NEP Group, Inc. CommonStock UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

EX-1.1 2 d743919dex11.htm EX-1.1 EX-1.1

Exhibit 1.1

 

NEP Group, Inc.

Common Stock

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

[•], 2015

BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC.

MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC,

As Representatives of the several

    Underwriters named in Schedule I attached hereto,

c/o Barclays Capital Inc.

745 Seventh Avenue

New York, New York 10019

c/o Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

1585 Broadway

New York, New York 10036

Ladies and Gentlemen:

NEP Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes to issue and sell [•] shares (the “Firm Stock”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $[•] per share (the “Common Stock”). In addition, the Company proposes to grant to the underwriters (the “Underwriters”) named in Schedule I attached to this agreement (this “Agreement”) options to purchase up to [•] additional shares of the Common Stock on the terms set forth in Section 3 (the “Option Stock”). The Firm Stock and the Option Stock, if purchased, are hereinafter collectively called the “Stock”. This Agreement is to confirm the agreement concerning the purchase of the Stock from the Company by the Underwriters.

1. Representations, Warranties and Agreements of the Company. The Company represents, warrants and agrees that:

(a) A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-205344) relating to the Stock has (i) been prepared by the Company in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) thereunder; (ii) been filed with the Commission under the Securities Act; and (iii) become effective under the Securities Act. Copies of such registration statement and any amendment thereto have been delivered by the Company to you as the representatives (the “Representatives”) of the Underwriters. As used in this Agreement:


(i) “Applicable Time” means [•] [a.m.][p.m.] (New York City time) [•], 2015;

(ii) “Effective Date” means the date and time as of which the Registration Statement was declared effective by the Commission, and each other date and time that any post-effective amendment or amendments thereto and any registration statement pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act became or becomes effective;

(iii) “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means each “issuer free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act);

(iv) “Preliminary Prospectus” means any preliminary prospectus relating to the Stock included in the Registration Statement or filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act;

(v) “Pricing Disclosure Package” means, as of the Applicable Time, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, together with the information included in Schedule [VI] hereto and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus filed or used by the Company on or before the Applicable Time, other than a road show that is an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus but is not required to be filed under Rule 433 under the Securities Act;

(vi) “Prospectus” means the final prospectus relating to the Stock, as filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act; and

(vii) “Registration Statement” means the registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-205344), as amended as of the Effective Date, including any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, all exhibits to such registration statement and including the information deemed by virtue of Rule 430A under the Securities Act to be part of such registration statement as of the Effective Date.

(viii) “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Securities Act.

(ix) “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

Any reference to the “most recent Preliminary Prospectus” shall be deemed to refer to the latest Preliminary Prospectus included in the Registration Statement or filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act prior to or on the date hereof. [Any reference herein to the term “Registration Statement” shall be deemed to include the abbreviated registration statement to register additional shares of Common Stock under Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act (the “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement”).] The Commission

 

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has not issued any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and no proceeding or examination for such purpose has been instituted or threatened by the Commission.

(b) From the time of initial confidential submission of the Registration Statement to the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged directly or through any Person authorized to act on its behalf in any Testing-the-Waters Communication) through the date hereof, the Company has been an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”).

(c) The Company (i) has not engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed or approved for distribution any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Schedule V hereto.

(d) The Company was not at the time of initial filing of the Registration Statement and at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Securities Act) of the Stock, is not on the date hereof and will not be on the applicable Delivery Date, an “ineligible issuer” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act).

(e) The Registration Statement conformed and will conform in all material respects on the Effective Date and on the applicable Delivery Date, and any amendment to the Registration Statement filed after the date hereof will conform in all material respects when filed, to the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder. The most recent Preliminary Prospectus conformed, and the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects when filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act and on the applicable Delivery Date to the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(f) The Registration Statement did not, as of the Effective Date, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information is specified in Section 10(f).

 

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(g) The Prospectus will not, as of its date or as of the applicable Delivery Date, include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from the Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information is specified in Section 10(e).

(h) The Pricing Disclosure Package did not, as of the Applicable Time, include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from the Pricing Disclosure Package in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information is specified in Section 10(e).

(i) Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed in Schedule III hereto, when taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package, did not, as of the Applicable Time, include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed in Schedule III hereto in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information is specified in Section 10(e).

(j) Each Written Testing-the-Waters Communication did not, as of the Applicable Time, when taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package, include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication listed on Schedule V hereto in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information is specified in Section 10(e); and the Company has filed publicly on EDGAR at least 21 calendar days prior to any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act), any confidentially submitted registration statement and registration statement amendments relating to the offer and sale of the Stock. Each Written Testing-the-Waters Communications did not, as of the Applicable Time, and at all times through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Stock will not, include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus.

(k) Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conformed or will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder on the date of first use, and the Company has complied with all prospectus delivery and any filing requirements applicable to such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus

 

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pursuant to the Securities Act and rules and regulations thereunder. The Company has not made any offer relating to the Stock that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus without the prior written consent of the Representatives, except as set forth on Schedule IV hereto. The Company has retained in accordance with the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder all Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses that were not required to be filed pursuant to the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder. The Company has taken all actions necessary so that any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act) in connection with the offering of the Stock will not be required to be filed pursuant to the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(l) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have been duly organized, and each is validly existing and in good standing as a corporation or other business entity under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization and is duly qualified to do business and in good standing as a foreign corporation or other business entity in each jurisdiction in which its ownership or lease of property or the conduct of its businesses requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing could not, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, stockholders’ equity, properties, business or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole (a “Material Adverse Effect”). The Company and each of its subsidiaries have all power and authority necessary to own or hold its properties and to conduct the businesses in which it is engaged. The Company does not own or control, directly or indirectly, any corporation, association or other entity other than the subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21.1 to the Registration Statement. None of the subsidiaries of the Company (other than NEP/NCP Holdco, Inc., NEP GTV Holdco Pty Ltd., NEP II, Inc., NEP Supershooters, L.P., NEP Group Holding Pty Ltd., NEP Australia Pty Ltd., NEP Visions Limited, NEP Luxco, SarL, NEP Sweden Holdings and MPP Mediatec Group AB (collectively, the “Significant Subsidiaries”)) is a “significant subsidiary” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act).

(m) The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in each of the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus under the heading “Capitalization,” and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued, are fully paid and non-assessable, conform to the description thereof contained in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus in all material respects and were issued in compliance with federal and state securities laws and not in violation of any preemptive right, resale right, right of first refusal or similar right. All of the Company’s options, warrants and other rights to purchase or exchange any securities for shares of the Company’s capital stock have been duly authorized and validly issued, conform to the description thereof contained in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and were issued in compliance with federal and state securities laws. All of the issued shares of capital stock or other ownership interest of each subsidiary of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims (other than those arising under (i) the Second Amended and Restated First Lien Credit Agreement, dated as of April 29, 2015, among the Company, NEP/NCP

 

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Holdco Inc. as borrower, Barclays Bank Plc as administrative agent and the lenders and other parties thereto and (ii) the Amended and Restated Second Lien Credit Agreement, dated as of April 29, 2015, among NEP Group, Inc., NEP/NCP Holdco, Inc., as borrower, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, as administrative agent and the lenders and other parties thereto and described in the Preliminary Prospectus and Prospectus), except for such liens, encumbrances, equities or claims as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(n) The shares of the Stock to be issued and sold by the Company to the Underwriters hereunder have been duly authorized and, upon payment and delivery in accordance with this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, will conform in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the issuance of the Stock is not subject to any statutory and contractual preemptive rights, rights of first refusal and similar rights.

(o) The Company has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under this Agreement. This Agreement has been duly and validly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.

(p) The issue and sale of the Stock, the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement by the Company, the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and the application of the proceeds from the sale of the Stock as described under “Use of Proceeds” in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus will not (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, impose any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, or constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, license, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject; (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or by-laws (or similar organizational documents) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries; or (iii) result in any violation of any statute or any judgment, order, decree, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties or assets, except, with respect to clauses (i) and (iii), for any such conflict, breach, violation or default that would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(q) No consent, approval, authorization or order of, or filing, registration or qualification with, any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties or assets is required for the issue and sale of the Stock, the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement by the Company, the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, the application of the proceeds from the sale of the Stock as described under “Use of Proceeds” in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, except (A) such as have been, or prior to the Initial Delivery Date, will be obtained or made, (B) for the registration of the Stock under the Securities Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, filings, registrations or qualifications as may be required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as

 

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amended (the “Exchange Act”), and applicable state or foreign securities laws and/or the bylaws and rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (the “FINRA”) in connection with the purchase and sale of the Stock by the Underwriters, (C) filings that will be made on or prior to the Initial Delivery Date with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware and (D) for such consents that, if not obtained, have not or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(r) The historical financial statements (including the related notes and supporting schedules) included in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus comply as to form in all material respects with the requirements of Regulation S-X under the Securities Act and present fairly in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the entities purported to be shown thereby at the dates and for the periods indicated and have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved.

(s) Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”), who have certified certain financial statements of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries, whose report appears in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and who have delivered the initial letter referred to in Section 9(l) hereof, is an independent public accounting firm with respect to the Company as required by the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(t) The Company and each of its subsidiaries (considered as one entity) maintain internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, including, but not limited to, internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of the Company’s financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and to maintain accountability for its assets, (iii) access to the Company’s assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for the Company’s assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.

