Dated August 13, 2025 Business Combination Agreement
Exhibit 2.1
Dated August 13, 2025
Business Combination Agreement
by and among
Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. I
as the Purchaser
IPDX Merger Sub, Inc.
as Merger Sub
and
Merlin Labs, Inc.
as the Company
Table of Contents
| Page | ||
| Article I THE TRANSACTIONS | 4 | |
| Section 1.01 | The Domestication | 4 |
| Section 1.02 | The Merger. | 5 |
| Section 1.03 | Further Assurances. | 5 |
| Article II CONSIDERATION | 5 | |
| Section 2.01 | Pre-Effective Time Conversions | 5 |
| Section 2.02 | Consideration | 6 |
| Section 2.03 | Conversion of Securities | 7 |
| Section 2.04 | No Fractional Shares | 8 |
| Section 2.05 | Withholding | 8 |
| Article III Closing | 8 | |
| Section 3.01 | Closing | 8 |
| Section 3.02 | Closing Documents | 9 |
| Section 3.03 | Payment of Expenses and Treatment of Closing Indebtedness | 9 |
| Article IV Representations and Warranties of the Company | 9 | |
| Section 4.01 | Organization and Standing | 9 |
| Section 4.02 | Authorization; Binding Agreement | 10 |
| Section 4.03 | Capitalization | 10 |
| Section 4.04 | Subsidiaries | 11 |
| Section 4.05 | No Conflict; Governmental Consents and Filings | 11 |
| Section 4.06 | Financial Statements | 12 |
| Section 4.07 | Undisclosed Liabilities | 13 |
| Section 4.08 | Absence of Certain Changes | 13 |
| Section 4.09 | Compliance with Laws | 13 |
| Section 4.10 | Government Contracts | 13 |
| Section 4.11 | Company Permits | 18 |
| Section 4.12 | Litigation | 19 |
| Section 4.13 | Material Contracts | 19 |
| Section 4.14 | Intellectual Property | 22 |
| Section 4.15 | Taxes and Returns | 25 |
| Section 4.16 | Real Property | 27 |
| Section 4.17 | Personal Property | 27 |
| Section 4.18 | Employee Matters | 27 |
| Section 4.19 | Company Benefit Plans | 28 |
| Section 4.20 | Environmental Matters | 30 |
| Section 4.21 | Transactions with Related Persons | 30 |
| Section 4.22 | Insurance | 31 |
| Section 4.23 | Top Customers and Suppliers | 31 |
| Section 4.24 | Certain Business Practices | 32 |
| Section 4.25 | Investment Company Act | 33 |
| Section 4.26 | Finders and Brokers | 33 |
| Section 4.27 | Independent Investigation | 33 |
| Section 4.28 | Information Supplied | 33 |
| Section 4.29 | No Additional Representations or Warranties | 33 |
(i)
| Page | ||
| Article V Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser and Merger Sub | 34 | |
| Section 5.01 | Organization and Standing | 34 |
| Section 5.02 | Authorization; Binding Agreement | 34 |
| Section 5.03 | Governmental Approvals | 35 |
| Section 5.04 | Non-Contravention | 35 |
| Section 5.05 | Capitalization | 35 |
| Section 5.06 | SEC Filings and Purchaser Financials; Internal Controls | 36 |
| Section 5.07 | Absence of Certain Changes | 38 |
| Section 5.08 | Undisclosed Liabilities | 38 |
| Section 5.09 | Compliance with Laws | 38 |
| Section 5.10 | Legal Proceedings; Orders; Permits | 38 |
| Section 5.11 | Taxes and Returns | 38 |
| Section 5.12 | Properties | 40 |
| Section 5.13 | Investment Company Act | 40 |
| Section 5.14 | Trust Account | 40 |
| Section 5.15 | Finders and Brokers | 41 |
| Section 5.16 | Certain Business Practices | 41 |
| Section 5.17 | Insurance | 42 |
| Section 5.18 | Information Supplied | 42 |
| Section 5.19 | Independent Investigation | 42 |
| Section 5.20 | No Additional Representation or Warranties | 43 |
| Article VI Covenants | 43 | |
| Section 6.01 | Access and Information; Cooperation | 43 |
| Section 6.02 | Conduct of Business of the Company | 44 |
| Section 6.03 | Conduct of Business of the Purchaser | 48 |
| Section 6.04 | Annual and Interim Financial Statements | 50 |
| Section 6.05 | Purchaser Public Filings | 51 |
| Section 6.06 | No Solicitation | 51 |
| Section 6.07 | No Trading | 52 |
| Section 6.08 | Notification of Certain Matters | 52 |
| Section 6.09 | Efforts | 53 |
| Section 6.10 | Trust Account | 54 |
| Section 6.11 | Tax Matters | 55 |
| Section 6.12 | Company Warrants | 56 |
| Section 6.13 | Further Assurances | 56 |
| Section 6.14 | The Preparation of Proxy Statement/Registration Statement; Shareholders’ Meeting and Approvals | 56 |
| Section 6.15 | Employee Matters. | 59 |
| Section 6.16 | Public Announcements | 60 |
| Section 6.17 | Confidential Information | 61 |
| Section 6.18 | Documents and Information | 62 |
| Section 6.19 | Post-Closing Board of Directors and Executive Officers | 62 |
| Section 6.20 | Indemnification of Directors and Officers; Tail Insurance | 63 |
| Section 6.21 | PIPE Investment | 64 |
| Section 6.22 | Redemption | 64 |
| Section 6.23 | Domestication | 64 |
| Section 6.24 | Adoption of Proxy Statement/Registration Statement | 65 |
| Section 6.25 | Affiliate Agreements | 65 |
| Section 6.26 | NZ Companies Office | 65 |
| Section 6.27 | Sponsor Indemnification | 65 |
| Section 6.28 | Intellectual Property Matters | 65 |
| Section 6.29 | Consents and Waivers | 66 |
| Section 6.30 | Name Change | 66 |
(ii)
| Page | ||
| Article VII Closing Conditions | 66 | |
| Section 7.01 | Conditions to Each Party’s Obligations | 66 |
| Section 7.02 | Conditions to Obligations of the Company | 67 |
| Section 7.03 | Conditions to Obligations of the Purchaser and Merger Sub | 68 |
| Section 7.04 | Frustration of Conditions | 69 |
| Article VIII Termination and Expenses | 69 | |
| Section 8.01 | Termination | 69 |
| Section 8.02 | Expense Reimbursement | 71 |
| Section 8.03 | Effect of Termination | 71 |
| Article IX Miscellaneous | 71 | |
| Section 9.01 | No Survival | 71 |
| Section 9.02 | Notices | 72 |
| Section 9.03 | Binding Effect; Assignment | 72 |
| Section 9.04 | Third Parties | 72 |
| Section 9.05 | Governing Law | 72 |
| Section 9.06 | Jurisdiction. | 73 |
| Section 9.07 | WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL | 73 |
| Section 9.08 | Specific Performance | 73 |
| Section 9.09 | Severability | 73 |
| Section 9.10 | Amendment; Waiver | 73 |
| Section 9.11 | Entire Agreement | 74 |
| Section 9.12 | Interpretation | 74 |
| Section 9.13 | Counterparts | 75 |
| Section 9.14 | Legal Representation | 75 |
| Section 9.15 | Waiver of Claims Against Trust | 76 |
| Section 9.16 | Company and Purchaser Disclosure Letters | 77 |
| Article X Definitions | 77 | |
| Section 10.01 | Certain Definitions | 77 |
Exhibits
| Exhibit A | Form of Purchaser Charter upon Domestication | |
| Exhibit B | Form of Purchaser Bylaws upon Domestication | |
| Exhibit C | Form of Certificate of Merger | |
| Exhibit D | Form of Series A Preferred Stock Certificate of Designation | |
| Exhibit E | Form of Domesticated Purchaser Preferred Investor Warrant | |
| Exhibit F-1 | Form of Surviving Corporation Charter | |
| Exhibit F-2 | Form of Surviving Corporation Bylaws | |
| Exhibit G | Form of A&R Registration Rights Agreement | |
| Exhibit H-1 | Form of Sponsor Lock-Up Agreement | |
| Exhibit H-2 | Form of Seller Lock-Up Agreement |
(iii)
BUSINESS COMBINATION AGREEMENT
This Business Combination Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of August 13, 2025 by and among Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. I, a Cayman Islands exempted company (which shall transfer by way of continuation and domesticate as a Delaware corporation prior to the Closing) (the “Purchaser”), IPDX Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct wholly owned subsidiary of the Purchaser (“Merger Sub”), and Merlin Labs, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”). The Purchaser, Merger Sub and the Company are sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and, collectively, as the “Parties.”
RECITALS:
WHEREAS, the Purchaser is a special purpose acquisition company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses;
WHEREAS, Merger Sub is a newly incorporated Delaware corporation, wholly owned by the Purchaser, and was formed for the purpose of effectuating the Merger (as defined below);
WHEREAS, at least one (1) day prior to the Closing Date and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions of this Agreement (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing), the Purchaser shall de-register from the Register of Companies in the Cayman Islands by way of continuation out of the Cayman Islands and in to the State of Delaware and domesticate as a Delaware corporation in accordance with Section 388 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended (the “DGCL”), and the Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “Cayman Companies Act,” and such de-registration, continuation and domestication, the “Domestication”);
WHEREAS, in order to effectuate the Domestication, and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions of this Agreement (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing), the Purchaser shall (a) file all applicable notices, declarations, affidavits, statements of assets and liabilities, shareholder approvals, undertakings and other documents required to be filed, pay all applicable fees required to paid, and cause the satisfaction of all other conditions to deregistration required to be satisfied, in each case, under Section 206 of the Cayman Companies Act and in accordance therewith, (b) file a certificate of domestication and a certificate of incorporation in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Purchaser Charter upon Domestication”) with the Secretary of State of Delaware and (c) adopt bylaws in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit B (the “Purchaser Bylaws upon Domestication”), and in each case with such changes to the forms attached hereto as Exhibits A and B as may be agreed in writing by the Purchaser and the Company;
WHEREAS, prior to or concurrent with the Domestication, the Company shall file a certificate of amendment to the certificate of incorporation of the Company with the Secretary of State of Delaware changing the Company’s corporate name to “Merlin Labs Operations, Inc.” or another name mutually agreed by the Purchaser and the Company prior to the Domestication;
WHEREAS, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement, and in accordance with the DGCL and the Cayman Companies Act, as applicable, the Parties intend to enter into a business combination transaction by which the Company and Merger Sub will file with the Delaware Secretary of State a certificate of merger substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C (the “Certificate of Merger”) in accordance with the applicable provisions of the DGCL and pursuant thereto Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company (the “Merger,” and together with the Domestication and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents, the “Transactions”), with the Company being the surviving corporation of the Merger (the Company, in its capacity as the surviving corporation of the Merger, is sometimes referred to as the “Surviving Corporation”);
WHEREAS, (a) immediately prior to the Domestication, pursuant to the Sponsor Support Agreement, the holders of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares shall elect to convert each Purchaser Class B Ordinary Share held by them, on a one-for-one basis, into a Purchaser Class A Ordinary Share (the “Sponsor Share Conversion”); (b) in connection with the Domestication, (i) each then issued and outstanding Purchaser Class A Ordinary Share shall convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into a share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock; (ii) each then issued and outstanding right of the Purchaser (each a “Cayman Purchaser Right”) shall convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into a Domesticated Purchaser Right; and (iii) each then issued and outstanding unit of Purchaser (the “Cayman Purchaser Units”) shall convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into a Domesticated Purchaser Unit; and (c) at the Effective Time, (i) each then issued and outstanding Domesticated Purchaser Right shall convert automatically into one-tenth of one share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, pursuant to the Rights Agreement; and (ii) each then issued and outstanding Domesticated Purchaser Unit shall be cancelled and will thereafter entitle the holder thereof to 1.1 shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, with any fractional shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be issued in connection with such separation rounded down to the nearest whole share;
WHEREAS, as a condition and inducement to the Company’s willingness to enter into this Agreement, simultaneously with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Sponsor has executed and delivered to the Company the Sponsor Support Agreement, pursuant to which the Sponsor has agreed to, among other things, vote to adopt and approve, upon the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, this Agreement and the other documents contemplated hereby (including the applicable Ancillary Documents) and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby;
WHEREAS, as a condition and inducement to the Purchaser’s willingness to enter into this Agreement, simultaneously with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Sellers representing the Requisite Shareholder Approval shall have executed and delivered to the Purchaser the Seller Voting and Support Agreement, pursuant to which such Sellers have agreed to, among other things, vote or consent to adopt and approve, upon the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, this Agreement and the other documents contemplated hereby (including the applicable Ancillary Documents) and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby;
WHEREAS, as a condition and inducement to the Parties’ willingness to enter into this Agreement, simultaneously with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, (a) the Company and certain investors have executed and delivered that certain securities purchase agreement, dated as of the date of this Agreement (the “Pre-PIPE Securities Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which such investors have agreed, among other things, to purchase from the Company, and the Company has agreed, among other things, to sell to such investors, certain Pre-Funded Convertible Notes and the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants and (b) the Company and certain investors have executed and delivered that certain convertible note purchase agreement, dated as of July 2, 2025 (as may be amended from time to time, the “Pre-PIPE Note Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which such investors have agreed, among other things, to purchase from the Company, and the Company has agreed, among other things, to sell to such investors, certain Pre-Funded Convertible Notes and the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants (the transactions contemplated by the Pre-PIPE Securities Purchase Agreement and the Pre-PIPE Note Purchase Agreement, together, the “Pre-Funded Note Investment”), substantially concurrently with the execution and delivery of this Agreement;
WHEREAS, as a condition and inducement to the Parties’ willingness to enter into this Agreement, simultaneously with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Purchaser, the Company and the investors named therein (the “Series A Preferred Stock Investors”) have executed and delivered that certain securities purchase agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Series A SPAs”), pursuant to which the Series A Preferred Stock Investors have agreed, among other things, to purchase from the Purchaser, and the Purchaser has agreed, among other things, to sell to the Series A Preferred Stock Investors, shares of the Purchaser’s 12% Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, having the rights, preferences and privileges set forth in the Purchaser’s Certificate of Designation of Preferences, Rights and Limitations of 12.0% Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit D (the “Series A Preferred Stock Certificate of Designation,” and such stock the “Domesticated Purchaser Series A Preferred Stock”) and warrants to purchase Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit E (the “Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants”), substantially concurrently with the Closing (such investment, the “PIPE Investment”);
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WHEREAS, from time to time following the date hereof and prior to the Closing, the Purchaser may enter into subscription, purchase or similar agreements with investors, pursuant to which, and on the terms and subject to the conditions of which, such investors will agree to participate in the PIPE Investment;
WHEREAS, in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, simultaneously with the Closing, the Sponsor, the Purchaser, the Sellers party thereto and the other parties thereto will enter into an Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement (the “A&R Registration Rights Agreement”) in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit G, with such changes thereto as may be agreed in writing by the Purchaser and the Company;
WHEREAS, in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, simultaneously with the Closing, (i) the Sponsor and the Purchaser will enter into a Lock-Up Agreement (the “Sponsor Lock-Up Agreement”) in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit H-1, with such changes thereto as may be agreed in writing by the Purchaser and the Company, and the Purchaser, the Sellers party thereto and the other parties thereto will enter into a Lock-Up Agreement (the “Seller Lock-Up Agreement” and, together with the Sponsor Lock-Up Agreement, the Lock-Up Agreements), in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit H-2, with such changes thereto as may be agreed in writing by the Purchaser and the Company;
WHEREAS, the Parties intend that, for U.S. federal, and applicable state and local, income tax purposes, (a) the Domestication qualifies as a “reorganization” described in Section 368(a)(1)(F) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, (b) the Sponsor Share Conversion is treated as a “reorganization” described in Section 368(a)(1)(E) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, and (c) the Merger qualifies as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder (each an “Intended Tax Treatment,” and collectively, the “Intended Tax Treatments”), and that this Agreement be, and hereby is, adopted as a “plan of reorganization” for the purposes of Section 368 of the Code and Treasury Regulations Section 1.368-2(g);
WHEREAS, the board of directors of the Company have unanimously: (a) determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and the shareholders of the Company, and declared it advisable, for the Company to enter into this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents and consummate the Merger and the other Transactions; (b) approved this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the Transactions on the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement; and (c) adopted a resolution recommending the Merger and the other Transactions be adopted by the Sellers;
WHEREAS, the board of directors of the Purchaser has unanimously: (a) determined that the Domestication is in the best interests of the Purchaser and its shareholders, as a whole, and declared it advisable for the Purchaser to enter into the Ancillary Documents providing for the Domestication; (b) determined that the Merger is in the best interests of the Purchaser and its shareholders, as a whole, and declared it advisable for the Purchaser to enter into this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents providing for the Merger and the other Transactions; (c) approved this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the Transactions on the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement; and (d) adopted a resolution recommending the Domestication be approved by the holders of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares and the Merger and the other Transactions be approved by the Purchaser Shareholders;
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WHEREAS, the board of directors of Merger Sub has unanimously: (a) determined that it is in the best interests of Merger Sub and the sole shareholder of Merger Sub, and declared it advisable, for Merger Sub to enter into this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents and consummate the Merger and the other Transactions; and (b) approved this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the Transactions on the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement; and
WHEREAS, in furtherance of the Merger and in accordance with the terms hereof, the Purchaser shall provide an opportunity to the holders of its public shares to have their public shares redeemed on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, which redemption shall occur as set forth in this Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises set forth above, and the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements contained in this Agreement, and for other consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is acknowledged and agreed to by the Parties, and intending to be legally bound hereby, the Parties hereto agree as follows:
Article
I
THE TRANSACTIONS
Section 1.01 The Domestication.
(a) Domestication. Upon the terms and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions of this Agreement (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at Closing), and in accordance with the DGCL and the Companies Act, at least one (1) Business Day prior to the Closing, the Purchaser shall, in accordance with applicable Law, any applicable rules and regulations of the SEC, Nasdaq and the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, as applicable, de-register from the Register of Companies of the Cayman Islands by way of continuation out of the Cayman Islands and into the State of Delaware so as to re-domicile and become a Delaware corporation and subject to the receipt of the approval by way of a special resolution passed by the holders of Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares entitled to vote thereon in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents of the Domestication and its terms, cause the Domestication to become effective, including by (i) filing with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware a certificate of domestication with respect to the Domestication, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Purchaser and the Company, together with the Purchaser Charter upon Domestication, in each case, in accordance with the provisions thereof and applicable Law, (ii) adopting the Purchaser Bylaws upon Domestication, (iii) completing and making and procuring all those filings required to be made with the Cayman Registrar in connection with the Domestication, and (iv) filing with the Cayman Registrar all applicable notices, declarations, affidavits, statements of assets and liabilities, shareholder approvals, undertakings and other documents required to be filed, pay all applicable fees required to paid, and cause the satisfaction of all other conditions to deregistration required to be satisfied, in each case, under Section 206 of the Cayman Companies Act and obtaining a certificate of de-registration from the Cayman Registrar.
(b) Effect on Purchaser Securities. (i) Immediately prior to the Domestication, pursuant to the Sponsor Support Agreement, the holders of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares shall elect to convert each Purchaser Class B Ordinary Share held by them, on a one-for-one basis, into one (1) Purchaser Class A Ordinary Share and (ii) in connection with the Domestication, each then issued and outstanding Purchaser Class A Ordinary Share shall convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into one (1) share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock.
4
Section 1.02 The Merger.
(a) Effective Time. Upon the terms and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions of this Agreement (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at Closing), on the Closing Date the Company and Merger Sub shall cause the Merger to be consummated by filing the Certificate of Merger with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the DGCL (the time of such filing, or such later time as may be agreed in writing by the Company, Merger Sub and Purchaser and specified in the Certificate of Merger, being the “Effective Time”).
(b) Merger. At the Effective Time, upon the terms and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions of this Agreement (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at Closing), Merger Sub and the Company shall consummate the Merger, pursuant to which Merger Sub shall be merged with and into the Company, following which the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub shall cease and the Company shall continue as the Surviving Corporation after the Merger and as a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Purchaser. References to the Company for periods after the Effective Time shall mean the Surviving Corporation.
(c) Effect of the Merger. At the Effective Time, the effect of the Merger shall be as provided in this Agreement, the Certificate of Merger and 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, agreements, powers and franchises, debts, liabilities, duties and obligations of Merger Sub and the Company shall become the property, rights, privileges, agreements, powers and franchises, debts, liabilities, duties and obligations of the Surviving Corporation, which shall include the assumption by the Surviving Corporation of any and all agreements, covenants, duties and obligations of Merger Sub and the Company set forth in this Agreement to be performed after the Effective Time.
(d) Governing Documents. At the Effective Time, the certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the Surviving Corporation shall be amended and restated to be in the forms attached hereto as Exhibit F-1 and Exhibit F-2 respectively.
(e) Directors and Officers of the Surviving Corporation. Immediately after the Effective Time, the board of directors and the executive officers of the Surviving Corporation shall be the same as set forth in Section 6.18 and otherwise in accordance with the terms of this Agreement (or as otherwise may be determined by the Purchaser and the Company).
Section 1.03 Further Assurances. From time to time after the Closing Date, upon the reasonable written request of any Party, each Party shall execute, acknowledge and deliver such further instruments and documents, and take such additional reasonable action, to effect, consummate, confirm or evidence the Transactions and carry out the purpose this Agreement.
Article
II
CONSIDERATION
Section 2.01 Pre-Effective Time Conversions. Immediately prior to the Effective Time:
(a) each Company Convertible Security (other than the Pre-Funded Convertible Notes), that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (if any), including all principal and interest thereunder, to the extent applicable, shall automatically convert in full into shares of Company Preferred Stock or Company Common Stock, as applicable, in accordance with the terms thereof, such that immediately thereafter, all of the Company Convertible Securities (other than the Pre-Funded Convertible Notes) shall no longer be outstanding and shall cease to exist, and each holder of a Company Convertible Security (other than the Pre-Funded Convertible Notes) shall thereafter cease to have any rights with respect thereto;
5
(b) each Company Warrant (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) exercisable for Company Preferred Stock that is outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically be exercised on a cashless basis in full in accordance with its terms or otherwise exercised in full, such that upon such exercise, all of the Company Warrants converted into Company Preferred Stock (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) shall no longer be outstanding and shall cease to exist, and each holder of Company Warrants (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) shall thereafter cease to have any rights with respect to such securities;
(c) immediately after giving effect to the conversions and exercises set forth in Sections 2.01(a)-(b), each issued and outstanding share of Company Preferred Stock (including each share of Company Preferred Stock issued upon the conversions and exercises described in Sections 2.01(a)-(b)) shall automatically convert into such number of shares of Company Common Stock into which such shares of Company Preferred Stock, as applicable, are convertible in connection with the Merger pursuant to the Company’s Organizational Documents, such that upon such conversion, all of the Company Preferred Stock converted into Company Common Stock shall no longer be outstanding and shall cease to exist, and each holder of Company Preferred Stock shall thereafter cease to have any rights with respect to such securities;
(d) each Company Warrant (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) exercisable for Company Common Stock that is outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically be exercised on a cashless basis in full in accordance with its terms or otherwise exercised in full, such that upon such exercise, all of the Company Warrants (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) shall no longer be outstanding and shall cease to exist, and each holder of Company Warrants (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) shall thereafter cease to have any rights with respect to such securities;
Section 2.02 Consideration.
(a) Pre-Funded Convertible Note Consideration. The consideration to be paid in, or in connection with, the Merger to a holder of a Pre-Funded Convertible Note shall be a number of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Preferred Stock equal to the quotient, rounded up to the nearest whole share, of (i) the total outstanding principal and accrued and unpaid interest on each Pre-Funded Convertible Note as of one day prior to the Closing Date, divided by (ii) the Applicable Pre-Funded Convertible Note Conversion Price (the “Convertible Note Consideration”).
(b) The consideration to be paid in, or in connection with, the Merger to a holder in respect of each Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant shall be one or more Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants to purchase a number of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock (on otherwise the same terms as applicable to the Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants issued to the Series A Preferred Stock Investors in the PIPE Investment) equal to the quotient of (i) the aggregate exercise price of such Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant immediately prior to the Effective Time divided by (ii) $12.00 (the “Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant Consideration”).
(c) The aggregate consideration to be paid to holders of all other Company Securities (for the avoidance of doubt, other than the Pre-Funded Convertible Notes and the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) in, or in connection with, the Merger shall be the Aggregate Consideration.
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Section 2.03 Conversion of Securities.
(a) Effect on Company Securities. At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of the Purchaser, Merger Sub, the Company or any holder of securities of any of the foregoing:
(i) Each share of Company Common Stock that is owned by the Purchaser, Merger Sub or the Company (in treasury or otherwise) immediately prior to the Effective Time (each, an “Excluded Share”) shall be cancelled and shall cease to exist and no consideration shall be delivered in exchange therefor;
(ii) each share of Company Common Stock that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than Excluded Shares) shall be cancelled and converted into the right to receive a number of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio;
(iii) each Company Option shall automatically (without any further action required of the holder of such Company Option): (x) cease to represent an option to purchase or acquire shares of Company Common Stock as of the Effective Time; and (y) be assumed and converted, on the same terms and conditions as were applicable under the Company Equity Incentive Plan or its terms (as applicable) and any applicable award agreement thereunder as of the Effective Time, into an option to acquire that number of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock (rounded down to the nearest whole share) equal to the product of (A) the number of shares of Company Common Stock subject to such Company Option and (B) the Exchange Ratio, at an exercise price per share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock (rounded up to the nearest whole cent) equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (1) the exercise price per share of Company Common Stock of such Company Option by (2) the Exchange Ratio (a “Purchaser Option”). Notwithstanding anything in this Section 2.03(a)(iii) to the contrary, the exercise price applicable to the Purchaser Options and the number of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock subject to the Purchaser Options shall, in each case, be determined in a manner consistent with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, and, in the case of any Company Options that are intended to qualify as incentive stock options, within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code, consistent with the requirements of Section 424 of the Code; and
(iv) each Company RSU shall automatically (without any further action required of the holder of such Company RSU): (x) cease to represent a right to acquire shares of Company Common Stock as of the Effective Time; and (y) be assumed and converted, on the same terms and conditions as were applicable under the Company Equity Incentive Plan or its terms (as applicable) and any applicable award agreement thereunder as of the Effective Time, into a restricted stock unit representing the right to acquire that number of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock (rounded down to the nearest whole share) equal to the product of (A) the number of shares of Company Common Stock subject to such Company RSU and (B) the Exchange Ratio (a “Purchaser RSU”). For the avoidance of doubt, as of the date hereof there are no outstanding Company RSUs, and any Company RSUs that are granted after the date hereof and prior to the Effective Time shall be subject to Purchaser’s written consent and granted in compliance with Section 6.02.
(b) Effect on Pre-Funded Convertible Notes. At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of the Purchaser, Merger Sub, the Company, the holder in respect of any Pre-Funded Convertible Note or any holder of securities of any of the foregoing, each Pre-Funded Convertible Note that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically be canceled and converted into the right to receive the Convertible Note Consideration.
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(c) Effect on Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants. At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of the Purchaser, Merger Sub, the Company or any holder of Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants, each Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants that is outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically be canceled and converted into the right to receive Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant Consideration.
(d) Effect on Purchaser Rights and Units. At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of the Purchaser, Merger Sub, the Company or any holder of Domesticated Purchaser Rights or Domesticated Purchaser Units: (x) each then issued and outstanding Domesticated Purchaser Right shall convert automatically into one-tenth of one share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, pursuant to the Rights Agreement; and (y) each then issued and outstanding Domesticated Purchaser Unit shall be cancelled and will thereafter entitle the holder thereof to 1.1 shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, with any fractional shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be issued in connection with such separation rounded down to the nearest whole share.
Section 2.04 No Fractional Shares. No fractional shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, or certificates or scrip representing fractional shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, will be issued upon the conversion of the Company Common Stock pursuant to the Merger, and any such fractional shares or interests therein will not entitle the owner thereof to vote or to any rights of a stockholder of Purchaser. Any fractional shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.
Section 2.05 Withholding. Notwithstanding any other provision to this Agreement, the Purchaser, Merger Sub, the Company, and the Surviving Corporation (and their respective Representatives) shall be entitled to deduct and withhold from any amount payable to any Person pursuant to this Agreement such Taxes that are required to be deducted or withheld with respect to such amounts under the Code, or under any provision of U.S. state or local or non-U.S. tax law. To the extent that amounts are deducted and withheld in accordance with this Section 2.05 and timely paid over to the appropriate Governmental Authorities, such amounts shall be treated for all purposes under this Agreement as having been paid to the Person in respect of which such deduction and withholding was made. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except for any payments made pursuant to the last sentence of this Section 2.05, the Purchaser shall use commercially reasonable efforts to provide (x) the Company with advance written notice of any intention to deduct and withhold from any consideration payable to the Sellers and (y) such recipients of consideration with a reasonable opportunity to provide documentation establishing exemptions from or reductions of such withholdings. In the case of any such payment payable to employees of the Company or its Subsidiaries in connection with the Merger treated as compensation, the Parties shall reasonably cooperate to pay such amounts through the Company’s or the relevant Subsidiary’s payroll to facilitate applicable withholding.
Article
III
Closing
Section 3.01 Closing. Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in Article VII, the consummation of the Transactions (other than the transactions contemplated by this Agreement that by their nature are to be satisfied prior to the Closing) (the “Closing”) shall take place by electronic exchange of documents and signatures at a time and date to be specified in writing by the Parties, which date shall be no later than the third (3rd) Business Day after all the Closing conditions in Article VII have been satisfied or waived (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing, but subject to the satisfaction or waiver of those conditions), or at such other date, time or place (including remotely) as the Purchaser and the Company may agree (the date and time at which the Closing is actually held being the “Closing Date”).
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Section 3.02 Closing Documents.
(a) Purchaser Closing Certificate. Two (2) Business Days prior to the Closing, the Purchaser shall deliver to the Company a written notice setting forth the Purchaser’s good faith calculation of the following: (i) the aggregate amount of cash proceeds that will be required to satisfy any exercise of the Redemption; (ii) the aggregate amount of the Purchaser Transaction Costs as of the Closing; and (iii) the number of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be outstanding as of the Closing and after giving effect to the Domestication and the Redemption (but excluding any securities of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be issued in the Merger).
(b) Company Closing Certificate. Two (2) Business Days prior to the Closing, the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser a written notice (the “Company Closing Certificate”) setting forth the Company’s good faith calculation of the aggregate amount of the Company Transaction Costs as of the Closing, including all invoices, wire instructions and applicable Tax forms for each Person owed (and any other supporting details reasonably requested by the Purchaser).
Section 3.03 Payment of Expenses and Treatment of Closing Indebtedness.
(a) Company Transaction Costs. On the Closing Date, the Purchaser shall pay or cause to be paid by wire transfer of immediately available funds all Company Transaction Costs.
(b) Purchaser Transaction Costs. On the Closing Date, the Purchaser shall pay or cause to be paid by wire transfer of immediately available funds all Purchaser Transaction Costs.
(c) Closing Indebtedness. On the Closing Date, the Purchaser shall pay the outstanding amount of the Closing Indebtedness to the holders of the Closing Indebtedness in order to repay all such Closing Indebtedness, with the result that immediately following the Closing there will be no further monetary obligations of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with respect to any Closing Indebtedness outstanding immediately prior to the Closing.
Article
IV
Representations and Warranties of the Company
Except as set forth in the disclosure letter dated as of the date of this Agreement delivered by the Company to the Purchaser (the “Company Disclosure Letter”) prior to or in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Company hereby represents and warrants to the Purchaser and Merger Sub, as of the date hereof and as of the Closing, as follows:
Section 4.01 Organization and Standing. The Company is a Delaware corporation duly incorporated, validly existing and in good standing under the DGCL and has all requisite corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted, except as would not be material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole. Each Subsidiary of the Company is a corporation, limited liability company or other entity duly incorporated or formed (as applicable), validly existing and in good standing under the Laws of its jurisdiction of organization and has all requisite corporate, limited liability company or other (as applicable) power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted, except as would not be material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole. Each Subsidiary of the Company is duly qualified or licensed and in good standing in the jurisdiction in which it is formed or registered and in each other jurisdiction where it does business or operates to the extent that the character of the property owned, or leased or operated by it or the nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification or licensing necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or licensed or in good standing would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect. The Company has provided to the Purchaser accurate and complete copies of the Target Companies’ Organizational Documents, each as amended to date and as currently in effect. No Target Company is in violation of any provision of its Organizational Documents.
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Section 4.02 Authorization; Binding Agreement. Subject to the receipt of the Requisite Shareholder Approval, the Company has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is or is required to be a party, to perform its obligations hereunder and thereunder and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which the Company is or is required to be a party and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, (a) have been duly and validly authorized by the Company’s board of directors in accordance with its Organizational Documents and (b) other than the Requisite Shareholder Approval, no other proceedings on the part of the Company are necessary to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is a party or to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. This Agreement has been, and each Ancillary Document to which the Company is or is required to be a party shall be when delivered, duly and validly executed and delivered by the Company and assuming the due authorization, execution and delivery of this Agreement and any such Ancillary Document by the other parties hereto and thereto, constitutes, or when delivered shall constitute, the legal, valid and binding obligation of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, subject to the Enforceability Exceptions. The Company’s board of directors, by resolutions duly adopted, has (i) determined that this Agreement and the Transactions are advisable, fair to, and in the best interests of, the Company and its shareholders, (ii) approved this Agreement and Transactions, (iii) directed that this Agreement be submitted to its shareholders for adoption and (iv) recommended that its shareholders adopt this Agreement.
Section 4.03 Capitalization.
(a) Set forth on Section 4.03(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter is a true, correct and complete list of each record holder of any equity interests of the Company, including the Company Options, and the number of such equity interests held by each such holder as of the date hereof. Other than such equity interests, including the Company Options, set forth on Section 4.03(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the Company does not have any other issued or outstanding membership or other equity interests.
