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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.1

               IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
                          IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

----------------------------------------x
In Re Commercial Assets, Inc.           )    C.A. No. 17402
Shareholders Litigation                 )
----------------------------------------x

                          MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

         WHEREAS, plaintiffs in the above-referenced stockholder class actions
(the "Actions") have challenged the proposed merger (the "Merger") of Asset
Investors Corporation ("AIC") and Commercial Assets, Inc. ("CAX") pursuant to an
Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of August 31, 1999 (the "Merger
Agreement"); and

         WHEREAS, pursuant to the agreed modifications to the Merger Agreement
set forth below, CAX common stockholders will receive the benefit of receiving
the option to elect to receive $5.75 in cash for each share, for up to 3,549,868
shares of their CAX common stock.

         IT IS HEREBY AGREED, between and among the parties hereto, that the
following sets forth the terms of their agreement to settle this matter:

         1.       The Merger Agreement shall be modified as follows:

                  a.       In addition to the vote of CAX stockholders required
                           under Delaware law to approve the Merger Agreement,
                           the Merger Agreement will be amended to require for
                           its approval the affirmative vote of two-thirds of
                           the outstanding shares of CAX common stock.

                  b.       The structure of the Merger will be changed to add a
                           cash-election feature in which holders of CAX's
                           outstanding common stock shall be entitled to elect
                           to receive for any or all of their shares of CAX
                           common stock $5.75 per share (the "Cash Amount") in
                           lieu of the basic per share merger consideration of
                           .4075
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                           shares of AIC common stock for each share of CAX
                           common stock (the "Stock Amount"); provided that (i)
                           the cash election shall not be available to (a) AIC
                           or its subsidiaries, or (b) directors or executive
                           officers of AIC or CAX, members of their immediate
                           families (i.e. spouses and children) and any entities
                           controlled by such officers or directors, and (ii)
                           the aggregate number of shares permitted to elect the
                           Cash Amount shall be limited to 3,549,868 shares. In
                           the event that holders of in excess of 3,549,868
                           shares of CAX common stock elect to receive the Cash
                           Amount, the aggregate cash consideration shall be pro
                           rated to all holders of CAX common stock that elected
                           to receive the Cash Amount (so that an aggregate of
                           3,549,868 shares receive the Cash Amount), and such
                           holders will receive the Stock Amount with respect to
                           the remainder of their holdings. No stockholder shall
                           be required to elect or accept anything other than
                           AIC common stock, and the cash election will be
                           available to CAX stockholders regardless of how they
                           vote on the merger.

                  c.       Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that at
                           the effective time of the Merger, the aggregate cash
                           consideration to be paid to CAX common stockholders
                           is greater than 57.5% of the aggregate merger
                           consideration (by value based upon the average of the
                           high and low trading price of AIC's common stock on a
                           day on which the shares trade on the Effective Date
                           and including the value of any cash paid in lieu of
                           fractional shares and legal fees and expenses in the
                           amounts set forth in paragraph 4 hereof), the
                           aggregate amount of cash consideration will be
                           reduced to 57.5% of the aggregate merger
                           consideration, and such amount will be pro rated
                           among CAX common stockholders that elected to receive
                           the Cash Amount, with all shares not receiving cash
                           to receive AIC common stock.

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                  d.       It is noted that, under Delaware law, no statutory
                           appraisal rights shall exist in connection with the
                           proposed merger.

                  e.       Plaintiffs' counsel will review and comment upon the
                           disclosure in the draft proxy statement, including
                           any amendments and supplements thereto.

                  f.       As a condition to the consummation of the Merger, the
                           Delaware Court of Chancery shall have approved a full
                           release of all defendants in the Litigation and shall
                           have approved a stipulation of settlement with terms
                           no less favorable to AIC than those contained in this
                           Memorandum of Understanding, and such order shall
                           have become final and nonappealable.

         2.       The Proxy Statement on Form 14A relating to the Merger shall
                  be amended to reflect the changes provided in this Agreement
                  after consultation with plaintiffs' counsel.

         3.       Plaintiffs may conduct such reasonable additional discovery as
                  the parties agree is appropriate and necessary to confirm the
                  fairness and reasonableness of the terms of this settlement.

         4.       Upon final approval of the settlement of the Actions
                  (including any appeals), CAX shall pay plaintiffs' counsel
                  $600,000 in fees, inclusive of expenses, subject to approval
                  of the Court of Chancery.

