Exhibit 10.5
INDEMNITY AGREEMENT
THIS INDEMNITY AGREEMENT is made as of this 22nd day of June, 2022
BETWEEN:
DIRTT ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS LTD., a corporation
governed by the laws of the Province of Alberta (the “Corporation”)
-and-
Benjamin Urban, (the “Indemnified Party”)
RECITALS:
NOW THEREFORE, IN CONSIDERATION OF the promises and mutual covenants herein contained and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, and the Indemnified Party acting as a director or officer of the Corporation or, at the Corporation’s request, as a director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity, the Corporation and the Indemnified Party do hereby covenant and agree as follows:
ARTICLE 1
DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION
Whenever used in this Agreement, the following words and terms shall have the meanings set out below:
incidental and consequential damages), fees (including any legal, professional or advisory fees, retainers, charges or disbursements and including costs of services of any experts), claims, awards, statutory obligations, amounts paid to settle or dispose of any Claim or satisfy any judgment, fines, penalties or liabilities (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such losses, damages, fees, claims, awards, statutory obligations, amounts paid to settle or dispose of any Claim or satisfy any judgment, fines, penalties or liabilities), without limitation, and whether incurred alone or jointly with others, including any amounts which the Indemnified Party may reasonably suffer, sustain, incur or be required to pay in respect of the investigation, defence, settlement or appeal of or preparation for any Claim or with any action to establish a right to indemnification under this Agreement, and for greater certainty, includes all Taxes, interest, penalties and related outlays of the Indemnified Party arising from any indemnification of the Indemnified Party by the Corporation pursuant to this Agreement;
means any one of them;
In this Agreement:
as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective only to the extent of such restriction, prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions of this Agreement and without affecting the validity or enforceability of such provision in any other jurisdiction or without affecting its application to other Parties or circumstances.
ARTICLE 2 OBLIGATIONS
The Indemnified Party shall be presumed to have fulfilled the foregoing conditions unless it is determined by the Court that the Indemnified Party has not (and the burden of proof shall be on the Corporation to rebut such presumption).
Indemnified Party harmless, and advance moneys under Section 2.1(k) to the Indemnified Party, in respect of a Claim by or on behalf of the Corporation or other entity to procure a judgment in the Corporation’s favour to which the Indemnified Party is made a party by reason of being or having been a director or officer of the Corporation or director, officer or in similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request. The Corporation will advance or reimburse, as applicable, all Losses incurred by the Indemnified Party in connection with the Indemnified Party’s participation in such Claim as provided in this Section 2.1(c). The Corporation shall pay to the Indemnified Party, if applicable, a reasonable per diem amount for time spent in connection with a Claim under this Section 2.1(c) as provided in Section 2.1(l).
whether federal, provincial, state, regional or municipal, or which in any way involve the business or affairs of the Corporation or an Entity for which the Indemnified Party acted as a director, officer or similar capacity at the Corporation’s request, provided that the indemnity provided for in this Section 2.1(g) will be available unless it is determined by the Court that the Indemnified Party has not fulfilled the conditions in Section 2.1(b) above.
of a court of competent jurisdiction or final arbitration award of an applicable arbitration proceeding that has become non-appealable that the Indemnified Party did not fulfill the conditions in Section 2.1(b) or that the Indemnified Party was not entitled to be fully so indemnified, such advance, or the appropriate portion thereof, upon written notice of such determination being given by the Corporation to the Indemnified Party detailing the basis for such determination, shall be repayable on demand without interest. The Indemnified Party shall not be required to provide collateral or otherwise secure the Indemnified Party’s agreement to repay described in the prior sentence. If and to the extent the Indemnified Party makes any such repayment to the Corporation, the obligation of the Corporation to indemnify the Indemnified Party will continue in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
representatives) any information that it has turned over to any third parties in connection therewith.
