AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGER BY AND AMONG THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK CARDINAL MERGER CO. AND COMMERCE BANCORP, INC. DATED AS OF OCTOBER 2, 2007
Exhibit
99.1
EXECUTION COPY
EXECUTION COPY
AGREEMENT
AND PLAN OF
MERGER
BY
AND
AMONG
THE
TORONTO-DOMINION
BANK
CARDINAL
MERGER
CO.
AND
COMMERCE
BANCORP,
INC.
DATED
AS OF OCTOBER 2,
2007
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
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Page
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ARTICLE
I THE
MERGER
|
1
|
|
1.1.
|
The
Merger
|
1
|
1.2.
|
Effective
Time
|
1
|
1.3.
|
Effects
of the
Merger
|
1
|
1.4.
|
Closing
of the
Merger
|
2
|
1.5.
|
Certificate
of
Incorporation
|
2
|
1.6.
|
Bylaws
|
2
|
1.7.
|
Board
of
Directors
|
2
|
1.8.
|
Officers
|
2
|
ARTICLE
II CONSIDERATION; EXCHANGE
PROCEDURES
|
2
|
|
2.1.
|
Effect
on Company Common
Stock
|
2
|
2.2.
|
No
Fractional
Shares
|
3
|
2.3.
|
Merger
Sub Capital Stock; Issuance
of Surviving Company Common Stock
|
3
|
2.4.
|
Treatment
of Options and Other
Stock Based Awards
|
4
|
2.5.
|
Reservation
of Right to Revise
Structure
|
5
|
2.6.
|
Withholding
|
5
|
2.7.
|
Certain
Adjustments
|
5
|
ARTICLE
III EXCHANGE
OF CERTIFICATES FOR
MERGER CONSIDERATION
|
5
|
|
3.1.
|
Parent
to Make Merger
Consideration Available
|
5
|
3.2.
|
Exchange
of
Certificates
|
6
|
ARTICLE
IV REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF
THE COMPANY
|
7
|
|
4.1.
|
Corporate
Organization
|
7
|
4.2.
|
Capitalization
|
9
|
4.3.
|
Authority;
No
Violation
|
11
|
4.4.
|
Consents
and
Approvals
|
11
|
4.5.
|
SEC
Documents; Other Reports;
Internal Controls
|
12
|
4.6.
|
Financial
Statements; Undisclosed
Liabilities
|
13
|
4.7.
|
Broker’s
Fees
|
14
|
4.8.
|
Absence
of Certain Changes or
Events
|
14
|
4.9.
|
Legal
Proceedings
|
15
|
4.10.
|
Taxes
|
15
|
4.11.
|
Employees;
Employee Benefit
Plans
|
17
|
4.12.
|
Board
Approval; Shareholder Vote
Required
|
19
|
4.13.
|
Compliance
With Applicable
Law
|
19
|
4.14.
|
Certain
Contracts
|
21
|
4.15.
|
Agreements
With Regulatory
Agencies
|
22
|
4.16.
|
Company
Information
|
22
|
-
i
-
4.17.
|
Title
to
Property
|
23
|
4.18.
|
Insurance
|
23
|
4.19.
|
Environmental
Liability
|
24
|
4.20.
|
Opinion
Of Financial
Advisor
|
25
|
4.21.
|
Intellectual
Property
|
25
|
4.22.
|
Loan
Matters
|
25
|
4.23.
|
Transactions
with
Affiliates
|
26
|
4.24.
|
Community
Reinvestment Act
Compliance
|
26
|
4.25.
|
Labor
Matters
|
26
|
4.26.
|
Derivative
Instruments and
Transactions
|
27
|
4.27.
|
Approvals
|
27
|
ARTICLE
V REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES OF PARENT
|
27
|
|
5.1.
|
Corporate
Organization
|
28
|
5.2.
|
Capitalization
|
28
|
5.3.
|
Authority;
No
Violation
|
29
|
5.4.
|
Consents
and
Approvals
|
30
|
5.5.
|
SEC
Documents; Other Reports;
Internal Controls
|
30
|
5.6.
|
Financial
Statements; Undisclosed
Liabilities
|
31
|
5.7.
|
Broker’s
Fees
|
32
|
5.8.
|
Absence
of Certain Changes or
Events
|
32
|
5.9.
|
Legal
Proceedings
|
32
|
5.10.
|
Board
Approval; No Shareholder
Vote Required
|
33
|
5.11.
|
Compliance
With Applicable
Law
|
33
|
5.12.
|
Agreements
With Regulatory
Agencies
|
33
|
5.13.
|
Financing
|
33
|
5.14.
|
Parent
Information
|
33
|
5.15.
|
Approvals
|
34
|
ARTICLE
VI COVENANTS
RELATING TO CONDUCT OF
BUSINESS
|
34
|
|
6.1.
|
Conduct
of Business Prior to the
Effective Time
|
34
|
6.2.
|
Company
Forbearances
|
34
|
6.3.
|
No
Fundamental Parent
Changes
|
38
|
6.4.
|
Company
Dividends
|
38
|
ARTICLE
VII ADDITIONAL
AGREEMENTS
|
39
|
|
7.1.
|
Regulatory
Matters
|
39
|
7.2.
|
Access
to
Information
|
40
|
7.3.
|
Shareholder
Approval
|
41
|
7.4.
|
Acquisition
Proposals
|
42
|
7.5.
|
Reasonable
Best
Efforts
|
44
|
7.6.
|
Affiliates
|
44
|
7.7.
|
Employees;
Employee Benefit
Plans
|
44
|
7.8.
|
Indemnification;
Directors’ and
Officers’ Insurance
|
47
|
-
ii
-
7.9.
|
Advice
of
Changes
|
48
|
7.10.
|
Financial
Statements and Other
Current Information
|
48
|
7.11.
|
Stock
Exchange
Listing
|
49
|
7.12.
|
Takeover
Laws
|
49
|
7.13.
|
Stockholder
Litigation
|
49
|
7.14.
|
Transition
Committee
|
49
|
7.15.
|
DRIP
and Purchase
Plan
|
50
|
7.16.
|
Investment
Portfolio
Management
|
50
|
7.17.
|
Sale
of Commerce Banc Insurance
Services, Inc
|
50
|
ARTICLE
VIII CONDITIONS
PRECEDENT
|
51
|
|
8.1.
|
Conditions
to Each Party’s
Obligation to Effect the Merger
|
51
|
8.2.
|
Conditions
to Obligations of
Parent
|
51
|
8.3.
|
Conditions
to Obligations of the
Company
|
52
|
ARTICLE
IX TERMINATION
|
53
|
|
9.1.
|
Termination
|
53
|
9.2.
|
Effect
of
Termination.
|
54
|
ARTICLE
X GENERAL
PROVISIONS
|
55
|
|
10.1.
|
Nonsurvival
of Representations,
Warranties and Agreements
|
55
|
10.2.
|
Amendment
|
55
|
10.3.
|
Extension;
Waiver
|
55
|
10.4.
|
Expenses
|
55
|
10.5.
|
Notices
|
55
|
10.6.
|
Interpretation
|
56
|
10.7.
|
Counterparts
|
57
|
10.8.
|
Entire
Agreement
|
57
|
10.9.
|
Governing
Law; Consent to
Jurisdiction; Waiver of Jury Trial
|
57
|
10.10.
|
Specific
Performance
|
58
|
10.11.
|
Severability
|
58
|
10.12.
|
Publicity
|
58
|
10.13.
|
Assignment;
Third Party
Beneficiaries
|
59
|
10.14.
|
Construction
|
59
|
Exhibit
A
|
Form
of Affiliate
Letter
|
-
iii
-
INDEX
OF DEFINED
TERMS
|
|||
Acquisition
Proposal
|
43
|
Exchange
Agent
|
6
|
|
Advisers
Act
|
21
|
Exchange
Ratio
|
3
|
|
affiliate
|
26
|
FDIC
|
9
|
|
Agreement
|
1
|
FHLB
|
9
|
|
Bank
Subsidiaries
|
9
|
Form
F-4
|
12
|
|
BHC
Act
|
8
|
Governmental
Entity
|
12
|
|
Business
Day
|
2
|
Hazardous
Substances
|
24
|
|
Canadian
GAAP
|
8
|
HSR
Act
|
12
|
|
CBIS
|
9
|
incentive
stock
options
|
4
|
|
Certificate
of
Merger
|
1
|
Indemnified
Parties
|
47
|
|
Certificates
|
6
|
Injunction
|
51
|
|
Change
in Company
Recommendation
|
41
|
Insider
|
15
|
|
Closing
|
2
|
Insider-Related
Parties
|
15
|
|
Closing
Date
|
2
|
Insurance
Amount
|
48
|
|
Code
|
4
|
IntermediateCo
|
3
|
|
Commerce
Bank
|
9
|
Investment
Company
Act
|
21
|
|
Commerce
North
|
9
|
knowledge
|
57
|
|
Company
|
1
|
Law
|
11
|
|
Company
Board
Approval
|
19
|
Liens
|
10
|
|
Company
Common
Stock
|
2
|
Loans
|
25
|
|
Company
Confidentiality
Agreement
|
41
|
Material
Adverse
Effect
|
8
|
|
Company
Contract
|
22
|
Merger
|
1
|
|
Company
Disclosure
Schedule
|
7
|
Merger
Consideration
|
3
|
|
Company
Eligible
Employees
|
45
|
Merger
Sub
|
1
|
|
Company
Employees
|
18
|
NJBCA
|
1
|
|
Company
Option
|
4
|
Notice
Period
|
42
|
|
Company
Preferred
Stock
|
9
|
OCC
|
15
|
|
Company
Recommendation
|
41
|
Parent
|
1
|
|
Company
Regulatory
Agreement
|
23
|
Parent
Common
Shares
|
3
|
|
Company
Reports
|
12
|
Parent
Confidentiality
Agreement
|
41
|
|
Company
Shareholders
Meeting
|
41
|
Parent
Disclosure
Schedule
|
28
|
|
Company
Stock Incentive
Plans
|
5
|
Parent
Options
|
4
|
|
Consent
Order
|
15
|
Parent
Preferred
Shares
|
28
|
|
control
|
26
|
Parent
Process
Agent
|
58
|
|
Conversion
Rate
|
3
|
Parent
Regulatory
Agreement
|
33
|
|
CRA
|
26
|
Parent
Reports
|
31
|
|
Derivative
Transaction
|
27
|
Pennsylvania
Commerce
|
9
|
|
DRIP
and Purchase
Plan
|
4
|
person
|
57
|
|
Effective
Time
|
1
|
Plans
|
18
|
|
Employment
Agreements
|
45
|
Proprietary
Rights
|
25
|
|
End
Date
|
53
|
Proxy
Statement/Prospectus
|
12
|
|
Environmental
Laws
|
24
|
Representatives
|
42
|
|
Equity
Pool
Amount
|
46
|
Required
Company
Vote
|
19
|
|
ERISA
|
17
|
Requisite
Regulatory
Approvals
|
51
|
|
ERISA
Affiliate
|
18
|
SEC
|
10
|
|
Exchange
Act
|
13
|
Securities
Act
|
13
|
-
iv
-
Severance
Plan
|
45
|
Tax
|
17
|
|
Significant
Subsidiaries
|
9
|
Tax
Return
|
17
|
|
Specified
Orders
|
22
|
Taxes
|
17
|
|
Specified
Regulatory
Matters
|
15
|
TD
Banknorth
Plans
|
45
|
|
Stock
Option Exchange
Ratio
|
4
|
Termination
Payment
|
54
|
|
Subsidiary
|
9
|
Topco
|
3
|
|
Superior
Proposal
|
43
|
Transition
Committee
|
50
|
|
Surviving
Company
|
1
|
U.S.
GAAP
|
8
|
-
v
-
AGREEMENT
AND PLAN OF MERGER
This
AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGER, dated as of October 2, 2007 (as amended,
supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, this “Agreement”),
is entered into by and among The Toronto-Dominion Bank, a Canadian chartered
bank (“Parent”), Cardinal Merger Co., a New Jersey corporation and an
indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”) and Commerce
Bancorp, Inc., a New Jersey corporation (the “Company”).
WHEREAS,
the parties intend that Merger Sub be merged with and into the Company, with
the
Company surviving the merger on the terms and subject to the conditions set
forth in this Agreement (the “Merger”); and
WHEREAS,
the board of directors of the Company has unanimously (i) determined that this
Agreement and the Merger and related transactions contemplated hereby are in
the
best interests of the Company and its shareholders and declared the Merger
and
the other transactions contemplated hereby to be advisable, (ii) approved this
Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated hereby and (iii)
agreed to submit this Agreement for approval by the Company’s shareholders at
the Company Shareholders Meeting and to recommend that the shareholders of
the
Company approve this Agreement at the Company Shareholders Meeting.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants, representations, warranties
and agreements contained herein, and intending to be legally bound hereby,
the
parties agree as follows:
ARTICLE
I
THE
MERGER
1.1. The
Merger. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, in accordance
with the New Jersey Business Corporation Act (the “NJBCA”), at the
Effective Time, Merger Sub shall merge with and into the Company, whereupon
the
separate corporate existence of Merger Sub shall cease. The Company shall be
the
surviving corporation (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the “Surviving
Company”) in the Merger, and shall continue its corporate existence under
the Laws of the State of New Jersey.
1.2. Effective
Time. On the Closing Date, the Company and Merger Sub shall cause the Merger
to be consummated by executing, delivering and filing a certificate of merger
(the “Certificate of Merger”) with the New Jersey Department of the
Treasury, Division of Commercial Recording in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the NJBCA and other applicable New Jersey Law and shall make
such
other filings or recordings required under the NJBCA in connection with the
Merger. The Merger shall become effective at such time as the
Certificate of Merger is duly filed with the New Jersey Department of the
Treasury, Division of Commercial Recording, or at such later date or time as
may
be agreed by Parent and the Company in writing and specified in the Certificate
of Merger in accordance with the NJBCA (such time as the Merger becomes
effective is referred to herein as the “Effective Time”).
1.3. Effects
of
the Merger. At and after the Effective Time, the Merger shall have the
effects set forth in the NJBCA.
1.4. Closing
of
the Merger. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the
closing of the Merger (the “Closing”) will take place at 10:00 a.m.
Eastern time on (i) the date that is the third Business Day after the
satisfaction or waiver (subject to applicable Law) of the conditions set forth
in Article VIII hereof, other than conditions which by their terms are to
be satisfied at Closing, or (ii) such other date or time as the parties may
mutually agree (the date on which the Closing occurs, the “Closing
Date”). The Closing shall be held at the offices of Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx &
Xxxxxxxx LLP, 000 Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000, unless another
place is agreed upon by the parties. For purposes of this Agreement, a
“Business Day” shall mean any day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday or
other day on which banking organizations in New York, New York, U.S.A. or
Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxx are required or authorized by Law to be
closed.
1.5. Certificate
of
Incorporation. The certificate of incorporation, as amended, of the Company,
as in effect as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, shall be amended
and
restated as of the Effective Time so as to read in its entirety in the form
of
the certificate of incorporation of Merger Sub as in effect immediately prior
to
the Effective Time, and as so amended and restated shall be the certificate
of
incorporation of the Surviving Company following the Merger until thereafter
amended in accordance with the provisions thereof and of applicable
Law.
1.6. Bylaws.
The
bylaws of the Company, as in effect as of immediately prior to the Effective
Time, shall be amended and restated as of the Effective Time so as to read
in
their entirety in the form of the bylaws of Merger Sub as in effect immediately
prior to the Effective Time, and as so amended and restated shall be the bylaws
of the Surviving Company until thereafter amended in accordance with the
provisions thereof, the certificate of incorporation of the Surviving Company
and of applicable Law.
1.7. Board
of
Directors. The directors of Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective
Time shall be the directors of the Surviving Company as of the Effective Time,
each to hold office in accordance with the certificate of incorporation and
bylaws of the Surviving Company as amended as of the Effective Time, until
their
respective successors are duly elected or appointed (as the case may be) and
qualified, or their earlier death, resignation or removal.
1.8. Officers.
The
officers of Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be the
officers of the Surviving Company as of the Effective Time, each to hold office
in accordance with the certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the Surviving
Company as amended as of the Effective Time, until their respective successors
are duly appointed, or their earlier death, resignation or removal.
ARTICLE
II
CONSIDERATION;
EXCHANGE PROCEDURES
2.1. Effect
on Company
Common Stock. At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any
action on the part of the holder of any shares of common stock, par value $1.00
per share, of the Company (the “Company Common Stock”):
(a) All
shares of Company
Common Stock that are (i) owned directly by the Company as treasury stock,
(ii)
owned directly by Parent or (iii) owned directly by Merger Sub
-
2
-
or
any entity of which Merger Sub is a direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiary
(other than, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), shares in trust accounts,
managed accounts and the like for the benefit of customers or shares held in
satisfaction of a debt previously contracted) shall be cancelled and retired
and
no common shares, no par value per share, of Parent (“Parent Common
Shares”), cash or other consideration shall be delivered in exchange
therefor. All shares of Company Common Stock that are owned by any wholly owned
Subsidiary of the Company or by any wholly owned Subsidiary of Parent (other
than any Subsidiary of Parent described in Section 2.1(a)(iii) above),
other than shares in trust accounts, managed accounts and the like for the
benefit of customers or shares held in satisfaction of a debt previously
contracted, shall remain outstanding, and no Parent Common Shares, cash or
other
consideration shall be delivered in exchange therefor.
(b) Except
as otherwise
provided in Section 2.1(a), and subject to Section 2.2, each share
of Company Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time
shall be cancelled and converted into the right to receive (i) 0.4142 Parent
Common Shares (the “Exchange Ratio”), and (ii) an amount in cash equal to
$10.50. For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Merger Consideration”
means the right to receive the consideration described in clauses (i)
and (ii)
of the preceding sentence pursuant to the Merger with respect to each share
of
Company Common Stock (together with any cash in lieu of fractional shares as
specified in Section 2.2 below).
2.2. No
Fractional Shares. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement,
neither certificates nor scrip for fractional Parent Common Shares shall be
issued in the Merger. Each holder of Company Common Stock who
otherwise would have been entitled to a fraction of a Parent Common Share shall
receive in lieu thereof cash (without interest) in an amount determined by
multiplying the fractional share interest to which such holder would otherwise
be entitled (after taking into account all shares of Company Common Stock owned
by such holder at the Effective Time to be converted into Parent Common Shares)
by the average of the daily volume weighted average prices of Parent Common
Shares based on information reported by the Toronto Stock Exchange as reported
in The Toronto Stock Exchange Daily Record (with each such trading
day’s applicable price converted into United States dollars using the spot
exchange rate reported with respect to such day by The Wall Street Journal
(or such other publication as may be mutually agreed to by Parent
and the
Company) (such conversion rate, the “Conversion Rate”)), for the five
trading days immediately preceding the Closing Date. No such holder
shall be entitled to dividends, voting rights or any other rights in respect
of
any fractional share.
2.3. Merger
Sub
Capital Stock; Issuance of Surviving Company Common Stock. (a) Each share of
common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Merger Sub outstanding immediately
prior to the Effective Time shall be converted into and become one fully paid
and nonassessable share of redeemable preferred stock of the Surviving
Company.
(b) In
exchange for, and
in consideration of, (i) Parent causing its wholly owned subsidiary, Cardinal
Intermediate Co. (“IntermediateCo”), which as of the date hereof owns
100% of the outstanding capital stock of Merger Sub and is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Cardinal Top Co. (“TopCo”), to deliver the Merger
Consideration pursuant to Section 2.1, and (ii) the payment of $10.00 by
IntermediateCo to the Surviving Company, the Surviving Company will issue to
IntermediateCo at the Effective Time 1,000 (or such other number as
is
-
3
-
agreed
by the Surviving Company and IntermediateCo) fully paid and nonassessable shares
of common stock of the Surviving Company.
2.4. Treatment
of Options and Other Stock Based Awards. (a) At the Effective Time, each
outstanding option to purchase shares of Company Common Stock (a “Company
Option”) issued pursuant to any Company Stock Incentive Plan shall be fully
vested and shall be assumed by Parent and shall be honored by Parent in
accordance with its terms (as modified as provided herein) following its
conversion in the Merger into options to purchase Parent Common Shares
(“Parent Options”). From and after the Effective Time, each Company
Option shall be deemed to constitute an option to acquire, on the same terms
and
conditions as were applicable under such Company Option, a number of Parent
Common Shares equal to the product of (I) the number of shares of Company Common
Stock otherwise purchasable pursuant to such Company Option and (II) 0.5522
(the
“Stock Option Exchange Ratio”), rounded down, if necessary, to the
nearest whole share, at a price per share equal to (y) the exercise price per
share of the shares of Company Common Stock otherwise purchasable pursuant
to
such Company Option, divided by (z) the Stock Option Exchange Ratio, rounded
up
to the nearest cent; provided, however, that in the case of any
Company Option to which Section 421 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended (the “Code”) applies by reason of its qualification under Section
422 of the Code (“incentive stock options”), the option price, the number
of shares purchasable pursuant to such option and the terms and conditions
of
exercise of such option shall be determined in accordance with the method set
forth above unless use of such method will not preserve the status of such
options as incentive stock options, in which case the manner of determination
shall be adjusted in a manner that both complies with Section 424(a) of the
Code
and results in the smallest modification in the economic values that otherwise
would be achieved by the holder pursuant to the method set forth
above. In all events, the foregoing substitution of all Company
Options with Parent Options shall comply with the requirements of Section 409A
of the Code.
(b) The
Company and
Parent shall take all corporate action necessary for the conversion of the
Company Options, and Parent shall take all corporate action necessary to reserve
for issuance a sufficient number of Parent Common Shares for delivery upon
exercise of the Parent Options issued in substitution for such Company Options
in accordance with this Section 2.4. As soon as practicable after the
Effective Time (but in no event later than five Business Days after the
Effective Time), Parent shall file a registration statement on Form F-3 or
Form
F-8, as the case may be (or any successor or other appropriate forms), with
respect to the Parent Common Shares subject to such Parent Options and shall
use
its reasonable best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration
statement or registration statements (and maintain the current status of the
prospectus or prospectuses contained therein) for so long as such Parent Options
remain outstanding.
(c) The
Company shall
take such action as shall be required to (i) terminate the Dividend Reinvestment
and Stock Purchase Plan (the “DRIP and Purchase Plan”) as provided in
Section 7.15; and (ii) ensure that all Company Common Stock held in the
Company tax-qualified defined contribution plan is treated in the same manner
as
all other shares of Company Common Stock under Article II of this
Agreement.
