Exhibit 10.1
VOTING AGREEMENT
VOTING AGREEMENT, dated as of
August 31, 2009 (this “ Agreement ”), by
and between The Walt Disney Company, a Delaware corporation
(“ Parent ”), Marvel Entertainment, Inc., a
Delaware corporation (“ Company ”), and the
parties listed on Schedule A attached hereto (each, a
“ Stockholder ” and, collectively, the “
Stockholders ”).
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS, concurrently with the
execution of this Agreement, Parent, Maverick Acquisition Sub,
Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of
Parent (“ Merger Sub ”), Maverick Merger Sub,
LLC, a single member Delaware limited liability company and wholly
owned subsidiary of Parent (“ Merger LLC ”) and
the Company are entering into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the
“ Merger Agreement ”), pursuant to which Merger
Sub will be merged with and into the Company with the Company
continuing as the Surviving Corporation, and as soon as reasonably
practicable thereafter, the Surviving Corporation will merge with
and into Merger LLC, on the terms and subject to the conditions of
the Merger Agreement (the “ Merger ”). Unless
otherwise indicated, capitalized terms not defined herein have the
meanings given to them in the Merger Agreement;
WHEREAS, each Stockholder is the
record and beneficial owner of the shares of Company Common Stock,
par value $0.01 per share, set forth opposite such
Stockholder’s name on Schedule A hereto (together,
with any additional securities of the Company described in
Section 1.2 , being referred to herein as the “
Subject Shares ”);
WHEREAS, prior to the date hereof,
the Board of Directors of the Company has approved this Agreement
and the transactions contemplated hereby for purposes of
Section 203 of the DGCL; and
WHEREAS, as a material inducement to
enter into the Merger Agreement and to consummate the Merger,
Parent has required that each of the Stockholders enter into this
Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, for good and
valuable consideration, the receipt, sufficiency and adequacy of
which is hereby acknowledged, and intending to be legally bound,
the parties agree as follows:
1. Voting of Subject Shares
.
Section 1.1 Voting
Agreement .
(a) Prior to the Expiration Date, at
every meeting of the stockholders of the Company called with
respect to any of the following, and at every adjournment or
postponement thereof, and on every action or approval by written
consent of the stockholders of the Company with respect to any of
the following, each of the Stockholders shall Vote (or cause to be
Voted) such Stockholder’s Subject Shares in favor of adoption
of the Merger Agreement and approval of each of the transactions
contemplated thereby and any other action reasonably requested by
Parent in furtherance thereof. Furthermore, none of the
Stockholders shall knowingly take any action inconsistent with this
Section 1.1(a) , prior to the Expiration
Time.
(b) In addition to the foregoing,
prior to the Expiration Date, at any meeting of the Company
Stockholders or at any adjournment or postponement thereof or in
any other circumstances upon which any Vote, consent or other
approval is sought, each of the Stockholders shall Vote (or cause
to be Voted) all of such Stockholder’s Subject Shares against
(i) the approval of any Alternative Transaction or the
adoption of any agreement relating to any Alternative Transaction
and (ii) any amendment of the Company Charter or Company
Bylaws or any other action, agreement, proposal or transaction
involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries which amendment or
other action, agreement, proposal or transaction would, or would
reasonably be expected to, result in a breach of any covenant,
representation or warranty or any other obligation or agreement of
the Company contained in the Merger Agreement or of the
Stockholders contained in this Agreement or would, or would
reasonably be expected to, in any manner compete with, interfere
with, impede, frustrate, prevent, burden, delay or nullify the
Merger, the Merger Agreement or any of the transactions
contemplated hereby or by the Merger Agreement.
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing,
each of the Stockholders shall remain free to Vote such
Stockholder’s Subject Shares with respect to any matter not
covered by this Section 1.1 , but only to the extent
that such Vote would not reasonably be expected to, in any manner
compete with, interfere with, impede, frustrate, prevent, burden,
delay or nullify the Merger Agreement, the Merger or any of the
other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement. For
purposes of this Agreement, “ Vote ” shall mean
voting in person or by proxy in favor of or against any action,
otherwise consenting or withholding consent in respect of any
action (including, without limitation, consenting in accordance
with Section 228 of the DGCL) or taking other action in favor
of or against any action; “ Voting ” and “
Voted ” shall have correlative meanings. Any such Vote
shall be cast, or consent shall be given, for purposes of this
Section 1 , in accordance with such procedures relating
thereto as shall ensure that it is duly counted for purposes of
determining that a quorum is present and for purposes of recording
in accordance herewith the results of such Vote or
consent.
(d) Each Stockholder hereby
severally and irrevocably grants to, and appoints, Parent and each
of its executive officers and any of them in their capacities as
officers of Parent, such Stockholder’s proxies and
attorneys-in-fact (with full power of substitution), for and in the
name, place and stead of such Stockholder, to Vote all of such
Stockholder’s Subject Shares in accordance with Sections
1.1(a) and 1.1(b) of this Agreement until the Expiration
Date.
(e) Each Stockholder represents that
any proxies heretofore given in respect of such Stockholder’s
Subject Shares are not irrevocable and that all such proxies are
hereby revoked.
