free of preemptive rights. Section 4.05 of the Company Disclosure Schedule
contains a complete and correct list of each outstanding compensatory stock
option (collectively, “Company
Options”) to purchase Company Shares, each outstanding Company Warrants
and each outstanding Company RSU, including, as applicable, the holder, date of
grant, exercise price (to the extent applicable), vesting schedule and number of
Company Shares subject thereto and each Company Stock Plan. All Company Warrants
are substantially identical in form to the form of “Series A Warrant” as amended
by the letter dated July 31, 2008 previously made available to Parent prior to
the date hereof.
(b) The
ordinary share capital may be increased (i) in accordance with Article 4bis of the
Company’s articles of incorporation by an amount not exceeding CHF 66,297,000 by
issuing up to 14,700,000 fully paid-up Company Shares upon the exercise of
Company Warrants, (ii) in accordance with Article 4ter of the
Company’s articles of incorporation by an amount not exceeding CHF 25,782,317 by
issuing up to 5,716,700 fully paid-up Company Shares in connection with the
issuance of new Company Shares to employees or directors of the Company and
group companies, and (iii) in accordance with Article 4quater of the Company’s
articles of incorporation.
(c) There are
no outstanding bonds, debentures, notes or other indebtedness of the Company
having the right to vote (or convertible into, or exchangeable for, securities
having the right to vote) on any matters on which shareholders of the Company
may vote. Except as set forth in this Section 4.05 and for changes since June
30, 2009 resulting from the exercise of Company
30
Options,
Company RSUs and Company Warrants outstanding on such date, there are no issued,
reserved for issuance or outstanding (i) shares of capital stock of or other
voting securities of or ownership interests in the Company, (ii) securities of
the Company convertible into or exchangeable for shares of capital stock or
other voting securities of or ownership interests in the Company, (iii)
warrants, calls, options or other rights to acquire from the Company, or other
obligation of the Company to issue, any capital stock or other voting securities
or ownership interests in or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for
capital stock or other voting securities or ownership interests in the Company
or (iv) restricted shares, stock appreciation rights, performance units,
contingent value rights, “phantom” stock or similar securities or rights that
are derivative of, or provide economic benefits based, directly or indirectly,
on the value or price of, any capital stock or voting securities of the Company
(the items in clauses (i) through (iv) being referred to collectively as the
“Company Securities”).
There are no outstanding obligations of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any of the Company Securities.
Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to any voting
agreement with respect to the voting of any Company Securities.
(d)
Except as set forth in this Section 4.05, none of (i) the Company Shares or (ii)
the Company Securities are owned by any Subsidiary of the Company.
Section
4.06. Subsidiaries. (a)
Each Subsidiary of the Company has been duly organized, is validly existing and
(where applicable) in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of
organization, has all organizational powers and all material governmental
licenses, authorizations, permits, consents and approvals required to carry on
its business as now conducted. Each such Subsidiary is duly qualified to do
business as a foreign entity and is in good standing in each jurisdiction where
such qualification is necessary, except for those jurisdictions where failure to
be so qualified would not reasonably be expected to be material to the Company
and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. All Subsidiaries of the Company and
their respective jurisdictions of organization are identified in Section 4.06 of
the Company Disclosure Schedule.
(b) All
of the outstanding capital stock or other voting securities of, or ownership
interests in, each Subsidiary of the Company is owned by the Company, directly
or indirectly, free and clear of any Lien and free of any other limitation or
restriction (including any restriction on the right to vote, sell or otherwise
dispose of such capital stock or other voting securities or ownership interests,
but excluding any restriction provided by Applicable Law or pursuant to the
articles of incorporation, by-laws or similar organizational documents of the
relevant Subsidiary). There are no issued, reserved for issuance or outstanding
(i) securities of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries convertible into, or
exchangeable for, shares of capital stock or other voting securities of,
or
31
ownership
interests in, any Subsidiary of the Company, (ii) warrants, calls, options or
other rights to acquire from the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or other
obligations of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to issue, any capital
stock or other voting securities of, or ownership interests in, or any
securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, any capital stock or other
voting securities of, or ownership interests in, any Subsidiary of the Company
or (iii) restricted shares, stock appreciation rights, performance units,
contingent value rights, “phantom” stock or similar securities or rights that
are derivative of, or provide economic benefits based, directly or indirectly,
on the value or price of, any capital stock or other voting securities of, or
ownership interests in, any Subsidiary of the Company (the items in clauses (i)
through (iii) being referred to collectively as the “Company Subsidiary
Securities”). There are no outstanding obligations of the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any of the
Company Subsidiary Securities. Except for the capital stock or other voting
securities of, or ownership interests in, its Subsidiaries and except for the
Investment Assets, the Company does not own, directly or indirectly, any capital
stock or other voting securities of, or ownership interests in, any
Person.
Section
4.07. AMF Filings. (a)
The Company has filed with the AMF, and made available to Parent, all reports,
schedules, forms, statements, prospectuses, registration statements and other
documents required to be filed by the Company since May 28, 2007 (collectively,
together with any exhibits and schedules thereto and other information
incorporated therein, the “Company AMF Documents”).
(b) As of its
filing date (and as of the date of any amendment), each Company AMF Document
complied, and each Company AMF Document filed subsequent to the date hereof will
comply, as to form in all material respects with the applicable requirements of
the General Rules of the AMF and the French Code de
Commerce.
(c) As of its
filing date (or, if amended or superseded by a filing prior to the date hereof,
on the date of such filing), all information contained in each Company AMF
Document filed pursuant to the General Rules of the AMF and the French Code de Commerce, as
applicable, did not, and each Company AMF Document filed subsequent to the date
hereof will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made therein,
in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading.
(d) Since
December 31, 2007, the Company has complied in all material respects with the
applicable listing rules and regulations of the Paris Euronext stock
exchange.
32
Section
4.08. Financial
Statements. (a) The audited consolidated financial statements and
unaudited consolidated interim financial statements of the Company included in
the Company AMF Documents (the “Company Financial Statements”) provide
a true and fair view, in conformity with International Financial
Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union applied on a consistent
basis (except as may be indicated in the notes thereto), of the consolidated
financial position of the Company and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of the
dates thereof and their consolidated results of operations and cash flows for
the periods then ended (subject to normal year-end audit adjustments in the case
of any unaudited interim financial statements).
(b) The
consolidated financial statements and consolidated interim financial statements
of the Company included in the Company AMF Documents provide a true and fair
view, in conformity with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued
by the IASB (“IFRS”)
applied on a consistent basis (except as may be indicated in the notes thereto),
of the consolidated financial position of the Company and its consolidated
Subsidiaries as of the dates thereof and their consolidated results of
operations and cash flows for the periods then ended (subject to normal year-end
audit adjustments in the case of any unaudited interim financial
statements).
(c) The
Company has no reasonable basis upon which to believe that the Independent
Auditor will not be able to prepare and deliver the opinion contemplated by
Section 7.08(a) within 20 days after the date hereof.
Section
4.09. Tangible Book Value Per
Share. Exhibit
B-1 fairly presents, in conformity with the methods described in the
Company’s press release dated May 13, 2009, the Tangible Book Value Per Share of
the Company as of March 31, 2009.
Section
4.10. Disclosure
Documents. (a) Each document required to be distributed or otherwise
disseminated to the Company’s shareholders in connection with the payment of the
Share Capital Repayment and the appointment of the Parent Designated Directors
to the Company Board (the “Company Disclosure
Documents”), and any amendments or supplements thereto, when filed,
distributed or disseminated, as applicable, will comply as to form in all
material respects with the applicable requirements of Swiss corporate
law.
(b) The
information relating to the Company and its Subsidiaries supplied by the Company
in writing specifically for inclusion in the S-4 shall not at the time the S-4
is declared effective by the SEC (or, with respect to any post- effective
amendment or supplement, at the time such post-effective amendment or supplement
becomes effective) contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order
to
33
make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading.
(c) The
information relating to the Company and its Subsidiaries supplied by the Company
in writing specifically for inclusion in the Proxy Statement shall not, on the
date the Proxy Statement, and any amendments or supplements thereto, is first
mailed to the shareholders of Parent, or at the time of the Parent Shareholder
Approvals contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading.
(d) The
representations and warranties contained in this Section 4.10 will not apply to
statements or omissions included or incorporated by reference in the Company
Disclosure Documents based upon information supplied in writing by Parent or any
of its Subsidiaries or any of their Representatives specifically for inclusion
therein.
Section
4.11. Foreign Private Issuer;
Tier I Exemptive Relief. (a) As of the date hereof, the Company is a
“foreign private issuer” (as such term is defined in Rule 3b-4 under the 1934
Act).
(b) To
the Company’s knowledge, as of the date hereof, the Offer would be eligible for
“Tier I” exemptive relief as provided in Rule 14d-1(d) under the 1934
Act.
Section
4.12. Absence of Certain
Changes. (a) Since the Balance Sheet Date, the business of the Company
and its Subsidiaries has been conducted in the ordinary course consistent with
past practices and there has not been any event, occurrence, development or
state of circumstances or facts that has had or would reasonably be expected to
have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the
Company.From the Balance Sheet Date until the date hereof, there has not been
any action taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that, if taken during
the period from the date of this Agreement through the Closing without Parent’s
consent, would constitute a material breach of Section 7.01.
Section
4.13. Employee Benefits;
ERISA. (a) Section 4.13 of the Company Disclosure Schedule contains a
correct and complete list identifying each US Employee Plan. Copies,
descriptions or summaries of each US Employee Plan and any amendments thereto
have been made available in the data room or otherwise provided to Parent, and
copies of, to the extent applicable, any related written trust or funding
agreements or insurance policies, amendments thereto, prospectuses or summary
plan descriptions relating thereto, for any US based entity, and the most recent
annual report (Form 5500 including, if
34
applicable,
Schedule B thereto) and tax return (Form 990) prepared in connection therewith
have been made available to Parent.
(b) As of the
Balance Sheet Date, the fair market value of the assets of each Title IV Plan,
excluding for these purposes any accrued but unpaid contributions, exceeded the
present value of all benefits accrued under such Title IV Plan determined on a
termination basis using the assumptions established by the PBGC as in effect on
such date. Neither the Company nor any of its ERISA Affiliates contributes to
(or is required to contribute to) any “multiemployer plan”, as defined in
Section 3(37) of ERISA, and neither the Company nor any of its ERISA Affiliate
(nor any of their predecessors) has within the past 6 years contributed to (or
been required to contribute to) any such plan.
(c) No
transaction prohibited by Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code has
occurred with respect to any employee benefit plan or arrangement which is
covered by Title I of ERISA, which transaction has or will cause the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries to incur any liability under ERISA, the Code or
otherwise, excluding transactions effected pursuant to and in compliance with a
statutory or administrative exemption. No US Employee Plan is in “at risk”
status within the meaning of Section 303 of ERISA. No “reportable event”, within
the meaning of Section 4043 of ERISA, other than a “reportable event” that would
not reasonably be expected to be material to the Company and its Subsidiaries
taken as a whole, and no event described in Section 4062 or 4063 of ERISA, has
occurred in connection with any US Employee Plan. Neither the Company nor any of
its ERISA Affiliates has (i) engaged in, or is a successor or parent corporation
to an entity that has engaged in, a transaction described in Sections 4069 or
4212(c) of ERISA or (ii) incurred, or reasonably expects to incur prior to the
Closing Date, (A) any liability under Title IV of ERISA arising in connection
with the termination of, or a complete or partial withdrawal from, any plan
covered or previously covered by Title IV of ERISA or (B) any liability under
Section 4971 of the Code that in either case could become a liability of the
Company or any Subsidiary or Parent or any of its ERISA Affiliates after the
Closing Date. No condition exists that could constitute grounds for termination
by the PBGC of any employee benefit plan that is subject to Title IV of ERISA
that is maintained by the Company, any Subsidiary or any of their ERISA
Affiliates. The assets of the Company and all of its Subsidiaries are not now,
nor will they after the passage of time be, subject to any lien imposed under
Section 412(n) of the Code by reason of a failure of the Company or any
Subsidiary to make timely installments or other payments required under Section
412 of the Code.
(d) All
contributions and payments accrued under each US Employee Plan, determined in
accordance with prior funding and accrual practices, as adjusted to include
proportional accruals for the period ending as of the date
35
hereof,
have been discharged and paid on or prior to the date hereof except to the
extent reflected as a liability on its most recent annual balance
sheet.
(e) Each
material US Employee Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a)
of the Code is so qualified and has been so qualified during the period since
its adoption. Each trust created under any such US Employee Plan by it is exempt
from tax under Section 501(a) of the Code and has been so exempt since its
creation. The Company has made available to Parent copies of the most recent
determination letter of the Internal Revenue Service relating to each such
material US Employee Plan. Each material US Employee Plan has been maintained in
substantial compliance with its terms and with Applicable Law, including ERISA
and the Code, and there is no material action, suit, investigation, audit or
proceeding pending against or involving or, to its knowledge threatened against
or involving, any US Employee Plan before any court or arbitrator or any state,
federal or local governmental body, agency or official.
(f) Section
4.13(f) of the Company Disclosure Schedule contains a correct and complete list
identifying each International Plan (other than any individual agreement with an
employee unless such employee is earning more than US$150,000 or the equivalent
in another currency). Copies or descriptions or summaries of each such
International Plan and any amendments thereto have been made available in the
data room or otherwise provided to Parent, and copies of, to the extent
applicable, any related written trust or funding agreements or insurance
policies, amendments thereto, actuarial reports relating thereto and
prospectuses or summary plan descriptions relating thereto have been made
available to Parent. Each of the Company’s material International Plans has been
maintained in substantial compliance with its terms and with Applicable Law
(including any special provisions relating to qualified plans where such
material International Plan was intended to so qualify) and has been maintained
in good standing with the applicable regulatory authorities. According to the
actuarial assumptions and valuations most recently used for the purpose of
funding each material International Plan (or, if the same has no such
assumptions and valuations or is unfunded or is not subject to statutory funding
requirements, according to the applicable actuarial assumptions and valuations
on the date hereof), as of the most recent such valuation, the total amount or
value of the funds available under such material International Plan to pay
benefits accrued thereunder or segregated in respect of such accrued benefits,
together with any reserve or accrual with respect thereto, exceeded the present
value of all benefits (actual or contingent) accrued as of such date of all
participants and past participants therein in respect of which the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries has or would have after the Closing any
obligation.
(g) There has
been no amendment to, written interpretation of, change in participation or
coverage under or announcement (whether or not written) by
36
the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries relating to or any material US Employee Plan
or material International Plan of the Company that would materially increase the
expense of maintaining such material US Employee Plan or material International
Plan above the level of expense incurred in respect thereof for the most recent
fiscal year ended prior to the date hereof.
(h) No US
Employee Plan or International Plan of the Company exists that, as a result of
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement (whether alone or in connection with other events), could result in
the payment to any current or former employee, director or independent
contractor of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of any money or other
property or could result in the acceleration or provision of any other rights or
benefits to any current or former employee, director or independent contractor
of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, whether or not such payment, right or
benefit would constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section
280G of the Code.
Section
4.14. Labor and
Employment. (a) The Company and its Subsidiaries have substantially
complied with all Applicable Laws relating to labor and employment, including
Applicable Laws relating to wages, hours, collective bargaining, health and
safety, working conditions, professional training, employee representation,
termination of employment, unemployment compensation, worker’s compensation,
equal employment opportunity, age and disability discrimination, immigration
control, employee classification, information privacy and security, payment and
withholding of Taxes, and continuation coverage with respect to group health
plans.
(b) Neither
the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has been a party to or subject to, or is
currently negotiating in connection with entering into, any collective
bargaining agreement or other written labor agreement with any union or labor
organization.
(c) Section
4.14(c) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, contains a correct and complete list
of all employee representation within the Company and its Subsidiaries. There
has not been any other activity nor proceeding of any labor organization or
employee group to organize any such employees. Furthermore, except as would not
reasonably be expected to be material to the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken
as a whole, (i) there are no unfair labor practice charges or complaints in
writing against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries pending or threatened in
writing; (ii) there are no labor strikes, slowdowns or stoppages actually
pending or threatened in writing against or affecting the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries; (iii) there are no representation claims or petitions pending or
threatened in writing and there are no questions in writing concerning
representation with respect to employees of the Company or of any of its
Subsidiaries; and (iv) there are no written claims whether actual or threatened
in
37
writing,
grievance or pending court or arbitration proceedings, against the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries that arose out of or under any collective bargaining
agreement.
(d)
Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has effectuated (i) a “plant
closing” (as defined in the WARN Act) affecting any site of employment or one or
more facilities or operating units within any of its site of employment or
facility or any of its Subsidiaries; (ii) a “mass layoff” (as defined in the
WARN Act); or (iii) such other transaction, layoff, reduction in force or
employment terminations sufficient in number to trigger application of any
similar foreign, state or local law (and in particular the obligation to set up
a “plan de sauvegarde
de l’emploi” in
France).
Section
4.15. Key Employees.
Section 4.15 of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a true and complete
list as of June 30, 2009 of the names, grades, seniority and annual base
salaries of all officers of the Company and its Subsidiaries and all other
employees of the Company and its Subsidiaries whose annual base salary exceeds
US$150,000. None of such employees has unequivocally informed, either verbally
in a formal discussion or in writing, in each case to any individual listed on
Section 1.01 of the Company Disclosure Schedule that he or she will resign or
retire as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the
Securities Purchase Agreement or otherwise within one year after the Closing,
irrespective of any changes to the terms or conditions of his or her employment
following the Closing.
Section
4.16. Transaction
Expenses. Except for the Company Financial Advisor and the Persons set
forth in Section 4.16 of the Company Disclosure Schedule and as permitted by the
Securities Purchase Agreement, there is no investment banker, broker, finder,
attorney, tax advisor, actuarial advisor, accountant or other intermediary or
advisor that has been retained by or is authorized to act on behalf of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries who might be entitled to any fee or
commission from the Company or any of its Subsidiaries in connection with the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement. With respect to each Person set
forth on Section 4.16 of the Company Disclosure Schedule for which the Company
reasonably believes fees and expenses in excess of US$100,000 would be payable
in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the
Securities Purchase Agreement, Section 4.16 of the Company Disclosure Schedule
sets forth an estimate of the aggregate fees and expenses payable to such
Person. The estimate of each such Person’s fees and expenses are being provided
to Parent for informational purposes only and are based solely on the estimate
thereof provided by such Person to the Company prior to the date hereof. Except
for the immediately succeeding sentence, the Company is not making any
representation or warranty hereunder as to the accuracy of any such Person’s
estimated fees and expenses. As of the date hereof and to the Company’s
knowledge (without any obligation of inquiry or
38
investigation),
the Company is not aware that the estimated fees and expenses of any Person set
forth on Section 4.16 of the Company Disclosure Schedule are materially
inaccurate.
Section
4.17. Opinion of Financial
Advisor. The Company has received the written opinion of Credit Suisse
Securities (Europe) Limited (the “Company Financial Advisor”), financial
advisor to the Company, to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion
and based on and subject to the assumptions, matters considered and limitations
described therein, the 0.300 Parent Shares to be paid in exchange for each
Company Share to holders of Company Shares in the Offer and the Merger, is fair,
from a financial point of view, to the holders of Company Shares, other than the
Parent and its Affiliates (including the Purchaser) and the
Sellers.
Section
4.18. Takeover
Statutes. To the Company’s knowledge, no “control share acquisition,”
“fair price,” “moratorium” or other anti-takeover laws enacted under French or
Swiss law apply to this Agreement, the Securities Purchase Agreement or any of
the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby.
Section
4.19. Certain Company
Contractual Matters. (a) As of the date hereof, the Company has no reason
to believe that AXA or COLISEE RE (formerly known as AXA RE) is seeking, or in
future may seek, to terminate, revoke, modify or limit the guarantee provided by
AXA and COLISEE RE in the Reserve Agreement dated December 21, 2006 among AXA,
COLISEE RE and the Company, and the Company knows of no basis (whether in
contract or otherwise) upon which AXA or COLISEE RE may so terminate, revoke or
modify such guarantee.
(b) The
Company has not, since its formation, assumed any risks relating to any
Financial Guaranty Contract other than incidental exposure that is covered in a
broader treaty.
(c) Section
4.19(c) of the Company Disclosure Schedule contains a list which is true and
complete in all material respects of all contracts and agreements either
acquired through acquisitions from COLISEE RE, or ceded through the quota share
retrocession agreements, dated December 21, 2006 and effective as of January 1,
2006, between (i) COLISEE RE (including its Hong Kong, Madeira and United
Kingdom branches) and the Company and (ii) COLISEE RE’s Canadian Branch and the
Company’s Canadian Branch (together the “Quota Share Retrocession Agreements”)
with an inception date prior to January 1, 2006, and an initial term in excess
of one year ending after January 1, 2006.
(d) The
Company has provided a list which is true and complete in all material respects
of its and its Subsidiaries’ Reinsurance Agreements and Policies (including
capital market instruments that carry insurance or reinsurance risk
39
(including
weather derivatives and other swap instruments)) with an inception date on or
after January 1, 2006 that have given rise to or could have given rise to
exposures to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries since such date and are in
effect as of June 22, 2009, as recorded in and extracted from the Company’s
Petrus contract database on June 22, 2009.
