Exhibit 2.4
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (the
"Agreement") is made
and
entered into this 13th day of September,
2005 by and between
BayCorp Holdings, Ltd., a Delaware corporation (the
"Company"), and Anthony M. Callendrello
("Executive"), to be
effective as of the Effective Date, as
defined in Section 1.
BACKGROUND
The Company is being acquired by Sloan Group
Ltd. and
its wholly owned subsidiary, Sloan Acquisition Corp.
Following the acquisition, the Company desires
to employ
Executive as Chief Operating Officer of the
Company, or such
other executive position of comparable
status
and
responsibilities as the Board of Directors
of the Company
shall assign from time to time, from and
after the Effective
Date, in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement.
In
addition, the Company desires to have the
Executive serve as
a member of its Board of Directors.
Executive is willing to
serve as Chief Operating Officer in accordance
with the
terms and conditions of this Agreement and
as a member of
the Board of Directors.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the
foregoing and of
the mutual covenants and agreements set forth
herein, and
other good and valuable consideration,
the receipt and
sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged,
the parties
hereto agree as follows:
1. Effective Date. The effective date of this
Agreement (the "Effective Date") shall be
the effective date
of, and contingent upon, the merger
between the Company and
Sloan Acquisition Corp. (the "Merger").
2. Employment. Executive is hereby
employed on the
Effective Date as Chief Operating Officer
of the Company, or
such other executive position of comparable
status
and
responsibilities as the Board of Directors
of the Company
shall assign from time to time, and
Executive shall have the
duties, responsibilities, and authority as
shall be assigned
to him from time to time by the Board of
Directors of the
Company or its designee. Executive will report to the
Board
of Directors of the Company.
The Executive will
also serve
as a member of the Board of Directors of
the Company so long
as Executive remains the Chief Operating
Officer of the
Company.
3. Employment Period. Unless earlier terminated in
accordance with Section 7 hereof, Executive's initial
employment shall be for a one-year term beginning
on the
Effective Date and ending on the
corresponding date of
the
following calendar year (the "Initial
Term"). Following
the
Initial Term, this Agreement and Executive's employment
hereunder will automatically be extended
for additional one-
year periods (each such period being referred to as a
"Renewal Term") on the terms and conditions set forth
herein, without further action by
Executive or the Company.
This process of automatic renewal shall
continue from year
to year unless and until either the
Executive or the Company
gives written notice to the other, at least
ninety (90) days
prior to the end of the Renewal Term then
in effect, that
the Term of the Agreement shall not be
extended, in which
case the Executive's employment will
terminate on the
last
day of the Renewal Term in which the
notice is given.
The
Initial Term and any Renewal Terms are referred to
collectively herein as the "Term".
4. Extent of Service. During the Term, Executive
agrees to employment with the Company on a
full-time basis
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devoting all of his business time, attention,
skill, and
efforts exclusively to the faithful performance of his
duties hereunder, excluding any periods of vacation,
holiday, sick leave, and Company-approved
leave of absence
to which Executive is entitled in
accordance with
Company
policies. It shall not be a violation of
this Agreement for
Executive to (i) devote reasonable time to charitable,
religious or community activities, (ii)
serve on corporate,
civic, educational, or charitable boards or committees,
subject to the Company's standards of
business conduct
or
other code of ethics, (iii) deliver lectures
or fulfill
speaking engagements from time to time on an infrequent
basis, and/or (iv) manage personal business
interests and
investments, subject to the Company's
standards of
business
conduct or other code of ethics, and so long as such
activities do not interfere in a material
manner or on a
routine basis with the performance of Executive's
responsibilities under this Agreement.
5. Compensation and Benefits.
(a) Base Salary.
During the Term, the
Company will
pay to Executive a base salary at the
rate of $One Hundred
Forty Thousand US Dollars (U.S.
$140,000) per year
("Base
Salary"), less normal withholdings, payable
in approximately
equal bi-weekly or other installments as are or become
customary under the Company's payroll practices for its
employees from time to time. The compensation committee
of
the Board of Directors of the Company (or
the full Board
excluding Executive, if there is no
compensation committee)
shall review, outside the presence of
Executive, Executive's
Base Salary annually and may increase
(but not decrease
except as provided in Section 7(d)(1)) Executive's Base
Salary from year to year, based upon its good faith
evaluation of Executive's performance, the
Company's results
of operations, changes in general economic
conditions and
other relevant factors. Such adjusted salary then shall
become Executive's Base Salary for purposes of this
Agreement.
(b) Incentive,
Savings, and Retirement Plans.