(f) Each Stockholder understands and
acknowledges that Parent is entering into the Merger Agreement in
reliance upon such Stockholder’s execution and delivery of
this Agreement. Such Stockholder hereby affirms that the
irrevocable proxy set forth in this Section 1.1 is
given in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement and
that such irrevocable proxy is given to secure the performance of
the duties of such Stockholder under this Agreement. Such
Stockholder hereby further affirms that the irrevocable
proxy is coupled with an interest and may under
no circumstances be revoked prior to the termination of this
Agreement pursuant to Section 6 hereof, at which time
such proxy shall automatically terminate. Such Stockholder hereby
ratifies and confirms all that such irrevocable proxy may lawfully
do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Section 1.2 Adjustments;
Additional Shares . In the event (a) of any stock
dividend, stock split, recapitalization, reclassification,
subdivision, combination or exchange of shares on, of or affecting
the Subject Shares, or (b) that any of the Stockholders shall
have become the beneficial owners of any additional shares of
common stock or other securities of the Company, then all shares of
common stock or other securities of the Company held by any
Stockholder immediately following the effectiveness of any event
described in clause (a) or any of the Stockholders becoming
the beneficial owners of the shares or other securities as
described in clause (b), shall, in each case, automatically and
without any further action become Subject Shares
hereunder.
Section 1.3 Waiver of
Appraisal Rights . Each of the Stockholders hereby irrevocably
and unconditionally waives, and agrees not to assert or perfect,
any rights of appraisal, dissenters’ rights or similar rights
that such Stockholder may have in connection with the
Merger.
2. Transfer Restrictions and
Obligations .
Section 2.1 Lock-Up .
After the execution of this Agreement and until the Expiration
Date, no Stockholder will, directly or indirectly:
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(a)
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sell, transfer,
exchange, offer, pledge, assign, hypothecate, encumber, tender or
otherwise dispose of (collectively, a “ Transfer
”), or enforce or permit the execution of the provisions of
any redemption, share purchase or sale, recapitalization or other
agreement with the Company or any other Person or enter into any
contract, option or other agreement, arrangement or understanding
with respect to the Transfer of any Subject Shares or any
securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for
Subject Shares, any other capital stock of the Company or any
interest in any of the foregoing with any Person;
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(b)
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grant any
proxies, options or rights of first offer or refusal with respect
to the Subject Shares;
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(c)
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enter into any
voting agreement, voting trust or other voting arrangements with
respect to any of the Subject Shares;
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(d)
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enter into a
swap or any other agreement or any transaction that transfers, in
whole or in part, the economic consequence of ownership of any
Subject Shares; or
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(e)
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create or
permit to exist any Encumbrance affecting any of the Subject
Shares.
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The foregoing requirements shall not
prohibit any Transfer (a) under any Stockholder’s will
or pursuant to laws of descent and distribution or any such
Transfer to an immediate family member or a family trust for the
benefit of immediate family members or (b) to a charitable
organization described in Section 170(c) of the Code by a
Stockholder in amount and frequency consistent with past practice
over the past three years described on Schedule B hereto, so
long as the other party to such Transfer or other arrangement
executes this Agreement (or a joinder thereto in a form reasonably
satisfactory to Parent) and agrees to be bound by its terms;
provided, however , that notwithstanding such Transfer or
arrangement, such Stockholder shall continue to be liable for any
breach by such transferee of its agreements and covenants under
this Agreement.
Section 2.2 Other
Obligations . From and after the date of this Agreement, each
of the Stockholders agrees (a) not to, and to cause any
investment banker, attorney or other advisor or representative of
such Stockholder not to, directly or indirectly, solicit, initiate,
knowingly encourage or facilitate, or furnish or disclose
non-public information in furtherance of, any inquiries or the
making of any Alternative Transaction Proposal, or negotiate,
explore or otherwise engage in discussions with any Person with
respect to any Alternative Transaction, or approve, endorse or
recommend any Alternative Transaction, or enter into any agreement,
arrangement or understanding with respect to any Alternative
Transaction and (b) not to take any action which makes, or
would reasonably be expected to make, any representation or
warranty of such Stockholder herein untrue or incorrect. Each of
the Stockholders shall notify Parent promptly (but in any event
within twenty-four (24) hours) of any such inquiries,
proposals or offers received by, or any such discussions or
negotiations sought to be initiated or continued with, such
Stockholder or, to the Stockholder’s knowledge, any of its
representatives, indicating the name of such Person and providing
to Parent a summary of the material terms of such proposal or offer
for an Alternative Transaction.
3. Representations and Warranties
of the Stockholders . Each of the Stockholders hereby
represents and warrants to Parent that:
(a) such Stockholder is the record
and beneficial owner (for purposes of this Agreement, such term
shall have the meaning set forth in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange
Act, but without regard to any conditions (including the passage of
time) to the acquisition of beneficial ownership of such shares)
of, and has good and valid and marketable title to, such
Stockholder’s Subject Shares free and clear of all
Encumbrances;
(b) as of the date hereof, such
Stockholder is not the record or beneficial owner of any shares of
Company Common Stock, any securities convertible into or
exchangeable for any shares of Company Common Stock or other voting
securities or instruments of the Company, other than such
Stockholder’s Subject Shares;
(c) if such Stockholder is a natural
person, such Stockholder has all power and authority to execute
this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated by
this Agreement;
(d) if such Stockholder is other
than a natural person, (i) such Stockholder (A) is duly
organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of
its jurisdiction of organization and (B) has all requisite
organizational power and authority to
execute and deliver this Agreement and to
consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and
(ii) the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement
and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby have
been duly authorized by all requisite organizational action and no
other organizational proceedings on the part of such Stockholder
are necessary to authorize this Agreement or the consummation of
the transactions contemplated hereby;
(e) this Agreement has been duly and
validly executed and d