Exhibit 10.(r)
EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered
into as of this 1st day of June, 1999, by and between BLOUNT, INC.,
a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and Cyrille
Benoit Michel (“Executive”).
W I T N E S
S E T H:
WHEREAS, the Company and Executive
desire to enter into an agreement providing for Executive’s
employment by the Company and specifying the terms and conditions
of such employment; and
WHEREAS, the Company entered into an
Agreement and Plan of Merger and Recapitalization (the
“Recapitalization Agreement”) dated April 18, 1999
with Red Dog Acquisition, Corp. (“Newco”), a wholly
owned subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners II
L.P. (“LB MBP II”); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the
Recapitalization Agreement, the Company will be recapitalized
through a merger with and into Newco, following which substantially
all of the outstanding capital stock of the Company will be held by
LB MBP II; and
WHEREAS, the Company desires to
modify any prior employment agreement and restate such agreement in
a single document as hereinafter provided; and
WHEREAS, Executive desires to
continue his employment with the Company on the terms and
conditions provided herein;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the premises and the mutual covenants and agreements contained
herein, the parties hereby agree as follows:
1.
Employment and
Term .
(a)
Subject to the
terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Company hereby employs
Executive, and Executive hereby accepts employment, as Vice
President,
Marketing of the OCSD of the
Company and shall have such responsibilities, duties and authority
as may from time to time be assigned to Executive by the Group
President (or his designee), which responsibilities, duties and
authority may be altered from time to time. Executive hereby agrees
that during the Term of this Agreement he will devote substantially
all his working time, attention and energies to the diligent
performance of his duties for the Company. With the consent
of the Group President (or his designee), the Executive may serve
as a director on the board of directors or trustees of an
additional company or educational organization.
(b)
Unless earlier
terminated as provided herein, Executive’s employment under
this Agreement shall be for a rolling, two-year term (the
“Term”) commencing on the Effective Time (as defined in
the Recapitalization Agreement), and shall be deemed to extend
automatically, without further action by either the Company or
Executive, each day for an additional day, such that the remaining
term of the Agreement shall continue to be two years; provided,
however, that either party may, by written notice to the other,
cause this Agreement to cease to extend automatically and, upon
such notice, the “Term” of this Agreement shall be the
two years following the date of such notice and this Agreement
shall terminate upon the expiration of such Term.
(c)
The purpose of
this Agreement is to amend any prior employment agreement and to
provide a single, integrated document which shall provide the basis
for Executive’s continued employment by the Company.
This Agreement supersedes any prior employment agreement in its
entirety and any rights under any prior employment agreement are
terminated on the Effective Time, This Agreement shall not be
effective until the Effective Time,
and this Agreement shall
terminate immediately if the Recapitalization Agreement is
terminated in accordance with its terms prior to the Effective
Time.
2.
Compensation
and Benefits . As compensation for
Executive’s services during the initial Term of this
Agreement, Executive shall be paid and receive the compensation and
benefits set forth in subsections (a) through
(e) below:
(a)
An annual base
salary (“Base Salary”) of One Hundred Thirty-Eight
Thousand and 00/00 Dollars ($138,000.00), prorated for any partial
year of employment. Executive’s Base Salary shall be subject
to annual review at such time as the Company conducts salary
reviews for its executives generally. Executive’s Base
Salary shall be payable in substantially equal installments on a
semi-monthly basis, or in accordance with the Company’s
regular payroll practices in effect from time to time for
executives of the Company.
(b)
Executive shall
be eligible to participate in the Target Incentive Plan and such
other annual incentive plans as may be established by the Company
from time to time for individuals at Executive’s level.
The Company will establish individual and financial performance
goals each year under the incentive plans, and Executive’s
annual Target Bonus shall be 40% of Base Salary; the maximum award
for exceeding the performance goals (which will be determined in
accordance with the current plan design) shall be 80% of Base
Salary. The annual incentive bonus payable under this
subsection (b) shall be payable as a lump sum at the same time
bonuses are paid to other executives, unless Executive elects to
defer all or a portion of such bonus pursuant to any deferral plan
established by the Company for such purpose.
(c)
The Company will
grant Executive 7,000 options to purchase shares of the
Company’s Common Stock that will vest over time (“Time
Options”) and the Company will grant Executive
performance-based options for 7,000 shares of the Company’s
Common Stock
(“Performance
Options”) (the Time Options and the Performance Options are
collectively referred to herein as “Options”).
The terms and conditions of the Time Options and the Performance
Options shall be as set forth in the separate Option Agreements
with Executive covering the grant of such Options. Executive
will be eligible to participate in such other stock option programs
as may be established from time to time by the Company for its
executives.
The other terms and conditions
applicable to the Options and any equity purchased by Executive in
the Company on or after the Effective Time (“Purchased
Equity”), including put and call rights, shall be as provided
in the Employee Shareholders Agreement, the terms and conditions of
which are described on Schedule A, and to which Executive agrees to
be bound.
(d)
Executive shall
be entitled to participate in, or receive benefits under, any
“employee benefit plan” (as defined in
Section 3(3) of ERISA) or employee benefit arrangement
made generally available by the Company to its executives,
including plans providing retirement, 401(k) benefits, health
care, life insurance, disability and similar benefits.
