WHEREAS, in order to effectuate the provisions of this Agreement, the parties agree that the Company shall convene and adjourn the 2014 Annual Meeting currently scheduled to be held on May 6, 2014 to such later date in the month of May 2014 as determined by the Company (and without changing the record date) to enable the inclusion of the Third Point Designees in the Company’s recommended slate of director nominees for election to the Board at the 2014 Annual Meeting and take such other actions as appropriate in connection therewith, including filing supplemental proxy solicitation material.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of and reliance upon the mutual covenants and agreements contained herein, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the parties hereto has executed this Agreement, or caused the same to be executed by its duly authorized representative as of the date first above written.
Third Point Partners Qualified L.P.
Third Point Partners L.P.
Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P.
Third Point Ultra Master Fund L.P.
Third Point Reinsurance Company, Ltd.
Daniel S. Loeb
Harry J. Wilson
This resignation may not be withdrawn by me at any time during which it is effective.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
SOTHEBY’S
May 4, 2014
To: Each of the persons or entities listed on Schedule A hereto (collectively, “Third Point” or “you” and each individually, a “member” of Third Point)
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This letter agreement shall become effective upon the appointment of any Third Point Designee to the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Sotheby’s (the “Company”). Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings given to such terms in the Support Agreement (the “Support Agreement”), dated as of May 4, 2014, among the Company and Third Point. The Company understands and agrees that, subject to the terms of, and in accordance with, this letter agreement, each Third Point Designee may, if and to the extent he or she desires to do so (and subject to his or her fiduciary duties), confidentially disclose information he or she obtains while serving as a member of the Board to you and the Specified Third Point Personnel (as hereinafter defined), and may discuss such information with any and all such persons, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. As a result, you may receive certain non-public information regarding the Company. You acknowledge that this information is proprietary to the Company and may include trade secrets or other business information the disclosure of which could harm the Company. In consideration for, and as a condition of, the information being furnished to you and, subject to the restrictions in paragraph 2, the persons set forth on Schedule B hereto (collectively, the “Specified Third Point Personnel”), you agree to treat any and all information concerning or relating to the Company or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates that is furnished to you or the Specified Third Point Personnel (regardless of the manner in which it is furnished, including in written or electronic format or orally, gathered by visual inspection or otherwise) by any Third Point Designee, or by or on behalf of the Company or any Company Representatives, together with the relevant portion of any notes, analyses, reports, models, compilations, studies, interpretations, documents, records or extracts thereof to the extent containing, referring, relating to, based upon or derived from such information, in whole or in part (collectively, “Evaluation Material”), in accordance with the provisions of this letter agreement, and to take or abstain from taking the other actions hereinafter set forth.
1. The term “Evaluation Material” does not include information that (i) is or has become generally available to the public other than as a result of a direct or indirect disclosure by you or the Specified Third Point Personnel in violation of this letter agreement, (ii) was within your or any of the Specified Third Point Personnel’s possession on a non-confidential basis prior to its being furnished to you by any Third Point Designee, or by or on behalf of the Company or its agents, representatives, attorneys, advisors, directors, officers or employees (collectively, the
“Company Representatives”) or (iii) is received from a source other than any Third Point Designee, the Company or any of the Company Representatives; provided, that in the case of (ii) or (iii) above, the source of such information was not known by you to be bound by a confidentiality agreement with or other contractual, legal or fiduciary obligation of confidentiality to the Company or any other person with respect to such information at the time the information was disclosed to you.
2. You and the Specified Third Point Personnel will, and you will cause the Specified Third Point Personnel to, (a) keep the Evaluation Material strictly confidential and (b) not disclose any of the Evaluation Material in any manner whatsoever without the prior written consent of the Company; provided, however, that you may privately disclose any of such information to the Specified Third Point Personnel (i) who need to know such information for the sole purpose of advising you on your investment in the Company and (ii) who are informed by you of the confidential nature of such information; provided, further, that you will be responsible for any violation of this letter agreement by the Specified Third Point Personnel as if they were parties hereto. It is understood and agreed that no Third Point Designee shall disclose to you or the Specified Third Point Personnel any Legal Advice (as defined below) that may be included in the Evaluation Material with respect to which such disclosure would constitute waiver of the Company’s attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege; provided, however, that a Third Point Designee may provide such disclosure of Legal Advice if such Third Point Designee shall not have taken any action, or failed to take any action, that has the purpose or effect of waiving attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege with respect to any portion of such Legal Advice. “Legal Advice” as used herein shall be solely and exclusively limited to the advice provided by legal counsel and shall not include any factual information or the formulation or analysis of business strategy that is not protected by the attorney-client or attorney work product privilege.