(b) Prior to giving effect to the Transactions, all of the equity securities in the Company (other than the Company Options) will be owned by the Sellers free and clear of any Liens other than those imposed under the Company Organizational Documents, applicable securities Laws, Permitted Liens or as set forth on Section 4.03(b)(i) of the Company Disclosure Letter. All of the issued and outstanding equity interests of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued in accordance with applicable Laws, including applicable securities Law, and the Company Organizational Documents, and are not subject to, nor were they issued in violation of, any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or similar rights, except where such violation or failure would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole. Except as set forth on Section 4.03(b)(ii), there are no preemptive rights or rights of first refusal or first offer, nor are there any Contracts, commitments, arrangements or restrictions to which the Company or, to the Knowledge of the Company, any of its members is a party or bound relating to any membership interests or other equity securities of the Company, whether or not outstanding. Except with respect to the Company Options, there are no outstanding or authorized equity appreciation, phantom equity or similar rights with respect to the Company. There are no voting trusts, proxies, shareholder agreements or any other agreements or understandings with respect to the voting of the Company’s equity interests. Except as set forth in the Organizational Documents of the Target Companies, there are no outstanding contractual obligations of the Target Companies to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any equity interests or securities of such Target Company, nor has any Target Company granted any registration rights to any Person with respect to such Target Companies’ equity securities. All of the Target Companies’ securities have been granted, offered, sold and issued in compliance with applicable securities Laws. Each Company Option was validly granted or issued and properly approved by the Company’s board of directors (or appropriate committee thereof) in accordance with the terms of the Company Equity Incentive Plan. Each Company Option has been granted with an exercise price that is intended to be no less than the fair market value of the underlying equity securities of the Company on the date of grant, as determined in accordance with Section 409A of the Code or Section 422 of the Code.
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(c) Except as provided for in this Agreement, as a result of the consummation of the Transactions, no shares of capital stock, warrants, options or other securities of the Target Companies are issuable and no rights in connection with any shares, warrants, options or other securities of the Target Companies accelerate or otherwise become triggered (whether as to vesting, exercisability, convertibility or otherwise).
Section 4.04 Subsidiaries. Section 4.04 of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth the names of the Company’s direct and indirect Subsidiaries, and with respect to each Subsidiary (a) its jurisdiction of incorporation or organization, (b) all names other than its legal name under which such Subsidiary does business, as applicable, (c) its authorized shares or other equity interests (if applicable) and (d) the number of issued and outstanding shares or other equity interests of such Subsidiary and the record holders and beneficial owners thereof. All of the outstanding equity securities of each Subsidiary of the Company are duly authorized and validly issued, and, where such concepts are applicable, fully paid and non-assessable, and were offered, sold and delivered in compliance with all applicable securities Laws, and owned by one or more of the Target Companies’ free and clear of all Liens other than those imposed under such Subsidiaries’ Organizational Documents, applicable securities Laws, Permitted Liens or as set forth on Section 4.04 of the Company Disclosure Letter.
Section 4.05 No Conflict; Governmental Consents and Filings.
(a) Except as otherwise described in Section 4.05(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, subject to the receipt of the Requisite Shareholder Approval and the consents, approvals, authorizations and other requirements set forth in Section 4.05(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the other Ancillary Documents to which the Company is a party and the consummation by the Company of the Transactions does not and will not: (i) violate any provision of, or result in the breach of, any applicable Law to which the Company is subject or by which any property or asset of any Target Company is bound; (ii) conflict with or violate the Organizational Documents of any Target Company; (iii) violate any provision of or result in a breach, default or acceleration of, require a consent under, or create any right to payment under any Company Material Contract, or terminate or result in the termination of any Company Material Contract, or result in the creation of any Lien (other than a Permitted Lien) under any Company Material Contract upon any of the properties or assets of any Target Company, or constitute an event which, after notice or lapse of time or both, would result in any such violation, breach, default, acceleration, termination or creation of a Lien (other than a Permitted Lien); or (iv) result in a violation or revocation of any required Consents, except to the extent that the occurrence of any of the foregoing items set forth in clauses (i), (iii) or (iv) would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to prevent, materially delay or materially impair the ability of the Company to consummate the Transactions or reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
(b) Assuming the truth and completeness of the representations and warranties of the Purchaser and Merger Sub contained in this Agreement, no consent, notice, approval or authorization of, or designation, declaration or filing with, any Governmental Authority is required on the part of the Target Companies with respect to the Target Companies’ execution, delivery or performance of this Agreement, any of the other Ancillary Documents to which it is a party or the consummation by the Target Companies of the Transactions, except for: (i) any consents, notices, approvals, authorizations, designations, declarations or filings, the absence of which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect; (ii) compliance with any applicable requirements of the securities Laws; and (iii) as otherwise disclosed on Section 4.05(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter.
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Section 4.06 Financial Statements.
(a) The Company has provided to the Purchaser: (i) draft unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Target Companies (including, in each case, any related notes thereto), consisting of the draft unaudited consolidated balance sheet the related draft unaudited consolidated income statements and statements of cash flows of the Target Companies as of and for the six (6) month period ending March 31, 2025 (the “Interim Company Financials”) and (ii) the unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Target Companies (including, in each case, any related notes thereto), consisting of the consolidated balance sheets of the Target Companies as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, and the related consolidated unaudited income statements, changes in member equity and statements of cash flows for the fiscal years then ended(together with the Interim Company Financials, the “Draft Company Financials” and, together with the Audited Financial Statements (as defined below), the “Company Financials”). The Company Financials were derived in all material respects from the books and records of the Target Companies, which books and records are, in all material respects, true, correct and complete and have been maintained in all material respects in accordance with commercially reasonable business practices. Except as set forth on Section 4.06(a) of Company Disclosure Letter, the Company Financials, when delivered, will have been prepared in all material respects, in accordance with GAAP consistently applied throughout the periods covered thereby (except in the case of the Draft Company Financials for the absence of footnote disclosures and other presentation items required for GAAP and for year-end adjustments that will not be material) and present fairly in all material respects, the consolidated financial position, results of operations, income (loss), changes in equity and cash flows of the Target Companies as of the dates and for the periods indicated in such Company Financials in conformity with GAAP (except in the case of the Draft Company Financials for the absence of footnote disclosures and other presentation items required for GAAP and for year-end adjustments that will not be material) and were derived from and accurately reflect in all material respects, the books and records of each of the Target Companies. No Target Company has ever been subject to the reporting requirements of Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act.
(b) The Target Companies have established and maintain a system of internal controls. Such internal controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in all material respects in accordance with management’s authorization and (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain accountability for each Target Company’s assets.
(c) The Company has not identified in writing and has not received written notice from an independent auditor of (x) any significant deficiency or material weakness in the system of internal controls utilized by the Company, (y) any material fraud that involves the Company’s management or other employees who have a significant role in the preparation of financial statements or the internal controls over financial reporting utilized by the Company or (z) any claim or allegation regarding any of the foregoing.
(d) There are no outstanding loans or other extensions of credit made by any Target Company to any executive officer (as defined in Rule 3b-7 under the Exchange Act) or director of the Company.
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Section 4.07 Undisclosed Liabilities. There is no liability, debt or obligation (absolute, accrued, contingent or otherwise) of any Target Company of a type required to be reflected or reserved for on a balance sheet prepared in accordance with GAAP, except for liabilities, debts and obligations: (a) provided for in, or otherwise reflected or reserved for on the Draft Company Financials or disclosed in the notes thereto; (b) that have arisen since the date of the most recent balance sheet included in the Target Company in the ordinary course of the operation of business of the Draft Company Financials; (c) arising under this Agreement and/or incurred in connection with the Transaction; or (d) which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
Section 4.08 Absence of Certain Changes. Except as set forth on Section 4.08 of the Company Disclosure Letter, and for activities conducted in connection with this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, since March 31, 2025 through the date of this Agreement, (a) there has not been any Company Material Adverse Effect and (b) each Target Company (i) has conducted its business in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (ii) has not taken any action or committed or agreed to take any action that, if taken after the date hereof, would be prohibited by Section 6.02(b).
Section 4.09 Compliance with Laws.
(a) Each Target Company has, since its inception, complied with, and is not currently in violation of, any applicable Law with respect to the conduct of its business, or the ownership or operation of its business, except for failures to comply or violations which, individually or in the aggregate, have not been and are not reasonably likely to be material to the Target Company, taken as a whole. No written notice of non-compliance with any applicable Law has been received by any Target Company since its inception.
(b) Each Target Company is in possession of all franchises, grants, authorizations, licenses, permits, consents, certificates, approvals and orders, or other Consents from Governmental Authorities necessary to own, lease and operate the properties it purports to own, operate or lease and to carry on its business as it is now being conducted, except where the failure to have such approvals would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to be material to the Target Company, taken as a whole.
Section 4.10 Government Contracts.
(a) Section 4.10(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter is a true and complete list, as of the date hereof, of each Government Contract to which a Target Company is a party and accurately identifies for each such Government Contract current and complete information regarding, where applicable and to the extent the disclosure of such information does not violate any Target Company’s obligations under any law or agreement: the contract number, the customer (contracting agency and prime contractor, as applicable), any subcontracts and the applicable subcontract number (if applicable), the total estimated contract value, the total funded amount, and the contract period of performance. Section 4.10(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter also identifies each Government Contract that was awarded on the basis of any qualification as a small business, or other set aside or preferential prime contractor or subcontractor bidding status (collectively, a “Preferred Bidder Status”). Each Government Contract listed in Section 4.10(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter was legally awarded to the applicable Target Company, is in full force and effect and constitutes a legal, valid, and binding agreement, enforceable in accordance with its terms. The Company has delivered or made available to Purchaser copies of the main contract documents including all material modifications, task orders, purchase orders, and delivery orders for those Government Contracts provided on Section 4.10(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, together with all other material documentation related thereto as requested by Purchaser.
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(b) Section 4.10(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a current, accurate, and complete list of each Government Bid (including task order bids under current Government Contracts and teaming agreements entered into in preparation for Government Bids) that any Target Company has entered into or submitted to a Governmental Authority (or a prime contractor or higher-tier subcontractor) within the past year, plans to submit within the next 90 days, or for which no notice of award decision has been received by any Target Company 30 days or more prior to the date of this Agreement. Section 4.10(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter accurately identifies for each such Government Bid current, complete, and accurate information regarding, where applicable: the proposal type (new business, task order, etc.), the anticipated award type (sole source, full and open, small business, etc.), the project title, the customer (agency, prime contractor, or higher-tier subcontractor as applicable), the estimated award date and the estimated value of the proposed contract based on the Target Company’s proposal.
(c) Section 4.10(c) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a list of each outstanding teaming agreement or existing joint venture agreement of any Target Company. The Company has made available to the Purchaser correct and complete copies of all such teaming agreements and joint venture agreements. The Target Companies have complied with all material terms and conditions of such joint venture agreements and teaming agreements.
(d) With respect to each Government Contract or Government Bid to which a Target Company is a party, and except as set forth in Section 4.10(d) of the Company Disclosure Letter: (i) the Target Companies have complied with all material terms and conditions of such Government Contract or Government Bid, including but not limited to all applicable provisions of FAR 52.204-21 (Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems), DFARS 252.204-7012 (Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting), the cybersecurity standards set forth in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) Special Publication 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7020, NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Requirements, FAR 52.204-24 (Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment), FAR 52.204-25 (Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment), the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. §§ 10a-10d) and the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) (19 U.S.C. §§ 2501-2581), and all corresponding FAR and DFARS provisions; (ii) the Target Companies have complied with all material requirements of Law pertaining to such Government Contract or Government Bid; (iii) all representations and certifications executed with respect to such Government Contract or Government Bid were accurate and truthful in all material respects as of their effective date (including material representations, certifications and disclosures made by the Target Companies under or in connection with a Government Contract covered by the Truthful Cost or Pricing Act (including any certified cost or pricing data provided in accordance with such Act); (iv) all invoices and claims for payment, reimbursement, or adjustment, including requests for progress payments and provisional or progress cost payments, submitted by the Target Companies in connection with a Government Contract or Government Bid were current, accurate, and complete in all material respects as of their respective submission dates, and the Target Companies are not aware of any evidence that such submissions are not still current, accurate, and complete in all material respects; (v) the Target Companies have maintained systems of internal controls that are and have been in material compliance with all requirements of the Government Contracts and of material Laws and regulations and no such systems of internal controls has been determined in writing, by any Governmental Authority to be in noncompliance with any such material requirement and, without limiting the foregoing, the practices and procedures used by the Target Companies in estimating costs and pricing proposals and accumulating, recording, segregating, reporting, and invoicing costs, and otherwise accounting for costs are in compliance, in all material respects, with the applicable provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Part 31; (vi) the Target Companies have not had access to confidential or non-public information, nor provided systems engineering, technical direction, consultation, technical evaluation, source selection services, or services of any type, nor prepared specifications or statements of work, nor, to the Knowledge of the Company, engaged in any other conduct, in each case, that would create an Organizational Conflict of Interest, as set forth in FAR 9.501, with respect to the work performed or anticipated to be performed under any Government Contract or proposed contract in connection with a Government Bid or other business of the Target Companies or, to the Knowledge of the Company, that would restrict the Target Companies’ business activities as presently conducted; (vii) the Target Companies have not violated, in any material respect, any Law or contractual restriction associated with the employment of (or discussions concerning possible employment with) current or former officials or employees of a Governmental Authority (regardless of the branch of government), including but not limited to the “revolving door” and “financial interest” restrictions set forth at 18 U.S.C. § 207 and § 208; and (viii) except as set forth on Section 4.10(d)(viii) of the Company Disclosure Letter, in the past five years, the Target Companies have not received any written adverse past performance evaluation or CPARS report, or been given notice of termination for default, convenience arising out of negative performance reviews or a show cause notice from the relevant customer, cure notice, show cause notice, deficiency or similar notice, stop work order or non-exercise of any option to extend a multi-year contract, and no such notice has been threatened. Except as set forth on Section 4.10(d) of the Company Disclosure Letter, consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not require notice to transfer or constitute, cause or serve as the basis of non-performance or non-compliance with any term of any Government Contract or Government Bid to which a Target Company is a party.
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(e) With respect to each Target Company and except as set forth on Section 4.10(e) of the Company Disclosure Letter: (i) none of the Target Companies has been, or is currently, debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment or suspension by any Governmental Authority, and each is properly registered and in good standing in the System for Award Management (▇▇▇); (ii) no Target Company has received any written notice that any officer or employee, consultant, or agent of any Target Company is, or during the last five years has been, under administrative, civil, or criminal investigation, indictment, or information by any Governmental Authority (A) relating to the performance of his or her duties for the Target Company and (B) as would reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect; (ii) to the Knowledge of the Company, there is not pending any audit or investigation of any Target Company or its officers, employees, consultants or agents nor within the last five years has there been either (A) a non-routine audit of a Target Company, (B) an audit that resulted in a material adjustment to amounts invoiced or (C) any audit or investigation of any Target Company or its respective officers, employees, consultants or agents resulting in a material adverse finding with respect to any alleged irregularity, misstatement, or omission arising under or relating to any Government Contract or Government Bid; (iii) during the last five years, no Target Company has made any voluntary or mandatory disclosure to any Governmental Authority with respect to any alleged material irregularities, misstatements, or omissions; unlawful conduct; or significant overpayment arising under or relating to a Government Contract or Government Bid; (iv) no Target Company has received any written (or, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral) notice of any determination by a Governmental Authority regarding, nor entered into a consent order or administrative agreement, with the a Governmental Authority regarding, any suspected, alleged, or possible fraud, defective pricing, mischarging, improper payments, unauthorized release of information, irregularity, misstatement, omission or violation of law or regulation, or any administrative or contractual requirement related to a Government Contract or Government Bid; (v) no Target Company has received any written (or, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral) notice of complaint (whether or not sealed or partially unsealed) regarding any suspected, alleged, or possible fraud, defective pricing, mischarging, improper payments, unauthorized release of information, irregularity, misstatement, omission or violation of law or regulation, or any administrative or contractual requirement related to a Government Contract or Government Bid; (vi) no Target Company has received written document requests, subpoenas, search warrants, or civil investigative demands addressed to or requesting information involving any Target Company or any of their members, managers, officers, employees, affiliates, consultants, agents, or representatives in connection with or concerning any information related to a Government Contract or Government Bid; (vii) to the Knowledge of the Company, neither any Target Company nor any of its respective officers, employees, consultants, agents, or representatives are or have been under administrative, civil, or criminal investigation, or any indictment or criminal information with respect to any aspects of performance or other activity relating to any Government Contract or Government Bid to which any Target Company is a party; (viii) neither any Target Company nor any of its respective officers or employees have been the subject of any actual “whistleblower” or “qui tam” lawsuit; (ix) no Target Company has not received any written (or, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral) notice of any judicial, administrative, or contractual penalties or damages imposed or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened to be imposed on any Target Company related to any Government Contract or Government Bid; (x) to the Knowledge of the Company, it has not conducted any internal audit, review, or inquiry in which any outside legal counsel, auditor, accountant, or investigator has been or was engaged with respect to any suspected, alleged, or possible fraud, defective pricing, mischarging, improper payments, unauthorized release of information, material irregularities, misstatements, or omissions or violation of Law, or any administrative or contractual requirement related to a Government Contract or Government Bid; and (xi) each Target Company has complied in all material respects with the pricing and discount disclosure requirements in all of its Government Contracts including “Most Favored Customer” and price-reduction clauses (“MFC-PRC Representation”) and all pricing discounts and rebates have been properly reported to and credited to the customer under each Government Contract, and no Government Contract currently in performance is subject to, or to the Knowledge of the Company, anticipated to be subject to, price discounts at any level (including but not limited to invoice discounts, “spot” discounts at individual rates, courtesy discounts or other discounts of any nature), in each case except where failure to do so would not have a material and adverse effect on the Target Companies. Except as set forth in Section 4.10(e) of the Company Disclosure Letter, no Target Company has, to the Knowledge of the Company, had any material irregularities, misstatements, or omissions arising under or relating to any Government Contract or Government Bid that has led or is expected to lead, either before or after the Closing Date, to any of the consequences set forth in the clauses of this paragraph or any other material damage, liability, penalty assessment, recoupment of payment, or disallowance of cost.
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(f) With respect to each of the Target Companies and except as set forth in Section 4.10(f) of the Company Disclosure Letter, (i) there are no outstanding claims against any Target Company for which any Target Company has received written notice, either by the U.S. Government or by any prime contractor, subcontractor, vendor, or other third party arising under or relating to any Government Contract or Government Bid referred to in Section 4.10(a) and Section 4.10(c) of the Company Disclosure Letter, respectively; (ii) there are, to the Knowledge of the Company, no disputes between any Target Company and any Governmental Authority under the Contract Disputes Act or any other Law or between any Target Company and any prime contractor, subcontractor, or vendor arising under or relating to any such Government Contract or Government Bid; and (iii) no Government Contract is or has been the subject of any bid protest proceeding. Except as set forth in Section 4.10(f) of the Company Disclosure Letter, there are no facts that would reasonably be expected to result in a claim or dispute under clauses (i) or (ii) of the immediately preceding sentence.
(g) There are no outstanding material claims, disputes, or requests for equitable adjustment between any of the Target Companies and any Governmental Authority that are subject to the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. § § 7101-7109 or any other Law, nor are there any material claims, disputes, or requests for equitable adjustment between any of the Target Companies and any other entity arising under or related to any Government Contract.
(h) None of the Target Companies have submitted or received, or are preparing to submit, a claim or request for an equitable adjustment under any of the Government Contracts where such activity is outside the ordinary course of business or would reasonably be expected to result in a liability or obligation outside the ordinary course of business.
(i) No costs incurred by any of the Target Companies have been formally disallowed as a result of a written finding or determination by a Governmental Authority, and no Governmental Authority has withheld or setoff or, to the Knowledge of the Company, attempted to withhold or setoff, material amounts otherwise due or payable to any Target Company under any Government Contract. Except as disclosed on Section 4.10(i) of the Company Disclosure Letter, to the Knowledge of the Company, no prime contractor or higher-tier subcontractor under a Government Contract has withheld or set off, or attempted to withhold (other than the hold-backs pursuant to contracts in the ordinary course of business) or set-off, material amounts of money otherwise acknowledged to be due to any Target Company under any such Government Contract. To the Knowledge of the Company, no prime contractor or higher-tier subcontractor under an outstanding Government Contract has disallowed, or raised any basis for disallowance of, any material costs claimed by any Target Company under any such Government Contract, and there is no fact or occurrence that could reasonably be expected to be a basis for disallowing any such costs.
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(j) Except as set forth in Section 4.10(j)(i) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the Target Companies have submitted all required provisional labor and indirect rates through fiscal year 2024, and final indirect rates to the cognizant U.S. government administrative contracting officer through fiscal year 2024. All such submissions are consistent in all material respects with all applicable cost accounting rules and regulations and there are no outstanding or unresolved matters with respect thereto which would reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect. Except as set forth in Section 4.10(j)(ii) of the Company Disclosure Letter each Target Company is, and at all times has been, in compliance in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), as set forth in 48 C.F.R. Chapter 99, and any related regulations, including the submission and disclosure of cost accounting practices where required. To the Knowledge of the Company, no Target Company is the subject of any audit, review, or investigation by any Governmental Authority related to compliance with CAS, nor has any Target Company received any written notice of noncompliance, nonconformance, or any asserted or threatened claim or penalty arising under CAS.
(k) Except as set forth in Section 4.10(k) of the Company Disclosure Letter, neither any Target Company nor any of their present Principals (as that term is defined in FAR 2.101), nor, to the Knowledge of the Company, employees are, or during the last five years have been, suspended or debarred from doing business with a Governmental Authority, proposed for suspension or debarment, or are (or during such period were) the subject of a finding of non-responsibility or ineligibility for contracting with any Governmental Authority.
(l) Except as set forth in Section 4.10(l) of the Company Disclosure Letter, no Target Company has received: (i) any written (nor, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral) notice of non-responsibility or ineligibility for award of a contract or disqualification from award of a contract within the past five years, nor to the Knowledge of the Company, do any circumstances exist that would warrant the institution of debarment, suspension, or exclusion proceedings or any finding of non-responsibility, ineligibility, or disqualification with respect to any Target Company in the future.
(m) Each Target Company has, to the extent appropriate in accordance with the terms of the applicable Government Contracts and all Laws, (i) taken all reasonable steps to protect rights in and to all technical data, computer software, and other intellectual property developed in connection with the Government Contracts and (ii) complied in all material respects with all notice requirements, Laws (including the FAR and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”)) and contractual requirements relating to the placement of legends or restrictive markings on all technical data, computer software, computer software documentation, and other intellectual property developed in connection with a Government Contract, used in performance of a Government Contract, or delivered or otherwise provided to a Governmental Authority.
(n) Except for the Government Contracts listed on Section 4.10(n) of the Company Disclosure Letter, there is no fixed-price Government Contract that a Target Company has entered into or is otherwise obligated to perform and for which (i) performance has not been completed; (ii) final payment has not been received; (iii) warranty, support, or maintenance obligations have been retained; or (iv) the costs to any Target Company of completing performance of the fixed-price component of the contract or subcontract, and/or fulfilling all contractual obligations, have exceeded or are reasonably expected to exceed the fixed-price amount of such contract or subcontract (i.e., each Target Company is in a loss position or reasonably expects to incur a loss with respect to the fixed-price component of the contract or subcontract).
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(o) Section 4.10(o) of the Company Disclosure Letter identifies, as of the date hereof, all material personal property, equipment, and fixtures loaned, bailed, or otherwise furnished to a Target Company by or on behalf of any Governmental Authority (the “Government-Furnished Items”). Each Target Company has complied in all material respects with all its applicable obligations relating to the Government-Furnished Items as imposed by Law (including the FAR and DFARS) and, upon the return thereof to the applicable Governmental Authority in the condition thereof on the date hereof, would reasonably be expected to have no liability to such Governmental Authority with respect thereto.
(p) Section 4.10(p) of the Company Disclosure Letter identifies, as of the date hereof, all instances where the performance of specific employees is called for in any Government Contract. The Target Companies have notified and sought, using commercially reasonable efforts, all applicable permission from a Governmental Authority, the prime contractor, or the higher-tier subcontractor (as the case may be) in circumstances where there have been changes related to those employees in the past five years.
(q) No Target Company has made any assignment of any Government Contract or any interest in any outstanding Government Contract. No Target Company has entered into any financing arrangements with respect to any outstanding Government Contract.
(r) The Company and its Affiliates have complied in all material respects with all applicable requirements of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and all related Small Business Administration (“SBA”) rules and regulations, including eligibility criteria for small business concerns under 13 C.F.R. Part 121 and the SBIR Policy Directive. All work under any SBIR Phase I or Phase II awards received by the Company or its Affiliates has been completed. Any current or ongoing work performed by any Target Company under the SBIR program is being conducted under one or more Phase III awards or contracts and is not subject to SBIR-specific size limitations or other eligibility restrictions applicable to Phases I and II. Each certification or representation made by any Target Company in connection with any SBIR proposal or award, including certifications of eligibility, performance of research and development work, and compliance with funding and reporting requirements, was accurate and complete when made. The Target Companies used any SBIR funding in accordance with applicable law, the terms of the award, and relevant SBIR program requirements. No Target Company has received written notice, or to the Knowledge of the Company, oral notice from the SBA or any other Governmental Authority alleging that a Target Company was ineligible for any SBIR award it received, that a Target Company failed to comply with SBIR program requirements, or that any certification or representation related to an SBIR proposal or award was inaccurate or misleading. There is no pending or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened, audit, inquiry, investigation, or legal proceeding involving any Target Company’s participation in the SBIR program. To the Knowledge of the Company, there is no basis for legal recourse against any Target Company related to its eligibility for, participation in, or performance under any SBIR award.
Section 4.11 Company Permits. Each Target Company (and its employees who are legally required to be licensed by a Governmental Authority in order to perform his or her duties with respect to his or her employment with any Target Company) holds all material Permits required to own, lease and operate its assets and properties (collectively, the “Company Permits”). Section 4.11 of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a true, correct and complete list of all Company Permits held by the Target Companies. To the Knowledge of the Company, each Company Permit is in full force and effect and will, upon its termination or expiration, be timely renewed or reissued upon terms and conditions substantially similar to its existing terms and conditions and there are no Legal Proceedings pending or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened, that seek the revocation, cancellation, limitation, suspension, restriction, adverse modification or termination of any Company Permit. No Target Company is in material default or violation of any Company Permit applicable to such Target Company.
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Section 4.12 Litigation. Except as described on Section 4.12 of the Company Disclosure Letter, there are no (a) Legal Proceedings of any nature currently pending or, to the Company’s Knowledge, threatened, against any Target Company or any of its properties or assets, or any of the directors or officers of any Target Company with regard to their actions as such; (b) to the Knowledge of the Company, pending or threatened audits, examinations or investigations by any Governmental Authority against any Target Company; (c) pending or written threatened Legal Proceedings by any Target Company against any third party; (d) no settlements or similar agreements that imposes any material ongoing obligations or restrictions on any Target Company; and (e) no Orders imposed or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened to be imposed upon any Target Company or any of their respective properties or assets, or any of the directors or officers of any Target Company with regard to their actions as such.
Section 4.13 Material Contracts.
(a) Section 4.13(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a true, correct and complete list of all Contracts described in clauses (i) through (xix) below, other than the Company Benefit Plans (except that the Contracts listed in respect of clauses (x) and (xii) shall include any applicable Company Benefit Plans), to which, as of the date of this Agreement, any Target Company is a party or by which any Target Company, or any of its properties or assets, are bound or affected (each Contract required to be set forth on Section 4.13(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, a “Company Material Contract”). True, correct, complete copies of the Company Material Contracts, including amendments thereto, have been delivered or made available to the Purchaser. The Company Material Contracts include:
(i) Each Contract that contains covenants that limit the ability of any Target Company (or purports to bind any Affiliate thereof) (A) to compete in any line of business or with any Person or in any geographic area or to sell, or provide any service or product or solicit any Person in any material respect, including any non-competition covenants, customer non-solicit covenants, exclusivity restrictions, rights of first refusal or most-favored pricing clauses, or (B) to purchase or acquire an interest in any other Person;
(ii) Each joint venture Contract, profit-sharing agreement, partnership, limited liability company agreement with a third party or other similar agreement or arrangement relating to the formation, creation, operation, management or control of any partnership or joint venture;
(iii) All Contracts that involves any exchange traded, over the counter or other swap, cap, floor, collar, futures contract, forward contract, option or other derivative financial instrument or Contract, based on any commodity, security, instrument, asset, rate or index of any kind or nature whatsoever, whether tangible or intangible, including currencies, interest rates, foreign currency and indices;
(iv) All Contracts that involves the acquisition or disposition, directly or indirectly (by merger or otherwise), of assets with an aggregate value in excess of $500,000 (other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice) or shares or other equity interests of any Target Company or another Person;
(v) Each Contract for the acquisition of any Person or any business division thereof or the disposition of any material assets of any of Target Company (other than in the ordinary course of business), in each case, whether by merger, purchase or sale of stock or assets or otherwise (other than Contracts for the purchase or sale of inventory or supplies entered into in the ordinary course of business), occurring in the last three (3) years and/or relating to the pending or future acquisitions or dispositions, in each case, involving aggregate payments in excess of $500,000;
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(vi) Each obligation to make payments in excess of $1,000,000, contingent or otherwise, arising out of the prior acquisition of the business, assets or stock of other Persons;
(vii) Each lease, rental agreement, installment and conditional sale agreement, or other Contract that, in each case, (A) provides for the ownership of, leasing of, title to, use of, or any leasehold or other interest in any personal property; and (B) involves aggregate annual payments in excess of $100,000 for agreements related to real property and $100,000 individually for agreements related to personal property;
(viii) Each Contract that by its terms, individually or with all related Contracts, calls for aggregate payments or receipts by the Target Companies under such Contract or Contracts of at least $1,000,000 per year or $5,000,000 in the aggregate;
(ix) All Contracts with any Top Customer or Top Supplier (other than purchase orders, invoices, statements of work and non-disclosure or similar agreements entered into in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice that do not contain any material terms relating to the Contract underlying the applicable Top Customer or Top Supplier relationship);
(x) Each collective bargaining (or similar) agreement or Contract between the Target Company on one hand, and any labor union or other body representing employees of the Target Company on the other hand;
(xi) All Contracts that obligate the Target Companies to provide continuing indemnification or a guarantee of obligations of a third party after the date hereof in excess of $1,000,000;
(xii) Any Contract that is between any Target Company and any directors, officers or employees of a Target Company that provide for change in control, retention or similar payments or benefits contingent upon, accelerated by or triggered by the consummation of the Transactions;
(xiii) Any Contract that obligates the Target Companies to make any capital commitment or expenditure in excess of $1,000,000 (including pursuant to any joint venture);
(xiv) All Contracts that relate to a material settlement entered into within three (3) years prior to the date of this Agreement or under which any Target Company has outstanding obligations (other than customary confidentiality obligations) in excess of $1,000,000;
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(xv) Any Contract which (A) contains any assignment or license of, or any covenant not to assert or enforce, any Owned Intellectual Property material to the business of any Target Company; (B) pursuant to which any Owned Intellectual Property material to the business of any Target Company is or was developed by, with or for any Target Company; or (C) pursuant to which any of the Target Companies either (1) grants to a third Person (I) a license, immunity, or other right in or to any Owned Intellectual Property material to the business of any Target Company or (II) an exclusive license, immunity, or other right in or to any Owned Intellectual Property; or (2) is granted by a third Person a license, immunity, or other right in or to any Intellectual Property or IT Assets material to the business of any Target Company, provided, however, none of the following will be required to be set forth on Section 4.13(a)(xv) of the Company Disclosure Letter but will constitute Company Material Contracts if they otherwise qualify: (w) non-exclusive licenses of Owned Intellectual Property granted to suppliers, customers or end users in the ordinary course of business; (x) licenses of open source Software; (y) Off-the-Shelf Software; and (z) invention assignment and confidentiality agreements with employees and contractors on standard forms made available to Purchaser and without any material deviations or exceptions;
(xvi) All Contracts involving transactions with an Affiliate of any Target Company (other than employment agreements, employee confidentiality and invention assignment agreements, equity or incentive equity documents and Organizational Documents);
(xvii) Any Contract that is a settlement, conciliation, or similar agreement with any Governmental Authority;
(xviii) All Contracts with any Governmental Authority to which any Target Company is a party, including any Government Contracts and Government Bids; and
(xix) that will be required to be filed with the Registration Statement under applicable SEC requirements or would otherwise be required to be filed by the Company as an exhibit for a Form S-1 pursuant to Items 601(b)(1), (2), (4), (9) or (10) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act as if the Company was the registrant.
(b) Except for any Company Material Contract that is terminated or expires following the date hereof in accordance with its terms, each Company Material Contract is valid, binding and enforceable in all respects against the Target Company party thereto and, to the Knowledge of the Company, each other party thereto, and is in full force and effect (except, in each case, as such enforcement may be limited by the Enforceability Exceptions). Except as would not reasonably be expected to be material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole, except for any Company Material Contract that is terminated or expires following the date hereof in accordance with its terms and except as otherwise disclosed in Section 4.13(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter, with respect to each Company Material Contract: (i) no Target Company is in breach of or default under, and no event has occurred that with the passage of time or giving of notice or both would constitute a material breach of or default under by any Target Company, or permit termination or acceleration by the other party thereto, such Company Material Contract; (ii) no party to any Company Material Contract has given any written notice of any such breach, default or event described in clause (i); and (iii) no Target Company has received written or, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral notice of an intention by any party to any such Company Material Contract that provides for a continuing obligation by any party thereto to terminate such Company Material Contract or amend the terms thereof, other than modifications in the ordinary course of business that do not adversely affect any Target Company in any material respect.
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Section 4.14 Intellectual Property.
(a) Section 4.14(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a true, accurate, and complete list of: (i) all U.S. and foreign registered or issued Intellectual Property and applications owned or licensed by a Target Company or otherwise used or held for use by a Target Company in which a Target Company is the owner, applicant or assignee (“Company Registered IP”), specifying as to each item, as applicable: (A) the nature of the item, including the title, (B) the owner of the item, (C) the jurisdictions in which the item is issued or registered or in which an application for issuance or registration has been filed and (D) the issuance, registration or application numbers and dates; and (ii) all material unregistered trademarks and service marks. Each item of Company Registered IP is valid, subsisting and enforceable. Each Target Company owns, free and clear of all Liens (other than Permitted Liens or any Liens set out on Section 4.14(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter), has valid and enforceable rights in, and has the right to use, sell, license, transfer or assign, all Intellectual Property currently used, licensed or held for use by such Target Company, and previously used or licensed by such Target Company. No item of Company Registered IP that consists of a pending Patent application fails to identify all pertinent inventors, and for each Patent and Patent application in the Company Registered IP, the Target Companies have obtained valid assignments of inventions from each inventor. Except as set forth on Section 4.14(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, all Company Registered IP and other Owned Intellectual Property are owned exclusively by the applicable Target Company without obligation to pay royalties, licensing fees or other fees, or otherwise account to any third party with respect to such Company Registered IP and other Owned Intellectual Property, and such Target Company has recorded assignments of all Company Registered IP.