Section
4.20. No Other
Representations. Except for the representations and warranties of the
Company contained in this Agreement, the Company makes no other representation
or warranty in connection with, arising out of or relating to the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement, express or
implied, and the Company hereby disclaims, and Parent and Purchaser may not,
rely on, any such other representation or warranty, notwithstanding the delivery
or disclosure to Parent, Purchaser or any of their respective Affiliates or any
other Person of any documentation or other information by the Company or any of
its Representatives or any other Person with respect to any of such matters, in
each case except in the case of fraud or intentional
misrepresentation.
ARTICLE
5
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY AND OF PARENT
Except as
(i) set forth in the Company Disclosure Schedule or the Parent Disclosure
Schedule, as the case may be, or (ii) disclosed in any Company AMF Document
filed after December 31, 2008 and before the date of this Agreement for which an
English translation thereof has been made available to Parent prior to the date
hereof or any Parent SEC Document filed after December 31, 2008 and before the
date of this Agreement, as the case may be, the Company represents and warrants
to Parent, and Parent represents and warrants to the Company, to the extent
applicable, in each case with respect to itself and its Subsidiaries,
that:
Section
5.01. No Undisclosed Material
Liabilities. Except for (i) those liabilities that are reflected or
reserved for, in the case of Parent, in the Parent Financial Statements included
in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, as filed
with the SEC prior to the date of this Agreement, or in the case of the Company,
in the English version of the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for
the year ended December 31, 2008, as posted prior to the date of this Agreement
on the investor relations portion of the Company’s website at xxx.xxxxx-xx.xxx,
(ii) liabilities and obligations incurred pursuant to this Agreement, (iii)
liabilities incurred since December 31, 2008 in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practice (including claims and any related litigation or
arbitration arising in the ordinary course of business under Policies or
Reinsurance Agreements) and (iv) liabilities which have not been and would not
reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole, it and its Subsidiaries do not
40
have, and
since December 31, 2008, have not incurred, any liabilities or obligations of
any nature whatsoever (whether accrued, absolute, contingent or otherwise and
whether or not required to be reflected in its financial statements in
accordance with IFRS or GAAP, as applicable). Nothing in this Section or any
other Section hereof shall constitute a representation or warranty with respect
to the calculation, establishment, adequacy or sufficiency of its or its
Subsidiaries’ insurance technical reserves.
Section
5.02. Compliance with Laws and
Court Orders. (a) It and each of its Subsidiaries is and since January 1,
2006 has been in compliance in all respects with, and to its knowledge is not
under investigation with respect to and has not been threatened to be charged
with or given notice of any violation of, any Applicable Law, except for
failures to comply or violations that have not been and would not reasonably be
expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. There is
no judgment, decree, injunction, rule or order of any arbitrator or Governmental
Authority outstanding against it or any of its Subsidiaries that has been or
would reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as
a whole or that in any manner seeks to prevent, enjoin, alter or materially
delay the transactions contemplated hereby or by the Securities Purchase
Agreement.
(b) Neither
it nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor any of their directors or officers, is a
Person that is, or is owned or controlled by, a Person that is (i) the subject
of any sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of
Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the United Nations
Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union, or
other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), or (ii) located,
organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions
(including, without limitation, Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan
and Syria).
(c) Since
January 1, 2006, neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has engaged in, or is
now engaged in, directly or, to its knowledge, indirectly, any dealings or
transactions with any Person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time
of the dealing or transaction, is or was the subject of Sanctions with which it
or such Subsidiary is required to comply.
(d) It and
each of its Subsidiaries is, and since January 1, 2006 has been, in compliance
in all material respects with, and to its knowledge is not under investigation
with respect to and has not been threatened to be charged with or given notice
of any material violation of, any Applicable Law that relates to
Sanctions.
Section
5.03. Litigation. There
is no action, suit, investigation or proceeding pending against, or, to its
knowledge, threatened against or affecting it or any of its Subsidiaries, any
present or former officer, director or employee of it
41
or any of
its Subsidiaries or any Person for whom it or any of its Subsidiaries may be
liable or any of their respective properties before (or, in the case of
threatened actions, suits, investigations or proceedings, would be before) or by
any Governmental Authority or arbitrator, that, if determined or resolved
adversely in accordance with the plaintiff’s demands, would reasonably be
expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. During the
last five years, to its knowledge, no officer or director has been (i) convicted
of fraud, (ii) subject to any bankruptcy, receivership or liquidation
proceeding, (iii) indicted and/or has received a public sanction from any
statutory or regulatory authority and/or (iv) ordered by a court not to serve as
a member of an administrative, management or supervisory board of an issuer or
has been ordered not to intervene in the management or conduct of the business
of an issuer..
Properties. (a) Except as would not reasonably be expected to be material
to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, it and its Subsidiaries have good
title to, or valid leasehold interests in, all property and assets reflected on
the Company Financial Statements or the Parent Financial Statements, as the case
may be, or acquired after the Balance Sheet Date, except as have been disposed
of since the Balance Sheet Date in the ordinary course of business consistent
with past practice.Section 5.04 of the relevant Disclosure Schedule (the “Real Property Schedule”)
correctly describes in all material respects all real property leased by it or
any of its Subsidiaries (the “Leased Real Property”).
Neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has any fee ownership in any real
property and the Leased Real Property constitutes all of the real property used
or occupied by it or any of its Subsidiaries in connection with its business. It
or the relevant Subsidiary has a valid and subsisting leasehold interest in such
Leased Real Property, subject to the terms of the applicable lease and subject
to no Liens other than Permitted Liens and those Liens listed in the Real
Property Schedule. Each material lease of Leased Real Property is valid and in
full force and effect and neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor to its
knowledge any other party to a material lease of Leased Real Property, has
violated any provision of, or taken or failed to take any act which, with or
without notice, lapse of time, or both, would constitute a material default
under the provisions of such material lease, and neither it nor any of its
Subsidiaries has received notice that it has breached, violated or defaulted
under any material lease. It has made available to the other party for review
true and complete copies of all leases listed on the Real Property
Schedule.
Section
5.05. Intellectual
Property. (a) Except as would not reasonably be expected to be material
to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole: (i) it and each of its
Subsidiaries owns, or is licensed to use (in each case, free and clear of any
Liens), all Intellectual Property used in or necessary for the conduct of its
business as currently conducted; (ii) neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has
infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated in any respect the Intellectual
Property rights of any Person; (iii) neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has
received any written notice or otherwise has knowledge of any pending
claim,
42
action,
suit, order or proceeding (or circumstances which could give rise to any of the
foregoing) with respect to any Intellectual Property; (iv) the consummation of
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not alter, encumber, impair
or extinguish any Intellectual Property right of it or any of its Subsidiaries;
(v) it and its Subsidiaries have taken reasonable steps in accordance with
normal industry practice to maintain the confidentiality of all Trade Secrets
owned, used or held for use by it or any of its Subsidiaries; and (vi) it and
its Subsidiaries have implemented reasonable backup and disaster recovery
systems consistent with industry practices.(b) Except as would not reasonably be
expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, the
Technology (including all modeling Software) that is owned by it or its
Subsidiaries or licensed or leased by it or its Subsidiaries pursuant to written
agreement (excluding any public networks) (i) constitutes all the Technology
necessary to, or used or held for use in, the conduct of the respective
businesses of it and its Subsidiaries as currently conducted and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not alter,
encumber, impair or extinguish any right of it or any of its Subsidiaries to use
or otherwise exploit any such Technology; and (ii) operates and performs in a
manner that permits it and its Subsidiaries to conduct their respective
businesses as currently conducted in all respects and to the knowledge of it, no
Person has gained unauthorized access to any such Technology.
Section
5.06. Taxes. It and
each of its Subsidiaries (i) have duly and timely filed (taking into account any
extension of time within which to file) all material Tax Returns required to be
filed by any of them on or prior to the date of this Agreement and all such
filed Tax Returns are complete and accurate in all material respects; (ii) have
paid or remitted all material Taxes that are required to be paid or that it or
any of its Subsidiaries are obligated to withhold, except with respect to
matters contested in good faith, which have not been finally determined, and for
which adequate reserves have been established in accordance with IFRS or GAAP on
the Company’s or Parent’s, as the case may be, most recent consolidated
financial statements; (iii) have not granted any extension or waiver of the
limitation period for the assessment or collection of any material Taxes that
remains in effect; and (iv) have fully paid all assessments for Taxes of it or
any of its Subsidiaries due with respect to completed, settled or concluded
examinations, disputes, audits, investigations or other proceedings with respect
to any material Taxes of it or any of its Subsidiaries. As of the date of this
Agreement there are no disputes, audits, examinations, investigations or other
proceedings with respect to any material Taxes of it or any of its Subsidiaries
pending or threatened in writing (other than, in each case, claims or
assessments for which adequate reserves have been established in accordance with
IFRS or GAAP, as the case may be, on its most recent consolidated financial
statements). There are no liens for any material Taxes (other than statutory
liens for Taxes not yet due and payable or that are being contested in good
faith and for which adequate reserves have been established in accordance with
IFRS or GAAP, as
43
the case
may be, on its most recent consolidated financial statements) upon any of the
assets of it or any of its Subsidiaries. Neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries
is a party to or is bound by any Tax sharing, allocation or indemnification
agreement or arrangement (other than such an agreement or arrangement
exclusively between or among it and any of its Subsidiaries) in respect of any
material Taxes. Neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has constituted, within
the past 30 months or otherwise as part of a “plan (or series of related
transactions)” within the meaning of Section 355(e) of the Code, a “distributing
corporation” or a “controlled corporation” (within the meaning of Section
355(a)(1)(A) of the Code) in any distribution of stock intended to qualify for
tax-free treatment under Section 355 of the Code. Neither it nor any of its
Subsidiaries has been a party to any “reportable transaction” within the meaning
of U.S. Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4(b)(1). No share of it is owned by
its Subsidiary (other than those acquired pursuant to the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement). As of the
date hereof, neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has received any written
notice from any Governmental Authority in a jurisdiction in which it does not
currently file Tax Returns (other than the jurisdiction in which it or the
relevant Subsidiary is domiciled or formed) to the effect that it or any of its
Subsidiaries is subject to any Tax (other than excise Taxes) in such
jurisdiction. Neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has a present plan to take
any action, other than any action contemplated by this Agreement (including the
Disclosure Schedules), the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Liquidity
Agreement, any other agreement entered into between Parent or any of its
Affiliates and any French Participant or non-French Participant pursuant to
Section 3.02 of this Agreement or any acquisition agreement pursuant to which
Parent or any of its Affiliates agrees to acquire Company Shares, Company
Warrants or any other securities issued by the Company, that would prevent the
Merger, together with the other transactions contemplated herein and in the
Securities Purchase Agreement, from qualifying as a reorganization within the
meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not
making any representations regarding its status as an “investment company” for
purposes of Section 368(a)(2)(F).
Section
5.07. Environmental
Matters. (a) No notice, notification, demand, request for information,
citation, summons or order has been received, no complaint has been filed and no
penalty has been assessed with respect to any matters relating to it or any of
its Subsidiaries and relating to or arising out of any Environmental Law, in
each case, that would reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the
aggregate, material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
(b) No
Hazardous Substance has been discharged, disposed of, dumped, injected, pumped,
deposited, spilled, leaked, emitted or released at, on or under any property now
or previously owned, leased or operated by it or any of its
44
Subsidiaries
that would reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate,
material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
(c) Except as
would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate,
material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, no property now or
previously owned, leased or operated by it or any of its Subsidiaries nor any
property to which it or any of its Subsidiaries have, directly or indirectly,
transported or arranged for the transportation of any Hazardous Substances is
listed or, to its knowledge, proposed for listing, on the National Priorities
List promulgated pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, and any rules or regulations
promulgated thereunder (collectively, “CERCLA”), or CERCLIS (as
defined in CERCLA) or on any similar federal, state or foreign list of sites
requiring investigation or clean up.
(d) Except as
would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate,
material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, there has been no
environmental investigation, study, audit, test, review or other analysis
conducted of which it has knowledge in relation to its or any of its
Subsidiaries’ current or prior business or any property or facility now or
previously owned, leased or operated by it or any of its Subsidiaries which has
not been delivered to the other Party at least ten days prior to the date
hereof.
(e) Neither
it nor any of its Subsidiaries owns, leases or operates or has owned, leased or
operated any property or has conducted any operations in New Jersey or
Connecticut.
(f) For
purposes of this Section 5.07, the terms “it” and “Subsidiary” shall include any
entity which is, in whole or in part, a predecessor of the Company or Parent, as
the case may be, or any of its Subsidiaries.
Section
5.08. Material
Contracts. (a) As of the date of this Agreement, neither it, nor any of
its Subsidiaries is a party to or bound by any contract or agreement that falls
within any of the following categories (excluding any Reinsurance Agreement or
Policy or, solely in the case of Parent, any contract or agreement entered into
in the ordinary course by Parent’s capital markets group):
(i) reserve
agreements pursuant to which it or any of its Subsidiaries guarantees the
adequacy of reserves of a third party, or a third party guarantees the adequacy
of reserves of it or its Subsidiaries;
(ii) any
agreement providing for the appointment of any managing general agent or any
Person performing similar functions;
(iii) capital
maintenance agreements pursuant to which it has agreed to contribute capital to
a third party (other than its Subsidiaries)
45
under
specified circumstances and/or maintain such third party’s (other than its
Subsidiaries) capital at specified levels;
(iv) claims
management agreements pursuant to which a third party manages claims in respect
of a portion of its or its Subsidiaries’ Reinsurance Agreements or
Policies;
(v) investment
advisory or investment management agreements to which it or any of its
Subsidiaries is a party and under which any Investment Asset is invested or
managed or any third party (other than its Subsidiaries) has the right or power
to make investment decisions with respect to any Investment Asset;
(vi) any
contract or agreement (other than employment agreements) involving the expected
payment or receipt of amounts by it or any of its Subsidiaries of more than
US$1,000,000 in any calendar year;
(vii) any
contract or agreement, other than weather derivatives, agriculture related
derivatives and agreements relating to currency rate hedging for Investment
Assets and the Share Capital Repayment, that contains a put, call or similar
right pursuant to which it or any of its Subsidiaries could be required to
purchase or sell, as applicable, any equity interests of any Person or assets
that have a fair market value or purchase price of more than
US$5,000,000;
(viii) any
material agreement relating to the formation, creation, operation, management or
control of any joint venture with respect to any of its or its Subsidiaries’
material business or assets;
(ix) any
contract or agreement pursuant to which it or any of its Subsidiaries is a party
containing a standstill or similar agreement pursuant to which one party has
agreed not to acquire assets or securities of the other party or any of its
Affiliates;
(x) any
contract or agreement pursuant to which it or any of its Subsidiaries licenses
any material Intellectual Property rights to or from any Person (excluding any
contract or agreement for commercial off-the- shelf software which is generally
available on non-discriminatory pricing terms);
(xi) any loan
or credit agreement, mortgage, promissory note, indenture or other contract or
agreement evidencing non-intragroup indebtedness for borrowed money by it or any
of its Subsidiaries other than any such contract or agreement (A) with an
aggregate outstanding principal amount not exceeding US$1,000,000 and (B)
relating to loans
46
granted
to any employee not exceeding US$100,000 in the aggregate (together with all
such loans issued to such employee);
(xii) any
contract or agreement with respect to any swap, forward, future, warrant, option
or other derivative transaction, other than (A) weather
derivatives and agriculture related derivatives and (B) contracts written for
the purposes of hedging exposure (including currency exposure);
(xiii) any
contract or agreement (other than leases of Leased Real Property) with a
remaining term of three years or more that is not terminable without penalty by
it or any of its Subsidiaries upon three years notice and which involves the
expected payment or receipt of amounts by it or any of its Subsidiaries of more
than US$1,000,000, in the aggregate; and
(xiv) any
contract, agreement, arrangement or understanding containing any provision or
covenant limiting in any material respect the ability of it or any of its
Subsidiaries (or, in the case of the Company, after the Closing, Parent,
Purchaser or any of their respective Subsidiaries (including the Surviving
Company after the Merger)), to (A) sell any products or services of or to any
other Person or in any geographic region, (B) engage in
any line of business or (C) compete with or to obtain products or services from
any Person or limiting the ability of any Person to provide products or services
to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or, following the Closing or the
Effective Time, Parent, Purchaser or any of their respective
Subsidiaries.
Each such
agreement described in numbers (i) to (xiv) is referred to herein as a “Material
Contract.”
(b)
Except for breaches, violations or defaults as would not reasonably be expected
to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (i) each of the
Material Contracts is valid and in full force and effect and (ii) neither it nor
any of its Subsidiaries, nor to its knowledge any other party to a Material
Contract, has violated any provision of, or taken or failed to take any act
which, with or without notice, lapse of time, or both, would constitute a
default under the provisions of such Material Contract, and neither it nor any
of its Subsidiaries has received notice that it has breached, violated or
defaulted under any Material Contract. Except as disclosed in Section 5.08, to
its knowledge, there are no material oral contracts or agreements or oral or
written side letters to which it or any of its Subsidiaries is a party or by
which it or any of its Subsidiaries is bound and which relate to any Material
Contracts. True and complete copies of each Material Contract or, in the case of
oral Material Contracts, a written summary of
47
such
Material Contracts, have been delivered or made available by it for review to
the other party, prior to the date hereof.
(c)
Section 5.08 of the relevant Disclosure Schedule sets forth a list of all
Reinsurance Agreements in which premium is not delivered to the reinsurer but
rather withheld by the ceding company and held on deposit to the extent the
premium so withheld exceeds US$20,000,000, together with the amount of funds
withheld and the name of the cedent party thereto;
Section
5.09. Agreements with
Regulators. Except as required by insurance laws of general applicability
and the insurance licenses maintained by any of the Insurance Entities (as
defined below) or as is not and would not be reasonably expected to be material
to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, there are no written agreements,
memoranda of understanding, commitment letters or similar undertakings binding
on it or any Insurance Entity or to which it or any Insurance Entity is a party,
on one hand, and any Governmental Authority is a party or addressee, on the
other hand, or any orders or directives by, or supervisory letters or
cease-and-desist orders from, any Governmental Authority, nor has it nor any
Insurance Entity adopted any board resolution at the request of any Governmental
Authority, in each case specifically with respect to it or any Insurance Entity,
which (a) limit its ability or the ability of any Insurance Entity to issue
Policies or enter into Reinsurance Agreements in any respect; (b) require any
divestiture of any investment of any of its Subsidiary; (c) in any manner relate
to its ability or the ability of any of its Subsidiaries to pay dividends; (d)
require any investment of the Insurance Entities to be treated as non-admitted
assets (or the local equivalent) or (e) otherwise restrict the conduct of
business of it or any Insurance Entity in any respect, nor has it been advised
by any Governmental Authority that such authority is contemplating any such
undertakings.
Section
5.10. Reserves. The
reserves for future payment of benefits, losses, claims, expenses and similar
purposes (including claims litigation) under all insurance policies or
Reinsurance Agreements to which any of its Subsidiaries is a party reflected in,
or included with, the financial statements set forth, with respect to the
Company, in the AMF Documents and, with respect to Parent, in the Parent SEC
Documents: (i) have been computed in all material respects in accordance with
presently accepted actuarial standards consistently applied and prepared in
accordance with IFRS or GAAP, as the case may be, consistently applied; (ii)
have been computed based on actuarial assumptions that are consistent in all
material respects with applicable provisions of such agreements and with those
used to compute the corresponding items in such financial statements; (iii) have
been computed on the basis of assumptions consistent in all material respects
with those used to compute the corresponding items in such financial statements;
and (iv) where applicable, have been computed in all material respects in
accordance with the requirements for reserves established by the insurance
regulator of each such Subsidiary. It has made available to the
other
48
party a
true and complete copy of all finalized actuarial reports prepared by third-
party actuaries since January 1, 2006.
