provided that no events, developments, changes, effects, facts, conditions or occurrences relating to, arising out of or in connection with or resulting from any of the following shall be deemed, either alone or in combination, to constitute or contribute to a Material Adverse Effect: (i) general changes or developments in the economy or the financial, debt, capital, credit or securities markets, or in the regulatory, legislative or political conditions in the United States or elsewhere in the world, including as a result of changes in geopolitical conditions, (ii) general changes or developments in the industries in which the Company or its subsidiaries operate, (iii) the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the public announcement or pendency of the Merger or other transactions contemplated hereby, including any impact thereof on relationships, contractual or otherwise, with customers, lessors, suppliers, vendors, investors, lenders, partners, contractors or employees of the Company and its subsidiaries, or the performance of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, including compliance with the covenants set forth herein and any action taken or omitted to be taken by the Company at the express written request of or with the express written consent of Parent or Merger Sub (provided that this clause (iii) shall not apply to any representation or warranty set forth in Section 4.5 or compliance of the covenants set forth in Section 6.1) , (iv) changes or prospective changes in any applicable Laws or regulations or applicable accounting regulations or principles or interpretation or enforcement thereof, (v) any hurricane, cyclone, tornado, earthquake, flood, tsunami, wildfire, natural disaster, act of God, pandemic, epidemic or other comparable events or outbreak or escalation of hostilities or war (whether or not declared), military actions or any act of sabotage or terrorism, or national or international political or social conditions, (vi) COVID-19 or any Law or directive issued by a Governmental Entity providing for business closures, changes to business operations, “sheltering-in-place” or other restrictions that relate to, or arise out of, an epidemic, pandemic or disease outbreak (including the COVID-19 pandemic) or any change in such Law, directive or interpretation thereof following the date of this Agreement or the Company’s or any of its subsidiaries’ compliance therewith, (vii) any change in the price or trading volume of the Shares or the credit rating of the Company, in each case, in and of itself, (viii) any failure by the Company to meet any published analyst estimates or expectations of the Company’s revenue, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations for any period, in and of itself, or any failure by the Company to meet its internal or published projections, budgets, plans or forecasts of its revenues, earnings or other financial performance or results of operations, in and of itself and (ix) arising out of or relating to the identity of Parent or any of its Affiliates as the acquirer of the Company, including the impact thereof on the relationships, contractual or otherwise, of the Company and its subsidiaries with employees, suppliers, customers, partners, vendors or any other third Person (provided, that, for purposes of clauses (vii) and (viii), the facts, circumstances, events, developments, changes, effects or occurrences giving rise to or contributing to such change may be taken into account in determining whether there has been or will be a Material Adverse Effect to the extent such change or effect is not otherwise excluded from this definition of Material Adverse Effect); except in the cases of clauses (i), (ii), (iv), (v) or (vi), to the extent (and only to the extent) that the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, are disproportionately affected thereby as compared with other participants in the industries in which the Company and its subsidiaries operate (in which case only such incremental disproportionate impact may be taken into account in determining whether there has been a Material Adverse Effect); (Page 84)

Question: Knowledge Definition
Category: Knowledge
Answer: Based on investigation or inquiry