(b) Each Target Company has a valid and enforceable written license or other valid right to use all other Company IP, including Intellectual Property that is the subject of the Company IP Licenses applicable to such Target Company. The Company IP Licenses include all of the licenses, sublicenses and other agreements or permissions necessary to operate the Target Companies as presently conducted. Each Target Company has performed all obligations imposed on it in the Company IP Licenses, has made all payments required to date, and such Target Company is not, nor, to the Knowledge of the Company, is any other party thereto, in breach or default thereunder, nor has any event occurred that with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute a default thereunder. The continued use by the Target Companies of the Intellectual Property that is the subject of the Company IP Licenses in the same manner that it is currently being used is not restricted by any applicable license of any Target Company. All registrations for Intellectual Property that are owned by or exclusively licensed to any Target Company are valid, in force and in good standing with all required fees and maintenance fees having been paid with no Legal Proceedings pending, and all applications to register any Intellectual Property are pending and in good standing, all without challenge of any kind. No Target Company is party to any Contract that requires a Target Company to assign to any Person any or all of its rights in any Intellectual Property developed by a Target Company under such Contract.
(c) Each Target Company has performed all material obligations imposed on it in each material license, sublicense and other agreement under which a Target Company is the licensor (each, an “Outbound IP License”), and such Target Company is not, nor, to the Company’s Knowledge, is any other party thereto, in material breach or default thereunder, nor, to the Knowledge of the Company, has any event occurred that with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute a material default thereunder.
(d) No Legal Proceeding is pending or, to the Company’s Knowledge, threatened against a Target Company that challenges the validity, enforceability, ownership, or right to use, sell, license or sublicense, or that otherwise relates to, any Company IP, nor, to the Knowledge of the Company, is there any reasonable basis for any such Legal Proceeding. No Target Company has received any written or, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral notice or claim asserting that any infringement, misappropriation, violation, dilution or unauthorized use of the Intellectual Property of any other Person is or may be occurring or has or may have occurred, as a consequence of the business activities of any Target Company, nor to the Knowledge of the Company is there a reasonable basis therefor. There are no Orders to which any Target Company is a party or its otherwise bound that (i) restrict the rights of a Target Company to use, transfer, license or enforce any Intellectual Property owned by a Target Company, (ii) restrict the conduct of the business of a Target Company in order to accommodate a third Person’s Intellectual Property, or (iii) other than the Outbound IP Licenses, grant any third Person any right with respect to any Intellectual Property owned by a Target Company. No Target Company is currently infringing, or has, in the past six (6) years, infringed, misappropriated or violated any Intellectual Property of any other Person in any material respect in connection with the ownership, use or license of any Owned Intellectual Property or otherwise in connection with the conduct of the respective businesses of the Target Companies. To the Company’s Knowledge, no third party is currently, or in the past six (6) years has been, infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating any Company IP.
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(e) No current or former officers, employees or independent contractors of a Target Company has any ownership interest in any Owned Intellectual Property and no Person has claimed or asserted in writing any ownership interest or other rights in or to any Owned Intellectual Property. To the Company’s Knowledge, there has been no violation of a Target Company’s policies or practices related to protection of Company IP or any confidentiality or nondisclosure Contract relating to the Intellectual Property owned by a Target Company. To the Company’s Knowledge, none of the employees of any Target Company is obligated under any Contract, or subject to any Order, that would materially interfere with the use of such employee’s reasonable efforts to promote the interests of the Target Companies, or that would materially conflict with the business of any Target Company as presently conducted or contemplated to be conducted. Each Target Company has taken commercially reasonable efforts and security measures designed to maintain the security of all material Owned Intellectual Property, including measures designed to protect the secrecy and confidentiality of the material Company IP. All Persons who have participated in or contributed to the creation or development of any material Owned Intellectual Property have executed written agreements pursuant to which all of such Person’s right, title and interest in and to any such Owned Intellectual Property has been irrevocably assigned (by a present tense assignment) to the Target Companies (or all such right, title, and interest vested in the Target Companies by operation of Law).
(f) Each Target Company is in all material respects in compliance with all licenses governing any open source Software that is incorporated (either directly by any Target Company, or indirectly, by the incorporation of third party Software that itself incorporates open source Software) into, used, intermingled, or bundled with any material Owned Intellectual Property. No open source Software is or has been included, incorporated or embedded in, linked to, combined, made available or distributed with, or used in the development, operation, delivery or provision of any Company Software in a manner that requires any Target Company to: (i) disclose, distribute, license or otherwise make available to any Person (including the open source community) any source code to such Company Software; (ii) license any such Company Software or other material Owned Intellectual Property for making modifications or derivative works; (iii) disclose, distribute, license or otherwise make available to any Person any such Company Software or other material Owned Intellectual Property for no or nominal charge; or (iv) grant a license to, or refrain from asserting or enforcing any of, its Patents (each of (i) – (iv), a “Copyleft Action”). No Person other than a Target Company possesses, or has an actual or contingent right to access or possess, a copy in any form of any source code for any Company Software and all such source code is in the applicable Target Company’s sole possession and has been maintained as strictly confidential.
(g) Except as set forth on Section 4.14(g) of the Company Disclosure Letter, no government funding, nor any facilities of a university, college, other educational institution, or similar institution, or research center, was used by any Target Company in the development of any Owned Intellectual Property. No Governmental Authority has any (i) ownership interest or exclusive license in or to any material Owned Intellectual Property, (ii) “unlimited rights” (as defined in 48 C.F.R. § 52.227-14 and in 48 C.F.R. § 252.227-7013(a)) in or to any of the Software, or (iii) “march in rights” (pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 203) in or to any Patents constituting material Owned Intellectual Property.
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(h) No Person has obtained unauthorized access to information and data (including personally identifiable information) in the possession of a Target Company or in their control, or otherwise held or processed on their behalf, nor has there been any loss, damage, disclosure, use, breach of security, or other material compromise of the security, confidentiality or integrity of such information or data. No Target Company has experienced any material information security incident that has compromised the integrity or availability of the information technology, operational technology, or software applications the Target Companies own, operate, or outsource, or the information or data thereon. No material written complaint relating to an improper use or disclosure of, or a breach in the security of, any such information or data or relating to any information security-related incident has been received by a Target Company nor has a Target Company been required by applicable law, regulation, or contract to notify in writing, any person or entity of any personal data or information security-related incident. Each Target Company has complied in all material respects with all applicable Laws, Contract requirements and policies relating to privacy, personal data protection, cybersecurity and the collection, processing and use of personal information. Except in each case as set forth on Section 4.14(h) of the Company Disclosure Letter, each Target Company has implemented appropriate policies and commercially reasonable security (a) regarding the collection, use, disclosure, retention, processing, transfer, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data (including personally identifiable information) and business proprietary or sensitive information, in its possession or control, or held or processed on its behalf, and (b) regarding the integrity and availability of the information technology, operational technology, and software applications the Target Company owns, operates, or outsources. The IT Assets do not contain any material malware, viruses, malicious code, “worms,” “Trojan horses,” “back doors,” or other vulnerabilities, or unauthorized tools or scripts that could reasonably be expected to adversely impact the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information technology and operational technology systems, and software applications. The IT Assets operate and perform as required by the Target Companies for the operation of its business as currently conducted, except in each case as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material impact on the Target Companies.
(i) The Target Companies (i) maintain a technical description of any neural networks used in or with any proprietary AI/ML that is sufficiently detailed to reasonably skilled programmers to modify, debug, and improve such neural networks in the ordinary course of business; (ii) retain information in human-readable form that explains (or could be used to explain) the decisions made or facilitated by any proprietary AI/ML, which can readily be provided to regulators upon request; (iii) have materially complied with all applicable legal requirements and industry standards applicable to any proprietary AI/ML (including the ethical or responsible use thereof); (iv) have not received (and are not subject to or otherwise not aware of) any (A) complaint, claim, proceeding or litigation alleging that training data used in the development, training, improvement or testing of any proprietary AI/ML Software was falsified, biased, untrustworthy or manipulated in an unethical or unscientific way; (B) report, finding or impact assessment of any internal or external auditor, technology review committee, independent technology consultant, whistle-blower, transparency or privacy advocate, labor union, journalist or academic that makes any such allegation in (A); or (C) request from regulators or legislators concerning any proprietary AI/ML; (v) have not (1) used any AI/ML (including Generative AI) to generate, create, or develop any Owned Intellectual Property; (2) included any Owned Intellectual Property in any prompts or inputs into any AI/ML (including Generative AI); or (3) used any AI/ML (nor sold or offered for sale or distribution any AI product) either (x) for any “Prohibited Artificial Intelligence Practices” (as described in Article 5 of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act); or (y) that is considered “high-risk” (as described in Article 5 of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act). None of the Target Companies has used any “scrapers,” “spiders,” “bots” or other automated Software programs or processes to extract or collect information, data, or content from any social media network or any other third party online source. Section 4.14(i) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth a true, complete, and accurate list of all third-party data used to train, teach, or improve any AI/ML that is material to the development of any Owned Intellectual Property or the ongoing operation or improvement of any Owned Intellectual Property (“Third-Party Datasets”). The Target Companies have complied with all license terms applicable to, and obtained all necessary rights and paid all necessary payment required for, such Third-Party Datasets.
(j) The consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in the material breach, material modification, cancellation, termination, suspension of, or acceleration of any payments with respect to, or release of source code because of (i) any Contract providing for the license or other use of material Intellectual Property owned by a Target Company, or (ii) any Company IP License. Following the Closing, the Company shall be permitted to exercise, directly or indirectly through its Subsidiaries, all of the Target Companies’ rights under such Contracts or Company IP Licenses to the same extent that the Target Companies would have been able to exercise had the transactions contemplated by this Agreement not occurred, without the payment of any additional amounts or consideration other than ongoing fees, royalties or payments which the Target Companies would otherwise be required to pay in the absence of such transactions.
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Section 4.15 Taxes and Returns.
(a) Except in each case as set forth on Section 4.15 of the Company Disclosure Letter:
(i) Each Target Company (i) has or will have timely filed, or caused to be timely filed, all Income Tax and other material Tax Returns required to be filed by it (taking into account all valid extensions of time to file), and all such Tax Returns are true, accurate and complete in all material respects, and (ii) has timely paid, collected, withheld or remitted, or caused to be timely paid, collected, withheld or remitted, all Income Taxes and other material Taxes required to be paid, collected, withheld or remitted by it, whether or not such Taxes are shown as due and payable on any Tax Return. The unpaid Taxes or Tax liabilities of the Target Companies (A) did not, as of the most recent fiscal month end, materially exceed the reserve for Tax liability (rather than any reserve for deferred Taxes established to reflect timing differences between book and Tax income) set forth on the Company Financials in accordance with U.S. GAAP and (B) will not materially exceed that reserve as adjusted for the passage of time through the Closing Date in accordance with the past custom and practice of the Target Companies in filing their Tax Returns.
(ii) There is no Legal Proceeding currently pending or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened against a Target Company by a Governmental Authority in a jurisdiction where the Target Company does not file any Tax Returns or a particular type of Tax Return or pays any Tax or a particular type of Tax that it is or may be subject to such Tax or required to file such Tax Return in that jurisdiction.
(iii) There are no audits, examinations, investigations or other proceedings pending, or to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened against any Target Company in respect of any Tax, and no Target Company has been notified in writing of any proposed claims, deficiencies or assessments against any of them. No Target Company is currently contesting any material Tax liability before any Governmental Authority.
(iv) There are no Liens with respect to any material Taxes upon any Target Company’s assets, other than Permitted Liens.
(v) Each Target Company has timely and properly collected or withheld all material amounts of Taxes required to be collected or withheld by it, timely remitted such Taxes to the appropriate Governmental Authorities, and otherwise complied in all material respects with all applicable withholding and related reporting requirements with respect to such Taxes.
(vi) No Target Company has requested or consented to any waivers or extensions of any applicable statute of limitations for the collection or assessment of any Taxes, which waiver or extension (or request thereof) is outstanding or pending.
(vii) No Target Company will be required to include any material item of income in, or exclude any material item of deduction from, taxable income for any taxable period (or portion thereof) beginning after the Closing Date, as a result of: (i) an installment sale or open transaction disposition that occurred on or prior to the Closing Date; (ii) any change in method of accounting on or prior to the Closing Date, including by reason of the application of Section 481 of the Code (or any analogous provision of state, local or foreign Law), or the use of an improper method of accounting on or prior to the Closing Date; (iii) any prepaid amounts received or deferred revenue realized or received on or prior to the Closing Date; (iv) any intercompany transaction described in Treasury Regulations under Section 1502 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or foreign Law); or (v) any “closing agreement” pursuant to Section 7121 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or foreign Law) or any other agreement or arrangement with a Governmental Authority relating to Taxes.
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(viii) No Target Company has participated in or been a party to, or sold, distributed or otherwise promoted, any “reportable transaction,” as defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4 (or any similar or corresponding provision of state, local or foreign Law).
(ix) No Target Company has been a member of an affiliated, combined, consolidated, unitary or other group for Tax purposes (other than a group the common parent of which is the Company). No Target Company has any Liability or potential Liability for the Taxes of another Person (other than another Target Company) (i) pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-6 (or any similar or corresponding provision of U.S. state or local Tax Law) or under any other applicable Tax Law, (ii) as a transferee or successor, or (iii) by Contract, indemnity or otherwise (excluding customary commercial Contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business the primary purpose of which is not the sharing of Taxes). No Target Company is a party to or bound by any Tax indemnity agreement, Tax sharing agreement or Tax allocation agreement or similar agreement, arrangement or practice (excluding agreements solely among the Target Companies and customary commercial Contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business the primary purpose of which is not the sharing of Taxes) with respect to Taxes (including advance pricing agreement, closing agreement or other agreement relating to Taxes with any Governmental Authority) that will be binding on any Target Company with respect to any period (or portion thereof) following the Closing Date.
(x) No Target Company has requested, or is it the subject of or bound by any private letter ruling, technical advice memorandum, closing agreement or similar ruling, memorandum or agreement with any Governmental Authority with respect to any Taxes, nor is any such request pending or outstanding.
(xi) No Target Company has ever had a permanent establishment, office, branch, fixed place of business or other taxable presence in any country other than its jurisdiction of formation, and has not otherwise engaged in a trade or business in any country other than its jurisdiction of formation that subjected it to Tax in such country.
(xii) No Target Company has ever been a party to any transaction that was purported or intended to be treated as a distribution of stock qualifying, in whole or in part, for tax-free treatment under Section 355 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of U.S. state or local Tax Law).
(b) The Company is, and has at all times since its formation been, classified as a C corporation for U.S. federal, state and local income tax purposes. The U.S. federal income tax classification of each of the Company’s Subsidiaries is as set forth on Section 4.15 of the Company Disclosure Letter.
(c) No Target Company has knowingly taken or failed to take (or agreed to take or not take) any action, nor is aware of any fact or circumstance, where such action, failure to act, fact or circumstance would reasonably be expected to prevent or impede the Domestication, the Sponsor Share Conversion or the Merger from qualifying for their respective Intended Tax Treatments.
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Section 4.16 Real Property.
(a) The Target Companies do not own any real property.
(b) Section 4.16(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter contains a true, correct and complete list as of the date of this Agreement of all premises currently leased or subleased or otherwise used or occupied by a Target Company for the operation of the business of such Target Company, and of all current leases, lease guarantees, agreements and documents related thereto, including all amendments, terminations and modifications thereof or waivers thereto (collectively, the “Company Real Property Leases”). To the Knowledge of the Company, the Company Real Property Leases are valid, binding and enforceable in accordance with their terms and are in full force and effect, subject, in each case, to the Enforceability Exceptions. No Target Company is in breach of or default under any Company Real Property Lease, and, to the Knowledge of the Company, no event has occurred and no circumstance exists which, if not remedied, and whether with or without notice or the passage of time or both, would result in such a breach or default, except for such breaches or defaults as would not individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to be material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole. No Target Company has exercised, nor has any Target Company received written notice of any other parties exercise of, any termination rights with respect to any Company Real Property Lease.
Section 4.17 Personal Property. Except as set forth on Section 4.17 of the Company Disclosure Letter, the Target Companies own and have good and marketable title to, or a valid leasehold interest in or right to use, their respective material tangible and intangible assets and personal property, free and clear of all Liens other than: (i) Permitted Liens; and (ii) the rights of lessors under any leases. The material tangible and intangible assets and personal property of the Target Companies: (A) constitute all of the assets, rights and properties that are necessary for the operation of the businesses of the Target Companies as they are now conducted, and taken together, are adequate and sufficient for the operation of the businesses of the Target Companies as currently conducted; and (B) have been maintained in accordance with generally accepted industry practice, are in good working order and condition, except for ordinary wear and tear and as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to be material to the business of the Target Companies, taken as a whole.
Section 4.18 Employee Matters.
(a) The Target Companies are not and have never been a party to any collective bargaining agreement or other Contract covering any group of employees, labor organization or other representative of any of the employees of such Target Company, and the Company has no Knowledge of any activities or proceedings of any labor union or other party to organize or represent such employees. In the past three (3) years, there has not occurred or, to the Knowledge of the Company, been threatened any strike, slow-down, picketing, work-stoppage, or other similar labor activity with respect to any such employees. Section 4.18(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter sets forth all unresolved labor controversies (including unresolved grievances and age or other discrimination claims), if any, that are pending or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened between the Target Companies and Persons employed by or providing services as independent contractors to the Target Companies.
(b) Except as set forth on Section 4.18(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the Target Companies are and have been in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws respecting employment and employment practices, terms and conditions of employment, health and safety and wages and hours, and other Laws relating to discrimination, disability, labor relations, hours of work, payment of wages and overtime wages, pay equity, immigration, workers compensation, working conditions, employee scheduling, occupational safety and health, family and medical leave, and employee terminations, and have not received written or, to the Knowledge of the Company, oral notice that there is any pending Legal Proceeding involving unfair labor practices against the Target Company. There are no material Legal Proceedings pending or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened against the Target Companies brought by or on behalf of any applicant for employment, any current or former employee, any Person alleging to be a current or former employee, or any Governmental Authority, relating to any such Law or regulation, or alleging breach of any express or implied contract of employment, wrongful termination of employment, or alleging any other discriminatory, wrongful or tortious conduct in connection with the employment relationship.
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(c) In the past three (3) years, the Target Companies have not engaged in layoffs, furloughs or employment terminations sufficient to trigger application of the Workers’ Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or any similar state or local law relating to group terminations. The Target Companies have not engaged in layoffs or furloughs or effected any broad-based salary or other compensation or benefits reductions, in each case, whether temporary or permanent, in the three (3) years prior to the date of this Agreement.
(d) In the past three (3) years, (i) no allegations of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct have been made in writing, or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened to be made against or involving any current or former officer, director or other employee at the level of Vice President or above by any current or former officer, employee or individual service provider of the Target Company, and (ii) the Target Company has not entered into any settlement agreements resolving, in whole or in part, allegations of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct by any current or former officer, director or other key employee.
Section 4.19 Company Benefit Plans.
(a) Set forth on Section 4.19(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter is a true and complete list of each material Company Benefit Plan. With respect to each Company Benefit Plan, all contributions that are due have been made or, to the extent not yet due, are properly accrued in accordance with GAAP on the Company Financials.
(b) Each Company Benefit Plan is and has been operated, administered, maintained, and funded at all times in compliance with its terms and all applicable Laws in all material respects, including ERISA and the Code. Each Company Benefit Plan which is intended to be “qualified” within the meaning of Section 401(a) of the Code (i) has received a favorable determination letter from the IRS to be so qualified (or is based on a prototype plan which has received a favorable opinion letter upon which the Target Company is entitled to rely) or (ii) the Target Company has requested an initial favorable IRS determination of qualification and/or exemption within the period permitted by applicable Law. To the Company’s Knowledge, no event has occurred or circumstance exists which could reasonably be expected to adversely affect the qualified status of such Company Benefit Plans or the exempt status of such trusts.
(c) With respect to each Company Benefit Plan required to be listed on Section 4.19(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the Company has provided to Purchaser accurate and complete copies, if applicable, of: (i) all Company Benefit Plans (including any amendments, modifications or supplements thereto); (ii) the most recent summary plan descriptions and material modifications thereto; (iii) the most recent Form 5500, if applicable, and annual report, including all schedules thereto; (iv) the most recent annual and periodic accounting of plan assets; (v) the most recent determination letter (or opinion letter) received from the IRS, if any; (vi) the most recent actuarial valuation; and (vii) all material communications with any Governmental Authority within the last three (3) years.
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(d) With respect to each Company Benefit Plan: (i) no Legal Proceeding is pending, or to the Company’s Knowledge, threatened (other than routine claims for benefits arising in the ordinary course of administration and administrative appeals of denied claims); (ii) no prohibited transaction, as defined in Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, has occurred, excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administration exemption; and (iii) all contributions and premiums that are due prior to the date hereof have been made in all material respects as required under ERISA or have been fully accrued in all material respects on the Company Financials in accordance with GAAP.
(e) Neither any Target Company nor any ERISA Affiliate currently maintains, or within the preceding six (6) years has maintained or contributed to, a Company Benefit Plan which is a “defined benefit plan” (as defined in Section 414(j) of the Code), a “multiemployer plan” (as defined in Section 3(37) of ERISA) or a “multiple employer plan” (as described in Section 413(c) of the Code) or is otherwise subject to Title IV of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code, and the Target Companies have not incurred any Liability or otherwise could have any Liability, contingent or otherwise, under Title IV of ERISA and no condition presently exists that is expected to cause such Liability to be incurred.
(f) Except as set forth on Section 4.19(f) of the Company Disclosure Letter, the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby will not, either alone or in combination with another event, (i) entitle any current or former employee, officer or other service provider of the Target Companies to any severance pay or increase in severance pay or any other compensation payable by the Target Companies, (ii) accelerate the time of payment, funding or vesting, or increase the amount of compensation due to any such employee, officer or other individual service provider by the Target Companies,(iii) directly or indirectly cause the Target Companies to transfer or set aside any assets to fund any material benefits under any Company Benefit Plan, or (iv) otherwise give rise to any material liability under any Company Benefit Plan. The consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby will not, either alone or in combination with another event, result in any “excess parachute payment” under Section 280G of the Code. No Company Benefit Plan provides for a Tax gross-up, make whole or similar payment with respect to the Taxes imposed under Sections 409A or 4999 of the Code.
(g) Except to the extent required by Section 4980B of the Code or similar state Law, the Target Companies do not provide health or welfare benefits to any former or retired employee and are not obligated to provide such benefits to any active employee following such employee’s retirement or other termination of employment or service.
(h) Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to be material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole, each Company Benefit Plan that is subject to Section 409A of the Code has been administered in compliance, and is in documentary compliance, in all respects with the applicable provisions of Section 409A of the Code, the regulations thereunder and other official guidance issued thereunder.
(i) Each Company Benefit Plan can be amended, terminated or otherwise discontinued after the Closing in accordance with its terms, without material Liability to the Target Companies, the Purchaser, or any of their Affiliates, other than ordinary administration expenses typically incurred in a termination event.
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Section 4.20 Environmental Matters. Except as set forth in Section 4.20 of the Company Disclosure Letter:
(a) Each Target Company is in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Environmental Laws.
(b) No material Legal Proceeding is pending or, to the Company’s Knowledge, threatened with respect to the Target Companies’ compliance with or liability under Environmental Laws, and, to the Knowledge of the Company, there are no facts or circumstances that could reasonably be expected to form the basis of such a material Legal Proceeding.
(c) No Target Company is the subject of any outstanding Order of any Governmental Authority relating to (i) any material non-compliance by such Target Company with Environmental Laws, (ii) any Remedial Legal Proceeding, or (iii) the Release or threatened Release of a Hazardous Material.
(d) To the Company’s knowledge, there has been no material release of any Hazardous Material by the Target Companies (i) at, in, on or under any property underlying Company Real Property Leases or in connection with the Company’s or its Subsidiaries’ respective operations of the property underlying Company Real Property Leases or (ii) at, in, on or under any property formerly owned or underlying Company Real Property Leases during the time that the Company or any of its Subsidiaries owned or leased such property or at any other location where Hazardous Materials generated by the Target Companies have been transported to, sent, placed or disposed of in a quantity or manner requiring reporting, investigation, remediation, monitoring or other response action by the Target Companies pursuant to applicable Environmental Laws.
(e) To the Knowledge of the Company, there is no investigation of the business, operations, or currently or formerly owned, operated, or leased property of a Target Company pending or threatened in writing that could lead to the imposition of any material Liens (other than Permitted Liens) under any Environmental Law or material Environmental Liabilities.
(f) To the Knowledge of the Company, no Target Company has disposed of or released any Hazardous Material at, on or under any facility currently or formerly owned or operated by any of the Target Companies or any third-party site, in each case in a manner that would be reasonably likely to give rise to a material liability of the Target Companies for investigation costs, cleanup costs, response costs, corrective action costs, personal injury, property damage, natural resources damages or attorney fees under any Environmental Laws
(g) The Company has provided to the Purchaser all material written environmental reports, audits, assessments, liability analyses, memoranda and studies in the possession of, or conducted by, the Target Companies with respect to compliance or liabilities under Environmental Law.
Section 4.21 Transactions with Related Persons. Except as set forth on Section 4.21 of the Company Disclosure Letter, and except for in the case of any employee, officer or director, of any employment Contract or Company Benefit Plans made in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, no Target Company is a party to any transaction or Contract with any (a) present or former executive officer or director of any of the Target Companies, (b) beneficial owner (within the meaning of Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act) of 5% or more of the capital stock or equity interests of any of the Target Companies or (c) any Affiliate, “associate” or any member of the “immediate family” (as such terms are respectively defined in Rules 12b-2 and 16a-1 of the Exchange Act) of any of the foregoing; provided that in each case of the foregoing, excluding any transaction or Contract between or among the Company’s Subsidiaries or between or among the Company and any of its Subsidiaries. To the Knowledge of the Company, no Related Person or any Affiliate of a Related Person has, directly or indirectly, a material economic interest in any Contract with any of the Target Companies (other than such Contracts that relate to any such Person’s ownership of the equity interests of any Target Company as set forth on Section 4.03(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter or such Person’s employment or consulting arrangements with the Target Companies).
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Section 4.22 Insurance.
(a) Section 4.22(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter contains a list of, as of the date hereof, all material policies or binders of property, fire and casualty, product liability, workers’ compensation, and other forms of insurance held by, or for the benefit of, the business of any Target Company (by policy number, insurer, coverage period, coverage amount, annual premium and type of policy). As of the date hereof, all premiums due and payable under all such insurance policies have been paid and the Target Companies are otherwise in material compliance with the terms of such insurance policies. Each such insurance policy is legal, valid and binding, and is enforceable and in full force and effect, subject, in each case, to the Enforceability Exceptions. No Target Company has any self-insurance or co-insurance programs. In the past three (3) years, no Target Company has received any written notice from, or on behalf of, any insurance carrier relating to or involving any adverse material change, notice of cancellation or termination, any change other than in the ordinary course of business in the conditions of insurance, any refusal to issue an insurance policy or non-renewal of a policy.
(b) Section 4.22(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter identifies each individual insurance claim in excess of $500,000 made by a Target Company in the past three (3) years. Each Target Company has reported to its insurers all claims and pending circumstances that would reasonably be expected to result in a claim, except where such failure to report such a claim would not be reasonably likely to be material to the Target Companies, taken as a whole. To the Knowledge of the Company, no event has occurred, and no condition or circumstance exists, that would reasonably be expected to (with or without notice or lapse of time) give rise to or serve as a basis for the denial of any such insurance claim. No Target Company has made any claim against an insurance policy as to which the insurer has denied coverage.
Section 4.23 Top Customers and Suppliers.
(a) Section 4.23(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter lists as of the date of this Agreement, by aggregate dollar value of the Target Companies business’ transaction volume with such counterparty, as applicable, for each of (i) the twelve (12) months ended on December 31, 2024 and (ii) the twelve (12) months ended on December 31, 2023, the three (3) largest customers of the Target Companies, taken as a whole (the “Top Customers”). To the Knowledge of the Company, as of the date hereof, no such Top Customer has provided written notice to the Target Companies (i) of its intention to cancel or otherwise terminate, or materially reduce, its relationship with the Target Companies, taken as a whole, or (ii) that any Target Company is in material breach of the terms of any Contract to which it is a party with such Top Customer. To the Knowledge of the Company, as of the date hereof, no Top Customer has asserted or threatened in writing a force majeure event or provided written notice of an anticipated inability to perform, in whole or in part, its obligations with respect to a material Contract as a result of or arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(b) Section 4.23(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter lists as of the date of this Agreement, by aggregate dollar value of the Target Companies’ business’ transaction volume with such counterparty, as applicable, for each of (i) the twelve (12) months ended on December 31, 2024 and (ii) the twelve (12) months ended on December 31, 2023, the ten (10) largest suppliers or manufacturers of goods or services to the Target Companies, taken as a whole (the “Top Suppliers”). To the Knowledge of the Company, as of the date hereof, no such Top Supplier has provided written notice to the Target Companies (i) of its intention to cancel or otherwise terminate, or materially reduce, its relationship with the Target Companies, taken as a whole, or (ii) that any Target Company is in material breach of the terms of any Contract to which it is a party with such Top Supplier. To the Knowledge of the Company, as of the date hereof, no Top Supplier has asserted or threatened in writing a force majeure event or provided written notice of an anticipated inability to perform, in whole or in part, its obligations with respect to a material Contract as a result of or arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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(c) Except as set forth on Section 4.23(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter and Section 4.23(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter, none of the Top Customers or Top Suppliers has, as of the date of this Agreement, notified any Target Companies in writing that it is in a material dispute with the Target Companies or their respective businesses.
Section 4.24 Certain Business Practices.
(a) To the Company’s Knowledge, no Target Company, nor any of their respective Representatives acting on their behalf has offered, given, paid, promised to pay, or authorized the payment of anything of value to (i) an official or employee of a foreign or domestic Governmental Authority; (ii) a foreign or domestic political party or an official of a foreign or domestic political party; or (iii) a candidate for foreign or domestic political office, in any such case under circumstances where such Target Company or Representative thereof knew that all or a portion of such thing of value would be offered, given, or promised to an official or employee or a foreign or domestic Governmental Authority, a foreign or domestic political party, an official of a foreign or domestic political party, or a candidate for a foreign or domestic political office (in each case in violation of any Anti-Bribery Law). To the Company’s Knowledge, no Target Company nor any Representative of any Target Company has conducted or initiated any internal investigation or made a voluntary, directed, or involuntary disclosure to any Governmental Authority with respect to any alleged act or omission arising under or relating to any noncompliance with any Anti-Bribery Law or Anti-Money Laundering Law. To the Company’s Knowledge, no Target Company nor any Representative of any Target Company has received any written notice, request, or citation from any Governmental Authority for any actual or potential noncompliance with any Anti-Bribery Law or Anti-Money Laundering Law. To the Company’s Knowledge, there are no actions, conditions, or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to give rise to any future Actions against the Company related to any actual or alleged violation of any Anti-Bribery Law or Anti-Money Laundering Law. Each of the Target Companies has conducted operations in material compliance with all applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Anti-Bribery Laws and Anti-Money Laundering Laws.
(b) The operations of each Target Company are and since April 24, 2019 have been conducted at all times in compliance with economic sanctions, export controls, and money laundering statutes in all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any Governmental Authority, and no Legal Proceeding involving a Target Company with respect to any of the foregoing is pending or, to the Knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(c) No Target Company nor any of their respective directors, officers or, to the Knowledge of the Company, any other Representative acting on behalf of a Target Company, is or has been: (i) identified on any applicable sanctions-related list of designated or blocked persons (including without limitation the SDN List) (ii) otherwise the subject or target of any U.S. sanctions administered by the U.S. government, (iii) located, organized, or resident in a Sanctioned Jurisdiction; or (iv) owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, fifty percent (50%) or more or otherwise controlled by any of the foregoing.
(d) The Target Companies have since April 24, 2019 maintained in place and implemented controls and systems designed to ensure compliance with economic sanctions and export controls administered and maintained by the U.S. government.
(e) No Target Company has since April 24, 2019, directly or indirectly, knowingly used any funds, or loaned, contributed or otherwise made available such funds to any Subsidiary, joint venture partner or other Person, in connection with any sales or operations in a Sanctioned Jurisdiction or for the purpose of financing the activities (x) of any Person currently the subject or target of U.S. sanctions administered by the U.S. government, or (y) in any other manner that would constitute a violation of, any U.S. sanctions administered by U.S. government.
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Section 4.25 Investment Company Act. No Target Company is an “investment company” or a Person directly or indirectly “controlled” by or acting on behalf of an “investment company”, or required to register as an “investment company”, in each case within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
Section 4.26 Finders and Brokers. Except as reflected on Section 4.26 of the Company Disclosure Letter, no broker, finder, investment banker or other Person is entitled to, nor will be entitled to, either directly or indirectly, any brokerage fee, finders’ fee or other similar commission, for which any Target Company would be liable in connection with the Transactions based upon arrangements made by any Target Company or any of their Affiliates.
Section 4.27 Independent Investigation. The Target Companies have conducted their own independent investigation, review and analysis of the business, results of operations, prospects, condition (financial or otherwise) or assets of the Purchaser and Merger Sub, and acknowledge that they have been provided adequate access to the personnel, properties, assets, premises, books and records, and other documents and data of the Purchaser and Merger Sub for such purpose. The Company acknowledges and agrees that: (a) in making its decision to enter into this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby, it has relied solely upon its own investigation and the express representations and warranties of the Purchaser and Merger Sub set forth in Agreement (including the related portions of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter) and in any certificate delivered to the Company pursuant hereto; and (b) none of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any of their respective Representatives have made any representation or warranty as to the Purchaser or Merger Sub or this Agreement, except as expressly set forth in this Agreement (including the related portions of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter) or in any certificate delivered to the Company pursuant hereto.
