Burlington Coat Factory Holdings, Inc. THIS AWARD AND ANY SECURITIES ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF THIS OPTION ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON VOTING AND TRANSFER AND REQUIREMENTS OF SALE AND OTHER PROVISIONS AS SET FORTH HEREIN AND IN THE STOCKHOLDERS...
Exhibit
10.9
Burlington
Coat Factory Holdings, Inc.
2006
Management Incentive Plan
THIS
AWARD AND ANY SECURITIES ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF THIS OPTION ARE SUBJECT TO
RESTRICTIONS ON VOTING AND TRANSFER AND REQUIREMENTS OF SALE AND OTHER
PROVISIONS AS SET FORTH HEREIN AND IN THE STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT AMONG
BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY HOLDINGS, INC. AND CERTAIN INVESTORS AND MANAGERS, DATED
AS OF APRIL 13, 2006 (THE “STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT”). THIS OPTION AND
ANY SECURITIES ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF THIS OPTION CONSTITUTE “MANAGEMENT
SHARES” AS DEFINED THEREIN.
Burlington
Coat Factory Holdings, Inc.
Amendment To Non-Qualified
Stock Option Agreement
This
amendment (“Amendment”) amends a stock option granted pursuant to a
Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement (the “Original Agreement”) dated
________________, 200_ (the “Original Grant Date”) granted by Burlington Coat
Factory Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), to the
undersigned (the “Employee”), pursuant to, and subject to the terms of the
Burlington Coat Factory Holdings, Inc. 2006 Management Incentive Plan (the
“Plan”), which is incorporated herein by reference and of which the Employee
hereby acknowledges receipt. The date of this Amendment is
____________ __, 2009 (the “New Grant Date”). Capitalized terms not
otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Original
Agreement or in the Plan, as the case may be.
1. Re-Pricing of Tranche
1. This certificate evidences the agreement between the
Company and the undersigned Employee that the exercise price of the Tranche 1
Options under the Original Agreement is hereby modified to be $90 per
Unit. Except as herein modified, all other terms and conditions of
the Tranche 1 Options shall remain the same as in effect in the Original
Agreement immediately prior to the date of this Amendment including, without
limitation, the vesting thereof which shall be unaffected hereby. Any
previously vested Tranche 1 Options shall remain vested, and any remaining
unvested Tranche 1 Options shall continue to vest pursuant to the original
vesting schedule which commenced as of the Original Grant Date.
2. Exchange of
Options. This certificate evidences the agreement between the
Company and the undersigned Employee on the New Grant Date to cancel Tranche 3
of the Options granted to the Employee under the Original Agreement, in exchange
for the New Tranche 3 Options (defined below) granted as of the New Grant Date
to the Employee to purchase (the “Option”), in whole or in part, on the terms
provided herein and in the Plan, the following Units as set forth
below.
(a)
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[«newTranche3»]
Units at $90 per Unit (the “New Tranche 3 Options” and together with the
Tranche 1 Options and Tranche 2 Options under the Original Agreement, the
“Options”).
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Each
“Unit” consists of 9 shares of Class A Common Stock of the Company, par value
$.001 per share, and 1 share of Class L Common Stock of the Company, par value
$.001 per share, subject to adjustment as provided in the Plan. The
Option evidenced by this certificate is not intended to qualify as an incentive
stock option under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code (the
“Code”).
3. Vesting and
Exercisability.
(a)
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Vesting of
Units. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, the New
Tranche 3 Options shall vest according to the following
schedule:
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(i)
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40%
on second anniversary of the New Grant
Date;
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(ii)
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20%
on third anniversary of the New Grant
Date;
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(iii)
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20%
on fourth anniversary of the New Grant Date;
and
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(iv)
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20%
on the fifth anniversary of the New Grant
Date.
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All
Options shall become exercisable in the event of a Change of Control (as defined
in the Stockholders Agreement).
(b)
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Exercisability of
Option . Subject to the terms of the Plan, Options may
be exercised in whole or in part at any time following such time as such
Option vests. The latest date on which an Option may be
exercised (the “Final Exercise Date”) is the date which is the tenth
anniversary of the Grant Date, subject to earlier termination in
accordance with the terms and provisions of the Plan and this
Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt the Option may only be
exercised for whole Units and not any individual component shares
thereof.
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4. Exercise of Option.
Each election to exercise this Option shall be subject to the terms and
conditions of the Plan and shall be in writing, signed by the Employee or by his
or her executor or administrator or by the person or persons to whom this Option
is transferred by will or the applicable laws of descent and distribution (the
“Legal Representative”), and made pursuant to and in accordance with the terms
and conditions set forth in the Plan.