Section
5.11. Insurance
Coverage. Except for failures to maintain insurance coverage that would
not reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole, it and its Subsidiaries maintain insurance coverage (excluding all
retrocessional insurance coverage) with reputable insurers or self-insure, which
it reasonably believes are in those amounts and covering those risks as are
consistent with normal industry practice for companies of the size and financial
condition of it engaged in businesses similar to that of it and its
Subsidiaries. Neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has received any written
(or to the its knowledge, oral) notice of cancellation, material premium
increase or termination with respect to, or material alteration of coverage
under, any material insurance policy of it or any of its Subsidiaries, except
with respect to any cancellation, premium increase, termination or alteration in
accordance with the terms of the applicable insurance policy that would not
reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole. It has furnished to the other party a list of, and true and complete
copies of, all such material insurance policies covering it. There is no claim
by it or any of its Subsidiaries pending under any of such policies as to which
coverage has been questioned, denied or disputed in writing by the underwriters
of such policies or in respect of which such underwriters have reserved their
rights, except for such claims for which the failure to obtain coverage would
not reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole. Except as would not reasonably be expected to be material to it and its
Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, all premiums payable under all such policies
have been timely paid and it and its Subsidiaries have otherwise complied with
the terms and conditions of all such policies. Except as would not reasonably be
expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, such
policies (or other policies providing substantially similar insurance coverage)
remain in full force and effect. It and its Subsidiaries shall immediately after
the Closing continue to have coverage under such policies (to the extent such
policies have not expired upon the expiration of the term thereof in accordance
with its terms) with respect to events occurring prior to the Closing Date.. Insurance Matters. (a) Each
of its Subsidiaries which by virtue of its operations and activities is required
to be licensed as an insurance company, reinsurer or insurance intermediary
(collectively, the “Insurance Entities”) is listed in
Section 5.12 of its Disclosure Schedule, together with the jurisdiction of domicile
thereof (and the name of the Governmental Authority which has issued such
license) and any other jurisdiction where it is required to be so licensed or
authorized to write business in such jurisdiction (and the name of the
Governmental Authority which has issued such license or authorization). None of
its Insurance Entities is commercially domiciled in any other jurisdiction or is
otherwise treated as domiciled in a jurisdiction other than that of its
organization. It conducts all of its insurance operations that are required to
be
49
conducted
through a licensed insurance company or insurance intermediary, through its
Insurance Entities, each of which is duly licensed or authorized as an insurance
company, and/or, where applicable, a reinsurer or insurance intermediary in its
jurisdiction of incorporation and each other jurisdiction where it is required
to be so licensed or authorized and is duly licensed or authorized in each such
jurisdiction for each line of business written therein, except where the failure
to so conduct its insurance operations or the failure of its Insurance Entities
to be licensed or authorized would not reasonably be expected to be material to
it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
(b) Since
January 1, 2007, each of its Insurance Entities has timely filed or submitted in
all material respects all annual and, to the extent Applicable Law requires,
quarterly and other periodic statements, together with all exhibits,
interrogatories, notes, schedules and any actuarial opinions, affirmations or
certifications or other supporting documents in connection therewith, required
to be filed with or submitted to the appropriate insurance regulatory
authorities of the jurisdiction in which it is domiciled or commercially
domiciled on forms prescribed or permitted by such authority (as filed by it
through the date hereof and thereafter, collectively, the “Statutory Statements”),
except, in each case, as has been cured or resolved to the satisfaction of such
insurance regulatory authority without imposition of any material penalty or as
would not reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries,
taken as whole. It has delivered or made available to the other parties, to the
extent permitted by Applicable Laws, (i) true and complete copies of all annual
Statutory Statements filed with any Governmental Authority for each Insurance
Entity for the periods beginning January 1, 2007 through the date hereof and,
once duly and timely filed, thereafter, and the quarterly Statutory Statements
for each Insurance Entity for the quarterly periods ended December 31, 2008
through the date hereof and, once duly and timely filed, thereafter, each in the
form (including exhibits, annexes and any amendments thereto) filed with the
applicable insurance regulatory authority and (ii) true and complete copies of
all examination reports (and has notified the other party of any pending
examinations) of any insurance regulatory authorities received by it on or after
January 1, 2007 through the date hereof relating to the Insurance Entities.
Financial statements included in its Statutory Statements were prepared in
conformity with Applicable SAP, consistently applied for the periods covered
thereby, were prepared in accordance with the books and records of the
applicable Insurance Entity, and present fairly in all material respects the
statutory financial position of the relevant Insurance Entity as of the
respective dates thereof and the results of operations, cash flows, and changes
in capital and surplus (or shareholders’ equity, as applicable) of such
Insurance Entity for the respective periods then ended. Its Statutory Statements
complied in all material respects with all Applicable Laws when filed or
submitted and no material violation or deficiency has been asserted in writing
by any Governmental Authority with respect to any of its Statutory Statements
that
50
have not
been cured or otherwise resolved to the satisfaction of such Governmental
Authority. The statutory balance sheets and income statements included in its
annual Statutory Statements have been audited by its independent auditors, and
it has delivered or made available to the other party true and complete copies
of all audit opinions related thereto for periods beginning January 1, 2007
through the date hereof. Except as indicated therein, all assets that are
reflected on its Subsidiaries’ Statutory Statements comply in all material
respects with all applicable insurance laws regulating the investments of
Insurance Entities and all applicable insurance laws with respect to admitted
assets and are in amount at least equal to the minimum amount required by
applicable insurance laws. The financial statements included in its Statutory
Statement accurately reflect in all material respects the extent to which,
pursuant to Applicable Laws and Applicable SAP, the applicable Insurance Entity
is entitled to take credit for reinsurance (or any local equivalent
concept).
(c) The loss
reserves and other actuarial amounts of each of the Insurance Entities contained
in its Statutory Statements: (i) were determined in accordance with generally
accepted actuarial standards and principles consistently applied (except as
otherwise noted in the financial statements and notes thereto included in such
Statutory Statements), (ii) complied in all material respects with Applicable
Laws and were computed on the basis of methodologies consistent in all material
respects with those used in computing the corresponding reserves in the prior
fiscal years, except as otherwise noted in the financial statements and notes
thereto included in such Statutory Statements, and (iii) include provisions for
all actuarial reserves and related items which are required to be established in
accordance with Applicable Law. To its knowledge, no facts or circumstances
exist which would necessitate any material increase in the statutorily required
reserves above those reflected in the most recent balance sheet included in its
Statutory Statements.
(d) Prior to
the date of this Agreement, it has made available to the other party true and
complete copies of all finalized actuarial reports prepared by independent
actuaries and used as the basis for establishing the reserves for each of the
Insurance Entities from and after January 1, 2007, and all material attachments,
addenda, supplements and modifications thereto. To its knowledge, any
information and data furnished by it or any of its Subsidiaries to independent
actuaries in connection with the preparation of such actuarial reports were
accurate in all material respects. To its knowledge, such actuarial reports were
based upon an accurate inventory of Policies and Reinsurance Agreements in force
for it and its Subsidiaries, as the case may be, at the relevant time of
preparation and were prepared in conformity in all material respects with
generally accepted actuarial principles in effect at such time (except as may be
noted therein) and the projections contained therein were prepared in accordance
with the assumptions stated therein.
51
(e) As of the
date of this Agreement, all material reinsurance or retrocession treaties or
agreements, slips, binders, cover notes or other similar arrangements (including
weather derivatives) to which it or any of its Subsidiaries is a party or under
which it or any of its Subsidiaries has any existing rights, obligations or
liabilities (the “Reinsurance
Agreements”) are, and after the consummation of the transactions
contemplated hereby will continue to be, valid and binding obligations of it and
its Subsidiaries (to the extent they are parties thereto or bound thereby) and,
to its knowledge, each other party thereto, in accordance with their terms and
are in full force and effect, and it and each of its Subsidiaries (to the extent
they are party thereto or bound thereby) and, to the its knowledge, each other
party thereto has performed in all material respects all obligations required to
be performed by it under each Reinsurance Agreement, except as would not
reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole. As of the date hereof, neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has
received notice, nor does it have knowledge, of any violation or default in
respect of any obligation under (or any condition which, with the lapse of time
or the giving of notice or both, would result in such a violation or default),
or any intention to cancel, terminate or change the scope of rights and
obligations under, or not to renew, any Reinsurance Agreement, except, in each
case, as has not been and would not reasonably be expected to be material to it
and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. Since January 1, 2007, (i) neither it
nor its Subsidiaries have received any written notice from any party to a
Reinsurance Agreement that any amount of reinsurance ceded by it or such
Subsidiary to such counterparty will be uncollectible or otherwise defaulted
upon, (ii) to its knowledge, no party to a Reinsurance Agreement under which it
or any of its Subsidiaries is the cedent is insolvent or the subject of a
rehabilitation, liquidation, conservatorship, receivership, bankruptcy or
similar proceeding, (iii) to its knowledge, the financial condition of any party
to a Reinsurance Agreement under which it or any of its Subsidiaries is the
cedent is not impaired to the extent that a default thereunder is reasonably
anticipated, (iv) there are no disputes under any Reinsurance Agreement other
than disputes in the ordinary course for which adequate loss reserves have been
established and (v) its relevant Subsidiary is entitled under any Applicable Law
and Applicable SAP to take full credit in its Statutory Statements for all
amounts recoverable by it pursuant to any Reinsurance Agreement under which it
is the cedent and all such amounts recoverable have been properly recorded in
its books and records of account (if so accounted therefor) and are properly
reflected in its Statutory Statements, except as has not been and would not
reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole.
(f) Except as
has not been and would not reasonably be expected to be material to it and its
Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, with respect to any Reinsurance Agreement for
which the ceding insurer party thereto is taking credit on its most recent
Statutory Statements, to its knowledge, from and after January
52
1, 2007
(i) there has been no separate written or oral agreement between such ceding
insurer and the assuming reinsurer that would under any circumstances reduce,
limit, mitigate or otherwise affect in any respect any actual or potential loss
to the parties under any such Reinsurance Agreement, other than inuring
contracts that are explicitly defined in any such Reinsurance Agreement, (ii)
for each such Reinsurance Agreement entered into, renewed or amended on or after
January 1, 2007, for which risk transfer is not reasonably considered to be
self- evident, documentation concerning the economic intent of the transaction
and the risk transfer analysis evidencing the proper accounting treatment is
available in any respect for review by the relevant Governmental Authorities for
each of it and its Subsidiaries, (iii) its Subsidiary that is a party thereto,
and to its knowledge, any other party thereto, complies and has complied from
and after January 1, 2007 with any applicable requirements set forth in IFRS 4,
in the case of the Company and its Subsidiaries, and FAS 113, in the case of
Parent and its Subsidiaries, in any respect, and (iv) such Insurance Entity has
and had since January 1, 2007 appropriate controls in place to monitor the use
of reinsurance and comply with the provisions of IFRS 4, in the case of the
Company and its Subsidiaries, and FAS 113, in the case of Parent and its
Subsidiaries, in any respect.
(g) All
policies, policy forms, binders, slips, treaties, certificates, insurance or
reinsurance contracts or participation agreements and other agreements of
insurance or reinsurance, whether individual or group (including all
applications, supplements, endorsements, riders and ancillary agreements in
connection therewith) and all amendments, applications, brochures, illustrations
and certificates pertaining thereto (the “Policies”), in effect as of
the date of this Agreement, that are issued by it or any of its Subsidiaries and
any and all marketing materials have been, to the extent required under
Applicable Law, filed with or submitted to and not objected to by such
Governmental Authority within the period provided for objection, and such
Policies and marketing materials comply with the insurance laws applicable
thereto and have been administered in accordance therewith, except as has not
had and would not reasonably be expected to be material to it and its
Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. All premium rates established by it or any of
its Subsidiaries that are required to be filed with or submitted to or approved
by Governmental Authority have been so filed, submitted or approved, the
premiums charged conform thereto and such premiums comply with the insurance
laws applicable thereto, except as has not been and would not reasonably be
expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole.
(h) To its
knowledge, each insurance agent, general agent, agency, producer, broker,
reinsurance intermediary, program manager, managing general agent and managing
general underwriter currently selling, issuing or underwriting business for or
on behalf of it or any of its Subsidiaries (including it and its Subsidiaries’
salaried employees) (each, an “Agent”) was duly licensed for
the
53
type of
activity and business conducted or written, sold, produced, underwritten or
managed. To its knowledge, each program manager, managing general agent, third
party administrator or claims adjuster or manager, at the time such person
managed or administered business (including without limitation the
administration, handling or adjusting of claims) for or on behalf of it or any
of its Subsidiaries (each, an “Administrator”) was duly
licensed for the type of activity conducted. To its knowledge, no Agent or
Administrator has materially violated or is currently in violation of any
material respect of any term or provision of any Applicable Law applicable to
the writing, sale, production, underwriting or administration of business for it
or any of its Subsidiaries, except for such failures or such violations which
have been cured, that have been resolved or settled through agreements with
applicable Governmental Authorities or that are barred by an applicable statute
of limitations. Each Agent was appointed and compensated by it or its
Subsidiaries in compliance in all material respects with Applicable Law and all
processes and procedures used in making inquiries with respect of such Agent
were undertaken in compliance in all material respects with Applicable Law. No
Agent has binding authority on behalf of it or any of its Subsidiaries. As of
the date of this Agreement, no Agent accounting individually for 1% or more of
the total gross premiums of all of the Insurance Entities for the year ended
December 31, 2008 has indicated to it or any of its Subsidiaries in writing or,
to its knowledge, orally that such Agent will be unable or unwilling to continue
its relationship as an Agent with it or any of its Subsidiaries within twelve
months after the date hereof.
(i) Each of
the Insurance Entities has duly and timely filed in all respects all reports or
other filings required to be filed with any insurance regulatory authority in
the manner prescribed therefor under Applicable Laws and no Governmental
Authority has asserted any deficiency or violation with respect thereto, except
as has been cured or resolved to the satisfaction of the Government Authority or
except, in each case, as has not been and would not reasonably be expected to be
material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. Without limiting the
foregoing, each of its and its Subsidiaries’ submissions, reports or other
filings under applicable insurance holding company statutes or other applicable
insurance laws with respect to contracts, agreements, arrangements and
transactions between or among Insurance Entities and their affiliates, and all
contracts, agreements, arrangements and transactions in effect between any of
its Subsidiaries that is an Insurance Entity and any affiliate are in compliance
in all respects with the requirements of all applicable insurance holding
company statutes or other such insurance laws and all required approvals or
deemed approvals of insurance regulatory authorities with respect thereto have
been received or obtained, except as has not been and would not reasonably be
expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole.
(j) Copies
(which are complete and correct in all material respects) of all analyses,
reports and other data prepared by or on behalf of any Insurance
54
Entities
and submitted by or on behalf of any such Insurance Entity to any insurance
regulatory authority since January 1, 2006 relating to risk based capital
calculations or Insurance Regulatory Information Systems ratios have been
provided by it to the other party prior to the date of this
Agreement.
(k) Except
for regular periodic assessments in the ordinary course of business, there are
no material unpaid claims and assessments against it or any of its Subsidiaries,
whether or not due, by any insurance guaranty association (in connection with
that association’s fund relating to insolvent insurers), joint underwriting
association, residual market facility or assigned risk pool. No such material
claim or assessment is pending and neither it nor any of its Subsidiaries has
received written notice of any such material claim or assessment against it or
its Subsidiaries by any insurance guaranty association, joint underwriting
association, residual market facility or assigned risk pool.
(l) As of the
date hereof, it has no reason to believe that any rating presently held by it or
any of its Subsidiaries is likely to be modified, qualified, lowered or placed
under surveillance for a possible downgrade for any reason (excluding any such
modification, qualification, lowering or placement under surveillance occurring
as a result of the announcement or consummation of the transactions contemplated
by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement).
Section
5.13. Investments;
Derivatives. (a) The information provided by it to the other party
related to its investment assets, including, without limitation, bonds, notes,
debentures, mortgage loans, real estate, collateral loans, derivatives
(including swaps, swaptions, caps, floors, foreign exchange, and options or
forward agreements) and all other instruments of indebtedness, stocks,
partnership or joint venture interests and all other equity interests,
certificates issued by or interests in trusts, alternative investments and
direct or indirect investments in hedge funds, whether entered into for its own
or its Subsidiaries or their customers’ accounts (such investment assets,
together with all investment assets held between such date and the Effective
Time are referred to herein as the “Investment Assets”) is true
and complete in all material respects as of June 15, 2009.
(b) As of the
date of this Agreement, to its knowledge, none of its Investment Assets is in
material default in the payment of principal or interest or
dividends.
(c) As of the
date of this Agreement, to its knowledge, its Investment Assets comply in all
material respects with, and the acquisition thereof complied in all material
respects with, any and all investment restrictions under Applicable Law and its
and its Subsidiaries’ policies with respect to the investment of its Investment
Assets. Except for its Investment Assets sold in the ordinary course
of
55
business
consistent with past practice or as contemplated by this Agreement, each of it
and its Subsidiaries, as applicable, has good and marketable title to all of its
material Investment Assets it purports to own, free and clear of all Liens
(except Permitted Liens).
(d) To
its knowledge, none of its Investment Assets is subject to any capital calls or
similar liabilities, or any restrictions or suspensions on redemptions,
lock-ups, “gates,” “side-pockets,” stepped-up fee provisions or other penalties
or restrictions relating to withdrawals or redemptions, except as would not
reasonably be expected to be material to it and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole.
ARTICLE
6
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF PARENT
Subject
to Section 11.05, except as disclosed in any Parent SEC Document filed after
December 31, 2008 and before the date of this Agreement or as set forth in the
Parent Disclosure Schedule, Parent represents and warrants to the Company
that:
Section
6.01. Existence and
Power. Parent is, and Purchaser will be at the Closing, duly organized,
validly existing and (where applicable) in good standing under the laws of its
jurisdiction of organization and Parent has all organizational powers and all
material governmental licenses, authorizations, permits, consents and approvals
required to carry on its business as now conducted. Parent is, and Purchaser
will be at the Closing, duly qualified to do business as a foreign share
corporation in each jurisdiction where such qualification is necessary, except
for those jurisdictions where failure to be so qualified would not reasonably be
expected to be material to Parent and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. Parent
has heretofore made available to the Company true and complete copies of the
memorandum of association and bye-laws or similar organizational documents of
Parent as currently in effect. Since the date of its formation, Purchaser has
not engaged in any activities other than in connection with or as contemplated
by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement.
Section
6.02. Authorization.
(a) The execution, delivery and performance by Parent of this Agreement and the
consummation by Parent of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and
the Securities Purchase Agreement are within the organizational powers of Parent
and have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of Parent,
except for the Parent Shareholder Approvals. The execution, delivery and
performance by Purchaser of this Agreement and the consummation by Purchaser of
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement will be, upon its execution and delivery hereof in accordance with
Section 8.01, within the
56
organizational
powers of Purchaser and will be duly authorized by all necessary action on the
part of Purchaser. This Agreement constitutes a valid and binding agreement of
Parent, and will upon its execution and delivery hereof by Purchaser pursuant to
Section 8.01 constitute a valid and binding agreement of Purchaser, enforceable
against Parent and Purchaser in accordance with its terms (subject to applicable
bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and
other laws affecting creditors’ rights generally and general principles of
equity).
(b) The
affirmative vote of a simple majority of the total votes cast in favor of (i) an
increase in the number of directors constituting the board of directors of
Parent (the “Parent
Board”), (ii) the issuance of the Parent Shares in connection with the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement and (iii) any amendments to Parent’s Amended and Restated 2005
Employee Equity Plan to the extent required to give effect to the provisions of
Sections 3.02(a) and 3.02(c) (collectively, the “Parent Shareholder Approvals”) are
the only votes or approvals of the holders of any class or series of
capital shares of Parent necessary to approve this Agreement, the Securities
Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the
Securities Purchase Agreement.
(c) At a
meeting duly called and held, the Parent Board has (i) unanimously determined
that this Agreement, the Securities Purchase Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby are fair to and in the best interest of Parent’s
shareholders, (ii) unanimously approved, adopted and declared advisable this
Agreement, the Securities Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated
hereby and thereby and (iii) unanimously recommended that Parent’s shareholders
grant the Parent Shareholder Approvals (such recommendation, the “Parent Board
Recommendation”).
Section
6.03. Governmental
Authorization. The execution, delivery and performance by Parent and
Purchaser of this Agreement and the consummation by Parent and Purchaser of the
transactions contemplated hereby and by the Securities Purchase Agreement
require no action by or in respect of, or filing with or notifications to, any
Governmental Authority, other than (i) notifications required to be made to the
Company or the AMF due to crossing certain ownership thresholds, (ii) compliance
with any applicable requirements of the HSR Act, (iii) compliance with any
applicable requirements of Foreign Antitrust Laws, (iv) compliance with any
applicable requirements of the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, the General Rules of the
AMF and the Euronext Paris non-harmonized market rules, and any other federal,
state or non-U.S. securities laws, and (v) the approval of, or notifications to,
the Delaware Insurance Commissioner, the California Insurance Commissioner,
FINMA, the French Comité des
entreprises d’assurance, the Canadian
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Singapore Monetary
Authority and the Bermuda Monetary Authority, except,
57
in each
case, for any actions or filings the absence of which would not reasonably be
expected to (A) impair the ability of Parent and Purchaser to timely consummate
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase
Agreement or (B) be material to Parent and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole.
Section
6.04.
