Document:

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                                                                     EXHIBIT 4.7

                                  AMENDMENT #5
                    TO THE SCANSOFT SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT

This Amendment #5 is entered into as of this 30th day of September, 2002
("Effective Date") by and between ScanSoft, Inc., a Delaware corporation, having
its principal offices at 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA 01960 ("Company") and
the purchasers listed on Schedule A attached hereto ("Purchaser").

Whereas, Company and Purchaser have entered into a Share Purchase Agreement
effective December 13, 2001 as amended by Amendment #1 dated March 12, 2002,
Amendment #2 dated July 22, 2002, Amendment #3 dated August 14, 2002, and
Amendment #4 dated September 13, 2002 (the "Original Agreement");

Whereas, Company and Purchaser wish to amend the Original Agreement;

IT HAS BEEN AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

1.    Section 7.1.2 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the
      following:

      In the event that the Registration Statement is not filed with the
      Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on or before October 21, 2002
      the Company shall pay to each Purchaser liquidated damages in an amount
      equal to 0.35% of the total purchase price of the Shares purchased by such
      Purchaser pursuant to this Agreement for each week after October 21, 2002
      that the Registration Statement is not filed with the SEC. Further, if
      after filing the Registration Statement, the Registration Statement is not
      declared effective on or before November 15, 2002, the Company shall pay
      to each Purchaser liquidated damages in an amount equal to 0.35% of the
      total purchase price of the Shares purchased by such Purchaser pursuant to
      this Agreement for each week after November 15, 2002 that the Registration
      Statement is not declared effective.

2.    It is agreed to incorporate this Amendment #5 into the Original Agreement
      on the Effective Date of this Amendment #5.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties to this Agreement have caused this Agreement to
be executed by their duly authorized representatives as of the day and year
first above written.

                                       SCANSOFT, INC.

                                       By:      /s/ Richard S. Palmer
                                                -------------------------------
                                       Name:    Richard S. Palmer
                                                -------------------------------
                                       Its:     SVP & CFO
                                                -------------------------------

                                       STATE OF WISCONSIN INVESTMENT BOARD

                                       By:      /s/ John Nelson
                                                -------------------------------
                                       Name:    John Nelson
                                                -------------------------------
                                       Its:     Investment Director
                                                -------------------------------

ScanSoft Share Purchase Agreement    Page 1
AMENDMENT 5
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                                   SCHEDULE A

                                   PURCHASERS

State of Wisconsin Investment Board
121 East Wilson Street
Madison, WI 53702
Facsimile: (608) 266-2436

ScanSoft Share Purchase Agreement    Page 2
AMENDMENT 5

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                        SCANSOFT SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT

   This SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT (this "Agreement"), is made and entered into as
of December 13, 2001, by and among SCANSOFT, INC., a Delaware corporation (the
"Company"), and the purchasers listed on Schedule A attached hereto
(collectively, the "Purchasers" and individually, a "Purchaser").

1. AUTHORIZATION OF SALE OF THE SHARES

   Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Company has
authorized the sale of up to 3,500,000 shares (the "Shares") of common stock,
par value $0.001 per share (the "Common Stock"), of the Company.

2. AGREEMENT TO SELL AND PURCHASE THE SHARES

   2.1 PURCHASE AND SALE

   Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, each Purchaser
severally agrees to purchase, and the Company agrees to sell and issue to each
Purchaser, at the Closing (as defined below) that number of Shares set forth
opposite such Purchaser's name on Schedule A attached hereto.

   2.2 PURCHASE PRICE

   The purchase price of each Share shall be $3.10 (the "Per Share Price"). The
Company shall not, during the period beginning on the date of this Agreement and
ending ninety (90) days after the Closing Date (as defined below), without
adjusting the price per Share hereunder accordingly, sell (i) Shares at a price
per Share of less than the Per Share Price, or (ii) options, warrants or any
other securities that can be converted into, or otherwise exchanged for, shares
of the Company's common stock at a conversion, exchange or exercise price per
Share of less than the Per Share Price (excluding (w) 272,373 shares of Common
Stock of the Company issued to Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. at $2.57 (x) 7,400,000
shares of Common Stock of the Company issued in connection with the acquisition
of the assets of the Speech and Language Technologies business of Lernout &
Hauspie Speech Products N.V. and L&H Holdings USA, Inc., which, based on the
November 26, 2001 closing price of $3.52 per share, is valued at $26 million,
(y) shares of Company capital stock issued upon exercise or conversion of
securities of the Company outstanding on the date hereof, and (z) options to
purchase Common Stock of the Company issued to employees of the Company granted
in the ordinary course of business at 100% of the fair market value of the
Common Stock and shares issued upon exercise thereof). In the event the Company
shall, during the period beginning on the date of this Agreement and ending
ninety (90) days after the Closing Date, sell any shares of the Company's common
stock at, or any instruments that can be converted into or otherwise exchanged
for the Company's common stock (the "Subsequent Sale") exercisable at, a price
per Share (the "Subsequent Purchase Price") of less than the Per Share Price,
the Company shall, within ten (10) business days of the Subsequent Sale, pay to
the Purchaser a cash amount equal to the number of Shares times the difference
between the Per Share Price and the Subsequent Purchase Price.

3. DELIVERY OF THE SHARES AT THE CLOSING

   (a) The completion of the purchase and sale of the Shares (the "Closing")
shall occur at the offices of the Company, at 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA
01960 at 9:00 a.m. local time on December 13, 2001 or such other time and date
as may be agreed by the parties (the "Closing Date").

   (b) At the Closing, the Company shall authorize its transfer agent (the
"Transfer Agent") to issue to each Purchaser one or more stock certificates
registered in the name of such Purchaser, or in such nominee name(s) as
designated by such Purchaser in writing, representing the number of Shares set
forth in Section 2 above and bearing an appropriate legend referring to the fact
that the Shares were sold in reliance upon the exemption from registration under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Company will
deliver one certificate representing 2,800,000. Shares and one certificate
representing 700,000 Shares (the "Certificates") against delivery of payment for
the Shares by the Purchasers. Prior to the Purchasers' delivery of payment for
the Shares, the Company will deliver via facsimile a copy of the Certificates to
be delivered upon Closing to the office of the Purchasers (at the fax number
indicated on the signature pages attached hereto).
<PAGE>
   (c) The Company's obligation to complete the purchase and sale of the Shares
shall be subject to the following conditions, any one or more of which may be
waived by the Company:

      (i) receipt by the Company from stockholders holding rights to require the
Company to register the sale of any securities owned by such holder in the
Registration Statement (as defined below) of waivers of such rights (including
the waiver of any notice requirements related to such rights);

      (ii) receipt by the Company of same-day funds in the full amount of the
purchase price for the Shares being purchased under this Agreement; and

      (iii) the accuracy in all material respects of the representations and
warranties made by the Purchasers and the fulfillment in all material respects
of those undertakings of the Purchasers to be fulfilled before the Closing.

   (d) The Purchasers' obligations to accept delivery of such stock certificates
and to pay for the Shares evidenced by the certificates shall be subject to the
following conditions, any one or more of which may be waived by a Purchaser with
respect to such Purchaser's obligation:

      (i) the representations and warranties made by the Company in this
Agreement shall be accurate in all material respects and the undertakings of the
Company shall have been fulfilled in all material respects on or before the
Closing;

      (ii) the Company shall have delivered to the Purchasers a certificate
executed by the chairman of the board or president and the chief financial or
accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance
reasonably satisfactory to the Purchasers, to the effect that the
representations and warranties of the Company set forth in Section 4 hereof are
true and correct in all material respects as of the date of this Agreement and
as of the Closing Date, and that the Company has complied with all the
agreements and satisfied all the conditions in this Agreement on its part to be
performed or satisfied on or before the Closing Date; and

      (iii) the Company shall have delivered to Purchasers a legal opinion in
substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit A.

      (iv) the Company shall have obtained gross proceeds of at least
$10,850,000 from the sale of the Shares at the Closing.

4. REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY

   Except as set forth on the Schedule of Exceptions attached hereto as Exhibit
B, the Company hereby represents and warrants to the Purchasers as of the date
hereof as follows (which representations and warranties shall be deemed to
apply, where appropriate, to each subsidiary of the Company):

   4.1 ORGANIZATION AND QUALIFICATION

   The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a
corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware. The
Company has the corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its
properties and to conduct its business as currently conducted and to enter into
and perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Company is duly qualified
as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each
jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the
ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the
failure to so qualify would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material
adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, or the earnings,
assets, business affairs or business prospects of the Company.

   4.2 CAPITALIZATION

   (a) The authorized capital stock of the Company consists of 140,000,000
shares of Common Stock and 40,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock.

   (b) As of October 31, 2001, the issued and outstanding capital stock of the
Company consists of 51,046,133 shares of Common Stock, of which 656,000 shares
of Common Stock were held in treasury of the Company. The shares of issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized and validly
issued, are fully paid and nonassessable and have not been issued in violation
of or are not otherwise subject to any preemptive or other similar rights.

                                       2
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   (c) As of October 31, 2001, the Company has reserved 17,141,065 shares of
Common Stock for issuance upon the exercise of stock options granted or
available for future grant under the Company's stock option plans.

   (d) As of October 31, the Company has reserved 535,447 shares of Common Stock
for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding warrants to purchase Common Stock.

   With the exception of the foregoing, there are no outstanding subscriptions,
options, warrants, convertible or exchangeable securities or other rights
granted to or by the Company to purchase shares of Common Stock or other
securities of the Company and there are no commitments, plans or arrangements to
issue any shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or
exchangeable for Common Stock.

   4.3 ISSUANCE, SALE AND DELIVERY OF THE SHARES

   (a) The Shares have been duly authorized for issuance and sale to the
Purchasers pursuant to this Agreement and, when issued and delivered by the
Company pursuant to this Agreement against payment of the consideration set
forth in this Agreement, will be validly issued and fully paid and nonassessable
and free and clear of all pledges, liens and encumbrances. The certificates
evidencing the Shares are in due and proper form under Delaware General
Corporation Law.

   (b) The issuance of the Shares is not subject to preemptive or other similar
rights. No further approval or authority of the shareholders or the Board of
Directors of the Company will be required for the issuance and sale of the
Shares to be sold by the Company as contemplated in this Agreement.

   (c) Subject to the accuracy of the Purchasers' representations and warranties
in Section 5 of this Agreement, the offer, sale, and issuance of the Shares in
conformity with the terms of this Agreement constitute transactions exempt from
the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act and from the
registration or qualification requirements of the laws of any applicable state
or United States jurisdiction.

   4.4 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

   The financial statements included (as exhibits or otherwise) in the Company
Documents (as defined below) present fairly the financial position of the
Company as of the dates indicated and the results of their operations for the
periods specified. Except as otherwise stated in such Company Documents, such
financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles applied on a consistent basis, and any supporting
schedules included with the financial statements present fairly the information
stated in the financial statements. The financial and statistical data set forth
in the Company Documents were prepared on an accounting basis consistent with
such financial statements.

   4.5 NO MATERIAL CHANGE

   Since October 31, 2001,

   (a) there has been no material adverse change or any development involving a
prospective material adverse change in or affecting the condition, financial or
otherwise, or in the earnings, assets, business affairs or business prospects of
the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business;

   (b) there have been no transactions entered into by the Company other than
those in the ordinary course of business, which are material with respect to the
Company; and

   (c) there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or
made by the Company on any class of its capital stock.

   The Company has no material contingent obligations.

   4.6 ENVIRONMENTAL

   Except as would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to
have a material adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, or the
earnings, assets, business affairs or business prospects of the Company,

                                       3
<PAGE>
   (a) the Company is in compliance with all applicable Environmental Laws (as
defined below);

   (b) the Company has all permits, authorizations and approvals required under
any applicable Environmental Laws and is in compliance with the requirements of
such permits authorizations and approvals;

   (c) there are no pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened
Environmental Claims (as defined below) against the Company; and

   (d) under applicable law, there are no circumstances with respect to any
property or operations of the Company that are reasonably likely to form the
basis of an Environmental Claim against the Company.

   For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following
meanings: "Environmental Law" means any United States (or other applicable
jurisdiction's) Federal, state, local or municipal statute, law, rule,
regulation, ordinance, code, policy or rule of common law and any judicial or
administrative interpretation thereof, including any judicial or administrative
order, consent decree or judgment, relating to the environment, health, safety
or any chemical, material or substance, exposure to which is prohibited, limited
or regulated by any governmental authority. "Environmental Claims" means any and
all administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits, demands, demand
letters, claims, liens, notices of noncompliance or violation, investigations or
proceedings relating in any way to any Environmental Law.