         5.       A Stipulation of Settlement of those Actions (the
                  "Stipulation") will be prepared, executed and submitted to the
                  Court of Chancery for approval at the earliest practicable
                  time. The Stipulation will expressly provide, among other
                  things that: (a) the defendants have denied, and continue to
                  deny, that they have committed any violation of law or engaged
                  in any of the wrongful acts alleged in the complaints; (b) the
                  defendants are entering into the Stipulation solely because
                  the proposed settlement would eliminate the burden and expense
                  of further litigation; and (c) plaintiffs' counsel, having
                  made a thorough

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                  investigation of the facts, believe that the proposed
                  settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and in the best
                  interests of plaintiffs and the proposed class. The
                  Stipulation will further provide for, among other things, (a)
                  appropriate certification of the class described in the
                  complaint; (b) the entry of a judgment in appropriate form,
                  dismissing the actions with prejudice and barring any claims
                  known or unknown that have been, could have been, or in the
                  future can or might be asserted in the complaint, or in any
                  court, tribunal or proceeding, (including but not limited to
                  any claims arising under the federal, state or common law,
                  including federal securities law and any state disclosure law,
                  by or on behalf of any member of the class, whether
                  individual, class, derivative, representative, legal,
                  equitable, or any other type or in any other capacity against
                  defendants or any of their families, parent entities,
                  associates, affiliates or subsidiaries and each and all of
                  their respective past, present or future officers, directors,
                  stockholders, principals, representatives, employees,
                  attorneys, financial or investment advisors, consultants,
                  accountants, investment bankers, commercial bankers, advisors
                  or agents, heirs, executors, trustees, general or limited
                  partners or partnerships, personal representatives, estates,
                  administrators, predecessors, successors and assigns
                  (collectively, the "Released Persons") which have arisen,
                  arise now or hereafter may arise out of or relate in any
                  manner to the allegations, facts or any other matter
                  whatsoever set forth in or otherwise related, directly or
                  indirectly to the complaint or the proposed merger; (c) the
                  delivery of releases in an appropriate form releasing any
                  claims for violation of federal, state or common law.

                  It is the intention of the parties to extinguish all such
                  settled claims and consistent with such settled claims and
                  consistent with such intentions, the releasing parties waive
                  their rights to the extent permitted by law, to any benefits
                  of the provisions of section 1542 of the California Civil Code
                  or any other similar state law, federal law or principle of
                  common law, which may have the effect of limiting the release
                  set forth above.

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         6.       This Memorandum of Understanding and the proposed settlement
                  described herein shall not be legally binding upon any party
                  unless and until the Stipulation is executed. The settlement
                  described herein shall be subject to the approval of the Court
                  of Chancery. Should a Stipulation not be executed or not be
                  consummated in accordance with the terms described herein, the
                  proposed settlement shall be null and void and of no force and
                  effect, and shall not be deemed to prejudice in any way the
                  position of any party with respect to this litigation except
                  as set forth in paragraph 5 above. In such event, neither the
                  existence of this Memorandum of Understanding nor its contents
                  shall be admissible in evidence or shall be referred to for
                  any purpose in this litigation or in any other litigation or
                  proceeding.

         7.       The Merger is conditioned on consummation of the settlement.

         8.       This Memorandum of Understanding may be signed in
                  counterparts.

DATED: March 6, 2000

                                       /s/ ANDREW J. TUREZYN
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                       Edward P. Welch
                                       Andrew J. Turezyn
                                       Julie A. Tostrup
                                       SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE,
                                        MEAGHER & FLOM LLP
                                       One Rodney Square
                                       P.O. Box 636
                                       Wilmington, Delaware 19899-0636
                                       (302)651-3000
                                       Attorneys for Defendants
                                       Asset Investors Corporation,
                                       Commercial Assets, Inc. and
                                       certain Individual Defendants

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                                       /s/ SRINIVAS M. RAJU
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                       Charles F. Richards, Jr., Esquire
                                       Srinivas M. Raju, Esquire
                                       RICHARDS, LAYTON & FINGER
                                       One Rodney Square
                                       P.O. Box 551
                                       Wilmington, Delaware 19899
                                       (302)651-7738
                                       Attorneys for Raymond Baker,
                                       Thomas Fries, Donald Kortz, and
                                       Robert Malone

                                       /s/ NORMAN M. MONHAIT
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                       Norman M. Monhait, Esquire
                                       Rosenthal, Monhait, Gross
                                        & Goddess, P.A.
                                       Mellon Bank Center
                                       Suite 1401
                                       Wilmington, DE 19801
                                       (302) 656-4433
                                       Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Class

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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.1

                                   LANCE, INC.

          2000 ANNUAL CORPORATE PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE PLAN FOR OFFICERS

Purposes and               The primary purposes of the 2000 Annual Corporate
Introduction               Performance Incentive Plan for Officers are to:

                           o        Motivate behaviors that lead to the
                                    successful achievement of specific financial
                                    and operations goals that support Lance's
                                    stated business strategy.

                           o        Emphasize link between participants'
                                    performance and rewards for meeting
                                    predetermined, specific goals.

