Covenants Relating to Conduct of Business (a) Except for matters set forth in Schedule 4.01 or otherwise expressly permitted by the terms of this Agreement, from the date hereof to the Closing, each Parent Party shall cause its respective Existing Business to be conducted in the usual, regular and ordinary course in substantially the same manner as previously conducted (including with respect to advertising, promotions, capital expenditures and inventory levels) and use all reasonable efforts to keep intact the respective businesses of such Parent Party's Existing Business, keep available the services of their current employees and preserve their relationships with customers, suppliers, licensors, licensees, distributors and others with whom they deal to the end that their respective businesses shall be unimpaired at the Closing. Each Parent Party shall not, and shall not permit any of its Affiliates to, take any action that would, or that could reasonably be expected to, result in any of the conditions set forth in Article V not being satisfied. In addition (and without limiting the generality of the foregoing), except as set forth in Schedule 4.01 or otherwise expressly permitted or required by the terms of this Agreement, each Parent Party shall not, and shall not permit any of its Affiliates to, do any of the following in connection with its Existing Business without the prior written consent of the other Parent Party:
(i) with respect to any of its Contributed Subsidiaries, amend its Organizational Documents, except as is necessary to consummate the Transactions;
(ii) other than sweeping cash in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, make any declaration or payment of any dividend or any other distribution in respect of its equity interest in any Contributed Subsidiary;
(iii) with respect to any of its Contributed Subsidiaries, redeem or otherwise acquire any shares of its capital stock or issue any capital stock (except upon the exercise of outstanding options) or any option, warrant or right relating thereto or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any shares of such capital stock;
(iv) incur or assume any indebtedness for borrowed money or guarantee any such indebtedness in connection with its Existing Business;
(v) permit, allow or suffer any Contributed Assets to become subjected to any Lien of any nature whatsoever, except Permitted Liens;
(vi) cancel any material indebtedness (individually or in the aggregate) or waive any claims or rights of substantial value relating to its Existing Business;
(vii) except for intercompany loans among Contributed Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business or transactions in the ordinary course, consistent with past practice and not material in amount, pay, loan or advance any amount to, or sell, transfer or lease any of its assets to, or enter into any agreement or arrangement with any of its Affiliates;
(viii) make any change in any method of financial accounting or financial accounting practice or policy of its Existing Business other than those required by generally accepted accounting principles;
(ix) make any change in the methods or timing of collecting receivables or paying payables with respect to its Existing Business;
(x) other than in the ordinary course of business, make or incur any capital expenditure in connection with its Existing Business that is not currently approved in writing or budgeted;
(xi) sell, lease, license or otherwise dispose of any of the assets of its Existing Business, except inventory, programming or other goods or services sold in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice; or
(xii) authorize any of, or commit or agree to take, whether in writing or otherwise, to do any of, the foregoing actions.
(b) Except as set forth in Schedule 4.01 or otherwise expressly permitted by the terms of this Agreement or any ancillary agreements that may be entered into in connection with the Transactions, USAi shall not, and shall not permit any of its Affiliates to:
(i) adopt or amend any USAi Benefit Arrangement (or any plan or arrangement that would be an USAi Benefit Arrangement if adopted) relating primarily to its Existing Business or enter into, adopt, extend (beyond the Closing Date), renew or amend any collective bargaining agreement or other Contract relating to its Existing Business with any labor organization, union or association, except in each case, in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practice or as required by Applicable Law; or
(ii) (A) grant to any USAi Business Employee any increase in compensation or benefits, except grants in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practice or as may be required under agreements in existence on the date of this Agreement or (B) grant new options or restricted stock to any USAi Business Employee except as may be required under agreements in existence on the date of this Agreement.
(c) Each Parent Party shall promptly advise the other Parent Party in writing of the occurrence of any matter or event that is material to the business, assets, financial condition, or results of operations of its Existing Business, taken as a whole.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, following the date hereof, each Parent Party shall manage its cash (including any sweeps thereof), payables and receivables relating to its Existing Business in each case in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past practice.