   4.7 NO DEFAULTS

   The Company is not in violation of its certificate of incorporation or bylaws
or in material default in the performance or observance of any obligation,
agreement, covenant or condition contained in any material contract, indenture,
mortgage, loan agreement, deed, trust, note, lease, sublease, voting agreement,
voting trust, or other instrument or material agreement to which the Company is
a party or by which it may be bound, or to which any of the property or assets
of the Company is subject.

   4.8 LABOR MATTERS

   No labor dispute with the employees of the Company exists or, to the best
knowledge of the Company, is imminent.

   4.9 NO ACTIONS

   There is no action, suit or proceeding before or by any court or governmental
agency or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or, to the knowledge of the
Company, threatened, against or affecting the Company which, singly or in the
aggregate, might result in any material adverse change in the condition,
financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business
prospects of the Company, or which, singly or in the aggregate, might materially
and adversely affect the properties or assets thereof or which might materially
and adversely affect the consummation of this Agreement, nor, to the best
knowledge of the Company, is there any reasonable basis therefor. The Company is
not in default with respect to any judgment, order or decree of any court or
governmental agency or instrumentality which, singly or in the aggregate, would
have a material adverse effect on the assets, properties or business of the
Company.

   4.10 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

   (a) The Company, to the best of its knowledge, owns or is licensed to use all
patents, patent applications, inventions, trademarks, trade names, applications
for registration of trademarks, service marks, service mark applications,
copyrights, know-how, manufacturing processes, formulae, trade secrets, licenses
and rights in any thereof and any other intangible property and assets that are
material to the business of the Company as now conducted and as proposed to be
conducted (in this Agreement called the "Proprietary Rights"), or is seeking, or
will seek, to obtain rights to use such Proprietary Rights that are material to
the business of the Company as proposed to be conducted. For the purposes
hereof, "Proprietary Rights" does not include commercially available third party
software licensed by the Company.

   (b) The Company does not have any knowledge of, and the Company has not given
or received any notice of, any pending conflicts with or infringement of the
rights of others with respect to any Proprietary Rights or with respect to any
license of Proprietary Rights which are material to the business of the Company.

                                       4
<PAGE>
   (c) No action, suit, arbitration, or legal, administrative or other
proceeding, or investigation is pending, or, to the best knowledge of the
Company, threatened, which involves any Proprietary Rights, nor, to the best
knowledge of the Company, is there any reasonable basis therefor.

   (d) The Company is not subject to any judgment, order, writ, injunction or
decree of any court or any Federal, state, local, foreign or other governmental
department, commission, board, bureau, agency or instrumentality, domestic or
foreign, or any arbitrator, and has not entered into or is not a party to any
contract which restricts or impairs the use of any such Proprietary Rights in a
manner which would have a material adverse effect on the use of any of the
Proprietary Rights.

   (e) The Company has not received written notice of any pending conflict with
or infringement upon any third-party proprietary rights.

   (f) The Company has not entered into any consent, indemnification,
forbearance to sue or settlement agreement with respect to Proprietary Rights
other than in the ordinary course of business. No claims have been asserted by
any person with respect to the validity of the Company's ownership or right to
use the Proprietary Rights and, to the best knowledge of the Company, there is
no reasonable basis for any such claim to be successful.

   (g) The Company has complied, in all material respects, with its obligations
relating to the protection of the Proprietary Rights which are material to the
business of the Company used pursuant to licenses.

   (h) To the best knowledge of the Company, no person is infringing on or
violating the Proprietary Rights.

   4.11 PERMITS

   The Company possesses and is operating in compliance with all material
licenses, certificates, consents, authorities, approvals and permits from all
state, federal, foreign and other regulatory agencies or bodies necessary to
conduct the businesses now operated by it, and the Company has not received any
notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such
permit or any circumstance which would lead it to believe that such proceedings
are reasonably likely which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an
unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would materially and adversely affect
the condition, financial or otherwise, or the earnings, assets, business affairs
or business prospects of the Company.

   4.12 DUE EXECUTION, DELIVERY AND PERFORMANCE

   (a) This Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Company and
constitutes a valid and binding obligation of the Company, enforceable against
the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as limited by applicable
bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, arrangement, moratorium and other laws
of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors' rights, and (ii) as
limited by equitable principles generally and limitations on the availability of
equitable remedies, whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in
equity or at law.

   (b) The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and the
fulfillment of the terms of this Agreement, including the sale, issuance and
delivery of the Shares, (i) have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate
action on the part of the Company, its directors and stockholders; (ii) will not
conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default under, or result in the
creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or
assets of the Company pursuant to, any contract, indenture, mortgage, loan
agreement, deed, trust, note, lease, sublease, voting agreement, voting trust or
other instrument or agreement to which the Company is a party or by which it may
be bound, or to which any of the property or assets of the Company is subject;
(iii) will not trigger anti-dilution rights or other rights to acquire
additional equity securities of the Company; and (iv) will not result in any
violation of the provisions of the certificate of incorporation or bylaws of the
Company or any applicable statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, decision,
directive or order.

   4.13 PROPERTIES

   The Company has good and marketable title to its properties, free and clear
of all material security interests, mortgages, pledges, liens, charges,
encumbrances and claims of record. The properties of the Company are, in the
aggregate, in good repair (reasonable wear and tear excepted), and suitable for
their respective uses. Any real property held under lease by the Company is held
under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not
material and do not interfere with the conduct of the business of the Company.
The Company owns or leases all such properties as are necessary to its business
or operations as now conducted.

                                       5
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   4.14 COMPLIANCE

   The Company has conducted and is conducting its business in compliance with
all applicable Federal, state, local and foreign statutes, laws, rules,
regulations, ordinances, codes, decisions, decrees, directives and orders,
except where the failure to do so would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a
material adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, or on the
earnings, assets, business affairs or business prospects of the Company.

   4.15 SECURITY MEASURES

   The Company takes security measures reasonably designed to enable the Company
to assert trade secret protection in its non-patented technology.

   4.16 CONTRIBUTIONS

   To the best of the Company's knowledge, neither the Company nor any employee
or agent of, on behalf of or at the request of, the Company has made any payment
of funds of the Company or received or retained any funds in violation of any
state or federal law, rule or regulation.

   4.17 USE OF PROCEEDS; INVESTMENT COMPANY

   The Company intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the Shares for
working capital and other general corporate purposes. The Company is not now,
and after the sale of the Shares under this Agreement and under all other
agreements and the application of the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares
described in the proceeding sentence will not be, an "investment company" within
the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

   4.18 PRIOR OFFERINGS

   All offers and sales of capital stock of the Company before the date of this
Agreement were at all relevant times duly registered or exempt from the
registration requirements of the Securities Act and were duly registered or
subject to an available exemption from the registration requirements of the
applicable state securities or Blue Sky laws.

   4.19 TAXES

   The Company has filed all material tax returns required to be filed, which
returns are true and correct in all material respects, and the Company is not in
default in the payment of any taxes, including penalties and interest,
assessments, fees and other charges, shown thereon due or otherwise assessed,
other than those being contested in good faith and for which adequate reserves
have been provided or those currently payable without interest which were
payable pursuant to said returns or any assessments with respect thereto.

   4.20 OTHER GOVERNMENTAL PROCEEDINGS

   To the Company's knowledge, there are no rulemaking or similar proceedings
before any Federal, state, local or foreign government bodies that involve or
affect the Company, which, if the subject of an action unfavorable to the
Company, could involve a prospective material adverse change in or effect on the
condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, assets, business affairs
or business prospects of the Company.

   4.21 NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENTS

   To the knowledge of the Company, any full-time employee who has entered into
any non-competition, non-disclosure, confidentiality or other similar agreement
with any party other than the Company is neither in violation of nor is expected
to be in violation of that agreement as a result of the business currently
conducted or expected to be conducted by the Company or such person's
performance of his or her obligations to the Company. The Company has not
received written notice that any consultant or scientific advisor of the Company
is in violation of any non-competition, non-disclosure, confidentiality or
similar agreement.

                                       6
<PAGE>
   4.22 TRANSFER TAXES

   On the Closing Date, all stock transfer or other taxes (other than income
taxes) that are required to be paid in connection with the sale and transfer of
the Shares to be sold to the Purchasers under this Agreement will be, or will
have been, fully paid or provided for by the Company and all laws imposing such
taxes will be or will have been fully complied with.

   4.23 INSURANCE

   The Company maintains insurance of the type and in the amount that the
Company reasonably believes is adequate for its business, including, but not
limited to, insurance covering all real and personal property owned or leased by
the Company against theft, damage, destruction, acts of vandalism and all other
risks customarily insured against by similarly situated companies, all of which
insurance is in full force and effect.

   4.24 GOVERNMENTAL/REGULATORY CONSENTS

   No registration, authorization, approval, qualification or consent with or
required by any court or governmental/ regulatory authority or agency is
necessary in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the
offering, issuance or sale of the Shares under this Agreement.

   4.25 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FILINGS

   The Company has timely filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") all documents required to be filed by the Company under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act.")

   4.26 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

   The Company represents and warrants that the information contained in the
following documents (the "Company Documents"), which have been or will be
provided or made available to Purchaser before the Closing, is or will be true
and correct in all material respects as of their respective filing dates:

   (a) the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2000;

   (b) the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters
ended March 31, 2001, June 30, 2001 and September 30, 2001;

   (c) the Company's Proxy Statement for its Annual Meeting of Shareholders held
on June 27, 2001; and

   (d) all other documents, if any, filed by the Company with the Commission
since September 30, 2001 pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Exchange
Act.

   4.27 CONTRACTS

   The contracts described in the Company Documents or incorporated by reference
therein are in full force and effect on the date hereof, except for contracts
which by their terms have expired or terminated, or the termination or
expiration of which would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material
adverse effect on the business, properties or assets of the Company. Neither the
Company nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, any other party is in
material breach of or default under any such contracts.

   4.28 NO INTEGRATED OFFERING

   Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, nor any person acting on its
or their behalf, has directly or indirectly made any offers or sales in any
security or solicited any offers to buy any security under circumstances that
would require registration under the Securities Act of the issuance of the
Shares to the Purchasers. The issuance of the Shares to the Purchasers will not
be integrated with any other issuance of the Company's securities (past, current
or future) for purposes of the Securities Act or any applicable rules of Nasdaq
(or of any national securities exchange on which the Company's Common Stock is
then traded), except where such integration would not require registration of
the issuance and sale of the Shares to the Purchaser. The Company will not make
any offers or sales of any security (other than the Shares) that would cause the
offering of the Shares to be integrated with any other offering of securities

                                       7
<PAGE>
by the Company for purposes of any registration requirement under the Securities
Act or any applicable rules of Nasdaq (or of any national securities exchange on
which the Company's Common Stock is then traded) except where such integration
would not require registration of the issuance and sale of the Shares to the
Purchaser.

   4.29 LISTING OF SHARES

   The Company agrees to promptly secure the listing of the Shares upon each
national securities exchange or automated quotation system upon which shares of
Common Stock are then listed and, so long as any Purchaser owns any of the
Shares, shall maintain such listing of all Shares. The Company has taken no
action designed to delist, or which is likely to have the effect of delisting,
the Common Stock from any of the national securities exchange or automated
quotation system upon which the shares of Common Stock are then listed.

   4.30 NO MANIPULATION OF STOCK

   The Company has not taken and will not, in violation of applicable law, take
any action outside the ordinary course of business designed to or that might
reasonably be expected to cause or result in unlawful manipulation of the price
of the Common Stock to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares.

5. REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS OF THE PURCHASERS

   5.1 SECURITIES LAW REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

   Each Purchaser represents, warrants and covenants to the Company as follows:

   (a) The Purchaser is knowledgeable, sophisticated and experienced in making,
and is qualified to make, decisions with respect to investments in shares
representing an investment decision like that involved in the purchase of the
Shares, including investments in securities issued by the Company, and has
requested, received, reviewed and considered all information it deems relevant
in making an informed decision to purchase the Shares.

   (b) The Purchaser is acquiring the number of Shares set forth in Section 2
above in the ordinary course of its business and for its own account for
investment (as defined for purposes of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust
Improvement Act of 1976 and the regulations thereunder) only, and has no present
intention of distributing any of the Shares nor any arrangement or understanding
with any other persons regarding the distribution of such Shares within the
meaning of Section 2(11) of the Securities Act, other than as contemplated in
Section 7 of this Agreement.

   (c) The Purchaser will not, directly or indirectly, offer, sell, pledge,
transfer or otherwise dispose of (or solicit any offers to buy, purchase or
otherwise acquire or take a pledge of) any of the Shares except in compliance
with the Securities Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder
(the "Rules and Regulations").