During the Term, Executive shall be
entitled to participate
in all incentive, savings, and
retirement plans, practices,
policies, and programs available to senior executive
officers of the Company ("Peer
Executives"), if there
are
any, and on the same basis as such Peer
Executives.
Without
limiting the foregoing, Executive may be
entitled to receive
discretionary cash bonuses as determined
from time to
time
by the compensation committee of the
Board of Directors
of
the Company (or the full Board excluding
Executive, if there
is no compensation committee) outside the presence of
Executive.
(c) Welfare Benefit Plans. During the Term,
Executive and Executive's eligible dependents shall be
eligible for participation in, and shall receive all
benefits under, the welfare benefit plans, practices,
policies, and programs provided by the
Company
(including,
without limitation, medical, prescription drug, dental,
disability, employee life, dependent life,
accidental death,
and travel accident insurance plans
and programs) ("Welfare
Plans") to the extent available to other Peer
Executives.
Without limiting the foregoing, the
following shall apply:
(i) The Company will
provide the Executive with
a term life insurance policy (the "Life
Insurance Policy")
in the amount of $500,000 U.S.
Dollars consistent with past
Company practices and subject to the
Executive's
continued
eligibility for coverage at reasonable
rates. The
Executive
shall select the beneficiaries under the
Life Insurance
Policy, and ownership of the Life Insurance
Policy shall be
vested in the Executive. Coverage shall begin no later
than
the Effective Date and continue for the Term of this
Agreement. If the Executive's employment is
terminated and
the Company is no longer obligated
under this Agreement
to
maintain the Life Insurance Policy, the
Executive shall have
the option to continue the Life Insurance Policy
at the
Executive's expense.
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(ii)
The Company will
provide the Executive
with a long-term disability policy ("the
Disability Policy")
that will provide monthly benefits of no
less than $2,500
U.S. Dollars per month. Coverage shall begin no later
than
the Effective Date and continue for the Term of this
Agreement. If the Executive's employment is
terminated and
the Company is no longer obligated
under this Agreement
to
maintain the Disability Policy, the
Executive shall have the
option to continue the Disability Policy
at the Executive's
expense.
(d) Expenses.
Executive
shall be entitled to
receive prompt reimbursement for all reasonable expenses
incurred by Executive during the Term
in the course of
performing his duties and responsibilities under this
Agreement, in accordance with the policies,
practices, and
procedures of the Company.
(e) Fringe
Benefits. During the Term, Executive
shall be entitled to fringe benefits in
accordance with
the
plans, practices, programs, and policies
of the Company
available to other Peer Executives.
(f) Vacation.
During the Term,
Executive will
be
entitled to paid vacation time not to exceed
20 business
days per year.
6. Change of Control. For the purposes of this
Agreement, a "Change of Control" shall mean
the occurrence
of any of the following events:
(a) any person
is or becomes a "beneficial owner"
(as defined
in Rule 13d-3 under the Securities
Exchange Act
of 1934 (the "Exchange Act")),
directly or indirectly, of either (i) a majority of
the then-outstanding
shares of common stock of the
Company ("Company
Common Stock") or (ii) securities
of the Company representing a majority of the
combined voting
power of the Company's then
outstanding securities
eligible to
vote for the
election of
directors
(the
"Company
Voting
Securities"); provided, however, that for purposes
of this paragraph (a), the following
acquisitions
of Company
Common
Stock
or Company Voting
Securities shall
not constitute a Change of
Control: (A) an
acquisition by the Company or any
entity that, directly
or indirectly through one or
more intermediaries,
controls, is controlled by, or
is under
common control with the Company (a
"Company Affiliate"),
(B) an acquisition by any
employee benefit plan
(or related trust)
sponsored
or maintained
by the Company or a Company
Affiliate, (C)
an acquisition by Executive or
another Company
officer or group of Company
officers, or (D) an acquisition pursuant to a Non-
Qualifying Transaction (as defined in paragraph (b)
below); or
(b) the
consummation
of a recapitalization,
reorganization,
merger, consolidation,
statutory
share exchange,
or similar form of transaction
involving the
Company or a subsidiary of the
Company (a
"Reorganization"), or the sale or other
disposition of
all or substantially all of the
Company's assets (a
"Sale") or the
acquisition of
assets or
stock
of another entity (an
"Acquisition"); provided,
however, such
Reorganization, Sale,
or Acquisition shall be
deemed to be a "Non-Qualifying Transaction" if
immediately following such Reorganization, Sale, or
Acquisition the
individuals and entities who were
the beneficial
owners of the
outstanding
Company
Common Stock
and outstanding Company Voting
Securities immediately
prior to such
Reorganization, Sale,
or Acquisition
beneficially
own, directly
or indirectly, more than 50% of,
respectively, the then outstanding shares of common
stock and the combined voting power
of the then
outstanding voting
securities
entitled to vote
generally in the election of directors, as the case
may be, of the entity resulting from or surviving
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such
Reorganization,
Sale, or
Acquisition
(including, without limitation, an entity which as
a result of such transaction owns the
Company or
all or substantially all of the Company's assets or
stock either
directly or through one or more
subsidiary entities, the "Surviving Entity"); or
(c) approval by the
shareholders of the Company of
a complete
liquidation
or dissolution of the
Company.
