Each shareholder party also agreed to certain customary standstill provisions prohibiting it from, among other things, (i) making certain public announcements, (ii) soliciting proxies, (iii) acquiring beneficial ownership of more than 20% of the Company’s voting securities, (iv) selling any Company securities to any person that is known to have filed or threatened to file a proxy solicitation against the Company within the preceding 18 months or has otherwise given such shareholder party reasonable cause to believe such person intends to engage in a proxy campaign against the Company, (v) taking any action to support proposals that seek to influence the board or management of the Company or effect any material change in the Company’s capitalization, management, business or corporate structure, and (vi) joining any group with respect to the Company’s voting securities.
Unless the parties agree otherwise, the Cooperation Agreement will terminate as to a shareholder party on the earliest of (a) the time when such shareholder party no longer owns at least 2.5% of the Company’s voting securities, (b) the adjournment of the applicable annual meeting if the New Director (or any replacement) designated by such shareholder party is not re-elected at such meeting, (c) the Company’s breach of its obligations with respect to the strategy and expense committee, (d) the New Director (or any replacement) designated by such shareholder party fails to be re-nominated for election at a shareholder meeting, and (e) the consummation of an Extraordinary Transaction (as defined in the Cooperation Agreement).
The parties to the Cooperation Agreement have also agreed not to make any disparaging remarks or file any lawsuits against each other, subject to certain exceptions contained in the agreement.
Related Person Transactions
Our board of directors has adopted written policies and procedures for the review of any transaction, arrangement or relationship in which Merrimack is a participant, the amount involved exceeds $120,000 and one of our executive officers, directors, director nominees or 5% stockholders, or their immediate family members, each of whom we refer to as a “related person,” has a direct or indirect material interest.
Since January 1, 2021, we have not engaged in any related person transactions.
Board Determination of Independence
Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq Listing Rules requires a majority of a listed company’s board of directors to be comprised of independent directors. In addition, the Nasdaq Listing Rules require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation and corporate governance and nominating committees be independent and that audit committee members also satisfy independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Under Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of our board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. In order to be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10A-3, a member of an audit committee of a listed company may not, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the board of directors, or any other board committee: (1) accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries; or (2) be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of its subsidiaries. In addition, in affirmatively determining the independence of any director who will serve on a company’s compensation committee, Rule 10C-1 under the Exchange Act requires that a company’s board of directors consider all factors specifically relevant to determining whether a director has a relationship to such company which is material to that director’s ability to be independent from management in connection with the duties of a compensation committee member, including, but not limited to: (i) the source of compensation of the director, including any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee paid by such company to the director; and (ii) whether the director is affiliated with the company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates.
Based upon information requested from and provided by each director concerning his or her background, employment and affiliations, including family relationships, our board of directors has determined that none of Mr. Andersen, Mr. Levy, Dr. Nielsen, and Ms. Radeljevic, representing four of our five current directors, has a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors is “independent” as that term is defined under Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. Our board of directors had previously made a determination of independence with respect to Mr. Crocker, who was no longer deemed to be independent as of his appointment as President in June 2019. Our board of directors has also determined that Mr. Levy, Dr. Nielsen, and Ms. Radeljevic, who will comprise our audit committee, and Mr. Andersen and Dr. Nielsen, who comprise our corporate governance and nominating committee and our organization and compensation committee, each satisfy the independence standards for such committees established by the SEC and the Nasdaq Listing Rules, as applicable. In making such determination, our board of directors considered the relationships that each such non-employee director has with Merrimack, including any transactions of the type described above in “Related Person Transactions,” and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining independence.