Employment Agreement, effective as of February 3, 2023, by and among STORE Capital LLC, STORE Capital Advisors, LLC, and Craig A. Barnett
Exhibit 10.4
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
STORE CAPITAL LLC
AND CRAIG BARNETT
This EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of February 3, 2023 (the “Effective Date”), is entered into by and between STORE Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Company”), and Craig Barnett (the “Executive”).
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, up until the date hereof, the Executive served as the Executive Vice President of Underwriting and Portfolio Management of STORE Capital Corporation (“STORE”) pursuant to the terms of an Employment Agreement with the Company and STORE Capital Advisors, LLC, dated as of April 15, 2021 (the “Existing Employment Agreement”);
WHEREAS, on the date hereof, STORE was merged with and into the Company upon the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among Ivory Parent, LLC, the Company and STORE, dated as of September 15, 2022; and
WHEREAS, the Company and the Executive desire to enter into this Agreement, which supersedes and replaces the Existing Employment Agreement in its entirety.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the future performance and responsibilities of the Executive and the Company and upon the other terms and conditions and mutual covenants hereinafter provided, the parties hereby agree as follows:
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The Executive’s termination for Cause shall take effect immediately upon the Executive’s receipt of written notice from the Company of such termination for Cause, which notice shall specify, with particularity, each basis for the Company’s determination that Cause exists.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Executive’s termination of employment for Good Reason shall not be effective, and Good Reason shall not be deemed to exist, until (A) the Executive provides the Company with written notice specifying, with particularity, each basis for the Executive’s determination that actions or omissions constituting Good Reason have occurred, and (B) the Company fails to cure or resolve the issues identified by the Executive’s notice within thirty (30) days of the Company’s receipt of such notice. The Company and the Executive agree that such thirty (30) day period shall be utilized to engage in discussions in a good faith effort to cure or resolve the actions or omissions otherwise constituting Good Reason, and that the Executive will not be considered to have resigned from employment during such thirty (30) day period.
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The sum of the amounts payable under clauses (A) and (B) of this Section 8(a)(ii) are referred to, collectively, as the “Severance Payment.” Subject to the provisions of Section 8(e), the Severance Payment shall be paid to the Executive in a single, lump sum cash payment within sixty-two (62) days following the effective date of the Executive’s termination of employment; and
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that are parachute payments do not exceed the maximum amount of such parachute payments that could be paid to the Executive without the Executive’s being subject to any Excise Tax (the “Safe Harbor Amount”), then the Covered Payments to the Executive shall be reduced (but not below zero) so that the aggregate amount of parachute payments that the Executive receives does not exceed the Safe Harbor Amount. In the event that the Executive receives reduced payments and benefits hereunder, such payments and benefits shall be reduced in connection with the application of the Safe Harbor Amount in a manner determined by the Board in a manner that complies with Section 409A that first reduces any payments or benefits that are valued at full value under the applicable provisions of Section 280G, with the latest in time payments or benefits reduced first, and then reducing any payments or benefits that are valued at less than full value under the applicable provisions of Section 280G, with the latest in time payments or benefits reduced first. For purposes of determining whether any of the Covered Payments will be subject to the Excise Tax, such Covered Payments will be treated as “parachute payments” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, and all “parachute payments” in excess of the “base amount” (as defined under Section 280G(b)(3) of the Code) shall be treated as subject to the Excise Tax, unless, and except to the extent that, in the good faith judgment of a public accounting firm appointed by the Company prior to the change in control or tax counsel selected by such accounting firm (the “Accountants”), the Company has a reasonable basis to conclude that such Covered Payments (in whole or in part) either do not constitute “parachute payments” or represent reasonable compensation for personal services actually rendered (within the meaning of Section 280G(b)(4)(B) of the Code) in excess of the allocable portion of the “base amount,” or such “parachute payments” are otherwise not subject to such Excise Tax, and the value of any non-cash benefits or any deferred payment or benefit shall be determined by the Accountants in accordance with the principles of Section 280G of the Code.
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In the event that the Executive receives a request or is required (by deposition, interrogatory, request for documents, subpoena, civil investigative demand or similar process) to disclose all or any part of the Confidential Information to a third party (other than the Executive’s counsel), the Executive agrees to (a) promptly notify the Company in writing of the existence, terms and circumstances surrounding such request or requirement; (b) consult with the Company, at the Company’s request, on the advisability of taking legally available steps to resist or narrow such request or requirement; and (c) assist the Company, at the Company’s request and expense, in seeking a protective order or other appropriate remedy. In the event that such protective order or other remedy is not obtained or that the Company requests no consultation or assistance from the Executive pursuant to this provision or otherwise waives compliance with the provisions hereof, the Executive shall not be liable for such disclosure unless such disclosure was caused by or resulted from a previous disclosure by the Executive not permitted by this Agreement. Further, nothing in this Agreement or any other agreement by and between the Company and the Executive shall prohibit or restrict the Executive from (i) voluntarily communicating with an attorney retained by the Executive, (ii) voluntarily communicating with any law enforcement, government agency, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a state or local commission on human rights, or any self-regulatory organization, regarding possible violations of law, including criminal conduct and unlawful employment practices or (iii) recovering a SEC whistleblower award as provided under Section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in each case without advance notice to the Company.
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1833(b), the Executive acknowledges that the Executive shall not have criminal or civil liability under any Federal or State trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret of the Company that (i) is made (A) in confidence to a Federal, State, or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to the Executive’s attorney; and (B) solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law; or (ii) is made in a
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complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal. If the Executive files a lawsuit for retaliation by the Company for reporting a suspected violation of law, the Executive may disclose the trade secret to his or her attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the Executive (1) files any document containing the trade secret under seal, and (2) does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to conflict with 18 U.S.C. §1833(b) or create liability for disclosures of trade secrets that are expressly allowed by such section.
Nothing in this Section 10 shall impede, restrict or otherwise interfere with the Executive’s participation in any Excluded Activities.
The Executive agrees that the restraints imposed upon the Executive pursuant to this Section 10 are necessary for the reasonable and proper protection of the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and that each and every one of the restraints is reasonable in respect to subject matter, length of time and geographic area. The parties further agree that, in the event that any provision of this Section 10 shall be determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable by reason of its being extended over too great a time, too large a geographic area or too great a range of activities, such provision may be modified by the court or arbitrator to permit its enforcement to the maximum extent permitted by law.
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to the Company:
Ivory Parent, LLC
c/o GIC Real Estate, Inc.
280 Park Avenue, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10017
Attention: Jesse Hom and Daniel Santiago
Email: ***@***; ***@***
and
Oak Street Real Estate Capital, LLC
30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 4140
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Chicago, Illinois 60602
Attention: Michael Reiter and Jared Sheiker
Email: ***@***; ***@***
with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
One Manhattan West
New York, New York 10001
Attention: Blair Thetford, Esq.
Email: ***@***
and
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
155 N Upper Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60606
Attention: Nancy Olson, Esq.
Email: ***@***
to the Executive:
At the Executive’s last residence and email address shown on the records of the Company.
Any such notice shall be effective (i) if delivered personally, when received or (ii) if sent by overnight courier, when receipted for.
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[Signatures on following page]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first above written.
STORE CAPITAL LLC
By:/s/ Mary Fedewa
Name: Mary Fedewa
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
EXECUTIVE
/s/ Craig Barnett
Craig Barnett
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