(u) (i) The Company and each of its subsidiaries (considered as one entity) maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act), (ii) such disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by the Company and its subsidiaries in the reports they file or will file or furnish under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management of the Company and its subsidiaries, including their respective principal executive officers and principal financial officers, as appropriate and (iii) such disclosure controls and procedures are effective in all material respects to perform the functions for which they were established.

 

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(v) Except as described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, since the date of the most recent balance sheet of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries reviewed or audited by Deloitte, (i) the Company has not been advised of or become aware of (A) any significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls that could adversely affect the ability of the Company or any of its subsidiaries to record, process, summarize and report financial data, or any material weaknesses in internal controls, and (B) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the internal controls of the Company and each of its subsidiaries; and (ii) there have been no significant changes in internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls, including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

(w) The section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Critical Accounting Policies” set forth in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus accurately and fully describes (i) the accounting policies that the Company believes are the most important in the portrayal of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations and that require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments (“Critical Accounting Policies”); (ii) the judgments and uncertainties affecting the application of Critical Accounting Policies; and (iii) the likelihood that materially different amounts would be reported under different conditions or using different assumptions and an explanation thereof.

(x) There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company and any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith applicable to the Company.

(y) Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has (i) sustained any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, (ii) issued or granted any securities, (iii) incurred any material liability or obligation, direct or contingent, other than liabilities and obligations that were incurred in the ordinary course of business, (iv) entered into any material transaction not in the ordinary course of business, or (v) declared or paid any dividend on its capital stock, partnership or limited liability interests, as the case may be, and since such date, there has not been any change in the capital stock, partnership or limited liability interests, as the case may be, or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any adverse change, or any development involving a prospective adverse change, in or affecting the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, stockholders’ equity, properties, management, business or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, in each case other than as described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and except as would not, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

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(z) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have good and marketable title to, or have valid rights to lease or otherwise use, all real property and to all personal property that are material to the conduct of the respective businesses of the Company and its subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects, except such liens, encumbrances and defects as (i) are described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, (ii) do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries and (iii) would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(aa) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have such permits, licenses, patents, franchises, certificates of need and other approvals or authorizations of governmental or regulatory authorities (“Permits”) as are necessary under applicable law to own their properties and conduct their businesses in the manner described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, except for any of the foregoing that would not, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and each of its subsidiaries have fulfilled and performed all of its obligations with respect to the Permits, and no event has occurred that allows, or after notice or lapse of time would allow, revocation or termination thereof or results in any other impairment of the rights of the holder or any such Permits, except for any of the foregoing that would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received notice of any revocation or modification of any such Permits or has any reason to believe that any such Permits will not be renewed in the ordinary course.

(bb) The Company and each of its subsidiaries own or possess adequate rights to use all material patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, trade names, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, copyrights, licenses, know-how, software, systems and technology (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures) necessary for the conduct of their respective businesses and have no reason to believe that the conduct of their respective businesses will conflict with, and have not received any notice of any claim of conflict with, any such rights of others, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(cc) Except as described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject that would, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect or could, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the performance of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby; and to the Company’s knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or others.

(dd) There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Registration Statement or the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement, that are not described and, if applicable, filed as required. The statements made in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, insofar as they purport to constitute summaries of the terms of the contracts and other documents described and, if applicable, filed, constitute accurate summaries of the terms of such contracts and documents in all material respects.

 

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(ee) The statements made in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus under the captions “Business—Legal Proceedings” and “Business—Environmental”, insofar as they purport to constitute summaries of the terms of statutes, rules or regulations, legal or governmental proceedings or contracts and other documents, constitute accurate summaries of the terms of such statutes, rules and regulations, legal and governmental proceedings and contracts and other documents in all material respects.

(ff) Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and each of its subsidiaries carry, or are covered by, insurance from insurers of recognized financial responsibility in such amounts and covering such risks as is reasonably adequate for the conduct of their respective businesses and the value of their respective properties and as is customary for companies engaged in similar businesses in similar industries. All policies of insurance of the Company and its subsidiaries are in full force and effect; the Company and each of its subsidiaries are in compliance with the terms of such policies in all material respects; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received notice from any insurer or agent of such insurer that capital improvements or other expenditures are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such insurance; there are no claims by the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any such policy or instrument as to which any insurance company is denying liability or defending under a reservation of rights clause; and neither the Company nor any such subsidiary has been notified in writing that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business at a cost that would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(gg) No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company, on the one hand, and the directors, officers, stockholders, customers or suppliers of the Company, on the other hand, that is required to be described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus which is not so described.

(hh) No labor disturbance by or dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(ii) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries (i) is in violation of its charter or by-laws (or similar organizational documents), (ii) is in default, and no event has occurred that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a default, in the due performance or observance of any term, covenant, condition or other obligation contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, license or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it is bound or to which any of its properties or assets is subject, or (iii) is in violation of any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over it or its property or assets or has failed to obtain any license, permit, certificate, franchise or other governmental authorization or permit necessary to the ownership of its property or to the conduct of its business, except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the extent any such conflict, breach, violation or default would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

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(jj) Except as described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and except as would not, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (i) there are no proceedings that are pending, or known to be contemplated, against the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any laws, regulations, ordinances, rules, orders, judgments, decrees, permits or other legal requirements of any governmental authority, including without limitation any international, foreign, national, state, provincial, regional, or local authority, relating to pollution, the protection of human health or safety, the environment, or natural resources, or to use, handling, storage, manufacturing, transportation, treatment, discharge, disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (“Environmental Laws”) in which a governmental authority is also a party, other than such proceedings regarding which it is reasonably believed no monetary sanctions of $100,000 or more will be imposed, (ii) the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any issues regarding compliance with Environmental Laws, including any pending or proposed Environmental Laws, or liabilities or other obligations under Environmental Laws or concerning hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, and (iii) none of the Company and its subsidiaries anticipates material capital expenditures relating to Environmental Laws, other than those incurred in the ordinary course of business.

(kk) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have filed all federal, state, local and foreign tax returns required to be filed through the date hereof, subject to permitted extensions, and have paid all taxes due, and, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, no tax deficiency has been determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, nor does the Company have any knowledge of any tax deficiencies that have been, or could reasonably be expected to be asserted against the Company, that would, in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(ll) Except, in each case, for any such matter as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (i) each “employee benefit plan” (within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”)) for which the Company or any member of its “Controlled Group” (defined as any organization which is a member of a controlled group of corporations within the meaning of Section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)) would have any liability (each a “Plan”) has been maintained in compliance with its terms and with the requirements of all applicable statutes, rules and regulations including ERISA and the Code; (ii) no prohibited transaction, within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, has occurred with respect to any Plan excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administrative exemption; (iii) with respect to each Plan subject to Title IV of ERISA (A) no “reportable event” (within the meaning of Section 4043(c) of ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur, (B) no “accumulated funding deficiency” (within the meaning of Section 302 of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code), whether or

 

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not waived, has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur, (C) the fair market value of the assets under each Plan exceeds the present value of all benefits accrued under such Plan (determined based on those assumptions used to fund such Plan), and (D) neither the Company or any member of its Controlled Group has incurred, or reasonably expects to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA (other than contributions to the Plan or premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in the ordinary course and without default) in respect of a Plan (including a “multiemployer plan”, within the meaning of Section 4001(c)(3) of ERISA); and (iv) each Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified and nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification.

(mm) The statistical and market-related data included in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes to be reliable in all material respects.

(nn) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is, and as of the applicable Delivery Date and, after giving effect to the offer and sale of the Stock and the application of the proceeds therefrom as described under “Use of Proceeds” in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, none of them will be, an “investment company” or a company “controlled” by an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”) and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

(oo) The statements set forth in each of the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus under the captions “Description of Capital Stock”, “Material United States Federal Income Tax Considerations for Non-United States Holders” and “Underwriting”, insofar as they purport to summarize the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate summaries in all material respects.

(pp) There are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any securities of the Company owned or to be owned by such person or to require the Company to include such securities in the securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or in any securities being registered pursuant to any other registration statement filed by the Company under the Securities Act.

(qq) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person (other than this Agreement) that would give rise to a valid claim against any of them or the Underwriters for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the offering and sale of the Stock.

(rr) The Company has not sold or issued any securities that would be integrated with the offering of the Stock contemplated by this Agreement pursuant to the Securities Act, the rules and regulations thereunder or the interpretations thereof by the Commission.

 

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(ss) The Company and its affiliates have not taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that has constituted or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company in connection with the offering of the shares of the Stock.

(tt) The Stock has been approved for listing, subject to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution on, the New York Stock Exchange.

(uu) The Company has not distributed and, prior to the later to occur of any Delivery Date and completion of the distribution of the Stock, will not distribute any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Stock other than any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to which the Representatives have consented in accordance with Section 1(k) or 6(a)(vi) and any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus set forth on Schedule IV hereto and, in connection with the Directed Share Program described in Section 4, the enrollment materials prepared by Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC on behalf of the Company.

(vv) Neither the Company nor any subsidiary is in violation of or has received notice of any violation with respect to any federal or state law relating to discrimination in the hiring, promotion or pay of employees, nor any applicable federal or state wage and hour laws, nor any state law precluding the denial of credit due to the neighborhood in which a property is situated, the violation of any of which could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(ww) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees or controlled affiliates, nor to the knowledge of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, any agent or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, has in the course of its actions for, or on behalf of, the Company or any of its subsidiaries: (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, or entertainment, or any bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful expense relating to political activity; (ii) made any direct or indirect unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official, “foreign official” (as defined in the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “FCPA”) or employee from corporate funds; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the FCPA, U.K. Bribery Act 2010, as amended, or any other applicable anti-bribery statute or regulation which is applicable to Company and its subsidiaries; or (iv) made any bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment to any domestic government official, foreign official or employee; and the Company and its subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, the Company’s affiliates have conducted their respective businesses in compliance with the FCPA, U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and all other applicable anti-bribery statutes and regulations, and are formalizing policies and have carried out certain procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith.

