LATHAM GROUP, INC. STOCK APPRECIATION RIGHT AWARD AGREEMENT
Exhibit 10.15
XXXXXX GROUP, INC.
2021 OMNIBUS EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
STOCK APPRECIATION RIGHT AWARD AGREEMENT
THIS STOCK APPRECIATION RIGHT AWARD AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), is entered into as of [__________], 20[__] (the “Date of Grant”), by and between Xxxxxx Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and [________] (the “Participant”).
Capitalized terms used in this Agreement and not otherwise defined herein have the meanings ascribed to such terms in the Xxxxxx Group, Inc. 2021 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, restated or otherwise modified from time to time in accordance with its terms (the “Plan”).
WHEREAS, the Company has adopted the Plan, pursuant to which stock appreciation rights (the “SARs”) may be granted; and
WHEREAS, the Committee has determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders to grant the SARs provided for herein to the Participant on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein; and
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the premises and the covenants of the parties contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, for themselves, their successors and assigns, hereby agree as follows:
1. | Grant of Stock Appreciation Rights. |
[FOR 2023 AWARDS ONLY, IF DATE OF GRANT IS PRIOR TO ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS MEETING:
2. | Vesting. Except as may otherwise be provided herein, subject to the Participant’s continued employment with, or engagement to provide services to, the Company or any of its Affiliates, the SARs shall vest and become exercisable in equal installments on each of the first [●] anniversaries of the Date of Xxxxx (each such date, a “Vesting Date”). The resulting aggregate number of vested SARs will be rounded to the nearest whole number, provided that the Participant may not vest in more than the number of SARs set forth in Section 1(a). |
3. | Termination of Employment or Services. If the Participant’s employment with, or engagement to provide services to, the Company and its Affiliates terminates for any reason, the unvested portion of the SARs shall be canceled immediately and the Participant shall immediately forfeit without any consideration any rights to the shares of Common Stock subject to such unvested portion. |
4. | Expiration. |
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5. | Method of Exercise and Form of Payment. No shares of Common Stock shall be delivered pursuant to any exercise of the SARs until payment in full to the Company of the Strike Price and an amount equal to any U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. income and employment taxes required to be withheld. The SARs may be exercised by delivery of written or electronic notice of exercise to the Company or its designee (including a third-party-administrator) in accordance with the terms hereof. The Strike Price and all applicable required withholding taxes shall be payable (i) in cash, check, cash equivalent and/or in shares of Common Stock valued at the Fair Market Value at the time the SARs are exercised (including, pursuant to procedures approved by the Committee, by means of attestation of ownership of a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock in lieu of actual delivery of such shares to the Company); provided that such shares of Common Stock are not subject to any pledge or other security interest; or (ii) by such other method as the Committee may permit, including without limitation: (A) in other property having a Fair Market Value equal to the Strike Price and all applicable required withholding taxes or (B) if there is a public market for the shares of Common Stock at such time, by means of a broker-assisted “cashless exercise” pursuant to which the Company is delivered a copy of irrevocable instructions to a stockbroker to sell the shares of Common Stock otherwise deliverable upon the exercise of the SARs and to deliver promptly to the Company an amount equal to the Strike Price and all applicable required withholding taxes; or (C) by means of a “net exercise” procedure effected by withholding the number of shares of Common Stock otherwise deliverable in respect of the SARs that are needed to pay for the Strike Price and all applicable required withholding taxes. Any fractional shares of Common Stock resulting from the application of this Section 5 shall be settled in cash. |
6. | Delivery of Shares of Common Stock. Upon exercise of the SARs, the Participant will receive the number of shares of Common Stock in accordance with Section 1(a). The Company shall issue or deliver to the Participant in book entry notation or, if applicable, stock certificate form, the number of shares of Common Stock the Participant is entitled to receive under the terms of this Agreement as soon as practicable; and, when possible, in the same calendar year. |
7. | Rights as a Stockholder. The Participant shall not be deemed for any purpose to be the owner of any shares of Common Stock subject to the SARs unless, until and to the extent that (i) the SARs shall have been exercised pursuant to its terms, (ii) the Company shall have issued and delivered to the Participant the shares of Common Stock and (iii) the Participant’s name shall have been entered as a stockholder of record with respect to such shares of Common Stock on the books of the Company. The Company shall cause the actions described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of the preceding sentence to occur promptly following settlement as contemplated by this Agreement, subject to compliance with applicable laws. |
8. | Compliance with Legal Requirements. |
