AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGER BY AND AMONG KOOSHAREM CORPORATION, SELECT MERGER SUB INC. AND WESTAFF, INC. DATED AS OF JANUARY 28, 2009
EXHIBIT
99.2
AGREEMENT
AND PLAN OF MERGER
BY
AND AMONG
KOOSHAREM
CORPORATION,
SELECT
MERGER SUB INC.
AND
WESTAFF,
INC.
DATED
AS OF JANUARY 28, 2009
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Page
|
||||
ARTICLE
I
|
||||
THE
MERGER
|
||||
Section
1.1
|
The
Merger
|
2
|
||
Section
1.2
|
Effective
Time
|
2
|
||
Section
1.3
|
Effects
of the Merger
|
2
|
||
Section
1.4
|
Subsequent
Actions
|
2
|
||
Section
1.5
|
Certificate
of Incorporation; By-Laws; Directors and Officers
|
3
|
||
Section
1.6
|
Conversion
of Securities
|
3
|
||
Section
1.7
|
Exchange
of Certificates.
|
4
|
||
Section
1.8
|
Stock
Plans.
|
7
|
||
Section
1.9
|
Time
and Place of Closing
|
8
|
||
ARTICLE
II
|
||||
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES
|
||||
OF
MERGER SUB AND PARENT
|
||||
Section
2.1
|
Organization
|
8
|
||
Section
2.2
|
Authority
|
8
|
||
Section
2.3
|
No
Conflict; Required Filings and Consents.
|
9
|
||
Section
2.4
|
Financing
Arrangements
|
9
|
||
Section
2.5
|
No
Prior Activities
|
10
|
||
Section
2.6
|
Brokers
|
10
|
||
Section
2.7
|
Information
Supplied
|
10
|
||
Section
2.8
|
Interested
Stockholder
|
11
|
||
Section
2.9
|
Sufficiency
of Funds
|
11
|
||
Section
2.10
|
No
Reliance
|
11
|
||
Section
2.11
|
Solvency
|
11
|
||
Section
2.12
|
Parent
Borrowing Availability
|
12
|
||
ARTICLE
III
|
||||
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY
|
||||
Section
3.1
|
Organization
and Qualification
|
12
|
||
Section
3.2
|
Capitalization
|
13
|
||
Section
3.3
|
Subsidiaries
|
14
|
||
Section
3.4
|
Authority
|
15
|
||
Section
3.5
|
No
Conflict; Required Filings and Consents.
|
16
|
||
Section
3.6
|
SEC
Filings; Financial Statements.
|
16
|
||
Section
3.7
|
Absence
of Certain Changes or Events
|
18
|
i
Section
3.8
|
Litigation
|
18
|
Section
3.9
|
Franchises.
|
19
|
Section
3.10
|
Employee
Benefit Plans
|
20
|
Section
3.11
|
Information
Supplied
|
22
|
Section
3.12
|
Conduct
of Business; Permits; Compliance with Laws
|
22
|
Section
3.13
|
Taxes.
|
23
|
Section
3.14
|
Environmental
Matters.
|
25
|
Section
3.15
|
Real
Property; Title to Assets; Liens.
|
25
|
Section
3.16
|
Intellectual
Property.
|
26
|
Section
3.17
|
Material
Contracts.
|
27
|
Section
3.18
|
Insurance
|
29
|
Section
3.19
|
Collective
Bargaining; Labor Disputes; Compliance.
|
29
|
Section
3.20
|
Transactions
with Affiliates
|
32
|
Section
3.21
|
Brokers
|
32
|
Section
3.22
|
Opinion
of Financial Advisor
|
32
|
Section
3.23
|
Control
Share Acquisition
|
33
|
Section
3.24
|
Vote
Required
|
33
|
ARTICLE
IV
|
||
COVENANTS
AND AGREEMENTS
|
||
Section
4.1
|
Conduct
of Business Pending the Merger
|
33
|
Section
4.2
|
No
Solicitations.
|
36
|
ARTICLE
V
|
||
ADDITIONAL
AGREEMENTS
|
||
Section
5.1
|
Proxy
Statement.
|
37
|
Section
5.2
|
Meeting
of Stockholders of the Company.
|
38
|
Section
5.3
|
Additional
Agreements
|
39
|
Section
5.4
|
Notification
of Certain Matters
|
39
|
Section
5.5
|
Access
to Information.
|
40
|
Section
5.6
|
Public
Announcements
|
41
|
Section
5.7
|
Approval
and Consents; Cooperation
|
41
|
Section
5.8
|
Further
Assurances
|
41
|
Section
5.9
|
Indemnification
and Insurance.
|
42
|
Section
5.10
|
Continuation
of Employee Benefits
|
43
|
Section
5.11
|
Company
ESPP
|
44
|
Section
5.12
|
Financing;
Forbearance Agreements; Subordinated Loan Agreement.
|
44
|
Section
5.13
|
Takeover
Statutes
|
46
|
Section
5.14
|
Disposition
of Litigation
|
46
|
Section
5.15
|
Delisting
|
46
|
Section
5.16
|
Insurance
Claims
|
46
|
Section
5.17
|
Purchase
Agreement
|
46
|
Section
5.18
|
Remaining
Commitment Letter
|
47
|
ii
Section
5.19
|
Parent
Borrowing Availability
|
47
|
ARTICLE
VI
|
||
CONDITIONS
OF MERGER
|
||
Section
6.1
|
Conditions
to Each Party's Obligation to Effect the Merger
|
47
|
Section
6.2
|
Additional
Conditions to Obligation of the Company to Effect the
Merger
|
47
|
Section
6.3
|
Additional
Conditions to Obligations of Parent and Merger Sub to Effect the
Merger
|
48
|
ARTICLE
VII
|
||
TERMINATION,
AMENDMENT AND WAIVER
|
||
Section
7.1
|
Termination
|
50
|
Section
7.2
|
Effect
of Termination; Termination Fee Payable in Certain
Circumstances.
|
51
|
ARTICLE
VIII
|
||
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
|
||
Section
8.1
|
Non-Survival
of Representations, Warranties and Agreements
|
53
|
Section
8.2
|
Notices
|
53
|
Section
8.3
|
Expenses
|
54
|
Section
8.4
|
Definitions
|
54
|
Section
8.5
|
Headings
|
63
|
Section
8.6
|
Severability
|
63
|
Section
8.7
|
Entire
Agreement; No Third-Party Beneficiaries
|
63
|
Section
8.8
|
Assignment
|
63
|
Section
8.9
|
Governing
Law; Jurisdiction
|
63
|
Section
8.10
|
Amendment
|
64
|
Section
8.11
|
Waiver
|
64
|
Section
8.12
|
Counterparts
|
64
|
Section
8.13
|
Waiver
of Jury Trial
|
64
|
Section
8.14
|
Interpretation
|
65
|
Section
8.15
|
Disclosure
Generally
|
65
|
Section
8.16
|
Specific
Performance
|
65
|
iii
INDEX
OF DEFINED TERMS
Page
1996
Stock Incentive Plan
|
14
|
Exchange
Act
|
9
|
|
Actions
|
42
|
Exchange
Agent
|
4
|
|
affiliate
|
54
|
Exchange
Fund
|
5
|
|
Affiliate
Transaction
|
32
|
Financing
|
10
|
|
Aggregated
Commitment Letter
|
45
|
Financing
Agreement
|
10
|
|
Agreement
|
1
|
Financing
Agreement Repayment Amount
|
||
Book-Entry
Shares
|
5
|
10
|
||
Certificate
of Merger
|
2
|
Financing
Failure
|
58
|
|
Certificates
|
5
|
Forbearance
Agreements
|
58
|
|
Cleanup
|
54
|
FTC
Rule
|
19
|
|
Closing
|
8
|
GAAP
|
58
|
|
Closing
Date
|
8
|
Governance
Agreement
|
58
|
|
Code
|
6
|
Governmental
Entity
|
11
|
|
Commitment
Letters
|
9
|
Hazardous
Materials
|
59
|
|
Company
|
1
|
Incentive
Plans
|
7
|
|
Company
Acquisition
|
55
|
Indemnified
Parties
|
42
|
|
Company
Alternative Proposal
|
55
|
Insurance
Policies
|
29
|
|
Company
Board
|
1
|
Intellectual
Property Rights
|
27
|
|
Company
Change of Recommendation
|
38
|
knowledge
|
59
|
|
Company
Common Stock
|
3
|
Leased
Real Property
|
59
|
|
Company
Disclosure Letter
|
12
|
Licensed
Franchise
|
59
|
|
Company
ESPP
|
14
|
Lien
|
9
|
|
Company
Material Contracts
|
29
|
Material
Adverse Effect
|
12
|
|
Company
Preferred Stock
|
13
|
Maximum
Amount
|
42
|
|
Company
Recommendation
|
38
|
Merger
|
1
|
|
Company
SEC Reports
|
16
|
Merger
Consideration
|
3
|
|
Company
Stockholder Approval
|
33
|
Merger
Sub
|
1
|
|
Company
Stockholders' Meeting
|
10
|
Merger
Sub Common Stock
|
3
|
|
Company
Superior Proposal
|
56
|
New
Commitment Letters
|
45
|
|
Company
Termination Fee
|
52
|
Non-Employee
Director Program
|
14
|
|
Confidentiality
Agreement
|
56
|
Options
|
7
|
|
control
|
57
|
Parent
|
1
|
|
Copyrights
|
27
|
Parent
Confidentiality Agreement
|
60
|
|
DGCL
|
1
|
Parent
Disclosure Letter
|
8
|
|
Dissenting
Shares
|
4
|
Parent
First Lien Credit Agreement
|
12
|
|
Draft
Company 2008 Form 10-K
|
17
|
Parent
Representatives
|
40
|
|
Effect
|
12
|
Parent
Termination Fee
|
52
|
|
Effective
Time
|
2
|
Patents
|
27
|
|
Employee
Plans
|
21
|
Permits
|
23
|
|
Employment
Contract
|
32
|
Permitted
Liens
|
60
|
|
Environmental
Claim
|
57
|
Person
|
60
|
|
Environmental
Laws
|
57
|
Proxy
Statement
|
37
|
|
ERISA
|
20
|
Purchase
Agreement
|
1
|
|
ERISA
Affiliate
|
21
|
Real
Property
|
61
|
iv
Real
Property Leases
|
61
|
Subordinated
Loan Agreement
|
61
|
|
Regulatory
Laws
|
9
|
Subsidiary
|
61
|
|
Release
|
61
|
Surviving
Corporation
|
2
|
|
Remaining
Commitment Letter
|
47
|
Takeover
Statute
|
33
|
|
Remaining
Commitment Letter Amount
|
47
|
Tax
Return
|
62
|
|
Representatives
|
36
|
Taxes
|
62
|
|
Required
Approvals
|
41
|
Termination
Date
|
50
|
|
Restricted
Stock
|
7
|
Termination
Fee
|
52
|
|
Restricted
Stock Unit Award
|
7
|
Territorial
Rights
|
20
|
|
Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx
|
17
|
Trademarks
|
27
|
|
SEC
|
61
|
Traditional
Franchise
|
62
|
|
Software
|
27
|
Treasury
Regulations
|
62
|
|
Solvent
|
11
|
U.S.
Bank
|
10
|
|
Stock
Incentive Plan
|
13
|
UFOC
|
19
|
|
WARN
Act
|
32
|
|||
WUSA
|
10
|
v
AGREEMENT
AND PLAN OF MERGER
This
AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGER, dated as of January 28, 2009 (this "Agreement"), by and
among KOOSHAREM CORPORATION, a California corporation doing business as Select
Staffing ("Parent"), SELECT
MERGER SUB INC., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent
("Merger Sub"),
and WESTAFF, INC., a Delaware corporation (the "Company").
W
I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS,
the respective Boards of Directors of Parent, Merger Sub and the Company have
deemed it advisable and in the best interests of their respective corporations
and stockholders that Parent and the Company consummate the merger and other
transactions provided for herein; and
WHEREAS,
the respective Boards of Directors of Merger Sub and the Company have approved,
in accordance with the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the
"DGCL"), this
Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, including the merger of
Merger Sub with and into the Company with the Company continuing as the
surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the "Merger"), all in
accordance with the DGCL and upon the terms and subject to the conditions set
forth herein and the Board of Directors of the Company (the "Company Board") has
resolved to recommend to its stockholders the approval and adoption of this
Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, including the Merger, upon
the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein; and
WHEREAS,
in connection with the execution of this Agreement, DelStaff LLC, a Delaware
limited liability company ("DelStaff") intends to
enter into a Stock & Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of the date hereof,
with Parent (the "Purchase Agreement"),
which agreement provides, among other things, that, subject to the terms and
conditions thereof, DelStaff will vote its shares of Company Common Stock in
favor of the Merger and the approval and adoption of this Agreement and against
certain competing transactions and DelStaff will sell all of its shares of
Company Common Stock to Parent immediately prior to the Effective Time;
and
WHEREAS,
the Company Board has approved the transactions contemplated by the Purchase
Agreement, including for purposes of Section 203 of the DGCL; and
WHEREAS,
Parent, as the sole stockholder of Merger Sub, has approved and adopted this
Agreement and approved the transactions contemplated hereby, including the
Merger; and
WHEREAS,
Parent, Merger Sub and the Company desire to make certain representations,
warranties, covenants and agreements in connection with the Merger and also to
prescribe various conditions to the Merger; and
WHEREAS,
terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in Section 8.4, unless
otherwise noted.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing premises and the mutual covenants
and agreements herein contained, and intending to be legally bound hereby, the
parties hereby agree as follows:
ARTICLE I
THE
MERGER
Section
1.1 The
Merger. At
the Effective Time and subject to and upon the terms and conditions of this
Agreement and the DGCL, Merger Sub shall be merged with and into the Company,
the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub shall cease, and the Company
shall continue as the surviving corporation. The Company, as the
surviving corporation after the Merger, is hereinafter sometimes referred to as
the "Surviving
Corporation."
Section
1.2 Effective
Time. As
promptly as practicable, and in any event within two business days after the
satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in Article VI, the
parties hereto shall cause the Merger to be consummated by filing a Certificate
of Merger (the "Certificate of
Merger") with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, in such
form as required by, and executed in accordance with the relevant provisions of,
the DGCL (the time of such filing, or such later time as shall be specified
therein, being the "Effective
Time").
Section
1.3 Effects of the
Merger. At
the Effective Time, the effects of the Merger shall be as provided in the
applicable provisions of the DGCL. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, and subject thereto, at the Effective Time all the property,
rights, privileges, powers and franchises of the Company and Merger Sub shall
vest in the Surviving Corporation, and all debts, liabilities and duties of the
Company and Merger Sub shall become the debts, liabilities and duties of the
Surviving Corporation.
Section
1.4 Subsequent
Actions. If,
at any time after the Effective Time, the Surviving Corporation shall consider
or be advised that any deeds, bills of sale, assignments, assurances or any
other actions or things are necessary or desirable to vest, perfect or confirm
of record or otherwise in the Surviving Corporation its right, title or interest
in, to or under any of the rights, properties or assets of either of the Company
or Merger Sub acquired or to be acquired by the Surviving Corporation as a
result of, or in connection with, the Merger or otherwise to carry out this
Agreement, the officers and directors of the Surviving Corporation shall be
authorized to execute and deliver, in the name and on behalf of either the
Company or Merger Sub, all such deeds, bills of sale, assignments and assurances
and to take and do, in the name and on behalf of each of such corporations or
otherwise, all such other actions and things as may be necessary or desirable to
vest, perfect or confirm any and all right, title and interest in, to and under
such rights, properties or assets in the Surviving Corporation or otherwise to
carry out this Agreement.
2
Section
1.5 Certificate
of
Incorporation; By-Laws; Directors and Officers.
(a) Subject to Section
5.9(b), at the Effective Time, the
Certificate of
Incorporation of the Company shall be amended and restated in its entirety to be identical to the
Certificate of Incorporation of Merger Sub, as in
effect immediately prior to the Effective Time, until thereafter amended in
accordance with the
DGCL and as provided in such
Certificate of
Incorporation; provided, however, that at the Effective Time, Article I of the
Certificate of
Incorporation of the Surviving Corporation shall be amended and restated in its entirety to read as
follows: "The name of the corporation is
Westaff,
Inc."
(b) Subject to Section
5.9(b), at the Effective Time, the By-Laws of the Company shall be amended and
restated in their entirety
to be identical to the By-Laws of Merger Sub, as in effect immediately prior
to the Effective Time, until thereafter amended in accordance with the DGCL and as provided in such By-Laws; provided, however, that at the Effective Time,
the title of the By-Laws of the Surviving Corporation
shall be amended and
restated in its entirety to read as follows: "By-Laws of Westaff,
Inc."
(c) At the Effective Time, the directors of
Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be the initial
directors of the Surviving Corporation, and the officers of the Company immediately prior to
the Effective Time shall be the initial officers of the Surviving Corporation,
in each case, until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified
in the manner provided in the Surviving Corporation's Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws,
or as otherwise provided by applicable law. In addition, unless otherwise determined
by Parent prior to the
Effective Time, the Company
shall cause the directors and officers of each of the
Company’s Subsidiaries immediately prior to the Effective Time
to be directors and officers, respectively, of each of the Surviving Corporation's Subsidiaries
immediately after the Effective Time, each to hold office as a director or
officer of each such Subsidiary in accordance with the provisions of the laws of the
respective jurisdiction of organization and the respective organizational
documents of each such Subsidiary.
Section
1.6 Conversion
of Securities. At
the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part
of Merger Sub, the Company or the holder of any shares of Common Stock, par
value $0.01 per share, of the Company ("Company Common
Stock"), or any shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of
Merger Sub (the "Merger Sub Common
Stock"):
(a) Company
Common Stock. Subject to adjustment in accordance with
Section
1.6(e), each share of Company Common Stock that is
issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than shares to be cancelled in
accordance with Section
1.6(c) and Dissenting
Shares) shall be converted into the right to receive from the Surviving
Corporation, and become exchangeable for, an amount in cash equal to $1.25 per
share of Company Common
Stock (as such amount may
be adjusted pursuant to Section
1.6(e), without interest,
the "Merger
Consideration"). As of the Effective Time,
all shares of Company Common Stock upon which the Merger Consideration is
payable pursuant to this
Section
1.6(a) shall no longer be
outstanding and shall automatically be cancelled and retired and shall cease to
exist, and each holder of a certificate representing any such shares of Company
Common Stock shall cease to have any rights with respect thereto, except the right to
receive the Merger Consideration.
3
(b) Merger Sub
Common Stock. Each share of Merger Sub
Common Stock that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective
Time shall be converted into and become one fully paid and nonassessable share of common
stock, $0.01 par value per share, of the Surviving Corporation, and the
Surviving Corporation shall become a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Parent.
(c) Cancellation
of Treasury Stock and Parent and
Merger
Sub-Owned Company Common
Stock. All
shares of Company Common Stock that are owned by the Company or any direct or
indirect Subsidiary of the Company and any shares of Company Common Stock owned
by Parent, Merger Sub or any subsidiary of Parent or Merger Sub or held in
the treasury of the Company
shall, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of the holder
thereof, be cancelled and retired and shall cease to exist, and no cash or other
consideration shall be delivered or deliverable in exchange
therefor.
(d) Dissenting
Shares. Notwithstanding anything in
this Agreement to the contrary, shares of Company Common Stock that are issued
and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time and that are held by a
holder who is entitled to demand and properly demands payment for such holder's shares
pursuant to, and who complies with, Section 262 of the DGCL ("Dissenting
Shares") shall not be
converted into or be exchangeable for the right to receive the Merger
Consideration (but instead
shall be only entitled to such rights as are provided by the DGCL with respect
to such Dissenting Shares), unless and until such holder shall have failed to
perfect or shall have effectively withdrawn, waived or lost such holder's right
under the DGCL. If any such holder of Company Common
Stock shall have failed to perfect or shall have effectively withdrawn or lost
such right, each Dissenting Share held by such holder shall be treated, at the
Company's sole discretion, as a share of Company Common Stock that had been converted as of the
Effective Time into the right to receive, and become exchangeable for, the
Merger Consideration in accordance with Section
1.6(a). Any
payments made in respect of Dissenting Shares shall be made by the Surviving
Corporation. The
Company shall give prompt notice to Parent and Merger Sub of any demands
received by the Company for appraisal of shares of Company Common Stock and of
attempted withdrawals of such notice and any other instruments provided pursuant
to applicable law, and Parent and Merger Sub shall
have the right to participate in and direct all negotiations and proceedings
with respect to such demands. The Company shall not, except with the
prior written consent of Parent, make any payment with respect to,
or settle or offer to settle, any such
demands or approve any withdrawal of any such demands.
(e) Adjustments. If, at any time during the period
between the date of this Agreement and the Effective Time, a change in the outstanding shares of
capital stock of the
Company shall occur by reason of any reclassification, recapitalization, stock
split or combination, exchange or readjustment of shares, the Merger
Consideration and any other amounts payable pursuant to this Agreement shall be
adjusted appropriately.
Section
1.7 Exchange of
Certificates.
(a) Exchange
Agent. At and
from time to time following the Effective Time, Parent shall deposit
with a bank or trust company reasonably acceptable to the Company
(the "Exchange
Agent"), for
the benefit of the holders
of shares of Company Common Stock that have been converted into the right to
receive, and become exchangeable for, the Merger
4
Consideration pursuant to Section
1.6(a), for exchange in
accordance with this Article
I through the
Exchange Agent, an amount
sufficient to pay the aggregate Merger Consideration (such consideration being
hereinafter referred to as the "Exchange
Fund"). The
Exchange Agent shall, pursuant to irrevocable instructions of the Surviving
Corporation, make payments
of the Merger Consideration out of the Exchange Fund. The Exchange
Fund shall not be used for any other purpose.