Non-contravention. The execution, delivery and performance by Parent and
Purchaser of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions
contemplated hereby and by the Securities Purchase Agreement do not (in the case
of Parent) and will not (in the case of Parent and Purchaser) (i) contravene,
conflict with, or result in any violation or breach of any provision of the
certificate of incorporation or bylaws or other similar organizational documents
of Parent or Purchaser, (ii) assuming compliance with the matters referred to in
Section 6.03, contravene, conflict with, or result in a violation or breach of
any provision of any Applicable Law, (iii) assuming compliance with the matters
referred to in Section 6.03, require any consent or other action by any Person
under, constitute a default, or an event that, with or without notice or lapse
of time or both, would constitute a default, under, or cause or permit the
termination, cancellation, acceleration or other change of any right or
obligation or the loss of any benefit to which Parent or any of its Subsidiaries
is entitled under any provision of any agreement or other instrument binding
upon Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or any material license, franchise,
permit, certificate, approval or other similar authorization affecting, or
relating in any way to, the assets or business of Parent and its Subsidiaries or
(iv) result in the creation or imposition of any Lien on any material asset of
Parent or any of its Subsidiaries, with only such exceptions, in the case of
each of clauses (ii) through (iv), as would not reasonably be expected to be
material to Parent and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
Section
6.05. Capitalization.
(a) The authorized share capital of Parent amounts to US$200,000,000 and is
divided into 11,600,000 Series C preferred shares, 9,200,000 Series D preferred
shares, 144,000,000 shares designated as common shares and 35,200,000
undesignated shares. As of June 30, 2009, (i) 57,949,306 Parent Shares were
issued and outstanding net of Parent Shares held in treasury, (ii) 1,295,173
Parent Shares were held in treasury, (iii) 2,358,595 Parent Shares were subject
to outstanding Parent Options (of which Parent Options to purchase an aggregate
of 2,321,780 Parent Shares were exercisable), (iv) 730,682 Parent Shares were
subject to outstanding restricted share units, (v) 11,600,000 Series C Preferred
Shares were issued and outstanding and (vi) 9,200,000 Series D Preferred Shares
were issued and outstanding. All outstanding Parent Shares have been, and all
Parent Shares that may be issued pursuant to any employee share option or other
compensation plan or arrangement will be, when issued in accordance with the
respective terms thereof, duly authorized and validly issued, fully paid and
free of preemptive rights. Section 6.05 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule
contains a complete and correct list of
58
each
outstanding Parent Options as of the date hereof including the holder, date of
grant, exercise price, vesting schedule and number of the Parent Shares subject
xxxxxxx.Xx of the date hereof, there are no outstanding bonds, debentures, notes
or other indebtedness of Parent having the right to vote (or convertible into,
or exchangeable for, securities having the right to vote) on any matters on
which shareholders of Parent may vote. As of June 30, 2009, except as set forth
in this Section 6.05, there are no issued, reserved for issuance or outstanding
(i) capital shares of or other voting securities of or ownership interests in
Parent, (ii) securities of Parent convertible into or exchangeable for capital
shares or other voting securities of or ownership interests in Parent, (iii)
warrants, calls, options or other rights to acquire from Parent, or other
obligation of Parent to issue, any capital stock or other voting securities or
ownership interests in or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for
capital shares or other voting securities or ownership interests in Parent or
(iv) restricted shares, share appreciation rights, performance units, contingent
value rights, “phantom” shares or similar securities or rights that are
derivative of, or provide economic benefits based, directly or indirectly, on
the value or price of, any capital share or voting securities of Parent (the
items in clauses (i) through (iv) being referred to collectively as the “Parent Securities”). As of the date
hereof, there are no outstanding obligations of Parent or any of its
Subsidiaries to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any of the Parent
Securities. As of the date hereof, neither Parent nor any of its Subsidiaries is
a party to any voting agreement with respect to the voting of any Parent
Securities.
(c) As of the
date hereof, except as set forth in this Section 6.05 or in furtherance of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase
Agreement, none of (i) the Parent Shares or (ii) the Parent Securities are owned
by any Subsidiary of Parent.
(d) The
Parent Shares to be issued as Offer Consideration, when delivered to the
relevant Company security holder in accordance with this Agreement, will have
been duly authorized, fully paid and non-assessable free and clear of any Lien
and will not be issued in violation of any preemptive rights or have any
restriction on the right to vote, sell or otherwise dispose of such Parent
Shares, except with respect to the parties thereto, as set forth in the
applicable Investor Agreement (as defined in the Securities Purchase
Agreement).
Section
6.06. Subsidiaries. (a)
Each Subsidiary of Parent has been duly organized, is validly existing and
(where applicable) in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of
organization, has all organizational powers and all material governmental
licenses, authorizations, permits, consents and approvals required to carry on
its business as now conducted. Each such Subsidiary is duly qualified to do
business as a foreign entity and is in good standing in each jurisdiction where
such qualification is necessary, except for those jurisdictions where failure to
be so qualified would not reasonably be expected to be material
59
to Parent
and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole. As of the date hereof, all Subsidiaries
of Parent and their respective jurisdictions of organization are identified in
Section 6.06(a) of the Parent Disclosure Xxxxxxxx.Xx of the date hereof, all of
the outstanding capital shares or other voting securities of, or ownership
interests in, each Subsidiary of Parent is owned by Parent, directly or
indirectly, free and clear of any Lien and free of any other limitation or
restriction (including any restriction on the right to vote, sell or otherwise
dispose of such capital stock or other voting securities or ownership interests,
but excluding any restriction provided by Applicable Law or pursuant to the
memorandum of association, bye-laws or similar organizational documents of the
relevant Subsidiary). As of the date hereof, there are no issued, reserved for
issuance or outstanding (i) securities of Parent or any of its Subsidiaries
convertible into, or exchangeable for, capital shares or other voting securities
of, or ownership interests in, any Subsidiary of Parent, (ii) warrants, calls,
options or other rights to acquire from Parent or any of its Subsidiaries, or
other obligations of Parent or any of its Subsidiaries to issue, any capital
shares or other voting securities of, or ownership interests in, or any
securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, any capital shares or other
voting securities of, or ownership interests in, any Subsidiary of Parent or
(iii) restricted shares, share appreciation rights, performance units,
contingent value rights, “phantom” shares or similar securities or rights that
are derivative of, or provide economic benefits based, directly or indirectly,
on the value or price of, any capital stock or other voting securities of, or
ownership interests in, any Subsidiary of Parent (the items in clauses (i)
through (iii) being referred to collectively as the “Parent Subsidiary Securities”). As of the date
hereof, there are no outstanding obligations of Parent or any of its
Subsidiaries to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any of the Parent
Subsidiary Securities. As of the date hereof, except for the capital shares or
other voting securities of, or ownership interests in, its Subsidiaries and
except for the Investment Assets, Parent does not own, directly or indirectly,
any capital shares or other voting securities of, or ownership interests in, any
Person.
Section
6.07. SEC Filings. (a)
Parent has filed with the SEC, and made available to the Company, all reports,
schedules, forms, statements, prospectuses, registration statements and other
documents required to be filed by Parent since January 1, 2007 (collectively,
together with any exhibits and schedules thereto and other information
incorporated therein, the “Parent SEC
Documents”).
(b) As of its
filing date (and as of the date of any amendment), each Parent SEC Document
complied, and each Parent SEC Document filed subsequent to the date hereof will
comply, as to form in all material respects with the applicable requirements of
the 1933 Act and the 1934 Act, as the case may be.
(c) As of its
filing date (or, if amended or superseded by a filing prior to the date hereof,
on the date of such filing), each Parent SEC Document filed pursuant to the 1934
Act did not, and each Parent SEC Document filed
60
subsequent
to the date hereof will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or
omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made
therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading.
(d) Each
Parent SEC Document that is a registration statement, as amended or
supplemented, if applicable, filed pursuant to the 1933 Act, as of the date such
registration statement or amendment became effective, did not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be
stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not
misleading.
(e) Parent
has complied in all material respects with the applicable listing rules and
regulations of the New York Stock Exchange.
Section
6.08. Disclosure
Documents. (a) The S-4 shall not at the time the S-4 is declared
effective by the SEC (or, with respect to any post-effective amendment or
supplement, at the time such post-effective amendment or supplement becomes
effective) contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading.
(b) The Proxy
Statement shall not, on the date the Proxy Statement, and any amendments or
supplements thereto, is first mailed to the shareholders of Parent, or at the
time of the Parent Shareholder Approvals contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein
or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the
circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(c) The
information supplied by Parent in writing specifically for inclusion in the
Company Disclosure Documents, the Reply Document and the Offer Documents shall
not, as of their respective filing dates, contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the
statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are
made, not misleading.
(d) Each
document required to be filed by Parent or Purchaser with the AMF in connection
with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and any amendments or
supplements thereto, when filed or disseminated, as applicable, will comply as
to form in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the General
Rules of the AMF and will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact
or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements
made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not
misleading.
61
(e) The
representations and warranties contained in this Section 6.08 will not apply to
statements or omissions included or incorporated by reference in the S-4, the
Proxy Statement, the Company Disclosure Documents, the Reply Document or the
Offering Documents based upon information supplied in writing by the Company or
any Seller or any of their Representatives specifically for inclusion
therein.
Section
6.09. Financial
Statements. The audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited
consolidated interim financial statements of Parent included or incorporated by
reference in the Parent SEC Documents (the “Parent Financial Statements”) fairly
present, in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis (except
as may be indicated in the notes thereto), the consolidated financial position
of Parent and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of the dates thereof and their
consolidated results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended
(subject to normal year end audit adjustments in the case of any unaudited
interim financial statements).
Section
6.10. Tangible Book Value Per
Share. Exhibit
B-2 fairly presents, in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent
basis, the Tangible Book Value Per Share of Parent as of March 31,
2009.
Section
6.11. Absence of Certain
Changes. (a) Since the Balance Sheet Date, the business of Parent and its
Subsidiaries has been conducted in the ordinary course consistent with past
practices and there has not been any event, occurrence, development or state of
circumstances or facts that has had or would reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on
Parent.
(b) Since
the Balance Sheet Date until the date hereof, there has not been any action
taken by Parent or any of its Subsidiaries that, if taken during the period from
the date of this Agreement through the Closing without the Company’s consent,
would constitute a material breach of Section 8.01.
Section
6.12. Finders’ Fees.
There is no investment banker, broker, finder or other intermediary that has
been retained by or is authorized to act on behalf of Parent or Purchaser who
might be entitled to any fee or commission from the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
or the Securities Purchase Agreement.
Section
6.13. Opinion of Financial
Advisor. The Parent Board has received the opinion of UBS Securities LLC,
financial advisor to Parent, to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion
and based on and subject to the assumptions, matters considered and limitations
described therein, the aggregate consideration to be paid by Parent pursuant to
this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement is fair, from a financial
point of view, to Parent.
62
Section
6.14. Taxes. To
Parent’s knowledge, neither Parent nor any of its non-U.S. Subsidiaries is
treated as a “passive foreign investment company” as defined in Section 1297 of
the Code for its most recently ended taxable year. To Parent’s knowledge, Parent
and each of its non-U.S. Subsidiaries currently satisfies (assuming the relevant
taxable year ended on the date this representation is being given), and expects
to satisfy with respect to the taxable year in which the Closing falls, either
or both of the exceptions described in Sections 953(c)(3)(A) and (B) of the Code
so that none of its U.S. Shareholders (within the meaning of Section 953(c) of
the Code) will be required to include in income any of Parent’s or its
subsidiaries’ “related person insurance income” (within the meaning of Section
953(c)(2) of the Code) by operation of Sections 951(a) and 953(c)(5) of the
Code.. No Other
Representations. Except for the representations and warranties of Parent
and Purchaser contained in this Agreement, Parent and Purchaser make no other
representation or warranty in connection with, arising out of or relating to the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement, express or implied, and Parent and Purchaser hereby disclaim, and the
Company may not rely on, any such other representation or warranty,
notwithstanding the delivery or disclosure to the Company or any of its
Affiliates or any other Person of any documentation or other information by
Parent and Purchaser or any of their Representatives or any other Person with
respect to any of such matters, in each case except in the case of fraud or
intentional misrepresentation.
ARTICLE
7
COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY
The
Company agrees that:
Section
7.01. Conduct of the
Company. Subject to the limitations and exceptions set forth in the
several sentences of this Section 7.01, from the date hereof until the Effective
Time, the Company shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, conduct
its business in the ordinary course consistent with past practice and use its
reasonable best efforts to (i) preserve intact its present business
organization, (ii) maintain in effect all of its foreign, federal, state and
local licenses, permits, consents, franchises, approvals and authorizations,
(iii) keep available the services of its directors, officers and key employees,
(iv) maintain satisfactory relationships with its customers, lenders, suppliers
and others having material business relationships with it and (v) ensure that
all payments made, liabilities incurred and transactions entered into represent
bona fide obligations or
transactions arising in the ordinary course of business for full and valid
consideration. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except as
expressly contemplated by this Agreement, as required by Applicable Law, or as
set forth in Section 7.01 of the Company Disclosure Schedule or to the
extent
63
Parent
shall otherwise consent in writing (which consent shall not be unreasonably
withheld, conditioned or delayed), subject to any constraints under Applicable
Law, the Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to:
(a) not amend
its articles of incorporation, memorandum of association, bylaws or other
similar organizational documents (whether by merger, consolidation or
otherwise);
(b) not (i)
split, combine or reclassify any shares of its capital stock, or propose to
split, combine or reclassify, any of its share capital, or issue or authorize or
propose the issuance or authorization of any other securities in respect of, or
in lieu of or in substitution for, shares of its share capital, (ii) declare,
set aside or pay any dividend or other distribution (whether in cash, stock or
property or any combination thereof) in respect of its capital stock, except (A)
for the Company’s payment of the Share Capital Repayment and (B) dividends paid
by a direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company to the Company or
to any of the Company’s other direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiaries (to
the extent that any such dividends do not result in any Subsidiary of the
Company breaching or otherwise violating any applicable regulatory capital
requirements or becoming subject to any additional regulatory oversight or
reporting requirements); provided that no dividends
shall be paid to the Company or to fund the Share Capital Repayment except in
accordance with Section 9.03 or (iii) redeem,
repurchase or otherwise acquire or offer to redeem, repurchase, or otherwise
acquire any shares of the Company’s (or any of its Subsidiaries’) share capital
or any securities convertible into or exercisable for any shares of the
Company’s (or any of its Subsidiaries’) share capital (including any Company
Securities or any Company Subsidiary Securities), other than repurchases,
redemptions or acquisitions by any wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company of
share capital or such other securities, as the case may be, of any other wholly
owned Subsidiary of the Company;
(c) not (i)
issue, deliver or sell, or authorize the issuance, delivery or sale of, any
shares of any Company Securities or Company Subsidiary Securities, other than
the issuance of (A) any Company Shares upon the exercise of Company Options,
Company Warrants or Company RSUs that are outstanding on the date of this
Agreement in accordance with the terms of those options on the date of this
Agreement and (B) any Company Subsidiary Securities to the Company or any other
Subsidiary of the Company or (ii) amend any term of any Company Security or any
Company Subsidiary Security (in each case, whether by merger, consolidation or
otherwise);
(d) not incur
any capital expenditures or any obligations or liabilities in respect thereof,
except for (i) those contemplated by the capital expenditure budget that has
been made available to Parent prior to the date of this Agreement
64
and (ii)
any unbudgeted capital expenditures not to exceed US$500,000 individually or
US$5,000,000 in the aggregate;
(e) not
acquire (by merger, consolidation, acquisition of stock or assets or otherwise),
directly or indirectly, any assets, securities, properties, interests or
businesses, other than (i) supplies, equipment and investment securities or
other assets in bona
fide transactions, on arms-length terms in the ordinary course of
business of the Company and its Subsidiaries in a manner that is consistent with
past practice and/or (ii) acquisitions with a purchase price net of the total of
assumed liabilities (including all operating liabilities, reserves and
indebtedness) that does not exceed US$500,000 individually or US$5,000,000 in
the aggregate;
(f) not sell,
lease or otherwise transfer, or create or incur any Lien, other than a Permitted
Lien, on, any of the Company’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ assets, securities,
properties, interests or businesses, other than (i) in bona fide transactions, on
arms-length terms in the ordinary course of business consistent with past
practice, including in respect of letter of credit facilities and/or (ii) other
sales of assets, securities, properties, interests or businesses with a sale
price or carrying value net of the total of assumed liabilities (including all
operating liabilities, reserves and indebtedness) that does not exceed
US$500,000 individually or US$5,000,000 in the aggregate;
(g) other
than in connection with actions permitted by Section 7.01(d) or Section 7.01(e),
not make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any
other Person, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past
practice or loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in,
wholly owned Subsidiaries of the Company;
(h) not
create, incur, assume, suffer to exist or otherwise be liable with respect to
any indebtedness for borrowed money or guarantees thereof (including
reimbursement obligations with respect to letters of credit), other than (i) in
replacement of existing or maturing debt, (ii) guarantees relating to business
written by any wholly owned Subsidiary (whether directly or indirectly) of the
Company in the ordinary course of the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ insurance
or reinsurance business consistent with past practice and not in excess of
US$60,000,000 in the aggregate and (iii) draw-downs pursuant to existing credit
facilities and letters of credit in support of the Company’s and its
Subsidiaries’ insurance or reinsurance business consistent with past
practice;
(i) (i) with
respect to any director, officer or employee of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries whose annual compensation exceeds US$150,000, (A) not grant or
increase any severance or termination pay to (or amend any existing severance
pay or termination arrangement) or (B) not enter into any employment, deferred
compensation or other similar agreement (or amend any such existing agreement),
(ii) not increase benefits payable under any existing severance or
65
termination
pay policies, (iii) not establish, adopt or amend (except as required by
Applicable Law) any collective bargaining, bonus, profit-sharing, thrift,
pension, retirement, deferred compensation, stock option, restricted stock or
other benefit plan or arrangement or (iv) not increase compensation, bonus or
other benefits payable to any employee of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, except, with respect to any director, officer or employee of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries whose annual compensation does not exceed
US$150,000, for increases in the ordinary course of business consistent with
past practice;
(j) not
change the Company’s methods of accounting, except as required by concurrent
changes in IFRS, as agreed to by its independent public
accountants;
(k) not
settle, or offer or propose to settle, (i) any material litigation,
investigation, arbitration, proceeding or other claim involving or against the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries except (A) where the amount paid (less the
amount reserved for such matters in its latest audited balance sheet included in
its AMF Documents and any insurance coverage applicable thereto) in settlement
or compromise, in each case, does not exceed US$500,000 or (B) arising from
ordinary course claims for insurance or reinsurance (but excluding material
litigation relating to such claims) that are handled pursuant to the Company’s
normal claims handling process consistent with past practice, (ii) any
shareholder litigation or dispute against the Company or any of its officers or
directors or (iii) any litigation, arbitration, proceeding or dispute that
relates to the transactions contemplated hereby;
(l) not (i)
make or change any material Tax election, (ii) change any annual tax accounting
period, (iii) adopt or change any method of tax accounting except as required by
Applicable Law, (iv) materially amend any Tax Returns, (v) enter into any
material closing agreement, (vi) settle any material Tax claim, audit or
assessment or (vii) surrender any right to claim a material Tax refund, offset
or other reduction in Tax liability;
(m) comply in
all material respects with, and not alter or amend in any material respect
(except as may be required by or, in its reasonable good faith judgment,
advisable under, IFRS, Applicable SAP or any Governmental Authority or
Applicable Laws), the Company’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ existing
underwriting guidelines, referral processes, authority levels, the risk
limitations set forth in Section 7.01(m) of the Company Disclosure Schedule
(except for increases to risk limitations in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practice), pricing policies and practices;
(n) comply in
all material respects with the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ existing risk
management policies and practices described in Section 7.01(n) of the Company
Disclosure Schedule;
66
(o) not
enter, to the extent material, any new risk segments, any classes or any markets
in which the Company and its Subsidiaries do not operate on the date
hereof;
(p) not
permit the aggregate premium volumes of new business (i.e., treaties referenced by
a new treaty number in the Company’s Petrus system in accordance with past
practice) in each of the property, casualty/motor, credit/bond and
marine/aviation/life classes to exceed 25% of the in force aggregate premium
volume generated by each of such classes as of the first day of the current
calendar quarter (based on the Company’s Petrus system) with the exception of
the facultative reinsurance class, to which such limit shall not apply. For the
purpose of the comparison between the aggregate premium volume at the first day
of the current calendar quarter and the new aggregate premium volume, the
exchange rates at December 31 of the most recently completed calendar year shall
be used;
(q) not make
any material change in the methodology used in the calculation of reserves for
future payment of benefits, losses, claims, expenses and similar purposes
(including claims litigation) under all insurance policies or Reinsurance
Agreements to which any Insurance Entity is or becomes a party;
(r) use its
commercially reasonable efforts consistent with past practice to enter into or
renew any retrocession treaties or agreements involving the Company’s or any of
its Subsidiary’s cession of risk on terms and conditions (including collateral
and other security requirements) consistent with those entered into by the
Company and its Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business consistent with
past practice to the extent available on commercially reasonable terms; provided that if after the
date hereof the Company desires to reduce its peak exposure in manner
inconsistent with its past practice, upon the receipt by Parent of a reasonably
detailed description of the Company’s planned actions, together with any
relevant analysis, Parent shall consider such request in good faith and shall
not unreasonably withhold, condition or delay its consent to the taking of such
action.