7. Termination of Employment.
(a) Death.
Executive's employment
shall terminate
automatically upon Executive's death during
the Term.
(b) Disability.
If the Company
determines in good
faith that the Disability (as defined below)
of Executive
has occurred during the Term, it may give to Executive
written notice of its intention to terminate
Executive's
employment. In such event, Executive's
employment with
the
Company shall terminate effective on the
30th day after
receipt of such written notice by Executive
(the "Disability
Effective Date"), provided that, within the
30 days after
such receipt, Executive shall not have
returned to full-time
performance of Executive's duties. For purposes of this
Agreement, "Disability" shall have the same meaning as
provided in the long-term disability plan or policy
maintained by the Company and covering
Executive. If
no
such long-term disability plan or policy is maintained,
"Disability" shall mean the inability of Executive, as
determined by the Board, to perform the
essential
functions
of his regular duties and
responsibilities, with or without
reasonable accommodation, due to a
medically determinable
physical or mental illness which has lasted (or can
reasonably be expected to last) for a period of six
consecutive months. At the request of
Executive or his
personal representative, the Board's
determination that
the
Disability of Executive has occurred shall be
certified a
physician mutually agreed upon by
Executive, or his personal
representative, and the Company. Failing such independent
certification (if so requested by Executive),
Executive's
termination shall be deemed a termination
by the Company
without Cause and not a termination by reason of his
Disability.
(c) Termination
by the Company.
The Company may
terminate Executive's employment during the
Term with or
without Cause. For purposes of this Agreement, "Cause"
shall mean:
(i) failure or
refusal by Executive to perform
substantially Executive's duties with
the Company (other
than any such failure resulting from
incapacity
due to
physical or mental illness, or following Executive's
delivery of notice of termination for Good Reason, and
specifically excluding any failure by Executive, after
reasonable efforts, to meet performance
expectations) or
to
obey a lawful directive from the Board
consistent with
the
Executive's duties and responsibilities,
after a written
demand for substantial performance is
delivered to Executive
by the Board which identifies the
manner in which the Board
believes that Executive has not substantially performed
Executive's duties or has failed or refused
to obey a lawful
directive, or
(ii) engaging by
Executive in illegal
conduct,
intentional misconduct, or gross misconduct
which the Board
(excluding Executive) in its reasonable
judgment determines
is likely to be injurious to the Company or
its reputation
or to subject the Company to liability for
damages, or
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(iii) conviction
of Executive (or
a plea of
guilty or nolo contendere by Executive to)
a felony or other
crime involving moral turpitude.
The cessation of employment of
Executive shall
not be
deemed to be for Cause unless and until
there shall
have
been delivered to Executive a copy of a resolution duly
adopted by the affirmative vote of not
less than a majority
of the entire membership of the Board of the Company
(excluding Executive, if Executive is a member of the
Board), finding that, in the good faith
opinion of such
Board, Executive is guilty of the conduct described in
subparagraph (i), (ii), or (iii) above, and
specifying the
particulars thereof in detail. Such finding shall be
effective to terminate Executive's
employment for Cause only
if Executive was provided reasonable
notice of the proposed
action and was given an opportunity,
together with counsel,
to be heard by the Board.
(d) Termination
by Executive.
During
the Term,
Executive's employment may be terminated by
Executive for
Good Reason or no reason. For purposes of this Agreement,
unless written consent of Executive is obtained, "Good
Reason" shall mean:
(i) a
reduction by the
Company in
Executive's
Base Salary; provided however, the Company may, on one
occasion, reduce Executive's Base Salary by
an amount not to
exceed 15% of the Base Salary then in effect
without such
reduction constituting "Good Reason" under
this Agreement.
