“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any condition, fact, occurrence, development, change, circumstance, event or effect (each an “Effect”) that (1) has or would reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate together with all other Effects, a material adverse effect on the business, assets, liabilities, condition (financial or otherwise) or results of operations of the Company and the Company Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided, however, that none of the following, and no Effect arising out of or resulting from the following shall constitute or be taken into account in determining whether there has been, a “Company Material Adverse Effect”: (a) the entry into this Agreement, the announcement or pendency of this Agreement or the Transactions, the performance of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the Transactions, in each case, including (i) by reason of the identity of, or any facts or circumstances relating to, Parent, Sub or any of their respective affiliates and (ii) the impact of any of the foregoing on any of the Company’s or any of the Company Subsidiaries’ relationships (contractual or otherwise) with respect to customers, suppliers, vendors, business partners or employees (it being understood and agreed that this clause (a) shall not apply with respect to any representation or warranty the purpose of which is to address the consequences of the execution and delivery o f this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, or the performance of obligations hereunder or thereunder); (b) any Effect affecting the economy or the financial, credit or securities markets in the United States or elsewhere in the world (including interest rates and exchange rates or any changes therein), or any Effect affecting any business or industries in which the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries operates; (c) the suspension of trading in securities generally on Nasdaq (but not the underlying cause of such suspension, unless such underlying cause would otherwise be excepted from this definition); (d) any development or change in applicable Law (after the date of this Agreement), including COVID-19 Measures, or GAAP or other applicable accounting standards or the interpretation of any of the foregoing (it being understood and agreed that this clause (d) shall not apply with respect to any representation or warranty the purpose of which is to address compliance with applicable Laws or GAAP); (e) any action taken by the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries at the written request of Parent that is not expressly required to be taken by the terms of this Agreement, the taking of any action expressly required by the terms of this Agreement (other than pursuant to clause (1) or (2) of Section 5.01), or the failure of the Company to take any action that the Company is expressly prohibited by the terms of the Agreement from taking; (f) the commencement, occurrence, continuation or escalation of any armed hostilities, sabotage or acts of war (whether or not declared) or terrorism, or any escalation or worsening of acts of terrorism, armed hostilities or war; (g) any actions or claims made or brought by any of the current or former shareholders of the Company (or on their behalf or on behalf of the Company, but in any event only in their capacities as current or former shareholders) arising out of this Agreement or any of the Transactions; (h) the existence, occurrence, continuation or escalation of any acts of God, force majeure events, any earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tropical storms, fires or other natural disasters or weather-related events or any national, international or regional calamity or any civil unrest or any disease outbreak, pandemic or epidemic, including COVID-19; (i) any public comments or other public communications by Parent or Sub of its express intentions with respect to the Company or any Company Subsidiary, including any public communications to any employees of the Company or any Company Subsidiary; or (j) any changes in the market price or trading volume of the Shares, in and of itself, or any changes in the ratings or the ratings outlook for the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries by any applicable rating agency or changes in any analyst’s recommendations or ratings with respect to the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries, or any failure of the Company or any Company Subsidiary to meet any internal or external projections, budgets, guidance, forecasts or estimates of revenues, earnings or other financial results or metrics for any period, in and of itself (but not, in each case of this clause (j), the underlying cause of any such change or failure, unless such underlying cause would otherwise be excepted from this definition) (provided, that this clause (j) shall not be construed as implying that the Company is making any representation or warranty with respect to any internal or external projections, budgets, guidance, forecasts or estimates of revenues, earnings or other financial results or metrics for any period); provided, further, that with respect to the foregoing clauses (b), (c), (d), (f) and (h), any such Effect shall not be prohibited from being taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred if it disproportionately adversely affects the Company and the Company Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, compared to other companies operating primarily in the same industries in which the Company and the Company Subsidiaries operate, or (2) prevents or materially delays the consummation by the Company of the Merger on or before the Outside Date, provided that in no event shall the failure of the condition in ​Section 6.01(c) to have occurred, in and of itself, be considered in determining whether an Effect has prevented or materially delayed the consummation by the Company of the Merger for purposes of this clause (2) (but not, for the avoidance of doubt, the underlying cause of any such failure). (Page 30)

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