(d) Following
the
Effective Time, Parent shall maintain, solely for purposes of the Parent Options
provided for above, the 1989 Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee Directors,
the
1997 Employee Stock Option Plan, the 1998 Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee
Directors,
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4
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and
the 2004 Employee Stock Option Plan (collectively, the “Company Stock
Incentive Plans”). Any other plan, program or arrangement
providing for the issuance or grant of any other interest in respect of the
capital stock of the Company or any Subsidiary thereof (including the DRIP
and
Purchase Plan) shall terminate as of the Effective Time, and the Company shall
ensure that following the Effective Time no holder of a Company Option or any
other equity-based right shall have any right to acquire equity securities
of
the Company or the Surviving Company.
(e) As
soon as
practicable after the Effective Time, Parent shall cause the Surviving Company
to deliver to the holders of Company Options appropriate notices setting forth
such holders’ rights pursuant to the respective Company Stock Incentive Plans
and stating that such Company Stock Incentive Plans, the Company Options and
the
underlying stock option agreements have been assumed by Parent and converted
into stock incentive plans covering, and options to purchase, Parent Common
Shares, shall continue in effect on the same terms and conditions (subject
to
the adjustments required by this Section 2.4 after giving effect to the
Merger and the terms of the Company Stock Incentive Plans).
2.5. Reservation
of
Right to Revise Structure. Parent may at any time change the method of
effecting the business combination contemplated by this Agreement if and to
the
extent that it deems such a change to be desirable; provided,
however, that no such change shall (A) alter or change the amount
or kind
of the consideration to be issued to holders of Company Common Stock as merger
consideration, (B) adversely affect the anticipated tax consequences of the
Merger to the holders of Company Common Stock as a result of receiving the
consideration payable in respect of shares of Company Common Stock pursuant
to
the Merger, or (C) impede or delay consummation of the Merger other than in
an
immaterial respect. In the event Parent elects to make such a change, the
parties agree to execute appropriate documents to reflect the
change.
2.6. Withholding.
Parent or any of its Subsidiaries shall be entitled to deduct and withhold
from
any payment otherwise payable pursuant to this Agreement such amounts as are
required to be deducted and withheld with respect to such payment under all
applicable Tax laws. To the extent that amounts are so deducted or withheld,
such amounts shall be treated for all purposes of this Agreement as having
been
paid to the recipient of the payment in respect of which such deduction and
withholding was made.
2.7. Certain
Adjustments. The Exchange Ratio and the Stock Option Exchange Ratio shall be
subject to appropriate adjustments from time to time after the date of this
Agreement in the event that, subsequent to the date of this Agreement but prior
to the Effective Time, the outstanding Parent Common Shares shall have been
increased, decreased, changed into or exchanged for a different number or kind
of shares or securities through any reorganization, recapitalization,
reclassification, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, or other
like changes in Parent’s capitalization.
ARTICLE
III
EXCHANGE
OF CERTIFICATES FOR MERGER CONSIDERATION
3.1. Parent
to Make
Merger Consideration Available. At or promptly after the Effective Time,
Parent or one of its Subsidiaries shall deposit, or shall cause to be deposited,
with an exchange agent selected by Parent (subject to the consent, not to be
unreasonably
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5
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withheld,
of the Company) (the “Exchange Agent”), for the benefit
of the holders of certificates that immediately prior to the Effective Time
evidenced shares of Company Common Stock (the “Certificates”), for
exchange in accordance with this Article III, (i) evidence of Parent
Common Shares in book-entry form issuable pursuant to Section 2.1(b)
(and/or certificates representing such Parent Common Shares, at Parent’s
election), (ii) cash sufficient to make the cash payments payable pursuant
to
Section 2.1(b), and (iii) cash sufficient to pay cash in lieu of
fractional Parent Common Shares pursuant to Section 2.2.
3.2. Exchange
of Certificates. (a) As soon as reasonably practicable after the Effective
Time and in any event not later than the fifth Business Day following the
Effective Time, the Exchange Agent shall mail to each holder of record of a
Certificate immediately prior to the Effective Time whose shares of Company
Common Stock were converted into the right to receive the Merger Consideration
pursuant to Section 2.1 a form of letter of transmittal (which shall
specify that delivery shall be effected, and risk of loss and title to the
Certificates shall pass, only upon delivery of the Certificates to the Exchange
Agent) and instructions for use in effecting the surrender of the Certificates
in exchange for the Merger Consideration. Upon proper surrender of a
Certificate for exchange and cancellation to the Exchange Agent, together with
a
letter of transmittal, duly completed and validly executed in accordance with
the instructions thereto, and such other documents as may be required pursuant
to such instructions, the holder of such Certificate shall be entitled to
receive in exchange therefor the Merger Consideration in respect of the shares
of Company Common Stock formerly represented by such Certificate and such
Certificate so surrendered shall forthwith be cancelled. No interest will be
paid or accrued for the benefit of holders of the Certificates on the Merger
Consideration payable upon the surrender of the Certificates.
(b) No
dividends or other
distributions with respect to Parent Common Shares with a record date after
the
Effective Time shall be paid to the holder of any unsurrendered Certificate
with
respect to Parent Common Shares that such holder would be entitled to receive
upon surrender of such Certificate and no Merger Consideration shall be paid
to
any such holder until such holder shall surrender such Certificate in accordance
with this Article III. After the surrender of a Certificate in accordance
with this Article III, such holder thereof entitled to receive Parent
Common Shares shall be entitled to receive any such dividends or other
distributions, without any interest thereon, with a record date after the
Effective Time and which theretofore had become payable with respect to whole
Parent Common Shares issuable to such holder in respect of such
Certificate.
(c) If
the payment of the
Merger Consideration is to be made to a person other than the registered holder
of the Certificate surrendered in exchange therefor, it shall be a condition
of
payment that the Certificate so surrendered shall be properly endorsed (or
accompanied by an appropriate instrument of transfer) and otherwise in proper
form for transfer, and that the person requesting such payment shall pay to
the
Exchange Agent in advance any applicable stock transfer or other Taxes or shall
establish to the reasonable satisfaction of the Exchange Agent that such Taxes
have been paid or are not payable.
(d) At
and after the
Effective Time, there shall be no transfers on the stock transfer books of
the
Company of the shares of Company Common Stock that were issued and outstanding
immediately prior to the Effective Time. If, after the Effective
Time, Certificates
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6
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representing
such shares are presented for transfer to the Exchange Agent, they shall be
cancelled and exchanged for the Merger Consideration as provided in this
Article III.
(e) Any
portion of the
property deposited with the Exchange Agent pursuant to Section 3.1 that
remains unclaimed by the shareholders of the Company for six (6) months after
the Effective Time shall be paid, at the request of Parent, to or as directed
by
Parent. Any shareholders of the Company who have not theretofore
complied with this Article III shall thereafter look only to Parent for
payment of the Merger Consideration and unpaid dividends and distributions
on
the Parent Common Shares deliverable in respect of each share of Company Common
Stock held by such shareholder at the Effective Time as determined pursuant
to
this Agreement, in each case, without any interest
thereon. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein,
none of Parent, the Company, the Exchange Agent or any other person shall be
liable to any former holder of shares of Company Common Stock for any amount
properly delivered to a public official pursuant to applicable abandoned
property, escheat or similar Laws.
(f) In
the event any
Certificate shall have been lost, stolen or destroyed, upon the making of an
affidavit of that fact by the person claiming such Certificate to be lost,
stolen or destroyed and, if required by Parent, the posting by such person
of a
bond in such amount as Parent or one of its Subsidiaries may determine is
reasonably necessary as indemnity against any claim that may be made against
it
with respect to such Certificate, the Exchange Agent will issue in exchange
for
such lost, stolen or destroyed Certificate the Merger Consideration deliverable
in respect thereof pursuant to this Agreement.
ARTICLE
IV
|
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY
|
Except
(i) as disclosed in, and reasonably apparent from, any of the Company Reports
filed with the SEC on or after January 1, 2007 but prior to the date of this
Agreement (excluding any disclosures set forth in any risk factor section and
in
any section relating to forward-looking statements to the extent they are
cautionary, predictive or forward-looking in nature); or (ii) as disclosed
in
the like-numbered section of the disclosure schedule delivered by the Company
to
Parent contemporaneously with the execution of this Agreement (the “Company
Disclosure Schedule”, it being agreed that, except as otherwise provided in
the Company Disclosure Schedule, disclosure of any item in any section of the
Company Disclosure Schedule shall also be deemed disclosure with respect to
any
other section of this Agreement to which the relevance of such item is
reasonably apparent), the Company represents and warrants to Parent and Merger
Sub as follows:
4.1. Corporate
Organization. (a) The Company is a corporation duly organized, validly
existing and in good standing under the Laws of the State of New
Jersey. The Company has all requisite corporate power and authority
to own, lease or operate all of its properties, rights and assets and to carry
on its business as it is now being conducted, and is duly licensed or qualified
to do business in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business
conducted by it or the character or location of the properties, rights and
assets owned, leased or operated by it makes such licensing or qualification
necessary, except where the failure to have such power or authority or to be
so
licensed or qualified would not reasonably be expected to have, individually
or
in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect (as defined below) on the
Company. As used in this Agreement, the term “Material Adverse
Effect” means, with respect to the Company, Parent
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7
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or
the Surviving Company, as the case may be, any fact, circumstance, event,
change, effect or occurrence that, individually or in the aggregate with all
other facts, circumstances, events, changes, effects, or occurrences, (x) has
a
material adverse effect on the business, results of operations or financial
condition of such party and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole or (y) that
prevents or materially impairs such party’s ability to consummate the Merger on
a timely basis; provided, however, that in determining whether a
Material Adverse Effect has occurred pursuant to clause (x) above, there shall
be excluded any effect to the extent resulting from (i) changes after the date
of this Agreement in laws, rules or regulations of general applicability or
published interpretations thereof by courts or governmental authorities or
in
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) (or in the
case of Parent or any other party to this Agreement (or their respective
assignees) that is a Canadian entity, Canadian generally accepted accounting
principles (“Canadian GAAP”)) or regulatory accounting requirements, in
any such case applicable to banks or their holding companies generally, (ii)
the
announcement of this Agreement or any action of any party to this Agreement
or
any of its Subsidiaries required to be taken by it under this Agreement
(including any actions taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries as
required by Section 7.16), (iii) changes or events after the date of this
Agreement in general economic, business or financial conditions affecting banks
or their holding companies generally, including changes in prevailing interest
rates and currency exchange rates, provided, that the effect of such
changes described in this clause (iii) (including changes in interest rates)
shall not be excluded to the extent of the disproportionate impact, if any,
they
have on such party and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole (relative to other
banks or their holding companies), and provided, further, that a
decrease in the trading or market prices of a party’s capital stock shall not be
considered, by itself, to constitute a Material Adverse Effect, and (iv) the
engagement by the United States or Canada in hostilities, whether or not
pursuant to the declaration of a national emergency or war, or the occurrence
of
any military or terrorist attack upon or within the United States or
Canada. The Company is a bank holding company duly registered under
the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (“BHC Act”). The
certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the Company, copies of which have
been made available to Parent, are true, complete and correct copies of such
documents as in full force and effect as of the date of this
Agreement.
(b) Section
4.1 of the
Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth, as of the date hereof, each Subsidiary
of the Company and all other entities in which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries owns, directly or indirectly, any shares of capital stock or equity
interests. Each Subsidiary of the Company (i) is duly organized and
validly existing as a bank, corporation, partnership or other entity and is
in
good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization, (ii) is duly
licensed or qualified to do business and is in good standing in all
jurisdictions (whether federal, state, local or foreign) where its ownership
or
leasing of property or the conduct of its business requires it to be so licensed
or qualified and (iii) has all requisite corporate or other power and authority
to own or lease its properties, rights and assets and to carry on its business
as now conducted, except, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), where the
failure to be so licensed or qualified or to have such power or authority would
not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company. “Subsidiary” means, with
respect to any person, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited
liability company or any other entity (i) of which such person or a subsidiary
of such person is a general partner or (ii) at least a majority of the
securities or other interests of which having by their terms ordinary voting
power to elect a majority of the board of directors or persons performing
similar functions with respect to such entity is directly or indirectly
owned
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8
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by
such person and/or one or more subsidiaries thereof. “Significant
Subsidiaries” means each of the Bank Subsidiaries and Commerce Banc
Insurance Services, Inc. (“CBIS”) (and not any of their direct or
indirect Subsidiaries). The certificate of incorporation, bylaws and
similar governing documents of each Significant Subsidiary of the Company,
copies of which have been made available to Parent, are true, complete and
correct copies of such documents as in full force and effect as of the date
of
this Agreement.
(c) Except
for its
ownership of Commerce Bank, N.A. (“Commerce Bank”), Commerce Bank/North
(“Commerce North” and together with Commerce Bank, the “Bank
Subsidiaries”), and the indirect interests in Commerce Bank/Harrisburg
(“Pennsylvania Commerce”) described in Section 4.1(c) of the Company
Disclosure Schedule, the Company does not own, beneficially or of record, either
directly or indirectly, more than 2% of the voting securities or equity
interests in any depository institution (as defined in 12 U.S.C. Section
1813(c)(1)) (other than any such shares held in trust accounts, managed accounts
and the like for the benefit of customers or shares held in satisfaction of
a
debt previously contracted). The deposits of the Bank Subsidiaries
are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) to
the fullest extent permitted by Law. Commerce Bank is a member in
good standing of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) of Pittsburgh and
the FHLB of New York.
4.2. Capitalization.
(a) The authorized capital stock of the Company consists of 500,000,000 shares
of Company Common Stock and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, no par value
per share (the “Company Preferred Stock”). As of September 28, 2007,
there were 193,656,615 shares of Company Common Stock issued and outstanding,
no
shares of Company Preferred Stock outstanding and 1,976,923 shares of Company
Common Stock held in the Company’s treasury. No other shares of
Company Common Stock or Company Preferred Stock were issued or
outstanding. As of September 28, 2007, no shares of Company Common
Stock or Company Preferred Stock were reserved for issuance, except for an
aggregate of 49,376,023 shares of Company Common Stock reserved for issuance
upon the exercise of Company Options pursuant to the Company Stock Incentive
Plans. Since September 28, 2007 and through the date of this
Agreement, the Company has not (i) issued or authorized the issuance of any
shares of Company Common Stock or Company Preferred Stock, or any securities
convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of Company Common
Stock or Company Preferred Stock, except for any such issuances
of Company Common Stock as a result of exercise of Company Options listed in
Section 4.2(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (ii) reserved for issuance
any shares of Company Common Stock or Company Preferred Stock or (iii)
repurchased or redeemed, or authorized the repurchase or redemption of, any
shares of Company Common Stock. All of the issued and outstanding
shares of Company Common Stock have been duly authorized and validly issued
and
are fully paid, nonassessable and free of preemptive rights, with no personal
liability attaching to the ownership thereof. No Subsidiary of the
Company owns any shares of Company Common Stock (other than shares in trust
accounts, managed accounts and the like for the benefit of customers or shares
held in satisfaction of a debt previously contracted). Except as otherwise
specified in this Section 4.2(a), neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries has or is bound by any outstanding subscriptions, options,
warrants, calls, convertible securities, preemptive rights, redemption rights,
stock appreciation rights, stock-based performance units or other similar
rights, agreements or commitments of any character relating to the purchase
or
issuance of any shares of the capital stock of the Company or of any of its
Subsidiaries or other equity securities of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries or any securities representing the right to purchase or otherwise
receive any shares of the capital stock of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries (including any rights plan or agreement) or equity-based awards,
nor is there any other agreement to which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries
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9
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is
a party obligating the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to (A) issue, transfer
or sell any shares of capital stock or other equity interests of the Company
or
any of its Subsidiaries or securities convertible into or exchangeable or
exercisable for such shares or equity interests, (B) issue, grant, extend or
enter into any such subscription, option, warrant, call, convertible securities,
stock-based performance units or other similar right, agreement, arrangement
or
commitment, (C) redeem or otherwise acquire any such shares of capital stock
or
other equity interests or (D) provide a material amount of funds to, or make
any
material investment (in the form of a loan, capital contribution or otherwise)
in, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. The Company redeemed all of its
5.95% Convertible Trust Capital Securities as described in the Company’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K filed on March 16, 2007 with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries has any other trust capital securities or other similar securities
outstanding.
(b) Section
4.2(b) of the
Company Disclosure Schedule contains a list setting forth, as of the date of
this Agreement, all outstanding Company Options and all other equity or
equity-based awards (including restricted stock units, if any) relating to
Company Common Stock, the names of the optionees or grantees thereof,
identification of any such optionees or grantees that are not current or former
employees, directors or officers of the Company, the date each such Company
Option or other award was granted, the number of shares of Company Common Stock
subject to each such Company Option or underlying each such other award, the
expiration date of each such Company Option or other award, any vesting schedule
with respect to a Company Option which is not yet fully vested and the date
on
which each other award is scheduled to be settled or become free of
restrictions, and the price at which each such Company Option may be exercised
(or base price with respect to stock appreciation rights, if any).
(c) Section
4.2(c) of the
Company Disclosure Schedule lists the name, jurisdiction of incorporation,
authorized and outstanding shares of capital stock or other equity interests
and
record and beneficial owners of such capital stock or other equity interests
for
each Significant Subsidiary. The Company owns, directly or
indirectly, all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of or
all
other equity interests in each of the Company’s Subsidiaries, free and clear of
any liens, charges, encumbrances, adverse rights or claims and security
interests whatsoever (“Liens”), and all of such shares or other equity
interests are duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid,
nonassessable (except to the extent provided in 12 X.X.X. §00 and similar state
laws) and free of preemptive rights, with no personal liability attaching to
the
ownership thereof.
(d) Except
for the
ownership of the Company’s Subsidiaries and for investments held in a fiduciary
capacity for the benefit of customers or acquired in satisfaction of debts
previously contracted in good faith, neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries beneficially owns or controls, directly or indirectly, any shares
of stock or other equity interest in any corporation, firm, partnership, joint
venture or other entity.
(e) The
Company does not
have outstanding any bonds, debentures, notes or other indebtedness having
the
right to vote on any matters on which shareholders may vote.
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4.3. Authority;
No Violation. (a) The Company has full corporate power and authority to
execute and deliver this Agreement and, subject to the approval of this
Agreement by the Required Company Vote, to consummate the transactions
contemplated hereby. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and
the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby have
been duly and validly approved by all necessary corporate action of the Company,
and no other corporate and no shareholder proceedings (subject, in the case
of
the consummation of the Merger, to the approval of this Agreement by the
Required Company Vote) on the part of the Company are necessary to approve
this
Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby. This
Agreement has been duly and validly executed and delivered by the Company and
(assuming due authorization, execution and delivery by Parent and Merger Sub)
constitutes a valid and binding obligation of the Company, enforceable against
the Company in accordance with its terms, except as enforcement may be limited
by general principles of equity whether applied in a court of law or a court
of
equity and by bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors’
rights and remedies generally.
(b) Neither
the execution
and delivery of this Agreement by the Company nor the consummation by the
Company of the transactions contemplated hereby, nor compliance by the Company
with any of the terms or provisions hereof, will (i) violate any provision
of
the certificate of incorporation or bylaws of the Company or any of the similar
governing documents of any of its Subsidiaries or (ii) assuming that the
consents, approvals and waiting periods referred to in Section 4.4 are
duly obtained or satisfied, (x) violate any law, statute, code, ordinance,
rule,
regulation, judgment, order, award, writ, decree or injunction issued,
promulgated or entered into by or with any Governmental Entity (each, a
“Law”) applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any of
their respective properties, rights or assets, or (y) violate, conflict with,
result in a breach of any provision of or the loss of any benefit under, or
require redemption or repurchase or otherwise require the purchase or sale
of
any securities, constitute a default under, result in the termination of or
a
right of termination, modification or cancellation under, accelerate the
performance required by, or result in the creation of any Lien (or have any
of
such results or effects upon notice or lapse of time, or both) upon any of
the
respective properties, rights or assets of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries under, any of the terms, conditions or provisions of (1) any
material leases or related agreements related to stores or other facilities
operated by either of the Bank Subsidiaries or any of their affiliates or (2)
any note, bond, mortgage, indenture, deed of trust, license, lease (other than
such leases covered by clause (y)(1) above), agreement, contract, permit,
concession, franchise or other instrument or obligation to which the Company
or
any of its Subsidiaries is a party, or by which they or any of their respective
properties, rights, assets or business activities may be bound or affected,
except in the case of clauses (i) (to the extent relating to Subsidiaries)
or
(ii), for such violations, conflicts, breaches, defaults or other events which
would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate,
a
Material Adverse Effect on the Company.
(c) In
accordance with
Section 14A:11-1 of the NJBCA, no appraisal or dissenters’ rights shall be
available to holders of the Company Common Stock in connection with the
Merger.
4.4. Consents
and Approvals. Except for (i) the filing of applications and notices, as
applicable, with the Federal Reserve Board under the BHC Act (including with
respect to the
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11
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qualification
of TopCo and IntermediateCo as bank holding companies and the indirect
acquisition by Parent of the Company’s interest in Pennsylvania Commerce), the
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, the Pennsylvania Department
of
Banking and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Canada) and the
approval of such applications and notices, (ii) approval of the listing on
the
Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange of the Parent Common
Shares to be issued in the Merger and to be reserved for issuance upon exercise
of the Parent Options issued in substitution for Company Options pursuant to
Section 2.4, (iii) the filing with the SEC of a proxy statement in
definitive form relating to the meeting of the shareholders of the Company
to be
held to vote on the approval of this Agreement (the “Proxy
Statement/Prospectus”) and the filing and declaration of effectiveness of
the registration statement on Form F-4 (the “Form F-4”) in which the
Proxy Statement/Prospectus will be included as a prospectus and any filings
or
approvals under applicable state securities Laws, (iv) the filing of the
Certificate of Merger with the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division
of Commercial Recording pursuant to the NJBCA and such other Governmental
Entities as required by the NJBCA, (v) the approval of this Agreement by the
Required Company Vote, (vi) the consents and approvals set forth in Section
4.4
of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (vii) any notices or filings under the
Xxxx-Xxxxx-Xxxxxx Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR
Act”) and the expiration or termination of any applicable waiting periods
thereunder, (viii) the consents, authorizations, approvals, filings or
exemptions in connection with the applicable provisions of federal or state
securities Laws or the rules or regulations of any applicable self-regulatory
organization, in any such case relating to the regulation of broker-dealers,
investment companies and investment advisors, (ix) the consents, authorizations,
approvals, filings or exemptions in connection with the applicable provisions
of
insurance Laws and (x) the consents, authorizations, approvals, filings and
registrations of third parties which are not Governmental Entities, the failure
of which to obtain or make would not be reasonably expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company
or
Parent, no consents or approvals of, or filings or registrations with, any
court, administrative agency or commission or other governmental or regulatory
authority or instrumentality or self-regulatory organization (each, a
“Governmental Entity”) or of or with any other third party by and on
behalf of the Company (or by or on behalf of any acquiror of the Company) are
necessary in connection with (A) the execution and delivery by the Company
of
this Agreement and (B) the consummation by the Company of the Merger and the
other transactions contemplated hereby.