 

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(xx) The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.

(yy) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is, or is controlled by a person or entity that is, (i) currently subject to or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”), the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union (“EU”), Her Majesty’s Treasury (“HMT”), or other governmental sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”); or (ii) located, organized or resident in a country that is the subject of a comprehensive embargo under the Sanctions (including, without limitation, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time of such financing, is the subject or target of Sanctions, or in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction whether as an underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions. The Company and its subsidiaries have not knowingly engaged in for the past five years, are not now knowingly engaged in, and will not engage in, any dealings or transactions with any individual or entity, or with or in any country or territory, that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject or target of Sanctions, in violation of such Sanctions.

(zz) Each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus comply, and any further amendments or supplements thereto will comply, with any applicable laws or regulations of foreign jurisdictions in which such Preliminary Prospectus, Prospectus or such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, are distributed in connection with the Directed Share Program. No consent, approval, authorization or order of, or filing, registration or qualification with, any court or governmental agency or body, other than such as have been obtained, is required under the securities laws and regulations of any foreign jurisdiction in which the Directed Shares are offered or sold outside the United States.

(aaa) The Company has not offered, or caused Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC to offer, Stock to any person pursuant to the Directed Share Program with the specific intent to unlawfully influence (i) a customer or supplier of the Company to alter the customer’s or supplier’s level or type of business with the Company or (ii) a trade journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company, its business or its products.

 

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(bbb) Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company and delivered to the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the offering of the Stock shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter.

2. [Reserved]

3. Purchase of the Stock by the Underwriters. On the basis of the representations, warranties and covenants contained in, and subject to the terms and conditions of, this Agreement, the Company agrees to sell [●] shares of the Firm Stock, severally and not jointly, to the several Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters, severally and not jointly, agrees to purchase the number of shares of the Firm Stock set forth opposite that Underwriter’s name in Schedule I hereto. The respective purchase obligations of the Underwriters with respect to the Firm Stock shall be rounded among the Underwriters to avoid fractional shares, as the Representatives may determine.

In addition, the Company grants to the Underwriters an option to purchase up to [•] additional shares of Option Stock, severally and not jointly. Such options are exercisable in the event that the Underwriters sell more shares of Common Stock than the number of shares of Firm Stock in the offering and as set forth in Section 5 hereof. Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase the number of shares of Option Stock (subject to such adjustments to eliminate fractional shares as the Representatives may determine) that bears the same proportion to the total number of shares of Option Stock to be sold on such Delivery Date as the number of shares of Firm Stock set forth in Schedule I hereto opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of shares of Firm Stock.

The purchase price payable by the Underwriters for both the Firm Stock and any Option Stock is $[●] per share; provided, however, that the amount paid by the Underwriters for any Option Stock shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Stock but not payable on such Option Stock.

The Company is not obligated to deliver any of the Firm Stock or Option Stock to be delivered on the applicable Delivery Date, except upon payment for all such Stock to be purchased on such Delivery Date as provided herein.

4. Offering of Stock by the Underwriters. Upon authorization by the Representatives of the release of the Firm Stock, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Firm Stock for sale upon the terms and conditions to be set forth in the Prospectus.

It is understood that approximately [•] shares of the Firm Stock (the “Directed Shares”) will initially be reserved by the several Underwriters for offer and sale upon the terms and conditions to be set forth in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and in accordance with the rules and regulations of FINRA to employees of the Company and its subsidiaries and persons having business relationships with the Company and its subsidiaries who have heretofore delivered to Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC offers to purchase shares of Firm Stock in form satisfactory to Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (such program, the “Directed Share Program”) and that any allocation of such Firm Stock among such

 

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persons will be made in accordance with timely directions received by Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC from the Company; provided that under no circumstances will Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC or any Underwriter be liable to the Company or to any such person for any action taken or omitted in good faith in connection with such Directed Share Program. It is further understood that any Directed Shares not affirmatively reconfirmed for purchase by any participant in the Directed Share Program by [●]:00 A.M., New York City time, on the [date hereof] [first business day following the date hereof] or otherwise are not purchased by such persons will be offered by the Underwriters to the public upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus.

The Company agrees to pay all fees and disbursements incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program and any stamp duties or other taxes incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program.

5. Delivery of and Payment for the Stock. Delivery of and payment for the Firm Stock shall be made at 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the third full business day following the date of this Agreement or at such other date or place as shall be determined by agreement between the Representatives and the Company. This date and time are sometimes referred to as the “Initial Delivery Date”. Delivery of the Firm Stock shall be made to the Representatives for the account of each Underwriter against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives and of the respective aggregate purchase prices of the Firm Stock being sold by the Company to or upon the order of the Company of the purchase price by wire transfer in immediately available funds to the account specified by the Company. Time shall be of the essence, and delivery at the time and place specified pursuant to this Agreement is a further condition of the obligation of each Underwriter hereunder. The Company shall deliver the Firm Stock through the facilities of DTC unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct.

The options granted in Section 3 will expire 30 days after the date of this Agreement and may be exercised in whole or from time to time in part by written notice being given to the Company by the Representatives; provided that if such date falls on a day that is not a business day, the options granted in Section 3 will expire on the next succeeding business day. Such notice shall set forth the aggregate number of shares of Option Stock as to which the options are being exercised, the names in which the shares of Option Stock are to be registered, the denominations in which the shares of Option Stock are to be issued and the date and time, as determined by the Representatives, when the shares of Option Stock are to be delivered; provided, however, that this date and time shall not be earlier than the Initial Delivery Date nor earlier than the second business day after the date on which the options shall have been exercised nor later than the fifth business day after the date on which the options shall have been exercised. Each date and time the shares of Option Stock are delivered is sometimes referred to as an “Option Stock Delivery Date”, and the Initial Delivery Date and any Option Stock Delivery Date are sometimes each referred to as a “Delivery Date”.

Delivery of the Option Stock by the Company and payment for the Option Stock by the several Underwriters through the Representatives shall be made at [10:00] A.M., New York City time, on the date specified in the corresponding notice described in the preceding paragraph or at such other date or place as shall be determined by agreement between the Representatives and the Company. On each Option Stock Delivery Date, the Company shall

 

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deliver or cause to be delivered the Option Stock to the Representatives for the account of each Underwriter against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives and of the respective aggregate purchase prices of the Option Stock being sold by the Company to or upon the order of the Company of the purchase price by wire transfer in immediately available funds to the account specified by the Company. Time shall be of the essence, and delivery at the time and place specified pursuant to this Agreement is a further condition of the obligation of each Underwriter hereunder. The Company shall deliver the Option Stock through the facilities of DTC unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct.

6. Further Agreements of the Company and the Underwriters. (a) The Company agrees:

(i) To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by the Representatives and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act not later than the Commission’s close of business on the second business day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus prior to the last Delivery Date except as provided herein; to advise the Representatives, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish the Representatives with copies thereof; to advise the Representatives, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, of the suspension of the qualification of the Stock for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding or examination for any such purpose or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or suspending any such qualification, to use promptly its best efforts to obtain its withdrawal.

(ii) To furnish promptly to each of the Representatives and to counsel for the Underwriters upon request a signed copy of the Registration Statement as originally filed with the Commission, and each amendment thereto filed with the Commission, including all consents and exhibits filed therewith.

(iii) To deliver promptly to the Representatives such number of the following documents as the Representatives shall reasonably request: (A) conformed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed with the Commission and each amendment thereto (in each case excluding exhibits other than this Agreement and the computation of per share earnings), (B) each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any amended or supplemented Prospectus and (C) each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus; and, if the delivery of a prospectus is required at any time after the date hereof in connection with the offering or sale of the Stock or any other securities relating thereto and if at such

 

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time any events shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made when such Prospectus is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus in order to comply with the Securities Act, to notify the Representatives and, upon their request, to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many copies as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus that will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance.

(iv) To file promptly with the Commission any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that may, in the judgment of the Company, or the Representative be required to comply with applicable law or requested by the Commission.

(v) Prior to filing with the Commission any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, to furnish a copy thereof to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters and obtain the consent of the Representatives to the filing.

(vi) Not to make any offer relating to the Stock that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus without the prior written consent of the Representatives.

(vii) To comply with all applicable requirements of Rule 433 under the Securities Act with respect to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus. If at any time after the date hereof any events shall have occurred as a result of which any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as then amended or supplemented, would conflict with the information in the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary to amend or supplement any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, to notify the Representatives and, upon their request, to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter as many copies as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request of an amended or supplemented Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that will correct such conflict, statement or omission or effect such compliance.

(viii) As soon as practicable after the Effective Date (it being understood that the Company shall have until at least 410 days or, if the fourth quarter following the fiscal quarter that includes the Effective Date is the last fiscal quarter of the Company’s fiscal year, 455 days after the end of the Company’s current fiscal quarter), to make generally available to the Company’s security

 

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holders and to deliver to the Representatives (or make available through the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System) an earnings statement of the Company and its subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158).

