Exhibit 10.3
CONSTELLATION ENERGY GROUP,
INC.
INVESTOR RIGHTS
AGREEMENT
SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Page
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1.
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Registration
Rights. The Company covenants and agrees as follows:
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1
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1.1.
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Definitions
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1
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1.2.
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Request for
Registration.
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2
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1.3.
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Company
Registration
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4
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1.4.
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Obligations of
the Company
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4
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1.5.
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Furnish
Information.
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6
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1.6.
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Expenses of
Demand Registration
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6
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1.7.
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Expenses of
Company Registration
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6
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1.8.
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Underwriting
Requirements
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6
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1.9.
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Indemnification.
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7
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1.10.
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Reports Under
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
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9
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1.11.
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Form S-3
Registration.
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10
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1.12.
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Assignment of
Registration Rights
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11
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1.13.
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Termination of
Registration Rights
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12
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2.
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Corporate
Governance
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12
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2.1.
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Preferred
Director.
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12
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2.2.
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Board
Observer.
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13
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3.
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Covenants of
the Company.
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14
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3.1.
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Delivery of
Financial Statements
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14
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3.2.
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Inspection
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14
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4.
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Miscellaneous.
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14
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4.1.
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Successors and
Assigns
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14
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4.2.
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Governing
Law
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15
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4.3.
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Counterparts
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15
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4.4.
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Titles and
Subtitles
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15
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4.5.
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Notices
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15
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4.6.
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Expenses
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15
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4.7.
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Amendments and
Waivers
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15
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4.8.
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Severability
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15
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4.9.
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Aggregation of
Stock
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15
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(i)
INVESTOR RIGHTS
AGREEMENT
THIS INVESTOR RIGHTS
AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is made as of the
19 th day of September 2008, by and
between Constellation Energy Group, Inc., a Maryland corporation
(the “Company”) and Mid American Energy Holdings, Inc.,
an Iowa corporation (the “Investor”).
RECITALS
WHEREAS, the Investor has, pursuant
to that certain Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement
dated as of the date hereof (the “Securities Purchase
Agreement”) between the Company and the Investor, agreed to
purchase shares of the Company’s Series A Convertible
Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the
“Series A Preferred Stock”);
WHEREAS, the shares of Series A
Preferred Stock are convertible into shares of the Company’s
Common Stock, without par value (the “Common
Stock”);
WHEREAS, in order to induce the
Investor to invest funds in the Company, the Company agreed to
grant the Investor certain registration rights and other rights as
set forth herein;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the promises, covenants, and conditions set forth herein, the
parties hereto hereby agree as follows:
1. Registration Rights . The
Company covenants and agrees as follows:
1.1. Definitions . For
purposes of this Agreement:
(a) The term “Act” means
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
(b) The term “Affiliate”
means, with respect to any Person, any other Person directly or
indirectly controlling, controlled by or under direct or indirect
common control with such Person. For the purposes of this
definition, “control” when used with respect to any
specified Person shall mean the power to direct the management and
policies of such Person, directly or indirectly, whether through
ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise; and the
terms “controlled by” and “controlled” have
meanings correlative to the foregoing.
(c) The term “Form S-3”
means such form under the Act as in effect on the date hereof or
any registration form under the Act subsequently adopted by the SEC
that permits inclusion or incorporation of substantial information
by reference to other documents filed by the Company with the
SEC.
(d) The term “Holder”
means any person owning Registrable Securities or any assignee
thereof in accordance with Section 1.13 hereof.
(e) The term “1934 Act”
shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.
(f) The term “register,”
“registered,” and “registration” refer to a
registration effected by preparing and filing a registration
statement or similar document in compliance with the Act, and the
declaration or ordering of effectiveness of such registration
statement or document.
(g) The term “Registrable
Securities” means (i) the Series A Preferred Stock,
(ii) the Common Stock issuable or issued upon conversion of
the Series A Preferred Stock, (iii) the 14% Senior Notes
(as defined in the Securities Purchase Agreement) issued or
issuable upon conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock,
(iv) any other shares of Common Stock acquired by the Investor
and (v) any Common Stock issued as (or issuable upon the
conversion or exercise of any warrant, right or other security that
is issued as) a dividend or other distribution with respect to, or
in exchange for, or in replacement of, the shares referenced in
(i), (ii) and (iv) above; provided, however, that
the term “Registrable Securities” shall exclude in all
cases any Registrable Securities sold by a person in a transaction
in which such person’s rights under this Section 1 are
not assigned.