4.5. SEC
Documents; Other Reports; Internal Controls. (a) The Company has filed all
required reports, forms, schedules, registration statements and other documents
with the SEC since December 31, 2003 (the “Company Reports”) and has paid
all fees and assessments due and payable in connection therewith. As
of their respective dates of filing with the SEC (or, if amended or superseded
by a subsequent filing prior to the date hereof, as of the date of such
subsequent filing), the Company Reports complied in all material respects with
the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”), or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange
Act”), as the case may be, and the rules and regulations of the SEC
thereunder applicable to such Company Reports, and none of the Company Reports
when filed with the SEC, and if amended prior to the date hereof, as of the
date
of such amendment, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted
to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make
the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading. There are no outstanding comments
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12
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from
or unresolved issues raised by the SEC with respect to any of the Company
Reports. None of the Company’s Subsidiaries is required to file
periodic reports with the SEC pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange
Act.
(b) The
Company and each
of its Subsidiaries have timely filed all material reports, forms, schedules,
registrations, statements and other documents, together with any amendments
required to be made with respect thereto, that they were required to file since
December 31, 2003 with any Governmental Entity (other than the SEC) and have
paid all fees and assessments due and payable in connection
therewith. Except as would not be reasonably expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company,
there is no unresolved violation, criticism or exception by any Governmental
Entity with respect to any report, form, schedule, registration, statement
or
other document filed by, or relating to any examinations by any such
Governmental Entity of, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.
(c) Except
as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company, the Company has disclosed, based on its most
recent evaluation prior to the date hereof, to the Company’s auditors and the
audit committee of the Company’s board of directors and in Section 4.5(c) of the
Company Disclosure Schedule (i) any significant deficiencies and material
weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial
reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect in any material
respect the Company's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
information and (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company's
internal controls over financial reporting.
(d) The
records, systems,
controls, data and information of the Company and its Subsidiaries are recorded,
stored, maintained and operated under means (including any electronic,
mechanical or photographic process, whether computerized or not) that are under
the exclusive ownership and direct control of the Company or its Subsidiaries
or
accountants (including all means of access thereto and therefrom), except for
any non-exclusive ownership and non-direct control that would not reasonably
be
expected to have a material adverse effect on the system of internal accounting
controls described in the following sentence. The Company and its
Subsidiaries have devised and maintain a system of internal accounting controls
sufficient to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of
financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance
with U.S. GAAP.
(e) The
Company has
designed and implemented disclosure controls and procedures (within the meaning
of Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act) to ensure that material
information relating to the Company and its Subsidiaries is made known to the
management of the Company by others within those entities as appropriate to
allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure and to make the
certifications required by the Exchange Act with respect to the Company
Reports.
4.6. Financial
Statements; Undisclosed Liabilities. (a) The financial statements of the
Company (including any related notes and schedules thereto) included in the
Company Reports complied as to form, as of their respective dates of filing
with
the SEC (or, if amended or superseded by a subsequent filing prior to the date
hereof, as of the date of such subsequent filing), in all material respects,
with all applicable accounting requirements and with the
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13
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published
rules and regulations of the SEC with respect thereto (except, in the case
of
unaudited statements, as permitted by Form 10-Q of the SEC), were prepared
in
accordance with U.S. GAAP applied on a consistent basis during the periods
involved (except as may be disclosed therein), and fairly present, in all
material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company and its
Subsidiaries and the consolidated results of operations, changes in
stockholders’ equity and cash flows of such companies as of the dates and for
the periods shown (subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal
year-end audit adjustments, none of which is expected to be material, and to
any
other adjustments described therein, including the notes
thereto). The books and records of the Company and its Subsidiaries
have been, and are being, maintained in all material respects in accordance
with
U.S. GAAP and any other applicable legal and accounting requirements and reflect
only actual transactions. The information with respect to the investment
securities portfolio of the Company and its Subsidiaries set forth in Section
4.6(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule is true, correct and complete in
all
material respects.
(b) Except
for (i) those
liabilities that are fully reflected or reserved for in the consolidated
financial statements of the Company included in its Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2007, as filed with the SEC, (ii)
this Agreement or (iii) liabilities incurred since June 30, 2007 in the ordinary
course of business consistent with past practice, neither the Company nor any
of
its Subsidiaries has incurred any liability of any nature whatsoever (whether
absolute, accrued or contingent or otherwise and whether due or to become due),
that either alone or when combined with all other liabilities of a type not
described in clause (i), (ii) or (iii), has had, or would be reasonably expected
to have, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company.
4.7. Broker’s
Fees. Except for Xxxxxxx, Sachs & Co., neither the Company nor any
Subsidiary thereof nor any of their respective officers or directors has
employed any broker or finder or incurred any liability for any broker’s fees,
commissions or finder’s fees in connection with the Merger or any other
transaction contemplated by this Agreement. True, correct and
complete copies of all agreements with Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx & Co. relating to any
such fees or commissions have been furnished to Parent prior to the date
hereof.
4.8. Absence
of
Certain Changes or Events. Since December 31, 2006, (i) no event has
occurred or circumstance has arisen which has had or would reasonably be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on
the Company and (ii) prior to the date hereof, neither the Company nor any
of
its Subsidiaries has (A) effected or authorized any adjustment, split,
combination or reclassification of any of its capital stock, or redeemed,
purchased or otherwise acquired, any shares of its capital stock or any
securities or obligations convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for
any shares of its capital stock or stock appreciation rights (except pursuant
to
the exercise of stock options); (B) declared, set aside or paid any dividend
other than regular quarterly cash dividends on the Company Common Stock; (C)
sold, licensed, leased, encumbered, mortgaged, transferred, assigned or
otherwise disposed of any of its material assets, properties or other rights
or
agreements other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past
practice; (D) made any changes in its accounting methods or method of Tax
accounting, practices or policies; (E) settled any claim, action or proceeding
involving monetary damages in excess of $10 million; (F) from and after the
date
of the Specified Orders, taken any action that violates, or fails in any
material respect to comply with,
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14
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either
of the Specified Orders; or (G) agreed to, or made any commitment to, take
any
of the foregoing actions.
4.9. Legal
Proceedings. (a) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries (or, to the
knowledge of the Company, any of the current or former directors or executive
officers of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries) is a party to any, and
there
are no pending or, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, threatened legal,
administrative, arbitral or other proceedings, claims, actions or governmental
or regulatory investigations of any nature against or affecting the Company
or
any of its Subsidiaries or challenging the validity or propriety of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and which would reasonably be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on
the Company. Section 4.9(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth all
pending (and, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, all threatened) legal,
administrative, arbitral or other proceedings, claims, actions or governmental
or regulatory investigations of any material nature against the Company or
any
of its Subsidiaries as of the date of this Agreement.
(b) There
is no
injunction, order, award, judgment, settlement, decree or regulatory restriction
imposed upon or entered into by the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or the
assets of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries which would reasonably be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on
the Company. Section 4.9(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth all
material injunctions, orders, awards, judgments, settlements, decrees or
regulatory restrictions imposed upon or entered into by the Company, any of
its
Subsidiaries or the assets of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries as of
the
date of this Agreement.
(c) As
of the date
hereof, no claim or submission has been made or, to the knowledge of the
Company, threatened, by any Insider or Insider-Related Party with respect to
rights to indemnification, advancement of expenses or other reimbursement of
or
to such person or any of such person’s affiliates by the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries with respect to any of the Specified Regulatory
Matters. As used herein, (i) the terms “Insider” and “Insider-Related
Parties” shall have the meanings set forth in the Consent Order, dated June 28,
2007 between Commerce Bank and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(the “Consent Order”) and (ii) the term “Specified Regulatory
Matters” means the Specified Orders, the related investigations by the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) or the Federal
Reserve Board, the matter set forth in Section 4.9(c)(A) of the Company
Disclosure Schedule and the matters that are the subject of such Specified
Orders, investigations, proceedings and matter.
(d) Except
in connection
with the Specified Orders, since January 1, 2004, (i) there have been no
subpoenas, written demands, inquiries or information requests received by the
Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any affiliate of the Company or any of
its
Subsidiaries from any Governmental Entity, and (ii) no Governmental Entity
has
requested that the Company or any of its Subsidiaries enter into a settlement
negotiation or tolling agreement with respect to any matter related to any
such
subpoena, written demand, inquiry or information request.
4.10. Taxes.
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15
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(a) (w)
no audit of any
material Tax Return of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is being conducted
by a taxing authority; (x) each of the Company and its Subsidiaries has (i)
duly
and timely filed (including pursuant to applicable extensions granted without
penalty) all material Tax Returns (as hereinafter defined) required to be filed
by it, and such Tax Returns are true, correct and complete in all material
respects, and (ii) timely paid in full all Taxes due or, where payment is not
yet due, has made adequate provision in the financial statements of the Company
(in accordance with U.S. GAAP) for all such Taxes (as hereinafter defined),
whether or not shown as due on such Tax Returns; (y) no material deficiencies
for any Taxes have been proposed, threatened, asserted or assessed in writing
against or with respect to any Taxes due by or Tax Returns of the Company or
any
of its Subsidiaries; and (z) there are no material Liens for Taxes upon the
assets of either the Company or its Subsidiaries.
(b) Neither
the Company
nor any of its Subsidiaries (i) is or has ever been a member of an affiliated
group (other than a group the common parent of which is the Company) filing
a
consolidated tax return or (ii) has any material liability for Taxes of any
person arising from the application of Treasury Regulation Section 1.1502-6
or
any analogous provision of state, local or foreign law, or as a transferee
or
successor, by contract, or otherwise.
(c) None
of the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries is a party to, is bound by or has any obligation
under any Tax sharing, Tax indemnity or Tax allocation agreement or similar
contract or arrangement.
(d) No
closing agreement
pursuant to Section 7121 of the Code (or any similar provision of state, local
or foreign law) has been entered into by or with respect to the Company or
any
of its Subsidiaries.
(e) None
of the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries has been either a “distributing corporation” or a
“controlled corporation” in a distribution occurring during the last five (5)
years in which the parties to such distribution treated the distribution as
one
to which Section 355 of the Code is applicable.
(f) All
Taxes required to
be withheld, collected or deposited by or with respect to the Company and each
Subsidiary have been timely withheld, collected or deposited as the case may
be,
and to the extent required, have been paid to the relevant taxing
authority.
(g) Neither
the Company
nor any of its Subsidiaries has requested or been granted any waiver of any
federal, state, local or foreign statute of limitations with respect to, or
any
extension of a period for the assessment or collection of, any Tax.
(h) Neither
the Company
nor any of its Subsidiaries has entered into any transactions that are or would
be part of any “reportable transaction” or that could give rise to any list
maintenance obligation under Sections 6011, 6111, or 6112 of the Code (or any
similar provision under any state or local law) or the regulations
thereunder.
(i) Neither
Parent nor
any of its Subsidiaries will be required to include any item of income in,
or
exclude any item of deduction from, taxable income for any taxable period ending
after the Effective Time as a result of any (i) change in method of accounting
either imposed by the Internal Revenue Service or voluntarily made by the
Company or any of its
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16
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Subsidiaries
on or prior to the Closing Date, (ii) intercompany transaction or excess loss
account described in Treasury Regulations under Section 1502 of the Code (or
any
similar provision of state, local, or foreign income Tax law), (iii) installment
sale or open transaction arising in a taxable period (or portion thereof) ending
on or prior to the Closing Date, (iv) a prepaid amount received or paid prior
to
the Closing Date, or (v) deferred gains arising prior to the Closing
Date.
(j) Neither
the Company
nor any Subsidiary has been a United States real property holding corporation
within the meaning of Section 897(c)(2) of the Code.
(k) For
purposes of this
Agreement:
(i) “Tax”
or
“Taxes” shall mean all federal, state, local, foreign and other taxes,
levies, imposts, assessments, duties, customs, fees, impositions or other
similar government charges, including, but not limited to income, estimated
income, business, occupation, franchise, real property, payroll, personal
property, sales, transfer, stamp, use, escheat, employment-related, commercial
rent or withholding, net worth, occupancy, premium, gross receipts, profits,
windfall profits, deemed profits, license, lease, severance, capital,
production, corporation, ad valorem, excise, duty, utility, environmental,
value-added, recapture or other taxes, including any interest, penalties, fines
and additions (to the extent applicable) thereto, whether disputed or not;
and
(ii) “Tax
Return”
shall mean any return, report, declaration, information return or other
document
(including any related or supporting information) filed with or submitted to,
or
required to be filed with or submitted to any taxing authority with respect
to
Taxes, including all information returns relating to Taxes of third parties,
any
claims for refunds of Taxes and any amendments, supplements or attached
schedules to any of the foregoing.
4.11. Employees;
Employee Benefit Plans. (a) Section 4.11(a) of the Company Disclosure
Schedule contains a true and complete list of each “employee benefit plan”
(within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), including multiemployer plans within
the meaning of ERISA Section 3(37)), stock purchase, stock option, severance,
employment, loan, change-in-control, fringe benefit, collective bargaining,
bonus, incentive, deferred compensation and all other employee benefit plans,
agreements, programs, policies or other arrangements, whether or not subject
to
ERISA (including any funding mechanism therefor now in effect or required in
the
future as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or
otherwise), under which (i) any current or former employee, officer, director,
consultant or independent contractor of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
(“Company Employees”) has any present or future right to benefits and
which are contributed to, sponsored by or maintained by the Company or any
of
its Subsidiaries or (ii) under which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
has
any present or future material liability. All such plans, agreements, programs,
policies and arrangements shall be collectively referred to as the
“Plans”.
(b) With
respect to each
Plan, the Company has delivered to Parent or made available a current, accurate
and complete copy (or, to the extent no such copy exists, an accurate
description) thereof and, to the extent applicable: (i) any related trust
agreement or other funding instrument; (ii) the most recent determination
letter, if applicable; (iii) any summary plan
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17
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description
and other written communications by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
to
Company Employees concerning the extent of the benefits provided under a Plan;
(iv) a summary of any proposed amendments or changes anticipated to be made
to
the Plans (other than amendments or changes required by applicable Law) at
any
time within the twelve months immediately following the date hereof that could
reasonably be expected to result in an increase in benefits provided under
the
Plan or the expense of maintaining the Plan; and (v) for the three most recent
years (A) the Form 5500 and attached schedules, (B) audited financial statements
and (C) actuarial valuation reports.
(c) Except
as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company: (i) each Plan has been established and
administered in all respects in accordance with its terms, and in all respects
in compliance with the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code and other
applicable Laws; (ii) each Plan which is intended to be qualified within the
meaning of Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified and has received a
favorable determination letter as to its qualification, and nothing has
occurred, whether by action or failure to act, that could reasonably be expected
to cause the loss of such qualification; (iii) no event has occurred and no
condition exists that would subject the Company or any of its Subsidiaries,
either directly or by reason of their affiliation with any “ERISA
Affiliate” (defined as any organization which is a member of a controlled
group of organizations with the Company within the meaning of Sections 414(b),
(c), (m) or (o) of the Code), to any tax, fine, lien, penalty or other liability
imposed by ERISA, the Code or other applicable Laws; (iv) for each Plan with
respect to which a Form 5500 has been filed, no material change has occurred
with respect to the matters covered by the most recent Form since the date
thereof, (v) no non-exempt “prohibited transaction” (as such term is defined in
Section 406 of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code) has occurred with respect
to
any Plan; (vi) no Plan provides post-employment welfare (including health,
medical or life insurance) benefits and neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries have any obligation to provide any such post-employment welfare
benefits now or in the future, other than as required by Section 4980B of the
Code; (vii) there is no present intention that any Plan be materially amended,
suspended or terminated, or otherwise modified to adversely change or increase
benefits (or the levels thereof) under any Plan at any time within the twelve
months immediately following the date hereof; (viii) neither the Company nor
any
ERISA Affiliate has 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; and (ix) each “nonqualified deferred compensation plan” (as
defined in Section 409A(d)(1) of the Code) has been operated in good faith
compliance with Section 409A of the Code and IRS Notice 2005-1. No
Plan provides any Company Employees with any amount of compensation, or if
such
Company Employees were to be provided compensation that is or would be subject
to the excise taxes applicable under Section 409A or 4999 of the
Code.
(d) None
of the Plans is
a multiemployer plan (within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA) and
none of the Company, its Subsidiaries or any ERISA Affiliate has at any time
sponsored or contributed to, or has or had any material liability with respect
to a multiemployer plan within the preceding six (6) years that remains
unsatisfied.
(e) With
respect to any
Plan, except as would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in
the
aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company, (i) no actions, suits
or
claims (other than routine claims for benefits in the ordinary course) are
pending or, to
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18
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the
knowledge of the Company, threatened, (ii) no facts or circumstances exist
that
could give rise to any such actions, suits or claims and (iii) no administrative
investigation, audit or other administrative proceeding by the Department of
Labor, the Internal Revenue Service or other governmental agencies are pending
or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(f) (i) No
Plan exists that could result in the payment to any present or former Company
Employee of any money or other property or accelerate or provide any other
rights or benefits to any present or former Company Employee as a result of
the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement (whether alone or in connection
with
any subsequent event(s)).
(ii)
There is no Plan that, individually or collectively, could reasonably be
expected to give, or which has given, rise to the payment of any amount that
would not be deductible pursuant to the terms of Section 280G of the Code in
connection with the transactions contemplated under this Agreement.
4.12. Board
Approval; Shareholder Vote Required. (a) The board of directors of the
Company, by resolutions duly adopted by unanimous vote of the entire board
of
directors at a meeting duly called and held (the “Company Board
Approval”), has (i) determined that this Agreement, the Merger and the other
transactions contemplated hereby are fair to and in the best interests of the
Company and its shareholders and declared the Merger to be advisable, (ii)
approved this Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated
hereby, and (iii) recommended that the shareholders of the Company approve
this
Agreement and directed that such matter be submitted for consideration by the
shareholders of the Company at the Company Shareholders Meeting. No
“fair price,” “moratorium,” “control share acquisition” or other similar
anti-takeover statute or regulation enacted under the Laws of the State of
New
Jersey, federal Law or, to the knowledge of the Company, the Laws of any other
state in the United States is applicable to this Agreement, the Merger or the
other transactions contemplated hereby. The Company Board Approval is
sufficient to exempt fully the Merger and the other transactions contemplated
hereby from the provisions of Article Seventh of the certificate of
incorporation of the Company.
(b) The
affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the votes cast by holders
of
Company Common Stock to approve this Agreement (the “Required Company
Vote”) is the only vote of the holders of any class or series of the Company
capital stock necessary to approve this Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby (including the Merger).
4.13. Compliance
With Applicable Law. (a) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries hold, and
have at all times held, all licenses, franchises, permits and authorizations
which are necessary for the lawful conduct of their respective businesses and
ownership of their respective properties and assets under and pursuant to
applicable Law, except where the failure to hold such license, franchise, permit
or authorization would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or
in
the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company. The Company
and each of its Subsidiaries have complied in all material respects with, and
are not in default or violation of, (i) any applicable Law, including all Laws
related to data protection or privacy, the USA Patriot Act, the Bank Secrecy
Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act and any other Law
relating to discriminatory banking practices, Sections 23A and 23B of the
Federal Reserve Act, the Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx Act and all applicable Laws relating
to
broker-dealers, investment advisors and insurance brokers, and (ii) any posted
or internal privacy policies
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19
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relating
to data protection or privacy, including with limitation, the protection of
personal information, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries knows
of, or has received notice of, any default or violations of any applicable
Law,
except where any such default, violation or noncompliance would not reasonably
be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on the Company.
(b) The
Company and each
of its Subsidiaries has properly administered all accounts for which it acts
as
a fiduciary, including accounts for which it serves as a trustee, agent,
custodian, personal representative, guardian, conservator or investment advisor,
in accordance with the terms of the governing documents and applicable Law,
except where the failure to so administer such accounts would not reasonably
be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on
the Company. None of the Company, any of its Subsidiaries, or any
director, officer or employee of the Company or of any of its Subsidiaries,
has
committed any breach of trust or fiduciary duty with respect to any such
fiduciary account that would reasonably be expected to have, individually or
in
the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company, and, except as would
not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company, the accountings for each such fiduciary account
are true and correct and accurately reflect the assets of such fiduciary
account.
(c) The
Company, each of
its Subsidiaries and each of their respective officers and employees who are
required to be registered, licensed or qualified as (x) a broker-dealer or
(y) a
registered principal, registered representative, investment adviser
representative, futures commission merchant, insurance agent or salesperson
with
the SEC (or in equivalent capacities with any other Governmental Entity) are
duly registered as such and such registrations are in full force and effect,
or
are in the process of being registered as such within the time periods required
by applicable Law, except for such failures to be so registered as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company. The Company and its Subsidiaries and
each of their respective officers and employees are in compliance with all
applicable federal, state and foreign laws requiring any such registration,
licensing or qualification, have filed all periodic reports required to be
filed
with respect thereto (and all such reports are accurate and complete in all
material respects), and are not subject to any liability or disability by reason
of the failure to be so registered, licensed or qualified, except for such
failures to be so registered, licensed or qualified, failures with respect
to
such reports and such liabilities or disabilities as would not reasonably be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on
the Company.
(d) The
Company has
delivered or made available to Parent a true, correct and complete copy of
the
currently effective Forms ADV and BD as filed with the SEC by each Subsidiary
of
the Company. The information contained in such forms was complete and
accurate as of the time of filing thereof, except where any failure to be so
complete and accurate would not reasonably be expected to have, individually
or
in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company.
