(gg) “Material Adverse Effect” means any event, development, change, circumstances, effect or occurrence that, individually or in the aggregate with all other events, developments, changes, circumstances, effects or occurrences, (a) would prevent or materially impair or materially delay the consummation of the Merger or (b) has a material adverse effect on or with respect to the business, assets, liabilities, results of operations or condition (financial or otherwise) of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; provided that, with respect to clause (b) only, no events, developments, changes, circumstances, effects or occurrences relating to, arising out of or in connection with or resulting from any of the following shall be deemed, either alone or in combination, to constitute or contribute to a Material Adverse Effect and no event, development, change, circumstance, effect or occurrence relating to, arising out of or in connection with or resulting from any of the following shall be taken into account when determining whether a Material Adverse Effect has occurred or may, would or could occur: (i) general changes or developments in the legislative or political condition, or in the economy or the financial, debt, capital, credit, commodities or securities markets, in each such case, in the United States or elsewhere in the world, including as a result of changes in geopolitical conditions, (ii) any change affecting any industry in which the Company or its subsidiaries operate, including electric generating, transmission or distribution industries (including, in each case, any changes in operations thereof) or any change affecting retail markets for electric power, capacity or fuel or related products, (iii) any changes in the national, regional, state, provincial or local electric generation, transmission or distribution systems or increases or decreases in planned spending with respect thereto, (iv) the entry into this Agreement or the public announcement of the Merger or other transactions contemplated hereby, including any impact   82


thereof on relationships, contractual or otherwise, with customers, suppliers, regulators, lenders, partners or employees of the Company and its subsidiaries, (v) any action taken or omitted to be taken by such Party at the express written request of or with the express written consent of the other Parties, (vi) any actions required to be undertaken by the Company in accordance with, subject to and consistent with Section 6.5 of this Agreement to obtain any Consent or make any Filing required for the consummation of the Merger and the other transactions contemplated herein or, in connection therewith, any written proposal or commitment made by either Party or its Affiliates to any Governmental Entity in accordance with, subject to and consistent with Section 6.5 or imposed by any Governmental Entity, in each case, in order to obtain the Required Regulatory Approvals or the CFIUS Approval, (vii) changes after the date hereof in any applicable Laws or applicable binding accounting regulations or principles or interpretation or enforcement thereof by any Governmental Entity, (viii) any hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood, tsunami, natural disaster, act of God, pandemic or epidemic, including the coronavirus and the taking of any COVID Action, (ix) any outbreak or escalation of hostilities or war (whether or not declared), military actions or any act of sabotage, terrorism, or national or international political or social conditions, (x) any change in the market price or trading volume of the shares of the Company or the credit rating of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, (xi) any failure by the Company to meet any published analyst estimates or expectations of such Party’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, in and of itself, or any failure by the Company to meet its internal or published projections, budgets, plans or forecasts of its revenues, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations, in and of itself, or (xii) any litigation or claim threatened or initiated by shareholders, ratepayers, customers or suppliers of the Company (each in their capacity as such) against the Company, any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective officers or directors (in each case, in their capacity as such), in each case, arising out of the execution of this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby (it being understood that in the cases of clauses (x) or (xi), the facts, events or circumstances giving rise to or contributing to such change or failure may be deemed to constitute, and may be taken into account in determining whether there has been a Material Adverse Effect); except in the cases of clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (vi), (vii) or (viii), to the extent that the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, are disproportionately affected thereby as compared with other participants in the industry in which such Party operates in the United States (in which case solely the incremental disproportionate impact or impacts may be taken into account in determining whether there has been a Material Adverse Effect); provided, however, that, notwithstanding anything herein or otherwise to the contrary, the effect of the failure to obtain the consent of the Existing Lenders to the execution of this Agreement prior to the execution and delivery hereof (but not the effect of the failure to obtain consents from Existing Lenders to the Closing that may be required under the Contracts with the Existing Lenders) may be considered, and taken into account, in determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” has occurred or may, would or could occur (without giving effect to, and disregarding, any of the exceptions set forth in each of the preceding clauses (i) through (xii)).  (Pages 87-88)

Question: MAE Definition
Category: Material Adverse Effect
Answer: Yes