Exhibit 10.18
CHANGE IN CONTROL AND TERMINATION
AGREEMENT
THIS AMENDED AND RESTATED CHANGE IN CONTROL AND
TERMINATION AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), to be effective
as of the 1 st day of January 2007, is made and entered
into by and between EQUITY INNS SERVICES, INC. (the
“Company”), a corporation organized and existing under
the laws of the State of Tennessee, EQUITY INNS, INC. (the
“Parent”), a corporation organized and existing under
the laws of the State of Tennessee, and Richard F. Mitchell, (the
“Executive”). This amended and restated agreement
supersedes all previous employment agreements with the
Executive.
R E C I T A L S
:
The Company provides management services to the
Parent pursuant to a management services agreement dated as of
December 30, 1994.
The Company and the Parent acknowledge that
Executive’s contributions to the past and future growth and
success of the Company and the Parent have been and will continue
to be substantial. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of a publicly held
corporation, the Company recognizes that there exists a possibility
of a Change in Control (as defined herein) of the Company or its
Parent. The Company and the Parent also recognize that the
possibility of such a Change in Control may contribute to
uncertainty on the part of senior management and may result in the
departure or distraction of senior management from their operating
responsibilities.
Outstanding management of the Company is always
essential to advancing the best interests of the Company’s
and the Parent’s shareholders. In the event of a threat or
occurrence of a bid to acquire or change control of the Parent or
to effect a business combination, it is particularly important that
the Company’s and the Parent’s businesses be continued
with a minimum of disruption. The Company and the Parent believe
that the objective of securing and retaining outstanding management
will be achieved if the Company’s key management employees
are given assurances of employment security so they will not be
distracted by personal uncertainties and risks created by such
circumstances.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual
covenants and obligations herein and the compensation the Parent
and the Company, jointly and severally, agree herein to pay to the
Executive, and of other good and valuable consideration, the
receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the
Parent, the Company and the Executive agree as follows:
ARTICLE 1. TERM; CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
.
1.1 Term .
This Agreement is effective from the date of its execution by the
Company (“Effective Date”) for a term of three years
(the “Initial Term”). This Agreement automatically
continues in effect from year to year after expiration of the
Initial Term unless the Company notifies the Executive in writing
ninety (90) days before any anniversary of the Effective Date
following the Initial Term that the Agreement will terminate as of
that anniversary date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no notice of
termination of this Agreement
under the
preceding sentence shall be effective during an Employment Period
as defined in section 2.1 below.
1.2 Certain Definitions . As used in this Agreement:
(a) Acquiring Person means that a Person, considered alone or
together with all Control Affiliates and Associates of that Person,
is or becomes directly or indirectly the beneficial owner (as
defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) of securities
representing at least twenty percent (20%) of (i) the
Parent’s then outstanding securities entitled to vote
generally in the election of the Parent’s Board; or (ii) the
Company’s then outstanding securities entitled to vote
generally in the election of the Company’s Board.
(b) Annual Base Salary means the Executive’s gross annual salary
before any taxes, deductions, exclusions or any deferrals or
contributions under any plan or program of the Company or the
Parent, but excluding bonuses, incentive compensation, employee
benefits or any non-salary form of compensation (determined without
regard to any reduction in Annual Base Salary that results in
Executive’s voluntary termination with Good Reason, under
sections 1.2(n) and 2.3).
(c) Associate , with respect to any Person, is defined in Rule
12b-2 under the Exchange Act; provided , however ,
that an Associate shall not include the Parent or a majority-owned
subsidiary of the Parent.
(d) Bonus means the Executive’s bonus or other
similar payment from the Company or the Parent, whether paid in
cash or shares of the Parent’s common stock or otherwise,
that is based on the performance of the Company, the Parent, or the
Executive during a fiscal year or years, even if paid after the
close of the fiscal year. The term “Bonus” shall
include, without limitation, for 1996, restricted stock awards
granted in 1996 in lieu of amounts paid under the bonus pool (which
awards shall be deemed to have a value, solely for this purpose,
equal to the Fair Market Value on the date of grant of all shares
subject to the award, whether or not such shares were vested on the
date of grant); and for 1997, amounts paid under the
Company’s annual bonus pool.