(s) not amend
or modify in any material respect or terminate (excluding terminations upon
expiration of the term thereof in accordance with their terms) any Material
Contract or waive, release or assign any material rights, claims or benefits of
it or its Subsidiaries under any Material Contract, or enter into any contract
or agreement that would have been a Material Contract had it been entered into
prior to this Agreement;
(t) not enter
into, amend or modify in any material respect any agreement relating to the
commutation of any reinsurance program or Reinsurance Agreement having
commutation amounts in excess of US$10,000,000 individually or US$50,000,000 in
the aggregate, other than as
67
required
by Applicable Law; provided that the Company
shall, on a quarterly basis, provide Parent with reasonable information
regarding any commutations undertaken in the previous quarter for which the
prior approval of Parent was not required pursuant to this Section
7.01(t);
(u) other
than with respect to the Company’s or its Subsidiaries’ Agents appointed as of
the date hereof, not enter into any agreement providing for the appointment of
any managing general agent or any Person performing similar
functions;
(v) comply
with and take such reasonable action as may be necessary to ensure that each
investment manager or adviser, Agent or Administrator complies with, and not
alter or amend in any material respect, the investment policy and guidelines set
forth in Section 7.01(v) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, except as may be
required by (or, in its reasonable good faith judgment, advisable under) IFRS,
Applicable SAP or any Governmental Authority or Applicable Law;
(w) not enter
into, purchase, sell, amend or modify any derivative contract, except (i) in the
case of contracts (other than any contracts referenced in (ii), (iii) and (iv)
below) for the purpose of hedging in the ordinary course of business consistent
with past practice and in compliance with the investment policy and guidelines
set forth in Section 7.01(v) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (ii) in the
case of currency rate hedging, in the ordinary course of business consistent
with past practice, (iii) in the case of weather derivatives where limits are
stipulated, with a maximum exposure per individual risk not in excess of
US$10,000,000/€10,000,000 and (iv) for weather derivatives and agriculture
related derivatives, in each case, traded over the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
(CME) or the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practice (it being specified that the Company shall report
to Parent every two weeks on any transaction entered into by the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange during such previous
two-week period); provided that solely in the
case of the foregoing clause (iii), unless Parent provides written notice that
it is withholding consent within two Business Days after the receipt of written
request therefor from the Company, such consent will be deemed to have been
granted;
(x) not
underwrite sport, leisure and entertainment business with a per risk limit in
excess of US$10,000,000/€10,000,000 or a per event limit in excess of
US$15,000,000/€15,000,000; provided that solely in the
case of this clause (x), unless Parent provides written notice that it is
withholding consent within two Business Days after the receipt of written
request therefor from the Company, such consent will be deemed to have been
granted;
(y) commit to
continue the Company’s existing investment practice to not incur exposure to
equities or to not acquire additional non-guaranteed asset-
68
backed
securities and to seek to maintain an average credit rating of AA- or better for
its investment portfolio; provided that the Company in
no event shall be required to sell any Investment Assets to maintain such rating
that would be below the Company’s management’s estimate of the realizable value
of such security;
(z) not
voluntarily forfeit, abandon, modify, waive, terminate or otherwise change any
of its material governmental licenses, authorizations, permits, consents and
approvals, except as would not reasonably be expected to be material to it and
its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole;
(aa) use its
reasonable best efforts to obtain and maintain in existence each contract or
agreement under which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is granted any
material license rights or immunity (including any license relating to risk
modeling Software) with respect to the Intellectual Property of a third party;
and
(bb) not
agree, resolve or commit to (i) do any action restricted by this Section 7.01 or
(ii) accept any restriction that would prevent the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries from taking any action required by this Section 7.01.
Section
7.02. Company Shareholder
Approvals; Company Shareholders Meeting. (a) As soon as
practicable after the date hereof, the Company Board and the Company shall take
all actions reasonably necessary for (i) the appointment of the Parent
Designated Directors to the Company Board and the resignation of the directors
from the Company Board, in each case, set forth on the list entitled “Resigning
and Appointed Company Board Members” delivered by Parent to the Company in
writing no later than seven Business Days prior to the publication of the
invitation to the applicable Company Shareholders Meeting relating to the
election of the Parent Designated Directors (as defined in the Securities
Purchase Agreement) subject to and effective upon the Closing, (ii) the approval
and adoption of the Share Capital Repayment by the Company’s shareholders and
the payment thereof immediately prior to the Closing (subject to Section 9.03)
and (iii) the Charter Amendment to become effective immediately prior to the
Closing, including convening one or more meetings of the Company’s shareholders
(each, a “Company Shareholders
Meeting”) as soon as reasonably practicable for the purpose of voting
upon (A) a conditional resolution to appoint the Parent Designated Directors to
the Company Board subject to and effective upon the Closing, (B) a conditional
resolution to approve and adopt the Share Capital Repayment subject to and
effective upon the Closing and (C) the approval of the Charter Amendment. The
Company, acting through the Company Board, (1) shall recommend to the Company’s
shareholders their approval of the appointment of the Parent Designated
Directors, the Share Capital Repayment and the Charter Amendment and include in
the Company Disclosure Documents such recommendations, (2) shall use its
reasonable best efforts to obtain such
69
approvals,
including soliciting the votes of the Company’s shareholders in favor of the
appointment of the Parent Designated Directors, the Share Capital Repayment and
the Charter Amendment, and (3) shall otherwise comply with all legal
requirements applicable to each Company Shareholders Meeting; provided that if the Company
Board shall make an Adverse Company Recommendation Change, the obligations of
the Company Board to make the recommendation contemplated by the foregoing
clause (1) shall cease, but no Adverse Company Recommendation Change shall
affect the Company’s other obligations under this Section 7.02, including its
obligations to take all actions reasonably necessary (x) prior to the applicable
Company Shareholder Meeting in order to be able to give effect each of the
matters described in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) (including calling and holding
Company Shareholders Meetings and soliciting votes of the Company’s shareholders
(provided that in soliciting such votes, the Company Board shall have the right
to communicate the basis for its lack of recommendation) as promptly as
reasonably practicable after the receipt of the applicable Company Shareholder
Approval at such Company Shareholder Meeting and (y), upon the receipt of the
applicable Company Shareholder Approval, to give effect to such
matters.
(b) In
connection with each Company Shareholders Meeting, the Company shall, in each
case, to the extent required by Applicable Law, promptly prepare and shall
thereafter mail to its shareholders any and all Company Disclosure Documents and
all other materials for such meeting. Parent, Purchaser and their counsel shall
be given a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on all such Company
Disclosure Documents and any amendments thereto each time before any such
document is mailed to the Company’s shareholders, and the Company shall give
reasonable and good faith consideration to any comments made by Parent,
Purchaser and their counsel. Each of Parent, Purchaser and the Company agrees
promptly to correct any information provided by it in writing specifically for
use in such Company Disclosure Documents prepared in connection with each
Company Shareholders Meeting if and to the extent that such information shall
have become (or shall have become known to be) false or misleading in any
material respect. The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause
such Company Disclosure Documents prepared in connection with each Company
shareholders Meeting as so corrected to be mailed to the Company’s shareholders,
in each case to the extent required by Applicable Law.
Section
7.03. Swiss Federal Tax
Ruling. The Company shall use reasonable best efforts in supporting
Purchaser in obtaining, on behalf of Parent (in the case of clause (i) below) or
the Company (in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) below), a tax ruling from the
Swiss Federal Tax Administration confirming that (i) the contribution of Parent
Shares into either GmbH Purchaser or AG Purchaser will not trigger any Swiss
issuance stamp tax consequences, (ii) the position “Réserves / Primes
d’émission” in the books of the Company in the amount of CHFT 1’239’479 as per
December 31, 2008 qualifies as Additional
70
Paid-In
Capital (“APIC”) paid in
after 1996 for Swiss tax purposes not being subject to Swiss withholding tax in
case of a repayment to the Company’s shareholders on or after January 1, 2011
and (iii) a change in the Company’s shareholding structure (including the Merger
contemplated by this Agreement) will not lead to a qualification as withholding
tax avoidance under the old reserves rules provided that no distributions or
redemption of “Réserves / Primes d’émission” are made prior to January 1, 2011
(the “Swiss Federal Tax
Ruling”). The Company shall promptly provide Purchaser with all
information and documents necessary in connection with obtaining the Swiss
Federal Tax Ruling and in furtherance thereof shall promptly inform Parent and
Purchaser of any developments which may affect the ruling process.
Section
7.04. Alternative Structure in
Lieu of the Swiss Federal Tax Ruling. If Parent informs the
Company that it believes, based upon the advice of tax advisers, that the
Swiss Federal Tax Ruling will not be timely obtained, the Company shall (i)
consider in good faith any modifications to the transaction structure
contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement proposed by
Parent that would allow Parent and its Affiliates to achieve tax treatment that
approximates the treatment that would have been achieved if the Swiss Federal
Tax Ruling were obtained, and shall agree to such modifications if the Company
determines, in its reasonable judgment, that such modifications are not adverse
in any material respect to the Company or any of its direct or indirect
shareholders and (ii) use reasonable best efforts to cooperate with Parent, at
Parent’s sole cost and expense, in effecting any such
modifications.
Section
7.05. Access to
Information. From the date hereof until the Effective Time and subject to
the Confidentiality Agreement dated as of May 18, 2009 (the “May Confidentiality
Agreement”) among the Company, Parent and the other parties thereto, the
Confidentiality Agreement dated as of April 15, 2009 (the “April Confidentiality
Agreement” and, together with the May Confidentiality Agreement, the
“Confidentiality
Agreements”) among the Company, Parent and the other parties thereto and
Applicable Law, upon reasonable notice, the Company shall (i) give Parent, its
counsel, financial advisors, auditors and other authorized representatives
reasonable access during normal business hours to its offices, properties, books
and records of the Company and its Subsidiaries, (ii) furnish to Parent, its
counsel, financial advisors, auditors and other authorized representatives such
financial and operating data and other information as such Persons may
reasonably request and (iii) instruct the employees, counsel, financial
advisors, auditors and other authorized representatives of the Company and its
Subsidiaries to reasonably cooperate with Parent in its investigation of the
Company and its Subsidiaries; provided that the Company may
restrict the foregoing access to the extent it would, in the
reasonable good faith opinion of the Company, jeopardize any legally recognized
privilege or violate any binding agreement entered into prior to the date hereof
(provided, however,
that the parties agree to use reasonable best
71
efforts,
if requested by Parent, to enter into a joint defense agreement or implement
such other techniques for resolving privilege issues if the parties determine
that doing so would reasonably permit the disclosure of such information without
so jeopardizing such privilege or resulting in such violation). Any
investigation pursuant to this Section 7.05 shall be conducted in such manner as
not to interfere unreasonably with the conduct of the business of the Company
and its Subsidiaries. No information or knowledge obtained by Parent in any
investigation pursuant to this Section 7.05 shall affect or be deemed to modify
any representation or warranty made by the Company hereunder.
Section
7.06. No Solicitation; Other
Offers. (a) General Prohibitions.
Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall, nor shall the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries authorize or permit any of its or their officers,
directors, employees, investment bankers, attorneys, accountants, consultants or
other agents or advisors (“Representatives”) to, directly
or indirectly, (i) solicit, initiate or take any action to facilitate or
encourage the submission of any Company Acquisition Proposal, (ii) enter into or
participate in any discussions or negotiations with, furnish any non-public
information relating to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or afford access
to the business, properties, assets, books or records of the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries to, otherwise cooperate in any way with, or knowingly assist,
knowingly participate in, knowingly facilitate or encourage any effort by any
Third Party that has indicated to the Company it is seeking to make, or has
made, a Company Acquisition Proposal, (iii) fail to convene a meeting of the
Company Board for the purpose of seeking the Final Offer Recommendation in
accordance with (and subject to the provisions of) Section 2.02(c) or withdraw
or modify in a manner adverse to Parent the Company Board Recommendation or the
Final Offer Recommendation, if any, (or recommend a Company Acquisition Proposal
or take any action or make any statement inconsistent with the Company Board
Recommendation or the Final Offer Recommendation, if any) (any of the foregoing
in this clause (iii), an “Adverse Company Recommendation
Change”), (iv) grant any waiver or release under any standstill or
similar agreement with respect to any class of equity securities of the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries to the extent such waiver or release would permit any
Person to make a Company Acquisition Proposal or (v) enter into any agreement in
principle, letter of intent, term sheet, merger agreement, acquisition
agreement, option agreement or other similar instrument relating to a Company
Acquisition Proposal. It is agreed that any violation of the restrictions on the
Company set forth in this Section by any Representative of the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries shall be a breach of this Section by the Company. Subject to
the proviso to Section 7.02, making an Adverse Company Recommendation Change
shall not relieve the Company of its obligations under Section 7.02 or its
obligations to seek the Company Shareholder Approvals or to hold any Company
Shareholder Meetings in respect thereof.
72
(b) Exceptions.
Notwithstanding Section 7.06(a), at any time prior to the Effective
Time:
(i) the
Company, directly or indirectly through advisors, agents or other
intermediaries, may (A) engage in negotiations or discussions with any Third
Party and its Representatives or financing sources that, subject to the
Company’s compliance with Section 7.06(a), has made after the date of this
Agreement a bona fide,
written Company Acquisition Proposal that the Company Board reasonably believes
will lead to a Superior Proposal and (B) furnish to such Third Party or its
Representatives or its financing sources non-public information relating to the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and afford access to business, property,
assets, books and records of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries pursuant to
a confidentiality agreement (a copy of which shall be provided for informational
purposes only to Parent) with such Third Party with terms no less favorable to
the Company than those contained in the May Confidentiality Agreement; provided that all such
information (to the extent that such information has not been previously
provided or made available to Parent) is provided or made available to Parent,
as the case may be, prior to or substantially concurrently with the time it is
provided or made available to such Third Party) and (C) (subject to the Company
having used reasonable best efforts to oppose any proceeding seeking such an
order) take any action that any court of competent jurisdiction orders the
Company to take; and
(ii) following
receipt of a Superior Proposal, the Company Board may make an Adverse Company
Recommendation Change;
in each
case referred to in the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii) only if the Company Board
determines in good faith, after consultation with outside legal counsel, that
such action is required by its fiduciary duties under Swiss law; provided that after the
Closing, the Company Board shall not make an Adverse Company Recommendation
Change unless the Company Board is acting upon the recommendation of the
Independent Directors.
(c) Required Notices. The
Company Board shall not take any of the actions referred to in Section 7.06(b)
unless the Company shall have delivered to Parent a prior written notice
advising Parent that it intends to take such action, and, after taking such
action, the Company shall continue to advise Parent on a current basis of the
status and terms of any discussions and negotiations with the Third Party; provided that the foregoing
shall not require the Company to give Parent prior notice of discussions with a
Third Party initiated by such Third Party where the Company is unaware of the
Third Party’s potential interest in making a Company Acquisition Proposal, so
long as the Company notifies Parent upon
73
becoming
so aware in accordance with the next sentence. In addition, the Company shall
notify Parent promptly (but in no event later than 24 hours) after receipt by
the Company (or any of its Representatives) of any Company Acquisition Proposal,
any indication that a Third Party is considering making a Company Acquisition
Proposal or any request for non-public information relating to the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries or for access to the business, properties, assets, books
or records of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries by any Third Party that is
known by the Company to be considering making, or has made, a Company
Acquisition Proposal. The Company shall provide such notice orally and in
writing and shall identify the Third Party making, and the material terms and
conditions of, any such Company Acquisition Proposal, indication or request. The
Company shall keep Parent reasonably informed, on a current basis, of the status
and material terms of any such Company Acquisition Proposal, indication or
request and shall promptly (but in no event later than 24 hours after receipt)
provide to Parent copies of all material correspondence and written materials
sent or provided to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that describes any
terms or conditions of any Company Acquisition Proposal (as well as written
summaries of any oral communications addressing such matters). Any material
amendment to any Company Acquisition Proposal will be deemed to be a new Company
Acquisition Proposal for purposes of the Company’s compliance with this Section
7.06(c). Any of the foregoing obligations are subject to restrictions in
accordance with Applicable Law.
(d) “Last Look”. Further,
the Company Board shall not make an Adverse Company
Recommendation Change in response to a Company Acquisition Proposal, unless (i)
it determines such Company Acquisition Proposal is reasonably likely to
constitute a Superior Proposal, (ii) the Company promptly notifies Parent, in
writing, at least five Business Days before taking that action and subject to
Applicable Law, of its intention to do so and attaching the most current version
of the proposed agreement under which such Superior Proposal is proposed to be
consummated and the identity of the Third Party making the Company Acquisition
Proposal, and (iii) Parent does not make, within five Business Days after its
receipt of that written notification, an offer (x) that is at least as favorable
to the shareholders of the Company as such Superior Proposal, or (y) after the
Offer Filing Date until the expiration, termination or consummation of the
Offer, whose terms, in case of a competing bid (offre concurrente), can be declared
compliant by the AMF (déclaration de
conformité) (it being understood
and agreed that any amendment to the financial terms or other material terms of
such Superior Proposal shall require a new written notification from the Company
and a new five Business Day period under this Section 7.06(d)).
(e) Definition of Superior
Proposal. For purposes of this Agreement, “Superior Proposal” means a
bona fide, initially
unsolicited written Company Acquisition Proposal for all of the outstanding
Company Shares not owned by
74
Parent or
subject to the transactions contemplated by the Securities Purchase Agreement,
on terms that the Company Board determines in good faith by a majority vote,
after considering the advice of a financial advisor of internationally
recognized reputation and outside legal counsel and taking into account all the
terms and conditions of the Company Acquisition Proposal, including any break-
up fees, expense reimbursement provisions and conditions to consummation, are
more favorable and provide greater value to all of the Company’s shareholders
than as provided hereunder (taking into account any proposal by Parent to amend
the terms of this Agreement pursuant to Section 7.06(d)), (i) which the Company
Board determines is reasonably likely to be consummated without undue delay
relative to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and (ii) for which
financing, if a cash transaction (whether in whole or in part), is then fully
committed or reasonably determined to be available by the Company
Board.
Section
7.07. Currency Rate
Hedge. Promptly, but no later than two Business Days, after the date
hereof, the Company shall enter into and thereafter maintain or renew until the
payment of the Share Capital Repayment, or if the Share Capital Repayment is not
paid prior to the Closing, such later time after the Closing as Parent shall
determine, one or more currency rate arrangements that will fix the rate of
exchange for conversion of U.S. dollars to CHF as of such date in respect of an
aggregate amount in U.S. dollars equal to not less than
US$329,488,933.
Section
7.08. IFRS Financial
Statements. (a) As soon as reasonably practicable after the date hereof,
the Company shall instruct and take steps necessary to allow its independent
auditors, Mazars Coresa (the “Independent Auditor”), to prepare and
deliver (and conduct such review as may be necessary to prepare and deliver)
to the Company an opinion that the audited consolidated financial statements of
the Company included in the Company’s AMF Documents for the 12 months ended
December 31, 2008 and 2007 and the six months ended December 31, 2006 comply
with IFRS.
(b) The
Company shall cause the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company
for the 12 months ended December 31, 2008 and 2007 and the six months ended
December 31, 2006 and the unaudited consolidated interim financial statements of
the Company for the quarters ended March 31, 2009 and June 30, 2009, in each
case, included in the Company’s AMF Documents and which will be included in the
Proxy Statement or the S-4 to state in the notes thereto that such financial
statements comply with IFRS in accordance with Item 17 of Form 20-F under the
1934 Act.
Section
7.09. Closing Balance
Sheet. The Company shall prepare a consolidated balance sheet of the
Company as of the Closing Date (the “Closing Balance Sheet”), audited by
the Independent Auditor and prepared in accordance with IFRS, applied in a
manner consistent with the Company’s consolidated
75
balance
sheet as of the Balance Sheet Date included in the Company Financial Statements.
The Company shall deliver to Parent a preliminary Closing Balance Sheet no later
than 25 days after the Closing Date and a final audited Closing Balance Sheet no
later than 45 days after the Closing Date.
ARTICLE
8
COVENANTS OF PARENT
Parent
agrees that:
Section
8.01. Conduct of
Parent. (a) Subject to the limitations and exceptions set forth in the
several sentences of this Section 8.01, from the date hereof until the Closing,
Parent shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, conduct its business
in the ordinary course consistent with past practice and use its reasonable best
efforts to (i) preserve intact its present business organization, (ii) maintain
in effect all of its foreign, federal, state and local licenses, permits,
consents, franchises, approvals and authorizations, (iii) keep available the
services of its directors, officers and key employees, (iv) maintain
satisfactory relationships with its customers, lenders, suppliers and others
having material business relationships with it and (v) ensure that all payments
made, liabilities incurred and transactions entered into represent bona fide obligations or
transactions arising in the ordinary course of business for full and valid
consideration. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except as
expressly contemplated by this Agreement, as required by Applicable Law, or as
set forth in Section 8.01 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule or to the extent the
Company shall otherwise consent in writing (which consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), subject to any constraints under
Applicable Law, Parent shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to:
(i) not
change its methods of accounting, except as required by concurrent changes in
GAAP as agreed to by its independent public accountants;
(ii) comply in
all material respects with its and its Subsidiaries’ existing risk management
policies and practices;
(iii) not make
any material change in the methodology used in the calculation of reserves for
future payment of benefits, losses, claims, expenses and similar purposes
(including claims litigation) under any material insurance policies or
Reinsurance Agreements to which any Insurance Entity is or becomes a party;
and
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(iv) not
agree, resolve or commit to (A) do any action restricted by this Section 8.01 or
(B) accept any restriction that would prevent it or any of its Subsidiaries from
taking any action required by this Section 8.01.