   (d) The Purchaser has completed or caused to be completed the Stock
Certificate Questionnaire and the Registration Statement Questionnaire, attached
to this Agreement as Appendices I and II, for use in preparation of the
Registration Statement (as defined in Section 7.3 below), and the answers to the
Questionnaires are true and correct as of the date of this Agreement and will be
true and correct as of the effective date of the Registration Statement;
provided that the Purchasers shall be entitled to update such information by
providing notice thereof to the Company before the effective date of such
Registration Statement.

   (e) The Purchaser has, in connection with its decision to purchase the number
of Shares set forth in Section 2 above, relied solely upon the Company Documents
and the representations and warranties of the Company contained in this
Agreement.

   (f) The Purchaser is an "accredited investor" within the meaning of Rule 501
of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

   5.2 RESALES OF SHARES

   (a) The Purchaser hereby covenants with the Company not to make any sale of
the Shares without satisfying the requirements of the Securities Act and the
Rules and Regulations, including, in the event of any resale under the
Registration Statement, the prospectus delivery requirements under the
Securities Act, and the Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that such Shares are
not transferable on

                                       8
<PAGE>
the books of the Company pursuant to a resale under the Registration Statement
unless the certificate submitted to the transfer agent evidencing the Shares is
accompanied by a separate officer's certificate

      (i) in the form of Appendix III to this Agreement;

      (ii) executed by an officer of, or other authorized person designated by,
the Purchaser; and

      (iii) to the effect that (A) the Shares have been sold in accordance with
the Registration Statement and (B) the requirement of delivering a current
prospectus has been satisfied.

   (b) The Purchaser acknowledges that there may occasionally be times when the
Company determines, in good faith following consultation with its Board of
Directors or a committee thereof, the use of the prospectus forming a part of
the Registration Statement (the "Prospectus," as further defined in Section
7.3.1 below) should be suspended until such time as an amendment or supplement
to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus has been filed by the Company
and any such amendment to the Registration Statement is declared effective by
the Commission, or until such time as the Company has filed an appropriate
report with the Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act. The Purchaser hereby
covenants that it will not sell any Shares pursuant to the Prospectus during the
period commencing at the time at which the Company gives the Purchaser written
notice of the suspension of the use of the Prospectus and ending at the time the
Company gives the Purchaser written notice that the Purchaser may thereafter
effect sales pursuant to the Prospectus. The Company may, upon written notice to
the Purchasers, suspend the use of the Prospectus for up to thirty (30) days in
any 365-day period based on the reasonable determination of the Company's Board
of Directors that there is a significant business purpose for such
determination, such as pending corporate developments, public filings with the
SEC or similar events. The Company shall in no event be required to disclose the
business purpose for which it has suspended the use of the Prospectus if the
Company determines in its good faith judgment that the business purpose should
remain confidential. In addition, the Company shall notify each Purchaser (i) of
any request by the SEC for an amendment or any supplement to such Registration
Statement or any related prospectus, or any other information request by any
other governmental agency directly relating to the offering, and (ii) of the
issuance by the SEC of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of such
Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any
related prospectus or the initiation or threat of any proceeding for that
purpose.

   (c) The Purchaser further covenants to notify the Company promptly of the
sale of any of its Shares, other than sales pursuant to a Registration Statement
contemplated in Section 7 of this Agreement or sales upon termination of the
transfer restrictions pursuant to Section 7.4 of this Agreement.

   5.3 DUE EXECUTION, DELIVERY AND PERFORMANCE

   (a) This Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Purchaser and
constitutes a valid and binding obligation of the Purchaser, enforceable against
the Purchaser in accordance with its terms.

   (b) The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and the
fulfillment of the terms of this Agreement have been duly authorized by all
necessary corporate, agency or other action and will not conflict with or
constitute a breach of, or default under, or result in the creation or
imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the
Purchaser pursuant to, any contract, indenture, mortgage, loan agreement, deed,
trust, note, lease, sublease, voting agreement, voting trust or other instrument
or agreement to which the Purchaser is a party or by which it or any of them may
be bound, or to which any of the property or assets of the Purchaser is subject,
nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or
bylaws of the Purchaser or any applicable statute, law, rule, regulation,
ordinance, decision, directive or order.

6. SURVIVAL OF REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND AGREEMENTS.

   Notwithstanding any investigation made by any party to this Agreement, all
covenants, agreements, representations and warranties made by the Company and
the Purchasers in this Agreement and in the certificates for the Shares
delivered pursuant to this Agreement shall survive the execution of this
Agreement, the delivery to the Purchasers of the Shares being purchased and the
payment therefor.

                                       9
<PAGE>
7. FORM D FILING; REGISTRATION; COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT; COVENANTS

   7.1 FORM D FILING; REGISTRATION OF SHARES

      7.1.1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT; EXPENSES

   The Company shall:

   (a) file in a timely manner a Form D relating to the sale of the Shares under
this Agreement, pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation D.

   (b) as soon as practicable after the Closing Date, but in no event later than
the 20th day following the Closing Date, prepare and file with the Commission a
Registration Statement on Form S-3 (or, if the Company is ineligible to use Form
S-3, then on Form S-1) relating to the sale of the Shares by the Purchasers from
time to time on the Nasdaq National Market (or the facilities of any national
securities exchange on which the Company's Common Stock is then traded) or in
privately negotiated transactions (the "Registration Statement");

   (c) provide to Purchasers any information required to permit the sale of the
Shares under Rule 144A of the Securities Act;

   (d) subject to receipt of necessary information from the Purchasers, use its
best efforts to cause the Commission to notify the Company of the Commission's
willingness to declare the Registration Statement effective on or before 90 days
after the Closing Date;

   (e) notify Purchasers promptly upon the Registration Statement, and any
post-effective amendment thereto, being declared effective by the Commission;

   (f) prepare and file with the Commission such amendments and supplements to
the Registration Statement and the Prospectus (as defined in Section 7.3.1
below) and take such other action, if any, as may be necessary to keep the
Registration Statement effective until the earlier of (i) the date on which the
Shares may be resold by the Purchasers without registration and without regard
to any volume limitations by reason of Rule 144(k) under the Securities Act or
any other rule of similar effect or (ii) all of the Shares have been sold
pursuant to the Registration Statement or Rule 144 under the Securities Act or
any other rule of similar effect;

   (g) promptly furnish to the Purchasers with respect to the Shares registered
under the Registration Statement such reasonable number of copies of the
Prospectus, including any supplements to or amendments of the Prospectus, in
order to facilitate the public sale or other disposition of all or any of the
Shares by the Purchasers;

   (h) during the period when copies of the Prospectus are required to be
delivered under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, will file all documents
required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15 of the
Exchange Act within the time periods required by the Exchange Act and the rules
and regulations promulgated thereunder;

   (i) file documents required of the Company for customary Blue Sky clearance
in all states requiring Blue Sky clearance; provided, however, that the Company
shall not be required to qualify to do business or consent to service of process
in any jurisdiction in which it is not now so qualified or has not so consented;
and (j) bear all its expenses in connection with the procedures in paragraphs
(a) through (i) of this Section 7.1.1 and the registration of the Shares
pursuant to the Registration Statement.

      7.1.2 DELAY IN EFFECTIVENESS OF REGISTRATION STATEMENT

   In the event that the Registration Statement is not declared effective on or
before the 90th day following the Closing Date (or, where the Registration
Statement is being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, on or
before the 120th day following the Closing Date) (the "Penalty Date"), the
Company shall pay to each Purchaser liquidated damages in an amount equal to
0.25% of the total purchase price of the Shares purchased by such Purchaser
pursuant to this Agreement for each week after the Penalty Date that the
Registration Statement is not declared effective.

   7.2 TRANSFER OF SHARES AFTER REGISTRATION

   Each Purchaser agrees that it will not effect any disposition of the Shares
or its right to purchase the Shares that would constitute a sale within the
meaning of the Securities Act, except as contemplated in the Registration
Statement referred to in Section 7.1 or as

                                       10
<PAGE>
otherwise permitted by law, and that it will promptly notify the Company of any
changes in the information set forth in the Registration Statement regarding the
Purchaser or its plan of distribution.

   7.3 INDEMNIFICATION

   For the purpose of this Section 7.3, the term "Registration Statement" shall
include any preliminary or final prospectus, exhibit, supplement or amendment
included in or relating to the Registration Statement referred to in Section
7.1.

      7.3.1 INDEMNIFICATION BY THE COMPANY

   The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each of the Purchasers and
each person, if any, who controls any Purchaser within the meaning of the
Securities Act, against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses,
joint or several, to which such Purchasers or such controlling person may become
subject, under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other federal or
state statutory law or regulation, or at common law or otherwise (including in
settlement of any litigation, if such settlement is effected with the written
consent of the Company, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld),
insofar as such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses (or actions in
respect thereof as contemplated below) arise out of or are based upon any untrue
statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in the
Registration Statement, including the Prospectus, financial statements and
schedules, and all other documents filed as a part thereof, as amended at the
time of effectiveness of the Registration Statement, including any information
deemed to be a part thereof as of the time of effectiveness pursuant to
paragraph (b) of Rule 430A, or pursuant to Rule 434, of the Rules and
Regulations, or the Prospectus, in the form first filed with the Commission
pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Regulations, or filed as part of the Registration
Statement at the time of effectiveness if no Rule 424(b) filing is required (the
"Prospectus"), or any amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are
based upon the omission or alleged omission to state in any of them a material
fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements in any of
them, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading,
or arise out of or are based in whole or in part on any inaccuracy in the
representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement, or
any failure of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or
under applicable law, and will reimburse each Purchaser and each such
controlling person for any legal and other expenses as such expenses are
reasonably incurred by such Purchaser or such controlling person in connection
with investigating, defending, settling, compromising or paying any such loss,
claim, damage, liability, expense or action; provided, however, that the Company
will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim,
damage, liability or expense arises out of or is based upon (i) an untrue
statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in
the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement of the
Registration Statement or Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with
written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of the Purchaser
expressly for use in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or (ii) the
failure of such Purchaser to comply with the covenants and agreements contained
in Sections 5.2 or 7.2 of this Agreement respecting resale of the Shares, or
(iii) the inaccuracy of any representations made by such Purchaser in this
Agreement or (iv) any untrue statement or omission of a material fact required
to make such statement not misleading in any Prospectus that is corrected in any
subsequent Prospectus that was delivered to the Purchaser before the pertinent
sale or sales by the Purchaser.

      7.3.2 INDEMNIFICATION BY THE PURCHASER

   Each Purchaser will severally and not jointly indemnify and hold harmless the
Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration
Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning
of the Securities Act, against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities or
expenses to which the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who
signed the Registration Statement or controlling person may become subject,
under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other federal or state
statutory law or regulation, or at common law or otherwise (including in
settlement of any litigation, if such settlement is effected with the written
consent of such Purchaser, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld)
insofar as such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses (or actions in
respect thereof as contemplated below) arise out of or are based upon (i) any
failure on the part of such Purchaser to comply with the covenants and
agreements contained in Sections 5.2 or 7.2 of this Agreement respecting the
sale of the Shares or (ii) the inaccuracy of any representation made by such
Purchaser in this Agreement or (iii) any untrue or alleged untrue statement of
any material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, or
any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus, or
arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein
a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the
statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the
extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or
alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, or any
amendment or supplement thereto, in reliance upon and in conformity with written
information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of such Purchaser expressly
for use therein; provided, however, that the Purchaser shall not be liable for
any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission of
which the Purchaser

                                       11
<PAGE>
has delivered to the Company in writing a correction before the occurrence of
the transaction from which such loss was incurred, and the Purchaser will
reimburse the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who signed
the Registration Statement or controlling person for any legal and other expense
reasonably incurred by the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers
who signed the Registration Statement or controlling person in connection with
investigating, defending, settling, compromising or paying any such loss, claim,
damage, liability, expense or action.

      7.3.3 INDEMNIFICATION PROCEDURE

   (a) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 7.3 of
notice of the threat or commencement of any action, such indemnified party will,
if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against an indemnifying party under
this Section 7.3, promptly notify the indemnifying party in writing of the
claim; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party will not relieve it
from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party for contribution
or otherwise under the indemnity agreement contained in this Section 7.3 or to
the extent it is not prejudiced as a result of such failure.