Such reduced salary then shall become Executive's Base
Salary for purposes of this Agreement,
provided that
the
Company shall annually review the
continuing necessity
for
such reduction and will restore such
amounts to Executive's
Base Salary when the Board, in its business judgment,
determines it is prudent to do so;
(ii) any failure
by the Company to comply with
and satisfy 14(c) of this Agreement;
(iii) a material reduction by the Company of
Executive's duties, responsibilities or
authority that
is
inconsistent with Executive's position as
Chief Operating
Officer; or
(iv) a breach of this Agreement by the
Company
which is not cured in accordance
herewith.
Good Reason shall not include Executive's death or
Disability; provided that Executive's
mental or physical
incapacity following the occurrence of an
event described in
clause (i) - ( iv) above shall not affect Executive's
ability to terminate for Good Reason.
In the event that
"Cause" exists under this Agreement and the
Company acts to
terminate Executive's employment for Cause,
Executive shall
not be entitled to exercise a termination
for Good Reason or
to receive payments or benefits pursuant to
Section 8 of
this Agreement for termination for Good
Reason. Except
as
provided in Section 8(b)(1), Executive's continued
employment shall not constitute consent to,
or a waiver
of
rights with respect to, any circumstance
constituting Good
Reason hereunder. Any claim of "Good Reason"
under this
Agreement shall be communicated by
Executive to the
Company
in writing within 10 business days of
his knowledge of
its
occurrence, which writing shall specifically
identify the
factual details concerning all events giving rise to
Executive's claim of Good Reason under this
Section 7(d).
No general description of unspecified events shall
constitute proper notice of Good Reason or
termination for
Good Reason. The Company shall have an
opportunity to cure
any claimed event of Good Reason
described in clause (i) -
(iv) above within 30 days of such notice
from Executive.
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(e) Notice of
Termination. Any
termination by the
Company for Cause, or by Executive for Good
Reason, shall be
communicated by Notice of Termination to the
other party
hereto given in accordance with Section 15(f) of this
Agreement. For purposes of this
Agreement, a
"Notice of
Termination" means a written notice which
(i) indicates the
specific termination provision in this Agreement relied
upon, (ii) to the extent applicable,
sets forth the
facts
and circumstances claimed to provide a
basis for termination
of Executive's employment under the
provision so indicated,
and (iii) specifies the termination date.
The failure
by
Executive or the Company to set forth in
the Notice of
Termination any fact or circumstance which
contributes to a
showing of Good Reason or Cause shall not
waive any right of
Executive or the Company, respectively, hereunder or
preclude Executive or the Company, respectively, from
asserting such fact or circumstance in
enforcing Executive's
or the Company's rights hereunder.
(f) Date of Termination. "Date of Termination"
means (i) if Executive's employment is
terminated by
the
Company for Cause, or by Executive for Good
Reason, the date
of receipt of the Notice of
Termination or a date within 15
days after receipt of the Notice of Termination, as
specified in such notice, (ii) if
Executive's employment
is
terminated by the Company other than for Cause or
Disability, the Date of Termination shall be
the date of
receipt of the Notice of Termination or a
date within
45
days after receipt of the Notice of Termination, as
specified in such notice, (iii) if
Executive's employment is
terminated by reason of death or Disability,
the Date of
Termination shall be the date of death of
Executive or
the
Disability Effective Date, as the case may
be, and (iv)
if
Executive's employment is terminated by
Executive without
Good Reason, the Date of Termination shall be 30 days
following the Company's receipt of the Notice of
Termination, unless the Company specifies
an earlier Date of
Termination.
8. Obligations of the Company upon
Termination.
(a) Benefits
Payable on All Terminations of
Employment. The following benefits ("Standard Benefits")
shall be payable to the Executive, his
estate or his
legal
representative (as the case may be) upon
any termination of
employment, whenever and however
occurring:
(i) in a single lump sum, within thirty
(30)
days after the Date of Termination, cash
payment in the sum
of the following amounts, to the
extent not previously paid
to Executive (the "Accrued Obligations"): (1)
Executive's
Base Salary through the Date of
Termination, and (2) unless
Executive has a later payout date that is required in
connection with the terms of a deferral plan
or agreement,
any vested compensation previously deferred
by Executive
(together with any amount equivalent to
accrued interest
or
earnings thereon); and
(ii) to the extent not theretofore paid or
provided, the Company shall timely pay or provide to
Executive any other amounts or benefits
accrued for the
benefit of Executive under any plan, program,
policy, or
practice of the Company prior to the Date
of Termination
(such other amounts and benefits shall be hereinafter
referred to as the "Other Benefits").