(h) The number of shares of
“Registrable Securities then outstanding” when
referring to (i) the Common Stock, shall be determined by the
number of shares of Common Stock outstanding that are, and the
number of shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to then
exercisable or convertible securities that are, Registrable
Securities or (ii) the 14% Senior Notes, shall be determined
by the total aggregate principal amount of 14% Senior Notes
outstanding at such time.
(i) The term “SEC” shall
mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.
1.2. Request for Registration
.
(a) Subject to the conditions of
this Section 1.2 if the Company shall receive at any time a
written request from the Investor, requesting that the Company file
a registration statement under the Act covering the registration of
a portion of the Registrable Securities then outstanding having an
aggregate price to the public (net of any underwriter’s
discounts or commissions) of not less than $25,000,000, then the
Company shall:
(i) within ten (10) days of the
receipt thereof, give written notice of such request to all
Holders; and
(ii) effect as soon as practicable,
and in any event within sixty (60) days of the receipt of such
request, the registration under the Act of all Registrable
Securities that the Holders request to be registered, together with
all or such portion of the Registrable Securities of any Holder or
Holders joining in such request pursuant to the terms of this
Agreement subject to the limitations of subsection 1.2(b),
within fifteen (15) days of the mailing of such notice by the
Company in accordance with Section 4.5.
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(b) If the Investor intends to
distribute the Registrable Securities covered by its request by
means of an underwriting, it shall so advise the Company as a part
of its request made pursuant to subsection 1.2(a) and the
Company shall include such information in the written notice
referred to in subsection 1.2(a)(i). The underwriter will be
selected by the Investor and shall be reasonably acceptable to the
Company. In such event, the right of any Holder to include
Registrable Securities in such registration shall be conditioned
upon such Holder’s participation in such underwriting to the
extent provided herein. All Holders proposing to distribute their
securities through such underwriting shall (together with the
Company as provided in subsection 1.4(e)) enter into an
underwriting agreement in customary form with the underwriter or
underwriters selected for such underwriting. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this Section 1.2, if the underwriter
advises the Investor in writing that marketing factors require a
limitation of the number of shares to be underwritten, then the
Investor shall so advise all Holders of Registrable Securities that
would otherwise be underwritten pursuant hereto, and the number of
shares of Registrable Securities that may be included in the
underwriting shall be allocated among all Holders electing to
include shares in the offering in proportion (as nearly as
practicable) to the amount of Registrable Securities of the Company
owned by each Holder; provided, however, that the number of shares
of Registrable Securities to be included in such underwriting by
the Investor shall not be reduced unless all other securities are
first entirely excluded from the underwriting.
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing,
if the Company shall furnish to Holders requesting a registration
statement pursuant to this Section 1.2, a certificate signed
by the President of the Company stating that in the good faith
judgment of a majority of the Board of Directors of the Company it
would require the disclosure of material nonpublic information
concerning the Company, its business or prospects and that such
premature disclosure would be materially adverse to the Company,
and/or materially interfere with a pending transaction involving
the Company or a subsidiary or controlled Affiliate of the Company,
the Company shall have the right to defer taking action with
respect to such filing for a period of not more than ninety
(90) days after receipt of the request of the Investor;
provided, however, that the Company may not utilize this right more
than once in any twelve (12) month period.
(d) In addition, the Company shall
not be obligated to effect, or to take any action to effect, any
registration pursuant to this Section 1.2:
(i) after the Company has effected
two (2) registrations pursuant to this Section 1.2 and
such registrations have been declared or ordered
effective;
(ii) during the period starting with
the date sixty (60) days prior to the Company’s good
faith estimate of the date of filing of, and ending on a date one
hundred eighty (180) days after the effective date of, a
registration statement filed by the Company subject to
Section 1.3 hereof; provided that the Company is actively
employing in good faith all reasonable efforts to cause such
registration statement to be effective; or
(iii) if the Investor proposes to
dispose of shares of Registrable Securities that may be immediately
registered on Form S-3 pursuant to a request made pursuant to
Section 1.12 below.
