Interim Operations (a) The Company covenants and agrees as to itself and its Subsidiaries that, from and after the execution of this Agreement and prior to the Effective Time (unless Parent shall otherwise approve in writing, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, and except as (1) required by applicable Law, (2) expressly required by this Agreement or (3) otherwise expressly disclosed in Section 6.1(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter), the Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to conduct its business and the business of its Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and each of the Company and its Subsidiaries shall, subject to compliance with the specific matters set forth below, use reasonable best efforts to preserve its business organization intact and maintain the existing relations and goodwill with Governmental Entities, customers, suppliers, distributors, licensors, creditors, lessors, employees and business associates and others having material business dealings with it and keep available the services of the Company and its Subsidiaries’ present employees and agents. Without limiting the generality of, and in furtherance of, the foregoing, the Company covenants and agrees as to itself and its Subsidiaries that, from and after the date of this Agreement and prior to the Effective Time, except (A) as required by applicable Law, (B) as Parent may approve in writing (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), (C) as expressly disclosed in Section 6.1(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter or (D) as expressly provided for in this Agreement, the Company shall not and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to:
(i) (A) amend its articles of incorporation or code of regulations (or comparable governing documents) (other than immaterial amendments to the governing documents of any wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company that would not prevent, materially delay or materially impair the Merger or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement), (B) split, combine, subdivide or reclassify its outstanding shares of capital stock (except for any such transaction by a wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company which remains a wholly owned Subsidiary after consummation of such transaction), (C) declare, set aside or pay any dividend or distribution payable in cash, stock or property (or any combination thereof) in respect of any shares of its capital stock (except for (1) any dividends or distributions paid by a direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company to another direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company or to the Company or (2) other than normal quarterly cash dividends on the Company’s Shares as described in Section 6.1(a)(i)(C) of the Company Disclosure Letter), (D) enter into any agreement with respect to the voting of its capital stock or (E) purchase, repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any shares of its capital stock or any securities convertible or exchangeable into or exercisable for any shares of its capital stock (other than (1) pursuant to the cashless exercise of Company Options or the forfeiture of, or withholding of Taxes with respect to, Company Options, Company Restricted Stock Units or Company Performance Stock Units in connection with any Taxable event related to such awards, in each case in accordance with past practice and with the terms of the applicable Company Stock Plan as in effect on the date of this Agreement (or as modified after the date of this Agreement in accordance with the terms of this Agreement) or (2) purchases, repurchases, redemptions or other acquisitions of securities of any wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company by the Company or any other wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company);
(ii) merge or consolidate with any other Person, or restructure, reorganize or completely or partially liquidate (other than mergers among, or the restructuring, reorganization or liquidation of any wholly owned Subsidiaries of the Company that would not (x) prevent, materially delay or materially impair the Merger or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement or (y) reasonably be expected to result in any significant Tax liability);
(iii) except as expressly contemplated by the terms of this Agreement, as expressly disclosed in Section 6.1(a)(iii) of the Company Disclosure Letter or as required by applicable Law or by the terms of any Company Plan listed on Section 5.1(h)(i) of the Company Disclosure Letter or any CBA, in either case as in effect on the date hereof (or as modified after the date of this Agreement in accordance with the terms of this Agreement):
(A) increase the compensation or benefits payable to any director or named executive officers as identified in the Company’s proxy statement for the 2017 annual meeting of stockholders (collectively, the “Senior Executives”) of the Company, increase the compensation or benefits payable to any employee or individual consultant of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or make any loans to, any director, officer, employee or individual consultant of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries;
(B) grant any new equity-based awards, or amend or modify the terms or accelerate the vesting of any such outstanding awards (except for any acceleration of any Company Option, Company Performance Stock Unit and Company Restricted Stock Unit in connection with the cessation of any Person’s employment with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (other than any Senior Executive) to the extent that such acceleration is consistent with past practice), under any Company Plan;