With respect
to the
provision of Other Benefits, the term Other
Benefits as used
in this paragraph shall include, without
limitation,
and
Executive or his estate, beneficiaries, or legal
representatives, as applicable, shall be entitled to
receive, benefits under such plans,
programs, practices, and
policies relating to death, disability, or retirement
benefits, if any, as are applicable to
Executive or his
family on the Date of Termination; and
(iii) if
Executive's
employment
shall be
terminated for Cause, or if Executive
voluntarily terminates
employment without Good Reason or decides
not to extend the
Term of this Agreement as contemplated in
Section 3, this
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Agreement shall terminate without further
obligations
to
Executive, other than for payment of
Accrued Obligations and
Other Benefits as provided in this
Section.
(b)
Additional
Termination
Benefits.
Upon
occurrence of any Additional Benefit Event
(as defined
in
paragraph (c) below), and in addition to the Standard
Benefits, the Executive shall also be entitled to the
following:
(i) in consideration of Executive's
execution
of a Release and Agreement Not to Sue
in substantially
the
form of Exhibit A hereto as such form may
be amended to
comply with applicable law at the time of
execution of such
Release and Agreement Not to Sue (the
"Release"),
payments
to Executive over a 12-month period
following the Date
of
Termination equal to the annual Base Salary
at the Date
of
Termination, payable in approximately
equal bi-weekly or
other installments as are or become customary under the
Company's payroll practices for its
employees from time
to
time; and
(ii) the Company
shall, at its expense, provide
for a 12-month period: (1) medical and dental benefits
substantially similar in the aggregate to
those provided to
the Executive and the Executive's dependents
immediately
prior to the Date of Termination, and (2)
continued coverage
for the Executive under the Life Insurance
Policy and the
Disability Policy; provided, however, that the Company
obligations with respect to the foregoing
benefits shall be
reduced to the extent that the Executive
or the Executive's
dependents obtain any such benefits
pursuant to a subsequent
employer's benefit plan.
(c) Additional
Benefit Events. The Additional
Benefit Events are:
(i) termination
by the Company of the
Executive's employment within thirty-six
(36) months of the
Effective Date, without Cause (but
excluding termination
on
death or for Disability);
(ii) the
Executive's
termination
of his
employment within thirty-six (36) months of
the Effective
Date, for Good Reason;
(iii) the Company's exercise of its
right to
terminate further renewal of Executive's
employment pursuant
to Section 3, which results in the Term of
this Agreement
being less than thirty-six (36) months;
(iv) the occurrence of any event described
in
paragraphs (i)-(ii) at any time within twelve
(12) months
following a Change of Control; or
(v) the
occurrence of any
event described in
paragraphs (i)-(iii) following a Change of
Control but prior
to the third anniversary of the Effective
Date.
For purposes
of paragraphs (i) and (ii), an
Additional Benefit Event will be deemed
to have occurred
when the underlying event giving rise to the right of
termination occurred, without regard to when Notice of
Termination was delivered or the date on which
it became
effective. For purposes of paragraph (iii),
if Executive's
employment is terminated by the Company
without Cause
prior
to the occurrence of a Change of Control
and if it can
reasonably be shown that Executive's
termination (1) was
at
the direction or request of a third party that
had taken
steps reasonably calculated to effect a
Change of Control
after such termination, or (2) otherwise occurred in
anticipation of a Change of Control, and in
either case
a
Change of Control as defined hereunder
does, in fact, occur,
then Executive shall have the rights
described in Section
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8(b) as if the Change of Control had
occurred on the
date
immediately preceding the Date of
Termination.
(d)
Resignations.
Termination of
Executive's
employment for any reason whatsoever shall constitute
Executive's resignation from the Board of
Directors of
the
Company and resignation as an officer of the
Company, its
subsidiaries, and affiliates.
9. Non-exclusivity
of Rights. Nothing in this
Agreement shall prevent or limit Executive's
continuing or
future participation in any employee
benefit plan, program,
policy, or practice provided by the
Company and for
which
Executive may qualify, except as specifically provided
herein. Amounts which are vested benefits or which
Executive is otherwise entitled to receive under any
employee benefit plan, policy, practice, or
program of
the
Company, its subsidiaries or any of its
affiliated companies
at or subsequent to the Date of Termination
shall be payable
in accordance with such plan, policy,
practice, or
program
except as explicitly modified by this
Agreement.
10. No Obligation to Mitigate. In no event shall
Executive be obligated to seek other
employment or take
any
other action by way of mitigation of the
amounts payable to
Executive under any of the provisions of
this Agreement and,
except as explicitly provided herein, such
amounts shall not
be reduced whether or not Executive obtains other
employment.
11. Representations and Warranties. Executive hereby
represents and warrants to the Company that
Executive is not
a party to, or otherwise subject to, any
covenant not
to
compe