(e) Except
as would not
be reasonably expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company or disclosed on the Forms ADV or BD of the Company
or its applicable Subsidiary as in effect as of the date of this
Agreement: (i) none of the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of
their directors, officers, employees, “associated
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20
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persons”
(as defined in the Exchange Act) or “affiliated persons” (as defined in the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder (the “Investment Company Act”)) has been or is the
subject of any disciplinary proceedings or orders of any Governmental Entity
arising under applicable Laws which would be required to be disclosed on Forms
ADV or BD, (ii) none of the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their
respective directors, officers, employees, associated persons or affiliated
persons, has been permanently enjoined by the order of any Governmental Entity
from engaging or continuing any conduct or practice in connection with any
activity or in connection with the purchase or sale of any security, and (iii)
none of the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective
directors, officers, employees, associated persons or affiliated persons is
or
has been ineligible to serve as an investment adviser under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder (the “Advisers Act”) (including pursuant to Section 203(e) or
(f) thereof) or as a broker-dealer or an associated person of a broker-dealer
under Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act (including being subject to any
“statutory disqualification” as defined in Section 3(a)(39) of the Exchange
Act), or ineligible to serve in, or subject to any disqualification which would
be the basis for any limitation on serving in, any of the capacities specified
in Section 9(a) or 9(b) of the Investment Company Act or any substantially
equivalent foreign expulsion, suspension or disqualification.
(f) Section
4.13(f) of
the Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth with respect to the Company and
its
Subsidiaries a complete list of all (i) broker-dealer licenses or registrations
and (ii) all licenses and registrations as an investment adviser under the
Advisers Act or any similar state laws. Neither the Company nor any
of its Subsidiaries is, or is required to be, registered as a futures commission
merchant, commodities trading adviser, commodity pool operator or introducing
broker under the Commodities Futures Trading Act or any similar state
laws.
4.14. Certain
Contracts. (a) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to
or is bound by any contract, arrangement, commitment or understanding (whether
written or oral) (i) which is a material contract (as defined in Item 601(b)(10)
of Regulation S-K of the SEC or required to be disclosed by the Company on
a
Current Report on Form 8-K) to be performed in whole or in part after the date
of this Agreement, (ii) which limits the freedom of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries to compete in any line of business, in any geographic area or
with
any person, (iii) which limits the Company’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ rights
in and to the name “Commerce” or any derivation thereof, (iv) which relates to
the incurrence of material indebtedness for borrowed money (other than deposit
liabilities, advances and loans from the FHLB of Pittsburgh or of New York
and
sales of securities subject to repurchase, in each case incurred in the ordinary
course of business consistent with past practice) by the Company or any of
its
Subsidiaries, including any sale and leaseback transactions, capitalized leases
and other similar financing transactions, (v) which grants any right of first
refusal, right of first offer or similar right with respect to any material
assets, rights or properties of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (vi)
which limits the payment of dividends by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries,
(vii) which relates to a joint venture, partnership, limited liability company
agreement or other similar agreement or arrangement, or to the formation,
creation or operation, management or control of any partnership or joint venture
with any third parties, (viii) which relates to an acquisition, divestiture,
merger or similar transaction and which contains representations, covenants,
indemnities or other obligations (including indemnification,
“earn-out”
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or
other contingent obligations) that are still in effect, or (ix) which grants
any
person the right to use the name “Commerce” or any derivation
thereof. Each contract, arrangement, commitment or understanding of
the type described in this Section 4.14(a), whether or not publicly
disclosed in the Company Reports or set forth in Section 4.14(a) of the Company
Disclosure Schedule, is referred to herein as a “Company Contract”. The
Company has made available to Parent true, correct and complete copies of each
Company Contract.
(b) (i)
Each Company
Contract is valid and binding on the Company or its applicable Subsidiary and
in
full force and effect, and, to the knowledge of the Company, is valid and
binding on the other parties thereto, (ii) the Company and each of its
Subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, each of the other parties
thereto, has performed all obligations required to be performed by it to date
under each Company Contract, and (iii) no event or condition exists which
constitutes or, after notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute a breach
or default on the part of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or, to the
knowledge of the Company, any other party thereto, under any such Company
Contract, except, in each case, as would not reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the
Company.
(c) The
Company has
provided to Parent true, correct and complete copies of the Network Agreement
dated January 1, 1997 (as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, dated as of April
2002, and Amendment No. 2 thereto, dated as of September 29, 2004), by and
between the Company and Pennsylvania Commerce, and the Master Services
Agreement, dated as of July 21, 2006, by and among the Company, Pennsylvania
Commerce and Commerce Bank. Other than the agreements specified in
the preceding sentence, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is
a
party to or is bound by any contract, arrangement, commitment or understanding
(whether written or oral) with Pennsylvania Commerce or any of its
affiliates. There are no restrictions of any manner on the sale,
other transfer or encumbrance of the securities of Pennsylvania Commerce or
any
of its Subsidiaries owned by the Company.
4.15. Agreements
With Regulatory Agencies. Except for the Consent Order and for the
Memorandum of Understanding, dated June 28, 2007 between the Company and the
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (together, the “Specified Orders”),
neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is subject to any
cease-and-desist or other order issued by, or is a party to any written
agreement, consent agreement or memorandum of understanding with, or is a party
to any commitment letter or similar undertaking to, or is a recipient of any
extraordinary supervisory letter from, or is subject to any order or directive
by, or has adopted any board resolutions at the request of (each, whether or
not
set forth in Section 4.15 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, a “Company
Regulatory Agreement”) any Governmental Entity that restricts, or by its
terms will in the future restrict, the conduct of its business in any material
respect or that in any manner relates to its capital adequacy, its credit or
risk management policies, its dividend policies, its management, its business
or
its operations. To the knowledge of the Company, none of the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries has been advised by any Governmental Entity that
it
is considering issuing or requesting (or is considering the appropriateness
of
issuing or requesting) any Company Regulatory Agreement.
4.16. Company
Information. The information relating to the Company and its Subsidiaries to
be provided by the Company for inclusion in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus,
the
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Form
F-4, any filing pursuant to Rule 165 or Rule 425 under the Securities Act or
Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act, or in any other document filed with any
other Governmental Entity in connection herewith, will not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make
the statements therein, in light of the circumstances in which they are made,
not misleading. The Proxy Statement/Prospectus (except for such portions thereof
as relate only to Parent or any of its Subsidiaries) will comply as to form
in
all material respects with the provisions of the Exchange Act and the rules
and
regulations promulgated thereunder. The Form F-4 (except for such
portions thereof as relate only to Parent or any of its Subsidiaries) will
comply as to form in all material respects with the provisions of the Securities
Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
4.17. Title
to
Property. (a) The Company and its Subsidiaries have good, valid and
marketable title to all real property owned by them as reflected in the most
recent balance sheet included in the Company Reports, except for properties
that
have been disposed of in the ordinary course of business since the date of
such
balance sheet, free and clear of all Liens, except (x) Liens for current Taxes
not yet due and payable and other standard exceptions commonly found in title
policies in the jurisdiction where such real property is located, (y) such
encumbrances and imperfections of title, if any, as do not materially detract
from the value of the properties and (z) other such Liens as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company. All real property and fixtures used in
or relevant to the business, operations or financial condition of the Company
and its Subsidiaries are in good condition and repair except as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company.
(b) The
Company and its
Subsidiaries have good, valid and marketable title to all tangible personal
property owned by them as reflected in the most recent balance sheet included
in
the Company Reports, except for assets that have been disposed of in the
ordinary course of business since the date of such balance sheet, free and
clear
of all Liens except as would not reasonably be expected to have, individually
or
in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company.
(c) All
leases of real
property and all other leases material to the Company and its Subsidiaries
under
which the Company or a Subsidiary, as lessee, leases personal property are
valid
and binding in accordance with their respective terms, and there is not under
any such lease any material existing default by the Company or such Subsidiary
or, to the knowledge of the Company, any other party thereto, or any event
which
with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute such a default, and,
in
the case of leased premises, the Company or such Subsidiary quietly enjoys
the
use of the premises provided for in such lease, except in any such case as
would
not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company.
4.18. Insurance.
The
Company and its Subsidiaries are insured with reputable insurers against such
risks and in such amounts as the management of the Company reasonably has
determined to be prudent and consistent with industry
practice. Section 4.18 of the Company Disclosure Schedule contains a
true, correct and complete list and a brief description of all material
insurance policies in force on the date hereof with respect to the business
and
assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries (other than insurance policies under
which the Company or
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any
Subsidiary thereof is named as a loss payee, insured or additional insured
as a
result of its position as a secured lender on specific loans and mortgage
insurance policies on specific loans or pools of loans). The Company
and its Subsidiaries are in material compliance with their insurance policies
and are not in default under any of the material terms thereof, each such policy
is outstanding and in full force and effect, all premiums and other payments
due
under any material policy have been paid, and all claims thereunder have been
filed in due and timely fashion, except, in each case, as would not reasonably
be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on the Company.
4.19. Environmental
Liability. (a) Except as would not reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company:
there are no legal, administrative, arbitral or other proceedings, claims,
actions, or to the knowledge of the Company, private environmental
investigations or remediation activities or governmental investigations seeking
to impose, or that reasonably could be expected to result in the imposition,
on
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of any liability or obligation arising
under common law standards of conduct relating to environmental exposure, human
health or safety as it relates to Hazardous Substance handling or exposure,
or
under any local, state or federal Law relating to the protection of the
environment or human health or safety as it relates to Hazardous Substance
handling or exposure, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (collectively, the
“Environmental Laws”), pending or, to the knowledge of the Company,
threatened against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and to the knowledge
of the Company, no such proceeding, claim, action or governmental investigation
that would impose any such liability or obligation is anticipated by the
Company. Section 4.19(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets
forth all legal, regulatory, administrative, arbitral or other proceedings,
claims, actions, and, to the knowledge of the Company, private environmental
investigations or remediation activities or governmental investigations seeking
to impose, or that reasonably could be expected to result in the imposition,
on
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of any material liability or obligation
arising under Environmental Laws pending or, to the knowledge of the Company,
threatened against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries as of the date of
this
Agreement. During or, to the knowledge of the Company prior to, the period
of
(i) its or any of its Subsidiaries’ ownership or operation of any of their
respective current properties, (ii) its or any of its Subsidiaries’ management
of any property , or
(iii)
its or any of its Subsidiaries’ holding of a security interest or other interest
in any property, there were no releases or threatened releases of hazardous,
toxic, radioactive or dangerous materials or other materials regulated under
Environmental Laws (“Hazardous Substances”) in, on, under or affecting
any such property which would reasonably be expected to result in any claim
against, or liability of, the Company or any Subsidiary that would reasonably
be
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect
on
the Company.
(b) Neither
the
Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is subject to any agreement, order,
judgment, decree, letter or memorandum by or with any court, governmental
authority, regulatory agency or third party imposing any liability or obligation
pursuant to or under any Environmental Law that would reasonably be expected
to
have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the
Company. Section 4.19(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth all
agreements, orders, judgments, decrees, legal claims or settlements by or with
any court, governmental authority, regulatory agency or third party
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imposing
on the Company or any of its Subsidiaries any material liability or obligation
pursuant to or under any Environmental Law as of the date of this
Agreement.
4.20. Opinion
Of
Financial Advisor. The Company has received the opinion of Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx
& Co. to the effect that, as of the date hereof, and based upon and subject
to the factors and assumptions set forth therein, the Merger Consideration
to be
received by holders of Company Common Stock, in the aggregate, is fair from
a
financial point of view to such holders.
4.21. Intellectual
Property. Except as would not reasonably be expected to have, individually
or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the Company, (i) the Company
and each of its Subsidiaries owns or otherwise has the right to use, all
intellectual property rights, including all trademarks, trade dress, trade
names, service marks, domain names, patents, inventions, trade secrets,
know-how, works of authorship and copyrights therein, that are used in the
conduct of their existing businesses and all rights relating to the plans,
design and specifications of its branch facilities (“Proprietary Rights”)
free and clear of all Liens and any claims of ownership by current or former
employees, contractors, designers or others and (ii) neither the Company nor
any
of its Subsidiaries is materially infringing, diluting, misappropriating or
violating, nor has the Company or any or its Subsidiaries received any written
(or, to the knowledge of the Company, oral) communications alleging that any
of
them has materially infringed, diluted, misappropriated or violated, any of
the
Proprietary Rights owned by any other person. To the Company’s
knowledge, no other person is infringing, diluting, misappropriating or
violating, nor has the Company or any or its Subsidiaries sent any written
communications within the past two years alleging that any person has infringed,
diluted, misappropriated or violated, any of the Proprietary Rights owned by
the
Company and its Subsidiaries. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries take
reasonable actions to protect and maintain: (a) the Proprietary Rights they
own
and (b) the material software, databases, networks and systems, they own or
control against unauthorized use, modification, or access thereto.
4.22. Loan
Matters. (a) (i) Section 4.22(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets
forth a list of all extensions of credit (including commitments to extend
credit) (“Loans”) as of the date hereof by the Company and its
Subsidiaries to any directors, executive officers and principal stockholders
(as
such terms are defined in Regulation O of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System (12 CFR Part 215)) of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries,
(ii) except as listed in Section 4.22(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule,
there are no employee, officer, director or other affiliate Loans on which
the
borrower is paying a rate other than that reflected in the note or the relevant
credit agreement or on which the borrower is paying a rate which was below
market at the time the Loan was made and (iii) all such Loans are and were
made
in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws.
(b) Each
outstanding Loan
(including Loans held for resale to investors) was solicited and originated,
and
is and has been administered and, where applicable, serviced, and the relevant
Loan files are being maintained, in all material respects in accordance with
the
relevant loan documents, the Company’s written underwriting standards (and, in
the case of Loans held for resale to investors, the underwriting standards,
if
any, of the applicable investors) and with all applicable requirements of Laws,
except for such exceptions as would not reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the
Company.
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(c) Except
as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on the Company, (i) each outstanding Loan (x) is evidenced by
notes, agreements or other evidences of indebtedness that are true, genuine
and
what they purport to be, (y) to the extent secured, has been secured by valid
Liens which have been perfected and (z) to the Company’s knowledge, is a legal,
valid and binding obligation of the obligor named therein, enforceable in
accordance with its terms, subject to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent
conveyance and other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting
creditors’ rights and to general equity principles and (ii) the loan documents
with respect to each such outstanding Loan complied with all applicable Laws
at
the time of origination or purchase by the Company or its Subsidiaries and
are
complete and correct.
4.23. Transactions
with
Affiliates. There are no agreements, contracts, plans, arrangements or other
transactions between the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, on the one hand,
and any (i) officer or director of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries,
(ii)
record or beneficial owner of five percent or more of the voting securities
of
the Company, (iii) affiliate or family member of any of the foregoing, (iv)
Insider or Insider-Related Party, (v) Pennsylvania Commerce or any of its
Subsidiaries, officers, directors or other affiliates or (vi) any other
affiliate of the Company, on the other hand, except those of a type available
to
employees of the Company generally. As used in this Agreement,
“affiliate” means (unless otherwise specified), with respect to any
person, any other person that directly, or indirectly through one or more
intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with,
such
specified person and “control,” with respect to the relationship between
or among two or more persons, means the possession, directly or indirectly,
of
the power to direct or cause the direction of the affairs or management of
a
person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, as trustee or
executor, by contract or any other means.
4.24. Community
Reinvestment Act Compliance. Each of the Bank Subsidiaries is in compliance
in all material respects with the applicable provisions of the Community
Reinvestment Act of 1977 and the regulations promulgated thereunder
(collectively, “CRA”) and has received a CRA rating of at least
“satisfactory” from the OCC or the FDIC, as applicable, in its most recently
completed exam, and the Company has no knowledge of the existence of any fact
or
circumstance or set of facts or circumstances which could reasonably be expected
to result in any of the Bank Subsidiaries failing to be in compliance in all
material respects with such provisions or having its current rating
lowered.
4.25. Labor
Matters. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to or is
bound by or is currently negotiating any collective bargaining agreement,
contract or other agreement or understanding with a labor union or labor
organization. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is the
subject of a proceeding asserting that it or any such Subsidiary has committed
an unfair labor practice (within the meaning of the National Labor Relations
Act) or seeking to compel the Company or any such Subsidiary to bargain with
any
labor organization as to wages or conditions of employment, nor, to the
Company’s knowledge, is any such proceeding threatened, and there is no strike
or other material labor dispute or disputes involving it or any of its
Subsidiaries pending, or to the Company’s knowledge, threatened. To
the knowledge of the Company, there is no activity involving its or any of
its
Subsidiaries’ employees involving an attempt to certify a collective bargaining
unit or other organizational activity. As of the date hereof, neither the
Company nor any of its Subsidiaries have closed any
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plant
or facility or effectuated any layoffs of employees, nor has any such action
or
program been announced for the future, that would reasonably be expected to
give
rise to any material liability under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act of 1988, as amended, or any similar state or local law or
regulation.
4.26. Derivative
Instruments and Transactions. Except as would not reasonably be expected to
have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on the
Company:
(a) All
Derivative
Transactions (as defined below) whether entered into for the account of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries or for the account of a customer of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (i) were entered into in the ordinary course
of business consistent with past practice and in accordance with prudent banking
practice and applicable rules, regulations and policies of all applicable
Governmental Entities and with counterparties believed to be financially
responsible at the time, (ii) are legal, valid and binding obligations of the
Company or one of its Subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, each
of
the counterparties thereto and (iii) are in full force and effect and
enforceable in accordance with their terms. The Company or its
Subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, the counterparties to all
such Derivative Transactions, have duly performed, in all material respects,
their obligations thereunder to the extent that such obligations to perform
have
accrued. To the knowledge of the Company, there are no material
breaches, violations or defaults or allegations or assertions of such by any
party pursuant to any such Derivative Transactions.
(b) As
of August 31,
2007, no Derivative Transaction, were it to be a Loan held by the Company or
any
of its Subsidiaries, would be classified as “Special Mention,” “Substandard,”
“Doubtful,” “Loss,” “Classified,” “Criticized,” “Credit Risk Assets,” “Concerned
Loans,” “Watch List,” “Impaired” or words of similar import.
(c) For
purposes of this
Agreement, the term “Derivative Transaction” means any swap transaction,
option, warrant, forward purchase or sale transaction, futures transaction,
cap
transaction, floor transaction or collar transaction relating to one or more
currencies, commodities, bonds, equity securities, loans, interest rates,
catastrophe events, weather-related events, credit-related events or conditions
or any indexes, or any other similar transaction (including any option with
respect to any of these transactions) or combination of any of these
transactions, including collateralized mortgage obligations or other similar
instruments or any debt or equity instruments evidencing or embedding any such
types of transactions, and any related credit support, collateral or other
similar arrangements related to such transactions.
4.27. Approvals.
As
of the date of this Agreement, the Company knows of no reason relating to it
or
its Subsidiaries why all regulatory approvals from any Governmental Entity
required to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby should not be
obtained on a timely basis without the imposition of a condition or restriction
of the type referred to in Section 8.2(c).
ARTICLE
V
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF PARENT
Except
(i) as disclosed in, and reasonably apparent from, any of the Parent Reports
filed with the SEC or the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on or
after
December 1, 2006 but prior to the date of this Agreement (excluding, in each
case, any disclosures set forth
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27
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in
any risk factor section and in any section relating to forward-looking
statements to the extent they are cautionary, predictive or forward-looking
in
nature); or (ii) as disclosed in the like-numbered section of the disclosure
schedule delivered by Parent to the Company contemporaneously with the execution
of this Agreement (the “Parent Disclosure Schedule”, it being agreed
that, except as otherwise provided in the Parent Disclosure Schedule, disclosure
of any item in any section of the Parent Disclosure Schedule shall also be
deemed disclosure with respect to any other section of this Agreement to which
the relevance of such item is reasonably apparent), Parent represents and
warrants to the Company as follows:
5.1. Corporate
Organization. (a) Parent is duly organized and validly existing as a bank
under the laws of Canada. Parent has all requisite corporate power and authority
to own, lease or operate all of its properties, rights and assets and to carry
on its business as it is now being conducted, and is duly licensed or qualified
to do business in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business
conducted by it or the character or location of the properties, rights and
assets owned, leased or operated by it makes such licensing or qualification
necessary, except where the failure to have such power or authority or to be
so
licensed or qualified would not reasonably be expected to have, individually
or
in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on Parent. The charter of
Parent is the Bank Act (Canada). The copy of the bylaws of Parent which has
been
made available to the Company, is a true, correct and complete copy of such
document as in full force and effect as of the date of this
Agreement.
(b) Merger
Sub is
a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the
laws of the State of New Jersey. Merger Sub was formed solely for the
purpose of engaging in the transactions contemplated hereby, has not owned
any
properties, rights or assets other than in connection with the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement, and has engaged in no other business other
than
in connection with the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement. Merger Sub is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of
Parent.
5.2. Capitalization.
The authorized capital stock of Parent consists of an unlimited number of Parent
Common Shares and unlimited number of Class A First Preferred Shares (the
“Parent Preferred Shares”). As of September 28, 2007, there were
718,102,289 Parent Common Shares outstanding and 39,000,000 Parent Preferred
Shares outstanding. As of September 28, 2007, no Parent Common Shares
or Parent Preferred Shares were reserved for issuance. Since September 28,
2007
and through the date of this Agreement, and other than in connection with the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement, Parent has not (i) issued or
authorized the issuance of any Parent Common Shares or Parent Preferred Shares,
or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Parent
Common Shares or Parent Preferred Shares, except for any such
issuances of Parent Common Shares as a result of exercise of Parent Options
outstanding as of September 28, 2007, (ii) reserved for issuance any Parent
Common Shares or Parent Preferred Shares or (iii) repurchased or redeemed,
or
authorized the repurchase or redemption of, any Parent Common Shares or Parent
Preferred Shares. All of the issued and outstanding Parent Common
Shares have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid,
nonassessable and free of preemptive rights, with no personal liability
attaching to the ownership thereof. As of the date of this Agreement, except
as
otherwise set forth in this Section 5.2(a), neither Parent nor any of its
Subsidiaries has or is bound by any outstanding subscriptions, options,
warrants, calls, convertible securities, preemptive rights, redemption rights,
stock appreciation rights, stock-based performance units or other similar
rights,
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28
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agreements,
arrangements or commitments of any character relating to the purchase or
issuance of any shares of Parent’s capital securities or other equity securities
of Parent or any securities representing the right to purchase or otherwise
receive any shares of Parent’s capital securities or equity-based awards, nor is
there any agreement, to which Parent or any of its Subsidiaries is a party
obligating Parent or any of its Subsidiaries to (A) issue, transfer or sell
any
shares of capital stock or other equity interests of Parent or securities
convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for such shares or equity
interests, (B) issue, grant, extend or enter into any such subscription, option,
warrant, call, convertible securities, stock-based performance units or other
similar right, agreement, arrangement or commitment or (C) redeem or otherwise
acquire any such shares of capital stock or other equity
interests. The Parent Common Shares to be issued pursuant to the
Merger have been duly authorized and, at the Effective Time, all such shares
will be validly issued, fully paid, nonassessable and free of preemptive rights,
with no personal liability attaching to the ownership thereof.
