STOCKHOLDERS’ AGREEMENT
OF
COMPASS AC HOLDINGS, INC.
THIS
STOCKHOLDERS’ AGREEMENT (the “Agreement” )
is made as of September 20, 2005, by and among Compass AC
Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the
“Company” ), Compass Advanced Partners, L.P., a
Bahamian limited partnership ( “Compass” ),
Madison Capital Funding LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (
“Madison” ), Allied Capital Corporation, a
Maryland corporation ( “Allied” and, together
with Madison, the “Institutional Investors” ),
John Yacoub, an individual ( “John Yacoub” ),
Ashraf Yacoub, an individual ( “Ashraf Yacoub”
), Dan Chouinard, an individual ( “Chouinard” ),
Jim Hellmer, an individual ( “Hellmer” ), and
Larry McQuinn, an individual ( “McQuinn” , and
together with John Yacoub, Ashraf Yacoub, Chouinard and Hellmer,
the “Management Stockholders” ), and the
Additional Holders from time to time a party hereto.
WHEREAS,
Compass owns beneficially and of record 904,000 shares of the
Company’s Series B Common Stock, $0.01 par value;
and
WHEREAS,
Madison and Allied each own beneficially and of record 40,000
shares of the Company’s Series A Common Stock, $0.01 par
value; and
WHEREAS,
the Management Stockholders own beneficially and of record 152,364
shares of the Company’s Series A Common Stock, $0.01 par
value; and
WHEREAS,
Compass, the Institutional Investors and the Management
Stockholders hold all of the issued and outstanding shares of
capital stock of the Company, and desire to set forth certain
rights, preferences, privileges, obligations and restrictions
accorded to and imposed on the Stockholders.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the forgoing recitals and the mutual
promises herein contained, and for other good and valuable
consideration, the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the
parties hereto agree as follows:
Section 1.
Definitions . Whenever used in this Agreement, the following
terms shall have the following respective meanings:
1.1.
“Additional Holder” and “Additional
Holders” mean the additional holder or holders, as the
case may be, of Shares that become a party to this Agreement from
time to time by signing an Additional Holder Signature Page in the
form attached hereto as Exhibit A. Specifically
excepted from this definition is any holder that is a
successor-in-interest to all or some of the Shares held by Compass,
notwithstanding that any successor-in-interest shall sign an
Additional Holder Signature Page (any reference to Compass herein
shall be a reference to any
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such
successor-in-interest, excluding Section 2.4 which
rights shall remain solely vested in Compass for so long as Compass
shall hold Shares).
1.2.
“Affiliate” of any particular Person means any
other Person that directly or indirectly through one or more
intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with such particular Person.
1.3.
“Control” (Including the terms
“controls,” “controlled by” and
“under common control with”) means the possession,
directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the
direction of the management policies of a Person, whether through
the ownership of voting securities, by contract or credit
arrangement, as trustee or executor, or otherwise.
1.4.
“Original Issue Price” means, for each series of
each class of capital stock of the Company, the per share issue
price on the first date on which each respective series of capital
stock was issued.
1.5.
“Person” means an individual, corporation,
partnership, bank, limited liability company, trust, association,
unincorporated organization, other entity or group (as defined in
Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act).
1.6.
“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, or any similar successor federal statute, all as
the same shall be in effect from time to time.
1.7.
“Shares” means the issued and outstanding shares
of Series A Common Stock, Series B Common Stock and such
other series of capital stock of the Company which may from time to
time come into existence.
1.8.
“Stockholder” means any person who owns Shares
which were not acquired in violation of this Agreement.
Section 2.
Shares Subject to Agreement; Restrictions .
2.1.
Shares Subject to Agreement . All Shares, whether currently
outstanding or hereafter issued, shall be subject to this Agreement
and to all the rights, privileges, preferences, obligations and
restrictions hereof.
2.2.
No Transfers . Except as provided in this
Section 2 , no Stockholder shall sell, assign, convey,
transfer, encumber or in any other manner dispose of any or all of
the Shares held or owned by him. Notwithstanding the preceding
sentence, a Management Stockholder may encumber his or her Shares
pursuant to a loan, note or other indebtedness if Compass or the
Company is the creditor and the encumberance is in favor of Compass
or the Company, as the case may be. Any sale, assignment,
conveyance, transfer, encumbrance or other disposition of the
Shares in violation of this Agreement is void ab
initio.
