Company: NWBI
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: S-4/A
Source: 0001193125-25-030716
Chunk: 89

Company: Northwest Bancshares, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: S-4/A
Chunk 89
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sidiary Banks who continue as employees of Northwest and
its subsidiaries to participate in the Northwest 401(k) Plan and to accept roll-overs of benefits from the Penns Woods 401(k) Plan to the Northwest 401(k) Plan.

Retention Arrangements: The Merger Agreement provides for retention or stay bonus payments to be allocated amongst certain of
Penns Woods’ or its affiliates’ employees in such amounts and to such employees as reviewed and approved by Northwest.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan: Following the execution of the Merger Agreement, Penns Woods suspended all operations of the Penns
Woods employee stock purchase plan for any pay periods after the pay period ended December 13, 2024 until the Effective Time, such that no further contributions, purchases, or issuance of shares of Penns Woods common stock could occur with
respect to pay periods ending after December 13, 2024.

Cash Incentive Plan: Pursuant to the Penns Woods
performance-based cash incentive plan, and consistent with past practice, Penns Woods may pay eligible employees (i) their 2024 cash incentive bonuses, if applicable, and (ii) for the calendar year 2025, up to an aggregate of $200,000 in
cash incentive bonuses, provided that, measured as of June 30, 2025, (A) adjusted return on equity is 9% or greater, and (B) consolidated net loan charge-offs are less than 30 basis points. If Penns Woods is only able to satisfy condition
(A) or (B) of the foregoing, but not both conditions, the 2025 bonus pool will be reduced by 50%.

Executive Employment Agreements: Additionally, prior to the Effective Date, Penns Woods shall cause certain of its executive employment agreements to be amended or terminated in form or substance satisfactory to Northwest. See the section “Interests of Penns Woods’ Directors and Officers in the Merger” for more detail on the termination or amendment of the agreements on page 55.

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Option Cash-Out: The Merger Agreement
provides for all options outstanding under the Penns Woods equity incentive plan to vest in full immediately prior to the Effective Time. At the Effective Time, the vested options will convert automatically by nature of the Merger into the right to
receive an amount of cash. For additional information on the vesting, conversion, and related consideration, please see the section titled “THE MERGER AGREEMENT—Option Cash-Out” on page