Promptly after receiving written notice from the Indemnified Party of any Claim or threatened Claim (other than a Claim by or on behalf of the Corporation to procure a judgment in its favour against the Indemnified Party), the Corporation may by notice in writing to the Indemnified Party, and upon the written request of the Indemnified Party the Corporation shall, in a timely manner assume conduct of the defence thereof and retain counsel on behalf of the Indemnified Party who is reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Party, to represent the Indemnified Party in respect of the Claim. On delivery of such notice by the Corporation, other than pursuant to Section 2.4, the Corporation shall not be liable to the Indemnified Party under this Agreement for any fees and disbursements of counsel the Indemnified Party may subsequently incur with respect to the same matter. If the Corporation assumes conduct of the defence on behalf of the Indemnified Party, the Indemnified Party hereby consents to the conduct thereof and of any action taken by the Corporation, in good faith, in connection therewith, and the Indemnified Party shall fully cooperate in such defence including the provision of documents, attending examinations for discovery, making affidavits, meeting with counsel, testifying and divulging to the Corporation all information reasonably required to defend or prosecute the Claim.
In connection with any Claim or other matter for which the Indemnified Party may be entitled to indemnity under this Agreement, the Indemnified Party shall have the right to employ separate counsel and consultants of the Indemnified Party’s choosing and to participate in and approve any settlement by the Corporation of any Claim involving or affecting in any manner whatsoever the Indemnified Party, and provided that:
(a) the employment of such counsel and consultants of the Indemnified Party’s choosing have been previously approved by the Corporation, acting reasonably; or (b) the Indemnified Party has reasonably concluded that there may be a conflict of interest between the Corporation and the Indemnified Party in defending such Claim; then all fees, expenses and disbursements of such counsel and consultants shall be at the Corporation’s expense and shall be paid within ten (10) days of invoices being submitted to the Corporation.
shall be entitled to such indemnification, absent a prohibition of such indemnification under applicable law.
For greater certainty, no admission of liability and no settlement of any Claim in a manner adverse to the Indemnified Party shall be made without the consent of the Indemnified Party, acting reasonably. No admission of liability shall be made by the Indemnified Party without the consent of the Corporation and the Corporation shall not be liable for any settlement of any Claim made without its consent, acting reasonably.
The indemnification and advance payment provided in this Agreement shall not derogate from or exclude any other rights to which the Indemnified Party may be entitled under any provision of the Act or otherwise at law, the articles or by-laws of the Corporation, any applicable policy of insurance, guarantee or third-party indemnity, any vote of shareholders of the Corporation, or otherwise, both as to matters arising out of the Indemnified Party’s capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation or as to matters arising out of any other capacity in which the Indemnified Party may act for or on behalf of the Corporation.
Any other provision herein to the contrary notwithstanding, the Corporation shall not be obligated pursuant to the terms of this Agreement:
The Corporation agrees that the articles and by-laws of the Corporation in effect on the date hereof shall not be amended to reduce, limit, hinder or delay: (a) the rights of the Indemnified Party granted hereunder; or (b) the ability of the Corporation to indemnify the Indemnified Party as required hereunder. The Corporation further agrees that it shall exercise the powers granted to it under the articles and by- laws of the Corporation and applicable law to indemnify the Indemnified Party to the fullest extent possible as required by this Agreement.
ARTICLE 3
INSURANCE
The Corporation shall purchase and maintain, or cause to be purchased and maintained, while the Indemnified Party remains a director or officer of the Corporation or director, officer or a similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request, and in accordance with Section 3.6, for a period of six (6) years after the Indemnified Party ceases to be a director or officer of the Corporation, a Policy including Side “A” difference in conditions coverage, for the benefit of the Indemnified Party containing such customary terms and conditions and in such amounts as are available to the Corporation on reasonable commercial terms, having regard to the nature and size of the business and operations of the Corporation and its subsidiaries from time to time. In all such Policies, the Indemnified Party, by reference to the Indemnified Party’s position or otherwise, shall be named as an insured. The Corporation shall thereafter take all necessary or desirable action to cause its insurer to pay, on behalf of the Indemnified Party, all amounts payable as a result of such Claims in accordance with the terms of such policies.
So long as the Indemnified Party is a director or officer of the Corporation or director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request, and, in accordance with Section 3.6, for a period of six
(6) years thereafter, the Corporation shall not seek to amend or discontinue the Policy or allow the Policy to lapse.
If the Policy is discontinued for any reason, the Corporation shall purchase, maintain and administer, or cause to be purchased, maintained and administered for a period of six (6) years after such discontinuance, insurance for the benefit of the Indemnified Party (the “Run-Off Coverage”), on such terms as the Corporation then maintains in existence for its directors and officers, to the extent permitted by law and provided such Run-Off Coverage is available on commercially acceptable terms and premiums (as determined by the Corporation’s board of directors acting reasonably). The Run-Off Coverage shall provide coverage only in respect of events occurring prior to the discontinuance of the Policy.