2.3.
Exempt Transfers . Notwithstanding Section 2.2 ,
a Stockholder may make an Exempt Transfer. The following
transactions shall constitute “Exempt Transfers”
as that term is used in this Agreement: (i) an inter vivos
transfer by a Stockholder to his or her spouse or lineal
descendants; (ii) an inter vivos transfer to a trust for the
benefit of such Stockholder
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and/or the
benefit of one or more of his or her spouse or lineal descendants;
(iii) a transfer by will or intestate succession to a
Stockholder’s spouse or lineal descendants or such
Stockholder’s executor, administrator or testamentary trustee
for the benefit of one or more of such Stockholder’s spouse
or lineal descendants; (iv) a transfer from a trust for the
benefit of a Stockholder and/or one or more of his or her spouse or
lineal descendants to such Stockholder’s spouse and/or lineal
descendants; (v) a transfer to any members of the Board of
Directors of the Company that are nominees of Compass; (vi) a
transfer to any director, officer or employee of The Compass Group
International LLC; (vii) a transfer to a Person in which a
Compass Affiliate is directly or indirectly the beneficial owner of
five percent or more of the equity securities of such Person,
(viii) a transfer by Madison to The New York Life Insurance
Company or any of its majority-owned subsidiaries, provided that
Madison shall provide the Company with written notice of such
transfer within sixty (60) days of the transfer, and
(ix) a transfer by Allied to an Allied Affiliate with the
prior written consent of Compass, which consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld. The Shares transferred to any such permitted
transferee shall remain subject to the provisions of this Agreement
and such permitted transferee shall become a Stockholder for
purposes of this Agreement. Every such transferee shall observe and
comply with this Agreement and with all obligations and
restrictions imposed hereby and shall, at the request of Compass or
any Stockholder, execute an Additional Holder Signature
Page.
2.4.
Drag Along/Tag Along Rights . Compass shall be permitted to
sell, assign, convey, transfer, encumber or in any other manner
dispose of any or all of the Shares held or owned by it, subject,
however, (i) that Shares transferred to any person shall
remain subject to the provisions of this Agreement and such
transferee shall become a Stockholder for purposes of this
Agreement and (ii) in the case of sales or other transfers for
value, to the following restrictions:
(a)
Disposition Notice . If Compass proposes at any time to sell
or otherwise transfer for value, whether in a single transaction or
in a series of transactions, including any redemption or repurchase
of Shares by the Company, but excluding Exempt Transfers,
(i) in the context of Section 2.4(b) ,
substantially all of its Shares, or (ii) in the context of
Section 2.4(c) , more than 5% of the then outstanding
Shares of the Company (each a “Proposed Sale” )
to any person, Compass shall send written notice (the
“Disposition Notice” ) to the other Stockholders
specifying the identity and address of such person, the number of
Shares to be sold, the proposed per Share sale price, the form of
consideration to be paid, any other material terms and conditions
of the Proposed Sale, and, for bona fide sales subject to
Section 2.4(b), below, whether Compass is thereby
exercising its Section 2.4(b) Drag Along Rights. The
Disposition Notice shall be deemed effective with respect to each
such Stockholder in accordance with Section 7.2
.
(b)
Drag Along Rights . In the event that the Proposed Sale is a
bona fide sale or other bona fide transfer for value
to a non-affiliated third party (a “Third Party
Purchaser” ), Compass shall have the right to require
each of the other Stockholders to sell, and each of the
Stockholders hereby agrees to sell, an equal percentage of his
Shares (the “Drag Along Right” ) to such Third
Party Purchaser on the same terms and conditions, and at the same
time as, the Proposed Sale. If Compass has by way of the
Disposition Notice exercised its Drag Along Rights, then, promptly
upon receipt of such Disposition Notice, each Stockholder (each a
“Drag Along Stockholder” ) shall deliver to
Compass (or such other person as may be agreed upon
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between Compass
and each such Drag Along Stockholder) to be held by Compass (or
such other agreed upon person) in escrow for sale or return upon
the terms of this Section 2.4 , the certificate or
certificates representing the Shares to be sold pursuant to this
Section 2.4(b) , duly endorsed or accompanied by
executed stock powers, together with a limited power-of-attorney
authorizing Compass to sell such Shares in accordance with the
terms of this Section 2.4(b) . To the fullest extent of
the law, the Stockholders and any Additional Holders expressly
waive any appraisal rights conferred under the Delaware General
Corporation Law.