5.3. Authority;
No Violation. (a) Parent and Merger Sub have full corporate power and
authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and to consummate the
transactions contemplated hereby. The execution and delivery of this
Agreement and the consummation by Parent and Merger Sub of the transactions
contemplated hereby have been duly and validly approved by all necessary
corporate action of Parent and Merger Sub, and no other corporate or shareholder
proceedings on the part of Parent and Merger Sub are necessary to approve this
Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby. This
Agreement has been duly and validly executed and delivered by Parent and Merger
Sub and (assuming due authorization, execution and delivery by the Company)
constitutes a valid and binding obligation of Parent and Merger Sub, enforceable
against Parent and Merger Sub in accordance with its terms, except as
enforcement may be limited by general principles of equity whether applied
in a
court of law or a court of equity and by bankruptcy, insolvency and similar
laws
affecting creditors’ rights and remedies generally.
(b) Neither
the
execution and delivery of this Agreement by Parent and Merger Sub, nor the
consummation by Parent and Merger Sub of the transactions contemplated hereby,
nor compliance by Parent and Merger Sub with any of the terms or provisions
hereof, will (i) violate any provision of the certificate of incorporation,
bylaws or similar governing documents of Parent and Merger Sub or any of the
similar governing documents of any of their respective Subsidiaries or (ii)
assuming that the consents, approvals and waiting periods referred to in
Section 5.4 are duly obtained or satisfied, (x) violate any Law
applicable to Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective
properties, rights or assets, or (y) violate, conflict with, result in a breach
of any provision of or the loss of any benefit under, or require redemption
or
repurchase or otherwise require the purchase or sale of any securities,
constitute a default under, result in the termination of or a right of
termination, modification or cancellation under, accelerate the performance
required by, or result in the creation of any Lien (or have any of such results
or effects upon notice or lapse of time, or both) upon any of the respective
properties, rights or assets of Parent or Merger Sub or any of their respective
Subsidiaries under, any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any note,
bond, mortgage, indenture, deed of trust, license, lease, agreement, contract,
permit, concession, franchise or other instrument or obligation to which Parent
or Merger Sub or any of their respective Subsidiaries is a party, or by which
they or any of their respective properties, rights, assets or business
activities may be bound or affected, except (in the case of clause (ii) above)
for such violations, conflicts, breaches, defaults or other
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29
-
events
which would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the
aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on Parent.
5.4. Consents
and Approvals. Except for (i) the filing of applications and notices, as
applicable, with the Federal Reserve Board under the BHC Act (including with
respect to the qualification of TopCo and IntermediateCo as bank holding
companies and the indirect acquisition by Parent of the Company’s interest in
Pennsylvania Commerce), the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance,
the
Pennsylvania Department of Banking and the Superintendent of Financial
Institutions (Canada) and the approval of such applications and notices, (ii)
approval of the listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock
Exchange of the Parent Common Shares to be issued in the Merger and to be
reserved for issuance upon exercise of the Parent Options issued in substitution
for Company Options pursuant to Section 2.4, (iii) the filing with the
SEC of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and the filing and declaration of
effectiveness of the registration statement on Form F-4 in which the Proxy
Statement/Prospectus will be included as a prospectus and any filings or
approvals under applicable state securities Laws, (iv) the filing of the
Certificate of Merger with the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division
of Commercial Recording pursuant to the NJBCA and such other Governmental
Entities as required by the NJBCA, (v) the approval of this Agreement by the
Required Company Vote, (vi) any notices or filings under the HSR Act and the
expiration or termination of any applicable waiting periods thereunder, (vii)
the consents, authorizations, approvals, filings or exemptions in connection
with the applicable provisions of federal, state or provincial securities Laws
or the rules or regulations of any applicable self-regulatory organization,
in
any such case relating to the regulation of broker-dealers, investment companies
and investment advisors, (viii) the consents, authorizations, approvals, filings
or exemptions in connection with the applicable provisions of insurance Laws
and
(ix) the consents, authorizations, approvals, filings and registrations of
third
parties which are not Governmental Entities, the failure of which to obtain
or
make would not be reasonably expected to have, individually or in the aggregate,
a Material Adverse Effect on Parent, no consents or approvals of, or filings
or
registrations with, any Governmental Entity or of or with any other third party
by and on behalf of Parent or Merger Sub are necessary in connection with (A)
the execution and delivery by Parent and Merger Sub of this Agreement and (B)
the consummation by Parent and Merger Sub of the Merger and the other
transactions contemplated hereby.
5.5. SEC
Documents; Other Reports; Internal Controls. (a) Parent has filed all
required reports, forms, schedules, registration statements and other documents
with the SEC and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities since December
31, 2003 (the “Parent Reports”) and has paid all fees and assessments due
and payable in connection therewith. As of their respective dates of
filing with the SEC or the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority
(or, if amended or superseded by a subsequent filing prior to the date hereof,
as of the date of such subsequent filing), the Parent Reports complied in all
material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act, the Exchange
Act
or the applicable Canadian securities Laws, as the case may be, and the rules
and regulations of the SEC or the applicable Canadian securities regulatory
authority thereunder applicable to such Parent Reports, and none of the Parent
Reports when filed with the SEC or the applicable Canadian securities regulatory
authority, and if amended prior to the date hereof, as of the date of such
amendment, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to
state
a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which
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they
were made, not misleading. There are no outstanding comments from or
unresolved issues raised by the SEC or any Canadian securities regulatory
authority, as applicable, with respect to any of the Parent Reports. None of
Parent’s Subsidiaries is required to file periodic reports with the SEC pursuant
to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.
(b) Parent
and each of
its Subsidiaries have timely filed all material reports, schedules, forms,
registrations, statements and other documents, together with any amendments
required to be made with respect thereto, that they were required to file since
December 31, 2003 with any Governmental Entity (other than the SEC and the
Canadian securities regulatory authorities) and have paid all fees and
assessments due and payable in connection therewith.
(c) Except
as would not
reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material
Adverse Effect on Parent, Parent has disclosed, based on its most recent
evaluation prior to the date hereof, to Parent's auditors and the audit
committee of Parent's board of directors and in Section 5.5(c) of the Parent
Disclosure Schedule (i) any significant deficiencies and material weaknesses
in
the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which
are
reasonably likely to adversely affect in any material respect Parent's ability
to record, process, summarize and report financial information and (ii) any
fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
who
have a significant role in Parent's internal controls over financial
reporting.
(d) The
records, systems,
controls, data and information of Parent and its Subsidiaries are recorded,
stored, maintained and operated under means (including any electronic,
mechanical or photographic process, whether computerized or not) that are under
the exclusive ownership and direct control of Parent or its Subsidiaries or
accountants (including all means of access thereto and therefrom), except for
any non-exclusive ownership and non-direct control that would not reasonably
be
expected to have a material adverse effect on the system of internal accounting
controls described in the following sentence. Parent and its
Subsidiaries have devised and maintain a system of internal accounting controls
sufficient to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of
financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance
with Canadian GAAP.
(e) Parent
has designed
and implemented disclosure controls and procedures (within the meaning of Rules
13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act and the applicable Canadian
securities Laws) to ensure that material information relating to Parent and
its
Subsidiaries is made known to the management of Parent by others within those
entities as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure
and to make the certifications required by the Exchange Act and the applicable
Canadian securities Laws with respect to the Parent Reports.
5.6. Financial
Statements; Undisclosed Liabilities. (a) The financial statements of Parent
(including any related notes and schedules thereto) included in the Parent
Reports complied as to form, as of their respective dates of filing with the
SEC
or the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority (or, if amended
or
superseded by a subsequent filing prior to the date hereof, as of the date
of
such subsequent filing), in all material respects, with all applicable
accounting requirements and with the published rules and regulations of the
SEC
or the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority with respect thereto
(except, in the case of unaudited statements, as permitted by the rules of
the
applicable Canadian regulatory
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authorities),
have been prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP applied on a consistent
basis during the periods involved (except as may be disclosed therein), and
fairly present, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position
of
Parent and its Subsidiaries and the consolidated results of operations, changes
in stockholders’ equity and cash flows of such companies as of the dates and for
the periods shown (subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal
year-end audit adjustments, none of which is expected to be material, and to
any
other adjustments described therein, including the notes
thereto). The books and records of Parent and its Subsidiaries have
been, and are being, maintained in all material respects in accordance with
Canadian GAAP and any other applicable legal and accounting requirements and
reflect only actual transactions.
(b) Except
for
(i) those liabilities that are fully reflected or reserved for in the
consolidated financial statements of Parent included in its Quarterly Report
to
Shareholders filed on Form 6-K for the quarter ended July 31, 2007, as filed
with the SEC or otherwise disclosed in the Parent Reports filed subsequent
to
the date of the filing of such quarterly financial statements and prior to
the
date hereof, (ii) this Agreement, or (iii) liabilities incurred since July
31,
2007 in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, neither
Parent nor any of its Subsidiaries has incurred any liability of any nature
whatsoever (whether absolute, accrued or contingent or otherwise and whether
due
or to become due), either alone or when combined with all other liabilities
of a
type not described in clause (i), (ii) or (iii), which has had, or would be
reasonably expected to have, a Material Adverse Effect on Parent.
5.7. Broker’s
Fees. Except for the persons set forth in Section 5.7 of the Parent
Disclosure Schedule, whose fees and expenses shall be paid by Parent, neither
Parent nor any Subsidiary thereof nor any of their respective officers or
directors has employed any broker or finder or incurred any liability for any
broker’s fees, commissions or finder’s fees in connection with the Merger or any
other transaction contemplated by this Agreement.
5.8. Absence
of
Certain Changes or Events. Since October 31, 2006, no event has occurred or
circumstance has arisen which has had or would reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on
Parent.
5.9. Legal
Proceedings. (a) Neither Parent nor any of its Subsidiaries (or, to the
knowledge of Parent, any of the current or former directors or executive
officers of Parent or any of its Subsidiaries) is a party to any, and there
are
no pending or, to the best of Parent’s knowledge, threatened legal,
administrative, arbitral or other proceedings, claims, actions or governmental
or regulatory investigations of any nature against or affecting Parent or any
of
its Subsidiaries or challenging the validity or propriety of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement as to which there is a reasonable possibility
of
an adverse determination and which would reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on
Parent.
(b) There
is no
injunction, order, award, judgment, settlement, decree, or regulatory
restriction imposed upon Parent, any of its Subsidiaries or the assets of Parent
or any of its Subsidiaries which would reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on
Parent.
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32
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5.10. Board
Approval; No Shareholder Vote Required. (a) The board of directors of Parent
has duly approved this Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions
contemplated hereby. The board of directors of Merger Sub has duly approved
this
Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated hereby, declared
it advisable for Merger Sub to enter into this Agreement and this Agreement
has
been approved by the sole shareholder of Merger Sub.
(b) No
vote of
the holders of Parent Common Shares or the Parent Preferred Shares is necessary
to approve and adopt this Agreement and the transactions contemplated
hereby.
5.11. Compliance
With Applicable Law. Parent and each of its Subsidiaries hold, and have at
all times held, all licenses, franchises, permits and authorizations which
are
necessary for the lawful conduct of their respective businesses and ownership
of
their respective properties and assets under and pursuant to each, and have
complied with and are not in default or violation of any, applicable Law
relating to Parent or any of its Subsidiaries, except where the failure to
hold
such license, franchise, permit or authorization or such noncompliance, default
or violation would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the
aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on Parent, and neither Parent nor any
of
its Subsidiaries knows of, or has received notice of, any defaults or violations
of applicable Law which would reasonably be expected to have, individually
or in
the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on Parent.
5.12. Agreements
With Regulatory Agencies. Except as would not reasonably be expected to
have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on Parent,
neither Parent nor any of its Subsidiaries is subject to any cease-and-desist
or
other order issued by, or is a party to any written agreement, consent agreement
or memorandum of understanding with, or is a party to any commitment letter
or
similar undertaking to, or is a recipient of any extraordinary supervisory
letter from, or is subject to any order or directive by, or has adopted any
board resolutions at the request of (each, a “Parent Regulatory
Agreement”), any Governmental Entity that restricts or by its terms will in
the future restrict the conduct of its business in any material respect or
that
in any manner relates to its capital adequacy, its credit or risk management
policies, its dividend policy, its management, its business or its
operations. To the knowledge of Parent, none of Parent or any of its
Subsidiaries has been advised by any Governmental Entity that it is considering
issuing or requesting (or is considering the appropriateness of issuing or
requesting) any Parent Regulatory Agreement.
5.13. Financing.
As
of the Closing Date, Parent or one of its Subsidiaries will have available
all
funds necessary to pay on the Closing Date the aggregate cash portion of the
Merger Consideration and all fees and expenses to be paid by Parent pursuant
to
this Agreement.
5.14. Parent
Information. The information relating to Parent and its Subsidiaries to be
provided by Parent for inclusion in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus, the Form
F-4, any filing pursuant to Rule 165 or Rule 425 under the Securities Act or
Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act, or in any other document filed with any
other Governmental Entity in connection herewith, will not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make
the statements therein, in light of the circumstances in which they are made,
not misleading. The Proxy Statement/Prospectus (except for such portions thereof
that relate only to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries) will comply as
to
form in all material respects with the
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provisions
of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. The
Form F-4 (except for such portions thereof as relate only to the Company or
any
of its Subsidiaries) will comply as to form in all material respects with the
provisions of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder.
5.15. Approvals.
As
of the date of this Agreement, Parent knows of no reason relating to it or
its
Subsidiaries why all regulatory approvals from any Governmental Entity required
to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby should not be obtained on
a
timely basis without the imposition of a condition or restriction of the type
referred to in Section 8.2(c).
ARTICLE
VI
COVENANTS
RELATING TO CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
6.1. Conduct
of
Business Prior to the Effective Time. Except as otherwise expressly
contemplated or permitted by this Agreement or with the prior written consent
of
Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), during
the
period from the date of this Agreement to the Effective Time, the Company shall,
and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, (i) conduct its business only
in
the usual, regular and ordinary course consistent with past practice
(provided, that no action by the Company or its Subsidiaries with respect
to matters specifically addressed by any provision of Section 6.2 shall
be deemed a breach of this clause (i) unless such action constitutes a breach
of
such provision of Section 6.2), (ii) use commercially reasonable efforts
to maintain and preserve intact its business organization, and its rights,
authorizations, franchises and other authorizations issued by Governmental
Entities, preserve its advantageous business relationships with customers,
vendors and others doing business with it and retain the services of its
officers and key employees and (iii) take no action which would reasonably
be
expected to materially and adversely affect or delay (x) the receipt of any
approvals of any Governmental Entity required to consummate the Merger or (y)
the consummation of Merger.
6.2. Company
Forbearances. Except as expressly contemplated or permitted by this
Agreement or as set forth in Section 6.2 of the Company Disclosure Schedule,
during the period from the date of this Agreement to the Effective Time, the
Company shall not, and shall not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, without
the
prior written consent of Parent (which consent shall not be unreasonably
withheld or delayed):
(a) (i)
adjust,
split, combine or reclassify any capital stock or other equity interest; (ii)
set any record or payment dates for the payment of any dividends or
distributions on its capital stock or other equity interest or make, declare
or
pay any dividend or make any other distribution on, or directly or indirectly
redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire, any shares of its capital stock or other
equity interest or any securities or obligations convertible into or
exchangeable or exercisable for any shares of its capital stock or other equity
interest or stock appreciation rights or grant any person any right to acquire
any shares of its capital stock or other equity interest, other than (A) regular
quarterly cash dividends on Company Common Stock equal to the rate paid during
the fiscal quarter immediately preceding the date hereof with record and payment
dates consistent with past practice (subject to the Company’s obligations
pursuant to Section 6.4); and (B) dividends paid by any of the
Subsidiaries of the Company so long as such dividends are only paid to the
Company or any of its other wholly owned Subsidiaries; provided that no
such dividend shall cause any Bank Subsidiary to cease to qualify as a
“well
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capitalized”
institution under the prompt corrective action provisions of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991, as amended, and the applicable
regulations thereunder; or (iii) issue or commit to issue any additional shares
of capital stock or other equity interest (except pursuant to the exercise
of
Company Options outstanding as of the date hereof and disclosed in Section
4.2(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule), or any securities convertible into
or exercisable or exchangeable for, or any rights, warrants or options to
acquire, any additional shares of capital stock or other equity interest
(including Company Options);
(b) enter
into
any new line of business or change its lending, investment, risk and
asset-liability management and other material banking or operating policies
in
any material respect, except as required by Law or by policies imposed by a
Governmental Entity;
(c) sell,
license, lease, transfer, mortgage, encumber or otherwise dispose of, or abandon
or fail to maintain, any of its material rights, assets or properties or cancel
or release any material indebtedness owed to any such person or any claims
held
by any such person, except (i) sales of Loans and sales of investment securities
subject to repurchase, in each case in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practice, (ii) as expressly required by the terms of any
contracts or agreements in force at the date of this Agreement and set out
in
Section 6.2(c) of the Company Disclosure Schedule or (iii) pledges of assets
to
secure public deposits accepted in the ordinary course of business consistent
with past practice;
(d) make
any
acquisition of or investment in any other person, by purchase or other
acquisition of stock or other equity interests (other than in a fiduciary
capacity in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice),
by
merger, consolidation, asset purchase or other business combination, or by
formation of any joint venture or other business organization or by
contributions to capital; or make any purchases or other acquisitions of any
debt securities, property or assets (including any investments or commitments
to
invest in real estate or any real estate development project) in or from any
person other than a wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company, except for (i)
foreclosures and other similar acquisitions in connection with securing or
collecting debts previously contracted, (ii) purchases of U.S. government and
U.S. government agency securities which are investment grade rated and, in
the
case of any such securities that are fixed rate instruments, have a final
maturity of five years or less, and (iii) transactions that, together with
all
other such transactions, are not material to the Company, and in each case
in
the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(e)
foreclose
on or take
a deed or title to any commercial real estate that would reasonably be expected
to pose a risk of a material environmental liability without first obtaining
a
Phase I environmental assessment of the property, or foreclose on or take a
deed
or title to any commercial real estate if such environmental assessment
indicates the presence of hazardous, toxic, radioactive or dangerous materials
or other materials regulated under Environmental Laws in an amount or condition
that would reasonably be expected to result in any material
liability;
(f)
other
than in the
ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, enter into, renew,
extend or terminate (i) any Company Contract or (ii) any agreement referenced
in
Section 4.7 (or any other agreement with any broker or finder in
connection with the Merger or any other transaction contemplated by this
Agreement) or any agreement, contract, plan, arrangement or other transaction
of
the type described in Section 4.23; or make any material
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change
in any such Company Contract or agreement, contract, plan, arrangement or other
transaction;
(g)
except
as required
by Law or the terms of any Plan or agreement in effect on September 1, 2007
and
disclosed in Section 4.11(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (i) increase
the compensation or benefits of any Company Employee; (ii) grant or pay any
change-in-control, retention bonus, severance or termination pay to any Company
Employee; (iii) loan or advance any money or other property to, or sell,
transfer or lease any properties, rights or assets to, any Company Employee;
(iv) establish, adopt, enter into, amend, terminate or grant any waiver or
consent under any Plan or any plan, agreement, program, policy, trust, fund
or
other arrangement that would be a Plan if it were in existence as of the date
of
this Agreement (specifically, the Company shall not execute any new, amendments
to, or amended and restated, employment agreements with any Company Employees
providing for an annual base salary in excess of $150,000 or severance benefits
that are any greater than those to be provided under the Severance Plan); (v)
grant any equity or equity-based awards; (vi) hire, or terminate the employment
of, any Company Employee with an annual base salary in excess of $150,000;
or
(vii) effectuate any layoffs of Company Employees without compliance in all
material respects with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
of
1988, as amended, and any similar state or local law or regulation;
(h)
(i)
make, or commit
to make, any capital expenditures in excess of (A) $1 million per project or
related series of projects or (B) $35 million in the aggregate or (ii) incur
any
material indebtedness for borrowed money or assume, guarantee, endorse or
otherwise as an accommodation become responsible for the long-term indebtedness
of any other person (other than deposits and similar liabilities in the ordinary
course of business consistent with past practice, indebtedness of the Company’s
Subsidiaries to the Company or any of its wholly owned Subsidiaries and
indebtedness under existing lines of credit and renewals or extensions
thereof);
(i)
permit
the
commencement of any construction of new structures or facilities upon, or
purchase, enter into the option to purchase, or exercise the right to purchase,
any real property in respect of, any branch office, loan production or servicing
facility or other real property and except as required by Law, make application
for the opening, relocation or closing of any, or open, relocate or close any,
branch office, loan production or servicing facility or other real
property;
(j)
except
for Loans or
commitments for Loans that have previously been approved by the Company prior
to
the date of this Agreement, without previously notifying and consulting with
Parent, make or acquire any Loan or issue a commitment (or renew or extend
an
existing commitment) for any Loan (x) that is not made in conformity, in all
material respects, with the Company’s ordinary course lending policies and
guidelines in effect as of the date hereof or (y) which has a principal balance
in excess of $20 million, or which increases an existing Loan by $20 million
or
more;
(k) except
as otherwise
expressly permitted elsewhere in this Section 6.2, engage or participate
in any material transaction (other than furnishing information and participating
in discussions to the extent permitted by Section 7.4) or incur or
sustain any
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36
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material
obligation, in each case, other than in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practice;
(l) except
pursuant to agreements or arrangements in effect on the date hereof and
specified in Section 6.2(l) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, pay, loan or
advance any amount to, or sell, transfer or lease any properties, rights or
assets (real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible) to, or enter into
any
agreement or arrangement with, any of its officers or directors or any of their
family members, any Insiders or Insider-Related Parties or affiliates or
associates (as such term is defined under the Exchange Act) of any of its
officers or directors other than Loans made in the ordinary course of the
business of the Company and its Subsidiaries, and, in the case of any such
agreements or arrangements relating to compensation, fringe benefits, severance
or termination pay or related matters, only as otherwise permitted pursuant
to
this Section 6.2;
(m) (i)
settle
any claim, action or proceeding involving monetary damages in excess of $2
million for any individual claim, action or proceeding or $10 million in the
aggregate, or (ii) waive or release any material rights or claims, or agree
or
consent to the issuance of any injunction, decree, order or judgment restricting
or otherwise affecting its business or operations, other than in the ordinary
course of business consistent with past practice;
(n) adopt
or
implement any amendment of its certificate of incorporation, bylaws or similar
governing documents, or enter into a plan of consolidation, merger, share
exchange, share acquisition, reorganization or complete or partial liquidation
with any person (other than consolidations, mergers or reorganizations solely
among wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company, other than CBIS and any of
its
Subsidiaries), or a letter of intent, memorandum of understanding or agreement
in principle with respect thereto;
(o) except
as
required by Law or by Section 7.16, materially change its investment
securities portfolio policy, or the manner in which the portfolio is classified
or reported, or invest in any mortgage-backed or mortgage related securities
which would be considered “high-risk” securities under applicable regulatory
pronouncements;
(p) except
as
required by Law, make any material changes in its policies and practices with
respect to (i) underwriting, pricing, originating, acquiring, selling,
servicing, or buying or selling rights to service Loans or (ii) its hedging
practices and policies;
(q) take
any
action that violates, or fail to timely take any action that is required by,
either of the Specified Orders;
(r) take
any
action that is intended or may reasonably be expected to result in any of its
representations and warranties set forth in this Agreement being or becoming
untrue in any material respect at any time prior to the Effective Time, or
in
any of the conditions to the Merger set forth in Section 8.1 or 8.2
not being satisfied or in a Requisite Regulatory Approval not
being obtained
without imposition of a condition of the type referred to in Section 8.2(c)
or in a material violation of any provision of this
Agreement;
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37
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(s) make
any
material changes in its methods, practices or policies of financial or Tax
accounting, except as may be required under Law or U.S. GAAP, in each case
as
approved in writing by the Company’s independent public
accountants;
(t) enter
into
any securitizations of any Loans or create any special purpose funding or
variable interest entity;
(u) (i)
other
than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, introduce
any material new products or services or any material marketing campaigns or
(ii) introduce any material new sales compensation or incentive programs or
arrangements;
(v) except
as
required by Law, make or change any material Tax election, file any amended
Tax
Returns, settle or compromise any material Tax liability of the Company or
any
of its Subsidiaries, agree to an extension or waiver of the statute of
limitations with respect to the assessment or determination of Taxes of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, enter into any closing agreement with
respect to any material Tax or surrender any right to claim a material Tax
refund; or
(w) agree
to, or
make any commitment to, take any of the actions prohibited by this Section
6.2.