(e)
Executive is
eligible for vacation in accordance with the Company’s
standard vacation policy. Executive will be provided a
vehicle in accordance with the Company’s automobile
policy. Executive will be provided an annual physical
examination. Executive will be promptly reimbursed by the Company
for all reasonable business expenses Executive incurs and properly
reports in carrying out Executive’s duties and
responsibilities under this Agreement.
3.
Termination
.
3.1
By
Company . The Company shall
have the right to terminate Executive’s employment under this
Agreement at any time during the Term by Notice of Termination
(as
described in
Section 6). If the Company terminates Executive’s
employment under this Agreement (i) for Cause, as defined in
Section 5.2, (ii) if Executive becomes Disabled, or
(iii) upon Executive’s death, the Company’s
obligations under this Agreement shall cease as of the date of
termination; provided, however, that Executive will be entitled to
whatever benefits are payable to Executive pursuant to the terms of
any health, life insurance, disability, welfare, retirement or
other plan or program maintained by the Company in which Executive
participates. If the Company terminates Executive during the Term
of this Agreement other than pursuant to clauses (i) through
(iii) of this Section 3.1, Executive shall be entitled to
receive the compensation and benefits provided in subsections
(a) through (c) below. Unless specified otherwise,
the time periods in subsections (a) through (c) below
shall be the 12-month period commencing on the date of
Executive’s termination of employment (“Severance
Period”). Except as otherwise provided herein, the Company
agrees that if Executive terminates employment and is entitled to
compensation and benefits under this Section 3.1, he shall not
be required to mitigate damages by seeking other employment, nor
shall any amount he earns reduce the amount payable by the Company
hereunder. Executive agrees that the compensation and
benefits provided pursuant to Sections 3.1 and 3.2 shall be the
only severance benefits payable to Executive by the Company and its
affiliates as a result of Executive’s termination of
employment and Executive hereby waives his rights (if any) to any
severance benefits under any other plan or program of the Company
and its affiliates. The compensation and benefits payable or
to be provided under subsections (a) through (c) below
shall cease in the event of Executive’s death after
termination of employment.
(a)
Base
Salary - Executive will continue to
receive his Base Salary as then in effect (subject to withholding
of all applicable taxes) for the Severance Period in the same
manner as it was being paid as of the date of
termination.
(b)
Bonuses and
Incentives - Executive shall receive
bonus payments from the Company for each month of the Severance
Period in an amount for each such month equal to one-twelfth of the
average of the bonuses earned by him for the two fiscal years in
which bonuses were paid immediately preceding the year in which
such termination occurs. Any bonus amounts that Executive had
previously earned from the Company but which may not yet have been
paid as of the date of termination shall be payable on the date
such amounts are payable to other executives and Executive’s
termination shall not affect the payment of such bonus. Executive
shall also receive a prorated bonus for any uncompleted fiscal year
at the date of termination (assuming the Target Award level has
been achieved), based upon the number of days that he was employed
during such fiscal year.
(c)
Health and
Life Insurance Coverage - The health care and group
term life insurance benefits coverage provided to Executive at his
date of termination shall be continued for the Severance Period at
the same level and in the same manner as then provided to actively
employed executive participants as if his employment under this
Agreement had not terminated. Any additional coverages Executive
had at termination, including dependent coverage, will also be
continued for such period on the same terms, to the extent
permitted by the applicable policies or contracts. Any costs
Executive was paying for such coverages at the time of termination
shall be withheld from the amounts payable under subsection
(a) above, or be paid by Executive by separate check payable
to the Company each month in advance. If the terms of any
benefit plan referred to in this Section, or the laws applicable to
such plan, do not permit continued
participation by Executive,
then the Company will arrange for other coverage at its expense
providing substantially similar benefits (including the same
deductible and co-payment levels provided under the Company’s
policy). The benefits provided in this subsection
(c) shall cease if Executive obtains other employment and, as
a result of such other employment, health care and life insurance
benefits are available to Executive.
(d)
Lump Sum
Payment . While the Company
intends to pay such amounts on a monthly basis, the Company may, in
its sole discretion, decide that the salary payments provided for
under subsection (a) and/or the bonus payments provided for
under subsection (b) shall be paid in a single lump sum
payment, to be paid not later than 180 days after Executive’s
termination of employment; provided , further , that
the amount of any such lump sum payment shall be determined by
taking the salary or bonus payments to be made and discounting them
to their Present Value (as defined in Section 5.8) on the date
the payment to Executive is made. The lump sum payment under
this subsection (d) shall not alter the amounts Executive is
entitled to receive under the benefit plans described in subsection
(c). Benefits under such plans shall be determined as if
Executive had received such payments over the Severance
Period.
(e)
Stock
Options . As of
Executive’s date of termination, the vesting and
exercisability of all outstanding Time Options and Performance
Options held by Executive, (and any other outstanding stock options
granted to Executive by the Company) shall be determined in
accordance with the stock option agreements for such
options.
3.2
By
Executive . Executive shall have
the right to terminate his employment hereunder at any time by
Notice of Termination (as described in Section 6). If
Executive terminates his employment other than for Good Reason, the
Company’s obligations under this Agreement shall cease as of
the date of such termination. If Executive terminates
his
employment for Good Reason
(as defined in Section 5.6), Executive shall be entitled to
receive the compensation and benefits set forth in subsections
(a) through (e) of Section 3.1 for the Severance
Period, including the nonmitigation and other provisions of such
section.
3.3
Release of
Claims . To be entitled to any
of the compensation and benefits described above in this
Section 3, Executive s
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