(b) Without
limiting Section 10.01, the Company shall, prior to the Closing, have the right
to terminate this Agreement upon giving written notice to Parent
if:
(i) Since the
date hereof, Parent shall have issued, or committed to issue, Parent Shares (in
one ore more transactions) having an aggregate Market Value in excess of
US$500,000,000 as of the date of the applicable issuance or commitment in
connection with the acquisition (by merger, consolidation, acquisition or stock
or assets or otherwise), directly or indirectly, of any assets, securities,
properties, interests or businesses; or
(ii) Parent
shall have entered into a definitive agreement with respect to or consummated
any transaction (including the consolidation of Parent with, or the merger or
amalgamation of Parent with or into any Person) pursuant to which the
outstanding Parent Shares have or will be converted into or exchanged for
securities of any other Person, cash or other property.
Section
8.02. Formation of
Purchaser. Promptly after the date hereof, Parent shall form a Swiss GmbH
(“GmbH Purchaser”) and a
Swiss Aktiengesellschaft (“AG
Purchaser”), each as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. If the Cantonal
Tax Ruling with respect to GmbH Purchaser is obtained on or before September 15,
2009, Parent shall cause GmbH Purchaser to execute a joinder agreement to this
Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement and be bound hereunder and
thereunder. If the Cantonal Tax Ruling with respect to GmbH Purchaser is not
obtained on or before September 15, 2009, Parent shall promptly cause AG
Purchaser to execute a joinder agreement to this Agreement and the Securities
Purchase Agreement and be bound hereunder and thereunder. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, if Parent informs the Company that it believes, based upon the advice
of tax advisers, that the Swiss Federal Tax Ruling will not be obtained, Parent
shall have the right, but not the obligation, to form a Bermuda entity (“Bermuda Purchaser”) as a
wholly owned subsidiary of Parent and cause Bermuda Purchaser and GmbH Purchaser
to execute joinder agreements to the Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement and be bound hereunder and thereunder in lieu of the joinder
agreements described in the previous two sentences. Parent shall (i) take such
actions as are necessary to cause the board of directors of Purchaser to approve
this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement and declare advisable this
Agreement, the Securities Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated
hereby and thereby and (ii)
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approve,
if Parent is the sole shareholder of Purchaser, or cause the sole shareholder of
Purchaser to approve, and adopt this Agreement.
Section
8.03. Obligations of
Purchaser. Parent shall cause Purchaser to perform its obligations under
this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement and to consummate the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and the
Securities Purchase Agreement.
Section
8.04. Voting of Shares.
Parent shall vote, or cause to be voted, all Company Shares beneficially owned
by it or any of its Affiliates in favor of approval of the Merger at the meeting
of the Company’s shareholders contemplated by Section 3.01.
Section
8.05. Director and Officer
Liability. Parent shall cause the Company or Surviving Company, as
applicable, and the Surviving Company hereby agrees, to do the
following:
(a) Until the
later of (i) six years after the Effective Time and (ii) six years after
Closing, Parent shall cause the Company or Surviving Company, as applicable, to
indemnify, defend and hold harmless, and provide advancement of expenses
(provided that the person to whom expenses are advanced provides an undertaking
to repay such advances to the extent required by Applicable Law) to, the present
and former directors, managers and officers of the Company (each, an “Indemnified Person”) against
all losses, claims, damages, costs, expenses, liabilities or judgments or
amounts that are paid in settlement of or in connection with any claim, action,
suit, proceeding or investigation based in whole or in part on or arising in
whole or in part out of the fact that such Indemnified Person is or was a
director or officer of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and pertaining to
any matter existing or occurring, or any acts or omissions occurring, at or
prior to the Effective Time (or if this Agreement is terminated after the
Closing and prior to the Effective Time, the termination of this Agreement),
whether asserted or claimed prior to, at or after, the Effective Time (or if
this Agreement is terminated after the Closing and prior to the Effective Time,
the termination of this Agreement) (including matters, acts or omissions
occurring in connection with the approval of this Agreement and the consummation
of the transactions contemplated hereby), to the fullest extent permitted by
Swiss law or any other Applicable Law or provided under the Company’s articles
of incorporation and bylaws in effect on the date hereof; provided that such
indemnification shall be subject to any limitation imposed from time to time
under Applicable Law.
(b) Until the
later of (i) six years after the Effective Time and (ii) six years after the
Closing, Parent shall cause to be maintained in effect provisions in the
Company’s or the Surviving Company’s, as applicable, articles of incorporation
and bylaws (or in such documents of any successor to the business
78
of the
Surviving Company) regarding elimination of liability of directors,
indemnification of officers, directors and employees and advancement of expenses
that are no less advantageous to the intended beneficiaries than the
corresponding provisions in existence on the date of this Agreement, to the
fullest extent permitted by Swiss law or any other Applicable Law.
(c) Prior
to the Closing Date, the Company shall, and Parent shall cause the Company and
the Surviving Company, as of the Closing and the Effective Time (or if this
Agreement is terminated after the Closing and prior to the Effective Time, the
termination of this Agreement), as applicable, to obtain and maintain thereafter
and fully pay the premium for the non-cancelable extension of the directors’ and
officers’ liability coverage of the Company’s existing directors’ and officers’
insurance policies and the Company’s existing fiduciary liability insurance
policies (collectively, “D&O Insurance”), in each
case for a claims reporting or discovery period of at least six years from and
after the later to occur of the Closing and the Effective Time with respect to
any claim related to any period or time at or prior to the Effective Time (or if
this Agreement is terminated after the Closing and prior to the Effective Time,
the termination of this Agreement) with terms, conditions, amounts, retentions
and limits of liability that are no less favorable than the coverage provided
under the Company’s existing policies with respect to any actual or alleged
error, misstatement, misleading statement, act, omission, neglect, breach of
duty or any matter claimed against a director or officer of the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries by reason of him or her serving in such capacity that
existed or occurred at or prior to the Effective Time (or if this Agreement is
terminated after the Closing and prior to the Effective Time, the termination of
this Agreement) (including in connection with this Agreement or the transactions
or actions contemplated hereby); provided that the Company
shall give Parent a reasonable opportunity to participate in the selection of
such tail policy and the Company shall give reasonable and good faith
consideration to any comments made by Parent with respect thereto. If the
Company or the Surviving Company for any reason fails to obtain such “tail”
insurance policies in accordance with the preceding sentence, the Company and
the Surviving Company shall or Parent shall cause the Company and the Surviving
Company, as applicable, to continue to maintain in effect, for a period of at
least six years from the later to occur of the Closing Date and the Effective
Time, the D&O Insurance in place as of the date hereof with terms,
conditions, amounts, retentions and limits of liability that are no less
favorable than the coverage provided under the Company’s existing policies as of
the date hereof, or the Surviving Company shall, or Parent shall cause the
Surviving Company to, purchase comparable D&O Insurance for such period with
terms, conditions, retentions and limits of liability that are no less favorable
than as provided in the Company’s existing policies as of the date hereof; provided that in no event
shall Parent or the Surviving Company be required to expend for such policies
pursuant to this sentence an annual premium amount in excess of 300% of the
amount per
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annum the
Company paid in its last full fiscal year, which amount is set forth in Section
8.05(c) of the Company Disclosure Schedule; and provided further that if the
aggregate premiums of such insurance coverage exceed such amount, the Surviving
Company shall be obligated to obtain a policy with the greatest coverage
available, with respect to matters occurring prior to the Effective Time, for a
cost not exceeding such amount; and provided further that any
such D&O Insurance shall explicitly provide or promptly be amended to
provide that such D&O Insurance shall be “primary insurance”. Prior to the
Closing, the Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain
or renew its existing D&O Insurance on terms substantially consistent with
those currently in effect as of the date of this Agreement or, if such terms are
not reasonably available, on such other commercially reasonably terms as the
Company shall determine appropriate.
(d) If
Parent, the Surviving Company or any of its successors or assigns (i) consolidates
with or merges into any other Person and shall not be the continuing or
surviving corporation or entity of such consolidation or merger, or (ii) transfers
or conveys all or substantially all of its properties and assets to any Person
(including by dissolution), then, and in each such case, to the extent
necessary, proper provision shall be made so that the successors and assigns of
Parent or the Surviving Company, as the case may be, shall assume the
obligations set forth in this Section 8.05.
(e) The
rights of each Indemnified Person under this Section 8.05 shall be in addition
to and regardless of any rights such Person may have under the articles of
incorporation or bylaws of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, under Swiss
law or any other Applicable Law or under any agreement of any Indemnified Person
with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. These rights shall survive
consummation of the Merger and are intended to benefit, and shall be enforceable
by, each Indemnified Person, his or her heirs and legal
representatives.
Section
8.06. Parent Shareholder
Meeting. Parent and the Parent Board shall take all actions reasonably
necessary for convening one meeting of Parent shareholders (the “Parent Shareholder Meeting”)
as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event shall use reasonable best
efforts to convene such meeting no later than 45 days after the Proxy Statement
has been cleared by the SEC for the purpose of securing the Parent Shareholder
Approvals. Parent, acting through the Parent Board, shall (subject to Section
8.07 solely in the case of the succeeding clause (i)) (i) make the Parent Board
Recommendation at the Parent Shareholder Meeting and include such recommendation
in the Proxy Statement, (ii) use its reasonable best efforts to obtain such
approval and (iii) otherwise comply with all legal requirements applicable to
such meeting, provided,
however, that if the
Parent Board shall have effected an Adverse Parent Recommendation Change,
then in submitting such matters to the Parent
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Shareholders
Meeting and in soliciting the votes of its shareholders, the Parent Board may
submit such matters or solicit such votes without recommendation, in which event
the Parent Board shall communicate the basis for its lack of a recommendation to
the Parent shareholders in the Proxy Statement or an appropriate amendment or
supplement thereto to the extent it determines, after consultation with its
legal counsel, that such action is compelled by Applicable Law.
Section
8.07. No Solicitation; Other
Offers. (a) General Prohibitions.
Prior to receipt of the Parent Shareholder Approvals, neither Parent nor any of
its Subsidiaries shall, nor shall Parent or any of its Subsidiaries authorize or
permit any of its or their Representatives to, directly or indirectly, (i)
solicit, initiate or take any action to facilitate or encourage the submission
of any Parent Acquisition Proposal, (ii) enter into or participate in any
discussions or negotiations with, furnish any non-public information relating to
Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or afford access to the business, properties,
assets, books or records of Parent or any of its Subsidiaries to, otherwise
cooperate in any way with, or knowingly assist, knowingly participate in,
knowingly facilitate or encourage any effort by any Third Party that has
indicated to Parent it is seeking to make, or has made, a Parent Acquisition
Proposal, (iii) fail to make, withdraw or modify in a manner adverse to the
Company the Parent Board Recommendation (or recommend a Parent Acquisition
Proposal or take any action or make any statement inconsistent with the Parent
Board Recommendation) (any of the foregoing in this clause (iii), an “Adverse Parent Recommendation
Change”), (iv) grant any waiver or release under any standstill or
similar agreement with respect to any class of equity securities of Parent or
any of its Subsidiaries to the extent such waiver or release would permit any
Person to make a Parent Acquisition Proposal or (v) enter into any agreement in
principle, letter of intent, term sheet, merger agreement, acquisition
agreement, option agreement or other similar instrument relating to a Parent
Acquisition Proposal. It is agreed that any violation of the restrictions on
Parent set forth in this Section by any Representative of Parent or any of its
Subsidiaries shall be a breach of this Section by Parent. Making an Adverse
Parent Recommendation Change shall not relieve Parent of its obligation to hold
the Parent Shareholders Meeting to seek the Parent Shareholder Approvals in
accordance with Section 8.06.
(b) Exceptions.
Notwithstanding Section 8.07(a), at any time prior to receipt of the Parent
Shareholder Approvals:
(i)
Parent, directly or indirectly through advisors, agents or other intermediaries,
may (A) engage in negotiations or discussions with any Third Party and its
Representatives or financing sources that, subject to Parent’s compliance with
Section 8.07(a), has made after the date of this Agreement a bona fide, written Parent
Acquisition Proposal and (B) furnish to such Third Party or its Representatives
or its financing sources
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non-public
information relating to Parent or any of its Subsidiaries, and afford access to
the business, property, assets, books and records of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries pursuant to a confidentiality agreement (a copy of which shall be
provided for informational purposes only to the Company) with such Third Party
with terms no less favorable to Parent than those contained in the April
Confidentiality Agreement; provided that all such
information (to the extent that such information has not been previously
provided or made available to the Company) is provided or made available to the
Company, as the case may be, prior to or substantially concurrently with the
time it is provided or made available to such Third Party) and (C) (subject to
Parent having used reasonable best efforts to oppose any proceeding seeking such
an order) take any action that any court of competent jurisdiction orders Parent
to take; and
(ii) the
Parent Board may make an Adverse Parent Recommendation Change;
in each
case referred to in the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii) only if the Parent Board
determines in good faith, after consultation with outside legal counsel, that
such action is required by its fiduciary duties under Bermuda law.
Section
8.08. Protection of Directors
and Management. Provided that the Closing occurs, Parent and Purchaser
agree to refrain from claiming or enforcing and to waive, release and discharge,
and to procure that the Company and its Subsidiaries refrain from claiming or
enforcing and waive, release and discharge, to the fullest extent permitted in
accordance with Applicable Laws, each of the directors, officers and managers of
the Company and its Subsidiaries from any damages claims whatsoever, which the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries has or may have out of any matter, cause or
event occurring at or prior to the earlier of the Effective Time and the
termination of this Agreement; provided that (i) the
foregoing shall be subject to any limitation imposed from time to time under
Applicable Law and (ii) nothing in this Section 8.08 shall restrict Parent or
Purchaser from filing any such claim against any director or manager of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries in the case of fraud on the part of such
director or manager. Promptly following each of the Closing and the Effective
Time (or if this Agreement is terminated after the Closing and prior to the
Effective Time, the termination of this Agreement), Parent and Purchaser shall,
subject to Applicable Law, procure at the next ordinary general meeting (or
equivalent meeting) of the Surviving Company or the Company, as applicable,
occurring after such time (which, for the avoidance of doubt, can be the same
meeting if the Closing and Effective Time occur prior to the next ordinary
general meeting) an unconditional discharge granted to the directors and
managers of the Company in connection with their acts or omissions as directors
and managers of the Company and its Subsidiaries in the period prior to the
Closing and the
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Effective
Time (or if this Agreement is terminated after the Closing and prior to the
Effective Time, the termination of this Agreement); provided, however, that each
director, officer and manager resigning with effect as of the Closing or after
the date hereof shall waive in accordance with, and subject to the limitations
set forth in, clause (ii) of Section 5.01(a) of the Securities Purchase
Agreement any rights and declare to have no claims of any kind whatsoever
towards the Company and its Subsidiaries in connection with, or otherwise
arising out of, its services as a director or manager of the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries.
Section
8.09. Composition of Parent
Board. Parent shall take all action reasonably necessary to cause one of
the existing directors on the Company Board that is not an Affiliate of any
Seller to be appointed to the Parent Board effective upon the Closing, subject
to the approval of such Person by Parent’s Nominating and Governance
Committee.
Section
8.10. Stock Exchange
Listing. Parent shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the Parent
Shares (a) to be listed on such European Union stock exchange as may be
reasonably determined by Parent, provided that the choice of such exchange does
not result in a material delay in the consummation of the transactions
contemplated hereby, and (b) to be issued in the Purchase, Offer and the Merger
to be approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), subject to official
notice of issuance, prior to the Closing.
Section
8.11. Retrocession
Cooperation. Until the Effective Time, Parent shall reasonably assist and
cooperate with the Company in its efforts to enter into or renew retrocession
treaties or agreements involving the Company’s or any of its Subsidiary’s
cession of risk on commercially reasonable terms.
Section
8.12. Employment
Matters. (a) For a period of twelve months commencing as of the date
hereof (the “Retention
Period”), the Company shall (or, as applicable, Purchaser and Parent
shall, and shall cause the Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may
be) and its Subsidiaries to) (i) offer or maintain continued employment to all
individuals who are employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries on the
Closing, including employees not actively at work due to injury, vacation,
military duty, disability or other leave of absence (the “Company Employees”), (ii) not
to make any materially adverse amendment or modification (other than any such
amendment or modification that is agreed to by such Company Employee) (A) in the
case of any Company Employee with an employment agreement or any Company
Employee who performs most of his or her duties in France, of the terms of the
employment agreement as of the Closing and, if applicable, any collective
bargaining agreement or works council agreement applicable to him or her and (B)
in the case of any other Company Employee, of the terms and conditions of such
Company Employee’s employment as of the Closing and (iii) not to notify any
Company Employee of the termination of his or her employment for
any
83
economic
reason in connection with any operational or legal reorganization of the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries, including by way of merger, amalgamation,
consolidation, business combination, sale of all or substantially all of the
assets whether related or not to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
and the Securities Purchase Agreement; provided that no provision in
this Agreement shall, subject to Applicable Law, preclude the Purchaser, Parent,
the Company (or the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and its Subsidiaries
from being permitted to (1) terminate the employment of any Company Employee
(including, as applicable, his or her employment agreement) for Cause (as
defined below), (2) subject to Section 8.12(b), modify, amend or terminate any
US Employee Plan, International Plan or other plan, program or arrangement
offered by Purchaser, Parent or any of their Subsidiaries and (3) modify, amend
or terminate any terms and conditions of employment (including, as applicable,
an employment agreement) of a Company Employee to the extent required by
Applicable Law. For purposes of this Section 8.12(a), “cause”, with respect to
any Company Employee, has the definition of such term or analogous term in such
Company Employee’s employment agreement or, if such Company Employee has no such
employment agreement, means (x) the engaging by such Company Employee in serious
negligence or willful misconduct, in each case that is injurious to Parent and
its Subsidiaries, (y) such Company Employee’s failure to perform to the
reasonable satisfaction of such Company Employee’s supervisor or to comply in
all material respects with the direction of such Company Employee’s supervisor
or (z) the indictment, plea of guilty or plea of no contest of such Company
Employee for a serious criminal act.
(b) Without
limiting the generality of Section 8.12(a), during the Retention Period, (i) the
Company shall not (or, as applicable, Purchaser and Parent shall not, nor shall
they permit the Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and its
Subsidiaries to) reduce any Company Employee’s base salary or any bonus provided
under an employment agreement, collective bargaining agreement or works council
agreement applicable to him or her, in each case as in effect immediately prior
to the Closing and (ii) Company shall (or, as applicable, Purchaser and Parent
shall, and shall cause the Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may
be) and its Subsidiaries to) provide employee benefits (including any
perquisites) and compensation to Company Employees that are no less favorable in
the aggregate than those provided to such Company Employees immediately prior to
the Closing under the employment agreement, collective bargaining agreement or
works council agreement applicable to him or her.
(c) Seniority
with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (including, without limitation, any
current or former Affiliate of the Company or any predecessor, to the extent
previously recognized under any US Employee Plans or International Plans), (i)
shall be taken into account for purposes of determining, as applicable, the
eligibility for participation and vesting of any Company Employees under all
employee benefits plans, programs or arrangements offered
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by
Purchaser, Parent, Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) or
any of their Subsidiaries (including the US Employee Plans and International
Plans) to the Company Employees (other than any equity compensation plan), and
(ii) shall be taken into account for purposes of determining the benefit accrual
of any Company Employees under all vacation plans or arrangements, severance
plans or arrangements and paid time off or similar plans offered to the Company
Employees; provided
that, in the case of each of clause (i) and (ii) above, no service credit shall
be granted to the extent any duplication of benefits results.
(d) On and
following the Closing, Purchaser and Parent shall, and shall cause the Company
(and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and Purchaser’s, Parent’s and
the Company’s Subsidiaries to, each use its commercially reasonable efforts to
(i) waive any limitation on medical coverage of Company Employees due to
pre-existing conditions under the applicable medical plan of Purchaser, Parent,
Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and their Subsidiaries,
as applicable, to the extent such Company Employees are, as of the Closing,
covered under a medical employee benefit plan of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries and (ii) credit each Company Employee with all deductible payments
and co-payments paid by such Company Employee under the current medical employee
benefit plan of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries prior to the Closing
during the fiscal year 2009 for the purpose of determining the extent to which
any such Company Employee has satisfied his or her deductible and whether he or
she has reached the out-of-pocket maximum under any medical plan of Purchaser,
Parent, Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and Purchaser’s,
Parent’s and the Company’s Subsidiaries for such year. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, this Section 8.12(d) shall not apply in any jurisdiction (e.g., France) to the extent
clauses (i) and (ii) above would be inapplicable.
(e) To the
extent required by Applicable Law, Parent and Purchaser shall cause the Company
(and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and its Subsidiaries to honor
all obligations of the Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may be)
and its Subsidiaries under the collective bargaining agreements and works
council agreements applicable to the Company (and the Surviving Company, as the
case may be) and its Subsidiaries, and any replacement, renewal or extension of
such agreements; provided that this Section
8.12(e) shall not preclude Parent, Purchaser, the Company (and the Surviving
Company, as the case may be) and its Subsidiaries from altering, amending or
terminating any such agreement in accordance with its terms.