6.3. No
Fundamental Parent Changes. Except as expressly contemplated or permitted by
this Agreement, or as required by applicable Law, during the period from the
date of this Agreement to the Effective Time, Parent shall not, and shall not
permit any of its Subsidiaries to, without the prior written consent of the
Company (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), (i)
amend, repeal or otherwise modify its bylaws in a manner that would materially
and adversely affect the economic benefits of the Merger to the holders of
Company Common Stock, (ii) take any action that is intended or may reasonably
be
expected to result in any of its representations and warranties set forth in
this Agreement being or becoming untrue in any material respect at any time
prior to the Effective Time, or in any of the conditions to the Merger set
forth
in Section 8.1 or 8.3 not being satisfied or in a Requisite
Regulatory Approval not being obtained without imposition of a condition of
the
type referred to in Section 8.2(c), or in a material violation of any
provision of this Agreement, (iii) in the case of Parent only, declare or pay
any extraordinary or special dividends on or make any other extraordinary or
special distributions in respect of any of its capital stock, or (iv) agree
to,
or make any commitment to, take any of the actions prohibited by this Section
6.3.
6.4. Company
Dividends. From and after January 1, 2008 and until the Effective Time, the
Company shall consult with Parent regarding the record dates and the payment
dates relating to any dividends in respect of Company Common Stock, it being
the
intention of the Company and Parent that holders of Company Common Stock shall
not receive two dividends (or fail to receive one dividend), for any single
calendar quarter with respect to their shares of Company Common Stock and/or
any
Parent Common Shares that any such holder receives in exchange therefor pursuant
to the Merger.
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ARTICLE
VII
ADDITIONAL
AGREEMENTS
7.1. Regulatory
Matters. (a) Parent and the Company shall cooperate in preparing and
promptly cause to be filed with the SEC the Proxy Statement/Prospectus, and
Parent shall prepare and promptly cause to be filed with the SEC the Form
F-4. Each of Parent and the Company shall use reasonable best efforts
to have the Form F-4 declared effective under the Securities Act as promptly
as
practicable after such filing and to keep the Form F-4 effective as long as
is
necessary to consummate the Merger and the other transactions contemplated
hereby, and the Company shall mail the Proxy Statement/Prospectus to its
shareholders as promptly as practicable after the Form F-4 is declared
effective. Parent and the Company shall, as promptly as practicable
after receipt thereof, provide the other party with copies of any written
comments and advise the other party of any oral comments with respect to the
Proxy Statement/Prospectus or the Form F-4 received from the
SEC. Each party shall cooperate and provide the other party with a
reasonable opportunity to review and comment on any amendment or supplement
to
the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and the Form F-4 prior to filing such with the
SEC.
(b) Subject
to
the other provisions of this Agreement, the parties hereto shall cooperate
with
each other and use reasonable best efforts to prepare and file promptly all
necessary documentation, to effect all applications, notices, petitions and
filings, to obtain as promptly as practicable all permits, consents, approvals
and authorizations of all third parties and Governmental Entities which are
necessary or advisable to consummate the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement and to comply with the terms and conditions of all such permits,
consents, approvals and authorizations of all such third parties and
Governmental Entities. The Company and Parent shall have the right to review
in
advance, and to the extent practicable each will consult the other on, in each
case subject to applicable Laws, all the information relating to the other
party
and any of its respective Subsidiaries, that appears in any filing made with,
or
written materials submitted to, any third party or any Governmental Entity
in
connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. In exercising
the foregoing right, each of the parties hereto shall act reasonably and as
promptly as practicable. The parties hereto agree that they will
consult with each other with respect to the obtaining of all permits, consents,
approvals and authorizations of all third parties or Governmental Entities
necessary or advisable to consummate the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement and each party will keep the other apprised of the status of matters
relating to consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.
(c) Parent
and
the Company shall, upon request, furnish each other with all information
concerning themselves, their Subsidiaries, directors, officers and shareholders
and such other matters as may be reasonably necessary or advisable in connection
with the preparation of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus, the Form F-4 or any
other statement, filing, notice or application made by or on behalf of Parent,
the Company or any of their respective Subsidiaries to any Governmental Entity
in connection with the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this
Agreement. Parent and the Company shall make any necessary filings
with respect to the Merger under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and
the
rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and any applicable state,
provincial or local securities Laws.
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39
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(d) Parent
and
the Company shall promptly advise each other upon receiving any communication
from any Governmental Entity whose consent or approval is required for
consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement which causes
such party to believe that there is a reasonable likelihood that any Requisite
Regulatory Approval will not be obtained or that the receipt of any such
approval will be materially delayed or conditioned.
(e) Without
limiting the scope of the foregoing paragraphs, the Company shall, to the extent
permitted by applicable Law (i) promptly advise Parent of the receipt of any
substantive communication from a Governmental Entity with respect to the
Specified Regulatory Matters, (ii) provide Parent with a reasonable opportunity
to participate in the preparation of any response thereto and the preparation
of
any other substantive submission or communication to any Governmental Entity
with respect to the Specified Regulatory Matters and to review any such
response, submission or communication prior to the filing or submission thereof,
and (iii) provide Parent with the opportunity to participate in any meetings
or
substantive telephone conversations that the Company or its Subsidiaries or
their respective representatives may have from time to time with any
Governmental Entity with respect to the Specified Regulatory
Matters.
7.2. Access
to
Information. (a) Upon reasonable notice and subject to applicable Laws
relating to the exchange of information, the Company shall, and shall cause
each
of its Subsidiaries to, afford to the officers, employees, accountants, counsel
and other representatives of Parent access, during normal business hours during
the period prior to the Effective Time, to all its properties, books, contracts,
commitments and records, and to its officers, employees, accountants, counsel
and other representatives, in each case in a manner not unreasonably disruptive
to the operation of the business of the Company and its Subsidiaries, and,
during such period, the Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to,
make
available to Parent (i) a copy of each report, schedule, registration statement
and other document filed or received by it during such period pursuant to the
requirements of the federal securities Laws or federal or state banking,
mortgage lending, real estate or consumer finance or protection Laws (other
than
reports or documents which the Company is not permitted to disclose under
applicable Law) and (ii) all other information concerning its business,
properties and personnel as Parent may reasonably request. Neither
the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to provide access
to
or to disclose information where such access or disclosure would jeopardize
any
attorney-client privilege or contravene any Law. The parties hereto
will make appropriate substitute disclosure arrangements under circumstances
in
which the restrictions of the preceding sentence apply.
(b) Upon
reasonable notice and subject to applicable Laws relating to the exchange of
information, Parent shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, afford to the
officers, employees, accountants, counsel and other representatives of the
Company, access, during normal business hours during the period prior to the
Effective Time, to such information regarding Parent and its Subsidiaries as
shall be reasonably necessary for the Company to fulfill its obligations
pursuant to this Agreement or that may be reasonably necessary for the Company
to confirm that the representations and warranties of Parent contained herein
are true and correct and that the covenants of Parent contained herein have
been
performed in all material respects. Neither Parent nor any of its Subsidiaries
shall be required to provide access to or to disclose information where such
access or disclosure would jeopardize any attorney-client privilege
or
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40
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contravene
any Law. The parties hereto will make appropriate substitute disclosure
arrangements under circumstances in which the restrictions of the preceding
sentence apply.
(c) Parent
shall
hold all information furnished by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or
representatives pursuant to Section 7.2(a) in confidence to the extent
required by, and in accordance with, the provisions of the Confidentiality
Agreement, dated August 7, 2007, between Parent and the Company (the “Company
Confidentiality Agreement”). The Company shall hold all information
furnished by Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or representatives pursuant
to
Section 7.2(b) in confidence to the extent required by, and in accordance
with, the provisions of the Confidentiality Agreement dated September 10, 2007,
between Parent and the Company (the “Parent Confidentiality
Agreement”).
(d) No
investigation by any of the parties or their respective representatives shall
constitute a waiver of or otherwise affect the representations, warranties,
covenants or agreements of the others set forth herein.
7.3. Shareholder
Approval. (a) The Company shall duly take all lawful action to call, give
notice of, convene and hold a meeting of its shareholders as promptly as
reasonably practicable following the date upon which the Form F-4 becomes
effective (the “Company Shareholders Meeting”) for the purpose of
obtaining the Required Company Vote and, subject to Section 7.3(b), shall
take all lawful action to solicit the approval of this Agreement by such
shareholders. The board of directors of the Company shall recommend
approval of this Agreement by the shareholders of the Company (the “Company
Recommendation”) in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and shall not directly or
indirectly withdraw, amend or modify in any manner adverse to Parent such
recommendation (a “Change in Company Recommendation”), except as and to
the extent expressly permitted by Section 7.3(b). Notwithstanding any
Change in Company Recommendation, this Agreement shall be submitted to the
shareholders of the Company at the Company Shareholders Meeting for the purpose
of approving this Agreement and nothing contained herein shall be deemed to
relieve the Company of such obligation. In addition to the foregoing,
the Company shall not submit to the vote of its shareholders any Acquisition
Proposal other than the Merger.
(b) Notwithstanding
the
foregoing, prior to the date of the Company Shareholders Meeting, the Company
and its board of directors shall be permitted to effect a Change in Company
Recommendation if and only to the extent that:
(i) it
has
complied in all material respects with Section 7.4,
(ii) its
board of
directors, based on the advice of its outside counsel, determines in good faith
that failure to take such action is reasonably likely to result in a violation
of its fiduciary duties under applicable Law, and
(iii) if
the
Company’s board of directors intends to effect a Change in Company
Recommendation in relation to an Acquisition Proposal, (A) the Company’s board
of directors has concluded in good faith that such Acquisition Proposal
constitutes a Superior Proposal after giving effect to all of the adjustments
which may be offered by Parent pursuant to clause (C) below, (B) the Company
has
notified Parent, at least five (5) Business Days in advance, of its intention
to
effect a Change in Company
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41
-
Recommendation
(the “Notice Period”), specifying the material terms and conditions of
any such Superior Proposal (including the identity of the party making such
Superior Proposal) and furnishing to Parent a copy of the relevant proposed
transaction agreements with the party making such Superior Proposal and other
material documents and (C) during the Notice Period, and in any event, prior
to
effecting such a Change in Company Recommendation, the Company has negotiated,
and has caused its financial and legal advisors to negotiate, with Parent in
good faith (to the extent Parent desires to negotiate) to make such adjustments
in the terms and conditions of this Agreement so that such Acquisition Proposal
ceases to constitute a Superior Proposal.
7.4. Acquisition
Proposals. (a) Except to the extent expressly permitted by Section
7.17, from the date hereof until the Effective Time or, if earlier, the date
on which this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Article IX, the
Company shall not, and shall cause its Subsidiaries and its and its
Subsidiaries’ respective officers, directors, employees, agents and
representatives (including any investment bankers, attorneys or accountants
retained by it or any of its Subsidiaries) (“Representatives”) not to,
directly or indirectly, (i) initiate, solicit, encourage or knowingly facilitate
(including by way of providing confidential information) the submission of
any
inquiries, proposals or offers (whether firm or hypothetical) or any other
efforts or attempts that constitute or may reasonably be expected to lead to,
any Acquisition Proposal, (ii) have any discussions with or provide any
confidential information or data to any person relating to an Acquisition
Proposal, or engage in any negotiations concerning an Acquisition Proposal,
(iii) approve or recommend any Acquisition Proposal, or (iv) approve or
recommend, or propose publicly to approve or recommend, or execute or enter
into, any letter of intent, agreement in principle, memorandum of understanding,
merger agreement, asset or share purchase or share exchange agreement, option
agreement or other similar agreement related to any Acquisition Proposal;
provided, however, that it is understood and agreed that any
Change in Company Recommendation permitted under Section 7.3(b) shall in
and of itself not be deemed to be a breach or violation of this Section
7.4(a). Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section
7.4(a), in the event that the Company receives an unsolicited bona fide
Acquisition Proposal and the Company’s board of directors concludes in good
faith that such Acquisition Proposal constitutes or is reasonably likely to
result in a Superior Proposal, the Company may, and may permit its Subsidiaries
and its and their Representatives to, prior to (but not after) the date of
the
Company Shareholders Meeting, take any action described in clause (ii) above
to
the extent that the Company’s board of directors concludes in good faith (after
receiving the advice of its outside counsel) that failure to take such actions
would be reasonably likely to result in a violation of its fiduciary duties
under applicable Law; provided, however, that prior to providing
(or causing to be provided) any confidential information or data permitted
to be
provided pursuant to this sentence, the Company shall have entered into a
written confidentiality agreement with such third party on terms no less
favorable to the Company than the Company Confidentiality Agreement and the
Company shall promptly provide to Parent an executed copy of such
confidentiality agreement; and provided, further, that the Company
shall promptly provide Parent with any non-public information concerning the
Company or its Subsidiaries provided to such person which was not previously
provided or made available to Parent (or its Representatives).
(b) For
purposes of this
Agreement, “Acquisition Proposal” means any inquiry, proposal or offer
from any person (other than Parent or any of its Subsidiaries)
relating
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42
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to
any direct or indirect (i) acquisition, purchase or sale of a business, deposits
or assets that constitute 20% or more of the consolidated business, revenues,
net income, assets (including stock of the Company’s Subsidiaries) or deposits
of the Company and its Subsidiaries, (ii) merger, reorganization, share
exchange, consolidation, business combination, recapitalization, liquidation,
dissolution or similar transaction involving the Company or any of its
Significant Subsidiaries, or (iii) purchase or sale of, or tender or exchange
offer (including a self-tender offer) for, securities of the Company or any
of
its Significant Subsidiaries that, if consummated, would result in any person
(or the shareholders of such person) beneficially owning securities representing
20% or more of the equity or total voting power of the Company, any of its
Significant Subsidiaries or the surviving parent entity in such
transaction.
(c) For
purposes
of this Agreement, “Superior Proposal” means a bona fide written
Acquisition Proposal to acquire, directly or indirectly, a majority of the
total
voting power of the Company (or a majority of the total voting power of the
resulting or surviving entity of such transaction or the ultimate parent of
such
resulting or surviving entity), which the board of directors of the Company
concludes in good faith, after consultation with its financial advisors and
receiving the advice of its outside counsel, taking into account timing and
all
legal, financial, regulatory and other aspects of the proposal and the person
making the proposal (including any break-up fees, expense reimbursement
provisions and conditions to consummation), (i) is more favorable to the
shareholders of the Company from a financial point of view than the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and (ii) is reasonably capable of being completed
on the terms proposed.
(d) The
Company
will immediately cease and cause to be terminated any activities, discussions
or
negotiations conducted before the date of this Agreement with any persons other
than Parent with respect to any Acquisition Proposal and will use its reasonable
best efforts to enforce, and not waive or amend any provision of, any
confidentiality, standstill or similar agreement relating to an Acquisition
Proposal, including by requiring the other parties thereto to promptly return
or
destroy any confidential information previously furnished by or on behalf of
the
Company thereunder. The Company will promptly (and in all events
within 48 hours) following receipt of any Acquisition Proposal or any inquiry
which could reasonably be expected to lead to an Acquisition Proposal advise
Parent of the material terms thereof (including the identity of the person
making such Acquisition Proposal), and will keep Parent reasonably apprised
of
any related developments, discussions and negotiations and the status and terms
thereof (including providing Parent with a copy of all material documentation
and correspondence relating thereto) on a current basis. Without limiting the
foregoing, the Company shall notify Parent orally and in writing within 48
hours
after it enters into discussions or negotiations with another person regarding
an Acquisition Proposal, executes and delivers a confidentiality agreement
with
another person in connection with an Acquisition Proposal, or provides
non-public information or data to another person in connection with an
Acquisition Proposal.
(e) Nothing
contained in this Agreement shall prevent the Company or its board of directors
from complying with Rule 14d-9 and Rule 14e-2(a)(2)-(3) promulgated under the
Exchange Act with respect to an Acquisition Proposal; provided, that such
Rules will in no way eliminate or modify the effect that any action pursuant
to
such Rules would otherwise have under this Agreement.
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7.5. Reasonable
Best Efforts. (a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement,
each of Parent and the Company shall, and shall cause their respective
Subsidiaries to, use their reasonable best efforts (i) to take, or cause to
be
taken, all actions necessary, proper or advisable to comply promptly with all
legal requirements which may be imposed on such party or its Subsidiaries with
respect to the Merger and, subject to the conditions set forth in Article
VIII hereof, to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
and (ii) to obtain (and to cooperate with the other party to obtain) any
consent, authorization, order or approval of, or any exemption by, any
Governmental Entity and any other third party which is required to be obtained
by the Company or Parent or any of their respective Subsidiaries in connection
with the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement;
provided, however, that no party shall be required to take any
action pursuant to the foregoing sentence if the taking of such action or the
obtaining of such consents, authorizations, orders, approvals or exemptions
is
reasonably likely to result in a condition or restriction having an effect
of
the type referred to in Section 8.2(c).
(b) Subject
to
the terms and conditions of this Agreement (including the proviso in Section
7.5(a)), each of Parent and the Company agrees to use 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 to consummate and make
effective, as soon as practicable after the date of this Agreement, the
transactions contemplated hereby, including using reasonable best efforts to
(i)
modify or amend any contracts, plans or arrangements to which Parent or the
Company is a party (to the extent permitted by the terms thereof) if necessary
in order to satisfy the conditions to closing set forth in Article VIII
hereof, (ii) lift or rescind any injunction or restraining order or
other
order adversely affecting the ability of the parties to consummate the
transactions contemplated hereby, and (iii) defend any litigation or other
proceeding seeking to enjoin, prevent or delay the consummation of the
transactions contemplated hereby or seeking material damages.
7.6. Affiliates.
The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause each director,
executive officer and other person who is an “affiliate” (for purposes of Rule
145 under the Securities Act) of the Company to deliver to Parent, as soon
as
practicable after the date of this Agreement, and in any event prior to the
date
of the Company Shareholders Meeting, a written agreement substantially in the
form attached as Exhibit A hereto.
7.7. Employees;
Employee Benefit Plans.
(a) As
of the
Effective Time, the Company Employees who are employees of the Company or a
Subsidiary of the Company at the Effective Time shall, unless and until such
Company Employees become eligible to participate in the employee benefit plans
sponsored or maintained by TD Banknorth Inc. (excluding equity-based plans
and
defined benefit pension plans) (the “TD Banknorth Plans”) in which
similarly situated employees of TD Banknorth Inc. participate, to the same
extent as similarly situated employees of TD Banknorth Inc. so participate
(it
being understood that inclusion of Company Employees in such employee benefit
plans may occur at different times with respect to different plans), continue
to
participate in the Plans (excluding the Company Stock Incentive Plans (other
than with respect to Parent Options), the DRIP and Purchase Plan and the
Employee Stock Ownership Plan feature of the Company’s 401(k) Plan);
provided, however, that (i) nothing contained herein shall require
Parent or any of
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44
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its
Subsidiaries to make any grants to any Company Employee under any equity-based
plans, it being understood that any such grants are completely discretionary,
(ii) nothing contained herein shall require Parent or any of its Subsidiaries
to
permit a Company Employee who is receiving severance as a result of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement (or together with any other action)
pursuant to any employment, severance, change-in-control, consulting or other
compensation agreements, plans and arrangements with the Company or any of
its
Subsidiaries to participate in any severance or change-in-control agreement
or
plan offered by Parent or any of its Subsidiaries, (iii) nothing contained
herein shall require a Company Employee’s participation in Parent’s or any of
its Subsidiaries’ defined benefit pension plan and (iv) until December 31, 2008,
the employee benefit plans made available to the Company Employees shall be
no
less favorable in the aggregate than the employee benefit plans (excluding
equity-based plans, defined benefit pension plans and severance policies and
practices) provided to the Company Employees on the date of this
Agreement. From and after the Effective Time, Parent shall cause the
Company and its Subsidiaries, and any successors thereto, to honor, without
modification, all employment, retention, severance and change-in-control
contracts, agreements and arrangements, as amended through the date hereof,
listed in Section 4.11(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule (the “Employment
Agreements”). As of the Effective Time, employees of the Company and its
Subsidiaries who are not otherwise parties to the Employment Agreements
(excluding any Employment Agreements that do not provide for severance or
similar termination pay) shall be covered by and eligible to participate in
that
certain severance plan attached to this Agreement in Section 7.7(a)-1 of the
Parent Disclosure Schedule (the “Severance Plan”), which (x) shall take
into account all service with the Company or any Subsidiary (or any of their
respective predecessors) as provided for therein and (y) shall be caused by
Parent to be maintained for at least two years following the Closing
Date. In addition, effective as of the Effective Time, with respect
to Eligible Employees (as such term is defined in the Severance Plan) who are
employed by the Company or a Subsidiary ("Company Eligible Employees"):
(A) the schedule of Severance Benefits (as such term is defined in the Severance
Plan) that shall be provided to such employees who become Displaced Employees
(as such term is defined in the Severance Plan) shall be as set forth in Section
7.7(a)-2 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule and (B) the chief financial officer
of the Company shall be consulted by the Plan Administrator (as such term is
defined in the Severance Plan), and shall participate in an advisory capacity,
with respect to all decisions of the Plan Administrator regarding any Company
Eligible Employee or Displaced Employee, as applicable.