3. In the event that you or any of the Specified Third Point Personnel are required or requested by applicable interrogatory, subpoena or any similar process relating to any legal proceeding, investigation, hearing or otherwise to disclose any of the Evaluation Material, you will promptly notify (except where such notice would be legally prohibited) the Company in writing by electronic mail and certified mail so that the Company may seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy (and if the Company seeks such an order, you will provide such cooperation as the Company shall reasonably request), at its sole cost and expense. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent you or the Specified Third Point Personnel, as the case may be, from honoring a subpoena, legal process or other legal requirement that requires or requests discovery, disclosure or production of the Evaluation Material if (a) you produce or disclose only that portion of the Evaluation Material which your outside legal counsel of national standing advises you is legally required to be so produced or disclosed and you inform the recipient of such Evaluation Material of the confidential nature of such Evaluation Material; or (b) the Company consents in writing to having the Evaluation Material produced or disclosed pursuant to the subpoena, legal process or other legal requirement or request. In no event will you or any of the Specified Third Point Personnel oppose action by the Company to obtain a protective order or other relief, at its sole expense, to prevent the disclosure of the Evaluation Material or to obtain reliable assurance that confidential treatment will be afforded the Evaluation Material. For the avoidance of doubt, it is understood that there shall be no “legal requirement” requiring you to disclose any Evaluation Material solely by virtue of the fact that, absent such disclosure,
you would be prohibited from purchasing, selling, or engaging in derivative or other voluntary transactions with respect to the Common Stock of the Company or otherwise proposing or making an offer to do any of the foregoing, or you would be unable to file any proxy materials in compliance with Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act or the rules promulgated thereunder. The foregoing obligations and requirements in this paragraph shall not be required or apply in connection with disclosures made to the extent required by law to, or requested by, a federal or state regulatory agency, self-regulatory organization or supervisory authority in the course of such authority’s routine examinations or supervisory inspections not related to the Company; provided that you agree to promptly notify the Company of any actual disclosures made so long as you are permitted to do so under applicable law.
4. You acknowledge that (a) none of the Company or any of the Company Representatives makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of any Evaluation Material, and (b) none of the Company or any of the Company Representatives shall have any liability to you or to any of the Specified Third Point Personnel relating to or resulting from the use of the Evaluation Material or any errors therein or omissions therefrom, except in the case of fraud. You and the Specified Third Point Personnel (or anyone acting on your or their behalf) shall not directly or indirectly initiate contact or communication with any executive or employee of the Company other than the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel, and/or such other persons approved in writing by the foregoing or the Board concerning Evaluation Material, or to seek any information in connection therewith from any such person other than the foregoing, without the prior consent of the Company; provided, however, the restriction in this sentence shall not apply to any Third Point Designee acting solely in his or her capacity as a director in accordance with the Support Agreement and the Company’s governance and other guidelines.
5. All Evaluation Material shall remain the property of the Company. Neither you nor any of the Specified Third Point Personnel shall by virtue of any disclosure of and/or your use of any Evaluation Material acquire any rights with respect thereto, all of which rights (including all intellectual property rights) shall remain exclusively with the Company. At any time after the date on which no Third Point Designee is a director of the Company, upon the written request of the Company for any reason, you will promptly return to the Company or destroy, at your election, all hard copies of the Evaluation Material and use commercially reasonable efforts to permanently erase or delete all electronic copies of the Evaluation Material in your or any of the Specified Third Point Personnel’s possession or control (and, upon the written request of the Company, shall promptly certify to the Company that such Evaluation Material has been erased or deleted, as the case may be); provided, however, that you may retain such copies of Evaluation Material as may be required to be retained by you pursuant to applicable law, regulation or as part of your bona fide information technology system back-ups or your internal compliance policies. Notwithstanding the return or erasure or deletion of Evaluation Material, you and the Specified Third Point Personnel will continue to be bound by the obligations contained herein.
