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STOCKHOLDER AGREEMENT

Shareholder Agreement

STOCKHOLDER AGREEMENT | Document Parties: TICKETMASTER ENTERTAINMENT, INC. | Liberty Media Corporation | Liberty Programming Company LLC | Liberty USA Holdings, LLC | Live Nation, Inc | LMC Capital LLC | Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc You are currently viewing:
This Shareholder Agreement involves

TICKETMASTER ENTERTAINMENT, INC. | Liberty Media Corporation | Liberty Programming Company LLC | Liberty USA Holdings, LLC | Live Nation, Inc | LMC Capital LLC | Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc

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Title: STOCKHOLDER AGREEMENT
Governing Law: Delaware     Date: 2/13/2009
Industry: Computer Services     Law Firm: Wachtell Lipton;Latham Watkins;Baker Botts     Sector: Technology

STOCKHOLDER AGREEMENT, Parties: ticketmaster entertainment  inc. , liberty media corporation , liberty programming company llc , liberty usa holdings  llc , live nation  inc , lmc capital llc , ticketmaster entertainment  inc
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EXHIBIT 10.1

 

STOCKHOLDER AGREEMENT

 

This Stockholder Agreement (this “ Agreement ”), dated as of February 10, 2009, is by and among Live Nation, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), Liberty Media Corporation, a Delaware corporation (as defined below), Liberty USA Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty (“ Liberty Holdings ”), and Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ Ticketmaster ”).

 

WHEREAS, simultaneously with the execution of this Agreement, Live Nation and Ticketmaster are entering into an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated of even date herewith (the “ Merger Agreement ”) providing for, among other matters, the merger of Ticketmaster with and into an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Live Nation pursuant to which the shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Ticketmaster  (“ Ticketmaster Common Stock ”) will, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, be converted into the right to receive shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Live Nation (“ LN Common Stock ”) (capitalized terms used but not defined herein have the meanings given such terms in the Merger Agreement);

 

WHEREAS, Ticketmaster, Liberty, Liberty Holdings and IAC/InterActiveCorp are parties to that certain Spinco Assignment and Assumption Agreement, dated as of August 20, 2008 (the “ Spinco Agreement Assumption ”), relating to the Spinco Agreement referenced therein (the “ Spinco Agreement ”) (the Spinco Agreement as and to the extent assigned to and assumed by Ticketmaster pursuant to the Spinco Agreement Assumption is herein referred to as the “ Ticketmaster Spinco Agreement ”);

 

WHEREAS, (i) as of the date hereof Liberty Holdings is the record and beneficial owner of 16,643,957 shares (the “ Liberty Share Number ”) of Ticketmaster Common Stock and (ii) Live Nation and Liberty Holdings are simultaneously with the execution of this Agreement entering into a Voting Agreement with respect to the Merger Agreement and the other transactions contemplated thereby; and

 

WHEREAS, the parties desire to set forth certain understandings and agreements with respect to governance arrangements and other matters following the consummation of the Merger.

 

NOW THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, and intending to be legally bound, the parties hereto agree as follows:

 

1.              Definitions

 

Affiliate ” shall have the meaning given such term in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act. For purposes of this definition, (i) natural persons shall not be deemed to be Affiliates of each other and (ii) neither Ticketmaster nor Live Nation shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of Liberty or its Affiliates.

 

Applicable Percentage ” means 35%; provided that if after the Effective Time, any Liberty Party Transfers Beneficial Ownership of any Equity Securities (other than a Transfer

 



 

to Liberty or Liberty Holdings or to another Affiliate of Liberty that, in accordance with this Agreement, becomes a Liberty Party in connection with such Transfer), (i) if such Transfer is not a Qualified Block Transfer or an Excluded Affiliate Transfer, the then-applicable Applicable Percentage shall be reduced by the Ownership Percentage so Transferred, (ii) in the case of a Qualified Block Transfer, the Applicable Percentage applicable to the Qualified Block Transferee shall be the Applicable Percentage applicable to the transferor immediately prior to such Transfer, and (iii) that upon the consummation of (x) a Qualified Block Transfer, this Agreement will be terminated pursuant to Section 9(c)(iii) as to the Person Transferring such Equity Securities, and (y) an Excluded Affiliate Transfer, the Applicable Percentage applicable to Liberty shall be 5% so long as the primary purpose for Liberty’s acquisition of Equity Securities following such Excluded Affiliate Transfer is not the circumvention of limits on Ownership Percentage set forth herein.

 

Assignment and Assumption Agreement ” means a New Holder Assignment and Assumption Agreement or an Affiliate Assignment and Assumption Agreement.