(f) Without
limiting the generality of Section 11.06, no provision of this Section 8.12
shall confer any rights, benefits, remedies, obligations or liabilities
hereunder upon any Person other than the parties hereto and their respective
successors and assigns. This Section 8.12 shall not create any third party
beneficiary or other rights in any Company Employee (including any
beneficiary
85
or
dependent thereof) in respect of continued employment with either Purchaser,
Parent, the Company (and the Surviving Company, as the case may be) and any of
their Subsidiaries or Affiliates, and no provision of this Section 8.12 shall
create any such rights in any such Persons in respect of any benefits that may
be provided, directly or indirectly, under any US Employee Plan, International
Plan or other plan, program or arrangement offered by Purchaser, Parent or any
of their Subsidiaries.
Section
8.13. Tax Matters. To
the extent Bermuda Purchaser and/or GmbH Purchaser are used to effect the
transactions contemplated hereby, Parent will, to the extent permitted by
Applicable Law, cause Bermuda Purchaser and/or GmbH Purchaser to each be treated
as an entity disregarded from Parent for U.S. federal income tax purposes on the
date of the Effective Time.
ARTICLE
9
ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS
The
parties hereto agree that:
Section
9.01. Reasonable Best
Efforts. (a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the
Company and Parent shall use their reasonable best efforts to take, or cause to
be taken, all actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things necessary,
proper or advisable under Applicable Law to consummate the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement as promptly
as reasonably practicable, including (i) preparing and filing as promptly as
practicable with any Governmental Authority or other third party all
documentation to effect all necessary filings, notices, petitions, statements,
registrations, submissions of information, applications and other documents,
including (A) the S-4, the Proxy Statement, the Offer Documents, the Reply
Document and the Company Disclosure Documents, (B) such documents as are
necessary for a listing of Parent’s common shares on such European Union stock
exchange selected by Parent pursuant to Section 8.10 and (C) such documents as
are necessary to seek the Company Shareholder Approvals and the Parent
Shareholder Approvals, (ii) obtaining and maintaining all approvals, consents,
registrations, permits, authorizations and other confirmations required to be
obtained from any Governmental Authority or other third party that are
necessary, proper or advisable to consummate the transactions contemplated by
this Agreement and (iii) taking all action reasonably necessary to satisfy each
of the conditions set forth in the Securities Purchase Agreement; provided that in no event
shall Parent or Purchaser be required by this Section 9.01 or any other
provision of this Agreement to (1) license, divest, dispose of or hold separate
any portion of its or any of its Affiliates’ assets that would reasonably be
expected to be material to Parent and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (2)
accept any condition, limitation, obligation, commitment or requirement or take
any other
86
action
imposed or proposed by any Governmental Authority that (x) restricts or limits
Parent’s, the Company’s or any of their respective Affiliates’ freedom of action
or requires Parent, the Company or any of their respective Affiliates to take
any action, with respect to any of its or their assets or any portion of its or
their businesses that would, in each case, reasonably be expected to be material
to Parent and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (y) limits in any material
respect its or any of its Subsidiaries’ ability effectively to exercise full
rights of ownership of any Company Shares and Company Warrants, (3) pay an
aggregate amount reasonably expected to be material to Parent and its
Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, in connection with seeking or obtaining any
required actions, consents or waivers as are required to complete the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement (excluding any mandatory filing fees and reasonable and customary
costs and expenses associated with making applications for, and responding to
requests for information from Governmental Authorities with respect to, such
required actions, consents, approvals or waivers as are required to complete the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement), or (4) commit or agree to any of the foregoing (each of clauses (1),
(2), (3) and (4), a “Burdensome Condition”); provided, further, that the
Company (i) shall not take or agree to take any action
identified in foregoing clause (1), (2), (3) or (4) that would reasonably be
expected to materially reduce or materially and negatively interfere with the
benefits to be recognized by Parent and its Subsidiaries in the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement without the
prior written consent of Parent and (ii) if so requested by Parent, shall use
reasonable best efforts to take any action identified in foregoing clause (1),
(2), (3) or (4) reasonably necessary to obtain clearances or approvals required
to give effect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the
Securities Purchase Agreement under Applicable Law, provided that such action is
conditioned on the Closing and does not reduce the amount or delay the payment
of the Per Share Consideration or the Per Warrant Consideration payable in
connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the
Securities Purchase Agreement.
(b) In
furtherance and not in limitation of the foregoing, to the extent required under
the HSR Act or Foreign Antitrust Laws, each party hereto agrees to make an
appropriate filing of a Notification and Report Form pursuant to the HSR Act
within 10 Business Days after the date of this Agreement, and any other required
filing or application under Foreign Antitrust Laws, as applicable, as promptly
as reasonably practicable, with respect to the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement, to supply as promptly as
reasonably practicable any additional information and documentary material that
may be requested pursuant to the HSR Act or such Foreign Antitrust Laws, as
applicable, and to take all other actions necessary, proper or advisable to
cause the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting periods under the
HSR Act or
87
to obtain
consents, approvals or authorizations under Foreign Antitrust Laws as soon as
practicable, including by requesting early termination of the waiting period
provided for in the HSR Act.
(c) In
furtherance and not in limitation of the foregoing, (i) as soon as practicable
following the date of this Agreement, the Company, Parent and Purchaser shall
cooperate in all respects with each other and use (and shall cause their
respective Subsidiaries to use) their respective reasonable best efforts to
prepare and file as promptly as practicable with the relevant insurance
regulators all notifications of, or requests for approval or non-objection
relating to, the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities
Purchase Agreement and shall use all reasonable best efforts to have such
insurance regulators approve the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and
the Securities Purchase Agreement (whether through positive notification of
approval or non-objection), (ii) each of the Company, on the one hand, and
Parent and Purchaser, on the other hand, shall give prompt written notice if
such party(ies) receives any notice from any insurance regulator in connection
with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement, and, in the case of any such written notice, shall promptly furnish
the other party(ies) with a copy thereof, (iii) all applications and substantive
correspondence with insurance regulators by the Company relating to approvals
required in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated
hereby and by the Securities Purchase Agreement shall be approved in advance by
Parent (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed)
(provided that the
Company and its counsel shall, to the extent time permits, be given a reasonable
opportunity to review any such applications and substantive correspondence with
insurance regulators made by Parent, and Parent shall give reasonable and good
faith consideration to any comments made by the Company and its counsel) and
(iv) each party shall have the right to participate in and shall, to the extent
practicable, receive reasonable prior notice of, all meetings (telephonic or
otherwise) of the other party with any insurance regulators in respect of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement. If an insurance regulator requires that a hearing be held in
connection with its approval of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
and the Securities Purchase Agreement, each party shall use its reasonable best
efforts to arrange for such hearing to be held as promptly as
practicable.
Section
9.02. Parent S-4 and Proxy
Statement. (a) Parent shall promptly prepare, and Parent shall promptly
file with the SEC, a prospectus and registration statement on Form S-4 (the
“S-4”). Upon the
declaration of the effectiveness under the 1933 Act of the S-4, Parent shall
thereafter file as promptly as practicable with the SEC the S-4 in definitive
form and make available to the shareholders of the Company the prospectus
included in such S-4 in the same manner as the Offer Documents are made
available as described in Section 2.01(e), and, in any event, any shareholder of
the Company participating in the
88
Offer
shall receive a copy of such prospectus. Parent shall also use its reasonable
best efforts to obtain all necessary state securities law or “Blue Sky” permits
and approvals required to carry out the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement. Additionally, Purchaser will promptly prepare and file with the SEC,
will use its best efforts to have cleared by the SEC and will thereafter mail to
its shareholders as promptly as practicable a proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”) for the
purpose of obtaining the Parent Shareholder Approvals.
(b) Each of
Parent, Purchaser and the Company agrees promptly to correct any information
provided by it in writing specifically for use in the S-4 or Proxy Statement if
and to the extent that such information shall have become (or shall have become
known to be) false or misleading in any material respect. Parent and Purchaser
shall use their reasonable best efforts to cause the S-4 or Proxy Statement, as
applicable, as so corrected to be filed with the SEC, in each case to the extent
required by applicable U.S. federal securities laws.
(c) The
Company and its counsel shall be given a reasonable opportunity to review and
comment on the S-4 and Proxy Statement and any amendments thereto each time
before any such document is filed with the SEC, and Parent and Purchaser shall
give reasonable and good faith consideration to any comments made by the Company
and its counsel. Parent and Purchaser shall provide the Company and its counsel
with (i) any comments or other communications, whether written or oral, that
Parent, Purchaser or their counsel may receive from time to time from the SEC or
its staff with respect to the S-4 or Proxy Statement, as applicable, promptly
after receipt of those comments or other communications and (ii) a reasonable
opportunity to participate in the response of Parent and Purchaser to those
comments and to provide comments on that response (to which reasonable and good
faith consideration shall be given), including by participating with Parent and
Purchaser or their counsel in any discussions or meetings with the
SEC.
Section
9.03. Share Capital
Repayment. (a) Company
Required Actions. The Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to,
use their reasonable best efforts to take all actions necessary (such actions,
the “SCR
Pre-Conditions”) to pay the Share Capital Repayment immediately prior to
the Closing in accordance with the steps set forth in Section 9.03 of the
Company Disclosure Schedule or such alternative method of funding the Share
Capital Repayment as Parent may consent to in writing (which consent shall not
be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) (such step plan or any such
alternative funding method, the “SCR Step Plan”), including, as
applicable:
(i)
obtaining the approval of the Share Capital Repayment by the Company’s
shareholders in accordance with Section 7.02;
89
(ii) obtaining
all required approvals of any applicable Governmental Authorities to pay the
Share Capital Repayment in accordance with the SCR Step Plan;
(iii) effecting
all required company actions by the Company and its Subsidiaries to cause
sufficient funds to be held by the Company immediately prior to the Closing to
pay the Share Capital Repayment;
(iv) following
the approval by the Company’s shareholders of the Share Capital Repayment,
causing the resolution regarding the Share Capital Repayment be published three
times in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce as soon as practicable after the
date of the applicable Company Shareholders Meeting, but in any event no later
than five Business Days after the applicable Company Shareholders Meeting;
and
(v) the
Company Board recommending to file a confirmation with the commercial register
of Zug, Switzerland (to be established in the form of a public deed) that all
actions necessary to pay the Share Capital Repayment have been
taken.
(b) Payment. (i) If all the
applicable SCR Pre-Conditions have been satisfied prior to the
Closing, the Company shall pay, or cause to be paid, the Share Capital Repayment
(or such lesser portion thereof pursuant to clause (ii) below) immediately prior
to the Closing in accordance with the SCR Step Plan.
(ii) If the
Company reasonably believes that it is not possible to satisfy all the SCR
Pre-Conditions prior to the Closing in order to be able to pay the full Share
Capital Repayment at a CHF amount equivalent to USD$3.85 per Company Share, the
Company shall have the right to cause the Share Capital Repayment to be paid at
a per Company Share amount less than a CHF amount equivalent to USD$3.85 per
Company Share so long as all applicable SCR Pre-Conditions have been satisfied
to pay such lesser amount and such payment is otherwise made in accordance with
the SCR Step Plan and paid at the time contemplated by the Section
9.03(b)(i).
(c) Parent Cooperation. Prior to
the Closing, Parent shall reasonably cooperate with the
Company in satisfying the SCR Pre-Conditions and in effecting the Share Capital
Repayment in accordance with the SCR Step Plan; provided that in no event
shall Parent be required pursuant to this Section 9.03(c) to pay any monies or
provide guarantees, indemnities, margin, collateral, undertakings, credit
support or enhancement or similar assurances of financial loss to Governmental
Authorities or any other Person in support of the Share Capital Repayment or any
payment, transfer or distribution related to thereto.
90
(d) Post-Closing Funding. (i) If
the full amount of the Share Capital Repayment has not been paid immediately
prior to the Closing, but all applicable SCR Pre-Conditions have been satisfied
to pay the Share Capital Repayment (or any remaining portion thereof) as of
immediately prior to the consummation of the Offer, Parent shall cause the
Company to pay (x) the Share Capital Repayment less (y) any portion thereof
previously paid pursuant to Section 9.03(b)(ii) in accordance with the SCR Step
Plan immediately prior to the consummation of the Offer. If, on the other hand,
the full amount of the Share Capital Repayment has not been paid immediately
prior to the Closing and all applicable SCR Pre- Conditions to pay the Share
Capital Repayment (or any remaining portion thereof) continue not to be
satisfied as of immediately prior to the consummation of the Offer, Parent shall
pay (x) the Share Capital Repayment less (y) any portion thereof previously paid
pursuant to Section 9.03(b)(ii) immediately prior to the consummation of the
Offer as follows:
(A) Parent
shall use its reasonable best efforts (subject to the proviso in Section
9.03(c)) to cause the Company’s Subsidiaries to pay, transfer or otherwise
distribute to the Company prior to the consummation of the Offer the maximum
amount of funds that can reasonably be so paid, transferred or distributed to
the Company prior to such time in order to fund the Share Capital Repayment (or
any remaining portion thereof) in accordance with the SCR Step Plan (as such
plan may be amended after the Closing with the approval of the Independent
Directors) and Applicable Law;
(B) after
giving effect to the payments, transfers and distributions contemplated by the
foregoing clause (i), Parent shall lend, or cause one of its Subsidiaries to
lend, PARIS RE Holdings France S.A. on the terms set forth in Exhibit F hereto
(such loan, the “SCR
Intercompany Loan”) the difference between (x) the aggregate Share
Capital Repayment less any portion thereof previously paid pursuant to Section
9.03(b)(ii) and (y) the amount of funds held by the Company that can be legally
applied to pay the Share Capital Repayment (or any remaining portion thereof) at
such time;
(C) following
the receipt of the proceeds of the SCR Intercompany Loan, PARIS RE Holdings
France S.A. shall use such proceeds to repay all or a portion of the outstanding
balances of the intercompany loans owed by PARIS RE Holdings France S.A. to the
Company; and
(D) Parent
shall thereafter cause the Company to distribute, immediately prior to the
consummation of the Offer,
91
the
proceeds thereof (together with any other funds then held by the Company for
such purpose) to the Company’s shareholders as payment of (1) the aggregate
Share Capital Repayment less (2) any portion thereof previously paid pursuant to
Section 9.03(b)(ii).
(ii) The
payment of the Share Capital Repayment (or any remaining portion thereof)
pursuant to Section 9.03(d) is in all cases subject to, and is conditioned on
Parent being reasonably satisfied that, the Offer will be consummated
immediately after such payment.
Section
9.04. Certain Filings.
(a) The Company and Parent shall cooperate with one another (i) in connection
with the preparation of the S-4, Proxy Statement, the Offer Documents, the Reply
Document, the Company Disclosure Documents and such documents as are necessary
to seek the Company Shareholder Approvals, (ii) in determining whether any
action by or in respect of, or filing with, any Governmental Authority is
required, or any actions, consents, approvals or waivers are required to be
obtained from parties to any material contracts, in connection with the
consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and (iii) in
taking such actions or making any such filings, furnishing information required
in connection therewith and seeking timely to obtain any such actions, consents,
approvals or waivers.
(b) Each
document required to be filed by the Company, Parent and Purchaser with the AMF
in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and any
amendments or supplements thereto, when filed or disseminated, as applicable,
will comply as to form in all material respects with the applicable requirements
of the General Rules of the AMF and will not, contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the
statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are
made, not misleading.
(c) The
Company agrees that the information supplied by the Company for inclusion in the
Offer Documents and the Reply Document shall not, as of their respective filing
dates, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading.
Section
9.05. Public
Announcements. Parent and the Company shall consult with each other
before issuing any press release, having any communication with the press
(whether or not for attribution) or making any other public statement, or
scheduling any press conference or conference call with investors or analysts,
with respect to this Agreement or the Securities Purchase Agreement or the
transactions contemplated hereby and thereby and, except in
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respect
of any public statement or press release as may be required by Applicable Law or
any listing agreement with or rule of any national securities exchange or
association, shall not issue any such press release or make any such other
public statement or schedule any such press conference or conference call
without the consent of the other party(ies); provided, however, that if
disclosure is required by Applicable Law, Parent and Purchaser, on the one hand,
and the Company, on the other hand, shall, to the extent reasonably possible,
provide the other parties with prompt notice of such requirement prior to making
any disclosure so that such other parties may seek an appropriate protective
order; provided,
further, that the foregoing shall not prohibit (a) any party from issuing
any press release or making any other public statement that is consistent with
(including as to nature and scope) the contents of (i) the press release issued
by each of Parent and the Company in connection with the announcement of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Securities Purchase
Agreement and previously approved by the other party, (ii) the set of questions
and answers or key messages outline mutually agreed by the Company and Parent
from time to time or (iii) any public statement previously issued or made by
Parent or the Company after consultation with, and with the consent of, the
other party, so long as, in each case, such statement is made by such party to
its traditional target audience in a manner consistent with its past practices
and (b) the Company or Parent from issuing any press release or making any other
public statement upon the Company Board or the Parent Board making an Adverse
Company Recommendation Change or Adverse Parent Recommendation Change,
respectively.
Section
9.06. Notices of Certain
Events. Each of the Company and Parent shall promptly notify the other
of:
(a) any
written notice or other written communication from any Person alleging that the
consent of such Person is or may be required in connection with the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase
Agreement;
(b) any
notice or other communication from any Governmental Authority in connection with
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase
Agreement;
(c) any
actions, suits, claims, investigations or proceedings commenced or, to its
knowledge, threatened against, relating to or involving or otherwise affecting
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or Parent or any of its Subsidiaries, as
the case may be, that (i), if pending on the date of this Agreement, would have
been required to have been disclosed pursuant to any Section of this Agreement
or (ii) that relate to the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement or the Securities Purchase Agreement;
93
(d) any
inaccuracy of any representation or warranty contained in this Agreement at any
time during the term hereof that could reasonably be expected to cause the
conditions set forth in Sections 8.02(a) and 8.03(a) of the Securities Purchase
Agreement not to be satisfied; and
(e) any
failure of that party to comply with or satisfy any covenant, condition or
agreement to be complied with or satisfied by it hereunder that could reasonably
be expected to cause the conditions set forth in Sections 8.02(a) and 8.03(a) of
the Securities Purchase Agreement not to be satisfied;
provided that the delivery of
any notice pursuant to this Section 9.06 shall not limit or otherwise
affect the remedies available hereunder to the party receiving such notice;
provided, further, that
any noncompliance with Section 9.06(c)(i) shall not constitute the failure to be
satisfied of a condition set forth in Article 8 of the Securities Purchase
Agreement or give rise to any right of termination under Article 10 of this
Agreement or Article 10 of the Securities Purchase Agreement; for the avoidance
of doubt, it is acknowledged and agreed that breaches of representations,
warranties and covenants underlying a failure of a condition referred to in
Section 9.06(d) or 9.06(e) may independently constitute such a failure or give
rise to such a right.
Section
9.07. Takeover
Statutes. If any “control share acquisition,” “fair price,” “moratorium”
or other anti-takeover or similar statute or regulation shall become applicable
to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase
Agreement, each of the Company, Parent and Purchaser and the respective members
of their boards of directors shall, to the extent permitted by Applicable Law,
use reasonable best efforts to grant such approvals and to take such actions as
are reasonably necessary so that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
and the Securities Purchase Agreement may be consummated as promptly as
practicable on the terms contemplated herein and otherwise to take all such
other actions as are reasonably necessary to eliminate or minimize the effects
of any such statute or regulation on the transactions contemplated
hereby.
Section
9.08. Cantonal Tax
Ruling. The Company shall use reasonable best efforts in supporting GmbH
Purchaser and AG Purchaser in obtaining a tax ruling from the Cantonal Tax
Administration of the Canton of Zug (the “Zug Tax Administration”) confirming
that the acquisition of the Company by either GmbH Purchaser or AG
Purchaser through the Purchase, the Offer and, if applicable, the subsequent
Merger shall qualify as a corporate income tax neutral reorganization for Swiss
tax purposes (the “Cantonal Tax
Ruling”). In addition, the Company shall use reasonable best efforts in
supporting GmbH Purchaser and/or AG Purchaser (as applicable) in obtaining an
additional tax ruling from the Zug Tax Administration confirming that a
functional currency other than Swiss Francs can be applied and foreign exchange
effects from the translation from the functional currency to Swiss Francs will
be disregarded for Swiss corporate tax
94
purposes
(the “Additional Cantonal Tax
Ruling”). The Company shall promptly provide GmbH Purchaser and/or AG
Purchaser (as applicable) with all information and documents necessary in
connection with obtaining the Cantonal Tax Ruling and the Additional Cantonal
Tax Ruling and in furtherance thereof shall promptly inform Parent, GmbH
Purchaser and/or AG Purchaser (as applicable) of any developments which may
affect the ruling processes.