(e) “Cause,” means (i) willful,
deliberate and continued failure by the Executive (other than for
reason of mental or physical illness or Disability) to perform his
duties as established by the Company’s Board, or fraud or
dishonesty in connection with such duties, in either case, if such
conduct has a materially detrimental effect on the business
operations of the Company; (ii) a material breach by the Executive
of his fiduciary duties of loyalty or care to the Company or the
Parent; (iii) conviction of any crime (or upon entering a plea of
guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of any crime) constituting a
felony; (iv) misappropriation of funds or property; or (v) willful,
flagrant, deliberate and repeated infractions of material published
policies and regulations of the Company of which the Executive has
actual knowledge.
(f) Change in Control means (i) a Person is or becomes an Acquiring
Person; (ii) holders of the securities of the Parent entitled to
vote thereon approve any agreement with a Person (or, if such
approval is not required by applicable law and is not solicited by
the Parent, the closing of such an agreement) that involves the
transfer of at least fifty percent (50%) of the Parent’s and
its subsidiaries’ total assets on a consolidated basis, as
reported in the Parent’s consolidated financial statements
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission; (iii) holders of
the securities of the Parent entitled to vote thereon approve a
transaction (or, if such approval is not required by applicable law
and is not solicited by the Parent, the closing of such a
transaction) pursuant to which the Parent will undergo a merger,
consolidation, or statutory share exchange with a Person,
regardless of whether the Parent is intended to be the surviving or
resulting entity after the merger, consolidation, or statutory
share exchange, other than a
transaction that results in the voting securities of the Parent
carrying the right to vote in elections of persons to the
Parent’s Board outstanding immediately prior to the closing
of the transaction continuing to represent (either by remaining
outstanding or by being converted into voting securities of the
surviving entity) at least 66 2/3% (sixty-six and two-thirds
percent) of the Parent’s voting securities carrying the right
to vote in elections of persons to the Parent’s Board, or
such securities of such surviving entity, outstanding immediately
after the closing of such transaction; (iv) the Continuing
Directors cease for any reason to constitute a majority of the
Parent’s Board; (v) holders of the securities of the Parent
entitled to vote thereon approve a plan of complete liquidation of
the Parent or an agreement for the sale or liquidation by the
Parent or its subsidiaries of substantially all of the assets of
the Parent and its subsidiaries (or, if such approval is not
required by applicable law and is not solicited by the Parent, the
commencement of actions constituting such a plan or the closing of
such an agreement); or (vi) the Parent’s Board adopts a
resolution to the effect that, in its judgment, as a consequence of
any one or more transactions or events or series of transactions or
events, a Change in Control of the Company or the Parent has
effectively occurred. The Parent’s Board shall be entitled to
exercise its sole and absolute discretion in adopting any such
resolution pursuant to subparagraph (vi) above and in determining
whether or not any such transaction(s) or event(s) might be deemed,
individually or collectively, to constitute a Change in Control of
the Company or the Parent.
(g) Company’s Board means the Board of Directors of the
Company.
(h) Continuing Director means any member of the Parent’s Board,
while a member of the Parent’s Board and (i) who was a member
of the Parent’s Board on the date hereof or (ii) whose
nomination for or election to the Parent’s Board was
recommended or approved by a majority of the Continuing
Directors.
(i) Control Affiliate , with respect to any Person, means an
affiliate as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange
Act.
(j) Control Change Date means the date on which a Change in Control
occurs. If a Change in Control occurs on account of a series of
transactions, the “Control Change Date” is the date of
the last of such transactions.
(k) Disability means a complete physical or mental inability,
confirmed by an independent licensed physician, to perform
substantially all of the services required of an employee in
Executive’s position with the Company immediately before
Executive first became unable to perform those services, that
continues for a period of two hundred forty (240) consecutive days,
provided that the Company has given advance written notice to
Executive of its determination of such Disability, and Executive
has not resumed performance of such services within thirty (30)
days of such notice.
(l) Exchange Act means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.
(m) Fair Market Value has the same meaning given that term in the
Parent’s 1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended and in effect
from time to time.