Section 4.28 Information Supplied. None of the information supplied or to be supplied by the Target Companies expressly for inclusion or incorporation by reference in (i) any current report on Form 8-K, and any exhibits thereto or any other report, form, registration or other filing made with any Governmental Authority or stock exchange with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents or in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement or (ii) any of the Signing Press Release, the Signing Filing, the Closing Press Release, the Closing Filing and any other press releases of prospectus filed under Rule 425 of the Securities Act in connection to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents shall 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 at (a) the time such information is filed with or furnished to the SEC (provided, that if such information is revised by any subsequently filed amendment or supplement, this clause (a) shall solely refer to the time of such subsequent revision); (b) the time the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement is declared effective by the SEC; (c) the time the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement (or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto) is first mailed to the Purchaser Shareholders; or (d) the time of the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Target Companies make no representation, warranty or covenant with respect to any information supplied by or on behalf of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or their respective Affiliates.
Section 4.29 No Additional Representations or Warranties. Except as provided in this Article IV, none of the Target Companies nor any of their respective Affiliates, nor any of their respective directors, managers, officers, employees, equityholders, partners, members or representatives has made, or is making, any representation or warranty whatsoever to Purchaser, Merger Sub or their respective Affiliates or any other Person and no such party shall be liable in respect of the accuracy or completeness of any information provided to the Purchaser, Merger Sub or their respective Affiliates or any other Person.
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Article
V
Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser and Merger Sub
Except as set forth in (i) any Purchaser SEC Reports filed or submitted on or prior to the date hereof, or (ii) in the disclosure letter delivered by the Purchaser to the Company (the “Purchaser Disclosure Letter”) on the date of this Agreement, the Purchaser and Merger Sub represent and warrant to the Company, as of the date hereof and as of the Closing, as follows:
Section 5.01 Organization and Standing.
(a) The Purchaser is an exempted company duly incorporated, validly existing and in good standing under the Laws of the Cayman Islands. The Purchaser has all requisite corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted. The Purchaser is duly qualified or licensed and in good standing to do business in each jurisdiction in which the character of the property owned, leased or operated by it or the nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification or licensing necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or licensed or in good standing can be cured without material cost or expense. The Purchaser has heretofore made available to the Company accurate and complete copies of its Organizational Documents as currently in effect. The Purchaser is not in violation of any provision of its Organizational Documents in any material respect.
(b) Merger Sub is a corporation duly formed, validly existing and in good standing under the Laws of Delaware. Merger Sub has heretofore made available to the Company accurate and complete copies of its Organizational Documents as currently in effect. Merger Sub is not in violation of any provision of its Organizational Documents in any material respect.
Section 5.02 Authorization; Binding Agreement. Each of the Purchaser and Merger Sub has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is a party, to perform its respective obligations hereunder and thereunder and to consummate the Transactions, subject to obtaining the Purchaser Shareholder Approval. The execution and delivery of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is a party and the consummation of the Transactions (a) have been duly and validly authorized by the boards of directors (or equivalent governing body) of the Purchaser and Merger Sub, and (b) other than the Purchaser Shareholder Approval, no other corporate proceedings on the part of the Purchaser or Merger Sub are necessary to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is a party or to consummate the Transactions. This Agreement has been, and each Ancillary Document to which the Purchaser or Merger Sub are a party shall be when delivered, duly and validly executed and delivered by the Purchaser or Merger Sub, as applicable, and, assuming the due authorization, execution and delivery of this Agreement and such Ancillary Documents by the other parties hereto and thereto, constitutes, or when delivered shall constitute, the valid and binding obligation of the Purchaser or Merger Sub, as applicable, enforceable against the Purchaser or Merger Sub, as applicable, in accordance with its terms, except to the extent that enforceability thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization and moratorium laws and other laws of general application affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally or by any applicable statute of limitation or by any valid defense of set-off or counterclaim, and the fact that equitable remedies or relief (including the remedy of specific performance) are subject to the discretion of the court from which such relief may be sought (collectively, the “Enforceability Exceptions”).
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Section 5.03 Governmental Approvals. Assuming the truth and completeness of the representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement, no Consent of or with any Governmental Authority, on the part of the Purchaser or Merger Sub is required to be obtained or made in connection with the execution, delivery or performance by the Purchaser or Merger Sub of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is a party or the consummation by the Purchaser or Merger Sub of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, other than (a) such filings as contemplated by this Agreement, (b) any filings required with Nasdaq or the SEC with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, (c) applicable requirements, if any, of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and/ or any state “blue sky” securities Laws, and the rules and regulations thereunder, and (d) where the failure to obtain or make such Consents or to make such filings or notifications, would not reasonably be expected to have a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect.
Section 5.04 Non-Contravention. Assuming the truth and completeness of the representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement, the execution and delivery by each of the Purchaser and Merger Sub of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is a party, the consummation by the Purchaser and Merger Sub of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and compliance by the Purchaser and Merger Sub with any of the provisions hereof and thereof, do not and will not (a) conflict with or violate any provision of their respective Organizational Documents, (b) subject to obtaining the Consents from Governmental Authorities referred to in Section 5.03 hereof, and the waiting periods referred to therein having expired, and any condition precedent to such Consent or waiver having been satisfied, conflict with or violate any Law, Order or Consent applicable to the Purchaser or Merger Sub or any of its properties or assets, or (c) (i) violate, conflict with or result in a breach of, (ii) constitute a default (or an event which, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute a default) under, (iii) result in the termination, withdrawal, suspension, cancellation or modification of, (iv) accelerate the performance required by the Purchaser or Merger Sub under, (v) result in a right of termination or acceleration under, (vi) give rise to any obligation to make payments or provide compensation under, (vii) result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the properties or assets of the Purchaser or Merger Sub under, (viii) give rise to any obligation to obtain any third party Consent or provide any notice to any Person or (ix) give any Person the right to declare a default, exercise any remedy, claim a rebate, chargeback, penalty or change in delivery schedule, accelerate the maturity or performance, cancel, terminate or modify any right, benefit, obligation or other term under, any of the terms, conditions or provisions of, any material Contract, except for any deviations from any of the foregoing clauses (a), (b) or (c) that would not reasonably be expected to have a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect.
Section 5.05 Capitalization.
(a) As of the date of this Agreement, the authorized share capital of Purchaser is $55,500 divided into (i) 500,000,000 Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares, 25,425,000 of which are issued and outstanding, (ii) 50,000,000 Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares, of which 8,333,333 shares are issued and outstanding, and (iii) 5,000,000 Purchaser Preference Shares, of which no shares are issued and outstanding. All outstanding Purchaser Ordinary Shares are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and are not subject to or issued in violation of any purchase option, right of first refusal, preemptive right, subscription right or any similar right under any provision of the Cayman Companies Act, Purchaser’s Organizational Documents or any Contract to which the Purchaser is a party. None of the outstanding Purchaser Ordinary Shares have been issued in violation of any applicable securities Laws.
(b) Subject to the terms and conditions of the Rights Agreement, (i) in connection with the Domestication, each Cayman Purchaser Right shall convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into a Domesticated Purchaser Right, and (ii) at the Effective Time, each Domesticated Purchaser Right will be converted into one-tenth of one share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, provided that any fractional shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be issued in connection with such conversion will be rounded down to the nearest whole share. As of the date of this Agreement, 25,425,000 Cayman Purchaser Rights, consisting of 25,000,000 Purchaser Public Rights and 425,000 Purchaser Private Placement Rights, are issued and outstanding. All outstanding Cayman Purchaser Rights are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and are not subject to or issued in violation of any purchase option, right of first refusal, preemptive right, subscription right or any similar right under any provision of the Cayman Companies Act, Purchaser’s Organizational Documents or any Contract to which the Purchaser is a party. None of the outstanding Cayman Purchaser Rights have been issued in violation of any applicable securities Laws.
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(c) Other than the Redemption or as expressly set forth in this Agreement, there are no outstanding obligations of Purchaser to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any shares of Purchaser or to provide funds to make any investment (in the form of a loan, capital contribution or otherwise) in any Person. Except as set forth in Section 5.05(c) of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter, there are no shareholders agreements, voting trusts or other agreements or understandings to which the Purchaser is a party with respect to the voting of any shares of Purchaser.
(d) All Indebtedness of Purchaser as of the date of this Agreement is disclosed on Section 5.05(d) of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter. No Indebtedness of the Purchaser contains any restriction upon (i) the prepayment of any of such Indebtedness, (ii) the incurrence of Indebtedness by the Purchaser or (iii) the ability of the Purchaser to grant any Lien on its properties or assets.
(e) Since the date of incorporation of the Purchaser, and except as contemplated by this Agreement, the Purchaser has not declared or paid any distribution or dividend in respect of its shares and has not repurchased, redeemed or otherwise acquired any of its shares, and the Purchaser’s board of directors has not authorized any of the foregoing.
(f) Purchaser owns all of the membership interests in Merger Sub. No other common stock or other voting securities of Merger Sub are issued, reserved for issuance or outstanding. All issued and outstanding membership interests of Merger Sub are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and are not subject to, and were not issued in violation of, any purchase option, right of first refusal, preemptive right, subscription right or any similar right under any provision of the DGCL, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Sub’s Organizational Documents or any contract to which Merger Sub is a party or by which Merger Sub is bound. There are no outstanding contractual obligations of Merger Sub to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any of its membership interests or any equity capital of Merger Sub. There are no outstanding contractual obligations of Merger Sub to provide funds to, or make any investment (in the form of a loan, capital contribution or otherwise) in, any other Person.
Section 5.06 SEC Filings and Purchaser Financials; Internal Controls.
(a) The Purchaser has, since the IPO, filed all forms, reports, schedules, statements and other documents required to be filed or furnished by the Purchaser with the SEC under the Securities Act and/or the Exchange Act, together with any amendments, restatements or supplements thereto (all of the foregoing filed prior to the date of this Agreement, the “Purchaser SEC Reports”), and will have filed all such forms, reports, schedules, statements and other documents (except for the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement and any other forms, reports, schedules, statements and other documents filed or furnished with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents) required to be filed subsequent to the date of this Agreement through the Closing Date (the “Additional Purchaser SEC Reports”). All of the Purchaser SEC Reports, Additional Purchaser SEC Reports, any correspondence from or to the SEC or the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) (other than such correspondence in connection with the IPO of the Purchaser) and all certifications and statements required by: (i) Rule 13a-14 or 15d-14 under the Exchange Act; or (ii) 18 U.S.C. § 1350 (Section 906) of the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act with respect to any of the foregoing (collectively, the “Public Certifications”) are available on the SEC’s Electronic Data-Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system (▇▇▇▇▇) in full without redaction.
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(b) The Purchaser SEC Reports were, and the Additional Purchaser SEC Reports will be, prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act, as the case may be, and the rules and regulations thereunder. The Purchaser SEC Reports did not, and the Additional Purchaser SEC Reports will not, at the time they were or are filed (or if amended or superseded by a filing prior to the date of this Agreement or the Closing Date, then on the date of such filing), as the case may be, with the SEC 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 made therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. Each director and executive officer of Purchaser has filed with the SEC on a timely basis all statements required with respect to Purchaser by Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder. The Public Certifications are, or will be, each true and correct as of their respective dates of filing. As used in this Section 5.06, the term “file” shall be broadly construed to include any manner in which a document or information is furnished, supplied or otherwise made available to the SEC or Nasdaq.
(c) The financial statements and notes contained or incorporated by reference in the Purchaser SEC Reports fairly present, and the financial statements and notes to be contained in or to be incorporated by reference in the Additional Purchaser SEC Reports will fairly present, the financial condition and the results of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows of the Purchaser as at the respective dates of, and for the periods referred to, in such financial statements, all in accordance with: (i) GAAP; and (ii) Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, as applicable, subject, in the case of interim financial statements, to normal recurring year-end adjustments and the omission of notes to the extent permitted by Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, as applicable.
(d) The Purchaser has no off-balance sheet arrangements that are not disclosed in the Purchaser SEC Reports. No financial statements other than those of the Purchaser are required by GAAP to be included in the consolidated financial statements of the Purchaser.
(e) The issued and outstanding Cayman Purchaser Units are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and are listed for trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “BACQU.” The issued and outstanding Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and are listed for trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “BACQ.” The issued and outstanding Purchaser Public Rights are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and are listed for trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “BACQR.” The Purchaser is a listed company in good standing with Nasdaq. There is no action or proceeding pending or, to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, threatened in writing against the Purchaser by Nasdaq or the SEC with respect to any intention by such entity to deregister the Cayman Purchaser Units, the Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares or the Purchaser Public Rights or terminate the listing of the Purchaser on Nasdaq. Except in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Documents, none of the Purchaser or any of its Affiliates has taken any action in an attempt to terminate the registration of the Cayman Purchaser Units, the Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares or Purchaser Public Rights under the Exchange Act.
(f) Except as not required in reliance on exemptions from various reporting requirements by virtue of Purchaser’s status as an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”), Purchaser has established and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act). Such disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that material information relating to Purchaser is made known to Purchaser’s principal executive officer and its principal financial officer by others within those entities, particularly during the periods in which the periodic reports required under the Exchange Act are being prepared. Such disclosure controls and procedures are effective in timely alerting Purchaser’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer to material information required to be included in Purchaser’s periodic reports required under the Exchange Act. Since the consummation of the IPO, Purchaser has established and maintained a system of internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act) sufficient to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of Purchaser’s financial reporting and the preparation of the financial statements included in the Purchaser SEC Reports for external purposes in accordance with GAAP.
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Section 5.07 Absence of Certain Changes. As of the date of this Agreement, the Purchaser has, since the date of its incorporation, (a) conducted no business other than its incorporation, the public offering of its securities (and the related private offerings), public reporting and its search for an initial Business Combination as described in the IPO Prospectus (including the investigation of the Target Companies and the negotiation and execution of this Agreement) and related activities, and (b) not been subject to a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Sub was formed solely for the purpose of effecting the Transactions and has not engaged in any business activities or conducted any operations other than in connection with the Transactions.
Section 5.08 Undisclosed Liabilities. Except for any fees and expenses payable by Purchaser as a result of or in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, there is no liability, debt or obligation of or claim or judgment against Purchaser (whether direct or indirect, absolute or contingent, accrued or unaccrued, known or unknown, liquidated or unliquidated, or due or to become due), except for liabilities and obligations (i) reflected or reserved for on the financial statements or disclosed in the notes thereto included in the Purchaser SEC Reports, (ii) that have arisen since the date of the most recent balance sheet included in the Purchaser SEC Reports in the ordinary course of business of Purchaser, (iii) incurred in connection with the Transactions or (iv) which would not be, or would not reasonably be expected to be, material to Purchaser. Merger Sub has no, and at all times prior to the Effective Time except as contemplated by this Agreement or the ancillary agreements to this Agreement, will have no, assets, liabilities or obligations of any kind or nature whatsoever other than those incident to its formation.
Section 5.09 Compliance with Laws. Each of the Purchaser and Merger Sub is, and has since its incorporation been, in compliance with all Laws applicable to it and the conduct of its business except for such noncompliance which would not reasonably be expected to be material to the Purchaser or Merger Sub, and neither the Purchaser nor Merger Sub has received written notice alleging any violation of applicable Law in any material respect by the Purchaser or Merger Sub.
Section 5.10 Legal Proceedings; Orders; Permits. There is no pending or, to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, threatened Legal Proceeding to which the Purchaser or Merger Sub is subject which would reasonably be expected to have a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect or that would have a material adverse effect on the ability of the Purchaser to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement and consummate the Transactions. There is no material Legal Proceeding that the Purchaser or Merger Sub has pending against any other Person. Neither the Purchaser, nor Merger Sub, is subject to any material Orders of any Governmental Authority, nor are any such Orders pending. Each of the Purchaser and Merger Sub holds all material Permits necessary to lawfully conduct its business as presently conducted, and to own, lease and operate its assets and properties, all of which are in full force and effect, except where the failure to hold such Consent or for such Consent to be in full force and effect would not reasonably be expected to have a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect.
Section 5.11 Taxes and Returns.
(i) The Purchaser (i) has timely filed, or caused to be timely filed, all Income Tax and other material Tax Returns required to be filed by it (taking into account all valid extensions of time to file), and all such Tax Returns are true, accurate and complete in all material respects, and (ii) has timely paid, collected, withheld or remitted, or caused to be timely paid, collected, withheld or remitted, all Income Taxes and other material Taxes required to be paid, collected, withheld or remitted, whether or not such Taxes are shown as due and payable on any Tax Return.
(ii) There is no Legal Proceeding currently pending or, to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, threatened against the Purchaser by a Governmental Authority in a jurisdiction where Purchaser does not file any Tax Returns or a particular type of Tax Return or pays any Tax or a particular type of Tax that it is or may be subject to such Tax or required to file such Tax Return in that jurisdiction.
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(iii) There are no audits, examinations, investigations or other proceedings pending, or to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, threatened against the Purchaser in respect of any Tax, and the Purchaser has not been notified in writing of any proposed Tax claims, deficiencies or assessments against the Purchaser. Purchaser is not currently contesting any material Tax liability before any Governmental Authority.
(iv) There are no Liens with respect to any material Taxes upon any of the Purchaser’s assets, other than Permitted Liens.
(v) The Purchaser has timely and properly collected or withheld all material amounts of Taxes required to be collected or withheld by it, timely remitted such Taxes to the appropriate Governmental Authorities, and otherwise complied in all material respects with all applicable withholding and related reporting requirements with respect to such Taxes.
(vi) The Purchaser has not requested or consented to any waivers or extensions of any applicable statute of limitations for the collection or assessment of any Taxes, which waiver or extension (or request thereof) is outstanding or pending.
(vii) The Purchaser will not be required to include any material item of income in, or exclude any material item of deduction from, taxable income for any taxable period (or portion thereof) beginning after the Closing Date, as a result of: (i) an installment sale or open transaction disposition that occurred on or prior to the Closing Date; (ii) any change in method of accounting on or prior to the Closing Date, including by reason of the application of Section 481 of the Code (or any analogous provision of state, local or foreign Law) or the use of an improper method of accounting on or prior to the Closing Date; (iii) any prepaid amounts received or deferred revenue realized or received on or prior to the Closing Date; (iv) any intercompany transaction described in Treasury Regulations under Section 1502 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or foreign Law); or (v) any “closing agreement” pursuant to Section 7121 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or foreign Law) or any other agreement or arrangement with a Governmental Authority relating to Taxes.
(viii) The Purchaser has not participated in or been a party to, or sold, distributed or otherwise promoted, any “reportable transaction,” as defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4 (or any similar or corresponding provision of state, local or foreign Law).
(ix) The Purchaser has not been a member of an affiliated, combined, consolidated, unitary or other group for Tax purposes. The Purchaser does not have any Liability or potential Liability for the Taxes of another Person (i) pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-6 (or any similar or corresponding provision of U.S. state or local Tax Law) or under any other applicable Tax Law, (ii) as a transferee or successor, or (iii) by Contract, indemnity or otherwise (excluding customary commercial Contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business the primary purpose of which is not the sharing of Taxes). The Purchaser is not a party to or bound by any Tax indemnity agreement, Tax sharing agreement or Tax allocation agreement or similar agreement, arrangement or practice (excluding customary commercial Contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business the primary purpose of which is not the sharing of Taxes) with respect to Taxes (including advance pricing agreement, closing agreement or other agreement relating to Taxes with any Governmental Authority) that will be binding on the Purchaser with respect to any period (or portion thereof) following the Closing Date.
(x) The Purchaser has not requested, and is not the subject of or bound by any private letter ruling, technical advice memorandum, closing agreement or similar ruling, memorandum or agreement with any Governmental Authority with respect to any Taxes, nor is any such request pending or outstanding.
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(b) The Purchaser is, and has at all times since its formation been, classified as a C corporation for U.S. federal, state and local income tax purposes.
(c) The Purchaser has not knowingly taken or failed to take (or agreed to take or not take) any action, nor is it aware of any fact or circumstance, where such action, failure to act, fact or circumstance would reasonably be expected to prevent or impede the Domestication, the Sponsor Share Conversion or the Merger from qualifying for their respective Intended Tax Treatments.
Section 5.12 Properties. Neither the Purchaser, nor Merger Sub, owns, licenses or otherwise has any right, title or interest in any material Intellectual Property. Neither the Purchaser, nor Merger Sub own or lease any material real property or material Personal Property (except for the Purchaser’s ownership of the Merger Sub membership interests).
Section 5.13 Investment Company Act. To the Purchaser’s Knowledge, the Purchaser is not an “investment company” or a Person directly or indirectly “controlled” by or acting on behalf of an “investment company”, or required to register as an “investment company”, in each case within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
Section 5.14 Trust Account. As of the date of this Agreement, Purchaser has at least $250,000,000 in the Trust Account, such monies held in cash or invested in United States government securities or money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act pursuant to the Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of October 31, 2024, between Purchaser and Continental, as trustee (the “Trustee”) (the “Trust Agreement”). There are no separate Contracts, side letters or other arrangements or understandings (whether written or unwritten, express or implied) that would cause the description of the Trust Agreement in the Purchaser SEC Reports to be inaccurate or that would entitle any Person (other than Purchaser Shareholders who shall have properly elected to redeem their Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares pursuant to Purchaser’s Organizational Documents and the underwriters of the IPO with respect to deferred underwriting commissions) to any portion of the proceeds in the Trust Account. Prior to the Closing, none of the funds held in the Trust Account may be released other than to pay Taxes and payments (a) to the Purchaser’s public shareholders with respect to the redemption of Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote on a proposed Business Combination but only in the event that the applicable Business Combination is approved and consummated (or as otherwise approved by the Purchaser’s shareholders by amendment to the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents) and subject to the limitations contained in the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents; (b) to the Purchaser’s public shareholders who elect to have their Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares repurchased by means of a tender offer subject to the provisions contained in the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents; (c) to the Purchaser’s public shareholders if any amendments is made to the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents to (i) modify the substance or timing of Purchaser’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with its initial business combination or to redeem 100% of its Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares if it has not consummated an initial business combination by the deadline set forth in the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents or (ii) with respect to any other material provisions related to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, upon effectiveness of any such amendment, or (d) to the Purchaser’s public shareholders if Purchaser fails to consummate a Business Combination by the deadline set forth in the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, and subject to extension by amendment to Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, including interest earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of any taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), and (e) to Purchaser after or concurrently with the consummation of a Business Combination. The Trust Agreement has not been amended or modified and is a valid and binding obligation of Purchaser and is in full force and effect and is enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject to the Enforceability Exceptions. There are no claims or proceedings pending or, to the Knowledge of Purchaser, threatened with respect to the Trust Account. Purchaser has performed all material obligations required to be performed by it to date under, and is not in default, breach or delinquent in performance or any other respect (claimed or actual) in connection with, the Trust Agreement, and no event has occurred which, with due notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a default or breach thereunder. As of the Closing, the obligations of Purchaser to dissolve or liquidate pursuant to Purchaser’s Organizational Documents shall terminate, and as of the Closing, Purchaser shall have no obligation whatsoever pursuant to Purchaser’s Organizational Documents to dissolve and liquidate the assets of Purchaser by reason of the consummation of the Transactions. To Purchaser’s Knowledge, as of the date hereof, following the Closing, no Purchaser Shareholder shall be entitled to receive any amount from the Trust Account except to the extent such Purchaser Shareholder is exercising their option to redeem Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock in connection with the Redemption. As of the date hereof, assuming the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein and the compliance by the Company with its obligations hereunder, Purchaser does not have any reason to believe that any of the conditions to the use of funds in the Trust Account will not be satisfied or funds available in the Trust Account will not be available to Purchaser on the Closing Date.
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Section 5.15 Finders and Brokers. Except as reflected on Section 5.15 of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter, no broker, finder, investment banker or other Person is entitled to, nor will be entitled to, either directly or indirectly, any brokerage fee, finders’ fee or other similar commission, for which the Purchaser or Merger Sub would be liable in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Transactions based upon arrangements made by the Purchaser or any of their Affiliates.
Section 5.16 Certain Business Practices.
(a) To the Knowledge of the Purchaser, none of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any of their Representatives acting on behalf of the Purchaser or Merger Sub, has offered, given, paid, promised to give or pay, or authorized the giving or payment of anything of value to (i) an official or employee of a foreign or domestic Governmental Authority; (ii) a foreign or domestic political party or an official of a foreign or domestic political party; (iii) a candidate for foreign or domestic political office; or (iv) any Person, in any such case under circumstances the Purchaser, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Sub or the Representative thereof knew that all or a portion of such thing of value would be offered, given, paid, or promised to an official of employee of a foreign or domestic Governmental Authority, a foreign or domestic political party, an official of a foreign or domestic political party, or a candidate for foreign or domestic political office, in each case in violation of any Anti-Bribery Laws. To the Knowledge of the Purchaser, none of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any Representative thereof has conducted or initiated any internal investigation or made a voluntary, directed, or involuntary disclosure to any Governmental Authority with respect to any alleged act or omission relating to any noncompliance with any Anti-Bribery Laws. To the Knowledge of the Purchaser, none of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any Representative thereof has received any written notice, request, or citation from any Governmental Authority for any actual or potential noncompliance with any Anti-Bribery Laws. The Purchaser has instituted and maintains policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure compliance in all material respects with the Anti-Bribery Laws.
(b) The operations of the Purchaser and Merger Sub are and since April 24, 2019 have been conducted at all times in material compliance with economic sanctions, export controls, and money laundering statutes in all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any Governmental Authority, and no Legal Proceeding involving the Purchaser or Merger Sub with respect to any of the foregoing is pending or, to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, threatened.
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(c) None of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any of their respective directors or officers nor, to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, any other Representative acting on behalf of the Purchaser or Merger Sub is or has been: (i) identified on any applicable sanctions-related list of designated or blocked persons (including without limitation the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”) maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”)), (ii) otherwise the subject or target of any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC, (iii) located, organized or resident in any country or territory that is the subject of comprehensive economic sanctions maintained by OFAC (as of the date of this Agreement, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, and so-called Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine) (each a “Sanctioned Jurisdiction”), or (iv) owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50% or more or otherwise controlled by any of the foregoing.
Section 5.17 Insurance. Section 5.17 of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter lists all insurance policies (by policy number, insurer, coverage period, coverage amount, annual premium and type of policy) held by the Purchaser or Merger Sub or relating to the Purchaser or Merger Sub or their business, properties, assets, directors, officers and employees, copies of which have been provided to the Company. All premiums due and payable under all such insurance policies have been timely paid and the Purchaser and Merger Sub are otherwise in material compliance with the terms of such insurance policies. All such insurance policies are in full force and effect, and to the Knowledge of the Purchaser, there is no threatened termination of, or material premium increase with respect to, any of such insurance policies. There have been no insurance claims made by the Purchaser or Merger Sub. Each of the Purchaser and Merger Sub has reported to its insurers all claims and pending circumstances that would reasonably be expected to result in a claim, except where such failure to report such a claim would not be reasonably likely to have a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect.
Section 5.18 Information Supplied. None of the information supplied or to be supplied by, or on behalf of, Purchaser or Merger Sub expressly for inclusion or incorporation by reference in (i) any current report on Form 8-K, and any exhibits thereto or any other report, form, registration or other filing made with any Governmental Authority or stock exchange with respect to the Transactions or in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement or (ii) any of the Signing Press Release, the Signing Filing, the Closing Press Release, the Closing Filing and any other press releases or prospectuses filed under Rule 425 of the Securities Act in connection to the Transactions shall 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 at (a) the time such information is filed with or furnished to the SEC (provided, that if such information is revised by any subsequently filed amendment or supplement, this clause (a) shall solely refer to the time of such subsequent revision); (b) the time the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement is declared effective by the SEC; (c) the time the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement (or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto) is first mailed to the Purchaser Shareholders; or (d) the time of the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Purchaser and Merger Sub make no representations, warranties or covenants with respect to any information supplied by or on behalf of the Target Companies or their respective Affiliates.
Section 5.19 Independent Investigation. The Purchaser and Merger Sub have conducted their own independent investigation, review and analysis of the business, results of operations, prospects, condition (financial or otherwise) or assets of the Target Companies, and acknowledges that they have been provided adequate access to the personnel, properties, assets, premises, books and records, and other documents and data of the Target Companies for such purpose. The Purchaser and Merger Sub acknowledge and agree that: (a) in making their decision to enter into this Agreement and to consummate the Transactions, they have relied solely upon their own investigation and the express representations and warranties of the Company set forth in this Agreement (including the related portions of the Company Disclosure Letter) and in any certificate delivered to Purchaser or Merger Sub pursuant hereto, and the information provided by or on behalf of the Target Companies for the Registration Statement; and (b) neither the Company, nor its Representatives have made any representation or warranty as to Target Companies, or this Agreement, except as expressly set forth in Article IV (including the related portions of the Company Disclosure Letter) or in any certificate delivered to Purchaser or Merger Sub pursuant hereto, or with respect to the information provided by or on behalf of the Company for the Registration Statement.
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Section 5.20 No Additional Representation or Warranties. Except as provided in this Article V, none of the Purchaser, Merger Sub, any their respective Affiliates, or any of their respective directors, managers, officers, employees, stockholders, partners, members or representatives has made, or is making, any representation or warranty whatsoever to the Target Companies or their Affiliates and no such party shall be liable in respect of the accuracy or completeness of any information provided to the Target Companies or their Affiliates. Without limiting the foregoing, the Company acknowledges that the Target Companies or their advisors, have made their own investigation of the Purchaser and Merger Sub and, except as provided in this Article V, are not relying on any representation or warranty whatsoever as to the condition, merchantability, suitability or fitness for a particular purpose or trade as to any of the assets of the Purchaser and Merger Sub, the prospects (financial or otherwise) or the viability or likelihood of success of the business of the Purchaser and Merger Sub as conducted after the Closing, or as contained in any materials provided by the Purchaser or Merger Sub or any of their respective Affiliates or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, shareholders, partners, members or representatives or otherwise.
Article
VI
Covenants
Section 6.01 Access and Information; Cooperation. (a) During the period from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the termination of this Agreement in accordance with Section 8.01 or the Closing (the “Interim Period”), subject to Section 6.17, the Company shall give, and shall cause the Target Companies and its and their respective Representatives to give, the Purchaser and its Representatives, at reasonable times during normal business hours and upon reasonable intervals and notice, reasonable access to all offices and other facilities and to all officers, managers, properties, Contracts, agreements, commitments, books and records, financial and operating data and other information, of or pertaining to the Target Companies as the Purchaser or its Representatives may reasonably request regarding the Target Companies and their respective businesses, assets, Liabilities, financial condition, prospects, operations, management, employees and other aspects and cause each of the Target Companies’ Representatives to reasonably cooperate with the Purchaser and its Representatives in their investigation; provided, however, that the Purchaser and its Representatives shall conduct any such activities in such a manner as not to unreasonably interfere with the business or operations of the Target Companies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not be required to provide, or cause to be provided, to Purchaser or any of its Representatives any information (i) if and to the extent doing so would (A) violate any Law to which the Company is subject, (B) result in the disclosure of any trade secrets of third parties in breach of any Contract with such third party, (C) violate any legally-binding obligation of the Company with respect to confidentiality, non-disclosure or privacy or (D) jeopardize protections afforded to the Company under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine (provided that, in the case of each of clauses (A) through (D), the Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to (x) provide such access as can be provided (or otherwise convey such information regarding the applicable matter as can be conveyed) without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law and (y) provide such information in a manner without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law), or (ii) if the Company, on the one hand, and Purchaser or any of its Representatives, on the other hand, are adverse parties in a litigation and such information is reasonably pertinent thereto. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company shall not be obligated under this Section 6.01(a) to permit Purchaser or any of its Representatives to conduct any invasive, intrusive or subsurface sampling or testing of any media at the properties of any of the Target Companies.
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(b) During the Interim Period, subject to Section 6.17, the Purchaser shall give, and shall cause its Representatives to give, the Company and its Representatives, at reasonable times during normal business hours and upon reasonable intervals and notice, reasonable access to all offices and other facilities and to all officers, directors, properties, Contracts, agreements, commitments, books and records, financial and operating data and other information, of or pertaining to the Purchaser or its Subsidiaries, as the Company or its Representatives may reasonably request regarding the Purchaser, its Subsidiaries and their respective businesses, assets, Liabilities, financial condition, prospects, operations, management, employees and other aspects and cause each of the Purchaser’s Representatives to reasonably cooperate with the Company and its Representatives in their investigation; provided, however, that the Company and its Representatives shall conduct any such activities in such a manner as not to unreasonably interfere with the business or operations of the Purchaser or any of its Subsidiaries. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Purchaser shall not be required to provide, or cause to be provided, to the Company or any of its Representatives any information (i) if and to the extent doing so would (A) violate any Law to which the Purchaser is subject, (B) violate any legally-binding obligation of the Purchaser with respect to confidentiality, non-disclosure or privacy or (C) jeopardize protections afforded to the Purchaser under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine (provided that, in the case of each of clauses (A) through (C), the Purchaser shall use commercially reasonable efforts to (x) provide such access as can be provided (or otherwise convey such information regarding the applicable matter as can be conveyed) without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law and (y) provide such information in a manner without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law), or (ii) if the Purchaser, on the one hand, and the Company or any of its Representatives, on the other hand, are adverse parties in a litigation and such information is reasonably pertinent thereto.
(c) During the Interim Period, each of the Company and the Purchaser shall, and shall cause their respective Representatives to, reasonably cooperate in a timely manner in connection with any financing arrangement the Parties mutually agree to seek in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including, in connection with the PIPE Investment), including, (i) by providing such information and assistance as the other Party may reasonably request, (ii) granting such access to the other Party and its Representatives as may be reasonably necessary for their due diligence, and (iii) participating in a reasonable number of meetings, presentations, road shows, drafting sessions, due diligence sessions with respect to such financing efforts (including direct contact between senior management and other Representatives of the Company at reasonable times and locations). All such cooperation, assistance and access shall be granted during normal business hours and shall be granted under conditions that shall not unreasonably interfere with the business and operations of the Company, the Purchaser, or their respective Representatives.
Section 6.02 Conduct of Business of the Company.
(a) During the Interim Period, except as expressly contemplated by this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents, as required by applicable Law (including COVID-19 Measures), as set forth on Section 6.02 of the Company Disclosure Letter or as consented to in writing by the Purchaser (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), the Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to, and shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause its Subsidiaries to, (i) conduct its and their respective businesses, in all material respects, in the ordinary course of business, (ii) comply in all material respects with all Laws applicable to the Target Companies and their respective businesses, assets and employees, and (iii) take commercially reasonable measures necessary or appropriate to preserve intact, in all material respects, their respective business organizations.
