“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any Effect that, individually or in the aggregate, has had, or would be reasonably expected to have, a material adverse effect on: (a) the business, financial conditions, results of operations or assets of the Acquired Companies, taken as a whole, other than any such Effect resulting from (i) any change or prospective change in the market price or trading volume of the Common Stock or the credit ratings of the Company (but not any Effect underlying such change to the extent that such Effect would otherwise constitute a Company Material Adverse Effect), (ii) general economic conditions in the United States or any other country or region in the world (or changes in such conditions) or conditions in the global   4


economy generally (or changes in such conditions), (iii) changes in conditions in the financial markets, credit markets or capital markets in the United States or any other country or region in the world, including (A) changes in interest rates or credit ratings in the United States or any other country; (B) changes in exchange rates for the currencies of any country; or (C) any suspension of trading in securities (whether equity, debt, derivative or hybrid securities) generally on any securities exchange or over-the-counter market operating in the United States or any other country or region in the world, (iv) changes in applicable Laws (or any interpretation or enforcement thereof) that are binding on any of the Acquired Companies, (v) changes in GAAP or regulatory accounting requirements (or any interpretation or enforcement thereof), (vi) geopolitical conditions (or changes in such conditions) or acts of war, outbreak of hostilities, sabotage, military actions, terrorism, civil unrest, protests, or riots (including any escalation or general worsening of any such acts of war, outbreak of hostilities, sabotage, military actions, terrorism, civil unrest, protests, or riots) in the United States or any other country or region in the world, (vii) changes in regulatory, legislative or political conditions in the United States or any other country or region in the world, (viii) the existence, occurrence or continuation of any force majeure event, including any earthquakes, floods, mudslides, hurricanes, tropical storms, nuclear incidents, pandemics, epidemics, or disease outbreaks (including COVID-19), quarantine restrictions, severe weather conditions, tsunamis, tornados, volcanic eruptions, fires or other natural disasters in the United States or any other country or region in the world (including any COVID-19 Measures), (ix) changes in conditions generally affecting the principal industry in which the Acquired Companies operate, (x) any failure by the Company to meet any analysts’ estimates or expectations of the Company’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, or any failure by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to meet any internal budgets, plans or forecasts of its revenues, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations (it being understood that the Effects giving rise to or contributing to such failures may constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a Company Material Adverse Effect), (xi) any matter disclosed on Section 4.9(b) of the Company Disclosure Letter, (xii) the execution and delivery of this Agreement and compliance by the Company with the terms of, or any action taken or not taken by any of the Acquired Companies that is expressly required by, this Agreement, or any action taken or not taken by or at the written request of a Purchaser Party, or the public announcement of this Agreement or the Merger, departures of officers or employees, changes in relationships with suppliers or customers or other business relations, in each case only to the extent resulting from the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the Merger; provided that any Effect resulting from any of the matters described in clauses (ii) through (ix) may be taken into account in determining whether or not there has been, or would reasonably expected to be, a Company Material Adverse Effect if, but only if, such Effect has a disproportionate adverse effect on the Acquired Companies, taken as a whole, as compared to other companies of a similar size in the industry in which the Acquired Companies operate (in which case, only the incremental disproportionate adverse impact may be taken into account in determining whether there has occurred a Company Material Adverse Effect), or (b) the ability of the Company to consummate the Merger or comply with its obligations under this Agreement, other than any such Effect resulting from any of the matters described in the immediately preceding clause (xii).  (Pages 8-9)

Question: MAE Definition
Category: Material Adverse Effect
Answer: Applies to Target and subsidiaries "taken as a whole"