(C) amend any severance plan or agreement as in effect on the date hereof or waive or release any restrictive covenants thereunder;
(D) make any change to any Company Pension Plan or any Company Plan that is an “employee welfare benefit plan” (within the meaning of Section 3(1) of ERISA) that would materially increase the costs to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries in respect of such Company Plan;
(E) establish, adopt, or enter into any new arrangement that would be a Company Plan if in effect on the date hereof, other than individual separation and release agreements entered into in connection with ordinary-course terminations on terms consistent with the severance arrangements listed on Section 5.1(h)(i) of the Company Disclosure Schedule;
(F) accelerate the payment of non-equity related compensation or benefits to any director, officer, employee, consultant or individual service provider, except as required (without discretion) pursuant to the terms of the Company Plans;
(G) hire any new officer, employee, consultant or individual service provider (provided that the Company shall be permitted to (x) hire employees, consultants or other individual service providers with an aggregate annual base compensation and target incentive opportunity below $350,000 in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, or (y) engage individual or entity service providers with an aggregate annual base compensation and target incentive opportunity below $350,000 in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice to fill positions that are open as of the date hereof or that become open following the date hereof to the extent reasonably necessary as determined by the Company in its sole discretion to maintain the Company’s core business); or
(H) terminate any employee or officer of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries at level B7 or higher other than for cause (as determined in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice);
(iv) incur or guarantee any Indebtedness or issue any warrants or other rights to acquire any Indebtedness, except (A) in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, borrowings under the Company’s revolving credit facility as in effect as of the date hereof, (B) inter-company Indebtedness among the Company and its wholly owned Subsidiaries, (C) commercial paper issued in the ordinary course of business and (D) (i) to the extent not drawn upon and payments are not triggered thereby, letters of credit, bank guarantees, security or performance bonds or similar credit support instruments and (ii) overdraft facilities or cash management programs, in the case of each of clauses (i) and (ii), issued, made or entered into in the ordinary course of business;
(v) make or commit to any capital expenditures other than (A) in connection with the repair or replacement of facilities, properties or assets destroyed or damaged due to casualty or accident or (B) in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and which do not exceed during either the 2017 fiscal year or the 2018 fiscal year one hundred and five percent (105%) of the amounts reflected in the Company’s capital expenditure budget for 2017, a copy of which was previously provided to Parent;
(vi) transfer, lease, license, sell, assign, let lapse, abandon, cancel, mortgage, pledge, place a Lien (other than a Permitted Lien) upon or otherwise dispose of any Intellectual Property; provided that this clause (vi) shall not restrict (A) any of the foregoing that occur in the ordinary course of business or, to the extent applicable, among the Company and its Subsidiaries, (B) the granting of any licenses of Intellectual Property in the ordinary course consistent with past practice or (C) transfers, leases, sales, assignments, lapses, abandonments, cancellations, mortgages, pledges, Liens, or other dispositions of Intellectual Property (other than licenses) with a fair market value less than $10,000,000 in the aggregate for all such actions;
(vii) other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, transfer, lease, license, sell, assign, let lapse, abandon, cancel, mortgage, pledge, place a Lien upon or otherwise dispose of any properties or assets (including capital stock of any of its Subsidiaries but not including any Intellectual Property, which is governed by Section 6.1(a)(vi) with a fair market value in excess of $5,000,000 individually or $12,500,000 in the aggregate (other than transactions among the Company and its wholly owned Subsidiaries);
(viii) issue, deliver, sell, grant, transfer, or encumber, or authorize the issuance, delivery, sale, grant, transfer or encumbrance of, any shares of its capital stock or any securities convertible or exchangeable into or exercisable for, or any options, warrants or other rights to acquire, any such shares, except (A) for any Shares issued pursuant to Company Options, Company Restricted Stock Units and Company Performance Stock Units outstanding on the date of this Agreement in accordance with the existing terms of such awards and the Company Stock Plans, or (B) by wholly owned Subsidiaries to the Company or to any other wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company;
