“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any change, event, violation, effect, occurrence, development, circumstance or other matter (each, an “Effect”) that (x) had, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the business, assets or financial condition of the Company Group, taken as a whole, or (y) could reasonably be expected to prevent, materially impair or materially delay the consummation by the Company of the Merger prior to the Termination Date.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, solely with respect to the preceding clause (x), none of the following, or any Effects related thereto or arising therefrom, shall be deemed in and of themselves (and subject to the limitations expressly set forth below with respect thereto), either alone or in combination, to constitute, and none of the following shall be taken into account in determining whether there is, or could reasonably be expected to have, a Company Material Adverse Effect on the Company Group:   (a)          any change in the economy generally or other general business, financial, political or market conditions, including any suspension of trading in securities generally on any securities exchange or over-the-counter market operated in the United States or any other country or region of the world;   (b)          any changes in conditions in the financial markets, credit markets, capital markets or international trade, including (i) changes in interest rates or credit ratings; (ii) changes in exchange rates for the currencies of any country; or (iii) any suspension of trading in securities (whether equity, debt, derivative or hybrid securities) generally on any securities exchange or over-the-counter market;   (c)          any changes in conditions in the industries (including, for the avoidance of doubt, each of the software and shipping industries) in which the Company Group operates;   (d)          any changes in any regulatory, legislative or political conditions in the United States or any other country or region in the world, including changes to United States Postal Service regulations or commercial programs, in each case after the Agreement Date;   5


(e)          an y act of terrorism, war (whether or not declared), geopolitical conditions, outbreaks of hostilities, cyber-attacks, national or international calamity, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, mudslides, wild fires or other natural disasters, weather conditions or other force majeure events (including epidemics, pandemics or disease outbreaks, including COVID-19, or COVID-19 Measures or any change in COVID-19 Measures or interpretations thereof) anywhere in the world;   (f)          resulting from the execution, announcement or pendency, or the performance, of this Agreement or the Transactions (including the Merger), including any impact thereof on relationships, contractual or otherwise, of the Company Group with, or any actions taken or threatened to be taken by any, employees, suppliers, customers, business partners, vendors or any other third Person (including Governmental Authorities);   (g)          any Legal Proceedings made or brought by any of the current or former stockholders of the Company (on their own behalf or on behalf of the Company) against the Company arising out of the Merger or in connection with the Transactions (including any Transaction Litigation);   (h)          any change or prospective change in GAAP, or any compliance with or action taken for the purpose of complying with, any Law or GAAP (or interpretations of any Law or GAAP, in each case, after the Agreement Date (and including any action taken or not taken as required by any Law, Governmental Authority or otherwise to respond to the impact, presence, outbreak or spread of any pandemic (including COVID-19)));   (i)          any change in the market price or trading volume of the Company’s stock (including the Company Common Stock) (it being understood that any cause of such change may be deemed to constitute, in and of itself, a Company Material Adverse Effect and may be taken into consideration when determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred);   (j)          the failure of the Company to meet internal or analysts’ expectations or projections or the results of operations of the Company for any period (including (i) any public estimates or expectations of the Company’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period; or (ii) any internal budgets, plans, projections or forecasts of its revenues, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations (it being understood that any cause of any such failure may be deemed to constitute, in and of itself, a Company Material Adverse Effect and may be taken into consideration when determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred, except to the extent otherwise excluded in the definition of Company Material Adverse Effect));   (k)          any action taken (or refrained from being taken) by the Company at the express direction of (including if requested or approved in writing by) Parent or any action expressly required to be taken by Parent, Merger Sub or the Company pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, or the failure of the Company to take any action that the Company is prohibited by the terms of this Agreement from taking to the extent Parent fails to give its consent to such action after a written request therefor pursuant to Section 5.2 (including, for the avoidance of doubt, with respect to any of the matters set forth on Section 5.2(k) of the Company Disclosure Letter);   6


(l)          the identity of, or any facts or circumstances relating to, Parent, Merger Sub, or the respective Affiliates of the foregoing, the respective financing sources of or investors in the foregoing; or   (m)          the availability or cost of equity, debt or other financing (including the Debt Financing or any Alternate Debt Financing) to Parent or Merger Sub;   except, in each case of the preceding clauses (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (h), to the extent that such Effect has had a disproportionate adverse effect on the Company relative to other companies operating in the industries in which the Company Group conducts business, in which case only the incremental disproportionate adverse impact may be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred. (Pages 9-11)

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