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9. | Clawback. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Committee may cancel the SARs award if the Participant, without the consent of the Company, has engaged in or engages in activity that is in conflict with or adverse to the interest of the Company or any Affiliate while employed by, or otherwise providing services to, the Company or any Affiliate, including fraud or conduct contributing to any financial restatements or irregularities, or if the Participant violates the covenants set forth on Exhibit A attached hereto or any other non-competition, non-solicitation, non-disparagement or non-disclosure covenant or agreement with the Company or any Affiliate (after giving effect to any applicable cure period set forth therein), as determined by the Committee. In such event, the Participant will forfeit any compensation, gain or other value realized thereafter on the exercise and settlement of the SARs, the sale or other transfer of the SARs, or the sale of shares of Common Stock acquired in respect of the SARs, and must promptly repay such amounts to the Company. If the Participant receives any amount in excess of what the Participant should have received under the terms of the SARs for any reason (including without limitation by reason of a financial restatement, mistake in calculations or other administrative error), all as determined by the Committee, then the Participant shall be required to promptly repay any such excess amount to the Company. To the extent required by applicable law and/or the rules and regulations of the NASDAQ or any other securities exchange or inter-dealer quotation system on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted, or if so required pursuant to a written policy adopted by the Company, the SARs shall be subject (including on a retroactive basis) to clawback, forfeiture or similar requirements (and such requirements shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this Agreement). |
10. | Restrictive Covenants. |
11. | Miscellaneous. |
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(m) | Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts (including via facsimile and electronic image scan (pdf)), each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument and shall become effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the parties and delivered to the other parties. |
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Stock Appreciation Right Award Agreement has been executed by the Company and the Participant as of the day first written above.
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| XXXXXX GROUP, INC. | |
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| By: | |
| | Name: |
| | Title: |
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| [PARTICIPANT] |
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[Signature Page to [______________] Stock Appreciation Right Award Agreement]
Exhibit A
1. | During the Participant’s employment with, or other engagement to provide services to, the Company or any of its Affiliates and for a period of twenty-four (24) months thereafter (the “Restricted Period”), the Participant shall not, either directly or indirectly, for himself or herself or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other Person: |
| a. | solicit or attempt to solicit, recruit or attempt to recruit, hire or attempt to hire or in any way persuade any officer, director, employee, agent, or contract worker of the Xxxxxx Companies to end such Person’s relationship with any Xxxxxx Company; or |
| b. | solicit or attempt to solicit any business related to the business of the Xxxxxx Companies from any Person who is or was a customer or vendor of any Xxxxxx Company or an actively sought prospective customer or prospective vendor with whom the Participant had material business contact (through sales calls, presentations, or other business dealings) at any time during the five (5) year period preceding the termination of Participant’s employment. |
2. | During the Restricted Period, the Participant shall not, either directly or indirectly, individually or through any other person, firm, corporation or other entity, whether as owner, partner, investor, operator, manager, officer, director, consultant, agent, employee, co-venturer, advisor, representative or otherwise, engage, participate, assist or invest or actively prepare to engage, participate, assist or invest in the pool industry, or any other industries in which the Company or any of its Affiliates have done business during the Participant’s employment with the Company or which the Company or any of its Affiliates were actively considering during such period. The restrictions set forth this Paragraph 2 shall apply to any conduct in North America and any other geographical area in which the Company or any of its Affiliates operate or provide services or are actively preparing to operate or provide services as of the date of Participant’s employment with the Company or any of its Affiliates. |
3. | The Participant hereby agrees to hold in confidence all Confidential Information and Trade Secrets of the Xxxxxx Companies that came into the Participant’s knowledge during the period of time during which the Participant was employed by, or otherwise providing services to, the Company or any of its Affiliates and will not disclose, publish or make use of such Confidential Information or Trade Secrets without the prior written consent of the Company for as long as the information remains Confidential Information or a Trade Secret. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will not prevent the Participant from making a disclosure that (a) is made in the ordinary course of the Participant’s duties with the Company or any of its Affiliates; (b) is made (i) in confidence to a Federal, State or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney and (ii) solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law; or (c) is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal. Further, Confidential Information or Trade Secrets shall not include information (x) that otherwise becomes generally known in the industry or to the public through no act of the Participant or any Person or entity acting by or on the Participant’s behalf or (y) information that the Participant can demonstrate to have had rightfully in the Participant’s possession prior to the date on which the Participant first provided services to any Xxxxxx Company. |