(ix) spend or commit to spend in excess of $5,000,000 individually or $12,500,000 in the aggregate to acquire any business or businesses or to acquire assets or other property, whether by merger, consolidation, purchase of property or assets or otherwise (valuing any non-cash consideration at its fair market value as of the date of the agreement for such acquisition); provided that neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall make any acquisition that would, or would reasonably be likely to, prevent, delay or impair the Company’s ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; provided, further that nothing in this Section 6.1(a)(ix) shall restrict the ability of the Company to invest additional funds in any existing asset of the Company to offset any dilution in the Company’s existing interest in such asset;
(x) make any material change with respect to its financial accounting policies or procedures, except as required by changes in GAAP (or any interpretation thereof) or by applicable Law;
(xi) except as required by applicable Law, (A) make, change or revoke any material Tax election or take any material position on any material Tax Return filed on or after the date of this Agreement, in each case that is inconsistent with elections made or positions taken in preparing or filing similar Tax Returns in prior periods, except in each case as a result of, or in response to, any change in U.S. federal Tax Laws or regulations or administrative guidance promulgated or issued thereunder, (B) change any Tax accounting period or any material method of Tax accounting, (C) amend any material Tax Return, (D) settle or resolve any material Tax liability or any Tax audit or controversy with respect to a material amount of Taxes, (E) surrender any right to claim a material refund of Taxes, (F) consent to any extension or waiver of the limitation period applicable to any material Tax claim or assessment relating to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, other than any extension pursuant to an extension of time to file any Tax Return or (G) enter into any closing agreement or similar agreement with any Tax authority in respect of Taxes;
(xii) (A) enter into any new line of business other than any line of business that is reasonably ancillary to and a reasonably foreseeable extension of any line of business as of the date of this Agreement or (B) conduct a line of business of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries in any geographic area where it has never previously conducted business prior to the date of this Agreement;
(xiii) make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or investments in, any Person (other than loans, advances or capital contributions to the Company or any direct or indirect wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company);
(xiv) (A) amend or modify in any material respect or terminate (excluding terminations upon expiration of the term thereof in accordance with the terms thereof) any Material Contract or waive, release or assign any material rights, claims or benefits under any Material Contract, other than any amendment, modification, termination, waiver, release or assignment (x) as required by Law, (y) pursuant to “most favored nation” offers made prior to the date of this Agreement or (z) in the ordinary course of business; provided that in no event shall the Company or its Subsidiaries amend or modify a Contract in which the packaging or rate terms would materially impact meeting the Company’s business plan, (B) enter into any Contract that would have been a Material Contract had it been entered into prior to the date of this Agreement unless it is on terms substantially consistent with, or on terms more favorable to the Company and/or its Subsidiaries (and to Parent and its Subsidiaries following the Closing) than a contract it is replacing; provided that in no event shall the Company or its Subsidiaries enter into a Contract in which the packaging or rate terms would materially impact meeting the Company’s business plan or (C) without restricting any action that is permissible in accordance with clauses (A) or (B) hereof, make any concession, or offer to make any concession, under any Material Contract except for (x) annual “most favored nation” offers made in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice in connection with new issues arising after March 2017 or (y) mutual “clean slate” releases with distributors; provided that the foregoing shall not prohibit or restrict the ability of the Company or its Subsidiaries to take any action described in this Section 6.1(a)(xiv) in the ordinary course of business with respect to Material Contracts between the Company and/or one or more of its wholly owned Subsidiaries; provided, further that for the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6.1(a)(xiv) shall not prohibit or restrict any Company Plans;
(xv) settle any action, suit, case, litigation, claim, hearing, arbitration, investigation or other proceedings before or threatened to be brought before a Governmental Entity, or pay, discharge, settle or waive any material liability, other than settlements (A) if the amount of any such settlement is not in excess of $500,000 individually or $2,000,000 in the aggregate; provided that such settlements are solely for money damages (and confidentiality and other similar customary provisions that would not reasonably be expected to place any material restrictions on the
Management of REO Property (a) Prior to the acquisition by it of title to a Mortgaged Property (other than a Mortgaged Property that secures an Outside Serviced Loan Combination), the Special Servicer shall review the operation of such Mortgaged Property and determine the nature of the income that would be derived from such property if it were acquired by the Trust Fund. If the Special Servicer determines from such review that:
(i) None of the income from Directly Operating such Mortgaged Property would be subject to tax as "net income from foreclosure property" within the meaning of the REMIC Provisions or would be subject to the tax imposed on "prohibited transactions" under Section 860F of the Code (either such tax referred to herein as an "REO Tax"), then such Mortgaged Property may be Directly Operated by the Special Servicer as REO Property;
(ii) Directly Operating such Mortgaged Property as REO Property could result in income from such property that would be subject to an REO Tax, but that a lease of such property to another party to operate such property, or the performance of some services by an Independent Contractor with respect to such property, or another method of operating such property would not result in income subject to an REO Tax, then the Special Servicer may (provided that in the good faith and reasonable judgment of the Special Servicer, it is commercially reasonable) acquire such Mortgaged Property as REO Property and so lease or operate such REO Property; or
(iii) It is reasonable to believe that Directly Operating such property as REO Property could result in income subject to an REO Tax and that no commercially reasonable means exists to operate such property as REO Property without the Trust Fund incurring or possibly incurring an REO Tax on income from such property, the Special Servicer shall deliver to the Tax Administrator, in writing, a proposed plan (the "Proposed Plan") to manage such property as REO Property. Such plan shall include potential sources of income, and, to the extent reasonably possible, estimates of the amount of income from each such source. Upon request of the Special Servicer, the Tax Administrator shall advise the Special Servicer of the Tax Administrator's federal income tax reporting position with respect to the various sources of income that the Trust Fund would derive under the Proposed Plan. After receiving the information described in the preceding sentence from the Tax Administrator, the Special Servicer shall implement the Proposed Plan (after acquiring the respective Mortgaged Property as REO Property), with any amendments required to be made thereto as a result of the Tax Administrator's tax reporting position. The Special Servicer's decision as to how each Administered REO Property shall be managed and operated shall be based on the Servicing Standard and, further, based on the good faith and reasonable judgment of the Special Servicer as to which means would be in the best interest of the Certificateholders (and, in the case of any Administered REO Property related to a Serviced Loan Combination, the related Serviced Non-Trust Mortgage Loan Noteholder(s)), as a collective whole, by maximizing (to the extent commercially reasonable and consistent with Section 3.17(b)) the net after-tax REO Revenues received with respect to such property without materially impairing the Special Servicer's ability to promptly sell such property for a fair price. In connection with performing their respective duties under this Section 3.17(a), both the Special Servicer and the Tax Administrator may consult with counsel and tax accountants, the reasonable cost of which consultation shall be covered by, and be reimbursable as, a Servicing Advance to be made by the Special Servicer.
(b) If title to any Administered REO Property is acquired, the Special Servicer shall manage, conserve, protect and operate such REO Property for the benefit of the Certificateholders (and, in the case of any Administered REO Property related to a Serviced Loan Combination, the related Serviced Non-Trust Mortgage Loan Noteholder(s)) solely for the purpose of its prompt disposition and sale in a manner that does not and will not: (i) cause such REO Property to fail to qualify as "foreclosure property" within the meaning of Section 860G(a)(8) of the Code for purposes of Section 860D(a) of the Code; or (ii) except as contemplated by Section 3.17(a), either result in the receipt by any REMIC Pool of any "income from non-permitted assets" within the meaning of Section 860F(a)(2)(B) of the Code or result in an Adverse REMIC Event or an Adverse Grantor Trust Event. Subject to the foregoing, however, the Special Servicer shall have full power and authority to do any and all things in connection therewith as are consistent with the Servicing Standard and, consistent therewith, shall withdraw from the related REO Account, to the extent of amounts on deposit therein with respect to any Administered REO Property, funds necessary for the proper operation, management, maintenance and disposition of such REO Property, including:
(i) all insurance premiums due and payable in respect of such REO Property;
(ii) all real estate taxes and assessments in respect of such REO Property that may result in the imposition of a lien thereon;
(iii) any ground rents in respect of such REO Property; and
(iv) all costs and expenses necessary to maintain, lease, sell, protect, manage, operate and restore such REO Property. To the extent that amounts on deposit in the related REO Account in respect of any Administered REO Property are insufficient for the purposes set forth in the preceding sentence with respect to such REO Property, the Master Servicer shall, at the direction of the Special Servicer, make Servicing Advances in such amounts as are necessary for such purposes unless the Master Servicer determines, in accordance with the Servicing Standard, that such payment would be a Nonrecoverable Advance; provided, however, that the Master Servicer may make any such Servicing Advance without regard to recoverability if it is a necessary fee or expense incurred in connection with the defense or prosecution of legal proceedings.