(ix) Promptly from time to time to take such action as the Representatives may reasonably request to qualify the Stock for offering and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of Canada and such other jurisdictions as the Representatives may request and to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of the Stock; provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to (i) qualify as a foreign corporation in any jurisdiction in which it would not otherwise be required to so qualify, (ii) file a general consent to service of process in any such jurisdiction, or (iii) subject itself to taxation in any jurisdiction in which it would not otherwise be subject.

(x) For a period commencing on the date hereof and ending on the 180th day after the date of the Prospectus (the “Lock-Up Period”), not to, directly or indirectly, (A) offer for sale, sell, pledge, or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device that is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock (other than the Stock and shares issued pursuant to employee benefit plans, qualified stock option plans or other employee compensation plans existing on the date hereof or described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or pursuant to currently outstanding options, warrants or rights not issued under one of those plans), or sell or grant options, rights or warrants with respect to any shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Common Stock (other than the grant of options pursuant to employee benefit plans, option plans, qualified stock option plans or other employee compensation plans existing on the date hereof or described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus), (B) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of such shares of Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (A) or (B) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or other securities, in cash or otherwise, (C) file or cause to be filed a registration statement, including any amendments thereto, with respect to the registration of any shares of Common Stock or securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into Common Stock or any other securities of the Company (other than any registration statement on Form S-8), or (D) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing, in each case without the prior written consent of Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, on behalf of the Underwriters, and to cause each officer, director and stockholder of the Company set forth on Schedule II hereto to furnish to the Representatives, prior to the Initial Delivery Date, a letter or letters, substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto (the “Lock-Up Agreements”).

 

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(xi) If Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, in their sole discretion, agree to release or waive the restrictions set forth in a Lock-Up Agreement for an officer or director of the Company and provides the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver at least three business days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver by issuing a press release substantially in the form of Exhibit B hereto, and containing such other information as Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC may require with respect to the circumstances of the release or waiver and/or the identity of the officer(s) and/or director(s) with respect to which the release or waiver applies, through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver.

(xii) To apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Stock being sold by the Company substantially in accordance with the description as set forth in the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds.”

(xiii) To file with the Commission such information on Form 10-Q or Form 10-K as may be required by Rule 463 under the Securities Act.

(xiv) If the Company elects to rely upon Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, the Company shall file a Rule 462(b) Registration Statement with the Commission in compliance with Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act by 10:00 P.M., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement, and the Company shall pay the Commission the filing fee for the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement by no later than the close of the next business day following the filing of the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement.

(xv) In connection with the Directed Share Program, to ensure that the Directed Shares will be restricted from sale, transfer, assignment, pledge or hypothecation to the same extent as sales and dispositions of Common Stock by the Company are restricted pursuant to Section 6(a)(x), and Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC will notify the Company as to which Directed Share Participants will need to be so restricted. At the request of Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, the Company will direct the transfer agent to place stop transfer restrictions upon such securities for such period of time as is consistent with Section 6(a)(x).

(xvi) To comply with all applicable securities and other applicable laws, rules and regulations in each foreign jurisdiction in which the Directed Shares are offered in connection with the Directed Share Program.

(xvii) The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (A) the time when a prospectus relating to the offering or sale of the Stock or any other securities relating thereto is not required by the Securities Act to be delivered (whether physically or through compliance with Rule 172 under the Securities Act or any similar rule) and (B) completion of the Lock-Up Period.

 

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(xviii) If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission. The Company will promptly notify the Representatives of (A) any distribution by the Company of Written Testing-the-Waters Communications and (B) any request by the Commission for information concerning the Written Testing-the-Waters Communications.

(xix) The Company and its affiliates will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that has constituted or that reasonably would be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company in connection with the offering of the Stock.

(xx) The Company will do and perform all things required or necessary to be done and performed under this Agreement by it prior to each Delivery Date, and to satisfy all conditions precedent to the Underwriters’ obligations hereunder to purchase the Stock.

(b) Each Underwriter severally agrees that such Underwriter shall not include any “issuer information” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act) in any “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act) used or referred to by such Underwriter without the prior consent of the Company (any such issuer information with respect to whose use the Company has given its consent, “Permitted Issuer Information”); provided that (i) no such consent shall be required with respect to any such issuer information contained in any document filed by the Company with the Commission prior to the use of such free writing prospectus, and (ii) “issuer information”, as used in this Section 6(b), shall not be deemed to include information prepared by or on behalf of such Underwriter on the basis of or derived from issuer information.

7. [Reserved]

8. Expenses. The Company agrees, whether or not the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, to pay all expenses, costs, fees and taxes incident to and in connection with (a) the authorization, issuance, sale and delivery of the Stock and any stamp duties or other taxes payable in that connection, and the preparation and printing of certificates for the Stock; (b) the preparation, printing and filing under the Securities Act of the Registration Statement (including any exhibits thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, and any amendment or supplement thereto; (c) the distribution of the Registration Statement (including any exhibits thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, the

 

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Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, and any amendment or supplement thereto, all as provided in this Agreement; (d) the production and distribution of this Agreement, any supplemental agreement among Underwriters, and any other related documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Stock; (e) any required review by the FINRA of the terms of sale of the Stock (including related fees and expenses of counsel to the Underwriters in an amount that is not greater than $35,000); (f) the listing of the Stock on the New York Stock Exchange and/or any other exchange; (g) the qualification of the Stock under the securities laws of the several jurisdictions as provided in Section 6(a)(ix) and the preparation, printing and distribution of a Blue Sky Memorandum (including related fees and expenses of counsel to the Underwriters); (h) the preparation, printing and distribution of one or more versions of the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus for distribution in Canada, including in the form of a Canadian “wrapper” (including related fees and expenses of Canadian counsel to the Underwriters); (i) any Independent Underwriter (as defined in Section 10(h)); (j) the offer and sale of shares of the Stock by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program, including the fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters related thereto, the costs and expenses of preparation, printing and distribution of the Directed Share Program material and all stamp duties or other taxes incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program; (k) the investor presentations on any “road show” or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, undertaken in connection with the marketing of the Stock, including, without limitation, expenses associated with any electronic road show, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and one-half of the cost of any aircraft chartered in connection with the road show; and (l) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of the obligations of the Company under this Agreement; provided that, except as provided in this Section 8 and in Section 13, the Underwriters shall pay their own costs and expenses, including the costs and expenses of their counsel, any transfer taxes on the Stock which they may sell and the expenses of advertising any offering of the Stock made by the Underwriters.

9. Conditions of Underwriters’ Obligations. The respective obligations of the Underwriters hereunder are subject to the accuracy, when made and on each Delivery Date, of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein, to the performance by the Company of their respective obligations hereunder, and to each of the following additional terms and conditions:

(a) The Prospectus shall have been timely filed with the Commission in accordance with Section 6(a)(i). The Company shall have complied with all filing requirements applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus used or referred to after the date hereof; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or preventing or suspending the use of the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been issued and no proceeding or examination for such purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and any request of the Commission for inclusion of additional information in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or otherwise shall have been complied with. If the Company has elected to rely upon Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement shall have become effective by 10:00 P.M., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement.

 

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(b) No Underwriter shall have discovered and disclosed to the Company on or prior to such Delivery Date that the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Pricing Disclosure Package, or any amendment or supplement thereto, contains an untrue statement of a fact which, in the opinion of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, is material or omits to state a fact which, in the opinion of such counsel, is material and is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

(c) All corporate proceedings and other legal matters incident to the authorization, form and validity of this Agreement, the Stock, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and all other legal matters relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be reasonably satisfactory in all material respects to counsel for the Underwriters, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel all documents and information that they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.

(d) Dean Naccarato, General Counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives his written opinion, as General Counsel to the Company, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C-1.

(e) Vinson & Elkins LLP shall have furnished to the Representatives its written opinion, as counsel to the Company, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C-2.

(f) [•], Australia counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives its written opinion, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C-3.

(g) [•], Luxembourg counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives its written opinion, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C-4.

(h) [•], Sweden counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives its written opinion, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C-5.

(i) [•], United Kingdom counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives its written opinion, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C-6.

 

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(j) The Representatives shall have received from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion or opinions, dated such Delivery Date, with respect to the issuance and sale of the Stock, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package and other related matters as the Representatives may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they reasonably request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters.

(k) At the time of execution of this Agreement, the Representatives shall have received from Deloitte & Touche LLP, a letter, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the date hereof (i) confirming that they are independent public accountants within the meaning of the Securities Act and are in compliance with the applicable requirements relating to the qualification of accountants under Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X of the Commission, and (ii) stating, as of the date hereof (or, with respect to matters involving changes or developments since the respective dates as of which specified financial information is given in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, as of a date not more than three days prior to the date hereof), the conclusions and findings of such firm with respect to the financial information and other matters ordinarily covered by accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters in connection with registered public offerings.

(l) With respect to the letter of Deloitte & Touche LLP referred to in the preceding paragraph and delivered to the Representatives concurrently with the execution of this Agreement (the “initial letter”), the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a letter (the “bring-down letter”) of such accountants, addressed to the Underwriters and dated such Delivery Date (i) confirming that they are independent public accountants within the meaning of the Securities Act and are in compliance with the applicable requirements relating to the qualification of accountants under Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X of the Commission, (ii) stating, as of the date of the bring-down letter (or, with respect to matters involving changes or developments since the respective dates as of which specified financial information is given in the Prospectus, as of a date not more than three days prior to the date of the bring-down letter), the conclusions and findings of such firm with respect to the financial information and other matters covered by the initial letter, and (iii) confirming in all material respects the conclusions and findings set forth in the initial letter.