ARTICLE
10
TERMINATION
Section
10.01. Termination.
(a) This
Agreement may be terminated at any time prior to the Effective Time:
(i)
|
by
mutual written agreement of the Company and
Parent;
|
(ii)
|
by
either the Company or Parent, if:
|
(A) the
Securities Purchase Agreement shall have been terminated prior to the
Closing;
(B) (1) the
settlement (règlement-livraison) of the
Offer shall not have occurred within five months after the Closing or (2) the
Effective Time shall not have occurred within three months after the settlement
of the Offer; provided
that the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section
10.01(a)(ii)(B) shall not be available to any party whose breach of any
provision of this Agreement results in the failure of the consummation of the
Offer or the Merger to occur by such time;
(C) there
shall be any Applicable Law that makes consummation of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement or the Securities Purchase Agreement illegal or
otherwise prohibited or if consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby
or thereby would violate any nonappealable final order, decree or judgment of
any Governmental Authority having competent jurisdiction; provided that the right to
terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 10.01(a)(ii)(C) shall not be
available to any party whose failure to comply in any material respect with any
provision of this Agreement has been the direct cause of, or resulted directly
in, such action; or
95
(D) prior to
the Closing, the Parent Shareholder Approvals shall not have been obtained upon
a vote taken thereon at a duly convened Parent Shareholders Meeting, or any
adjournment or postponement thereof at which the applicable vote was taken;
provided that the right
to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 10.01(a)(ii)(D) shall not
be available to Parent where the failure to obtain the Parent Shareholder
Approvals shall have been caused by the action or failure to act of Parent, and
such action or failure to act constitutes a breach by Parent under this
Agreement;
(iii)
|
by
Parent, if:
|
(A) prior to
the Closing, there shall have occurred a 40% Differential Book Value Per Share
Decline pursuant to which Parent shall have the right to terminate the Agreement
pursuant to Section 2.06(e)(i)(A);
(B) prior to
the Closing, there shall have been a breach by the Company of any of the
covenants or agreements or any of the representations or warranties set forth in
this Agreement on the part of the Company, which breach would, individually or
in the aggregate, result in, if occurring or continuing on the Closing, the
failure of the conditions set forth in Section 8.02(a) of the Securities
Purchase Agreement and which breach has not been cured within 30 days following
written notice thereof to the Company or, by its nature, cannot be cured within
such time period; provided that, at the time of
the delivery of such notice, Parent and Purchaser shall not be in material
breach of its or their obligations under this Agreement or the Securities
Purchase Agreement; or
(C) prior to
the Closing, the Company Shareholder Approval shall not have been obtained upon
a vote taken thereon at a duly convened Company Shareholders Meeting, or any
adjournment or postponement thereof at which the applicable vote was
taken;
(iv)
|
by
the Company, if:
|
(A) prior to
receipt of the Parent Shareholder Approvals, an Adverse Parent Recommendation
Change shall have occurred or at any time after receipt or public announcement
of a Parent Acquisition Proposal with respect to Parent, the Parent Board shall
have failed to reaffirm the Parent Board
96
Recommendation
as promptly as practicable (but in any event within five Business Days) after
receipt of any written request to do so from Parent;
(B) prior to
receipt of the Parent Shareholder Approvals, there shall have been a breach of
Section 8.07;
(C) prior to
the Closing, there shall have occurred a 40% Differential Book Value Per Share
Decline pursuant to which the Company shall have the right to terminate the
Agreement pursuant to Section 2.06(e)(i)(B); or
(D) prior to
the Closing, there shall have been a breach by Parent or Purchaser of any of the
covenants or agreements or any of the representations or warranties set forth in
this Agreement on the part of Parent or Purchaser, which breach would,
individually or in the aggregate, result in, if occurring or continuing on the
Closing, the failure of the conditions set forth in Section 8.03(a) of the
Securities Purchase Agreement and which breach has not been cured within 30 days
following written notice thereof to Parent or, by its nature, cannot be cured
within such time period; provided that, at the time of
the delivery of such notice, neither the Company nor any Seller shall be in
material breach of its or their obligations under this Agreement or the
Securities Purchase Agreement.
The party
desiring to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 10.01 (other than
pursuant to Section 10.01(a)(i)) shall give written notice of such termination
to the other party.
Section
10.02. Effect of
Termination. (a) In the event of termination of this Agreement by either
Parent or the Company as provided in Section 10.01, this Agreement shall
forthwith become void and of no effect, and there shall be no liability or
obligation on the part of Parent, Purchaser, the Company or their respective
officers, directors, employees, agents, consultants or representatives under or
arising from this Agreement, except with respect to this Section 10.02 (Effect
of Termination), Article 11 (Miscellaneous) and, solely to the extent this
Agreement is terminated after the Closing, Sections 8.05, 8.08, 8.12, 9.03, the
last sentence of Section 3.02(a) and the Confidentiality Agreements which shall
survive such termination, except that no party shall be relieved or released
from any liabilities or damages arising out of its (i) intentional failure to
fulfill a condition to the performance of the obligations of, in the case of the
Company, Parent under the Securities Purchase Agreement or, in the case of
Parent, any Seller under the Securities Purchase Agreement or (ii) intentional
failure to perform a covenant hereof. For the avoidance of doubt, the inaccuracy
of any
97
representation
or warranty herein, in and of itself, shall not give rise to any
liability.
(b) In
recognition of the efforts, expenses and other opportunities foregone by the
Company while structuring and pursuing the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement, Parent agrees to pay a fee in the amount of US$75,000,000 (the “Parent Termination Fee”) to
the Company if (i) the Company terminates this Agreement pursuant to Section
10.01(a)(iv)(A) or (ii) the Company or Parent terminates this Agreement pursuant
to Section 10.01(a)(ii)(D); provided that no termination
fee shall be payable by Parent if at the time of such termination the Company or
any Seller shall be in material breach of its or their obligations under this
Agreement or the Securities Purchase Agreement.
(c) The
payment of the Parent Termination Fee shall be made by wire transfer of
immediately available funds by Parent within two Business Days following the
termination of this Agreement.
(d) Parent
hereto agrees that the agreements contained in Section 10.02(b) are an integral
part of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and that, without these
agreements, the Company would not have entered into this Agreement and that such
amounts constitute liquidated damages, but not a penalty, in the event of
termination of this Agreement by either party. If Parent fails promptly to pay
any amount due to the Company pursuant to Section 10.02(b), it shall also pay
any costs and expenses incurred by the Company in connection with a legal action
to enforce this Agreement that results in a judgment against the Company for
such amount, together with interest on the amount of any unpaid fee, cost or
expense at the publicly announced prime rate of Citibank, N.A. from the date
such fee, cost or expense was required to be paid to (but excluding) the payment
date.
ARTICLE
11
MISCELLANEOUS
Section
11.01. Notices. All
notices, requests and other communications to any party hereunder shall be in
writing (including facsimile transmission and electronic mail (“e-mail”) transmission, so long
as a receipt of such e-mail is requested and received) and shall be
given,
98
if to
Parent or Purchaser, to:
Wellesley
House
90 Xxxxx
Bay Road
Pembroke
HM
11
Bermuda
Attention:
Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx
Facsimile
No.: (000) 000-0000
E-mail:
xxxxxx.xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx
with a
copy to:
Xxxxx
Xxxx & Xxxxxxxx LLP
000
Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx,
Xxx Xxxx 00000
Xxxxxxx
X. Xxxxx
Facsimile
No.: (000) 000-0000
E-mail:
xxxxxxx.xxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx
if to the
Company, to:
PARIS RE
Holdings Limited
Xxxxxxxxxxx
00
Xxxxxxxx
000
0000 Xxx,
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Attention:
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Facsimile
No.: x00-(0)-0000-0000
E-mail:
Xxxxx.Xxxxxxx@xxxxx-xx.xxx
with a
copy to:
Xxxxxxxx
& Xxxxxxxx LLP
00, xxx
Xxxx-Xxxxxx
00000
Xxxxx
Xxxxxx
Attention:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx
Facsimile
No.: x00-0-0000-0000
E-mail:
xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
or to
such other address or facsimile number as such party may hereafter specify for
the purpose by notice to the other parties hereto. All such notices, requests
and other communications shall be deemed received on the date of receipt by the
recipient thereof if received prior to 5:00 p.m. on a business day in the place
of
99
receipt.
Otherwise, any such notice, request or communication shall be deemed not to have
been received until the next succeeding business day in the place of
receipt.
Section
11.02. Survival. None
of the representations and warranties contained herein and in any certificate or
other writing delivered pursuant hereto or in connection herewith and none of
the covenants and agreements of the parties hereto contained in this Agreement
to be performed prior to the Closing shall survive the Closing. The covenants
and agreements of the parties hereto contained in this Agreement to be performed
after the Closing shall survive the Closing until fully performed or for the
shorter period explicitly specified therein.
Section
11.03. Amendments and
Waivers. (a) Any provision of this Agreement may be amended or waived
prior to the Effective Time if, but 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 each party against whom the waiver is
to be effective; provided that (i) (A) after
the Closing, no amendment shall be made (x) subject to Section 2.06(e)(i)(A),
that decreases the Per Share Consideration or the Per Warrant Consideration or
the Share Capital Repayment or (y) to Sections 8.05, 8.08, 8.12, 9.03 or the
last sentence of Section 3.02(a) and (B) any such amendment shall require the
approval of a majority of the Independent Directors and (ii) after the earlier
of either: (1) receipt of any Company Shareholder Approval or (2) the receipt of
the Parent Shareholder Approvals, there shall be no amendment or waiver that
would require further approval of the relevant shareholders under Applicable Law
without such approval having first been obtained.
(b) No
failure or delay by any party in exercising any right, power 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. The rights and remedies herein provided
shall be cumulative and not exclusive of any rights or remedies provided by
Applicable Law.
Section
11.04. Expenses. Except
as otherwise provided herein, all costs and expenses incurred in connection with
this Agreement shall be paid by the party incurring such cost or expense; provided that except as
provided in the Securities Purchase Agreement in no event shall costs or
expenses of any Seller be paid or reimbursed by the Company.
Section
11.05. Disclosure Schedule
References; Disclosure Document References. (a) The parties
hereto agree that any reference in a particular Section of either the Company
Disclosure Schedule or the Parent Disclosure Schedule shall only be deemed to be
an exception to (or, as applicable, a disclosure for purposes of) (a) the
representations and warranties (or covenants, as applicable) of
100
the
relevant party that are contained in the corresponding Section of this Agreement
and (b) any other representations and warranties (or covenants, as applicable)
of such party that is contained in this Agreement, but only if the relevance of
that reference as an exception to (or a disclosure for purposes of) such
representations and warranties (or covenants, as applicable) would be readily
apparent to a reasonable person who has read that reference and such
representations and warranties (or covenants, as applicable), without any
independent knowledge on the part of the reader regarding the matter(s) so
disclosed.
(b) The
parties hereto agree that any information contained in any part of any Company
AMF Document or Parent SEC Document shall only be deemed to be an exception to
(or a disclosure for purposes of) the applicable party’s representations and
warranties if the relevance of that information as an exception to (or a
disclosure for purposes of) such representations and warranties would be
reasonably apparent to a person who has read that information concurrently with
such representations and warranties, without any independent knowledge on the
part of the reader regarding the matter(s) so disclosed; provided that in no event
shall any information contained in any part of any Company AMF Document or
Parent SEC Document entitled “Risk Factors” or containing a description or
explanation of “Forward-Looking Statements” be deemed to be an exception to (or
a disclosure for purposes of) any representations and warranties of any party
contained in this Agreement.
Section
11.06. Binding Effect;
Benefit; Assignment. (a) The provisions of this Agreement shall be
binding upon and, except as provided in Sections 8.05 and 8.08, shall inure to
the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns.
Except as provided in Sections 8.05 and 8.08, no provision of this Agreement is
intended to confer any rights, benefits, remedies, obligations or liabilities
hereunder upon any Person other than the parties hereto and their respective
successors and assigns. Notwithstanding any provisions hereof to the contrary,
each of the Company, Parent and Purchaser agrees and acknowledges that the
Indemnified Persons are intended third party beneficiaries of Sections 8.05 and
8.08 of this Agreement and any other provision hereof relating to the liability
of directors and officers and may enforce the terms thereof.
(b) No
party may assign, delegate or otherwise transfer any of its rights or
obligations under this Agreement without the consent of each other party hereto,
except that each party may transfer or assign its rights and obligations under
this Agreement, in whole or from time to time in part, to one or more of its
Affiliates at any time and, after the consummation of the Offer, to any Person;
provided that no such
transfer or assignment shall relieve such party of its obligations hereunder
or enlarge, alter or change any obligation of any other party hereto or due to
such party or prejudice the rights of tendering shareholders to
101
receive
payment for Shares validly tendered and accepted for payment pursuant to the
Offer.
Section
11.07. Governing Law.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of
the State of New York, without regard to the conflicts of law rules of such
state, provided, however, that for the avoidance of doubt the parties recognize
that (x) the Company is a Swiss corporation and that as a result the Company’s
organization and internal affairs, including the relationships between the
Company, the Company Board and the Company shareholders, are governed by
principles of Swiss corporate law, and (y) Parent is a Bermuda corporation, and
that as a result the Parent’s organization and internal affairs, including the
relationships between Parent, the Parent Board and Parent’s shareholders, are
governed by principles of Bermuda corporate law, and due recognition thereof
should in each case be taken into account hereunder.
Section
11.08. Jurisdiction.
The parties hereto agree that any suit, action or proceeding seeking to enforce
any provision of, or based on any matter arising out of or in connection with,
this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby shall be brought in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, so long as
such court shall have subject matter jurisdiction over such suit, action or
proceeding, and that any cause of action arising out of this Agreement shall be
deemed to have arisen from a transaction of business in the State of New York,
and each of the parties hereby irrevocably consents to the jurisdiction of such
court (and of the appropriate appellate courts therefrom) in any such suit,
action or proceeding and irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by
law, any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of the venue
of any such suit, action or proceeding in such court or that any such suit,
action or proceeding brought in such court has been brought in an inconvenient
forum. Process in any such suit, action or proceeding may be served on any party
anywhere in the world, whether within or without the jurisdiction of such court.
Without limiting the foregoing, each party agrees that service of process on
such party as provided in Section 11.01 shall be deemed effective service of
process on such party. The parties agree that a final judgment in any such suit,
action or proceeding shall be conclusive and may be enforced in other
jurisdictions in any manner provided by Applicable Law.
Section
11.09. WAIVER OF JURY
TRIAL. EACH OF THE PARTIES HERETO HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY AND ALL
RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS
AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.
Section
11.10. Counterparts;
Effectiveness. This Agreement may be signed in any number of
counterparts, each of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the
signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument.
102
This
Agreement shall become effective when each party hereto shall have received a
counterpart hereof signed by all of the other parties hereto. Until and unless
each party has received a counterpart hereof signed by the other party hereto,
this Agreement shall have no effect and no party shall have any right or
obligation hereunder (whether by virtue of any other oral or written agreement
or other communication).
Section
11.11. Entire
Agreement. This Agreement and the Confidentiality Agreements constitute
the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter of
this Agreement and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, both oral
and written, between the parties with respect to the subject matter of this
Agreement.
Section
11.12. Severability. If
any term, provision, covenant or restriction of this Agreement is held by a
court of competent jurisdiction or other Governmental Authority to be invalid,
void or unenforceable, the remainder of the terms, provisions, covenants and
restrictions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and shall
in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated so long as the economic or legal
substance of the transactions contemplated hereby is not affected in any manner
materially adverse to any party. Upon such a determination, the parties shall
negotiate in good faith to modify this Agreement so as to effect the original
intent of the parties as closely as possible in an acceptable manner in order
that the transactions contemplated hereby be consummated as originally
contemplated to the fullest extent possible.
Section
11.13. Specific
Performance. The parties hereto agree that irreparable damage would occur
if any provision of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with the
specific terms hereof and that the parties shall be entitled to an injunction or
injunctions to prevent breaches of this Agreement or to enforce specifically the
performance of the terms and provisions hereof in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York, in addition to any other remedy to
which they are entitled at law or in equity.
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remainder of this page has been intentionally left blank; the next page is the
signature page.]
103
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly
executed by their respective authorized officers as of the date set forth on the
cover page of this Agreement.
PARIS
RE HOLDINGS LIMITED
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By:
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/s/
Xxxx-Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx
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||
Name:
Xxxx-Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxx
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Title:
Chief Executive Officer
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By:
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/s/ Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx | ||
Name:
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx
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Title:
Chief Executive Officer
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104
ANNEX
A
Notwithstanding
any other provision of this Agreement, Purchaser shall not be required to file
the Offer with the AMF if:
(a) Any
provision of any Applicable Law shall prohibit the consummation of the Offer or
the Merger;
(b) (i) The
Parent Shares shall not have been approved for listing on such European Union
stock selected by Parent pursuant to Section 8.10 or (ii) the Parent Shares to
be issued in the Offer and the Merger shall not have been approved for listing
on the NYSE, subject to official notice of issuance;
(c) The S-4
shall not have become effective under the 1933 Act, or, in Parent’s reasonable
judgment, there is a reasonable basis to believe that the S-4 would not be
declared effective prior to the consummation of the Offer, or any stop order
suspending the effectiveness of the S-4 shall have been issued or any
proceedings for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the
SEC;
(d) Parent
shall not have obtained exemptive and no-action relief from the SEC permitting
Purchaser to commence and consummate the Offer in compliance with the General
Rules of the AMF;
(e) Parent
has a reasonable basis to believe that the opinion of the Independent Expert to
be rendered in connection with the Offer on the terms proposed would not satisfy
the requirements set forth in article 2, 9°) of AMF Instruction n°2006-08, dated
July 25, 2006; or
(f) The Offer
on the terms proposed shall not have been declared compliant by the AMF, or the
AMF shall have imposed any requirement which if not satisfied would require a
cash alternative in accordance with the provisions of article 231-8 of the
General Regulation of the AMF (other than the requirements already accepted by
Parent in its letter to the AMF dated June 30, 2009).
EXHIBIT
A
Material Terms of
Offer
The Offer shall comply with Applicable Law, including, without limitation, the applicable provisions of French law, the General Rules of the AMF and applicable US tender offer rules. The main terms and conditions of the Offer outlined below shall, to the extent applicable, apply to both the French and the U.S. offer.
Offeror:
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Purchaser.
|
Nature
of the Offer:
|
Simplified
share exchange offer (offre publique d’échange
simplifiée) to acquire all outstanding Company Shares and Company
Warrants not owned by Purchaser immediately prior to the
Offer.
|
Condition
to the closing of the Offer:
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None.
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Offer
Consideration:
|
0.300
Parent Shares for each Company Share validly tendered; and
0.167
Parent Shares for each Company Warrant validly
tendered.
|
Targeted
Company Shares and Company Warrants:
|
After
giving effect to the transactions contemplated by the Securities Purchase
Agreement, any and all of the outstanding:
· Company’s
common bearer shares, CHF 4.51 par value per share; and
· Company’s
Series A Warrants.
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Adjustments:
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In
accordance with Sections 2.03, 2.06 and 2.07 of the Transaction
Agreement.
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Dividend
Protection
|
In
accordance with Section 2.07 of the Transaction
Agreement.
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Voting
Rights of the Parent Shares to be issued in connection with the
Offer:
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Subject
to the Parent’s bye-laws, each Parent Share shall confer the right to cast
one vote on all matters brought before the
shareholders.
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A-1
Dividend
rights attached to Parent Shares to be issued in connection with the
Offer:
|
The
Parent Shares issued in the Offer shall be eligible for dividends on
Parent Shares having a record date after the issuance
thereof.
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Listing
and quotation:
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In
accordance with Section 8.10 of the Transaction
Agreement.
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Independent
Expert:
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Promptly
following the date hereof, the Company will appoint an independent expert
from a list of individuals set forth on Section 2.02(b) of the Company
Disclosure Schedule.
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Final
Offer Recommendation:
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As
soon as practicable after the Offer Filing Date and no later than five
trading days following the publication by the AMF of the statement of
compliance (déclaration
de conformité), the Company’s Board of Directors shall make a
formal recommendation regarding the benefits or consequences of the Offer
for the Company, its shareholders and employees.
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Offer
timetable:
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· Offer
Filing Date to occur as promptly as practicable after the
Closing;
· As
soon as practicable after the Offer Filing Date and no later than five
trading days following the publication by the AMF of the statement of
compliance (déclaration
de conformité), filing with the AMF by the Company of the Reply
Document;
· The
expiration date of the Offer shall be the 15th Business Day following the
opening of the Offer, subject to the AMF’s authority to set or to extend
the expiration date of the Offer; and
· The
delivery and settlement of the Offer shall occur as promptly as
practicable after the expiration date
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A-2
Withdrawal
of the Offer:
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Pursuant
to Article 232-11 of the General Rules of the AMF, Purchaser shall
have the right to withdraw the Offer only: (a) within five
(5) Business Days following the date of the publication by the AMF of the
timetable for a competing offer or for an improved offer by a competing
bidder; or (b) with the prior approval of the AMF, if the Company
adopts measures that modify the Company’s substance (modifiant sa
consistance) or if the Offer becomes irrelevant (sans objet) under
French law.
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Liquidity
Arrangement:
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French
Participants who are holders of the Company Options shall have the
opportunity to become parties to a Liquidity Agreement allowing them to
exchange Company Shares (or shares of Purchaser) delivered in connection
with such Company Options for Parent
Shares.
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A-3