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(b) Without limiting the generality of Section 6.02(a) and except as contemplated by the terms of this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents, as required by applicable Law (including COVID-19 Measures) or as set forth on Section 6.02(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter, during the Interim Period, without the prior written consent of the Purchaser (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), the Company shall not, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to not:
(i) amend, waive or otherwise change, in any respect, its Organizational Documents, except as required by applicable Law;
(ii) authorize for issuance, issue, grant, sell, pledge, dispose of or propose to issue, grant, sell, pledge or dispose of any of its equity securities or any options, warrants, commitments, subscriptions or rights of any kind to acquire or sell any of its equity securities, or other securities, including any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any of its shares or other equity securities or securities of any class and any other equity-based awards, or engage in any hedging transaction with a third Person with respect to such securities, except as required by existing Company Benefits Plans or any Contract (including any warrant or option award) outstanding as of the date hereof which has been disclosed in writing to the Purchaser;
(iii) split, combine, recapitalize or reclassify any of its shares or other equity interests or issue any other securities in respect thereof or pay or set aside any dividend or other distribution (whether in cash, equity or property or any combination thereof) in respect of its equity interests, or directly or indirectly redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire or offer to acquire any of its securities;
(iv) allow the aggregate Indebtedness of the Target Companies to exceed an amount equal to the sum of $1,000,000 plus the aggregate amount of Indebtedness of the Target Companies as reflected on the most recent Audited Financial Statements (as defined below);
(v) except as otherwise required by Law, or Company Benefit Plans in effect as of the date hereof, (i) grant any severance, retention, change in control or termination or similar pay, (ii) terminate, adopt, enter into or materially amend or grant any new awards (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any equity or equity-based awards) under any Company Benefit Plan or any plan, policy, practice, program, agreement or other arrangement that would be deemed a Company Benefit Plan if in effect as of the date hereof, (iii) increase the cash compensation or bonus opportunity of any employee, officer, director or other individual service provider, except for such increases to any such individuals who are not directors or officers of the Target Companies made in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (iv) take any action to amend or waive any performance or vesting criteria or to accelerate the time of payment or vesting of any compensation or benefit payable by the Company or any of the Company’s Subsidiaries, (v) hire or engage any new employee or independent contractor if such new employee or independent contractor will receive annual base compensation in excess of $250,000, other than in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (vi) terminate the employment or engagement, other than for cause, death or disability, of any employee or independent contractor with an annual base compensation in excess of $250,000, (vii) waive any restrictive covenants applying to any current or former employee or independent contractor, or (viii) plan, announce, implement, or effect the reduction in force, lay-off, furloughs, early-retirement program, severance program or other program or effort concerning the termination of a group of employees of the Target Companies (other than individual employee terminations permitted under prong (vi) of this Section 6.02(b)(v));
(vi) enter into or extend any collective bargaining agreement or similar labor agreement, other than as required by applicable Law, or recognize or certify any labor union, labor organization, or group of employees of the Target Company as the bargaining representative for any employees of the Target Company;
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(vii) (A) make, change or rescind any material election relating to Taxes, (B) settle any claim, suit, litigation, proceeding, arbitration, investigation, audit, controversy or other Legal Proceeding relating to material Taxes, (C) file any amended Income Tax or other material Tax Return, (D) surrender or allow to expire any right to claim a refund of material amounts of Taxes, (E) change (or request to change) any method of accounting for Tax purposes, (F) waive or extend any statute of limitations in respect of a period within which an assessment or reassessment of Income Taxes or other material Taxes may be issued or in respect of any Income Tax or other material Tax attribute that would give rise to any claim or assessment of Taxes of or with respect to the Target Companies, (G) enter into any “closing agreement” as described in Section 7121 of the Code or any other agreement or arrangement with any Governmental Authority or (H) enter into any Tax indemnity agreement, Tax sharing agreement or Tax allocation agreement or similar agreement or arrangement (excluding customary commercial Contracts the primary purpose of which is not the sharing of Taxes) with respect to Taxes;
(viii) knowingly take or agree to take any action, or knowingly fail to take or agree to fail to take any action, where such action or failure to act would reasonably be expected to prevent or impede the relevant portions of the Transactions from qualifying for their respective Intended Tax Treatments;
(ix) transfer, sell, assign, license, sublicense, covenant not to assert, subject to a Lien (other than a Permitted Lien), abandon, allow to lapse, transfer or otherwise dispose of, any right, title or interest of the Target Company in or to any Owned Intellectual Property material to any of the businesses of the Target Companies (other than non-exclusive licenses of Owned Intellectual Property granted in the ordinary course of business or abandoning, allowing to lapse or otherwise disposing of Owned Intellectual Property registrations or applications that the Target Company, in the exercise of its good faith business judgment, has determined to abandon, allow to lapse or otherwise dispose of), or otherwise materially amend or modify, permit to lapse or fail to preserve any material Company Registered IP (excluding non-exclusive licenses of Company IP granted to a Target Company’s customers, resellers, vendors, or service providers, in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice), or disclose, divulge, furnish to or make accessible to any Person who has not entered into a confidentiality agreement sufficiently protecting the confidentiality thereof any material Trade Secrets constituting Owned Intellectual Property, or include, incorporate or embed in, link to, combine, make available or distribute with, or use in the development, operation, delivery or provision of any Company Software any open source Software in a manner that requires any Target Company to take a Copyleft Action;
(x) fail to maintain its books, accounts and records in all material respects in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(xi) terminate or assign any Company Material Contract or enter into any Contract that would be a Company Material Contract, in any case outside of the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice or novations of Government Contracts that are required in connection with the Transactions contemplated by this Agreement;
(xii) establish any Subsidiary or enter into any new line of business;
(xiii) fail to use commercially reasonable efforts to keep in force insurance policies or replacement or revised policies providing insurance coverage with respect to its assets, operations and activities in such amount and scope of coverage substantially similar to that which is currently in effect, or terminate without replacement or amend in a manner materially detrimental to the Target Companies, taken as a whole, any material insurance policy insuring the Target Companies;
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(xiv) make any material change in accounting methods, principles or practices, except to the extent required to comply with GAAP or changes that are made in accordance with PCAOB standards;
(xv) waive, release, assign, settle or compromise any claim, action or proceeding (including any suit, action, claim, proceeding or investigation relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby), other than waivers, releases, assignments, settlements or compromises that involve only the payment of monetary damages (and not the imposition of equitable relief on, or the admission of wrongdoing by, a Target Company or its Affiliates) not in excess of $500,000 (individually or in the aggregate);
(xvi) effect any layoff or other personnel reduction at any of its facilities resulting in a layoff or reduction of twenty percent (20%) or more of the Target Companies’ personnel;
(xvii) acquire, including by merger, consolidation, acquisition of equity interests or assets, or any other form of business combination, any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, other business organization or any division thereof, or any material amount of assets outside the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, except pursuant to any Contract in existence as of the date hereof which has been disclosed in writing to the Purchaser;
(xviii) make capital expenditures outside of the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice in excess of $500,000 (individually for any project) or $2,500,000 in the aggregate;
(xix) adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, merger, consolidation, restructuring or other reorganization;
(xx) voluntarily incur Liabilities or obligations (whether absolute, accrued, contingent or otherwise) in excess of $1,000,000 in the aggregate other than pursuant to the terms of a Company Material Contract or Company Benefit Plan, in any case, outside of the ordinary course of business, taking into account the anticipated growth in the Target Companies’ businesses;
(xxi) sell, lease, license, transfer, exchange or swap, mortgage or otherwise pledge or encumber (including securitizations), or otherwise dispose of any material portion of its tangible properties, assets or rights;
(xxii) enter into any written agreement, understanding or arrangement with respect to the voting of equity securities of the Company, other than the Seller Voting and Support Agreements;
(xxiii) take any action that would reasonably be expected to significantly delay or impair the obtaining of any Consents of any Governmental Authority to be obtained in connection with this Agreement or that would impede the Transactions;
(xxiv) enter into, amend, waive or terminate (other than terminations in accordance with their terms) any transaction with any Related Person (other than compensation and benefits and advancement of expenses, in each case, provided in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice); or
(xxv) (i) limit the right of any Target Company to engage in any line of business or in any geographic area, to develop, market or sell products or services, or to compete with any Person or (ii) grant any exclusive or similar rights to any Person, in each case, except where such limitation or grant does not, and would not be reasonably likely to, individually or in the aggregate, materially and adversely affect, or materially disrupt, the ordinary course operation of the business of the Target Companies; or
(xxvi) authorize or agree to do any of the foregoing actions.
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Section 6.03 Conduct of Business of the Purchaser.
(a) During the Interim Period, except as expressly contemplated by this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents, as required by applicable Law, as set forth on Section 6.03(a) of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter or as consented to in writing by the Company (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), the Purchaser shall, and shall cause Merger Sub to, (i) conduct its business, in all material respects, in the ordinary course of business, (ii) comply in all material respects with all Laws applicable to it and its businesses, assets and employees, and (iii) take commercially reasonable measures necessary or appropriate to preserve intact, in all material respects, its business organizations. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 6.03, nothing in this Agreement shall prohibit or restrict the Purchaser from extending, in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents and the IPO Prospectus, the deadline by which it must complete its Business Combination (an “Extension”), by way of an amendment to the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, or making any payments to the Trust Account in connection therewith, and no consent of any other Party shall be required in connection therewith.
(b) Without limiting the generality of Section 6.03(a) and except as contemplated by the terms of this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents (including the Domestication or as contemplated by the PIPE Investment), as required by applicable Law or as set forth on Section 6.03(b) of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter, during the Interim Period, without the prior written consent of the Company (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), the Purchaser shall not, and shall cause Merger Sub not to:
(i) amend, waive or otherwise change, in any respect, its Organizational Documents except as required by applicable Law (other than in relation to an Extension, as described in Section 6.03(a));
(ii) authorize for issuance, issue, grant, sell, pledge, dispose of or propose to issue, grant, sell, pledge or dispose of any of its equity securities or any options, warrants, commitments, subscriptions or rights of any kind to acquire or sell any of its equity securities, or other securities, including any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any of its equity securities or other security interests of any class and any other equity-based awards, or engage in any hedging transaction with a third Person with respect to such securities;
(iii) split, combine, recapitalize or reclassify any of its shares or other equity interests or issue any other securities in respect thereof or pay or set aside any dividend or other distribution (whether in cash, equity or property or any combination thereof) in respect of its shares or other equity interests, or directly or indirectly redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire or offer to acquire any of its securities other than the Redemption or a conversion of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents;
(iv) incur, create, assume, prepay or otherwise become liable for any Indebtedness (directly, contingently or otherwise) in excess of $200,000 individually or $500,000 in the aggregate, make a loan or advance to or investment in any third party, or guarantee or endorse any Indebtedness, Liability or obligation of any Person (provided, that this Section 6.03(b)(a)(iv) shall not prevent the Purchaser from borrowing funds necessary to finance its ordinary course administrative costs and expenses and expenses incurred in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the PIPE Investment and the costs and expenses necessary for an Extension, up to aggregate additional Indebtedness during the Interim Period of $1,000,000));
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(v) (A) make, change or rescind any material election relating to Taxes, (B) settle any claim, suit, litigation, proceeding, arbitration, investigation, audit, controversy or other Legal Proceeding relating to material Taxes, (C) file any amended Income Tax or other material Tax Return, (D) surrender or allow to expire any right to claim a refund of material amounts of Taxes, (E) change (or request to change) any method of accounting for Tax purposes, (F) waive or extend any statute of limitations in respect of a period within which an assessment or reassessment of Income Taxes or other material Taxes may be issued or in respect of any Income Tax or other material Tax attribute that would give rise to any claim or assessment of Taxes of or with respect to Purchaser, (G) enter into any “closing agreement” as described in Section 7121 of the Code or any other agreement or arrangement with any Governmental Authority or (H) enter into any Tax indemnity agreement, Tax sharing agreement or Tax allocation agreement or similar agreement or arrangement (excluding customary commercial Contracts the primary purpose of which is not the sharing of Taxes) with respect to Taxes;
(vi) knowingly take or agree to take any action, or knowingly fail to take or agree to fail to take any action, where such action or failure to act could reasonably be expected to prevent or impede the relevant portions of the Transactions from qualifying for their respective Intended Tax Treatments;
(vii) amend, waive or otherwise change the Trust Agreement in any manner adverse to the Purchaser;
(viii) terminate, waive or assign any material right under any material Contract of Purchaser;
(ix) fail to maintain its books, accounts and records in all material respects in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice;
(x) establish any Subsidiary or enter into any new line of business;
(xi) fail to use commercially reasonable efforts to keep in force insurance policies or replacement or revised policies providing insurance coverage with respect to its assets, operations and activities in such amount and scope of coverage substantially similar to that which is currently in effect;
(xii) make any material change in accounting methods, principles or practices, except to the extent required to comply with GAAP or PCAOB standards;
(xiii) waive, release, assign, settle or compromise any claim, action or proceeding (including any suit, action, claim, proceeding or investigation relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby), other than waivers, releases, assignments, settlements or compromises that involve only the payment of monetary damages (and not the imposition of equitable relief on, or the admission of wrongdoing by, the Purchaser or its Subsidiary) not in excess of $500,000 (individually or in the aggregate);
(xiv) acquire, including by merger, consolidation, acquisition of equity interests or assets, or any other form of business combination, any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, other business organization or any division thereof, or any material amount of assets outside the ordinary course of business;
(xv) make capital expenditures in excess of $200,000 individually for any project (or set of related projects) or $500,000 in the aggregate (excluding for the avoidance of doubt, incurring any expenses);
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(xvi) adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, merger, consolidation, restructuring, recapitalization or other reorganization;
(xvii) voluntarily incur any Liability or obligation (whether absolute, accrued, contingent or otherwise) in excess of $500,000 individually or $1,000,000 in the aggregate (excluding the incurrence of any expenses) other than pursuant to the terms of a Contract in existence as of the date of this Agreement or entered into in the ordinary course of business or in accordance with the terms of this Section 6.03 during the Interim Period;
(xviii) sell, lease, license, transfer, exchange or swap, mortgage or otherwise pledge or encumber (including securitizations), or otherwise dispose of any material portion of its tangible properties, assets or rights;
(xix) take any action that would reasonably be expected to significantly delay or impair the obtaining of any Consents of any Governmental Authority to be obtained in connection with this Agreement;
(xx) grant or establish any form of compensation or benefits to any current or former employee, officer, director, individual independent contractor or other individual service provider of Purchaser; or
(xxi) authorize or agree to do any of the foregoing actions.
Section 6.04 Annual and Interim Financial Statements.
(a) To the extent not already delivered, as soon as reasonably practicable following the date of this Agreement (and in any event by October 15, 2025), the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser audited consolidated balance sheets and statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Target Companies as of and for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, together with the auditor’s reports thereon, audited by a PCAOB qualified auditor in accordance with GAAP and PCAOB standards and which comply in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements and with the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Exchange Act and the Securities Act applicable to a registrant (collectively, the “Audited Financial Statements”); provided, that upon delivery of such Audited Financial Statements, such financial statements shall be deemed “Company Financials” for the purposes of this Agreement and the representation and warranties set forth in Section 4.06 shall be deemed to apply to such Audited Financial Statements with the same force and effect as if made as of the date of this Agreement; provided further that there shall be no material changes between the Draft Financial Statements and (i) the Audited Financial Statements; (ii) all other audited and unaudited financial statements of the Company and any company or business units acquired by it, as applicable, required under the rules and regulations of the SEC to be included in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement and/or the Current Report on Form 8-K pursuant to the Exchange Act in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including pro forma financial information); (iii) all selected financial data of the Company provided for inclusion in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement and the Current Report on Form 8-K pursuant to the Exchange Act in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; and (iv) management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations prepared in accordance with Item 303 of Regulation S-K of the SEC as necessary for inclusion in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement and the Current Report on Form 8-K pursuant to the Exchange Act in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including pro forma financial information).
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(b) As soon as reasonably practicable following the date of this Agreement, the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser unaudited consolidated balance sheets and statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Target Companies as of and for the six-month periods ending June 30, 2025 and 2024, which comply in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements and with the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Exchange Act and the Securities Act applicable to a registrant (the “Updated 1H Financial Statements”) and as soon as reasonably practicable, the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser any other audited or unaudited financial statements of the Target Companies that are required by applicable law to be included in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement; provided, that upon delivery of such Updated 1H Financial Statements and any other audited or unaudited financial statements of the Target Companies, the representation and warranties set forth in Section 4.06 shall be deemed to apply to the Updated 1H Financial Statements and any other audited or unaudited financial statements of the Target Companies, mutatis mutandis, with the same force and effect as if made as of the date of this Agreement.
Section 6.05 Purchaser Public Filings. During the Interim Period, the Purchaser will keep current all of its public filings with the SEC (after giving effect to all applicable extension periods) and otherwise comply in all material respects with applicable securities Laws and shall use its commercially reasonable efforts prior to the Closing to maintain the listing of the Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares and the Purchaser Public Rights on Nasdaq; provided, that the Parties acknowledge and agree that (i) if Purchaser fails to timely file any public filing with the SEC, such failure shall not be a breach of this Section 6.05 provided such public filing is made before the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the earlier termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 8.01(e) (even though such filing is late) and such late filing does not have a material adverse impact on the consummation of the Transactions and (ii) from and after the Closing, the Parties intend to list on Nasdaq only the Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock.
Section 6.06 No Solicitation. (a) For purposes of this Agreement, (i) an “Acquisition Proposal” means any inquiry, proposal or offer, or any indication of interest in making an offer or proposal (whether written or oral), from any Person or group at any time relating to an Alternative Transaction (other than the Purchaser and the Sponsor or their respective Representatives), and (ii) an “Alternative Transaction” means (A) with respect to the Company and its Affiliates, a transaction or a series of transactions (other than the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) concerning the sale (whether directly or indirectly) of (x) all or any part of the business or assets of the Target Companies, (y) any of the shares or other equity interests of the Target Companies, in any case, whether such transaction takes the form of a sale of shares or other equity interests, assets, merger, consolidation, issuance of debt securities, management Contract, joint venture or partnership, or otherwise, or (z) a merger, consolidation, share exchange, business combination, reorganization, recapitalization, liquidation, dissolution or other similar transaction involving the sale or disposition of the Target Companies and (B) with respect to the Purchaser and its Affiliates, a transaction (other than the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) concerning a Business Combination involving Purchaser or any of its Affiliates.
(b) During the Interim Period, in order to induce the other Parties to continue to commit to expend management time and financial resources in furtherance of the transactions contemplated hereby, each Party shall not, and shall cause its Representatives to not, without the prior written consent of the Company and the Purchaser, directly or indirectly, (i) solicit, assist, initiate, engage or facilitate the making, submission or announcement of, or encourage, any Acquisition Proposal, (ii) furnish any non-public information regarding such Party or its Affiliates or their respective businesses, operations, assets, Liabilities, financial condition, prospects or employees to any Person or group (other than a Party to this Agreement or their respective Representatives) in connection with or in response to an Acquisition Proposal, (iii) engage or participate in discussions or negotiations with any Person or group with respect to, or that could reasonably be expected to lead to, an Acquisition Proposal, (iv) approve, endorse or recommend, or publicly propose to approve, endorse or recommend, any Acquisition Proposal, (v) negotiate or enter into any letter of intent, agreement in principle, acquisition agreement or other similar agreement related to any Acquisition Proposal, (vi) release any third Person from, or waive any provision of, any confidentiality agreement to which such Party is a party, (vii) otherwise knowingly encourage or facilitate any such inquiries, proposals, discussions, or negotiations or any effort or attempt by any Person to make an Alternative Transaction or (viii) agree or otherwise commit to enter into or engage in any of the foregoing.
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(c) Each Party shall notify the others as promptly as practicable (and in any event within two (2) Business Days) in writing of the receipt by such Party or any of its Representatives of (i) any inquiries, proposals or offers, requests for information or requests for discussions or negotiations regarding or constituting any Acquisition Proposal or any inquiries, proposals or offers, requests for information or requests for discussions or negotiations that could be expected to result in an Acquisition Proposal, and (ii) any request for non-public information relating to such Party or its Affiliates in connection with any Acquisition Proposal, specifying in each case, the material terms and conditions thereof (including a copy thereof if in writing or a written summary thereof if oral) and the identity of the party making such inquiry, proposal, offer or request for information. Each Party shall keep the others promptly informed of the status of any such inquiries, proposals, offers or requests for information. During the Interim Period, each Party shall, and shall cause its Representatives to, immediately cease and cause to be terminated any solicitations, discussions or negotiations with any Person with respect to any Acquisition Proposal and shall, and shall direct its Representatives to, cease and terminate any such solicitations, discussions or negotiations.
Section 6.07 No Trading. The Company acknowledges and agrees that it is aware, and that the Company’s Affiliates are aware (and each of their respective Representatives is aware or, upon receipt of any material nonpublic information of the Purchaser, will be advised) of the restrictions imposed by U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq promulgated thereunder or otherwise (the “Federal Securities Laws”) and other applicable foreign and domestic Laws on a Person possessing material nonpublic information about a publicly traded company. The Company hereby agrees that, while it is in possession of such material nonpublic information, it shall not, it shall cause its Subsidiaries not to, and it shall instruct its other Affiliates and Representatives not to, purchase or sell any securities of the Purchaser (unless otherwise explicitly contemplated in this Agreement), communicate such information to any third party, take any other action with respect to the Purchaser in violation of such Laws, or cause or encourage any third party to do any of the foregoing.
Section 6.08 Notification of Certain Matters. During the Interim Period, each Party shall give prompt notice to the other Parties if such Party or its Affiliates: (a) receives any notice or other communication in writing from any third party (including any Governmental Authority) alleging (i) that the Consent of such third party is or may be required in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or (ii) any non-compliance with any Law by such Party or its Affiliates; (b) receives any notice or other communication from any Governmental Authority in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; or (c) becomes aware of the commencement or threat, in writing, of any Legal Proceeding against such Party or any of its Affiliates, or any of their respective properties or assets, or, to the Knowledge of such Party, any officer, director, partner, member or manager, in his, her or its capacity as such, of such Party or of its Affiliates with respect to the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. No such notice shall constitute an acknowledgement or admission by the Party providing the notice regarding whether or not any of the conditions to the Closing have been satisfied or in determining whether or not any of the representations, warranties or covenants contained in this Agreement have been breached. In the event that any litigation related to this Agreement, any Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby is brought, or, to the knowledge of the Parties, respectively, threatened, against such Party, or the board of directors (or similar governing body) of such Party or its Subsidiaries, respectively, by a third party prior to the Closing, such Party shall promptly notify the other Party of any such litigation and keep the other Party reasonably informed with respect to the status thereof. Each Party shall provide the other Party the opportunity to participate in (subject to a customary joint defense agreement), but not control, the defense of any such litigation, shall give due consideration to the other Party’s advice with respect to such litigation and shall not settle or agree to settle any such litigation without the prior written consent of the other Party, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed.
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Section 6.09 Efforts. (a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, each Party shall use its reasonable best efforts, and shall cooperate fully with the other Parties, to take, or cause to be taken, all actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things reasonably necessary, proper or advisable under applicable Laws and regulations to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the receipt of all applicable Consents of Governmental Authorities) and to comply as promptly as practicable with all requirements of Governmental Authorities applicable to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(b) In furtherance and not in limitation of Section 6.09(a), to the extent required under any Laws that are designed to prohibit, restrict or regulate actions having the purpose or effect of monopolization or restraint of trade or lessening of competition through merger or acquisition (“Antitrust Laws”), each Party hereto agrees to make any required filing or application under Antitrust Laws, as applicable, at such Party’s sole cost and expense (except that any fees or other amounts charged by any Governmental Authorities relating to such filings or applications will be split equally between the Purchaser, on the one hand, and the Target Companies, on the other hand), with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby as promptly as practicable, to supply as promptly as reasonably practicable any additional information and documentary material that may be reasonably requested pursuant to Antitrust Laws and to take all other actions reasonably necessary, proper or advisable to cause the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting periods under Antitrust Laws as soon as practicable, including by requesting early termination of the waiting period provided for under the Antitrust Laws. Each Party shall, in connection with its efforts to obtain all requisite approvals and authorizations for the transactions contemplated by this Agreement under any Antitrust Law, use its commercially reasonable efforts to: (i) cooperate in all respects with each other Party or its Affiliates in connection with any filing or submission and in connection with any investigation or other inquiry, including any proceeding initiated by a private Person; (ii) keep the other Parties reasonably informed of any communication received by such Party or its Representatives from, or given by such Party or its Representatives to, any Governmental Authority and of any communication received or given in connection with any proceeding by a private Person, in each case regarding any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; (iii) permit a Representative of the other Parties and their respective outside counsel to review any communication given by it to, and consult with each other in advance of any meeting or conference with, any Governmental Authority or, in connection with any proceeding by a private Person, with any other Person, and to the extent permitted by such Governmental Authority or other Person, give a Representative or Representatives of the other Parties the opportunity to attend and participate in such meetings and conferences; (iv) in the event a Party’s Representative is prohibited from participating in or attending any meetings or conferences, the other Parties shall keep such Party promptly and reasonably apprised with respect thereto; and (v) use reasonable best efforts to cooperate in the filing of any memoranda, white papers, filings, correspondence or other written communications explaining or defending the transactions contemplated hereby, articulating any regulatory or competitive argument, and/or responding to requests or objections made by any Governmental Authority.
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(c) As soon as reasonably practicable following the date of this Agreement, the Parties shall reasonably cooperate with each other and use (and shall cause their respective Affiliates to use) their respective reasonable best efforts to prepare and file with Governmental Authorities any requests for approval, to the extent applicable or required, of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and shall use their reasonable best efforts to have such Governmental Authorities approve the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. Each Party shall give prompt written notice to the other Parties if such Party or any of its Representatives receives any notice from such Governmental Authorities in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and shall promptly furnish the other Parties with a copy of such Governmental Authority notice. If any Governmental Authority requires that a hearing or meeting be held in connection with its approval of the transactions contemplated hereby, whether prior to the Closing or after the Closing, each Party shall arrange for Representatives of such Party to be present for such hearing or meeting. If any objections are asserted with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement under any applicable Law or if any Legal Proceeding is instituted (or threatened to be instituted) by any applicable Governmental Authority or any private Person challenging any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document as violative of any applicable Law or which would otherwise prevent, materially impede or materially delay the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, the Parties shall use their reasonable best efforts to resolve any such objections or Legal Proceedings so as to timely permit consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents, including in order to resolve such objections or Legal Proceedings which, in any case if not resolved, could reasonably be expected to prevent, materially impede or materially delay the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby. In the event any Legal Proceeding is instituted (or threatened to be instituted) by a Governmental Authority or private Person challenging the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, or any Ancillary Document, the Parties shall, and shall cause their respective Representatives to, reasonably cooperate with each other and use their respective commercially reasonable efforts to contest and resist any such Legal Proceeding and to have vacated, lifted, reversed or overturned any Order, whether temporary, preliminary or permanent, that is in effect and that prohibits, prevents or restricts consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents.
(d) Prior to the Closing, each Party shall use its reasonable best efforts to obtain any Consents of Governmental Authorities or other third Persons as may be necessary for the consummation by such Party or its Affiliates of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or required as a result of the execution or performance of, or consummation of the transactions contemplated by, this Agreement by such Party or its Affiliates, and the other Parties shall provide reasonable cooperation in connection with such efforts.
Section 6.10 Trust Account. Upon satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in Article VII and provision of notice thereof to the Trustee (which notice Purchaser shall provide to the Trustee in accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement), (i) in accordance with and pursuant to the Trust Agreement, at the Closing, Purchaser (a) shall cause any documents, opinions and notices required to be delivered to the Trustee pursuant to the Trust Agreement to be so delivered and (b) shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the Trustee to, and the Trustee shall thereupon be obligated to (1) pay as and when due all amounts payable to the Purchaser Shareholders pursuant to the Redemption, and (2) pay all remaining amounts then available in the Trust Account to Purchaser for immediate use, subject to this Agreement and the Trust Agreement, and (ii) thereafter, the Trust Account shall terminate, except as otherwise provided therein.
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Section 6.11 Tax Matters.
(a) The Parties hereby agree and acknowledge that, for U.S. federal, and applicable state and local, income Tax purposes, it is intended that the Domestication, the Sponsor Share Conversion and the Merger qualify for their respective Intended Tax Treatments, and that this Agreement constitutes, and hereby is adopted as, a “plan of reorganization” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Sections 1.368-2(g) and 1.368-3(a) for purposes of Sections 354, 361 and 368 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder. No Party shall knowingly take or knowingly cause to be taken, or knowingly fail to take or knowingly cause to be failed to be taken, any action, if such action or failure to act, as the case may be, would reasonably be expected to prevent or impede the Domestication, the Sponsor Share Conversion or the Merger from qualifying for their respective Intended Tax Treatments. If the Company reasonably determines that there is a significant risk that the Merger will not qualify for its respective Intended Tax Treatment, but would reasonably be expected to so qualify if a second-step merger of the Surviving Corporation into a limited liability company disregarded as an entity separate from Purchaser for U.S. federal income tax purposes were consummated, in accordance with Delaware law, as promptly as practicable following the Merger (such second-step merger, the “Second Merger”), the Company shall notify and consult with Purchaser promptly after such determination, and the Company and Purchaser shall work together in good faith and use commercially reasonable efforts to restructure the Transactions to incorporate the Second Merger so that (and to the extent) the Merger and the Second Merger, taken together, qualify for such Intended Tax Treatment. The Parties hereby agree to file all Tax Returns on a basis consistent with the Intended Tax Treatments unless otherwise required pursuant to a “determination” within the meaning of Section 1313(a) of the Code or a change in applicable Law. Each Party agrees to use reasonable best efforts to promptly notify all other Parties of any challenge to the qualification of the Domestication, the Sponsor Share Conversion or the Merger for its Intended Tax Treatment by any Governmental Authority.
(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, if the SEC requires that a Tax opinion be prepared and submitted in connection with the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement and any other filings to be made with the SEC in connection with the Transactions, whether as an exhibit to the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement or otherwise, and if such a Tax opinion is being provided by a Tax counsel, the Parties hereto shall, and shall cause their Affiliates to, (i) reasonably cooperate in order to facilitate the issuance of any such Tax opinion and (ii) deliver to such counsel, to the extent requested by such counsel, a duly executed certificate reasonably satisfactory to such Party and such counsel dated as of the date requested by such counsel, containing such customary representations, warranties and covenants as shall be reasonably necessary or appropriate to enable such counsel to render any such opinion; provided, that, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, nothing in this Agreement shall require (x) any counsel to the Company or its advisors to provide an opinion with respect to any Tax matters relating to or affecting Merger Sub, the Purchaser or Purchaser Shareholders, including that the Domestication or the Sponsor Share Conversion qualify for their respective Intended Tax Treatments and (y) any counsel to the Purchaser or its advisors to provide an opinion with respect to any Tax matters relating to or affecting the Target Companies or the holders or beneficial owners of equity or other securities of the Target Companies, including that the Merger qualifies for its respective Intended Tax Treatment; provided, further, that neither this provision nor any other provision in this Agreement shall require the provision of a Tax opinion by any Party’s counsel or advisors to be an express condition precedent to the Closing.
(c) All transfer, documentary, sales, use, stamp, registration, excise, recording, registration, value added and other such similar Taxes and fees (including any penalties and interest) that become payable in connection with or by reason of the execution of this Agreement and the Transactions (“Transfer Taxes”) shall be borne and paid by the relevant Target Companies. The Target Companies shall, at their own expense, timely file all necessary Tax Returns or other documentation with respect to such Transfer Taxes and, if required by applicable Law, the other Parties shall join in the execution of any such Tax Returns or other documentation.
(d) Following the Closing Date, Purchaser shall reasonably cooperate with the shareholders of Purchaser prior to the Closing Date to make available to any such shareholder who so requests information reasonably necessary for such shareholder (or its direct or indirect owners) to compute any income or gain arising (i) if applicable, as a result of Purchaser’s status as a “passive foreign investment company” within the meaning of Section 1297(a) of the Code or a “controlled foreign corporation” within the meaning of Section 957(a) of the Code for any taxable period ending on or prior to the Closing, including timely (A) publicly posting a PFIC Annual Information Statement to enable such holders to make a “Qualifying Electing Fund” election under Section 1295 of the Code for such taxable period, and (B) providing information to enable applicable holders to report their allocable share of “subpart F” income under Section 951 of the Code for such taxable period and (ii) under Section 367(b) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder as a result of the transactions contemplated hereby.
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Section 6.12 Company Warrants. Prior to the Closing, the Company shall cause the Company Warrants (other than the Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants) to be amended so that they are capable of allowing for exercise on a cashless basis in connection with the Transactions by their terms.
Section 6.13 Further Assurances. The Parties hereto shall further 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 the transactions contemplated by this Agreement as soon as reasonably practicable, including preparing and filing as soon as practicable all documentation to effect all necessary notices, reports and other filings.
Section 6.14 The Preparation of Proxy Statement/Registration Statement; Shareholders’ Meeting and Approvals.
(a) Registration Statement and Prospectus.
(i) As promptly as practicable after the execution of this Agreement and receipt by the Purchaser of the PCAOB Financial Statements, the Updated 1H Financial Statements and any other audited or unaudited financial statements of the Target Companies that are required by applicable Law to be included in the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement, (x) the Purchaser and the Company shall jointly prepare and the Purchaser shall file with the SEC, mutually acceptable materials that shall include the proxy statement to be filed with the SEC as part of the Registration Statement and sent to the Purchaser Shareholders relating to the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting (such proxy statement, together with any amendments or supplements thereto, the “Proxy Statement”), and (y) the Purchaser shall prepare (with the Target Companies’ and their respective Representatives reasonable cooperation) and file with the SEC the Registration Statement, in which the Proxy Statement will be included as a prospectus (the “Proxy Statement/Registration Statement”), in connection with the registration under the Securities Act of (A) (x) the Domesticated Purchaser Units to be issued in exchange for the Cayman Purchaser Units, (y) the Domesticated Purchaser Rights to be issued in exchange for the Cayman Purchaser Rights and (z) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be issued in exchange for (I) the issued and outstanding Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares in the Domestication and (II) the Domesticated Purchaser Rights at the Effective Time, (B) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock that constitute the Aggregate Consideration, (C) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Series A Preferred Stock that constitute the Convertible Note Consideration, (D) the Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants that constitute the Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant Consideration, (E) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Domesticated Purchaser Series A Preferred Stock that constitute the Convertible Note Consideration, (F) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants that constitute the Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant Consideration, (G) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock subject to the Purchaser Options, and (H) the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock subject to the Purchaser RSUs (if any) (collectively, the “Registration Statement Securities”). The filing fees payable to the SEC in connection with the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement will be split 50/50 by the Purchaser and the Company. Each of the Purchaser and the Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement to comply with the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC, to have the Registration Statement declared effective under the Securities Act as promptly as practicable after such filing and to keep the Registration Statement effective as long as is necessary to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby. The Purchaser also agrees to use its reasonable best efforts to obtain all necessary state securities law or “Blue Sky” permits and approvals required to carry out the transactions contemplated hereby, and the Company shall furnish all information concerning the Target Companies and any of their respective members or stockholders as may be reasonably requested in connection with any such action. Each of the Purchaser and the Company agrees to furnish to the other party all information concerning itself, its Subsidiaries, officers, directors, managers, stockholders, and other equityholders and information regarding such other matters as may be reasonably necessary or advisable or as may be reasonably requested in connection with the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement, a Current Report on Form 8-K pursuant to the Exchange Act in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, or any other statement, filing, notice or application made by or on behalf of the Purchaser or the Target Companies to any regulatory authority (including the Nasdaq) in connection with the Transactions (the “Offer Documents”).
