“Company Material Adverse Effect” shall mean any event, circumstance, occurrence, effect, fact, development or change that (a) would prevent or materially impair the ability of the Company to consummate the Merger or (b) has, or would have, a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided, however, that for purposes of this clause (b), none of


the following (or the results thereof) shall constitute or be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect shall have occurred: (i) changes in general economic, financial market, regulatory, business, financial, political, geopolitical, credit or capital market conditions, including interest or exchange rates; (ii) general changes or developments in any of the industries or markets in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries operate; (iii) changes in any applicable Laws or accounting regulations or principles or interpretations thereof; (iv) any change in the price or trading volume of the Company’s securities or other financial instruments or change in the Company’s credit rating, in and of itself (provided, however, that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such change that are not otherwise excluded from the definition of “Company Material Adverse Effect” may constitute or be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred); (v) 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 operation or any published analyst or other third-party estimates or expectations of the Company’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, in and of itself (provided, however, that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such failure that are not otherwise excluded from the definition of “Company Material Adverse Effect” may constitute or be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred); (vi) acts of war (whether or not declared), hostilities, military actions or acts of terrorism, or any escalation or worsening of the foregoing, weather related events, fires, natural disasters, pandemics (including the existence and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic), public health or other emergencies or any other acts of God; (vii) the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the public announcement or the pendency of the Merger or the other transactions contemplated hereby (provided, that this clause (vii) does not apply with respect to the representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.5); or (viii) the taking of any action expressly required by this Agreement (other than any obligation under this Agreement to operate in the ordinary course of business (or similar obligation) pursuant to Section 5.1); provided, further, that the exceptions in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (vi) shall not apply to the extent the events, circumstances, occurrences, effects, facts, developments or changes set forth in such clauses have a disproportionate impact on the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to the other participants in the industries in which the Company and its Subsidiaries operate  (Pages 40-41)

Question: MAE Definition
Category: Material Adverse Effect
Answer: business and operation of Target, ability to consummate transaction