 

Beneficial Ownership ” or “ Beneficially Own ” shall have the meaning given such term in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act and a Person’s Beneficial Ownership of securities shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of such Rule; provided , however , that for purposes of determining any Person’s Beneficial Ownership, such Person shall be deemed to be the Beneficial Owner of any Equity Securities which may be acquired by such Person (disregarding any legal impediments to such Beneficial Ownership), whether within 60 days or thereafter, upon the conversion, exchange, redemption or exercise of any warrants, options, rights (excluding the Live Nation Rights) or other securities issued by Live Nation or any subsidiary thereof. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, (x) (i) prior to the delivery to any counterparty of Equity Securities in final settlement of a Qualified Hedging Transaction and (ii) with respect to any Qualified Stock Lending Transactions until such time as the lending Liberty Party no longer has a right to the return of the securities lent thereunder, Liberty will be deemed to Beneficially Own all Equity Securities subject to such Qualified Hedging Transaction or Qualified Stock Lending Transaction and (y) prior to the pledgee commencing action to foreclose upon any Equity Securities pledged in any Qualified Pledge, any such pledged Equity Securities will be deemed Beneficially Owned by the pledging party.

 

Business Day ” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a day on which the banks in New York, New York are authorized or required by law to remain closed.

 

Code ” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

 

Distribution Transaction ” involving any Person which Beneficially Owns Equity Securities means any transaction pursuant to which the equity interests of (i) such Person or (ii) any Person that directly or indirectly owns a majority of the equity interests of such Person are distributed (whether by redemption, dividend, share distribution, merger or otherwise) (the Person the equity interests of which are being distributed in the Distribution Transaction, the “ Distributed Company ”)  to all the holders of one or more classes or series of the common stock of Parent Company that are registered under Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act (all the holders of one or more such classes or series, “ Parent Company Holders ”), on a pro rata basis with respect to each such class or series, or such equity interests of such Person are

 

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available to be acquired by Parent Company Holders (including through any rights offering, exchange offer, exercise of subscription rights or other offer made available to Parent Company Holders), on a pro rata basis with respect to each such class or series, whether voluntary or involuntary.

 

Equity Securities ” means the equity securities of Live Nation, including shares of LN Common Stock and shares of LN Common Stock or other equity securities of Live Nation issuable upon exercise, conversion, exchange or redemption of any warrants, options, rights (excluding the Live Nation Rights) or other securities issued by Live Nation or any subsidiary thereof.

 

Exchange Act ” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Securities Exchange Commission promulgated thereunder (as in effect on the date of this Agreement).

 

Excluded Affiliate Transfer ” is defined within the definition of Qualified Block Transfer.

 

Fall-Away Date ” means the first date on which the aggregate number of shares of LN Common Stock Beneficially Owned by Liberty falls below 50% of the Initial Share Number or, if earlier, following the second anniversary of the Effective Time, the first date on which Liberty’s Ownership Percentage first falls below 5%.

 

Independent Director ” means a director of Live Nation that is, as to Live Nation, “independent” within the meaning of the rules and regulations of the NYSE, or, if the LN Common Stock is not at the time of determination listed on the NYSE, the rules and regulations of such other national securities exchange on which such securities are primarily traded.

 

Initial Share Number ” means the aggregate number of shares of LN Common Stock issuable to the Liberty Parties in the Merger, but in no event greater than the product of the Liberty Share Number multiplied by the Exchange Ratio; provided , that the Initial Share Number (and such product) shall be appropriately adjusted to reflect any stock split, reverse stock split, stock dividend, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar event in respect of the LN Common Stock after the date of this Agreement.

 

Liberty ” means Liberty Media Corporation, a Delaware corporation; provided that from and after the date of an Excluded Affiliate Transfer, the term “Liberty” will be deemed to refer to the Distributed Company Beneficially Owning shares of LN Common Stock.

 

Liberty Director ” means (x) any person designated by Liberty to serve on the Board of Directors of Live Nation who is reasonably acceptable to the Board of Directors of Ticketmaster (in the case of persons designated by Liberty to so serve effective as of the Effective Time) or (y) any person designated to serve on the Board of Directors of Live Nation by Liberty who is reasonably acceptable to a majority of those directors of Live Nation that are not Liberty Directors (in all other cases); provided , that any Person designated by Liberty

 

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pursuant to the Ticketmaster Spinco Agreement and serving on the Board of Ticketmaster prior to the Effective Time will be deemed reasonably acceptable to Ticketmaster.

 

Liberty Parties ” means (x) Liberty, (y) Liberty Holdings and (z) each Affiliate of Liberty that acquires record ownership of any Equity Securities, in the case of a Person described in clause (y) or (z), until such time as such Person is not an Affiliate of Liberty or ceases to have record ownership of any Equity Securities.

 

New Holder Assignment and Assumption Agreement ” means an agreement in the form of Exhibit 1 hereto, which, for the avoidance of doubt, shall not include any transfer of any right of the Liberty Parties set forth in Section 2 except in the case of an Excluded Affiliate Transfer.

 

NYSE ” means the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., or, if the LN Common Stock is not at the time of determination listed on the NYSE, the rules and regulations of such other national securities exchange on which such securities are primarily traded.

 

Ownership Percentage ” of any Person means, at any time, the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of (i) the Total Voting Power of the Equity Securities Beneficially Owned by such Person and its Affiliates to (ii) the sum of (x) the Total Voting Power of the Total Equity Securities and (y) with respect to such Person, the Total Voting Power of the shares of LN Common Stock included in clause (i) that are issuable upon conversion, exchange, redemption or exercise of Equity Securities that are not included in clause (x).