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1.3. Company Registration .
If the Company proposes to register (including for this purpose a
registration effected by the Company for stockholders other than
the Holders) any of its stock or other securities under the Act in
connection with the public offering of such securities solely for
cash (other than a registration relating solely to the sale of
securities to participants in an employee stock plan or with
respect to corporate reorganizations or other transactions under
Rule 145 of the Securities Act, or a registration on any form that
does not include substantially the same information as would be
required to be included in a registration statement covering the
sale of the Registrable Securities), the Company shall, at such
time, promptly give each Holder written notice of such registration
at least ten (10) days prior to the initial filing with the
SEC of such registration statement. Upon the written request of
each Holder given within twenty (20) days after mailing of
such notice, the Company shall, subject to the provisions of
Section 1.8, include in the registration statement all of the
Registrable Securities that each such Holder has requested to be
registered; provided, that the Company may limit, to the extent so
advised by the underwriters, the amount of securities to be
included in the registration by the Company’s stockholders
(including the Holders); provided, however, that the aggregate
value of securities (including Registrable Securities) to be
included in such registration by the Company’s stockholders
(including the Holders) may not be so reduced to less than
twenty-five percent (25%) of the total value of all securities
included in such registration.
1.4. Obligations of the
Company . Whenever required under this Section 1 to effect
the registration of any Registrable Securities, the Company shall,
as expeditiously as reasonably possible:
(a) Prepare and file with the SEC a
registration statement with respect to such Registrable Securities
and use its reasonable best efforts to cause such registration
statement to become effective, and, upon the request of the Holders
of a majority of the Registrable Securities registered thereunder,
keep such registration statement effective for a period of up to
one hundred eighty (180) days;
(b) Prepare and file with the SEC
such amendments and supplements to such registration statement and
the prospectus used in connection with such registration statement
as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of the Act with
respect to the disposition of all securities covered by such
registration statement until the earlier of;
(i) the time all of such securities
have been disposed of; or
(ii) the expiration of one hundred
eighty (180) days.
(c) Furnish to the Holders such
numbers of copies of a prospectus, including a preliminary
prospectus, in conformity with the requirements of the Act, and
such other documents as they may reasonably request in order to
facilitate the disposition of Registrable Securities owned by
them;
(d) Use its reasonable best efforts
to register and qualify the securities covered by such registration
statement under such other securities or blue sky laws of such
jurisdictions as shall be reasonably requested by the Holders;
provided that the Company shall not be required in connection
therewith or as a condition thereto to qualify to do business or to
file a general consent to service of process in any such states or
jurisdictions;
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(e) In the event of any underwritten
public offering, enter into and perform its obligations under an
underwriting agreement, in usual and customary form, with the
managing underwriter of such offering (each Holder participating in
such underwriting shall also enter into and perform its obligations
under such an agreement);
(f) Notify each Holder of
Registrable Securities covered by such registration statement at
any time when a prospectus relating thereto is required to be
delivered under the Act of the happening of any event as a result
of which the prospectus included in such registration statement, as
then in effect, includes an untrue statement of a material fact or
omits to state a material fact required to be stated therein or
necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in the
light of the circumstances then existing; and at the request of any
such Holder promptly prepare and furnish to such Holder a
reasonable number of copies of a supplement to or an amendment of
such prospectus as may be necessary so that, as thereafter
delivered to the purchaser of such shares such prospectus shall not
include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make
the statements therein not misleading or incomplete in light of the
circumstances then existing;
(g) Cause all such Registrable
Securities registered pursuant hereunder to be listed on each
securities exchange or nationally recognized quotation system on
which similar securities issued by the Company are then
listed;
(h) Use its reasonable best efforts
to furnish, at the request of any Holder requesting registration of
Registrable Securities pursuant to this Section 1, on the date
that such Registrable Securities are delivered to the underwriters
for sale in connection with a registration pursuant to this
Section 1, if such securities are being sold through