If an insurable event occurs, the Corporation shall indemnify the Indemnified Party as agreed hereto regardless of whether the Corporation receives the insurance proceeds. The Indemnified Party is entitled to full indemnification as agreed hereto notwithstanding any deductible amounts or policy limits contained in any such insurance policy.
Notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement to the contrary, the Corporation shall not be obligated to indemnify the Indemnified Party under this Agreement for any Losses which have been paid to, by or on behalf of, the Indemnified Party under the Policy or any other applicable policy of insurance maintained by the Corporation.
Following the Indemnified Party ceasing to be a director or officer of the Corporation or director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request, for any reason whatsoever, the Corporation shall continue to purchase and maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, for the benefit of the Indemnified Party for a minimum of six (6) years, such that the Indemnified Party’s insurance coverage is, during that time, the same as any insurance coverage the Corporation purchases and maintains for the benefit of its then current directors and officers, from time to time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if: (a) liability insurance coverage for former directors and officers is no longer available; or (b) it is no longer industry practice among responsible companies to procure liability insurance for former directors and officers and the cost to the Corporation to do so would be commercially unreasonable (as determined by the board of directors acting reasonably), the Corporation shall be relieved of its obligation to procure liability insurance coverage for former directors and officers; provided that the Corporation procures such level of insurance coverage, if any, as is available for former directors and officers at a commercially reasonable rate and adopts comparable measures to protect its former directors and officers in the circumstances as are adopted by other responsible companies. The onus is on the Corporation to establish that the circumstances described in the previous sentence exist.
If for any reason whatsoever, any directors’ and officers’ liability insurer asserts that the Indemnified Party is subject to a deductible under any existing or future Policy purchased and maintained by the Corporation for the benefit of the Indemnified Party, the Corporation shall pay the deductible for and on behalf of the Indemnified Party.
The Corporation agrees to provide notice of any material changes in the insurance coverage referred to in Article 3 during the period in which the Indemnified Party serves as director or officer of the Corporation or a director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request and for a period of six (6) years thereafter.
The Corporation agrees that if the Corporation enters into any indemnity agreement or similar arrangement with any person who is, or becomes, a director or officer of the Corporation or a director, officer or
similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request, and such agreement or arrangement contains any provision which is more favourable to the other party to such agreement than the provisions of this Agreement are to the Indemnified Party then, and in each such case, the Corporation shall provide written notice of such provision to the Indemnified Party (which shall include a copy of such provision). Upon such notice, unless the Indemnified Party elects otherwise within five (5) days of receipt of such notice, this Agreement shall be deemed to be amended to conform the provisions of this Agreement to such more favourable provision.
ARTICLE 4 MISCELLANEOUS
The Corporation and the Indemnified Party shall, from time to time, provide such information and cooperate with the other, as the other may reasonably request, in respect of all matters under this Agreement.
This Agreement shall be deemed to have effect as and from the first date that the Indemnified Party became a director or officer of the Corporation or a director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request.
The liability of the Corporation under this Agreement shall not be affected, discharged, impaired, mitigated or released by reason of the discharge or release of the Indemnified Party in any bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or other similar proceeding of creditors.
No action or proceeding brought or instituted under this Agreement and no recovery pursuant thereto shall be a bar or defence to any further action or proceeding which may be brought under this Agreement.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, no legal action shall be brought and no course of action shall be asserted by or on behalf of the Corporation against the Indemnified Party after the expiration of two years from the date of the Indemnified Party’s ceasing to act as a director or officer of the Corporation or a director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request and the Corporation agrees that any claim or cause of action of the Corporation shall be extinguished and the Indemnified Party be
deemed released therefrom absolutely unless asserted by the commencement of legal action in a court of
competent jurisdiction within such two yearperiod.
ARTICLE 5 CONTRIBUTION
settlement and/or for Expenses, in connection with any claim relating to an indemnifiable event under this Agreement, in such proportion as is deemed fair and reasonable in light of all of the circumstances of such Claim in order to reflect (i) the relative benefits received by the Corporation and the Indemnified Party as a result of the event(s) and/or transaction(s) giving cause to such Claim; and/or (ii) the relative fault of the Corporation (and its directors, officers, employees and agents) and the Indemnified Party in connection with such event(s) and/or transaction(s).
