Conduct of Business by the Company Pending the Merger (a) The Company agrees that, between the date of this Agreement and the earlier of the Effective Time and the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms (the “Pre-Closing Period”), except (i) as required by applicable Law, (ii) with the prior written consent of Parent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, and such consent shall be deemed given if Parent provides no written response within five (5) Business Days after a written request by the Company for such consent), (iii) as expressly contemplated by any other provision of this Agreement or (iv) as set forth in Section 5.01(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, the Company shall, and shall cause the Company Subsidiaries to, use reasonable best efforts (A) to conduct the businesses of the Company Group in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (B) to: (1) preserve substantially intact the business organization, material assets and material properties of the Company Group, (2) keep available the services of its Key Employees on commercially reasonable terms, (3) maintain in effect all Company Permits and (4) maintain in full force and effect its insurance policies (including, for the avoidance of doubt, paying all premiums thereon and renewing or replacing such insurance policies on or prior to their expiration).
(b) Without limiting Section 5.01(a), and as an extension thereof, except as expressly contemplated by any other provision of this Agreement, as set forth in Section 5.01(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule or as required by applicable Law, neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary shall, during the Pre-Closing Period, do any of the following without the prior written consent of Parent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, and such consent shall be deemed given if Parent provides no written response within five (5) Business Days after a written request by the Company for such consent):
(i) amend or otherwise change its certificate of incorporation, bylaws or other similar organizational documents (including the Company Charter and the Company Bylaws), whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise;
(ii) issue, grant, sell, dispose of, encumber or authorize such issuance, sale, disposition or encumbrance of, any Equity Interests of the Company or any Company Subsidiary (except for the issuance or withholding of Shares issuable pursuant to Company RSUs that are outstanding on the date of this Agreement (in accordance with their existing terms));
(iii) declare, set aside, make or pay any dividend or other distribution, payable in cash, shares, property or otherwise, with respect to any of Equity Interests of the Company or any Company Subsidiary, except for dividends or other distributions by any direct or indirect wholly owned Company Subsidiary to the Company or any other direct or indirect wholly owned Company Subsidiary;
(iv) adjust, reclassify, combine, split (including any reverse stock split), recapitalize, exchange, subdivide or redeem, repurchase, or purchase or otherwise acquire, directly or indirectly, any Equity Interests of the Company or any Company Subsidiary;
(v) sell, transfer, lease, sublease, license, mortgage, pledge, encumber, allow to lapse, assign, abandon, disclaim, dedicate to the public, incur any Lien on (other than a Permitted Lien) or otherwise dispose of, or authorize any of the foregoing with respect to, any of its properties, assets, licenses, operations, rights, businesses or interests therein (but not including Intellectual Property, which is the subject of Section 5.01(b)(xv)) except (A) pursuant to Contracts in force on the date of this Agreement and made available to Parent, (B) such dispositions of assets no longer used in the ordinary course of business of the Company’s or the applicable Company Subsidiary’s business as conducted as of the date of this Agreement, (C) such dispositions among the Company and the wholly-owned Company Subsidiaries, or (D) Company Products to customers in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(vi) acquire (including by amalgamation, merger, consolidation or acquisition of Equity Interests or assets or any other business combination), directly or indirectly, (A) any assets, securities, or interests, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or pursuant to Contracts in effect on the date hereof and made available to Parent, (B) any company, corporation, partnership or other business organization (or any division thereof or any Equity Interest thereof), or (C) any real property;
(vii) (A) repurchase, prepay or incur any indebtedness for borrowed money or issue any debt securities, or issue or sell options, warrants, calls or other rights to acquire any of its debt securities, (B) make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any other person (other than a Company Subsidiary) or (C) assume, guarantee, endorse or otherwise become liable or responsible for the indebtedness or other obligations of another person (other than a guaranty by the Company on behalf of any Company Subsidiary), in each case, except pursuant to borrowings under existing lines of credit, letters of credit or similar arrangements as of the date hereof and Contracts for which are made available to Parent;