underwriters, (i) an opinion, dated such date, of the counsel
representing the Company for the purposes of such registration, in
substantially the form as may be given to the underwriters in such
public offering, addressed to the underwriters, if any, and to the
Holders requesting registration of Registrable Securities solely
for the purpose of establishing a “due diligence”
defense and (ii) a letter dated such date, from the
independent certified public accountants of the Company, in
substantially the form as may be given by independent certified
public accountants to underwriters in such public offering,
addressed to the underwriters, if any, and to the Holders
requesting registration of Registrable Securities; provided in any
such case, the Company is required to provide such opinion or
letter, as the case may be, to the underwriters in such
offering;
(i) Make available for inspection by
any seller of Registrable Securities, any underwriter participating
in any disposition pursuant to such registration statement, and any
attorney or accountant retained by any such seller or underwriter,
all financial and other records, pertinent corporate documents and
properties of the Company, and cause the Company’s officers
and directors to supply all information reasonably requested by any
such seller, underwriter, attorney or accountant in connection with
such registration statement; provided, however, that such seller,
underwriter, attorney or accountant shall agree to hold in
confidence and trust all information so provided;
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(j) Furnish to each selling Holder a
copy of all documents filed with and all correspondence from or to
the SEC in connection with any such offering other than
non-substantive cover letters and the like; and
(k) Otherwise use its reasonable
best efforts to comply with all applicable rules and regulations of
the SEC, and make available to its security holders, as soon as
reasonably practicable, an earnings statement covering the period
of at least twelve (12) months, but not more than eighteen
(18) months, beginning with the first month after the
effective date of the registration statement, which earnings
statement shall satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the
Act.
1.5. Furnish Information
.
It shall be a condition precedent to
the obligations of the Company to take any action pursuant to this
Section 1 with respect to the Registrable Securities of any
selling Holder that such Holder shall furnish to the Company such
information regarding itself, the Registrable Securities held by
it, and the intended method of disposition of such securities as
shall be required to effect the registration of such Holder’s
Registrable Securities.
1.6. Expenses of Demand
Registration . All expenses (other than underwriting discounts
and commissions) incurred in connection with registrations, filings
or qualifications pursuant to Section 1.2, including (without
limitation) all registration, filing and qualification fees,
printers’ and accounting fees, blue sky fees and expenses and
fees and the reasonable disbursements of counsel for the Company
and one counsel for the Holders shall be borne by the Company;
provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to pay
for any expenses of any registration proceeding begun pursuant to
Section 1.2 if the registration request is subsequently
withdrawn at the request of the Holders of a majority of the
Registrable Securities to be registered (in which case all
participating Holders shall bear such expenses), unless the Holders
of a majority of the Registrable Securities agree to forfeit their
right to one demand registration pursuant to Section 1.2;
provided further, however, that if at the time of such withdrawal,
the Holders have learned of an adverse change in the condition,
business, or prospects of the Company from that known to the
Holders at the time of their request and have withdrawn the request
with reasonable promptness following disclosure by the Company of
such adverse change, then the Holders shall not be required to pay
any of such expenses and shall not forfeit their right to one
demand registration pursuant to Section 1.2.
1.7. Expenses of Company
Registration . The Company shall bear and pay all expenses
incurred in connection with any registration, filing or
qualification of Registrable Securities with respect to the
registrations pursuant to Section 1.3 for each Holder (which
right may be assigned as provided in Section 1.12), including
(without limitation) all registration, filing, and qualification
fees, printers and accounting fees relating or apportionable
thereto, blue sky fees and expenses and the reasonable fees and
disbursements of counsel for the Company and one counsel for the
selling Holders selected by them, but excluding underwriting
discounts and commissions relating to Registrable
Securities.
1.8. Underwriting
Requirements . In connection with any offering involving an
underwriting of shares of the Company’s capital stock, the
Company shall not be
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required under Section 1.3 to include any
of the Holders’ securities in such underwriting unless they
accept the terms of the underwriting reasonably necessary to effect
the offer or sale of the Registrable Securities and as agreed upon
between the Company and the