Exhibit 10.1
EXECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND
NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made this
7 th day of October, 2005, by and between Lippert
Components Manufacturing, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the
“Corporation”) and Jason D. Lippert (the
“Executive”).
W I T N E S S E T
H:
WHEREAS, the
Executive has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of
the Corporation, Lippert Components, Inc. (“LCI”),
parent of the Corporation, and all other entities of which LCI is a
direct or indirect parent or partner, excluding Lippert Components
Holding, Inc. (collectively, the “LCI Entities”), all
of which are direct or indirect subsidiaries of Drew Industries
Incorporated (“Drew”), and has had extensive business
and financial experience with the business conducted by the LCI
Entities, and the Corporation desires to continue to utilize the
Executive’s experience, knowledge and abilities in connection
with the operations of the LCI Entities; and
WHEREAS, the
Corporation does not wish the Executive to compete against the LCI
Entities,
NOW, THEREFORE, in
consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements herein
contained, it is agreed as follows:
1.
Employment . The Corporation hereby employs the Executive
and the Executive hereby agrees to serve the LCI Entities,
excluding Lippert Components Holding, Inc., as President and Chief
Executive Officer. The Executive will perform his duties on behalf
of the LCI Entities at the principal executive offices of the
Corporation in Goshen, Indiana; provided, however, that relocation
of the Corporation’s executive offices shall be subject to
approval of the
Board of Directors
of the Corporation, and the Executive shall at no time be required
to change his residence without his consent.
2.
Term . The term of this Agreement shall be for the five (5)
year period commencing January 1, 2006 and terminating December 31,
2010 (the “Term”).
3.
Duties . During the Term, the Executive shall exert his best
efforts, and, subject to the terms and provisions hereof, shall
devote substantially all of his time, attention, skills and efforts
to the business and affairs of the LCI Entities and will use his
best efforts to promote the interests thereof. Consistent with the
foregoing, the Executive shall not be precluded from giving
appropriate attention to his personal and financial affairs. The
Executive shall act in accordance with the policies of the LCI
Entities as determined from time-to-time by their respective Boards
of Directors consistent with this Agreement, and shall perform such
services and duties as such Boards of Directors may from
time-to-time direct consistent with this Agreement, including, but
not limited to, the duty to hire and discharge employees of the LCI
Entities and to determine the compensation paid to such employees,
including bonuses paid to such employees from the annual 18%
incentive bonus pools maintained by the LCI Entities (the
“Bonus Pools”).
4.1 The
Corporation and the Executive intend that the provisions of this
Agreement shall comply in all respects with the requirements of
section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the
“Code). Accordingly, notwithstanding anything in this
Agreement to the contrary, all elections to defer, distributions,
and all other aspects of this Agreement shall be made in compliance
Section 409A of the Code and any regulations or other guidance
thereunder. To the extent required, this Agreement will be revised
and amended in
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order to comply
with the provisions of Section 409A of the Code and any regulations
or guidance thereunder.
4.2 All
compensation, in whatever form, payable pursuant to this Agreement
shall be subject in all respects to the terms, provisions and
conditions of the Drew Industries Incorporated 2002 Equity Award
and Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.
5.
Compensation . The Corporation agrees to pay the Executive
for his services to the LCI Entities a salary (“Base
Salary”) of Four Hundred Thousand ($400,000) Dollars for each
year of the Term, payable according to the customary payroll
practice of the Corporation. Performance of the Executive’s
services will be reviewed annually by the Compensation Committee of
the Board of Directors of Drew (the “Compensation
Committee”).
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6.
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Incentive Compensation .
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6.1 In
addition to the Base Salary, and subject to Section 6.3 hereof, the
Executive shall be entitled to receive, for each year during the
Term commencing with the year ending December 31, 2006,
performance-based incentive compensation (the “Bonus”),
equal to five (5%) percent of (i) the excess of operating profits
of the LCI Entities over (ii) $14.0 million; provided, however,
that if any of the LCI Entities shall acquire additional business
operations or dispose of any existing business operations, the
performance goals pursuant to which the Bonus is paid may be
modified upon agreement between the Executive and the Corporation.
The Bonus shall be paid from, and applied against, the Bonus
Pools.
6.2 For
purposes of this Agreement, the term “operating profits of
the LCI Entities” means the consolidated income of the LCI
Entities (A) before (i) interest expense, (ii) interest or dividend
income, (iii) impairment of goodwill, (iv) intercompany
administrative fees charged to any of the LCI Entities by Drew, (v)
taxes based upon income, (vi) extraordinary
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items determined in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and (vii)
the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principles, and (B)
after giving effect (positive or negative) to a capital charge
equal to 6% of the increase or decrease in (i) the average net
assets employed by the LCI Entities during the year for which the
Bonus is being determined over (ii) $114 million. For purposes of
this Agreement, the term “net assets” means: (a) total
assets, excluding cash, minus (b) total liabilities, excluding (i)
current and long-term debt, (ii) intercompany balances, and (iii)
income taxes payable or deferred, all as reflected on the monthly
Consolidating Balance Sheet of Drew and its
subsidiaries.
6.3 Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained herein, the following shall
apply to payment of the Bonus:
6.3.1 at
least 60% of the amount of Bonus in excess of $600,000 for any year
during the Term shall be paid in shares of Drew Restricted Stock,
and the balance of 40% shall be paid in such proportions of shares
of Drew Restricted Stock and cash as the Executive shall elect in
his sole discretion. All such shares of Drew Restricted Stock shall
be subject only to the restriction on transferability for a period
of two years from the date of grant;
6.3.2 the
amount of Bonus in excess of five times the Base Salary for any
year during the Term shall be paid in shares of Drew Deferred
Stock. The shares shall be issued to the Executive in five
consecutive annual installments on January 2 nd , each
in the amount of 20% of the total grant of Deferred Stock,
commencing in year after the date of grant; and
6.3.3 all
grants and issuances of Restricted Stock and Deferred Stock as
aforesaid, shall be made on, or as soon as practicable after, the
date on which Drew
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releases its
year-end results of operations, but in no event later than two and
one-half months after the end of Drew’s fiscal
year.
6.4 Nothing
in this Agreement, nor any fixing of compensation in the form of
Base Salary, Bonus, deferred compensation, securities or otherwise,
shall prevent the Compensation Committee from granting to the
Executive additional compensation in the form of cash, salary
increases, deferred compensation, securities or
otherwise.
7.1 The
Executive and his immediate family shall continue to receive
medical coverage at least equivalent, in nature and extent, to the
medical coverage afforded to him by the LCI Entities prior to the
date hereof, and such other reasonable benefits which he has
received from the LCI Entities prior to the date hereof.
7.2 The
Executive agrees to have an annual comprehensive physical
examination at the expense of the Corporation (to the extent not
covered by insurance) by a physician of his choice.
7.3 The
Executive shall be eligible to participate in