SEC Contract Filing

Filing Date: 2016-04-20

Document Content:
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-10.1
<SEQUENCE>3
<FILENAME>esnd-ex101_119.htm
<DESCRIPTION>EX-10.1
<TEXT>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>
esnd-ex101_119.htm
</title>
</head>
<!-- NG Converter v4.0.3.7 -->
<body>

<p style="text-align:right;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">Exhibit 10.1</p>
<p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">Essendant Inc.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">2016 Annual Cash Incentive Award Plan</p>
<p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">For Section 16 Officers</p>
<p style="text-align:left;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:10pt;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align:left;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">Essendant Inc. maintains the 2015 Long-Term Incentive Plan, as the same may be subsequently amended, restated or modified (the &#8220;LTIP&#8221;), under which the Human Resources Committee (&#8220;Committee&#8221;) has the discretion to grant Cash Incentive Awards (&#8220;Awards&#8221;). Pursuant to the LTIP, the Committee has established a 2016 Umbrella Bonus Pool (the &#8220;Umbrella Bonus Pool&#8221;, also referred to as the &#8220;LTIP Cash Award Pool&#8221;) that, within the individual limitations specified under the LTIP for Cash Incentive Awards, determines the maximum potential Cash Incentive Awards that can be paid to the Chief Executive Officer and the other &#8220;covered employees&#8221; for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to certain other executive officers. The Committee wishes to exercise its discretion to grant Awards pursuant to the terms and conditions of the LTIP, the Umbrella Bonus Pool, and this 2016 Annual Cash Incentive Award Plan (the &#8220;CIP&#8221;), which is hereby established by the Committee for the purpose of granting Awards (subject to the terms and conditions of the LTIP and the Umbrella Bonus Pool).&nbsp;&nbsp;This CIP has been designated by the Committee as a part of the Umbrella Bonus Pool. </p>
<p style="text-align:left;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;text-indent:0%;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">Any term that is capitalized but not defined in this CIP will have the meaning set forth in the LTIP or in the Umbrella Bonus Pool. </p>
<div align="left">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse:collapse; width:100%;">
<tr>
<td valign="top" style="width:3.85%;white-space:nowrap">
<p style="margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">&nbsp;</p></td>
<td valign="top" style="width:3.85%;white-space:nowrap">
<p style="margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;"><font style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">1.</font></p></td>
<td valign="top">
<p style="margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;"><font style="font-weight:bold;">Eligibility.</font> For any Performance Period (as defined in Section 3 below), the Committee shall determine and designate those officers of the Company for purposes of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (&#8220;Section 16 Officers&#8221;) and who will be granted an Award under this CIP and such persons shall be &#8220;Participants&#8221; in this CIP for that Performance Period. </p></td></tr></table></div>
<div align="left">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse:collapse; width:100%;">
<tr>
<td valign="top" style="width:3.85%;white-space:nowrap">
<p style="margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;">&nbsp;</p></td>
<td valign="top" style="width:3.85%;white-space:nowrap">
<p style="margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;"><font style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;">2.</font></p></td>
<td valign="top">
<p style="margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:0pt;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-transform:none;font-variant: normal;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;"><font style="font-weight:bold;">Awards.</font> Unless otherwise designated by the Committee pursuant to Section 6 below, Awards made under this CIP are intended to be &#8220;performance-based compensation&#8221; as defined under the LTIP to meet the requirements for Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the &#8220;Code&#8221;) and are subject to the maximum Award amounts specified in the LTIP and the Umbrella Bonus Pool.&nbsp;&nbsp;Any Award granted under this CIP will be evidenced by a separate writing and subject to the terms and conditions of the LTIP, the Umbrella Bonus Pool, and this CIP.</p></td></tr></table></div>
<div align="left">
<t