(n) Good Reason means the Executive’s resignation from the
Company’s employment on account of one or more of the
following events:
(i) the failure by the Parent’s Board or the
Company’s Board (as applicable) to reelect the Executive to
Executive’s current position with the Company and the Parent
(as of the Control Change Date), provided the Executive elects to
leave the Company’s or Parent’s employment within six
(6) months of such failure to so reelect or reappoint the
Executive;
(ii) a material diminution by the Parent’s
Board or the Company’s Board (as applicable) of the duties,
functions and responsibilities of the Executive as the Senior Vice
President of Asset Management of the Parent without his consent
within six (6) months of such diminution of duties,
responsibilities or functions; provided, however, that the Parent,
the Company and the Executive agree that Good Reason will exist
under this section 1.2(ii) solely because the Executive continues
to have the same duties, functions and responsibilities as in
effect immediately before the Change in Control but for an entity
that does not have common stock or shares that are publicly
traded.
(iii) the failure of the Company or the Parent
to permit the Executive to exercise such responsibilities as are
consistent with the Executive’s position and are of such a
nature as are usually associated with such offices of a corporation
engaged in substantially the same business as the Company or the
Parent;
(iv) the Company’s or the Parent’s
causing the Executive to relocate his employment more than fifty
(50) miles from Memphis, Tennessee, without the consent of the
Executive;
(v) the Parent’s or the Company’s
failure to make (or the Parent’s failure to cause the Company
to make) a payment when due to the Executive;
(vi) the Company’s reduction, during the
Employment Period, of the Executive’s (A) Annual Base Salary,
as such may be increased from time to time after the date of this
Agreement; (B) Bonus, such that the aggregate threshold, target, or
maximum Bonus projected for Executive for a fiscal year are lower
than the greater of (1) the aggregate threshold, target, or maximum
Bonus, respectively, projected for the Executive for the
immediately preceding fiscal year or (2) the aggregate threshold,
target, or maximum Bonus, respectively, projected most recently
prior to the Employment Period for the Executive; (C) employee
welfare, fringe or pension benefits, other than reductions
determined to be necessary to comply with the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or to retain the
tax-qualified or tax-favored status of the benefit under the Code,
which determination shall be made by the Parent’s Board in
good faith or (D) incentive compensation (other than Bonus levels
that are subject to restrictions on reductions under section
1.2(n)(vi)(B)) such that the aggregate threshold, target or maximum
value is less than the average incentive compensation (including
any restricted stock, options and similar awards) for the two year
period preceding the Control Change Date.
(vii) the Company, the Company’s Board, the
Parent or the Parent’s Board directs Executive to engage in
unlawful or unethical conduct or conduct contrary to the
Company’s or the Parent’s good business
practices.
(o) Parent’s Board means the Board of Directors of the
Parent.
(p) Person means any human being, firm, corporation,
partnership, or other entity. “Person” also includes
any human being, firm, corporation, partnership, or other entity as
defined in sections 13(d)(3) and 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act. The
term “Person” does not include the Company, the Parent
or any Related Entity, and the term Person does not include any
employee-benefit plan maintained by the Parent, the Company or any
Related Entity, and any person or entity organized, appointed, or
established by the Parent, the Company or any Related Entity for or
pursuant to the terms of any such employee-benefit plan, unless the
Parent’s Board or the Company’s Board determines that
such an employee-benefit plan or such person or entity is a
“Person”.
(q) Potential Change in Control
means that (i) the Parent’s
Board approves a transaction or series of transactions that, if
consummated, would result in a Change in Control; (ii) any Person,
the Company, or the Parent makes a public announcement of its
intention to take or consider taking actions that would result in a
Change in Control; (iii) any Person initiates a tender offer which,
if consummated, would result in a Change in Control; or (iv) the
Parent’s Board adopts a resolution to the effect that, in its
judgment, as a consequence of any one or more transactions or
events or series of transactions or events, a Potential
Change in
Control of the Company or the Parent has effectively occurred. The
Parent’s Board shall be entitled to exercise its sole and
absolute discretion in adopting any such resolution pursuant to
subparagraph (iv) above and in determining whether or not any such
transaction(s) or event(s) might be deemed, individually or
collectively, to constitute a Potential Change in Control of the
Company or the Parent.
(r) Related Entity means any entity that is part of a controlled
group of corporations or is under common control with the Parent
within the meaning of section 1563(a), 414(b) or 414(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the
“Code”).
ARTICLE 2. TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
.
