“Material Adverse Effect” means any Effect that, individually or in the aggregate with all other Effects, (a) has had or could be reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on the business, condition (financial or otherwise), properties, assets, liabilities (contingent or otherwise), business operations or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole or (b) would or could reasonably be expected to prevent, materially delay or materially impair the ability of the Company to consummate the Merger or to perform any of its obligations under this Agreement by the Outside Date; provided, however, in the case of clause (a) no Effect arising out of or resulting from any of the following shall be deemed either alone or in combination to constitute a Material Adverse Effect: (i) changes or conditions generally affecting the industries in   10


which the Company and any of its Subsidiaries operate, (ii) general economic or political conditions (including U.S.-China relations), commodity pricing or securities, credit, financial or other capital markets conditions, in each case in the United States or any foreign jurisdiction in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries operate, (iii) any failure, in and of itself, by the Company to meet any internal or published projections, forecasts, estimates or predictions in respect of revenues, earnings or other financial or operating metrics for any period (it being understood that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such failure may be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been, or is reasonably expected to be, a Material Adverse Effect, to the extent permitted by this definition), (iv) consequences resulting from the execution and delivery of this Agreement and/or the Original Merger Agreement or the public announcement or pendency of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, including the impact thereof on the relationships, contractual or otherwise, of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with employees, labor unions, customers, suppliers, designers, landlords or partners, (v) any change, in and of itself, in the market price or trading volume of the Company’s securities or in its credit ratings (it being understood that the facts or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such change may be deemed to constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been, or is reasonably expected to be, a Material Adverse Effect, to the extent permitted by this definition), (vi) any change in Law applicable to the Company’s business or GAAP (or authoritative interpretation thereof), (vii) geopolitical conditions, the outbreak or escalation of hostilities (including the Hong Kong protests and the “Yellow Vest” movement), any acts of war (whether or not declared), sabotage (including cyberattacks) or terrorism, or any escalation or worsening of any such acts of hostilities, war, sabotage or terrorism threatened or underway from the date of the Original Merger Agreement through to the date of this Agreement, (viii) any hurricane, tornado, flood, earthquake or other natural disaster, (ix) any actions required to be taken or not taken by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (other than the Company’s obligations under the first sentence of Section 7.1(a)) pursuant to this Agreement or the Original Merger Agreement, or, with Parent’s prior written consent (whether granted hereunder or pursuant to the Original Merger Agreement), (x) any Effect described in any of the Company Reports filed prior to the date of this Agreement, any written communication delivered by the Company to Parent pursuant to the Original Merger Agreement or discussed in Parent’s filings with the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware in connection with the Merger Litigation or (xi) any outbreak of a virus, infectious disease, other contagion or public health event (including COVID-19 and any COVID-19 Measures), except, in the case of clauses (i), (ii), (vi), (vii) and (viii) to the extent such Effect has a materially disproportionate adverse effect on the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, relative to others in the industries and geographical regions in which affected businesses of the Company and its Subsidiaries operate in respect of the business conducted in such industries and applicable geographical regions. (Pages 16-17)

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