(c) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Special Servicer shall not, with respect to any Administered REO Property:
(i) enter into, renew or extend any New Lease with respect to such Administered REO Property, if the New Lease, by its terms would give rise to any income that does not constitute Rents from Real Property;
(ii) permit any amount to be received or accrued under any New Lease other than amounts that will constitute Rents from Real Property;
(iii) authorize or permit any construction on such Administered REO Property, other than the completion of a building or other improvement thereon, and then only if more than 10% of the construction of such building or other improvement was completed before default on the related Serviced Mortgage Loan became imminent, all within the meaning of Section 856(e)(4)(B) of the Code; or
(iv) Directly Operate, or allow any other Person, other than an Independent Contractor, to Directly Operate such Administered REO Property on any date more than 90 days after the related REO Acquisition; unless, in any such case, the Special Servicer has obtained an Opinion of Counsel (the cost of which shall be paid by the Master Servicer, at the direction of the Special Servicer, and shall be reimbursable as a Servicing Advance) to the effect that such action would not cause such Administered REO Property to fail to qualify as "foreclosure property" within the meaning of Section 860G(a)(8) of the Code for purposes of Section 860D(a) of the Code at any time that it is held by a REMIC Pool, in which case the Special Servicer may take such actions as are specified in such Opinion of Counsel.
(d) The Special Servicer may contract with any Independent Contractor for the operation and management of any Administered REO Property; provided that:
(i) the terms and conditions of any such contract shall not be inconsistent herewith and shall reflect an agreement reached at arm's length;
(ii) the fees of such Independent Contractor (which shall be expenses of the Trust Fund and, in the case of any Administered REO Property that relates to a Serviced Loan Combination, the related Serviced Non-Trust Mortgage Loan Noteholder(s)) shall be reasonable and customary in consideration of the nature and locality of such Administered REO Property;
(iii) except as permitted under Section 3.17(a), any such contract shall require, or shall be administered to require, that the Independent Contractor, in a timely manner, (A) pay out of related REO Revenues all costs and expenses incurred in connection with the operation and management of such Administered REO Property, including those listed in Section 3.17(b) above, and (B) except to the extent that such revenues are derived from any services rendered by the Independent Contractor to tenants of such Administered REO Property that are not customarily furnished or rendered in connection with the rental of real property (within the meaning of Section 1.856-4(b)(5) of the Treasury regulations or any successor provision), remit all related revenues collected (net of its fees and such costs and expenses) to the Special Servicer upon receipt;
(iv) none of the provisions of this Section 3.17(d) relating to any such contract or to actions taken through any such Independent Contractor shall be deemed to relieve the Special Servicer of any of its duties and obligations hereunder with respect to the operation and management of such Administered REO Property; and
(v) the Special Servicer shall be obligated with respect thereto to the same extent as if it alone were performing all duties and obligations in connection with the operation and management of such Administered REO Property. The Special Servicer shall be entitled to enter into any agreement with any Independent Contractor performing services for it related to its duties and obligations under Section 3.16 and this Section 3.17 for indemnification of the Special Servicer by any such Independent Contractor, and nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to limit or modify such indemnification. No agreement entered into pursuant to this Section 3.17(d) shall be deemed a Sub-Servicing Agreement for purposes of Section 3.22.
(e) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, this Section 3.17 shall not apply to any Outside Administered REO Property.