(m) The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate, dated such Delivery Date, of its Chief Executive Officer and its Chief Financial Officer as to such matters as the Representatives may reasonably request, including, without limitation, a statement:

(i) That the representations, warranties and agreements of the Company in Section 1 are true and correct on and as of such Delivery Date, and the Company has complied with all its agreements contained herein and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to such Delivery Date;

 

24


(ii) That no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued; and no proceedings or examination for that purpose have been instituted or, to the knowledge of such officers, threatened;

(iii) That they have examined the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package, and, in their opinion, (A) (1) the Registration Statement, as of the Effective Date, (2) the Prospectus, as of its date and on the applicable Delivery Date, and (3) the Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time, did not and do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact and did not and do not omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein (except in the case of the Registration Statement, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made) not misleading, and (B) since the Effective Date, no event has occurred that should have been set forth in a supplement or amendment to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that has not been so set forth; and

(iv) To the effect of Section 9(n) (provided that no representation with respect to the judgment of the Representatives need be made) and Section 9(o).

(n) Except as described in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto), (i) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries shall have sustained, since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, or (ii) since such date there shall not have been any change in the capital stock, partnership or limited liability interests, as applicable, or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (considered as one entity) or any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, stockholders’ equity, properties, management, business or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is, individually or in the aggregate, in the judgment of the Representatives, so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Stock being delivered on such Delivery Date on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus.

(o) Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, to the extent applicable, (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded the Company’s debt securities or preferred stock by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined by the Commission in Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act), and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, with possible negative implications, its rating of any of the Company’s debt securities or preferred stock.

 

25


(p) Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) (A) trading in securities generally on any securities exchange that has registered with the Commission under Section 6 of the Exchange Act (including the New York Stock Exchange, The NASDAQ Global Select Market, The NASDAQ Global Market or The NASDAQ Capital Market), or (B) trading in any securities of the Company on any exchange or in the over-the-counter market, shall have been suspended or materially limited or the settlement of such trading generally shall have been materially disrupted or minimum prices shall have been established on any such exchange or such market by the Commission, by such exchange or by any other regulatory body or governmental authority having jurisdiction, (ii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities shall have been declared by federal or state authorities, (iii) the United States shall have become engaged in hostilities, there shall have been an escalation in hostilities involving the United States or there shall have been a declaration of a national emergency or war by the United States, or (iv) there shall have occurred such a material adverse change in general economic, political or financial conditions, including, without limitation, as a result of terrorist activities after the date hereof (or the effect of international conditions on the financial markets in the United States shall be such) or any other calamity or crisis either within or outside the United States, as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or delivery of the Stock being delivered on such Delivery Date on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus.

(q) The New York Stock Exchange shall have approved the Stock for listing, subject only to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution.

(r) The Lock-Up Agreements between the Representatives and the officers, directors and stockholders of the Company set forth on Schedule II, delivered to the Representatives on or before the date of this Agreement, shall be in full force and effect on such Delivery Date.

(s) At each of the time of execution of this Agreement and such Delivery Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate, dated as of the date of this Agreement and such Delivery Date, respectively, of its Chief Financial Officer substantially in the form of Exhibit D hereto, relating to the accuracy of certain financial information in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(t) On or prior to each Delivery Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Underwriters such further certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.

All opinions, letters, evidence and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall be deemed to be in compliance with the provisions hereof only if they are in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriters.

 

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10. Indemnification and Contribution.

(a) The Company hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates, directors, officers and employees and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any loss, claim, damage or liability, joint or several, or any action in respect thereof (including, but not limited to, any loss, claim, damage, liability or action relating to purchases and sales of Stock), to which that Underwriter, affiliate, director, officer, employee or controlling person may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, claim, damage, liability or action arises out of, or is based upon, (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in (A) any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto, (B) any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto, (C) any Permitted Issuer Information used or referred to in any “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act) used or referred to by any Underwriter, (D) any materials or information provided to investors by, or with the approval of, the Company in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Stock, including any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act) not constituting an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication (“Marketing Materials”), or (E) any Blue Sky application or other document prepared or executed by the Company (or based upon any written information furnished by the Company for use therein) specifically for the purpose of qualifying any or all of the Stock under the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction (any such application, document or information being hereinafter called a “Blue Sky Application”) or (ii) the omission or alleged omission to state in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto or in any Permitted Issuer Information, any Marketing Materials or any Blue Sky Application, any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and shall reimburse each Underwriter and each such affiliate, director, officer, employee or controlling person promptly upon demand for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by that Underwriter, affiliate, director, officer, employee or controlling person in connection with investigating or defending or preparing to defend against any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action arises out of, or is based upon, any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any such amendment or supplement thereto or in any Permitted Issuer Information, any Marketing Materials or any Blue Sky Application, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information concerning such Underwriter furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information consists solely of the information specified in Section 10(e). The foregoing indemnity agreement is in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have to any Underwriter or to any affiliate, director, officer, employee or controlling person of that Underwriter.

(b) Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, shall indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors (including any person who, with his or her consent, is named in the Registration Statement as about to become a director of the Company), officers and employees, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and

 

27


against any loss, claim, damage or liability, joint or several, or any action in respect thereof, to which the Company or any such director, officer, employee or controlling person may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, claim, damage, liability or action arises out of, or is based upon, (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto or in any Marketing Materials or Blue Sky Application, or (ii) the omission or alleged omission to state in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto or in any Marketing Materials or Blue Sky Application, any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, but in each case only to the extent that the untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information concerning such Underwriter furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of that Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein, which information is limited to the information set forth in Section 10(e). The foregoing indemnity agreement is in addition to any liability that any Underwriter may otherwise have to the Company or any such director, officer, employee or controlling person.

(c) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 10 of notice of any claim or the commencement of any action, the indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 10, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the claim or the commencement of that action; provided, however, that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have under this Section 10 except to the extent it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights and defenses) by such failure and, provided, further, that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under this Section 10. If any such claim or action shall be brought against an indemnified party, and it shall notify the indemnifying party thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it wishes, jointly with any other similarly notified indemnifying party, to assume the defense thereof with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party. After notice from the indemnifying party to the indemnified party of its election to assume the defense of such claim or action, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to the indemnified party under this Section 10 for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by the indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation; provided, however, that the indemnified party shall have the right to employ counsel to represent jointly the indemnified party and those other indemnified parties and their respective directors, officers, employees and controlling persons who may be subject to liability arising out of any claim in respect of which indemnity may be sought under this Section 10 if (i) the indemnified party and the indemnifying party shall have so mutually agreed; (ii) the indemnifying party has failed within a reasonable time to retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party; (iii) the indemnified party and its directors, officers, employees and controlling persons shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to them that are different from or in addition to

 

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those available to the indemnifying party; or (iv) the named parties in any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the indemnified parties or their respective directors, officers, employees or controlling persons, on the one hand, and the indemnifying party, on the other hand, and representation of both sets of parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them, and in any such event the fees and expenses of such separate counsel shall be paid by the indemnifying party. No indemnifying party shall (x) without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any pending or threatened claim, action, suit or proceeding in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties to such claim or action) unless such settlement, compromise or consent includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such claim, action, suit or proceeding and does not include a statement as to, or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party, or (y) be liable for any settlement of any such action effected without its written consent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), but if settled with the consent of the indemnifying party or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff in any such action, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless any indemnified party from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by Section 10(a) hereof, the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 60 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request and (ii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request or disputed in good faith the indemnified party’s entitlement to such reimbursement prior to the date of such settlement.

(d) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 10 shall for any reason be unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under Section 10(a), 10(b) or 10(f) in respect of any loss, claim, damage or liability, or any action in respect thereof, referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party, contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such loss, claim, damage or liability, or action in respect thereof, (i) in such proportion as shall be appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, from the offering of the Stock, or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, with respect to the statements or omissions that resulted in such loss, claim, damage or liability, or action in respect thereof, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, with respect to such offering shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Stock purchased under this Agreement (before deducting expenses)

 

29


received by the Company, as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus, on the one hand, and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters with respect to the shares of the Stock purchased under this Agreement, as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus, on the other hand. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or the Underwriters, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contributions pursuant to this Section 10(d) were to be determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take into account the equitable considerations referred to herein. The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the loss, claim, damage or liability, or action in respect thereof, referred to above in this Section 10(d) shall be deemed to include, for purposes of this Section 10(d), any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 10(d), in no event shall an Underwriter be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by such Underwriter with respect to the offering of the Stock exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations to contribute as provided in this Section 10(d) are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.

(e) The Underwriters severally confirm and the Company acknowledges and agrees that the statements regarding delivery of shares by the Underwriters set forth on the cover page of, and the concession and reallowance figures and the paragraph relating to stabilization by the Underwriters appearing under the caption “Underwriting” in, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus are correct and constitute the only information concerning such Underwriters furnished in writing to the Company by or on behalf of the Underwriters specifically for inclusion in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto or in any Marketing Materials.

(f) The Company shall indemnify and hold harmless Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (including their affiliates, directors, officers and employees) and each person, if any, who controls Barclays Capital Inc. or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (“DSP Entities”), from and against any loss, claim, damage or liability or any action in respect thereof to which any of the DSP Entities may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, claim, damage, liability or action (i) arises out of, or is based upon, any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any material prepared by or with the

 

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approval of the Company for distribution to Directed Share Participants in connection with the Directed Share Program or any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, (ii) arises out of, or is based upon, the failure of the Directed Share Participant to pay for and accept delivery of Directed Shares that the Directed Share Participant agreed to purchase, or (iii) is otherwise related to the Directed Share Program; provided that the Company shall not be liable under this clause (iii) for any loss, claim, damage, liability or action that is determined in a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction to have resulted from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the DSP Entities. The Company shall reimburse the DSP Entities promptly upon demand for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending or preparing to defend against any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action as such expenses are incurred.

(h) Without limitation of and in addition to its obligations under the other paragraphs of this Section 10, the Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless RBC Capital Markets, LLC (in the capacity described in this paragraph, the “Independent Underwriter”), its affiliates, directors, officers and employees and each person who controls the Independent Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act from and against any and all loss, claim, damage or liability, joint or several, or any action in respect thereof (including, but not limited to, any loss, claim, damage, liability or action relating to purchases and sales of Stock) to which the Independent Underwriter, affiliate, director, officer, employee or controlling person may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, claim, damage, liability or action arises out of, or is based upon, the Independent Underwriter’s acting as a “qualified independent underwriter” (within the meaning of FINRA Rule 5121) in connection with the offering contemplated by this Agreement, and agrees to reimburse each such indemnified party promptly upon demand for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending or preparing to defend any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that it is determined in a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction that such loss, claim, damage, liability or action resulted directly from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Independent Underwriter. The relative benefits received by the Independent Underwriter with respect to the offering contemplated by this Agreement shall, for purposes of Section 10(d), be deemed to be equal to the compensation received by the Independent Underwriter for acting in such capacity. In addition, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 10(d), the Independent Underwriter shall not be required to contribute any amount in excess of the compensation received by the Independent Underwriter for acting in such capacity.

11. Defaulting Underwriters.

(a) If, on any Delivery Date, any Underwriter defaults in its obligations to purchase the Stock that it has agreed to purchase under this Agreement, the remaining non-defaulting Underwriters may in their discretion arrange for the purchase of such Stock by the non-defaulting Underwriters or other persons satisfactory to the Company

 

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on the terms contained in this Agreement. If, within 36 hours after any such default by any Underwriter, the non-defaulting Underwriters do not arrange for the purchase of such Stock, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of 36 hours within which to procure other persons satisfactory to the non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase such Stock on such terms. In the event that within the respective prescribed periods, the non-defaulting Underwriters notify the Company that they have so arranged for the purchase of such Stock, or the Company notifies the non-defaulting Underwriters that it has so arranged for the purchase of such Stock, either the non-defaulting Underwriters or the Company may postpone such Delivery Date for up to seven full business days in order to effect any changes that in the opinion of counsel for the Company or counsel for the Underwriters may be necessary in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or in any other document or arrangement, and the Company agrees to promptly prepare any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or in any such other document or arrangement that effects any such changes. As used in this Agreement, the term “Underwriter” includes, for all purposes of this Agreement unless the context requires otherwise, any party not listed in Schedule I hereto that, pursuant to this Section 11, purchases Stock that a defaulting Underwriter agreed but failed to purchase.

(b) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Stock of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters and the Company as provided in paragraph (a) above, the total number of shares of the Stock that remains unpurchased does not exceed one-eleventh of the total number of shares of all the Stock, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the total number of shares of Stock that such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder plus such Underwriter’s pro rata share (based on the total number of shares of Stock that such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Stock of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; provided that the non-defaulting Underwriters shall not be obligated to purchase more than 110% of the total number of shares of Stock that it agreed to purchase on such Delivery Date pursuant to the terms of Section 3.

(c) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Stock of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters and the Company as provided in paragraph (a) above, the total number of shares of Stock that remains unpurchased exceeds one-eleventh of the total number of shares of all the Stock, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described in paragraph (b) above, then this Agreement shall terminate without liability on the part of the non-defaulting Underwriters. Any termination of this Agreement pursuant to this Section 11 shall be without liability on the part of the Company, except that the Company will continue to be liable for the payment of expenses as set forth in Sections 8 and 13 and except that the provisions of Section 10 shall not terminate and shall remain in effect.

(d) Nothing contained herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter of any liability it may have to the Company or any non-defaulting Underwriter for damages caused by its default.

 

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12. Termination. The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be terminated by the Representatives by notice given to and received by the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Firm Stock if, prior to that time, any of the events described in Sections 9(n), 9(o) and 9(p) shall have occurred or if the Underwriters shall decline to purchase the Stock for any reason permitted under this Agreement.

13. Reimbursement of Underwriters’ Expenses. If (a) the Company shall fail to tender the Stock for delivery to the Underwriters for any reason, or (b) the Underwriters shall decline to purchase the Stock for any reason permitted under this Agreement, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters) incurred by the Underwriters in connection with this Agreement and the proposed purchase of the Stock, and upon demand the Company shall pay the full amount thereof to the Representatives. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 11 by reason of the default of one or more Underwriters or the purchase of the Stock is not consummated as a result of the occurrence of any of the events described in Section 9(p) (other than the occurrence of an event described in Section 9(p)(i)(B)) the Company shall not be obligated to reimburse any defaulting Underwriter on account of those expenses.

14. Research Analyst Independence. The Company acknowledges that the Underwriters’ research analysts and research departments are required to be independent from their respective investment banking divisions and are subject to certain regulations and internal policies, and that such Underwriters’ research analysts may hold views and make statements or investment recommendations and/or publish research reports with respect to the Company and/or the offering that differ from the views of their respective investment banking divisions. The Company hereby waives and releases, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that the Company may have against the Underwriters with respect to any conflict of interest that may arise from the fact that the views expressed by their independent research analysts and research departments may be different from or inconsistent with the views or advice communicated to the Company by such Underwriters’ investment banking divisions. The Company acknowledges that each of the Underwriters is a full service securities firm and as such from time to time, subject to applicable securities laws, may effect transactions for its own account or the account of its customers and hold long or short positions in debt or equity securities of the companies that may be the subject of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

15. No Fiduciary Duty. The Company acknowledges and agrees that in connection with this offering, sale of the Stock or any other services the Underwriters may be deemed to be providing hereunder, notwithstanding any preexisting relationship, advisory or otherwise, between the parties or any oral representations or assurances previously or subsequently made by the Underwriters: (a) no fiduciary or agency relationship between the Company and any other person, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, exists; (b) the Underwriters are not acting as advisors, expert or otherwise, to the Company, including, without limitation, with respect to the determination of the public offering price of the Stock, and such relationship between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, is entirely and solely commercial, based on arms-length negotiations; (c) any duties and obligations that the Underwriters may have to the Company shall be limited to those duties and obligations specifically stated herein; and (d) the Underwriters and their respective affiliates may have interests that differ from those of the Company. The Company hereby waives any claims that the Company may have against the Underwriters with respect to any breach of fiduciary duty in connection with this offering.

 

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16. Notices, etc. All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and:

(a) if to the Underwriters, shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to Barclays Capital Inc., 745 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Syndicate Registration (Fax: (646)  ###-###-####), with a copy, in the case of any notice pursuant to Section 10(c), to the Director of Litigation, Office of the General Counsel, Barclays Capital Inc., 745 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019; and to Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk, with a copy to the Legal Department; and

(b) if to the Company, shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to the address of the Company set forth in the Registration Statement, Attention: Dean Naccarato, General Counsel (Fax: [•]).

Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect at the time of receipt thereof. The Company shall be entitled to act and rely upon any request, consent, notice or agreement given or made on behalf of the Underwriters by the Representatives.

17. Persons Entitled to Benefit of Agreement. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Underwriters, the Company and their respective personal representatives and successors. This Agreement and the terms and provisions hereof are for the sole benefit of only those persons, except that (a) the representations, warranties, indemnities and agreements of the Company contained in this Agreement shall also be deemed to be for the benefit of the directors, officers and employees of the Underwriters and each person or persons, if any, who control any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act, and (b) the indemnity agreement of the Underwriters contained in Section 10(b) of this Agreement shall be deemed to be for the benefit of the directors of the Company, the officers of the Company who have signed the Registration Statement and any person controlling the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any person, other than the persons referred to in this Section 17, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision contained herein.

18. Survival. The respective indemnities, representations, warranties and agreements of the Company and the Underwriters contained in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall survive the delivery of and payment for the Stock and shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any of them or any person controlling any of them.

19. Definition of the Terms “Business Day”, “Affiliate” and “Subsidiary”. For purposes of this Agreement, (a) “business day” means each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that is not a day on which banking institutions in New York are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close, and (b) “affiliate” and “subsidiary” have the meanings set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

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20. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to conflict of laws principles (other than Section 5-1401 of the General Obligations Law).

21. Waiver of Jury Trial. The Company and the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waive, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

22. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts and, if executed in more than one counterpart, the executed counterparts shall each be deemed to be an original but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument.

23. Headings. The headings herein are inserted for convenience of reference only and are not intended to be part of, or to affect the meaning or interpretation of, this Agreement.

 

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If the foregoing correctly sets forth the agreement among the Company and the Underwriters, please indicate your acceptance in the space provided for that purpose below.

 

Very truly yours,
NEP GROUP, INC.
By:    
Name:
Title:


Accepted:

BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC.

MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC

For themselves and as Representatives

of the several Underwriters named

in Schedule I hereto

By BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC.
By:

 

Authorized Representative
By MORGAN STANLEY & Co. LLC
By:

 

Authorized Representative


SCHEDULE I

 

Underwriters

   Number of Shares of
Firm Stock
 

Barclays Capital Inc.

     [ •] 

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

     [ •] 

Jefferies LLC

     [ •] 

Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc.

     [ •] 

RBC Capital Markets, LLC

     [ •] 

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated

     [ •] 

Nomura Securities International, Inc.

     [ •] 
  

 

 

 

Total

  [ •] 
  

 

 

 

 


SCHEDULE II

PERSONS DELIVERING LOCK-UP AGREEMENTS

Directors

Kevin Rabbitt

Debra Honkus

Gerald Delon

Keith Andrews

Jeffrey Marcus

Brian Cassidy

Katherine Chung

Mark Patricof

Hank Ratner

Kenneth Schanzer

Officers

Alan Burns

Ronald Drews

Cees Faber

Carrie Galvin

Kevin Hayes

Paul Henriksen

George Hoover

Stephen Jenkins

Barry Katz

Timo Koch

Glen Levine

Dean Naccarato

Daniel O’Bryen

Kenneth Paterson

Soames Treffry

Michael Werteen

Lynda Wilkes

Stockholders and Optionholders

All stockholders and optionholders


SCHEDULE III

ISSUER FREE WRITING PROSPECTUSES – ROAD SHOW MATERIALS

Insert list of certain “road show” materials


SCHEDULE IV

ISSUER FREE WRITING PROSPECTUS

Insert list of all “Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses”


SCHEDULE V

WRITTEN TESTING-THE-WATERS COMMUNICATIONS

1. [•]


[SCHEDULE VI]

ORALLY CONVEYED PRICING INFORMATION

1. [Public offering price]

2. [Number of shares offered]


EXHIBIT A

LOCK-UP LETTER AGREEMENT

BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC.

MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC

As Representatives of the several

    Underwriters named in Schedule I

    to the Underwriting Agreement,

c/o Barclays Capital Inc.

745 Seventh Avenue

New York, New York 10019

c/o Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

1585 Broadway

New York, New York 10036

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The undersigned understands that you and certain other firms (the “Underwriters”) propose to enter into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) providing for the purchase by the Underwriters of shares (the “Stock”) of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), of NEP Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and that the Underwriters propose to reoffer the Stock to the public (the “Offering”).

In consideration of the execution of the Underwriting Agreement by the Underwriters, and for other good and valuable consideration, the undersigned hereby irrevocably agrees that, without the prior written consent of Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, on behalf of the Underwriters, the undersigned will not, directly or indirectly, for a period commencing on the date hereof and ending on the 180th day after the date of the Prospectus relating to the Offering (as such may be extended pursuant to the terms hereof, the “Lock-up Period”) (1) offer for sale, sell, pledge, or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device that is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any shares of Common Stock (including, without limitation, shares of Common Stock that may be deemed to be beneficially owned by the undersigned in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and shares of Common Stock that may be issued upon exercise of any options or warrants) or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock (other than the Stock), (2) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of shares of Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or other securities, in cash or otherwise, or (3)

 

Exhibit A-1


publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing; provided, that notwithstanding anything else to the contrary in this Lock-Up Letter Agreement, the undersigned may, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Underwriting Agreement, sell to the Underwriters such amount of Stock as is set forth next to the name of the undersigned in Schedule B to the Underwriting Agreement. In addition, the undersigned agrees that, without the prior written consent of Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, on behalf of the Underwriters, it may, during the Lock-Up Period, only make a demand or request for, or exercise any right with respect to, or take any action in preparation of, the registration by the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) to the extent that (i) no transfer of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock registered pursuant to the exercise of any such right and no registration statement shall be filed under the Securities Act with respect to any of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock during the Lock-up Period and (ii) no public announcement of the demand or request shall be made prior to the expiration of the Lock-up Period.

The foregoing paragraph shall not apply to (a) transactions relating to shares of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the open market after the completion of the Offering, (b) bona fide gifts, sales, charitable contributions or other dispositions of shares of any class of the Company’s capital stock; provided, that it shall be a condition to any transfer pursuant to this clause (b) that (i) the transferee/donee agrees to be bound by the terms of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement (including, without limitation, the restrictions set forth in the preceding sentence) to the same extent as if the transferee/donee were a party hereto and (ii) the undersigned notifies Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC at least two business days prior to the proposed transfer or disposition, (c) the exercise of warrants, the conversion of convertible securities or the exercise of stock options granted pursuant to the Company’s or its affiliates’ stock option/incentive plans or otherwise outstanding on the date hereof; provided, that the restrictions of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement shall apply to shares of Common Stock issued upon such exercise or conversion, (d) the establishment of any contract, instruction or plan that satisfies all of the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 (a “Rule 10b5-1 Plan”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”); provided, however, that no sales of Common Stock or securities convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, Common Stock, shall be made pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 Plan prior to the expiration of the Lock-up Period; provided further, that the Company is not required to report the establishment of such Rule 10b5-1 Plan in any public report or filing with the Commission under the Exchange Act during the Lock-up Period and does not otherwise voluntarily effect any such public filing or report regarding such Rule 10b5-1 Plan, (e) transfers of Common Stock to any beneficiary of the undersigned or any trust, limited liability company, partnership or corporation for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned; provided, that the transferee agrees to be bound by the terms of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement (including, without limitation, the restrictions set forth in the preceding sentence) to the same extent as if the transferee were a party hereto, or (f) withholdings by, or transfers, sales or other dispositions of Common Stock to, the Company or its affiliates in connection with the “net” or

 

Exhibit A-2


“cashless” exercise of, or to satisfy the withholding tax obligations (including estimated taxes) of the undersigned in connection with the “net” or “cashless” exercise or vesting of, Common Stock, profits interests, restricted stock, restricted stock units, profits units or other equity-based awards; provided, that it shall be a condition to any transaction pursuant to clauses (a), (b), (e) or (f) above that each party (transferor or transferee) shall not be required by law (including without limitation the disclosure requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act) to make, and shall agree to not voluntarily make, any filing with the Commission or public announcement of the transaction prior to the expiration of the Lock-up Period (other than a filing on Form 5 made when required).

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the undersigned is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity, (A) such corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity may transfer the undersigned’s Common Stock to another corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity that is an affiliate (as defined under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act) of the undersigned or (B) such corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity may make any distribution or dividend to equity holders (including, without limitation, general or limited partners, members, stockholders or affiliates) of the undersigned (including upon the liquidation and dissolution of the undersigned pursuant to a plan of liquidation approved by the undersigned’s equity holders); provided, that it shall be a condition to the transfer that each party (transferor or transferee) shall not be required by law (including without limitation the disclosure requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act) to make, and shall agree to not voluntarily make, any filing with the Commission or public announcement of the transfer prior to the expiration of the Lock-up Period (other than a filing on Form 5 made when required); provided, further, that it shall be a condition to any transfer pursuant to this clause that the transferee/donee agrees to be bound by the terms of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement to the same extent as if the transferee/donee were a party hereto.

In addition, the undersigned shall be permitted to make transfers, sales, tenders or other dispositions of the undersigned’s Common Stock to a bona fide third party pursuant to a tender or exchange offer for securities of the Company or other transaction, including, without limitation, a merger, consolidation or other business combination, involving a Change in Control (as defined in the credit agreements of the Company) that, in each case, has been approved by the board of directors of the Company (including, without limitation, entering into any lock-up, voting or similar agreement pursuant to which the undersigned may agree to transfer, sell, tender or otherwise dispose of the undersigned’s Common Stock in connection with any such transaction, or vote any of the undersigned’s Common Stock in favor of any such transaction); provided, that all of the undersigned’s Common Stock subject to this Lock-Up Letter Agreement that are not so transferred, sold, tendered or otherwise disposed of remain subject to this Lock-Up Letter Agreement; and provided, further, that it shall be a condition of transfer, sale, tender or other disposition that if such tender offer or other transaction is not completed, any of the undersigned’s Common Stock subject to this Lock-Up Letter Agreement shall remain subject to the restrictions herein.

 

Exhibit A-3


If the undersigned is an officer or director of the Company, (i) the undersigned agrees that the foregoing provisions shall be equally applicable to any issuer-directed Stock, as referred to in FINRA Rule 5131(d)(2)(A) that the undersigned may purchase in the Offering pursuant to an allocation of Stock that is directed in writing by the Company, (ii) each of Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC agrees that, at least three business days before the effective date of any release or waiver of the foregoing restrictions in connection with a transfer of shares of Common Stock, Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC will notify the Company of the impending release or waiver and (iii) the Company has agreed in the Underwriting Agreement to announce the impending release or waiver by issuing a press release through a major news service (as referred to in FINRA Rule 5131(d)(2)(B)) at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver. Any release or waiver granted by Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC hereunder to any such officer or director shall only be effective two business days after the publication date of such press release. The provisions of this paragraph will not apply if both (a) the release or waiver is effected solely to permit a transfer not for consideration, and (b) the transferee has agreed in writing to be bound by the same terms described in this letter that are applicable to the transferor, to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of the transfer.

In furtherance of the foregoing, the Company and its transfer agent are hereby authorized to decline to make any transfer of securities if such transfer would constitute a violation or breach of this Lock-Up Letter Agreement.

The undersigned understands that the Company and the Underwriters will proceed with the Offering in reliance on this Lock-Up Letter Agreement.

Whether or not the Offering actually occurs depends on a number of factors, including market conditions. Any Offering will only be made pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement, the terms of which are subject to negotiation between the Company, the Selling Stockholders named therein and the Underwriters.