   (b) In case any such action is brought against any indemnified party and such
indemnified party seeks or intends to seek indemnity from an indemnifying party,
the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate in, and, to the extent
that it may wish, jointly with all other indemnifying parties similarly
notified, to assume the defense thereof with counsel reasonably satisfactory to
such indemnified party; provided, however, if the defendants in any such action
include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and the
indemnified party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be a conflict
between the positions of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party in
conducting the defense of any such action or that there may be legal defenses
available to it or other indemnified parties that are different from or
additional to those available to the indemnifying party, the indemnified party
or parties shall have the right to select separate counsel to assume such legal
defenses and to otherwise participate in the defense of such action on behalf of
such indemnified party or parties. Upon receipt of notice from the indemnifying
party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense of such
action and approval by the indemnified party of counsel, the indemnifying party
will not be liable to such indemnified party under this Section 7.3 for any
legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in
connection with the defense thereof unless:

      (i) the indemnified party shall have employed such counsel in connection
with the assumption of legal defenses in accordance with the proviso to the
preceding sentence (it being understood, however, that the indemnifying party
shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate counsel, approved
by such indemnifying party representing all of the indemnified parties who are
parties to such action) or

      (ii) the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel reasonably
satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party within
a reasonable time after notice of commencement of action, in each of which cases
the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel shall be at the expense of the
indemnifying party. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 7.3, the
Purchaser shall not be liable for any indemnification obligation under this
Agreement in excess of the amount of net proceeds received by the Purchaser from
the sale of the Shares.

      7.3.4 CONTRIBUTION

   If the indemnification provided for in this Section 7.3 is required by its
terms but is for any reason held to be unavailable to or otherwise insufficient
to hold harmless an indemnified party under this Section 7.3 in respect to any
losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses referred to in this Agreement,
then each applicable indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or
payable by such indemnified party as a result of any losses, claims, damages,
liabilities or expenses referred to in this Agreement

   (a) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits
received by the Company and the Purchaser from the placement of Common Stock or

   (b) if the allocation provided by clause (a) above is not permitted by
applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the
relative benefits referred to in clause (a) above but the relative fault of the
Company and the Purchaser in connection with the statements or omissions or
inaccuracies in the representations and warranties in this Agreement that
resulted in such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses, as well as
any other relevant equitable considerations.

   The respective relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and
each Purchaser on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the
amount paid by such Purchaser to the Company pursuant to this Agreement for the
Shares purchased by such Purchaser that were sold pursuant to the Registration
Statement bears to the difference (the "Difference") between the amount

                                       12
<PAGE>
such Purchaser paid for the Shares that were sold pursuant to the Registration
Statement and the amount received by such Purchaser from such sale. The relative
fault of the Company and each Purchaser shall be determined by reference to,
among other things, whether the untrue or alleged statement of a material fact
or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact or the inaccurate
or the alleged inaccurate representation or warranty relates to information
supplied by the Company or by such Purchaser and the parties' relative intent,
knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such
statement or omission. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the
losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses referred to above shall be
deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth in Section 7.3.3, any
legal or other fees or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection
with investigating or defending any action or claim. The provisions set forth in
Section 7.3.3 with respect to the notice of the threat or commencement of any
threat or action shall apply if a claim for contribution is to be made under
this Section 7.3.4; provided, however, that no additional notice shall be
required with respect to any threat or action for which notice has been given
under Section 7.3 for purposes of indemnification. The Company and each
Purchaser agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant
to this Section 7.3 were determined solely by pro rata allocation (even if the
Purchaser were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of
allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred
to in this paragraph. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 7.3, no
Purchaser shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by
which the Difference exceeds the amount of any damages that such Purchaser has
otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue
statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent
misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act)
shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such
fraudulent misrepresentation. The Purchasers' obligations to contribute pursuant
to this Section 7.3 are several and not joint.

   7.4 TERMINATION OF CONDITIONS AND OBLIGATIONS

   The restrictions imposed by Section 5 or this Section 7 upon the
transferability of the Shares shall cease and terminate as to any particular
number of the Shares upon the passage of two years from the Closing Date or at
such time as an opinion of counsel satisfactory in form and substance to the
Company shall have been rendered to the effect that such conditions are not
necessary in order to comply with the Securities Act.

   7.5 INFORMATION AVAILABLE

   From the date of this Agreement through the date the Registration Statement
covering the resale of Shares owned by any Purchaser is no longer effective, the
Company will furnish to such Purchaser:

   (a) as soon as practicable after available (but in the case of the Company's
Annual Report to Shareholders, within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year
of the Company), one copy of

      (i) its Annual Report to Shareholders (which Annual Report shall contain
financial statements audited in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles by a national firm of certified public accountants);

      (ii) if not included in substance in the Annual Report to Shareholders,
its Annual Report on Form 10-K;

      (iii) if not included in substance in its Quarterly Reports to
Shareholders, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q; and

      (iv) a full copy of the particular Registration Statement covering the
Shares (the foregoing, in each case, excluding exhibits);

   (b) upon the request of the Purchaser, a reasonable number of copies of the
Prospectus to supply to any other party requiring the Prospectus.

   7.6 RULE 144 INFORMATION

   Until the earlier of (i) the date on which the Shares may be resold by the
Purchasers without registration and without regard to any volume limitations by
reason of Rule 144(k) under the Securities Act or any other rule of similar
effect or (ii) all of the Shares have been sold pursuant to the Registration
Statement or Rule 144 under the Securities Act or any other rule of similar
effect, the Company shall file all reports required to be filed by it under the
Securities Act, the Rules and Regulations and the Exchange Act and shall take
such further action to the extent required to enable the Purchasers to sell the
Shares pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act (as such rule may be
amended from time to time).

                                       13
<PAGE>
   7.7 STOCK OPTION MATTERS AND PROHIBITION ON TOXICS

   The Company shall, within thirty (30) days of the Closing Date, adopt such
amendments to, with respect to (i) and (ii) below, the Company's stock option
plans and By-laws, and, with respect to (iii) and (iv) below, the Company's
By-laws (together, the "Stock Option Plan and By-law Amendments") to provide
that, unless approved by the holders of a majority of the shares present and
entitled to vote at a duly convened meeting of shareholders, the company shall
not:

      (i) grant any stock option, including stock appreciation right, with an
exercise price that is less than 100% of the fair market value of the underlying
stock on the date of grant;

      (ii) reduce the exercise price of any stock option, including stock
appreciation right, outstanding or to be granted in the future; cancel and
re-grant options at a lower exercise price (including entering into any "6 month
and 1 day" cancellation and re-grant scheme), whether or not the cancelled
options are put back into the available pool for grant; replace underwater
options with restricted stock in an exchange, buy-back or other scheme; or
replace any options with new options having a lower exercise price or
accelerated vesting schedule in an exchange, buy-back or other scheme;

      (iii) sell or issue any security of the Company convertible, exercisable
or exchangeable into shares of common stock of the Company, having a conversion,
exercise or exchange price per share which is subject to downward adjustment
based on the market price of the common stock at the time of conversion,
exercise or exchange of such security into common stock (except for appropriate
adjustments made to give effect to any stock splits or stock dividends); or

      (iv) enter into (a) any equity line or similar agreement or arrangement;
or (b) any agreement to sell common stock of the Company (or any security
convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into shares of common stock ("Common
Stock Equivalent")) at a per share price (or, with respect to a Common Stock
Equivalent, at a conversion, exercise or exchange price, as the case may be
("Equivalent Price")) that is fixed after the execution date of the agreement,
whether or not based on any predetermined price-setting formula or calculation
method. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, a price protection clause shall
be permitted in an agreement for sale of common stock or Common Stock
Equivalent, if such clause provides for an adjustment to the price per share of
common stock or, with respect to a Common Stock Equivalent, to the Equivalent
Price (provided that such price or Equivalent Price is fixed on or before the
execution date of the agreement)(the "Fixed Price") in the event that the
Company, during the period beginning on the date of the agreement and ending no
later than 90 days after the closing date of the transaction, sells shares of
common stock or Common Stock Equivalent to another investor at a price or
Equivalent Price, as the case may be, below the Fixed Price.

   The Stock Option Plan and By-law Amendments may not be further amended or
repealed without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares
present and entitled to vote at a duly convened meeting of shareholders. Upon
the adoption of the Stock Option Plan and By-law Amendments, the Company shall
promptly furnish a copy of such amendments to the Purchasers. The Company agrees
that, prior to the adoption of the Stock Option Plan and By-law Amendments by
all necessary corporate action of the Company as described above, the Company
shall not conduct any of the actions specified in (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) above
of this Section 7.7.

8. LEGAL FEES AND OTHER TRANSACTION EXPENSES

   At the Closing, the Company agrees to pay a flat fee of $5,000 to the State
of Wisconsin Investment Board for their legal and other transaction expenses
(whether internal or external) arising in connection with the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement.

9. BROKER'S FEE

   Each of the parties to this Agreement hereby represents that, on the basis of
any actions and agreements by it, there are no other brokers or finders entitled
to compensation in connection with the sale of the Shares to the Purchasers. The
Company shall indemnify and hold harmless the Purchasers from and against all
fees, commissions or other payments owing by the Company to any other person or
firm acting on behalf of the Company hereunder.

10. NOTICES

   All notices, requests, consents and other communications under this Agreement
shall be in writing, shall be mailed by first-class registered or certified
airmail, confirmed facsimile or nationally recognized overnight express courier
postage prepaid, and shall be delivered as addressed as follows:

                                       14
<PAGE>
   (a) if to the Company, to:

      ScanSoft, Inc.
      9 Centennial Drive
      Peabody, MA 01960
      Attention: Chief Financial Officer
      Telephone: 978-977-2000
      Facsimile: 978-977-2463

or to such other person at such other place as the Company shall designate to
the Purchaser in writing; and

   (b) if to a Purchaser, at its address as set forth on the signature page to
this Agreement, or at such other address or addresses as may have been furnished
to the Company in writing.

   Such notice shall be deemed effectively given upon confirmation of receipt by
facsimile, one business day after deposit with such overnight courier or three
days after deposit of such registered or certified airmail with the U.S. Postal
Service, as applicable.

11. MODIFICATION; AMENDMENT

   This Agreement may not be modified or amended except pursuant to an
instrument in writing signed by the Company and each of the Purchasers.

12. TERMINATION

   This Agreement may be terminated as to any Purchaser, at the option of such
Purchaser, if the Closing has not occurred on or before thirty (30) days from
the date of this Agreement.

13. HEADINGS

   The headings of the various sections of this Agreement have been inserted for
convenience of reference only and shall not be deemed to be part of this
Agreement.

14. SEVERABILITY

   If any provision contained in this Agreement should be held to be invalid,
illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality and
enforceability of the remaining provisions contained in this Agreement shall not
in any way be affected or impaired thereby.

15. GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION

   This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws
of the state of Delaware and the federal law of the United States of America.
The parties hereto hereby submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State
of Wisconsin, or of the United States of America sitting in the State of
Wisconsin, over any action, suit, or proceeding arising out of or relating to
this Agreement. Nothing herein shall affect the right of the Purchaser to serve
process in any manner permitted by law or limit the right of the Purchaser to
bring proceedings against the Company in the competent courts of any other
jurisdiction or jurisdictions.

16. NO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.

   The Company represents, warrants, and covenants that, to the best of its
knowledge, no trustee or employee of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board
identified on the attached list, either directly or indirectly (a) currently
holds, except as may be specifically set forth below, a personal interest in the
Company or any of its affiliates (together, the "Entity") or the Entity's
property or securities, or (b) will, in connection with the investment made
pursuant to this Agreement, receive (i) a personal interest in the Entity or the
Entity's property or securities or (ii) anything of substantial economic value
for his or her private benefit from the Entity or anyone acting on its behalf.
As to ownership of an interest in the Entity's publicly traded securities,
"knowledge" hereunder is based on an examination of record holders of the
Entity's securities and actual knowledge of the undersigned.

                                       15
<PAGE>
17. COUNTERPARTS

   This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which
shall constitute an original, but all of which, when taken together, shall
constitute but one instrument, and shall become effective when one or more
counterparts have been signed by each party to this Agreement and delivered to
the other parties.

                            [Signature pages follow]

                                       16
<PAGE>
   IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties to this Agreement have caused this Agreement
to be executed by their duly authorized representatives as of the day and year
first above written.

                                    SCANSOFT, INC.