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(ii) To the extent not prohibited by Law, the Purchaser will advise the Company, reasonably promptly after the Purchaser receives notice thereof, of the time when the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement has become effective or any supplement or amendment has been filed, of the issuance of any stop order or the suspension of the qualification of the Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or written threat of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the SEC for the amendment or supplement of the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement or for additional information. To the extent not prohibited by Law, the Company and their counsel shall be given a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement and any Offer Document each time before any such document is filed with the SEC, and the Purchaser shall give reasonable and good faith consideration to any comments made by the Company and its counsel. To the extent not prohibited by Law, the Purchaser shall provide the Company and their counsel with (i) any comments or other communications, whether written or oral, that the Purchaser or its counsel may receive from time to time from the SEC or its staff with respect to the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement or Offer Documents promptly after receipt of those comments or other communications and (ii) a reasonable opportunity to participate in the response of the Purchaser to those comments and to provide comments on that response (to which reasonable and good faith consideration shall be given), including by participating with the Company or its counsel in any discussions or meetings with the SEC.
(iii) Each of the Purchaser and the Company shall use reasonable best efforts to ensure that none of the information supplied by or on its behalf for inclusion or incorporation by reference in (A) the Registration Statement will, at the time the Registration Statement is filed with the SEC, at each time at which it is amended and at the time it becomes effective under the Securities Act, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, not misleading or (B) the Proxy Statement will, at the date it is first mailed to the Purchaser Shareholders and at the time of the Purchaser Shareholders’ 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.
(iv) If at any time prior to the Closing any information relating to the Company, the Purchaser or any of their respective Subsidiaries, Affiliates, directors or officers is discovered by the Company or the Purchaser, which is required to be set forth in an amendment or supplement to the Proxy Statement or the Registration Statement, so that neither of such documents would include any misstatement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, with respect to the Proxy Statement, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, the party which discovers such information shall promptly notify the other parties and an appropriate amendment or supplement describing such information shall be promptly filed with the SEC and, to the extent required by Law, disseminated to the Purchaser Shareholders.
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(b) Purchaser Shareholder Approval.
(i) The Purchaser shall (a) as promptly as practicable after the Registration Statement is declared effective under the Securities Act, (i) cause the Proxy Statement to be disseminated to Purchaser Shareholders in compliance with applicable Law, (ii) solely with respect to the following clause (1), duly (1) give notice of and (2) convene and hold an extraordinary general meeting of Purchaser Shareholders (the “Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting”) in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents and applicable Law, for a date no later than thirty (30) Business Days following the date the Registration Statement is declared effective, and (iii) solicit proxies from the holders of Purchaser Ordinary Shares to vote in favor of each of the Transaction Proposals, and (b) provide its shareholders with the opportunity to elect to effect a Redemption in conjunction with the shareholder vote on the Transaction Proposals. The Purchaser shall, through its board of directors, recommend to the Purchaser Shareholders (A) to approve, as an ordinary resolution, this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby or referred to herein, including the Domestication and the Merger, in accordance with applicable Law and exchange rules and regulations, (B) to approve, as a special resolution passed by the holders of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares entitled to vote thereon, the Domestication, (C) to approve, as a special resolution passed by the holders of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares entitled to vote thereon, the adoption of the Purchaser Charter upon Domestication and the Purchaser Bylaws upon Domestication, including any separate or unbundled advisory proposals as are required to implement the foregoing, (D) to approve, as an ordinary resolution, the issuance of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock, shares of Domesticated Purchaser Series A Preferred Stock and Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants as required by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635, (E) to approve, as an ordinary resolution, the adoption by the Purchaser of the Purchaser Incentive Award Plan and the Purchaser ESPP (as defined below), (F) to approve, as an ordinary resolution passed by the holders of the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares entitled to vote thereon, the appointment of the director nominees in accordance with Section 6.18 of this Agreement, (G) to approve, as an ordinary resolution (or if required by applicable Law, or the Purchaser Organizational Documents as a special resolution), any other proposals as the SEC (or staff member thereof) may indicate are necessary in its comments to the Registration Statement or correspondence related thereto, (H) to approve, as an ordinary resolution (or if required by applicable Law, or the Purchaser Organizational Documents as a special resolution), any other proposals as reasonably agreed by the Purchaser and the Company to be necessary or appropriate in connection with the Transactions, including but not limited to any amendments to the Purchaser Organizational Documents prior to Domestication, for the purposes of approving, or in conjunction with the consummation of, the Business Combination, and (I) to approve, as an ordinary resolution, the adjournment of the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting to a later date or dates, if necessary or convenient, in the reasonable determination of the chairman of the Purchaser (x) to permit further solicitation and vote of proxies in the event that there are insufficient votes for any of the foregoing, (y) if the Purchaser determines that one or more of the conditions to Closing is not or will not be satisfied or waived or (z) to facilitate the Domestication, the Merger or any other Transaction (such proposals in (A) through (I), together, the “Transaction Proposals”), or if the Purchaser determines that one or more of the conditions to Closing is not satisfied or waived, and include such recommendation in the Proxy Statement. The board of directors of Purchaser shall not, except as required by applicable Law, withdraw, amend, qualify or modify its recommendation to the shareholders of the Purchaser that they vote in favor of the Transaction Proposals (together with any withdrawal, amendment, qualification or modification of its recommendation to the shareholders of Purchaser described in the Recitals hereto, a “Modification in Recommendation”). To the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, (x) the Purchaser’s obligations to establish a record date for, duly call, give notice of, convene and hold the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting shall not be affected by any Modification in Recommendation, (y) the Purchaser agrees to establish a record date for, duly call, give notice of, convene and hold the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting and submit for approval the Transaction Proposals and (z) the Purchaser agrees that if the Purchaser Shareholder Approval shall not have been obtained at any such Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting, then the Purchaser shall promptly continue to take all such necessary actions, including the actions required by this Section 6.14(b), and hold additional Purchaser Shareholders’ Meetings in order to obtain the Purchaser Shareholder Approval; provided, that, the Purchaser may make one or more successive postponements or, with the consent of the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting, adjournments of the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting, subject to applicable Law and the Purchaser Organizational Documents; provided that when the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting is postponed or adjourned for thirty days or more, notice of the postponed or adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. The Purchaser agrees that it shall provide the holders of Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares the opportunity to elect redemption of such Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares in connection with the vote on the Transaction Proposals at the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting, as required by the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents (the “Redemption”).
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(c) Company Stockholder Approvals.
(i) Upon the terms set forth in this Agreement, the Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to solicit and obtain the Requisite Shareholder Approval in the form of an irrevocable written consent (the “Written Consent”) of each of the Sellers pursuant to the terms of the Seller Voting and Support Agreement promptly following the time at which the Registration Statement shall have been declared effective under the Securities Act and delivered or otherwise made available to the Sellers. The Company shall provide the Purchaser with copies of each Written Consent it receives within two (2) Business Days following receipt of such Written Consent.
(ii) To the extent the Requisite Shareholder Approval is not delivered pursuant to Section 6.14(c)(i) within three (3) Business Days following the effectiveness of the Registration Statement (as declared effective under the Securities Act), then the Company shall take all action necessary to duly call, given notice, convene and hold a meeting of the shareholders of the Company as soon as practicable, and, in connection therewith, the Company shall (a) mail an information statement and proxy solicitation which shall include, without limitation, the Registration Statement in advance of such meeting for the purpose of soliciting from the shareholders of the Company proxies to vote in favor of the adoption of this Agreement and approval of the Transactions; and (b) use its reasonable best efforts to secure the vote or consent of the shareholders of the Company required by applicable Law to obtain such approval. The Company shall keep the Purchaser updated with respect to proxy solicitation results as requested by the Purchaser. Once the shareholder meeting of the Company has been duly called and noticed, the Company shall not postpone or adjourn such shareholder meeting without the consent of the Purchaser (other than: (i) in order to obtain a quorum of shareholders of the Company; or (ii) as reasonably determined by the Company to comply with applicable Law). The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cooperate with the Purchaser to hold the shareholder meeting of the Company prior to, or, on the same day and at the same time as the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting as soon as reasonably practicable after the date of this Agreement, and to set the same record date for each such meeting.
Section 6.15 Employee Matters.
(a) The Purchaser and the Company shall use their commercially reasonable efforts to agree, prior to the Closing, to a form of equity incentive plan that provides for the grant of equity and equity-based incentive awards to eligible service providers of the Company and the Company’s Subsidiaries following the Closing (the “Purchaser Incentive Award Plan”) and a form of employee stock purchase plan in which eligible employees of the Company and the Company’s Subsidiaries may be eligible to participate following the Closing (the “Purchaser ESPP”), and such agreement by either Party shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. If such Purchaser Incentive Award Plan and Purchaser ESPP are in agreed form prior to the effective date of the Registration Statement, the Purchaser shall, prior to the Closing Date, adopt such Purchaser Incentive Award Plan and Purchaser ESPP and submit them for approval of the Purchaser Shareholders at the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting. As soon as practicable following the date that is sixty (60) days after the Closing Date and subject to applicable securities Laws, Purchaser shall file an effective registration statement on Form S-8 (or other applicable form) with respect to the Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock issuable under the Purchaser Incentive Award Plan and the Purchaser ESPP, and Purchaser shall use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement(s) (and maintain the current status of the prospectus or prospectuses contained therein) for so long as awards granted pursuant to the Purchaser Incentive Award Plan and the Purchaser ESPP remain outstanding. The Purchaser and the Company shall determine the initial awards that shall be granted under the Purchaser Incentive Award Plan to eligible service providers identified by the Company and agreed to by the Purchaser as soon as reasonably practicable following the Effective Time and in a form of award agreement, in each case, as mutually agreed between the Purchaser and the Company based upon benchmarking against peer public companies (taking into account employee hiring needs and the development stage nature of the Company) and in consultation with an independent outside compensation advisor (the “Initial Grants”), such agreement by either Party not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. For clarity, the Purchaser’s rights under this Section 6.15(a) with respect to the Initial Grants shall not apply to any awards that are granted under the Purchaser Incentive Award Plan following the Effective Time, other than the Initial Grants. For further clarity, any other awards that are granted under the Purchaser Incentive Award Plan after the Effective Time shall be determined and approved by the Post-Closing Purchaser Board or the compensation committee of the Post-Closing Purchaser Board if designated for such purpose by the Post-Closing Purchaser Board.
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(b) No Third-Party Beneficiaries. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, each of the parties to this Agreement acknowledges and agrees that all provisions contained in this Section 6.15 are included for the sole benefit of Purchaser and the Company, and that nothing in this Agreement, whether express or implied, (i) shall be construed to establish, amend, or modify any employee benefit plan, program, agreement or arrangement, (ii) shall limit the right of Purchaser, the Company or their respective Affiliates to amend, terminate or otherwise modify any Company Benefit Plan or other employee benefit plan, agreement or other arrangement following the Closing Date, or (iii) shall confer upon any Person who is not a party to this Agreement (including any equityholder, any current or former director, manager, officer, employee or independent contractor of the Company, or any participant in any Company Benefit Plan or other employee benefit plan, agreement or other arrangement (or any dependent or beneficiary thereof)), any right to continued or resumed employment or recall, any right to compensation or benefits, or any third-party beneficiary or other right of any kind or nature whatsoever.
Section 6.16 Public Announcements.
(a) The Parties agree that during the Interim Period no public release, filing or announcement concerning this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby shall be issued by any Party or any of their Affiliates without the prior written consent of the Purchaser and the Company (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), except as such release or announcement may be required by applicable Law or the rules or regulations of any securities exchange, in which case the applicable Party shall use commercially reasonable efforts to allow the other Parties reasonable time to comment on, and arrange for any required filing with respect to, such release or announcement in advance of such issuance.
(b) The Parties shall mutually agree upon and, as promptly as practicable after the execution of this Agreement, issue a press release announcing the execution of this Agreement (the “Signing Press Release”). Promptly after the issuance of the Signing Press Release (but in any event within four (4) Business Days thereafter), the Purchaser shall file a current report on Form 8-K (the “Signing Filing”) with the Signing Press Release and a description of this Agreement as required by Federal Securities Laws, which the Company shall review, comment upon and approve (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) prior to filing. The Parties shall mutually agree upon and, as promptly as practicable after the Closing, issue a press release announcing the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (the “Closing Press Release”). Promptly after the issuance of the Closing Press Release (but in any event within four (4) Business Days thereafter), the Purchaser shall file a current report on Form 8-K (the “Closing Filing”) with the Closing Press Release and a description of the Closing as required by Federal Securities Laws which the Purchaser shall review, comment upon and approve (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) prior to filing. In connection with the preparation of the Signing Press Release, the Signing Filing, the Closing Filing, the Closing Press Release, or any other report, statement, filing notice or application made by or on behalf of a Party to any Governmental Authority or other third party in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, each Party shall, upon request by any other Party, furnish the Parties with all information concerning themselves, their respective directors, officers and equity holders, and such other matters as may be reasonably necessary or advisable in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, or any other report, statement, filing, notice or application made by or on behalf of a Party to any third party and/ or any Governmental Authority in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby.
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Section 6.17 Confidential Information. (a) The Company hereby agrees that during the Interim Period and, in the event that this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Article VIII, for a period of two (2) years after such termination, it shall, and shall cause its Affiliates and its and their respective Representatives to, except to the extent otherwise consented to by Purchaser: (i) treat and hold in strict confidence any Purchaser Confidential Information, and will not use for any purpose (except in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, performing their obligations hereunder or thereunder, enforcing their rights hereunder or thereunder, or in furtherance of their authorized duties on behalf of the Purchaser), nor directly or indirectly disclose, distribute, publish, disseminate or otherwise make available to any third party any of the Purchaser Confidential Information without the Purchaser’s prior written consent; and (ii) in the event that the Company or any of its Affiliates or its or their respective Representatives, during the Interim Period or, in the event that this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Article VIII, for a period of two (2) years after such termination, becomes legally obligated to disclose any Purchaser Confidential Information, (A) provide the Purchaser, to the extent legally permitted, with prompt written notice of such requirement so that the Purchaser or an Affiliate thereof may seek, at the Purchaser’s sole cost and expense, a protective Order or other remedy or waive compliance with this Section 6.17(a), and (B) in the event that such protective Order or other remedy is not obtained, or the Purchaser waives compliance with this Section 6.17(a) furnish only that portion of such Purchaser Confidential Information; provided, that with respect to Purchaser Confidential Information constituting trade secrets under applicable Law and has been identified as such to the Company in writing prior to or promptly after its disclosure to the Company or its Representatives, such covenants shall apply for as long as such Purchaser Confidential Information constitutes a trade secret under applicable Law and continues to constitute Purchaser Confidential Information under this Agreement. In the event that this Agreement is terminated and the transactions contemplated hereby are not consummated, the Company shall, and shall cause its Representatives to, promptly deliver to the Purchaser or destroy (at the Purchaser’s election) any and all copies (in whatever form or medium) of Purchaser Confidential Information and destroy all notes, memoranda, summaries, analyses, compilations and other writings related thereto or based thereon; provided, however, that the Company, its Affiliates and its and their respective Representatives shall be entitled to keep any records required by (i) applicable Law or (ii) legal, fiduciary or professional obligation, (iii) in accordance with written document retention policies and procedures and/or (iv) contained in any electronic file created pursuant to bona fide backup storage or archival processes in the ordinary course of business; and provided, further, that any Purchaser Confidential Information that is not returned or destroyed shall remain subject to the confidentiality obligations set forth in this Agreement.
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(b) The Purchaser and ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Sub hereby agree that during the Interim Period and, in the event that this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Article VIII, for a period of two (2) years after such termination, they shall, and shall cause their respective Affiliates and their Representatives to, except to the extent otherwise consented to by the Company: (i) treat and hold in strict confidence any Company Confidential Information, and will not use for any purpose (except in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, performing its obligations hereunder or thereunder or enforcing its rights hereunder or thereunder), nor directly or indirectly disclose, distribute, publish, disseminate or otherwise make available to any third party any of the Company Confidential Information without the Company’s prior written consent; and (ii) in the event that the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any of its Representatives, during the Interim Period or, in the event that this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Article VIII, for a period of two (2) years after such termination, becomes legally obligated to disclose any Company Confidential Information, (A) provide the Company to the extent legally permitted with prompt written notice of such requirement so that the Company may seek, at the Company’s sole cost and expense, a protective Order or other remedy or waive compliance with this Section 6.17(b) and (B) in the event that such protective Order or other remedy is not obtained, or the Company waives compliance with this Section 6.17(b), furnish only that portion of such Company Confidential Information which is legally required to be provided as advised in writing by outside counsel and to exercise its commercially reasonable efforts to obtain assurances that confidential treatment will be accorded such Company Confidential Information; provided, that with respect to Company Confidential Information constituting trade secrets under applicable Law and that has been identified as such to the Purchaser in writing prior to or promptly after its disclosure to the Purchaser or its Representatives, such covenants shall apply for as long as such Company Confidential Information constitutes a trade secret under applicable Law and continues to constitute Company Confidential Information under this Agreement. In the event that this Agreement is terminated and the transactions contemplated hereby are not consummated, the Purchaser shall, and shall cause its Representatives to, promptly deliver to the Company or destroy (at the Purchaser’s election) any and all copies (in whatever form or medium) of Company Confidential Information and destroy all notes, memoranda, summaries, analyses, compilations and other writings related thereto or based thereon; provided, however, that the Purchaser, Merger Sub and their respective Affiliates and Representatives shall be entitled to keep any records required by applicable Law or legal, fiduciary or professional obligation, in accordance with written document retention policies and procedures and/or contained in any electronic file created pursuant to bona fide backup storage or archival processes in the ordinary course of business; and provided, further, that any Company Confidential Information that is not returned or destroyed shall remain subject to the confidentiality obligations set forth in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) the Purchaser, Merger Sub and their respective Representatives shall be permitted to disclose any and all Company Confidential Information to the extent required by the Federal Securities Laws, (ii) no notice or further action shall be required in respect of disclosure of the Company Confidential Information (or provision of access thereto) to regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations having authority over the Purchaser, Merger Sub or their respective Representatives in connection with routine regulatory examinations or pursuant to statutory requirements that are not targeted at the Target Companies, the Transactions or the Company Confidential Information.
Section 6.18 Documents and Information. After the Closing Date, the Purchaser and the Company shall, and shall cause their respective Subsidiaries to, until the seventh (7th) anniversary of the Closing Date, retain all books, records and other documents pertaining to the business of the Target Companies in existence on the Closing Date and make the same available for inspection and copying by the Purchaser during normal business hours of the Company and its Subsidiaries, as applicable, upon reasonable request and upon reasonable notice. No such books, records or documents shall be destroyed after the seventh (7th) anniversary of the Closing Date by the Purchaser or its Subsidiaries (including any Target Company) without first advising a representative of the Sponsor (or its successors or assigns) in writing and giving such representative a reasonable opportunity to obtain possession thereof.
Section 6.19 Post-Closing Board of Directors and Executive Officers.
(a) The Parties shall take all such action within their power as may be necessary or appropriate so that effective as of the Closing, the Purchaser’s board of directors (the “Post-Closing Purchaser Board”) will not be classified as to term and will initially consist of the individuals listed on Section 6.19(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter (as may be amended or supplemented as provided in Section 6.19(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter), one of whom will be appointed as initial chairperson of the Post-Closing Purchaser Board, one of whom will be appointed as initial chairperson of the audit committee and one of whom will be appointed as initial chairperson on the compensation committee as set forth on Section 6.19(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter (the “Designated Directors”). To the extent any Designated Director declines to serve, is unable to serve, or is anticipated to fail to meet the applicable independence and other requirements of Nasdaq and SEC rules (as mutually determined by the Company and the Purchaser with the advice of counsel), the Company and the Purchaser shall mutually agree upon a replacement individual to serve as a director on the Post-Closing Purchaser Board. The Purchaser shall use its reasonable best efforts to obtain resignations effective immediately after Closing from the directors of the Purchaser that are not to remain directors on the Post-Closing Purchaser Board.
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(b) The Parties agree that (i) their mutual intent is that the initial offices and committees of the Post-Closing Purchaser Board, and certain initial actions of the Post-Closing Purchaser Board, will be as set forth on Section 6.19(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter subject to the limitations therein (as may be amended or supplemented as mutually agreed by the Company and the Purchaser), and (ii) they will use commercially reasonable efforts to prepare mutually agreeable written resolutions implementing such designations and appointments for the Post-Closing Purchaser Board to consider and, if thought fit, to adopt immediately following the Closing (or as soon thereafter as the Post-Closing Purchaser Board determines), provided, that each of the Parties acknowledges and agrees that such designations, appointments and actions (including with respect to clause (i) and (ii) above) shall be made by the Post-Closing Purchaser Board in its sole and absolute discretion.
(c) At or prior to the Closing, the Company, if requested, and the Purchaser shall provide each initial director with a customary director indemnification agreement, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to such director, the Company and the Purchaser.
(d) The Parties shall take all action necessary, including the Purchaser causing the executive officers of ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ to resign, so that the individuals serving as the executive officers of the Purchaser immediately after the Closing will be (i) the individuals listed on Section 6.19(d) of the Company Disclosure Letter (as may be amended or supplemented as mutually agreed by the Company and the Purchaser) and (ii) such other individuals as mutually agreed by the Company and the Purchaser.
Section 6.20 Indemnification of Directors and Officers; Tail Insurance. (a) The Parties agree that for a period of six (6) years from the Closing Date, the Parties shall, and shall cause the Purchaser, Merger Sub and the Target Companies to, maintain in effect the exculpation, indemnification and advancement of expenses provisions in favor of any individual who, at or prior to the Closing, was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Purchaser, Merger Sub and the Target Companies, as the case may be, or who, at the request of the Parties, as the case may be, served as a director, officer, member, manager, trustee or fiduciary of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, pension or other employee benefit plan or enterprise (collectively, with such individual’s heirs, executors or administrators, (each, together with such Person’s heirs, executors or administrators, a “D&O Indemnified Party”)), of the Purchaser’s, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Sub’s and the Target Companies’ respective Organizational Documents as in effect immediately prior to the Closing Date or in any indemnification agreements of the Purchaser, Merger Sub or any of the Target Companies, on the one hand, with any D&O Indemnified Party, on the other hand, as in effect immediately prior to the Closing Date, and the Parties shall, and shall cause the Purchaser, Merger Sub and the Target Companies to, not amend, repeal or otherwise modify any such provisions in any manner that would adversely affect the rights thereunder of any D&O Indemnified Party; provided, however, that all rights to indemnification or advancement of expenses in respect of any Legal Proceedings pending or asserted or any claim made within such period shall continue until the disposition of such Legal Proceeding or resolution of such claim. From and after the Closing Date, the Purchaser shall cause the Target Companies to honor, in accordance with their respective terms, each of the covenants contained in this Section 6.20 without limit as to time.
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(b) At or prior to the Closing, the Purchaser shall purchase a “tail” directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policy (the “D&O Tail”) in respect of acts or omissions occurring prior to the Closing covering each such Person that is covered by a directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policy of the Purchaser or one or more Target Companies, respectively, on terms with respect to coverage, deductibles and amounts no less favorable than those of such applicable policy in effect on the date of this Agreement for the six (6) year period following the Closing; provided that in no event shall the Purchaser be required to expend on the premium thereof in excess of 300% of the aggregate annual premiums currently payable by the Purchaser or the Target Companies with respect to such current policies (the “Premium Cap”); provided, further, that if such minimum coverage under any such D&O Tail is or becomes not available at the Premium Cap, then any such D&O Tail shall contain the maximum coverage available at the Premium Cap. The Purchaser shall maintain the D&O Tail in full force and effect for its full term and cause all obligations thereunder to be honored by the Target Companies, as applicable, and no other party shall have any further obligation to purchase or pay for such insurance pursuant to this Section 6.20(b). No claims made under or in respect of the D&O Tail related to any fiduciary or employee of any Target Company shall be settled without the prior written consent of the Purchaser.
(c) The rights of each D&O Indemnified Party hereunder shall be in addition to, and not in limitation of, any other rights such Person may have under the Organizational Documents of the Purchaser or any Target Company, any other indemnification arrangement, any Law or otherwise. The obligations of the Purchaser and the Target Companies under this Section 6.19(c) shall not be terminated or modified after the Closing in such a manner as to materially and adversely affect any D&O Indemnified Party without the consent of such D&O Indemnified Party. The provisions of this Section 6.20 shall survive the Closing and expressly are intended to benefit, and are enforceable by, each of the D&O Indemnified Parties, each of whom is an intended third-party beneficiary of this Section 6.20.
(d) If the Purchaser or, after the Closing, any Target Company, or any of their respective successors or assigns: (i) consolidates with or merges into any other Person and shall not be the continuing or surviving entity of such consolidation or merger; or (ii) transfers or conveys all or substantially all of its properties and assets to any Person, then, in each such case, proper provision shall be made so that the successors and assigns of the Purchaser or such Target Company, as applicable, assume the obligations set forth in this Section 6.20.
Section 6.21 PIPE Investment. The Purchaser and the Company shall use their reasonable best efforts to satisfy the conditions of the closing obligations contained in the subscription agreements relating to the PIPE Investment and consummate the transactions contemplated thereby.
Section 6.22 Redemption. In connection with the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting, the Purchaser agrees that it shall provide the holders of Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares the opportunity to elect redemption of such Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares, as required by the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents in the Redemption. Subject to receipt of the Purchaser Shareholder Approval, the Purchaser shall carry out the Redemption (prior to the Domestication, or at such later time as required by the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents) and use the proceeds held in the Trust Account to redeem the Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares of holders who properly exercise their right to redemption in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents.
Section 6.23 Domestication. Subject to receipt of the Purchaser Shareholder Approval, at least one (1) day prior to the Closing, the Purchaser shall, in accordance with applicable Law, any applicable rules and regulations of the SEC, the Nasdaq and the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, as applicable, cause the Domestication to become effective, including by (a) filing with the Delaware Secretary of State a certificate of domestication with respect to the Domestication, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Purchaser and the Company, together with the Purchaser Charter upon Domestication, in each case, in accordance with the provisions thereof and applicable Law, and (b) completing and making and procuring all those filings required to be made with the Cayman Registrar in connection with the Domestication.
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Section 6.24 Adoption of Proxy Statement/Registration Statement. Within one (1) Business Day of the Closing Date, the post-Domestication Purchaser, as the successor to the pre-Domestication Purchaser, shall file a post-effective amendment to the Proxy Statement/Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 414(d) of the Securities Act.
Section 6.25 Affiliate Agreements. Except as set forth on Section 6.25 of the Company Disclosure Letter, all agreements with Related Persons shall be terminated or settled at or prior to the Closing without further liability to the Purchaser or the Target Companies, in each case.
Section 6.26 NZ Companies Office. The Company shall deliver to Purchaser on the Closing Date or as soon as reasonably practicable following the Closing Date confirmation of (A) the necessary updates having been made to the company register of Merlin Labs NZ Limited on the New Zealand Companies Office reflecting that the Closing has occurred; (B) authorizations granted on behalf of Merlin Labs NZ Limited to its officers or representatives on the New Zealand Companies Office having been transferred to the Purchaser’s officers or representatives or otherwise revoked; and (C) bank account authorizations granted on behalf of Merlin Labs NZ Limited to its officers or representatives having been transferred to the Purchaser’s officers or representatives or otherwise revoked.
Section 6.27 Sponsor Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law and the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, the Purchaser hereby agrees to defend, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate (including the advancement of expenses to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law) the Sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors (each, a “Sponsor Indemnitee”) from any and all costs, fees, expenses, judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties, reasonable attorneys’ fees and amounts paid in settlement (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such costs, fees, expenses, judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement) actually, and reasonably, incurred by a Sponsor Indemnitee or on a Sponsor Indemnitee’s behalf in connection with any threatened, pending or completed action, suit, arbitration, mediation, alternate dispute resolution mechanism, investigation, inquiry, hearing or any other actual, threatened or completed proceeding instituted by the Purchaser or any third party, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative in nature, in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by a Sponsor Indemnitee for the Purchaser or any liability arising with respect to a Sponsor Indemnitee’s activities in connection with the affairs of the Purchaser (in each case to the extent that such indemnification, hold harmless and exoneration obligations with respect to such matters are not expressly covered by a separate written agreement between the Purchaser and the applicable Sponsor Indemnitee); provided, that in no event shall a Sponsor Indemnitee be entitled to be indemnified or held harmless hereunder in respect of any costs, fees, expenses, judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement (if any) that a Sponsor Indemnitee may incur by reason of such person’s own actual fraud or intentional misconduct; provided, further, that, for the avoidance of doubt, under no circumstance shall a Sponsor Indemnitee have a claim to any monies or assets held in the Trust Account, and the Purchaser shall not be permitted to procure monies or assets held in the Trust Account for the satisfaction of its obligations to any Sponsor Indemnitee in respect of the indemnification provided hereunder. The Sponsor Indemnitees shall be third party beneficiaries of this Section 6.27.
Section 6.28 Intellectual Property Matters.
(a) To the extent that any Company Registered IP is subject to any form of Liens, other than Permitted Liens, prior to the Closing Date, the applicable Target Company shall have prepared, executed, filed and recorded (and paid all costs, including legal and filing fees) as necessary to remove such unpermitted Liens at or prior to the Closing Date (all such actions, the “IP Actions”). The applicable Target Company shall provide, at Purchaser’s reasonable request, copies of all documentation and written communications concerning such IP Actions to the Purchaser prior to or at Closing.
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(b) Following the Closing, to the extent that any Persons (including any past or current employees, contractors, vendors, or consultants of the Target Companies) who have contributed (or may in the future contribute) to the creation, authorship, conception, or development of any product, service or material Owned Intellectual Property (including any Company Software) and who have not previously executed a valid written agreement presently assigning to the applicable Target Company all right, title, and interest therein and thereto (and all such right, title, and interest therein and thereto has not vested in the applicable Target Company by operation of appliable Laws), the Target Companies shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain duly executed valid written agreements with each such Person, pursuant to which such Person (A) presently assigns to the applicable Target Company all right, title and interest therein and thereto; (B) waives all moral, economic, or similar rights therein or thereto; and (C) agrees to sufficiently protective confidentiality obligations with respect thereto.
Section 6.29 Consents and Waivers. Prior to the Redemption, (i) the Company shall obtain an irrevocable waiver from CRHL of any rights that CRHL or any other Person may have under or in connection with the CRHL Loan to convert amounts outstanding under the CRHL Loan into equity securities of the Company or otherwise (subject only to repayment of the CRHL Loan) and shall provide the Purchaser with evidence (satisfactory to the Purchaser) of such irrevocable waiver, and (ii) the Company shall obtain the consents and approvals set forth on Section 6.29 of the Company Disclosure Letter.
Section 6.30 Name Change. Prior to or concurrent with the Domestication, the Company shall file a certificate of amendment to the certificate of incorporation of the Company with the Secretary of State of Delaware changing the Company’s corporate name to “Merlin Labs Operations, Inc.” or another name mutually agreed on by the Purchaser and the Company prior to the Domestication.
Article
VII
Closing Conditions
Section 7.01 Conditions to Each Party’s Obligations. The obligations of each Party to consummate the Transactions shall be subject to the satisfaction or written waiver (where permissible) by the Company and the Purchaser of the following conditions:
(a) Required Purchaser Shareholder Approval. The Purchaser Shareholder Approval shall have been obtained.
(b) Requisite Shareholder Approval. The Requisite Shareholder Approval shall have been obtained.
(c) No Adverse Law or Order. No Governmental Authority shall have enacted, issued, promulgated, enforced or entered any Law (whether temporary, preliminary or permanent) or Order that is then in effect and which has the effect of making the transactions or agreements contemplated by this Agreement illegal or which otherwise prevents or prohibits consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(d) Registration Statement. The Registration Statement shall have been declared effective under the Securities Act by the SEC and shall remain effective as of the Closing, and no stop order or similar order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been issued and be in effect with respect to the Registration Statement and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the SEC and not withdrawn.
(e) Nasdaq Listing. The shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock to be issued in connection with the Transactions shall be conditionally approved for listing upon the Closing on Nasdaq subject to any requirement to have a sufficient number of round lot holders of the Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock.
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(f) Approvals. All applicable waiting periods (and any extensions thereof) under the HSR Act with respect to the Transactions shall have expired or been terminated, and all other consents, waivers and approvals from Governmental Authorities, if any, that are required to consummate the Transactions, shall have expired, been terminated, been made or been obtained.
Section 7.02 Conditions to Obligations of the Company. In addition to the conditions specified in Section 7.01, the obligations of the Company to consummate the Transactions shall be subject to the satisfaction or written waiver (where permissible) by the Company of the following conditions:
(a) Representations and Warranties. All of the representations and warranties of the Purchaser and Merger Sub set forth in this Agreement and in any certificate delivered by or on behalf of the Purchaser pursuant hereto shall be true and correct on and as of the date of this Agreement and on and as of the Closing Date as if made on the Closing Date, except for (i) those representations and warranties that address matters only as of a particular date (which representations and warranties shall have been accurate as of such date), and (ii) any failures to be true and correct that (without giving effect to any qualifications or limitations as to materiality or Purchaser Material Adverse Effect), individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect.