This Lock-Up Letter Agreement shall automatically terminate and the undersigned shall be released from its obligations under this Lock-Up Letter Agreement upon the earlier to occur, if applicable of (1) termination of the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) prior to payment for and delivery of the Stock, (2) December 31, 2015, in the event that the Underwriting Agreement has not been executed by that date, (3) notification in writing by the Company to each of Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, made prior to the execution of the Underwriting Agreement, that the Company does not intend to proceed with the Offering, (4) filing with the Commission of a request for withdrawal of the registration statement relating to the Offering or a public announcement of the termination of the Offering by the Company or (5) Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC advising the Company in writing prior to the execution of the Underwriting Agreement that it has determined not to proceed with the Offering.

 

Exhibit A-4


The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power and authority to enter into this Lock-Up Letter Agreement and that, upon request, the undersigned will execute any additional documents necessary in connection with the enforcement hereof. Any obligations of the undersigned shall be binding upon the heirs, personal representatives, successors and assigns of the undersigned.

 

Very truly yours,
By:

 

Name:
Title:

Dated:                             

[Signature page to NEP IPO lock-up]


EXHIBIT B

Form of Press Release

NEP Group, Inc.

[•], 2015

NEP Group, Inc. (the “Company”) announced today that Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, the joint book-running managers in the Company’s recent public sale of [•] shares of common stock are [waiving] [releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to [•] shares of the Company’s common stock held by [certain officers or directors] [an officer or director] of the Company. The [waiver] [release] will take effect on [•], 2015, and the shares may be sold or otherwise disposed of on or after such date.

This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

 

Exhibit B-1


EXHIBIT C-1

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY’S GENERAL COUNSEL

(a) Each of the Company and its subsidiaries has been duly organized under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization.

(b) The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in each of the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued, are fully paid and non-assessable, and were issued in compliance with federal and state securities laws and not in violation of any preemptive right, resale right, right of first refusal or similar right.

(c) The performance by the Company and each Guarantor of its obligations under the Purchase Agreement and the Indenture, including the issuance and sale of the Offered Securities will not, to my knowledge, violate any order or decree of any court or governmental authority to which the Company or such Guarantor is subject.

(d) To my knowledge, there are no contracts or other documents of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement or the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement that are not described and filed therewith as required.

(e) To my knowledge and except as described in each of the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect or could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the performance of the Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby; and, to our knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or others.

(f) To my knowledge, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any securities of the Company owned or to be owned by such person or to require the Company to include such securities in the securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or in any securities being registered pursuant to any other registration statement filed by the Company under the Securities Act.

 

 

Exhibit C-1-1


EXHIBIT C-2

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY’S COUNSEL

Vinson & Elkins LLP shall have furnished to the Underwriters its written opinion, as counsel to the Company, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Delivery Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, to the effect that (capitalized terms used below (and not defined in this exhibit) shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Underwriting Agreement):

(i) The Company is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with the corporate power and authority to own or lease, as the case may be, and to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation and is in good standing in each jurisdiction set forth opposite its name on Annex A.

(ii) Each subsidiary of the Company listed on Annex B is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, formation or organization, as the case may be, with corporate, limited liability company or limited partner, as appropriate, power and authority to own or lease its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and each such subsidiary of the Company is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation or limited liability company, as the case may be, and is in good standing in each jurisdiction set forth opposite such subsidiary’s name on Annex B; and all of the issued and outstanding capital stock and other equity interests of each such subsidiary is owned by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims in respect of which a financing statement under the Uniform Commercial Code of the State of Delaware naming the Company as debtor, is on file in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, other than pledges of such capital stock or other equity interests in connection with the Company’s First Lien Term Loan and Second Lien Term Loan2 as described in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(iii) The shares of the Stock to be issued and sold by the Company to the Underwriters under the Agreement have been duly authorized in accordance with the charter and bylaws of the Company (the “Governing Documents”) and, when issued and delivered by the Company to the Underwriters upon payment therefore in accordance with the Agreement, will be validly issued in accordance with the Governing Documents, free of preemptive rights under federal law, the Delaware General Corporation Law or the Governing Documents, fully paid and non-assessable; the authorized and outstanding equity capitalization of the Company is as set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

2  First Lien Term Loan means the Second Amended and Restated First Lien Credit Agreement, dated as of April 29, 2015, among the Company, NEP/NCP Holdco Inc. as borrower, Barclays Bank Plc as administrative agent and the lenders and other parties thereto and Second Lien Term Loan means the Amended and Restated Second Lien Credit Agreement, dated as of April 29, 2015, among NEP Group, Inc., NEP/NCP Holdco, Inc., as borrower, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, as administrative agent and the lenders and other parties thereto).

 

Exhibit C-2-1


(iv) Except as set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no persons with registration rights or other similar rights described in or created pursuant to any agreement filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement to have any securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or registered pursuant to any other registration statement filed by the Company under the Securities Act or otherwise; and, except as set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no options, warrants or other rights to purchase, agreements or other obligations to issue, or convert any obligations into or exchange any securities for, shares of capital stock of or ownership interests in the Company are outstanding.

(v) The execution, delivery and performance of the Agreement by the Company, the offering, issuance and sale of the Stock pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the application of the proceeds from the sale of the Stock as described under “Use of Proceeds” in the Prospectus do not and will not (a) result in a breach or result in a default (or an event that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such an event) under any agreement that is filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement; (b) violate the provisions of the charter or by-laws (or similar organizational documents) of the Company and its subsidiaries; (c) violate any federal, New York or Delaware statute, rule, regulation or order that in our experience is normally applicable to general business corporations in relation to transactions of the type contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement, or (d) result in the creation of any additional lien upon any property or assets of the Company and its subsidiaries under the First Lien Term Loan and Second Lien Term Loan, it being understood that we express no opinion in clause (c) of this paragraph (v) with respect to any federal or state securities, Blue Sky or anti-fraud laws, rules or regulations.

(vi) The Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.

(vii) No consent, approval, authorization or order of, registration or qualification with any federal, Delaware, or New York court or governmental agency that in our experience is normally applicable to general business corporations in relation to transactions of the type contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement is required to be obtained or made by the Company or its subsidiaries for the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Agreement, the transactions contemplated by this Agreement in connection with the offering and the issuance and sale of the Stock by the Company being delivered on the date hereof pursuant to the Agreement, except (i) as have been obtained or made, (ii) for the registration of the offering and sale of the Stock under the Securities Act, (iii) for such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations or qualifications as may be required under applicable federal or state securities or Blue Sky laws and the approval by FINRA of the underwriting terms and arrangements in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Stock by the Underwriters.

(viii) The Registration Statement has been declared effective under the Act; to our knowledge, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or threatened by the Commission; and any required filing of the Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act has been made in the manner and within the time period required by such rule.

 

Exhibit C-2-2


(ix) The statements set forth in each of the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus under the headings “Description of Capital Stock,” “Underwriting,” “Material U.S. Federal Income and Estate Tax Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders” and “Shares Eligible for Future Sale,” and in the Registration Statement in Item 14, to the extent that they constitute descriptions or summaries of the terms of the Common Stock or the documents referred to therein, or refer to statements of federal law, the laws of the State of Delaware or legal conclusions, are accurate in all material respects.

(x) None of the Company or its subsidiaries are, and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Stock pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and application of the net proceeds thereof as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds,” will be, required to register as an “investment company,” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act.

(xi) Each of the Registration Statement, at the time it was declared effective, the Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time, and the Prospectus, when filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act and at the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be (in each case other than (a) the financial statements and related schedules, including the notes and schedules thereto and the auditor’s report thereon, and (b) the other financial data derived therefrom, in each case included in or omitted from the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as to which we express no opinion), appeared on their face to comply as to form in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act.

(xii) The Company is not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof will not be, required to register as an “investment company” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended

We have participated in conferences with representatives of the Company and with representatives of its independent accountants and counsel for the Underwriters at which conferences the contents of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and any amendment and supplement thereto and related matters were discussed and, responsibility for, or express opinion regarding (other than listed in paragraph (xii) above) the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the statements contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, based upon the participation described above (relying as to factual matters upon statements of fact made to us by representatives of the Company) and nothing has come to our attention to cause us to believe that:

(a) the Registration Statement, at the time it was declared effective (including the information, if any, deemed pursuant to Rule 430A to be part of the Registration Statement at the time of effectiveness), contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading;

(b) the Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or

 

Exhibit C-2-3


(c) the Prospectus, as of its date and as of the date hereof, contained or contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

except that in each case such counsel need express any belief with respect to (i) the financial statements and related schedules, including the notes and schedules thereto and the auditor’s report thereon, or (ii) any other financial or accounting information, in each case included in or omitted from the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

Exhibit C-2-4


EXHIBIT C-3

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY’S AUSTRALIA COUNSEL

 

Exhibit C-3-1


EXHIBIT C-4

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY’S LUXEMBOURG COUNSEL

 

Exhibit C-4-1


EXHIBIT C-5

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY’S SWEDEN COUNSEL

 

Exhibit C-5-1


EXHIBIT C-6

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY’S UNITED KINGDOM COUNSEL

 

Exhibit C-6-1


EXHIBIT D

NEP GROUP, INC.

CERTIFICATE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

July [•], 2015

[•]

 

Exhibit D-1


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, have signed this certificate as of the date first written above.

 

NEP GROUP, INC.
By:  
Name: Gerald Delon
Title: Chief Financial Officer

 

Exhibit D-2