                           o        Improve the competitiveness of total cash
                                    pay opportunities.

                           o        Help establish performance orientation at
                                    Lance and communicate to employees that
                                    greater responsibility carries greater
                                    rewards because more pay is "at risk."

                           For 2000, participants will be eligible to earn
                           incentive awards based on Company performance in
                           Earnings Per Share (EPS) and Lance Co. operating
                           profit.

                           To achieve the maximum motivational impact, plan
                           goals and the rewards that will be received for
                           meeting those goals will be communicated to
                           participants as soon as practical after the 2000 Plan
                           is approved by the Compensation/Stock Option
                           Committee of the Board of Directors.

                           Each participant will be assigned a Target Incentive
                           Award, stated as a percent of Base Salary. The Target
                           Incentive Award, or a greater or lesser amount, will
                           be earned at the end of the plan year based on the
                           attainment of predetermined goals.

                           Following year-end, 100% of the awards earned will be
                           paid to participants in cash.

Plan Year                  The period over which performance will be measured is
                           the Company's fiscal year.

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Eligibility and            Eligibility in the Plan is limited to Officers who
Participation              are key to Lance's success. The Compensation/Stock
                           Option Committee of the Board of Directors will
                           review and approve participants nominated by the
                           President and CEO. Participation in one year does not
                           guarantee participation in a following year, but
                           instead will be reevaluated and determined on an
                           annual basis.

                           Participants in the Plan may not participate in any
                           other annual incentive plan (e.g., sales incentives,
                           etc.) offered by Lance or its affiliates.

                           Attachment A includes the list of 2000 participants
                           approved by the Compensation/Stock Option Committee
                           at its January 10, 2000 meeting.

Target Incentive Awards    Each participant will be assigned a Target Incentive
                           Award expressed as a percentage of his or her Base
                           Salary. Participants may be assigned Target Incentive
                           Awards by position by salary level or based on other
                           factors as determined by the President and CEO.

                           Target Incentive Awards will be reevaluated at least
                           every other year, if not annually. If the job duties
                           of a position change during the year, or Base Salary
                           is increased significantly, the Target Incentive
                           Award shall be revised as appropriate.

                           Attachment A lists the Target Incentive Award for
                           each participant for the 2000 Plan Year. These Awards
                           will be reviewed and adjusted annually by the
                           Compensation/Stock Option Committee. Target Incentive
                           Awards will be communicated to each participant as
                           close to the beginning of the year as practicable, in
                           writing. Final awards will be calculated by
                           multiplying each participant's Target Incentive Award
                           by the appropriate percentage (based on financial
                           performance for the year, as described below).

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Individual Performance     Each Officer (other than those named in the last
                           sentence of this paragraph and the first sentence of
                           the next paragraph) will receive 90% of his or her
                           Incentive Award based on the Target Incentive Award
                           calculations based on Earnings Per Share. The
                           remaining 10% of each Officer's Incentive Award will
                           be based upon the determination by the
                           Compensation/Stock Option Committee in its discretion
                           as to the individual performance of the Officer in
                           meeting his or her individual goals for the year. For
                           the Controller, the Treasurer and the Secretary, up
                           to 25% of the Incentive Award may be based on
                           individual performance. There will be no individual
                           performance incentives for the officers named in the
                           first sentence of the next paragraph.

Performance Measures       The 2000 financial performance measure will be
and Weightings             Earnings Per Share except that for the Vice
                           President/President of Lance Co. the financial
                           performance measures will be 25% Earnings Per Share
                           and 75% Lance Co. operating profit and for the Vice
                           President - Sales, the Vice President - Marketing and
                           the Assistant Vice President/Vice President of
                           Financial Services for Lance Co. the financial
                           performance measures will be 10% Earnings Per Share
                           and 90% Lance Co. operating profit. Specific goals
                           and related payouts are shown below.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                        2000 Goals and Related Payouts
                           --------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Payout as Percent
Performance Measure        Goal                        of Target Award
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                        <C>                         <C>
Corporate EPS
Minimum                    2000 Annual EPS: $*         50% (if met at minimum)
                                                       If minimum is not met, no
                                                       payouts will be earned

Target                     2000 Annual EPS: $*         100% (if met at target)

Maximum                    2000 Annual EPS: $*         200% (if met at maximum)

Lance Co. Operating Profit

Minimum                    2000 Annual Operating       50% (if met at minimum)
                           Profit:  $* million         If minimum is not met, no
                                                       payouts will be earned

Target                     2000 Annual Operating       100% (if met at target)
                           Profit:  $* million

Maximum                    2000 Annual Operating       200% (if met at maximum)
                           Profit:  $* million
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>

[*Targets not required to be disclosed.]