(b) Agreements and Covenants. The Purchaser and Merger Sub shall have performed in all material respects all of their respective obligations and complied in all material respects with all of their respective agreements and covenants under this Agreement to be performed or complied with by them on or prior to the Closing Date.
(c) No Purchaser Material Adverse Effect. No Purchaser Material Adverse Effect shall have occurred with respect to the Purchaser since the date of this Agreement that is continuing and uncured.
(d) Domestication. The Domestication shall have been completed as provided in Section 6.23 and a time-stamped copy of the certificate issued by the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware in relation thereto shall have been delivered to the Company.
(e) Trust Account. Purchaser shall have made appropriate arrangements to have the net proceeds remaining in the Trust Account (after giving effect to the Redemption) available to Purchaser at the Closing.
(f) Closing Deliveries.
(i) Officer Certificate. The Purchaser shall have delivered to the Company a certificate, dated the Closing Date, signed by an executive officer of the Purchaser in such capacity, certifying as to the satisfaction of the conditions specified in Sections 7.02(a), 7.02(b) and 7.02(c).
(ii) Secretary Certificate. The Purchaser shall have delivered to the Company a certificate from its secretary or other executive officer certifying as to, and attaching, (A) copies of the Purchaser Charter upon Domestication and the Purchaser Bylaws upon Domestication as in effect as of the Closing Date (after giving effect to the Domestication) and (B) the resolutions of the Purchaser’s board of directors authorizing and approving the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and each of the Ancillary Documents to which it is a party or by which it is bound, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby.
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(iii) ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS. The Purchaser shall have delivered to the Company:
(A) A copy of the A&R Registration Rights Agreement, duly executed by the Purchaser and the Sponsor; and
(B) A copy of the Lock-Up Agreements, duly executed by the Purchaser and the Sponsor, as applicable.
Section 7.03 Conditions to Obligations of the Purchaser and Merger Sub. In addition to the conditions specified in Section 7.01, the obligations of the Purchaser and Merger Sub to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are subject to the satisfaction or written waiver (where available) of the following conditions:
(a) Representations and Warranties. All of the representations and warranties of the Company set forth in this Agreement and in any certificate delivered by or on behalf of the Company pursuant hereto shall be true and correct on and as of the date of this Agreement and on and as of the Closing Date as if made on the Closing Date, except for (i) those representations and warranties that address matters only as of a particular date (which representations and warranties shall have been accurate as of such date), and (ii) any failures to be true and correct that (without giving effect to any qualifications or limitations as to materiality or Company Material Adverse Effect), individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
(b) Agreements and Covenants. The Company shall have performed in all material respects all of its obligations and complied in all material respects with all of the agreements and covenants under this Agreement to be performed or complied with by it on or prior to the Closing Date.
(c) No Company Material Adverse Effect. No Company Material Adverse Effect shall have occurred with respect to the Target Companies, taken as a whole, since the date of this Agreement that is continuing and uncured.
(d) Closing Deliveries.
(i) Officer Certificate. The Purchaser shall have received a certificate from the Company, dated as the Closing Date, signed by an executive officer of the Company in such capacity, certifying as to the satisfaction of the conditions specified in Section 7.03(a), 7.03(b) and 7.03(c).
(ii) Secretary Certificate. The Company shall have delivered to the Purchaser a certificate executed by the Company’s secretary certifying as to the validity and effectiveness of, and attaching, (A) copies of the Company’s Organizational Documents as in effect as of the Closing Date (immediately prior to the Closing) and (B) the requisite resolutions of the Company’s board of directors authorizing and approving the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which the Company is or is required to be a party or bound, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby.
(iii) Closing Indebtedness. The Company shall have delivered to the Purchaser:
(A) a duly executed pay-off letter from each of the holders of the Closing Indebtedness, in a form reasonably satisfactory to Purchaser, certifying that all such Closing Indebtedness owing to such holder shall have been fully paid upon the receipt by such holder of funds pursuant to Section 3.03(c) hereof, to the extent such Closing Indebtedness is paid in full pursuant to Section 3.03(c) hereof; and
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(B) documentation evidencing to the reasonable satisfaction of Purchaser the release of all Liens securing any Closing Indebtedness.
(iv) ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS. The Company shall have delivered to the Purchaser:
(A) A properly completed and duly executed IRS Form W-9 from the Sellers representing the Requisite Shareholder Approval;
(B) A copy of the A&R Registration Rights Agreement, duly executed by each Seller who will receive, or would receive upon exercise of the Purchaser Options or settlement of the Purchaser RSUs, at least 1.0% of the Aggregate Consideration;
(C) A copy of the Seller Lock-Up Agreement, duly executed by each Seller who will receive, or would receive upon exercise of the Purchaser Options or settlement of the Purchaser RSUs, at least 1.0% of the Aggregate Consideration; and
(D) A certificate on behalf of the Company, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Purchaser, dated no more than thirty (30) days prior to the Closing Date, prepared in a manner consistent and in accordance with the requirements of Treasury Regulations Sections 1.897-2(g), (h) and 1.1445-2(c)(3), certifying that no interest in the Company is, or has been during the relevant period specified in Section 897(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Code, a “U.S. real property interest” within the meaning of Section 897(c) of the Code, and a form of notice to the Internal Revenue Service prepared in accordance with the provisions of Treasury Regulations Section 1.897-2(h)(2).
(e) The Company shall have obtained the consents and approvals set forth on Section 6.29 of the Company Disclosure Letter.
(f) The holders of any Company Warrants that do not allow for automatic exercise on a cashless basis in full in accordance with their terms pursuant to Section 2.01(a) or Section 2.01(c) shall have provided Purchaser a written consent executed by each such holder agreeing that such Company Warrants shall otherwise be exercised in full pursuant to Section 2.01(a) or Section 2.01(c) (as applicable to such Company Warrants) or shall be cancelled for no consideration.
Section 7.04 Frustration of Conditions. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, no Party may rely on the failure of any condition set forth in this Article VII to be satisfied if such failure was caused by the failure of such Party or its Affiliates failure to comply with or perform any of its covenants or obligations set forth in this Agreement.
Article
VIII
Termination and Expenses
Section 8.01 Termination. This Agreement may be terminated and the transactions contemplated hereby may be abandoned at any time prior to the Closing as follows:
(a) by mutual written consent of the Purchaser and the Company;
(b) by the Company if there has been a Modification in Recommendation;
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(c) by the Company if the Purchaser Shareholder Approval shall not have been obtained by reason of the failure to obtain the required vote at the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting duly convened therefor or at any adjournment or postponement thereof;
(d) by written notice by the Purchaser or the Company if any of the conditions to the Closing set forth in Article VII have not been satisfied or waived by August 13, 2026 (the “Outside Date”); provided, however, the right to terminate this Agreement under this Section 8.01(d) shall not be available to a Party if the breach or violation by such Party or its Affiliates of any representation, warranty, covenant or obligation under this Agreement was the cause of, or resulted in, the failure of the Closing to occur on or before the Outside Date; provided, further, that, solely with respect to the Company’s right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 8.01(d), the “Outside Date” shall automatically be extended by one (1) calendar day for every calendar day after October 31, 2024 that the PCAOB Financial Statements or the Updated 1H Financial Statements are not delivered pursuant to Section 6.04;
(e) by written notice by either the Purchaser or the Company if a Governmental Authority of competent jurisdiction shall have issued an Order or taken any other action permanently restraining, enjoining or otherwise prohibiting the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and such Order or other action has become final and non-appealable; provided, however, that the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 8.01(e) shall not be available to a Party if the failure by such Party or its Affiliates to comply with any provision of this Agreement has been a substantial cause of, or substantially resulted in, such action by such Governmental Authority;
(f) by written notice by the Company to Purchaser, if (i) there has been a breach by the Purchaser of any of its representations, warranties, covenants or agreements contained in this Agreement, or if any representation or warranty of the Purchaser shall have become untrue or inaccurate, in any case, which would result in a failure of a condition set forth in Section 7.02(a) or Section 7.02(b) to be satisfied (treating the Closing Date for such purposes as the date of this Agreement or, if later, the date of such breach), and (ii) the breach or inaccuracy is incapable of being cured or is not cured within the earlier of (A) twenty (20) days after written notice of such breach or inaccuracy is provided to the Purchaser or (B) the Outside Date; provided, that the Company shall not have the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 8.01(f) if at such time the Company is in material uncured breach of this Agreement;
(g) by written notice by the Purchaser to the Company, if (i) there has been a breach by the Company of any of its representations, warranties, covenants or agreements contained in this Agreement, or if any representation or warranty of such Parties shall have become untrue or inaccurate, in any case, which would result in a failure of a condition set forth in Section 7.03(a) or Section 7.03(b) to be satisfied (treating the Closing Date for such purposes as the date of this Agreement or, if later, the date of such breach), and (ii) the breach or inaccuracy is incapable of being cured or is not cured within the earlier of (A) twenty (20) days after written notice of such breach or inaccuracy is provided to the Company or (B) the Outside Date; provided, that the Purchaser shall not have the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 8.01(g) if at such time the Purchaser is in material uncured breach of this Agreement;
(h) by written notice by the Purchaser to the Company, if (i) all the conditions set forth in Section 7.01 and Section 7.02 have been, and continue to be, satisfied or waived (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing, each of which shall be capable of being satisfied if the Closing Date were the date of such termination), (ii) the Company fails to consummate the Transactions on or prior to the day when the Closing is required to occur pursuant to Section 3.01, (iii) the Purchaser shall have irrevocably confirmed in writing to the Company that it is ready, willing and able to consummate the Closing and (iv) the Company fails to effect the Closing within five (5) Business Days following delivery of such confirmation; or
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(i) by written notice by the Company to the Purchaser, if (i) all the conditions set forth in Section 7.01 and Section 7.03 have been, and continue to be, satisfied or waived (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing, each of which shall be capable of being satisfied if the Closing Date were the date of such termination), (ii) the Purchaser fails to consummate the Transactions on or prior to the day when the Closing is required to occur pursuant to Section 3.01, (iii) the Company shall have irrevocably confirmed in writing to the Purchaser that it is ready, willing and able to consummate the Closing and (iv) the Purchaser fails to effect the Closing within five (5) Business Days following delivery of such confirmation.
Section 8.02 Expense Reimbursement.
(a) In the event this Agreement is terminated by the Purchaser pursuant to Section 8.01(g) or Section 8.01(h), then the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to Purchaser any amounts due and owing under the Convertible Promissory Note (the “Expense Reimbursement”) within two (2) Business Days after the date of such termination by wire transfer of same-day funds to one or more accounts designated by Purchaser.
(b) The parties acknowledge that the agreements contained in this Section 8.02 are an integral part of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and that, without these agreements, the parties hereto would not enter into this Agreement. In addition, if the Company fails to pay in a timely manner any amount due to Purchaser pursuant to this Section 8.02, then (i) the Company shall reimburse Purchaser for all costs and expenses (including disbursements and fees of counsel) incurred in the collection of such overdue amounts and (ii) the Company shall pay to Purchaser interest on the amounts payable pursuant to this Section 8.02 from and including the date payment of such amounts was due to but excluding the date of actual payment at a rate equal to three percent (3%) plus the prime rate set forth in The Wall Street Journal in effect on the date such payment was required to be made.
Section 8.03 Effect of Termination. This Agreement may only be terminated in the circumstances described in Section 8.01 and pursuant to a written notice delivered by the applicable Party to the other applicable Parties, which sets forth the basis for such termination, including the provision of Section 8.01 under which such termination is made. In the event of the valid termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 8.01, this Agreement shall forthwith become void, and there shall be no Liability on the part of any Party or any of their respective Representatives, and all rights and obligations of each Party shall cease, except: (i) Section 6.16, Section 6.17, Article IX, Section 8.02 and this Section 8.03 shall survive the termination of this Agreement, and (ii) nothing herein shall relieve any Party from Liability for any willful breach of any representation, warranty, covenant or obligation under this Agreement or any Fraud Claim against such Party, in either case, prior to termination of this Agreement (in each case of clauses (i) and (ii) above, subject to Section 9.15).
Article
IX
Miscellaneous
Section 9.01 No Survival. Except (x) as otherwise contemplated by Section 9.02 or (y) in the case of a Fraud Claim against a Person, none of the representations, warranties, covenants, obligations or other agreements in this Agreement or in any certificate, statement or instrument delivered pursuant to this Agreement, including any rights arising out of any breach of such representations, warranties, covenants, obligations, agreements and other provisions, shall survive the Closing (and there shall be no liability after the Closing in respect thereof), except for those covenants and agreements contained herein that by their terms expressly apply in whole or in part after at or after the Closing, and then only with respect to any breaches occurring at or after the Closing.
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Section 9.02 Notices. All notices, consents, waivers and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given when delivered (i) in person, (ii) by facsimile or other electronic means (including email), with evidence of transmission, (iii) one (1) Business Day after being sent, if sent by reputable, nationally recognized overnight courier service or (iv) three (3) Business Days after being mailed, if sent by registered or certified mail, pre-paid and return receipt requested, in each case to the applicable Party at the following addresses (or at such other address for a Party as shall be specified by like notice):
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If to the Purchaser: Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. I ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Attn: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Email: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇@▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇ |
with a copy (which will not constitute notice) to: White & Case LLP ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Attn: ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇; ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Email: ▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇@▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇; ▇▇▇▇▇▇@▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇ |
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If to the Company, to: Merlin Labs, Inc. ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Attn: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Email: ▇▇@▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇ |
with a copy (which will not constitute notice) to: ▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ LLP ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Attn: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Email: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇@▇▇.▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇@▇▇.▇▇▇ |
Section 9.03 Binding Effect; Assignment. This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns. This Agreement shall not be assigned by operation of Law or otherwise without the prior written consent of the Parties, and any assignment without such consent shall be null and void; provided that no such assignment shall relieve the assigning Party of its obligations hereunder.
Section 9.04 Third Parties. Except for the rights set forth in Section 6.20 and the rights set forth in Section 6.11, which the Parties acknowledge and agree are express third party beneficiaries of this Agreement, nothing contained in this Agreement or in any instrument or document executed by any party in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby shall create any rights in, or be deemed to have been executed for the benefit of, any Person that is not a Party hereto or thereto or a successor or permitted assign of such a Party.
Section 9.05 Governing Law. This Agreement, and all claims or causes of action based upon, arising out of, or related to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the Laws of the State of Delaware, without giving effect to principles or rules of conflict of Laws to the extent such principles or rules would require or permit the application of Laws of another jurisdiction, provided, that, for the avoidance of doubt, the laws of the Cayman Islands shall also apply to and, as applicable, govern the Domestication.
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Section 9.06 Jurisdiction. Any proceeding or Legal Proceeding based upon, arising out of or related to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby must be brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, to the extent such court does not have jurisdiction, in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and to the extent such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, the Superior Court of the State of Delaware), and each of the parties irrevocably (i) submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of each such court in any such proceeding or Legal Proceeding, (ii) waives any objection it may now or hereafter have to personal jurisdiction, venue or to convenience of forum, (iii) agrees that all claims in respect of the proceeding or Legal Proceeding shall be heard and determined only in any such court, and (iv) agrees not to bring any proceeding or Legal Proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby in any other court. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect the right of any party to serve process in any manner permitted by ▇▇▇ or to commence Legal Proceedings or otherwise proceed against any other party in any other jurisdiction, in each case, to enforce judgments obtained in any Legal Proceeding, suit or proceeding brought pursuant to this Section 9.06.
Section 9.07 WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. EACH PARTY ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT ANY CONTROVERSY WHICH MAY ARISE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT AND THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY IS LIKELY TO INVOLVE COMPLICATED AND DIFFICULT ISSUES, AND THEREFORE EACH SUCH PARTY HEREBY IRREVOCABLY, UNCONDITIONALLY AND VOLUNTARILY WAIVES ANY RIGHT SUCH PARTY MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY ACTION, SUIT OR PROCEEDING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.
Section 9.08 Specific Performance. Each Party acknowledges that the rights of each Party to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby are unique, recognizes and affirms that in the event of a breach of this Agreement by any Party, money damages may be inadequate and the non-breaching Parties may have not adequate remedy at law, and agree that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed by an applicable Party in accordance with their specific terms or were otherwise breached. Accordingly, each Party shall be entitled to seek an injunction or restraining order to prevent breaches of this Agreement and to seek to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof, without the requirement to post any bond or other security or to prove that money damages would be inadequate, this being in addition to any other right or remedy to which such Party may be entitled under this Agreement, at law or in equity.
Section 9.09 Severability. In case any provision in this Agreement shall be held invalid, illegal or unenforceable in a jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified or deleted, as to the jurisdiction involved, only to the extent necessary to render the same valid, legal and enforceable, and the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions hereof shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby nor shall the validity, legality or enforceability of such provision be affected thereby in any other jurisdiction. Upon such determination that any term or other provision is invalid, illegal or incapable of being enforced, the Parties will substitute for any invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision a suitable and equitable provision that carries out, so far as may be valid, legal and enforceable, the intent and purpose of such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision.
Section 9.10 Amendment; Waiver. This Agreement may be amended, supplemented or modified only by execution of a written instrument signed by the Purchaser and the Company. Any party to this Agreement may, at any time prior to the Closing, by action taken by its Board of Directors or other officers or Persons thereunto duly authorized, (a) extend the time for the performance of the obligations or acts of the other parties hereto, (b) waive any inaccuracies in the representations and warranties (of another party hereto) that are contained in this Agreement or (c) waive compliance by the other parties hereto with any of the agreements or conditions contained in this Agreement, but such extension or waiver shall be valid only if set forth in an instrument in writing signed by the party granting such extension or waiver. Any waiver of any term or condition shall not be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach or a subsequent waiver of the same term or condition, or a waiver of any other term or condition of this Agreement. The failure of any party to assert any of its rights hereunder shall not constitute a waiver of such rights.
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Section 9.11 Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the documents or instruments referred to herein, including any exhibits and schedules attached hereto, which exhibits and schedules are incorporated herein by reference, together with the Ancillary Documents, embody the entire agreement and understanding of the Parties hereto in respect of the subject matter contained herein. There are no restrictions, promises, representations, warranties, covenants or undertakings, other than those expressly set forth or referred to herein or the documents or instruments referred to herein, which collectively supersede all prior agreements and the understandings among the Parties with respect to the subject matter contained herein.
Section 9.12 Interpretation. The table of contents and the Article and Section headings contained in this Agreement are solely for the purpose of reference, are not part of the agreement of the Parties and shall not in any way affect the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement. In this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) any pronoun used shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine or neuter forms, and words in the singular, including any defined terms, include the plural and vice versa; (b) reference to any Person includes such Person’s successors and assigns but, if applicable, only if such successors and assigns are permitted by this Agreement, and reference to a Person in a particular capacity excludes such Person in any other capacity; (c) any accounting term used and not otherwise defined in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document has the meaning assigned to such term in accordance with GAAP; (d) “including” (and with correlative meaning “include”) means including without limiting the generality of any description preceding or succeeding such term and shall be deemed in each case to be followed by the words “without limitation”; (e) the words “herein,” “hereto,” and “hereby” and other words of similar import shall be deemed in each case to refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular Section or other subdivision of this Agreement; (f) the word “if” and other words of similar import when used herein shall be deemed in each case to be followed by the phrase “and only if”; (g) the term “or” means “and/or”; (h) any reference to the term “ordinary course” or “ordinary course of business” shall be deemed in each case to be followed by the words “consistent with past practice”; (i) any agreement, instrument, insurance policy, Law or Order defined or referred to herein or in any agreement or instrument that is referred to herein means such agreement, instrument, insurance policy, Law or Order as from time to time amended, modified or supplemented, including (in the case of agreements or instruments) by waiver or consent and (in the case of statutes, regulations, rules or orders) by succession of comparable successor statutes, regulations, rules or orders and references to all attachments thereto and instruments incorporated therein; (j) except as otherwise indicated, all references in this Agreement to the words “Section,” “Article”, “Schedule” and “Exhibit” are intended to refer to Sections, Articles, Schedules and Exhibits to this Agreement; and (k) the term “Dollars” or “$” means United States dollars. Any reference in this Agreement to a Person’s directors shall include any member of such Person’s governing body and any reference in this Agreement to a Person’s officers shall include any Person filling a substantially similar position for such Person. Any reference in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document to a Person’s shareholders or stockholders shall include any applicable owners of the equity interests of such Person, in whatever form, including with respect to the Purchaser its shareholders under the Cayman Companies Act or DGCL, as then applicable, or its Organizational Documents. The Parties have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Agreement. Consequently, in the event an ambiguity or question of intent or interpretation arises, this Agreement shall be construed as if drafted jointly by the Parties hereto, and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any Party by virtue of the authorship of any provision of this Agreement. To the extent that any Contract, document, certificate or instrument is represented and warranted to by the Company to be given, delivered, provided or made available by the Company, in order for such Contract, document, certificate or instrument to have been deemed to have been given, delivered, provided and made available to the Purchaser or its Representatives, such Contract, document, certificate or instrument shall have been posted to the electronic data site maintained on behalf of the Company for the benefit of the Purchaser and its Representatives and the Purchaser and its Representatives have been given access to the electronic folders containing such information.
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Section 9.13 Counterparts. This Agreement and each Ancillary Document may be executed and delivered (including by facsimile or other electronic transmission) 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 taken together shall constitute one and the same agreement.
Section 9.14 Legal Representation.
(a) The Purchaser and the Company, on behalf of their respective successors and assigns (including, after the Closing), hereby agree that, in the event a dispute with respect to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby arises after the Closing between or among (x) the Sponsor, the stockholders, shareholders or holders of other equity interests of the Purchaser or the Sponsor and/or any of their respective directors, members, partners, officers, employees or Affiliates (collectively, the “SPAC Group”), on the one hand, and (y) the Purchaser following the Closing, the Company and/or any member of the ML Group, on the other hand, any legal counsel, including W&C, that represented the Purchaser and/or the Sponsor prior to the Closing may represent the Sponsor and/or any other member of the SPAC Group, in such dispute even though the interests of such Persons may be directly adverse to the Purchaser and its Affiliates (following the Closing), and even though such counsel may have represented the Purchaser in a matter substantially related to such dispute, or may be handling ongoing matters for the Purchaser and/or the Sponsor. The Purchaser and the Company, on behalf of their respective successors and assigns (including, after the Closing), further agree that, as to all legally privileged communications prior to the Closing (made in connection with the negotiation, preparation, execution, delivery and performance under, or any dispute or Legal Proceeding arising out of or relating to, this Agreement, any Ancillary Document or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby) between or among the Purchaser, the Sponsor and/or any other member of the SPAC Group, on the one hand, and W&C, on the other hand, the attorney/client privilege and the expectation of client confidence shall survive the Transactions and belong to the SPAC Group after the Closing, and shall not pass to or be claimed or controlled by the Purchaser and its Affiliates (following the Closing). Notwithstanding the foregoing, any privileged communications or information shared by the Company prior to the Closing with the Purchaser or the Sponsor under a common interest agreement shall remain the privileged communications or information of the Purchaser.
(b) The Purchaser and the Company, on behalf of their respective successors and assigns (including, after the Closing), hereby agree that, in the event a dispute with respect to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby arises after the Closing between or among (x) the stockholders, shareholders or holders of other equity interests of the Company and/or any of their respective directors, members, partners, officers, employees or Affiliates (collectively, the “ML Group”), on the one hand, and (y) the Company (following the Closing) and/or any member of the SPAC Group, on the other hand, any legal counsel, including ▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ LLP (“▇▇▇▇▇▇”) that represented the Company prior to the Closing may represent any member of the ML Group in such dispute even though the interests of such Persons may be directly adverse to the Company (following the Closing), and even though such counsel may have represented the Purchaser and/or the Company in a matter substantially related to such dispute, or may be handling ongoing matters for the Company (following the Closing). The Purchaser and the Company, on behalf of their respective successors and assigns (including, after the Closing), further agree that, as to all legally privileged communications prior to the Closing (made in connection with the negotiation, preparation, execution, delivery and performance under, or any dispute or Legal Proceeding arising out of or relating to, this Agreement, any Ancillary Document or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby) between or among the Company and/or any member of the ML Group, on the one hand, and ▇▇▇▇▇▇, on the other hand, the attorney/client privilege and the expectation of client confidence shall survive the Transactions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any privileged communications or information shared by the Purchaser prior to the Closing with the Company under a common interest agreement shall remain the privileged communications or information of the Company (following the Closing).
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(c) ▇▇▇▇▇▇ has represented the ML Group and the Target Companies with respect to the Transactions. All Parties recognize the commonality of interest that exists and will continue to exist until the Closing, and the Parties agree that such commonality of interest should continue to be recognized after the Closing. Specifically, the SPAC Group and, following the Closing, the Company, agree that they shall not, and shall cause their Affiliates not to, seek to have ▇▇▇▇▇▇ be disqualified from representing (a) any member of the ML Group in connection with any dispute that may arise between such parties and the SPAC Group or the Target Companies or (b) the Purchaser or any of the Target Companies in connection with any dispute that may arise between such parties and the members of the ML Group.
Section 9.15 Waiver of Claims Against Trust. The Company acknowledges that the Purchaser is a special purpose company with the powers and privileges to effect a Business Combination. The Company further acknowledges that, as described in the IPO Prospectus available at ▇▇▇.▇▇▇.▇▇▇, substantially all of the Purchaser assets consist of the cash proceeds of the Purchaser’s initial public offering and private placements of its securities and substantially all of those proceeds have been deposited in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Purchaser, its public shareholders and the underwriters of the Purchaser’s initial public offering. The Company acknowledges that it has been advised by the Purchaser that, except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to the Purchaser to pay its franchise Tax, income Tax and similar obligations, the Trust Agreement provides that cash in the Trust Account may be disbursed only (i) if the Purchaser completes the transactions which constitute a Business Combination, then to those Persons and in such amounts as described in the IPO Prospectus; (ii) if the Purchaser fails to complete a Business Combination within the allotted time period and liquidates, subject to the terms of the Trust Agreement, to the Purchaser in limited amounts to permit the Purchaser to pay the costs and expenses of its liquidation and dissolution, and then to the Purchaser Shareholders; and (iii) if the Purchaser holds a shareholder vote to amend the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents to modify the substance or timing of the obligation to redeem 100% of the Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares if the Purchaser fails to complete a Business Combination within the allotted time period or to otherwise modify any other material provision of the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents relating to its shareholders’ rights or its pre-initial Business Combination activity, then for the redemption of any Purchaser Ordinary Shares properly tendered in connection with such vote. For and in consideration of the Purchaser entering into this Agreement, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company, on behalf of itself, its Affiliates and its and their respective Representatives, hereby irrevocably waives any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they have or may have in the future in or to any monies in the Trust Account and agrees not to seek recourse against the Trust Account or any funds distributed therefrom to the Purchaser’s public shareholders for any reason whatsoever; provided, that (x) nothing herein shall serve to limit or prohibit the Company’s right to pursue a claim against the Purchaser for legal relief against monies or other assets held outside the Trust Account, for specific performance or other equitable relief in connection with the consummation of the transactions (including a claim for the Purchaser to specifically perform its obligations under this Agreement and cause the disbursement of the balance of the cash remaining in the Trust Account (after giving effect to the Redemption) to the Company in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the Trust Agreement) so long as such claim would not affect the Purchaser’s ability to fulfill its obligation to effectuate the redemptions and (y) nothing herein shall serve to limit or prohibit any claims that the Company may have in the future against the Purchaser’s assets or funds that are not held in the Trust Account (including any funds that have been released from the Trust Account other than to the Purchaser’s public shareholders and any assets that have been purchased or acquired with any such funds).
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Section 9.16 Company and Purchaser Disclosure Letters. The Company Disclosure Letter and the Purchaser Disclosure Letter (including, in each case, any section thereof) referenced herein are a part of this Agreement as if fully set forth herein. All references herein to the Company Disclosure Letter and/or the Purchaser Disclosure Letter (including, in each case, any section thereof) shall be deemed references to such parts of this Agreement, unless the context shall otherwise require. Any disclosure made by a party in the applicable Disclosure Letter, or any section thereof, with reference to any section of this Agreement or section of the applicable Disclosure Letter shall be deemed to be a disclosure with respect to such other applicable sections of this Agreement or sections of applicable Disclosure Letter if it is reasonably apparent on the face of such disclosure that such disclosure is responsive to such other section of this Agreement or section of the applicable Disclosure Letter. Certain information set forth in the Company Disclosure Letter and/or the Purchaser Disclosure Letter is included solely for informational purposes and may not be required to be disclosed pursuant to this Agreement. The disclosure of any information shall not be deemed to constitute an acknowledgment that such information is required to be disclosed in connection with the representations and warranties made in this Agreement, nor shall such information be deemed to establish a standard of materiality.
Article
X
Definitions
Section 10.01 Certain Definitions. For purpose of this Agreement, the following capitalized terms have the following meanings:
“A&R Registration Rights Agreement” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Acquisition Proposal” has the meaning specified in Section 6.06.
“Additional Purchaser SEC Reports” has the meaning specified in Section 5.06(a).
“Affiliate” means, with respect to any specified Person, any Person that, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such specified Person, whether through one or more intermediaries or otherwise. The term “control” (including the terms “controlling”, “controlled by” and “under common control with”) means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by Contract or otherwise.
“Aggregate Consideration” means the number of shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock equal to the quotient of: (a) the Purchase Price, divided by (b) the Redemption Price.
“Agreement” has the meaning specified in the Preamble.
“Alternative Transaction” has the meaning specified in Section 6.06.
“Ancillary Documents” means each of the agreements and instruments contemplated by this Agreement or otherwise related to the transactions contemplated in this Agreement, in each case to be executed and delivered on the date hereof or on or prior to the Closing Date, including this Agreement (together with the Company Disclosure Letter and the Purchaser Disclosure Letter).
“Anti-Bribery Law” means the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and all other applicable anti-corruption and bribery Laws of any jurisdiction (including the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and any rules or regulations promulgated thereunder or other Laws of other countries implementing the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials) that prohibit the corrupt payment, offer, promise or authorization of the payment or transfer of anything of value (including gifts or entertainment), directly or indirectly, to any official or representative of a Governmental or Regulatory Authority or commercial entity to obtain a business advantage.
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“Anti-Money Laundering Laws” means, with respect to any Person, the applicable anti-money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where such Person conducts business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency in such jurisdiction, including, without limitation, (i) the Bank Secrecy Act, (ii) the U.S. Currency and Foreign Transaction Reporting Act of 1970, (iii) the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, and (iv) the USA PATRIOT Act, in each case, including the rules, regulations and applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements promulgated thereunder and as amended from time to time.
“Antitrust Laws” has the meaning specified in Section 6.09(b).
“Applicable Pre-Funded Convertible Note Conversion Price” means (i) with respect to the Seller Pre-Funded Convertible Notes, 85% of the price per share paid by investors in the PIPE Investment for the Purchaser’s 12% Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, and (ii) with respect to the Sponsor Pre-Funded Convertible Notes, $12 per share, as may be adjusted pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Sponsor Pre-Funded Convertible Notes.
“Audited Financial Statements” has the meaning specified in Section 6.04(a).
“Business Combination” has the meaning specified in Article 1.1 of the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents as in effect on the date hereof.
“Business Day” means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in New York, New York or, for so long as the Purchaser remains domiciled in Cayman Islands, Governmental Authorities in the Cayman Islands that are authorized or required by Law to close.
“CARES Act” means the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. 116–136 (116th Cong.) (Mar. 27, 2020), and any amendment thereof, successor law, or executive order, executive memo, administrative or other guidance or legislation published with respect thereto by any Governmental Authority.
“Cayman Companies Act” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Cayman Purchaser Rights” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Cayman Purchaser Units” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Cayman Registrar” means the Registrar of Companies of the Cayman Islands.
“Certificate of Merger” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Closing” has the meaning specified in Section 3.01.
“Closing Date” has the meaning specified in Section 3.01.
“Closing Filing” has the meaning specified in Section 6.16.
“Closing Indebtedness” means the aggregate Indebtedness of the Target Companies as of immediately prior to the Effective Time (including the CRHL Loan, if applicable).
“Closing Press Release” has the meaning specified in Section 6.16.
“Code” means the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and any successor statute thereto, as amended.
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“Company” has the meaning specified in the Preamble.
“Company Benefit Plans” means any and all deferred compensation, executive compensation, incentive compensation, equity purchase or other equity-based compensation plan, employment or consulting, severance or termination pay, holiday, vacation or other bonus plan or practice, hospitalization or other medical, life or other insurance, supplemental unemployment benefits, profit sharing, pension, or retirement plan, program, agreement, commitment or arrangement, and each other employee benefit plan, program, agreement or arrangement, including each “employee benefit plan” as such term is defined under Section 3(3) of ERISA, maintained or contributed to or required to be contributed to by the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company for the benefit of any current or former employee or other individual service provider of the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company, or with respect to which the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company has any Liability, whether direct or indirect, whether actual or contingent, whether formal or informal, and whether legally binding or not (other than a multiemployer plan within the meaning of Section 3(37) of ERISA or any plan or program that is sponsored solely by a Governmental Authority and to which the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company is required to contribute pursuant to applicable Law).
“Company Closing Certificate” has the meaning specified in Section 3.02(b).
“Company Common Stock” means common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Company Confidential Information” means all confidential or proprietary documents and information concerning the Target Companies or any of their respective Representatives, furnished in connection with this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby; provided, however, that Company Confidential Information shall not include any information which, (i) at the time of disclosure by the Purchaser or its Representatives, is generally available publicly and was not disclosed in breach of this Agreement or (ii) at the time of the disclosure by the Company or its Representatives to the Purchaser or its Representatives was previously known by such receiving party without violation of Law or any confidentiality obligation by the Person receiving such Company Confidential Information.
“Company Convertible Security” means each convertible promissory note, simple agreement for future equity or similar instrument or Contract issued by the Company or entered into by the Company pursuant to which any Person has the right to convert or exchange such instrument or Contract into equity securities of the Company (for the avoidance of doubt, excluding Company Warrants, Company Options and Company RSUs).
“Company Disclosure Letter” has the meaning specified in the Preamble to Article IV.
“Company Equity Incentive Plan” means the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended on 7/1/2020).
“Company Financials” has the meaning specified in Section 4.06(a).
“Company Fully Diluted Capital” means the sum (without duplication) of the aggregate number of shares of (i) Company Common Stock that are issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (including all Company Common Stock issued upon conversion of all issued and outstanding Company Preferred Stock pursuant to Section 2.01), (ii) all Company Common Stock issuable upon full exercise of all issued and outstanding Company Options (calculated on a net exercise basis), and (iii) all Company Common Stock issuable upon full settlement of all issued and outstanding Company RSUs.