(b) With
respect
to each TD Banknorth Plan, for purposes of determining eligibility to
participate, vesting, entitlement to benefits (including determination of the
amount of any benefit that is affected by seniority) and vacation entitlement
(but not for accrual of benefits under any defined benefit pension plan or
post-retirement welfare benefit plan of Parent), service with the Company or
any
Subsidiary (or of their respective predecessors) shall be treated as service
with Parent to the extent recognized by the Company prior to the date of this
Agreement under comparable Plans; provided, however, that such
service shall not be recognized to the extent that such recognition would result
in a duplication of benefits. Such service also shall apply for
purposes of satisfying any waiting periods, evidence of insurability
requirements, or the application of any pre-existing condition limitations
with
respect to any TD Banknorth Plan. Each TD Banknorth Plan shall waive
pre-existing condition limitations to the same extent waived under the
applicable Plan. The Company Employees shall be given credit for amounts paid
under a corresponding benefit plan of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
during the
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45
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same
period for purposes of applying deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket
maximums as though such amounts had been paid in accordance with the terms
and
conditions of the TD Banknorth Plan during the applicable plan
year.
(c) With
respect
to the Company’s 2008 calendar year, Parent shall cause the Surviving Company to
provide that each Company Employee will participate during such year in either
(i) the TD Banknorth Plans providing an annual cash bonus payable in respect
of
such year or (ii) the Plans that are annual cash incentive
plans; provided, however, that in all events, Parent shall cause the
Surviving Company to pay bonuses thereunder in respect of such 2008 calendar
year to the Company Employees as follows: (i) for Company Employees who are
parties to an Employment Agreement that contains a target annual bonus amount
(the “Target Bonus”), they shall receive payment of an amount equal to at least
the pro rata portion of such Target Bonus in respect of the period from January
1, 2008 through the Closing Date and (ii) for Company Employees who are not
parties to Employment Agreements containing a target annual bonus amount, they
shall receive payment of an amount equal to at least the pro rata portion of
the
actual annual bonus received by each such Company Employee payable in respect
of
calendar year 2007 in respect of the period from January 1, 2008 through the
Closing Date; which payment Parent shall cause to be made no later than the
date
that annual bonuses are otherwise payable pursuant to the Plans and/or
Employment Agreements in respect of calendar year 2008. In addition, with
respect to the Company’s 2007 calendar year, Parent shall make grants to Company
Employees of equity-based awards on Parent Common Shares equal in the aggregate
to up to $30 million in value of equity-based awards granted with respect to
Company Common Stock to Company Employees, based on a Black-Scholes or
equivalent equity compensation calculation methodology (the “Equity Pool
Amount”); provided, however, that the amount of the Equity Pool Amount shall
be reduced by the value (as determined consistent with the calculation of the
Equity Pool Amount) of the aggregate amount of equity-based awards granted
on
Company Common Stock to Company Employees employed by CBIS in calendar year
2007, if CBIS is sold prior to Parent making such grants. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, in the event that there occurs a sale of CBIS (x) prior to the
payment of any annual bonus payment in respect of the 2007 calendar year under
any Plan, any Company Employees employed by CBIS who were eligible to receive
such a bonus shall nevertheless receive such bonus payments on the date that
such bonuses are otherwise payable to Company Employees; and/or (y) prior to
the
Closing Date, any Company Employees employed by CBIS who would have been
eligible to receive an annual bonus payment in respect of the 2008 calendar
year
under any Plan shall nevertheless receive a bonus payment calculated and payable
in the same manner described above for Company Employees employed with the
Company or its Subsidiaries, prorated for the period from January 1, 2008
through the date of closing of the sale of CBIS.
(d) The
Company
and Parent agree that the Company Retirement Plan for Outside Directors, as
the
same is set forth in Section 7.7(d) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, is
and
shall be the sole plan providing for retirement benefits to nonemployee members
of the board of directors of the Company.
(e) The
Company
and Parent acknowledge and agree that all provisions contained in this
Section 7.7 and Section 2.4 with respect to employees, officers,
directors, consultants and independent contractors are included for the sole
benefit of the Company and
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46
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Parent
and shall not create any right (i) in any other person, including Plans or
any
beneficiary thereof or (ii) to continued employment with Parent or any of its
Affiliates.
7.8. Indemnification;
Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance. Subject to the limitations set forth in
Section 7.8(a) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule:
(a) From
and
after the Effective Time, in the event of any claim, action, suit, proceeding
or
investigation, whether civil, criminal or administrative, in which any person
who as of the date of this Agreement is, or who becomes prior to the Effective
Time, a director or officer of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (the
“Indemnified Parties”) is, or is threatened to be, made a party based in
whole or in part on, or arising in whole or in part out of, or pertaining to
(i)
the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Company, any
of
its Subsidiaries or any of their respective predecessors or was prior to the
Effective Time serving at the request of any such party as a director, officer,
employee, trustee or partner of another corporation, partnership, trust, joint
venture, employee benefit plan or other entity or (ii) this Agreement, or any
of
the transactions contemplated hereby and all actions taken by an Indemnified
Party in connection herewith, in each case in his or her capacity as a director
or officer of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, whether in any case
asserted or arising before or after the Effective Time, Parent shall cause
the
Surviving Company to indemnify and hold harmless, to the fullest extent
permitted by applicable Law, each such Indemnified Party against any losses,
claims, damages, liabilities, costs, expenses (including reasonable attorneys’
fees and expenses in advance of the final disposition of any claim, suit,
proceeding or investigation to each Indemnified Party upon receipt of an
undertaking required by the NJBCA from such Indemnified Party to repay such
advanced expenses if it is determined by a final and nonappealable judgment
of a court of competent jurisdiction that such Indemnified Party was not
entitled to indemnification hereunder), judgments, fines and amounts paid in
settlement in connection with any such actual or threatened claim, action,
suit,
proceeding or investigation, whether civil, criminal, administrative or
investigative. Any Indemnified Party wishing to claim indemnification
under this Section 7.8, upon learning of any such claim, action, suit,
proceeding or investigation, shall promptly notify Parent in writing thereof,
provided, that the failure to so notify shall not affect the obligations
of Parent under this Section 7.8 except (and only) to the extent such
failure to notify materially prejudices Parent.
(b) Parent
and
Merger Sub agree that all rights to exculpation, indemnification and advancement
of expenses for acts or omissions occurring at or prior to the Effective Time,
whether asserted or claimed prior to, at or after the Effective Time, existing
as of the date of this Agreement in favor of the current directors or officers
of the Company or its Subsidiaries as provided in their respective certificates
of incorporation or by-laws or other organization documents or in any valid
and
binding agreement to which the Company or any such Subsidiary is a party shall
survive the Merger and shall continue in full force and effect and Parent shall
cause the Surviving Company to honor such obligations.
(c) For
a period
of six (6) years after the Effective Time, Parent shall cause the persons
serving as officers and directors of the Company immediately prior to the
Effective Time (and, to the extent reasonably practicable, persons serving
as
officers and directors of the Company as of the date of this Agreement who
cease
to serve in such capacity prior to the Effective Time) to be covered by the
directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policy or policies
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47
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maintained
by Parent or one of its Subsidiaries (provided, that Parent’s directors’
and officers’ liability insurance policy or policies provide at least the same
coverage and amounts containing terms and conditions which are, in the
aggregate, not materially less advantageous to such directors and officers
of
the Company than the terms and conditions of the existing directors’ and
officers’ liability insurance policy of the Company) with respect to claims
arising from facts or events that existed or occurred at or prior to the
Effective Time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will
Parent be required to expend, on an annual basis, an amount in excess of 250%
of
the annual premiums currently paid by the Company for such insurance (the
“Insurance Amount”), and if Parent is unable to maintain or obtain the
insurance called for by this Section 7.8(c) for an amount per year equal
to or less than the Insurance Amount, Parent shall use its reasonable best
efforts to obtain as much comparable insurance as may be available for the
Insurance Amount. The provisions of this Section 7.8(c) shall be deemed
to have been satisfied if prepaid policies have been obtained by Parent or
by
the Company with Parent’s consent, which policies provide the persons covered by
the Company’s directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policy immediately
prior to the Effective Time with coverage for a period of not less than six
(6)
years after the Effective Time with respect to claims arising from facts or
events that occurred at or prior to the Effective Time. If such
prepaid policies have been obtained by the Company prior to the Effective Time
with Parent’s consent, Parent shall maintain such policies in full force and
effect and continue to honor all obligations thereunder.
(d) In
the event
Parent, the Surviving Company or any of their respective successors or assigns
(i) consolidates with or merges into any other person and shall not be the
continuing or surviving corporation or entity in such consolidation or merger
or
(ii) transfers all or substantially all of its properties and assets to any
person, then, and in either such case, to the extent not otherwise occurring
by
operation of Law, 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 7.8. The agreements and covenants
contained herein shall not be deemed to be exclusive of any other rights to
which any Indemnified Party is entitled, whether pursuant to Law, contract
or
otherwise.
(e) The
provisions of this Section 7.8 are intended to be for the benefit of, and
shall be enforceable by, each Indemnified Party and his or her heirs and
representatives, and shall survive consummation of the Merger.
7.9. Advice
of
Changes. Parent and the Company shall promptly advise the other of any
change or event which, individually or in the aggregate with other such changes
or events, has or would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect
on it or which it believes would or would be reasonably likely to cause or
constitute a material breach of any of its representations, warranties or
covenants contained herein; provided, however, that any
noncompliance with the foregoing shall not constitute the failure to be
satisfied of a condition set forth in Article VIII or give rise to any
right of termination under Article IX unless the underlying breach shall
independently constitute such a failure or give rise to such a
right.
7.10. Financial
Statements and Other Current Information. As soon as reasonably practicable
after they become available, but in no event more than 30 days after the end
of
each calendar month ending after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall
furnish to Parent (a) consolidated and consolidating financial statements
(including balance sheets, statements of
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operations
and shareholders’ equity) of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries as of and
for such month then ended, (b) internal management financial control reports
showing actual financial performance against plan and previous period, (c)
monthly lending/asset quality and risk profile reports, (d) all internal or
external audit reports and all internal compliance reviews and (e) any reports
provided to senior management or the board of directors of the Company or any
committee thereof relating to the financial performance and risk management
of
the Company. The Company will furnish to Parent the Company’s
quarterly analysis of allowances for loans and lease losses and a quarterly
summary of all Loan reviews as soon as they become available. In addition,
the
Company shall furnish Parent, unless prohibited by applicable Law, with a copy
of each report filed by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with a
Governmental Entity promptly following the filing thereof. As soon as
reasonably practicable after it becomes available, but in no event more than
30
days after the end of each calendar month ending after the date of this
Agreement, Parent shall furnish to the Company the presentation with respect
to
monthly financial results of Parent customarily provided by the Chief Financial
Officer of the Company to the Senior Executive Team of Parent. All
information furnished by the Company to Parent, or by Parent to the Company,
pursuant to this Section 7.10 shall be held in confidence to the same
extent of Parent’s and the Company’s respective obligations under Section
7.2(c).
7.11. Stock
Exchange Listing. Parent shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the
Parent Common Shares to be issued in the Merger and to be reserved for issuance
upon exercise of the Parent Options issued in substitution for Company Options
pursuant to Section 2.4 to be approved for listing on the Toronto Stock
Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, subject to official notice of
issuance, as promptly as practicable, and in any event prior to the Effective
Time.
7.12. Takeover
Laws. The parties hereto and their respective boards of directors shall (i)
use reasonable best efforts to ensure that no state takeover Law or similar
Law
is or becomes applicable to this Agreement, the Merger or any of the other
transactions contemplated by this Agreement and (ii) if any state takeover
Law
or similar Law becomes applicable to this Agreement, the Merger or any of the
other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, use reasonable best efforts
to ensure that the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this
Agreement may be consummated as promptly as practicable on the terms
contemplated by this Agreement and otherwise to minimize the effect of such
Law
on this Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this
Agreement.
7.13. Stockholder
Litigation. The Company shall give Parent the opportunity to consult with
the Company on a regular basis with respect to, provide Parent with a reasonable
opportunity to participate in the preparation of, and to review prior to the
filing or submission of, material documents relating to, and provide Parent
the
reasonable opportunity to participate in, any proceedings, meetings or
substantive telephone conversations relating to the defense or settlement of
any
shareholder litigation against the Company and/or its directors relating to
the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
7.14. Transition
Committee. As promptly as practicable following the execution of this
Agreement, Parent and the Company shall establish a transition committee,
consisting of an equal number of representatives designated by each of Parent
and the Company (the “Transition Committee”). During the
period from the date of this Agreement to the Effective Time, the
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Transition
Committee will (i) confer on a regular and continued basis regarding the general
status of the ongoing operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries and
integration planning matters and (ii) communicate and consult with its members
with respect to (x) the manner in which the business of the Company and its
Subsidiaries are conducted, (y) audit and accounting procedures and policies,
and (z) the Company’s investment securities portfolio and interest rate and
other risk management policies and practices, in each case to the extent
consistent with applicable Laws, including Laws regarding the exchange of
information and other Laws regarding competition. Nothing contained
in this Section 7.14 shall be deemed to require the Company to modify or
change its loan, accrual, reserve, tax, litigation or real estate valuation
policies and practices prior to the Effective Time without the Company’s
consent.
7.15. DRIP
and
Purchase Plan. The Company shall cause the plan administrator, which is an
“agent independent of the issuer” within the meaning of Rule 10b-18 of the
Exchange Act, to satisfy, commencing as promptly as practicable following the
date of this Agreement, the Company’s obligations under the DRIP and Purchase
Plan with respect to the delivery of Company Common Stock solely through the
purchase of Company Common Stock in the open market. No later than one Business
Day following receipt of approval of this Agreement at the Company Shareholders
Meeting, the Company shall provide to each participant of the DRIP and Purchase
Plan, notice of termination of the DRIP and Purchase Plan effective no later
than one Business Day prior to the Closing Date.
7.16. Investment
Portfolio Management. The Company has advised Parent that it has determined
to take the actions with respect to its investment securities portfolio set
forth in Section 7.16 of the Company Disclosure Schedule. The Company
agrees that promptly following the date of this Agreement it shall take such
actions unless as a result of changes in prevailing interest rates, market
conditions or other similar relevant factors the Company reasonably determines
in good faith that taking such actions is no longer feasible or consistent
with
safe and sound banking practices, in which event the Company shall take such
alternative actions to achieve the objectives described in Section 7.16 of
the
Company Disclosure Schedule as the Company may determine to be feasible and
consistent with safe and sound banking practices, subject in each case to
Parent’s consent (which shall not be unreasonably withheld or
delayed). The Company shall consult with Parent on a regular basis
with respect to the execution of the actions described in Section 7.16 of the
Company Disclosure Schedule, including by providing to Parent daily updates
of
actions taken to date.
7.17. Sale
of Commerce
Banc Insurance Services, Inc. Prior to the date which is 60 days from the
date of this Agreement, the Company may enter into a definitive agreement
providing for the sale of the stock of CBIS (but excluding the sale of any
stock
or assets of eMoney Advisor, Inc.), to members of CBIS’s management, the
effectiveness of which agreement shall be conditional on the receipt of consent
thereto by Parent (which may be withheld in Parent’s sole
discretion). Parent shall have 30 days from the date of receipt of
such definitive agreement by Parent to provide notice to the Company that it
does not consent to such agreement, and if Parent does not provide such notice
within such 30-day period, Parent shall be deemed to have granted such
consent.
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ARTICLE
VIII
CONDITIONS
PRECEDENT
8.1. Conditions
to Each Party’s Obligation to Effect the Merger. The respective obligations
of each party to effect the Merger shall be subject to the satisfaction (or
waiver by all parties) at or prior to the Effective Time of the following
conditions:
(a) Shareholder
Approval. The Company shall have obtained the Required Company Vote in
connection with the approval of this Agreement.
(b) Stock
Exchange Listing. The Parent Common Shares to be issued to the holders of
Company Common Stock upon consummation of the Merger and to be reserved for
issuance upon exercise of the Parent Options issued in substitution for Company
Options pursuant to Section 2.4 shall have been authorized for listing on
the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, subject to official
notice of issuance.
(c) Regulatory
Approvals. All regulatory approvals required to consummate the transactions
contemplated hereby shall have been obtained and shall remain in full force
and
effect and all statutory waiting periods in respect thereof shall have expired
or been terminated (all such approvals and the expiration or termination of
all
such waiting periods being referred to herein as the “Requisite Regulatory
Approvals”).
(d) Form
F-4
Effectiveness. The Form F-4 shall have become effective under the Securities
Act, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Form F-4 shall have
been
issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been initiated by the
SEC
and not withdrawn.
(e) No
Injunctions or Restraints; Illegality. No order, injunction or decree issued
by any court or agency of competent jurisdiction or other legal restraint or
prohibition (an “Injunction”) preventing the consummation of the Merger
shall be in effect. No Law shall have been enacted, entered,
promulgated or enforced by any Governmental Entity which prohibits or makes
illegal the consummation of the Merger.
8.2. Conditions
to Obligations of Parent. The obligation of Parent to effect the Merger is
also subject to the satisfaction or waiver by Parent at or prior to the
Effective Time of the following conditions:
(a) Representations
and Warranties. The representations and warranties of the Company set forth
in this Agreement shall be true and correct as of the date of this Agreement
and
as of the Closing Date as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except
to
the extent they speak as of an earlier date, in which case they shall be true
and correct as though made on and as of such earlier date); provided,
however, that for purposes of determining the satisfaction of this
condition, no effect shall be given to any exception or qualification in such
representations and warranties (other than the representation and warranty
set
forth in Section 4.8(i)) relating to materiality or Material Adverse
Effect, and provided, further, that, for purposes of this
condition, such representations and warranties (other than those set forth
in
Section 4.2(a), which shall be true and correct in all material respects,
and Section 4.8(i)) shall be deemed to be true and correct in all
respects unless the failure or failures of such representations
and
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warranties
to be so true and correct, individually or in the aggregate, results or would
reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect on the
Company. Parent shall have received a certificate signed on behalf of
the Company by each of the Chairman, the President and Chief Executive Officer
and the Chief Financial Officer of Commerce Bank to the foregoing
effect.
(b) Performance
of
Obligations of the Company. The Company shall have performed in all material
respects all obligations required to be performed by it under this Agreement
at
or prior to the Effective Time, and Parent shall have received a certificate
signed on behalf of the Company by each of the Chairman, the President and
Chief
Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of Commerce Bank to such
effect.
(c) Burdensome
Condition. There shall not be any action taken, or any Law enacted, entered,
enforced or deemed applicable to the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement, by any Governmental Entity, in connection with the grant of a
Requisite Regulatory Approval or otherwise, (i) which imposes any restriction
or
condition which would reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the
aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect on either the Surviving Company or Parent
or (ii) which would result in an adverse impact on Parent’s status as a
“financial holding company” under the BHC Act, in the case of this clause (ii)
if such action is due to any fact or condition relating to the Company or any
of
its Subsidiaries.
8.3. Conditions
to Obligations of the Company. The obligation of the Company to effect the
Merger is also subject to the satisfaction or waiver by the Company at or prior
to the Effective Time of the following conditions:
(a) Representations
and Warranties. The representations and warranties of Parent set forth in
this Agreement shall be true and correct as of the date of this Agreement and
as
of the Closing Date as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to
the
extent they speak as of an earlier date, in which case they shall be true and
correct as though made on and as of such earlier date); provided,
however, that for purposes of determining the satisfaction of this
condition, no effect shall be given to any exception or qualification in such
representations and warranties (other than the representation and warranty set
forth in Section 5.8) relating to materiality or Material Adverse Effect,
and provided, further, that, for purposes of this condition, such
representations and warranties (other than those set forth in Section
5.2, which shall be true and correct in all material respects, and
Section 5.8) shall be deemed to be true and correct in all respects
unless the failure or failures of such representations and warranties to be
so
true and correct, individually or in the aggregate, results or would reasonably
be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect on Parent. The
Company shall have received a certificate signed on behalf of Parent by the
Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of Parent to the
foregoing effect.
(b) Performance
of
Obligations of Parent. Parent shall have performed in all material respects
all obligations required to be performed by it under this Agreement at or prior
to the Effective Time, and the Company shall have received a certificate signed
on behalf of Parent by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial
Officer of Parent to such effect.
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ARTICLE
IX
TERMINATION
9.1. Termination.
This Agreement may be terminated and the Merger may be abandoned at any time
prior to the Effective Time:
(a) by
mutual
consent of Parent and the Company in a written instrument;
(b) by
either
Parent or the Company if (i) any Governmental Entity which must grant a
Requisite Regulatory Approval has denied approval of the Merger and such denial
has become final and nonappealable or (ii) any Governmental Entity of competent
jurisdiction shall have issued a final nonappealable order enjoining or
otherwise prohibiting the consummation of the Merger;
(c) by
either
Parent or the Company if the Effective Time shall not have occurred on or before
July 31, 2008 (the “End Date”), unless the failure of the Effective Time
to occur by such date shall be due to the failure of the party seeking to
terminate this Agreement to perform or observe the covenants and agreements
of
such party set forth herein;
(d) by
either
Parent or the Company (provided, that the terminating party is not then
in material breach of any representation, warranty, covenant or other agreement
contained herein) if the other party shall have breached (i) any of the
covenants or agreements made by such other party herein or (ii) any of the
representations or warranties made by such other party herein, and in either
case, such breach (x) is not cured within 30 days following written notice
to
the party committing such breach, or which breach, by its nature, cannot be
cured prior to the Closing and (y) would entitle the non-breaching party not
to
consummate the transactions contemplated hereby under Article VIII
hereof;
(e) by
either
Parent or the Company if the Required Company Vote shall not have been obtained
at the Company Shareholders Meeting or at any adjournment or postponement
thereof;
(f) by
Parent if
(i)(x) the board of directors of the Company shall have failed to recommend
the
Merger and the approval of this Agreement by the shareholders of the Company,
or
(y) shall have effected a Change in Company Recommendation, (ii) the Company
shall have materially breached the terms of Section 7.4 in any respect
adverse to Parent (provided, however, so long as the Company has
directed its Representatives who are not directors, officers or employees of
the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries to, and has used its reasonable best efforts
to cause such Representatives to, comply with Section 7.4, a breach by
any such Representative of such section shall not give rise to a right of Parent
to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 9.1(f)(ii)), or
(iii) the Company shall have materially breached its obligations under
Section 7.3 by failing to call, give notice of, convene and hold the
Company Shareholders Meeting in accordance with Section 7.3;
or
(g) by
Parent if
a tender offer or exchange offer for 20% or more of the outstanding shares
of
Company Common Stock is commenced (other than by Parent or a Subsidiary
thereof), and the board of directors of the Company recommends that the
shareholders of the Company tender their shares in such tender or exchange
offer
or otherwise
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fails
to recommend that such shareholders reject such tender offer or exchange offer
within the ten (10) business day period specified in Rule 14e-2(a) under the
Exchange Act.
