“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any material adverse change in the business, condition (financial or otherwise) or results of operations of the Company Entities, taken as a whole; provided, however, that any change arising out of any of the following shall not be such a Company Material Adverse Effect or be taken into account in determining whether such a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred or could reasonably be expected to occur: (i) any change in general U.S. or global economic conditions; (ii) any change in the general conditions of any industry in which any Company Entity operates; (iii) any change in general regulatory, legislative or political conditions or in securities, credit, financial, debt or other capital markets, in each case in the United States or any foreign jurisdiction; (iv) any change in applicable Law (including COVID-19 Measures) or GAAP (or authoritative interpretations thereof) after the date hereof; (v) any change in geopolitical conditions, the outbreak or escalation of hostilities, any acts of war, sabotage or terrorism, or any escalation or worsening of any such acts of war, sabotage or terrorism; (vi) natural disasters, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or other acts of nature (including epidemics, pandemics and disease outbreaks, including COVID-19) or any worsening of such conditions threatened or existing as of the date hereof; (vii) (A) the execution and delivery hereof, the public announcement, pendency or anticipated consummation hereof, the Mergers or any other transaction contemplated hereby, including the impact thereof on relationships with customers, suppliers, vendors, partners, Governmental Authorities or employees, (B) the Company having performed or complied with its covenants and agreements hereunder (except for performance or compliance with Section 5.1) or (C) the taking of any action at the written request of or with the prior written consent of Parent; (viii) (A) any decline, in and of itself, in the trading price or trading volume of the Company Common Stock, (B) any failure, in and of itself, by the Company to meet public estimates or forecasts of revenues, earnings or other financial metrics or (C) any failure, in and of itself, to meet any internal or published projections, forecasts, estimates or predictions of revenues, earnings or other financial or operating metrics for any period or (D) any reduction, in and of itself, in the credit rating of the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries (provided, that any event, change, effect, development, state of facts, condition, circumstance and occurrence giving rise to or contributing to such decline, failure or reduction that is not otherwise excluded from the definition of Company Material Adverse Effect may be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred or whether a Company Material Adverse Effect could reasonably be expected to occur); or   87


(ix) any Company Stockholder Litigation; 

provided, however, that any event, change, effect, development, state of facts, condition or occurrence referred to in the foregoing clauses (i)– (vi) may be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred or whether a Company Material Adverse Effect could reasonably be expected to occur, in each case, to the extent that such fact, circumstance, occurrence, effect, development, change or condition has a disproportionate adverse effect on the Company Entities, taken as a whole, relative to the adverse effects thereof on other companies operating in any industry in which the Company Entities operate (provided, that only such disproportionate effect shall be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred or could reasonably be expected to occur).  (Pages 91-92)

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