(b) Exchange
Procedure for
Certificates. As
soon as reasonably practicable after the Effective Time, the Surviving
Corporation shall cause the
Exchange Agent to mail to each holder of record of a certificate or certificates
which immediately prior to the Effective Time represented outstanding shares of
Company Common Stock (the "Certificates") or of non-certificated shares represented by
book entry ("Book-Entry
Shares") that were converted into the right to
receive the Merger Consideration pursuant to Section
1.6(a): (x) a letter of
transmittal in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Company (which shall
specify that delivery shall be effected, and risk of loss and title to the
Certificates or Book-Entry Shares shall pass, only upon delivery of the
Certificates or Book-Entry Shares to the Exchange Agent and shall be in such form and have such other
customary provisions as the Surviving Corporation may reasonably specify); and
(y) instructions, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Company,
for use in effecting the surrender of the Certificates or Book-Entry Shares in exchange for the Merger
Consideration. Upon surrender of a Certificate or Book-Entry Shares for
cancellation to the Exchange Agent, together with such letter of transmittal,
duly executed, and such other documents as may reasonably be required by the Exchange Agent, the holder of
such Certificate or Book-Entry Shares shall be entitled to receive in exchange
therefor the aggregate Merger Consideration into which the shares of Company
Common Stock theretofore represented by such Certificate or Book-Entry Shares shall have been
converted pursuant to Section
1.6(a), and the Certificate
or Book-Entry Shares so surrendered shall forthwith be cancelled. The
Exchange Agent shall accept such Certificates and Book-Entry Shares upon
compliance with such reasonable terms and conditions as the
Exchange Agent may impose to effect an orderly exchange thereof in accordance
with normal exchange practices. In the event of a transfer of
ownership of such Company Common Stock which is not registered in the
transfer records of the Company, payment may
be made to a Person other than the Person in whose name the Certificate or
Book-Entry Shares so surrendered is registered, if such Certificate or
Book-Entry Shares shall be properly endorsed or otherwise be in
proper form for transfer and the Person
requesting such payment shall pay any transfer or other Taxes required by reason
of the payment to a Person other than the registered holder thereof or establish
to the reasonable satisfaction of the Surviving Corporation that such Taxes have been paid or are not
applicable. Until surrendered as contemplated by this Section
1.7(b), each Certificate or
Book-Entry Share (other than a Certificate or Book-Entry Share representing
shares of Company Common Stock cancelled in accordance with Section
1.6(c) and other than
Dissenting Shares) shall be deemed at any time after the Effective Time to
represent only the right to receive upon such surrender the Merger
Consideration, without interest, into which the shares of Company Common
Stock theretofore
represented by such Certificate or Book-Entry Share shall have been converted
pursuant to Section
1.6(a). No
interest will be paid or will accrue on the consideration payable upon the
surrender of any Certificate or Book-Entry Share.
(c) No Further
Ownership Rights in Company Common Stock. All consideration paid upon
the surrender of Certificates or Book-Entry Shares in accordance with
5
the terms of this Article
I shall be deemed to have
been paid in full satisfaction of all rights pertaining to the shares of Company Common
Stock theretofore represented by such Certificates or Book-Entry Shares, subject, however, to any obligation of
the Surviving Corporation to pay any dividends or make any other distributions
with a record date prior to the Effective Time which may have been
authorized or made with respect to shares of Company Common Stock which remain
unpaid or unsatisfied at the Effective Time, and there shall be no further
registration of transfers on the stock transfer books of the Surviving Corporation of the shares of
Company Common Stock which were outstanding immediately prior to the Effective
Time. If, after the Effective Time, the Certificates or Book-Entry Shares are presented to the Surviving
Corporation or the Exchange Agent for any reason, they shall be cancelled
and exchanged as provided in this Article
I, except as otherwise
provided by applicable law.
(d) Termination
of the Exchange Fund. Any portion of the Exchange Fund which
remains unclaimed by the holders of Company Common Stock for six months after the Effective Time shall be
delivered to the Surviving
Corporation and any holders
of the Certificates or Book-Entry Shares who have not theretofore complied with
this Article
I shall thereafter look
only to the Surviving Corporation and only as general creditors thereof
for payment of their claim for the Merger Consideration and, if applicable, any
unpaid dividends or other distributions which such holder may be due on Company
Common Stock, under applicable law. All rights of any former holder of Company Common
Stock to receive the Merger Consideration hereunder shall, to the extent such
Merger Consideration remains unclaimed, terminate on the date that is six months
prior to the date on which such unclaimed Merger Consideration would otherwise become payable to
a Governmental Entity pursuant to any applicable abandoned property, escheat or
similar law.
(e) No
Liability. None
of the Company, Merger Sub, Parent, the Surviving Corporation or the Exchange
Agent, or any of their
respective employees, officers, directors, stockholders, agents or affiliates,
shall be liable to any Person in respect of any cash delivered to a public
official pursuant to any applicable abandoned property, escheat or similar
law.
(f) Investment
of the Exchange
Fund. The
Exchange Agent shall invest any cash in the Exchange Fund as directed by Parent;
provided, however, that such investments shall be in
obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States of America. Any interest and other
income resulting from such
investments shall be paid to Parent.
(g) Withholding
Rights. The
Surviving Corporation shall be entitled, and shall be entitled to direct the
Exchange Agent, to deduct and withhold from the consideration otherwise payable
pursuant to this Agreement
to any holder of shares of Company Common Stock such amounts as the Surviving
Corporation is required to deduct and withhold with respect to the making of
such payment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the
"Code"), or any provision of state, local or
foreign tax law. To the extent that amounts are so deducted and
withheld by the Surviving Corporation, such withheld amounts shall be treated
for all purposes of this Agreement as having been paid to the holder of the
shares of Company Common Stock in respect
of which such deduction and withholding was made by the Surviving
Corporation.
(h) Lost
Certificates. If
any Certificate shall have been lost, stolen or
6
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 the Surviving Corporation, the
posting by such Person of a bond in such reasonable amount as the Surviving
Corporation may require 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 payable pursuant to
this Agreement in respect of the shares of Company Common Stock represented by such
Certificate.
Section
1.8 Stock
Plans.
(a) Prior to the Effective Time, the Company
shall take all actions necessary to provide that, at the Effective Time, each
then outstanding option to purchase shares of Company Common Stock (the
"Options") granted under any of the Company's
stock option or incentive plans listed in Section
3.2 of the Company Disclosure Letter, each
as amended (collectively, the "Incentive
Plans"), or granted other than pursuant
to such Incentive Plans, whether or not then exercisable or
vested, shall be cancelled in exchange for the right to receive, within ten (10) business
days following the
Effective Time, from the Surviving Corporation, an amount in cash in respect thereof
equal to the product of (i)
the excess, if any, of the Merger Consideration over the per share exercise
price of such Option, multiplied by (ii) the number of shares of Company Common
Stock subject to such Option (such payment to be net of applicable
withholding Taxes, if any).
(b) Except as provided herein or as
otherwise agreed to by the parties and to the extent permitted by the Incentive
Plans, (i) the Company shall cause the Incentive Plans to terminate as of the
Effective Time and cause the provisions in any other plan, program or arrangement
providing for the issuance or grant by the Company of any interest in respect of
the capital stock of the Company to terminate and have no further force or
effect as of the Effective Time and (ii) the Company shall ensure that following the Effective Time
no holder of Options or any participant in the Incentive Plans or anyone other
than Parent shall hold or have any right to acquire any equity securities of the
Company or the Surviving Corporation.
(c) Prior to the Effective Time, the Company shall take all
actions necessary to provide that, at the Effective Time, all shares of Company Common Stock subject to
vesting and transfer or other restrictions ("Restricted
Stock") shall become fully vested and all restrictions on such shares
shall lapse. Pursuant to Section
1.6(a), such shares shall
be cancelled, retired and shall cease to exist,
and shall be converted into the right to receive from the Surviving Corporation
the Merger Consideration.
(d) Prior to the Effective Time, each outstanding right
to receive Company Common Stock pursuant to a restricted stock unit, stock unit award or stock appreciation right granted under any Incentive Plans that is subject to
restrictions (whether
performance-based,
time-based, or otherwise)
(each, a "Restricted
Stock Unit Award") shall
terminate and be of no
further value unless all applicable performance or vesting criteria with respect
to such Restricted Stock Unit has been satisfied prior to the Effective
Time. As of the
Effective Time, each such Restricted Stock Unit Award which has not lapsed immediately prior to the
Effective Time and for
which all applicable performance or vesting criteria has been satisfied, shall be settled in shares of Company Common
Stock in accordance with the terms of such Restricted Stock Unit
Award.
7
Section
1.9 Time and
Place of Closing. Unless
otherwise mutually agreed upon in writing by Parent and the Company, the closing
of the Merger (the "Closing") will be
held at such location as the parties shall mutually agree, at 10:00 a.m., local
time, on the first business day following the date that all of the conditions
precedent specified in Article VI (other
than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing,
but subject to the fulfillment or waiver of those conditions) have been
satisfied or, to the extent permitted by applicable law, waived by the party or
parties permitted to do so (such date being referred to hereinafter as the
"Closing
Date").
ARTICLE II
REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES
OF MERGER SUB AND
PARENT
Except
as set forth in the Disclosure Letter delivered by Parent and Merger Sub to the
Company prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, after giving
effect to Section
8.15 (the "Parent Disclosure
Letter"), each of Merger Sub and Parent hereby represents and warrants to
the Company as follows:
Section
2.1 Organization. Each
of Merger Sub and Parent is a corporation duly incorporated, validly existing
and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is
incorporated and has the requisite corporate power and authority to own, operate
or lease the properties that it purports to own, operate or lease and to carry
on its business in all material respects as it is now being
conducted. Parent is duly qualified or licensed as a foreign
corporation to do business, and is in good standing, in each jurisdiction where
its business or the character of its properties owned, possessed, licensed,
operated or leased, or the nature of its activities, makes such qualification
necessary, except for such failure which, when taken together with all other
such failures, would not reasonably be expected to prevent or materially impair
the ability of Parent to consummate the transactions contemplated
hereby.
Section
2.2 Authority. Each
of Merger Sub and Parent has all requisite corporate power and authority to
enter into this Agreement and the Purchase Agreement, as applicable, and carry
out their respective obligations hereunder and thereunder. The
execution and delivery of this Agreement by each of Merger Sub and Parent and
the consummation by each of Merger Sub and Parent of the transactions
contemplated hereby and by the Purchase Agreement have been duly authorized by
all necessary corporate action on the part of each of Merger Sub and Parent and
no other corporate proceeding is necessary for the execution and delivery of
this Agreement or the Purchase Agreement by either Merger Sub or Parent, the
performance by each of Merger Sub and Parent of their respective obligations
hereunder or thereunder and the consummation by each of Merger Sub and Parent of
the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. This Agreement and
the Purchase Agreement have been duly executed and delivered by each of Merger
Sub and Parent and constitute a legal, valid and binding obligation of each of
Merger Sub and Parent, enforceable against each of Merger Sub and Parent in
accordance with their terms, except that (i) such enforcement may be subject to
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar
laws, now or hereafter in effect, relating to creditors' rights generally and
(ii) equitable remedies of specific performance and injunctive and other
forms of equitable relief may be subject to equitable defenses and to the
discretion of the court before which any proceeding therefor may be
brought.
8
Section
2.3 No Conflict;
Required Filings and
Consents.
(a) The execution and delivery of this
Agreement and the Purchase Agreement by each of Merger Sub and Parent, as
applicable, do not, and the performance of this Agreement and the Purchase
Agreement by each of Merger Sub and Parent, as applicable, and the consummation of the
transactions contemplated hereby will not, (i) subject to the requirements,
filings, consents and approvals referred to in Section
2.3(b), conflict with or violate any law,
regulation, court order, judgment or decree applicable to Merger Sub or Parent or
by which their respective property is bound or subject, (ii) violate or conflict
with the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of Merger Sub or the
Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of Parent or (iii) subject to the requirements, filings, consents
and approvals referred to in Section
2.3(b), result in any breach of or constitute
a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a
default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, cancellation or preemption of,
or result in the creation of a lien, security interest, pledge, claim, charge,
restriction, covenant, condition or encumbrance of any nature whatsoever
("Lien") on any of the property or assets of
Merger Sub or Parent
pursuant to, any contract, agreement, indenture, lease or other instrument of
any kind, permit, license or franchise to which Merger Sub or Parent is a party
or by which either Merger Sub or Parent or any of their respective properties
are bound or subject except, in the case of
clause (iii), for such
breaches, defaults, rights, or Liens which would not materially impair the
ability of Parent or Merger Sub to consummate the
transactions contemplated hereby.
(b) Except for applicable
requirements, if any, of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act"), and the filing of
the Certificate of Merger with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware,
neither Parent nor Merger Sub is required to submit any notice, report or other filing
with any Governmental Entity in connection with the execution, delivery or
performance of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions
contemplated hereby, except for such of the foregoing, including under
Regulatory Laws, as are required by reason
of the legal or regulatory status or the activities of the Company or its
Subsidiaries or by reason of facts specifically pertaining to any of
them. No waiver, consent, approval or authorization of any
Governmental Entity is required to be obtained or
made by Parent or Merger Sub in connection with their execution, delivery or
performance of this Agreement or the Purchase Agreement, except for such of the
foregoing as are required by reason of the legal or regulatory status or the activities of the Company
or its Subsidiaries or by reason of facts specifically pertaining to any of
them. For purposes of this Agreement, "Regulatory
Laws" means any Federal,
state, county, municipal, local or foreign statute, ordinance, rule,
regulation, permit, consent, waiver, notice, approval, registration, finding of
suitability, license, judgment, order, decree, injunction or other authorization
applicable to, governing or relating to the legal or regulatory status or the activities of the
Company.
Section
2.4 Financing
Arrangements. A
true and correct copy of each fully-executed commitment letter, on behalf of
Parent and by and among certain affiliates of Parent and Bank of the West,
Community Bank of Nevada and Pacific Western Bank, respectively, and dated as of
January 16, 2009, January 13, 2009, and January 16, 2009, respectively (the
"Commitment
Letters"), has previously been provided to the
Company. Pursuant to the Commitment Letters, the lenders party
thereto have committed in the aggregate, subject to the respective terms and
conditions set forth therein, to provide financing on the terms set forth
9
therein
in an aggregate amount equal to $23,000,000, which, when aggregated with the
amount of the financing contemplated by the Remaining Commitment Letter, would
equal $28,000,000 (collectively, the "Financing Agreement
Repayment Amount"), to replace the financing agreement, dated as of
February 14, 2008 (as amended, the "Financing Agreement")
among Westaff (USA), Inc. ("WUSA"), the Company,
as parent guarantor, certain lenders party thereto and U.S. Bank National
Association, as agent for the lenders thereto and letter of credit issuer
("U.S. Bank")
(the "Financing"). The
Commitment Letters, in the respective forms so delivered are, as of the date
hereof, in full force and effect and are a valid and binding obligation of the
parties thereto other than the lenders party thereto (such non-lender parties,
the “Non-Lender
Parties”) and, to the knowledge of Parent, the lenders party
thereto. As of the date hereof, no event has occurred which, with or
without notice, lapse of time or both, would, individually or in the aggregate
constitute a default or breach on the part of the Non-Lender Parties under any
term or condition of any Commitment Letter other than to the extent that any
term or condition requires any action by, or otherwise relates to, the
Company. Parent and Merger Sub have fully paid any and all commitment
fees or other fees required by each Commitment Letter to be paid on or before
the date of this Agreement. As of the date hereof, Parent and Merger
Sub have no reason to believe that they will be unable to satisfy on a timely
basis any term or condition of closing to be satisfied by them and/or the
Non-Lender Parties contained in any Commitment Letter or that the Financing will
not be available to them on the Closing Date. No Commitment Letter
has been amended or modified except as permitted by this Agreement and, as of
the date hereof, the commitments contained in each Commitment Letter have not
been withdrawn or rescinded in any respect. There are no conditions
precedent or other similar contingencies to obtaining the funding of the full
amount of the Financing to be made available on the Closing Date as described in
the Commitment Letters, other than as set forth in the respective Commitment
Letters.
Section
2.5 No Prior
Activities. Except
for obligations or liabilities incurred in connection with its incorporation or
the negotiation and consummation of this Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby (including the Financing), Merger Sub has not incurred any
obligations or liabilities, other than in connection with its incorporation, and
has not engaged in any business or activities of any type or kind
whatsoever.
Section
2.6 Brokers. No
broker, finder or investment banker is entitled to any brokerage, finder's or
other fee or commission in connection with the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement based upon arrangements made by and on behalf of Merger Sub, Parent or
any of its affiliates.
Section
2.7 Information
Supplied. None
of the information to be supplied in writing by Merger Sub or Parent
specifically for inclusion in the Proxy Statement contemplated by Section 5.1 will, on
the date it is filed and on the date it is first published, sent or given to the
holders of Company Common Stock or at the time of any meeting of the Company's
stockholders to consider and vote upon the Merger Agreement (the "Company Stockholders'
Meeting"), contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to
make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they are
made, not misleading. If, at any time prior to the Company
Stockholders' Meeting, any event with respect to either Merger Sub or Parent, or
with respect to information supplied in writing by either Merger Sub or Parent
specifically for inclusion in the
10
Proxy
Statement, shall occur which is required to be described in an amendment of, or
supplement to, such Proxy Statement, such event shall be so described by either
Merger Sub or Parent, as applicable, and provided to the Company. All
documents that Merger Sub or Parent is responsible for filing with any federal,
state, provincial, local and foreign government, governmental,
quasi-governmental, supranational, regulatory or administrative authority,
agency, commission or any court, tribunal, or judicial or arbitral body (each, a
"Governmental
Entity") will comply in all material respects with the provisions of
applicable law as to the information required to be contained
therein. Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither Merger Sub nor Parent
makes any representation or warranty with respect to the information supplied or
to be supplied by or on behalf of the Company for inclusion or incorporation by
reference in the Proxy Statement.
Section
2.8 Interested
Stockholder. As
of the date hereof, neither Parent nor Merger Sub is an "interested stockholder"
with respect to the Company, as such term is defined in Section 203 of the
DGCL.
Section
2.9 Sufficiency
of Funds. Parent
has sufficient funds to pay in full the Merger Consideration pursuant to Section
1.6(a).
Section
2.10 No
Reliance. Parent
and Merger Sub acknowledge that none of the Company, its Subsidiaries, nor any
other Person has made any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to
the accuracy or completeness of any information regarding the Company, its
Subsidiaries, their respective businesses or financial condition or any of their
assets, liabilities or operations or other matters that is not included in this
Agreement or the Company Disclosure Letter. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, none of the Company, its Subsidiaries, nor any
other Person has made a representation or warranty to Parent or Merger Sub with
respect to (a) any projections, estimates or budgets for the businesses of the
Company or its Subsidiaries, or (b) any material, documents or information
relating to the Company or its Subsidiaries made available to Parent and Merger
Sub or their counsel, accountants or advisors in any data room or otherwise,
except as expressly covered by a representation or warranty set forth in Article
III or specifically referred to in the Company Disclosure Letter.
Section
2.11 Solvency. As
of the Effective Time, after giving effect to all of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and the Purchase Agreement, including without
limitation the Financing, any alternative financing and the payment of the
aggregate Merger Consideration, any repayment or refinancing of debt
contemplated in this Agreement or the Commitment Letters, and payment of all
related fees and expenses, and assuming for these purposes that, as of the
Effective Time, the representations set forth in Article III shall be true and
correct in all material respects, to the knowledge of Parent, each of Parent and
the Surviving Corporation are Solvent. For the purposes of this Section 2.11, the
term “Solvent” when used with respect to any Person, means that, as of any date
of determination: (a) the “fair saleable value” of the assets of such Person
will, as of such date, exceed (i) the value of all liabilities of such Person,
including contingent and other liabilities, as of such date, as such quoted
terms are generally determined in accordance with applicable federal laws
governing determinations of the insolvency of debtors, and (ii) the amount that
will be required to pay the probable liabilities of such Person on its existing
debts (including contingent liabilities) as such debts become absolute and
matured, (b) such Person will not have, as of such date, unreasonably small
capital for the operation of the businesses in which it is engaged or proposed
to be engaged following such date,
11
and
(c) such Person will be able to pay its liabilities, including contingent and
other liabilities, as they mature.
Section
2.12 Parent
Borrowing Availability. As of the date hereof,
Parent has at least $5,000,000 in aggregate
borrowing availability
under that certain First Lien Credit and Guaranty Agreement, dated as of July
12, 2007, among Parent, certain subsidiaries of Parent (as guarantors), the
lenders party thereto, BNP Paribas Securities Corp. (as co-lead arranger) and
Bank of the West (as administrative agent,
collateral agent, documentation agent, co-lead arranger, co-bookrunner, issuing
bank and swing line lender)
(as amended, the "Parent First
Lien Credit Agreement"); provided, however, that the representation and warranty
in this Section
2.12 shall terminate at the
time Parent delivers to the Company the Remaining Commitment Letter as set forth
in Section
5.18.