 

Parent Company ” means the publicly traded Person which Beneficially Owns, through an unbroken chain of majority-owned subsidiaries, the Person having record ownership of the Equity Securities. For purposes of this definition, the term “publicly traded” means that the Person in question (x) has a class or series of equity securities registered under Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act or (y) is required to file reports pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.

 

Person ” means any individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, limited liability company, trust, unincorporated organization, government or department or agency of a government.

 

Qualified Block Transfer ” means a Transfer, in a single transaction of all the Equity Securities Beneficially Owned at such time by the Liberty Parties or a Qualified Block Transferee or their respective Affiliates to a Qualified Block Transferee; provided that in no event shall (a) the first Excluded Affiliate Transfer be deemed hereunder to be a Qualified Block Transfer or (b) more than two Transfers to Qualified Block Transferees (other than the first Transfer to a Qualified Block Transferee acquiring shares in connection with an Excluded Affiliate Transfer) be deemed hereunder to be a Qualified Block Transfer.

 

Qualified Block Transferee ” means a Person (including, for the avoidance of doubt, a Person that is, at the time of any Transfer to it, an Affiliate of Liberty which thereafter by reason of a Distribution Transaction (such Distribution Transaction, an “ Excluded Affiliate Transfer ”) ceases to be an Affiliate of Liberty) (i) whose Ownership Percentage, after giving effect to such Transfer, would not exceed the Applicable Percentage and (ii) that, prior to such

 

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Transfer, shall have (along with the applicable Transferring Persons) executed and delivered to Live Nation a New Holder Assignment and Assumption Agreement.

 

Qualified Director ” means any member of the Board of Directors of Live Nation other than a director who (i) is a Liberty Director, (ii) is an officer or employee of Live Nation or (iii) was not nominated by the Nominating and/or Governance Committee of the Board of Directors of Live Nation in his or her initial election to such Board of Directors following the Effective Time and for whose election any Liberty Party voted shares. In the event that no person who would otherwise be a Qualified Director is serving on the Board of Directors of Live Nation (unless the failure to have a Qualified Director is a result of action taken by directors who are not Qualified Directors), the Board of Directors of Live Nation shall appoint a new director who qualifies as an Independent Director and such person shall be considered a Qualified Director for all purposes under this Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, wherever this Agreement requires the approval or consent of, or other action by, a majority of the Qualified Directors with respect to any matter, no such approval, consent or other action may be obtained or taken at any such time as there are no Qualified Directors.

 

Qualified Hedging Transaction ” means any transaction involving a Liberty Party, a Qualified Block Transferee or any Affiliate thereof whereby the counterparty engages in a (i) short sale, (ii) purchase, sale or grant of any right (including any put or call option), or (iii) forward sale (whether for a fixed or variable number of shares or at a fixed or variable price) of or with respect to, or any loan secured by, any LN Common Stock or any security (other than a broad-based market basket or index) that includes, relates to or derives any significant part of its value from any LN Common Stock, and such term includes (a) the pledge by any Liberty Party, a Qualified Block Transferee or any Affiliate thereof of any LN Common Stock in connection with any of the foregoing to secure the obligations of the pledgor under a Qualified Hedging Transaction and (b) the pledge of a Qualified Hedging Transaction itself to secure any extension of credit to a party based, in whole or part, on the value thereof, provided in all cases that the counterparty to such transaction is a financial institution in the business of engaging in such transactions.

 

Qualified Pledge ” means a pledge of Equity Securities in connection with a secured borrowing transaction and not otherwise within the meaning of the definition of Qualified Hedging Transaction, the pledgee with respect to which is a financial institution in the business of engaging in secured lending and similar transactions.

 

Qualified Stock Lending Transaction ” means a transaction whereby the Liberty Parties and their Affiliates lend shares of LN Common Stock to a third party or permit a third party to sell, pledge, rehypothecate, assign, invest, use, commingle or otherwise dispose of, or otherwise use in its business, such shares of LN Common Stock, provided in all cases that the counterparty to such transaction is a financial institution in the business of engaging in such transactions.

 

Rights Offering ” means the issuance by Live Nation to existing holders of LN Common Stock of rights to buy, within a fixed time period, a proportional number of newly issued shares of LN Common Stock or other Equity Securities.

 

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Second Qualified Block Transfer ” means the second Qualified Block Transfer following the Effective Time.

 

Total Equity Securities ” at any time shall mean, subject to the next sentence, the total number of Live Nation’s outstanding Equity Securities. Any Equity Securities Beneficially Owned by a Person that are not outstanding Voting Securities but that, upon exercise, conversion or exchange, would become Voting Securities, shall be deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing Total Equity Securities and the percentage of Equity Securities owned by such Person but shall not be deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing Total Equity Securities and the percentage of the Equity Securities owned by any other Person.

 

Total Voting Power ” of any Equity Securities at any time shall mean, subject to the next sentence, the aggregate number of votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors by the holders of such securities. Any Equity Securities Beneficially Owned by a Person that are not outstanding Voting Securities but that, upon exercise, conversion or


 
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