                                    By    /s/ Paul Ricci
                                          -------------------------------
                                    Name: Paul Ricci
                                          -------------------------------
                                    Its:  CEO & Chairman
                                          -------------------------------

                                    STATE OF WISCONSIN INVESTMENT BOARD

                                    By:    /s/ John F. Nelson
                                           ------------------------------
                                    Name:  John Nelson
                                           ------------------------------
                                    Title: Investment Director
                                           ------------------------------

                                    Address:

                                    121 East Wilson Street
                                    Madison, WI 53702
                                    Facsimile: (608) 266-2436

                            SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT
                                 SIGNATURE PAGE

                                       17
<PAGE>
                                   SCHEDULE A

                                   PURCHASERS

<TABLE>
<S>                                          <C>
State of Wisconsin Investment Board          3,500,000 shares of Common Stock
121 East Wilson Street
Madison, WI 53702
Facsimile: (608) 266-2436
</TABLE>

                                       18
<PAGE>
                                   APPENDIX I

                                    [COMPANY]

                         STOCK CERTIFICATE QUESTIONNAIRE

   Pursuant to Section 3 of the Agreement, please provide us with the following
information:

1. The exact name that your Shares are to be registered in (this is the name
   that will appear on your stock certificate(s)). You may use a nominee name if
   appropriate:

   -------------------------------------------------------

2. The relationship between the Purchaser of the Shares and the Registered
   Holder listed in response to item 1 above:
                                             --------------

3. The mailing address of the Registered Holder listed in response to item 1
   above:

   -------------------------------------------------------

   -------------------------------------------------------

   -------------------------------------------------------

   -------------------------------------------------------

4. The Social Security Number or Tax Identification Number of the Registered
   Holder listed in response to item 1 above:

   -------------------------------------------------------

                                       19
<PAGE>
                                   APPENDIX II

                                    [COMPANY]

                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

   In connection with the preparation of the Registration Statement, please
provide us with the following information:

5. Pursuant to the "Selling Shareholder" section of the Registration Statement,
   please state your or your organization's name exactly as it should appear in
   the Registration Statement:

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Please provide the number of shares that you or your organization will own
   immediately after Closing, including those Shares purchased by you or your
   organization pursuant to this Purchase Agreement and those shares purchased
   by you or your organization through other transactions:
                                                           ------------------

7. Have you or your organization had any position, office or other material
   relationship within the past three years with the Company or its affiliates?

            Yes                No
         ---                --

   If yes, please indicate the nature of any such relationships below:

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                       20
<PAGE>
                                  APPENDIX III

                   PURCHASER'S CERTIFICATE OF SUBSEQUENT SALE

   The undersigned, an officer of, or other person duly authorized by

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              [fill in official name of individual or institution]

hereby certifies that he/she/it is the Purchaser of the shares evidenced by the
attached certificate, and as such, sold such shares on                 , 200
in accordance with Registration Statement number 333-            , and complied
with the requirement of delivering a current prospectus in connection with such
sale.

PRINT OR TYPE:

Name of Purchaser (Individual or Institution):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name of Individual representing Purchaser (if an Institution)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title of Individual representing Purchaser (if an Institution):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SIGNATURE:

Individual Purchaser or Individual representing Purchaser:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                       21<PAGE>
                                                                     EXHIBIT 4.9

                        SCANSOFT SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT

      This SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT (this "Agreement"), is made and entered into
as of April 12th, 2002, by and among SCANSOFT, INC., a Delaware corporation (the
"Company"), and the purchasers listed on Schedule A attached hereto
(collectively, the "Purchasers" and individually, a "Purchaser").

1.    AUTHORIZATION OF SALE OF THE SHARES

      Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Company has
authorized the sale of up to 1,000,000 shares (the "Shares") of common stock,
par value $0.001 per share (the "Common Stock"), of the Company.

2.    AGREEMENT TO SELL AND PURCHASE THE SHARES

      2.1   PURCHASE AND SALE

      Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, each Purchaser
severally agrees to purchase, and the Company agrees to sell and issue to each
Purchaser, at the Closing (as defined below) that number of Shares set forth
opposite such Purchaser's name on Schedule A attached hereto.

      2.2   PURCHASE PRICE

      The purchase price of each Share shall be $6.00 (the "Per Share Price").
The Company shall not, during the period beginning on the date of this Agreement
and ending ninety (90) days after the Closing Date (as defined below), without
adjusting the price per Share hereunder accordingly, sell (i) Shares at a price
per Share of less than the Per Share Price, or (ii) options, warrants or any
other securities that can be converted into, or otherwise exchanged for, shares
of the Company's common stock at a conversion, exchange or exercise price per
Share of less than the Per Share Price (excluding (x) shares of Company capital
stock issued in connection with any acquisition by the Company of another entity
whether by means of asset purchase, merger, stock purchase or other similar
structure (y) shares of Company capital stock issued upon exercise or conversion
of securities of the Company outstanding on the date hereof, and (z) options to
purchase Common Stock of the Company issued to employees of the Company granted
in the ordinary course of business at 100% of the fair market value of the
Common Stock and shares issued upon exercise thereof). In the event the Company
shall, during the period beginning on the date of this Agreement and ending
ninety (90) days after the Closing Date, sell any shares of the Company's common
stock at, or any instruments that can be converted into or otherwise exchanged
for the Company's common stock (the "Subsequent Sale") exercisable at, a price
per Share (the "Subsequent Purchase Price") of less than the Per Share Price,
the Company shall, within ten (10) business days of the Subsequent Sale, pay to
the Purchaser a cash amount equal

                                       1.

<PAGE>
to the number of Shares times the difference between the Per Share Price and the
Subsequent Purchase Price.

3.    DELIVERY OF THE SHARES AT THE CLOSING

      (a)   The completion of the purchase and sale of the Shares (the
"Closing") shall occur at the offices of the Company, at 9 Centennial Drive,
Peabody, MA 01960 at 9:00 a.m. local time on April __, 2002 or such other time
and date as may be agreed by the parties (the "Closing Date"). The Closing may
take place via facsimile and/or conference call.

      (b)   At the Closing, the Company shall authorize its transfer agent (the
"Transfer Agent") to issue to each Purchaser one or more stock certificates
registered in the name of such Purchaser, or in such nominee name(s) as
designated by such Purchaser in writing, representing the number of Shares set
forth in Section 2 above and bearing an appropriate legend referring to the fact
that the Shares were sold in reliance upon the exemption from registration under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Company will
deliver one certificate representing 1,000,000 Shares (the "Certificate")
against delivery of payment for the Shares by the Purchasers. Prior to the
Purchasers' delivery of payment for the Shares, the Company will deliver via
facsimile a copy of the Certificate (front and back) to be delivered upon
Closing to the office of the Purchasers (at the fax number indicated on the
signature pages attached hereto).

      (c)   The Company's obligation to complete the purchase and sale of the
Shares shall be subject to the following conditions, any one or more of which
may be waived by the Company:

            (i)   receipt by the Company of same-day funds in the full amount of
the purchase price for the Shares being purchased under this Agreement; and

            (ii)  the accuracy in all material respects of the representations
and warranties made by the Purchasers and the fulfillment in all material
respects of those undertakings of the Purchasers to be fulfilled before the
Closing.

      (d)   The Purchasers' obligations to accept delivery of such stock
certificates and to pay for the Shares evidenced by the certificates shall be
subject to the following conditions, any one or more of which may be waived by a
Purchaser with respect to such Purchaser's obligation:

            (i)   the representations and warranties made by the Company in this
Agreement shall be accurate in all material respects and the undertakings of the
Company shall have been fulfilled in all material respects on or before the
Closing;

            (ii)  the Company shall have delivered to the Purchasers a
certificate executed by the chairman of the board or president and the chief
financial or accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form
and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Purchasers, to the effect that the
representations and warranties of the Company set forth in Section 4 hereof are
true and correct in all material respects as of the date of this Agreement and
as of the Closing Date, and that the Company has complied with all the
agreements and satisfied

                                       2.
<PAGE>
all the conditions in this Agreement on its part to be performed or satisfied on
or before the Closing Date; and

            (iii) the Company shall have delivered to Purchasers a legal opinion
in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit A.

4.    REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY

      Except as set forth on the Schedule of Exceptions attached hereto as
Exhibit B, the Company hereby represents and warrants to the Purchasers as of
the date hereof as follows (which representations and warranties shall be deemed
to apply, where appropriate, to each subsidiary of the Company):

      4.1   ORGANIZATION AND QUALIFICATION

      The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a
corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware. The
Company has the corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its
properties and to conduct its business as currently conducted and to enter into
and perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Company is duly qualified
as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each
jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the
ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the
failure to so qualify would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material
adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, or the earnings,
assets, business affairs or business prospects of the Company.

      4.2   CAPITALIZATION

      (a)   The authorized capital stock of the Company consists of 140,000,000
shares of Common Stock and 40,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock.

      (b)   As of March 31, 2002, the issued and outstanding capital stock of
the Company consists of 63,596,748 shares of Common Stock, of which 656,000
shares of Common Stock were held in treasury of the Company. The shares of
issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized
and validly issued, are fully paid and nonassessable and have not been issued in
violation of or are not otherwise subject to any preemptive or other similar
rights.

      (c)   As of March 31, 2002, the Company has reserved 15,410,372 shares of
Common Stock for issuance upon the exercise of stock options granted or
available for future grant under the Company's stock option plans.

      (d)   As of March 31, 2002, the Company has reserved 520,896 shares of
Common Stock for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding warrants to purchase
Common Stock.

      With the exception of the foregoing, there are no outstanding
subscriptions, options, warrants, convertible or exchangeable securities or
other rights granted to or by the Company to

                                       3.
<PAGE>
purchase shares of Common Stock or other securities of the Company and there are
no commitments, plans or arrangements to issue any shares of Common Stock or any
security convertible into or exchangeable for Common Stock.

      4.3   ISSUANCE, SALE AND DELIVERY OF THE SHARES

      (a)   The Shares have been duly authorized for issuance and sale to the
Purchasers pursuant to this Agreement and, when issued and delivered by the
Company pursuant to this Agreement against payment of the consideration set
forth in this Agreement, will be validly issued and fully paid and nonassessable
and free and clear of all pledges, liens and encumbrances. The certificates
evidencing the Shares are in due and proper form under Delaware General
Corporation Law.

      (b)   The issuance of the Shares is not subject to preemptive or other
similar rights. No further approval or authority of the shareholders or the
Board of Directors of the Company will be required for the issuance and sale of
the Shares to be sold by the Company as contemplated in this Agreement.

      (c)   Subject to the accuracy of the Purchasers' representations and
warranties in Section 5 of this Agreement, the offer, sale, and issuance of the
Shares in conformity with the terms of this Agreement constitute transactions
exempt from the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act and
from the registration or qualification requirements of the laws of any
applicable state or United States jurisdiction.

      4.4   FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

      The financial statements included (as exhibits or otherwise) in the
Company Documents (as defined below) present fairly the financial position of
the Company as of the dates indicated and the results of their operations for
the periods specified. Except as otherwise stated in such Company Documents,
such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis, and any supporting
schedules included with the financial statements present fairly the information
stated in the financial statements. The financial and statistical data set forth
in the Company Documents were prepared on an accounting basis consistent with
such financial statements.

      4.5   NO MATERIAL CHANGE

      Since December 31, 2001,

      (a)   there has been no material adverse change or any development
involving a prospective material adverse change in or affecting the condition,
financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, assets, business affairs or business
prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of
business;

      (b)   there have been no transactions entered into by the Company other
than those in the ordinary course of business, which are material with respect
to the Company; and

                                       4.
<PAGE>
      (c)   there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared,
paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital stock.

      The Company has no material contingent obligations.

      4.6   ENVIRONMENTAL

      Except as would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to
have a material adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, or the
earnings, assets, business affairs or business prospects of the Company,

      (a)   the Company is in compliance with all applicable Environmental Laws
(as defined below);

      (b)   the Company has all permits, authorizations and approvals required
under any applicable Environmental Laws and is in compliance with the
requirements of such permits authorizations and approvals;

      (c)   there are no pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company,
threatened Environmental Claims (as defined below) against the Company; and

      (d)   under applicable law, there are no circumstances with respect to any
property or operations of the Company that are reasonably likely to form the
basis of an Environmental Claim against the Company.

      For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the
following meanings: "Environmental Law" means any United States (or other
applicable jurisdiction's) Federal, state, local or municipal statute, law,
rule, regulation, ordinance, code, policy or rule of common law and any judicial
or administrative interpretation thereof, including any judicial or
administrative order, consent decree or judgment, relating to the environment,
health, safety or any chemical, material or substance, exposure to which is
prohibited, limited or regulated by any governmental authority. "Environmental
Claims" means any and all administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits,
demands, demand letters, claims, liens, notices of noncompliance or violation,
investigations or proceedings relating in any way to any Environmental Law.

      4.7   NO DEFAULTS

      The Company is not in violation of its certificate of incorporation or
bylaws or in material default in the performance or observance of any
obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any material contract,
indenture, mortgage, loan agreement, deed, trust, note, lease, sublease, voting
agreement, voting trust, or other instrument or material agreement to which the
Company is a party or by which it may be bound, or to which any of the property
or assets of the Company is subject.

      4.8   LABOR MATTERS

      No labor dispute with the employees of the Company exists or, to the best
knowledge of the Company, is imminent.

                                       5.
<PAGE>
      4.9   NO ACTIONS

      There is no action, suit or proceeding before or by any court or
governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or, to the
knowledge of the Company, threatened, against or affecting the Company which,
singly or in the aggregate, might result in any material adverse change in the
condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or
business prospects of the Company, or which, singly or in the aggregate, might
materially and adversely affect the properties or assets thereof or which might
materially and adversely affect the consummation of this Agreement, nor, to the
best knowledge of the Company, is there any reasonable basis therefor. The
Company is not in default with respect to any judgment, order or decree of any
court or governmental agency or instrumentality which, singly or in the
aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on the assets, properties or
business of the Company.