ARTICLE III
REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY
Except
as set forth in the Disclosure Letter delivered by the Company to Parent and
Merger Sub at or prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, after
giving effect to Section 8.15 (the
"Company Disclosure
Letter"), or in any Company SEC Reports (as defined in Section 3.6(a))
filed and publicly available prior to the date of this Agreement or the Draft
Company 2008 Form 10-K (as defined in Section 3.6(c)), but, in each case, as
applicable, excluding (i) any prospective or forward looking information in any
"Risk Factors" sections or in any other sections, and (ii) any documents
incorporated by reference but which have not been filed with the SEC as of the
date of this Agreement, the Company hereby represents and warrants to Merger Sub
and Parent as follows:
Section
3.1 Organization
and Qualification. Each
of the Company and the Company's Subsidiaries is duly organized, validly
existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is
organized and has all requisite power and authority necessary to own, possess,
license, operate or lease the properties that it purports to own, possess,
license, operate or lease and to carry on its business as it is now being
conducted. Each of the Company and the Company's Subsidiaries is duly
qualified or licensed to do business, and is in good standing, in each
jurisdiction where its business or the character of its properties owned,
possessed, licensed, operated or leased, or the nature of its activities, makes
such qualification necessary, except for such failure which, when taken together
with all other such failures, would not reasonably be expected to result in a
Material Adverse Effect. For purposes of this Agreement, "Material Adverse
Effect" means any effect, change, fact, event, occurrence, development or
circumstance (any such item, an "Effect") that,
individually or together with any other Effect, (A) is or would reasonably be
expected to result in a material adverse effect on or change in the condition
(financial or otherwise), properties, business, operations, results of
operations, assets or liabilities of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as
a whole, or (B) would reasonably be expected to prohibit, restrict or materially
impede the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement,
including the Merger; provided, however, that none of
the following shall constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether
there has been or will be, a "Material Adverse Effect": any Effect caused by or
resulting from (i) general changes or developments in the industry in which the
Company operates, except to the extent such effect has a materially
disproportionate effect on the Company and its Subsidiaries and
12
Franchises,
taken as a whole, relative to others in the industries in which the Company and
any of its Subsidiaries or Franchises operate, (ii) political instability, acts
of terrorism or war, except to the extent such effect has a materially
disproportionate effect on the Company and its Subsidiaries and Franchises,
taken as a whole, relative to others in the industries in which the Company and
any of its Subsidiaries or Franchises operate, (iii) any change affecting the
securities, credit, financial or other capital markets or the United States
economy generally or the economy of any region in which the Company and any of
its Subsidiaries or Franchises conducts business that is material to the
business of the Company and its Subsidiaries and Franchises, taken as a whole,
except to the extent such effect has a materially disproportionate effect on the
Company and its Subsidiaries and Franchises, taken as a whole, relative to
others in the industries in which the Company and any of its Subsidiaries or
Franchises operate, (iv) any change in the Company's stock price or trading
volume or listing status on any exchange or inter-dealer quotation market (it
being understood that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to
such change in stock price or trading volume may be deemed to constitute, or be
taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a Material
Adverse Effect), (v) any failure, in and of itself, by the Company to meet any
internal or published projections, forecasts or revenue or earnings predictions
for any period ending on or after the date of this Agreement (it being
understood that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such
failure may be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining
whether there has been or will be, a Material Adverse Effect), (vi) the announcement of the execution
of this Agreement, or the pendency of the consummation of the Merger, (vii) any
change in any applicable law, rule or regulation of GAAP or interpretation thereof after the date
hereof, except to the extent such effect has a materially
disproportionate effect on the Company and its Subsidiaries and Franchises,
taken as a whole, relative to others in the industries in which the Company and
any of its Subsidiaries or Franchises operate, or (viii) the execution and performance
of or compliance with this Agreement. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the parties agree that a Material Adverse Effect shall have occurred
if the consolidated revenues derived from the Company's Domestic Business
Services segment for the six (6) week period ending on the Saturday immediately
prior to the Closing Date (the "pre-closing period")
shall be, in the aggregate, less than 75% of the consolidated revenues derived
from the Company's Domestic Business Services segment for an assumed six (6)
week period that is comprised of each of the weeks ended December 6, 2008,
December 13, 2008, December 20, 2008, January 10, 2009, January 17, 2009 and
January 24, 2009 (the "pre-signing period");
provided, however, that if any
customer from which the Company derives revenues during the pre-signing period
shall, after the date of this Agreement, (i) terminate or reduce the level of
services provided to it by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and (ii) enter
into any new or expanded contract for services with Parent or any affiliate of
Parent, then the Company shall be deemed to have derived revenues from such
customer during the pre-closing period in an amount equal to the revenues
derived from such customer during the pre-signing period.
Section
3.2 Capitalization. The
authorized capital stock of the Company consists of (i) 25,000,000 shares of
Company Common Stock and (ii) 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value
$0.01 per share ("Company Preferred
Stock"). As of the date of this Agreement: (A) 16,697,010
shares of Company Common Stock were issued and outstanding; (B) no shares of
Company Preferred Stock were issued and outstanding; (C) 1,500,000 shares of
Company Common Stock were reserved for grants of Options, Restricted Stock, and
Restricted Stock Units under the 2006 Stock Incentive Plan (the "Stock Incentive
Plan"), of which 647,500
13
shares
of Company Common Stock were subject to issued and outstanding Options granted
under the Stock Incentive Plan, no shares of Restricted Stock were issued and
outstanding under the Stock Incentive Plan; and 90,000 shares of Company Common
Stock were subject to issued and outstanding Restricted Stock Units granted
under the Stock Incentive Plan; (D) 90,000 shares of Restricted Stock were
reserved for issuance under the 2006 Non-Employee Directors Equity Rights
Program (the "Non-Employee Director
Program"), of which no shares of Restricted Stock were issued and
outstanding; (E) 2,550,718 shares of Company Common Stock were subject to issued
and outstanding Options granted under the 1996 Stock Option/Stock Issuance Plan
(the "1996 Stock
Incentive Plan"), and no shares of Restricted Stock were issued and
outstanding under the 1996 Stock Incentive Plan and no Restricted Stock Units
were issued and outstanding under the 1996 Stock Incentive Plan]; (F) 673,781
shares of Company Common Stock are available for issuance pursuant to the
Company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan (as amended, and together with the
Company's International Employee Stock Purchase Plan and all stock agreements
evidencing grants thereunder, the "Company ESPP"); and
(G) all Options, Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units were granted under
the Incentive Plans and not under any other plan, program or agreement (other
than any individual award agreements made pursuant to the Incentive Plans and
forms of which have been made available to Parent). The shares of
Company Common Stock issuable pursuant to the Incentive Plans have been duly
reserved for issuance by the Company, and upon any issuance of such shares in
accordance with the terms of the Incentive Plans, such shares will be duly
authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free and clear from
any preemptive or other similar rights. All outstanding shares of
Company Common Stock are, and all shares which may be issued prior to the
Effective Time pursuant to the Incentive Plans will be when issued, duly
authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free and clear from
any preemptive or other similar rights. There are (i) no other
options, puts, calls, warrants or other rights, agreements, arrangements,
restrictions or commitments of any character obligating the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries to issue, sell, redeem, repurchase or exchange any shares of
capital stock of or other equity interests in the Company or any securities
convertible into or exchangeable for any capital stock or other equity interests
in the Company or any debt securities of the Company or to provide funds to or
make any investment (in the form of a loan, capital contribution or otherwise)
in any other entity and (ii) no bonds, debentures, notes or other indebtedness
having the right to vote on any matters on which stockholders of the Company may
vote (whether or not dependent on conversion or other trigger
event). There are no existing registration covenants with respect to
Company Common Stock or any other securities of the Company. The
Company has provided to Parent and Merger Sub a correct and complete list of
each outstanding Option, including the holder, date of grant, exercise price and
number of shares of Company Common Stock subject thereto. Prior to
the Closing, the Company will provide Parent and Merger Sub with a correct and
complete list of any changes to such information as of the Closing
Date. To the knowledge of the Company after due inquiry, no
stockholder is a party to or holds shares of Company Common Stock bound by or
subject to any voting agreement, voting trust, proxy or similar arrangement,
except for the Purchase Agreement and the Governance Agreement.
Section
3.3 Subsidiaries. All
the outstanding shares of capital stock or voting securities of, or other equity
interests in, each Subsidiary of the Company have been validly issued and are
fully paid and nonassessable and are owned by the Company, by another Subsidiary
of the Company or by the Company and another Subsidiary of the Company, free and
clear of all Liens, and free of any other restriction (including any restriction
on the right to vote,
14
sell
or otherwise dispose of such capital stock, voting securities or other equity
interests), except for restrictions imposed by applicable securities
laws. Section 3.3 of the
Company Disclosure Letter sets forth, as of the date of this Agreement, a true
and complete list of the Subsidiaries of the Company. Except for the
capital stock and voting securities of, and other equity interests in, the
Subsidiaries of the Company, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary of the
Company owns, directly or indirectly, any capital stock or voting securities of,
or other equity interests in, or any interest convertible into or exchangeable
or exercisable for, any capital stock or voting securities of, or other equity
interests in, any firm, corporation, partnership, company, limited liability
company, trust, joint venture, association or other entity. There are
no proxies or voting agreements with respect to any shares of capital stock or
other equity interests of any such Subsidiary. There are no options,
puts, calls, warrants or other rights, agreements, arrangements, restrictions or
commitments of any character obligating the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
to issue, sell, redeem, repurchase or exchange any shares of capital stock of or
other equity interests in any of the Company's Subsidiaries or any securities
convertible into or exchangeable for any capital stock or other equity
interests, or any debt securities of any of the Company's Subsidiaries or to
provide funds to or make any investment (in the form of a loan, capital
contribution or otherwise) in the Company's Subsidiaries or any other
Person.
Section
3.4 Authority.
(a) The Company has all requisite corporate power and authority
to enter into this Agreement and, subject to obtaining the Company Stockholder Approval of the Merger, to carry out
its obligations
hereunder. The execution and delivery of this Agreement by the Company and the consummation by the Company of
the transactions contemplated hereby have been authorized by all requisite
corporate action on the part of the Company, subject to obtaining the Company Stockholder
Approval, no other
corporate action is necessary for the execution and delivery of this Agreement
by the Company, the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and
the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated
hereby. This Agreement has been duly executed and
delivered by the Company
and constitutes a
legal, valid and binding
obligation of the Company,
enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, except that (i) such enforcement
may be subject to
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar
laws, now or hereafter in effect, relating to creditors' rights generally and (ii) equitable
remedies of specific performance and injunctive and other forms of
equitable relief may be
subject to equitable defenses and to the discretion of the court before which
any proceeding therefor may be brought.
(b) The Company Board, acting upon the
unanimous recommendation of the special committee of the Board of Directors,
duly and unanimously (with
three directors abstaining): (i) approved and adopted this Agreement and the
transactions contemplated hereby, including the Merger; (ii) approved the
Purchase Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, (iii) resolved
(subject to Section
4.2) to recommend that this
Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, including the Merger, be
submitted for consideration by the Company's stockholders at the Company
Stockholders' Meeting; (iv) resolved to recommend that the stockholders of the Company approve this
Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, including the Merger; (v)
determined that this Agreement and the Purchase Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby, including the Merger, are fair to, advisable and in the best
interests of the stockholders of the Company and (vi) has approved this
15
Agreement and the Purchase Agreement and
the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby for the purposes of Section
203(a)(i) of the DGCL.
Section 3.5 No Conflict;
Required Filings and Consents.
(a) The execution and delivery of this
Agreement by the Company does not, and the performance of this Agreement by the
Company and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby will not
(i) subject
to the requirements,
filings, consents and approvals referred to in Section
2.3(b), conflict with or violate in any
material respect any law, regulation, court order, judgment or decree or
Regulatory Laws applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or by which each of its or any of their
respective properties are bound or subject, (ii) violate or conflict with
the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, or (iii) subject to the requirements, filings,
consents and approvals
referred to in Section
2.3(b), result in any material breach of or
constitute a material default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or
both would become a material default) under, or terminate or cancel or give to
others any rights of
termination, acceleration or cancellation of (with or without notice or lapse of
time or both), or result in the creation of a material Lien on any of the
properties or assets of the Company or its Subsidiaries pursuant to any of the
terms, conditions or provisions of any material
contract, agreement, indenture, note, bond, mortgage, deed of trust, agreement,
Employee Plan, lease or other instrument or obligation of any kind, including
any permit, license or certificate or franchise to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a
party, of which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is the beneficiary or by
which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any of its or their respective
properties are bound or subject.
(b) Except for applicable requirements of the Exchange Act, and
filing of the Certificate of Merger and other documents required by the DGCL,
neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is required to prepare or submit
any application, notice, report or other filing with, or obtain any consent, authorization,
approval, registration or confirmation from, any Governmental Entity or third
party in connection with the execution, delivery or performance of this
Agreement by the Company and the consummation of the transactions
contemplated hereby.
Section
3.6 SEC Filings;
Financial Statements.
(a) The Company has timely filed (after
giving effect to any extended time for filing under Rule 12b-25 under the
Exchange Act) all forms, reports, documents, proxy statements and exhibits
required to be filed or
furnished with the SEC since October 29, 2005 (collectively, the "Company
SEC
Reports"; provided, however, that the term Company SEC Reports
shall be deemed to refer to the Draft Company 2008 Form 10-K and not
to the Form 10-K actually
filed by the Company with the SEC after the date hereof). The Company
SEC Reports (i) were prepared in accordance with the requirements of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities
Act") or the Exchange Act,
as the case may be, as in
effect at the time they were filed (or, in the case of registration statements
and proxy statements, on the dates of effectiveness and the dates of mailing,
respectively, and, in the case, of the Draft Company 2008 Form 10-K, on the
date of preparation and delivery to Parent,
and, in the case of any Company SEC Report amended or superseded by a filing
prior to the date of the Agreement, then on the date of such amending or
superseding filing) and (ii) did not at the time they were filed (but after giving effect to any amendments
thereto filed by the Company prior to the date hereof), or at the
16
time prepared and delivered to Parent in
the case of the Draft Company Form 10-K, and do not, as amended and
supplemented, if applicable, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or
omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in
order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which
they were made, not misleading. None of the Subsidiaries
is required to file any form, report,
proxy statement or other document with the SEC.
(b) The consolidated financial statements
contained in the Company SEC Reports complied, as of their respective dates of
filing with the SEC (or the date of preparation and delivery to Parent with respect to the
Draft Company Form 10-K), and the Company SEC Reports filed with the SEC after
the date of this Agreement will comply as of their respective dates of filing
with the SEC, in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the published
rules and regulations of the SEC with respect thereto, have been, and the
Company SEC Reports filed after the date of this Agreement will be, prepared in
accordance with GAAP (except, in the case of unaudited consolidated quarterly statements, as permitted
by Form 10-Q under the Exchange Act and except as may be indicated in the notes
thereto) and fairly present, and the financial statements contained in the
Company SEC Reports filed after the date of this Agreement will fairly present, in all material
respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company and its
Subsidiaries as of the respective dates thereof and the consolidated statements
of operations and cash flows of the Company for the periods indicated,
except in the case of unaudited quarterly
financial statements that were or are subject to normal and recurring
non-material year-end adjustments.
(c) Except for those liabilities and
obligations that are reflected or reserved against on the balance sheet
contained in the Company's
draft Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 1, 2008 as
attached to the Company Disclosure Letter (the "Draft
Company
2008 Form
10-K") or in the footnotes
to such balance sheet,
neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has any material liabilities or
obligations of any nature whatsoever (whether accrued, absolute, contingent,
known, unknown or otherwise), except for liabilities or obligations incurred
since November 1, 2008 in the ordinary course of
business consistent with past practice or in connection with this
Agreement.
(d) The Company is in compliance with, and
has complied, in all material respects with the applicable provisions of the
Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx Act of 2002
and the related rules and regulations promulgated under such Act or the Exchange
Act (collectively, "Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx"). The management of the Company has (i)
implemented disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule
13a-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 and (ii) disclosed, based on its most recent evaluation, to the
Company's outside auditors and the audit
committee of the Board of Directors of the Company (A) all significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
controls (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that are
reasonably likely to materially affect the
Company's ability to record, process summarize and report financial data and (B)
any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
who, in each case, have a significant role in the Company's internal controls.
(e) Since November 1, 2008, none of the
Company, the Company's independent accountants, the Company Board nor any
committee of the Company Board has
17
received any oral or written
notification of any (x) "significant deficiency" in the internal controls over financial
reporting of the Company, (y) "material weakness" in the internal controls over
financial reporting of the Company or (z) fraud, whether or not material, that
involves management or other employees of the Company or its Subsidiaries who have a significant role in
the internal controls over financial reporting.
(f) The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended November 1, 2008 that will actually be filed by the Company
with the SEC after the date hereof will not be, when filed, significantly
and substantially different, in the aggregate, from the Draft Company 2008 Form
10-K attached to the Company Disclosure Letter.
(g) For all purposes under this Agreement,
the facts and circumstances related to any period ended on or commencing on November 1,
2008, shall refer only to those facts and circumstances disclosed in the Draft
Company 2008 Form 10-K attached to the Company Disclosure
Letter.
Section
3.7 Absence of
Certain Changes or Events. Since
November 1, 2008, except as contemplated by this Agreement, there has not
been:
(a) any Effect that, individually or in the
aggregate, has had, or would reasonably be expected to result in, a Material
Adverse Effect; or
(b) any event, action or occurrence, that,
if taken after the date
hereof without the consent of Parent and Merger Sub, would violate Section
4.1(a),(b),(c), (f), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (n), or (p).
Section
3.8 Litigation.
(a) There are no claims, actions, suits, arbitrations,
grievances, proceedings or
investigations pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any of its or their respective
properties or rights or any of its or their respective officers or directors in
their capacity as such, before any Governmental Entity,
nor any internal investigations (other than investigations in the ordinary
course of the Company's or any of its Subsidiaries’ compliance programs) being conducted by
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries nor have any acts of alleged misconduct by the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries been reported to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries. Neither the Company nor its Subsidiaries, nor any of
its or their respective properties is subject to any order, judgment,
injunction or decree related to the conduct
of the respective businesses of the Company and its
Subsidiaries.
(b) To the knowledge of the Company, there
are no claims, actions, suits, arbitrations, grievances, proceedings or
investigations pending or threatened against the Company’s Franchises or any of their respective
properties or rights or any of their respective officers or directors in their
capacity as such, before any Governmental Entity, nor, to the knowledge of the
Company, are there any internal investigations (other than investigations in
the ordinary course of the Company's or any of its Subsidiaries’ compliance programs) being conducted by
the Company’s Franchises nor, to the knowledge of
the Company, have any acts of alleged misconduct by the Company’s Franchises been reported to the
Company or any of its
18
Subsidiaries. To the
knowledge of the Company, neither the Company’s Franchises, nor any of their
respective properties is subject to any order, judgment, injunction or decree
related to the conduct of the respective businesses of the
Company’s Franchises.
Section
3.9 Franchises.
(a) Compliance
with Laws. (i)
The Company and its Subsidiaries have timely effected all filings, and
registrations, including any updates and modifications based on
material changes to
reported items, required by applicable law for the offer and sale of franchises
and the conduct of a franchising business required by their activities in every
jurisdiction in which they operate or offer franchise opportunities, (ii) all
offers and sales of franchises have been
made pursuant to effective registrations, exemptions or exclusions as required
by applicable law, and in connection with consummation of each transaction
evidenced by a Franchising Contract, disclosure documents, if required, and execution copies of
Franchising Contracts and related documents were provided on a timely basis as
required by applicable law applicable to the transaction, and (iii) each
disclosure document delivered to current or former Franchisees and
each disclosure document provided to any
Governmental Entity was correct and complete in all material respects when
delivered or provided, made all disclosures required by applicable law, and did
not omit to state any material fact necessary to make the disclosures contained in the disclosure
document not misleading.
(b) Franchise
Registrations. All franchise registrations
and required updates and modifications thereof of the Company and its
Subsidiaries remain in full force and effect and are not subject of
any existing or, to the
knowledge of the Company, threatened, claim, action, suit or proceeding which
might, in whole or in part, result in the termination, revocation, modification,
suspension, conditioning or dissolution of any such franchise
registration and/or any other circumstance which may
impede or preclude the Company's ability routinely to renew or amend (as the
case may be) any such franchise registration and/or enter into Franchising
Contracts in any jurisdictions in any material respect.
(c) FTC
Rule. The Company is in
compliance, and has since October 29, 2005 been in compliance, in all material
respects with the applicable requirements of the FTC Trade Regulation Rule
entitled "Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising
and Business Opportunity
Ventures" (the "FTC
Rule"), and is in
compliance, and has since October 9, 2006 been in compliance, in all material
respects, with the applicable requirements of law pertaining to the offer and
sale of franchises.
(d) UFOC,
FDD
Disclosure. Since October 29, 2005,
each uniform franchise offering circular or franchise disclosure document, as
applicable, of the Company and its Subsidiaries (each, an "UFOC" or “FDD”), was in material compliance, as of the
effective date of such UFOC
of FDD, with the applicable disclosure provisions of the FTC Rule and the
franchise disclosure laws of those states with which the Company has obtained
registration or exemption of franchise offers and sales.
(e) Certain
Violations. The Company is
not subject to a notice of violation of the FTC Rule or any franchise
registration law, and the Company is not the subject of any cease and desist
order issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding the Company's franchising
activities.
19
(f) Exclusivity
Arrangements. Except as set forth in the
Franchising Contracts, or except as may be granted by operation of law, no
Franchisee or developer of the Company has a protected territory, exclusive
territory, covenant not to compete, right of first refusal, option to acquire
additional territories or other similar arrangement with the Company or any of
its affiliates which in any case would be material to the Company (collectively,
the "Territorial
Rights") pursuant
to which (i) the Company or
any of its affiliates is restricted in any way in its right to own or operate,
or license others to own or operate, any business or line of business; or
expansion of the Franchisee's territory. Except as may be granted by
operation of law, no Franchisee's Territorial
Rights conflict with the Territorial Rights of any other
Franchisee. The consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby
will not cause the Company to violate or breach any provisions with respect to
Territorial Rights under any Franchise Agreements,
licenses or area development agreements between the Company, any Subsidiary or
any Franchisee.
(g) Certain
Additional Matters. Section
3.9(g) of the Company
Disclosure Letter sets forth a true and complete list of each Franchise of the Company, setting
forth the location of such Franchise, the operator thereof, the date of
termination of the applicable Franchise relationship, the royalty rate or other
payment arrangements applicable thereto and whether the applicable Franchisee owes any amounts to the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, whether pursuant to a loan, royalty
abatement or otherwise. The Franchising Contracts previously provided
by the Company to Parent and Merger Sub accurately reflect in all material
respects, the royalty and other payment
arrangements applicable to the subject Franchisee, and there has been no
material amendment, modification or waiver, whether written or oral, of any such
royalty or fee arrangement.
(h) No
Brokers. The
Company and its
Subsidiaries do not, and have not, engaged any Person or entity to act as a
franchise broker in connection with any transaction evidenced by a Franchising
Contract. No Person or entity other than the Company, the Subsidiaries and their
respective employees has been involved in the
identification, recruitment, lead generation and solicitation of prospective
franchisees.
(i) No
Consent. The
Company may enter into this Agreement and consummate the transactions
contemplated hereby without the consent of any Franchisee.
(j) Insolvencies. To the knowledge of the
Company, there are no
pending or threatened,
insolvencies or bankruptcies of any Franchisee.
