“Company Material Adverse Effect” shall mean any change, event, circumstance, occurrence, effect, development or state of facts (collectively, “Effects”) that, individually or in the aggregate, has had or would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the business, results of operations or financial condition of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided that no Effect shall be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been, or would reasonably be expected to be, a Company Material Adverse Effect to the extent arising out of, resulting from or relating to any of the following: (i) any Effect generally affecting any of the industries or markets in which the Company or its Subsidiaries operates; (ii) any promulgation or enactment of, implementation of, enforcement of, change in interpretation of, change in implementation of, or change in enforcement of, any Law or GAAP or governmental   75


policy; (iii) general economic, regulatory or political conditions (or changes therein), including any governmental shutdown or slowdown, or conditions (or changes therein) in the financial, credit or securities markets (including changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, monetary policy or fiscal policy), in any country or region in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries conducts business; (iv) any acts of God, natural disasters, terrorism, armed hostilities, sabotage, war, curfews, riots, demonstrations or public disorders or any escalation or worsening of acts of terrorism, armed hostilities, war, riots, demonstrations or public disorders; (v) any epidemic, pandemic or disease outbreak (including COVID-19) or any COVID-19 Measures or any change in such COVID-19 Measures or interpretations thereof following the date of this Agreement; (vi) the announcement, pendency of or performance of the Transaction, including by reason of the identity of Parent and including the impact of any of the foregoing on any relationships, contractual or otherwise, with customers, suppliers, distributors, collaboration partners, employees or regulators (provided that the exception set forth in this clause (vi) shall not apply with respect to the representation and warranty in Section 3.3(b) to the extent that the purpose of such representation or warranty is to address the consequences resulting from the execution, delivery or performance of this Agreement or the consummation of any of the Transactions and, to the extent related to such representation and warranty, the condition set forth in Section 6.2(a)); (vii) the taking of any action expressly required by the terms of this Agreement or taken at the written request of, or with the prior written consent of, Parent or Merger Subs; (viii) any change in the market price, or change in trading volume, of the capital stock of the Company (it being understood that the Effects giving rise or contributing to such change may be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been, or would reasonably be expected to be, a Company Material Adverse Effect to the extent that they are not otherwise excluded by clauses (i) through (x) hereof); (ix) any failure by the Company or its Subsidiaries to meet internal, analysts’ or other earnings estimates or financial projections or forecasts for any period, or any changes in credit ratings and any changes in any analysts recommendations or ratings with respect to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (it being understood that the Effects giving rise or contributing to such failure or change may be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been, or would reasonably be expected to be, a Company Material Adverse Effect to the extent that they are not otherwise excluded by clauses (i) through (x) hereof); and (x) any Transaction Litigation; except, in each of clauses (i) through (v), such Effect shall be taken into account in the determination of whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred solely to the extent (and only to the extent) that such Effect materially and disproportionately affected the Company and its Subsidiaries relative to other participants in the industries in the same geographies in which the Company and its Subsidiaries operate.  (Pages 79-80)

Question: MAE Definition
Category: Material Adverse Effect
Answer: business and operation of Target