5. Cessation of
Employment. Unless the Administrator determines otherwise, the
following will apply if the Employee’s Employment ceases:
(a)
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Options
that have not vested will terminate
immediately.
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(b)
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Units
that were issued upon an exercise of the Option (including Units issued
upon exercise of Options contemplated by clause (c) below) will be subject
to the call options described in Sections 5 of the Stockholders
Agreement.
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(c)
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Subject
to the terms of Section 6(a)(3) of the Plan, the vested Options will
remain exercisable for the shorter of (i) a period of 60 days or (ii) the
period ending on the Final Exercise Date, and will thereupon
terminate.
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6. Share Restrictions,
etc. The Employee’s rights with respect to the Option and
shares of Stock issued upon exercise of the Option are subject to the
restrictions and other provisions contained in the Plan and the Stockholders
Agreement in addition to such other restrictions, if any, as may be imposed by
law. In the event of a conflict between the Plan and the Stockholders
Agreement, the Stockholders Agreement shall control.
7. Legends, Retention of
Shares, etc. Shares of Stock comprising Units
issued upon exercise of the Option shall bear such legends as are required by
the Stockholders Agreement and as may be determined by the Administrator prior
to issuance. Unvested Units purchased by the Employee upon an
exercise of the Option may be retained by the Company until such Units
vest.
8. Transfer of Option.
This Option is not transferable by the Employee other than in accordance with
the Stockholders Agreement.
9. Effect on
Employment. Neither the grant of this Option, nor the issuance
of Units upon exercise of this Option shall give the Employee any right to be
retained in the employ of the Company or its Affiliates, affect the right of the
Company or its Affiliates to discharge or discipline the Employee at any time or
affect any right of Employee to terminate his employment at any
time.
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10. Certain Important Tax
Matters. The Employee expressly acknowledges that the
Employee’s rights hereunder, including the right to be issued Units upon
exercise of Options, are subject to the Employee promptly paying to the Company
in cash (or by such other means as may be acceptable to the Administrator in its
discretion) all taxes required to be withheld. The Employee also
authorizes the Company or its subsidiaries to withhold such amount from any
amounts otherwise owed to the Employee.
11. Provisions of the
Plan. This Option is subject in its entirety to the provisions
of the Plan, which are incorporated herein by reference. A copy of
the Plan as in effect on the date of the grant of this Option has been furnished
to the Employee. By exercising all or any part of this Option, the
Employee agrees to be bound by the terms of the Plan and this
Option. In the event of any conflict between the terms of this Option
and the Plan, the terms of this Option shall control.
12. Non-Compete,
Non-Solicitation.
(a)
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In
further consideration of the Award granted to Employee hereunder, Employee
acknowledges and agrees that during the course of Employee’s employment
with the Company and its subsidiaries Employee shall become familiar, and
during Employee’s employment with the predecessors of the Company and its
subsidiaries, Employee has become familiar, with the Company’s trade
secrets and with other confidential information and that Employee’s
services have been and shall be of special, unique and extraordinary value
to the Company and its subsidiaries, and therefore, Employee agrees that,
during his or her employment with the Company and, if the Employee
terminates his or her employment with the Company for any reason, for a
period of one year thereafter (the “Non-Compete Period”), Employee shall
not directly or indirectly (whether as an owner, partner, shareholder,
agent, officer, director, employee, independent contractor, consultant or
otherwise) own any interest in, operate, invest in, manage, control,
participate in, consult with, render services for (alone or in association
with any person or entity), in any manner engage in any business activity
on behalf of a Competing Business within any geographical area in which
the Company or its subsidiaries currently operates or plans to
operate. Nothing herein shall prohibit Employee from being a
passive owner of not more than 2% of the outstanding stock of any class of
a corporation which is publicly traded, so long as Employee has no active
participation in the business of such corporation. For purposes
of this paragraph, “Competing Business” means each of the following
entities, together with their respective subsidiaries and affiliates: TJ
Maxx, Xxxxxxxx’x, Xxxx Stores, Steinmart, Century 21, Xxxxxx Xxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx Stores and Daffy
Dan’s.