Section
3.10 Employee
Benefit Plans. Section 3.10 of the
Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a list of all employee welfare benefit
plans (as defined in Section 3(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974, as amended ("ERISA")), employee
pension benefit plans (as defined in Section 3(2) of ERISA) and all other
employment, compensation, consulting, bonus, stock option, restricted stock
grant, stock purchase, benefit, profit sharing, savings, retirement, disability,
insurance, severance, incentive, deferred compensation and other similar fringe
or employee benefit plans, programs, agreements or arrangements (other than
workers' compensation, unemployment compensation and other government programs)
sponsored, maintained, contributed to or required to be contributed, or entered
into to by the Company or any other entity, whether or not incorporated, that
together with the Company would be deemed a "single employer" for purposes of
Section 414 of the Code or Section 4001
20
of
ERISA (an "ERISA
Affiliate") for the benefit of, or relating to, any current or former
employee, director or other independent contractor of, or consultant to, the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries (together, the "Employee
Plans"). The Company has made available to Parent and Merger
Sub true and complete copies of (i) all Employee Plans, together with all
amendments thereto, (ii) the latest Internal Revenue Service determination
letters obtained with respect to any Employee Plan intended to be qualified
under Section 401(a) or 501(a) of the Code, (iii) the two most recent annual
actuarial valuation reports, if any, (iv) the two most recently filed Forms 5500
together with all related schedules, if any, (v) the "summary plan description"
(as defined in ERISA), if any, and all modifications thereto communicated to
employees, and (vi) the two most recent annual and periodic accountings of
related plan assets, if any. Neither the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any of their respective
directors, officers, employees or agents has, with respect to any Employee Plan,
engaged in or been a party to any "prohibited transaction" (as defined in
Section 4975 of the Code or Section 406 of ERISA), which could result in the
imposition of either a penalty assessed pursuant to Section 502(i) of ERISA or a
material tax liability imposed by Section 4975 of the Code, in each case
applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any Employee
Plan. All Employee Plans have been approved and administered in all
material respects in accordance with their terms and are in compliance in all
material respects with the currently applicable requirements prescribed by all
statutes, orders, or governmental rules or regulations currently in effect with
respect to such Employee Plans, including, but not limited to, ERISA and the
Code. There are no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company,
threatened claims, lawsuits or arbitrations (other than routine claims for
benefits), relating to any of the Employee Plans, or the assets of any trust for
any Employee Plan. Each Employee Plan intended to qualify under
Section 401(a) of the Code, and the trusts created thereunder intended to be
exempt from tax under the provisions of Section 501(a) of the Code, either (i)
has received a favorable determination letter (or is a prototype document for
which the opinion letter of the sponsor may be relied upon) from the Internal
Revenue Service to such effect or (ii) is still within the "remedial amendment
period," as described in Section 401(b) of the Code and the regulations
thereunder. All contributions or payments required to be made or
accrued before the Effective Time under the terms of any Employee Plan will have
been made or accrued by the Effective Time in accordance with GAAP or in a
manner consistent with past practice. Neither the Company nor any of
its ERISA Affiliates contributes, nor within the six-year period ending on the
date hereof has any of them contributed or been obligated to contribute, to any
plan, program or agreement which is a "multiemployer plan" (as defined in
Section 3(37) of ERISA) or which is subject to Section 412 of the Code or
Section 302 or Title IV of ERISA. No Employee Plan provides coverage
for medical, surgical, hospitalization, or similar health benefits or death
benefits (whether or not insured) for employees or former employees of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries for periods extending beyond their retirement
or other termination of service, other than coverage mandated by applicable law
or benefits in the nature of severance pay with respect to one or more of the
agreements set forth on Section 3.10 or 3.17 of the Company
Disclosure Letter. No condition exists that would prevent the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries from amending or terminating any Employee Plan
providing health or medical benefits in respect of any active employee of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries. No amounts payable under any
Employee Plan or otherwise as a result of the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement (either alone or in combination with another event) will fail to be
deductible to the Company or the Surviving Corporation or their Subsidiaries for
federal income tax purposes by virtue of Section 280G of the
Code. The consummation of the transactions contemplated by this
21
Agreement
will not, either alone or in combination with any other event, (i) entitle any
current or former employee, director or officer of the Company or its
Subsidiaries to severance pay or any other payment, (ii) accelerate the time of
payment or vesting, or increase the amount of compensation due any such
employee, director or officer or (iii) require the Company to place in trust or
otherwise set aside any amounts in respect of severance pay or any other
payment. Except for determination letters issued by the Internal
Revenue Service with respect to plans intended to qualify under Section 401(a)
of the Code, neither the Company, nor any Subsidiary, nor any ERISA Affiliate is
a party to any material agreement or understanding, whether written or
unwritten, with the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor or the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in regard to any Employee
Plan. No representations or communications, oral or written, with
respect to the participation, eligibility for benefits, vesting, benefit accrual
or coverage under any Employee Plan have been made to current or former
employees or directors (or any of their representatives or beneficiaries) of the
Company or any Subsidiary that are not in accordance with the terms and
conditions of the Employee Plans.
Section
3.11 Information
Supplied. None
of the information included or incorporated by reference in the Proxy Statement
will, on the date it is filed and on the date it is first published, sent or
given to the holders of Company Common Stock and on the date of any Company
Stockholders' Meeting, will contain any untrue statement of a material fact or
omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in
order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which
they are made, not misleading. If, at any time prior to the date of
the Company Stockholders' Meeting, any event with respect to the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries, or with respect to information supplied by or on behalf of
the Company specifically for inclusion in the Proxy Statement, shall occur which
is required to be described in an amendment of, or supplement to, the Proxy
Statement, such event shall be so described by the Company, and provided in
writing to Parent and Merger Sub. All documents that the Company is
responsible for filing with the SEC in connection with the transactions
contemplated herein, to the extent relating to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries or other information supplied by the Company for inclusion therein,
will comply as to form, in all material respects, with the provisions of the
Exchange Act and the respective rules and regulations thereunder, and each such
document required to be filed with any Governmental Entity will comply in all
material respects with the provisions of applicable law as to the information
required to be contained therein. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to the information
supplied or to be supplied by either Merger Sub or Parent specifically for
inclusion in the Proxy Statement.
Section
3.12 Conduct of
Business; Permits;
Compliance with Laws. Since
November 1, 2008, the business of the Company has not been and is not being
conducted in default or violation in any material respect of any term, condition
or provision of (i) the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of the Company,
(ii) any note, bond, mortgage or indenture or any material contract, agreement,
lease or other instrument or agreement of any kind to which the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries is now a party or by which the Company, its Subsidiaries or
any of its or their respective properties or assets may be bound, or (iii) any
federal, state, or county, regional, municipal, local or foreign statute, law,
ordinance, rule, regulation, judgment, decree, order, concession, grant,
franchise, permit or license or other governmental authorization or approval
applicable to the Company, its Subsidiaries or its or their respective
businesses, including, without limitation, Regulatory Laws, except, in the case
of the
22
foregoing
clause (ii), where such default or violation would not reasonably be expected to
result in a Material Adverse Effect. The material permits, licenses,
approvals, certifications and authorizations from any Governmental Entity,
including, without limitation, those obtained under Regulatory Laws
(collectively, "Permits") held by the
Company and its Subsidiaries are valid and sufficient in all material respects
for all business presently conducted by the Company and its
Subsidiaries. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has
received any written claim or notice that not it or they are not in compliance
with, or, to the knowledge of the Company, not in compliance with, the terms of
any such Permits or any requirements, standards and procedures of the
Governmental Entity which issued them, or any limitation or proposed limitation
on any Permit, except where the failure to be in compliance would not reasonably
be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. None of the
Permits will lapse, terminate or otherwise cease to be valid as a result of the
consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.
Section
3.13 Taxes.
(a) The Company and its Subsidiaries have
duly and timely filed all
material Tax Returns required to be filed by them, and all such material Tax
Returns are true, correct and complete in all material
respects.
(b) The Company and its Subsidiaries have
timely paid all material Taxes required to be paid by (whether or not shown due on any Tax
Return).
(c) The Company has made adequate provision
in the financial statements of the Company (in accordance with GAAP) for all
Taxes of the Company or its Subsidiaries not yet due.
(d) The Company and its Subsidiaries have
complied, in all material
respects, with all applicable Laws relating to the payment and withholding of
Taxes and have, within the time and manner prescribed by Law, withheld and paid
over to the proper tax authorities all amounts required to be withheld and
paid over.
(e) Neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries have received notice (written or oral) of any pending or threatened
audit, proceeding, examination or litigation or similar claim that has been
commenced or is presently pending with respect to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries.
(f) No written claim has been made by any
tax authority in a jurisdiction where neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries file a Tax Return that the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or
may be subject to taxation
in that jurisdiction.
(g) No material deficiency with respect to
any Taxes has been proposed, asserted or assessed in writing against the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries; and no requests for waivers of the time to assess
any material amount Taxes are pending.
(h) There are no outstanding written
agreements, consents or waivers to extend the statutory period of limitations
applicable to the assessment of any material Taxes
23
or deficiencies against the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries, and no power of attorney granted by the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries with respect to any material Taxes is currently in
force.
(i) The Company is not a party to any
agreement providing for the allocation or sharing of any material amount of
Taxes imposed on or with
respect to any individual or other Person, and the Company (A) has not been a
member of an affiliated group (or similar state, local or foreign filing group)
filing a consolidated U.S. federal income Tax Return or (B) does not have any
liability for the Taxes of any Person (other than the
Company) under Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-6 (or any similar provision
of state, local or foreign law), or as a transferee or
successor.
(j) The federal income Tax Returns of the
Company and its Subsidiaries have been examined by and settled with the
Internal Revenue Service (or the applicable statutes of limitation have lapsed)
for all years through and including October 29, 2005. All material
assessments for Taxes due with respect to such completed and settled
examinations or any concluded litigation
have been fully paid.
(k) Neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries have participated in a "reportable transaction" within the meaning
of Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4(b).
(l) There are no Liens for Taxes upon the assets or properties of the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, except for Liens which arise by operation of
Law with respect to current Taxes not yet due and payable.
(m) Neither the Company 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 (or portion
thereof) ending after the Closing Date as a result of any (A) change in method
of accounting for a taxable period ending on or prior to the Closing Date, or (B) "closing agreement," as described in Section 7121 of the
Code (or any corresponding provision of state, local or foreign Law), entered
into on or prior to the Closing Date, or (C) any ruling received from the
Internal Revenue Service.
(n) The Company has previously delivered or
made available to Parent or Merger Sub complete and accurate copies of each of
(i) all audit reports, letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, and
similar documents issued by
any Tax authority relating
to the United States
Federal, state, local or foreign Taxes due from or with respect to the Company
or its Subsidiaries
and (ii) any closing
agreements entered into by the Company or its Subsidiaries with any
Tax authority, in each case
(A) existing on the date hereof and (B) dated on or after January 1,
2002.
(o) The Company is not and has not been a
United States real property holding corporation (as
defined in Section 897(c)(2) of the Code) during the applicable period specified
in Section 897(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Code.
(p) The Company has not constituted a
"distributing corporation" or a "controlled corporation" (within the meaning of
Section 355(a)(1)(A) of the Code) in a distribution of stock to which Section
355 of the Code (or so much of Section 356 of the Code as
24
relates to Section 355 of the Code)
applies and which occurred within two years of the date of this
Agreement.
Section
3.14 Environmental
Matters.
(a) The Company and its Subsidiaries are,
and have been since October 29, 2005, in compliance in all material respects with all applicable
Environmental Laws (which compliance includes, but is not limited to, the
possession by the Company and its Subsidiaries of all permits and other
governmental authorizations required under applicable Environmental
Laws, and compliance with the terms and
conditions thereof). Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries
have received any written communication, whether from a Governmental Entity,
citizens group, employee or otherwise, alleging that the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries is not in such
compliance, and, to the knowledge of the Company, there are no past or present
actions, activities, circumstances, conditions, events or incidents that are
reasonably likely to prevent or interfere with such compliance in the future.
(b) There is no Environmental Claim pending
or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, against the Company or its
Subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, against any Person whose
liability for any Environmental Claim the Company or any of its Subsidiaries have or may
have retained or assumed either contractually or by operation of
law.
(c) To the knowledge of the Company, there
are no material past or present actions, activities, circumstances, conditions,
events or incidents, including, without limitation, the Release
or presence of any Hazardous Material that would form the basis of any
Environmental Claim against the Company, its Subsidiaries or against any Person
whose liability for any Environmental Claim the Company or its Subsidiaries have or may have retained or
assumed either contractually or by operation of law.
(d) The Company has delivered or made
available to Parent and Merger Sub true, complete and correct copies and results
of any reports, studies, analyses, tests or monitoring possessed by the Company
which have been prepared since October 29, 2005 pertaining to Hazardous Materials in,
on, beneath or adjacent to any property currently or formerly owned, operated,
occupied or leased by the Company or its Subsidiaries, or regarding the Company's or its
Subsidiaries' compliance with applicable Environmental Laws.
Section
3.15 Real
Property; Title to
Assets; Liens.
(a) Leased Real
Property.
(i) Set forth in Section
3.15(a) of the Company
Disclosure Letter is a list of all real property leased by the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries as of the date hereof. Each of the leases
relating to Leased Real Property is a valid and subsisting leasehold interest of
the Company or its respective Subsidiary. Each Leased Real
Property is free of subtenancies and other
occupancy rights and Liens (other than Permitted Liens), and is a valid and
binding obligation of the Company or its respective Subsidiary and, to the
knowledge of the Company, each other party thereto, enforceable
against the
25
Company or its respective Subsidiary and, to the
knowledge of the Company, each other party thereto in accordance with its
terms.
(ii)
True,
correct and complete copies of the Real Property Leases have been made available
to Parent and Merger Sub prior to the date hereof and such Real
Property Leases have not been amended or modified since that
date;
(iii) (A) there are no material disputes with
respect to any Real Property Lease; and (B) neither the Company nor any of its
respective Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any
other party to each Real Property Lease is in breach or default under such Real
Property Lease, and to the knowledge of the Company, no event has occurred or
failed to occur or circumstance exists which, with the delivery of notice, the passage of time or
both, would constitute such a breach or default, or permit the termination,
modification or acceleration of rent under such Real Property
Lease;
(iv) no consent by the landlord under the
Real Property Leases is required in connection with the consummation of
the transactions contemplated herein;
(v) none of the Leased Real Property has
been pledged or assigned by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or is subject
to any Liens (other than pursuant to this Agreement or Permitted Liens); and
(vi) neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries owe, nor will owe in the future, any brokerage commissions or
finder's fees with respect to any Real Property Lease which have not been
accrued or reserved for in the Company's financial statements.
(b) Owned Real
Property. The
Company does not own any real property.
(c) Personal
Property. The
Company and its Subsidiaries have good and marketable fee title to, or, in the
case of leased assets, have good and valid leasehold interests in, all other tangible and intangible
assets, used or held for use in, or which are necessary to conduct, the business
of the Company or its Subsidiaries as currently conducted, free and clear of any
Liens, except Permitted Liens.
Section
3.16 Intellectual
Property.
(a) Section 3.16 of the Company Disclosure Letter sets
forth a true, correct and complete list of all material U.S. and foreign (i)
issued Patents and Patent applications, (ii) Trademark registrations and
applications, (iii) Copyright registrations and applications and (iv)
unregistered copyrights in Software, in each case, which is owned by the Company
or its Subsidiaries. The Company or its respective Subsidiary is the sole and
exclusive beneficial and record owner of all of the material Intellectual Property Rights set forth in
Section 3.16 of the Company Disclosure Letter, and
all such Intellectual Property Rights are subsisting, valid, and
enforceable.
26
(b) To the Company's knowledge, the Company
owns or has a valid right to use, free and clear of all material Liens, all
Intellectual Property Rights necessary for, or used or held for use in
connection with, the business of the Company, taken as a
whole.
(c) Neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries have infringed, misappropriated or violated in any material respect any
Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. There has been no
such claim asserted or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened in writing
since October 29,
2005, against the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries.
(d) To the Company's knowledge, no third
Person has infringed, misappropriated or violated any Intellectual Property
Rights owned or exclusively licensed by or to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries
have asserted or threatened
such a claim against any Person since October 29, 2005.
(e) As used herein, "Intellectual
Property Rights" means all
U.S. and foreign (i) patents, patent applications, patent disclosures and
all related continuations,
continuations-in-part, divisionals, reissues, re-examinations substitutions and
extensions thereof ("Patents"), (ii) trademarks, service marks,
trade names, domain names, logos, slogans, trade dress, and other
similar designations of
source or origin, together with the goodwill symbolized by any of the foregoing
("Trademarks"), (iii) copyrights and copyrightable
subject matter ("Copyrights"), (iv) rights of publicity, (v)
computer programs (whether
in source code, object code, or other form), databases, compilations and data,
technology supporting the foregoing, and all documentation, including user
manuals and training materials, related to any of the foregoing ("Software"), (vi) trade secrets and all
confidential information, know-how, inventions, proprietary processes, formulae,
models, and methodologies, (vii) all rights in the foregoing and in other
similar intangible assets, (viii) all applications and registrations for the foregoing and (ix) all
rights and remedies against infringement, misappropriation, or other violation
thereof.
Section
3.17 Material
Contracts.
(a) As of the date hereof, neither the
Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to or bound by:
(i)
any "material
contract" (as defined in Item 601(b) (10) of Regulation S-K of the
SEC);
(ii)
any contract or
agreement for the purchase of materials or personal property from any supplier
or for the furnishing of services to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that provides for future
aggregate annual payments by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of $100,000
or more;
(iii) any contract or agreement for the sale,
license (as licensor) or lease (as lessor) by the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries of services,
materials, products, supplies or other assets, that provides for future
aggregate annual payments to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of $100,000
or more;
27
(iv) any material written contract (or agreement) relating to the Traditional Franchises or the Licensed Franchises,
including the Franchising Contracts;
(v)
any
non-competition agreement or any other agreement or obligation which purports to
limit, or which after the Effective Time would reasonably be expected to limit,
in any material respect the
manner in which, or the localities in which, the business of the Company or its
Subsidiaries or affiliates may be conducted;
(vi) any contract (including any employment,
compensation, incentive, retirement, loan or severance arrangements) with any current stockholder, director,
manager, officer, employee or agent of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
that requires the Company or any Subsidiary to pay annual compensation in excess
of 100,000;
(vii) any joint venture, product
development, research and
development and limited partnership agreements or arrangements involving a
sharing of profits, losses, costs or liabilities by the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries with any other Person;
(viii) mortgages, indentures, loan or credit
agreements, security
agreements and other agreements and instruments relating to the borrowing or
guarantee of money or extension of credit in any case in excess of
$100,000;
(ix) any standby letter of credit,
performance or payment bond, guarantee arrangement or surety bond of any nature involving
amounts in excess of $100,000;
(x)
other
contracts whose terms exceed one year and are not cancelable by the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries, as applicable, on notice of 60 or fewer days without
payment by the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries after the date hereof of more than
$100,000;
(xi) any contract for the sale of any assets
of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (whether by merger, sale of stock,
sale of assets or otherwise) or for the grant to any Person of any preferential rights to purchase
any assets (whether by merger, sale of stock, sale of assets or otherwise), in
each case, for consideration in excess of $100,000;
(xii) any contract relating to the ownership,
management or control of any Person in which the Company or a Subsidiary owns
any equity interest other than direct and indirect wholly-owned Subsidiaries of
the Company or another Subsidiary of the Company;
28
(xiii) any voting or other agreement governing
how any shares of Company Common Stock shall be voted other than the Purchase
Agreement and the Governance Agreement; or
(xiv) any contract, agreement or arrangement
to allocate, share or otherwise indemnify for Taxes.
The
foregoing contracts and agreements to which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is a party or is bound are collectively referred to herein as
"Company Material
Contracts."
(b) Each Company Material Contract is valid
and binding on the Company or its respective Subsidiary (to the extent that
it is a party thereto) and,
to the knowledge of the Company, each other party thereto, and is in full force
and effect, and the Company and its respective Subsidiary (to the extent that it
is a party thereto) and, to the knowledge of the Company, each other party thereto, have performed in all
material respects all obligations required to be performed by it to date under
each Company Material Contract. Neither the Company, its
Subsidiaries, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any other party thereto,
has violated or defaulted under, or
terminated, nor has the Company or its respective Subsidiary or, to the
knowledge of the Company, any other party thereto, given or received notice of,
any violation or default or termination under (nor, to the knowledge
of the Company, does there exist any
condition which with the passage of time or the giving of notice or both would
result in such a violation, default or termination under) any Company Material
Contract. The Company has provided, or made available, to
Parent and Merger Sub true and correct
copies of each of the Company Material Contracts.
Section
3.18 Insurance. Section 3.18 of
the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a list of the insurance policies
currently maintained by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (the "Insurance
Policies"). Each Insurance Policy is in full force and effect
and is valid, outstanding and enforceable, and all premiums due thereon have
been paid in full. Other than the Company's directors' and officers'
liability insurance policy, none of the Insurance Policies will terminate or
lapse (or be affected in any other materially adverse manner) by reason of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement. The Company and each of
its respective Subsidiaries have complied in all material respects with the
provisions of each Insurance Policy under which it is the insured
party. No insurer under any Insurance Policy has cancelled or
generally disclaimed liability under any such policy or, to the Company's
knowledge, indicated any intent to do so or not to renew any such
policy. All material claims under the Insurance Policies have been
filed in a timely fashion. Since the Company's formation, to the
knowledge of the Company, there have been no historical gaps in insurance
coverage of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.
Section
3.19 Collective
Bargaining; Labor Disputes; Compliance.
(a) Since October 29, 2005, to the knowledge of the Company,
neither the Company, its Subsidiaries, nor any of its or their respective Employees, agents, or
representatives has committed any material unfair labor practice as defined in
the National Labor Relations Act. There are no labor agreements, shop
agreements, work rules or practices, or collective bargaining
agreements with any labor union, labor
organization, trade union or works
29
council to which the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries is a party or under which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is bound. There are no labor agreements,
collective bargaining agreements, work rules or practices, or any
other labor-related agreements or arrangements that pertain to any of the
Employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. No Employee is represented
by any labor union, labor organization, trade union, or works council.
(b) To the knowledge of the Company, neither
the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries are currently, and have not been since
October 29,
2005, the subject of any
labor union organizing activities, and, to the knowledge of the Company, there
are no labor union
organizing activities with respect to the Employees. No labor union,
labor organization, trade union, works council, or group of Employees has made a
pending demand in writing for recognition or certification with respect to the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and there are no
representation or certification proceedings or petitions seeking a
representation proceeding presently pending or threatened in writing to be
brought or filed with the National Labor Relations Board or any other
labor relations tribunal or
authority. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries are, and
have not been since October 29, 2005, the subject of any strike, dispute,
walk-out, work stoppage, slow down, lockout, or material arbitration or material
grievance, involving the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, has any
such activity been threatened since October 29, 2005.
(c) Section
3.19(c) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth the written personnel
manuals, handbooks, policies, rules or procedures and
material unwritten such arrangements applicable to
Employees.
(d) Since November 1, 2008, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries
have entered into any employment-related
agreements or contracts, including but not limited to, employment agreements,
consulting agreements, severance agreements and/or Employee releases, retention
agreements, termination agreements, confidentiality agreements, non-competition,
proprietary information agreements, indemnification agreements, arbitration agreements, change in
control agreements, lock-up agreements, deferred compensation agreements,
retirement agreements, other Employee agreements, that require the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries to pay annual or a lump sum compensation, other than compensation as a result of
a termination of employment (with or without cause) or as a result of entering
into this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby,
each of which are covered by paragraph (e) below, individually or in the aggregate, in excess of
$100,000.