5.2 Relative Fault
The relative fault of the Indemnified Party, on the one hand, and of the Corporation and any and all other parties (including officers and directors of the Corporation other than the Indemnified Party) who may be at fault with respect to such matter shall be determined (i) by reference to the relative fault of the Indemnified Party as determined by the court or other governmental agency assessing the contribution amounts or (ii) to the extent such court or other governmental agency does not apportion relative fault, by independent counsel agreed to by both the Corporation and the Indemnified Party after giving effect to, among other things, the degree of which their actions were motivated by intent to gain personal profit or advantage, the degree to which their liability is primary or secondary, the degree to which their conduct is active or passive, the degree of the knowledge, access to information, and opportunity to prevent or correct the subject matter of the Claim and other relevant equitable considerations of each party. The Corporation and the Indemnified Party agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 5.2 were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this Section 5.2.
ARTICLE 6 GENERAL
This Agreement shall continue after the Indemnified Party ceases to serve as a director or officer of the Corporation or a director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request and shall survive indefinitely.
The Indemnified Party shall be deemed to have acted or be acting at the specific request of the Corporation upon the Indemnified Party’s being appointed or elected as a director or officer of the Corporation or a director, officer or similar capacity of an Entity at the Corporation’s request.
Neither Party may assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other Party. This Agreement shall enure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Parties and the heirs, executors and administrators and other legal representatives of the Indemnified Party and the successors and permitted assigns of the Corporation (including any direct or indirect successor by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise to all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Corporation).
No supplement, modification, amendment or waiver or termination of this Agreement and, unless otherwise specified, no consent or approval by any Party, shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Party to be bound thereby. For greater certainty, the rights of the Indemnified Party under this Agreement shall not be prejudiced or impaired by permitting or consenting to any assignment in bankruptcy, receivership, insolvency or any other creditor’s proceedings of or against the Corporation or by the winding-up or dissolution of the Corporation.
Any notice, consent or approval required or permitted to be given in connection with this Agreement (in this Section referred to as a “Notice”) shall be in writing and shall be sufficiently given if delivered (whether in person, by courier service or other personal method of delivery), or if transmitted by facsimile or e-mail:
Facsimile:
e-mail:
Attn: General Counsel 7303 30th Street S.E. Calgary, Alberta T2C 1N6 Facsimile:
e-mail:
Any Notice delivered or transmitted to a Party as provided above shall be deemed to have been given and received on the day it is delivered or transmitted, provided that it is delivered or transmitted on a business day prior to 5:00 p.m. local time in the place of delivery or receipt. However, if the Notice is delivered or transmitted after 5:00 p.m. local time or if such day is not a business day then the Notice shall be deemed to have been given and received on the next business day.
Any Party may, from time to time, change its address for Notice set out in this Section 6.5 by giving Notice to the other Party in accordance with the provisions of this Section.
The Corporation and the Indemnified Party shall, with reasonable diligence, do all such further acts, deeds or things and execute and deliver all such further documents as may be necessary or advisable for the purpose of assuring and conferring on the Indemnified Party the rights hereby created or intended, and of giving effect to and carrying out the intention or facilitating the performance of the terms of this Agreement or to evidence any advance made pursuant to Section 2.1(k).
The Indemnified Party acknowledges that the Indemnified Party has been advised to obtain independent legal advice with respect to entering into this Agreement, that it has obtained such independent legal advice or has expressly determined not to seek such advice, and that the Indemnified Party is entering into this Agreement with full knowledge of the contents hereof, of the Indemnified Party’s own free will and with full capacity and authority to do so.
This Agreement may be executed by the Parties in counterparts and may be executed and delivered by facsimile or other form of electronic transmission, and all such counterparts and facsimiles or forms of electronic transmission together shall be deemed to be an original and shall constitute one and the same agreement.
[Signature Page Follows]
IN WITNESS OF WHICH the Parties have duly executed this Agreement.
DIRTT ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS LTD. |
Per: /s/ Charles R Kraus |
Name: Charles R Kraus |
Title: General Counsel |
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED In the presence of: /s/ Geoffrey D. Krause /s/ Benjamin Urban | |
Witness | Benjamin Urban |
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Schedule I
The Company entered into an Indemnification Agreement with each of Jeffrey Metcalf and Shaun Noll that is identical to the one entered into with Benjamin Urban.