      4.10  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

      (a)   The Company, to the best of its knowledge, owns or is licensed to
use all patents, patent applications, inventions, trademarks, trade names,
applications for registration of trademarks, service marks, service mark
applications, copyrights, know-how, manufacturing processes, formulae, trade
secrets, licenses and rights in any thereof and any other intangible property
and assets that are material to the business of the Company as now conducted and
as proposed to be conducted (in this Agreement called the "Proprietary Rights"),
or is seeking, or will seek, to obtain rights to use such Proprietary Rights
that are material to the business of the Company as proposed to be conducted.
For the purposes hereof, "Proprietary Rights" does not include commercially
available third party software licensed by the Company.

      (b)   The Company does not have any knowledge of, and the Company has not
given or received any notice of, any pending conflicts with or infringement of
the rights of others with respect to any Proprietary Rights or with respect to
any license of Proprietary Rights which are material to the business of the
Company.

      (c)   No action, suit, arbitration, or legal, administrative or other
proceeding, or investigation is pending, or, to the best knowledge of the
Company, threatened, which involves any Proprietary Rights, nor, to the best
knowledge of the Company, is there any reasonable basis therefor.

      (d)   The Company is not subject to any judgment, order, writ, injunction
or decree of any court or any Federal, state, local, foreign or other
governmental department, commission, board, bureau, agency or instrumentality,
domestic or foreign, or any arbitrator, and has not entered into or is not a
party to any contract which restricts or impairs the use of any such Proprietary
Rights in a manner which would have a material adverse effect on the use of any
of the Proprietary Rights.

      (e)   The Company has not received written notice of any pending conflict
with or infringement upon any third-party proprietary rights.

      (f)   The Company has not entered into any consent, indemnification,
forbearance to sue or settlement agreement with respect to Proprietary Rights
other than in the ordinary course of business. No claims have been asserted by
any person with respect to the validity of the

                                       6.
<PAGE>
Company's ownership or right to use the Proprietary Rights and, to the best
knowledge of the Company, there is no reasonable basis for any such claim to be
successful.

      (g)   The Company has complied, in all material respects, with its
obligations relating to the protection of the Proprietary Rights which are
material to the business of the Company used pursuant to licenses.

      (h)   To the best knowledge of the Company, no person is infringing on or
violating the Proprietary Rights.

      4.11  PERMITS

      The Company possesses and is operating in compliance with all material
licenses, certificates, consents, authorities, approvals and permits from all
state, federal, foreign and other regulatory agencies or bodies necessary to
conduct the businesses now operated by it, and the Company has not received any
notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such
permit or any circumstance which would lead it to believe that such proceedings
are reasonably likely which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an
unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would materially and adversely affect
the condition, financial or otherwise, or the earnings, assets, business affairs
or business prospects of the Company.

      4.12  DUE EXECUTION, DELIVERY AND PERFORMANCE

      (a)   This Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Company
and constitutes a valid and binding obligation of the Company, enforceable
against the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as limited by
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, arrangement, moratorium and
other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors' rights,
and (ii) as limited by equitable principles generally and limitations on the
availability of equitable remedies, whether such enforceability is considered in
a proceeding in equity or at law.

      (b)   The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and the
fulfillment of the terms of this Agreement, including the sale, issuance and
delivery of the Shares, (i) have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate
action on the part of the Company, its directors and stockholders; (ii) will not
conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default under, or result in the
creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or
assets of the Company pursuant to, any contract, indenture, mortgage, loan
agreement, deed, trust, note, lease, sublease, voting agreement, voting trust or
other instrument or agreement to which the Company is a party or by which it may
be bound, or to which any of the property or assets of the Company is subject;
(iii) will not trigger anti-dilution rights or other rights to acquire
additional equity securities of the Company; and (iv) will not result in any
violation of the provisions of the certificate of incorporation or bylaws of the
Company or any applicable statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, decision,
directive or order.

      4.13  PROPERTIES

                                       7.
<PAGE>
      The Company has good and marketable title to its properties, free and
clear of all material security interests, mortgages, pledges, liens, charges,
encumbrances and claims of record. The properties of the Company are, in the
aggregate, in good repair (reasonable wear and tear excepted), and suitable for
their respective uses. Any real property held under lease by the Company is held
under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not
material and do not interfere with the conduct of the business of the Company.
The Company owns or leases all such properties as are necessary to its business
or operations as now conducted.

      4.14 COMPLIANCE

      The Company has conducted and is conducting its business in compliance
with all applicable Federal, state, local and foreign statutes, laws, rules,
regulations, ordinances, codes, decisions, decrees, directives and orders,
except where the failure to do so would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a
material adverse effect on the condition, financial or otherwise, or on the
earnings, assets, business affairs or business prospects of the Company.

      4.15  SECURITY MEASURES

      The Company takes security measures reasonably designed to enable the
Company to assert trade secret protection in its non-patented technology.

      4.16  CONTRIBUTIONS

      To the best of the Company's knowledge, neither the Company nor any
employee or agent of, on behalf of or at the request of, the Company has made
any payment of funds of the Company or received or retained any funds in
violation of any state or federal law, rule or regulation.

      4.17  USE OF PROCEEDS; INVESTMENT COMPANY

      The Company intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the Shares for
working capital and other general corporate purposes. The Company is not now,
and after the sale of the Shares under this Agreement and under all other
agreements and the application of the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares
described in the proceeding sentence will not be, an "investment company" within
the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

      4.18  PRIOR OFFERINGS

      All offers and sales of capital stock of the Company before the date of
this Agreement were at all relevant times duly registered or exempt from the
registration requirements of the Securities Act and were duly registered or
subject to an available exemption from the registration requirements of the
applicable state securities or Blue Sky laws.

      4.19  TAXES

      The Company has filed all material tax returns required to be filed, which
returns are true and correct in all material respects, and the Company is not in
default in the payment of any

                                       8.
<PAGE>
taxes, including penalties and interest, assessments, fees and other charges,
shown thereon due or otherwise assessed, other than those being contested in
good faith and for which adequate reserves have been provided or those currently
payable without interest which were payable pursuant to said returns or any
assessments with respect thereto.

      4.20  OTHER GOVERNMENTAL PROCEEDINGS

      To the Company's knowledge, there are no rulemaking or similar proceedings
before any Federal, state, local or foreign government bodies that involve or
affect the Company, which, if the subject of an action unfavorable to the
Company, could involve a prospective material adverse change in or effect on the
condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, assets, business affairs
or business prospects of the Company.

      4.21  NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENTS

      To the knowledge of the Company, any full-time employee who has entered
into any non-competition, non-disclosure, confidentiality or other similar
agreement with any party other than the Company is neither in violation of nor
is expected to be in violation of that agreement as a result of the business
currently conducted or expected to be conducted by the Company or such person's
performance of his or her obligations to the Company. The Company has not
received written notice that any consultant or scientific advisor of the Company
is in violation of any non-competition, non-disclosure, confidentiality or
similar agreement.

      4.22  TRANSFER TAXES

      On the Closing Date, all stock transfer or other taxes (other than income
taxes) that are required to be paid in connection with the sale and transfer of
the Shares to be sold to the Purchasers under this Agreement will be, or will
have been, fully paid or provided for by the Company and all laws imposing such
taxes will be or will have been fully complied with.

      4.23  INSURANCE

      The Company maintains insurance of the type and in the amount that the
Company reasonably believes is adequate for its business, including, but not
limited to, insurance covering all real and personal property owned or leased by
the Company against theft, damage, destruction, acts of vandalism and all other
risks customarily insured against by similarly situated companies, all of which
insurance is in full force and effect.

      4.24  GOVERNMENTAL/ REGULATORY CONSENTS

      No registration, authorization, approval, qualification or consent with or
required by any court or governmental/ regulatory authority or agency is
necessary in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the
offering, issuance or sale of the Shares under this Agreement.

      4.25  SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FILINGS

                                       9.
<PAGE>
      Except as disclosed in Schedule 4.25 hereto, the Company has timely filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") all documents
required to be filed by the Company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended (the "Exchange Act."). Except as disclosed in Schedule 4.25 hereto,
the Company is eligible to register the Shares for resale by the Purchasers
under Form S-3 promulgated under the Securities Act.

      4.26  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

      The Company represents and warrants that the information contained in the
following documents (the "Company Documents"), which have been or will be
provided or made available to Purchaser before the Closing, is or will be true
and correct in all material respects as of their respective filing dates:

      (a)   the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2001;

      (b)   the Company's Proxy Statement for its Annual Meeting of Shareholders
held on June 27, 2001; and

      (c)   all other documents, if any, filed by the Company with the
Commission since December 31, 2001 pursuant to the reporting requirements of the
Exchange Act.

      4.27  CONTRACTS

      The contracts described in the Company Documents or incorporated by
reference therein are in full force and effect on the date hereof, except for
contracts which by their terms have expired or terminated, or the termination or
expiration of which would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material
adverse effect on the business, properties or assets of the Company. Neither the
Company nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, any other party is in
material breach of or default under any such contracts.

      4.28  NO INTEGRATED OFFERING

      Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, nor any person acting on
its or their behalf, has directly or indirectly made any offers or sales in any
security or solicited any offers to buy any security under circumstances that
would require registration under the Securities Act of the issuance of the
Shares to the Purchasers. The issuance of the Shares to the Purchasers will not
be integrated with any other issuance of the Company's securities (past, current
or future) for purposes of the Securities Act or any applicable rules of Nasdaq
(or of any national securities exchange on which the Company's Common Stock is
then traded), except where such integration would not require registration of
the issuance and sale of the Shares to the Purchaser. The Company will not make
any offers or sales of any security (other than the Shares) that would cause the
offering of the Shares to be integrated with any other offering of securities by
the Company for purposes of any registration requirement under the Securities
Act or any applicable rules of Nasdaq (or of any national securities exchange on
which the Company's Common Stock is then traded) except where such integration
would not require registration of the issuance and sale of the Shares to the
Purchaser. Except as described in Exhibit B, the Company has not granted or
agreed to grant to any Person any rights (including "piggy-back" registration
rights) to

                                      10.
<PAGE>
have any securities of the Company registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission or any other governmental authority that have not been satisfied as
of the date hereof.

      4.29  LISTING OF SHARES

      The Company agrees to promptly secure the listing of the Shares upon each
national securities exchange or automated quotation system upon which shares of
Common Stock are then listed and, so long as any Purchaser owns any of the
Shares, shall maintain such listing of all Shares. The Company has not, in the
12 months preceding the date hereof, received notice from the Nasdaq Stock
Market that the Company is not in compliance with the listing or maintenance
requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Company has taken no action
designed to delist, or which is likely to have the effect of delisting, the
Common Stock from any of the national securities exchange or automated quotation
system upon which the shares of Common Stock are then listed.

      4.30  NO MANIPULATION OF STOCK

      The Company has not taken and will not, in violation of applicable law,
take any action outside the ordinary course of business designed to or that
might reasonably be expected to cause or result in unlawful manipulation of the
price of the Common Stock to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares.

5.    REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS OF THE PURCHASERS

      5.1   SECURITIES LAW REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

      Each Purchaser represents, warrants and covenants to the Company as
follows:

      (a)   The Purchaser is knowledgeable, sophisticated and experienced in
making, and is qualified to make, decisions with respect to investments in
shares representing an investment decision like that involved in the purchase of
the Shares, including investments in securities issued by the Company, and has
requested, received, reviewed and considered all information it deems relevant
in making an informed decision to purchase the Shares.

      (b)   The Purchaser is acquiring the number of Shares set forth in Section
2 above in the ordinary course of its business and for its own account for
investment (as defined for purposes of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust
Improvement Act of 1976 and the regulations thereunder) only, and has no present
intention of distributing any of the Shares nor any arrangement or understanding
with any other persons regarding the distribution of such Shares within the
meaning of Section 2(11) of the Securities Act, other than as contemplated in
Section 7 of this Agreement.

      (c)   The Purchaser will not, directly or indirectly, offer, sell, pledge,
transfer or otherwise dispose of (or solicit any offers to buy, purchase or
otherwise acquire or take a pledge of) any of the Shares except in compliance
with the Securities Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder
(the "Rules and Regulations").

                                      11.
<PAGE>
      (d)   The Purchaser has completed or caused to be completed the Stock
Certificate Questionnaire and the Registration Statement Questionnaire, attached
to this Agreement as Appendices I and II, for use in preparation of the
Registration Statement (as defined in Section 7.3 below), and the answers to the
Questionnaires are true and correct as of the date of this Agreement and will be
true and correct as of the effective date of the Registration Statement;
provided that the Purchasers shall be entitled to update such information by
providing notice thereof to the Company before the effective date of such
Registration Statement.