CONDUCT OF BUSINESS PENDING THE MERGER SECTION 5.1 Conduct of Business by the Company Pending the Merger. ----------------------------------------------------- Prior to the Effective Time, except to the extent that Purchaser shall otherwise consent (including by virtue of action by the Board of Directors of the Company approved by all of Purchaser's or Merger Sub's designees, as applicable, at such time as they shall constitute a majority of such Board), the Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, except as expressly permitted by this Agreement, conduct their respective businesses in, and shall not take any action except in, the ordinary course of business in a manner consistent with past practice; and the Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, use their respective reasonable best efforts to preserve intact the business organization of the Company and its Subsidiaries, to keep available the services of the current officers, employees and consultants of the Company and its Subsidiaries and to preserve the current business relationships of the Company and its Subsidiaries, including, without limitation, with customers, licensors, suppliers, distributors and others with which the Company or any Subsidiary has business relations. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, and except as expressly permitted or specifically contemplated by this Agreement, the Company shall not, and shall not permit any Subsidiary to, between the date of this Agreement and the Effective Time, directly or indirectly do, or propose to do, any of the following without the prior written consent of Purchaser (except as otherwise expressly permitted by this Agreement):
(i) declare, set aside or pay any dividends on or other distributions in respect of any of its capital stock (other than dividends and distributions by any direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company to its parent), (ii) split, combine or reclassify any of its 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 its capital stock or (iii) repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire, or permit any Subsidiary to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire, any shares of capital stock;
(b) issue, deliver, sell, pledge, dispose or encumber, or authorize or propose the issuance, delivery, sale, pledge, disposal or encumbrance of, any shares of its capital stock of any class or any securities convertible into, or any rights, warrants, calls, subscriptions or options to acquire, any such shares or convertible securities, or any other ownership interest other than (i) the issuance of shares of Company Common Stock upon the exercise of stock options granted under the Company Stock Option Plans outstanding on the date of this Agreement and in accordance with the current terms of such options, (ii) issuances by a Subsidiary of its capital stock to the Company or a Subsidiary so long as the Company will, after such issuance, directly or indirectly own all the outstanding capital stock of the issuing Subsidiary and (iii) the grant of stock options to new hires in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and with the written consent of Purchaser;
(c) amend or propose to amend its Certificate of Incorporation or By- Laws;
(d) acquire or agree to acquire, including, without limitation, by merging or consolidating with, or by purchasing a substantial equity interest in or substantial portion of the assets of, or by any other manner, any business or any corporation, partnership, association or other business organization or division thereof;
(e) sell, lease, license, grant a security interest in, encumber or otherwise dispose of, or agree to sell, lease, grant a security interest in, encumber or otherwise dispose of, any of its material assets other than (i) sales or licenses of its products in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (ii) equipment and property no longer used in the operation of the Company and its Subsidiaries' respective businesses and (iii) assets related to any discontinued operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries which operations were discontinued prior to the date hereof;
(f) incur (which shall not be deemed to include entering into credit agreements, lines of credit or similar arrangements until borrowings are made under such arrangements) any indebtedness for borrowed money or guarantee any such indebtedness or issue or sell any debt securities or warrants or rights to acquire any debt securities of the Company or any Subsidiary or guarantee any debt securities of others, except in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(i) grant any increase in the compensation of any of its directors, officers or employees, except for increases for employees in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practices, (ii) grant, pay or agree to pay any pension, retirement allowance or other employee benefit not required or contemplated by any existing employee benefit plan, program, arrangement, agreement or contract (including, without limitation, any "employee benefit plan", as defined in Section 3(3) of ERISA), maintained or contributed to by the Company or any Subsidiary, or with respect to which the Company or any Subsidiary could incur liability under Sections 4069, 4212(c) or 4204 of ERISA (the "Company Benefit Plans") as in effect on the date hereof to any director, officer or employee, (iii) enter into any new employment, severance or termination plan, program, arrangement, agreement or contract with any such director, officer or employee or (iv) except as may be required to comply with applicable law, become obligated under any Company Benefit Plan that was not in existence on the date hereof or amend any such plan in existence on the date hereof to enhance the benefits thereunder;
(h) make any capital expenditure or expenditures which exceed $250,000 in the aggregate; or
(i) authorize any of, or commit or agree to take any of, the actions described in paragraphs (a) through (h) of this Section 5.1.
Conduct of Business Pending the Closing During the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms or the Closing, the Company shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, carry on the Business in the ordinary course of business and, to the extent consistent therewith, use all commercially reasonable efforts to preserve the Business intact and preserve the goodwill of and relationships with Governmental Entities, customers, suppliers, partners, lessors, licensors, licensees, contractors, distributors, agents, officers and employees and others having business dealings with the Business, provided that the foregoing shall not prevent Sellers from rejecting Contracts that are not Assumed Contracts. During the period from the date of this Agreement through the Closing Date, the Company shall endeavor to maintain the Net Receivables Amount, the Inventory Value and each component of Inventory at or in excess of the amounts set forth on Schedule 7.1. Without limiting the generality of the first sentence of this Section 7.1, during the period from the date of this Agreement through the Closing Date, the Company shall not, and shall not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, without the prior written consent of Buyer:
(a) abandon any rights under any of the Assumed Contracts; terminate, amend, modify or supplement the terms of any Assumed Contract; or fail to honor or perform, the Assumed Contracts;
(b) other than sales of Inventory in the ordinary course of business or the disposition of obsolete equipment, lease, license, surrender, relinquish, sell, transfer, convey, assign or otherwise dispose of any Acquired Assets;
(c) mortgage, pledge or subject to Liens (other than Permitted Liens), any property, business or any of the Acquired Assets, other than as would not result in any Liability that would be or would increase an Assumed Liability as of or subsequent to the Closing;
(d) incur or permit to be incurred any Liability (other than Accounts Payable or in connection with the performance of Assumed Contracts) that would be or would increase an Assumed Liability as of or subsequent to the Closing;
(e) fail to replenish the Inventory and Supplies of the Business in the ordinary course of business;
(f) increase the salary of any Identified Employee at or after the time such person becomes an Identified Employee, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(g) make or rescind any material Tax election or take any material Tax position (unless required by law) or file any Tax Return or change its fiscal year or financial or Tax accounting methods, policies or practices, or settle any Tax Liability, except in each case as would not reasonably be expected to affect the Buyer;
(h) institute, settle or agree to settle any litigation, action or Proceeding before any court or Governmental Entity relating to the Acquired Assets, or modify in any manner that is adverse to the Business or the Acquired Assets, rescind or terminate a material Permit, allowance, or credit (or application therefor) relating to the Business or the Acquired Assets;
(i) transfer or grant any rights under, modify any existing rights under, or enter into any settlement regarding the breach or infringement of, any material Intellectual Property; or
(j) enter into any Contract to do any of the foregoing.