Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
On March 1, 2019, Core Laboratories N.V. (the “Company”) entered into employment agreements (the “Employment Agreements”) with two of its named executive officers, Mr. Lawrence V. Bruno, the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, and Mr. Christopher S. Hill, the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The initial term of the Employment Agreements will end on January 1, 2022, but the term will automatically extend for additional one year periods unless either party provides notice ofnon-renewal within the sixty (60) day period prior to the expiration of the applicable term.
The Employment Agreements provide the executives with an annual base salary of $531,000 and $365,000 for Messrs. Bruno and Hill, respectively. Each executive will be eligible to participate in the Company’s employee benefit plans generally available to all executive employees, with a maximum annual bonus opportunity equal to 180% of annual base salary for Mr. Bruno, and 150% of annual base salary for Mr. Hill. The executives will be eligible to participate in the Core Laboratories Deferred Compensation Plan (the “DCP”) and, until the executive officer reaches the age of 70, shall receive an annual discretionary company contribution to the executive’s DCP account equal to a percentage of the executive’s annual base salary (20% for Mr. Bruno and 10% for Mr. Hill) if the Company’s return on invested capital (“ROIC”) is within the top 75th percentile among a predetermined peer group for the applicable period (each, a “DCP Contribution”). Each DCP Contribution will be unvested until the executive reaches the age of 621⁄2 years, subject to acceleration upon the occurrence of certain events as noted below, except that any DCP Contribution that is made after the executive reaches the age of 621⁄2 years will be immediately vested.
In the event that either of the executives are terminated by the Company without Cause (as defined below), or the executives terminate for Good Reason (as defined below), the executives shall be entitled to receive the following: (1) an amount equal to the sum of (a) a multiple of the executive’s annual base salary in effect immediately prior to the termination (with a multiple of two (2) for Mr. Bruno and one andone-half (11⁄2) for Mr. Hill), plus (b) apro-rata bonus calculated by multiplying the target incentive bonus amount for the year in which the termination occurs by the number of days during the applicable year that the executive was employed (the “Pro-Rata Bonus”) (together, the “Severance Payment”); (2) reimbursement of up to $25,000 for reasonable outplacement services for a period of twelve months following termination (the “Severance Benefit”); and (3) the executive would receive accelerated vesting of any unvested DCP Contributions.
In the event that the executive is terminated by the Company without Cause or the executive terminates for Good Reason during the two year period following a Change in Control (as defined below), each executive shall be entitled to receive the following: (1) an amount equal to the sum of (a) a multiple (two andone-half (21⁄2) for Mr. Bruno and two (2) for Mr. Hill) times the sum of (i) the executive’s annual base salary as in effect immediately prior to the termination, and (ii) the target annual incentive bonus the executive could have earned for the year of termination, plus (b) thePro-Rata Bonus (together, the “Change in Control Payment”); and (2) the “Change in Control Benefits,” which consist of twenty-four months of continued coverage under the Company’s medical, dental and group life insurance plans for the executive and the executive’s dependents; immediate vesting of outstanding equity awards, with performance-based awards vesting as of the date of the Change in Control using actual performance as of the most recentquarter-end; and the Severance Benefit. In the event that the payments and benefits received by either executive in connection with a Change in Control constitute “parachute payments” (as defined in Section 280G of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)), the payments and benefits provided to that executive shall either be reduced to $1.00 below the amount that would subject the payments to excise taxes pursuant to Section 4999 of the Code, or paid in full, whichever will result in the better net tax position for the executive.
The Employment Agreements state that any unvested DCP Contributions would be accelerated upon the occurrence of a termination of the executive’s employment due to death or Disability (as defined below), or upon the occurrence of a Change in Control. The Employment Agreements also provide that notwithstanding anything to the contrary within an individual award agreement, any restricted stock awards granted to the executive shall not be forfeited upon the executive’s voluntary retirement on or after the age of 64.
The Severance Payment or the Change in Control Payment, as applicable, will generally be paid to each executive in equal installments over a twelve month period following the applicable termination of employment, although certain payments may be made at different times in order to comply with Section 409A of the Code.
The Employment Agreements contain customary confidentiality restrictions, and imposenon-competition restrictions on the executives during their employment and for a period of two years following a termination of employment for any reason other than a termination by the Company without Cause or by the executive without Good Reason.
For purposes of the Employment Agreements, the terms below are generally defined as follows:
| • | | “Cause” means a determination by that the executive (i) has been convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony, (ii) has engaged in conduct which is materially injurious (monetarily or otherwise) to Company or any of its affiliates, (iii) has engaged in gross negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of executive’s duties, (iv) has willfully refused without proper legal reason to perform executive’s duties and responsibilities, (v) has materially breached any material provision of the Employment Agreement or any other agreement between Company and the executive, or (vi) has materially breached any material corporate policy maintained and established by Company that is of general applicability to officers of Company. |