2.1 General . Executive is entitled to receive a Termination
Payment according to the remaining provisions of this Article 2 if
Executive’s employment with the Company terminates during the
term of this Agreement and during an Employment Period (as defined
below) because of an event described in either section 2.2 or 2.3.
An Employment Period begins on the occurrence of any Potential
Change in Control. An Employment Period also begins on the
occurrence of a Control Change Date if, with respect to the Change
in Control to which such Control Change Date relates, no Potential
Change in Control occurred (or a Potential Change in Control did
occur, but it was determined by the Parent’s Board to have
been unwound, reversed or concluded (as provided in the following
sentence)). If an Employment Period begins on the occurrence of a
Potential Change in Control, it will end on the earlier of (i) the
date (if any) that the events constituting the Potential Change in
Control have been unwound, reversed or concluded such that the
events are no longer expected to result in a Change in Control, as
determined by the Parent’s Board in good faith, or (ii)
eighteen (18) months following the Control Change Date to which the
Potential Change of Control relates. If an Employment Period begins
on a Control Change Date, it will end eighteen (18) months
following the Control Change Date. If Executive’s employment
terminates during an Employment Period and an event described in
section 2.2 or 2.3 has not occurred, or Executive’s
employment terminates as a result of his death or Disability, this
Agreement terminates.
2.2 Termination by the Company
. Executive is entitled to receive a
Termination Payment if Executive’s employment is terminated
by the Company during an Employment Period without Cause. If the
Company desires to discharge the Executive for Cause (the
“Cause Exception”), it shall give notice to the
Executive as provided in section 2.7 and the Executive shall have
thirty (30) days after notice has been given to him in which to
cure the reason for the Company’s exercise of the Cause
Exception. If the reason for the Company’s exercise of the
Cause Exception is timely cured by the Executive (as determined by
a majority of the members of the Company’s Board following a
hearing), the Company’s notice of discharge shall become null
and void.
2.3 Voluntary Termination . Executive is entitled to receive a Termination
Payment if Executive voluntarily terminates employment during an
Employment Period with Good Reason.
2.4 Termination Payment . The Parent shall pay or shall cause the
Company to pay a Termination Payment equal to two (2) times
Executive’s Base Period Income (as determined under section
2.5) in a single sum payment, net of any required tax withholding,
in cash. Except as provided in the two following sentences, the
Termination Payment to Executive shall be made not later than the
thirtieth (30 th ) business day after Executive’s
employment termination in accordance with section 2.2 or 2.3 (the
“Payment Date”). If Executive is a “specified
employee” (as defined in section 409A of the Code), any
portion of the Termination Payment that is subject to section 409A
of the Code shall be paid in a single sum payment on the first
business day of the seventh month beginning after the day of
Executive’s employment termination in accordance with section
2.2 or 2.3. If the amount of the Termination Payment cannot be
finally determined on or before the Payment Date, the Parent shall
pay or shall cause the Company to pay on the Payment Date an
estimate, as determined in good faith by the Company, of the
minimum amount of the Termination Payment. Any portion of the
Termination Payment that is not made on the Payment Date shall bear
interest at a rate equal to one-hundred twenty (120) percent of the
monthly compounded applicable federal rate, as in effect under
section 1274(d) of the Code for the month in which the Payment Date
occurs. In the event that the amount of the estimated payment
exceeds the amount subsequently determined to have been due, such
excess shall constitute a loan by the payor, payable on the fifth
day after demand by the Parent or the Company, as applicable, with
interest at the rate provided under section 1274(d) of the Code
until paid.
2.5 Base Period Income . Base Period Income for the Executive equals
the sum of (a) and (b), as determined below:
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Average Annual
Base Salary, determined as follows:
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(i) twelve
times: (A) the monthly rate of Annual Base Salary to which the
Executive is entitled on the day prior to his termination (the
“Salary Measurement Date”); plus (B) the monthly rate
of Annual Base Salary to which the Executive was entitled twelve
months prior to the Salary Measurement Date, if Executive was
employed by the Company or the Parent on that date; plus (C) the
monthly rate of Annual Base Salary to which the Executive was
entitled twenty-four months prior to the Salary Measurement Date,
if Executive was employed by the Company or the Parent on that date
(with Annual Base Salary determined in each case