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(b)
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During
the Non-Compete Period, Employee shall not, directly or indirectly, and
shall ensure that any person or entity controlled by Employee does not,
(i) induce or attempt to induce any employee of the Company or any
subsidiary to leave the employ of the Company or such subsidiary, or in
any way interfere with the relationship between the Company or any
subsidiary and any employee thereof, (ii) hire, directly or through
another person, any person (whether or not solicited) who was an Employee
of the Company or any subsidiary at any time within the one year period
before Employee’s termination from employment, (iii) induce or
attempt to induce any customer, supplier, licensee, licensor, franchisee
or other business relation of the Company or any subsidiary to cease doing
business with the Company or such subsidiary, assist any Competing
Business or in any way interfere with the relationship between any such
customer, supplier, licensee or business relation and the Company or any
subsidiary (Employee understands that any person or entity that Employee
contacted during the one year period prior to the date of Employee’s
termination of employment for the purpose of soliciting sales from such
person or entity shall be regarded as a “potential customer” of the
Company and its subsidiaries as to whom the Company has a protectible
proprietary interest) or (iv) make or solicit or encourage others to
make or solicit directly or indirectly any defamatory statement or
communication about the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their
respective businesses, products, services or activities (it being
understood that such restriction shall not prohibit truthful testimony
compelled by valid legal process).
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13. Enforcement.
(a)
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Employee
acknowledges and agrees that the Company entered into this Agreement in
reliance on the provisions of Section 12 and the enforcement of this
Agreement is necessary to ensure the preservation, protection and
continuity of the business of the Company and its subsidiaries and other
Confidential Information and goodwill of the Company and its subsidiaries
to the extent and for the periods of time expressly agreed to
herein. Employee acknowledges and agrees that he has carefully
read this Agreement and has given careful consideration to the restraints
imposed upon Employee by this Agreement, and is in full accord as to their
necessity for the reasonable and proper protection of confidential and
proprietary information of the Company and its subsidiaries now existing
or to be developed in the future. Employee expressly
acknowledges and agrees that each and every restraint imposed by this
Agreement is reasonable with respect to subject matter, time period and
geographical area.
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(b)
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Notwithstanding
any provision to the contrary herein, the Company or its subsidiaries may
pursue, at its discretion, enforcement of Section 11 in any court of
competent jurisdiction (each, a
“Court”).
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(c)
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Whenever
possible, each provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such
manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any
provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or
unenforceable in any respect under any applicable law or rule in any
jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not
affect any other provision or any other jurisdiction, but this Agreement
shall be reformed, construed and enforced in such jurisdiction as if such
invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained
herein. More specifically, if any Court determines that any of
the covenants set forth in Section 12 are overbroad or unreasonable
under applicable law in duration, geographical area or scope, the parties
to this Agreement specifically agree and authorize such Court to rewrite
this Agreement to reflect the maximum duration, geographical area and/or
scope permitted under applicable
law.
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(d)
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Because
Employee’s services are unique and because Employee has intimate knowledge
of and access to confidential information and work product, the parties
hereto agree that money damages would not be an adequate remedy for any
breach of Section 12, and any
breach of the terms of Section 11 would result in irreparable injury and
damage to the Company and its subsidiaries for which the Company and its
subsidiaries would have no adequate remedy at law. Therefore,
in the event of a breach or threatened breach of Section 11, the Company
or its successors or assigns, in addition to any other rights and remedies
existing in their favor at law or in equity, shall be entitled to specific
performance and/or immediate injunctive or other equitable relief from a
Court in order to enforce, or prevent any violations of, the provisions
hereof (without posting a bond or other security), without having to prove
damages. The terms of this Section 13 shall not prevent the Company or
any of its subsidiaries from pursuing any other available remedies for any
breach or threatened breach of this Agreement, including the recovery of
damages from Employee.
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14. Effect of
Amendment. Except as specifically modified hereby, the terms
and conditions of the Original Agreement shall remain in full force and
effect.
15. General. For
purposes of this Option and any determinations to be made by the Administrator
hereunder, the determinations by the Administrator shall be binding upon the
Employee and any transferee.
Furthermore,
by acceptance of this Option, the undersigned agrees hereby to become a party
to, and be bound by the terms of, the Stockholders Agreement as a Manager (and
to the extent the undersigned is not already a party thereto, the undersigned
shall execute a joinder thereto in form and substance acceptable to the
Company). The Option and shares of Stock comprising Units issued upon
exercise of the Option will be treated as Management Shares under the
Stockholders Agreement.
In
Witness Whereof, the undersigned Company and Employee each have executed this
Amendment to Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement as of the ___ day of
__________, 2009.
The
Company:
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BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY
HOLDINGS, INC.
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By:
____________________________
Name:
Title:
The
Employee:
________________________________
[ ]
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