“Company IP” means any and all Intellectual Property currently owned, licensed, used or held for use by the Target Companies.
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“Company IP Licenses” means Intellectual Property licenses, sublicenses and other agreements or permissions.
“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any event, state of facts, condition, change, development, circumstance, occurrence or effect (collectively, “Events”), that (i) has had, or would reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the business, assets, results of operations or financial condition of the Target Companies, taken as a whole, or (ii) does or would reasonably be expected to, individually or in the aggregate, prevent, materially delay or materially impede the ability of the Target Companies to consummate the Transactions; provided, however, that in no event would any of the following, alone or in combination, be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a “Company Material Adverse Effect”: (a) any change in applicable Laws or GAAP or any interpretation thereof following the date of this Agreement, (b) any change in interest rates or economic, political, business or financial market conditions generally, (c) the taking of any action required by this Agreement, (d) any natural disaster (including hurricanes, storms, tornados, flooding, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or similar occurrences), pandemic (including COVID-19, or any COVID-19 Measures or any change in such COVID-19 Measures or interpretations following the date of this Agreement) or change in climate, (e) any acts of terrorism or war, the outbreak or escalation of hostilities, geopolitical conditions, local, national or international political conditions, (f) any failure of the Target Companies to meet any projections or forecasts (provided that clause (f) shall not prevent a determination that any Event not otherwise excluded from this definition of Company Material Adverse Effect underlying such failure to meet projections or forecasts has resulted in a Company Material Adverse Effect), (g) any Events generally applicable to the industries or markets in which the Company and its Subsidiaries operate (including increases in the cost of products, supplies, materials or other goods purchased from third party suppliers), (h) the announcement of this Agreement and consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, including any termination of, reduction in or similar adverse impact (but in each case only to the extent attributable to such announcement or consummation) on relationships, contractual or otherwise, with any landlords, customers, suppliers, distributors, partners or employees of the Target Companies, (i) any matter set forth on the Company Disclosure Letter, or (j) any action taken by, or at the request of, the Purchaser; provided, further, that any Event referred to in clauses (a), (b), (d), (e) or (g) above may be taken into account in determining if a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred to the extent it has a disproportionate and adverse effect on the business, assets, results of operations or condition (financial or otherwise) of the Target Companies, taken as a whole, relative to similarly situated companies in the industry in which the Target Companies conduct their respective operations, but only to the extent of the incremental disproportionate effect on the Target Companies, taken as a whole, relative to similarly situated companies in the industry in which the Target Companies conduct their respective operations.
“Company Material Contract” has the meaning specified in Section 4.13(a).
“Company Options” means each option to purchase equity securities of the Company, in each case, granted pursuant to the Company Equity Incentive Plan.
“Company Permits” has the meaning specified in Section 4.11.
“Company Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrants” means Company Warrants to purchase Company Common Stock issued to the purchasers of Pre-Funded Convertible Notes.
“Company Preferred Stock” means preferred stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Company Real Property Leases” has the meaning specified in Section 4.16(b).
“Company Registered IP” has the meaning specified in Section 4.14(a).
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“Company RSU” means each restricted stock unit to acquire equity securities of the Company, in each case, granted pursuant to the Company Equity Incentive Plan after the date hereof and prior to the Effective Time.
“Company Securities” means all equity securities of the Company, including, without limitation, Company Common Stock, Company Convertible Securities, Company Preferred Stock, Company Options, Company RSUs, Company Warrants and Pre-Funded Convertible Notes.
“Company Software” means any and all Software which any of the Target Companies owns or purports to own, in whole or in part.
“Company Transaction Costs” means all fees, costs and expenses of the Target Companies, in each case, incurred prior to and through the Closing Date in connection with the negotiation, preparation and execution of this Agreement, the other Ancillary Documents and the consummation of the Transactions, including: (a) all change of control bonus payments, retention or similar payments payable solely as a result of the consummation of the Transactions pursuant to arrangements (whether written or oral) entered into prior to the Closing Date whether payable before (to the extent unpaid), on or following the Closing Date (excluding any “double-trigger” payments), and the employer portion of payroll Taxes payable as a result of the foregoing amounts; (b) all severance payments, retirement payments or similar payments or success fees payable pursuant to arrangements (whether written or oral) entered into prior to the Closing Date and which are payable in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, whether payable before (to the extent unpaid), on or following the Closing Date (excluding any “double-trigger payments”), and the employer portion of payroll Taxes payable as a result of the foregoing amounts; (c) all professional or transaction, deal, brokerage, legal, accounting, financial advisory or any similar fees payable in connection with the consummation of the Transactions; and (d) all costs, fees and expenses related to the D&O Tail; but excluding (i) any and all costs, fees and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement (and any registration statement filed with the SEC in connection therewith) and the review and/or approval thereof by the SEC, (ii) any and all costs, fees and expenses incurred in connection with the listing on Nasdaq of the shares of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock issued in connection with the Transactions, (iii) Transfer Taxes, and (iv) any other amounts payable by the Purchaser hereunder.
“Company Warrants” means all warrants to purchase any stock or other equity interests of the Company.
“Consent” means any consent, approval, waiver, authorization or Permit of, or notice to or declaration or filing with any Governmental Authority or any other Person.
“Continental” means the Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company.
“Contracts” means all legally binding contracts, contracts, agreements, binding arrangements, bonds, notes, indentures, mortgages, debt instruments, purchase order, licenses (and all other contracts, agreements or binding arrangements concerning Intellectual Property), franchises, leases and other instruments or obligations of any kind, written or oral (including any amendments and other modifications thereto).
“Convertible Note Consideration” has the meaning specified in Section 2.02(a).
“Convertible Promissory Note” means a convertible promissory note, issued by the Purchaser to the Sponsor or an Affiliate of the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Purchaser may borrow up to $1,500,000 from the Sponsor, related to ongoing expenses reasonably related to the business of the Purchaser and the consummation of a business combination.
“Copyleft Action” has the meaning specified in Section 4.14(f).
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“Copyrights” has the meaning set for in the definition of “Intellectual Property”.
“COVID-19” means SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19, and any evolutions or mutations thereof or related or associated epidemics, pandemic or disease outbreaks.
“COVID-19 Measures” means any quarantine, “shelter in place,” “stay at home,” workforce reduction, social distancing, shut down, closure, sequester, safety or other Law, directive, guidelines or recommendations promulgated by any industry group or any Governmental Authority, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, in each case, in connection with or in response to COVID-19, including the CARES Act, Families First Act, the Payroll Tax Executive Order and IRS Notices 2020-22, 2020-65 and 2021-11.
“CRHL” means Crown Regional Holdings Limited.
“CRHL Loan” means the loan agreement between the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (now Crown Regional Holdings Limited) as lender, and Merlin Labs NZ Limited as borrower, dated 17 March 2022.
“Designated Directors” has the meaning specified in Section 6.19(a).
“D&O Indemnified Party” has the meaning specified in Section 6.20(a).
“D&O Tail” has the meaning specified in Section 6.20(b).
“DGCL” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock” means, following the Domestication, common stock of the Purchaser, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Domesticated Purchaser Preferred Stock” means, following the Domestication, the Purchaser’s Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, having the rights, preferences and privileges set forth in the Purchaser’s Certificate of Designation of Preferences, Rights and Limitations of 12.0% Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Domesticated Purchaser Series A Investor Warrants” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Domesticated Purchaser Series A Preferred Stock” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Domesticated Purchaser Right” means, following the Domestication, a right of the Purchaser.
“Domesticated Purchaser Unit” means, following the Domestication, a unit of the Purchaser (consisting of one share of Domesticated Purchaser Common Stock and one Domesticated Purchaser Right).
“Domestication” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Draft Company Financials” has the meaning specified in Section 4.06(a).
“Effective Time” has the meaning specified in Section 1.02(a).
“Enforceability Exceptions” has the meaning as specified in Section 5.02.
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“Environmental Law” means any Law in any way relating to (a) the protection of human health and safety, (b) the protection, preservation or restoration of the environment and natural resources (including air, water vapor, surface water, groundwater, drinking water supply, surface land, subsurface land, plant and animal life or any other natural resource), or (c) the exposure to, or the use, storage, recycling, treatment, generation, transportation, processing, handling, labeling, production, release or disposal of Hazardous Materials, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 42 USC. Section 9601 et. seq., the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 USC. Section 6901 et. seq., the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 USC. Section 2601 et. seq., the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 USC. Section 1151 et seq., the Clean Air Act, 42 USC. Section 7401 et seq., the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, 7 USC. Section 111 et. seq., Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 USC. Section 651 et. seq. (to the extent it relates to exposure to Hazardous Materials), the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, 15 USC. Section 2601 et. seq., the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 USC. Section 300f et. seq., the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and analogous state acts.
“Environmental Liabilities” means, in respect of any Person, all Liabilities, obligations, responsibilities, Remedial Legal Proceedings, losses, damages, costs, and expenses (including all reasonable fees, disbursements, and expenses of counsel, experts, and consultants and costs of investigation and feasibility studies), fines, penalties, sanctions, and interest incurred as a result of any claim or demand by any other Person or in response to any violation of Environmental Law, whether known or unknown, accrued or contingent, whether based in contract, tort, implied or express warranty, strict liability, criminal or civil statute, to the extent based upon, related to, or arising under or pursuant to any Environmental Law, Environmental Permit, Order, or Contract with any Governmental Authority or other Person, that relates to any environmental, health or safety condition, violation of Environmental Law, or a Release or threatened Release of Hazardous Materials.
“Environmental Permits” has the meaning specified in Section 4.20(a).
“ERISA” means the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.
“ERISA Affiliate” means each “person” (as defined in Section 3(9) of ERISA) which together with a Target Company would be deemed to be a “single employer” within the meaning of Section 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the Code.
“Excluded Share” has the meaning specified in Section 2.03(a)(i).
“Exchange Act” means the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
“Exchange Ratio” means the Aggregate Consideration divided by the Company Fully Diluted Capital.
“Extension” has the meaning specified in Section 6.03(a).
“Expense Reimbursement” has the meaning specified in Section 8.02(a).
“FAR” has the meaning specified in Section 4.10(d).
“Federal Securities Law” has the meaning specified in Section 6.07.
“Fraud Claim” means any claim based upon intentional fraud as defined under the common law of the State of Delaware.
“GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles as in effect in the United States of America.
“Generative AI” means any type of AI/ML that can be used to create, produce or generate outputs (including text, images, video, audio, code or synthetic data), including from or based on prompts or inputs.
“Governmental Authority” means any federal, state, local, foreign government or other governmental, quasi-governmental, regulatory or administrative authority, body, instrumentality, department, board, bureau or agency or any court, tribunal, administrative hearing body, arbitration panel, commission, or other similar dispute-resolving panel or body (private or public).
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“Government Bid” means any quotation, bid or proposal by a Target Company that is outstanding and in effect as of the date hereof, which if accepted or awarded, would lead to a prime contract with a Governmental Authority, or to a subcontract with a prime contractor or higher-tier subcontractor under a prime contract with a Governmental Authority.
“Government Contract” means any Contract, grant, basic ordering agreement, letter contract, or order between a Target Company, on the one hand, and (i) any Governmental Authority, (ii) another Person under such other Person’s prime contract with a Governmental Authority, or (iii) any higher tier subcontractor of a Governmental Authority in its capacity as a subcontractor, on the other hand, for which the period of performance has not expired or terminated, or final payment has not been received, or which remain open to audit as of the date of this Agreement.. Unless otherwise indicated, a task, purchase or delivery order under a Government Contract will not constitute a separate Government Contract, for purposes of this definition, but will be part of the Government Contract under which it was issued.
“Government-Furnished Items” has the meaning specified in Section 4.10(o).
“Hazardous Material” means any waste, gas, liquid or other substance or material that is defined, listed or designated as a “hazardous substance”, “pollutant”, “contaminant”, “hazardous waste”, “regulated substance”, “hazardous chemical”, or “toxic chemical” (or by any similar term) under any Environmental Law, or any other material regulated, or that could result in the imposition of Liability or responsibility, under any Environmental Law, including petroleum and its by-products, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, radon, mold, and urea formaldehyde insulation.
“Income Taxes” means income, capital gains, franchise, and similar Taxes.
“Indebtedness” of any Person means, without duplication, (a) all indebtedness of such Person for borrowed money (including the outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest), (b) all obligations for the deferred purchase price of property or services (other than trade payables incurred in the ordinary course of business), (c) any other indebtedness of such Person that is evidenced by a note, bond, debenture, credit agreement or similar instrument, (d) all obligations of such Person under leases that should be classified as capital leases in accordance with GAAP (other than real estate leases and any other leases that would be required to be capitalized only upon adoption of ASC 842), (e) all obligations of such Person for the reimbursement of any obligor on any line or letter of credit, banker’s acceptance, guarantee or similar credit transaction, in each case, that has been drawn or claimed against, (f) all obligations of such Person in respect of acceptances issued or created, (g) all interest rate and currency swaps, caps, collars and similar agreements or hedging devices under which payments are obligated to be made by such Person, whether periodically or upon the happening of a contingency, (h) all obligations secured by an Lien on any property of such Person, (i) any premiums, prepayment fees or other penalties, fees, costs or expenses associated with payment of any Indebtedness of such Person and (j) all obligation described in clauses (a) through (i) above of any other Person which is directly or indirectly guaranteed by such Person or which such Person has agreed (contingently or otherwise) to purchase or otherwise acquire or in respect of which it has otherwise assured a creditor against loss.
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“Intellectual Property” means any and all intellectual or proprietary property and all rights, title, and interest therein or thereto arising anywhere in the world, including: (i) all United States and foreign patents and patent applications, patent disclosures and inventions, (whether patentable or unpatentable and whether or not reduced to practice), including any continuations, divisions, continuations in part, renewals, divisionals, extensions, reissues or foreign counterparts of any of the foregoing; (ii) all United States, international and foreign trade names, trade dress, trademarks, service marks, logos or internet domain name registrations, social media usernames, handles, and similar identifiers, including all goodwill associated therewith, together with all registrations and applications relating thereto (“Trademarks”); (iii) all United States, international, and foreign copyrights (whether registered or unregistered), original works of authorship (including Software and all rights therein), copyrightable works, together with all registrations and applications relating thereto (“Copyright”); (iv) all proprietary databases and data; (v) all industrial designs and any registrations and applications therefor throughout the world; (vi) Trade Secrets, (vii) Software and data, databases, compilations, and any other electronic data files, including any and all collections of data, whether machine readable or otherwise; (viii) rights to sue or recover and retain damages and costs and attorneys’ fees for the past, present or future infringement, dilution, misappropriation, or other violation of any of the foregoing anywhere in the world; (ix) any and all other intellectual or industrial property rights protectable by applicable law in any jurisdiction; and (x) all issuances, renewals, registrations and applications of or for any of the foregoing.
“Interim Company Financials” has the meaning specified in Section 4.06(a).
“Initial Grants” has the meaning specified in Section 6.15(a).
“Intended Tax Treatment(s)” has the meaning specified in the Recitals hereto.
“Interim Period” has the meaning specified in Section 6.01(a).
“IP Actions” has the meaning specified in Section 6.28(a).
“IPO” means the initial public offering of Cayman Purchaser Units pursuant to the IPO Prospectus.
“IPO Prospectus” means the final prospectus of the Purchaser, dated as of October 31, 2024 (File No. 333-280777).
“IRS” means the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (or any successor Governmental Authority).
“IT Assets” technology, devices, computers, hardware, Software (including firmware and middleware), systems, sites, servers, networks, workstations, routers, hubs, circuits, switches, interfaces, websites, platforms, data communications lines, and all other information or operational technology, telecommunications, or data processing assets, facilities, systems services, or equipment, and all data stored therein or processed thereby, and all associated documentation.
“JOBS Act” has the meaning specified in Section 5.06(f).
“Knowledge” means, with respect to (i) the Company, the actual knowledge of the individuals set forth on Section 10.01-C of the Company Disclosure Letter and (ii) the Purchaser, the actual knowledge of the individuals set forth on Section 10.01-D of the Purchaser Disclosure Letter.
“▇▇▇▇▇▇” has the meaning specified in Section 9.14(b).
“Law” means any federal, state, local, municipal, foreign or other law, statute, legislation, principle of common law, ordinance, code, edict, decree, proclamation, treaty, convention, rule, regulation, directive, requirement, writ, injunction, settlement, Order or Consent that is or has been issued, enacted, adopted, passed, approved, promulgated, made, implemented or otherwise put into effect by or under the authority of any Governmental Authority.
“Legal Proceeding” means any notice of noncompliance or violation, or any claim, demand, charge, action, suit, litigation, audit, settlement, complaint, stipulation, assessment or arbitration, or any request (including any request for information), inquiry, hearing, proceeding or investigation, by or before any Governmental Authority.
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“Liabilities” means any and all liabilities, Indebtedness, Legal Proceedings or obligations of any nature (whether absolute, accrued, contingent or otherwise, whether known or unknown, whether direct or indirect, whether matured or unmatured, whether due or to become due and whether or not required to be recorded or reflected on a balance sheet under GAAP or other applicable accounting standards).
“Lien” means any mortgage, pledge, security interest, attachment, right of first refusal, option, proxy, voting trust, encumbrance, lien or charge of any kind (including any conditional sale or other title retention agreement or lease in the nature thereof), restriction (whether on voting, sale, transfer, disposition or otherwise), any subordination arrangement in favor of another Person, or any filing or agreement to file a financing statement as debtor under the Uniform Commercial Code or any similar Law.
“Lock-Up Agreements” has the meaning specified in the Recitals hereto.
“Merger” has the meaning specified in the Recitals hereto.
“Merger Sub” has the meaning specified in the Preamble.
“MFC-PRC Representation” has the meaning specified in Section 4.10(e).
“ML Group” has the meaning specified in Section 9.14(b).
“Modification in Recommendation” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(b)(i).
“Nasdaq” has the meaning specified in Section 5.06(a).
“NIST” has the meaning specified in Section 4.10(d).
“OFAC” has the meaning specified in Section 5.16(c).
“Off-the-Shelf Software” means “shrink wrap,” “click wrap,” and “off the shelf” software agreements and other agreements for Software commercially available to the public on standard terms and conditions, generally with license, maintenance, support and other fees of less than $100,000 per year.
“Offer Documents” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(a)(i).
“Order” means any order, decree, ruling, judgment, injunction, writ, determination, binding decision, verdict, judicial award or other action that is or has been made, entered, rendered, or otherwise put into effect by or under the authority of any Governmental Authority.
“Organizational Documents” means, with respect to any Person that is an entity, its certificate of incorporation or formation, bylaws, operating agreement, memorandum and articles of association or similar organizational documents, in each case, as amended.
“Outbound IP License” has the meaning specified in Section 4.14(c).
“Outside Date” has the meaning specified in Section 8.01(d).
“Owned Intellectual Property” means any and all Intellectual Property which any of the Target Companies owns (or purports to own), in whole or in part, and includes the Company Software, all Company Registered IP and all other Intellectual Property required to be set forth in Section 4.14(a)(i) of the Company Disclosure Letter.
“Party(ies)” has the meaning specified in the Preamble.
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“Patents” means any patents, patent applications and the inventions, designs and improvements described and claimed therein, patentable inventions, and other patent rights (including any divisionals, provisionals, continuations, continuations-in-part, substitutions, or reissues thereof, whether or not patents are issued on any such applications and whether or not any such applications are amended, modified, withdrawn, or refiled).
“PCAOB” means the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (or any successor thereto).
“Permits” means all federal, state, local or foreign or other third-party permits, grants, easements, consents, approvals, authorizations, exemptions, licenses, franchises, concessions, ratifications, permissions, clearances, confirmations, endorsements, waivers, certifications, designations, ratings, registrations, qualifications or orders of any Governmental Authority or any other Person.
“Permitted Liens” means (a) Liens for Taxes or assessments and similar governmental charges or levies, which either are (i) not yet due and payable or (ii) being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings, and adequate reserves have been established with respect thereto in accordance with GAAP, (b) other Liens imposed by operation of Law arising in the ordinary course of business for amounts which are not due and payable and as would not in the aggregate materially adversely affect the value of, or materially adversely interfere with the use of, the property subject thereto, (c) Liens incurred or deposits made in the ordinary course of business in connection with social security, (d) Liens on goods in transit incurred pursuant to documentary letters of credit, in each case arising in the ordinary course of business, (e) Liens arising under this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or (f) non-exclusive licenses of Owned Intellectual Property granted in the ordinary course of business.
“Person” means an individual, corporation, company, partnership (including a general partnership, limited partnership or limited liability partnership), limited liability company, association, trust or other entity or organization, including a government, domestic or foreign, or political subdivision thereof, or an agency or instrumentality thereof.
“Personal Property” means any machinery, equipment, tools, vehicles, furniture, leasehold improvements, office equipment, plant, parts and other tangible personal property.
“PIPE Investment” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Post-Closing Purchaser Board” has the meaning specified in Section 6.19.
“Pre-Funded Convertible Note” means collectively, (i) those certain convertible promissory notes issued by the Company to the purchasers thereof pursuant to the Pre-PIPE Note Purchase Agreement (the “Seller Pre-Funded Convertible Notes”) and (ii) those certain convertible promissory notes issued by the Company to the purchasers thereof pursuant to the Pre-PIPE Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Sponsor Pre-Funded Convertible Notes”).
“Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor Warrant Consideration” has the meaning specified in Section 2.02(b).
“Pre-Funded Note Investment” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Pre-PIPE Note Purchase Agreement” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Pre-PIPE Securities Purchase Agreement” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Preferred Bidder Status” has the meaning specified in Section 4.10(a).
“Premium Cap” has the meaning specified in Section 6.20(b).
“Proxy Statement” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(a)(i).
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“Proxy Statement/Registration Statement” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(a)(i).
“Public Certifications” has the meaning specified in Section 5.06(a).
“Purchase Price” means $800,000,000.
“Purchaser” has the meaning specified in the Preamble.
“Purchaser Bylaws upon Domestication” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Purchaser Charter upon Domestication” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares” means prior to the Domestication, Class A ordinary shares of the Purchaser, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares” means prior to the Domestication, Class B ordinary shares of the Purchaser, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Purchaser Confidential Information” means all confidential or proprietary documents and information concerning the Purchaser or any of its Representatives; provided, however, that Purchaser Confidential Information shall not include any information which, (i) at the time of disclosure by the Company or any of its Representatives, is generally available publicly and was not disclosed in breach of this Agreement or (ii) at the time of the disclosure by the Purchaser or its Representatives to the Company or any of its Representatives, was previously known by such receiving party without violation of Law or any confidentiality obligation by the Person receiving such Purchaser Confidential Information. For the avoidance of doubt, from and after the Closing, Purchaser Confidential Information will include the confidential or proprietary information of the Target Companies.
“Purchaser Disclosure Letter” has the meaning specified in the Preamble to Article V.
“Purchaser ESPP” has the meaning specified in Section 6.15(a).
“Purchaser Incentive Award Plan” has the meaning specified in Section 6.15(a).
“Purchaser Material Adverse Effect” means any change, event, or occurrence, that, individually or when aggregated with other changes, events, or occurrences has had a materially adverse effect on the business, assets, financial condition or results of operations of the Purchaser; provided, however, that no change or effect related to any of the following, alone or in combination, shall be taken into account in determining whether a Purchaser Material Adverse Effect has occurred: (i) the announcement of this Agreement and consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby; (ii) the taking of any action required by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document; (iii) any natural disaster (including hurricanes, storms, tornados, flooding, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or similar occurrences), pandemic or change in climate, (iv) any acts of terrorism or war, the outbreak or escalation of hostilities, geopolitical conditions, local, national or international political conditions; (v) the Redemption; (vi) any breach of any covenants, agreements or obligations of any Pre-Funded Convertible Note Investor, Series A Preferred Stock Investor or investor in any PIPE Investment, in each case who is not Inflection Point Asset Management LLC or an Affiliate of Inflection Point Asset Management LLC, under any NPA, Series A SPA or other similar agreement related to financing the Company or Purchaser (including any breach of such Person’s obligations to fund any amounts thereunder when required); (vii) changes or proposed changes in applicable Law, regulations or interpretations thereof or decisions by courts or any Governmental Authority after the date of this Agreement; (viii) changes or proposed changes in GAAP (or any interpretation thereof) after the date of this Agreement; or (ix) any downturn in general economic conditions, including changes in the credit, debt, securities, financial, capital or reinsurance markets (including changes in interest or exchange rates, prices of any security or market index or commodity or any disruption of such markets), in each case, in the United States or anywhere else in the world.
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“Purchaser Option” has the meaning specified in Section 2.03(a)(iii).
“Purchaser Ordinary Shares” means the Purchaser Class A Ordinary Shares and the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares.
“Purchaser Preference Shares” means prior to the Domestication, preference shares of the Purchaser, par value $0.0001 per share.
“Purchaser Private Placement Rights” means the Cayman Purchaser Rights included in the Cayman Purchaser Units sold to the Sponsor in a private placement concurrent with the IPO.
“Purchaser Public Rights” means the Cayman Purchaser Rights included in the Cayman Purchaser Units sold in the IPO.
“Purchaser RSU” has the meaning specified in Section 2.03(a)(iv).
“Purchaser SEC Reports” has the meaning specified in Section 5.06(a).
“Purchaser Shareholder Approval” means the approval of (i) those Transaction Proposals identified in clauses (B) and (C) and of Section 6.14(b)(i), in each case, by special resolution under Cayman Islands Law, being a resolution passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the outstanding Purchaser Ordinary Shares (or the Purchaser Class B Ordinary Shares as the case may be) entitled to vote in person or by proxy, who attend and vote thereupon (as determined in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents) at the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting, (ii) those Transaction Proposals identified in clauses (A), (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) of Section 6.14(b)(i), in each case, by an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands Law, being a resolution passed by a simple majority of the outstanding Purchaser Ordinary Shares entitled to vote in person or by proxy, who attend and vote thereupon (as determined in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents), (or if required by applicable Law, or the Purchaser Organizational Documents as a special resolution, being a resolution passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the outstanding Purchaser Ordinary Shares entitled to vote in person or by proxy, who attend and vote thereupon (as determined in accordance with the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents) at the Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting), and (iii) with respect to any other proposal proposed to the Purchaser Shareholders, the requisite approval required under the Purchaser’s Organizational Documents, the Cayman Companies Act or any other applicable Law, in each case, at a Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting.
“Purchaser Shareholders” has the meaning specified in Section 9.15.
“Purchaser Shareholders’ Meeting” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(b)(i).
“Purchaser Transaction Costs” means: (a) all fees, costs and expenses of the Purchaser incurred prior to and through the Closing Date in connection with the negotiation, preparation and execution of this Agreement, the other Ancillary Documents and the consummation of the Transactions, whether paid or unpaid prior to the Closing, including any and all professional or transaction related costs, fees and expenses of legal, accounting and financial advisors, consultants, auditors, accountants and brokers, including any deferred underwriting commissions being held in the Trust Account; and (b) any Indebtedness of the Purchaser owed to its Affiliates or shareholders.
“Redemption” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(b)(i).
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“Redemption Price” shall mean an amount equal to the price at which each Purchaser Class A Ordinary Share may be redeemed pursuant to the Redemption.
“Registration Statement” means the Registration Statement on Form S-4, or other appropriate form, including any pre-effective or post-effective amendments or supplements thereto, to be filed with the SEC by Purchaser under the Securities Act with respect to the Registration Statement Securities.
“Registration Statement Securities” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(a)(i).
“Related Person” means any officer, director, manager, employee, trustee or beneficiary of a Target Company or any of its Affiliates and any immediate family member of any of the foregoing.
“Release” means any release, spill, emission, leaking, pumping, injection, deposit, disposal, discharge, dispersal, or leaching into the indoor or outdoor environment, or into or out of any property.
“Remedial Legal Proceeding” means all actions to (i) clean up, remove, treat, or in any other way address any Hazardous Material, (ii) prevent the Release of any Hazardous Material so it does not endanger or threaten to endanger public health or welfare or the indoor or outdoor environment, (iii) perform pre-remedial studies and investigations or post-remedial monitoring and care, or (iv) correct a condition of noncompliance with Environmental Laws.
“Representatives” means, as to any Person, such Person’s Affiliates and the respective managers, directors, officers, employees, independent contractors, consultants, advisors (including financial advisors, counsel and accountants), agents and other legal representatives of such Person or its Affiliates.
“Requisite Shareholder Approval” means the approval of this Agreement and the Transactions, including the Merger, by the affirmative vote or written consent of the stockholders of the Company, pursuant to the terms and in accordance with and satisfaction of the conditions of the Company’s Organizational Documents and applicable Law.
“Rights Agreement” means that certain Share Rights Agreement, dated as of October 31, 2024, by and between the Purchaser and Continental, as rights agent.
“Sanctioned Jurisdiction” has the meaning specified in Section 5.16(c).
“SBA” has the meaning specified in Section 4.10(r).
“SDN List” has the meaning specified in Section 5.16(c).
“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (or any successor Governmental Authority).
“Second Merger” has the meaning specified in Section 6.11(a).
“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
“Seller Lock-Up Agreement” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Seller Voting and Support Agreement” means that certain Seller Voting and Support Agreement, dated as of August 13, 2025 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time), by and between the Purchaser, the Company and the Sellers.
“Sellers” shall mean the holders of equity securities of the Company, collectively.
“Series A Preferred Stock Certificate of Designation” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
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“Series A Preferred Stock Investors” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Series A SPA” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Signing Filing” has the meaning specified in Section 6.16(b).
“Signing Press Release” has the meaning specified in Section 6.16(b).
“Software” means any and all (i) computer software, firmware and computer programs and applications, including all source code, object code, middleware, utilities, computer programs, application programming interfaces, algorithms, plugins, libraries, subroutines, tools, drivers, microcode, scripts, batch files, instruction sets and macros, models, and methodologies, in each case of the foregoing whether in source code, executable or object code form, documentation related thereto including user manuals, related to any of the foregoing and all software modules, tools and databases; and (ii) deep learning, machine learning, and other artificial intelligence technologies (collectively, “AI/ML”).
“SPAC Group” has the meaning specified in Section 9.14(a).
“Sponsor” means Bleichroeder Sponsor 1 LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
“Sponsor Indemnitee” has the meaning specified in Section 6.27.
“Sponsor Lock-Up Agreement” has the meaning specified in the Recitals hereto.
“Sponsor Share Conversion” has the meaning specified in the Recitals hereto.
“Sponsor Support Agreement” means that certain Sponsor Support Agreement, dated as of August 13, 2025 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time), by and between the Sponsor, the Company, the Purchaser and the other parties thereto.
“Subsidiary” means, with respect to any Person, any corporation, partnership, association or other business entity of which (i) if a corporation, a majority of the total voting power of shares of stock entitled (without regard to the occurrence of any contingency) to vote in the election of directors, managers or trustees thereof is at the time owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by that Person or one or more of the other Subsidiaries of that Person or a combination thereof, or (ii) if a partnership, association or other business entity, a majority of the partnership or other similar ownership interests thereof is at the time owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by any Person or one or more Subsidiaries of that Person or a combination thereof. For purposes hereof, a Person or Persons will be deemed to have a majority ownership interest in a partnership, association or other business entity if such Person or Persons will be allocated a majority of partnership, association or other business entity gains or losses or will be or control the managing director, managing member, general partner or other managing Person of such partnership, association or other business entity. A Subsidiary of a Person will also include any variable interest entity which is consolidated with such Person under applicable accounting rules.
“Surviving Corporation” has the meaning specified in the Recitals hereto.
“Target Companies” means, collectively, the Company and its direct and indirect Subsidiaries.
“Tax Return” means any return, form, declaration, election, disclosure, report, claim for refund, information return or other documents (including any related or supporting schedules, statements or information) filed or required to be filed in connection with the determination, assessment or collection of any Taxes or the administration of any Laws or administrative requirements relating to any Taxes.
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“Taxes” means all direct or indirect federal, state, local, foreign and other net income, gross income, gross receipts, sales, use, value-added, ad valorem, transfer, franchise, profits, license, lease, service, service use, withholding, payroll, employment, social security and related contributions due in relation to the payment of compensation to employees, excise, severance, stamp, occupation, premium, property, windfall profits, alternative minimum, estimated, customs, duties or other taxes, fees, assessments or charges in the nature of a tax, together with any interest and any penalties, additions to tax or additional amounts with respect thereto imposed by a Governmental Authority.
“Third-Party Datasets” has the meaning specified in Section 4.14(i).
“Top Customers” has the meaning specified in Section 4.23(a).
“Top Suppliers” has the meaning specified in Section 4.23(b).
“Trade Secrets” means any trade secrets, confidential business information, concepts, ideas, designs, research or development information, processes, procedures, techniques, technical information, specifications, operating and maintenance manuals, engineering drawings, methods, know-how, data, mask works, discoveries, inventions, modifications, extensions, improvements, and other proprietary rights (whether or not patentable or subject to Copyright, Trademark, or trade secret protection).
“Trademarks” has the meaning set for in the definition of “Intellectual Property”.
“Transaction Proposals” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(b)(i).
“Transactions” has the meaning specified in the Recitals.
“Transfer Taxes” has the meaning specified in Section 6.11(c).
“Treasury Regulations” means the regulations (including temporary regulations) promulgated by the United States Department of the Treasury pursuant to and in respect of provisions of the Code. All references herein to sections of the Treasury Regulations shall include any corresponding provisions or provisions of succeeding, similar or substitute, temporary or final Treasury Regulations.
“Trust Account” means that certain Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated October 31, 2024, by and between the Company and Continental, as trustee.
“Trust Agreement” has the meaning specified in Section 5.14.
“Trustee” has the meaning specified in Section 5.14.
“Updated 1H Financial Statements” has the meaning specified in Section 6.04.
“W&C” means White & Case LLP.
“Written Consent” has the meaning specified in Section 6.14(c)(i).
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each Party hereto has caused this Business Combination Agreement to be signed and delivered as of the date first written above.
| The Purchaser: | ||
| BLEICHROEDER ACQUISITION CORP. I | ||
| By: | /s/ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Name: | ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Title: | President and Chief Executive Officer | |
| Merger Sub: | ||
| IPDX MERGER SUB, INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Name: | ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Title: | Director | |
| The Company: | ||
| MERLIN LABS, INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Name: | ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
{Signature Page to Business Combination Agreement}