(viii) enter into, materially amend, waive any rights under, or voluntarily terminate any Material Contract (or any other Contract that would be deemed a Material Contract if it had been entered into prior to the date of this Agreement), other than (A) with respect to Contracts that are Material Contracts solely as a result of clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of Section 3.16(a), in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or (B) terminations as a result of a material breach or default of the counterparty, or the expiration of such Contract in accordance with its terms as in effect on the date of this Agreement;
(ix) authorize, or make any commitment with respect to, capital expenditures that exceed $500,000 individually or $1,500,000 in the aggregate;
(x) except to the extent required by applicable Law, or as otherwise required pursuant to the terms of any Plan in effect as of the date hereof or entered into, amended or modified after the date of this Agreement in a manner not in contravention with this Section 5.01(b)(x), (A) increase the compensation payable or to become payable or the benefits provided to any Employee or Non-Employee Service Provider (except for increases in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice to Employees who are not Key Employees of not more than ten percent (10%) on an individual basis, and not more than ten percent (10%) in the aggregate, in annual base salary or wages in connection with promotions), (B) establish, adopt, enter into, terminate or amend any Plan, or establish, adopt or enter into any plan, agreement, program, policy, trust, fund or other arrangement that would be a Plan if it were in existence as of the date of this Agreement, (C) grant any retention, severance, termination pay, deferred compensation, change in control, transaction bonus or other incentive compensation (or enter into or amend any plan, agreement, program, policy or other arrangement providing for the foregoing), (D) grant any equity or equity-based awards to, or discretionarily accelerate the vesting or payment of any equity or equity-based awards held by, any Employee or Non-Employee Service Provider, (E) establish, adopt, enter into or amend any collective bargaining agreement or similar labor agreement, (F) hire any employees who, upon hire, would be a Key Employee, (G) terminate the employment of any Key Employee other than for cause; or (H) take any action that is reasonably likely to result in a reduction in force or terminations employment that would give rise to notice or payment in lieu of notice obligations under the WARN Act;
(xi) (A) settle (or propose to settle) any Action, other than (1) settlements for monetary damages (net of insurance proceeds) involving not more than $250,000 in the aggregate and that do not (x) require any material actions or impose any restrictions or future payment obligations on the business or operations of the Company Group, or after the Effective Time, Parent or its Subsidiaries or (y) include the admission of wrongdoing by any member of the Company Group and (2) stockholder litigation, which is the subject of, and settled in accordance with, Section 6.10 or (B) settle or propose to settle any investigation or inquiry by any Governmental Authority, including by entering into any consent decree or other similar agreement;
(xii) (A) change the Company’s financial accounting policies or procedures in effect as of December 31, 2023, other than as required by applicable Law or GAAP or (B) write up, write down or write off the book value of any of the Company’s assets, other than (1) in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or (2) as may be required by applicable Law or GAAP, as approved by the Company’s independent public accountants;
(xiii) adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation or resolutions providing for a complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, restructuring, recapitalization or other reorganization of the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries;
(xiv) (A) materially change or adopt (or file a request to change or adopt) any method of Tax accounting or any annual Tax accounting period, (B) make, change or rescind any material Tax election, (C) file any material Tax Return relating to the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries that has been prepared in a manner that is inconsistent with past practice, as applicable, (D) settle or compromise any material claim, investigation, audit or controversy relating to Taxes, (E) surrender any right to claim a material Tax refund, (F) file any material amended Tax Return, (G) enter into any closing agreement with respect to any material amount of Tax or (H) waive or extend the statute of limitations with respect to any Tax Return other than pursuant to extensions of time to file Tax Returns obtained in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(xv) abandon, disclaim, dedicate to the public, allow to lapse, sell, assign, transfer, license, sublicense, dispose of, or incur any Lien (other than Permitted Liens) on, or otherwise fail to take any action necessary to maintain, enforce, or protect, any material Owned Intellectual Property, other than non-exclusive licenses granted in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(xvi) enter into, amend, waive or terminate (other than expirations or terminations in accordance with their terms) any Affiliate Transaction;
(xvii) enter into any new line of business outside the existing businesses of the Company and its Subsidiaries as of the date of this Agreement; or
(xviii) agree, resolve, announce an intention, enter into any formal or informal Contract or otherwise make a commitment, to do any of the foregoing.