(e) There are no employment agreements,
severance agreements or severance plans or other documents, arrangements or understandings (whether
written or oral) requiring
the payment (or setting aside) of any amounts or the providing of any benefits
(or acceleration, continuation or modification thereof) to any of the
Company's or its Subsidiaries respective
directors, officers or
Employees in the event of a termination of employment (with or without cause) or
as a result of entering
into this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated
hereby.
(f) Since November 1, 2008, neither the Company nor any of its
Subsidiaries have received any written notice that any
Employee is, and no Employee is, in any material respect in violation of
any term of any employment agreement, consulting agreement, severance agreement
and/or Employee release, material retention agreement, termination
30
agreement, confidentiality agreement,
non-competition or proprietary information agreement, indemnification
agreement, arbitration agreement, change in control agreement, lock-up
agreement, deferred compensation agreement, retirement agreement, other material
Employee agreement, or other obligation to a former employer of any such Employee relating (i) to the
right of any such Employee to be employed by the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries or (ii) to the knowledge or use of trade secrets or proprietary
information.
(g) Since October 29, 2005, the Company and
each of its Subsidiaries
has complied, in all material respects, with all laws respecting employment and
employment practices including, without limitation, all laws respecting terms
and conditions of employment, the National Labor Relations Act and other
provisions relating to wages, hours, benefits, child
labor, immigration, employment discrimination, disability rights or benefits,
equal employment opportunity, plant closures and layoffs, affirmative action,
workers' compensation, labor relations, Employee leave issues, unemployment insurance, collective
bargaining and all applicable occupational safety and health acts and
laws. To the knowledge of the Company, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries have
engaged in any unfair labor practice or discriminated on the basis of race, age, sex,
disability or any other protected category in its employment conditions or
practices with respect to its Employees, customers or suppliers. No
action, suit, complaint, charge, grievance, arbitration, Employee proceeding
or investigation by or before the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission or any other Governmental Entity brought by or
on behalf of any Employee, prospective Employee, former Employee, retired
Employee, labor organization or other representative of the Employees has been brought against the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries since October 29, 2005, or to the knowledge
of the Company, is threatened in writing against the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is
a party to or otherwise bound by any
consent decree with, citation by, or any other order or determination by any
Governmental Entity relating to the Employees or employment practices relating
to the Employees. Since October 29, 2005, neither the Company
nor any of its Subsidiaries has been
delinquent in payments to any Employees or former Employees for any services or
amounts required to be reimbursed or otherwise paid which are, individually or
in the aggregate, of a material amount.
(h) To the knowledge of the Company, since October 29, 2005,
neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has received (i) written notice
of any unfair labor practice charge or complaint pending or threatened before
the National Labor Relations Board or any other Governmental Entity against it or its respective
Subsidiaries, (ii) written notice of any complaints, grievances or arbitrations
arising out of any collective bargaining agreement or any other labor grievances
or arbitration proceedings against it or its respective Subsidiaries, (iii) written notice of
any charge or complaint with respect to or relating to it pending before the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or any other Governmental Entity
responsible for the prevention of unlawful employment practices, (iv) written notice of the intent of any
Governmental Entity responsible for the enforcement of labor, employment, wages
and hours of work, child labor, immigration, or occupational safety and health
Laws to conduct an investigation with respect to or relating to it or notice that such
investigation is in progress, or (v) written notice of any complaint, lawsuit or
other proceeding pending or threatened in any forum by or on behalf of any
present or former Employee of such entities, any applicant for
employment or classes of the foregoing alleging
breach of any express or implied contract of
31
employment, any applicable law governing
employment or the termination thereof or other discriminatory, wrongful or
tortious conduct in connection with the employment relationship.
(i) To the knowledge of the Company, since
October 29, 2005, the Company and each of its Subsidiaries has at all times
properly classified (including for purposes of tax law) each of its Employees as
employees, and each of its independent contractors as independent contractors, as
applicable, and has treated each such Person classified by it as an employee or
independent contractor consistently with such status. There is no
proceeding pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened in
writing against the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries by any Person challenging or questioning the classification of any
Person as an employee or an independent contractor, including, without
limitation, any claim for unpaid benefits, for or on behalf of, any such Person.
(j) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries
are, and have been, in compliance with all notice and other
requirements under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act of 1988 (the "WARN
Act") and any similar state or local law relating to plant
closings and layoffs. None of the Employees have
suffered an "employment loss" (as defined in the WARN Act) within the
three-month period prior to the date of this Agreement.
(k) Substantially all of the Employees have
entered into an Employment
Contract containing confidentiality and non-solicitation provisions,
substantially in the form included in Section
3.19(k) of the Company Disclosure
Letter (an "Employment
Contract"). Each such Employment Contract is, and at the Effective Time will
be, in full force and
effect and has not been
amended or modified other than such agreements which, individually or in the
aggregate, would reasonably by expected to result in a Material Adverse
Effect.
Section
3.20 Transactions
with Affiliates. All
transactions, agreements, arrangements or understandings between the Company and
the Company's affiliates or other Persons, (an "Affiliate
Transaction"), that are required to be disclosed in the Company SEC
Reports in accordance with Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act
have been so disclosed. There have been no Affiliate Transactions
that are required to be disclosed under the Exchange Act pursuant to Item 404 of
Regulation S-K under the Securities Act which have not already been disclosed in
the Company SEC Reports. In the good faith judgment of the Company
Board, each Affiliate Transaction at the time it was entered into and as of the
time of any amendment or renewal thereof contained such terms, provisions and
conditions as were at least as favorable, in the aggregate, to the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries as would have been obtainable by the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries in a similar transaction with an unaffiliated third
party.
Section
3.21 Brokers. No
broker, finder or investment banker is entitled to any brokerage, finder's or
other fee or commission in connection with the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement based upon arrangements made by or on behalf of the
Company.
Section
3.22 Opinion of
Financial Advisor. The
special committee of the Company Board has received a written opinion of Xxxxxx
X. Xxxxx & Co. Incorporated to the effect that, based on the assumptions,
qualifications and limitations contained therein, as of the date hereof, the
Merger Consideration to be received by the Company's stockholders as provided
herein is fair, from a financial point of view, to such
stockholders. The Company will provide a
32
copy
of such written opinion to Parent and Merger Sub as soon as reasonably
practicable. The Company has made available to Parent and Merger Sub
a true and complete copy of the engagement letter between the special committee
of the Company Board and Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx & Co. Incorporated.
Section
3.23 Control
Share Acquisition. No
restrictive provision of any "fair price," "moratorium," "control share
acquisition," "business combination," "stockholder protection," "interested
stockholder" or other similar anti-takeover statute or regulation (each, a
"Takeover
Statute"), or any similar restrictive provision of the Certificate of
Incorporation or By-Laws of the Company is, or at the Effective Time will be,
applicable to the Company, Parent, Merger Sub, the Company Common Stock, the
Merger or any other transaction contemplated by this Agreement or the Purchase
Agreement.
Section
3.24 Vote
Required. The
affirmative vote of at least 51% of the combined voting power of all shares of
the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting
together as a single class, is the only vote of the Company's stockholders
necessary (under applicable law or otherwise), to approve this Agreement and the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including the Merger (the "Company Stockholder
Approval").
ARTICLE IV
COVENANTS AND
AGREEMENTS
Section
4.1 Conduct of
Business Pending the Merger. The
Company covenants and agrees on behalf of itself and its Subsidiaries that,
between the date of this Agreement and the Effective Time, unless Parent and
Merger Sub shall otherwise consent in writing (which consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned), the business of the Company and
each of its Subsidiaries shall be conducted only in, and the Company shall not
and shall not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, take any action except (i) in
the ordinary course of business or (ii) as expressly contemplated by this
Agreement or (iii) as set forth in Section 4.1 of the
Company Disclosure Letter; and the Company will use its commercially reasonable
efforts to preserve substantially intact the business organization of the
Company and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole), to keep available the services
of the present officers, employees and consultants of the Company and its
Subsidiaries and to preserve the present relationships of the Company and its
Subsidiaries with customers, clients, suppliers and other Persons with which the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries has significant business relations and pay
all applicable Taxes when due and payable. In determining whether to
consent to an action proposed to be taken by the Company prior to the Closing
Date for which the consent of Parent is required under Section 4.1(d), the
parties hereto acknowledge and agree that Parent may take into account, among
other factors, the impact of the proposed action on the financial condition of
the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, as of the Effective Time and
whether such action is reasonably necessary or appropriate for the conduct of
the Company's business during the period prior to the Closing
Date. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except as (x)
expressly contemplated by this Agreement or (y) set forth in Section 4.1 of the
Company Disclosure Letter, the Company shall not, and shall not permit any of
its Subsidiaries to, without the prior written consent of Parent and Merger Sub
(which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or
conditioned):
33
(a) amend (i) its Certificate of Incorporation
or By-Laws or the governing documents of any of its Subsidiaries or (ii) any
material term of any outstanding security issued by the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries;
(b) (i) declare, set aside or pay any
dividend or other
distribution payable in cash, stock or property with respect to any capital
stock, (ii) redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire, directly or indirectly, any
capital stock or other securities, other than in connection with the
exercise of an option or
the payment of withholding
taxes in connection therewith, (iii) issue, sell, pledge, dispose of or encumber
any (A) shares of capital stock, (B) securities convertible into or exchangeable
for, or options, warrants, calls, commitments or rights of any kind to acquire, any shares of capital
stock or (C) other securities of the Company or its Subsidiaries, other than
shares of Company Common Stock issued upon the exercise of Options outstanding
on the date hereof in accordance with the Incentive Plans as in effect on the date hereof, or (iv)
split, combine or reclassify any outstanding capital stock or issue or authorize
or propose the issuance of any other securities in respect of, in lieu of or in
substitution for, shares of capital stock;
(c) acquire or agree to acquire (i) by merging or
consolidating with, or by purchasing a substantial portion of the equity
interests of, or by any other manner, any business or any corporation,
partnership, joint venture, association or other business organization or
division thereof or (ii) any assets other
than equipment and supplies in the ordinary course of business consistent with
past practice;
(d) except in the ordinary course of
business, amend, enter into or terminate any Company Material Contract or any
contract or agreement which
would have constituted a Company Material Contract if in existence as of the
date hereof involving amounts in excess of $100,000, or waive, release or assign
any material rights or claims thereunder;
(e) amend in any material respect
(other than to reduce rent
or payments thereunder, cancel tenant improvements or reduce the term) or
terminate any Real Property Lease or enter into any agreement which could
constitute a Real Property Lease;
(f) other than pursuant to existing
arrangements as set forth
in the Company Disclosure Letter, outsource any operations, including with
respect to information technology systems;
(g) transfer, lease, license, sell,
mortgage, pledge, dispose of, encumber or subject to any Lien any property or
assets or cease to operate
any assets, other than sales of excess or obsolete assets in the ordinary course
of business;
(h) except as required to comply with
applicable law, an existing Company Material Contract or this Agreement, (i)
adopt, enter into, terminate, amend or increase the amount or accelerate
the payment or vesting of any benefit or award or amount payable under any
Employee Plan or other arrangement for the current or future benefit or welfare
of any director, officer or employee, other than in the case of employees who are not officers or
directors in the ordinary course of business, (ii) increase in any manner the
compensation or fringe benefits of, or pay or agree to pay any bonus or
severance or similar payment to, any director or officer or, other than in the ordinary course of business,
any other employee, (iii)
34
other than benefits accrued through the
date hereof and other than in the ordinary course of business for employees
other than officers or directors of the Company, pay any benefit not
provided for under any Employee Plan, (iv)
other than bonuses earned through the date hereof and other than in the ordinary
course of business for employees other than officers and directors, grant any
awards under any bonus, incentive, performance or other compensation plan or arrangement or
Employee Plan; provided that there shall be no grant or award to any
director, officer or employee of stock options, restricted stock, stock
appreciation rights, stock based or stock related awards, performance units,
units of phantom stock or
restricted stock, or any removal of existing restrictions in any Employee Plan
or agreements or awards made thereunder or (v) take any action to fund or in any
other way secure the payment of compensation or benefits under any
employee plan, agreement, contract or
arrangement or Employee Plan;
(i) (i) incur or assume any
material indebtedness other than as contemplated by, or permitted under or
pursuant to, the Financing Agreement or the Subordinated Loan Agreement, (ii)
incur or modify any other
material indebtedness, other than entering into or amending or modifying any
forbearance or similar agreements provided such amendments, modifications or
agreements do not require payment by the Company of fees in excess of $50,000 in
the aggregate, (iii) assume, guarantee, endorse
or otherwise become liable or responsible (whether directly, contingently or
otherwise) for the obligations of any other Person, except in the ordinary
course of business and consistent with past practice, or (iv) except for advances or prepayments in the
ordinary course of business in amounts consistent with past practice, make any
loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any other Person
(other than customary loans or advances to employees in accordance with past
practice);
(j) change any accounting policies or
procedures (including procedures with respect to reserves, revenue recognition,
payments of accounts payable and collection of accounts receivable) used unless
required by a change in applicable law or GAAP;
(k) make any material Tax election or change
in any material Tax election, amend any Tax Returns or enter into any settlement
or compromise of any material Tax liability of the Company or its
Subsidiaries;
(l) pay, discharge, satisfy, settle or compromise any claim,
litigation, liability, obligation (absolute, asserted or unasserted, contingent
or otherwise) or any legal proceeding, except for any settlement or compromise
involving less than $100,000, but subject to an aggregate maximum of $250,000, including all fees, costs
and expenses associated therewith but excluding from such amounts any
contribution from any insurance company or other parties to the
litigation;
(m) enter into any negotiation with respect
to, or adopt or amend in any respect, any collective bargaining
agreement, or material labor agreement, work rule or practice, or any other
material labor-related agreement or arrangement;
(n) enter into or amend any material
agreement or arrangement with any of the Company's or its respective Subsidiaries' officers,
directors, employees or any "affiliate" or "associate" of any of the Company's
or its respective Subsidiaries' officers or directors (as such terms are defined
in Rule 405 under the Securities Act);
35
(o) enter into any agreement, arrangement or contract to
allocate, share or otherwise indemnify for Taxes;
(p) make, authorize or agree to make any
material capital expenditures, or enter into any agreement or agreements
providing for payments by the Company or its Subsidiaries in excess of $125,000 in the
aggregate;
(q) enter into an agreement, contract,
commitment or arrangement to do any of the foregoing, or to authorize,
recommend, propose or announce an intention to do any of the foregoing
(a)-(p) of this Section
4.1;
and
(r) take any action that would, or is
reasonably likely to, cause any of its representations and
warranties contained in this Agreement to become untrue, or cause any of the conditions to the Merger set
forth in Article
VI of this Agreement
to not be satisfied.
Section
4.2 No
Solicitations.
(a) The Company agrees that neither it, nor
any Subsidiary of the Company, nor any of its or its Subsidiaries officers and
directors, shall, and that it shall instruct and use its commercially reasonable
efforts to cause its and
their other officers, employees, accountants, consultants, legal counsel,
financial advisors and agents and other representatives (collectively,
"Representatives") not to, directly or indirectly (i)
knowingly solicit, initiate, encourage, facilitate or induce
any inquiry with respect to or that would reasonably be expected to lead to, or
the making, submission or announcement of, any Company Alternative Proposal,
(ii) participate in any discussions or negotiations regarding, or furnish to any person any nonpublic
information relating or with respect to, any Company Alternative Proposal, or in
response to any inquiries or proposals that could reasonably be expected to lead
to any Company Alternative Proposal, (iii) approve, endorse or recommend any Company
Alternative Proposal, or (iv) enter into any letter of intent or similar
document or any agreement or commitment providing for, any Company Alternative
Proposal (except for confidentiality agreements specifically permitted
pursuant to Section
4.2(c)). The Company shall
immediately terminate, and shall cause its Subsidiaries and its and their
Representatives to immediately terminate, all discussions or
negotiations, if any, that are ongoing as of the date hereof with any
third party with respect to
a Company Alternative Proposal and shall immediately request the return of all
related information.
(b) Immediately after receipt of any
inquiries, proposals or offers related to, or if any information is requested
with respect to, or any
negotiations or discussions are sought in connection with a Company Alternative
Proposal, the Company shall notify Parent of such, and the identity of the
Person or group of Persons involved, and shall provide copies of any written
materials related thereto, and shall keep Parent informed
on a reasonably current basis with respect to the status, terms, discussions and
negotiations with respect to such inquiry, proposal or offer or any amendment
thereto.
(c) Notwithstanding anything in this
Agreement to the contrary,
if prior to the receipt of the Company Stockholder Approval (i) the Company
receives a Company Alternative Proposal which (x) constitutes a Company Superior
Proposal or (y) which the Company Board determines in good faith, after
consultation with its outside financial and legal
advisors, would reasonably be expected to result in a Company Superior Proposal
by the Person
36
(or group of Persons) making such
Company Alternative Proposal and (ii) prior to taking the actions in (A) and (B)
below, the Company Board determines in good
faith, after consultation with its outside legal advisors, that failure to take
such action would be inconsistent with such directors' fiduciary duties under
applicable law, then, prior to receipt of the Company Stockholder Approval, the Company may take the
following actions: (A) furnish (or cause to be furnished by its
Representatives) nonpublic information to the Persons (or group of Persons)
making such Company Alternative Proposal and its Representatives and
financing sources, if, and only if, prior to
so furnishing such information, the Company receives from the persons (or group
of persons) and its Representatives and financing sources an executed
confidentiality agreement that contains provisions that are no
less favorable in the
aggregate to the Company
and its Subsidiaries than the provisions contained in the Confidentiality
Agreement, and (B) engage in discussions or negotiations with the Persons (or
group of Persons) and its Representatives with respect to the Company Alternative
Proposal.
(d) Nothing contained in this Agreement
shall prohibit the Company or the Company Board from disclosing to its
stockholders a position contemplated by Rules 14d-9 and 14e-2(a) promulgated
under the Exchange Act or issuing any "stop-look-and-listen" communication, if, in the good faith
judgment of the Company Board, after consultation with its outside legal
advisors, such disclosure is required under applicable law; provided that, (i) such disclosure shall be made
at the latest time
permissible under applicable law and (ii) if such disclosure has the substantive
effect of a Company Change of Recommendation, it shall be deemed a Company
Change of Recommendation.
ARTICLE V
ADDITIONAL
AGREEMENTS
Section
5.1 Proxy
Statement.
(a) As promptly as is reasonably practicable
after the date hereof, the Company shall prepare and file, or cause to be
prepared and filed, with the SEC the proxy statement (together with the letters
to stockholders, notices of meeting and forms of proxies to be distributed to stockholders in
connection with the Merger and any schedules required to be filed with the SEC
in connection therewith collectively, the "Proxy
Statement") which shall (i) except to the extent
provided in Section
5.2(a), include the recommendation of the
Company Board that the Company's stockholders adopt this Agreement and the
transactions contemplated hereunder and (ii) comply in all material respects
with the provisions of the Exchange Act. Each of the Company
and Parent shall use its
commercially reasonable efforts to respond as promptly as reasonably practicable
to any comments received from the SEC with respect to the Proxy Statement, and
the Company shall cause the definitive Proxy Statement to be mailed to
the Company's stockholders promptly following clearance by the SEC of the
Proxy Statement (or, if applicable, following the date on which the SEC
staff advises that it has no further comments and that the Company may commence
mailing the Proxy Statement); provided that the Company shall
provide written notice to Parent at least two (2) business days prior to the mailing of the Proxy Statement pursuant
hereto. Each party shall promptly notify the other party upon the
receipt by it or any of its Subsidiaries of any comments from the SEC or its
staff, or any request from the SEC or its staff for amendments or supplements to
the Proxy Statement, and shall
37
provide the other party with copies of
all correspondence between it or its Subsidiaries, on the one hand,
and the SEC and its staff, on the other
hand, relating to the Proxy Statement.
(b) The Company agrees that none of the
information with respect to the Company or its Subsidiaries to be included in
the Proxy Statement will, in the case of the Proxy Statement or any amendments thereof or supplements
thereto, at the time of the mailing of the Proxy Statement or any amendments or
supplements thereto, and at the time of the Company Stockholders' Meeting,
contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be
stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of
the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
Company assumes no responsibility with respect to information supplied in
writing by or on behalf of Parent or Merger Sub for inclusion or incorporation
by reference in the Proxy Statement, unless Parent has informed the Company
in writing in a clear manner, within a reasonable time prior to its use, that such information should not
be so included or incorporated by reference.
(c) If at any time prior to the Company
Stockholders' Meeting, any information relating to the Company, Parent, Merger
Sub or any of their respective affiliates, directors or officers should be discovered by the
Company or Parent, which should be set forth in an amendment or supplement to
the Proxy Statement so that the Proxy Statement shall not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or
necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances
under which they are made, not misleading, the party that discovers such
information (or the party whose Subsidiary discovers such information) shall promptly notify the other
party, and an appropriate amendment, supplement or other filing incorporated by
reference into the Proxy Statement describing such information shall be filed
with the SEC and, to the extent required by applicable law, disseminated to the stockholders of the
Company in each case, as promptly as reasonably practicable.
Section
5.2 Meeting of
Stockholders of the
Company.
(a) The Company shall, in accordance with
the DGCL and its certificate of incorporation and by-laws, duly call, give notice of, and,
following the mailing of the Proxy Statement, convene and hold the Company
Stockholders' Meeting and shall, through the Company Board, recommend to its
stockholders the adoption of this Agreement and the transactions
contemplated hereunder (the "Company
Recommendation"). The Company will use
commercially reasonable efforts to solicit from its stockholders proxies in
favor of the adoption of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated
hereunder. Except as expressly set
forth in this Section
5.2, the Company Board
shall not withdraw, amend or modify, or propose or resolve to withdraw, amend or
modify in a manner adverse to Parent, the Company
Recommendation. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company
Board may withdraw, amend or modify the Company Recommendation (a "Company
Change of Recommendation") if the Company Board has concluded in
good faith, after consultation with its outside legal counsel, that the
failure of the Company Board to effect a Company Change of Recommendation would
be inconsistent with such directors' fiduciary duties under applicable Law;
provided that if such Company Change of
Recommendation is as a result of a Company Alternative
Proposal, the Company Board shall have concluded in good faith after
consultation with its outside financial and legal advisors that such Company
Alternative Proposal is a Company Superior
Proposal.