      (e)   The Purchaser has, in connection with its decision to purchase the
number of Shares set forth in Section 2 above, relied solely upon the Company
Documents and the representations and warranties of the Company contained in
this Agreement.

      (f)   The Purchaser is an "accredited investor" within the meaning of Rule
501 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

      5.2   RESALES OF SHARES

      (a)   The Purchaser hereby covenants with the Company not to make any sale
of the Shares without satisfying the requirements of the Securities Act and the
Rules and Regulations, including, in the event of any resale under the
Registration Statement, the prospectus delivery requirements under the
Securities Act, and the Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that such Shares are
not transferable on the books of the Company pursuant to a resale under the
Registration Statement unless the certificate submitted to the transfer agent
evidencing the Shares is accompanied by a separate officer's certificate

            (i)   in the form of Appendix III to this Agreement;

            (ii)  executed by an officer of, or other authorized person
designated by, the Purchaser; and

            (iii) to the effect that (A) the Shares have been sold in accordance
with the Registration Statement and (B) the requirement of delivering a current
prospectus has been satisfied.

      (b)   The Purchaser acknowledges that there may occasionally be times when
the Company determines, in good faith following consultation with its Board of
Directors or a committee thereof, the use of the prospectus forming a part of
the Registration Statement (the "Prospectus," as further defined in Section
7.3.1 below) should be suspended (a "Suspension") until such time as an
amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus has been
filed by the Company and any such amendment to the Registration Statement is
declared effective by the Commission, or until such time as the Company has
filed an appropriate report with the Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act.
The Purchaser hereby covenants that it will not sell any Shares pursuant to the
Prospectus during the period commencing at the time at which the Company gives
the Purchaser written notice of the Suspension of the use of the Prospectus and
ending at the time the Company gives the Purchaser written notice that the
Purchaser may thereafter effect sales pursuant to the Prospectus. The Company
may also, upon written notice to the Purchasers, initiate a Suspension for up to
thirty (30) days in any 365-day period based on the reasonable determination of
the Company's Board

                                      12.
<PAGE>
of Directors that there is a significant business purpose for such
determination, such as pending corporate developments, public filings with the
SEC or similar events. The Company shall in no event disclose the business
purpose for which it has suspended the use of the Prospectus if the Company
determines in its good faith judgment that the business purpose should remain
confidential. In addition, the Company shall notify each Purchaser (i) of any
request by the SEC for an amendment or any supplement to such Registration
Statement or any related prospectus, or any other information request by any
other governmental agency directly relating to the offering, and (ii) of the
issuance by the SEC of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of such
Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any
related prospectus or the initiation or threat of any proceeding for that
purpose. During any Suspension, for whatever reason, the Company shall use good
faith commercial efforts to limit the duration of such Suspension.

      (c)   The Purchaser further covenants to notify the Company promptly of
the sale of any of its Shares, other than sales pursuant to a Registration
Statement contemplated in Section 7 of this Agreement or sales upon termination
of the transfer restrictions pursuant to Section 7.4 of this Agreement.

      5.3   DUE EXECUTION, DELIVERY AND PERFORMANCE

      (a)   This Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Purchaser
and constitutes a valid and binding obligation of the Purchaser, enforceable
against the Purchaser in accordance with its terms.

      (b)   The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and the
fulfillment of the terms of this Agreement have been duly authorized by all
necessary corporate, agency or other action and will not conflict with or
constitute a breach of, or default under, or result in the creation or
imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the
Purchaser pursuant to, any contract, indenture, mortgage, loan agreement, deed,
trust, note, lease, sublease, voting agreement, voting trust or other instrument
or agreement to which the Purchaser is a party or by which it or any of them may
be bound, or to which any of the property or assets of the Purchaser is subject,
nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or
bylaws of the Purchaser or any applicable statute, law, rule, regulation,
ordinance, decision, directive or order.

6.    SURVIVAL OF REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND AGREEMENTS.

      Notwithstanding any investigation made by any party to this Agreement, all
covenants, agreements, representations and warranties made by the Company and
the Purchasers in this Agreement and in the certificates for the Shares
delivered pursuant to this Agreement shall survive the execution of this
Agreement, the delivery to the Purchasers of the Shares being purchased and the
payment therefor.

                                      13.
<PAGE>
7.    FORM D FILING; REGISTRATION; COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT; COVENANTS

      7.1   FORM D FILING; REGISTRATION OF SHARES

            7.1.1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT; EXPENSES

      The Company shall:

      (a)   file in a timely manner a Form D relating to the sale of the Shares
under this Agreement, pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation
D.

      (b)   as soon as practicable after the Closing Date, but in no event later
than the 20th day following the Closing Date, prepare and file with the
Commission a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (or, if the Company is
ineligible to use Form S-3, then on Form S-1) relating to the sale of the Shares
by the Purchasers from time to time on the Nasdaq National Market (or the
facilities of any national securities exchange on which the Company's Common
Stock is then traded) or in privately negotiated transactions (the "Registration
Statement");

      (c)   provide to Purchasers any information required to permit the sale of
the Shares under Rule 144A of the Securities Act;

      (d)   subject to receipt of necessary information from the Purchasers, use
its best efforts to cause the Commission to notify the Company of the
Commission's willingness to declare the Registration Statement effective on or
before 90 days after the Closing Date;

      (e)   notify Purchasers promptly upon the Registration Statement, and any
post-effective amendment thereto, being declared effective by the Commission;

      (f)   prepare and file with the Commission such amendments and supplements
to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus (as defined in Section 7.3.1
below) and take such other action, if any, as may be necessary to keep the
Registration Statement effective until the earlier of (i) the date on which the
Shares may be resold by the Purchasers without registration and without regard
to any volume limitations by reason of Rule 144(k) under the Securities Act or
any other rule of similar effect or (ii) all of the Shares have been sold
pursuant to the Registration Statement or Rule 144 under the Securities Act or
any other rule of similar effect;

      (g)   promptly furnish to the Purchasers with respect to the Shares
registered under the Registration Statement such reasonable number of copies of
the Prospectus, including any supplements to or amendments of the Prospectus, in
order to facilitate the public sale or other disposition of all or any of the
Shares by the Purchasers;

      (h)   during the period when copies of the Prospectus are required to be
delivered under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, will file all documents
required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15 of the
Exchange Act within the time periods required by the Exchange Act and the rules
and regulations promulgated thereunder;

                                      14.
<PAGE>
      (i)   file documents required of the Company for customary Blue Sky
clearance in all states requiring Blue Sky clearance; provided, however, that
the Company shall not be required to qualify to do business or consent to
service of process in any jurisdiction in which it is not now so qualified or
has not so consented; and

      (j)   bear all its expenses in connection with the procedures in
paragraphs (a) through (i) of this Section 7.1.1 and the registration of the
Shares pursuant to the Registration Statement.

            7.1.2 DELAY IN EFFECTIVENESS OF REGISTRATION STATEMENT

      In the event that the Registration Statement is not declared effective on
or before the 90th day following the Closing Date (or, where the Registration
Statement is being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, on or
before the 120th day following the Closing Date) (the "Penalty Date"), the
Company shall pay to each Purchaser liquidated damages in an amount equal to
0.25% of the total purchase price of the Shares purchased by such Purchaser
pursuant to this Agreement for each week after the Penalty Date that the
Registration Statement is not declared effective; provided, however, that if the
reason that the Registration Statement is not effective as of such date relates
to on-going discussions between the Company and the Commission regarding the
matters described in Schedule 4.25 hereto and the Company is continuing to use
good faith efforts to resolve such on-going discussions as quickly as possible,
each Purchaser agrees to waive the penalty imposed by this Section 7.1.2 during
the period until the Registration Statement is declared effective.

      7.2   TRANSFER OF SHARES AFTER REGISTRATION

      Each Purchaser agrees that it will not effect any disposition of the
Shares or its right to purchase the Shares that would constitute a sale within
the meaning of the Securities Act, except as contemplated in the Registration
Statement referred to in Section 7.1 or as otherwise permitted by law, and that
it will promptly notify the Company of any changes in the information set forth
in the Registration Statement regarding the Purchaser or its plan of
distribution.

      7.3   INDEMNIFICATION

      For the purpose of this Section 7.3, the term "Registration Statement"
shall include any preliminary or final prospectus, exhibit, supplement or
amendment included in or relating to the Registration Statement referred to in
Section 7.1.

            7.3.1 INDEMNIFICATION BY THE COMPANY

      The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each of the Purchasers
and each person, if any, who controls any Purchaser within the meaning of the
Securities Act, against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses,
joint or several, to which such Purchasers or such controlling person may become
subject, under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other federal or
state statutory law or regulation, or at common law or otherwise (including in
settlement of any litigation, if such settlement is effected with the written
consent of the Company, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld),
insofar as such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses (or actions in
respect thereof as contemplated below) arise out of or are based upon any untrue
statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained

                                      15.
<PAGE>
in the Registration Statement, including the Prospectus, financial statements
and schedules, and all other documents filed as a part thereof, as amended at
the time of effectiveness of the Registration Statement, including any
information deemed to be a part thereof as of the time of effectiveness pursuant
to paragraph (b) of Rule 430A, or pursuant to Rule 434, of the Rules and
Regulations, or the Prospectus, in the form first filed with the Commission
pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Regulations, or filed as part of the Registration
Statement at the time of effectiveness if no Rule 424(b) filing is required (the
"Prospectus"), or any amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are
based upon the omission or alleged omission to state in any of them a material
fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements in any of
them, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading,
or arise out of or are based in whole or in part on any inaccuracy in the
representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement, or
any failure of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or
under applicable law, and will reimburse each Purchaser and each such
controlling person for any legal and other expenses as such expenses are
reasonably incurred by such Purchaser or such controlling person in connection
with investigating, defending, settling, compromising or paying any such loss,
claim, damage, liability, expense or action; provided, however, that the Company
will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim,
damage, liability or expense arises out of or is based upon (i) an untrue
statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in
the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement of the
Registration Statement or Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with
written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of the Purchaser
expressly for use in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or (ii) the
failure of such Purchaser to comply with the covenants and agreements contained
in Sections 5.2 or 7.2 of this Agreement respecting resale of the Shares, or
(iii) the inaccuracy of any representations made by such Purchaser in this
Agreement or (iv) any untrue statement or omission of a material fact required
to make such statement not misleading in any Prospectus that is corrected in any
subsequent Prospectus that was delivered to the Purchaser before the pertinent
sale or sales by the Purchaser.

            7.3.2 INDEMNIFICATION BY THE PURCHASER

      Each Purchaser will severally and not jointly indemnify and hold harmless
the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who signed the
Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within
the meaning of the Securities Act, against any losses, claims, damages,
liabilities or expenses to which the Company, each of its directors, each of its
officers who signed the Registration Statement or controlling person may become
subject, under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other federal or
state statutory law or regulation, or at common law or otherwise (including in
settlement of any litigation, if such settlement is effected with the written
consent of such Purchaser, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld)
insofar as such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses (or actions in
respect thereof as contemplated below) arise out of or are based upon (i) any
failure on the part of such Purchaser to comply with the covenants and
agreements contained in Sections 5.2 or 7.2 of this Agreement respecting the
sale of the Shares or (ii) the inaccuracy of any representation made by such
Purchaser in this Agreement or (iii) any untrue or alleged untrue statement of
any material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, or
any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus, or
arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein
a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make

                                      16.
<PAGE>
the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to
the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission
or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, or
any amendment or supplement thereto, in reliance upon and in conformity with
written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of such Purchaser
expressly for use therein; provided, however, that the Purchaser shall not be
liable for any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged
omission of which the Purchaser has delivered to the Company in writing a
correction before the occurrence of the transaction from which such loss was
incurred, and the Purchaser will reimburse the Company, each of its directors,
each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement or controlling person
for any legal and other expense reasonably incurred by the Company, each of its
directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement or
controlling person in connection with investigating, defending, settling,
compromising or paying any such loss, claim, damage, liability, expense or
action.

            7.3.3 INDEMNIFICATION PROCEDURE

      (a)   Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section
7.3 of notice of the threat or commencement of any action, such indemnified
party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against an indemnifying
party under this Section 7.3, promptly notify the indemnifying party in writing
of the claim; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party will not
relieve it from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party for
contribution or otherwise under the indemnity agreement contained in this
Section 7.3 or to the extent it is not prejudiced as a result of such failure.