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                           Percent of payout will be determined on a straight
                           line basis between minimum and maximum. There will be
                           no payouts based on Earnings Per Share if 2000 Annual
                           EPS is less than $* and there will be no payouts
                           based on Lance Co. operating profit if Lance Co.
                           operating profit is less than $* million.

                           The performance measures, specific numerical goals
                           and the role of individual performance in determining
                           final payouts will be communicated to each
                           participant at the beginning of the year. Final
                           performance awards will be calculated after the
                           Committee has reviewed the Company's audited
                           financial statements for 2000 and determined the
                           performance level achieved.

                           Minimum, Target and Maximum levels will be defined at
                           the beginning of each year for each performance
                           measure.

                           The following definitions for the terms Maximum,
                           Target and Minimum should help Lance set the goals
                           for each year, as well as evaluate the payouts:

                           o        Maximum: Excellent; deserves an above-market
                                    bonus

                           o        Target: Normal or expected performance;
                                    deserves market level bonus

                           o        Minimum: Lowest level of performance
                                    deserving payment above base salary;
                                    deserves below market bonus

                           o        Below minimum: Deserves no additional pay
                                    beyond base salary

Form and Timing of         Final award payments will be made in cash as soon as
Payments                   practicable after award amounts are approved by the
                           Compensation/Stock Option Committee of the Board of
                           Directors. All awards will be rounded to the nearest
                           $100.

Change In Status           In the event that a participant changes positions
                           during the plan year, whether due to promotion,
                           demotion or lateral move, at the discretion of the
                           President and CEO, awards may be prorated for the
                           year based on the length of time in each position.

                           An employee hired into an eligible position during
                           the year may participate in the plan for the balance
                           of the year on a pro rata basis.

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Certain Terminations       In the event a participant voluntarily terminates
of Employment              employment or is terminated involuntarily before the
                           end of the year, any award will be forfeited. In the
                           event of death, permanent disability, or normal or
                           early retirement, the award will be paid on a pro
                           rata basis after the end of the plan year. Awards
                           otherwise will be calculated on the same basis as for
                           other participants, except that any adjustment for
                           individual performance will be based on performance
                           prior to the termination of employment.

Change In Control          In the event of a Change in Control, pro rata payouts
                           will be made at the greater of (1) Target or (2)
                           actual results for the year-to-date, based on the
                           number of days in the plan year preceding the Change
                           in Control. Payouts will be made within 30 days after
                           the relevant transaction has been completed.

                           For this purpose, a Change in Control is defined as
                           when any person, corporation or other entity and its
                           affiliates (excluding members of the Van Every Family
                           and any trust, custodian or fiduciary for the benefit
                           of any one or more members of the Van Every Family)
                           acquires or contracts to acquire or otherwise
                           controls in excess of 35% of the then outstanding
                           equity securities of the Company. For the purposes of
                           this plan, the Van Every Family shall mean the lineal
                           descendants of Salem A. Van Every, Sr., whether by
                           blood or adoption, and their spouses.

Withholding                The Company shall withhold from award payments any
                           Federal, foreign, state, or local income or other
                           taxes required to be withheld.

Communications             Progress reports should be made to participants
                           quarterly showing the year-to-date performance
                           results and the percentage of target awards that
                           would be earned if results remain at that level for
                           the entire year.

Executive Officers         Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary above,
                           participation, Target Incentive Awards and prorations
                           for executive officers, including the President and
                           CEO, shall be approved by the Compensation/Stock
                           Option Committee.

Governance                 The Compensation/Stock Option Committee of the Board
                           of Directors of Lance, Inc. is ultimately responsible
                           for the administration and governance of the Plan.
                           Actions requiring Committee approval include final
                           determination of plan eligibility and participation,
                           identification of performance goals and final award
                           determination. The decisions of the Committee shall
                           be conclusive and binding on all participants.

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                                  ATTACHMENT A

   Name                    Title                              Award      Target
   ----                    -----                              -----      ------

P. A. Stroup, III          President & CEO                    *%         $*

R. G. Tucker               Vice President and                 *%         $*
                             President, Lance Co.

L. R. Gragnani, Jr.        Vice President                     *%         $*
                            - Information Technology/CIO

E. D. Leake                Vice President                     *%         $*
                            - Human Resources

B. C. Preslar              Vice President                     *%         $*
                            - Finance/CFO

D. J. Sidari               Vice President                     *%         $*
                            - Sales

G. W. Venner               Vice President                     *%         $*
                            - Marketing

J. C. Melton               Assistant Vice President           *%         $*

D. R. Perzinski            Treasurer                          *%         $*

M. E. Wicklund             Controller and                     *%         $*
                           Assistant Secretary

R. S. Carles               Secretary/Counsel                  *%         $*

[*Target awards omitted for participants as targets not required to be
disclosed.]

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