Exhibit 10.4
DEED OF
NON-COMPETITION
THIS DEED is made on 31 August 2008
BY
(1)
MR. ZHU XINLI
of c/o Beijing Huiyuan
Beverage & Food Group Limited, Beixiaoying Town, Shunyi
District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (the “
Covenantor ”).
IN FAVOUR OF
(2)
ATLANTIC INDUSTRIES
, a company incorporated under the
laws of the Cayman Islands whose registered office is at PO Box
309GT, Ugland House, South Church Street, George Town, Grand
Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies (the “
Offeror ”); and
(3)
CHINA HUIYUAN JUICE GROUP
LIMITED , a company
incorporated in the laws of the Cayman Islands, whose registered
office is at Scotia Centre, 4 th Floor, P.O. Box
2804, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (the “
Company ”), for itself and for the benefit of each
Group Company.
WHEREAS:
(A)
The Company is principally engaged
in the business of producing and selling ready-to-drink beverages
including fruit juices, vegetable juices, mixed fruits and
vegetable juices, ready-to-drink tea and bottled water.
(B)
The Offeror proposes to make a cash
offer to acquire all the issued ordinary shares of the Company, to
acquire all the outstanding convertible bonds of the Company and to
cancel all the outstanding share options of the Company
(collectively, the “ Offers ”).
(C)
The Covenantor is an indirect
substantial shareholder of the Company and the Chairman of the
board of directors of the Company at the date of this
Deed.
(D)
The Covenantor has undertaken to the
Offeror and the Company (for itself and for the benefit of each
Group Company) not to engage in any competing interest according to
the terms and conditions of this Deed.
THIS DEED WITNESSES
as follows:
1.
INTERPRETATION
1.1
In this Deed:
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“ ABN AMRO
”
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means ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Hong Kong
Branch, a licensed corporation under the SFO and the financial
adviser to the Offeror in connection with the Offers;
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“ Affiliate
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means, with respect to any Person,
any other Person Controlling, Controlled by or under common Control
with such Person, and with respect to an individual Person, means
that individual’s relative, that is any spouse and any child
(including adopted child and step-child), as well as any entity
which is Controlled by any of the foregoing acting singly
or
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together as well as such
entity’s Affiliates;
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“ Arbitration Board
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has the meaning given to it under
clause 8;
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“ Arbitration Rules
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has the meaning given to it under
clause 8;
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“ Business
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means the business of producing,
distributing, selling and marketing ready-to-drink beverages,
including fruit juices, vegetable juices, mixed fruits and
vegetable juices, ready-to-drink tea and bottled water operated by
the Group, other than the business of producing milk;
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“ Business Day
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means a day on which banks are open
for the transaction of normal banking business in Hong Kong and in
the PRC (excluding Saturday and Sunday);
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“ Completion
”
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means the date on which the Share
Offer becomes or is declared unconditional in all
respects;
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“ Composite Document
”
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means the composite offer and
response document to be issued by or on behalf of the Offeror and
the Company in accordance with the Takeovers Code containing, among
other things, details of the Offers, the terms and conditions of
the Offers and the acceptance and transfer forms in respect of the
Offers;
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“ Control
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of a Person means: (i) with
respect to a corporate Person, direct or indirect ownership of more
than thirty percent of the outstanding voting securities of such
corporate Person or the ability to appoint more than one-third of
the directors of the board or equivalent governing body of such
Person or the ability to direct or cause the direction of the
management and policies of such Person; (ii) with respect to a
non-corporate Person, the comparable voting interest (as set forth
in (i) above) for such non-corporate Person; (iii) the
possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the
direction of the management and policies of a Person; or
(iv) the operational or practical control of a Person; and the
terms “ Controls ”, “ Controlling
” and “ Controlled ” shall have
corresponding meanings;
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“ Dispute
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has the meaning given to it under
clause 8;
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“ Executive
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means the Executive Director of the
Corporate Finance Division of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures
Commission or any delegate of the Executive Director;
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“ Governmental Entity
”
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means any competent government or
governing body of any international or supranational organisation,
nation, state, province, city, municipality, town or locality or
any political or administrative subdivision thereof; any
department, agency, commission, ministry, secretariat, court or
other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial,
regulatory or
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administrative functions of or
pertaining to government, and the governing body of any securities
exchange;
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“ Group
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means the Company and its
Subsidiaries;
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“ Group Company
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means the Company or a Subsidiary of
the Company;
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“ HKIAC
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has the meaning given to it under
clause 8;
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“ Hong Kong
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means the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the PRC;
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“ Person
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means an individual, a partnership,
a corporation, an association, a joint stock company, a trust, a
joint venture, an unincorporated organisation, Governmental Entity
or any other entity;
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“ PRC
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means the People’s Republic of
China;
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“ Restricted Period
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means each of the following
periods:
(a) from Completion until one year after Completion; and
(b) one year beginning on the first anniversary of
Completion;
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“ Second Long Stop Date
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means the latest date on which the
Offeror can declare the Share Offer unconditional as to
acceptances, which is the 60th day after the date of posting of the
Composite Document (or such later date to which the Executive may
consent);
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“ SFO
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means the Securities and Futures
Ordinance, Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong;
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“ Share Offer
”
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means the possible voluntary
conditional cash offer by ABN AMRO on behalf of the Offeror for all
the issued Shares as part of the Offers;
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“ Shares
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means the ordinary shares of
US$0.00001 each in the share capital of the Company;
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“ Stock Exchange
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means The Stock Exchange of Hong
Kong Limited;
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“ Subsidiary
”
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means a company over which the
Company has Control;
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“ Takeover Code
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means the Hong Kong Code on
Takeovers and Mergers; and
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“ Upstream
Business”
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means the business carried on as at
the date of this Deed by certain Affiliates of the Covenantor (but
not any Group Companies) relating to the production, supply and
distribution of recyclable containers, external packaging and raw
materials for juice production.
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1.2
In this Deed, unless the context
requires otherwise:
(a)
the clause headings are inserted for
convenience only and do not affect its interpretation;
(b)
a reference to this Deed or another
instrument includes any variation or replacement of either of
them;
(c)
words in the singular include the
plural and vice versa; and
(d)
use of any gender includes the other
genders.
2.
CONDITIONS
2.1
Except for this clause 2
(Conditions), clauses 6 (General), 7 (Notices) and 8 (Governing Law
and Arbitration), this Deed is conditional upon the Share Offer
becoming or being declared unconditional in all
respects.
2.2
If the condition set out in clause
2.1 is not fulfilled or waived by the Offeror by the Second Long
Stop Date,
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