“Material Adverse Effect” means, when used with respect to any Party, any fact, circumstance, effect, change, event or development (“Effect”) that (a) would prevent, materially delay or materially impair the ability of such Party or its Subsidiaries to consummate the Transactions or (b) has, or would have, a material adverse effect on the financial condition, business, or results of operations of such Party and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided, however, that with respect to this clause (b) only, no Effect (by itself or when aggregated or taken together with any and all other Effects) to the extent directly or indirectly 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” has occurred or may, would or could occur:   (i)       general economic conditions (or changes in such conditions) or conditions in the global economy generally;   (ii)      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;   

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  (iii)     conditions (or changes in such conditions) in the oil and gas exploration, development or production industry (including changes in commodity prices, general market prices and regulatory changes affecting the industry);   (iv)     political conditions (or changes in such conditions, including any changes or developments arising from or in connection with the November 3, 2020 United States federal elections) 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 or other natural disasters, pandemics (including the existence and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic) or weather conditions;   (vi)     the announcement of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the Transactions (other than with respect to any representation or warranty that is intended to address the consequences of the execution or delivery of this Agreement or the announcement or consummation of the Transactions);   (vii)    compliance with the terms of, or the taking of any action expressly permitted or required by, this Agreement (except for any obligation under this Agreement to operate in the Ordinary Course (or similar obligation) pursuant to Sections 6.1 or 6.2, as applicable);   (viii)   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), or that result from any action taken for the purpose of complying with any of the foregoing; or   (ix)     any changes in such Party’s stock price or the trading volume of such Party’s stock, or any failure by such Party to meet any analysts’ estimates or expectations of such Party’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, or any failure by such Party 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 changes or failures may constitute, or be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be, a Material Adverse Effect);   provided, however, except to the extent such Effects directly or indirectly resulting from, arising out of, attributable to or related to the matters described in the foregoing clauses (i) – (v) (excluding any Effect arising from, resulting from or related to COVID-19, COVID-19 Measures or the November 3, 2020 United States federal elections) disproportionately adversely affect such Party and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, as compared to other similarly situated industry participants (it being understood and agreed that, for the purposes of determining whether a Party has been disproportionately adversely affected compared to other similarly situated industry participants, the Company shall be compared to independent exploration and production companies primarily focused in the Permian Basin and Parent shall be compared to independent diversified exploration and production companies), in which case only the incremental disproportionate impact shall be taken into account when determining whether a “Material Adverse Effect” has occurred or may, would or could occur.  (Pages 100-101)

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