38
In the event that, subsequent to the date of this Agreement and
prior to the Company Stockholders' Meeting, there shall have been a Company
Change of Recommendation, unless this Agreement is terminated by the Company or
Parent, as the case may be, pursuant to Article
VII, the Company shall nevertheless submit this
Agreement to the holders of Company Common Stock for adoption at the Company
Stockholders' Meeting.
(b) No Company Change of Recommendation may
be made until (A) at least three (3) business days have elapsed following
Parent's receipt of written
notice from the Company advising Parent that the Company Board currently intends
to take such action and the basis therefor, including all information considered
in making such decision and (B) the Company has (during such three (3) day period) given Parent the
opportunity to propose to the Company revisions to the terms of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement, and the Company and its representatives shall
have, if requested by Parent, negotiate in good faith with Parent regarding any revisions to the terms of
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement proposed by
Parent. In determining whether to make a Company Change of
Recommendation in response to a Company Alternative Proposal or otherwise, the
Company Board shall take into account any changes to the
terms of this Agreement suggested by Parent and any other information provided
by Parent in response to such notice. Any material amendment to any
Company Alternative Proposal will be deemed to be a new Company Alternative Proposal for purposes of this
Section
5.2.
(c) Notwithstanding anything in this
Agreement to the contrary, the Company may adjourn or postpone the Company
Stockholders' Meeting (i) to the extent necessary to ensure that any necessary
supplement or amendment to
the Proxy Statement is provided to its stockholders in advance of a vote on the
Merger and this Agreement, or, if as of the time for which the Company
Stockholders' Meeting is originally scheduled (as set forth in the Proxy
Statement), there are insufficient shares of Company
Common Stock represented (either in person or by proxy) to constitute a quorum
necessary to conduct the business of such Company Stockholders' Meeting or to
obtain the Company Stockholder Approval and (ii) for a period not to exceed five (5) business days upon
the occurrence of a state of facts, event, circumstance, change or effect, which
the Company determines in good faith could reasonably be likely to result in a
Company Change of Recommendation; provided that the foregoing shall not affect Parent's right to
terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section
7.1(g).
Section
5.3 Additional
Agreements. The
Company, Merger Sub and Parent will each comply in all material respects with
all applicable laws and with all applicable rules and regulations of any
Governmental Entity in connection with its execution, delivery and performance
of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby.
Section
5.4 Notification
of Certain Matters. The
Company shall give prompt notice to Parent and Merger Sub and Parent and Merger
Sub shall give prompt notice to the Company, in each case in accordance with
Section 8.2, of
any representation or warranty made by it contained in this Agreement becoming
untrue or inaccurate or any failure of the Company, Parent or Merger Sub, as the
case may be, to comply with or satisfy in any material respect any covenant,
condition or agreement to be complied with or satisfied by it under this
Agreement, such that, (A) in the case of the Company, the conditions set forth
in Section
6.3(a) or Section 6.3(b) would
not reasonably be expected
39
to
be satisfied or (B) in the case of Parent or Merger Sub, the conditions set
forth in Section
6.2(a) or Section 6.2(b) would
not reasonably be expected to be satisfied; provided, however, that the delivery
of any notice pursuant to this Section 5.4 shall not
limit or otherwise affect the remedies available hereunder to the party
receiving such notice.
Section
5.5 Access to
Information.
(a) From the date hereof to the
Effective Time, the Company
shall and shall cause its directors, officers, employees, auditors and agents
to, (i) afford the directors, officers, employees, environmental and other
consultants, attorneys, accountants financial advisors, representatives and
agents of Parent and Merger Sub and the
anticipated sources of the Financing or any alternative financing (the
"Parent
Representatives")reasonable
access at reasonable times to its directors, officers, employees,
representatives, agents,
properties, offices and other facilities and to all reasonably required
information systems, contracts, books and records (including Tax Returns, audit
work papers and insurance policies), (ii) provide, all cooperation reasonably
necessary in connection
with the Financing or any
alternative financing,
including, but only to the
extent reasonably necessary, participation in meetings and due
diligence sessions and
the provision of
Company-specific information necessary for the preparation of
definitive financing
documentation, information memoranda and similar documents,
and the execution and
delivery of any commitment letters, pledge and security documents, other
definitive financing documents, or other requested certificates or documents,
including a certificate of
the chief financial officer of the Company with respect to solvency
matters, audited and unaudited financial
statements, and legal
opinions in each case, as
may be reasonably requested by Parent or Merger Sub, and taking such other
actions as are reasonably
required to be taken by the Company in the Commitment Letters or
pursuant to alternative financing arrangements, and (iii) make available or
furnish to Parent and Merger Sub and the Parent Representatives, all financial,
operating and other data
and information that Parent and Merger Sub and the Parent Representatives may
reasonably request; provided, however, that the Company shall be reimbursed
promptly by Parent for all reasonable, documented, third-party out-of-pocket
expenses incurred in
connection with the foregoing. No information received pursuant to
this Section
5.5 shall affect or be
deemed to modify or update any of the representations and warranties of the
Company contained in this Agreement.
(b) The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate
with Parent regarding the planning and implementation of Parent’s integration and rationalization
program to be implemented commencing at Closing.
(c) Nothing contained in this Section
5.5 shall require (i)
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
(or their respective officers, directors, employees or other representatives) to engage in any action that would
interfere unreasonably with the business of the Company and its Subsidiaries or (ii)
the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries to pay any
commitment or other similar fee or incur any other liability in connection with
the Financing prior to the
Effective Time. Parent shall indemnify and hold harmless
the Company and its Subsidiaries and their respective officers, directors, employees and other representatives for and
against any and all losses or damages suffered or
incurred by them in connection with the arrangement of the Financing and any
information utilized in
connection therewith except (i) with respect to information supplied by the Company, its
Subsidiaries and representatives specifically for inclusion or incorporation
by reference therein and/or
(ii) to the extent such
40
losses and damages arise from the
gross negligence,
willful misconduct
or fraud of the Company or any of its or its
Subsidiaries’ officers, directors, employees or
representatives.
(d) Each of Parent and Merger Sub agrees
that it shall, and shall direct the Parent Representatives, to hold in strict
confidence all data and information obtained by them from the Company in accordance with
the Confidentiality Agreement, which shall survive the execution and delivery of
this Agreement and any termination hereof.
Section
5.6 Public
Announcements. Parent,
Merger Sub and the Company shall not issue any press release or otherwise make
any public statements or announcements with respect to the Merger and the other
transactions contemplated hereby without the prior written consent of the other
party (which consent shall not be unreasonably conditioned, withheld or
delayed); provided, however, that each
party may make such statements as may be required by applicable law or
applicable stock exchange rules, in which case, the party desiring to make a
public statement or disclosure shall consult with the other parties and permit
them opportunity to review and comment on the proposed disclosure to the extent
practicable under the circumstances. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
Parent, Merger Sub and the Company agree that the initial press release to be
issued with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby will be in the form
heretofore agreed to by the parties. For the avoidance of doubt, each
of the parties hereby acknowledges and agrees that customary communications by
Parent and Merger Sub with Employees for purposes of transition planning,
retention and similar purposes shall not be considered public statements or
announcements within the meaning of this Section 5.6 and shall
not require the prior written consent of the Company.
Section
5.7 Approval and
Consents;
Cooperation. Each
of the Company, Parent and Merger Sub shall cooperate with each other and use
their respective commercially reasonable efforts to take or cause to be taken
all actions, and do or cause to be done all things, necessary, proper or
advisable on their part under this Agreement and applicable laws to consummate
and make effective the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this
Agreement as soon as practicable, including (a) preparing and filing as promptly
as practicable all documentation to effect all necessary applications, notices,
petitions, filings, Tax ruling requests and other documents and to obtain as
promptly as practicable all consents, waivers, licenses, orders, registrations,
approvals, Permits, Tax rulings and authorizations necessary or advisable to be
obtained from any third party and/or any Governmental Entity in order to
consummate the Merger or any of the other transactions contemplated by this
Agreement (including, but not limited to, those approvals, consents, orders,
registrations, declarations and filings set forth in Section 3.5(b) of the
Company Disclosure Letter (collectively, the "Required Approvals"),
(b) taking all commercially reasonable steps as may be necessary to obtain all
such Required Approvals (provided that in no event shall the Company be required
to pay or commit to pay any material fee, material penalties or other material
consideration to any landlord or other third party to obtain any consent,
approval or waiver required for the consummation of the Merger), and (c)
obtaining estoppel certificates with respect to each Leased Real
Property.
Section
5.8 Further
Assurances. In
case at any time after the Effective Time any further action is reasonably
necessary to carry out the purposes of this Agreement or the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement, the proper officers of the Company, Parent and
the Surviving Corporation shall take any such reasonably necessary
action.
41
Section
5.9 Indemnification
and Insurance.
(a) Parent and Merger Sub agree that all
rights to indemnification and payment or reimbursement of fees and expenses
incurred in advance of the final disposition of any claim related to acts or
omissions occurring at or prior to the Effective Time, whether asserted or claimed prior to, at
or after the Effective Time (including any matters arising in connection with
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement), now existing or at any time
hereafter arising in favor of the current or former directors or officers, as the case may be (the
"Indemnified
Parties"), of the Company or its Subsidiaries as
provided in their respective certificates of incorporation or by-laws (or
comparable organizational documents) shall survive the Merger and shall continue in full force
and effect for a period of six (6) years from and after the Effective
Time. For a period of six (6) years from and after the Effective
Time, (i) Parent shall cause the Surviving Corporation to maintain in effect
the current provisions regarding
indemnification of officers and directors contained in the certificate of
incorporation and by-laws (or comparable organizational documents) of each of
the Company and its Subsidiaries and (ii) Parent cause the Surviving
Corporation to, and shall itself, indemnify
and hold harmless the Indemnified Parties to the fullest extent permitted by
applicable law against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs, expenses
(including advances for reasonable fees and expenses as incurred to the fullest extent permitted
under applicable Law, provided the Person to whom expenses are advanced provides
an undertaking to repay such advances if it is ultimately determined by a court
of competent jurisdiction, (such determination shall have become final) that such Person is not
entitled to indemnification), judgments, fines and, subject to approval by
Parent (which shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned),
amounts paid in settlement in connection with any threatened or actual civil, criminal or administrative
actions, suits, litigations, arbitrations, mediations, claims, hearings,
inquiries, investigations or other proceedings ("Actions") to which such Indemnified Party 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 such
individual is or was a director or officer of the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, or is or was serving at the request of the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries as a director or
officer of another Person or (ii) this Agreement or any of the transactions
contemplated hereby, whether asserted or arising before or after the Effective
Time.
(b) For a period of six (6) years from and
after the Effective Time,
Parent shall itself (and shall cause the Surviving Corporation to) either cause
to be maintained in effect the current policies of directors' and officers'
liability insurance and fiduciary liability insurance maintained by the Company
or its Subsidiaries, or provide substitute
policies or purchase a "tail policy," in either case, of at least the same
coverage and amounts containing terms and conditions which are, in the
aggregate, no less advantageous to the Indemnified Parties with respect to
claims arising from facts
or events that occurred on or before the Effective Time, except that in no event
shall the Surviving Corporation be required to pay, with respect to such
insurance policies, in respect of any one policy year more than two
hundred and fifty percent (250%) of the annual
premium paid by the Company for such insurance under the current policy year
ending on May 30, 2009 (as set forth on Section
5.9(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the
"Maximum
Amount"), and if the Surviving Corporation is unable to
obtain the insurance required by this Section
5.9(b) it shall obtain as much comparable
insurance as possible for an annual premium equal to the Maximum
Amount.
42
(c) Any Indemnified Party wishing to claim
indemnification under
paragraph (a) of this Section
5.9, upon learning of any
such Action, shall promptly notify Parent thereof, but the failure to so notify
shall not relieve Parent and/or the Surviving Corporation of any liability it
may have to such Indemnified Party, except to the extent such failure
materially prejudices the indemnifying party. In the event of any
such Action, (arising after the Effective Time), (i) the Surviving Corporation
shall have the right to assume the defense thereof, with counsel
reasonably acceptable to the Indemnified
Parties (which acceptance shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or
conditioned), and Parent and the Surviving Corporation shall not be liable to
such Indemnified Parties for any legal expenses of other counsel or
any other expenses subsequently incurred
by such Indemnified Parties in connection with the defense thereof, except that
if the Surviving Corporation elects not to assume such defense or counsel for
the Indemnified Parties advises that there are issues which raise conflicts of interest between
Parent or the Surviving Corporation and the Indemnified Parties, or among the
Indemnified Parties, the Indemnified Parties may retain counsel satisfactory to
them, and Parent shall pay, or shall cause the Surviving Corporation to pay all reasonable fees and
expenses of such counsel for the Indemnified Parties promptly as statements
therefor are received; provided, however, that Parent and the Surviving
Corporation shall be obligated pursuant to this paragraph (c) to pay
for only one firm of
counsel for all Indemnified Parties in any jurisdiction unless the use of one
counsel for such Indemnified Parties would present such counsel with a conflict
of interest; provided that (i) the fewest number of counsels
necessary to avoid
conflicts of interest shall be used, (ii) the Indemnified Parties will cooperate
in the defense of any such matter and (iii) Parent and the Surviving Corporation
shall not be liable for any settlement effected without their prior written
consent, which consent shall not be unreasonably
withheld, delayed or conditioned; and provided, further, that Parent and the Surviving
Corporation shall not have any obligation hereunder to any Indemnified Party if
and to the extent that a court of competent jurisdiction shall ultimately determine, and such
determination shall have become final, that the indemnification of such
Indemnified Party in the manner contemplated hereby is prohibited by applicable
law.
(d) The provisions of this Section
5.9 are intended to be
for the benefit of, and
shall be enforceable by, each of the Indemnified Parties and their heirs and
legal representatives. Parent shall itself (and shall cause the
Surviving Corporation to) advance expenses, including reasonable fees and
expenses of counsel, to an Indemnified Party as incurred
to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law upon receipt from the
applicable Indemnified Party of an undertaking to repay such advances if it is
ultimately determined such Person is not entitled to indemnification.
(e) The rights of the Indemnified Parties
and their heirs and legal representatives under this Section
5.9 shall be in addition to
any rights such Indemnified Parties may have under the certificate of
incorporation or by-laws (or comparable organizational documents) of the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries or applicable law.
Section
5.10 Continuation
of Employee Benefits. From
and after the Effective Time, Parent shall cause the Surviving Corporation to
honor in accordance with their terms all existing employment, severance,
consulting and salary continuation agreements between the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries and any current or former officer, director, Employee or consultant
of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or group of such officers, directors,
43
Employees
or consultants described in Section 5.10 of the
Company Disclosure Letter. Following the Effective Time, to the
extent permitted by law and applicable tax qualification requirements, and
subject to any generally applicable break in service or similar rule, and the
approval of any insurance carrier, third-party provider or the like with
commercially reasonable efforts of Parent, each Person party to any such
agreement shall receive service credit for purposes of eligibility to
participate and vesting (but not for benefit accrual purposes) for employment,
compensation, and employee benefit plan purposes with the Company prior to the
Effective Time. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing to the contrary,
none of the provisions contained herein shall operate to duplicate any benefit
provided to any such assumed employee. Nothing in this Section 5.10 or this
Agreement shall alter the at-will nature of the employment of each Employee, or
shall otherwise obligate Parent or the Surviving Corporation to employ or
otherwise retain any Employee for a certain length of time. Nothing
in this Section
5.10 or this Agreement creates, or is intended to create, any employment
agreement or contract, whether express or implied.
Section
5.11 Company
ESPP. The
Company shall cause the Plan Administrator (as such term is defined in the
Company ESPP) to promptly take all actions necessary in accordance with the
Company ESPP to (i) ensure that no purchase period under the Company ESPP
commences after the date hereof and, if necessary, to (ii) set a New Purchase
Date (as defined in the Company ESPP) with respect to all outstanding purchase
rights granted pursuant to the Company ESPP such that all purchase rights
existing immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be automatically
exercised on or prior thereto. The Company shall take an and all
actions as may be necessary to terminate the ESPP as of the Effective
Time.
Section
5.12 Financing;
Forbearance Agreements; Subordinated Loan Agreement.
(a) Parent and Merger Sub shall use (and shall use
their respective commercially reasonably efforts to cause the Non-Lender Parties
to use) their respective commercially reasonable 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
obtain the Financing consistent with the terms specified and described in the
Commitment Letters, including using commercially reasonable efforts to (i)
maintain in effect the Commitment Letters, (ii) satisfy on a timely basis all terms, covenants and
conditions applicable to Parent set forth in the Commitment Letters,
(iii) enter into definitive agreements with respect thereto on or before
the Closing Date on the terms and conditions contemplated by the Commitment
Letters and (iv) consummate the
Financing at or prior to Closing and in any event within ten (10) days after the
condition described in Section
6.1(a) (Stockholder
Approval) has been satisfied and (e) seek to enforce its rights under the
Commitment Letters. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
in this Agreement, any failure on the part of a Non-Lender Party to use such
Non-Lender Party’s commercially reasonable efforts as
required by the preceding sentence shall be deemed to be a failure on the part
of Parent and Merger Sub to use their
respective commercially reasonable efforts as required by the preceding
sentence. Parent will furnish true and complete copies of all such
definitive agreements promptly upon their execution. Parent shall
keep the Company promptly informed with respect to all material
activity concerning the status of the Financing and promptly furnish to the Company any
written or e-mail correspondence with any financing source that is a party to
any of the Commitment Letters that is material to the Financing. Parent
shall provide the
44
Company with prompt notice of any material change
with respect to the Financing that would reasonably be expected to
impair, delay or prevent consummation of the Financing on the terms set forth in
the Commitment
Letters.
(b) Parent shall use its commercially
reasonable efforts to deliver to the Company, within twenty-one (21) days after
the date of this Agreement, a commitment letter or commitment letters issued by
Bank of the West or other lender(s) acceptable to Travelers Insurance Company, to
provide financing in the amount of the Financing Agreement Repayment Amount to
replace the Commitment Letters and on terms no less favorable to Parent
and Merger Sub (the "Aggregated
Commitment
Letter").
(c) Without limiting the foregoing
provisions of paragraph (a) and (b), Parent agrees to notify the Company
promptly, and in any event within two (2) business days, if at any
time prior to the Closing
Date (i) any Commitment
Letter or, if obtained, the Aggregated
Commitment Letter shall
expire or be terminated for
any reason or, (ii) any Commitment Letter or, if obtained, the Aggregated
Commitment Letter shall be modified in a manner materially adverse to Parent for
any reason, or (iii) Parent
learns of any other information which it believes is material to the
availability of the Financing or the ability of Parent to consummate such
Financing. To
the extent that any of the events described in the foregoing clauses (i), (ii), and
(iii) of the
immediately preceding
sentence occurs, at the request of the Company, Parent shall use its commercially reasonable
efforts, as promptly as
practicable, to arrange to obtain alternative financing from alternative sources
in an amount sufficient to
cover the Financing
Agreement Repayment Amount
on terms no less favorable to Parent and Merger Sub than those included in the
original Commitment Letters
in the aggregate or the Aggregated Commitment Letter, if
obtained, and to
obtain, and provide the
Company with true and
complete copies of, a new
fully-executed financing commitment letter or letters that provide for at least the same amount of
financing as the original Commitment Letters in the aggregate and on terms no less favorable to
Parent and Merger Sub than
those included in the original Commitment Letters and, if pertaining to the Aggregated
Commitment Letter, from Bank of the West or other lender(s) acceptable to
Travelers Insurance Company (the “New
Commitment Letters”). If applicable, Parent and
Merger Sub shall use their respective commercially reasonable 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 obtain the Financing consistent with the terms specified and
described in the New Commitment Letters, including using commercially reasonable efforts to (i) maintain in
effect the New Commitment Letters, (ii) satisfy on a timely basis all
terms, covenants and conditions applicable to Parent set forth in the New Commitment
Letters, (iii) enter into definitive agreements
with respect thereto on or before the Closing Date on the terms and conditions
contemplated by the New Commitment Letters, (iv) consummate the Financing at or
prior to Closing and (v)
seek to enforce its rights under the New Commitment Letters. In the event New
Commitment Letters or the Aggregated Commitment Letter are or is obtained, references in this Agreement
to the Commitment Letters shall be deemed to refer to the
New Commitment
Letters or the Aggregated
Commitment Letter, as
applicable, and references in this Agreement to the Financing shall be deemed to
refer to the financing contemplated by the New Commitment Letters or the Aggregated Commitment Letter,
as applicable. Parent and/or Merger
Sub shall not amend or alter, or agree to amend or alter, any Commitment Letter
in any manner that would prevent or materially impair or delay the consummation
of the Merger without the prior written consent of the
Company.
45
(d) The Company and its Subsidiaries shall
take, or cause to be taken,
all actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things necessary, proper or advisable in order to
remain in compliance with the terms and conditions of and continue in full force
and effect the Subordinated
Loan Agreement and any extension or amendment thereof until such time as the
transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement are
consummated. Without limiting the foregoing,
the Company agrees to notify Parent promptly, if at any time subsequent to the date of this Agreement
and prior to the Closing
Date, the Company shall receive any written
notice of a default or breach by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with
respect to the Financing Agreement, the Forbearance Agreements (including such agreements to forbear the
amounts due under the Financing Agreement through the Effective
Time) or the Subordinated Loan
Agreement.
Section
5.13 Takeover
Statutes. If
any Takeover Statute enacted under state or federal law shall become applicable
to the Merger or any of the other transactions contemplated hereby, each of the
Company, Parent and Merger Sub and the board of directors of each of the
Company, Parent and Merger Sub shall grant such approvals and take such actions
as are reasonably necessary so that the Merger and the other transactions
contemplated hereby may be consummated as promptly as practicable on the terms
contemplated hereby and otherwise use commercially reasonable efforts to
eliminate or minimize the effects of such statute or regulation on the Merger
and the other transactions contemplated hereby.
Section
5.14 Disposition
of Litigation. In
connection with any litigation which may be brought against the Company, its
Subsidiaries or any of its or their respective directors or officers relating to
the transactions contemplated hereby, the Company shall keep Parent and Merger
Sub, and any counsel which Parent and Merger Sub may retain at their own
expense, informed of the status of such litigation and will provide Parent's and
Merger Sub's counsel the right to participate in the defense of such litigation
to the extent Parent and Merger Sub are not otherwise a party thereto, and the
Company shall not enter into any settlement or compromise of any such litigation
without Parent's and Merger Sub's prior written consent, which consent shall not
be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
Section
5.15 Delisting. Each
of the parties agrees to cooperate with each other in taking, or causing to be
taken, all actions necessary to delist the Company Common Stock from The Nasdaq
Stock Market and to terminate registration under the Exchange Act; provided that such delisting
and termination shall not be effective until after the Effective Time of the
Merger.