Consents and Approvals; No Violation Neither the execution and delivery of this Agreement by Parent or Purchaser nor the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby will (a) conflict with or result in any breach of any provision of the respective Certificates of Incorporation or Bylaws (or other similar governing documents) of Parent or Purchaser, (b) require any consent, approval, authorization or permit of, or filing with or notification to, any Governmental Entity, except (i) as may be required under the HSR Act, any non-United States competition, antitrust and investment laws, the Exchange Act, the DGCL, the "takeover" or "blue sky" laws of various states and the applicable provisions of laws relating to the regulation of banks, broker-dealers and investment advisers and the rules and requirements of any self-regulatory organization or (ii) where the failure to obtain such consent, approval, authorization or permit, or to make such filing or notification, would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the ability of Parent or Purchaser to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby, (c) except for the consent represented by the Company in Section 1.02 to have been given under the Existing Stockholder Agreement, require any consent, waiver or approval or result in a default (or give rise to any right of termination, cancellation, modification or acceleration) under any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any note, license, agreement, contract, indenture or other instrument or obligation to which Parent or Purchaser or any of their respective Subsidiaries is a party or by which Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective assets may be bound, except for such defaults (or rights of termination, cancellation, modification or acceleration) as to which requisite waivers or consents have been obtained or which would not in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on the ability of Parent or Purchaser to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby or (d) violate any order, writ, injunction, decree, statute, rule or regulation applicable to Parent, Purchaser or any of their respective Subsidiaries or by which any of their respective assets are bound, except for violations which would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the ability of Parent or Purchaser to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby.
Consents and Approvals; No Conflicts (a) No clearance, consent, approval, order, waiver, license or authorization of or from, or declaration, registration or filing with, or notice to, or permit issued by, any Governmental Entity is required to be made or obtained by the Company or any Company Subsidiary in connection with the execution or delivery of this Agreement by the Company or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except for (i) compliance by the Company with the HSR Act and any required filings or notifications under the applicable Competition Laws of the countries and jurisdictions listed in Section 5.9 of the Parent Disclosure Letter, (ii) the filing of the Certificate of Merger with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware in accordance with the DGCL, (iii) the filing with the SEC of the Joint Proxy Statement in accordance with Regulation 14A promulgated under the Exchange Act, the Form S-4 and such reports under and such other compliance with the Exchange Act and the Securities Act as may be required in connection with this Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, (iv) compliance with the securities or “blue sky” laws of various states in connection with the issuance of the Merger Consideration, (v) compliance with the NYSE rules and regulations to permit the consummation of the Merger and the listing of the Parent Common Stock to be issued in the Merger, and (vi) such other clearances, consents, approvals, orders, waivers, licenses, authorizations or other matters that, individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
(b) The execution and delivery of this Agreement by the Company does not and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby will not (i) conflict with or violate any provision of the Constituent Documents of the Company or any material Company Subsidiary (assuming the Company Stockholder Approval is obtained), or (ii) assuming compliance with the matters set forth in Section 3.4(a) and the Company Stockholder Approval is obtained, violate any Law or Order, in either case, applicable to the Company or any Company Subsidiaries or any of their respective properties or assets or violate, conflict with, result in the loss of any benefit under, constitute a default (or an event which, with notice or lapse of time, or both, would constitute a default) under, result in the termination of or a right of termination or cancellation under, accelerate the performance required by, or result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the respective properties or assets of the Company or any Company Subsidiaries under, any Contract to which the Company or any Company Subsidiary is a party, or by which they or any of their respective properties or assets may be bound or affected, except, in the case of the foregoing clause (ii), for such matters as, individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
Conduct of Businesses Prior to the Effective Time (a) During the period from the date of this Agreement to the Effective Time or earlier termination of this Agreement, except as expressly contemplated or permitted by this Agreement or as otherwise required by Law or regulatory directive, each of FNB and HBI shall, and shall cause each of their respective Subsidiaries to (i) conduct its business in the ordinary course in all material respects, (ii) use reasonable best efforts to maintain and preserve intact its business organization, employees and advantageous business relationships and retain the services of its key officers and key employees and (iii) take no action that would reasonably be likely to prevent or materially impede or delay the obtaining of, or materially adversely affect the ability of the parties expeditiously to obtain, any necessary approvals of any Regulatory Agency, Governmental Entity or any other person or entity required for the transactions this Agreement contemplates or to perform its respective covenants and agreements under this Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(b) Subject to applicable Law, including Laws with respect to the exchange of information, the disclosure of confidential supervisory information, the protection of personally identifiable information and the exercise of a controlling influence over the management or policies of another Person, HBI agrees that between the date of this Agreement and the Effective Time:
(1) the materials to be presented at the meetings of any HBI Bank loan committee shall be provided to a designated representative of FNB at the same time such materials are provided to such loan committee; (2) HBI shall provide the minutes of each such meeting to the designated FNB representative promptly after such meeting; (3) HBI shall prepare and furnish to FNB at least quarterly an update of the reserves and other allowances for loan losses reflected in HBI’s financial statements included in the HBI Reports as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020 and for the three months ended March 31, 2021; (4) HBI shall promptly notify FNB if HBI or any HBI Subsidiary has been notified by any state or federal bank Regulatory Agency that its reserves are inadequate or that its practices for establishing its reserves or in accounting for delinquent and classified assets generally fail to comply with applicable accounting or regulatory requirements, or that any Regulatory Agency having jurisdiction over HBI or any HBI Subsidiary or HBI’s independent auditor believes such reserves to be inadequate or inconsistent with the historical loss experience of HBI; and (5) HBI shall prepare and furnish to FNB at least quarterly an updated list of all extensions of credit and OREO that have been classified by HBI or any HBI Subsidiary as other loans specifically mentioned, special mention, substandard, doubtful, loss, classified or criticized, credit risk assets, concerned loans or words of similar import;
(ii) upon request of FNB, HBI shall furnish to FNB such information to which HBI has access or prepares in the ordinary course of business as FNB may reasonably request regarding any loans, loan relationships and commitments of HBI Bank entered into between June 10, 2021, and the date hereof; and
(iii) upon request of FNB, HBI shall furnish to FNB such information to which HBI has access or prepares in the ordinary course of business as FNB may reasonably request regarding any loans, loan relationships and commitments of HBI Bank entered into after the date hereof in which the amount involved is equal to or greater than (i) $10,000,000 on a secured basis and (ii) $2,500,000 on an unsecured or undersecured basis.
Non-Contravention of Existing Instruments; No Further Authorizations or Approvals Required None of the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer nor any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer is in violation of its charter or by-laws or other similar constitutive documents, except, in the case of subsidiaries of the Issuer, for such violations as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change. None of the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer nor any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer is in default (or, with the giving of notice or lapse of time or both, would be in default) (“Default”) under any indenture, mortgage, loan or credit agreement, note, contract, franchise, lease or other instrument to which the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer or any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer is a party or by which it or any of them may be bound, or to which any of the property or assets of the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer or any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer is subject (each, an “Existing Instrument”), except for such Defaults as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change. The Parent Guarantor’s and the Issuer’s execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the Indenture, and the respective execution, issuance and delivery of the Debt Securities and the Guarantees, the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, by the Indenture and by the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (i) have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate or other action, as the case may be, and will not result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or by-laws or other similar constitutive documents of the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer or any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer, except, in the case of subsidiaries of the Issuer that are not Significant Subsidiaries, for such violations as would not, individually or in the aggregate, materially adversely affect the Parent Guarantor’s or the Issuer’s ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture, (ii) will not conflict with or constitute a breach of, or Default under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer or any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer pursuant to, or require the consent of any other party to, any Existing Instrument, except for such conflicts, breaches, Defaults, liens, charges or encumbrances as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change or materially adversely affect the Parent Guarantor’s or the Issuer’s ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture and (iii) will not result in any violation of any law, administrative regulation or administrative or court decree applicable to the Parent Guarantor, the Issuer or any of the subsidiaries of the Issuer, except for such violation as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change or materially adversely affect the Parent Guarantor’s or the Issuer’s ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture. No consent, approval, authorization or other order of, or registration or filing with, any court or other governmental or regulatory authority or agency, is required for the Parent Guarantor’s or the Issuer’s execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement or the Indenture, or the execution, issuance and delivery of the Debt Securities or the Guarantees or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby and by the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except such as have been obtained or made by the Parent Guarantor or the Issuer and are in full force and effect under the Securities Act, the Trust Indenture Act and applicable state securities or blue sky laws and from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or the failure of which to obtain would not have a material adverse effect on the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture.