“Material Adverse Effect” means, when used with respect to any Party, any fact, circumstance, effect, change, event, occurrence or development (“Effect”) that has had, or would reasonably be expected to have, a material adverse effect on the financial condition, business, or operations of such Party and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided, however, that no Effect (by itself or when aggregated or taken together with any and all other Effects) to the extent directly or indirectly resulting from, arising out of, attributable to, or related to any of the following shall be deemed to be or constitute a “Material Adverse Effect” or shall be taken into account when determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” has occurred or may, would or could occur: (a) general economic conditions (or changes in such conditions) or conditions in the global economy generally; (b) conditions (or changes in such conditions) in the securities markets, credit markets, currency markets or other financial markets, including (i) changes in interest rates and changes in exchange rates for the currencies of any countries and (ii) any suspension of trading in securities (whether equity, debt, derivative or hybrid securities) generally on any securities exchange or over-the-counter market; (c) conditions (or changes in such conditions) in the industries or geographical areas in which such Party and its Subsidiaries operate; (d) political conditions (or changes in such conditions) or acts of war (whether or not declared), sabotage, civil disobedience, cyberattacks or terrorism (including any escalation or general worsening of any such acts of war, sabotage, civil disobedience, cyberattacks or terrorism); (e) earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, mudslides, wild fires or other natural disasters, pandemics (including the COVID-19 pandemic), weather conditions or other force majeure events; (f) the announcement, negotiation, execution and delivery of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the Transactions, including any Effect on the relationship of any Party or its Subsidiaries, contractual or otherwise, with customers, employees, unions, suppliers, distributors, financing sources, partners, Governmental Entities or similar relationship relating to the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the Transactions (other than with respect to any representation or warranty to the extent the express purpose of such representation or warranty is to address the consequences of the execution or delivery of this Agreement or the announcement or consummation of the Transactions); (g) the taking of any action expressly required by this Agreement (except for any obligation under this Agreement to operate in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice (or similar obligation) pursuant to Sections 6.1 or 6.2, as applicable); (h) changes in Law or other legal or regulatory conditions, or any COVID-19 Measures or the interpretation of any such Laws, conditions or COVID-19 Measures, or changes in GAAP or other accounting standards; (i) any changes in such Party’s stock price or the trading volume of such Party’s stock, or any failure by such Party to meet any analysts’ estimates or expectations of such Party’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, or any failure by such Party or any of its Subsidiaries to meet any internal budgets, plans or forecasts of its revenues, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations (it being understood that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such changes or failures may constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a Material Adverse Effect, to the extent not otherwise excluded from this definition); (j) any Transaction Litigation; or (k) with respect to a Company Material Adverse Effect or a Parent Material Adverse Effect, the identity of Parent or any of its Affiliates or the Company or any of its Affiliates, respectively; provided, that with respect to the exceptions set forth in clauses (a) through (e), if such Effect has had a disproportionate adverse effect on such Party and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, as compared to other companies operating in the office furniture and residential furnishing industries, then only the incremental disproportionate adverse effect of such Effect shall be taken into account when determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” exists or has occurred. (Page 83)

Question: FLS (MAE) applies to
Subquestion: ability to consummate transaction
Answer: business and operation of Target