Section
5.16 Insurance
Claims. The
Company and its Subsidiaries shall take, or cause to be taken, all actions and
to do, or cause to be done, all things necessary, proper or advisable in order
to file all material claims outstanding which have not been previously filed
under the Insurance Policies in a timely fashion.
Section
5.17 Purchase
Agreement. Parent
shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to take, or cause to be taken, all
actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things necessary, proper or
advisable in order to cause the transactions contemplated by the Purchase
Agreement to occur on or before the time immediately prior to the
Closing.
46
Section
5.18 Remaining
Commitment Letter. Parent
shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to deliver to the Company a
commitment letter issued by Bank of America, N.A. or other reasonably acceptable
financial institution (the "Remaining Commitment
Letter") to provide financing on the terms set forth therein in an amount
equal to at least $5,000,000 (the "Remaining Commitment Letter
Amount"), which, when aggregated with the amount of the financing
contemplated by the other Commitment Letters with Bank of the West, Community
Bank of Nevada and Pacific Western Bank, would equal the Financing Agreement
Repayment Amount, for the purpose of replacing the Financing
Agreement. In the event the Remaining Commitment Letter is obtained,
references in this Agreement to the Commitment Letters shall be deemed to
include the Remaining Commitment Letter, and references in this Agreement to the
Financing shall be deemed to include the financing contemplated by the Remaining
Commitment Letter.
Section
5.19 Parent
Borrowing Availability. From
the date hereof until the time when Parent delivers the Aggregated Commitment
Letter in accordance with Section 5.12(b),
Parent shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to take, or cause to be
taken, all actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things necessary, proper
or advisable in order to maintain at least $5,000,000 in aggregate borrowing
availability under the Parent First Lien Credit Agreement at all times during
such period. At any time upon the reasonable request of the Company,
Parent shall obtain and provide to the Company copies of evidence with respect
to Parent’s compliance with this Section 5.19; provided, however, that this
Section 5.19
shall terminate at the time Parent delivers to the Company the Remaining
Commitment Letter as set forth in Section
5.18.
ARTICLE VI
CONDITIONS OF
MERGER
Section
6.1 Conditions
to Each Party's Obligation
to Effect the Merger. The
respective obligations of each party hereto to effect the Merger shall be
subject to the following conditions:
(a) Stockholder
Approval. The
Merger and this Agreement
shall have received the Company Stockholder Approval.
(b) No
Challenge. No
statute, rule, regulation, judgment, writ, decree, order or injunction shall
have been promulgated, enacted, entered or enforced, and no other action shall
have been taken, by any
Governmental Entity that in any of the foregoing cases has the effect of making
illegal or directly or indirectly restraining or prohibiting the consummation of
the Merger.
Section
6.2 Additional
Conditions to Obligation of the Company to Effect the
Merger. The
obligation of the Company to effect the Merger shall be subject to the
fulfillment at or prior to the Effective Time of the additional following
conditions, unless waived by the Company:
(a) Performance
of Obligations of Parent and
Merger
Sub. Parent and
Merger Sub shall have performed in all material respects their agreements
contained in this
47
Agreement required to be performed on or
prior to the Effective Time and the Company shall have received a certificate of
an executive officer of
Merger Sub and Parent to that effect.
(b) Representations
and Warranties of Parent and
Merger
Sub. The representations and warranties of
Parent and Merger Sub contained in this
Agreement shall be true and correct (without giving effect to any "materiality" qualifiers set forth therein) as of the
date of this Agreement and at and as of the Effective Time with the same force
and effect as if made at and as of the Effective Time (other than those
representations and warranties that address matters only as of a particular date or only with
respect to a specific period of time, which need only be true and correct as of
such date or with respect to such period), except where the failure of such
representations and warranties to be true and correct (without giving effect to any "materiality" qualifiers set forth therein) would
not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material
adverse effect on the ability of Parent and Merger Sub to consummate the
transactions contemplated hereby. The Company shall have
received a certificate of an executive officer of Merger Sub and Parent as to
the satisfaction of this Section
6.2(b).
(c) Purchase
Agreement. Parent and DelStaff shall have consummated the transactions
contemplated by the Purchase Agreement prior to the Effective
Time.
Section
6.3 Additional
Conditions to Obligations of Parent and
Merger Sub
to Effect the Merger. The
obligations of Parent and Merger Sub to effect the Merger shall be subject to
the fulfillment at or prior to the Effective Time of the following additional
conditions, unless waived by Parent and Merger Sub:
(a) Performance
of Obligations of the Company. The Company shall have
performed in all material respects its agreements contained in this Agreement
required to be performed on
or prior to the Effective Time, and Parent and Merger Sub shall have received a
certificate of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company to that
effect.
(b) Representations
and Warranties of the Company. The representations and warranties of the Company contained in Section
3.1
(Organization), Section
3.2 (Capitalization), Section
3.4 (Authority), Section
3.23 (Control Share
Acquisition), and Section
3.24 (Vote Required) shall be true and
correct in all respects
(except for immaterial inaccuracies in the case of Section 3.2
(Capitalization) as of the date of this Agreement and at and as of the Effective Time
with the same force and
effect as if made at and as of the Effective Time (other than those representations and
warranties that address
matters only as of a particular date or only with respect to a specific period
of time, which need only be true and correct as of such date or with respect to
such period). The representations and warranties of the Company
contained in this Agreement (other than those listed in the
preceding sentence) shall be true and correct (without giving effect to any
"materiality" or "Material Adverse Effect" qualifiers set forth therein) as of the
date of this Agreement and at and as of the Effective Time with the same force and effect as if made at
and as of the Effective Time (other than those representations and warranties
that address matters only as of a particular date or only with respect to a
specific period of time, which need only be true and correct as of such date or with respect to such
period), except where the failure of such representations and warranties to be
true and correct (without giving effect to any "materiality" or "Material Adverse Effect" qualifiers set forth
48
therein) does not constitute a Material Adverse Effect. Parent and Merger Sub shall have received a
certificate of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company as to the satisfaction of this
Section
6.3(b).
(c) Consents. The Company shall have
obtained and provided to Parent and Merger Sub copies of evidence with respect
to the consents of Governmental Entities and third parties listed on
Section 6.3(c) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the
terms of which consents shall be reasonably satisfactory to Parent and Merger
Sub.
(d) Suits,
Actions and
Proceedings. There shall not exist any pending
action, suit, investigation or proceeding brought by any Governmental Entity
that could reasonably be expected to enjoin, restrain or prohibit (or that
enjoins, restrains or prohibits) the Merger or the other transactions
contemplated hereby, or
that has had or would
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(e) Financing. Parent or Merger Sub shall
have received the aggregate amount of Financing available pursuant to the
Commitment Letters and no
Financing Failure shall exist as of the Effective Time.
(f) Minimum
Balance. The
Company shall provide to
Parent and Merger Sub evidence acceptable to Parent and Merger Sub that the
Company, as of the close of
business on the business day immediately prior to the Closing Date,
without giving effect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, holds,
in an account or accounts controlled by the Company and not subject to any Liens or other
restrictions except for those generally arising under the terms of the Financing
Agreement, the Forbearance
Agreements, the Subordinated Loan Agreement or any notes issued by the Company
in exchange therefor, or applicable law, an aggregate amount equal to $9.5
million in cash and/or
securities issued or
unconditionally guaranteed or insured by the United States government having
maturities of not more than 12 months from the Closing Date.
(g) Governance
Agreement. The
Company shall have delivered, prior to the Closing Date, copies of evidence that
the Governance Agreement
has been terminated and is of no further force or effect.
(h) Purchase
Agreement. All of the conditions to closing set
forth in Section 6
of the Purchase Agreement shall have been satisfied, or
waived.
(i) Material
Adverse Effect.
No Effect shall have
occurred or come to exist since November 1, 2008, which, individually or in the
aggregate, has had or would reasonably be expected to result in a Material
Adverse Effect.
(j) Dissenting
Shares. The
aggregate number of Dissenting Shares shall be less than 15% of the total
number of outstanding shares of Company Common Stock at the Effective
Time.
ARTICLE VII
TERMINATION, AMENDMENT AND
WAIVER
49
Section
7.1 Termination. Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, this Agreement may be
terminated and the transactions contemplated hereby may be abandoned prior to
the Effective Time, whether before or after the Company Stockholder
Approval:
(a) by mutual written consent of the Boards
of Directors of Parent, Merger Sub and the Company;
or
(b) by any party hereto, if the Effective
Time shall not have occurred prior to the earlier of (i) ten (10) days following
the date the Company Stockholders’ Meeting is held or (ii) one-hundred
eighty (180) days from the date hereof (the "Termination
Date"), provided, however, that the right to terminate this
Agreement pursuant to this Section
7.1(b) shall not be
available to any party whose failure to perform any of its obligations under
this Agreement or the
Purchase Agreement required to be performed by it at or prior to such date has
been the principal cause of, or resulted in the failure of the Merger to have
become effective on or before such date; or
(c) by any party hereto, if (i) a statute,
rule, regulation or
executive order shall have been enacted, entered or promulgated prohibiting the
consummation of the Merger or (ii) an order, decree, ruling or injunction shall
have been entered permanently restraining, enjoining or otherwise prohibiting
the consummation of the Merger and such order,
decree, ruling or injunction shall have become final and non-appealable
and the party seeking to
terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section
7.1(c)(ii) shall have used
all reasonable best efforts to remove such injunction, order, decree or
ruling;
or
(d) by the Company, if either Parent or
Merger Sub shall have breached or failed to perform in any material respect any
of its respective representations, warranties, covenants or other agreements
contained in this Agreement, which breach or failure to
perform (i) would result in a failure of a condition set forth in
Section
6.1 or 6.2 and (ii) cannot be cured by the
Termination Date, provided that the Company shall have given Parent and Merger
Sub written notice, delivered at least ten (10) days prior to
such termination, stating the Company's intention to terminate this Agreement
pursuant to this Section
7.1(d) and the basis for
such termination; or
(e) by Parent and Merger Sub, if the Company shall have breached or
failed to perform in any
material respect any of its representations, warranties, covenants or other
agreements contained in this Agreement, which breach or failure to perform (i)
would result in a failure of a condition set forth in Section
6.1 or 6.3 and (ii) cannot be cured by the Termination
Date, provided that Parent
and Merger Sub shall have
given the Company written notice, delivered at least ten (10) days prior to such termination,
stating Parent and Merger
Sub's intention to
terminate the Agreement
pursuant to this Section
7.1(e) and the basis for such termination;
or
(f) by Parent and Merger Sub or the Company,
if, at the Company Stockholders' Meeting (including any adjournment,
continuation or postponement thereof), the Company Stockholder
Approval shall not be
obtained; except that the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this
Section
7.1(f) shall not be
available to the Company where the failure to obtain the Company Stockholder
Approval shall have been caused by the action or failure to act of the Company and such action or
failure to
50
act constitutes a material breach by the
Company of this Agreement or a material breach of the Purchase Agreement by any
party thereto other than Parent or Merger Sub; or
(g) by Parent and Merger Sub, if (i) the Company Board (or any committee thereof), shall have
effected a Company Change
of Recommendation or approved or recommended to the Company’s stockholders a Company Alternative
Proposal or resolved to do any of the foregoing, or (ii) the Company fails to call and hold the Company Stockholders'
Meeting within forty-five (45) days after the Proxy Statement is cleared by the SEC;
or
(h) by the Company, if (i) (A) any of the
Commitment Letters (including, for the avoidance of doubt, the Aggregated
Commitment Letter, should
it be issued) shall expire or be terminated for any reason and (B) Parent is
unable to obtain New Commitment Letters within twenty-one (21) days of such
expiration or termination, or (ii) the condition described in Section
6.3(e) (Financing) cannot be satisfied for any reason
within ten (10) days after the condition described in Section
6.1(a) (Stockholder
Approval) has been satisfied; or
(i) by the Company, if (i) Parent shall not
have delivered the Aggregated Commitment Letter in accordance with Section
5.12(b), or (ii) on the
date the Aggregated Commitment Letter is delivered, the representations and
warranties of Parent and Merger Sub set forth in Section
2.4 hereof shall not be
true and correct in all material respects with respect to the Aggregated Commitment Letter as
though it were one of the Commitment Letters referred to in such section;
provided, however, that the Company’s right to terminate this Agreement
pursuant to this Section
7.1(i)(i) shall expire on the date that the
Aggregated Commitment
Letter is delivered; or
(j) by Parent and Merger Sub, if any lender
under the Financing Agreement shall exercise any material remedies available to
such lender under the Financing Agreement by reason of an Event of Default and
shall not have desisted
from exercising such remedy within five (5) days thereafter;
or
(k) by the Company, if Parent is unable to
maintain $5,000,000 in aggregate borrowing availability under the Parent First
Lien Credit Agreement at any time during the period ending on the delivery of the Aggregate
Commitment Letter set forth
in Section
5.19; provided, however, that the Company's right to terminate
this Agreement pursuant to this Section 7.1(k) shall expire at the time that
Parent delivers to the
Company the
Remaining Commitment Letter
as set forth in Section 5.18.
Section
7.2 Effect of
Termination; Termination Fee Payable in Certain Circumstances.
(a) Except as provided in
Sections 7.2(b), (c) and (d) below, in the event of termination of this
Agreement pursuant to Section
7.1, this Agreement shall
terminate (except for the
provisions of Sections 8.2 through 8.15), without any liability or obligation resulting from or in connection with
this Agreement on the part
of any party or its directors, officers or stockholders except to the extent that such
termination results from the material breach by a party of any of
its representations, warranties, covenants or agreements set forth in this
Agreement, in which case such breaching party shall be fully liable for any and
all liabilities,
51
damages and expenses incurred or
suffered by the other party (including reasonable attorneys' fees) as a result
of such breach. No termination of this Agreement shall affect the obligations of the parties
contained in the Confidentiality Agreement or the Parent Confidentiality
Agreement, all of which
respective obligations shall survive termination of
this Agreement in accordance with their respective terms.
(b) In the event that (i) Parent and Merger
Sub terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section
7.1(g), (ii) (A) any Person shall have publicly
made a Company Alternative
Proposal after the date
hereof and thereafter this Agreement is terminated by any party pursuant to
Section
7.1
(b) or (f), and (B) within nine (9) months after the termination of this Agreement, any Company
Acquisition shall have been consummated or any definitive agreement with respect
to a Company Acquisition shall have been entered into (and such Company
Acquisition shall subsequently be consummated), or (iii) the Parent terminates this Agreement pursuant to
Section
7.1(b) and at the time of
such termination each of the conditions set forth in Sections
6.1 and 6.2 (other than the requirement to deliver
certificates pursuant to Sections
6.2(a) and (b)) has been satisfied or waived, then the Company shall pay Parent a fee,
in immediately available funds, in the amount of $2,000,000 (the "Company
Termination Fee"), within two business days after
such termination in the
case of a termination described in clause (i) or (iii) above, or upon the occurrence of the
Company Acquisition, in the event of a termination described in clause (ii)
above.
(c) In the event that (i) the Company
terminates this Agreement pursuant to Section
7.1(b) or 7.1(h)(ii) and at the time of the termination of
this Agreement each of the conditions set forth in Sections
6.1 and 6.3 (other than Section
6.3(e) (Financing) and the
requirement to deliver certificates pursuant to Sections
6.3(a) and (b)) has been satisfied or waived, without giving effect to whether
such conditions are by their nature to be satisfied at a specified time, or (ii)
the Company terminates this Agreement pursuant to Section
7.1(h)(i), then Parent shall pay the Company a
fee, in immediately available funds, in the amount of $2,000,000 (the
"Parent
Termination Fee" and,
together with the Company Termination Fee, the "Termination
Fees" and each a
"Termination
Fee"), within two business days after such
termination.
(d) The parties hereto acknowledge and agree
that, to the extent that a Termination Fee is payable hereunder (i) the sole and
exclusive remedy of any party hereto shall be the receipt of such Termination
Fee and (ii) upon payment of a Termination Fee, such party (and any other party
which may be liable for the payment of such Termination Fee) shall be fully released and discharged
from any other liability or obligation resulting from or in connection with
this Agreement. The parties further acknowledge and agree that in the event
this Agreement is terminated by the Company pursuant to Section
7.1(i) or Section
7.1(k), no Termination Fee
shall be payable to the Company and upon such termination the parties shall be
fully released and discharged from any liability or obligation
resulting from or in connection with this Agreement. The parties
hereto further acknowledge and agree that the Termination Fees are an integral
part of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby and that the
Termination Fees constitute liquidated
damages and not a penalty.
ARTICLE VIII
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
52
Section
8.1 Non-Survival
of Representations, Warranties and Agreements. The
representations, warranties and agreements in this Agreement shall terminate at
the Effective Time or the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 7.1, as the
case may be, except that the agreements set forth in Article I and Section 5.8 and Section 5.9 shall
survive the Effective Time indefinitely and those set forth in Sections 5.5(b), 7.2 and 8.3 shall survive
termination indefinitely.
Section
8.2 Notices. All
notices and other communications given or made pursuant hereto shall be in
writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given or made (i) as of the date
delivered or sent by facsimile or email if delivered personally or on the date
of confirmation of receipt of transmission if sent by facsimile and (ii) on the
fifth business day after deposit in the U.S. mail, if mailed by registered or
certified mail (postage prepaid, return receipt requested), in each case to the
parties at the following addresses (or at such other address for a party as
shall be specified by like notice, except that notices of changes of address
shall be effective upon receipt):
(a) if to Parent or Merger Sub, to:
Koosharem
Corporation
0000
Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000
Attention: D.
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
Telephone: (000)
000-0000 (not official notice)
Facsimile: (000)
000-0000
Email: xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
(not official notice)
and
Attention: Xxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx
Telephone: (000)
000-0000 (not official notice)
Facsimile: (000)
000-0000
Email: Xxxxxxx.Xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
(not officialnotice)
with
a copy, which shall not serve as a notice, to:
Skadden,
Arps, Slate, Xxxxxxx & Xxxx LLP
Xxx
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
X.X.
Xxx 000
Xxxxxxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxx 00000-0000
Attention: Xxxxxx
X. Xxxxxx, Esq.
Telephone:
(000) 000-0000
Facsimile: (000)
000-0000
Email: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx
(b) if to the Company,
to:
Westaff,
Inc.
53
000
Xxxxx Xxxxx Xxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000-0000
Attention:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx, Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: (000)
000-0000 (not official notice)
Facsimile: (000)
000-0000(with a copy addressed to Manager of Legal)
Email:
xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx
(not official notice)
with
a copy, which shall not serve as a notice, to:
Xxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxx
LLP
000 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxx 00000-0000
Attention: Xxxx X. Xxxxxxxx,
Esq.
Telephone: (000) 000-0000
Facsimile:
(000) 000-0000
E-mail: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Section
8.3 Expenses. Except
as expressly set forth in Section 7.2, all
fees, costs and expenses incurred in connection with this Agreement and the
transactions contemplated hereby shall be paid by the party incurring such fees,
costs and expenses.
Section
8.4 Definitions. For
purposes of this Agreement, the term:
"Action" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
5.9.
"affiliate" of a
Person means a Person that directly or indirectly, through one or more
intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, the
first mentioned Person.
"Affiliate
Transaction" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.20.
"Aggregated Commitment
Letter" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
5.12(b).
"Agreement" shall have
the meaning set forth in the Preamble hereto.
"Book-Entry Shares"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.7(b).
"Certificate of
Merger" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.2.
"Certificates" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
1.7(b).
"Cleanup" shall mean
all actions required to: (i) clean up, remove, treat or remediate Hazardous
Materials in the indoor or outdoor environment; (ii) prevent the Release of
Hazardous Materials so that they do not migrate, endanger or threaten to
endanger public health or welfare or the indoor or outdoor environment; (iii)
perform pre-remedial studies and investigations and post-remedial monitoring and
care; or (iv) respond to any government
54
requests
for information or documents in any way relating to cleanup, removal, treatment
or remediation or potential cleanup, removal, treatment or remediation of
Hazardous Materials in the indoor or outdoor environment.
"Closing" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
1.9.
"Closing Date" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
1.9.
"Code" shall have the
meaning set forth in Section
1.7(g).
"Commitment Letters"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.4.
"Company" shall have
the meaning set forth in the Preamble hereto.
"Company 2007 Form
10-K" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.6(c).
"Company Acquisition"
means, in each case other than the Merger or as otherwise specifically
contemplated by this Agreement, (i) any merger, consolidation, share exchange,
business combination, recapitalization or other similar transaction or series of
related transactions involving the Company in which the holders of the voting
stock of the Company immediately prior to such transaction do not own 50% or
more of the voting stock of the continuing or surviving entity or the parent
company of such entity, immediately after such transaction; (ii) any direct or
indirect purchase or sale, lease, exchange, transfer or other disposition of the
assets of the Company or its Subsidiaries constituting a majority of the total
assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or accounting for
a majority of the total revenues of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a
whole, in any one transaction or in a series of transactions; (iii) any direct
or indirect purchase or sale of or tender offer, exchange offer or any similar
transaction or series of related transactions engaged in by any Person
involving more than
50% of the outstanding shares of Company Common Stock; or (iv) any other
substantially similar transaction or series of related transactions that would
reasonably be expected to prevent or materially impair or delay the consummation
of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; provided, however, that all
references to "50%" or "a majority" as used in this definition of the term
"Company Acquisition" shall be deemed to mean 25% in the context of applying the
non-solicitation covenants set forth in Section 4.2 and with
respect to Section
7.2(iii), solely for the purposes of determining whether a Company
Alternative Proposal has been made, but not whether any fee may be payable
thereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term
"Company
Acquisition" shall not in
any event be deemed to mean any transaction or series of related transactions involving a Company
Acquisition by DelStaff
and/or any of its affiliates.
"Company Alternative
Proposal" shall mean any proposal or offer made by any Person or group of
Persons prior to the receipt of the Company Stockholder Approval (other than a
proposal or offer by Parent, any of its Subsidiaries or its or their affiliates
or associates) relating to any (i) acquisition of the Company by merger or
business combination transaction, or for a "merger of equals" with the Company;
(ii) acquisition by any Person of twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the
assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; (iii) acquisition
by any Person of twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the outstanding shares of
Company Common Stock; (iv) acquisition by the Company following which the
stockholders of
55
the
Company immediately preceding the consummation of the transaction contemplated
thereby cease to hold at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the outstanding
equity of the Company immediately following such transaction or (v) any
disposition of all or substantially all of the Company's and its Subsidiaries'
assets.