9.2. Effect
of
Termination.
(a) In
the event
of termination of this Agreement by either Parent or the Company as provided
in
Section 9.1, this Agreement shall forthwith become void and have no
effect, and none of Parent, Merger Sub, the Company, any of their respective
Subsidiaries or any of the officers or directors of any of them shall have
any
liability of any nature whatsoever hereunder, or in connection with the
transactions contemplated hereby, except that (i) Sections 7.2(c) and
this 9.2, and Article X, shall survive any termination of this
Agreement and (ii) notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this
Agreement, neither Parent, Merger Sub, nor the Company shall be relieved or
released from any liabilities or damages arising out of its intentional breach
of any provision of this Agreement; provided, that in no event shall any
party hereto be liable for any punitive damages.
(b) The
Company
shall pay Parent (as consideration for termination of Parent’s rights under this
Agreement) the sum of $332 million (the “Termination Payment”) if this
Agreement is terminated as follows:
(i) if
this Agreement is
terminated by Parent pursuant to Section 9.1(f) or 9.1(g), then
the Company shall pay to Parent the entire Termination Payment on the second
Business Day following such termination; and
(ii) if
(A) an
Acquisition Proposal with respect to the Company shall have been publicly
announced or otherwise communicated or made known to the senior management
or
board of directors of the Company (or any person shall have publicly announced,
communicated or made publicly known an intention, whether or not conditional,
to
make an Acquisition Proposal) at any time after the date of this Agreement
and
(B) following the occurrence of an event described in clause (A), this Agreement
is terminated by (x) Parent pursuant to Section 9.1(d), (y) by either
Parent or the Company pursuant to Section 9.1(e) or (z) by either Parent
or the Company pursuant to Section 9.1(c) without a vote of the
shareholders of the Company contemplated by this Agreement at the Company
Shareholders Meeting having occurred, then the Company shall pay to Parent
(1)
an amount equal to $25 million on the second Business Day following such
termination and (2) if the Company or any of its Subsidiaries enters into a
definitive agreement with respect to, or consummates a transaction contemplated
by any Acquisition Proposal, in either case, within 15 months of any such
termination, then the Company shall pay the remainder of the Termination Payment
to Parent on the date of such execution or consummation, provided,
however, that solely for the purpose of this clause (2), all references
in the definition of Acquisition Proposal to “20% or more” shall instead refer
to “35% or more”.
(c) Any
Termination Payment or portion thereof that becomes payable pursuant to
Section 9.2(b) shall be paid by wire transfer of immediately available
funds to an account designated by Parent.
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(d) The
Company
and Parent agree that the agreements contained in Section 9.2(b) are
integral parts of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and that
the
payments provided for therein do not constitute a penalty. If the
Company fails to pay Parent the amounts due under such sections within the
time
periods specified in such sections, the Company shall pay the costs and expenses
(including reasonable legal fees and expenses) incurred by Parent in connection
with any action, including the filing of any lawsuit, taken to collect payment
of such amounts, together with interest on the amount of any such unpaid amounts
at the prime lending rate prevailing during such period as published in The
Wall Street Journal, calculated on a daily basis from the date such amounts
were required to be paid until the date of actual payment.
ARTICLE
X
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
10.1. Nonsurvival
of
Representations, Warranties and Agreements. None of the representations,
warranties, covenants and agreements in this Agreement or in any instrument
delivered pursuant to this Agreement shall survive the Effective Time, except
for those covenants and agreements contained herein and therein which by their
terms apply or are to be performed in whole or in part after the Effective
Time.
10.2. Amendment.
Subject to compliance with applicable Law, this Agreement may be amended by
the
parties hereto at any time before or after approval of the matters presented
in
connection with the Merger by the shareholders of the Company; provided,
however, that after any such approval, no amendment shall be made
which
by Law requires further approval by such shareholders without such further
approval. This Agreement may not be amended except by an instrument in writing
signed on behalf of each of the parties hereto.
10.3. Extension;
Waiver. At any time prior to the Effective Time, the parties hereto may, to
the extent legally allowed, (a) extend the time for the performance of any
of
the obligations or other acts of the other parties hereto, (b) waive any
inaccuracies in the representations and warranties contained herein or in any
document delivered pursuant hereto and (c) waive compliance with any of the
agreements or conditions contained herein. Any agreement on the part
of a party hereto to any such extension or waiver shall be valid only if set
forth in a written instrument signed on behalf of such party, but such extension
or waiver or failure to insist on strict compliance with an obligation,
covenant, agreement or condition shall not operate as a waiver of, or estoppel
with respect to, any subsequent or other failure.
10.4. Expenses.
Except as provided in Section 9.2 hereof, all costs and expenses incurred
in connection with this Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions
contemplated hereby shall be paid by the party incurring such expense whether
or
not the Merger is consummated, except that expenses incurred in connection
with
printing and mailing of the Form F-4 and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and
in
connection with notices or other filings with any Governmental Entities under
any Laws shall be shared equally by Parent and the Company.
10.5. Notices.
All
notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be
deemed given if delivered personally, telecopied (upon confirmation of receipt),
on the first Business Day following the date of dispatch if delivered by a
recognized next day courier service, or on the third Business Day following
the
date of mailing if delivered by registered or
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certified
mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid. All notices hereunder shall
be
delivered as set forth below, or pursuant to such other instructions as may
be
designated in writing by the party to receive such notice.
(a) if
to Parent
or Merger Sub, to:
The
Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion
Tower
00
Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxx
Xxxxxxx,
Xxxxxxx X0X
XX0, Xxxxxx
Telecopy: (000)
000-0000
Attention: Xxxxxxxxxxx
X. Xxxxxxxx
with
copies to (which shall not constitute notice):
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxx LLP
000
Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx
Xxxx, XX 00000
Attn:
Xxx X.
Xxxxxxxx
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx
Fax: (000)
000-0000
(b) if
to the Company,
to:
Commerce
Bancorp,
Inc.
0000
Xxxxx 00 Xxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxxx, XX
00000-0000
Fax:
(000)
000-0000
Attn: Xxxxxxx
X.
Xxxxx
with
a copy to (which shall not constitute notice):
Xxxxxxxx
&
Xxxxxxxx
LLP
000
Xxxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxx
Xxxx, XX
00000-0000
Attn: H.
Xxxxxx
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Fax: (000)
000-0000
10.6. Interpretation.
The words “hereof,” “herein” and “hereunder” and words of similar import when
used in this Agreement shall refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to
any
particular provision of this Agreement, and Section references are to this
Agreement unless otherwise specified. Whenever the words “include,”
“includes” or “including” are used in this Agreement, they shall be deemed to be
followed by the words “without limitation.” The term “person” as used in
this Agreement shall mean any individual, corporation, limited liability
company, limited or general partnership, joint venture, government or any agency
or political subdivision thereof, or any other entity or any group (as defined
in Section 13(d)(3) of the
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Exchange
Act) comprised of two or more of the foregoing. The table of contents
and headings contained in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and
shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.
In
this Agreement, all references to “dollars” or “$” are to United States
dollars. The term “knowledge”, when used in this Agreement
means, (i) with respect to Parent, the actual knowledge, after reasonable
inquiry in the course of their employment, of the individuals set forth in
Section 10.6 of the Parent Disclosure Schedule, and (ii) with respect to the
Company, the actual knowledge, after reasonable inquiry in the course of their
employment, of the individuals set forth in Section 10.6 of the Company
Disclosure Schedule.
10.7. Counterparts.
This Agreement may be executed by facsimile and in counterparts, all of which
shall be considered an original and one and the same agreement and shall become
effective when counterparts have been signed by each of the parties and
delivered to the other parties, it being understood that all parties need not
sign the same counterpart.
10.8. Entire
Agreement. This Agreement (together with the documents and the instruments
referred to herein) constitutes the entire agreement and supersedes all prior
agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the parties with
respect to the subject matter hereof, other than the Company Confidentiality
Agreement and the Parent Confidentiality Agreement, which shall survive the
execution and delivery of this Agreement to the extent provided in Section
7.2(c).
10.9. Governing
Law; Consent to Jurisdiction; Waiver of Jury Trial. This Agreement shall be
governed and construed in accordance with the Laws of the State of New York
(except to the extent that mandatory provisions of federal Law or the NJBCA
are
applicable).
(a) Each
of
Parent, Merger Sub and the Company hereby irrevocably and unconditionally
consents to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York and in the courts hearing
appeals therefrom unless no basis for federal jurisdiction exists, in which
event each party hereto irrevocably consents to the exclusive jurisdiction
and
venue of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, and the
courts hearing appeals therefrom, for any action, suit or proceeding arising
out
of or relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated
hereby. Each of Parent, Merger Sub and the Company hereby irrevocably
and unconditionally waives, and agrees not to assert, by way of motion, as
a
defense, counterclaim or otherwise, in any such action, suit or proceeding,
any
claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of the aforesaid
courts for any reason, other than the failure to serve process in accordance
with this Section 10.9, that it or its property is exempt or immune from
jurisdiction of any such court or from any legal process commenced in such
courts (whether through service of notice, attachment prior to judgment,
attachment in aid of execution of judgment, execution of judgment or otherwise),
and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, that the action, suit
or
proceeding in any such court is brought in an inconvenient forum, that the
venue
of such action, suit or proceeding is improper, or that this Agreement, or
the
subject matter hereof, may not be enforced in or by such courts and further
irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, the
benefit of any defense that would hinder, xxxxxx or delay the levy, execution
or
collection of any amount to which the party is entitled pursuant to the final
judgment of any court having jurisdiction. Each of Parent, Merger Sub
and the Company irrevocably and unconditionally waives, to the
fullest
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57
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extent
permitted by applicable Law, any and all rights to trial by jury in connection
with any action, suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement
or the transactions contemplated hereby.
(b) Parent
hereby
irrevocably designates its New York Branch, located at 00 Xxxx 00xx Xxxxxx,
Xxx
Xxxx, XX 00000 (in such capacity, the “Parent Process Agent”) its
designee, appointee and agent to receive, for and on its behalf, service of
process in such jurisdiction in any action, suit or proceeding arising out
of or
relating to this Agreement and such service shall be deemed complete upon
delivery thereof to the Parent Process Agent; provided, that in the case
of any such service upon the Parent Process Agent, the party effecting such
service shall also deliver a copy thereof to Parent in the manner provided
in
Section 10.5. Each of Parent, Merger Sub and the Company further
irrevocably consents to the service of process out of any of the aforementioned
courts in any such action, suit or proceeding by the mailing of copies thereof
by registered mail, postage prepaid, to such party at its address specified
pursuant to Section 10.5, such service of process to be effective upon
acknowledgment of receipt of such registered mail.
(c) Each
of
Parent, Merger Sub and the Company expressly acknowledges that the foregoing
waivers are intended to be irrevocable under the laws of the State of New York
and of the United States of America; provided, that consent by Parent and
the Company to jurisdiction and service contained in this Section 10.9 is
solely for the purpose referred to in this Section 10.9 and shall not be
deemed to be a general submission to said courts or in the State of New York
other than for such purpose.
10.10. Specific
Performance. Each of Parent, Merger Sub and the Company agree that
irreparable damage would occur if any of the provisions of this Agreement were
not performed in accordance with their specific terms on a timely basis or
were
otherwise breached. It is accordingly agreed that Parent, Merger Sub
and the Company shall be entitled to injunctive or other equitable relief to
prevent breaches of this Agreement and to enforce specifically the terms and
provisions of this Agreement in any court identified in Section 10.9 above,
this
being in addition to any other remedy to which they are entitled at law or
in
equity.
10.11. Severability.
Any term or provision of this Agreement which is determined by a court of
competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any
jurisdiction shall, as to that jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of
such invalidity or unenforceability without rendering invalid, illegal or
unenforceable the remaining terms and provisions of this Agreement or affecting
the validity, legality or enforceability of any of the terms or provisions
of
this Agreement in any other jurisdiction, and if any provision of this Agreement
is determined to be so broad as to be unenforceable, the provision shall be
interpreted to be only so broad as is enforceable, in all cases so long as
neither the economic nor legal substance of the transactions contemplated hereby
is affected in any manner materially adverse to any party or its
shareholders. Upon any such determination, the parties shall
negotiate in good faith in an effort to agree upon a suitable and equitable
substitute provision to effect the original intent of the parties.
10.12. Publicity.
Parent and the Company shall consult with each other before issuing any press
release with respect to this Agreement, the Merger or the other transactions
contemplated hereby and shall not issue any such press release or make any
such
public
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58
-
statement
without the prior consent of the other party, which shall not be unreasonably
withheld; provided, however, that a party may, without the prior
consent of the other party (but after prior consultation, to the extent
practicable in the circumstances) issue such press release or make such public
statement as may be required by Law or the rules and regulations of the New
York
Stock Exchange, or in the case of Parent, the Toronto Stock
Exchange. Without limiting the reach of the preceding sentence,
Parent and the Company shall cooperate to develop all public announcement
materials and make appropriate management available at presentations related
to
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement as reasonably requested by
the
other party. In addition, the Company and its Subsidiaries shall
consult with Parent regarding communications with customers, stockholders,
prospective investors and employees related to the transactions contemplated
hereby.
10.13. Assignment;
Third
Party Beneficiaries. Neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests
or obligations of any party hereunder shall be assigned by any of the parties
hereto (whether by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written
consent of the other party, except that each of Parent and Merger Sub may assign
all or any of its rights and obligations hereunder to any wholly-owned
subsidiary of Parent or Merger Sub; provided, that no such assignment
shall change the amount or nature of the Merger Consideration, relieve the
assigning party of its obligations hereunder if such assignee does not perform
such obligations or materially impede or delay consummation of the
Merger. Subject to the preceding sentence, this Agreement will be
binding upon, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the parties and
their respective successors and permitted assigns. Except as
otherwise specifically provided in Section 7.8 hereof, this Agreement
(including the documents and instruments referred to herein) is not intended
to
confer upon any person other than the parties hereto any rights or remedies
hereunder.
10.14. Construction.
This Agreement and any documents or instruments delivered pursuant hereto or
in
connection herewith shall be construed without regard to the identity of the
person who drafted the various provisions of the same. Each and every
provision of this Agreement and such other documents and instruments shall
be
construed as though all of the parties participated equally in the drafting
of
the same. Consequently, the parties acknowledge and agree that any
rule of construction that a document is to be construed against the drafting
party shall not be applicable either to this Agreement or such other documents
and instruments.
[Remainder
of page intentionally left blank]
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59
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IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, Parent, Merger Sub and the Company have caused this Agreement
to be executed by their respective officers hereunto duly authorized as of
the
date first above written.
THE
TORONTO-DOMINION
BANK
By:
/s/
Xxxxxx
Xxxxx
Name:
W. Xxxxxx
Xxxxx
Title:
President and Chief
Executive Officer
CARDINAL
MERGER
CO.
By:
/s/
Xxxx
Xxxxx
Name:
Xxxx
Xxxxx
Title:
President
COMMERCE
BANCORP,
INC.
By:
/s/
Xxxxxxx X.
Xxxxx
Name:
Xxxxxxx X.
Xxxxx
Title:
Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial
Officer
[Agreement
and Plan of Merger Signature Page]
Exhibit
A
Form
of Affiliate Letter
The
Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion
Tower
00
Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx Xxxx
Xxxxxxx,
Xxxxxxx X0X XX0, Xxxxxx
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
I
have been advised that as of the date hereof I may be deemed to be an
“affiliate” of Commerce Bancorp, Inc., a New Jersey corporation (the
“Company”), as the term “affiliate” is defined for purposes of paragraphs
(c) and (d) of Rule 145 (“Rule 145”) of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended
(including the rules and regulations thereunder, the “Act”). I have been
further advised that pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger,
dated October 2, 2007 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and between the
Company, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, a Canadian chartered bank (“Parent”)
and Cardinal Merger Co., a New Jersey corporation (“Merger Sub”), Merger
Sub will be merged with and into the Company (the “Merger”), and each
share of common stock, par value $1.00 per share, of the Company (“Company
Common Stock”) shall be converted into the right to receive common shares,
no par value per share, of Parent (“Parent Common Shares”), and cash as
provided in the Merger Agreement. I further understand that I may
receive Parent Common Shares as a result of the exercise of Company Options
or
other similar rights. All capitalized terms used in this letter but
not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in the Merger
Agreement.
I
hereby represent, warrant and covenant to Parent that with respect to in the
event I receive any Parent Common Shares as a result of the Merger:
1. The
Parent Common Shares to be received by me as a result of the Merger or any
securities which may be paid as a dividend or otherwise distributed thereon
or
with respect thereto or issued or delivered in exchange or substitution
therefor, or any Company Option, right or other interest (all such shares and
securities being referred to herein as “Restricted Securities”) will be
taken for my own account, and not for others, directly or indirectly, in whole
or in part, and I will not make any sale, transfer or other disposition of
Restricted Securities in violation of the Act.
2. I
have carefully read this letter and discussed its requirements and other
applicable limitations upon my ability to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose
of
Restricted Securities to the extent I believed necessary with my counsel or
counsel for the Company.
3. I
have been advised that the issuance of Parent Common Shares to me pursuant
to
the Merger will be registered with the SEC under the Act. However, I
have also been advised that, since at the time the Merger will be submitted
for
a vote of the shareholders of the Company I may be deemed to have been an
affiliate of the Company and the distribution by me of Restricted Securities
has
not been registered under the Act, I may not sell, transfer or otherwise dispose
of Restricted Securities issued to me as a result of the Merger unless (i)
such
sale,
transfer or other disposition has been registered under the Act, (ii) such
sale,
transfer or other disposition is made in conformity with the volume and other
limitations of Rule 145, or (iii) in the opinion of counsel in form
and substance reasonably acceptable to Parent, such sale, transfer or other
disposition is otherwise exempt from registration under the Act.
4. I
understand that Parent is under no obligation to register the sale, transfer
or
other disposition of Restricted Securities by me or on my behalf under the
Act
or to take any other action necessary in order to make compliance with an
exemption from such registration available.
5. I
also understand that stop transfer instructions will be given to Parent’s
transfer agent with respect to Restricted Securities and that there will be
placed on the certificates for Restricted Securities issued to me, or securities
issued in substitution therefor, a legend stating in substance:
“The
shares represented by this certificate (a) were issued in a transaction to
which
Rule 145 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, applies and (b) may
not
be sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of except or unless (1) covered
by an
effective registration statement under such Act, (2) in conformity with the
volume and other limitations of Rule 145 under such Act, or (3) in accordance
with a legal opinion in form and substance reasonably acceptable to The
Toronto-Dominion Bank that such sale or transfer is otherwise exempt from the
registration requirements of such Act.”
6.
I understand and agree that, unless the transfer by me of my Restricted
Securities has been registered under the Act or is a sale made in conformity
with the provisions of Rule 145, Parent reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to put the following legend on the certificates issued to my
transferee:
“The
shares represented by this certificate have not been registered under the
Securities Act of 1933 and were acquired from a person who received such shares
in a transaction to which Rule 145 promulgated under the Securities Act of
1933
applies. The shares have been acquired by the holder not with a view to, or
for
resale in connection with, any distribution thereof within the meaning of the
Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered, sold, pledged or otherwise
transferred except in accordance with an exemption from the registration
requirements of the Securities Act of 1933.”
7. I
understand and agree that the legends set forth in paragraphs (5) and (6) above
shall be removed by delivery of substitute certificates without such legend,
and/or the issuance of a letter to Parent’s transfer agent removing such stop
transfer instructions, and the above restrictions on sale will cease to apply
(A) upon my request, if one year (or such other period as may be required by
Rule 145(d)(2) under the Act or any successor thereto) shall have
elapsed
from
the Closing Date and the other conditions of such Rule are fulfilled to the
reasonable satisfaction of Parent; (B) upon my request, if two years (or such
other period as may be required by Rule 145(d)(3) under the Act or any successor
thereto) shall have elapsed from the Effective Date and the other conditions
of
such Rule are fulfilled to the reasonable satisfaction of Parent; or (C) I
have
delivered to Parent (i) a copy of a letter from the staff of the SEC, an opinion
of counsel in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Parent, or other
evidence reasonably satisfactory to Parent to the effect that such legend and/or
stop transfer instructions are not required for purposes of the Act or (ii)
evidence or representations reasonably satisfactory to Parent that the
securities represented by such certificates are being or have been transferred
in a transaction made in conformity with the provisions of Rule 145 or pursuant
to an effective registration under the Act.
8. By
executing this letter, without limiting or abrogating the agreements that I
have
made as set forth above, I am not admitting that I am an “affiliate” of the
Company as described in the first paragraph of this letter or waiving any rights
I may have to object to any claim that I am such an “affiliate” on or after the
date of this letter.
9. I
understand and agree that the foregoing provisions also apply to (i) my
spouse,
(ii)
any relative of mine or my spouse occupying my home, (iii) any trust or estate
in which I, my spouse or any such relative owns at least 10% beneficial interest
or of which any of us serves as trustee, executor or in any similar capacity,
and (iv) any corporate or other organization in which I, my spouse or any such
relative owns at least 10% of any class of equity securities or of the equity
interest (the “Affiliated Persons”). I will cause the Affiliated Persons
to comply with the terms of this Letter Agreement as if a party
hereto.
10. This
Letter Agreement shall terminate and be of no further force and effect if the
Merger Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms.
11. This
Letter Agreement shall be governed by the Laws of the State of New
York.
[Signature
Page Follows]
Very
truly
yours,
______________________________________
Name: