Material Adverse Effect. An event, occurrence, violation, inaccuracy, circumstance or other matter (each, an “Effect”) shall be deemed to have a “Material Adverse Effect” on the Acquired Corporations, taken as a whole, if such event, violation, inaccuracy, circumstance or other matter (whether or not any such matter, considered together with all other matters, would constitute a breach of the representations, warranties, covenants or agreements of the Company set forth in this Agreement), individually or in the aggregate, (a) has had or would reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the business, asset, financial condition or results of operations of the Acquired Corporations, taken as a whole; or (b) does or would reasonably be expected to prevent the consummation by the Company of the Transactions; provided, however, that, with respect to clause (a) only, none of the following, and no effect arising out of, relating to or resulting from the following, shall be deemed in and of themselves, either alone or in combination, to constitute, and none of the following shall be taken   Exhibit A-9


into account in determining whether there is, or would reasonably likely to be, a Material Adverse Effect on the Acquired Corporations: (i) any change in the market price or trading volume of the Company’s stock; (ii) any Effect resulting from the announcement of the Transactions (provided, however, that this clause (ii) shall not apply with respect to the representations and warranties (in whole or in relevant part) made by the Company in this Agreement, the purpose of which is to address the consequences resulting from, relating to or arising out of the entry into or the announcement or pendency of this Agreement or the Transactions); (iii) any Effect in the industries in which the Acquired Corporations operate or in the economy generally or other general business, financial or market conditions; (iv) any Effect arising directly or indirectly from or otherwise relating to fluctuations in the value of any currency; (v) any Effect arising directly or indirectly from or otherwise relating to any act of terrorism, war, civil unrest, national or international calamity, weather, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, natural disasters, climatic conditions, pandemic or epidemic (including the COVID-19 pandemic, and any variations thereof or related or associated epidemics, pandemics or disease outbreaks (collectively, the “COVID-19 pandemic”)) or any other similar event; (vi) the failure of the Company to meet internal or analysts’ expectations or projections or the results of operations of the Acquired Corporations; (vii) any adverse Effect arising directly from or otherwise directly relating to any action taken by the Company or any Acquired Corporation at the written direction of Parent or any action specifically required to be taken by the Company or any Acquired Corporation, or the failure of the Company or any Acquired Corporation to take any action that the Company or such Acquired Corporation is specifically prohibited by the terms of this Agreement from taking to the extent Parent fails to give its consent thereto after a written request therefor pursuant to Section 4.2; (viii) any Effect resulting or arising from Parent’s or Merger Sub’s breach of this Agreement; (ix) any Effect arising directly or indirectly from or otherwise relating to any change in, or any compliance with or action taken for the purpose of complying with, any Legal Requirements or GAAP (or interpretations of any Legal Requirements or GAAP); or (x) any matters disclosed in the Company Disclosure Schedule; it being understood that the exceptions in clauses “(i)” and “(vi)” shall not prevent or otherwise affect a determination that the underlying cause of any such decline or failure referred to therein (if not otherwise falling within any of the exceptions provided by clauses “(ii)” through “(v)” or “(vii)” through “(x)” hereof) is or would be reasonably likely to be a Material Adverse Effect; and it being understood further that, with respect to the exceptions in clauses “(iii)” through “(v)” and “(ix)”, such Effect may be taken into account to the extent that the Acquired Corporations are adversely affected disproportionately relative to the other participants in such industries or the economy generally, as applicable. (Pages 86-87)

Question: General economic and financial conditions (Y/N)
Subquestion: <NONE>
Answer: Yes