(a) No Solicitation. Subject to Section 6 hereof, prior to the Termination Date, the Stockholder shall not take, and, to the extent applicable, shall direct its Affiliates and Representatives not to take, whether directly or indirectly, any action to (i) solicit, initiate, continue or engage in discussions or negotiations with, or enter into any agreement with, or knowingly encourage, respond to, or provide information to, any Person (other than Acquiror, the Company and/or any of their respective Affiliates or Representatives) concerning any Acquisition Transaction, (ii) commence, continue or renew any due diligence investigation regarding, or that is reasonably likely to give rise to or result in, any offer, inquiry, proposal or indication of interest, written or oral, with respect to, or which is reasonably likely to give rise to or result in, an Acquisition Transaction, (iii) solicit, initiate, continue or engage in discussions or negotiations with, or enter into any agreement with, or encourage, respond to, provide information to or commence due diligence with respect to, any Person (other than Acquiror, the Company and/or any of their respective Affiliates or Representatives) concerning, relating to or which is intended or is reasonably likely to give rise to or result in, any Business Combination Proposal other than with Acquiror, the Company and their respective Affiliates and Representatives; provided, that, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall not be deemed a violation of this Section 5(a). Such Stockholder shall, and shall direct its Representatives to, immediately cease any and all existing discussions or negotiations with any Person conducted prior to the date hereof with respect to, or which is reasonably likely to give rise to or result in, an Acquisition Proposal or a Business Combination Proposal.
Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, (i) such Stockholder shall not be responsible for the actions of the Company or the Board of Directors of the Company (or any committee thereof), any subsidiary of the Company, or any officers, directors (in their capacity as such), employees and professional advisors of any of the foregoing (collectively, the “Company Related Parties”), (ii) such Stockholder makes no representations or warranties with respect to the actions of any of the Company Related Parties, and (iii) any breach by the Company of its obligations under Section 9.03 of the Merger Agreement shall not be considered a breach of this Section 5(a) (it being understood that, for the avoidance of doubt, such Stockholder or his, her or its Representatives (other than any such Representative that is a Company Related Party) shall remain responsible for any breach by such Stockholder or his, her or its Representatives of this Section 5(a)).
(b) Each Stockholder hereby agrees, prior to the Termination Date, not to (except in each case pursuant to the Merger Agreement), (i) directly or indirectly, (a) sell, transfer, pledge, encumber, assign, hedge, swap, convert or otherwise dispose of (including by merger (including by conversion into securities or other consideration), by tendering into any tender or exchange offer, by testamentary disposition, by operation of Law or otherwise), either voluntarily or involuntarily (collectively, “Transfer”), or (b) enter into any Contract or option with respect to the Transfer of, any of such Stockholder’s Covered Shares, or (ii) publicly announce any intention to effect any transaction specified in clauses (a) or (b), or (iii) take any action that would make any representation or warranty of such Stockholder contained herein untrue or incorrect or have the effect of preventing or disabling such Stockholder from performing its obligations under this Agreement; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prohibit a Transfer to an Affiliate of the Stockholder or to another Stockholder of the Company that is a party to this Agreement and bound by the terms and obligations hereof (a “Permitted Transfer”); provided, further, that any Permitted Transfer shall be permitted only if, as a precondition to such Transfer, the transferee agrees in a writing, reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to Acquiror, to assume all of the obligations of the Stockholder under, and be bound by all of the terms of, this Agreement; provided, further, that any Transfer permitted under this Section 5(b) shall not relieve the Stockholder of its obligations under this Agreement. Any Transfer in violation of this Section 5(b) with respect to the Stockholder’s Covered Shares shall be null and void.
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