"Company Board" shall
have the meaning set forth in the Recitals hereto.
"Company Change of
Recommendation" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 5.2(a).
"Company Common Stock"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.6.
"Company Disclosure
Letter" shall have the meaning set forth in Article
III.
"Company Material
Contracts" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.17(a).
"Company Preferred
Stock" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.2.
"Company
Recommendation" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 5.2(a).
"Company SEC Reports"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.6(a).
"Company Stockholder
Approval" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.24.
"Company Stockholders'
Meeting" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.7.
"Company Superior
Proposal" shall mean a bona fide written Company Alternative Proposal
made by any Person or group of Persons for assets representing more than fifty
percent (50%) of the consolidated revenue of the Company and its Subsidiaries
taken as a whole or more than fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding shares of
Company Common Stock, provided that
following such transaction, the stockholders of the Company immediately
preceding the consummation of such transaction hold less than fifty percent
(50%) of the outstanding equity of the Company immediately following such
transaction, (and which proposal has not been obtained by or on behalf of the
Company in violation of Section 4.2, and with
respect to which the Company has fulfilled its obligations pursuant to Section 4.2) on terms
that the Company Board determines in good faith, after consultation with the
Company's financial and legal advisors, and after taking into account all legal,
financial and regulatory aspects of the proposal (and the timing and likelihood
of consummation of such transaction), the Person making the proposal and any
potential revisions to this Agreement suggested by Parent or its
Representatives, are more favorable from a financial point of view to the
Company and its stockholders than the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement.
"Company Termination
Fee" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
7.2(b).
"Confidentiality
Agreement" shall mean the Confidentiality Agreement, dated October 9,
2008, by and between the Company and Parent.
56
"control" (including
the terms "controlled
by" and "under
common control with") means the possession, direct or indirect, of the
power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a
Person, whether through the ownership of stock, as trustee or executor, by
contract, credit arrangement or otherwise.
"Copyrights" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
3.16(e).
"DelStaff" shall have
the meaning set forth in the Recitals.
"DGCL" shall have the
meaning set forth in the Recitals.
"Dissenting Shares"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.6(d).
"Draft Company 2008 Form
10-K" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.6(c).
"Effect" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
3.1.
"Effective Company Change of
Recommendation" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
4.2.
"Effective Time" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
1.2.
"Employee Plans" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
3.10.
"Employees" shall
include all individuals employed by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries,
including but not limited to all temporary employees who have contracted with
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.
"Employment Contract"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.19(k).
"Environmental Claim"
shall mean any claim, action, cause of action, investigation or notice (whether
written or oral) by any Person alleging potential liability (including, without
limitation, potential liability for investigatory costs, Cleanup costs,
governmental response costs, natural resources damages, property damages,
personal injuries, or penalties) arising out of, based on or resulting from (i)
the presence, or Release, of any Hazardous Materials at any location, whether or
not owned or operated by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or (ii)
circumstances forming the basis of any violation, or alleged violation, of any
Environmental Law.
"Environmental Laws"
shall mean all federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating
to pollution or protection of the environment, including without limitation,
laws relating to Releases or threatened Releases of Hazardous Materials or
otherwise relating to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment,
storage, Release, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials and all
laws and regulations with regard to record keeping, notification, disclosure and
reporting requirements respecting Hazardous Materials.
"ERISA" shall have the
meaning set forth in Section
3.10.
57
"ERISA Affiliate"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.10.
"Exchange Act" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
2.3(b).
"Exchange Agent" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
1.7(a).
"Exchange Fund" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
1.7(a).
"Financing" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
2.4.
"Financing Agreement"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.4.
"Financing
Agreement Repayment Amount" shall have the meaning set forth in
Section
2.4.
"Financing Failure"
shall mean a refusal or other failure, for any reason, on the part of any Person
that has executed a Commitment Letter or any definitive financing document
relating to the Financing, or on the part of any other Person obligated or
expected at any time to provide any portion of the Financing, to provide a
portion of such Financing.
"Franchise" means,
collectively, the Traditional Franchises and the Licensed
Franchises.
"Franchising Contract"
means any contract or agreement (including any and all amendments thereto) (a)
pursuant to which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries grants or has granted
to any third party any right, license or franchise to operate or right to
license, right to franchise, or right to subfranchise operation of, businesses
using any of the assets or Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or any
Subsidiary, (b) pursuant to which a Franchisee grants or has granted to any
third party any right, license or franchise to operate, or right to license,
right to franchise, or right to subfranchise operation of, businesses using any
of the assets or Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or any Subsidiary,
or (c) pursuant to which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries grants or has
granted options, rights of first refusal, rights of first negotiation or other
rights to obtain rights to operate businesses using any of the assets or
Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or any Subsidiary.
"Franchisees" means
all parties to Franchising Contracts other than the Company and any of the
Subsidiaries.
"Forbearance
Agreements" means the Forbearance Agreement, dated as of July 31, 2008,
by and among WUSA, the Company, as parent guarantor, certain lenders party
thereto and U.S. Bank, as agent, as amended and/or restated by the amendments
and/or restatements dated as of August 26, 2008, September 30, 2008, November
30, 2008 and December 3, 2008.
"GAAP" shall mean
United States generally accepted principles and practices as in effect from time
to time and applied consistently throughout the periods involved.
"Governance Agreement"
means the Governance Agreement, dated as of April 30, 2007, by and among the
Company, DelStaff, Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx and W. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, as
58
amended
by Amendment No. 1, dated as of June 2007, and Amendment No. 2, dated as of
January 2008, both amendments by and among the Company and
DelStaff.
"Governmental Entity"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.7.
"Hazardous Materials"
shall mean all substances defined as Hazardous Substances, Oils, Pollutants or
Contaminants in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency
Plan, 40 C.F.R. § 300.5, or defined as such by, or regulated as such under, any
Environmental Law.
"Incentive Plans"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.8(a).
"Indemnified Parties"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
5.9(a).
"Insurance Policies"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.18.
"Intellectual Property
Rights" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.16(e).
"knowledge" when used
with respect to the Company, shall mean the actual knowledge, after reasonable
inquiry, of Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxx, Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx X. Xxxx, Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, and Xxxx Xxxxx.
"Leased Real Property"
shall mean the leasehold or subleasehold interests and any other rights to use
or occupy any land, buildings, structures, improvements, fixtures or other
interests in real property held by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries under
the Real Property Leases.
"Licensed Franchise"
shall mean any franchise arrangement, license or franchise agent agreement to
which the Company is a party and pursuant to which the Franchisee employs all
management staff affiliated with the Franchisee's office, but the Company
employs all temporary personnel affiliated with the licensed office, funds
payroll of the temporary associates, collects clients' accounts and remits to
the Licensed Franchise a percentage of the office's gross profit.
"Lien" shall have the
meaning set forth in Section
2.3(a).
"Material Adverse
Effect" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.1.
"Maximum Amount" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
5.9(b).
"Merger" shall have
the meaning set forth in the Recitals hereto.
"Merger Consideration"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.6(a).
"Merger Sub" shall
have the meaning set forth in the Preamble hereto.
"Merger Sub Common
Stock" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.6(b).
"New
Commitment Letters" shall have the meaning set forth in
Section
5.12.
59
"Non-Employee Director
Program" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.2.
"Non-Lender Parties"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.4.
"Options" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
1.8(a).
"Parent" shall have
the meaning set forth in the Preamble hereto.
"Parent Confidentiality
Agreement" shall mean the Confidentiality Agreement, dated December 29,
2008, by and between Parent, the Company and DelStaff.
"Parent Disclosure
Letter" shall have the meaning set forth in Article
II.
"Parent First Lien Credit
Agreement" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.12.
"Parent
Representatives" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
5.5(a).
"Parent Termination
Fee" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
7.2(c).
"Patents" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
3.16(e).
"Permits" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
3.12.
"Permitted Liens"
shall mean: (i) liens for current Taxes that are not yet due or delinquent or
are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which
adequate reserves have been taken on the financial statements contained in the
Company SEC Reports; (ii) statutory liens or landlords', carriers',
warehousemen's, mechanics', suppliers', materialmen's, repairmen's liens or
other like Liens arising in the ordinary course of business with respect to
amounts not yet overdue or that are being contested in good faith by appropriate
proceedings and for which adequate reserves have been taken on the financial
statements contained in the Company SEC Reports; (iii) with respect to the Real
Property, minor title defects or irregularities that do not, individually or in
the aggregate, materially impair the value or use of such property, the
consummation of this Agreement or the operations of the Company; (iv) as to any
Leased Real Property, any Lien affecting solely the interest of the landlord
thereunder and not the interest of the tenant thereunder, which does not
materially impair the value or use of such Leased Real Property; and (v) such
other Liens that, in the aggregate, are not reasonably likely to impair the
continued use of or detract value from, in each case in any material respect,
the asset or property to which they relate.
"Person" shall mean
any individual, partnership, association, joint venture, corporation, business,
trust, joint stock company, limited liability company, special purpose vehicle,
any unincorporated organization, any other entity, a "group" of such persons, as
that term is defined in Rule 13d-5(b) under the Exchange Act, or a Governmental
Entity.
"Proxy Statement"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section 5.1.
"Purchase Agreement"
shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals hereto.
60
"Real Property" shall
mean the Leased Real Property.
"Real Property Leases"
shall mean the real property leases, subleases, licenses or other agreements,
including all amendments, extensions, renewals, guaranties or other agreements
with respect thereto, pursuant to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries
is a party.
"Regulatory Laws"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
2.3(b).
"Release" shall mean
any release, spill, emission, discharge, leaking, pumping, injection, deposit,
disposal, dispersal, leaching or migration into the indoor or outdoor
environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water,
groundwater and surface or subsurface strata) or into or out of any property,
including the movement of Hazardous Materials through or in the air, soil,
surface water, groundwater or property.
"Remaining Commitment
Letter" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
5.18.
"Remaining Commitment Letter
Amount" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
5.18.
"Representatives"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section 4.2.
"Required Approvals"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
5.7.
"Restricted Stock"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.8.
"Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
3.6(d).
"SEC" shall mean the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any other Governmental
Entity administering the Securities Act and the Exchange Act.
"Securities Act" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
3.6(a).
"Software" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
3.16(e).
"Solvent" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
2.11.
"Subordinated Loan
Agreement" means the Subordinated Loan Agreement, dated as of August 25,
2008, by and among the Company, WUSA, Westaff Support, Inc. and MediaWorld
International, as borrowers, and DelStaff, as subordinated lender.
"Subsidiary" means,
with respect to any Person, (a) any corporation with respect to which such
Person, directly or indirectly, through one or more Subsidiaries, (i) owns more
than 50% of the outstanding shares of capital stock having generally the right
to vote in the election of directors or (ii) has the power, under ordinary
circumstances, to elect, or to direct the election of, a majority of the board
of directors of such corporation, (b) any partnership with respect to which (i)
such Person or a Subsidiary of such Person is a general partner, (ii) such
Person and its Subsidiaries together own more than 50% of the interests therein
or (iii) such Person and its Subsidiaries have the right to appoint or elect or
direct the appointment or election of a majority of the directors or other
Person or body responsible for the governance or management thereof, (c) any
limited liability company with respect to which (i) such Person or a Subsidiary
of such Person is the sole manager or managing member, (ii) such Person and its
Subsidiaries together own more than 50% of the interests therein or (iii) such
Person and its Subsidiaries have the right to appoint or elect or direct the
appointment or election
61
of
a majority of the managers or other Person or body responsible for the
governance or management thereof or (d) any other entity in which such Person
has, and/or one or more of its Subsidiaries have, directly or indirectly, (i)
more than a 50% ownership interest or (ii) the power to appoint or elect or
direct the appointment or election of a majority of the directors or other
Person or body responsible for the governance or management
thereof.
"Surviving
Corporation" shall have the meaning set forth in Section
1.1.
"Takeover Statute"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
3.23.
"Tax Return" shall
mean any return, report, information return or other document (including any
related or supporting information and, where applicable, profit and loss
accounts and balance sheets) with respect to Taxes.
"Taxes" shall mean (i)
all taxes, charges, fees, levies or other assessments imposed by any United
States Federal, state, or local taxing authority or by any non-U.S. taxing
authority, including but not limited to, income, gross receipts, excise,
property, sales, use, transfer, payroll, license, ad valorem, value added,
withholding, social security, national insurance (or other similar contributions
or payments) franchise, estimated, severance, stamp, and other taxes; (ii) all
interest, fines, penalties or additions attributable to or in respect of any
items described in clause (i); and (iii) any transferee liability in respect of
any items described in clauses (i) or (ii) payable by reason of contract,
assumption, transferee liability, operation of Law, Treasury Regulation
1.1502-6(a) (or any predecessor or successor thereof or any analogous or similar
provision under Law) or otherwise.
"Termination Date" has
the meaning set forth in Section
7.1(b).
"Termination Fees"
shall have the meaning set forth in Section
7.2(c).
"Trademarks" shall
have the meaning set forth in Section
3.16(e).
"Traditional
Franchise" shall mean any franchise arrangement, license or franchise
agent agreement to which the Company is a party and pursuant to which the
Franchisee pays all lease and working capital costs, funds payroll and collects
clients' accounts, employs all office management staff and all temporary
personnel affiliated with the Franchisee's office and pays royalties to the
Company in exchange for training, the right to use Intellectual Property Rights,
the Company's business model, proprietary computer programs, as well as
operational support.
"Treasury Regulations"
means the regulations, including temporary regulations, promulgated under the
Code, as the same may be amended hereafter from time to time (including
corresponding provisions of succeeding regulations).
62
"U.S. Bank" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
2.4.
"WARN Act" shall have
the meaning set forth in Section
3.19(j).
"WUSA" shall have the
meaning set forth in Section
2.4.
Section
8.5 Headings. The
headings contained in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and shall
not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this
Agreement.
Section
8.6 Severability. If
any term or other provision of this Agreement is invalid, illegal or incapable
of being enforced by any rule of law, or public policy, all other conditions and
provisions of this Agreement shall nevertheless remain in full force and effect
so long as the economic or legal substance of the transactions contemplated
hereby is not affected in any manner adverse to any party. Upon such
determination that any term or other provision is invalid, illegal or incapable
of being enforced, the parties hereto shall negotiate in good faith to modify
this Agreement so as to effect the original intent of the parties as closely as
possible in an acceptable manner to the end that transactions contemplated
hereby are fulfilled to the maximum extent possible.
Section
8.7 Entire
Agreement; No Third-Party Beneficiaries. This
Agreement, the Purchase Agreement, the Disclosure Letters and the
Confidentiality Agreement constitute the entire agreement and supersede any and
all other prior agreements and undertakings, both written and oral, among the
parties, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof and, except
as otherwise expressly provided in Section 5.9 hereof,
this Agreement is not intended to confer upon any other Person any rights or
remedies hereunder.
Section
8.8 Assignment. This
Agreement shall not be assigned by operation of law or otherwise, except that,
with the prior written consent of the Company (which consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld), Merger Sub may assign all or any of its rights hereunder
to any affiliate of Merger Sub provided that no such assignment shall relieve
the assigning party of its obligations hereunder.
Section
8.9 Governing
Law;
Jurisdiction. This
Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of
the State of Delaware applicable to contracts executed in and to be performed
entirely within that State. Each party hereby agrees and consents to
be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State
of Delaware in and for New Castle County or, if the Court of Chancery lacks
subject matter jurisdiction, any court of the State of Delaware situated in New
Castle County or the United States District Court for the District of Delaware
in any suit, action or proceeding seeking to enforce any provision of, or based
on any matter arising out of or in connection with, this Agreement or the
transactions contemplated hereby. Each party hereby irrevocably
consents to the service of any and all process in any such suit, action or
proceeding by the delivery of such process to such party at the address and in
the manner provided in Section
8.2. Each of the parties hereto irrevocably and
unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue of any action, suit
or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or the
transactions contemplated hereby in the Court of Chancery of the State of
Delaware in and for New Castle County or, if the Court of Chancery lacks subject
matter jurisdiction, any court of the State of
63
Delaware
situated in New Castle County or the United States District Court for the
District of Delaware and hereby further irrevocably and unconditionally waives
and agrees not to plead or claim in any such court that any such action, suit or
proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum,
and agrees not to raise any other objection to venue in any such
court.
Section
8.10 Amendment. This
Agreement may be amended by the parties hereto by action taken by Merger Sub,
Parent, and by action taken by or on behalf of the Company Board at any time
before the Effective Time; provided, however, that, after
approval of the Merger by the stockholders of the Company, no amendment may be
made which would reduce the amount or change the type of consideration into
which each share of Company Common Stock will be converted upon consummation of
the Merger. This Agreement may not be amended except by an instrument
in writing signed by the parties hereto.
Section
8.11 Waiver. At
any time before the Effective Time, any party hereto may (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 as against such party and only if set
forth in an instrument in writing signed by such party. No delay on
the part of any party in exercising any right, power or privilege hereunder
shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any waiver on the part of any party
of any right, power or privilege, nor any single or partial exercise of any such
right, power or privilege, preclude any further exercise thereof or the exercise
of any other such right, power or privilege. The rights and remedies
herein provided are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights or remedies
that any party may otherwise have at law or in equity.
Section
8.12 Counterparts. This
Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, and by the different
parties hereto in separate counterparts, each of which when executed shall be
deemed to be an original but all of which shall constitute one and the same
agreement.
Section
8.13 Waiver of
Jury Trial. EACH
PARTY ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT ANY CONTROVERSY THAT MAY ARISE UNDER THIS
AGREEMENT IS LIKELY TO INVOLVE COMPLICATED AND DIFFICULT ISSUES AND THEREFORE
EACH SUCH PARTY HEREBY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT SUCH
PARTY MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LITIGATION DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS
CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY. EACH PARTY CERTIFIES AND ACKNOWLEDGES
THAT (A) NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS
REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH OTHER PARTY WOULD NOT, IN THE
EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE FOREGOING WAIVER, (B) EACH SUCH PARTY
UNDERSTANDS AND HAS CONSIDERED THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS WAIVER, (C) EACH SUCH
PARTY MAKES THIS WAIVER VOLUNTARILY, AND (D) EACH SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN INDUCED TO
ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT BY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND
CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION
8.13.
64
Section
8.14 Interpretation.
(a) The parties acknowledge and agree that they may pursue
judicial remedies at law or equity in the event of a dispute with respect to the
interpretation or construction of this Agreement. In the event that
an alternative dispute resolution procedure is provided for in any other agreement contemplated hereby,
and there is a dispute with respect to the construction or interpretation of
such agreement, the dispute resolution procedure provided for in such agreement
shall be the procedure that shall apply with respect to the resolution of such
dispute.
(b) The table of contents is for convenience
of reference only, does not constitute part of this Agreement and shall not be
deemed to limit or otherwise affect any of the provisions
hereof. Where a reference in this Agreement is made to an Article, Section or
Disclosure Letter, such reference shall be to an Article, Section of or
Disclosure Letter to this Agreement unless otherwise indicated. For
purposes of this Agreement, the words "hereof," "herein," "hereby" and other
words of similar import refer to this
Agreement as a whole unless otherwise indicated. Whenever the words
"include," "includes" or "including" are used in this Agreement, they shall be
deemed to be followed by the words "without limitation." Whenever the
singular is used herein, the same shall
include the plural, and whenever the plural is used herein, the same shall
include the singular, where appropriate.
(c) No provision of this Agreement will be
interpreted in favor of, or against, either party hereto by reason of the extent to which any such
party or its counsel participated in the drafting thereof or by reason of the
extent to which any such provision is inconsistent with any prior draft hereof
or thereof.
(d) Where a reference in this Agreement is
made to “transactions contemplated by this
Agreement” or “transactions contemplated
hereby”, as applicable, such reference shall not include transactions contemplated by
the Purchase Agreement.
Section
8.15 Disclosure
Generally. All
of the Company Disclosure Letter and Parent Disclosure Letter are incorporated
herein and expressly made a part of this Agreement as though completely set
forth herein. All references to this Agreement herein or in any
section of the Company Disclosure Letter or Parent Disclosure Letter shall be
deemed to refer to this entire Agreement, including all sections of the Company
Disclosure Letter and Parent Disclosure Letter; provided, however, that
information furnished in any particular section of the Company Disclosure Letter
or Parent Disclosure Letter shall be deemed to be included in another section of
the Company Disclosure Letter or Parent Disclosure Letter, respectively, only to
the extent a matter in such section of the Company Disclosure Letter or Parent
Disclosure Letter is disclosed in such a way as to make its relevance to the
information called for by such other section of this Agreement reasonably
apparent on its face.
Section
8.16 Specific
Performance. The
parties agree that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the
provisions of this Agreement were not performed by the other parties hereto in
accordance with their specific terms or were otherwise breached by the other
parties hereto. It is accordingly agreed that, except as specifically
set forth below, prior to the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 7.1, Parent
and Merger Sub, on the one hand, and the Company, on the other hand, shall be
entitled to an injunction or injunctions to
65
prevent
breaches of this Agreement by the other parties hereto and to enforce
specifically the terms and provisions of this Agreement against the other
parties hereto, this being in addition to any other remedy to which either such
party is entitled at law or in equity. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
the Company acknowledges and agrees that it shall not be entitled to an
injunction or injunctions to prevent any breaches of this Agreement or any
Commitment Letter by Parent, Merger Sub or the Lenders or to enforce
specifically the terms and provisions of this Agreement, any Commitment Letter
or otherwise to obtain any equitable relief or remedy against Parent, Merger Sub
or the Lenders in the event of any Financing Failure, regardless of the cause of
such Financing Failure, and that the Company's sole and exclusive remedy with
respect to any such breach shall be the remedies set forth in Section
7.2.
[SIGNATURE
PAGE FOLLOWS]
66
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of
the Company, Merger Sub and Parent has caused this Agreement to be duly executed
and delivered by its respective duly authorized officer, all as of the date
first above written.
KOOSHAREM
CORPORATION
|
||
By:
|
/s/
D. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
|
|
Name:
D. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
|
||
Title:
Chief Executive Officer
|
||
SELECT
MERGER SUB INC.
|
||
By:
|
/s/
D. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
|
|
Name:
D. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
|
||
Title:
President
|
||
WESTAFF,
INC.
|
||
By:
|
/s/
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
|
Name:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
|
||
Title:
CEO & Chairman of the Board
|
67