      (b)   In case any such action is brought against any indemnified party and
such indemnified party seeks or intends to seek indemnity from an indemnifying
party, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate in, and, to the
extent that it may wish, jointly with all other indemnifying parties similarly
notified, to assume the defense thereof with counsel reasonably satisfactory to
such indemnified party; provided, however, if the defendants in any such action
include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and the
indemnified party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be a conflict
between the positions of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party in
conducting the defense of any such action or that there may be legal defenses
available to it or other indemnified parties that are different from or
additional to those available to the indemnifying party, the indemnified party
or parties shall have the right to select separate counsel to assume such legal
defenses and to otherwise participate in the defense of such action on behalf of
such indemnified party or parties. Upon receipt of notice from the indemnifying
party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense of such
action and approval by the indemnified party of counsel, the indemnifying party
will not be liable to such indemnified party under this Section 7.3 for any
legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in
connection with the defense thereof unless:

            (i)   the indemnified party shall have employed such counsel in
connection with the assumption of legal defenses in accordance with the proviso
to the preceding sentence (it being understood, however, that the indemnifying
party shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate counsel,
approved by such indemnifying party representing all of the indemnified parties
who are parties to such action) or

                                      17.
<PAGE>
            (ii)  the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel
reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified
party within a reasonable time after notice of commencement of action, in each
of which cases the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel shall be at the
expense of the indemnifying party. Notwithstanding the provisions of this
Section 7.3, the Purchaser shall not be liable for any indemnification
obligation under this Agreement in excess of the amount of net proceeds received
by the Purchaser from the sale of the Shares.

            7.3.4 CONTRIBUTION

      If the indemnification provided for in this Section 7.3 is required by its
terms but is for any reason held to be unavailable to or otherwise insufficient
to hold harmless an indemnified party under this Section 7.3 in respect to any
losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses referred to in this Agreement,
then each applicable indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or
payable by such indemnified party as a result of any losses, claims, damages,
liabilities or expenses referred to in this Agreement

      (a)   in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative
benefits received by the Company and the Purchaser from the placement of Common
Stock or

      (b)   if the allocation provided by clause (a) above is not permitted by
applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the
relative benefits referred to in clause (a) above but the relative fault of the
Company and the Purchaser in connection with the statements or omissions or
inaccuracies in the representations and warranties in this Agreement that
resulted in such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses, as well as
any other relevant equitable considerations.

      The respective relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand
and each Purchaser on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as
the amount paid by such Purchaser to the Company pursuant to this Agreement for
the Shares purchased by such Purchaser that were sold pursuant to the
Registration Statement bears to the difference (the "Difference") between the
amount such Purchaser paid for the Shares that were sold pursuant to the
Registration Statement and the amount received by such Purchaser from such sale.
The relative fault of the Company and each Purchaser shall be determined by
reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged statement of a
material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact or
the inaccurate or the alleged inaccurate representation or warranty relates to
information supplied by the Company or by such Purchaser and the parties'
relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or
prevent such statement or omission. The amount paid or payable by a party as a
result of the losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses referred to
above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth in
Section 7.3.3, any legal or other fees or expenses reasonably incurred by such
party in connection with investigating or defending any action or claim. The
provisions set forth in Section 7.3.3 with respect to the notice of the threat
or commencement of any threat or action shall apply if a claim for contribution
is to be made under this Section 7.3.4; provided, however, that no additional
notice shall be required with respect to any threat or action for which notice
has been given under Section 7.3 for purposes of indemnification. The Company
and each Purchaser agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution
pursuant to this

                                      18.
<PAGE>
Section 7.3 were determined solely by pro rata allocation (even if the Purchaser
were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of
allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred
to in this paragraph. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 7.3, no
Purchaser shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by
which the Difference exceeds the amount of any damages that such Purchaser has
otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue
statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent
misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act)
shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such
fraudulent misrepresentation. The Purchasers' obligations to contribute pursuant
to this Section 7.3 are several and not joint.

      7.4   TERMINATION OF CONDITIONS AND OBLIGATIONS

      The restrictions imposed by Section 5 or this Section 7 upon the
transferability of the Shares shall cease and terminate as to any particular
number of the Shares upon the passage of two years from the Closing Date or at
such time as an opinion of counsel satisfactory in form and substance to the
Company shall have been rendered to the effect that such conditions are not
necessary in order to comply with the Securities Act.

      7.5   INFORMATION AVAILABLE

      From the date of this Agreement through the date the Registration
Statement covering the resale of Shares owned by any Purchaser is no longer
effective, the Company will furnish to such Purchaser:

      (a)   as soon as practicable after available (but in the case of the
Company's Annual Report to Shareholders, within 90 days after the end of each
fiscal year of the Company), one copy of

            (i)   its Annual Report to Shareholders (which Annual Report shall
contain financial statements audited in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles by a national firm of certified public accountants);

            (ii)  if not included in substance in the Annual Report to
Shareholders, its Annual Report on Form 10-K;

            (iii) if not included in substance in its Quarterly Reports to
Shareholders, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q; and

            (iv)  a full copy of the particular Registration Statement covering
the Shares (the foregoing, in each case, excluding exhibits);

      (b)   upon the request of the Purchaser, a reasonable number of copies of
the Prospectus to supply to any other party requiring the Prospectus.

                                      19.
<PAGE>
      7.6   RULE 144 INFORMATION

      Until the earlier of (i) the date on which the Shares may be resold by the
Purchasers without registration and without regard to any volume limitations by
reason of Rule 144(k) under the Securities Act or any other rule of similar
effect or (ii) all of the Shares have been sold pursuant to the Registration
Statement or Rule 144 under the Securities Act or any other rule of similar
effect, the Company shall file all reports required to be filed by it under the
Securities Act, the Rules and Regulations and the Exchange Act and shall take
such further action to the extent required to enable the Purchasers to sell the
Shares pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act (as such rule may be
amended from time to time).

8.    LEGAL FEES AND OTHER TRANSACTION EXPENSES

      At the Closing, the Company agrees to pay a flat fee of $5,000 to SF
Capital Partners Ltd. for their legal and other transaction expenses (whether
internal or external) arising in connection with the transactions contemplated
by this Agreement.

9.    BROKER'S FEE

      Each of the parties to this Agreement hereby represents that the only
broker or finder entitled to compensation in connection with the sale of the
Shares to the Purchasers is Cappello Group, Inc. and that the Company is
responsible for its compensation as agreed in writing between such broker and
the Company. The Company shall indemnify and hold harmless the Purchasers from
and against all fees, commissions or other payments owing by the Company to any
other person or firm acting on behalf of the Company hereunder.

10.   NOTICES

      All notices, requests, consents and other communications under this
Agreement shall be in writing, shall be mailed by first-class registered or
certified airmail, confirmed facsimile or nationally recognized overnight
express courier postage prepaid, and shall be delivered as addressed as follows:

      (a)   if to the Company, to:

            ScanSoft, Inc.
            9 Centennial Drive
            Peabody, MA  01960
            Attention:  Chief Financial Officer
            Telephone:  978-977-2000
            Facsimile:  978-977-2463

or to such other person at such other place as the Company shall designate to
the Purchaser in writing; and

                                      20.
<PAGE>
      (b)   if to a Purchaser, at its address as set forth on the signature page
to this Agreement, or at such other address or addresses as may have been
furnished to the Company in writing.

      Such notice shall be deemed effectively given upon confirmation of receipt
by facsimile, one business day after deposit with such overnight courier or
three days after deposit of such registered or certified airmail with the U.S.
Postal Service, as applicable.

11.   MODIFICATION; AMENDMENT

      This Agreement may not be modified or amended except pursuant to an
instrument in writing signed by the Company and each of the Purchasers.

12.   TERMINATION

      This Agreement may be terminated as to any Purchaser, at the option of
such Purchaser, if the Closing has not occurred on or before thirty (30) days
from the date of this Agreement.

13.   HEADINGS

      The headings of the various sections of this Agreement have been inserted
for convenience of reference only and shall not be deemed to be part of this
Agreement.

14.   SEVERABILITY

      If any provision contained in this Agreement should be held to be invalid,
illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality and
enforceability of the remaining provisions contained in this Agreement shall not
in any way be affected or impaired thereby.

15.   GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION

      This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
laws of the state of Delaware and the federal law of the United States of
America. The parties hereto hereby submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of
the State of Wisconsin, or of the United States of America sitting in the State
of Wisconsin, over any action, suit, or proceeding arising out of or relating to
this Agreement. Nothing herein shall affect the right of the Purchaser to serve
process in any manner permitted by law or limit the right of the Purchaser to
bring proceedings against the Company in the competent courts of any other
jurisdiction or jurisdictions.

16.   COUNTERPARTS

      This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which
shall constitute an original, but all of which, when taken together, shall
constitute but one instrument, and shall become effective when one or more
counterparts have been signed by each party to this Agreement and delivered to
the other parties.

                                      21.
<PAGE>
17.   DISCLOSURE

      The Company and Purchaser shall consult with each other in issuing any
press releases with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby, and no
party shall issue any statement or communication to any third party (other than
their respective agents) regarding the subject matter of this Agreement or the
transactions contemplated hereby without the consent of the other party, which
consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, except that this restriction shall
be subject to the Company's obligations to comply with applicable securities
laws and Nasdaq Stock Market regulations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
Company shall not publicly disclose the name of Purchaser, or include the name
of any Purchaser in any filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
without the prior written consent of such Purchaser, except to the extent such
disclosure is required by law or the Nasdaq Stock Market regulations.

                            [Signature pages follow]

                                      22.
<PAGE>
      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties to this Agreement have caused this
Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized representatives as of the day
and year first above written.

                                              SCANSOFT, INC.

                                              By:      /s/ Michael K. Tivnan
                                                   -----------------------------
                                                       Michael Tivnan
                                                       President & COO

                                              SF CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD.

                                              By:      /s/ Brian H. Davidson
                                                   -----------------------------
                                                       Brian H. Davidson
                                                       Authorized Signatory

                                              Address:

                                              1500 West Market Street, Suite 200
                                              Mequon, Wisconsin  53092
                                              Facsimile: (262) 241-1888

                            SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT
                                 SIGNATURE PAGE
<PAGE>
                                   SCHEDULE A

                                   PURCHASERS

<TABLE>
<S>                                             <C>
SF Capital Partners Ltd.,
a British Virgin Islands company                1,000,000 shares of Common Stock
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
                                   APPENDIX I

                                 SCANSOFT, INC.

                         STOCK CERTIFICATE QUESTIONNAIRE

      Pursuant to Section 3 of the Agreement, please provide us with the
following information:

1.    The exact name that your Shares are to be registered in (this is the name
      that will appear on your stock certificate(s)). You may use a nominee name
      if appropriate:

      ____________________________________

2.    The relationship between the Purchaser of the Shares and the Registered
      Holder listed in response to item 1 above:________________________________

3.    The mailing address of the Registered Holder listed in response to item 1
      above:

      ____________________________________
      ____________________________________
      ____________________________________
      ____________________________________

4.    The Social Security Number or Tax Identification Number of the Registered
      Holder listed in response to item 1 above:

      ____________________________________
<PAGE>
                                  APPENDIX II

                                 SCANSOFT, INC.

                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

      In connection with the preparation of the Registration Statement, please
provide us with the following information:

5.    Pursuant to the "Selling Shareholder" section of the Registration
      Statement, please state your or your organization's name exactly as it
      should appear in the Registration Statement:

      ____________________________________

6.    Please provide the number of shares that you or your organization will own
      immediately after Closing, including those Shares purchased by you or your
      organization pursuant to this Purchase Agreement and those shares
      purchased by you or your organization through other transactions:
      _____________________________________________

7.    Have you or your organization had any position, office or other material
      relationship within the past three years with the Company or its
      affiliates?

            _____ Yes   _____ No

      If yes, please indicate the nature of any such relationships below:

      _____________________________________________________________________
      _____________________________________________________________________
      _____________________________________________________________________
      _____________________________________________________________________
<PAGE>
                                  APPENDIX III

                   PURCHASER'S CERTIFICATE OF SUBSEQUENT SALE

      The undersigned, an officer of, or other person duly authorized by

________________________________________________________________________________
              [fill in official name of individual or institution]

hereby certifies that he/she/it is the Purchaser of the shares evidenced by the
attached certificate, and as such, sold such shares on ________________, 200__
in accordance with Registration Statement number 333-________________, and
complied with the requirement of delivering a current prospectus in connection
with such sale.

PRINT OR TYPE:

Name of Purchaser (Individual or Institution):

________________________________________________________________________________

Name of Individual representing Purchaser (if an Institution)

________________________________________________________________________________

Title of Individual representing Purchaser (if an Institution):

________________________________________________________________________________

SIGNATURE:

Individual Purchaser or Individual representing Purchaser:

________________________________________________________________________________

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