“Material Adverse Effect” means any event, change, development, circumstance, fact or effect that, individually or in the aggregate, has, or reasonably likely to have, a material adverse effect on the financial condition, properties, assets, liabilities (contingent or otherwise), business operations or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries (taken as a whole) and, in each case, whether known or unknown as of the date of this Agreement; provided, however, that no event, change, development, circumstance, fact or effect to the extent resulting from any of the following, either individually or in the aggregate, shall be taken into account in determining whether a Material Adverse Effect has occurred or would reasonably be expected to occur: 

(a) events, changes, developments, circumstances, facts or effects that are the result of factors generally affecting the economy, credit, capital, securities or financial markets or political, regulatory or business conditions in the geographic markets in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries operate or their products or services are sold, including events, changes developments, circumstances, facts or events in or with respect to interest rates or exchange rates for currencies; (b) events, changes, developments, circumstances, facts or effects generally affecting the industries in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries operate; (c) any loss of, or adverse event, change, development, circumstance, fact or effect in or with respect to, the relationship of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, contractual or otherwise, with customers, Governmental Entities, employees, labor unions, labor organizations, works councils or similar organizations, suppliers, distributors, financing sources, partners or similar relationship caused by the public announcement of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the Transactions, including any Transaction Litigation or other Proceeding threatened, made or brought by any of the current or former holders of Shares (on their own behalf or on behalf of the Company) against the Company, any of its executive officers or other employees or any member of the Company Board arising out of the Transactions; provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, the exceptions in this clause (c) shall not apply with respect to references to “Material Adverse Effect” in any representation or warranty set forth in Section 5.4 or in the Offer Conditions with respect to such representation and warranty; (d) changes in GAAP or other applicable accounting standards or any applicable Law or changes to the enforcement or interpretation thereof after the date of this Agreement;   -11-


(e) any failure by the Company to meet any internal or public projections or forecasts, predictions or estimates of revenues or earnings or other financial metrics; provided that any event, change, development, circumstance, fact or effect underlying such failure may be taken into account in determining whether a Material Adverse Effect has occurred or would reasonably be expected to occur; (f) any event, change, development, circumstance, fact or effect resulting from geopolitical conditions, acts of war (whether or not declared), sabotage, terrorism, military or para-military actions or the escalation of any of the foregoing (including cyberattacks not specifically directed at the Company or any of its Subsidiaries), any weather event, natural disaster or other force majeure events, epidemics, pandemics, or any outbreak of illness or other public health event (including COVID-19) or quarantine events, in each case to the extent not caused by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their respective Representatives; (g) any COVID-19 Measures; (h) any actions required to be taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their respective Representatives pursuant to this Agreement (except for any obligation to operate in the Ordinary Course of Business) or any actions taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their respective Representatives at Parent’s written request; (i) any action required not to be taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their respective Representatives pursuant to this Agreement or any action not taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their respective Representatives at Parent’s written request; (j) changes in the price or trading volume of the Shares on the NASDAQ or decline in the Company’s credit rating; provided that any event, change, development, circumstance, fact or effect underlying any such change or decline may be taken into account in determining whether a Material Adverse Effect has occurred or would reasonably be expected to occur; or (k) the availability or cost of equity, debt or other financing to Parent or Merger Sub; provided further that, with respect to clauses (a), (b), (d), (f) and (g) of this definition, such events, changes, developments, circumstances, facts or effects (as the case may be) shall be taken into account in determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” has occurred or would reasonably be expected to occur if they disproportionately affect the Company and its Subsidiaries (taken as a whole) relative to other companies of similar size operating in the geographic markets or industries in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries operate or their products or services are sold (but only the incremental disproportionate effect will be taken into account).  (Pages 16-17)

Question: FLS (MAE) Standard-Answer
Subquestion: <NONE>
Answer: Other forward-looking standard