“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any effect, change, condition, fact, development, occurrence or event that, individually or in the aggregate, has had, or would reasonably be expected to have, a material adverse effect on the financial condition, business, assets, liabilities or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, excluding any effect, change, condition, fact, development, occurrence or event resulting from or arising out of (i) general economic or political conditions in the United States or any foreign jurisdiction or in securities, credit or financial markets, including changes in interest rates and changes in exchange rates, (ii) changes or conditions generally affecting the industries (including changes in prices for raw materials and finished products), markets or geographical areas in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries operates (including COVID-19 Measures), (iii) any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, acts of war (whether or not declared), terrorism or sabotage, or other changes in geopolitical conditions, including any material worsening of such conditions threatened or existing as of the date hereof, (iv) any epidemics, pandemics or disease outbreaks (including COVID-19 pandemic), natural disasters (including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or earthquakes) or other force majeure events, (v) the downgrade in rating of any debt or debt securities of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (vi) any failure by the Company or its Subsidiaries to meet any internal or published (including analyst) projections, expectations, forecasts or predictions in respect of the Company’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations, or any failure by the Company to meet its internal budgets, plans or forecasts of its revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations, (vii) changes in GAAP or the interpretation thereof or the adoption, implementation, promulgation, repeal, modification, amendment, in each case, after the date hereof or change of any Law (including any COVID-19 Measures) after the date hereof applicable to the operation of the business of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (viii) the taking of any action expressly required by, or the failure to take any action expressly prohibited by, this Agreement, including any action expressly prohibited by Section 5.1 or the taking of any action or refraining from taking any action at Parent’s or Merger Sub’s prior written request, (ix) any change in the market price or trading volume of the Company’s securities, (x) the public announcement or pendency of this Agreement or the Merger, including any resulting loss or departure of officers or other employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or the termination or reduction (or potential reduction) in the Company’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ relationships with any of its customers, suppliers, distributors or other business partners (provided, however, that the exceptions in this clause (x) shall not apply with respect to references to Company Material Adverse Effect in the representations and warranties contained in Section 3.4 and, to the extent related thereto, the condition set forth in Section 8.2(a)), and (xi) any Proceeding brought or threatened by stockholders of either Parent or the Company (whether on behalf of the Company, Parent or otherwise) asserting allegations of breach of fiduciary duty relating to this Agreement or violations of securities Laws solely in connection with the Merger; provided that the exceptions in the foregoing clauses (v), (vi) and (vii) shall not prevent or otherwise affect a determination that the underlying cause of any such failure or change referred to therein (if not otherwise falling within any of the exceptions provided by the foregoing clauses (i) through (iv), (ix), (x) or (xi) hereof) constitutes a “Company Material Adverse Effect”; and provided, further, that any effect, change, condition, fact, development, occurrence or event resulting from the matters described in the foregoing clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (vii) (excluding any effect, change, condition, fact, development, occurrence or event arising from, resulting from or related to COVID-19 or any COVID-19 Measures) may be taken into account in determining whether there has been a “Company Material Adverse Effect” to the extent that such impact is disproportionately adverse to the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to other similarly situated companies in the industries in which the Company and its Subsidiaries operate. (Page 9)

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