6. You acknowledge, and will advise the Specified Third Point Personnel, that the Evaluation Material may constitute material non-public information under applicable federal and state securities laws, and that the United States securities laws prohibit any person who has received from an issuer any such material, non-public information from purchasing or selling
securities of such issuer or from communicating such information to any other person under circumstances in which it is reasonably foreseeable that such person is likely to purchase or sell such securities.7. You hereby represent and warrant to the Company that (i) you have all requisite power and authority to execute and deliver this letter agreement and to perform your obligations hereunder, (ii) this letter agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by you, and is a valid and binding obligation, enforceable against you in accordance with its terms, (iii) this letter agreement will not result in a violation of any terms or conditions of any agreements to which you are a party or by which you may otherwise be bound or of any law, rule, license, regulation, judgment, order or decree governing or affecting you, and (iv) your entry into this letter agreement does not require approval by any owners or holders of any equity or other interest in you (except as has already been obtained).
8. Any waiver by the Company of a breach of any provision of this letter agreement shall not operate as or be construed to be a waiver of any other breach of such provision or of any breach of any other provision of this letter agreement. The failure of the Company to insist upon strict adherence to any term of this letter agreement on one or more occasions shall not be considered a waiver or deprive the Company of the right thereafter to insist upon strict adherence to that term or any other term of this letter agreement.
9. You acknowledge and agree that the value of the Evaluation Material to the Company is unique and substantial, but may be impractical or difficult to assess in monetary terms. You further acknowledge and agree that in the event of an actual or threatened violation of this letter agreement, immediate and irreparable harm or injury would be caused for which money damages would not be an adequate remedy. Accordingly, you acknowledge and agree that, in addition to any and all other remedies which may be available to the Company at law or equity, the Company shall be entitled to seek an injunction or injunctions to prevent breaches of this letter agreement and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions of this letter agreement exclusively in the Court of Chancery or other federal or state courts of the State of Delaware.
10. Each of the parties hereto (a) consents to submit itself to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery or other federal or state courts of the State of Delaware in the event any dispute arises out of this letter agreement or the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement, (b) agrees that it shall not attempt to deny or defeat such personal jurisdiction by motion or other request for leave from any such court, (c) agrees that it shall not bring any action relating to this letter agreement or the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement in any court other than the Court of Chancery or other federal or state courts of the State of Delaware, and each of the parties irrevocably waives the right to trial by jury, and (d) irrevocably consents to service of process by a reputable overnight delivery service, signature requested, to the address of such party’s principal place of business or as otherwise provided by applicable law. THIS LETTER AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED IN ALL RESPECTS, INCLUDING VALIDITY, INTERPRETATION AND EFFECT, BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTS EXECUTED AND TO BE PERFORMED WHOLLY WITHIN SUCH STATE WITHOUT GIVING EFFECT TO THE CHOICE OF LAW PRINCIPLES OF SUCH STATE.
11. This letter agreement and the Support Agreement contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous agreements or understandings, whether written or oral. This letter agreement may be amended only by an agreement in writing executed by the parties hereto.
12. All notices, consents, requests, instructions, approvals and other communications provided for herein and all legal process in regard hereto shall be in writing and shall be deemed validly given, made or served, if (a) given by email, when such email is sent to the email address set forth below and the appropriate confirmation is received or (b) if given by any other means, when actually received during normal business hours at the address specified in this subsection:
| If to the Company: | Sotheby’s |
1334 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021
| Attention: | Gilbert Klemann, Executive Vice President, |
Worldwide General Counsel and Secretary
| Email: | gilbert.klemann@sothebys.com |
With a copy to (which shall not constitute notice):
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
| Attention: | Andrew R. Brownstein |
Sabastian V. Niles
| Email: | ARBrownstein@wlrk.com |
SVNiles@wlrk.com
| If to Third Point: | c/o Third Point LLC |
390 Park Avenue, 18th Floor
New York, New York 10022
| Attention: | Josh Targoff, Chief Operating Officer and |
General Counsel
| Email: | jtargoff@thirdpoint.com |
With a copy to (which shall not constitute notice):
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
200 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10166
| Attention: | Dennis Friedman |
Eduardo Gallardo
| Email: | DFriedman@gibsondunn.com |
EGallardo@gibsondunn.com
13. If at any time subsequent to the date hereof, any provision of this letter agreement shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, void or unenforceable, such provision shall be of no force and effect, but the illegality or unenforceability of such provision shall have no effect upon the legality or enforceability of any other provision of this letter agreement.