(c)
Tag Along Rights . Upon receipt of any Disposition Notice
from Compass, each of the other Stockholders shall have, as a
condition to closing the Proposed Sale, the right to require (the
“Tag Along Right”) that the same percentage of
his or its Shares be sold as part of, and upon the same terms and
conditions as, the Proposed Sale. The rights referred to in this
Section 2.4(c) shall be exercised by written notice to
Compass (the “Tag Along Notice” ). The Tag Along
Notice shall only be deemed effective if received by Compass from
the electing Stockholder (each a “Tag Along
Stockholder”) within the period ending 30 days after
the Disposition Notice was received by such Tag Along Stockholder.
Promptly upon giving the Tag Along Notice, each Tag Along
Stockholder shall deliver to Compass (or such other person as may
be agreed upon between Compass and such Tag Along Stockholder) to
be held by Compass (or such other person) in escrow for sale or
return upon the terms of this Section 2.4(c) , the
certificate or certificates representing his Shares to be sold as
part of the Proposed Sale, duly endorsed or accompanied by executed
stock powers, together with a limited power-of-attorney authorizing
Compass to sell such Shares in accordance with the terms of this
Section 2.4 .
(d)
Promptly upon the consummation of any Proposed Sale, and, in any
event not later than 5 days after such consummation, Compass
shall deliver to each Drag Along Stockholder or Tag Along
Stockholder, as the case may be, the total sale price of his or its
Shares sold as part of the Proposed Sale (after deduction of his
proportionate share, based on number of Shares sold, of the
reasonable out-of-pocket expenses associated with such Proposed
Sale), together with evidence of the expenses associated with, and
the completion and time of completion of, such Proposed
Sale.
(e)
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Compass shall have
90 days from the date of receipt of any Disposition Notice
during which to consummate the Proposed Sale to which such
Disposition Notice relates. If, at the end of such 90 day
period, Compass has not consummated the Proposed Sale, all
certificates representing Shares delivered by either a Drag Along
Stockholder or Tag Along Stockholder, as the case may be, to
Compass for sale or other disposition as part of such Proposed Sale
shall be returned to such Drag Along Stockholder or Tag Along
Stockholder, as the case may be, and the transaction contemplated
by the Proposed Sale shall be deemed to be a new Proposed Sale and
shall again be subject to the provisions of this
Section 2.4 .
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(i)
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that
all of the Stockholders are required to provide any indemnities in
connection with the Proposed Sale, each Stockholder shall not be
liable for more than such Person’s pro rata share (based upon
the amount of consideration received) of any liability for
indemnity, and such liability shall not exceed (A) the total
purchase price or consideration received by such Stockholder for
such Person’s Shares in the Proposed Sale plus
(B) such Stockholders’ pro rata share of any escrow
established in connection with any such Proposed Sale.
(ii)
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Institutional
Investors shall only be obligated to make representations or
warranties in any such Proposed Sale as to such Person’s
(i) title and ownership of the Shares to be sold by such
Person, including the absence of liens or encumbrances on such
Shares, (ii) authorization, execution and delivery of the
relevant documents by such Person, and (iii) the
enforceability of the relevant documents against such
Person.
2.5.
Expiration of Restrictions . All restrictions imposed
pursuant to this Section 2 shall terminate:
(a) at
any time upon the written agreement of the Company and all the
Stockholders then signatory to this Agreement as it may be amended
or revised from time to time;
(b) immediately
upon the dissolution of the Company or the bankruptcy or insolvency
of the Company;
(c) immediately
upon the closing of the first underwritten offering by the Company
to the public pursuant to an effective registration statement under
the Securities Act; provided that such registration statement
covers the offer and sale of Common Stock of which the aggregate
net proceeds attributable to sales for the account of the Company
exceed $50,000,000; provi
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