“Material Adverse Effect” means, when used with respect to any Person, any fact, circumstance, occurrence, state of fact, effect, change, event or development that (a) individually or in the aggregate, has had or could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, business, assets, properties or results of operations of such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (b) will prevent the ability of such Person and its Subsidiaries to consummate the Transactions before the End Date; provided, however, that for purposes of clause (a) no fact, circumstance, occurrence, state of fact, effect, change, event or development (by itself or when aggregated or taken together with any and all other effects) resulting from, arising out of, attributable to, or related to any of the following shall be deemed to be or constitute a “Material Adverse Effect” or shall be taken into account when determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” exists or has occurred or is reasonably likely to exist or occur: (i) changes in general economic conditions (or changes in such conditions) or conditions in the global economy generally; (ii) changes in conditions (or changes in such conditions) in the securities markets, credit markets, currency markets or other financial markets, including (A) changes in interest rates and changes in exchange rates for the currencies of any countries and (B) any suspension of trading in securities (whether equity, debt, derivative or hybrid securities) generally on any securities exchange or over-the-counter market; (iii) changes in conditions that affect the industry or industries in which the Person operates generally (including changes in general market prices and regulatory changes affecting the industry); (iv) changes in political conditions (or changes in such conditions) or acts of war, sabotage or terrorism (including any escalation or general worsening of any such acts of war, sabotage or terrorism); (v) earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, mudslides, wild fires, other natural disasters or other weather conditions; (vi) any pandemic (including the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease), epidemic, plague or other outbreak of A-5


illness or public health event or any Law, directive, pronouncement or guideline issued by a Governmental Entity, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the World Health Organization or other industry group providing for business closures, changes to business operations, “sheltering-in-place” or other restrictions that relate to, or arise out of, any pandemic (including the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease), epidemic, plague or other outbreak of illness or public health event or any change in such Law, directive, pronouncement or guideline or any interpretation thereof following the date of this Agreement or such Person’s or any of such Person’s Subsidiaries’ compliance therewith; (vii) changes in Law or other legal or regulatory conditions, or the interpretation thereof, or changes in GAAP or other accounting standards (or the interpretation thereof); (viii) the announcement of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the Transactions (provided, that the exception in this clause (viii) does not apply to the use of Company Material Adverse Effect in Section 4.4 (or Section 7.2 as it relates to Section 4.4); (ix) compliance with the terms of, or the taking of any action expressly required by, this Agreement; (x) any decline in such Person’s stock price or the trading volume of such Person’s stock, or any failure by such Person to meet any analysts’ estimates or expectations of such Person’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, or any failure by such Person 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 facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such declines or failures may constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a Material Adverse Effect); or (xi) any Proceedings made or brought by any of the current or former stockholders of such Person (on their own behalf or on behalf of such Person) against the Company, Parent or any of their directors or officers, arising from allegations of a breach or violation of applicable Law relating to this Agreement or the Merger or in connection with any other Transactions; except to the extent such effects resulting from, arising out of, attributable to or related to the matters described in the foregoing clauses (i) through (vii) disproportionately adversely affect such Person and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, as compared to other Persons that conduct business in the regions in the world and in the industries in which such Person and its Subsidiaries conduct business. (Pages 95-96)

Question: MAE Definition
Category: Material Adverse Effect
Answer: "Could" (reasonably) be expected to