14. This letter agreement may be executed (including by facsimile or PDF) in two or more counterparts which together shall constitute a single agreement.
15. This letter agreement and the rights and obligations herein may not be assigned or otherwise transferred, in whole or in part, by you without the express written consent of the Company. This letter agreement, however, shall be binding on successors of the parties hereto.
16. Third Point shall cause any Replacement for a Third Point Designee that is appointed to the Board pursuant to Section 1(a)(xii) of the Support Agreement to execute a copy of this letter agreement.
17. This letter agreement shall expire one (1) year from the date on which a Third Point Designee no longer serves as a director of the Company; except that you shall maintain in accordance with the confidentiality obligations set forth herein any Evaluation Material constituting trade secrets for such longer time as such information constitutes a trade secret of the Company as defined under 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3).
18. No licenses or rights under any patent, copyright, trademark, or trade secret are granted or are to be implied by this letter agreement.
19. Each of the parties hereto acknowledges that it has been represented by counsel of its choice throughout all negotiations that have preceded the execution of this letter agreement, and that it has executed the same with the advice of said counsel. Each party and its counsel cooperated and participated in the drafting and preparation of this letter agreement and the documents referred to herein, and any and all drafts relating thereto exchanged among the parties shall be deemed the work product of all of the parties and may not be construed against any party by reason of its drafting or preparation. Accordingly, any rule of law or any legal decision that would require interpretation of any ambiguities in this letter agreement against any party that drafted or prepared it is of no application and is hereby expressly waived by each of the parties hereto, and any controversy over interpretations of this letter agreement shall be decided without regards to events of drafting or preparation. The term “including” shall in all instances be deemed to mean “including without limitation.”
20. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the obligations of the members of Third Point hereunder are several and not joint or collective.
[Signature Pages Follow]
Please confirm your agreement with the foregoing by signing and returning one copy of this letter agreement to the undersigned, whereupon this letter agreement shall become a binding agreement between you and the Company.
| Very truly yours, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | SOTHEBY’S | |
| By: | /s/ Patrick McClymont | |
| Name: | Patrick McClymont | |
| Title: | EVP & CFO | |
[Signature Page to the Confidentiality Agreement between Sotheby’s and Third Point]
Accepted and agreed as of the date first written above:
| THIRD POINT LLC | |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| |
| |
| THIRD POINT PARTNERS QUALIFIED L.P. |
| By: | Third Point LLC, its investment manager | |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| |
| |
| THIRD POINT PARTNERS L.P. |
| By: | Third Point LLC, its investment manager | |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| |
| |
| THIRD POINT OFFSHORE MASTER FUND L.P. |
| By: | Third Point LLC, its investment manager | |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| | | |
[Signature Page to the Confidentiality Agreement between Sotheby’s and Third Point]
| THIRD POINT ULTRA MASTER FUND L.P. | |
| By: | Third Point LLC, its investment manager | |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| |
| |
| THIRD POINT REINSURANCE COMPANY, LTD. |
| By: | Third Point LLC, its investment manager | |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| |
| |
| THIRD POINT ADVISORS LLC |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| |
| |
| THIRD POINT ADVISORS II LLC |
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Josh Targoff | |
| Name: | Josh Targoff | |
| Title: | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |
| | |
| DANIEL S. LOEB | |
| | |
| /s/ Daniel S. Loeb | |
| Daniel S. Loeb | |
[Signature Page to the Confidentiality Agreement between Sotheby’s and Third Point]
| | |
| | |
| /s/ Olivier Reza | |
| Olivier Reza | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| /s/ Harry J. Wilson | |
| Harry J. Wilson | |
[Signature Page to the Confidentiality Agreement between Sotheby’s and Third Point]
SCHEDULE A
Third Point LLC
Third Point Partners Qualified L.P.
Third Point Partners L.P.
Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P.
Third Point Ultra Master Fund L.P.
Third Point Reinsurance Company, Ltd.
Third Point Advisors LLC
Third Point Advisors II LLC
Daniel S. Loeb
Olivier Reza
Harry J. Wilson
1. Mr. Daniel S. Loeb
2. Any full-time employee of a member of Third Point or its Affiliates that is involved in monitoring the Sotheby’s investment