4. | During the period of time during which the Participant is employed by, or otherwise providing services to, the Company or any of its Affiliates and thereafter, the Participant shall not, directly or indirectly, take any action, or encourage others to take any action, to disparage or criticize any Xxxxxx Company or their respective Affiliates, employees, officers, directors, products, services, customers or owners. |
5. | For purposes of this Exhibit A: |
| a. | “Confidential Information” shall be defined as any data or information (other than Trade Secrets) that is valuable to the Xxxxxx Companies (or, if owned by someone else, is valuable to that third party) and not generally known to the public or to competitors in the industry, including, but not |
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limited to, any non-public information (regardless of whether in writing or retained as personal knowledge) pertaining to research and development; product costs, designs and processes; equityholder information; pricing, cost, or profit factors; quality programs; annual budget and long-range business plans; marketing plans and methods; contracts and bids; business ideas and methods, store concepts, inventions, innovations, developments, graphic designs, website designs, patterns, specifications, procedures, databases and personnel. |
| b. | The “Xxxxxx Companies” shall be defined as the Company and its direct and indirect subsidiaries and parent companies, and any Person in which the Company has a twenty percent or greater ownership interest, whether existing on the Date of Grant or thereafter acquired or formed. |
| c. | “Trade Secret” means trade secret as defined by applicable state law. In the absence of such a definition, Trade Secret means information including, but not limited to, any technical or nontechnical data, formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, drawing, process, financial data, financial plan, product plan, list of actual or potential customers or suppliers or other information similar to any of the foregoing, which (a) derives economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can derive economic value from its disclosure or use and (b) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy |
6. | Prior to accepting any offer of employment during the Restricted Period, the Participant shall inform such employers of all covenants in this Exhibit A and, within two (2) business days of accepting an offer of employment with another employer, shall notify the Company of the name and address of the new employer and the title of the position accepted. |
7. | The covenants in this Exhibit A are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant. If any provision of this Exhibit A relating to the time period, scope, or geographic area of the restrictive covenants shall be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitrator to exceed the maximum time period, scope, or geographic area, as applicable, that such court or arbitrator deems reasonable and enforceable, then this Agreement shall automatically be considered to have been amended and revised to reflect such determination. |
8. | All of the covenants in this Exhibit A shall be construed as an agreement independent of any other provisions in Exhibit A, and the existence of any claim or cause of action the Participant may have against any Xxxxxx Company, whether predicated on this Exhibit A or otherwise, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by any Xxxxxx Company of such covenants. |
9. | This Exhibit A shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws thereof, or principles of conflicts of laws of any other jurisdiction that could cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Delaware. |
| a. | All disputes between or among any Persons arising out of or in any way connected with this Exhibit A shall be solely and finally settled by the Committee, acting in good faith, the determination of which shall be final. Any matters not covered by the preceding sentence shall be solely and finally settled in accordance with the Plan, and the Participant and the Company consent to the personal jurisdiction of the United States federal and state courts sitting in Wilmington, Delaware, as the exclusive jurisdiction with respect to matters arising out of or related to the enforcement of the Committee’s determinations and resolution of matters, if any, related to the Plan or this Exhibit A not required to be resolved by the Committee. Each such Person hereby irrevocably consents to the service of process of any of the aforementioned courts in any such suit, action or proceeding by the mailing of copies thereof by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, to the last known address of such Person, such service to become effective ten (10) days after such mailing. |
| b. | Each party hereto hereby waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any right it may have to a trial by jury in any legal proceeding directly or indirectly arising out of or relating to this |
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Exhibit A or the transactions contemplated (whether based on contract, tort or any other theory). Each party hereto (A) certifies that 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 and (B) acknowledges that it and the other parties hereto have been induced to enter into this Agreement by, among other things, the mutual waivers and certifications in this section. |
10. | The Participant has carefully read and considered the provisions of this Exhibit A and, having done so, agrees that the restrictive covenants in this Exhibit A impose a fair and reasonable restraint on the Participant and are reasonably required to protect the interests of the Xxxxxx Companies and their respective officers, directors, employees, and equityholders. |
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